Sat, December 13 2025

Starring Radhika Apte, Tisca Chopra’s feature-length directorial debut is too familiar to be twisted

A small-town woman, Kavita (Radhika Apte), feels out of place at a South Delhi party. It’s a rainy day; she looks at a tree outside the window. Her husband’s friends are snooty and patronising. He has a roving eye. She catches him making out with one of the guests. She then gathers the high-society gang around her and starts to narrate a story in an earthy accent that makes them smirk. But the smirks don’t last long. Her “fiction” revolves around a housewife named Smita (Apte), a previous version of herself that they don’t know about. It goes thus. When Smita’s provocative cousin Shalini (Sauraseni Maitra) visits, her loan-riddled husband Pankaj (Anshumaan Pushkar) falls for the younger woman and the two start a torrid affair in the house behind Smita’s back. That’s not all, Shalini two-times Pankaj with a crooked cop named Ratan (Divyenndu); she’s stringing along two horndogs because why not. Needless to say, a heartbroken Smita is not pleased. And when a seemingly docile homemaker trapped in a setting full of predators and cheaters is not pleased, darkness is always around the corner.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

This is the kind of film that should leave you chilled, but the beats are familiar, you can see the climactic twist coming a mile off.

Love, lust and betrayal were the key elements of Chutney, the short film Tisca Chopra had produced back in 2016. Watching Saali Mohabbat reminded me strongly of that short– watch it if you haven’t– written and directed by Jyoti Kapur Das, which had begged to be a full-length feature narrative in the way it peeled back the dark layers that hide behind a seemingly normal household in Ghaziabad. The arrival of a perky young thing creating ripples in a marriage is not a new idea, but Chutney refreshed it with an interesting slate of actors: Tisca herself in the lead as the toothy plain-faced woman with a sharp brain, accompanied by Adil Hussain and Rasika Dugal.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

Despite a fun cast, the six-episode Netflix comedy is happy to be a rehashed portrait of single parenthood.

Given Hindi cinema’s long-standing relationship with hypermasculinity, it’s almost refreshing to come across a life comedy named Single Papa. Even the premise is a neat change — a single-parenthood story revolving around the kind of North Indian man-child character who would usually be the tortured hero of a romantic Bollywood film. The icing on this gluten-free cake is that Kunal Kemmu plays this man. For anyone who has followed Hindi film in the last few decades, it’s hard not to have a soft spot for former child star Kemmu — an underutilised, immensely likable and flexible performer who’s made a career out of not fitting into the conventional-star mold. I, for one, am always happy to see him on (or off) the screen. The vibes are just right, and there’s an authenticity about him that’s easy to enjoy.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

मां की ममता पर तो हमने बहुत कहानियां देखी हैं, मगर बाप की ‘बापता’ यानी बच्चे की परवरिश में पिता की अहमियत पर किस्से कम ही हैं। समाज के इसी स्टीरियोटाइप को तोड़ने की अच्छी कोशिश करती है वेब सीरीज सिंगल पापा। यह सीरीज एक सिंगल मर्द के बच्चा गोद लेने के संघर्षों, अकेले उसकी परवरिश की चुनौतियों की कभी गुदगुदाती, तो भावुक करती दास्तान है।

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

The premise of Kunal Kemmu show is interesting, and the setting is ripe for excavating societal hypocrisies revolving around parenthood, and while it’s at it, hoovering up issues like adoption, women’s rights, and of course, patriarchy.

What happens when a freshly-divorced dude decides that he wants to become a single papa? Gaurav Gahlot (Kunal Kemmu) and wife (Isha Talwar) have an amicable parting: he desperately wants a baby, she doesn’t. So when a baby appears out of the blue, our GG does the only thing his heart has desired for a long time: give the tyke his name, and bring him home. Except, he does it the other way round, and all hell breaks loose in GG’s conservative Punjabi household when the delighted scion appears with his tiny bundle, heading down the road towards formula and diapers and colic and sleepless nights.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

Sat, December 13 2025

Rian Johnson goes full gothic, combining it with a closed door murder, and the result is wonderful, keeping you glued to the screen all the way through.

