Disclosure Day
Science Fiction, Thriller, Action (English)
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? (more…)
Main Vaapas Aaunga
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
An elderly man remains haunted by a childhood romance and memories of love lost during the 1947 Partition of India. As he shares his story with his grandson, the past unfolds through memories of migration, longing, and a love that (more…)
Made in India: A Titan Story
Drama (Hindi)
In a market ruled by smuggling and foreign brands, a determined Indian man Xerxes Desai, with the help of his team, dares to build a world-class watch from scratch. Battling rejection, failure, and global humiliation, they transform Titan into a (more…)
Guild Reviews by Film
Raakh
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
When two teenagers vanish, a close-knit family is shattered and the city is left on edge. Determined to uncover the truth, a relentless officer leads a nationwide manhunt that pulls him deep into a world of violence and human depravity.
Cast:
Ali Fazal, Sonali Bendre, Aamir Bashir, Akash Makhija, Ramandeep Yadav, Anshul Chauhan, Rakesh Bedi, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Director:
Prosit Roy
Writer:
Anusha Nandakumar, Sandeep Saket
Sat, June 13 2026
Sat, June 13 2026
Led by an excellent ensemble, ‘Raakh’ is an immersive investigative crime drama that sifts through Delhi’s lost innocence
The flood of true-crime content has turned the living room into a dark laboratory. It feels unsettling to measure which series ‘grieves better,’ which depicts ‘more realistic’ violence, or which frames ‘suffering believably’. The couch feels like a spectator’s seat to human misery. Yet, this discomfort perhaps serves the point. The niceness of a living room is often a bubble, while the city outside – as Raakh reminds this week – remains equally brutal and indifferent. In the sweltering haze of August 1978, a sudden rain washes away Delhi’s innocence. When two children, Suman and Sahil Arora (Divya and Vivan Sharma), vanish into the maw of a predatory night, the world of a decorated army man, Ashok, and his wife Mona (Aamir Bashir and Sonali Bendre), dissolves into unsolvable grief. Into this void steps Sub Inspector Jayprakash Jatav (Ali Fazal), a rookie defined by the sharp crease of his uniform and the heavy burden of his birth, hunting two shadows who kill with the casualness of a seasonal breeze. Inspired by the infamous Ranga-Billa case, Raakh is not merely a chase, but a dissection of the anatomy of crime in the Capital.
Sat, June 13 2026
Unsettling, disturbing, and difficult to watch at times, but undeniably important viewing
An atmospheric and deeply unsettling crime drama, Raakh draws inspiration from one of India’s most chilling criminal cases, the infamous Ranga-Billa case (1978) that shook the nation and forever altered the way people viewed safety in the capital. Most crimes are tragically remembered for the notorious criminals who commit them, while the victims are often forgotten with time. In a sea of cop dramas, Raakh urges you to look beyond the investigation and examine the origin, aftermath, and far-reaching consequences of a brutal crime on society at large. The lingering trauma of grieving parents seeking accountability and justice after losing their children makes for an emotionally difficult watch. Trial by Fire, led by Rajshri Deshpande and Abhay Deol, explored similar emotional devastation effectively. Raakh serves as a reminder of humanity at its worst, and how such horrors force ordinary people to live with endless guilt — what if I had done something differently? Yet the real sickness lies with the criminal mind to begin with.
Governor
Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
Set against Indias 1990 economic crisis, Governor follows Raman, a reluctant bureaucrat unexpectedly appointed as the Governor of the RBI when the nation stands on the brink of bankruptcy. As inflation rises, fuel runs low, and panic spreads, Raman must navigate political pressure and a collapsing system to prevent the country from falling apart.
