Vishwanath & Sons
Drama, Romance (Tamil)
Sanjay Vishwanath is an acclaimed professional handgunner in his 40s with a major stake in fame and wealth. When he comes across a woman named Maddy in her 20s, their dynamic poses many issues that they must come to terms (more…)
The End of Oak Street
Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller (English)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings. (more…)
Awarapan 2
Action, Drama, Romance (Hindi)
19 years later, Shivam is back. A man haunted by grief and loss, searching for a purpose for his life. (more…)
Max, Min & Meowzaki
Family, Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
Max and Min are about to break up. They argue endlessly about dividing their possessions, including their cat, Meowzaki, whom they have named after their favorite artist Miyazaki Hayao. Max’s father Ramesh, who lost his wife and has since been (more…)
Batwara 1947
Action, Drama, War (Hindi)
The story of an elderly Hindu woman who refuses to leave her ancestral home in Lahore, only to have a Muslim refugee family from Lucknow allotted to her house following the events of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan. (more…)
Guild Reviews by Film
Mutiny
Action, Thriller (English)
After witnessing his billionaire boss' murder and being framed for the crime, Cole Reed boards a cargo ship on a one-man crusade to avenge his boss' death only to discover an international conspiracy.
Cast:
Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Roland Møller, Ramon Tikaram, Arnas Fedaravičius, Jason Wong, Adrian Lester, Chaneil Kular, Simon Kluth, Lee Charles
Director:
Jean-François Richet
Fri, August 21 2026
Jason Statham is back with Mutiny, another action film that gives him exactly the kind of role his fans expect. Statham plays Cole Reed, a former Special Forces operative framed for his billionaire boss's murder — and his search for the truth leads to a massive ship and a much bigger conspiracy.
Jason Statham is back with Mutiny, another action film that gives him exactly the kind of role his fans expect from him. Statham plays Cole Reed, a former Special Forces operative who is now working in private security. His billionaire boss is murdered and Cole is quickly made the prime suspect. He knows he has been framed and sets out to find the people responsible. His search eventually takes him to a massive ship, where he discovers that the murder is connected to a much bigger conspiracy. The story is familiar, and the film doesn’t really try to reinvent the action genre. There is a lot of chasing, fighting and shooting, with Statham moving from one dangerous situation to another.
Batwara 1947
Action, Drama, War (Hindi)
The story of an elderly Hindu woman who refuses to leave her ancestral home in Lahore, only to have a Muslim refugee family from Lucknow allotted to her house following the events of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
Cast:
Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol, Abhimanyu Singh, Kanikka Kapur, Khushi Hajare, Mithun Chakraborty, Mona Singh
Director:
Rajkumar Santoshi
Thu, August 20 2026
Do we really need to see another film on Partition? Especially one that comes right on the heels of Main WapisAaunga? Yours truly certainly had her doubts. After all, it’s not the first time Sunny Deol has crossed over to Pakistan. Who could ever forget the jatt driving the truck in Gadar? What was he going to do this time? Fortunately, all questions are answered and all doubts assuaged after watching Batwara 1947. To say that we “enjoy” the film feels perfectly fine as a sentence.However in the context of a movie dealing with Partitionthe word becomes problematic. How can anyone truly “enjoy” a film that spotlights the most painful chapter of our history? How do we grasp the enormity of a tragedy where millions were uprooted and forced to leave overnight leaving behind scars that remain raw to this day?
Mon, August 17 2026
Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi takes the road less travelled, but the crusade for inclusivity loses potency to in-your-face treatment and hammy performances
The first dialogues of period drama Batwara 1947 resonate with the mood of the nation at present. A crowd chants ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ on the eve of Independence. Sunny Deol’s Sikander Mirza, a factory owner in Meerut, is enthused, distributing sweets and decorating the neighbourhood to celebrate the occasion. His is the Nehru jacket-wearing Muslim with no kohl under eyes or cap on head. Soon, he realises that his allegiance to the new nation is irrelevant as his loyalty is only determined by his faith. Muslims, he discovers in disturbing manner, are no longer wanted in Bharat. A reluctant, forced migration via train happens.
