Akhil Arora

Weeks after Nadaaniyan that starred his son, Saif Ali Khan’s Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins—inexplicably—further lowers the bar for Netflix India. We struggle to talk meaningfully about the heist movie and instead find ourselves discussing Netflix’s terrible track record in India. We wonder why an actor of Jaideep Ahlawat’s talent would put himself through this, and eventually get around to poking holes in the film’s plot and questioning the intelligence of its characters.

The United Nations should probably intervene and impose sanctions on streamers for wasting over $300 million on movies like The Electric State. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo—the guys behind Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War—the film somehow lowers the bar for them even further, after the one-two punch of The Gray Man and Citadel.

In Superboys of Malegaon, director Reema Kagti unites three talented male actors in an inspiring story about ambition and friendship. But was she the ideal person for the job? We discuss the film’s sanitised storytelling, its formulaic narrative, and writer Varun Grover seemingly playing it safe. We also talk about the abundance of characters and the visible difficulty that Kagti has in fleshing them out.

Is Mrs., the Hindi-language remake of the acclaimed Malayalam filmThe Great Indian Kitchen, a better exploration of the same ideas? We discuss the ways in whichMrs. improves upon the original and the ways in which it falls short. We also praise Sanya Malhotra’s central performance and highlight the flourishes that director Arati Kadav brings to her version. But the film’s ending—as with the original—remains a sticking point.

Ahead of the Oscar nominations, we discuss one of the most acclaimed films of 2024, writer-director Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. We talk about the film’s bittersweet exploration of urban loneliness and the migrant experience, its depiction of Mumbai, and Kapadia’s command over tone. We also talk about the bold mid-movie pivot and how it affects the narrative.

Jigra, the new film by Vasan Bala, combines his trademark cine-literate sensibilities with mainstream Bollywood tropes. The odd combination makes for an interesting discourse about the film’s broad sentimentality, its genre credentials, and storytelling that is both contrived and confident. We discuss Bala’s balancing act and whether it works. Along the way, we talk about Alia Bhatt’s strong central performance, the action set-pieces, and the film’s emotional core.

Deadpool & Wolverine, the only Marvel Cinematic Universe movie this year, levels up in terms of budget but isn’t bothered about evolving emotionally. We discuss the film’s relentless humour, the ugly CGI, and the confusingly complicated plot. There’s time for self-reference, but not for self-reflection in the Deadpool films, as Ryan Reynolds continues to overwhelm every aspect of them. We also talk about where the film stands in the ever-expanding MCU, and whether it would even work five years down the line.

Stree 2 is an overlong, unfunny, and ultimately unnecessary sequel that has no idea how to deliver scares or laughs. Every scene in the film goes on for too long, the jokes are repeated to the point of redundancy, and some of the diversions are baffling to behold. Why is Akshay Kumar in this? How old is Tamannaah Bhatia’s character? Why are there no rules to this universe? We discuss the film’s flawed feminism, its boring tone, and that CGI-fuelled climax that goes on forever.