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Sonal Pandya

Times Now, Zoom

Sonal Pandya is the Associate Producer for Times Now and Zoom, and earlier worked at Hindustan Times, and Cinestaan.com as deputy editor. Prior to becoming a film journalist, she worked as a CG artist and digital compositor in the animation industry.

All reviews by Sonal Pandya

Image of scene from the film Mismatched S03

Mismatched S03

Drama (German)

Rohit Saraf, Prajakta Koli's Young Adult Romance Presses A Messy Restart Button

Mon, December 23 2024

The Hindi series returns with its core cast of characters as they navigate new and chaotic challenges, along with a different city.

The ‘mismatched’ couple Dimple and Rishi is back for another season in the popular Netflix series. Mismatched Season 3 returns with a three-year time jump as viewers are plunged back into the long-distance couple’s lives, with updates on their friends and family. Against the background of the virtual versus real world, the show puts its characters through new sets of problems that often feel misplaced. Focusing on its large cast and some faces, the new season feels like an odd reset back to its first season.

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Image of scene from the film Inside Out S02

Inside Out S02

Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family (English)

Inside Out Animated Spinoff Series Is A Clever, Funny Hollywood Satire

Mon, December 23 2024

This animated spinoff story meant to bridge the Inside Out films is very meta and witty.

Inside Out 2 returned this year to theatres with great fanfare as the sequel took audiences back to Riley’s life as she begins high school. The new animated series, Dream Productions, is set slightly before the film and follows Riley as a pre-teen adjusting to the time in-between being a kid and a teenager. Instead of the core gang of emotions that we are used to, the miniseries focuses on bubbly dream director, Paula Persimmon, who finds herself being obsolete.

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Image of scene from the film Tanaav Vol 2

Tanaav Vol 2

Crime, Drama (Hindi)

Kashmir-Set Political Drama Has Thrilling Conclusion

Mon, December 23 2024

The final episodes of the political thriller conclude in an emotional blaze as the absorbing drama takes its story up a notch.

Returning after two years, the second season of the political drama Tanaav was split into two parts. The first six episodes premiered in early September, and the remaining six episodes of Vol. 2 wrap up the story that was introduced in part one. Manav Vij’s Kabir Farooqui and the Special Task Group (STG) race to contain Fareed aka Al Damishq (Gaurav Arora) before a crucial peace conference in the valley. While the first part felt like unfinished business, the second part comes to a thrilling end.

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Image of scene from the film That Christmas

That Christmas

Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Adventure (English)

Richard Curtis's Overstuffed Animated Family Film Can't Recreate Love Actually's Charm

Mon, December 23 2024

The animated feature about the Christmas spirit in a small English town suffers from too many subplots.

More than two decades ago, Love Actually became the quintessential British Christmas film. The rom-com featured connected stories of love, family, and, of course, Christmas. Writer-director Richard Curtis’s latest holiday offering is a family film, That Christmas, that follows the same template, but even with the mighty touch of Santa Claus, it can’t recreate that one-of-a-kind feeling. However, for a younger audience, the craziness of the narrative might be just passable.

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Image of scene from the film Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew

Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (English)

Coming-Of-Age Star Wars Adventure In Space Is Nostalgic And Sweet

Mon, December 23 2024

Created by Christopher Ford & Jon Watts, this new space adventure reminds one of the family films of the 1980s and 1990s.

The newest Star Wars series is a good old-fashioned space adventure led by a bunch of pre-teen heroines and heroes. Skeleton Crew brings together four imaginative children who embark on a trip to the outer galaxies that they won’t forget. The series also features Jude Law as a mysterious space pirate, whose role is yet to be determined. With only two episodes airing so far, the sci-fi series Skeleton Crew looks to unite Star Wars fans, young and old, in a classic adventure saga.

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Image of scene from the film Sikandar Ka Muqaddar

Sikandar Ka Muqaddar

Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Action (Hindi)

Neeraj Pandey's Crime Drama Is An Overdrawn Battle Of Wills

Sat, November 30 2024

Spanning several years, the heist drama by Neeraj Pandey is an uneven tale of revenge between a suspect and a police officer.

Neeraj Pandey’s Sikandar Ka Muqaddar is a face-off between two stubborn men played by Jimmy Shergill and Avinash Tiwary, both of whom believe they are in the right. The Hindi feature goes back and forth between their perspectives, and as the story goes from 2008 to 2003 after a diamond heist remains unsolved. The writer-director tries to get us emotionally invested in this twisty tale of wills, but the nearly two-and-a-half-hour film drags out its premise.

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Image of scene from the film Our Little Secret

Our Little Secret

Romance, Comedy, Drama (English)

Lindsay Lohan's Holiday Romance Is A Dull Watch

Sat, November 30 2024

Directed by Stephen Herek, the chaotic premise of the underwhelming holiday film revolves around two exes dating a pair of siblings.

Earlier this year, the second part of Lindsay Lohan’s acting comeback commenced with Irish Wish. The actress played a woman who is about to watch her best friend marry her longtime crush in Ireland. This time, Lohan is back with another romantic dilemma in Our Little Secret. Taking place at Christmas, Lohan’s character Avery meets her ex Logan (Ian Harding) at her new boyfriend’s house. Hilarity is supposed to ensue, but there’s very little to laugh about.

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Image of scene from the film Woman of the Hour

Woman of the Hour

Crime, Drama, Thriller (English)

Anna Kendrick's Directorial Debut Is Powerful And Chilling

Sat, November 30 2024

Anna Kendrick stars in and directs this engrossing real-life story about a serial killer that almost got away.

The saying ’truth is stranger than fiction’ hits harder in films adapted from true-crime stories. The drama feature, Woman of the Hour, tells the unbelievable story of a serial killer who somehow ended up on a dating show as an eligible bachelor in the late 1970s. The shocking story is told by actress Anna Kendrick in her promising directorial debut that is sure to leave an impact.

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