Guild Reviews
Kaushaljis vs Kaushal
Comedy, Drama, Family (Hindi)
Yug Kaushal, a 27-year-old, leaves behind his small-town roots in Kannauj and moves to Delhi. Always cribbing about his parent not adapting to the modern lifestyle and more urban way of living their life, Yug gets the shock of his life when the senior Kaushals consider mutual separation as the situation spirals into chaos.
Cast:
Pavail Gulati, Isha Talwar, Ashutosh Rana, Sheeba Chaddha, Deeksha Joshi
Director:
Seemaa Desai
दो पीढ़ियों के बीच आने वाली खाई को भरने और वाई फाई का कनेक्शन
Sat, February 22 2025
हमारे आम मध्यमवर्गीय परिवारों के ज्यादातर माता-पिता बच्चों की बेहतर परवरिश के लिए अपने सपनों को कुर्बान कर देते हैं। लेकिन वही बच्चे बड़े होकर अपनी ही दुनिया में रम जाते हैं। मां-बाप के लिए उनके पास वक्त ही नहीं बचता और फिर, इन बेचारे बुजुर्गों के पास बचती है टूटे हुए सपनों की किरचें, अकेलापन और उससे उपजी झुंझलाहट। आज के दौर की इसी घर-घर की कहानी का भावुक चित्रण है, फिल्म कौशलजीज वर्सेज कौशल। ये कहानी कन्नौज के कौशल परिवार की है, जिसके मुखिया साहिल कौशल (आशुतोष राणा) कव्वाल बनने के सपने को कुर्बान कर अकाउंटेंट बन जाते हैं, ताकि बच्चों की पढ़ाई का खर्च सही से उठा सकें। वहीं, उनकी पत्नी संगीता (शीबा चड्ढा) ने बच्चों को पूरा समय देने के लिए अपने इत्र बनाने की चाहत दबा दी। पर नोएडा में एक ऐड एजेंसी में नौकरी करने वाले बेटे युग (पवैल गुलाटी) के पास घर आना तो दूर, मां-बाप से बात करने का भी वक्त नहीं रहता। बेटी भी बाहर एनजीओ में काम करती है। ऐसे में, घर में अकेले बचे साहिल और सीमा अपने-अपने सपनों को दोबारा जीने की कोशिश तो करते हैं, मगर एक-दूसरे के मन की बात नहीं समझ पाते। हर वक्त एक-दूसरे से लड़ते रहते हैं, लिहाजा एक दिन इस कलेश को खत्म करने के लिए दोनों तलाक लेने का फैसला लेते हैं। इधर, युग की गर्लफ्रेंड कियारा (ईशा तलवार) को ऐसा घर चाहिए, जहां सब हंसी-खुशी रहते हों। ऐसे में, मां-बाप के अलग होने के फैसले का बच्चों पर क्या असर पड़ता है? यह फिल्म देखकर पता चलेगा।
Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam
Romance, Drama (Tamil)
All set to move on with his life, a boy unexpectedly reconnects with his past love.
Cast:
Pavish Narayanan, Anikha Surendran, Priya Prakash Varrier, Mathew Thomas, Venkatesh Menon
Director:
Dhanush
(Writing for OTT Play)
A Fun Rom-Com That Could Have Been Better
Sat, February 22 2025
The Dhanush signature is all over Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam (NEEK). Usually one would find the writer and director’s stamp in their film but, with NEEK, it is a little extra. As an actor and a star, it is not just Dhanush’s artistic preoccupations that show up on the screen but also his favourite themes and persona, pet peeves and theories along with the usual homages that follow every big Tamil star. The writing on the wall is stark because we don’t see Dhanush on screen, but we see it in the writing, we hear it in the sound, we identify it in the intonations, and we get all the references. As people pointed out, the main lead is named Prabhu (Dhanush’s birth name), and he is a chef (what Dhanush wanted to become). In the final scene, just before the writer-director credits appear, Rajesh (a fun Mathew Thomas) is holding a ukulele and playing ‘Rowdy Baby’.
