Vash Level 2
Thriller, Horror (Gujarati)
Twelve years after saving his daughter Arya from a dark force, Atharva learns it never left her. When strange events begin again, he must fight to save her once more. (more…)
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas
Thriller (Hindi)
A seemingly simple case of a missing girl, Poonam, puts Inspector Vishwas Bhagwat on a chase to find the culprit behind a sinister trail of disappearing girls. What happens next? (more…)
Param Sundari
Romance, Drama, Comedy (Hindi)
In Kerala's picturesque backwaters, a North Indian and South Indian find unexpected love. Their cultural differences spark a hilarious and chaotic romance, full of twists and turns. (more…)
Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat
Romance, Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
A musical love story with dark shades of love exploring obsession, heartbreak, and deep emotional conflict. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Ballad of a Small Player
Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Drama (English)
Amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler running from his past — and his debts — becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.
Cast:
Colin Farrell, Fala Chen, Tilda Swinton, Deanie Ip, Alex Jennings, Jason Tobin, Adrienne Lau, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Jessica Lai, Margaret Cheung
Director:
Edward Berger
(Writing for Scroll.in)
Visually dazzling film never quite hits the emotional jackpot
Thu, October 30 2025
Edward Berger makes a dramatic and thematic shift from his previous movie Conclave with Ballad of a Small Player. Conclave was a taut, fictional feature about the secretive papal elections at the Vatican. Ballad of a Small Player, which is out on Netflix, is an occasionally tense, atmospheric and over-stylised character study set in Macau’s glittering gambling halls. Adapted by screenwriter Rowan Joffe from Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel, the film explores cycles of addiction and greed against a backdrop of ritual, superstition and neon decadence. Colin Farrell plays Lord Doyle, a British gambler with mounting debts and a troubled past.
Down Cemetry Road
Drama, Crime, Mystery (English)
When a child goes missing in the aftermath of a house explosion, a concerned neighbor teams up with a private investigator to find them. As secrets unravel and a military conspiracy emerges, all hell is unleashed on South Oxford's sleepy suburbs.
Cast:
Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Adeel Akhtar, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Tom Goodman-Hill, Darren Boyd, Tom Riley, Adam Godley, Sinead Matthews, Ken Nwosu
Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson's British Conspiracy Thriller Ticks All The Right Boxes
Wed, October 29 2025
The eight-episode series, Down Cemetery Road, has a conspiracy plot that rivals another Apple TV show, Slow Horses. The similarities arise since both are adapted from author Mick Herron’s books. In this current series set in Oxford, a concerned neighbour finds herself being gaslit by those around her and stumbles upon a larger cover-up. Led by stalwart British talents Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, the twisty will keep you on the edge until its satisfying finale.
Avihitham
Comedy (Malayalam)
In a village full of men and gossip about affairs, the narrative reveals how society absurdly judges and monitors women's identities.
Cast:
Unni Raja, Renji Kankol, Rakesh Ushar, Dhanesh Koliyat, Vineeth Vasudevan, Vrindha Menon, Ajith Punnad, Unnikrishnan Parappa, Aneesh Chemmarathi, Vijisha Nileshwaram
Director:
Senna Hegde
Writer:
Senna Hegde, Ambareesh Kalathera
Secrets and scandals in sleepy Kanhangad
Wed, October 29 2025
Senna Hegde’s Avihitham opens with the tagline “Made in Kanhangad.” Where is Kanhangad? And what makes anything made there special, let alone a film? For those who discovered Malayalam cinema during the lockdown, the state might seem like a uniform patchwork of modern ideas and shared sensibilities. Avihitham, which examines adultery, is steeped in its local dialect, landscape, and cultural texture. It can very much amuse someone from Kerala’s Kottayam or Kollam despite never being a utopia. What remains universal here, though, is the social morality that thrives on exposing a “fallen woman,” teaching her a lesson, and eventually discarding her.
