Bharathi Pradhan

We’re in leafy Pune, the idyllic city of the retired. Aadima (Sharmila Tagore), graphics novel illustrator, has her grandson Neel (Jihan Jeetendra Hodar) visiting her while his parents (Sonali Kulkarni,Neeraj Kabi) grapple with their work schedules, their roles as mom and dad and with their marriage. Nana (Mohan Agashe) lives on his own, has his own routine and brushes off his son (Sunil Abhyankar) who wants dad to transfer his flat to his name to facilitate a loan, and move to Mumbai. Not quite lonely, companions like a cat who steals his milk and friendly banter with neighbour Londhe (Pradeep Jeshim) keep life moving for Nana.

The core premise is potent with possibilities for an empathetic experience. When elderly Deepak Tyagi (Nana Patekar), battling dementia, is abandoned in crowded Banaras by his hard-hearted family of three sons and their wives, his journey back home and comeuppance for the callous is an emotional space. Co-writing with Amjad Ali and Sunil Sirvaiya, director Anil Sharma places the family property named Vimla Sadan in a picturesque, snow-laden Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. Tyagi has plans of turning it into a trust. His sons and daughters-in-law who want to get their hands on the money, would rather desert him in faraway Banaras with no papers to identify him than let him sign the deed. It is tough for a man with memory lapses to survive.

We were charmed in 1994. By the story of Simba the lion cub, son of Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands. Scar, the evil force, had provided dramatic confrontation. The freshness of the animated number Circle of Life and the energetic camaraderie of Hakuna Matata have remained on the charts since then. Director Barry Jenkins’ prequel therefore comes with high expectations of a heartwarming, musical entertainer. The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson gives a backstory to Mufasa who died early in the 1994 blockbuster. Who was Simba’s dad?

“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” warn half-a-dozen faces – an assortment of builders, cops, politicians, media colleagues. Similarly, be warned, you don’t know what you’re getting into, if you switch on writer-director Kanu Behl’s ‘thriller’. Loosely patterned on the daylight murder of real-life investigative reporter J Dey of Mid-day in 2011, Behl and co-writer Ishani Banerjee manage so much incoherence that the only takeaway is of a man flawed by contrasts.

In our autograph books way back in school, a favourite verse was, “East is East, West is West. When they meet, it’s the best.” Bandish Bandits makes the same point, embellishing it with blended, mood-elevating music. There’s usually an ambience-fatigue when a fresh premise goes into a second season and struggles to say something new. Kota Factory, Mirzapur, Undekhi and Aarya are prime examples of ambience-fatigue.

Pushpa: The Rise (2021). Writer-director Sukumar had thrown a revenge-seeking SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil) on the trail of Pushpa Raj (Allu Arjun) even as the cheeky red sandalwood smuggler was happily taking his wedding vows with the love of his life, Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna). Five baits have kept the audience agog for the last three years. What will happen to the sizzling chemistry of Pushpa and Srivalli? How will the face-off between strong opponents Pushpa and Bhanwar play out? Will the item number in the sequel match or surpass the saucy raunchiness of Samantha-Allu’s ‘Oo antava’? Will the dances and songs have risque-naughty moves once again?

How refreshingly different. Writer-director Rahul Dholakia takes his camera into the life-saving heroism of firefighters, so far an unexplored subject in Hindi cinema. Cut through black smoke and scorching flames for a warm story on how Fire Chief Vittalrao Surve (Pratik Gandhi) and his colleagues respond with alacrity and put their lives on the line to save lives day in and day out. Vittal, Avni Purohit (Saiyami Kher), Jazz (Udit Arora) and Mahadev (Jitendra Joshi) are a team that fearlessly go in to bring out those trapped in a fire.

A recap of Season 1: Purva (Anchal Singh), daughter of ruthless neta Akheraj Awasthi (Saurav Shukla), a don-like figure with the authorities at his beck and call and an army of goons, has always obsessed over and been a thorn in the flesh of good boy Vikrant Singh Chauhan (Tahir Raj Bhasin). To add to his misery, Vikrant’s father (Brijendra Kala) has always been a servile, loyal employee of the Awasthis, afraid to go against Akheraj even if it means pushing his son towards Purva. Vikrant had instinctively and steadfastly spurned Purna’s friendship even in school and could heave a sigh of relief only when she was packed off to the UK. He had a dream future planned with Shikha (Shweta Tripathi), the love of his life, when Purva returned as an adult, obsession intact and ready to claim him as hers once again. With Akheraj willing to go to any lengths to get her what she desires, getting rid of Purva was Vikrant’s only way out of a marriage he dreaded. It was, unwittingly, Vikrant’s first step towards turning himself into an unrecognisably dark person, no different from the Awasthis.