Dhanush's moon-aimed mission is half successful
Fri, February 21 2025
That Dhanush is an extraordinary actor is known to everyone. He also proved his mettle as a director with his debut film, Pa Paandi, and Raayan. His third directorial venture is Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam aka NEEK, a romantic comedy centred on a bunch of youngsters that generated positive buzz. Will it help Dhanush strike a hat-trick? Let’s find out! Prabhu (Pavish Narayan) is an aspiring chef who is in love with failure. His best friend, Rajesh (Mathew Thomas) has been by his side through ups and downs. Prabhu’s parents (Saranya Ponvannan and Aadukalam Naren) inform him about a potential match and force him to visit the girl’s home with them. With reluctance, he ends up at his school friend Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier’s home. Prabhu and Preethi decide to date for a week before they can decide on moving forward.
Dhanush’s Rom-Com Keeps You Grinning Despite Its Silliness
Fri, February 21 2025
An overarching similarity in the three directorial ventures of actor Dhanush is their simplicity. Their stories are straightforward and so are their screenplays. Pa Paandi is about a retired stuntman trying to find his lost love. Raayan is about a brother trying to save his family from itself. Now, Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam is a rom-com about a guy trying to patch up with an ex-lover during her destination wedding. These are time-tested stories that had high success rates in the past, and Dhanush attempts to revive these old-school narratives in a contemporary setting. The best metaphor to describe this marriage of the old and the new is the image of Pa Pandi cruising on a Royal Enfield bike to find his love in Dhanush’s debut. An old guy trying to get back his lost romance is old, but his taking on a long ride to see her is new. Similarly, Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam has an age-old story with cliches, but the ethos is new.
Companion
Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller (English)
During a weekend getaway at a secluded lakeside estate, a group of friends finds themselves entangled in a web of secrets, deception, and advanced technology. As tensions rise and loyalties are tested, they uncover unsettling truths about themselves and the world around them.
Cast:
Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén
Director:
Drew Hancock
Writer:
Drew Hancock
(Writing for OTT Play)
When Artificial Intelligence Is The Only Intelligence
Sat, February 22 2025
EARLY ON in Drew Hancock’s Companion, two young women named Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Kat (Megan Suri) have a prickly moment on a boozy night. When Iris asks why Kat — a close friend of Iris’ new lover Josh (Jack Quaid) — doesn’t like her, a tipsy Kat says she just doesn’t like the ‘idea’ of her. “You make me feel replaceable,” she continues. The conceit of this confession is two-pronged. Iris is deeply in love with her new boyfriend Josh, but Kat is in an abusive relationship with a controlling Russian man; the obvious implication is that Kat is bitter. But the real implication emerges a scene or two later, when the film reveals that Iris (“Siri” when spelt backwards) is actually a companion robot. Up until then, it speaks volumes that the average male viewer may not be able to tell. Iris loves Josh so much that she is subservient to him — she wants to please him by hanging out with his friends on a weekend getaway, she craves to see him smile, and sex for them is basically Josh grunting and rolling over to sleep. It’s all too familiar. So Kat saying she feels “replaceable” by Iris is the film admitting that — in a world captured by the male gaze — a woman robot is no different from a woman.
Surface S02
Drama, Mystery (English)
A traumatic head injury leaves Sophie with extreme memory loss. In her quest to put the pieces of her life back together—with help from her husband and friends—Sophie begins to question the truth behind her picture-perfect life.
Cast:
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Millie Brady, Phil Dunster, Gavin Drea
Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Drawn-Out Suspense Thriller Returns With More Wild Twists
Fri, February 21 2025
A line from the Tom Cruise starrer A Few Good Men (1992) would be very apt for Surface Season 2. Maybe Jack Nicholson should have shouted, “You can’t handle the truth,” to some of the characters in the show. The Apple TV+ series starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw revolves around a woman named Sophie trying to figure out her past, present, and future after getting amnesia. This season, Surface moves to England, where buried secrets threaten to take over two families. Sophie (Mbatha-Raw), now going by the name Tess, returns to London, where she tracks individuals who were once close to her, hoping to find out the truth about her past. But as the identities of Sophie and Tess continue to co-mingle, she puts herself and others she comes in contact with in more danger. This involves a journalist named Callum (Gavin Drea) and her estranged husband James (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) as they interact with the secretive but wealthy Huntley family and their heirs Quinn (Phil Dunster) and Eliza (Millie Brady).