(Writing for Made in Mangalore)
Of furtive love, and the obvious lack of it
Sun, October 19 2025
There are many things women in India are terrified of, and with good reason. Walking on a lonely road after dark, being a lone female traveller in a bus, checking and double checking the surroundings before opening one’s car door, checking the bathrooms in public places for hidden cameras, verifying if hotel rooms are safe, if trial rooms are safe, if online chats are safe… in every single place, a woman is reduced to her body, and her individuality erased. Senna Hegde’s delightful yet punch-to-the-gut Avihitham (translates into illicit) adds one more to the list — a male tailor proudly claims he can size up a woman’s chest, waist and hip just by seeing her. Thanks sir, one more thing to be very afraid about.
Senna Hegde’s indie rediscovery indicts prying eyes
Sat, October 11 2025
The simplest of stories, even the seemingly unappealing ones, can turn into fairly engaging pieces of cinema once it gets into the right hands. In Avihitham, filmmaker Senna Hegde, who co-wrote the film with Ambareesh Kalathera, does not have an elaborate story to tell, but teases out several strands out of it to pull off something which keeps one engaged.
Param Sundari
Romance, Drama, Comedy (Hindi)
In Kerala's picturesque backwaters, a North Indian and South Indian find unexpected love. Their cultural differences spark a hilarious and chaotic romance, full of twists and turns.
Cast:
Sidharth Malhotra, Janhvi Kapoor, Manjot Singh, Sanjay Kapoor, Inayat Verma, Renji Panicker, Siddhartha Shankar, Anand Manmadhan
Director:
Tushar Jalota
Writer:
Gaurav Mishra, Aarsh Vora, Tushar Jalota
A Spotify Review
Tue, October 28 2025
Why 'Param Sundari' is all show and little soul
Tue, September 2 2025
In the popular teen romance series Summer I Turned Pretty, adapted from Jenny Han’s books by the same name, leading lady Belly speaks of how she just can’t imagine marrying someone who doesn’t give her the “fireworks”“you know, like electric jolts, every time I see them”. In Tushar Jalota’s Param Sundari, Kerala’s most eligible girl Sundari (Janhvi Kapoor) finds herself in a similar conundrum when Punjabi munda Param (Sidharth Malhotra) strolls into her life (read homestay) believing she is his soulmate. Only unlike Belly’s karmic connection to Conrad, to whom the observation is made, Param and Sundari hardly exude MFEO (made for each other) vibes. And this despite having Sonu Nigam sing a pretty good romantic number in Pardesiya.
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
Same old love story returns
Sun, August 31 2025
Param Sundari, directed by Tushar Jalota and starring Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor, attempts a North-meets-South romance but falls flat. Laden with clichés, forced chemistry, and predictable tropes, the film struggles despite Kerala’s beauty, sidekick humour, and forgettable music. At 136 minutes, this Bollywood rom-com offers visual delight but little substance, proving yet again that cross-cultural love stories need more than recycled stereotypes and surface spectacle. India’s diversity has long been the go-to spice rack for Bollywood romances, and our filmmakers haven’t missed a single masala. From Raanjhanaa to Two States and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, we’ve seen lovers playing Romeo and Juliet across caste lines, language barriers, and angry elders wielding moral outrage like a family heirloom. So, it’s no surprise that Param Sundari joins the tradition—this time with a Punjabi munda and a Malayali miss, thrown together in a cross-cultural curry that aims to be spicy but ends up more sambhar-lite.
Chhath
(Hindi)
Govind, lives in a village with his mother and wife, Jyoti. The family is preparing for the four-day Chhath festival, but tensions emerge as family members gather after 25 years.
Cast:
Sneha Pallavi, Agast Anand, Sailfi Rayna, Shubham Shandilya, Shashie Vermaa
Director:
Nitin Chandra
Writer:
Nitin Chandra, Shatrughan Kumar
रिश्तों की चाशनी में पगी ‘छठ’
Tue, October 28 2025
बिहार का एक गांव। गोविंद जी का परिवार बहुत खुश हैं। इस बार छठ के अवसर पर 25 साल बाद उनके घर में पूरे परिवार का जुटान हो रहा है। तीन बहनें, जीजा, बच्चे और उनका सबसे प्यारा भतीजा मोहित व उसकी पत्नी जो अमेरिका से आ रहे हैं। सब मिलते हैं तो चुहलबाजियां होती हैं, हंसी-मज़ाक होता है, थोड़ी छींटाकशी भी होती है। लेकिन तभी आड़े आ जाती है एक ऐसी बात कि पूरे घर का माहौल बदल जाता है। एक छत के नीचे दो गुट बन जाते हैं। रिश्ते टूटने की नौबत आ जाती है। और फिर सामने आता है एक दबा हुआ सच। क्या सब सही हो पाता है या फिर…!
