Srivathsan Nadadhur

It is not often that women-led mainstream films find their way into theatres in Telugu cinema. When they do, they are mostly directed by men and turn out to be cautionary statements about social ills women confront on a daily basis. Though this is understandable given the crime rate against women and children, it also indicates how such films become a limiting portrait of the lives of women and seldom tap into the essence of their lives beyond victimhood. S Saraswathi, which marks actress Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s directorial debut and is produced by her sister Pooja Sarathkumar, falls prey to this very trope where a woman’s story is largely equated with her suffering. Charting the journey of Lakshmi (Varalaxmi), who works as a nurse in a metropolis, the film is a thriller drama with a non-linear screenplay and the story nearly makes a case for revenge as a necessity.

Retired Subedaar Arjun Maurya returns to his hometown, seeking to mend the bond with his daughter, Shyama. His peace is shattered when a sand-mafia heir, Prince, comes in his way. Pushed to his limit, the soldier reawakens his military instincts. Arjun must navigate a personal war of redemption and a battle against Babli Didi’s criminal empire to protect his family and honour. Anil Kapoor’s raw intensity, brought alive with his physicality and sharp dialogue delivery, is easily the film’s lifeline. If you manage to take the film seriously, it is all about his visceral screen presence. Radhika Madan has a decent character arc as the rebellious, grieving daughter, though the performance is hardly her best.

Kartik, a man from Ujjain, falls obsessively in love with the mysterious Charu. When she suddenly vanishes, his life turns into a relentless search. He soon finds himself entangled in the dangerous world of a ruthless politician, Huntry Chauhan. As Kartik travels from India to Georgia to find the truth, he must navigate a web of deception, violence, and changing loyalties where love comes with a price. For the masala genre to click, besides writing and direction, you want the actors to submit to the world fully without chasing logic. The viewer can catch glimpses of it in Tejasswi Prakash and Anud Singh Dhaka’s performances. One hoped the writers invested the same thought in giving substantial characters for Srishti Shrivastava and Tejasswi as much as they did for Anud and Kishan’s parts.

Twenty years after her parents’ love story began, Amrita faces a sudden family collapse. Following the tragic deaths of her mother, Vasudha, and her father, Neeraj, she must step up as the eldest sibling. Amidst overwhelming debt, legal crises and family grief, Amrita stops relying on her partner Aditya and takes over her father’s business to fight her battles alone.

Seventeen-year-old Roslin is haunted by recurring nightmares of a mysterious shadow. Reality blurs when Jerry, a charming but enigmatic paying guest, moves in, winning over her family despite Roslin’s growing dread. As Shobha uncovers unsettling truths, Jerry is forced to leave, briefly restoring peace. However, the terror is far from over, with Jerry returning for one final, dark confrontation.

Celebrated surgeon Geetika Sen sees her life collapse after anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct surface at her hospital. As an official inquiry begins and social media outrage intensifies, the mounting suspicion creates a severe crisis of trust between Geetika and her partner, Meera. While fighting to save her career, Geetika must navigate a web of secrets and past professional rivalries to prove her innocence.

We live in times when filmmakers are increasingly insecure about keeping restless viewers invested in a story. This has resulted in storytellers shaping narratives that frenetically jump from one sequence to another, without context or substance, so that distraction may not be an option. The characters do not talk; they shout. And the bombastic background score screams for attention. Every scene turns into a loud statement. ZEE5’s Telugu web series D/O Prasad Rao Kanabadutaledu (Prasad Rao’s daughter is missing), helmed by Krishna Poluru, takes this desperation to new heights. While leaving little to a viewer’s imagination right from its title, the show shifts between three timelines that influence the events in the life of a missing girl. The crime scene is visualised as a narrative hook to unpack discussions on conservative parenting, the dreams and aspirations of a girl child, intergenerational trauma and vigilante justice.

Preet Bajwa is found dead on her family’s poultry farm. Cops Dhanwant Kaur and Amritpal Garundi soon discover the family has been hiding a dark secret for twenty years: they were keeping people as slaves. As the police get closer to the truth, the family takes desperate, violent steps to hide their crimes. The story shows how old secrets eventually catch up to people and destroy their lives.