Kuch Sapney Apne
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
Kartik & Aman’s relationship is tested when one of them has a fling which leads to a domestic spat. Kartik’s parents’ relationship breaks apart when Damodar and Vasudha have a tiff. Will these two couples ever be able to resolve their differences? Will their relationships stand the test of time? Kuch Sapney Apne is a sensitive heartwarming film about relationships, queer or not, and what happens when uncomfortable truths challenge relationships.
Cast:
Mona Ambegaonkar, Shishir Sharma, Satvik Bhatia, Arpit Chaudhary, Abhay Kulkarni
Director:
Sridhar Rangayan
Writer:
Sridhar Rangayan
Sincerity of Queer-Themed Drama Undone by Weak Craft
Fri, February 21 2025
Some movies break your heart when they’re not good. A chunk of filmmaker-activist Sridhar Rangayan’s filmography — which focuses on queer subjects and LGBTQ-themed stories — falls into this category. The chasm between intent and execution is as wide as the chasm between fact and fiction in Hindi historical biopics. Distinguishing between the two is important; criticising the craft of a film is not the same as panning its cause. If social significance alone were a yardstick for meaningful cinema, Rangayan’s latest (co-directed and co-written with Saagar Gupta), Kuch Sapney Apne, would be the Love Actually of the genre. A sequel to his previous feature, Evening Shadows (2018), Kuch Sapney Apne expands its multi-narrative snapshot of an orthodox South Indian family at the crossroads. The conflict is now married to its consequences.
Reacher S03
Action & Adventure, Crime, Drama (English)
Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served.
Cast:
Alan Ritchson, Maria Sten, Sonya Cassidy, Johnny Berchtold, Roberto Montesinos
Jack Reacher returns in by-the-numbers season
Fri, February 21 2025
Reacher is many things. Ex-US Army. Tall. Large. Loner. Drifter. But he’s no grifter: he means what he says, even if sometimes he comes off as pedantic. But when he tells wealthy rug merchant Zachary Beck (Anthony Michael Hall) that wherever he, Reacher, goes, trouble seems to find him, he is just stating facts. In a sedate university town of Maine, trouble once again finds our favourite former military cop, and Season 3 of the eight-part show called, simply, and aptly, ‘Reacher’, is off and away. This one is based on Lee Child’s seventh bestseller ‘Persuader’, developed for TV by Nick Santora, and written by Scott Sullivan. Good cops, bad guys, shoot-outs, car crashes, sudden kills, the staple elements of the best-selling author’s page-turners, all show up.
The Count of Monte Cristo
Action, Adventure, Drama (French)
Edmond Dantes becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After 14 years in the island prison of Château d’If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte-Cristo and exacts his revenge on the three men who betrayed him.
Cast:
Pierre Niney, Bastien Bouillon, Anaïs Demoustier, Anamaria Vartolomei, Laurent Lafitte
Director:
Matthieu Delaporte
Pierre Niney Commands French Adaptation Of Alexandre Dumas' Classic Revenge Saga
Thu, February 20 2025
The 2024 version of The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Pierre Niney, is a stunning and faithful adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel about a man who exacts revenge on those who wronged him. Beautifully brought to the screen, the film is one of the most expensive films made in France. This is the kind of film Hollywood has forgotten to tell. Niney’s mesmerising performance as the vengeful Count is the main reason to tune into the film.
Win or Lose
Animation, Comedy, Family (English)
As a championship game looms, eight characters are thrown a curveball in their off-the-field lives.
