Nonika Singh

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is back as Inspector Jatil Yadav, and in sync with his name, so is the complexity of the case he cracks in the second outing of this Honey Trehan directorial. In the very first scene, Meera (Chitrangda Singh) races out of her house frantically and drops of blood fall on her face. Scene shifts. Inspector Jatil is asked to investigate what appears to be black magic, cast on this well-heeled family.

In the mahaul of hate-mongering and venom-spewing comes a breath of fresh air. ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’, at once delightful and incisive, knocks more than one pigeonhole we all have begun to inhabit. Baring the religious divide yet batting for harmony, here is a film whose characters are as delectable as the leitmotif of the film. As the title suggests, we meet this ‘great Shamsuddin family’. The word ‘great’ is pun-intended, hides humour in its folds, but soon reveals their ‘great’ bonding and idiosyncrasies in the everyday acts.

Is ‘Dhurandhar’ based on facts? Does it cover the incredible feats of the late martyr Major Mohit Sharma? Many ticklish questions have trailed the film ever since its trailer dropped. On the face of it, the story of Indian spy Hamza (Ranveer Singh) doesn’t appear to be a replica of Sharma’s life. The setting here is Lyari, a town in Karachi where gang wars ruled. Yes, the film starts with a factual event: the hijacking of an Indian plane. Indeed, Madhavan’s character of IB chief Ajay Sanyal looks suspiciously close to that of NSA Ajit Doval. There are a few more terror-related incidents which lend an authentic tone and tenor to this thriller.

A director, even an acclaimed one, can certainly be forgiven for refusing to move out of the mould of one of his biggest blockbusters. Expecting yet another ‘Raanjhanaa’ from Aanand L Rai would not be a grave folly, on his part and ours. But when the film, this week’s major theatrical outing ‘Tere Ishk Mein’, reminds you of more than one Bollywood film, you know it’s a misstep. Sure enough, since it stars one of India’s most talented actors, Dhanush, also the Kundan of ‘Raanjhanaa’, you know love will blaze intensely.

Gifted actor Jaideep Ahlawat is not the only common factor between the second season of ‘Paatal Lok’ and the third outing of ‘The Family Man’. At first glance, the plot too seems achingly similar. The storyline is set in the beauteous Northeast — Nagaland, to be precise. A peace accord with the rebels is in order and a grandfather-grandson conflict forms a solid leitmotif. Despite these familiarities, creators Raj & DK are on top of their game once again.

When ‘Delhi Crime Season One’ first dropped in 2019, it recreated a searing account of the horrific Nirbhaya rape and murder case with exceptional sense and sensitivity. Shefali Shah as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, endearingly addressed as “Madam Sir”, completely won us over. ‘Season Two’ was an incisive anatomy of the mind of a serial killer, chillingly portrayed by Tillotama Shome.

hah Bano is a name etched in the annals of judicial history, as an epitome of resistance and resilience. Of course, in ‘Haq’, though inspired by Jigna Vora’s book ‘Bano: Bharat ki Beti’, the name is Shazia Bano. Why ‘Haq’, revisiting the landmark 1985 Supreme Court judgment on Muslim women’s right to maintenance, had to seek refuge under a long disclaimer and change of name needs no second guess. As things stand, Shah Bano’s daughter has filed a case against the makers (which has been dismissed). With the exceptionally well-made film, we don’t know whether this re-imagination of the historic verdict in favour of Shah Bano will satisfy her daughter or not, but naysayers fearing a dose of Islamophobia can relax.

Classic text, a terrific performance not just by its lead heroine Tessa Thompson but other actors too, writing which is both faithful to the original plot and takes its own leap of faith and imagination — ‘Hedda’ is certainly not your average film. Neither is it a frame-by-frame adaptation of the OG. Reimagining famed Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s play ‘Hedda Gabler’, giving it a queer spin, ‘Hedda’ is obviously held together by its titular character.