Sitaare Zameen Par
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships. (more…)
Son of Sardar 2
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
Years after settling an epic family feud and surviving house arrest in Punjab, Jassi Singh Randhawa returns this time chasing love, not trouble. But when he lands in Scotland to win back his estranged wife, he stumbles into a hostage (more…)
Guild Reviews
Sitaare Zameen Par
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships.
Cast:
Aamir Khan, Genelia D'Souza, Karim Hajee, Krishiv Jindal, Amit Varma, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali
Director:
R. S. Prasanna
Sat, August 9 2025
While watching any film, it is important to understand who the target audience is, especially Hindi movies, which are often slotted into rigid categories. It’s theoretically possible for a 65-year-old ‘tirth yatri’ from Rithala to enjoy the fourth Twilight movie on a bus to Amarnath, but, you’d agree that they probably wouldn’t care much for shiny vampires and their politics. The Twilight movies are aimed at teenage girls, just as Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par is targeted at the sort of folks for whom kindness doesn’t come naturally. Khan plays their surrogate in the film, directed by RS Prasanna and based on the Spanish-language hit Campeones. It’s the star’s second remake in a row, after the poorly received Laal Singh Chaddha from a couple of years ago.
Wed, August 6 2025
Marketed as the spiritual sequel to Aamir Khan’s 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par—is a shoddily made, preachy, borderline insensitive film with a noble mission. However, just because it aims to raise awareness about an admirable cause doesn’t excuse its cringeworthy tone, Khan and Genelia Deshmukh’s subpar performances, and its casual othering of the neurodivergent community. We discuss the film’s many problems before finally finding one aspect worthy of praise.
Mon, June 23 2025
An Aamir Khan film is a bit of an anomaly in the current landscape of Hindi cinema. Here’s an actor whose superstar credentials have come not courtesy testosterone-heavy action spectacles but by championing narratives that espouse for a better society and celebrate the inherent goodness of mankind. Good intent, though, doesn’t always translate into an equally good film. Sitaare Zameen Par is that feel-good film that tries so hard to be likeable that it begins to feel cloying and underwhelming. Few jokes fly, many forced. But by the end, it’s pushing for tears. Khan has played this script before, and it’s worked wonders at the box-office. There’s the Rajkumar Hirani-directed 3 Idiots and PK and the Khan banner’s Taare Zameen Par (TZP) and Secret Superstar. Sitaare Zameen Par is cut from the same social-moral fabric. It has even been billed as a spiritual sequel to TZP, only that it feels laborious in execution.
Dhadak 2
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
When Neelesh, an idealistic law student from a marginalised section of society, steps into an prestigious institution, he is thrust into a world that doesn`t reflect his own. His friendship with Vidhi, offers hope-until a wave of tragedy exposes the deep-rooted hierarchies he tried to outrun. He must confront the invisible forces that shape who we are allowed to become and who we love.
Cast:
Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri, Saad Bilgrami, Saurabh Sachdeva, Vipin Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Anubha Fatehpuria, Priyank Tiwari, Deeksha Joshi, Dishank Arora
Director:
Shazia Iqbal
Thu, August 7 2025
Something that Quentin Tarantino said recently rings true for director Shazia Iqbal’s Dhadak 2. In an interview, he explained why he admires the controversial blockbuster film Joker, despite the divisive reactions that it opened to. Tarantino said that the movie pulled off ‘subversion on a massive level’, when it got audiences across the globe to root for a madman to shoot a celebrity in the face on live TV. These were all civilised people, Tarantino said. And yet, for around 10 minutes, they were hungry for blood. It’s an unusual comparison to make, but Dhadak 2 has more in common with a billion-dollar-grossing Hollywood movie than you’d imagine. In an alternate universe, Siddhant Chaturvedi’s character in the film, a Dalit man named Neelesh, could have very easily turned into a vengeful anarchist.
Sun, August 3 2025
This is how star-crossed romances usually go: boy meets girl, hearts collide, the world relents, and they ride into forever. But not in Dhadak 2, the Hindi remake of Mari Selvaraj’s searing Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal (2018). Here, love doesn’t float above the ground but sinks deep into the soil of caste identity. The film’s lovers, Neelesh (a standout Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Vidisha (Triptii Dimri), are young and idealistic. But society sees their surname before it sees their hearts. He is Neelesh Ahirwar, a first-generation Dalit student who lives in a slum. She is Vidisha Bharadwaj, an upper-caste classmate who falls for him. In debutante director Shazia Iqbal’s hands, Dhadak 2 proves that, in India, love isn’t blind — it sees caste in sharp, unforgiving focus.
