Ithiri Neram
Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
On his way to a long-overdue drinking party with two friends, Anish receives an unexpected call from Anjana, a past lover visiting the city. Their decision to meet sets the stage for an evening of easy banter, reopened wounds, and (more…)
The Girlfriend
Romance, Drama (Telugu)
A young woman explores love, compatibility and self-discovery during college, experiencing relationship complexities and personal growth. (more…)
Delhi Crime 3
Crime (Hindi)
Following the police force as they investigate high-profile crimes in Delhi, this series has seasons inspired by both real and fictional events. (more…)
Guild Reviews
It Was Just an Accident
Drama (Persian)
What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.
Cast:
Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Madjid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, George Hashemzadeh, Delmaz Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi
Director:
Jafar Panahi
Writer:
Jafar Panahi
An enraged Jafar Panahi delivers a contemporary classic
Mon, November 17 2025
How do you hit the establishment in the gut without even brushing against its hair? Ask Jafar Panahi and he might have the answer. His filmmaking legacy and long-standing battle with the Iranian state show that he is one of the bravest filmmakers alive. His Palm d’Or–winning film It Was Just An Accident is a furious work, yet laced with sardonic commentary on a system that is corrupt, greedy, immoral and inhumane.
(Writing for OTT PLay)
An Effective Study Of Compassion
Fri, September 19 2025
On paper, It Was Just an Accident bears the blueprint of Panahi’s work where complexity arises from an innocuous incident. A regular pitstop proves to be pivotal. It turns out that the onlooker, Vahid (a wonderful Vahid Mobasseri), has a traumatic history of knowing the man looking for help. In fact, not only does he know him, but so do a lot of people — a wedding photographer, a woman about to get married, a man still traumatised with his past. Turns out, the man in question is an officer of the state who had tortured them when they were in jail. But here’s the catch: no one is really sure. They were blindfolded when they were imprisoned, and although the man (called Eghbal, played by Ebrahim Azizi) sounds and smells like him, and even has a limp, there is uncertainty.
Jafar Pahani’s Cannes drama lays bare humans’ taste for violence, how it hurts themselves
Fri, May 23 2025
It’s late in the night, and a family of three, a husband, wife, and their young daughter, is heading back home. Suddenly, there’s a sickening thump, and the car comes to a halt. The man gets out, looks at something on the ground, his face lit by the headlights. We do not see the exact shape or size of the roadkill, but the little girl mentions the death of a dog, the woman justifies it as an act of god, and this little interlude sets the tone for the rest of the film.
Gondhal
(Marathi)
A suffocating young bride, Suman, uses her lover Sarjerao's obsession in Gondhal ritual and turns sacred tradition into a deadly chess match.
Cast:
Kishore Kadam, Ishita Deshmukh, Yogesh Sohoni, Nishad Bhoir, Anju Prabhu, Suresh Vishwakarma, Madhavi Juvekar, Aishwarya Shinde, Kailash Waghmare, Poonam Patil
Director:
Santosh Davakhar
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
A night of ritual turns sinister
Mon, November 17 2025
Gondhal, which is written and directed by Santosh Davakhar, gets the viewers transported into the interiors of the village and the ceremony of Gondhal in a thoroughly impressive manner. It does that through a long one-take shot that not only follows different characters perform different tasks but also in presence of over 100 junior actors in a large open area. Veteran cinematographer Amalendu Chaudhary makes his presence felt in various other shots as well. No stone is left unturned when it comes to portraying the ceremony and its various aspects. One can find even minute detailing with regards to the rituals, costumes and production designing.
Kaantha
History, Crime, Drama (Tamil)
Set in the backdrop of a film set, in the 1950’s in post colonial Madras, the film is centred around the professional rivalry between a film-maker trying to make his seminal film and the top reigning actor who the director once introduced. The rivalry spirals around the leading actress, a debutante and as the relationship between the three.
