Udita Jhunjhunwala

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.

Director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, in partnership with writer Kireet Khurana, has extended Satyajit Ray’s short story Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro into The Storyteller, a 116-minute drama available on Disney+ Hotstar. Tarini Bandopadhyay (Paresh Rawal) is a recently retired writer, whose longest assignment lasted 13 weeks. He’s a widower who is content with his Calcutta life and takes meticulous care of his Ambassador car. Conversations with his fellow comrades, over fish fry and fish curry, are rarely without mention of Capitalism and its ills and almost always end with ‘Tarini tales’. Tarini is a wonderful storyteller. Even after his wife gifted him a pen to encourage him, Tarini never recorded his imaginative and original stories.

From the title itself, it’s a giveaway that this romcom is going to be rife in clichés and oozing cheesiness. In that sense, writer-director Victor Mukherjee’s 107-minute-long film does not disappoint. Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Fernandes (Amol Parashar) is a recycle artist and social media influencer who is nursing a broken heart and often posts philosophical and pensive posts about dreams, feelings etc. These read like memes or the kind of ‘good quotes’ one could Google up. But what is baffling Kenny at this time, is a recurring dream featuring a date with an attractive young woman in a coffee shop. Said woman does exist. Somewhere else, an aspiring and ambivalent musician called Diya Jaisingh (Mithila Palkar) is experiencing the same dream, featuring Kenny and the same coffee shop.

“This will be a tour about pain,” cautions James, the earnest British guide shepherding a group of American Jews on a tour of Poland. The small group includes David and Benji, two cousins from New York on a visit to Poland to honour their recently deceased grandmother Dori, a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust. Best known for this starring role as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg writes, directs and stars in this holocaust comedy playing David, who like Eisenberg, suffers from OCD and anxiety disorder. David has a regular job, a wife and child and uses pills to deal with his anxiety. He’s socially awkward and envies Benji’s ease and charm. Benji road-rolls his cousin and trivialises his life choices.