Sun, August 16 2026
Rajkumar Santoshi's ‘Batwara 1947’, about Muslim refugees from India in Lahore after Partition, has neither the curiosity nor courage to break new ground
Halfway through Batwara 1947, bored out of my mind, I started to wonder how the film might be if instead of Shabana Azmi playing the old homeowner it was Naseeruddin Shah channeling his Ishar Singh from Main Vaapas Aaunga. It’s not that Azmi isn’t effective, just that Mai—a Lahori Hindu who’s lost her family in the tumult of Partition and whose house is allotted to Muslim refugees from India—can only ever be an object of pity. On the other hand, a cranky, rude old timer who resents the Muslims occupying his home… now that might be a challenge to the audience. Rajkumar Santoshi’s film isn’t interested in challenges. It wants to appear bold without actually being bold. It’s adapted from a broad, didactic play by Asghar Wajahat, Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai, and the film ends up even more of a sermon. Aamir Khan, co-producer with Aparna Purohit, has never stopped lecturing viewers since the 2000s, but at least he usually does his own preaching. Here, confusingly, it’s Sunny Deol, who’s calling for universal brotherhood one minute and horse-whipping a dozen men the next.
Max, Min & Meowzaki
Family, Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
Max and Min are about to break up. They argue endlessly about dividing their possessions, including their cat, Meowzaki, whom they have named after their favorite artist Miyazaki Hayao. Max’s father Ramesh, who lost his wife and has since been suffering from insomnia, meets charming therapist Dhaara. Max’s grandfather Sridhar, secretly enjoys drinking with his new friend Jennifer at the nursing home.
Cast:
Adil Hussain, Mandira Bedi, Nassar, Nafisa Ali, Medha Shankr, Vidhatri Bandi, Gitanjali Rao, Sameksha Oswal, Rupak Saluja, Siddharth Menon
Director:
Narasimhamurthy Padmakumar
Writer:
Narasimhamurthy Padmakumar
Thu, August 20 2026
Most urban relationship dramas often confuse emotional honesty with high volume !Writer-director Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy goes the other way. There are no explosive confrontations engineered for applause. No manipulative background score insisting you cry. No characters screaming their feelings because the screenplay doesn’t know how else to express them.The film is entirely deliberate in its rejection of cheap melodrama opting instead to observe a splintered family slowly stitching itself back together. This film has the confidence to whisper. The narrative engine is deceptively simple. Young adults Max (Siddharth Menon) and Min (Medha Shankar) are navigating the messy wreckage of a breakup . As they divide up their shared life one sofa and book shelf at a time the ultimate battleground becomes the custody of Meowzaki, a rescue kitten named after their favourite animation maestro, Hayao Miyazaki. The sagacious feline here is a narrative anchor to explore a tender meditation on grief, loneliness and the different ways people survive both.
Sat, July 25 2026
Sidharth Menon is a constant presence, and does well as the coming-of-age young man. It is Adil Hussain, as the man who takes the longest, most difficult steps towards self-awareness, who holds this film.
A film made four years back, releasing only now, suddenly feels current. Mention of protests and placards woven into the plot around an unravelling couple makes you feel that it’s reflecting the times we are passing through. But then, who is to say that thorny relationships and problem-ridden times aren’t the story of us, decade upon decade? Max (Siddharth Menon) and Min (Medha Shankr), a pair whose relationship is heading south, find themselves connecting over their cat. Or is it just the handsome creature that draws Min back to Max, especially when things aren’t quite as smooth with the new man in her life? The feelings are relatable: if you’ve been together for a while, parting is never easy, and could perhaps encompass residual warmth alongside resentment and sadness.
Sat, July 25 2026
A heartfelt drama about grief, dad issues and complex societal prejudices, ‘Max, Min and Meowzaki’ impresses with its emotional restraint and performances, but some of its messaging feels self-conscious and didactic.
Against the backdrop of a soft monsoon, Max, Min & Meowzaki unfolds as an elegant symphony of human vulnerability. Waiting in the wings for quite some time, at the heart of this coming-of-age, slice-of-life drama are three generations of single men, each carrying a heavy yet silent sorrow. They are men who have forgotten how to speak to one another. Yet to recover from the death of his mother, jingle singer Mahesh or Max (Siddharth Menon), is negotiating with the wreckage of a love story that has just collapsed into a bittersweet breakup with Minara Hussain, or Min (Medha Shankr). His father, Ramesh (Adil Hussain), a man tightly wound in rigid armour, is suffocating under a sleepless, unconfessed grief for his deceased wife and societal biases. The grandfather, an eminent Carnatic singer, Sridhar (Nassar) navigates the fading twilight of his memories, carrying a guilt of not being able to take his son along in the song of life.
Vishwanath & Sons
Drama, Romance (Tamil)
Sanjay Vishwanath is an acclaimed professional handgunner in his 40s with a major stake in fame and wealth. When he comes across a woman named Maddy in her 20s, their dynamic poses many issues that they must come to terms with.