Cast:
Dulquer Salmaan, Bhagyashri Borse, Samuthirakani, Ravindra Vijay, Rana Daggubati, Gayathrie Shankar, Vaiyapuri, Java Sundaresan
Director:
Selvamani Selvaraj
Writer:
Thamizh Prabha, Selvamani Selvaraj
Dulquer Salmaan’s standout performance anchors a film with flashes of brilliance
Sun, November 16 2025
Should an artist refine his craft for art’s sake, or can he adapt it to suit audiences who respond with applause and make the work commercially viable? And what happens when that applause begins to blunt the craft itself? Kaantha, the Tamil film written and directed by Selvamani Selvaraj and produced by Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati, poses these questions through a narrative that moves from psychological drama to whodunnit, while consistently acknowledging the art of cinema.
(Writing for OTT Play)
Selvamani Selvaraj Film Is A Gorgeous, Ferocious Duel Between Artist & Ego
Sat, November 15 2025
The opening credits of Selvamani Selvaraj’s Kaantha play over behind-the-scenes photographs of classic South Indian cinema from an era when films were mostly made in Madras and a handful of studios produced all movies. These were Modern Theatres (based in Salem), AVM, Gemini Studios, Vijaya Vauhini and Prasad, and the artists and producers tied to these studios made films across Tamil, Telugu and even Hindi. Kaantha creates the fictitious Modern Studios headed by a young second-generation producer, Martin Prabhakaran (Ravindra Vijay), and borrows the “Thiruchengodu” from the real-life Modern Theatres founder TR Sundaram and gives it to its protagonist TK Mahadevan, played by Dulquer Salmaan. We enter Kaantha in media res, the dramatic stakes already high at the epicentre of the conflict. Ayya (Samuthirakani), a modest filmmaker, is still waiting to make his shelved magnum opus ‘Shaantha’ — a horror film based on his mother — and the current sensation (and Ayya’s apprentice turned nemesis) TK Mahadevan’s willingness is all it takes to get it back on the floors. After a quick conversation in Martin’s office with Ayya, Kaantha starts off on day one of the shoot with Ayya and Mahadevan’s hostility fresh and glistening.
Evolving from a love letter to cinema into an epic tragedy about a man destroyed by his own reflection.
Fri, November 14 2025
De De Pyaar De 2
Comedy, Romance (Hindi)
Ashish confronts the ultimate challenge of his age-gap romance as he visits Ayesha's family home.
Cast:
Ajay Devgn, Rakul Preet Singh, R. Madhavan, Gautami Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Meezaan Jafri, Javed Jaffrey
Director:
Anshul Sharma
Anshul Sharma's sequel is hit and miss comedy
Sun, November 16 2025
Ajay Devgn used to throw himself into comedies. I never thought he was a great comic (compare his effortful style to the ease of Akshay Kumar), but he more or less got the job done. But now, as with every other facet of his acting, Devgn’s comedy has lost its edge. In De De Pyaar De 2, he’s a beat behind everyone else, draining the energy in scenes when he should be cranking it up.
रिश्तों का एक और रंगीन पंचनामा
Sat, November 15 2025
साढ़े छह बरस पहले आई ‘दे दे प्यार दे’ में 50 बरस के अधेड़ आशीष को 26 बरस की कमसिन आयशा से प्यार हुआ था मगर बीच में आ गए थे आशीष के बीवी-बच्चे जिनसे वह 18 साल पहले अलग हो गया था। आशीष बेचारा असमंजस में फंस गया था कि पुराने रिश्ते निभाए या नए रिश्ते को थामे। लेकिन अंत में सब सुलझ गया था। क्या वाकई…! पहले आशीष आयशा को अपने परिवार से मिलवाने ले गया था और इस बार आयशा उसे अपने घर लाई है अपने परिवार से मिलवाने। यहां बात-बात पर खुद को ‘प्रगतिशील, पढ़े-लिखे, आधुनिक’ कहलवाने वाले उसके माता-पिता हैं जो आशीष से साल-डेढ़ साल ही बड़े हैं। भाई, भाभी, मासी, कज़िन, नानी, भाभी के माता-पिता वगैरह भी हैं। ऐसे में अपने पिता की उम्र के आशीष को वह कैसे सबसे मिलवाए, कैसे यह बताए कि हम दोनों शादी करने वाले हैं…? लेकिन जैसा कि फिल्मों में होता है, अंत में सब सुलझ जाता है। क्या वाकई…!
