Tu Yaa Main
Thriller, Romance, Adventure (Hindi)
Trapped in an empty swimming pool, two content creators must fight for their survival against a ferocious, bloodthirsty natural predator. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Assi
Crime, Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
An investigative courtroom drama based on the alarming statistic of nearly eighty sexual assault cases reported daily in India. In just one day. Every day.
Cast:
Taapsee Pannu, Kani Kusruti, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Revathi, Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak, Rajendra Sethi, Satyajit Sharma
Director:
Anubhav Sinha
Writer:
Gaurav Solanki, Anubhav Sinha
No Safety in Numbers
Sun, February 22 2026
There is no gentle way to say this—Anubhav Sinha’s Assi hits you hard. It is, at times, an uneasy watch—and therefore, a very good film. To be clear, the unease does not come from graphic visuals; it comes from statistics read aloud by a lawyer, from stark statements that linger long after they are spoken. If merely listening to these details causes discomfort, one can only imagine the horrors endured by the victims. Sinha not only stabs us in the heart; he twists the knife—quietly, deliberately.
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
JUSTICE ON TRIAL
Sun, February 22 2026
A nation that measures sexual violence in minutes rather than in isolated tragedies has already indicted itself. In India, a rape is reported, on average, every twenty minutes—a statistic so numbing in its repetition that it risks becoming background noise. More damning still is the chronic failure of justice: cases stall, survivors are scrutinized more ruthlessly than perpetrators, and institutions meant to shield the vulnerable too often retreat into silence or self-preservation. It is into this moral quicksand that Anubhav Sinha strides with Assi, a film that refuses both euphemism and escape.
An unyielding indictment of collective complicity
Sat, February 21 2026
Javed Akhtar once famously said art and culture are the vocal cords of society. This week, writer-filmmaker Anubhav Sinha and co-writer Gaurav Solanki give a sarkari statistic on rape, a scarred face, an unflinching voice, and a social context. The outcome is deeply disquieting as the film investigates the pervasive rape culture, institutional complicity, and the gruelling aftermath for survivors. Sinha’s relentless expression of the state of helplessness and depravity makes one leave an impression of anguish on the seat’s armrest.
Kennedy
Crime, Thriller (Hindi)
An insomniac former cop, Kennedy has been presumed dead for years. Yet, in secret, he continues to serve a corrupt system while seeking redemption. Halfway between thriller and film noir, Kennedy chronicles a violent and bloody vendetta in the dark streets of Mumbai. At the rate of the murders, Kennedy's character reveals itself more and more and sinks into a spiral that seems to have no way out.
Cast:
Rahul Bhat, Sunny Leone, Mohit Takalkar, Megha Burman, Haripriya Manish Lodhia, Shrikant Yadav, Abhilash Thapliyal, Jeniffer Piccinato, Benedict Garrett, Aamir Dalvi
Director:
Anurag Kashyap
Rahul Bhat powers this haunting meditation on systemic rot and redemption
Sat, February 21 2026
Before the curtain rises on Anurag Kashyap’s latest noirish adventure, William Wordsworth’s famous words, “We poets in our youth begin in gladness; but thereof come in the end despondency and madness”, flash on the screen. This struggle between resolution and independence holds for both Kashyap and Kennedy.
Rahul Bhat-led revenge thriller shows flashes of vintage Anurag Kashyap
Sat, February 21 2026
About an hour into Kennedy, writer-director Anurag Kashyap springs a sequence so wickedly orchestrated that it alters the film’s grammar in an instant. In the scene, former cop Uday Shetty (Rahul Bhat) massacres a local politician and his family. The violence is merciless, yet staged with such choreographic precision — pauses, glances, the geometry of bodies collapsing across rooms — that it lands as shockingly comic as it is brutal.
Rahul Bhat In His Best Act, Anurag Kashyap Not Quite
Fri, February 20 2026
An insomniac former police officer, “officially dead” for six years, prowls the streets of Mumbai in the still of the night, killing people in cold blood. Kennedy is his assumed name. The reason, like his deadly deeds, is shrouded in mystery. The taciturn, brooding assassin is out there ostensibly to clean up the mess that politicians, industrialists and gangsters have created. But, in reality, he is the Mumbai police commissioner’s secret loose cannon and hatchet man. That apart, the man, played with coiled-up intensity by a beefed-up Rahul Bhat, has his own reason for being the way he is. He has a score to settle with an elusive crime lord responsible for tearing him away from his family.
Do Deewane Seher Mein
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
Two socially awkward millennials in Mumbai find love while struggling with self-acceptance. As they battle insecurities and societal pressure, their journey takes them from city chaos to mountain serenity.