Sun, August 3 2025
If Pariyerum Perumal (2018) was a burning manifesto against caste oppression, Dhadak 2 is the government-issued pamphlet version—neatly formatted, slightly sanitized, and laminated for upper-caste convenience. A Hindi remake of Mari Selvaraj’s Tamil classic, Dhadak 2 attempts a daring high-wire act: to tackle India’s caste realities without disturbing the comfort zones of mainstream Bollywood viewers. It’s also branded as a spiritual sequel to 2018’s Dhadak, a film so committed to looking away from caste, it practically made erasure an aesthetic. In that sense, Dhadak 2 is a kind of karmic correction—only this time, the characters do mention caste out loud. Occasionally. Set in a vague “Hindi heartland” (geography was apparently too casteist to be named), Dhadak 2 follows Neelesh (Siddhant Chaturvedi), a Dalit law student with dreams of justice and—poor thing—romance. He secures a spot in the prestigious National University of Law through reservation, and while most Bollywood heroes fight corrupt politicians or dance on Swiss hills, Neelesh battles that deadliest of foes: everyday systemic discrimination.
My Oxford Year
Romance, Comedy, Drama (English)
An ambitious American fulfilling her dream of studying at Oxford falls for a charming Brit hiding a secret that may upend her perfectly planned life.
Cast:
Sofia Carson, Corey Mylchreest, Esmé Kingdom, Harry Trevaldwyn, Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack, Nikhil Parmar, Poppy Gilbert, Romina Cocca, Yadier Fernández
Director:
Iain Morris
Wed, August 6 2025
What begins like an In the Heights-style story about upward mobility and female ambition turns into what can only be described as a Mohit Suri movie. Saiyaara won’t leave you alone no matter how hard you try. The sappy tone of Suri’s films, borrowed from the cinema of more countries than the average Indian will ever visit in their lifetime, has swung all the way back around and influenced the likes of My Oxford Year. It’s perhaps the most algorithmic film that Netflix has released in recent memory. Starring two of the streamer’s newest alums — Sofia Carson from The Life List and Corey Mylchreest from Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — the film makes you wonder if it was produced only because the filmmakers gained no-holds-barred access to the University of Oxford.
Nightbitch
Comedy, Horror (English)
A woman, thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a dog.
Cast:
Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Arleigh Snowden, Emmett Snowden, Jessica Harper, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Archana Rajan, Nate Heller, Darius De La Cruz
Director:
Marielle Heller
Writer:
Marielle Heller
Tue, August 5 2025
A young stay-at-home woman’s tedious maternal routine takes a surreal turn when she finds herself finding a sense of freedom in her newly-developed feral tendencies. Simply and bluntly put, the appropriately-named Nightbitch has its protagonist — who remains unnamed — develop into a dog every night and run amuck through the neighbourhood, after a day of intense drudgery and monotony. Sounds crazy? It sure is. Based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder and directed by Marielle Heller, whose last outing was the critically-acclaimed 2019 film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Nightbitch stars six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams in the lead. Adams is more than a few pounds overweight, dressed dowdy throughout the film and perpetually exhausted in the way a lot of us can relate with. What we can’t, of course, is the extreme spiral the character undergoes under the load of stress and mental anguish. With ‘Husband’ away on office work on weekdays, ‘Mother’, which is what Adams is referred to in the description of the film, functions on a daily basis as a single mother. That includes taking care of her infant ‘Son’ with not a minutes’ rest, even as she ruminates on what could have been if she had not paused her career as an artist to take care of her baby full time.
Fri, August 1 2025
Despite being a six-time Oscar nominee, Amy Adams’ career in the last decade or so resembles that of someone who has lost the ability to say no. Her latest film is Nightbitch, a dark comedy about the horrors of motherhood, in which she plays a nameless woman who finds herself transforming into a dog. Literally. The movie is directed by Marielle Heller, whose last feature was A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. Nightbitch is, in many ways, the cynical sister to that stubbornly saccharine film. It’s also a fantastical reality check for anybody contemplating parenthood. In addition to repelling audiences with its weirdness, however, Nightbitch could possibly cause Suniel Shetty to reconsider his views on gender roles.
Bakaiti
(Hindi)
Set in old Ghaziabad, this heartwarming series follows the Kataria family grappling with a financial crunch. When Naina is forced to share her room with her younger brother Bharat, sibling tensions rise.