Regretting You
Romance, Drama (English)
Morgan Grant and her daughter Clara explore what's left behind after a devastating accident reveals a shocking betrayal and forces them to confront family secrets, redefine love, and rediscover each other.
Cast:
Mckenna Grace, Allison Williams, Dave Franco, Mason Thames, Willa Fitzgerald, Scott Eastwood, Clancy Brown, Sam Morelos, Ethan Costanilla, Luke Pierre Roness
Director:
Josh Boone
कन्फ्यूजन ज्यादा, इमोशन कम
Tue, October 28 2025
क्या हो जब आपको पता चले कि जिस पति, परिवार और अपनों के लिए आपने अपनी जिंदगी, सपनों, ख्वाहिशों को भुला दिया, जिन्हें खुद से हमेशा आगे रखा, वे ही आपको धोखा दे रहे हैं। रिश्तों की इस कश्मकश को दिखाती है, जोश बून निर्देशित फिल्म ‘रिग्रेटिंग यू’। अपनी चर्चित फिल्म ‘द फॉल्ट इन आवर स्टार्स’ में ‘लव ऐंड लॉस’ यानी प्यार को खोने की भावनाओं को बेहद खूबसूरती से दिखाने वाले जोश बून की यह फिल्म टीनेएज लव स्टोरी के साथ-साथ एक एडल्ट रिलेशनशिप की जटिलताओं को उकेरती है, मगर वैसा प्रभाव नहीं छोड़ पाती।
Save Yourself the Regret
Fri, October 24 2025
Given the mad popularity of Colleen Hoover’s novels featuring good-looking adults navigating complicated inter-personal lives, and all the hoo-ha around ‘It Ends With Us’, the first Hoover novel to be filmed, which managed to say something important about domestic violence despite the schmaltz, I had expectations of ‘Regretting You’. ut I should have been warned: just what exactly does ‘regretting you’ mean? In my head, it kept sitting around like ‘Forgetting You’, which is also what this film, based on a Hoover book of the same name, could very easily have been called.
Vash Level 2
Thriller, Horror (Gujarati)
Twelve years after saving his daughter Arya from a dark force, Atharva learns it never left her. When strange events begin again, he must fight to save her once more.
Cast:
Janki Bodiwala, Hiten Kumar, Hitu Kanodia, Monal Gajjar, Chetan Daiya
Director:
Krishnadev Yagnik
Writer:
Krishnadev Yagnik
A sequel that elevates its game on almost all counts
Sun, October 26 2025
Vash: Level 2 literally hits the ground running — pun fully intended. The sequel to the 2023 Gujarati film Vash (which found its Hindi remake in last year’s Shaitaan, starring Janki Bodiwala from the original, along with Ajay Devgn, R. Madhavan and Jyothika) retains the deeply unsettling psychological horror vibe of the first film, all the while expanding its canvas in terms of plot and players.
A powerful commentary about women in the country
Fri, October 24 2025
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
Chilling saga of black magic creating mass destruction
Sun, August 31 2025
Writer and director Krishnadev Yagnik’s Gujarati movie Vash (2023) turned out to be a thrilling saga of black magic. The film was later remade in Hindi as Shaitaan (2024). Sequels of horror films are always expected to overpower the first one but that doesn’t happen always. But Vash Level 2 actually goes up several notches as far as the vashikaran (casting a black magic spell) is concerned. Vash Level 2 continues 12 years from where Vash ended (hence, you need to watch the first film to understand the second one). Atharva (Hitu Kanodia) is leading a quiet life with his daughter Aarya (Janki Bodiwala), who is still under the black magic spell, after his son Ansh (Aaryan Sanghvi) and wife (Niilam Paanchal) are killed. But unknown to the world, inside a dark corner of his bungalow, he has kept hidden the black magic monster Pratap (Hiten Kumar), who is responsible for the tragedy in his and his family’s life, in the most inhuman condition possible. He doesn’t let him live, nor die.
