Nonika Singh

It’s just another whodunit on the face of it, but packs pertinent points as it unfolds. The title itself is a giveaway. The very first scene shows flashes of a brutal killing. Here onwards, we come to the heart of the series: Konkona Sen Sharma. She is ACP (Crime Branch) Sanyukta Das, who is about to leave Mumbai to join her husband (a credible special appearance by Mukul Chadda) in Ahmedabad.

In 2022, when Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara’ hit the screens, the breath of fresh air wrapped in originality and ingenuity swept not just his home state Karnataka but the country at large like a storm. Three years later, as the prequel, once again an amalgamation of folklore, rituals and the ancient Indian belief system rooted in Kannada culture, makes its tryst with big screens, it’s a tornado. Only, it will sweep you off your feet for all the right reasons. Call it a cinematic marvel, an ethereal experience, masterclass in how not to get a franchise wrong, ‘Kantara’s’ prequel reinforces how legends are born. Shetty, writer-director and lead actor, proves resoundingly how ‘Kantara’ was no fluke, only a flash of the multitalented genius that he is. Shetty ups the game in all aspects. Story-telling with writing support from Anirudh Mahesh and Shanil Guru, world building or treatment, he does not falter in any department.

For those of us who survived Covid-19, the epidemic is today only a bad memory. For millions who suffered indignities first-hand, the grave tragedy has been buried in numbers and figures. What those screaming headlines could not touch within our hearts, today reaches us as ‘Homebound’ leaps on to the big screen.

We all loved Arshad Warsi as Jolly LLB. We were equally entertained by Akshay Kumar-starrer part two, but sorely missed the absence of OG Jolly Arshad. So when part three brings them both together, clearly, expectations are raised exponentially. The writer-director of all three instalments, Subhash Kapoor, once again manages to blend comic with gravitas, wit with righteousness. Third time may lose some of its inherent charm, but is not a lost cause either. Indeed, like its prequels, ‘Jolly LLB 3’ has a huge conscience. The preface establishes the burning concern of farmers’ land acquisition and steeps the narrative in emotional gravity and dignity. Despite a serious start, it leapfrogs to the antics of the two endearing Jollys. Akshay is Advocate Jagdishwar ‘Jolly’ Mishra. Arshad is Advocate Jagdish ‘Jolly’ Tyagi.

Life is real, life is magical. And when a movie brings these two elements of reality and fantasy together, which doesn’t happen too often in the Indian film industry, the result can be a thing of beauty, a joy to behold. As it is with director Raam Reddy, of National Award-winning film ‘Thithi’ fame, whose Hindi feature ‘Jugnuma: The Fable’ literally grows on you and glows like fireflies. The title itself tells you that the subject at hand is surreal. The very first scene, in which we see Manoj Bajpayee flying with a wing-like contraption, tells you that nothing is what it seems. There is a fable at play which comes rather innocuously in the narrative. Set in the 1980s in Himalayan mountains, shot close to the Indo-Nepal border, the pace is as idyllic as the setting. Bajpayee as Dev is the owner of vast orchards, which he has inherited down the family line from his ancestors, who served the British masters. Deepak Dobriyal, whom we are so used to seeing in comic parts, has an equally significant and sombre part. He is not only the manager of the estate but also the commentator letting us into the twists and turns, the inner crevices of the story. Not that this is a whodunit mystery that makes you sit on tenterhooks. If you have seen the trailer, you know fires will soon engulf this beautiful orchard.

The story of Charles Sobhraj is not new… we have seen his criminal life unfold on the big screen more than once. Back in 2015, Randeep Hooda’s ‘Main Aur Charles’ constructed the notorious criminal through the eyes of police officer Amod Kanth. More recently, Vikramaditya Motwane’s web series ‘Black Warrant’ on Tihar jail had Sobhraj as one of its key characters. And then there has been BBC’s drama series ‘The Serpent’. So, what can ‘Inspector Zende’, based on the escape and capture, rather recapture, of the dreaded serial killer offer? For starters, it introduces us to Inspector Madhukar Bapurao Zende (Manoj Bajpayee). The spin is kind of new and ‘Inspector Zende’ is couched as a comedy. A tall order, indeed! Making the tale of a dreaded criminal on the run funny is not everyone’s forte, even when you have a stellar actor like Bajpayee in the saddle. He makes you chuckle here and there, but as his character of Inspector Zende asks one of his colleagues, “Why don’t you laugh?”, the query could well apply to us too.

Beyond politics and violence, the Kashmir valley has a soul and a voice. ‘Songs of Paradise’, as the title suggests, come wrapped in a melody, nay many melodies — the folk songs that once echoed from its radio station. The film claims to be inspired by the songs of Raj Begum, the first woman to sing on Radio Kashmir. In the film, she becomes Noor Begum, though initially her name in the celluloid adaptation is Zeba Akhtar. The very first scene is dramatic and symbolic. We see Saba Azad as Zeba, singing with gusto, unmindful of the smoke around her. In another time frame, Soni Razdan wakes up frantically and we soon see her preparing for a concert. A young student of music, Rumi (Taaruk Raina), approaches her; he is preparing for his thesis on Kashmir’s music. And thus begins a peep into her journey. Saba and Soni play the younger and older versions of the lead. If this transformation appears smooth, so is the editing by Hemanti Sarkar. There are no jerks. The flashback begins in the Srinagar of 1954. Soni is excellent as always and Saba, who is the niece of the late theatre activist Safdar Hashmi, finally gets the part she deserves. She is diffident and endearing, especially the way she utters “maatlab”.

It is touted as a political thriller but unfolds like a potboiler. The very first scene and the dialogue, “I trust you will make the right choice”, is a precursor and portender that impossible choices will soon beset this happy family. The scene shifts to UK’s Parliament. Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones) is the British Prime Minister facing a volley of barbs from the Opposition leader. As she prepares to meet her French counterpart, President Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy), again an indomitable woman of substance, something sinister is brewing alongside. Abigail’s husband Alex Anderson (Ashley Thomas), a doctor, is abducted along with other medical professionals. The ransom demand is no less than her resignation.