Ithiri Neram
Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
On his way to a long-overdue drinking party with two friends, Anish receives an unexpected call from Anjana, a past lover visiting the city. Their decision to meet sets the stage for an evening of easy banter, reopened wounds, and (more…)
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra
Action, Adventure, Fantasy (Malayalam)
The story follows Chandra , a mysterious, goth-influenced woman who has just moved to Bangalore and begins working night shifts at a café. Across the road from her apartment live Sunny and Venu, two aimless bachelors. Sunny becomes infatuated with (more…)
Single Salma
Comedy, Family (Hindi)
A woman from Lucknow, India, who has dedicated her life to supporting her family, yet continues to be identified as single and “unsettled” due to remaining unmarried. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Agra
Drama (Hindi)
The story of a family and an exploration of space in an increasingly crowded world. It follows the quest for a sexual odyssey of an individual.
Cast:
Priyanka Bose, Rahul Roy, Vibha Chibber, Mohit Agarwal, Aanchal Goswami, Ruhani Sharma, Sonal Jha, Devas Dixit, Rajesh Aggarwal, Yashraj Rawal
Director:
Kanu Behl
Writer:
Kanu Behl, Atika Chohan
Kanu Behl paints a provocative portrait of fractured masculinity in cramped urban spaces
Sat, November 15 2025
There is no shot of Taj Mahal in Kanu Behl’s Agra. There are no sprawling gardens that dot the city of monuments. Instead, the fearless chronicler of our society’s hidden fractures and fault lines focuses on the cramped spaces, repressed desires, and the incommodious mindscapes in the mofussil town that the city holds beneath its touristy topsoil. It is the Agra that Sahir Ludhianvi referred to in his critique of the Taj Mahal when he said that the monument symbolised the exploitation of the poor by the elite. Behl is more matter-of-fact, but there is a distinctive rhythm to his storytelling. It is like the movement of a worm under the skin that is difficult to ignore or resolve.
Kanu Behl crafts a bleak, claustrophobic portrait of toxic masculinity
Sat, November 15 2025
If there’s one director who has taken a deep dive into the unlovely world created by toxic masculinity, it is Kanu Behl. His debut feature Titli, which remains his best work, gave us a corner of Delhi most of us had no idea about– a father and three brothers whose family business is car-jacking and violent disposal of bodies, if the need so arises. And if a paternal figure is anything like the one in Titli (played by the director’s own father), it stands to reason that the sons will be like him.
Lust and Loathing in Small-town India
Sat, November 15 2025
Most Indian moviegoers are wired to like cinema that squeezes lemonade out of life’s limes. The country has such deep social faultlines that we automatically appreciate stories looking for silver linings within them. Take the middle-class space crunch, a problem as old as time. Over the years, it’s been softened by several movie genres: the joint-family saga that emphasizes the happy chaos of communal living, the romcom or sex comedy where everyone gets a say, the love story thriving on secrets and shadows. Think Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, where a small-town household weighs in on the hero’s erectile dysfunction; think The Affair, Hardik Mehta’s short film about a married couple from a cramped Mumbai flat meeting like covert lovers after work. The movies sell nightmares as lesser dreams; we see no breathing room, but the characters reframe it as togetherness and proximity.
Delhi Crime 3
Crime (Hindi)
Following the police force as they investigate high-profile crimes in Delhi, this series has seasons inspired by both real and fictional events.
Cast:
Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Avijit Dutt, Adil Hussain, Yashaswini Dayama, Rajesh Tailang, Denzil Smith, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Huma Qureshi
Shefali Shah’s gravitas and Huma Qureshi’s charisma light up an underwhelming season
Sat, November 15 2025
Staying honest to its gritty and grounded base, the third season of the acclaimed police procedural tackles the interstate human trafficking of young girls and women. Shefali Shah returns as the unflinching police officer Vartika Chaturvedi, who has now been promoted to DIG but is on a ‘punishment’ posting in the North East. Inspired by the Baby Falak case of 2012, as the news of a battered infant left in the trauma centre of AIIMS assumes national importance, Madam Sir hits the ground running. She is joined by her reliable team, led by Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal) and Bhupendra (Rajesh Tailang).
