New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- Aaishvary Thackeray is saying something to Kumud Mishra when a fly buzzes in his face. It throws him off for a split second, but then he brushes it off and continues speaking. Nishaanchi is three hours long and this moment lasts a few seconds. But in a film where nothing is urgent and time goes by so slowly, it struck me as a rare precise bit of problem-solving.

There's a larger problem that's not so easily solved. Anurag Kashyap's last three releases, Choked, Dobaaraa and Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, were different kinds of disappointing, while Kennedy not finding any kind of release here showed his stock had fallen considerably. Nishaanchi suggests he wants his audience back. Insofar as there's a Kashyap niche,...