Thamma
Comedy, Horror (Hindi)
A determined historian sifts through old manuscripts, seeking clues about the mysterious legends of vampires in Vijay Nagar.
Cast:
Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Paresh Rawal, Sathyaraj, Faisal Malik, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, Rachit Singh, Varun Dhawan, Vinay Pathak
Director:
Aditya Sarpotdar
Writer:
Niren Bhatt, Suresh Mathew, Arun Fulara
A horror comedy, with less of both
Sat, October 25 2025
The MHCU (Maddock Horror Comedy Universe) has gained much success for blending horror with comedy, delivering one superhit after another in the genre it almost reinvented with ‘Stree’. As yet another much-awaited outing of the indigenous franchise hit the screens, expectations were sky high. Not only does ‘Thamma’ come from the production house which lately can boast of hitting the bull’s eye each time, it also has an unusual pair worth rooting for.
Why 'Thamma' is the hit Maddock horror comedy universe's first weakling
Fri, October 24 2025
The Maddock Horror Comedy Universe (MHCU) had to stumble sooner or later. With Thamma, the universe—with its creatures and legends—has got its first weakling. This is a surprise because the creative brains of MHCU are the same. There’s chief writer Niren Bhatt, in Thamma teaming up with Suresh Mathew and Arun Falara; Aditya Sarpotdar of Munjya fame in the director’s chair; and Dinesh Vijan and Amar Kaushik (the latter is director of both Stree films and Bhediya) as producers, alongside Sachin-Jigar as composers. But this time around, the combo of scares and laughs struggles to register.
(Writing for OTT Play)
A Bloodless Vampire Film With No Teeth Or Bite
Fri, October 24 2025
Aditya Sarpotdar’s Thamma is a nothing film. It is so vacuous that had the review ended with one line, the remaining blank space could have passed off as method writing. It is so empty-coded that candy floss, in comparison, would be more weighted. It is so ineffective that the cautionary tobacco advertisements attached to theatrical releases prove to be more potent. And, it is so vacant that if the film were a piece of land, it would make for a lucrative real estate deal. My thoughts are getting garbled here, but then thinking about Thamma should not be a full-time job, yet here we are.
Nobody Wants This S02
Comedy, Drama (English)
An agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi fall in love, but can their relationship survive their wildly different lives and meddling families?
Cast:
Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, Jackie Tohn
Kristen Bell, Adam Brody's Rom-Com Tackles Hardships Of Modern Relationships
Fri, October 24 2025
A year after the world fell in love with agnostic podcast host Joanne (Kristen Bell) and hot rabbi Noah (Adam Brody), the Netflix series Nobody Wants This is back to check in on the couple. Erin Foster’s series about an interfaith couple struck a chord with audiences. With its new season, it’s time to see whether Joanne and Noah can make it work despite their differences. While the rom-com gets candid for several characters, it also keeps circling around the same issue for the main couple.
The Apprentice
History, Drama (English)
A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
Cast:
Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick, Patch Darragh, Stuart Hughes, Eoin Duffy, Chloe Madison
Director:
Ali Abbasi
Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong Are Compelling In Insightful Tale On Rise Of Young Donald Trump
Fri, October 24 2025
After Santosh, The Apprentice is the second film releasing on Lionsgate Play that didn’t receive a theatrical release in India because of censor issues. Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice is almost overshadowed by another man, Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn. Set in the 1970s, the drama follows young Donny’s journey into becoming Donald Trump, ably played by Sebastian Stan, who subtly gives glimpses of the businessman and future president used to cutting corners to get ahead.
Jeremy Strong delivers stand out performance in Abbasi's film on Donald Trump
Sat, October 19 2024
Former United States president and presidential candidate Donald Trump went on a rant recently on filmmaker Ali Abbasi’s latest film The Apprentice, which narrates the Republican’s initial years as a real estate giant in New York and his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn. Perhaps, Trump’s reaction stems from information that is fed to him because had he watched the film, he may have only objected to certain aspects of Abbasi’s provocative film and not ranted about it in its entirety.
Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg
Thu, October 17 2024
The Apprentice is one of the film that no one asked for but now that its here you can’t look away from it. The direction, cinematography, lighting, sets and most of all the performances all are worth praising but the film majorly avoids taking sides. For first half it makes you like Trump and for the other the pre-existing hate returns, so it doesn’t really add to his public narrative, the reason for its existence left questioning. But the film is worth the watch for its art.
Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat
Romance, Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
A musical love story with dark shades of love exploring obsession, heartbreak, and deep emotional conflict.
Cast:
Harshvardhan Rane, Sonam Bajwa, Shaad Randhawa, Sachin Khedekar, Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Shailesh Korde, Rajesh Khera
Director:
Milap Zaveri
Writer:
Milap Zaveri
(Writing for OTT Play)
Really, Really Terrible
Fri, October 24 2025
Milap Zaveri’s Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat is the worst film of the year. I say this knowing that there are a few months left, that art is subjective, and the response it evokes is objective. I also say this because there is more strategy than heart involved in the making, and despite every tear and slo-mo being curated for cheers, Zaveri’s new work is gratuitous, concerning, and I will go out on a limb and say, is really terrible.
The Love-Gods Must Be Crazy
Wed, October 22 2025
It’s a miracle that a movie named Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat exists. It’s like watching a 141-minute music video of tight reaction shots, slow-mo emotions, designer entry shots, personality twists and lone tear-drops. It’s also like watching an injured middle finger to a digital generation that equates love with consent, respect and dignity. If the movie were a person, it’d be a Sanam Teri Kasam stan who was once a Tere Naam devotee who became a Kabir Singh fan who became a MeToo apologist who then decided to explore wokeness within the realms of toxic masculinity. I’d be worried if this were a competently crafted film. Fortunately, it has the emotional intelligence of a soggy peanut. A visual transition early on hints at a self-cannibalising Bollywood story: coins thrown at a sultry single screen (because “mass” is the genre) match-cut to coins paid to a washerman by the humble siren from the screen. As the Scorsese meme goes: Absolute Cinema.
Bland Slam Poetry For 2 Hours
Wed, October 22 2025
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas
Thriller (Hindi)
A seemingly simple case of a missing girl, Poonam, puts Inspector Vishwas Bhagwat on a chase to find the culprit behind a sinister trail of disappearing girls. What happens next?
Cast:
Arshad Warsi, Jitendra Kumar, Ayesha Kaduskar, Tara Alisha Berry
Director:
Akshay Shere
(Writing for OTT Play)
An Effective Police Procedural
Fri, October 24 2025
Police Procedurals in Hindi films tend to follow a pattern. The gritty undersides of the crime are portrayed in alliance with the heroic arc of the law keeper. The more horrific the crime, the more elevated is the heroism of the officer. On paper, Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas is primed to be another reiteration. A troubled police officer is faced with an elusive killer as one case knots to another. Yet, Akshay Shere’s feature film sidesteps histrionics to unfold as a sobering depiction of society in tandem with the potency of law.
Arshad Warsi Anchors An Overfamiliar but Potent Crime Thriller
Sat, October 18 2025
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas starts like any Indian crime drama that wants the best of both worlds. The story is “inspired by true events,” but just about fictional and legally coy enough to stage itself as a franchise about a police officer who solves one case per film/season. It’s the Delhi Crime template. The ‘Chapter One’ in the title is a clue. As is the self-reverential opening slate: “To keep the truth alive, you must tell its story”. And a corny closing slate about courage that ends with an exclamation mark (!). In between these two quotes, however, Bhagwat defies its familiar status to stay humble, metrical and consistently watchable. Akshay Shere’s two-hour film has more in common with another well-crafted Hindi series. It shares its real-world source material with Dahaad (2023), the 8-episode thriller about a cop who gets drawn into a case of multiple missing girls and a potential serial killer. Like the show, the film does well to excavate the social fabric of a place that often serves as a portal between predator and prey.
Crime film needs more craft and spark
Sat, October 18 2025
OTT lighting. Killer of scenes. Destroyer of aesthetic. The flat, boring, unengaged style that says, we know this looks terrible but no one expects better anymore.