Guild Reviews
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Drama, Thriller, Crime (French)
Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
Cast:
Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi
Director:
Mohammad Rasoulof
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is an absolute soul-shattering work of cinema because of just how urgent, relatable, and familiar its conflicts are.
Fri, January 24 2025
Severance S02
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (English)
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
Cast:
Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock
Superb Office Sci-Fi Thriller Continues To Tap Into Stranger, Revealing Mysteries Of Human Psyche
Fri, January 24 2025
As a fan of the 2004-2010 sci-fi island drama Lost, I thought I’d never find a show that would be weirder or more out there. I was wrong. The Apple TV+ series Severance is a fascinating thriller set in the corporate world that might just be one of the most intriguing streaming series right now. Exploring the premise of having an ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ self at work and home, the show created by Dan Erickson returns for a second season that continues to examine what it means to be human in a world that is out to exploit you constantly. The second season picks up after the uprising from the innies at the Macrodata Refinement team at Lumon Industries, where Mark (Adam Scott), Helly R (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) are able to explore the outside world. Management is not happy as the gang is put through their paces initially and pushed even further as they come to terms with the added knowledge of their outie selves. Audiences get to explore more of the Lumon offices with new expanded departments and co-workers like Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), the new deputy manager who is just a child.
The Night Agent S02
Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery (English)
Brought together by a midnight phone call, an FBI agent and a cybersecurity expert must unravel an ever-growing web of political conspiracies.
Cast:
Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Arienne Mandi, Louis Herthum, Berto Colon
Unassuming Spy Thriller Is Bolder And Just As Binge-Worthy
Fri, January 24 2025
In 2023, The Night Agent became Netflix’s most-watched series, and it’s easy to see why. Gabriel Basso plays the earnest young government official Peter Sutherland, an FBI agent in this case, who accidentally uncovers a conspiracy to kill the president. The action drama mixed all the right ingredients, and now as it returns for Season 2, it continues where it left off, and adds more urgency. The new season takes place 10 months after the first season, with Peter on assignment as a Night Action agent. Within the first 15 minutes, there’s immediate danger, putting him in the same position as he was in Season 1, not knowing who to trust. However, the smart-thinking agent follows his own leads to find out who amongst the agency is leaking information on the outside. He is reunited with his former girlfriend Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), who proves to be a great asset to him, even as another plotline on the side involves suspicious goings on at the Iranian mission to the United Nations.
Paatal Lok S02
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary, the unlikely hero, investigates a high-profile murder case that leads him to remote corners of North-East India, where he battles powerful forces and personal tragedies in his pursuit of truth.
Cast:
Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Tillotama Shome, Gul Panag, Nagesh Kukunoor
Director:
Avinash Arun
Jaideep Ahlawat Shines in This Competent – But Too Neat – Cop Procedural
Tue, January 21 2025
After the second season of Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime Video), it’s safe to say that nobody else in India has mastered the police procedural like Sudip Sharma. Known for writing acclaimed films like Udta Punjab (2016) and Sonchiriya (2019) – Sharma became a household name after the first season of the show in 2020, much like his lead actor – Jaideep Ahlawat. Since then, Sharma has written Kohhra (2023), using the mould of a police investigation to uncover the oppressive culture of patriarchy typical to Punjab. In the second season of Paatal Lok, Sharma is still grappling with the larger rot in society using a trail of missing persons and murder probes.
Jaideep Ahlawat returns with fierce energy
Mon, January 20 2025
Sub inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) of Jamna-paar police station has become more confident in life after the adventures of the first season. He finds himself entangled in a political murder that takes place in Delhi with its roots in Nagaland. He, along with IPS Iqbal Ansari ( Ishwak Singh), goes into the interiors of North East India to find out a complex society striving for power by any means. So many factions, so much greed and so bizarre situations. They meet Barua (Tillottama Shome) as the local police authority and begin a chase that’s forcing them to move in circles. At least, this is what happens in the first four episodes I watched after the show started streaming on Thursday night.
Jaideep Ahlawat delivers a class act in a sharp, worthy sequel
Sun, January 19 2025
Hathiram Chaudhary, the permanent resident of Paatal Lok (netherworld) is back, and with him, so is the world of crime and murky dealings that need a desperate cleanup. Paatal Lok Season 1 came out during the first lockdown and blew everyone’s mind with its taut storyline and strong performances. It opened up ways for other similar cop stories that dealt with cases from the underbelly of society. Some were good, some were mere copies, but none captured the attention of viewers the way Paatal Lok had. It took the makers 5 years to come up with a sequel, and after watching season 2 of Paatal Lok, I have to admit it was worth the wait.