Cast:
Suriya, Mamitha Baiju, Radhika Sarathkumar, Raveena Tandon, Rajiv Menon, Sunil, Nassar, Bhavani Sre, Harsha Chemudu, Cell Murugan
Director:
Venky Atluri
Writer:
Venky Atluri
Mon, August 17 2026
Indian male superstars have a difficult time from their 40s onwards. From soft romances and emotional dramas in their youth, they graduate to violent action films, with VFX often taking care of their once-famous physiques. These trends originate from society’s age-old belief that one is supposed to behave a certain way after a certain age. For sure, things are changing, which is why rare attempts like Vishwanath & Sons, with a major star like Suriya looking and playing his age, are welcome. Is Venky Atluri’s film the game-changer we need in 2026?
Sun, August 16 2026
It feels like it’s been forever since we saw Suriya in a film where he’s finally allowed to relax and just be. If not anything else, this could be reason enough to indulge in the corny world of 'Vishwanath & Sons'
What you’re likely to feel about Venky Atluri and Suriya’s Vishwanath & Sons will largely depend on how you feel about Mamitha Baiju’s performance in it. She plays Maddy, a surrogate mother who enters the life of Vishwanath’s titular son when he’s emotionally blackmailed into finding an heir to his $5.4 billion fortune. Atluri could have used several descriptors to explain Maddy’s character to Mamitha Baiju, but there’s no denying the hangover of a thousand loosu ponnus of Tamil cinema who had to walk, just so Mamitha could run.
Sun, August 16 2026
hings happen in Vishwanath & Sons. Lots of things, in fact, but you never learn about their weight. A young woman subjects her body to pregnancy just so she can fund her education. Later, almost on a whim, she decides to give up this hard-earned education. Meanwhile, a man who seems perfectly content being single is rather quickly persuaded to get himself a child. These are momentous choices with profound ramifications, and yet, we are never truly allowed to understand their emotional significance, the marks they leave on the interior lives of these characters.
The End of Oak Street
Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller (English)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
Cast:
Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Christian Convery, Maisy Stella, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne, Bethany Anne Lind, Emily Kuroda, Denitra Isler, Hudson Meek
Director:
David Robert Mitchell
Writer:
David Robert Mitchell
Sun, August 16 2026
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor do the best they can with their flimsily written roles, as do actors playing their children.
For the foreseeable future, dinosaurs will not be going extinct in Hollywood. The challenge now is how to make this era meet that era. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell (with the impressive It Follows behind him), has half an idea to pull this off. Since it involves a wormhole, and “ripples in space”, it’s just as well that he doesn’t labour the point too much. But then, labouring isn’t the strength of The End of Oak Street.
Sat, August 15 2026
Sat, August 15 2026
Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by David Robert Mitchell (of It Follows, one of the better horror films of the century), The End of Oak Street is an old-fashioned survival thriller with a clear tribute to Steven Spielberg and his groundbreaking dinosaurs. Producer Abrams himself did a Spielberg pastiche with Super 8 (2011), a cross between E.T. (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
Thudakkam
Action, Drama (Malayalam)
When danger strikes, a young woman fights to survive through courage and determination.
Cast:
Vismaya Mohanlal, Mohanlal, Aashish Joe Antony, Gibin Gopinath, Bobby Kurian, Kottayam Ramesh, Jaya Kurup, Jaffer Idukki, Gilu Joseph, Sivadas Kannur
Director:
Jude Anthany Joseph
Writer:
Jude Anthany Joseph, Linish Nellikkal
Sun, August 16 2026
Despite its familiar tropes and a forgettable cameo from Mohanlal, ‘Thudakkam’ is watchable thanks to debutant Vismaya Mohanlal’s commanding action performance
Rarely have we seen an actor’s name attached to the film’s name. The CBFC certificate for Thudakkam, directed by Judy Anthany Joseph, displays the film’s name as ‘Vismaya Mohanlal’s Thudakkam’, heralding the debut film of actor Mohanlal’s daughter. Mohanlal appears in a cameo role as a martial arts master and tells Meenu (Vismaya) that this is her ‘Thudakkam’ (beginning) and to “make your father proud”. Though Sai Kumar plays her father in the film, what is implied is not lost on anyone.
Sat, August 8 2026
The film constantly breaks the fourth wall to make obvious statements, giving signs of being rewritten to make the film appear softer for the family audience
In the interviews leading up to the release of Vismaya Mohanlal’s Thudakkam, it’s writer-director Jude Anthany Joseph spoke about how the basic concept of the film had been in discussion, as far back as 2020. There’s been a whole host of similar films that have released since, but there’s no denying the film’s obvious lack of sheen because it has hit screens after all of those films have released. In terms of its messaging alone, Darshana Rajendran’s Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaye Hey comes to mind, with recent releases such as Blast in Tamil and Maa Inti Bangaaram adding to an unignorable feeling of déjà vu. In first viewing, Thudakkam also feels like the most dated of these films, relying on a gratingly obvious amount of self-seriousness, as though it’s the first ever film to say what it’s trying to.
