Keyur Seta

First things first. I am not a fan of Pushpa: The Rise, the first film in filmmaker Sukumar’s franchise. I found it lagging behind in storytelling, performance of the lead actor and filled with quite a few problematic moments. However, I am pleasantly surprised to find Pushpa 2: The Rule not only better than part one but also a paisa vasool entertainer. The first film ended with Pushpa Raj (Allu Arjun) becoming a large force in the world of red sandalwood smuggling. In the end, he marries his lady love Srivalli (Rashmika Mandanna) while his nemesis in the form of the cop Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil) vows to destroy Pushpa for his crimes and the insult meted out to him.

Mumbai has not only been one of the most featured cities in Indian films but it is also explored as a subject over the decades. Many a times, the dark underbelly of the city is brought to light. Filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s worldwide acclaimed feature film debut All We Imagine As Light (Malayalam along with some usage of Hindi and Marathi) also shows the bitter side of Mumbai. But it, for a change, doesn’t feature the criminal side of the city in any way.

Rohit Shetty’s cop sagas started with the brilliant Singham (2011). It was obvious for him to bring out a sequel to it. But Singham Returns (2014) turned out to be just an average fare. His latest and third outing in the series, Singham Again, is better than the 2014 film. Hence, it keeps alive his Cop Universe, which also contains the enjoyable Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021).

Aijaz Khan’s Hamid and Danish Renzu’s Half Widow are the names that easily come to my mind when it comes to movies about husbands going missing. But both the aforementioned films have the backdrop of the political crisis in Kashmir. This is where filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi’s Manipuri movie Boong stands apart. It is more of a personal story of a boy whose father goes missing not due to any political tensions.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw the release of Dharmaveer 2, in which a deceased political hero, Anand Dighe, was used to glorify and popularize Maharashtra’s current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Now, the same kind of propaganda has become the core of another Marathi movie. Titled Yek Number, the film aims to glorify Raj Thackeray, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).