Cast:
Manoj Bajpayee, Adah Sharma, Noushad Mohamed Kunju, Madhoo, John Forbes, Devaang Bagga, Paritosh Sand, Krisha Kurup, Jaywant Wadkar, Sanjay Sonu
Director:
Chinmay Mandlekar
Writer:
Saurabh Bharat, Ravi Asrani, Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Sat, June 13 2026
A revisionist manifesto disguised as history, director Chinmay Mandlekar reduces a multi-layered institutional rescue to a one-man army myth
An economic thriller that utilises the textures of India’s Balance of Payments crisis of 1991 to deliver a message on state power, centralised authority, and the perceived liabilities of democratic noise, Governor: The Silent Saviour is yet another example of how history is being instrumentalised on screen today. It is not just looking back to understand the crippling economic impact of the Gulf War in 1991; it is looking back to legitimise the governance model of 2026. The timing of the film’s release feels remarkably prescient because India is once again navigating severe macroeconomic tremors triggered directly by a West Asian crisis, with petrol prices soaring, and rumours of depleting gold reserves floating in the air again.
Fri, June 12 2026
It could’ve turned into a documentary. But mercifully, director Chinmay Mandlekar and his array of co-writers (Ravi Asrani, Saurabh Bharat, Subhendu Bhattacharya, Vipul Amrutlal Shah) use brief touches of humour and bring human, familial elements into the storytelling, to make it an interesting watch. Outside, the financial condition is dire with spiralling prices. Inside, new RBI Governor A Ramanan (Manoj Bajpayee) is bemused by the celebrations to welcome him. There is a lightness in the office atmosphere (like the lift scene) that keep the telling easy and a tough topic like an economic crisis is put across simply, making it comprehensible to the layman. Add to it, the human inspirations that surround Ramanan. Wife Vandita (Madhoo Shah) with her pujas, prayers and positivity, the Deputy Governor (Noushad Mohammed Kunju) who inspires his senior with the line, ‘Fathers don’t quit’ to pull him out of a low mood, an office peon whose borrowings help Ramanan think out of the box.
Fri, June 12 2026
Directed by Chinmay D Mandlekar, Governor stars Bajpayee as former RBI governor S Venkitaramanan, whose tenure overlapped with an economic crisis in the ‘90s. Venkitaramanan inherited an economy bent out of shape by the US-Iraq war. Entirely by accident, the movie finds itself playing against a similar geopolitical backdrop (this time the US-Iran war). But now, there’s no Congress to blame, as the film does for the past crisis.
You could bet your fast-falling rupees that the unit behind the film, Governor — produced by the same Vipul Amrutlal Shah who served up the deeply irresponsible The Kerala Story — had no idea that the universe would conspire to undermine whatever claims they’re trying to make here. The irony may be lost on the film’s team, of course, given a grasp of storytelling looser than the morals of mainstream Bollywood. Starring Manoj Bajpayee as an approximation of the former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor S Venkitaramanan, whose tenure overlapped with an economic crisis in the ‘90s that brought India to the brink of bankruptcy, the film is gratingly loud, ridiculously plotted and delivered with an amateurishness bordering on arrogance.
Main Vaapas Aaunga
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
An elderly man remains haunted by a childhood romance and memories of love lost during the 1947 Partition of India. As he shares his story with his grandson, the past unfolds through memories of migration, longing, and a love that endures across generations.
Cast:
Vedang Raina, Sharvari, Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Danish Pandor, Anjana Sukhani, Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Suri, Manish Chaudhary, Vinod Nagpal
Director:
Imtiaz Ali
Writer:
Imtiaz Ali, Nayanika Mahtani
Sat, June 13 2026
Anchored by Naseeruddin Shah’s cinematic power, Imtiaz Ali crafts a deeply evocative narrative that feels like a collective ache for human connection and healing in fractured times
A sweeping, bittersweet examination of displacement, Main Vaapas Aaunga is a timely, intimate, poetic character study about how geopolitical lines permanently alter the trajectory of human hearts. Imtiaz Ali’s filmography is built around characters who travel in search of their souls. Here, he evolves from his road movies and, together with co-writer Nayanika Mehtani, grounds this obsession in the tragedy of Partition, turning his lens toward the refugee crisis, where transit is no longer a choice of self-exploration, but a desperate battle for survival.
