Toh Ti Ani Fuji
Romance, Drama (Marathi)
In a world where love is filtered, scored and predicted, a couple in Pune, India, collides in a fierce, consuming romance. What begins in urgency and desire slowly fractures. Time intrudes. Ambition shifts. Affection turns conditional. What once felt infinite (more…)
Nukkad Naatak
Drama (Hindi)
After being caught robbing the college canteen, best friends Molshri and Shivang are expelled. To be reinstated, they must enroll five children from an impoverished slum into a local school. (more…)
Bhooth Bangla
Horror, Comedy (Hindi)
A man inherits a palace in rural Mangalpur and plans his sister's wedding there, but strange supernatural events and panicked locals force him to investigate the property's mysterious past. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Michael
Music, Drama (English)
Discover the story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world, highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career.
Cast:
Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Juliano Krue Valdi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Miles Teller, Kendrick Sampson, Joseph David-Jones, Jamal Henderson, Rhyan Hill
Director:
Antoine Fuqua
Writer:
John Logan
Sat, April 25 2026
It’s telling that one of the producers of Michael is John Branca, an entertainment lawyer and co-executor of the Michael Jackson estate, played in the film by Miles Teller. This feels like a film produced by a lawyer—a soulless document sure, but one that’ll hold up in court. Another producer is Graham King, the man behind Bohemian Rhapsody. That this 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic was directed, for the most part, by Bryan Singer, accused multiple times of sexual assault, had no visible bearing on its box office. And King has good reason to hope that the allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson won’t dent the success of this new biopic.
Sat, April 25 2026
There’s a scene in Michael where Jackson, played by his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, steps out of his palatial home and into a waiting car, fresh from a confrontation with his controlling father Joseph (Colman Domingo). As the car passes through the gates, thousands of fans are screaming his name. He waves gently, slips on his trademark glasses, and the contrast is complete — the private turmoil invisible to the world outside. It’s one of the film’s most effective moments, capturing in a single image what it means to live a double life at that scale.
Madhuvidhu
Family, Comedy, Drama (Malayalam)
When Amrutharaj, a groom from an all-male household repeatedly rejected by brides' families, falls in love with Sneha Marcose, their journey toward marriage ignites a chain of hilarious chaos inside his unruly home.
Cast:
Sharafudheen, Kalyani Panicker, Vijitha Vijayakumar, Sreejaya Nair, Vineeth Thattil David, Azees Nedumangad, Jagadish, Saikumar, Bindu Panicker, Sanju Madhu
Director:
Vishnu Aravind
Writer:
Bibin Mohan, Jay Vishnu
Sat, April 25 2026
At the centre of director Vishnu Aravind’s Madhuvidhu is a house where three generations of men live in harmony. Unlike the Anjooran household in Godfather (1991), women aren’t banned here; they simply choose not to come. For the protagonist, Amrithraj alias Ammu (Sharafudheen), 28 marriage proposals came through but not a single moved to the next stage. When a not-so-cordial first meeting with Sneha (Kalyani Panicker) inevitably turns into mutual attraction, things appear to change. However, some unexpected hiccups are waiting for them as they belong to different religions. Writers Jai Vishnu and Bipin Mohan don’t seem to have any major ambitions with Madhuvidhu, but they seem rather content to aim for the middle space of a feel-good entertainer. But even with that, they end up hitting further lower.
Ginny Wedss Sunny 2
Romance, Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
A mismatched pair, with a storyline involving a wrestler and a vibrant girl, combining romance, comedy, and drama.
Cast:
Avinash Tiwary, Medha Shankr, Govind Namdeo, Lillete Dubey, Vishwanath Chatterjee, Sudhir Pandey, Nayani Dixit, Gopi Bhalla, Rohit Chaudhary
Director:
Prashant Jha
Writer:
Prashant Jha
Sat, April 25 2026
I have to get this out of my system. We need to talk about the dying — nay, extinct — art of the background score in mainstream Hindi cinema. The setup of Ginny Wedss Sunny 2 somewhat brings to mind Haseen Dillruba (2021), the romantic thriller about semi-toxic newlyweds in Haridwar; she’s a siren, he’s a Nice Guy, she cheats, then he becomes the madness and badness she craves for. I remember disliking Haseen Dillruba until a haunting theme in the climax made me rethink my reading of the entire film — a rare case of a score urging the viewer to feel a story rather than judge it. That’s the job of background music and supplementary sound: an extension of unfilmable text, not lazy mood-prompts for the audience.
Criminal Record S02
Crime, Drama (English)
In the heart of London, an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives—a young woman in the early stages of her career and a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy—into a fight to correct an old miscarriage of justice.