Eye-opener, no reason to skip Season 3
Sat, November 15 2025
When ‘Delhi Crime Season One’ first dropped in 2019, it recreated a searing account of the horrific Nirbhaya rape and murder case with exceptional sense and sensitivity. Shefali Shah as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, endearingly addressed as “Madam Sir”, completely won us over. ‘Season Two’ was an incisive anatomy of the mind of a serial killer, chillingly portrayed by Tillotama Shome.
Shefali Shah series returns, as gripping and taut as ever
Sat, November 15 2025
A third season of a well-regarded series, especially when both the previous seasons have been equally sharp, has two ways to go: up or down. I’m happy to report that Delhi Crime Season 3 is as taut and gripping as the ones that preceded it – well done, Vartika Madam Sir, and co. Season 3 comes three years after the previous one, and this time around DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah) currently posted in Silchar, Assam and her trusty colleagues, Bhupender Singh (Rajesh Tailang), Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal), Jairaj Singh (Anuraag Arora), Vimla Bharadwaj (Jaya Bhattacharya) and a couple of others are up against the tough-as-nails human trafficker Badi Didi (Huma Qureshi) whose supply chain extends from Rohtak to Bangkok.
The Running Man
Action, Thriller, Science Fiction (English)
Desperate to save his sick daughter, working-class Ben Richards is convinced by The Running Man's charming but ruthless producer to enter the deadly competition game as a last resort. But Ben's defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite - and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.
Cast:
Glen Powell, Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Jayme Lawson, William H. Macy, Emilia Jones, David Zayas, Katy O'Brian
Director:
Edgar Wright
Glen Powell fails to dig deep, film becomes a drag
Sat, November 15 2025
n Stephen King’s novella ‘The Running Man’, which came out in 1982, the dystopia felt unreal. King conjured up a staggeringly unequal world, whose rich live in guarded enclaves, the poor are corralled into slums, and a child could easily die of the common flu if her parents cannot afford the drugs.
Ithiri Neram
Romance, Comedy (Malayalam)
On his way to a long-overdue drinking party with two friends, Anish receives an unexpected call from Anjana, a past lover visiting the city. Their decision to meet sets the stage for an evening of easy banter, reopened wounds, and difficult choices.
Cast:
Roshan Mathew, Zarin Shihab, Nandhu, Anand Manmadhan, Kannan Nayar, Athulya Sreeni, Krishnan Balakrishnan, Jeo Baby, Srinesh Pai, Sreekala Suresh
Director:
Prasanth Vijay
Writer:
Vishak Shakti
Love enriches a gentle breakup story
Fri, November 14 2025
If done well, conversational films carry an undeniable charm. The context and dialogue must hold our attention, and the actors must know how to talk. It all sounds easy, although the absence of location changes can quickly make any film monotonous. In Prasanth Vijay’s Ithiri Neram, we meet podcast host Anish (Roshan Mathew), who reconnects with his former girlfriend Anjana (Zarin Shihab). Before we realise it, a brief encounter turns into an unforgettable night for the two.
Roshan Mathew and Zarin Shihab Have Sparkling Chemistry In This Night To Remember
Sat, November 8 2025
When we meet Aneesh (Roshan Mathew) and Anjana (Zarin Shihab) for the first time, Aneesh refers to this ex-girlfriend of his as… Anjana. They’re meeting after seven long years, after their respective heartbreaks, and yet through their easy comfort, we begin to feel like “Anjana” is still too formal a name for Aneesh to be calling her. It’s the easiest name to shorten to Anju and yet, by the end of this meeting, when we realise Anish’s Anjana has now become Anju again, we cannot remember when this shift happened.
