Fri, October 23 2026

The bittersweet five-episode series revolves around a studious teenager who decides to lose her virginity, much to the chagrin of her single father

It’s easy to suggest that a low-key dramedy about girlhood feels refreshing because it’s written entirely by women. But that’s a generalisation of sorts. We’ve seen women-led shows behave like their sensationalist counterparts in an aggressive tit-for-tat way; they tend to be reactionary — a statement to all testosterone-driven productions — rather than natural. The reason Matargashti works is because it refuses to look like the defiant story of a 19-year-old girl. It doesn’t pretend to be the unapologetic female (or feminist) version of those sex comedies featuring funny boys trying to lose their virginity. If anything, it reclaims the diversity of middle-class conflict from the clutches of male-created TVF family universes. You almost don’t expect the setting to be Lucknow. It unfolds like a lightweight antidote, not a conscious subversion, to a genre largely dominated by men.

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Fri, October 23 2026

Clayface works best as a tragic character study, a tale of human suffering wrapped in visceral body horror. It stands out as one of DC’s most promising cinematic outings since Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019).

Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a promising young actor on the brink of stardom, sees his world shatter when a ruthless mob boss brutally disfigures his face. Unable to accept his world crumbling beneath his feet, Hagen vows to reclaim everything he has lost, warning his tormentors: “I will be back, and I am coming for everything.” For a movie star whose face is his identity and currency, losing it is nothing short of a living nightmare. Matt begs Dr. Corr (Naomi Ackie) to restore his features, urging her to resort to any unapproved medical means necessary. The procedure gives him back his face, but at a terrifying cost: an uncontrollable shape-shifting ability that he initially struggles to control. His body stretches, melts, bubbles, and contorts, allowing him to assume any shape, size, or identity he desires or even one that crosses his mind. The transformation wreaks havoc on his psyche and unleashes chaos upon his adversaries.

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Fri, October 23 2026

Directors Steve Cox and Matthew Walker pull off a wholesome entertainer, which is simple, straight and touching, without having pretensions, or songs-and-dances, about being anything else.

With 190 episodes over seven series, Shaun the Sheep is among the longest-running animated series on British and German television, with the characters around for over 30 years. In all that time, the sheep have hardly changed. It is a remarkable success given that the stop-motion animation involves no dialogue; its animals don’t talk and its humans only utter unintelligible words. The Beast of Mossy Bottom underlines why, as directors Steve Cox and Matthew Walker pull off a wholesome entertainer, which is simple, straight and touching, without having pretensions, or songs-and-dances, about being anything else.

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Mon, October 19 2026

The Yami Gautam starrer gives her the spotlight, but the tale and its telling feel too contrived, with tone shifting from sitcom to mythological grandstanding

In Nayyi Navelli, what you see is not what you get. Bantu (Anurag Thakur) is convinced that his bhabhi Mohini (Yami Gautam) is “Ramsay Bros wali daayan” a.k.a. witch and sets out to convince everyone in the Awasthi household that there’s more to her than meets the eye. This is when audiences are supposedly watching a horror comedy but what they get is only a few laugh-worthy moments and next to zero scares. The way these scenes unfold with scores of family members seated in the aangaan (courtyard) at times listening and wondering, and at other times berating and taunting Bantu in an exaggerated way, it almost feels more like a sitcom than a feature film. It doesn’t help that for most of the first half, Yami’s Mohini is seen only through Bantu’s dubious eyes and unending narration. So far so meh.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Yami Gautam and Anurag Thakur do the heavy lifting in a film that has a convoluted screenplay. While the first half entertains, post-interval, the film nosedives into a deep illogical pit.

The flight of fancy scales unimaginable heights with this one. In director Balaji Mohan’s supernatural-meets-mythology comedy caper Nayyi Navelli, Yami Gautam plays a mysterious woman with special powers. On the onset, the film appears to mix comedy and horror- a template well established by the Stree franchise. But the film’s punchlines and wit soon segue into mythology. No harm there either, considering the film is one of the big Dussehra releases this year in India. However, the film quickly spirals thanks to a convoluted plot that infuses too many things into one story, making the second half extremely tedious to watch. The story of Ramayan has been a source of inspiration for filmmakers for decades. The entire concept of good vs evil is a theme that never goes out of fashion and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Nayyi Naveli, to its credit, takes a lesser-known part of the Ramayana and spins an intricate tale. It may not always make sense, but it still makes for an interesting plot.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Sun, October 18 2026

Created by Debora Cahn, the political thriller kicks into second gear as the US and UK relations are especially fraught in the fictional series.