Cast:
Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Zoë Wanamaker, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore
Sat, April 25 2026
In the first season of Criminal Record, a senior police officer and a younger female cop clashed while dealing with an anonymous tip on an old murder case. Opening up the case exposed internal corruption that caused a big rift between the two, but the two are reunited in the new season that asks some difficult questions of the duo. Created by Paul Rutman, the Apple TV was a slow-burn thriller in the first season. It raises both the stakes and the pace for the second instalment which pushes its boundaries quite far.
Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam
Comedy, Thriller (Malayalam)
The family's journey to Sreekandapuram to settle the late Bharathan Nair's second wife and son takes a dark turn when an issue from his past resurfaces, leading to an unexpected crime. Forced into a desperate cover-up to protect their future, the family must navigate a treacherous path of secrecy and mounting pressure, determined to overcome any obstacle by any means necessary.
Cast:
Saiju Kurup, Kalaranjini, Swathi Das Prabhu, Sruthy Suresh, Baby Jean, Jinil Rex, Jivin Rex, Vinay Forrt, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jagadish
Director:
Krishnadas Murali
Writer:
Krishnadas Murali, Vishnu R Pradeep
Sat, April 25 2026
When Krishnadas Murali’s feature debut Bharathanatyam came out in 2024, my immediate question was straightforward: how does this family sustain even a modest lifestyle? I couldn’t tell what anyone in this crowded house did for a living, especially since times were so uncertain. But as the movie went on, that worry went away and was replaced by a growing interest in how normal and strange people live together in a typical Malayali home. With Bharathanatyam 2 Mohiniyattam, the filmmaker dives deep into that chaos to revel hard in its absurdities. The result? A sequel that is richer, zanier, and mightily confident in its skin.
Sat, April 11 2026
A dead body in the house can be one of the most horrific situations or a source of mirth, depending on the tone and treatment that a movie adopts. Mohiniyattam, which gently spoofs Drishyam, turns the situation into a hilarious affair, with periodic reminders of the dead man’s deceitful nature, supposedly to make us laugh without any sense of guilt. Sequels often end up as pale imitations of the original. But in conceiving a sequel to the mildly funny Bharathanatyam (which incidentally was a spoof of Balettan), Krishnadas Murali reimagines the original’s basic theme, injecting it with loads of dark humour and turning it into a markedly better film, like Vaazha 2 last week.
Beef S02
Comedy, Drama (English)
A road rage incident between two strangers — a failing contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur — sparks a feud that brings out their darkest impulses.
Cast:
Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton, Youn Yuh-jung, Seoyeon Jang, William Fichtner, BM, Mikaela Hoover, Song Kang-ho
Fri, April 24 2026
The first season of Beef was a television drama masterclass. Through the medium of a relatable road rage run-in between two strangers, creator Lee Sung Jin fashioned a dark comedy-drama that, escalating with delicious adamance over 10 immensely watchable episodes, focused on an all-consuming feud that took over the warring protagonist duo’s relationships and careers, even as their unsparing vendetta commented on the fallout of class chasm, suppressed rage and, ultimately, grief and loneliness. As adversaries not willing to let go an inch, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun brought in vindictive anger but also profound emotional healing, with the series brimming with rare originality and startling depth of character.
Thrash
Horror, Thriller (English)
When a Category 5 hurricane decimates a coastal town, the storm surge brings devastation, chaos, and something far more frightening onto shore: hungry sharks.
Cast:
Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak, Djimon Hounsou, Alyla Browne, Stacy Clausen, Dante Ubaldi, Matt Nable, Andrew Lees, Sami Afuni, Tyler Coppin
Director:
Tommy Wirkola
Wed, April 22 2026
Part double disaster film, part shark-attack flick, Thrash is a low-stakes thriller whose absurdities prove to be mildly entertaining, but do not a good film make. Perhaps a commendable (or not) thing about Thrash is that it doesn’t aspire to be one, content to keep its place among the category of low-brow films that are mostly made to fit into algorithmic programming strategy. There is no promise of high art here, but there is also no pretence.
Bhooth Bangla
Horror, Comedy (Hindi)
A man inherits a palace in rural Mangalpur and plans his sister's wedding there, but strange supernatural events and panicked locals force him to investigate the property's mysterious past.
Cast:
Akshay Kumar, Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, Jisshu Sengupta, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Mithila Palkar, Rajesh Sharma, Manoj Joshi
Director:
Priyadarshan
Writer:
Abhilash Nair
Tue, April 21 2026
The biggest sin a filmmaker can commit is to not make audiences care. Not for the characters, not for the events unfolding. Bhooth Bangla, the Priyadarshan-helmed horror comedy, is fully committed to this cause from the get-go. That it distances itself from the audiences with a genre much loved of late makes it all the more unbelievable. At the core of this misfire is the plotline, which revolves around Vadhasur, a bat-faced monster whose modus operandi is similar to that of Sanjeev Kumar in the cult film Jaani Dushman: abduct and kill new brides in Mangalpur. Vadhasur’s kill count ensures that no wedding takes place there, and the odd one that does goes horribly wrong.