Rakul Preet Singh radiates, Madhavan steals the spotlight in this sassy rom-com sequel
Sat, November 15 2025
In 2019, when De De Pyaar De hit the screens, the unapologetic take on unconventional love worked because of being emotionally honest without being melodramatic. Six years later, director Anshul Sharma returns with a cheeky sequel, in the middle of the wedding season, that is again bold in idea and joyful in spirit. Filled with a heavy dose of family chaos and generational clash, it follows Ashish Mehra (Ajay Devgn), the middle-aged divorcee in love with the much younger Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh). Their spirited romance faces another litmus test as this time Ayesha takes Ashish home to introduce him to her self-proclaimed progressive Punjabi family.
The Girlfriend
Romance, Drama (Telugu)
A young woman explores love, compatibility and self-discovery during college, experiencing relationship complexities and personal growth.
Cast:
Rashmika Mandanna, Dheekshith Shetty, Rao Ramesh, Rohini, Rahul Ravindran, Anu Emmanuel
Director:
Rahul Ravindran
Writer:
Rahul Ravindran
With a scene-stealing Rashmika Mandanna, The Girlfriend is an emotionally resonant takedown of patriarchy
Sat, November 15 2025
Bhooma is pursuing her Masters in literature at a college and staying in the hostel. A simple girl with solid values, Bhooma is lured — partly by circumstances, partly by other factors which are beyond her control (or not) — into a relationship with college jock Vikram. As the days go by, Bhooma — though doted on by Vikram on the surface (‘on the surface’ being the operative words here) — finds herself trapped in an increasingly toxic relationship that she sees no escape from. Till one day, driven against the wall (or, rather, door) she decides that enough is enough.
Taming the toxic alpha male
Thu, November 13 2025
In Indian society, we have grown up listening to theories that hail women for their strength. If biology makes men physically stronger, what’s the other kind of strength they are referring to? And when do we stop comparing them to Goddess Durga to let them be? In Rahul Ravindran’s Telugu-language film The Girlfriend, we meet a woman who stands as an antithesis to the prototypical heroine of popular Telugu blockbusters.
A befitting antidote to hyper masculinity of 'Animal'
Wed, November 12 2025
Seeing Rashmika Mandanna in the Telugu film The Girlfriend draws a mix of both pleasure and disconcertment. For the first half-hour or so, her Bhooma Devi seems eerily reminiscent of Animal’s Geetanjali, for she finds herself in a relationship so quickly that it doesn’t even dawn on her whether she wanted it or not. Does Mandanna realise the parallels drawn, one wonders. The Girlfriend, though, is in no mood to show Bhooma and Geetanjali as soul sisters. Not what Bhooma endures but what she realises—a tad slowly—is where The Girlfriend becomes the relationship horror that will leave audiences, especially women, uncomfortable with the warped notion of romance.
Agra
Drama (Hindi)
The story of a family and an exploration of space in an increasingly crowded world. It follows the quest for a sexual odyssey of an individual.
