





Guild Reviews

Bridgerton S04 Part 2
Drama (English)
Wealth, lust, and betrayal set in the backdrop of Regency era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.
Cast:
Ruth Gemmell, Luke Thompson, Yerin Ha, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie, Florence Hunt, Will Tilston, Adjoa Andoh, Julie Andrews, Golda Rosheuvel

Fri, February 27 2026
In the first half of Bridgerton Season 4, viewers were introduced to a magical Cinderella tale between second brother Bendect Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) as the mysterious Lady in Silver. And at the end of the fourth episode, Benedict proposed that Sophie become his mistress. The Netflix series returns to explore the fallout of the proposal, as Benedict must decide whether to defy society and his family for the sake of love. Furthermore, other younger Bridgertons have significant goings-on in their lives as the series sets up what’s next for seasons ahead.

Nukkad Naatak
Drama (Hindi)
After being caught robbing the college canteen, best friends Molshri and Shivang are expelled. To be reinstated, they must enroll five children from an impoverished slum into a local school.
Cast:
Molshri, Shivang Rajpal, Danish Husain, Nirmala Hajra, Lalit Saw, Monita Sinha, Mayank Shandilya, Kishore Kumar, Jay DeYonker
Director:
Tanmaya Shekhar
Writer:
Tanmaya Shekhar

Fri, February 27 2026
t’s bittersweet when you learn of an independent film releasing against all odds. The more inspirational the journey is, the more complicated it gets for film critics who must approach it objectively. What if it’s not good, despite the sincerity and courage? What if the inventive process of making it is the best part of its legacy? What if the craft is consumed by underdog hype and passion? What if the behind-the-scenes story is more interesting than the film’s story? What sort of euphemisms might one have to use to be kinder to gutsy ‘outsider’ art? The anxiety is more heightened with a film like Tanmaya Shekhar’s Nukkad Naatak: a crowd-funded, self-promoted and self-distributed indie whose guerrilla marketing campaign features a recent cross-country road trip in a rented caravan. It wears its defiance on its sleeve. The premise is even designed to be curious and socially expressive — a sign that commentary might be used to offset a lack of depth.

D/O Prasad Rao Kanabadutaledu
Mystery, Drama, Family (Telugu)
A father desperately searches for his missing daughter, uncovering hidden secrets and betrayals along the way. The investigation tests family bonds while revealing dark truths beneath seemingly normal lives.
Cast:
Vasanthika, Rajiv Kanakala, Udaya Bhanu
Director:
Poluru Krishna

Fri, February 27 2026
We live in times when filmmakers are increasingly insecure about keeping restless viewers invested in a story. This has resulted in storytellers shaping narratives that frenetically jump from one sequence to another, without context or substance, so that distraction may not be an option. The characters do not talk; they shout. And the bombastic background score screams for attention. Every scene turns into a loud statement. ZEE5’s Telugu web series D/O Prasad Rao Kanabadutaledu (Prasad Rao’s daughter is missing), helmed by Krishna Poluru, takes this desperation to new heights. While leaving little to a viewer’s imagination right from its title, the show shifts between three timelines that influence the events in the life of a missing girl. The crime scene is visualised as a narrative hook to unpack discussions on conservative parenting, the dreams and aspirations of a girl child, intergenerational trauma and vigilante justice.

Shatak
Drama, History (Hindi)
The narrative covers a century of institutional history, revealing how a small group expanded its mission and membership to achieve widespread influence.
Director:
Aashish Mall
Writer:
Anil Agarwal, Utsav Dan, Rohit Gahlowt

Wed, February 25 2026
Very little of Aashish Mall’s Shatak looks real. I’m not talking just historical authenticity here, or the conspicuous name-dropping of ‘leftist’ freedom fighters (all of them, obviously in awe of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS). Most of Mall’s film looks enhanced like the tacky green-screens on primetime news. Most characters wander around like AI slop, speaking with pauses – without showing the slightest bits of humanity. Walking out of Mall’s film, one of my thoughts was if the film was an exhibit for the India AI Impact Summit held in Delhi. If that was the case, what fresh hell it would mean for the nation already grappling with a dozen controversies brewing because of the event. Would Sam Altman have felt pressured to give it a standing ovation, seeing the Indian Prime Minister sitting adjacent to him, if the film screened there? Mall’s film feels like a 112-minute reel created using AI, chronicling the good/better/best anecdotes of the far-right organisation – without the slightest hint of curiosity. The aim is not to find out about how the RSS came into being, as much as kissing the feet of its founding fathers.