Mother's Instinct
Thriller, Drama (English)
Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel their sisterly bond.
Cast:
Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Anders Danielsen Lie, Josh Charles, Caroline Lagerfelt
Director:
Benoît Delhomme
Though it unravels in the last act, Mother's Instinct is a pulpy, fairly gripping watch.
Mon, January 20 2025
Mother’s Instinct could have been named ‘Mom gone bonkers’. Turning the concept/ idea/ theme of a mother’s selfless love for her child on its head, this 2024 thriller, now streaming on Prime Video, is a pulpy watch, with maternal instinct going into a zone dark enough to result in murder. A couple of them, in fact. Set in the 1960s and headlined by Hollywood A-listers Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, the directorial debut of acclaimed French cinematographer Benoit Delhomme has a Hitchcockian feel of unease and foreshadowing, but never really lives up to its ultimately pulpy potential.
Wolf Man
Horror, Thriller (English)
With his marriage fraying, Blake persuades his wife Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit his remote childhood home in rural Oregon. As they arrive at the farmhouse in the dead of night, they're attacked by an unseen animal and barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter. But as the night stretches on, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable.
Cast:
Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger, Ben Prendergast
Director:
Leigh Whannell
Universal Pictures’ horror classic reboot is a howling miss
Mon, January 20 2025
After the astounding success ofThe Invisible Man, director Leigh Whannell is back to reboot another of Universal Pictures’ most iconic horror titles. While The Invisible Man turned out to be the outing that could have revived the Dark Universe which was shot down after the failure of The Mummy, the filmmaker’s latest film Wolf Man shows why the chances of getting that universe are darker than the films it could have. In the latest iteration of Wolf Man, after getting a “closure” on his father’s sudden disappearance along with the keys to his childhood home, Blake (Christopher Abbott) decides to make a trip out of it to save his strained marriage with Charlotte (Julia Garner). Along with their child Ginger (Matilda Firth), the couple drives to the middle of nowhere when they get attacked by a mysterious creature similar to what Blake had seen 30 years ago. When one of them gets infected while escaping from the monster, the barricaded safehouse turns into a trap.
Emergency
Drama (Hindi)
Based on true events that unfolded in 1975, the film chronicles incidents that took place under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, one of the most powerful women in Indian history.
Cast:
Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Vishak Nair, Milind Soman
Director:
Kangana Ranaut
Kangana Ranaut turns Indira Gandhi’s life into a lopsided listicle
Mon, January 20 2025
When Kangana Ranaut announced that she would direct Emergency, many felt it might be another weapon to whip the Congress in the election year to limit the memory of the grand old party’s rule to the 21-month blot that Indira Gandhi inflicted on democracy in 1975. After a long wait and multiple controversies, it turns out that the artist in Kangana has prevailed over the fledgling politician in her to create an ambitious biopic of the former Prime Minister, where the Emergency period is a dark chapter in her storied journey from Anand Bhawan to 1 Safdarjung Road. However, in an attempt to find the roots of dictatorial insecurities in Indira’s psyche, the writers (Kangana and Ritesh Shah) tie the screenplay into knots. The muddled gaze results in a spiritual cousin of The Accidental Prime Minister where a biopic vilifies or dilutes its subject to serve the present dispensation.
Kangana Ranaut Places the Hindi Historical Under Curfew
Sat, January 18 2025
In Emergency, Kangana Ranaut plays Indira Gandhi who plays Kangana Ranaut. Let me explain. Ranaut performs as the former Prime Minister of India when the politician is flawed, cruel, paranoid, a nepotism hire, power-hungry, guilty, and the mother of Sanjay Gandhi. Her voice becomes high-pitched, uneven and shaky in these parts. But Indira Gandhi seems to perform as Ranaut when the woman is defiant, patriotic, headstrong, resilient, reverential towards the opposition (Janata Party leaders Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee), and the mother of the nation. Her voice becomes firm, furious and confident in these parts.
