Anuj Kumar

Early in this maximalist’s dream of sensory overload, when the background voice of a girl menacingly provokes: ‘you are not ready for this’, one wants to tell her actually, one is over-prepared. As it turns out, the sequel attempts to outdo the original in volume and venom, perhaps at the expense of the original’s narrative weight. One went for a story, returned with a migraine and a beard. Dhar is the master of frame and fireworks, but he loses sight of the clock and control. Perhaps, deliberately. Channelling the mood of the moment, when the world is itching for war, he feeds the bloodlust of a section of the masses, ensuring a box-office bonanza but setting a dangerous precedent.

A rare filmmaker who understands the pulse of heartland politics, Prakash Jha returns this week to his Raajneeti universe along the Ganga with a flawed yet engaging take on benevolence. The series Sankalp stands out for its intellectual ambitions and strong performances. It succeeds as a reflective political drama rooted in moral ambiguity, but its bloated narrative structure and lack of visual innovation prevent it from becoming addictive. In an era of flashy spectacles, Jha sticks to a traditional, issue-driven style, prioritising realism and complexity, though some methods of portraying power corridors and the dynamics between kingmakers and rebellious disciples now feel clichéd in the series format.

Cracks in conjugality constitute a common conflict device in Hindi cinema. Usually, the male commits the bhool and expects forgiveness. Most fissures appear early, but what if a grandmother reveals a long-buried truth? Can the man accept it as easily as he expects forgiveness? Seasoned actor and theatre practitioner Saurabh Shukla gives new meaning to a prescribed book, making us both chuckle and reflect.

The rank of Subedaar evokes humble authority in the Hindi heartland. As the army’s backbone, these quiet mainstays, often drawn from the subaltern classes, are more respected than idolised. Anil Kapoor’s status in Hindi cinema is similarly earned. The analogy finds shape in director Suresh Triveni’s emotionally charged action drama, with the repurposed folksy number “Balam Subedaar” underlining the title’s regional draw, where a culture of entitlement is pervasive.

These days, the Kashyaps seem keenly interested in stories that probe the steep personal toll exacted by success, ambition, and power. Even as Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar gets a date in theatres, sister Anubhuti Kashyap observes the post-#MeToo landscape through a perceptive lens in this Netflix original. A cross between psychological drama and a taut thriller, Accused stars Konkona Sensharma as Dr. Geetika Sen, a celebrated queer surgeon, and Pratibha Ranta as her partner, Dr. Meera, who has travelled from a conservative Meerut to the accepting lap of London.

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.

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.

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.