Bring Her Back
Horror (English)
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Maareesan
Thriller (Tamil)
In an unusual situation, Velayudham sets out on a journey with Dhaya from Nagercoil to Tiruvannamalai-a journey that will alter both their lives in ways they never imagined.
Cast:
Vadivelu, Fahadh Faasil, Kovai Sarala, Sithara, Renuka, Vivek Prasanna, P.L. Thenappan, Saravana Subbiah
Director:
Sudheesh Shankar
Writer:
Krishna Moorthy
Fahadh Faasil’s film fools you into forgiving terrible crimes with its farfetched plot twist
Sat, August 30 2025
At what point do you start feeling bad about the idea of wanting someone dead? While watching the new Tamil-language film Maareesan, you crave nothing more than the satisfaction of seeing a middle-aged man murder child molesters. The movie aims to appease a primal desire buried deep within us, and it does so with patience and skill. But the catharsis is temporary. After a while, you’re going to have to live with yourself, a person who wouldn’t mind a few murders here and there as long as the ones being murdered are terrible people. But, the service that Maareesan is accidentally providing has a greater purpose. In its efforts to manipulate our inherent goodness — who wouldn’t want to watch bad people be punished? — it is exposing our blood lust.
The Long Take: A Spotify Review
Wed, August 27 2025
In the Tamil-language film Maareesan, the plot twist comes not at the end, but midway through. We talk about the sudden change in tone, and how the film handles it. We also discuss Fahadh Faasil’s comedic performance, and wonder why the film is presented through the perspective of his character. But mainly, we talk about the film’s shady morality, which seems to champion extrajudicial killings if the cause is perceived as noble enough.
Fahadh-Vadivelu's road trip takes wrong turn post-interval
Thu, July 24 2025
‘Maareesan’ brings together Tamil comedy legend Vadivelu and brilliant performer Fahadh Faasil for the second time after ‘Maamannan’. While the two have their individual strengths, they are terrific performers. Give them any role, their eyes are enough to pull them off. Director Sudheesh Sankar’s ‘Maareesan’ is a comedy thriller, a genre that could either be effective or a total misfire. Dayalan (Fahadh Faasil) is a thief who is just out of the infamous Palayamkottai prison. In his words, certain houses talk to him and call him, so he could rob them. Soon after his return, he finds Velayudham Pillai’s (Vadivelu) house calling him. He breaks into the house to steal, but only to find Velayudham chained to his bed.
The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang
Comedy, Crime (Malayalam)
It follows four slum-dwelling youngsters and a midget who plan to run their neighbourhood's temple festival, encountering a ruthless gangster on a chaotic journey filled with ambition, dark humour, and misadventures.
Cast:
Darshana Rajendran, Jagadish, Prasanth Alexander, Sanju Sivaram, Indrans, Santhy Balachandran, Zarin Shihab, Vishnu Agasthya, Hakkim Shajahan, Sreenath Babu
Director:
Krishand
Writer:
Krishand
(Writing for OTT Play)
Uneven, Yet Entertainingly Solid
Fri, August 29 2025
“You don’t know anything about postmodern narrative”, bemoans the Malayalam writer, ghost writing a novel for a small-time, but battle-hardened, world-weary gangster from Thiruvanchipuram. The gangster is narrating his admittedly short but eventful story of adult life, his criminal escapades with four other friends. Crime wasn’t the choice they made. It was a byproduct of all their attempts to legitimise their lives out of oppression, a ticket out of their matchbox-sized slums. Arikuttan, charmingly played by Sanju Sivram, sits across writer Maithreyan, veteran in spirit (played by Jagadish) as well as pedigree, and tells him to go easy on the colourful digressions that the writer plucks out of his imagination. But Maithreyan wants that postmodern flourish, that bite of a story that functions as an adventure with an immediate judgment call laced with irony. It’s not surprising. The writer and director is Krishand, and the Sony LIV web series Sambhava Vivaranam Nalarasangham, or The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang, has his stamp all over.
