Udita Jhunjhunwala

Something sinister is lurking in room 333 of the Pragati Working Woman Hostel – something so dark that it prevents four of the women from ever leaving the building. They haven’t been the same since Anu (Asheema Vardaan), the fifth member of their tight-knit group, moved out six months ago. Things get worse when an unsuspecting new arrival to Delhi moves into the cursed room. Madhu (Monika Panwar) has left her hometown of Gwalior to escape a traumatic incident and be closer to her devoted boyfriend Arun (Abhishek Chauhan). With the help of friends Bela (Aastha Ssidhana) and Nakul (Gagan Arora), Madhu lands a job in Delhi and lands up at the hostel. Her optimism and hopes for a new life are dashed as the hostel turns out to be a house of horrors, inhabited by a hostile gang and a demonic presence that makes Madhu’s life a living hell. The cruelty of Madhu’s neighbors – Nikki (Rashmi Zurail Mann), Komal (Riya Shukla), Lana (Chum Darang), and Rima (Priyanka Setia) – pales in comparison to the malevolent force in room 333.

Will Sunny Deol—or the makers of any film starring him—ever move past the overused ‘Yeh dhai kilo ka haath’ (this two and a half kilo hand) line of dialogue from the 1993 film Damini? Clearly not, because writer-director Gopichand Malineni revives it once again it as a front-bencher-pleasing proclamation in the Hindi language action drama Jaat, headlined by Deol. Famed in the North, Deol’s character Baldev Pratap Singh declares that it is now time the south gets acquainted with his legendary and destructive hand.

Both the Marathi horror film Lapachhapi (2017) and its Hindi remake Chhorii (2021) were directed by Vishal Furia. Furia returns with a sequel that picks up seven years after the earlier story. Chhorii 2 begins in the same sugarcane fields that were intrinsic to its predecessor, indicating that Sakshi’s connection with the village – where she had left her husband for dead – has not been entirely severed. Sakshi (Nushrratt Bharuccha) is now a teacher and single parent raising her seven-year-old daughter Ishani (Hardika Sharma). Ishani has a condition where she burns instantly in the sun and is therefore kept perpetually in a darkened room at home or covered from head to toe when stepping outside.

S. Sashikanth, a former architect turned film producer, takes on the role of co-writer and director of Test (Netflix), a drama that unfolds against the backdrop of cricket, unrealised dreams, sacrifice, and obsessions. The resolve and ethics of three principal characters are tested to the limit in this unimaginatively directed film, co-written by Suman Kumar (The Family Man, Farzi). Test shifts from a sports drama to a thriller, verging on horror, particularly with R. Madhavan’s character’s transformation. Much of the action unfolds in the build-up to a cricket match between India and Pakistan, set in Chennai. A fading cricketer is desperate for a swansong. Little does he know that out on the pitch during this critical test match, he will face far more harrowing challenges. Arjun’s world intersects with that of Kumudha, a school teacher obsessed with motherhood, who is married to Saravanan, a struggling scientist clinging to his passion project.

Yet another remake of yet another often retold Disney classic is revisited as the Marc Webb-directed musical Snow White. Featuring a mix of new and old songs, a fresh cast, the same story by the Brothers Grimm rehashed by writer Erin Cressida Wilson, and some new but questionable creative ideas. Snow White is thus named by her perfect parents, the King and Queen, because she was born on a snowy night. They lead a happy life, spreading joy among their happy subjects. Young Snow White (Emilia Faucher) makes delicious apple pies for all the townspeople as they sing along merrily. But after her mother dies, her father remarries a beautiful woman who turns out to be singularly evil. This spells the end of the kingdom’s days of plenty, and long-term servitude for Snow White. Gal Gadot, with all the regalia, is the menacing Evil Queen, adorned in gems and drenched in complex vanity and greed. She repeatedly seeks validation from the magical mirror. But her evil reaches a new high when she is threatened by Snow White’s beauty and grace, condemning her stepdaughter to death. However, Snow White manages to escape and finds shelter in the unlikely company of seven dwarves.

After playing the chronically ill father of a young girl in I Want to Talk, Abhishek Bachchan plays a different kind of dad in Be Happy. In this dance-drama, streaming on Amazon Prime, the actor plays a widower raising a daughter who has an unshakable passion and talent for dance. Helmed by choreographer-director Remo D’Souza, Be Happy, written by D’Souza, Kanishka Singh Deo, Chirag Garg and Tushar Hirandanani, is built on the foundations of a father-daughter relationship and dance.

When Bruce Banner—The Hulk—is looking for a cure for his unusual rage transformation, he seeks help from maverick scientist Samuel Sterns. Their collaboration faces resistance from General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who is hell-bent on stopping Banner because the giant, angry, green Hulk is dating the general’s daughter, Betty. Ross also wants to harness the gamma tech to his own advantage to create an adequate foil for The Hulk. The resultant creation, dubbed the Abomination, clashes with The Hulk, leading to the destruction of Harlem and a permanent scar on Ross’ reputation. This summary of the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, which starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, and William Hurt as General Ross, is crucial to understanding Captain America: Brave New World.

Author Helen Fielding’s first novel about a single, thirty-something woman living in London was released in 1996. The novel was adapted into a movie in 2001, with the heroine of Bridget Jones’s Diary returning in a movie sequel titled Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004. American actress Renée Zellweger has starred as Bridget Jones in all four films based on Fielding’s writing, which, in part, is the writer’s homage to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It’s no coincidence that Bridget’s love interest is called Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth, who famously portrayed Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 1995 TV adaptation of Austen’s novel. The latest, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, is the fourth film (the last was Bridget Jones’s Baby, from 2016) about the life and loves of Bridget Jones. Michael Morris directs a screenplay by Fielding, Dan Mazer, and Abi Morgan. The film explores themes of loss, resilience, and self-discovery while still delivering the trademark awkwardness and comedic situations that have defined Bridget’s character.