Cast:
Priyanka Bose, Rahul Roy, Vibha Chibber, Mohit Agarwal, Aanchal Goswami, Ruhani Sharma, Sonal Jha, Devas Dixit, Rajesh Aggarwal, Yashraj Rawal
Director:
Kanu Behl
Writer:
Kanu Behl, Atika Chohan
Kanu Behl paints a provocative portrait of fractured masculinity in cramped urban spaces
Sat, November 15 2025
There is no shot of Taj Mahal in Kanu Behl’s Agra. There are no sprawling gardens that dot the city of monuments. Instead, the fearless chronicler of our society’s hidden fractures and fault lines focuses on the cramped spaces, repressed desires, and the incommodious mindscapes in the mofussil town that the city holds beneath its touristy topsoil. It is the Agra that Sahir Ludhianvi referred to in his critique of the Taj Mahal when he said that the monument symbolised the exploitation of the poor by the elite. Behl is more matter-of-fact, but there is a distinctive rhythm to his storytelling. It is like the movement of a worm under the skin that is difficult to ignore or resolve.
Kanu Behl crafts a bleak, claustrophobic portrait of toxic masculinity
Sat, November 15 2025
If there’s one director who has taken a deep dive into the unlovely world created by toxic masculinity, it is Kanu Behl. His debut feature Titli, which remains his best work, gave us a corner of Delhi most of us had no idea about– a father and three brothers whose family business is car-jacking and violent disposal of bodies, if the need so arises. And if a paternal figure is anything like the one in Titli (played by the director’s own father), it stands to reason that the sons will be like him.
Lust and Loathing in Small-town India
Sat, November 15 2025
Most Indian moviegoers are wired to like cinema that squeezes lemonade out of life’s limes. The country has such deep social faultlines that we automatically appreciate stories looking for silver linings within them. Take the middle-class space crunch, a problem as old as time. Over the years, it’s been softened by several movie genres: the joint-family saga that emphasizes the happy chaos of communal living, the romcom or sex comedy where everyone gets a say, the love story thriving on secrets and shadows. Think Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, where a small-town household weighs in on the hero’s erectile dysfunction; think The Affair, Hardik Mehta’s short film about a married couple from a cramped Mumbai flat meeting like covert lovers after work. The movies sell nightmares as lesser dreams; we see no breathing room, but the characters reframe it as togetherness and proximity.
Delhi Crime 3
Crime (Hindi)
Following the police force as they investigate high-profile crimes in Delhi, this series has seasons inspired by both real and fictional events.
Cast:
Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Avijit Dutt, Adil Hussain, Yashaswini Dayama, Rajesh Tailang, Denzil Smith, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Huma Qureshi
Shefali Shah’s gravitas and Huma Qureshi’s charisma light up an underwhelming season
Sat, November 15 2025
Staying honest to its gritty and grounded base, the third season of the acclaimed police procedural tackles the interstate human trafficking of young girls and women. Shefali Shah returns as the unflinching police officer Vartika Chaturvedi, who has now been promoted to DIG but is on a ‘punishment’ posting in the North East. Inspired by the Baby Falak case of 2012, as the news of a battered infant left in the trauma centre of AIIMS assumes national importance, Madam Sir hits the ground running. She is joined by her reliable team, led by Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal) and Bhupendra (Rajesh Tailang).
Eye-opener, no reason to skip Season 3
Sat, November 15 2025
When ‘Delhi Crime Season One’ first dropped in 2019, it recreated a searing account of the horrific Nirbhaya rape and murder case with exceptional sense and sensitivity. Shefali Shah as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, endearingly addressed as “Madam Sir”, completely won us over. ‘Season Two’ was an incisive anatomy of the mind of a serial killer, chillingly portrayed by Tillotama Shome.
Shefali Shah series returns, as gripping and taut as ever
Sat, November 15 2025
A third season of a well-regarded series, especially when both the previous seasons have been equally sharp, has two ways to go: up or down. I’m happy to report that Delhi Crime Season 3 is as taut and gripping as the ones that preceded it – well done, Vartika Madam Sir, and co. Season 3 comes three years after the previous one, and this time around DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah) currently posted in Silchar, Assam and her trusty colleagues, Bhupender Singh (Rajesh Tailang), Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal), Jairaj Singh (Anuraag Arora), Vimla Bharadwaj (Jaya Bhattacharya) and a couple of others are up against the tough-as-nails human trafficker Badi Didi (Huma Qureshi) whose supply chain extends from Rohtak to Bangkok.