The addition of Allison Janney, who just won an Emmy Award for her supporting role, may be the best thing The Diplomat has done. The Debora Cahn series is back for a tense fourth season which deals with the fallout of the events from the Season 3 finale when the US covertly takes a nuclear machine from a Russian submarine that’s lying in UK territory. Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the American ambassador to the UK, and her husband, Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), balance not only their marriage but also the growing tensions between the two countries. The result is a delicious interplay of politics and diplomacy as the US leader, President Grace Penn (Janney), establishes her presidency.

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Sun, October 18 2026

‘Street Fighter’ is better at recreating the experience of the game than making a case for its characters

Translating a video game into a feature film requires more than recreating its characters and signature moves. In Street Fighter, the appeal of the arcade game lies in its colourful fighters, distinctive techniques and the immediacy of one-on-one combat. A film, however, needs to give these characters a reason to occupy the same space beyond the prospect of a fight. The latest adaptation of Capcom’s video-game franchise understands the spectacle better than the storytelling. Directed by Kitao Sakurai, this is the third live-action feature film based on Capcom’s video-game series, which began in 1987 and became a landmark in the fighting-game genre with Street Fighter II in 1991. Sakurai’s film draws on this legacy, though familiarity with the game does not necessarily translate into an interest in the lives of its characters.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Avinash Arun's heavy-handed ‘Prahaar’ stars Rajkummar Rao as Ujjwal Nikam, public prosecutor in the Ajmal Kasab trial

The trial for Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has just begun when public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam (Rajkummar Rao) plays his first hand. He refers to the defense attorney, Abbas Kazmi (Sikandar Khen), as “terrorist lawyer”; when Kazmi objects, he says he meant “terrorist’s lawyer”. Later in the film, Kazmi brings this up with Nikam, tells him how it stings to be called that when you’re Muslim. Nikam says it wasn’t personal and that’s the last we see of Kazmi. Unwittingly or not, the lawyer’s strategy is echoed by the film. Nikam knows his wordplay will be censured but says it anyway, for the drama and the swarm of reporters. Prahaar, directed by Avinash Arun and written by Sumit Roy, is careful to explain that Kazmi is just doing his job, that he’s taking a huge risk as a Muslim lawyer accepting this case. But there in the trailer, attention-grabbing and meme-ready, is “terrorist lawyer”. It’s a little jab in the film, but it feels more significant out of context. For the many who’ll see the trailer but never get around to watching the film, it might be the one thing they remember about Prahaar.

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Sun, October 18 2026

The Avinash Arun directorial might present a utopian vision for the country at the moment, but it is still a vision worth fighting for

There’s nothing better than a film that surprises you. I admit, I did preemptively box Prahaar: The Ujjwal Nikam Story as another propaganda piece– a subtler one if not of the blaring loud type. It wasn’t an unfounded opinion. If you read up about Ujjwal Nikam you will find an impressive CV. Before getting on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks trial, the Maharashtra-based lawyer had already served as a special prosecutor on high-profile cases like that of the 1993 Bombay bombings and that of T-series head Gulshan Kumar’s murder. If you research a layer deep, you will find that the lawyer was a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 Maharashtra state assembly elections. A Caravan article details how the BJP played up Nikam’s image as the lawyer who delivered the death penalty to terrorist Ajmal Kasab and reduced the whole campaign to be either for or against terrorism. Nikam lost the election but was given a Rajya Sabha seat by the ruling party in 2025.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Sun, October 18 2026

Marvel Television's family trilogy revolving around the Maximoffs ends in an emotional and satisfying flourish.

To launch their streaming service, Disney+, in 2020, the series WandaVision came out the gate with a bang. Created by Jac Schaeffer, it set the standard for all other shows to follow. The limited series featured Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) dealing with the death of Vision after Infinity War. To overcome her grief, she creates a suburban haven in Westview until reality sets in. The second part of the trilogy, Agatha All Along (2024), introduced one more part of the puzzle with her son Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke). Now, with the final instalment, VisionQuest, created by Terry Matalas, reveals two more pieces as Vision (Paul Bettany) and Tommy Maximoff (Ruaridh Mollica) reunite. But what happens when Ultron (James Spader) interferes in the long-awaited father-son reunion?