Kangana Ranaut’s Indira Gandhi Biopic Is Enjoyable For Its Performances
Sat, January 18 2025
The Kangana Ranaut directorial is a fictional account of Indira Gandhi’s personal life experiences as a daughter, wife, politician and a woman of the nation. Led by Kangana in the leading role, the film does take creative liberties but impresses with writing that provides full-circle moments and character-focused direction. It is important to emphasise that the film is not a biopic or documentation of the real political personality but fiction an account of her life. The makers before the film began emphasized the film is based on two books. Emergency begins with Indira’s childhood and how she was inspired by her grandfather’s vision and understanding of Indraprastha, a play in ancient Indian history and its equivalent Delhi in today’s time where a constant struggle remains for power. Since childhood Indira focuses on winning the big battles and the same remains throughout her political career. The film also gives glimpses of her personal life her little interactions with her husband and her children through flashbacks and presently as her career progressed. The first half feels rushed as the story progresses through her political career with only a few incidents in the foreground. From the death of her father, her feeling betrayed by him to taking control of the party.
Azaad
Drama, Action (Hindi)
In 1920s India, a young stable boy bonds with a spirited horse. Amid rebellion and tyranny, his quest to ride the majestic animal becomes a journey of courage, awakening him to the country's fight for freedom.
Cast:
Aaman Devgan, Rasha Thadani, Ajay Devgn, Diana Penty, Mohit Malik
Director:
Abhishek Kapoor
Writer:
Suresh Nair
Aaman Devgan’s debut is a disappointing ride
Sun, January 19 2025
Betaab, Barsaat, Mirziya… Bollywood somehow loves to launch its kids on horses. Abhishek Kapoor’s Azaad is the latest addition to the list where Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan, and Raveena Tandon’s daughter Rasha Thadani, get a horse ride because of their pedigree.
इंसान और पशु प्रेम की बानगी देती यह फिल्म अमन देवगन के लिए देखी जा सकती है।
Sat, January 18 2025
बॉलीवुड में इंसान और जानवरों के प्यार, दोस्ती और वफादारी पर ‘हाथी मेरे साथी’ और ‘तेरी मेहरबानियां’ जैसी यादगार फिल्में बनी हैं। हालांकि, वक्त के साथ इन बेजुबानों के साथ इंसानी रिश्तों की कहानियां कम होती गईं, पर अब डायरेक्टर अभिषेक कपूर इस कड़ी को आगे बढ़ाते हुए फिल्म ‘आजाद’ लेकर आए हैं, जिसका केंद्र एक घोड़ा है। अपनी फिल्मों से फरहान अख्तर, सुशांत सिंह राजपूत और सारा अली खान को बॉलीवुड में लॉन्च करने वाले अभिषेक कपूर इस फिल्म से भी दो नए चेहरों, अजय देवगन के भांजे अमन देवगन और रवीना टंडन की बेटी राशा थडानी को पर्दे पर उतार रहे हैं। फिल्म में इन दोनों नए एक्टर्स, खासकर अमन ने आत्मविश्वास भरी अदाकारी से खुद को लंबी रेस का घोड़ा साबित करने की बढ़िया कोशिश की है।
Dear Bollywood, Stop Horsing Around
Sat, January 18 2025
Azaad is fit, handsome, muscular and agile. His flowy hair is the talk of the town. He plays hard to get. He looks away and sighs if he isn’t interested. He loves his whisky neat — and straight from the bottle. He sits on a bed when he’s tired. He loses his appetite when he’s sad; he eats only if his food is spiked with alcohol. He has expensive taste. He farts in a closed room. He isn’t afraid to defy outdated perceptions of masculinity: his eyes go glassy when he gets a whiff of his late companion’s scent from a turban. He remembers the day they met and necked. He remembers their adolescent-love song together: “Ab jeene ki koi wajah toh hai” (I now have a reason to live). He isn’t ashamed of weeping. He likes dancing. He loves racing, too. Azaad is an expressive action hero; this film is his big-budget launch vehicle. There’s only one problem though: Azaad is a horse.
Black Warrant
Drama, Crime (Hindi)
When an upright officer accepts a job at Tihar Jail, he vows to make amends after witnessing cold-blooded corruption within its walls.