Roshan Mathew and Zarin Shihab ace in a deeply-felt conversational drama
Fri, November 7 2025
All that two people who were eons ago the world to each other get, when they meet years later, is just a little while (’Ithiri Neram’) to spend together. Each word uttered between them carries with it the weight of their past and the mystery of each other’s present and the paths their lives have taken in the intervening years. In Prasanth Vijay’s third film Ithiri Neram, much has changed in the lives of Anjana (Zarin Shihab) and Anish (Roshan Mathew) from the last time they talked, yet when they meet, it is as if they never stopped talking.
Nuremberg
History, Drama, Thriller, War (English)
In postwar Germany, an American psychiatrist must determine whether Nazi prisoners are fit to go on trial for war crimes, and finds himself in a complex battle of intellect and ethics with Hermann Göring, Hitler's right-hand man.
Cast:
Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O'Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Lotte Verbeek, Richard E. Grant
Director:
James Vanderbilt
Writer:
James Vanderbilt
Correctly Asserts that the WWII Trial Was Not a Victory Lap
Fri, November 14 2025
In Frederic Raphael’s book, Eyes Wide Open – on the making of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1998), which Raphael co-wrote with Kubrick – at one point, they discuss Schindler’s List. The much-revered, Oscar-sweeping 1995 film by Steven Spielberg is cut down to size by Kubrick for its triumphant, hopeful climax. Something that betrays the way Kubrick sees the Holocaust essentially as a tale of failure. Even though I don’t fully concur with the thesis, I do see where Kubrick was coming from. That the Holocaust was a singular example of systemic moral failure is something that is acutely understood by James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg – a film named after the infamous trial where the Allies prosecuted the surviving officers of the Nazi high command for crimes against humanity. What’s surprising about Vanderbilt’s film is its awareness isn’t instantly apparent. But how it reveals itself slowly.
Palm Royale S02
Drama, Comedy (English)
In 1969, an ambitious woman aspires to cross the line between the haves and have-nots to secure her seat at America's most exclusive, fashionable, and treacherous table: Palm Beach high society.
Cast:
Kristen Wiig, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson, Kaia Gerber, Laura Dern, Allison Janney
Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney's All-Star Period Drama Grows Overly Complicated
Thu, November 13 2025
The first season of Apple TV’s Palm Royale, while intriguing, had a shaky narrative. That mainly had to do with its large cast of characters; it was hard to keep up with who’s who. Loosely based on Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 novel, Mr & Mrs American Pie, the series adds a few more characters and ups the melodrama, making for a confusing watch. Despite the complexity, the ensemble cast of the dark comedy plunges on with their stylish costumes and lavish production that takes the action away from 1960s Palm Beach, Florida.
Baramulla
Horror (Hindi)
A police officer investigating missing children cases discovers disturbing truths while supernatural occurrences threaten his family and Baramulla's tranquility.
Cast:
Manav Kaul, Neelofar Hamid, Masoom Mumtaz Khan, Arista Mehta, Baby Kiara Khanna, Ashwini Koul, Nazneen Madan, Mir Sarwar, Vikas Shukla, Bhasha Sumbli
Director:
Aditya Suhas Jambhale
Writer:
Aditya Suhas Jambhale
वादी की शापित लोरियां सुनाती ’बारामूला’
Wed, November 12 2025
2016 का साल। कश्मीर का बारामूला कस्बा। वही बारामूला जिसे वराहमूल और वर्मूल भी कहा गया। एक फंक्शन में तमाशा दिखा रहे जादूगर के बक्से से स्थानीय एम.एल.ए. का बच्चा ’गायब’ हो जाता है। तफ्तीश के लिए डी.एस.पी. रिदवान की वहां पोस्टिंग होती है। कुछ और बच्चे भी ’गायब’ हो रहे हैं। रिदवान को उन आतंकियों पर शक है जो बच्चों को पत्थरबाज बना रहे हैं। उधर जिस पुराने मकान में रिदवान और उनका परिवार रह रहा है वहां भी कुछ अजीब हरकतें हो रही हैं। कोई साया है जो उनके बेटे के संग खेलता है। बेटी को लगता है कि इस घर में कोई कुत्ता भी है। एक दिन रिदवान की बेटी भी ’गायब’ हो जाती है। कौन है इसके पीछे? क्या राज़ है इस घर का? बच्चे ’गायब’ क्यों हो रहे हैं, कैसे हो रहे हैं, कौन कर रहा है, कहां हैं वे बच्चे…?