Odum Kuthira Chadam Kuthira
Drama, Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
Jilted at his wedding, Aby encounters a reserved woman needing help. As they heal together, his ex returns with newfound insight into his dreams. A hidden truth leads Aby to find peace.
Cast:
Fahadh Faasil, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Revathi Pillai, Vinay Forrt, Dhyan Sreenivasan, Lal, Suresh Krishna, Babu Antony, Anuraj OB, Johny Antony
Director:
Althaf Salim
Writer:
Althaf Salim
Fahadh Faasil in painfully unfunny comedy
Fri, August 29 2025
Mohanlal’s ‘Hridayapoorvam’, one of the popular Onam releases this year, featured a scene where a fan claiming to know Malayalam cinema talks highly of Fafa aka Fahadh Faasil. He tells Mohanlal, one of the legends of Malayalam cinema, that FaFa is the best. A day later, FaFa’s ‘Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira’ hits theatres. You expect everything the fan said. Eyes, expressions, and everything. But Fahadh’s film bores you so much that you contemplate walking out of the theatre. Now, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say as a critic. The night before the wedding, Nidhi (Kalyani Priyadarshan) tells her fiance Aby Mathre (Fahadh Faasil) about a dream that she has been having for the past few days. Nidhi is a woman who looks at dreams as signs and goes to the extent of realising them. The dream is about Aby arriving at the wedding on a white horse. Aby gives in to her fancies and finds a horse with the help of his coworker Anurag (Anuraj OB).
An absurdist comedy that ends up in no man’s land
Fri, August 29 2025
Towards the fag end of Odum Kuthira Chaadum Kuthira, when one character asks - “Do you sense any logic in this joke?”, it appears to be one last-ditch effort to convey the filmmaker’s intentions to the audience. Clearly, the film is set in an absurdist landscape. It is the kind of film in which the father of the protagonist, who has slipped into a coma, would say, ‘Till now, he was a question mark to us, now he has become a com(m)a’. But such jokes, which land, are few and far between, for even absurdist humour requires a sense of timing and rhythm for it to work. What we get instead is a series of misfires that punctuate a screenplay with no sense of direction, just like the protagonist Eby (Fahadh Faasil). We are pulled into his life the night before his wedding, when his fiancée, Nidhi (Kalyani Priyadarshan), expresses a wish. In the quest to fulfill the same, Eby ends up facing a crisis.
Better Man
Music, Drama (English)
Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.
Cast:
Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Tom Budge, Jake Simmance
Director:
Michael Gracey
Writer:
Simon Gleeson, Michael Gracey, Oliver Cole
Gimmicky Biopic Musical Is Surprisingly Emotional And Candid
Fri, August 29 2025
Better Man is a strange but effective musical biopic on singer Robbie Williams, formerly of Take That. Viewers see him lay bare several key moments from life - the good, the bad and the ugly. However, until the credits roll, we never see his face. That’s because the role of Robbie is taken over by a CGI chimpanzee (performed by Jonno Davies). Robbie narrates his story and the Michael Gracey film shows how fame can be both the best and worst thing to happen to you. As far as biopics go, this feature makes an impact from the very first scene. The biopic charts Robbie’s incredible rise from a nobody living in Stoke-on-Trent to becoming the UK’s best-selling solo artist ever. It’s a steep rise that comes with its own perils as the teenage Robert becomes Robbie and begins to lose himself to his starry career. Seeking the approval of his absent dad, he manages to become one of the greats while overcoming several addictions from drugs, booze and dizzying heights of fame. This is a happy story, as we know he does emerge out of the dark side, but the movie never shies away from the bleakness.
Shodha
Thriller (Kannada)
After his wife vanishes following a deadly accident, Rohit reports her missing.When police find her,he insists the woman isn't really his wife.