Benoit Blanc is back, and this time it’s with a proper bang, after last outing’s disappointing thud. Fancy yachts and self-obsessed billionaires made for a very dull sleuthing turn indeed. For this third go round, Johnson goes full gothic, combining it with a closed door murder, and the result is wonderful: I was glued to the screen all the way through. You wouldn’t really call Jud (Josh O’ Connor) a failed priest, but he’s done something in the past which he shouldn’t have , and now he has to atone for his sins by going off to a small parish in upstate New York run by the commanding monsignor Jefferson (Josh Brolin) who keeps his small flock tightly leashed, helped by the devout Martha (Glenn Close) who, like the others, seems to be in his thrall.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

कपिल शर्मा कॉमेडी की दुनिया के धुरंधर हैं। बचकानी हरकतों और बातों से भी ऑडियंस को हंसा ले जाने की कला वह जानते हैं और यही काम वह अपनी फिल्म ‘किस किसको प्यार करूं 2’ में भी कर रहे हैं। यह फिल्म उनकी 2015 में आई डेब्यू फिल्म ‘किस किसको प्यार करूं’ का सीक्वल है, जिसमें वह तीन बीवियों के फेर में फंस जाते हैं। लेकिन कैसे? इस बात में लॉजिक ढूंढने की गलती, गलती से भी ना कीजिएगा।

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

10 साल से ऊपर हो गए जब कॉमेडी के लिए चर्चित कपिल शर्मा बतौर हीरो अपनी पहली फिल्म ‘किस किस को प्यार करूं’ लेकर आए थे। उस फिल्म में उन्होंने एक ऐसे युवक की भूमिका निभाई थी जिसे मजबूरी में तीन शादियां करनी पड़ती हैं और अब वह अपनी पसंद की लड़की से चौथा ब्याह रचाने जा रहा है। उस फिल्म में रोमांस की हल्की खुशबू के साथ कॉमेडी का तड़का था और दर्शकों ने उस फिल्म पर अपनी पसंदगी का ठप्पा भी लगाया था। यह फिल्म ‘किस किस को प्यार करूं 2’ उसी कड़ी की अगली फिल्म है। लेकिन यह उसका सीक्वेल नहीं है बल्कि लगभग उसी कहानी पर फिर से बनाई गई फिल्म है-कुछ अलग तड़के के साथ

Continue reading …

Fri, December 12 2025

Ready with a repartee and quick-witted as the host of a comedy show, Kapil Sharma’s image pulls it off. When Mohan/Mehmood/Michael (Kapil Sharma) marries Meera (Tridha Choudhury), Ruhi (Ayesha Khan) and Jenny (Parul Gulati) though his heart ticks only for Saniya (Hira Warina), he must think on his feet to glib talk his way out of situations. Writer-director Anukalp Goswami ensures that the fun never stops.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

At once delightful and incisive, Anusha Rizvi's film knocks more than one pigeonhole we all have begun to inhabit

In the mahaul of hate-mongering and venom-spewing comes a breath of fresh air. ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’, at once delightful and incisive, knocks more than one pigeonhole we all have begun to inhabit. Baring the religious divide yet batting for harmony, here is a film whose characters are as delectable as the leitmotif of the film. As the title suggests, we meet this ‘great Shamsuddin family’. The word ‘great’ is pun-intended, hides humour in its folds, but soon reveals their ‘great’ bonding and idiosyncrasies in the everyday acts.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

Fuelled by an endearing ensemble, writer-director Anusha Rizvi returns with a refreshingly unpretentious portrait of a modern Muslim family grappling with generational gaps and social tensions.