Cast:
Will Forte, Rosanna Jean Foss, Josh Thomson, Milan Ray, Rosa Salazar
Pixar's First Original Series Is Wickedly Funny And Surprisingly Philosophical
Wed, February 19 2025
Prior to Win or Lose, Pixar Animation Studios’ series have all been spun off from their film franchise. With this new animated series, the studio is branching out into new territory, and it is a delight to see. The eight-episode series created by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates is laugh out loud funny as it tackles every insecurity felt by various members of a middle school team. Interestingly, each episode is told from the viewpoint of a different character, adding to the mystery of who wins the final game. The first two episodes focus on different members of the Pickles softball team. The premiere episode tells the story from Coach Dan’s (voice of Will Forte) daughter Laurie (voice of Rosie Foss). Insecure about her place in her dad’s life, the child of divorce becomes so anxious she manifests her own ‘sweaty’ devil. The second episode belongs teacher Frank (voice of Josh Thomson) who is also the umpire. Still hung up over his ex Monica (Vyvan Pham), he contemplates getting back into the dating scene.
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
Drama, Romance (Marathi)
A thirty-year-old city-dweller compelled to spend ten-day mourning of his father in the rugged countryside of Western India tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, he must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Cast:
Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap, Dhananjay Jambar, Sandhya Pawase
Director:
Rohan Kanawade
Writer:
Rohan Kanawade
Speak softly and defy expectations
Mon, February 17 2025
It speaks to the relaxed control of Sabar Bonda how animals freely roam the frame and steal our attention. An optimistic goat breaks away from the herd and approaches two humans eating their lunch; it’s shooed away unceremoniously. A cat draws our gaze as it walks across the screen before it’s spooked by yelling and runs off. As Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) talks to his friend Balya (Suraaj Suman), he glances at a nearby buffalo that’s lifted its tail and done its business. Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Marathi film, which won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this month, is set in a village in Maharashtra. It’s close enough to Mumbai that Anand can take a bus there to perform his father’s last rites in his ancestral village. But it’s also a world removed, a place, in the local imagination at least, of opportunity and permissiveness, herbal shampoos and special friends.
A Sensitive Look at Queer Desire in the Indian Village
Sat, February 1 2025
Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) has just lost his father, but according to his relatives, it’s not the most pressing absence in his life. Anand is a 30-year-old unmarried man, something which is utterly incomprehensible to the folks in his village in Maharashtra. So even as he gets ready to perform the last rites of his dead father, his relatives don’t forget to remind him about the ‘stigma’ of his marital status. An aunt even wonders out loud, if an unmarried man is fit to light the pyre of his own father. Anand and his mother have to wade through a sea of inquisitions about why he hasn’t settled down – only to come up with stories like – “A girl he was in love with, married someone else. So Anand is heartbroken, and doesn’t wish to get married now.”
A tender, affecting film told with warmth, sensitivity
Fri, January 31 2025
‘Sabar Bonda’ is the story of two young men, finding their way back to each other. It is also a story of grief and acceptance, told with warmth and piercing sensitivity. Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) accompanies his mother to their ancestral Maharashtrian village from Mumbai, for the ten-day mourning period after the death of his father. He is back after a sizable gap, but the reason for his staying away starts up again: ‘potential brides from good homes’ are back on the table, and Anand finds himself struggling, like he did before, for a way to tell his relatives that he’s gay. ‘Sabar Bonda’ has a couple of firsts to its credit. It is self-taught filmmaker Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s debut feature, and the first Marathi film chosen to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, whose 41st edition is currently underway.
Bromance
Comedy, Action (Malayalam)
Binto teams up with his brother's friends for a thrilling adventure to find him, leading to unexpected twists, discoveries, and unforgettable moments.
Cast:
Arjun Ashokan, Mathew Thomas, Mahima Nambiar, Kalabhavan Shajon, Binu Pappu
Director:
Arun D Jose
Writer:
Thomas P Sebastian
A fun-filled ride despite its thin plotline and some failed gags
Sun, February 16 2025
Pop cultural references in a film often give a hint of the particular demographic the makers are aiming the film at. In Arun D.Jose’s Bromance, the references that fly thick and fast, almost as an easy stand-in for thoughtful dialogue writing, are from recent films. Just like his first two films, Jo & Jo and 18+, Arun attempts to create a movie targeted at the youth from a super thin storyline. But, unlike his previous outings, he goes for a much more fast-paced narrative that partly succeeds in covering up for the weaknesses in the plotting. There is the impeccable comic timing of Sangeeth Prathap, who continues in his Premalu vein to pep up even dull scenes. Written by Thomas P. Sebastian and Raveesh Nath, Bromance takes off with Binto (Mathew Thomas), setting out to find his elder brother Shinto (Shyam Mohan), who had gone missing.