(Writing for OTT Play)
Baramulla Is An Effectively Misleading Supernatural Film
Tue, November 11 2025
There is something called an Aditya Dhar film. The emphasis might feel odd, given that he has directed only one feature till now, and the second is waiting in the wings. But the projects he has been involved in the capacity of a writer and producer, most notably Article 370 (2024), bear the distinct stamp of his filmmaking. Tenets of this include compelling set pieces, imposing artistry, and bigoted politics. In Baramulla, the latest film he has bankrolled, all these are heightened to greater, more dangerous heights.
Kashmir is paying price for its sins.
Tue, November 11 2025
Haq
Drama (Hindi)
In 1980s India, Shazia Bano takes her husband to court after he abandons her and their children, sparking a national battle over faith, women’s rights, and justice.
Cast:
Yami Gautam, Emraan Hashmi, Danish Husain, Sheeba Chaddha, Vartika Singh, Aseem Hattangady
Director:
Suparn Verma
Writer:
Reshu Nath
(Writing for OTT Play)
Suparn Varma’s Haq Is A Persuasive Take On The Shah Bano Case
Tue, November 11 2025
HAQ becomes a better film once it ends. The Suparn Verma directorial feature is based on the landmark 1985 Shah Bano case, where a Muslim woman won her right to alimony. Although personal, her fight assumed big proportions because it revealed the knotty relationship between Muslim Personal Law, where a husband is entitled to provide maintenance during the iddat period after divorce, and the Indian secular law. In this particular case, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Bano; later, the then-Congress government offset the judgment by sanctioning women to receive “reasonable and fair provision and maintenance" for three months after the divorce; Haq concludes by mentioning this, applauding, in the same breath, the current government for criminalising triple talaq and passing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
A logical film with great emotional depth.
Tue, November 11 2025
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
Haq and the price of a woman’s voice
Sat, November 8 2025
In 1978, Shah Bano, an elderly Muslim woman from Indore, filed a petition seeking maintenance that her estranged husband, Mohammed Ahmad Khan, had abruptly ceased paying. What began as a private plea for sustenance evolved into one of India’s most seminal legal battles. The litigation culminated in a historic 1985 Supreme Court judgment—Mohd. Ahmad Khan v. Shah Bano Begum—which upheld a divorced Muslim woman’s right to maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra
Action, Adventure, Fantasy (Malayalam)
The story follows Chandra , a mysterious, goth-influenced woman who has just moved to Bangalore and begins working night shifts at a café. Across the road from her apartment live Sunny and Venu, two aimless bachelors. Sunny becomes infatuated with Chandra, observing her odd routines, strange visitors, and reclusive nature. Their dynamic changes
Cast:
Kalyani Priyadarshan, Naslen, Chandu Salimkumar, Arun Kurian, Sandy, Vijayaraghavan, Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan, Tovino Thomas, Nithya Shri
Director:
Dominic Arun
A Spotify Review
Mon, November 10 2025
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is perhaps the most overrated Indian movie of the year. We discuss the film’s inert narrative, jarring action, and inelegant world-building that includes an unnecessary detour into Kantara territory. We also talk about where the franchise could head next, and why it would immediately be better if merged with the universe.