Cast:
Pawan Kumar, Siri Ravikumar, Shwetha R Prasad, Anusha Rangnath, Arun Sagar
Director:
Sunil Mysore
Writer:
Pawan Kumar, Suhas Navarathna
(Writing for M9 News)
Modestly Watchable Thriller
Fri, August 29 2025
Rohith, a lawyer by profession, arrives at the police station to claim that his wife, Meera, is missing. After a work trip, he’d returned home to surprise Meera on her birthday. Meanwhile, Meera’s sister Aditi takes charge of the situation at home, shielding his daughter Tara from the confusion. A woman, claiming to be Rohith’s wife, lands at home, whom he asserts is an imposter. Where’s the case headed? Shodha doesn’t demand much from its cast, for it barely settles down, not giving any performance enough time to register well. Pawan Kumar (who also helped with the adaptation), as the protagonist, gets the maximum screen time and plays a multi-layered role minus any overt exaggeration. Yet it isn’t a performance you’d call memorable; it fits the bill and that’s about it.
Tribanadhari Barbarik
(Telugu)
Tribanadhari Barbarik (2025) tells the epic tale of Barbarik, grandson of Bhima, who rises in the modern age with his three invincible arrows to fight for the oppressed. Awakened in a world torn apart by greed and war, he is bound by his eternal oath to always stand with the weaker side. As ancient evils resurface and humanity faces its darkest hour, Barbarik must decide whether his power will save the world or lead it into eternal destruction.
Cast:
Rajendran, Vasishta N. Simha, Satyam Rajesh, Sathyaraj, VTV Ganesh, Sanchi Rai, Udayabhanu
Director:
Mohan Srivatsa
Writer:
Mohan Srivatsa
(Writing for The Hindu)
Sathyaraj leads a taut, self-aware redemption drama
Fri, August 29 2025
There is a certain degree of freedom that storytellers enjoy with a film that is not tailored to suit an actor’s image. One can sense that liberation in director Mohan Srivatsa’s Telugu film Tribanadhari Barbarik, which, despite being a done-to-death redemption drama centred on a missing child, rises above the limitations of its genre, thanks to crisp storytelling and well-etched characters. The title, Tribanadhari Barbarik, is a reference to Ghatotkacha’s son in the Mahabharata; he is a gifted warrior who vows to support the losing side in the war. The film’s protagonist, Shyam Kathu (another name for Barbarik, played by Sathyaraj), a psychiatrist, is a warrior-like figure for his granddaughter Nidhi, who goes missing one night. The grandfather will not rest till he finds her.
Sundarakanda
Romance, Comedy (Telugu)
A man born under the Mula Nakshatra faces misfortune and failed relationships, exploring his journey to win over his ideal match.
Cast:
Nara Rohith, Sridevi Vijayakumar, Virti Vaghani, Naresh, Vasuki Anand, Satya, Ajay, VTV Ganesh, Abhinav Gomatam, Viswant Duddumpudi
Director:
Venkatesh Nimmalapudi
(Writing for The Hindu)
Nara Rohith’s romcom is a mixed bag
Fri, August 29 2025
In Sundarakanda, Siddharth (Nara Rohith) faces a quintessential problem common to most middle-aged protagonists in Telugu cinema’s romcoms. The parents are worried that their ageing son may never get married, while the typical man-child will not agree to a girl unless she matches his specific requirements. However, the Nara Rohith starrer gives this idea a cheeky little twist and playfully subverts it. The film’s title is a throwback to Venkatesh’s 1992 hit by the same name, and there is enough thematic similarity between the two to establish a clear connection. While the former featured an unconventional equation between a male teacher and a feisty student, the 2025 film is a tale of a man who turns a teacher to woo his lady love (creepy, yes), tackling ageism with tongue-in-cheek humour.
Half CA S02
Drama (Hindi)
Two CA Aspirants from two different ends of the spectrum of the course, Archie and Niraj embark on the journey of one of the toughest courses and face the obstacles it has to offer.