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Sun, October 18 2026

Inspired by the Mattel toys, John Cena plays an undercover agent who unwittingly involves his friends in an uninteresting adventure across the world.

Following in the footsteps of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Matchbox The Movie tries to replicate the formula. However, it falls flat in its execution. The only thing impressive about the spy thriller is its high-octane action stunts and sequence envisaged by Extraction director Sam Hargrave. John Cena is the spy in question as he reunites with old friends to go down memory road and instead takes them as hostages in a plot to save the world. The Matchbox IP never properly lands, and the narrative doesn’t even connect.

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Sun, October 18 2026

‘Jailer 2’, like the first film, is a rare late-stage Rajinikanth work that doesn't demand kinetic stunts and cuts around him, and allows the actor to project an easy magnetism

Two months have passed since the events of Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer (2023). After dissolving Varman’s (Vinayakan) body in acid, Tiger Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth) is quietly living as a supermarket supervisor somewhere in the hills near Coimbatore. He doesn’t look for trouble, but it tends to follow him, first in the form of a young man picking up a street fight and then by way of a government officer who, in a petty show of might, simply torments the family by supplying dirty water. All this is in keeping with Nelson’s low-key treatment of Rajinikanth’s star wattage, making him a leaner, meaner family man who prefers to delegate action rather than wield it himself. Muthuvel solves the water issue on his own and when push comes to shove, a mild thrashing does the job. Nothing life-threatening. Nelson maintains the same somber beginnings of the first film.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Sat, October 17 2026

What new can a formulaic Tamil actioner offer in 2026? At a time when global event cinema is finding new ways to engage with themes such as climate change and animal abuse, our superstar vehicles remain stubbornly risk-averse. In a political and cultural climate where taking a stance carries commercial liability, a legend of Rajinikanth’s stature is unlikely to put his legacy on the line. And that is precisely where Jailer 2 fails to flourish: it prioritises maximum scale and safe fan-service over any kind of narrative courage. Back in 2023, director Nelson Dilipkumar’s Jailer delivered unadulterated Thalaivar spectacle. Despite a wafer-thin plot, Rajinikanth carried the weight on his shoulders, bolstered by showy cameos, a viral soundtrack, and Nelson’s signature deadpan dark comedy. It was hardly innovative, but it knew exactly what it had going for it and had fun with its superstar.

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Sun, October 18 2026

Sohla, revolves around a school going kid Prasad aka Pashya (Devdatta Ghone). He stays in a small village in Maharashtra named Sudkoli with his father Ramdas (Pravin Dalimbkar), a farmer, mother Nirmala (Varsha Malwadkar) and elder sister Gauri (Vaishnavi Ghodke). Ramdas is having a tough time financially since his produce isn’t fetching him much money. Pashya is all set to turn 13 in two months. As per the tradition in the village, the 13th birthday of boys is celebrated through a ceremony called ‘Sohla’. It is a symbolic ritual indicating that the boy is now ready to take on the responsibility of the family. Pashya can’t wait for his sohla. As he is a die-hard Salman Khan fan, he wants to buy the expensive kurta endorsed by him for the event. Ramdas agrees to Pashya’s demand despite his financial condition. However, soon, a major incident occurs in Pashya’s life out of nowhere, which brings a major change in him.

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Sat, October 17 2026

Director Rahul Sankrityan’s Telugu film uses Burra Katha and the 1876-78 famine to give the narrative a fresh look, but some portions struggle under the weight of history, devotion and myth

For a long time, there has been an overarching image of how Telugu cinema has portrayed the Rayalaseema region, with tales of faction wars and machismo where subtlety is a forgotten trait. Some of these films, blockbusters of the 1990s and 2000s, have become pop culture references. However, a fresh look at this region and its stories was needed. Director Rahul Sankrityan’s Ranabaali, headlined by Vijay Deverakonda and co-starring Rashmika Mandanna, is an attempt in that direction. In this film, too, the leading man is portrayed as a fierce, warrior-like figure. The difference lies in its history-inspired setting, with a mix of folklore. The result is an interesting concoction. Some portions genuinely pique interest in the history and folk tradition of Rayalaseema, while others struggle to rise above the done-to-death mainstream cinema framework.

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