After weeks of shrill, strident films, The Great Shamshuddin Family offers the warmth of a quilt and the taste of ginger tea in a Delhi winter. Nearly 15 years after Peepli Live, Anusha Rizvi returns with a day-long glimpse into the life of a modern Indian Muslim family that is achingly human, steadfastly hopeful, and consistently humorous. Carrying tensions arising from interfaith relationships and generational grievances within its layers, the film gradually builds the tenuous relationship between the home and the world. From the passive aggression of liberals, the youthful presumptions, the manipulation of conservative but well-meaning elders, to the bitterness, the casual communal innuendos, and prejudices that we see around us, the film brings out the foreboding and the fears of social violence in our subconscious mind without pointing fingers.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

What is striking is there’s nothing loud or unnecessarily rah-rah in the way things proceed: being determinedly low-key is much more impactful.

An early scene sets the tone for this eight-episode SonyLIV series, when an unlikely bunch of footballers became a beacon of hope for the strife-torn Kashmir valley in 2016. Sohail (Ayyub), who has left his compromised journalistic job to help create a local football team, fetches up in a very Delhi sarkari outpost, and within a remarkably short while, convinces a babu to sign off on permissions required to set up a club. Anyone who has had any dealings with the sports ministry, or any other ministry for that matter, will know that these things take months, sometimes even years, of gentle persuasion and other means, to get anything done.

Continue reading …

Wed, December 10 2025

पर्दे पर कश्मीर के अक्सर दो ही पहलू देखने को मिलते हैं। एक धरती के जन्नत की खूबसूरती तो दूसरा आतंकवाद, मगर वेब सीरीज रियल कश्मीर फुटबॉल क्लब इससे इतर वादी के युवाओं की अपनी नई पहचान और सम्मान तलाशने की एक प्रेरक दास्तान है। कश्मीर के पहले प्रफेशनल फुटबॉल क्लब बनने की असल कहानी पर आधारित यह सीरीज कश्मीर का एक उम्मीद भरा नया चेहरा दिखाती है। कहानी कश्मीर में 2014 में आए बाढ़ के दो साल बाद 2016 में शुरू होती है, जब वादी के युवा रोजगार के लिए भटक रहे थे और लोकल नेता उनका इस्तेमाल प्रदर्शन और पत्थरबाजी के लिए कर रहे थे। इसी दौरान पेशे से पत्रकार सोहेल मीर (मोहम्मद जीशान अय्यूब) कश्मीर का अपना फुटबॉल क्लब शुरू करने का ख्वाब देखता है। इसमें उसका साथ देता है कश्मीरी पंडित बिजनेसमैन शिरीष केमू (मानव कौल)। बचपन में पलायन और अपने भाई को खोने का दर्द झेलने वाला शिरीष कश्मीर के युवाओं के लिए बेहतर रास्ते खोलना चाहता है। अब इन दोनों की जुझारू जोड़ी किस तरह एक कबाड़खाने से कश्मीर के पहले फुटबॉल क्लब की नींव रखती है? कैसे कुछ दिशाहीन, कुछ बेरोजगार तो कुछ अपने सपनों को दिल में कैद कर जीने को मजबूर युवाओं के साथ अपनी टीम खड़ी करती है और राष्ट्रीय लीग के मुकाबले तक पहुंचती है, यह सब सीरीज देखकर पता चलेगा।

Continue reading …

Wed, December 10 2025

The eight-episode series, inspired by true events, succeeds at simplifying a modern Kashmir tale through sports, humanity and balanced writing.