Cast:
Rajesh Tailang, Sheeba Chaddha, Aditya Shukla, Keshav Sadhna
Director:
Ameet Guptha
Mon, August 4 2025
Sanjay Kataria, a struggling lawyer in Ghaziabad, scrapes through his daily life with his wife and two children with great difficulty. He faces resistance from his father in letting out a room in his ancestral property for rent, and continues to bicker with his brother over monetary issues. When Sanjay’s rebellious daughter Naina suddenly goes missing on her birthday, his life comes to a standstill. Rajesh Tailang is a perfect casting choice to play the average Indian middle-class father who tries to keep the family together, come what may. He mirrors the role’s simplicity and lends warmth to the portrayal of a man hardened by situations. Sheeba Chaddha, expectedly, is fabulous, in the shoes of a wife whose life rolls along selflessly.
Sat, August 2 2025
The Ghaziabad-based Katarias have a sole earning member. Ajay (Rajesh Tailang) is a lawyer whose earnings, and patience, is stretched thin by the antics of his permanently bickering teenage children, Naina (Tanya Sharma) and her younger brother Bharat (Aditya Shukla). Ajay’s wife Sushma (Sheeba Chadha) handles the house, one eye on the never-ending work in the kitchen, and another on the sewing machine, which has been lying neglected for years. What if she opens a longed-for boutique? That would bring in much-needed extra cash. The kids join in, with a couple of madcap schemes. But nothing works. The squabbling siblings have to share a room, while the one that’s freed up, is rented out. The tenant (Keshav Sadhna) turns out to be a good-looking fellow, whom Naina starts batting her eyelids at. Turns out that he has troubles of his own, revealed in a most unconvincing manner.
Chief of War
Drama (English)
With Hawaii's four kingdoms divided by war, the ferocious warrior Kaʻiana embarks on an epic mission to unite his people—as an existential threat approaches their shores.
Cast:
Jason Momoa, Luciane Buchanan, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Cliff Curtis, Kaina Makua, Moses Goods, Siua Ikale‘o, Brandon Finn, Mainei Kinimaka, Te Kohe Tuhaka
Mon, August 4 2025
In Chief of War, Jason Momoa once again takes on a towering persona with Hawaiian warrior Ka’iana. The actor, who is also co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer, backs this violent but ambitious retelling of the unification of Hawaii’s islands during the late 1700s. The epic drama is also a history lesson combined with age-old themes of honour, pride, greed, and most importantly, power. The nine-part series focuses on the kings, rulers, warriors, and, of course, the people of Hawaii with its traditions and beliefs that must change over time. Ka’iana (Momoa) and his small family have relocated from Maui to the island of Kauai. But upon command of his king, Kahekili (Temuera Morrison), who has visions from a certain prophecy, he joins him for a battle on Oahu. There he realises the power-hungry Kahekili has deceived him and he spends the rest of the series atoning for his actions. Ka’iana leaves Hawaii and returns stronger, armed with knowledge and power that will help him in the war that is to come.
Fri, August 1 2025
It takes great writing discipline to make a show like Chief of War. Nearly everybody who watches it on Apple will be entering a world that they’re entirely unfamiliar with. And yet, they must surrender to its intimate yet epic narrative. Set in the late 18th century, the nine-episode drama tells the story of the unification of the Hawaiian islands, from the perspective of the Polynesian community. Riskier is the creative decision to set it almost exclusively in the native language. Perhaps the folks behind it — Chief of War is co-created by Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett — were empowered by the success of similar grand-scale productions such as FX’s Japanese-language drama Shōgun and Apple’s own Korean-language show Pachinko.
Son of Sardar 2
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
Years after settling an epic family feud and surviving house arrest in Punjab, Jassi Singh Randhawa returns this time chasing love, not trouble. But when he lands in Scotland to win back his estranged wife, he stumbles into a hostage crisis, a mafia war and the most bizarre Sardaar wedding of the century.
Cast:
Ajay Devgn, Mrunal Thakur, Ravi Kishan, Neeru Bajwa, Vindu Dara Singh, Mukul Dev, Sanjay Mishra, Deepak Dobriyal, Chunky Pandey, Kubbra Sait
Director:
Vijay Kumar Arora
Writer:
Jagdeep Singh Sidhu, Mohit Jain
Sun, August 3 2025
Son of Sardaar 2 is back, and this time the sardaar has swapped swords for bagpipes—aye, we’re in Scotland now, lads! Directed by Punjabi punch specialist Vijay Kumar Arora and bankrolled by Ajay Devgn (also starring, obviously), Jyoti Deshpande, N.R. Pachisia and Pravin Talreja, this one’s a chaotic cocktail of comedy, culture clashes, and complete confusion. A standalone sequel to the 2012 madcap masala-fest Son of Sardaar, this film dares to ask the question: What happens when you mix a fake war hero, a dysfunctional band, a confused wedding, and Ravi Kishan’s eyebrows into one movie? Apparently, a whole lot of madness. The plot? Let’s just say it’s more tangled than a pair of wired earphones in a jeans pocket. Our man Jassi (Ajay Devgn), fresh off a long exile (probably dodging sequels), flies to bonnie Scotland to win back his estranged wife (Neeru Bajwa). But instead of rekindling romance, he finds himself knee-deep in cross-border chaos featuring a mob rivalry, a desi wedding gone rogue, and a mistaken identity twist that feels like Comedy of Errors… rewritten by Rohit Shetty during a sugar rush.