Awarapan 2
Action, Drama, Romance (Hindi)
19 years later, Shivam is back. A man haunted by grief and loss, searching for a purpose for his life.
Cast:
Emraan Hashmi, Shabana Azmi, Disha Patani, Suvinder Vicky, Vijayant Kohli, Atul Kumar, Aniruddh Rawal, Shriya Saran, Puran Gabbi
Director:
Nitin Kakkar
Writer:
Balal Siddiqi
Sun, August 16 2026
The film is a technical if not a spiritual upgrade but it can’t escape the franchising of its lone-wolf protagonist
The thing about nostalgia is that it only works in retrospect. Before getting on with Awarapan 2, I rewatched the 2007 original. The Mohit Suri moper might seem too emo for today but its gloom came from a genuine place of trauma. Criminal and atheist Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) once fell in love with Aaliyah (Shriya Saran). He was taken by her devotion towards her Allah. He had found somebody to live for, to believe in. But then she was taken away from him, by a bullet that had his name on it. He then walked, lost and listless, on the sidewalks of an unnamed South Asian town, in trenchcoats as life passed by him. Every young guy who had loved and lost felt Shivam’s angst. Every young guy who wanted to feel Shivam’s angst listened to the songs. Heartbreak was now cooler than falling in love. Sadness was aspirational. The angry young man had gone international and he had Mustafa Zahid as his wailing voice.
Sun, August 16 2026
Sat, August 15 2026
Awarapan 2 is a continuation of Awarapan (2007). Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) is miraculously saved despite being shot several times after the end of the first film. The second movie continues years later when he is doing an odd job in a town in Rajasthan. He is still mourning the death of Aaliyah (Shriya Saran), who he dearly loved and regularly visits her grave.
Agadha
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller (Telugu)
A solitary girl encounters a towering twelve-handed mystical idol in a torch lit shadowy cave, creating an atmosphere of spirituality and dark intrigue.
Cast:
Kamakshi Bhaskarla, Shravan Reddy, Ulka Gupta, Jovika Vijaykumar, Roshan Basheer, Bhanuchander, Keshav Deepak, Viva Raghav, Shreya Rani Reddy, Shiju
Director:
M. S. Raju
Writer:
M. S. Raju, Chaitanya Vege
Sun, August 16 2026
M.S. Raju’s Telugu horror-fantasy boasts striking visuals and myths, but underwritten characters keep it from delivering genuine chills
Barely a week after Korean Kanakaraju, a no-brainer milking the viewer’s endless appetite for horror comedies, Telugu cinema’s tryst with ghosts, evil spirits and tantric practices continues with Agadha, set to a different metre. It is a primitive yet visually arresting good-versus-evil supernatural thriller that takes itself quite seriously. Agadha arrives with an underdog advantage. One does not expect much, going by director MS Raju’s modest track record. In this film, he has banked on a young team to deliver the goods. On the surface, it has the staple ingredients of a rustic horror tale, with occult rituals, hymns, long-bearded sages and even older belief systems, but it is staged with flair.
Pallaburusu
Comedy, Drama (Telugu)
A 70 year old widower asks his son to buy him a toothbrush for his toothache. When the son fails to do this simple errand, their already strained father-son relationship becomes comically worse through a series of escalating events.
Cast:
Sudhakar Reddy, Muralidhar Goud, Prajwal Yadma, Gomathy Reddy
Director:
Uday Chauhan
Sun, August 16 2026
Sudhakar Reddy and Muralidhar Goud anchor director Uday Chauhan’s fine tale of familial bonding and the loneliness of ageing with layers of social commentary
Some stories appear simple to begin with but gradually unravel layers of emotional turmoil. What could have been settled over a conversation ends up becoming a full-blown feud. Brittle egos and the lack of communication are probably among the most common aspects of dysfunctional families. Director Uday Chauhan, who has also written the Telugu film Pallaburusu (toothbrush), set in a fictional Telangana village, explores a universal story and hopes viewers will reflect on it long after they have had a few hearty laughs or turned teary-eyed in the cinema hall.