Sat, June 13 2026
Sat, June 13 2026
79 years have passed, and it is evident that India and Pakistan still bear the scars of the Partition. While the rare surviving victims and their descendants have somehow learned the quiet dignity of forgiving, a parallel political machinery remains ever-ready to weaponize the tragedy with convenient, revisionist theories. Against this polarized backdrop, Imtiaz Ali arrives with Main Vaapas Aaunga – a remarkably neutral, almost defiantly apolitical look at one of the subcontinent’s defining horrors. It is a film that approaches Partition not as a political failure but as a deeply personal one, choosing to focus on the people who were uprooted, separated, and left waiting for promises that would never be fulfilled.
Disclosure Day
Science Fiction, Thriller, Action (English)
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?
Cast:
Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Michael Gaston, Gabby Beans
Director:
Steven Spielberg
Sat, June 13 2026
Sat, June 13 2026
Master filmmaker Steven Spielberg is back with a theme that made him a household name. Close Encounters of the Third Kind arrived in 1977 and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial followed in 1982. After all these years, no one crafts a science-fiction thriller involving extraterrestrials quite like Spielberg.
Fri, June 12 2026
A rare Spielberg movie that has to pretend to be smart. The harder it pretends, the less transfixing it is.
Disclosure Day hits the ground running. Walking is not its style. We’re flung into a story that’s already in motion. It’s a bit like joining a film midway through: no context, no beginning or warning. Catch me if you can, it seems to say. A young cybersecurity specialist (Josh O’Connor) has something in his bag that a shadowy supervillain (Colin Firth) and his deep-state corporation wants. They’ve abducted said hero’s girlfriend (Eve Hewson) to make the trade at a wrestling arena. But this hero, Daniel, somehow escapes with both girlfriend and bag intact. (If the baddies were competent, the story would’ve ended in a minute). So Daniel was being chased, stays chased, and remains on the run. A meteorologist with psychic powers, Margaret (Emily Blunt), joins him along the way.
Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata
Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
Inside Cama Hospital, one of the sites targeted during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, nurses, ward boys, cleaners, lift operators, security personnel, and administrative workers keep 400 people alive while armed assailants struck the city around them.
Cast:
Kangana Ranaut, Girija Oak, Smita Tambe, Esha Dey, Asha Shelar, Suhita Thatte, Rasika Agashe, Prasad Oak, Aditya Mishra, Vijay Gokhale
Director:
Manoj Tapadia
Writer:
Manoj Tapadia
Sat, June 13 2026
Cinematically, the first round of applause goes to Kangana Ranaut for not only playing Cama nurse Geeta Madhav Gandhare with professional efficiency but for also not overshadowing her colleagues Girija Oak, Smita Tambe and the others who play her fellow nurses. It is as an ensemble cast should be, screen time shared by all. In real life, a resounding round of applause has been long overdue for the feisty nurses of Cama who worked fearlessly and tirelessly on a night they were not trained for. Nobody was prepared for a terror attack on Mumbai where blood was splattered in restaurants, roads, railway stations, five-star hotels and a hospital.
Fri, June 12 2026
ड्यूटी फर्स्ट…! बस यह कहा और निकल गई काम पर। बीमार बच्चे को छोड़, अधूरा खाना छोड़, आधी नींद छोड़, फुनफुनाती सास को छोड़, भुनभुनाते पति को छोड़, खुद अपनी खराब तबियत को पीछे छोड़ वह पहुंची अस्पताल और यूनिफॉर्म पहनते ही उसके भीतर आ गई सुपर पॉवर। जी हां, यह होती है नर्स। ऐसी ही एक सुपर नर्स अंजलि कुल्थे और उन जैसे कई कर्मठ कर्मियों के साहस को सलाम करने आई है यह फिल्म जो न सिर्फ पूछती है बल्कि बताती भी है कि कौन हैं हमारे असली ‘भारत भाग्य विधाता’। 26 नवंबर, 2008 की उस मनहूस रात मुंबई की छाती को ज़ख्मी करने आए दस पाकिस्तानी आतंकियों में से दो इस्माइल खान व अजमल कसाब कामा अस्पताल में भी जा घुसे थे। तब महिलाओं और बच्चों के इस अस्पताल के स्टाफ ने साहस का परिचय देते हुए सारे मरीजों को यहां-वहां छुपा कर वार्ड के ताले व बत्तियां बंद कर उन्हें बचाया था। इसी स्टाफ में थीं नर्स अंजलि कुल्थे जिन्होंने उस रात न सिर्फ 20 गर्भवती महिलाओं को बचाया बल्कि बाद में ज़िंदा पकड़े गए एकमात्र आतंकी अजमल कसाब को पहचानने में पुलिस की मदद भी की थी। इस फिल्म की नर्स गीता का किरदार उन्हीं अंजलि से प्रेरित है।
Backrooms
Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction (English)
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.