Cast:
Ahsaas Channa, Gyanendra Tripathi, Anmol Kajani, Prit Kamani, Rohan Joshi, Aishwarya Ojha
Director:
Pratish Mehta
(Writing for Binged)
A Kota Factory-Style Easy Watch
Thu, August 28 2025
Niraj, Archie and Parth have cleared their CA Group 1 exams. Both Parth and Archie land articleships in different companies, juggling their time for exam preparation. Niraj bumps into his ex, Kavya, again, and the two give their relationship another chance. Tejas continues to support Archie through her highs and lows, while Vishal makes progress with his acting career. The performances generally fit the bill. Given the graph of the characters is limited in terms of complexity, there’s only so much that an actor can do to go beyond the established tropes. Ahsaas Channa is the pick of the lot among the cast; she’s barely tested but tries to bring some earnestness into her performance. Half CA is precisely Kota Factory for CA aspirants – a group of students from different parts of the country across age groups come together to pursue their dream, nearly give up, get distracted, but give it a good shot. Some make it, some don’t, there are heartbreaks, disappointments and time runs out. Through the journey, some victories are literal, others moral, but they gear them for life.
Bring Her Back
Horror (English)
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret.
Cast:
Billy Barratt, Sally Hawkins, Mischa Heywood, Jonah Wren Phillips, Stephen Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Sora Wong, Kathryn Adams, Brian Godfrey, Brendan Bacon
Director:
Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Writer:
Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman
A Rare Horror Film That Humanises Its Monster
Mon, August 25 2025
One of the incidental pleasures of recent indie-horror films from around the world is how they’ve doubled down on the power of gaslighting. It’s chilling to see the psychological warfare unleashed on a person, enough to make them question their critical faculties and/or sanity. Why fear the monster under the bed, when family members and ‘well-meaning’ acquaintances can make up for it? The power of perception can be vital – which most people are discovering in the age of social media. Imbuing human paranoia into a folk horror-tale is one of the best decisions made by director-duo Danny and Michael Philippou in Bring Her Back – their sophomore film, after their clutter-breaking debut in Talk To Me (2023). Having started as YouTubers in Adelaide, the Philippou brothers soon showcased their knowledge about horror tropes. And they also know the points when most horror films take a leap of faith – and how ludicrous it looks. So the duo mine it for laughs. It’s another miracle of recent that instead of being rigid, indie-spirited horror films operate without any fear of flirting with their own formlessness.
Good grief
Mon, August 25 2025
Following the releases of Weapons and Together earlier this month, the series of top notch horror/thriller films persists. It is safe to say that Bring Her Back stands out as the most terrifying of them all, due to its staging and unfolding – complemented by an exceptional performance from the ever-dependable Sally Hawkins. You will find yourself reluctant to visit her home, even if she extends an invitation
This Horror Pulls All The Right Stops But...
Sat, August 23 2025
2025 has seen a range of horror with sub-genres and plots that are far from the idea of a typical horror film from the 2000s. With drama, supernatural elements and psychological factors taking the forefront, a new kind of understanding for the genre has emerged. Bring Her Back is another such film; it focuses on body horror with gore and blood, which makes you look away. But the focus on these ends up overshadowing the real psychological horror of the film: a mother lost to grief, the broken foster system and the trauma all kids go through in the film.
Nobody 2
Action, Thriller (English)
Former assassin Hutch Mansell takes his family on a nostalgic vacation to a small-town theme park, only to be pulled back into violence when they clash with a corrupt operator, a crooked sheriff, and a ruthless crime boss.
Cast:
Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Sharon Stone, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Colin Salmon
Director:
Timo Tjahjanto
Rinsed and Repeated
Mon, August 25 2025
Similar to numerous Hollywood films, Nobody 2 was produced due to the success of Nobody (2021), which performed well at the box office. The concept was interesting – an unremarkable office worker is actually a skilled assassin and capable of taking on a horde of thugs and defeating them decisively. It was a light-hearted film filled with action.