Lanterns
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Action & Adventure (English)
Two intergalactic cops, new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, are drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Cast:
Aaron Pierre, Kyle Chandler, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan
Sat, August 15 2026
The newest DC Studios series is an expansive space mystery that delves deep into the origins of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Some viewers may remember Ryan Reynolds playing Hal Jordan in the 2011 film Green Lantern. With the new HBO series, the character of Hal has gotten a complete overhaul as the origin and future of DC Studios’ Green Lantern are reintroduced in a way that will pleasantly surprise fans. In fact, creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King subvert the superhero series to present a layered mystery that explores the core of its leads and ensemble characters. Every twist and turn in Lanterns gives audiences a taste of different genres, from sci-fi to mystery, buddy comedy to a Western. But ultimately, Lanterns is a story about a mentor and mentee who end up teaching each other more than they expected.
Magudam
Action, Thriller (Tamil)
Peaceful medical representative and shipping harbor worker Linga's life changes because of betrayal and conflict in a coastal community.
Cast:
Vishal Krishna, Anjali, Dushara Vijayan, John Vijay, Jayaprakash, Ajay, Vamsi Krishna, Abu Salim, Arjai, Vj Jhansi
Director:
Vishal Krishna
Sat, August 15 2026
Starring Vishal, Anjali and Dushara Vijayan, Magudam marks Vishal's directorial debut. This revenge saga has a story that feels borrowed from the 1940s. But director Vishal dusts off the dated premise and brings it into 2026 with a lousy screenplay and hideous visual effects.
Actor Vishal’s directorial debut has hardly been a bed of roses. His journey behind the camera began in 2020, when he took over Thupparivaalan 2 after a fallout with director Mysskin, who had helmed the first film. Despite Vishal taking charge, the project never saw the light of day. Cut to 2026, and Vishal finally makes his directorial debut with Magudam. Ironically, the film has a backstory not entirely different from Thupparivaalan 2. Following creative differences, Vishal took over the film from director Ravi Arasu. Unlike Thupparivaalan 2, however, Magudam did make it to theatres.
Fri, August 14 2026
There’s not a single frame or dialogue in 'Magudam' that feels original. Everything feels like a copy of a copy of a hundred movies you’ve been watching for decades.
40 minutes into the three-hour-long Magudam, you feel like there’s almost nothing you’ve been told that matters to the larger plot. You’re introduced to a medical representative named Kripa and his family, and told repeatedly about their middle-class desire to buy a car. It’s info the film could have conveyed with one succinctly written dialogue, but Magudam hammers this point into our heads with sentimental scenes, a cringy family song about this dream and the most gnawingly dated comedy scenes led by Thambi Ramiah. It becomes clear as day that this car is going to be important to the plot, but given the amount of time it takes to keep droning on about it, you begin to expect a twist so original that you imagine M Night Shyamalan shifting base to Saligramam to live closer to Vishal.
Rehmat
Drama (Punjabi)
Three interconnected stories in present-day Punjab. A woman secretly shelters a wounded stranger within her home, while his family endures the weight of grief and impossible choices. Meanwhile, a mysterious elderly man arrives in a village, calling himself God.
Cast:
Naseeruddin Shah, Mita Vashisht, Suvinder Vicky, Diya Kamboj, Harwinder Singh Aujla, Jaswant Zafar, Navjot Randhawa, Anita Meet, Inder Bajwa, Sahej Aziz
Director:
Gurvinder Singh
Writer:
Gurvinder Singh
Fri, August 14 2026
Gurvinder Singh’s tranquil picture of India’s most storied region had its world premiere in the main competition of the 79th Locarno Film Festival
It’s present-day Punjab but it could be Punjab 1995; it could be India 1984. The village of Gujjarwal bristles with unsaid questions and silent answers. Big Bollywood movies (like Dangal) have been shot in the region, but the place is haunted by its own fictions. Everyone’s story is interconnected, like desperate organs of a wounded body. A young man named Keshav is absent from one household; a young father named Balwinder is missing from another. The police go around camouflaging bloody encounters as separatist violence and communal unrest. They assure Keshav’s family that his Sikh killers will be brought to justice; they visit Balwinder’s family to keep an eye on their voices.
Fri, August 14 2026
Rehmat is Gurvinder Singh’s idea of how he wants to see India: warm, thoughtful and neighbourly.
In Gurvinder Singh’s Rehmat, no guest is turned away. Whether it’s an alleged militant, or an out-of-state traveller, everyone is offered the respectful hospitality one associates with Punjab. Singh’s film opens with a prologue text noting the chapters of violence Punjab has witnessed during its many socio-political upheavals, and has left its scars. Especially the partition of 1947, and the insurgency of the 1980s. It might have contributed to the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) for an entire generation, and yet it’s this dichotomy that seems to be at the heart of Singh’s film: a state full of traumatised civilians don’t let bitterness get in the way to greet an unannounced guest. It’s probably not a coincidence that the title of Singh’s film translates to ‘grace’.