Cast:
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, Avan Jogia, Robert Bobroczkyi, Ember Ambrose, Krista Kosonen, Philip Granger
Director:
Kane Parsons
Writer:
Will Soodik
Sat, June 13 2026
Backrooms joins the growing list of films made by directors who transitioned from YouTube to feature filmmaking. Directed by 21-year-old Kane Parsons, it presents itself as a high-concept film—perhaps so high-concept that grasping exactly what it is trying to say becomes a challenge. By the end, one is left wondering what the point of it all was
Fri, June 12 2026
The 20-year-old behind the viral YouTube series turns his liminal-space nightmare into a feature that is cannier and lonelier than its origins.
Kane Parsons, the debut director of Backrooms, is 20 years old. It is the sort of detail you want to hold against the film, but you cannot. Parsons made his name in high school, helming a YouTube series called Backrooms. Like the film, it grew out of a 2019 image of an empty yellow room: the patron saint of the internet’s endless fascination with liminal spaces, those transitional, in-between places that feel wrong the moment you find them empty. The leap from that to an A24 feature (the film is based on his series) should have flattened the whole thing into content. Instead, Backrooms turns out cannier and more searching than its origins, spending its runtime worrying at questions about memory and what it means to be lost, which are far older than the internet that taught Parsons how to make it.
Thu, June 11 2026
The landscape of filmmaking has changed. So has the language of horror. Once defined by grand big-screen experiences, some of the most exciting and innovative horror content now emerges on YouTube. A prime example is filmmaker Kane Parsons’s Backrooms, which took the U.S. and horror communities worldwide by storm. Defying the notion that creativity peaks with age, the 20-year-old director’s feature adaptation delivers relentless terror without the backing of a massive budget, proving that atmosphere and imagination can be far more unsettling than scale. Set in 1990, Backrooms follows Clarke (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a failed architect who now runs the even more dubious Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, a vast furniture store fronted by a pirate mascot with a wooden leg. Seeking therapy, Clarke begins sessions with Mary (Renate Reinsve), who notices patterns in his aggression and gradually grows curious about his mysterious claims. By the film’s third act, she uncovers what Clarke, his colleague Kat, and Kat’s boyfriend Bobby have been through, much of which we have already witnessed through a series of unsettling grainy camera footage. This time, Mary becomes our eyes and ears inside the abyss.
Every Year After
Drama (English)
Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A week to get it right. A fun, sweeping, romantic story that asks the question, what if your first love actually was your soulmate?
Cast:
Sadie Soverall, Matt Cornett, Aurora Perrineau, Abigail Cowen, Michael Bradway, Joseph Chiu, Elisha Cuthbert
Fri, June 12 2026
Based on the novel by Carley Fortune, a couple's love story is examined over years as they meet every summer.
The romance genre has gotten a new lease of life thanks to streaming. Amazon Prime Video is doubling down on its book-to-screen adaptations. The latest series that is set to dominate this summer is Every Year After, based on Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After novel. The simple premise is that a former couple reunites after a death, bringing up past feelings and emotions. The friends-to-lovers trope is explored nicely in the eight-part show, which includes plenty of romantic drama for all of its characters. The bingeable show is very similar to another Amazon Prime Video hit, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and could appeal to its fans as well.
Cape Fear
Drama, Crime (English)
A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden when Max Cady, the notorious killer they are responsible for putting behind bars, is let out of prison and wants revenge.