When it comes to reviewing shows, binge-watching is the default mode of the job. It’s mostly a mad rush to finish all the preview episodes and start writing. There’s no time to be immersed in a universe long enough; the next title is always waiting. So you’re more wired to look for inventive themes and catchy in-points. It’s not often critics get to see a show as it should be seen — steadily, on a drip, one episode at a time, spread over a few days. I had this rare luxury with Real Kashmir Football Club and its eight episodes. Ideal as it sounds, this can go wrong, too; the choice to walk through a show brings with it the risk of losing rhythm and interest. But I found myself ‘waiting’ to watch Real Kashmir Football Club and voluntarily returning to it: during meals, after breaks, before sleeping, between films. Not out of suspense to know what happens next, but out of curiosity to know more. That’s the sign of a rooted and fundamentally sound series. Like a good host, it invites you in without gimmicks and touristy offers, lets you experience it on your own terms, transcends terms like “addictive,” and allows you to establish more of a lived-in relationship. It’s not a perfect bond, but it can be a satisfying one. And it’s kind of fitting for a story set in Kashmir, the one place that cannot be reduced to snap judgments and plain scrutiny.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

The soul of Dhurandhar is rooted in quiet deception. Wait, I’m talking about Hamza Ali Mazari’s (Ranveer Singh) mission. He’s a spy operating across borders in this 214-minute film, and given this running time and the number of characters, motivations and political threads it handles, this film could very easily have collapsed into something rambling and frustrating. But it doesn’t, largely thanks to a smart structural decision: chapter segregation. The eight chapters keep the narrative in control, allowing the film to introduce competent characters like SP Aslam and Rehman Dakait as formidable, thinking opponents rather than fragile villains. The nuanced performances help too. Akshaye Khanna is potent, yes, but also so human in confusion and rage.

Continue reading …

Wed, December 10 2025

Aditya Dhar’s second film after 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' stars Ranveer Singh as a patriotic spy trapped in an inert and distracted action thriller.

Since deception is the language of a spy thriller, let’s pretend that movies exist entirely in isolation — like an introvert on a Saturday night. Let’s pretend that Dhurandhar, Aditya Dhar’s directorial return after Uri (2019), has absolutely nothing to do with the world around us. (One could argue that it doesn’t, but that’s a mob attack for another day). Let’s also pretend that film criticism is about seeing a movie for what it is, regardless of its moral character or ideology. It’s only fair, given that we all admire great serial killers for being awesome at what they do, legendary dictators for being no-nonsense leaders, wars for being the epitome of courage and technology, and plane crashes for doing tragedy so well.

Continue reading …

Mon, December 8 2025

A fictional narrative inspired by true incidents, Aditya Dhar’s action drama follows Hamza (Ranveer Singh), a mysterious Indian agent who embeds himself deep within Karachi’s mafia network (Lyari gangwar) to dismantle terror operations from the inside.

A fictional narrative inspired by true incidents, Aditya Dhar’s action drama follows Hamza (Ranveer Singh), a mysterious Indian agent who embeds himself deep within Karachi’s mafia network (Lyari gangwar) to dismantle terror operations from the inside. Structured across multiple chapters, the world-building is deliberate and immersive, pulling you into a gritty, violent universe that unfolds over nearly 3.5 hours. Yet, the runtime rarely feels overbearing thanks to Dhar’s stylish, tight storytelling.

Continue reading …

Sat, December 13 2025

Fri, December 12 2025

Boyapati Sreenu and Balakrishna’s film tries to cash in on prevailing sentiments with an apologetic excuse for a story

There is a scene in Akhanda 2: Thaandavam that is almost impossible to describe with a straight face. Somewhere in the snow-capped Himalayas, Balakrishna — as Akhanda, endowed with divine powers — bends over the antagonist to check if his heart still beats. This man has already survived one round of Akhanda’s wrath. His tongue had flown out (I wish I were exaggerating), but he apparently stitched it back on and returns to contribute to this talk-heavy film. This time, Akhanda wants to be absolutely certain. So he pierces the man with his mace, hoists him into the air, and swings him left and right several times.

