Renuka Vyavahare

A struggling Mumbai actress, Chitrangada Satarupa as Mouni, and a retired banker in Frankfurt, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Adnan, form an unlikely connection through a series of video calls over the course of a single day. As their conversations deepen, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur, gradually uncovering buried emotions and unresolved trauma. Director Aditya Kripalani crafts an introspective indie drama driven by two compelling performances. Siddiqui stands out, especially in the emotionally charged climax, while Satarupa brings both intensity and vulnerability to Mouni. The film aims to be a layered character study, exploring empathy, anger, loneliness, and emotional unrest. However, its excessively verbose and self-indulgent writing often weighs down the narrative, making the drama feel repetitive and emotionally static at times. Since much of the story unfolds through extended virtual acting sessions, the film may struggle to connect with mainstream audiences.

Dug Dug is a satirical comedy-mystery exploring blind faith, inspired by Rajasthan’s “Bullet Baba temple”, a unique shrine where a 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet is worshipped. The film is a clever and sharply observed satire on the commercialisation of faith and belief. Set in Rajasthan, the film follows the strange aftermath of a local drunkard’s (Thakur sa) death in a road accident, after which his pink and blue moped mysteriously keeps reappearing at the accident site. The mysterious event soon transforms into a wish-granting phenomenon, drawing both the poor and the wealthy in search of miracles and hope. Concept is the hero in this promising directorial debut. The Luna and its dead owner become the central characters, which is rare for a movie. There is no lead actor or known face driving the narrative, just a subject that delightfully resonates.

An editorial crisis pushes Runway, a legacy fashion magazine grappling with ownership changes and survival challenges, to bring back Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), now an experienced journalist tasked with rebuilding its narrative and image. Can she reunite with her former boss, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), years after walking away? “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” In an industry as cutthroat as media, this sentiment often runs cold. Success is frequently associated with being sly and ruthless, but journalist Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), now in her 40s, continues to see it differently.

The year’s most anticipated sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, with a massive runtime of 3 hours and 49 minutes (15 minutes longer than the prequel), kicks off in sync with its predecessor. The film opens with a jaw-dropping action sequence that spirals into a brutal bloodbath. Struck by a personal tragedy, Jaskirat (Ranveer Singh), an Indian army trainee, is forced to embrace his new identity. The first half is riveting and fast-paced. It wastes no time, seamlessly shifting from past to present as Hamza rises to rule Lyari and takes the fight straight to the terrorists’ stronghold.

It’s the season of gothic romance and yet another Frankenstein’s Monster adaptation, but this one occupies a space closer to Joker: Folie à Deux. Like Joker and Harley Quinn, it centres on two damaged beings who find solace in each other as they take on the world with vengeance. While this film echoes the tempo of Joker, themes of deep-seated trauma, male loneliness, and the muzzling of the female voice within a patriarchal society lie at the heart of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bold and provocative universe. Feminist, punk, gothic, and violent yet deeply empathetic, the Bride mirrors the Joker’s anarchic spirit but carries a sharper, more self-aware edge. While the Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga film leaned into shared madness through its operatic psychology, the Bride surpasses it in imaginative scope and theatrical boldness, embracing a more expansive, Broadway-infused narrative style.

A tragicomedy steeped in survival and inner turmoil, this silent film follows Mahadev (Vijay Sethupathi), a Mumbai chawl dweller striving for a better life for himself and his ailing mother in a cluttered metropolis that, despite its chaos, has a big heart. Elsewhere in the city, celebrated builder Boseman (Arvind Swamy) finds himself grappling with personal and professional setbacks that push him to the brink. Both men are victims of corruption and circumstance. When their paths cross, they are unaware that pain neither absolves privilege nor spares poverty.

Sriram Raghavan, best known as a master of neo-noir crime thrillers, ventures onto unfamiliar terrain with Ikkis, a humane war drama that shuttles between past and present. It is a challenging film to navigate, as Raghavan must balance the portrayal of the gallantry of one of India’s youngest Param Vir Chakra awardees (posthumous) with a more understated theme—the quiet, mutual respect shared by soldiers on opposing sides, bound by a common understanding of the true cost of war and the pain of losing loved ones. Raghavan’s trademark, unpredictable humour crops up in the most unexpected places, adding a delightful edge that works wonders. In Ikkis, patriotism roars, while courage forgives. The emotional core of the film lies in a heart-wrenching face-off staged away from the battlefield. Dharmendra and Jaideep Ahlawat breathe life into the narrative through a sublime, soulful interplay of grief and guilt. Largely functioning as a two-hander, the film is held together by these two formidable performances, which anchor it even when the pace feels inconsistent and storytelling gets stagnant in portions.

Picking up from Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third installment in James Cameron’s epic saga, follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children as they battle not only the returning human colonisers but also a formidable new threat — Varang (Oona Chaplin), the ruthless leader of the fiery Mangkwan clan. Matters escalate when Varang forms an alliance with the humans, setting the stage for yet another war on Pandora.