Cast:
Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, Patrick Wilson, CCH Pounder, Lily Collias, Joe Anders, Anna Baryshnikov, Jamie Hector, Malia Pyles
Thu, June 11 2026
A gripping psychological battle
In the fall of 2007, Anton Chigurh walked on to our screens and drove fear into our hearts, one which deepens with every rewatch of No Country For Old Men. The neo-Western crime thriller, directed by the irrepressible Coen Brothers, starred Javier Bardem as Chigurh, with the versatile Spanish actor turning in a deathly, remorseless, unemotional act that is unanimously cited as a masterpiece of cinematic villainy. The chilling Chigurh won Bardem a host of awards — including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA — with one important footnote being attached to his portrayal for posterity: the cold, unstoppable killer-for-hire, distinguished by that iconic bowl-cut, has been crowned as “the most realistic film depiction of a psychopath” in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Fri, June 5 2026
Reinvents the classic thriller with a modern edge, anchored by Javier Bardem's chilling performance as Max Cady.
There’s a specific cruelty in asking an audience to hold Robert De Niro‘s memory in their head while watching anything. Scorsese’s 1991 Cape Fear is one of the most viscerally unpleasant American studio films ever greenlit. It was a picture so brutally disturbing that it feels like it physically assaults you. De Niro’s Max Cady showed that when the id snaps and has a grudge, it’s almost like unleashing raw fury from God. Nick Antosca’s ten-episode Apple TV limited series (executive-produced, with some degree of irony, by both Martin Scorsese himself and Steven Spielberg) has the considerable audacity to set up shop in that shadow and try to grow something in the dark. Remarkably, it partly succeeds.
Fri, June 5 2026
Created by Nick Antosca, the series remake digs deep into the characters played by Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson
The latest star-led prestige drama from Apple TV is Cape Fear. Created by Nick Antosca, the new remake based on John D. MacDonald’s book The Executioners and the previous Hollywood films elongates the story of vengeance. It expands the roles of the Bowden family while creating an aura of ambiguity around notorious villain Max Cady, now played by Javier Bardem. With the backing of Oscar-winning filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, the new Cape Fear is a chilling page-turner and psychological thriller you just can’t get enough of.
Made in India: A Titan Story
Drama (Hindi)
In a market ruled by smuggling and foreign brands, a determined Indian man Xerxes Desai, with the help of his team, dares to build a world-class watch from scratch. Battling rejection, failure, and global humiliation, they transform Titan into a symbol of national pride and innovation.
Cast:
Naseeruddin Shah, Jim Sarbh, Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Lakshvir Saran, Kaveri Seth, Namita Dubey, Joy Sengupta, Ashwath Bhatt, Prateeksha Lonkar, Paresh Ganatra
Director:
Robby Grewal
Writer:
Karan Vyas
Wed, June 10 2026
Though the series in parts does look like a corporate film, the story and the acting make it an engaging watch.
In India, making a film/web series based on real events/people is an adventure sport. There’s no way it can criticise political powers without being selective. Real people/organisations depicted in the narrative need to sign off on permissions before one depicts them, which becomes trickier if the depiction is anything beyond heroic or idealistic. The legal departments comb through the script picking apart inane details; one might argue such films/shows are made by lawyers as much as filmmakers. No wonder most look timid and cauterised. The additional obstacle for Robbie Grewal’s Made in India: A Titan Story, adapted from Vinay Kamath’s book, Titan: Inside India’s Most Successful Consumer Brand (2018), is that it’s also partly produced by Titan.
Fri, June 5 2026
Director Robbie Grewal’s series chronicling the origins of the Tata Empire’s iconic watch brand, for The Hollywood Reporter India. Based on Vinay Kamath’s book Titan: Inside India’s Most Successful Consumer Brand, the show follows how, through the 70s and 80s, Tata executive Xerxes Desai (Jim Sarbh) founded Titan and built a world-class watch under the guidance of JRD Tata (Naseeruddin Shah). Suchin finds the Amazon MX Player series warm, deeply felt and immensely huggable, drawing an unavoidable comparison to Rocket Boys given the shared heart-first DNA. He argues that more than a corporate success story, this is a tale framed as a fable of national pride, but one that soars because of its delicate love for its characters rather than its milestones. Across six achingly sincere episodes, he cares about the Titan story because he cares about the figures behind it.