Sun, August 3 2025
After watching Dhadak, one finds a serious layer in this infantile sequel to Ajay Devgn’s tribute to his Punjabi roots as well. The writing plays on the Bollywood Sardar stereotype, one who is innocent, stands his ground, and doesn’t show his back in a battle. Lest we forget, the makers ensure the word Punjabi keeps popping up in the dhol-centric background score as well. After a long wait for a visa, when the simpleton Jassi (Ajay) comes to London, he discovers that his wife Dimple (Neeru Bajwa) has decided to ditch her. Lost, he strikes a chord with Rabia (Mrunal Thakur), a Pakistani musician who runs a wedding band with a transgender musician, Gul (Deepak Dobriyal), and Mehwish (Kubra Sait), as well as her foster daughter, Saba (Roshni Walia), after being ditched by her philandering husband, Danish (Chunkey Panday).
Sat, August 2 2025
Thirteen years after Son of Sardaar hit cinemas with its brand of crowd-pleasing comedy, its sequel arrives with less humour and even less purpose. Vijay Kumar Arora takes the helm of Son of Sardaar 2, repackaging the chaotic energy of the original into a modern comedy about mistaken identities, cross-border friction, and manufactured family values. Son of Sardaar 2 is not a direct narrative continuation of the original but borrows the premise of an impromptu fake family assembled for a wedding from the 2017 Turkish film Aile Arasında (Between Family). In this version, a Pakistani family enlists the help of a kind-hearted, gullible Indian Sikh man to help the youngest member marry her Sikh boyfriend. Ajay Devgn plays Jassi, a gentle Sikh protagonist whose journey from Punjab to the UK—after finally receiving his long-awaited spouse visa—doesn’t yield the results he expected. Cuckolded by his wife Dimple (Neeru Bajwa), an aimless Jassi finds himself caught in the middle of India-Pakistan cultural chaos.
Mahavatar Narsimha
Animation, Action, Fantasy, Drama (Kannada)
Hiranyakashyap, the tyrannical demon, challenges Vishnu, proclaiming himself a god. However, his son Prahlad remains devoted to Vishnu, who appears as Narsimha to defeat the demon.
Director:
Ashwin Kumar
Writer:
Jaypurna Das
Sat, August 2 2025
Lord Vishnu’s various avatars have their own importance and they are worshipped in large numbers. But they also are cinematic enough for a movie on each one of them. In fact, I have always found it surprising as to why we have never had a series of films or web shows on each avatar of his. Filmmaker Ashwin Kumar’s animation film Mahavatar Narsimha has finally filled the void. The movie is based on Lord Vishnu’s Narasimha Avatar. The story starts off when sage Kashyap and his wife get physical during an inauspicious time. Hence, the twins born out of their union turn out to be Asura brothers Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyap. As per their nature, the twins create havoc in the three worlds. Once, Hiranyaksha captures the earth and submerges it into the ocean. Hence, Lord Vishnu takes the Varah Avatar, frees the earth and kills Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashyap, who already is against Vishnu, starts hating the latter even more and vows to avenge his brother’s death.
Kingdom
Action, Thriller (Telugu)
Soori, a modest police constable, is unintentionally dragged into a dangerous undercover spy operation in Sri Lanka for the Indian government . His journey is intimately linked to his estranged brother Siva, and the risks involved on their reunion.
Cast:
Vijay Deverakonda, Bhagyashri Borse, Satyadev Kancharana, Venkitesh V P, Ronit Kamra, B. S. Avinash, Baburaj, Ayyappa P. Sharma, Bhanu Prakashan, Sriram Reddy Polasane
Director:
Gowtam Tinnanuri
Writer:
Gowtam Tinnanuri
Sat, August 2 2025
Sat, August 2 2025
Thu, July 31 2025
A film that hinges on brotherhood and a man’s/woman’s larger purpose in life has to get one aspect right. And, it’s not the scale or the music. It’s the emotion. You need to connect and resonate with the characters on-screen to feel their pain and joy. However mediocre the story might be, if the emotion connects, the film lands! Director Gowtam Tinnanuri’s ‘Kingdom’ promised to be a story of brotherhood, a spy thriller and a lot more. Has it cracked the magic formula? Let’s find out! ‘Kingdom’ begins in the 1920s, with a tribe called Divi fighting against the British. The tribe fails in the fight with the hope that a saviour will arrive to put off their worries. 70 years later, we see Suri (Vijay Deverakonda), a constable searching for his elder brother Siva (Satyadev). Siva fled after killing their abusive father and ran away from home. His attempts to find Siva land him in a covert mission.