A Spotify Review
Mon, November 10 2025
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is perhaps the most overrated Indian movie of the year. We discuss the film’s inert narrative, jarring action, and inelegant world-building that includes an unnecessary detour into Kantara territory. We also talk about where the franchise could head next, and why it would immediately be better if merged with the universe.
(Writing for Medium)
Malayalam Cinema Just Made Vampires Desirable, and Modern
Mon, September 15 2025
I’ll be honest — I had developed superhero fatigue. In fact, a general fatigue for anything big-scale and action-driven on the big screen. A movie that fit that bill was not my obvious choice. And looking at how juggernauts like Coolie (starring Superstar Rajinikanth) and War 2 (with Jr NTR and Hrithik Roshan) received underwhelming responses, it seems I’m not alone. So when I first saw the trailer of Lokah: Chapter 1 — Chandra, my reaction was: “Not the movie I want to watch right now.” Look at the films that have actually struck a chord with audiences recently — without over-the-top marketing or manufactured FOMO. From Tourist Family to Dragon, Thudarum to Hridayapoorvam, and even Soup from So — audiences have embraced heartfelt, emotional stories. That goes against the post-COVID “wisdom” that only large-scale spectacles will sell tickets.
Single Salma
Comedy, Family (Hindi)
A woman from Lucknow, India, who has dedicated her life to supporting her family, yet continues to be identified as single and “unsettled” due to remaining unmarried.
Cast:
Huma Qureshi, Shreyas Talpade, Sunny Singh, Eleanor Williams, Kanwaljit Singh, Navni Parihar, Prabhat Kumar Lahiri, Nidhi Singh, Lauren Gottlieb, Sharon Drain
Director:
Nachiket Samant
Writer:
Ravi Kumar, Amina Khan
(Writing for OTT Play)
A Surprisingly Effective Film That Finds Charm In Familiarity
Sat, November 8 2025
Films centring on women are often tethered to an issue and conclude with a resolution. This is as much a roadmap as an outline; an overused detour and a rewarding shorthand. Nachiket Samant’s Single Salma ascribes to this with commitment. The protagonist, as the name suggests, is a single woman and her singlehood, as the first ten minutes hint, is the issue. She is 33, the eldest among the four siblings, and is drowning in responsibilities. As most stories like this go, by the end, Salma ought to have her life in control, deliver a spiel about being overlooked for being a girl, find love and find herself in the process. She does, and yet all of this feels novel.
कंगना की 'क्वीन' जैसी दमदार तो नहीं, पर असरदार जरूर है हुमा कुरैशी की फिल्म
Sun, November 2 2025
हमारे समाज में लड़की तीस की हो जाए, तो घर-परिवार क्या, गांव-जवार, मुहल्ले-रिश्तेदार हर किसी को उसकी शादी की चिंता सताने लगती है। फुसफुसाहट तेज हो जाती है कि इतनी बड़ी उम्र की लड़की से कौन करेगा शादी? इसी रिलेटेबल विषय पर केंद्रित है, हुमा कुरैशी स्टारर फिल्म ‘सिंगल सलमा’, जो लड़कियों के अस्तित्व से जुड़े कई और मुद्दों को पुरजोर तरीके से उठाती है।
The Taj Story
Drama (Hindi)
Vishnu Das is a local guide who becomes driven by a curiosity to uncover the true history behind the iconic Taj Mahal monument.
Cast:
Paresh Rawal, Namit Das, Zakir Hussain, Sneha Wagh, Amruta Khanvilkar, Shishir Sharma, Brijendra Kala, Akhilendra Mishra, Shrikant Verma, Anil George
Director:
Tushar Amrish Goel
Writer:
Tushar Amrish Goel
Even Paresh Rawal Can't Save This Throw Of Dice That Is All Over The Place
Sat, November 8 2025
Notwithstanding the title, The Taj Story does not have much of a story to tell. What it does peddle by way of a narrative has not only been done to death over the decades but has also been debunked in several courts of the land, including the apex one. The writer of the film is constrained to admit as much in a series of title cards before the end-credits begin to roll. The Taj Story is bargain-basement filmmaking that draws inspiration from unsubstantiated history to create a piece of cinema that expects full-on explosions from dud-bombs. It wends its way through prickly territory only to end up without a case strong enough to make itself essential viewing for those who care for the truth.