The Running Man
Action, Thriller, Science Fiction (English)
Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards is convinced by The Running Man's charming but ruthless producer to enter the deadly competition game as a last resort. But Ben's defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite - and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.
Cast:
Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Jayme Lawson, William H. Macy, Emilia Jones, David Zayas, Katy O'Brian
Director:
Edgar Wright
Glen Powell fails to dig deep, film becomes a drag
Sat, November 15 2025
n Stephen King’s novella ‘The Running Man’, which came out in 1982, the dystopia felt unreal. King conjured up a staggeringly unequal world, whose rich live in guarded enclaves, the poor are corralled into slums, and a child could easily die of the common flu if her parents cannot afford the drugs.
Ithiri Neram
Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
On his way to a long-overdue drinking party with two friends, Anish receives an unexpected call from Anjana, a past lover visiting the city. Their decision to meet sets the stage for an evening of easy banter, reopened wounds, and difficult choices.
Cast:
Roshan Mathew, Zarin Shihab, Nandhu, Anand Manmadhan, Kannan Nayar, Athulya Sreeni, Krishnan Balakrishnan, Jeo Baby, Srinesh Pai, Sreekala Suresh
Director:
Prasanth Vijay
Writer:
Vishak Shakti
Love enriches a gentle breakup story
Fri, November 14 2025
If done well, conversational films carry an undeniable charm. The context and dialogue must hold our attention, and the actors must know how to talk. It all sounds easy, although the absence of location changes can quickly make any film monotonous. In Prasanth Vijay’s Ithiri Neram, we meet podcast host Anish (Roshan Mathew), who reconnects with his former girlfriend Anjana (Zarin Shihab). Before we realise it, a brief encounter turns into an unforgettable night for the two.
Roshan Mathew and Zarin Shihab Have Sparkling Chemistry In This Night To Remember
Sat, November 8 2025
When we meet Aneesh (Roshan Mathew) and Anjana (Zarin Shihab) for the first time, Aneesh refers to this ex-girlfriend of his as… Anjana. They’re meeting after seven long years, after their respective heartbreaks, and yet through their easy comfort, we begin to feel like “Anjana” is still too formal a name for Aneesh to be calling her. It’s the easiest name to shorten to Anju and yet, by the end of this meeting, when we realise Anish’s Anjana has now become Anju again, we cannot remember when this shift happened.
Roshan Mathew and Zarin Shihab ace in a deeply-felt conversational drama
Fri, November 7 2025
All that two people who were eons ago the world to each other get, when they meet years later, is just a little while (’Ithiri Neram’) to spend together. Each word uttered between them carries with it the weight of their past and the mystery of each other’s present and the paths their lives have taken in the intervening years. In Prasanth Vijay’s third film Ithiri Neram, much has changed in the lives of Anjana (Zarin Shihab) and Anish (Roshan Mathew) from the last time they talked, yet when they meet, it is as if they never stopped talking.
Nuremberg
History, Drama, Thriller, War (English)
In postwar Germany, an American psychiatrist must determine whether Nazi prisoners are fit to go on trial for war crimes, and finds himself in a complex battle of intellect and ethics with Hermann Göring, Hitler's right-hand man.