Bob Odenkirk's Action Sequel Stays In Its Lane And Is Still Fun
Sat, August 23 2025
Nobody 2 brings back the old man in an action film gimmick, but the makers stay true to the franchise’s tone, keeping it family-friendly and light. The action sequences are amusing and gory, similar to those in the first film, but they are witty enough not to feel repetitive. The novelty of watching a middle-aged man fighting does wear off, but the full-circle moment in the film makes up for it. Until the usual sequels, with just newer villains and bigger baddies, we do a refreshing take on making friends with call backs to the good moments in the original film.
Indra
Thriller (Tamil)
INDRA is a serial killer investigation film about an ex-cop who lost his eyesight and sets out to find the killer terrorizing the town. What follows is a gripping chase full of twists and turns — but what if the hunter ends up becoming the hunted?
Cast:
Vasanth Ravi, Mehreen Pirzada, Sunil Varma, Anikha Surendran, Kalyan Kumar
Director:
Sabarish Nanda
Writer:
Sabarish Nanda
Vasanth Ravi's thriller is too basic to be the thriller it promised
Sat, August 23 2025
A police officer on suspension. A serial killer is on the loose. A murder that hits home. A personal tragedy that blinds the police. All these plot points could set the foundation of a gripping crime thriller, if done well. Director Sabarish Nanda’s ‘Indra’ has all of it, yet the film only reaches for the low-hanging fruit, so much so that the makers seem content with the bare minimum. Indra (Vasanth Ravi) struggles with alcoholism. His addiction and rage get him suspended, and he even leads to the loss of his eyesight. He and his wife Kayal (Mehreen Pirzada) are facing marital troubles. However, the loss of eyesight brings them closer as they wait for a transplant. During this time, Kayal is murdered at home while Indra sleeps in another room. The pattern of the killing points to a serial killer.
Paradha
Drama (Telugu)
A veiled village woman's life changes when city visitors challenge her traditions. As she questions customs and investigates a curse, rumors of Sati emerge, leading her to confront societal norms.
Cast:
Anupama Parameswaran, Darshana Rajendran, Sangeetha Krish, Rag Mayur
Director:
Praveen Kandregula
Writer:
Prahaas Boppudi, Poojitha Sreekanti
An honest, non-preachy film that lays bare everyday patriarchy
Sat, August 23 2025
Women-led films don’t always have to be about a woman being belittled by everyone around her, only to later rise as someone who rides bikes in the Himalayas. A women-led film can also be about learning and unlearning - discovering that the world beyond their cocoon presents opportunities. How to make use of this vast world of opportunities is up to each individual. But the important underlying message is that they have a choice. A choice that lets them spread their wings and fly, or simply feel the freedom of having options. That is what director Praveen Kandregula’s ‘Paradha’ is all about. Subbu (Anupama Parameswaran) belongs to the fictional village named Padathi, where women, who have hit puberty, have to wear a veil till they die. This superstitious belief is told to the villagers as the story and curse of the deity, Jwalamma. If the paradha (veil) is taken off, wilfully or unintentionally, the woman has to face death. Hold on! A ritual followed by death.
Three sparkling women and a film that celebrates female friendships
Sat, August 23 2025
Paradha is a refreshing breather in a largely machismo-driven Telugu cinema. Imagine three women, hailing from different backgrounds, on a road trip to find a solution to a crisis that one of them is caught up in. Director Praveen Kandregula’s film starring Anupama Parameswaran, Darshana Rajendran and Sangitha Krish, brims with warmth, joy, laughter, and tears. The journey gives these women a much-needed getaway from their daily grind. As they soak in the vastness of the landscapes, they question their own understanding of the world and gender equations. Despite the heavy folklore that acts as a fulcrum to the narrative, considerable portions are handled with a lightness that makes it enjoyable.