Fri, June 5 2026
Robbie Grewal’s six-episode drama about the rise of an iconic Indian brand unfolds as more than just a designer moment in time
In theory, nothing about Made In India: A Titan Story is supposed to work. Starting with that corporate-core title. It’s hard not to be wary of well-mounted business success stories about brands and institutions that still exist. There’s the thinnest line between promotional productions and historical dramas. This six-episode series is adapted from Vinay Kamath’s book about the rise of Titan, the world-class watchmaking company founded by Xerxes Desai in pre-liberalisation India. It’s not exactly a rags-to-riches tale; it opens with Desai well into his career, and already an integral part of The Tata Group. It’s not your typical underdog tale either; Desai’s mentor is grand old J.R.D Tata himself, so even when Titan runs into its many bureaucratic and funding roadblocks, it’s not like the team has the odds entirely stacked against them. There’s also the ready-made patriotism angle; Titan unfolds to put the country on a map dominated by shiny Swiss companies. On paper, the series has all the ingredients of a persuasive marketing campaign. For a viewer, it’s the equivalent of trying to root for a nepo-baby in a landscape full of outsiders.
Warrant
Crime, Mystery, Drama (Tamil)
A bullied and vulnerable small‑town constable transforms into a brutal force while solving forgotten warrant cases, until a custodial death forces the law to judge the man he has become.
Cast:
Prashanth Pandiraj, Balaji Sakthivel, Kaali Venkat, Kausalya, Aruldoss, MV Namritha, Aruljothi Arockiaraj, Chaya Devi, Vaiyapuri, Meena
Director:
Vignesh Natarajan
Writer:
Prashanth Pandiraj, Vignesh Natarajan
Tue, June 9 2026
பல்வேறு அரசுப் பணிகளுக்கு முயன்ற பிறகு வேறு வழியில்லாமல் காவல்துறைக்கு வருகிறார் கோட்டை கருப்பசாமி (பிரசாந்த் பாண்டிராஜ்). காவல் நிலையத்தின் பரபரப்பான சூழல், அங்கிருக்கும் நடைமுறைகள் அவருக்குப் புதிதாக இருப்பதால், அதற்கேற்ப தன்னைத் தகவமைத்துக்கொள்வதிலும் அவருக்குச் சிக்கல் ஏற்படுகிறது. ஒரு தருணத்தில் பிடிபட்ட ஒரு திருடன், அவரைத் தாக்கிவிட்டுத் தப்பித்துவிடுகிறான். அதனால் பிரச்னைகளுடன் சேர்த்து கேலிகளையும் சந்திக்கிறார். அதன் பிறகு பழைய வழக்கு கோப்புகள் அவரிடம் ஒப்படைக்கப்பட்டு வாரண்ட்' டூட்டி போடப்படுகிறது. அந்த வழக்குகளில் சம்பந்தப்பட்டவர்களை அவர் கண்டுபிடித்தாரா, காவல் நிலையத்தில் கேலி செய்தவர்கள் முன்பு தன்னை நிரூபித்தாரா என்பதை எட்டு எபிசோடுகளில் சொல்கிறது இந்த `ஜீ5’ சீரீஸ்.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai
Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
When Jass leaves his marriage over conflicting priorities, a new romance abroad is upended by shocking revelations, forcing him to confront love, loyalty, and the true meaning of commitment.
Cast:
Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, Maniesh Paul, Chunky Panday, Jimmy Shergill, Mouni Roy, Rakesh Bedi, Kubbra Sait, Rajesh Kumar
Director:
David Dhawan
Tue, June 9 2026
The David Dhawan universe of comedies delighted at least two generations, but the impact of those tried-and-tested funny games is fading
Varun Dhawan has made a decent living playing the man who refuses to grow up. Once again, his father David Dhawan, in what’s billed as his last directorial venture, gives the son a character that requires Varun to be in ‘Energiser Bunny’ mode throughout. Pause and thairaav are negligible words in the Dhawan universe of comedies that has delighted at least two generations of viewers. But the impact of those tried-and-tested funny games is fading. That’s best evident in Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’s hero, who takes the cake in his ability to believe he’s beyond wrongdoing and in the sympathy he feels entitled to.