Sun, April 19 2026
There exists, in the grand almanac of cinematic possibilities, a rare and delectable alchemy—the seamless fusion of horror and comedy—that, when handled with finesse, leaves audiences deliciously unsettled and helplessly amused in equal measure. Hindi cinema has, on occasion, achieved this precarious balance with admirable flair, as seen in Stree and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, both of which continue to loom large as exemplars of the genre. Which is precisely why one approaches Bhooth Bangla—helmed by the once reliably inventive Priyadarshan—with a certain anticipatory glee. Alas, what unfolds is less a haunted house and more a haunted opportunity.
Sat, April 18 2026
At one point around its midpoint, Bhooth Bangla drops a romantic song without any context. People walk out as if their bladders would burst if they stayed a minute longer. I could almost feel my eardrums burst from a song so grating, paired with a couple that shares negative screen chemistry. Yet that is not why I felt bad for the half of the crowd that did not return. Ironically, that is exactly where the film becomes a wee bit tolerable. Do not expect much, but the least the Priyadarshan film manages in its second half is to stop being annoying.
Toaster
Comedy (Hindi)
Murder and chaos erupt when a miser becomes obsessed with a toaster he gave as a wedding gift.
Cast:
Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Abhishek Banerjee, Upendra Limaye, Seema Pahwa, Farah Khan, Archana Puran Singh, Jitendra Joshi, Pratik Gandhi, Patralekhaa
Director:
Vivek Daschaudary
Sun, April 19 2026
In the week of her passing, Toaster has a doozy of an Asha Bhosle joke. Distraught Glenn (Abhishek Banerjee) has to address the small gathering at his mother’s funeral. To get their attention, he taps his glass: clink clinkclink, clink clinkclink. This is, of course, the opening of ‘Chura Liya Hai’, sung by Asha in Kati Patang, a rhythm so distinctive Glenn’s not even finished when Ramakant (Rajkumar Rao) tells his wife, Shipla (Sanya Malhotra), “He’s going to sing.” It’s worth noting that Toaster immediately follows its best joke with a flat one, which it underlines. Glenn announces he wants to say ‘two words’ about his late mother. But he can only blubber “Mumma” twice before he breaks down. Cue comic score. “True to his word,” Shilpa says. “He only said two words.” More comedy music.
Fri, April 17 2026
Fri, April 17 2026
It’s a sweet premise. A scrooge named Ramakant (Rajkummar Rao) who’ll go to any lengths to save even six rupees. A wife named Shilpa (Sanya Malhotra) who won’t think twice before buying a decent wedding gift. A housing complex for seniors, the low rent just right for the miser. Neighbour D’souza Aunty (Seema Pahwa) who offers toast and a reduction in rent to eternally scrimping Ramakant. Glenn D’souza (Abhishek Banerjee), somewhat shady. Elderly Pherwani Aunty (Archana Puransingh). Sleazy minister Amol Amre (Jitendra Joshi) who must get his hands on a video clip exposing him as a womaniser. Inspector Balagode (Upendra Limaye), dispatched by the minister to deal with the blackmailer and retrieve the incriminating video. Ramakant on a mission to get back the expensive toaster he’d gifted a couple whose wedding has been called off.
Nukkad Naatak
Drama (Hindi)
After being caught robbing the college canteen, best friends Molshri and Shivang are expelled. To be reinstated, they must enroll five children from an impoverished slum into a local school.
Cast:
Molshri, Shivang Rajpal, Danish Husain, Nirmala Hajra, Lalit Saw, Monita Sinha, Mayank Shandilya, Kishore Kumar, Jay DeYonker
Director:
Tanmaya Shekhar
Writer:
Tanmaya Shekhar
Sun, April 19 2026
Nukkad Natak is a coming-of-age Hindi drama about two youngsters. Molshri (Molshri) is a rebellious student studying at the prestigious ZIT. She is full of fighting spirit and can’t stand injustice. She leads their university’s street play (nukkad natak) group called Abhay. Shivang (Shivang Rajpal), her classmate, is the opposite as he is shy and introverted. Joining Abhay through Molshri’s insistence provides him with new meaning in life as they throw light on various social evils through the group.
Fri, March 6 2026
It’s quite a responsibility to be trusted to engage with a debutante’s fragile creation. Operating outside the ‘system’ with few resources, featuring yet-to-be-proven faces – a newbie ‘indie’ film crew might be among the purest underdogs out there. It can colour the judgement of most fiercely ‘objective’ critics. Despite how much one might be rooting for a film, the experience of it rarely lies. The good intentions are visible, the rawness of craft is rationalised, the obvious missteps grate the senses, and the naive sincerity can be disarming. You want to be mindful of the limitations of a production like this, but also will kid-gloving the undertaking breed a level of indolence in the crew’s next outing? Will there be a next outing, if one employs the brutal honesty extended to other films out there? Is it fair to measure all films by similar yardsticks?