Captain America Brave New World
Action, Thriller, Science Fiction (English)
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
Cast:
Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson
Director:
Julius Onah
Muddled and bland
Sun, February 16 2025
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.
Anothony Mackie's Film Doesn't Build Up To Much
Sat, February 15 2025
Captain America took on a new face back in 2021 with the release of The Falcon And The Winter Solider. Sam Wilson decided not to go through the same treatment as Steve Rogers to become a Super Solider and this is about him and fans doubting his decision. It still feels like a good idea for Wilson to take the serum but he won’t in the coming years to justify the ideology — which the film does on more than one occasion even when the decision feels like a bad idea to our new Cap himself. The film does bring in some familiar faces for cameos which makes the second half worthwhile, but it doesn’t build up to much. The film’s plot remains wafer thin as the government’s high-level prisoner goes rouge (surprise-surprise) and ends up taking over anyone and everyone he wishes including the President. While the tech may already be a real thing IRL, the film fails to see how a prisoner as big as the one introduced in the film gets away with it without raising any red flags or real alarms. Meanwhile, Sam returns to the MCU as the saviour of USA by going on a mission to retrieve a secret package being sold on the down low. And President Ross is working on trying to get the USA some Adamantium found in the celestial island aka Tiamut’s body left behind by the Eternals.
Painkili
Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
Tale of Suku, who fakes insanity to escape the law. While faking insanity, he falls in love.
Cast:
Sajin Gopu, Anaswara Rajan, Jisma Jiji, Roshan Shanavas, Chandu Salimkumar
Director:
Sreejith Babu
Writer:
Jithu Madhavan
Sajin Gopu And Anaswara Rajan Shine, But A Weak Story Holds The Film Back
Sat, February 15 2025
Painkili is one of those films that leaves you confused. There are streaks of brilliance in it, but something leaves the project way off the mark from being the unique experience it strives to be. Written by Aavesham director Jeethu Madhavan and directed by Sreejith Babu, Painkili is an attempt to provide something off-beat and eccentric, but instead, it ends up being random because of the lack of a story arc. While the film is supposed to be about the meeting of two enigmatic personalities–Sajin Gopu’s Suku Sujeeth Kumar and Anaswara Rajan’s Sheeba Baby–it takes a long time to reach the point. Instead, it meanders too much, doling out comedy sequences. While the humour works to a large extent, you are constantly left wondering about the point of it all.
A Wildly Original, Mildly Frustrating Comedy
Sat, February 15 2025
In Sreejith Babu’s debut Painkili, cringe isn’t the after-effect as much as it is the aesthetic the film aspires for. It is self-aware and loud and made by a director with such an original style that he hasn’t yet found ways to bring it under control. How else would you describe some of the wild ideas that are dime a dozen? Take the example of a character named Jaffer, one of the many “gundas” in the film. Not only does Jaffer introduce himself each time he runs into a friend, but he goes on to call everyone around him Jaffer too. It doesn’t make any sense and oftentimes ideas like these are so strange that we’re unsure if we’re expected to laugh or wince. But in the odd instance one of these wild swings begin to make sense, it’s next to impossible to stop laughing.
Great laughs, but story meanders in Sajin Gopu-Ananswara Rajan film
Fri, February 14 2025
A few minutes into director Sreejith Babu’s ‘Painkili’, you see a petite Sheeba Baby (Anaswara Rajan) jumping off the terrace and eloping from home after being pressured into marriage. But, she is unsuccessful. She gets caught by her father and casually walks into her home as if nothing happened. This opening scene is just enough to tell you that you are in for a quirky ride with Painkili. Painkili is the story of two different individuals. On one hand, we have Suku Sujith Kumar (Sajin Gopu), who posts ‘cringe’ poetry on Facebook. His trip to Coimbatore changes his life, where he had to obtain a fake mental health certificate to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Sheeba is a happy girl who wants to study. But, her parents insist on getting her married and pressure her to do so at every opportunity.