Peepli Live
  • Release Date: Aug 13, 2010
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    90
    A satisfying comic gem.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    60
    Peepli Live may not consistently hit the mark, but it's savvy and humane, which goes a long way.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    83
    Peepli Live has a lot in common with Billy Wilder's black comedy Ace In The Hole, in that it explores the cynicism of modern life with wit and honesty.
  4. Movieline
    Reviewed by: Michelle Orange
    60
    Peepli Live opens out slowly to encompass several factions of Indian society, including the press, local, state, and federal politicians, and the shady elements binding them all together. It's a meticulously engineered design that a show like The Wire took several years to execute; here the strain shows within the first half hour.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Gary Goldstein
    80
    The ambitious Peepli Live manages to mine substantial dark humor from this tragic situation while offering pointed - and sometimes poignant - social commentary in the process.
  6. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Eric Hynes
    60
    Unlike satires that coast on winking self-satisfaction, Anusha Rizvi's debut is both a heartfelt and a genuinely funny skewering of India's convoluted caste-consciousness.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Rachel Saltz
    70
    The writer-director Anusha Rizvi, making her feature debut, shoots her story efficiently and with visual panache, but after a compelling setup her script runs out of juice.
  8. Empire
    Reviewed by: Anna Smith
    60
    While the tone may shift from satire to farce at times, this is a highly assured debut by Rizvi.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    80
    Debuting writer-director Anusha Rizvi manages to wrest a lively feature out of a gravely serious issue, capturing the desperation of India's village farmers, as well as the nation's shift from agriculture to industrialization, without losing sight of the entertainment principle.
  10. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Tim Cogshell
    60
    The juxtaposition of the tragedy and the lunacy of the circumstances are not completely disparate; satire is an appropriate weapon here, but it's the drama in Peepi Live that truly resonates.
  11. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    50
    Colorful and at times quite lively, but I wish it were funnier and its satirical edge a bit sharper.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Aaron Hillis
    70
    It's an unusual taste of mainstream Indian cinema (or, thanks to superstar Aamir Khan's production company, it's a small film given an unusually mainstream push), unexpectedly irreverent with an earthier, folkier soundtrack than the typical Bollywood electro-bounce.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. WiSee
    9
    After watching Peepli Live, Salman Khan tweeted â
  2. Lucifer
    3
    Forgettable is all I can say about the movie. I dont need to spend two and a half hours to know how bad our system is. There is noting which makes you say oh, i did not think even this was true. The movie does have some good one liners and funny take on news reporting done today but on a whole, I would have preferred to give the movie a miss… Full Review »
  3. black_mamba
    10
    I mean I just loved this movie...
    Okay, it may not have well known actors of Bollywood starring, but the level of acting of other actors is re    markable!
    Any other guy who's not an Indian will possibly not understand this movie because it heavily describes the rotten Indian Politicians and their deeds is a very funny and sarcastic way!    … Full Review »
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