Cast:
Zahan Kapoor, Rahul Bhat, Paramvir Singh Cheema, Anurag Thakur, Rajshri Deshpande
Writer:
Arkesh Ajay
जेल की अनदेखी दुनिया की सच्ची बानगी और बेहतरीन परफॉर्मेँसेज के लिए देखनी चाहिए।
Sat, January 18 2025
जेल एक ऐसी जगह है, जिससे हर कोई दूर ही रहना चाहेगा। यही वजह है कि जेल की भीतर की दुनिया के बारे में लोगों को कम ही जानकारी रहती है। हां, कई फिल्मों में जेल में होने वाली दबंगई, खराब खाना, बारिश में सोने की भी जगह ना मिलने जैसी चीजें जरूर देखने को मिली है, लेकिन विक्रमादित्य मोटवाने की नई वेब सीरीज ब्लैक वारंट जेल की दुनिया की स्याह सचाई को इतनी गहराई से दिखाती है कि आप इसमें खोते जाते हैं। एशिया की सबसे बड़ी तिहाड़ के जेलर सुनील कुमार गुप्ता और पत्रकार सुनेत्र चौधरी की इसी शीर्षक से लिखी किताब पर आधारित यह सीरीज जेल के भीतर होने वाले भ्रष्टाचार, जेलर-कैदी के रिश्तों, उनकी जिंदगी के साथ-साथ अस्सी के दशक में फांसी पर चढ़े चर्चित कैदियों की कहानी भी दिखाती है।
Zahan Kapoor shines in Vikramaditya Motwane's Netflix jail drama
Tue, January 14 2025
This review is based on the initial three episodes of the new Netflix show titled Black Warrant, based on a book of the same name by journalist Sunetra Choudhary and former Tihar Jail superintendent Sunil Gupta. However, going by the detailing shown in these episodes, there are chances of the rating going even higher eventually. Confession in the beginning: I haven’t read the book, which has given me a fresh perspective that is mostly driven by the entertainment quotient of the show. If you’re not looking for the mismatch between the book and the show, then you’re mostly looking for the right tempo and pace. Seconds into the show and you meet the lead of the biographical drama, jailer Sunil Gupta, a docile-looking but gritty middleclass boy with empathy in eyes and a hesitant body language. Wait a minute, have I not seen this full of potential actor somewhere before?
Tihar tales and how the system fails
Sun, January 12 2025
Jails are a world of their own making and ‘a law unto themselves’. Time and again, we have been reminded that prisons not only house hardened criminals, but are hubs of crime too. We have often seen the murky life inside prisons through the eyes of the prisoners. But a jailer’s unflinching point of view, listing systemic lapses, is not an everyday insight. Trust filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane to not only tread a new path each time, but also come out trumps. After wowing us with his period series ‘Jubilee’, now in association with Applause Entertainment and co-creator Satyanshu Singh, he turns his attention to Tihar jail. It’s certainly not a happy place, neither for the inmates, nor for those who try to run it. Since the source material is the book ‘Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer’, written by Sunetra Choudhury and the former superintendent of Tihar Jail Sunil Gupta, for most parts the intense narrative rings true.
Fateh
Action, Crime, Thriller (Hindi)
A former gangster is hired to guard a young woman. In order to keep her safe, he must employ all of his abilities while simultaneously attempting to learn the truth about the threats made against her.
Cast:
Sonu Sood, Jacqueline Fernandez, Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Director:
Sonu Sood
Writer:
Ankur Pajni
Sonu Sood’s Directorial Brings Unexpected Surprises With Good Action
Sat, January 18 2025
Fateh marked Sonu Sood’s directional debut as well as his first all-out lead action role. The film attempts to talk about social issues as well as presents a hero with a bad boy image but has good intentions. With easy and comic dialogues the film does have much to offer to easy-going audience and can be relatable despite the action-heavy extravagant plot. Sonu Sood also gets a chance to show off his charm but his stoic demeanour works for him more. The film kicks off with an action packed scene where Sood walks into a room full of gangsters working for the cyber mafia and takes them down effortlessly. Though the scene is long it does brings one of the best action sequences in the film. Sood looks effortless during the action sequences even when the camera is slow to track the movements. The plot however takes a flashback as Sood is taken down recalling his life and his mission.