Fri, February 27 2026
t’s bittersweet when you learn of an independent film releasing against all odds. The more inspirational the journey is, the more complicated it gets for film critics who must approach it objectively. What if it’s not good, despite the sincerity and courage? What if the inventive process of making it is the best part of its legacy? What if the craft is consumed by underdog hype and passion? What if the behind-the-scenes story is more interesting than the film’s story? What sort of euphemisms might one have to use to be kinder to gutsy ‘outsider’ art? The anxiety is more heightened with a film like Tanmaya Shekhar’s Nukkad Naatak: a crowd-funded, self-promoted and self-distributed indie whose guerrilla marketing campaign features a recent cross-country road trip in a rented caravan. It wears its defiance on its sleeve. The premise is even designed to be curious and socially expressive — a sign that commentary might be used to offset a lack of depth.
Samay Raina: Still Alive
(Hindi)
Samay relives the turbulent fallout of the India's Got Latent controversy, a period marked by backlash, legal scrutiny, and stepping away from the spotlight.
Cast:
Samay Raina
Director:
Karan Asnani
Sun, April 19 2026
Samay Raina reveals his opportunistic soul in the self-aggrandising comedy special Still Alive. We discuss his decision to portray himself as a victim, to conflate the suffering of his parents with his own, and the consequences of giving in to bullies while projecting himself as a martyr. We also compare his stance to that of his fellow comedian Kunal Kamra and discuss the differences between the YouTube version and the live performance.
Toh Ti Ani Fuji
Romance, Drama (Marathi)
In a world where love is filtered, scored and predicted, a couple in Pune, India, collides in a fierce, consuming romance. What begins in urgency and desire slowly fractures. Time intrudes. Ambition shifts. Affection turns conditional. What once felt infinite begins to bruise and break. Seven years later, beneath the shadow of Mount Fuji, they meet again. Japan is quieter. The air is thinner. They are no longer who they were. Carrying different lives, different scars, they stand face to face with a past that never truly left them. Can love survive its own history or does it merely haunt those who try to return to it? Toh, Ti Ani Fuji is an intimate, visually driven meditation on love, memory and the fragile, devastating hope of second chances.
Cast:
Lalit Prabhakar, Mrinmayee Godbole, Omprakash Shinde
Director:
Mohit Takalkar
Sat, April 18 2026
Directed by Mohit Takalkar and written by Irawati Karnik, Toh, Ti Aani Fuji explores a turbulent relationship set against the backdrop of Japan. Mount Fuji may be dormant, but the relationship between Toh (Lalit Prabhakar) and Ti (Mrinmayee Godbole) is anything but — constantly simmering, erupting, and impossible to ignore.
Sat, April 11 2026
जापान के फुजी पर्वत को नखरे वाला पर्वत माना जाता है। कभी यह मीलों दूर से भी दिख जाता है तो कभी पास से भी नज़र नहीं आता है। ज़्यादातर तो यह बादलों में ही छिपा रहता है और कभी अचानक से मन मोहने वाली अदाएं बिखेरने लगता है। हालांकि यह सवा तीन सौ साल पहले आखिरी बार फटा था लेकिन आज भी इसे एक जीवित ज्वालामुखी माना जाता है। इस फिल्म में फुजी का क्या किरदार है, यह आगे समझेंगे लेकिन पहले यह जान लीजिए कि सोनीलिव पर आई यह एक मराठी फिल्म है जिसका मूल नाम ‘तो ती आणि फुजी’ (Toh Ti Ani Fuji) (मैं वो और फुजी Main Woh Aur Fuji) है और यह मराठी के साथ-साथ हिन्दी में भी देखी जा सकती है।
Sat, April 11 2026
A couple in Pune loses their way in an intense but toxic romance that collapses under the weight of ego and ambition. Seven years after their breakup, they unexpectedly reunite in Japan. Against the backdrop of Mount Fuji, they must confront their painful past and the possible road ahead. The film predominantly revolves around the couple, and both the leads, Lalit Prabhakar and Mrinmayee Godbole, hold the fort with assurance. Lalit plays the more complex role with a better character graph; he’s efficient because you ultimately understand the man’s trauma and also despise him for his abusive behaviour towards his partner. Mrinmayee Godbole, as the woman bearing the brunt of mounting debts and an insensitive love interest, delivers an intense yet delicate portrayal that lingers long after the film ends. Omprakash Shinde is not left with much to do. The child artiste Kabir Jueelee Deven makes a mark with his happy-go-lucky presence.