Cast:
Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O'Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Lotte Verbeek, Richard E. Grant
Director:
James Vanderbilt
Writer:
James Vanderbilt
Correctly Asserts that the WWII Trial Was Not a Victory Lap
Fri, November 14 2025
In Frederic Raphael’s book, Eyes Wide Open – on the making of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1998), which Raphael co-wrote with Kubrick – at one point, they discuss Schindler’s List. The much-revered, Oscar-sweeping 1995 film by Steven Spielberg is cut down to size by Kubrick for its triumphant, hopeful climax. Something that betrays the way Kubrick sees the Holocaust essentially as a tale of failure. Even though I don’t fully concur with the thesis, I do see where Kubrick was coming from. That the Holocaust was a singular example of systemic moral failure is something that is acutely understood by James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg – a film named after the infamous trial where the Allies prosecuted the surviving officers of the Nazi high command for crimes against humanity. What’s surprising about Vanderbilt’s film is its awareness isn’t instantly apparent. But how it reveals itself slowly.
Palm Royale S02
Drama, Comedy (English)
In 1969, an ambitious woman aspires to cross the line between the haves and have-nots to secure her seat at America's most exclusive, fashionable, and treacherous table: Palm Beach high society.
Cast:
Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson, Kaia Gerber, Laura Dern, Allison Janney
Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney's All-Star Period Drama Grows Overly Complicated
Thu, November 13 2025
The first season of Apple TV’s Palm Royale, while intriguing, had a shaky narrative. That mainly had to do with its large cast of characters; it was hard to keep up with who’s who. Loosely based on Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 novel, Mr & Mrs American Pie, the series adds a few more characters and ups the melodrama, making for a confusing watch. Despite the complexity, the ensemble cast of the dark comedy plunges on with their stylish costumes and lavish production that takes the action away from 1960s Palm Beach, Florida.
Baramulla
Horror (Hindi)
A police officer investigating missing children cases discovers disturbing truths while supernatural occurrences threaten his family and Baramulla's tranquility.
Cast:
Manav Kaul, Neelofar Hamid, Masoom Mumtaz Khan, Arista Mehta, Baby Kiara Khanna, Ashwini Koul, Nazneen Madan, Mir Sarwar, Vikas Shukla, Bhasha Sumbli
Director:
Aditya Suhas Jambhale
Writer:
Aditya Suhas Jambhale
वादी की शापित लोरियां सुनाती ’बारामूला’
Wed, November 12 2025
2016 का साल। कश्मीर का बारामूला कस्बा। वही बारामूला जिसे वराहमूल और वर्मूल भी कहा गया। एक फंक्शन में तमाशा दिखा रहे जादूगर के बक्से से स्थानीय एम.एल.ए. का बच्चा ’गायब’ हो जाता है। तफ्तीश के लिए डी.एस.पी. रिदवान की वहां पोस्टिंग होती है। कुछ और बच्चे भी ’गायब’ हो रहे हैं। रिदवान को उन आतंकियों पर शक है जो बच्चों को पत्थरबाज बना रहे हैं। उधर जिस पुराने मकान में रिदवान और उनका परिवार रह रहा है वहां भी कुछ अजीब हरकतें हो रही हैं। कोई साया है जो उनके बेटे के संग खेलता है। बेटी को लगता है कि इस घर में कोई कुत्ता भी है। एक दिन रिदवान की बेटी भी ’गायब’ हो जाती है। कौन है इसके पीछे? क्या राज़ है इस घर का? बच्चे ’गायब’ क्यों हो रहे हैं, कैसे हो रहे हैं, कौन कर रहा है, कहां हैं वे बच्चे…?
(Writing for OTT Play)
Baramulla Is An Effectively Misleading Supernatural Film
Tue, November 11 2025
There is something called an Aditya Dhar film. The emphasis might feel odd, given that he has directed only one feature till now, and the second is waiting in the wings. But the projects he has been involved in the capacity of a writer and producer, most notably Article 370 (2024), bear the distinct stamp of his filmmaking. Tenets of this include compelling set pieces, imposing artistry, and bigoted politics. In Baramulla, the latest film he has bankrolled, all these are heightened to greater, more dangerous heights.
Kashmir is paying price for its sins.
Tue, November 11 2025