Sat, January 11 2025
गैट-सैट-स्लीप ‘फतेह’
Sat, January 11 2025
पंजाब के किसी गांव में लोगों को लोन दिलवाने वाली एक लड़की दिल्ली आकर गुम हो जाती है। उस लड़की के घर में रह कर एक डेयरी फॉर्म में नौकरी करने वाला सीधा-सादा फतेह सिंह उसे ढूंढने निकला है। फतेह जहां जाता है, लाशें बिछने लगती हैं। कौन है फतेह? क्या करता है वह? फतेह इस लड़की को तलाश पाया या…! किसी खुफिया एजेंसी के रिटायर्ड एजेंट के किसी कारण से तबाही के धंधे में वापस आने की कहानियां खूब बनती हैं। बस इन एजेंटों के वापस आने का कारण अलग-अलग होता है। इस फिल्म में कारण है लोन देने के बहाने लोगों का डेटा जमा करना और उसके ज़रिए उन के बैंक अकाउंट खाली करना। इस फिल्म (Fateh) में यह तामझाम खूब फैला हुआ दिखाया गया है लेकिन यह न तो तार्किक है और न ही कायदे से समझाया गया है।
Pravinkoodu Shappu
Thriller, Crime, Mystery (Malayalam)
On a rainy night, a toddy shop owner is found hanging after 11 people stayed inside playing cards in the closed shop. SI Santhosh investigates, uncovering secrets to find the killer.
Cast:
Soubin Shahir, Basil Joseph, Chemban Vinod Jose, Chandini Sreedharan, Shivajith Padmanabhan
Director:
Sreeraj Sreenivasan
Writer:
Sreeraj Sreenivasan
Intriguing thriller underutilises its potential
Sat, January 18 2025
One well-crafted sequence can sometimes make a film worthwhile, even when the film in its totality hits a notch below where it could have. These sequences tell us of the possibilities that a filmmaker holds, and serve as a showreel of someone whose work is worth looking forward to. Such sequences are galore in debutant Sreeraj Sreenivasan’s Pravinkoodu Shappu, partly thanks to cinematographer Shyju Khalid, who has shot some of the major Malayalam films of the past decade. To list out a few, there is a school bus chase sequence that sends chills down your spine due to its clever staging; there are thoughtfully lit night scenes inside a toddy shop, and one by a pond where a murder is taking place under the dim, reddish tail lamps of a vehicle; or like that of a masked man attacking a house at night, seen from the point of view of the woman facing it; or even the opening sequence which juxtaposes a classic nostalgic song with a shocking visual.
Nesippaya
Action, Romance (Tamil)
Two lovers, separated by life's circumstances, are reunited by a tragic fate—a murder. Arjun, driven by his love for Diya, defies all odds, crosses boundaries, and braves the unknown to uncover the truth behind her tragic fate.
Cast:
Akash Murali, Aditi Shankar, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, Khushboo
Director:
Vishnuvardhan
Writer:
Neelan K. Sekar
A promising yet meandering romantic drama that has one too many rough edges
Wed, January 15 2025
What’s cute between a couple heads-over-heels in love might not seem the same for someone sitting on the table next to them in a crowded restaurant. But that’s the beauty of romance, I guess. Gestures that make up a secret language that can be spoken unabashedly and unfiltered in a space that isn’t conducive for romance to grow. It is in the unlikeliest of places that the strongest of romance is brewed between people who are steadfast in their belief that they have found their soulmate. And in the case of the protagonists of Vishnu Varadhan’s Nesippaya, this place is a Portugal prison. But let’s get to it in a minute. First up, the film introduces Akash and Aditi with two contrasting scenes that don’t actually give Nesippaya a romantic vibe. Akash’s Arjun crashes into a school bus, and takes it hostage. Aditi’s Diya is arrested in Portugal for the murder of the rich heir of an Indian businessman based out of the European country. And then, we piece together the reason behind this Portugal sojourn while the narrative crisscrosses between this story and the love story of Arjun and Diya. It is love at first sight for Arjun as he literally turns the spotlight on Diya as she dances her way into his heart. One might argue it is just an infatuation, but from time immemorial, Tamil cinema heroes have often confused crush and infatuation with love, and convinced the audience that they were seeing epic love stories unfold. But let’s get to it in a minute.
Aditi Shankar, Akash Murali's suspense drama lacks thrill
Tue, January 14 2025
Director Vishnuvardhan returns to Tamil cinema after a decade. Known for his unique style of storytelling, the Shershaah director picked a suspense drama with Nesippaya and introduces legendary actor Murali (late) and actor Atharvaa’s younger brother, Akash Murali, to Tamil cinema. Alongside Akash Murali is director Shankar’s daughter Aditi, who is regarded as one of the most promising talents in recent times. Diya Ramalingam (Aditi Shankar) is accused of murder and is lodged in a prison in Portugal. Indrani (Kalki Koechlin) is representing her and is trying to secure a re-investigation despite pressure from influential people. Meanwhile, Diya’s ex-boyfriend Arjun (Akash Murali) gets to know of her arrest from the news and heads to Portugal.