The Naked Gun
Comedy, Crime (English)
Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr.
Cast:
Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu, Michael Beasley, Cody Runnels
Director:
Akiva Schaffer
Writer:
Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, Akiva Schaffer
Fri, August 1 2025
Saiyaara
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
Short-tempered musician Krish is paired with a no-nonsense lyricist in Vaani, for the music company to work together. The sparks fly and Krish and Vaani get close and so much that they didn't anticipate. Will their love story stand the test of time, egos, and, more importantly, become bigger than themselves?
Cast:
Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda, Varun Badola, Alam Khan, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, Rajesh Kumar, Shaad Randhawa, Sid Makkar, Shaan Groverr
Director:
Mohit Suri
Wed, July 30 2025
It took two twenty-something newcomers to cause ripples at the box-office. The Ajay Devgn-led Son of Sardaar 2 pushed its release date. And those awaiting releases in August know they have a force to reckon with in Saiyaara. So, what’s about the intense musical romance that audiences cannot get enough of and are reacting to in a rather dramatic fashion? IV drip? Copious tears? All this despite a happy ending. Here are five reasons why director Mohit Suri and writer Sankalp Sadanah have crafter a winner. Saiyaara’s soundtrack has one earworm after another, with the title track particularly hitting all the right loving notes. Rendered by Kashmir’s indie artist Faheem Abdullah, this is Gen Z and Alpha’s “Tum Hi Ho” moment, a track which is likely to dominate the airwaves and streaming apps for a few years, like “Kesariya” did.
Wed, July 23 2025
Mon, July 21 2025
Sarzameen
Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
A father who refused to bowl down to threats, a son who was given up for the nation, a family that was torn apart by the secrets and deeds of the past.
Cast:
Ibrahim Ali Khan, Kajol, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jitendra Joshi, Mihir Ahuja, Boman Irani, Rajesh Sharma, Rohed Khan, Abdul Quadir Amin, Tara Sharma
Director:
Kayoze Irani
Tue, July 29 2025
In Sarzameen, a stern military man allows his only son to be murdered by terrorists in Kashmir because… nation comes first or something. You often hear about parents who proudly declare that they are willing to sacrifice their children for the country, and perhaps Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Vijay Menon is cut from the same cloth as those folks. The only difference is that his son isn’t a soldier on the front-lines, but a child for whom he feels no love. Played by Ibrahim Ali Khan, the child’s name is Harman, and the only reason his father hates him is that he isn’t like the other boys; he’s timid, he can’t play sports, and he speaks with a stutter.
Mon, July 28 2025
Kayoze Irani’s Sarzameen, comes in the long line of films that sacrifice a decent idea at the altar of inept filmmaking. It is one of those political films that props itself up to make a statement but lacks both the spine and the bite to articulate its politics. Kannan Iyer’s Ae Watan Mere Watan (2024) is a recent example, also backed by Dharma Productions, where the voice of the maker got lost in the chaos of commentary. But if Sarzameen is to be believed, Irani has no voice. This, of course, is not wholly true. Before directing his feature debut, Irani helmed one of the better shorts in the uneven Netflix anthology Ajeeb Daastaans (2021). There was genuine sensitivity on display even when aided by a persuasive cast. Four years since, nothing of that remains. Sarzameen could have been directed by a tree, and I still wouldn’t be surprised. Every frame of the film is dunked in staleness, and the dialogues are woefully clunky, like an AI is talking to another AI.
Sun, July 27 2025
An upright army officer Vijay Menon, while being a caring husband to Meher, struggles to raise his son, Harman with the same compassion. When Vijay nabs two suspects in his pursuit of a terrorist, Mohsin, his son Harman is kidnapped. Torn between his motherland and blood, a conflicted Vijay is forced to make a tough choice, one that’s bound to have serious repercussions many years later. Prithviraj Sukumaran, in the shoes of Vijay Menon, is excellent as the stoic, tough father, hardened by circumstances. He infuses life and sincerity into the father-son drama with a tour de force act. The star receives ample support from Kajol, who returns to form in style with a memorable, crucial role, in what is like an antithesis to her part in Fanaa. Both the actors truly shine as performers.