Sat, June 6 2026
Call me a cynic, but a film with both Ishq and Jawani in its title had me wary from the outset—and unfortunately, my apprehensions proved well-founded. Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is cringe-inducing with a capital C.
Sat, June 6 2026
A classic David Dhawan escapist marital roller coaster that works overtime to make us submit to the rhythm of the ridiculous.
When in form, the infectious, chaotic energy of David Dhawan’s cinema can make even the most cynical critic melt. After a lull at the box office, the sultan of slapstick invokes a title from his inventory of playful songs and recreates the vibe of a period in Hindi cinema where logic politely steps aside to make way for a relentless cascade of laugh-out-loud misunderstandings. Dressed in a slick, contemporary cover, he partners with writers Yunus Sajawal and Farhad Samji to generate rapid-fire, rhyming situational humour that once defined the Govinda-Dhawan tempo. In his son Varun Dhawan, he has a performer who can deliver Govinda’s frantic spirit and channel the charm of a lovable rascal.
Maa Behen
Comedy, Thriller (Hindi)
In this dark comedy, a woman calls her estranged daughters in the middle of the night with chilling news — there's a dead body in her kitchen.
Cast:
Madhuri Dixit, Triptii Dimri, Ravi Kishan, Dharna Durga, Jatin Sarna, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Arunoday Singh, Shardul Bhardwaj
Director:
Suresh Triveni
Tue, June 9 2026
The film dives into the complex mother-daughter relationship, unexplored in mainstream Hindi cinema, with a distinct, quirky approach
“Daayan”. “Chudail”. “Vaishya”. “Chhichhori”. “Massage queen”. “Husband killer”. “Rekha ka dekha”. In Maa Behen, the list of slanders that Rekha (Madhur Dixit Nene) is subjected to is endless. There are multiple urban legends of her exploits in the locality—true or not is up for debate—but director Suresh Triveni and writer Pooja Tolani make one thing clear from the onset: Rekha is a single parent who has raised two daughters, Jaya (Triptii Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga), on her own. That the daughters too believe some of these rumours around their mother is a source of laughs, not tension, in the film. Perhaps there’s no more complex relationship than mother-daughter. Surprisingly, it’s an unexplored dynamic in mainstream Hindi cinema, and Maa Behen dives into it with a distinct, quirky approach. There’s distrust, finger-pointing, screaming contests and constant reprimanding from both sides.
Sun, June 7 2026
Promising premise, uneven execution, sharp performances, and missed opportunities for wickedly subversive humour.
Every actor of consequence harbours a desire to inhabit roles that foreground performance—particularly those that test their flair for comedy, that most elusive of arts requiring instinct, rhythm, and razor-sharp timing. While legends such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, alongside actors of formidable gravitas like Dilip Kumar and Irrfan Khan, have traversed the delicate line between the tragic and the comic with enviable ease, many have faltered in a genre that demands spontaneity and wit in equal measure. It is with such expectations that one approaches Maa Behen, a Netflix offering headlined by Madhuri Dixit. Directed by Suresh Triveni—who made a promising debut with the gently humorous Tumhari Sulu before veering into more sombre territory—the film attempts to mine a vein of humour that Hindi cinema seldom exploits with conviction: black comedy.
Sat, June 6 2026
If you grew up in a colony in a village or small town, chances are there was that one household you were asked to stay away from. You aren’t allowed to play with the children over there. The reason is a woman – usually very beautiful – who is believed to be a femme fatale. It’s all fully based on hearsay, and we get colourful stories of the woman’s tantalizing ways, whereas the householder is blissfully unaware. In Suresh Triveni’s Netflix Original film Maa Behen, we get a woman of this kind. Attractive, coquettish, and the object of every man’s fantasy (and every woman’s disdain), Rekha (Madhuri Dixit) is a mom to two firebrand girls, Jaya (Triptii Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga). Together, they headline a wild and supremely entertaining feminist rib-tickler that would force you to exclaim, “Why is this not a series?”