Cast:
Siddhant Chaturvedi, Mrunal Thakur, Ila Arun, Joy Sengupta, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Viraj Ghelani, Sandeepa Dhar, Deepraj Rana, Mona Ambegaonkar, Naveen Kaushik
Director:
Ravi Udyawar
Writer:
Abhiruchi Chand
A reluctant nod to imperfect love
Sat, February 21 2026
When the trailer of Ravi Udaywar’s romantic drama Do Deewane Seher Mein surfaced online, one was hooked to the tune of Gulzar’s melancholic Do Deewane (Gharaonda), searching for home and sustenance all over again. The haunting voice of Bhupinder Singh and the melody in Runa Laila’s timbre continue to capture the dreams, hope, and loneliness that lovebirds face in big cities. However, it turns out that old gold is being refashioned to win over a new audience, but the carat is compromised in the process.
Siddhant Chaturvedi, Mrunal Thakur film just doesn’t have enough deewanapan
Fri, February 20 2026
To judge by appearance is a bad thing. This single line premise is stretched out over two and a half hours, leading to a film where you are left counting the moments where two people spark. The only nice thing about Do Deewane Seher Mein– please note, not Shehar–is that for a change a Hindi film doesn’t make you feel as if Shashank (Sidhant Chaturvedi) and Roshni (Mrunal Thakur) could be brother and sister. There is attraction, and they do act upon it, bringing their faces close enough for their lips to touch. Small mercies.
The Last Thing He Told Me S02
Mystery, Drama (English)
A woman must forge a relationship with her teenage stepdaughter in order to find her husband, who has mysteriously disappeared.
Cast:
Jennifer Garner, Angourie Rice, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Jennifer Garner Leads Starry Guest Cast In Engaging Family Drama
Sat, February 21 2026
Jennifer Garner is back as Hannah Hall in this family thriller, The Last Thing He Told Me. In the first season, Hannah watched as husband, Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), disappeared after his tech company faced financial issues. She and her stepdaughter, Bailey (Angourie Rice), learn to move on with their lives. The Apple TV series returns after a three-year gap with Owen back in their lives, opening up a whole can of worms. The mystery drama series leans heavily on its past with several Hollywood stars from David Morse, Rita Wilson, and Judy Greer, as the show travels to France to close out a traumatic chapter.
Heated Rivalry
Drama (English)
Two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey are bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.
Cast:
Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova
Director:
Jacob Tierney
Writer:
Jacob Tierney
Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams Carry Cliched But Endearing Queer Hockey Romance
Sat, February 21 2026
Created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney, Crave’s Canadian series Heated Rivalry has taken the world by storm. On February 20, it lands in India on Lionsgate Play. The show adapts the books of author Rachel Reid, which focus on the unlikely love story between two top players, Canada’s Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Tierney’s show elevates the material, getting to the heart of the matter as the two men meet when they are teenagers as rivals and end up as each other’s partners, away from the public eye. The low-budget series connects strongly due to its heartwarming screenplay and the refreshing performances from the cast.
The Night Agent S03
Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery (English)
Brought together by a midnight phone call, an FBI agent and a cybersecurity expert must unravel an ever-growing web of political conspiracies.
Cast:
Gabriel Basso
Gabriel Basso's Everyman Hero Delivers The Goods Again In Thrilling New Instalment
Sat, February 21 2026
Last season, Peter Sutherland made a deal with the devil, and this time, it comes back to haunt him again. The likeable and dependable Gabriel Basso is back to lead Netflix’s The Night Agent for its third season. Created by Shawn Ryan, the espionage drama loses a few key players from previous seasons, but gains intrigue with another White House mystery that leaves viewers on the edge throughout. The first season of The Night Agent is ranked tenth in Netflix’s most-watched shows of all time, and the drama has enough juice to power a few more seasons, going by the quality of this latest instalment.
Goat (2026)
Animation, Comedy, Family, Action (English)
Will, a small goat with big dreams, gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball – a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will's new teammates aren't thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that 'smalls can ball'!
Cast:
Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, Jenifer Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Jelly Roll
Director:
Tyree Dillihay
Writer:
Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley, Nicolas Curcio, Peter Chiarelli
(Writing for OTT Play)
A Lukewarm Biryani Of Animated-Underdog Tropes
Fri, February 20 2026
In terms of animated sports comedies featuring anthropomorphic animals, the bar is high. Surf’s Up (2007) set it nearly two decades ago; the mockumentary sports comedy about a young northern rockhopper penguin (voiced by a still-sane Shia LaBeouf) who dreams of becoming a professional surfer is unsurpassed in ingenuity, wit and underdog cinema (it’s one thing to make an animated film, it’s another to ‘shoot’ it like a live documentary). I’ll never forget the truth of the moment the protege discovers that his idol (Jeff Bridges) has been alive all along. The medium melts away, the cutesy humour pauses and out comes a classic genre trope. The heart doesn’t care if it’s not a live-action scene; emotions do not discriminate. Manufacturing them from scratch is arguably harder.
