October is finally readying for release. The unusual love story has Varun Dhawan in the lead and also marks the debut of the Doublemint girl Banita Sandhu. October is directed by Shoojit Sircar, who is known for making well-reviewed movies like Yahaan, Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe and Piku. October has already caught our attention with its trailers and mellow songs. It is also quite a refreshing change for us to see Varun Dhawan shed off his stardom and do a movie that is so different from the Dulhanias and Judwaa 2's that he is normally associated with.

October has got some high praise from the early screenings from certain critics and celebs like Karan Johar and Shashank Khaitan. The movie has opened in Gulf, where it paints a slightly different picture. A couple of reviews call it well-enacted but slow, while one review praises it eloquently. Check out some excerpts of these reviews below,

Gulfnews says this, "Barring riveting performances from its principal actors and nuggets of wry humour, this drama — with tragic undertones — crawls at a mind-numbing pace. It’s one of those films that takes pride in being pretentious, arty and hyperbolic. October may have worked wonderfully as a short story, but it made for a laborious watch when translated on the big screen."

Khaleej Times says this, "With movies like Pink, Piku to his credit, expectations are high on Shoojit Sircar on delivering yet another blockbuster. And he handles the script by Juhi Chaturvedi to the point. It is daring of Banita to take a role of suffering patient in her debut film, knowing there wasn't much for her to perform. She gets some scenes in the first half of the movie but you do empathise with her character and want to know what will happen with her. The movie was predictable but you still want to know how the climax shapes up."

Filmfare Middle East says this, "Varun Dhawan’s best performance till date – he plays Dan, a freedom loving hotel management trainee who is shocked by an accident and tries his best to solve the problem in the way he knows best – by being there for the family. He is the breath of fresh air in what would be an otherwise sombre movie. Humour flows effortlessly in the ICU or between tubes and oxygen cylinders with his childlike curiosity and a near obsessive motive to set things right."

On that note, check out our website for the complete review of October.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2018 02:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).