Eighth Wonder of Gaslighting, Half-Truths and Saffron Victimhood
Thu, November 6 2025
I don’t think anyone working in The Taj Story is acquainted with ‘confirmation bias’ as a concept. Or they’re deliberately ignorant – which is worse. I gauged this from a scene, where a noted lawyer character’s reaction to the declaration “I have evidence that the Taj Mahal wasn’t built by Shahjahan” is not “what is the evidence?” Instead, the lawyer’s voice sounds almost jubilant – like it’s some personal victory. The goal isn’t to find the ‘truth’. The ‘truth’ has already been ascertained in one’s imagination – so one simply needs to cherry-pick facts, poke inane holes in the widely-accepted version of history – to plant a seed of doubt. This isn’t a conclusion arrived at after rigorous thought – it’s shameless, weightless contrarianism for its own sake.
Maharani S04
Drama (Hindi)
A political drama set in Bihar of 1990's, this story shows how an illiterate woman handles the state as Chief Minister. Rani Bharti's life takes an interesting turn when her husband Bheem Singh Bharti, announces her as the next chief minister of Bihar. With casteism and traditional satraps in the background, will Rani survive this turn of events?
Cast:
Huma Qureshi, Sohum Shah, Amit Sial, Kani Kusruti, Pramod Pathak, Vineet Kumar, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Darsheel Safary
Director:
Puneet Prakash
Huma Qureshi series needs sharpness, brevity
Sat, November 8 2025
Season 4 of Maharani is largely a mix of the old laced with a bit of new, in terms of actors joining the ensemble. But the tone of the series, created by Subhash Kapoor, and directed this time by Puneet Prakash, is the same: wily netas double-crossing each other mainly in Delhi and Patna with sidebars in other state capitals, family feuds, and personal and professional rivalries. It’s tempting to speculate if the new season has dropped just in time with the on-going elections in Bihar: whatever, it does inject a bit of spice into a show in which tonal similiarity and the length of each episode is becoming a challenge.
Huma Qureshi's Political Drama Leaps Forward In An Exciting New Direction
Fri, November 7 2025
The political series Maharani returns with a big time jump and a new era as it expands beyond the state. Huma Qureshi is joined by several new faces in this latest instalment that sees the politics and the collaborations grow murkier. This next generation of the Bharti clan is more in focus as they begin to grow their political roots as well. Created by Subhash Kapoor, the SonyLIV show manages to inject more intrigue in its fourth season, leaving audiences keen to wonder what will happen next.
दिल्ली की चाह में असर खो बैठी 'महारानी'
Fri, November 7 2025
साल 2021 में ओटीटी पर बिहार की राजनीति की ‘महारानी’ बनकर उतरीं रानी भारती ने दर्शकों का दिल पूरे बहुमत से जीता था। हुमा कुरैशी ने इस किरदार से दमदार छाप छोड़ी। घर में चूल्हा-चौका और गाय-भैंसों की सानी-पानी करने वाली एक आम औरत रानी कैसे रातोंरात बिहार की मुख्यमंत्री बनकर राजनीति के दांव-पेंच में उलझती और निकलती है, इस सफर से दर्शक जुड़ गए। अब सीरीज का चौथा सीजन आ चुका है, जहां रानी भारती बिहार से आगे बढ़कर देश की राजनीति में कदम रखती है। लेकिन पुनीत प्रकाश निर्देशित इस चौथे सीजन में न तो राजनीति के खेल का वह रोमांच है, ना ही रानी के व्यक्तित्व में वो पहले वाला दमखम।