O'Romeo
Crime, Drama, Action (Hindi)
What fate awaits a stonehearted gangster and bloodthirsty womaniser when true love claims him, helpless and unguarded? A gang war that shakes the entire underworld and crime syndicate to their very roots. A forbidden love; the tale of an unrequited passion.
Cast:
Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Nana Patekar, Vikrant Massey, Tamannaah Bhatia, Disha Patani, Farida Jalal, Aruna Irani, Hussain Dalal
Director:
Vishal Bhardwaj
(Writing for OTT Play)
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Bloody Tale Of Love Has No Heart
Tue, February 17 2026
All Filmmakers plot legacy. For Vishal Bhardwaj, it filters to adaptations. The 60-year-old’s career — including 12 feature films in 24 years — is shaped, mostly, by taking literary texts and supplanting them in a world of his making. One can debate the merits, but there is something to be said about the tendency to assert his voice most intensely in borrowed words, thereby amplifying the collaborative spirit of creation. A chief collaborator, in this regard, has been Shakespeare, whose plays assume great malleability in the director’s hands. Bhardwaj’s latest, O’Romeo, is not drawn from one of the playwright’s works but still culminates as an ineffective Shakespeare adaptation — a first from the director.
A potboiler sans passion and payoff
Sun, February 15 2026
Vishal Bhardwaj’s cinematic universes can be wildly imaginative. They are the kind where two warring sisters, desperate to escape each other’s sight, end up marrying two brothers by accident. Historically, however, the Indian film industry’s version of audacity usually involves a hero incinerating a factory and sauntering away in slow motion while digital fumes billow behind him. This “mass” template is now more common than a childbirth scene, or a Muslim protagonist shown as an ordinary office worker instead of a kohl-eyed gangster. Trying to join both aspects of their respective universes, O’Romeo uses Bhardwaj’s brand of weirdness and masala movie flamboyance to create a confused mixture with no emotion and limited punch.
Sharper Razor, Duller Drama
Sun, February 15 2026
Vishal Bhardwaj returns to the big screen after Patakha (2018), although his last outing, Khufiya (2023), was released on Netflix. O Romeo has ambition and style, but at nearly three hours, it lacks the substance required to sustain that runtime and offers little that feels new.
Pennum Porattum
Comedy, Drama (Malayalam)
In Pattada, a village defined by its association with death, the narrative centers on Gopalan Master, Charulatha, and Suttu, each facing the village's harsh judgment and violence. Through their struggles, the story highlights the plight of the marginalized. Suttu finds solace in freedom, choosing to leave. However, Charulatha remains, her future precarious, trapped within Pattada's cycle of violence and injustice.
Cast:
Rajesh Madhavan, Raina Radhakrishnan, Tovino Thomas, Mithun Haridas
Director:
Rajesh Madhavan
Writer:
Ravi Sankar
A Truly Inventive Absurd Comedy
Tue, February 17 2026
It’s very much a part of the design to start watching Pennum Porattum (The Girl And The Circus) from Suttu’s POV. Voiced by Tovino Thomas, Suttu is a white mongrel with black spots all over and the refugee the film talks about in its opening statement refers to those like Suttu. In his introductory voiceover, he’s letting us in on his daily routine and the number of times he’s been shifted in and out of his master’s house. He isn’t particularly happy there, nor is he comfortable in his tiny cage. And as we see stones being pelted at Suttu from outside, in a fit of rage, he shouts back and calls them “Manushyante makkale!”, which is something along the lines of “You sons of humans!”
Bandwaale
Drama, Comedy (Hindi)
Mariam, a young poetess, finds herself trapped in a sleepy town, where every young girl's future lies in wedlock. Mariam hopes to find her freedom against all odds, by uploading her poetry on the internet through an anonymous account.Along with her band of misfits - Robo and Psy, Mariam discovers the power of her poetry and her own voice.