Continue reading …

Fri, December 12 2025

Thu, December 11 2025

Noah Baumbach’s new Netflix film, ‘Jay Kelly’, suggests that the cost of stardom is rarely paid by the star alone

Director Noah Baumbach joins forces with George Clooney to deliver a sharply observed, melancholic study of celebrity, memory and regret. Clooney plays Kelly, a Hollywood icon forced to shake off the stardust and confront the impact of his choices. As he drifts between denial and self-awareness, he confronts the fallout of decades lived at the centre of his own universe. What Baumbach attempts, and often pulls off (but not throughout) with considerable elegance, is a meta-fictional story of an ambitious man’s hubris. This is a film about Jay watching his own mythology crumble, only to realise and awaken to a truer, humbler version of himself.

Continue reading …

Thu, December 11 2025

It’s one thing to make a biography or documentary on an over-exposed crime episode. It’s another to sprinkle it with cinematic liberties and hope it magically transforms into a chilling superstar saga. Jithin K. Jose’s debut feature Kalamkaval attempts the latter and ends up as an engaging yet deeply implausible effort that feels dystopian. Tragically so, because almost nothing in its setup or screenplay reflects the conservative, observant, and perpetually inquisitive social fabric of Kerala.

Continue reading …

Mon, December 8 2025

Sat, December 6 2025

Director Jithin K Jose's crime drama, featuring Mammootty and Vinayakan, is a gripping thriller about a psychopathic killer. With exceptional performances and some delicious twists along the way, the film could have benefited from a crisper screenplay.

That Mammootty is playing his darkest role yet is something that’s known to everyone who has watched Kalamkaval’s promos. With his amazing track record of pulling off diverse roles with different levels of complexity, what does Mammootty have up his sleeve this time to blow our minds? Sharing the screen with him is another beast of an actor, Vinayakan. Has Jithin K Jose’s Kalamkaval lived up to expectations and imagination? Let’s find out!

Continue reading …

Thu, December 11 2025

Do we think enough about the filler conversations our mothers have with us? The questions usually follow a familiar template, beginning with “How was your day?” and ending with “What was for dinner?” If we set aside the romanticized ideas about moms that cinema projects, these exchanges can sound mundane, even annoying. And yet, in a relationship as pristine in theory as this one, it never feels polite enough to say this aloud.

Continue reading …

Sat, November 29 2025

There are a couple of interesting elements in here, chief of them being the strained mother-son relationship, which spirals after the death of the father.

Truth be told, the only reason why I was interested in Kaisi Yeh Paheli is because I wanted to see what Sukant Goel was up to this time, as I had enjoyed his turn in the sadly-truncated Netflix series Kaala Pani. In Kaisi Yeh Paheli, he plays a son who dislikes his mother intensely, sustaining the emotion even when he is tasked with cracking the case of a young woman’s murder.

Continue reading …

Sat, November 29 2025

Ananyabrata Chakravorty’s small-town whodunnit has the ideas, but fails to contain its excitement

Conceptually, Kaisi Ye Paheli goes for broke. The 95-minute independent film, written and directed by Ananyabrata Chakravorty, wears the cloak of yet another small-town whodunnit. There’s a death in misty Kalimpong; sullen cop Uttam (Sukant Goel) and his boss, Tamang (Chittaranjan Giri), are flummoxed by the details: a religious girl poisoned by a holy sweet? The theatrical Bondo (Rajit Kapur, always) is summoned from Kolkata by the powers that be; the senior sleuth has a direct line to “Didi,” and behaves like he’s an amalgamation of Byomkesh Bakshi and Feluda in his head. Meanwhile, Uttam’s home situation is complicated — he resents his widowed mother (Sadhana Singh) for various reasons, not least because she constantly recalls their past life and late husband. The mother-son bond is strained, she aches for his attention, so it’s amusing when Tamang and team unofficially recruit her to be part of the investigation because of her passion for Bengali detective novels. Uttam’s colleagues confide in her like sons in their downtime; it’s a quirky touch without the energy of a quirky touch.

Continue reading …