Cast:
Shalini Pandey, Zahan Kapoor, Swanand Kirkire, Sanjana Dipu, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Anupama Kumar
Director:
Ankur Tewari, Akshat Verma
A Bland and Dusty Musical Comedy
Tue, February 17 2026
For 8 impossibly long episodes, Bandwaale invents different ways to be forgettable. The musical dramedy is no Bandish Bandits (I’m no fan but that’s the genre bar), but to be fair, it doesn’t really try. The premise is almost reverse-engineered to justify its dearth of personality. Created by composer-filmmaker Ankur Tewari and writer-actor Swanand Kirkire, the series stages the modernity-versus-tradition conflict through a tiresome template: a small-town girl strives to break free with a little help from her friends. It’s a bit like seeing the alt-reality story of Simran from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — there’s only the million-and-fifth reference at yet another railway station; an oppressive father; a spunky kid sister — except her liberation is not love but art. Mariam (Shalini Pandey) is a covert poetess who uploads her work online so that she can go viral before her textbook-patriarch dad (Ashish Vidyarthi) marries her off to an eligible bachelor. Along the way, she finds two unlikely male allies: an outdated brass-band singer unwilling to evolve (Swanand Kirkire, as Robo), and a hunky-and-aloof DJ (Zahan Kapoor, as Psy) with a penchant for remixes.
Tu Yaa Main
Thriller, Romance, Adventure (Hindi)
Trapped in an empty swimming pool, two content creators must fight for their survival against a ferocious, bloodthirsty natural predator.
Cast:
Adarsh Gourav, Shanaya Kapoor, Kshitee Jog, Parul Gulati, Ansh Chopra, Mona Singh, Hussain Dalal
Director:
Bejoy Nambiar
Writer:
Abhishek Bandekar
(Writing for OTT Play)
Campy Crocodile Drama Has The Right Thrills
Mon, February 16 2026
Bejoy Nambiar’s Tu Yaa Main, a relationship drama in the garb of a creature film, redeems an animal and a profession. Both, unfortunately, were subjected to great disservice in Hindi films. Given that the animal has lasted longer, its ignominy is greater, and therefore, the absolution was both inevitable and overdue. Nambiar’s film proves to be largely effective in this regard as it takes crocodiles from the mouth of disrepute and posits them in a narrative where they are given space to lay eggs, chill a little, and nap.
Thriller has bite but takes too long to sink its teeth in
Mon, February 16 2026
Directed by Bejoy Nambiar and adapted by Himanshu Sharma from the 2018 Thai thriller The Pool, directed by Ping Lumpraploeng, Tu Yaa Main is a curious addition to Hindi cinema’s sporadic engagement with the creature feature. The original was a compact, high-concept survival drama built around the simple premise of a man trapped in a drained swimming pool with a crocodile, trying to find a way out. Nambiar retains the skeletal premise but sets aside that minimalism, expanding the thriller framework into a 145-minute romantic drama inserted with class commentary and influencer satire. The result is an ambitious film intermittently exhausting itself instead of tightening its grip.
Magar Much Touble in the Pool
Sun, February 15 2026
Inspired by Ping Lumpraploeng’s Thai film The Pool (2018), Tu Yaa Main shifts between Mumbai and a 20-foot-deep swimming pool somewhere along the Goa–Mumbai highway. The story of a couple trapped in an empty pool with a crocodile for company offers a solid premise for a survival thriller.
Kohrra 2
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
When an NRI bridegroom is found dead days before his wedding in the countryside of Punjab, two cops must unravel the troubling case as turbulence unfolds in their own lives.
Cast:
Barun Sobti, Mona Singh
(Writing for M9 News)
Worthy Sequel With Winsome Performances
Sat, February 14 2026
Preet Bajwa is found dead on her family’s poultry farm. Cops Dhanwant Kaur and Amritpal Garundi soon discover the family has been hiding a dark secret for twenty years: they were keeping people as slaves. As the police get closer to the truth, the family takes desperate, violent steps to hide their crimes. The story shows how old secrets eventually catch up to people and destroy their lives.
Mona Singh pierces through the mist of motives in this intriguing police procedural
Sat, February 14 2026
There has always been a gap between the Punjab we watch on screen and the one we actually experience off-screen. Of late, there has been an attempt to look beyond the lavish weddings, bhangra beats, and bucolic humour. Carrying forward the Maachis that Gulzar lit in 1996 and Gurvinder Singh nurtured over the years, Sudeep Sharma’s Kohrra is one such significant attempt to pierce through the miasma that hangs over the mustard fields.
Fog lifts, Kohrra is still a winner
Sat, February 14 2026
When ‘Kohrra’ came in 2023, it was a breath of fresh air which not only put a majorly Punjabi language series on the world map of OTT, but showed a state dipped in shades of realism. Now, as its second season streams, the template is kind of… same. It’s still a police procedural with loads of human drama at the centre of it. ‘Kohrra 2’ starts on a similar note: murder of an NRI. But, hereafter, the series — again set in the hinterland of Punjab — takes a life of its own and envelops you as much in the mysterious air of whodunit as the lives of its protagonists. Investigation begins and we are all agog to know who has murdered this young lady Preet (Pooja Bhamrrah), a divorcee who loved to make reels and by no stretch of imagination was a pushover.