Assi
Crime, Drama, Thriller (Hindi)
An investigative courtroom drama based on the alarming statistic of nearly eighty sexual assault cases reported daily in India. In just one day. Every day.
Cast:
Taapsee Pannu, Kani Kusruti, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Revathi, Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak, Rajendra Sethi, Satyajit Sharma
Director:
Anubhav Sinha
Writer:
Gaurav Solanki, Anubhav Sinha

Tue, February 24 2026

Mon, February 23 2026
At one point in Anubhav Sinha’s Assi, a father (Manoj Pahwa) and his son (Abhishant Rana) are devouring a plate of chhole bhature. The father says, “Your mother is an excellent cook, but the chhole bhature she makes is… okay. No shame in eating outside once in a while. You can get a plate like this for Rs 60, maybe Momos for Rs 90,” he says, going on to add – “but a man never brings these home.” Only towards the end, does a woman overhearing the conversation realise that the duo aren’t talking about her food. The son is shown to be an accomplice in a rape, a few scenes earlier. I can see why co-writers Sinha and Gaurav Solanki [the duo had also earlier written Article 15] might lean on the wryness of a scene like this to explain a perpetrator’s mindset. But the scene feels too satisfied with its oversimplified metaphors for deep-seated dishonesty and compartmentalisation that the (primarily) male, urban population is capable of.

Sun, February 22 2026
There is no gentle way to say this—Anubhav Sinha’s Assi hits you hard. It is, at times, an uneasy watch—and therefore, a very good film. To be clear, the unease does not come from graphic visuals; it comes from statistics read aloud by a lawyer, from stark statements that linger long after they are spoken. If merely listening to these details causes discomfort, one can only imagine the horrors endured by the victims. Sinha not only stabs us in the heart; he twists the knife—quietly, deliberately.


Do Deewane Seher Mein
Romance, Drama (Hindi)
Two socially awkward millennials in Mumbai find love while struggling with self-acceptance. As they battle insecurities and societal pressure, their journey takes them from city chaos to mountain serenity.
Cast:
Siddhant Chaturvedi, Mrunal Thakur, Ila Arun, Joy Sengupta, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Viraj Ghelani, Sandeepa Dhar, Deepraj Rana, Mona Ambegaonkar, Naveen Kaushik
Director:
Ravi Udyawar
Writer:
Abhiruchi Chand

Sun, February 22 2026
For better or worse, the intensity of love stories is understood in terms of conflict. The bigger the conflict, the more sweeping is the love. Pop culture has routinely peddled this notion, embellishing it till this has become the norm. Ravi Udyawar’s Do Deewane Seher Mein poses a challenge to the discourse by designing a low-stakes love story, but across its runtime, the film squanders all its potential, proving in culmination that prototypes are effective for a reason. Levity aside, this is a pity because Udyawar’s film starts off almost disarmingly. Boy and girl are forced to meet. Shashank (Siddhant Chaturvedi), a marketing guy, is arranged by his parents to meet Roshni (Mrunal Thakur), a content creator for a fashion label. No sparks fly, but it rains. They are on the terrace, and the dry clothes risk getting wet. He helps her with it, and in the act, falls a little. When asked, Shashank says yes, but Roshni says no.

Sat, February 21 2026
When the trailer of Ravi Udaywar’s romantic drama Do Deewane Seher Mein surfaced online, one was hooked to the tune of Gulzar’s melancholic Do Deewane (Gharaonda), searching for home and sustenance all over again. The haunting voice of Bhupinder Singh and the melody in Runa Laila’s timbre continue to capture the dreams, hope, and loneliness that lovebirds face in big cities. However, it turns out that old gold is being refashioned to win over a new audience, but the carat is compromised in the process.

Fri, February 20 2026
To judge by appearance is a bad thing. This single line premise is stretched out over two and a half hours, leading to a film where you are left counting the moments where two people spark. The only nice thing about Do Deewane Seher Mein– please note, not Shehar–is that for a change a Hindi film doesn’t make you feel as if Shashank (Sidhant Chaturvedi) and Roshni (Mrunal Thakur) could be brother and sister. There is attraction, and they do act upon it, bringing their faces close enough for their lips to touch. Small mercies.


Tu Yaa Main
Thriller, Romance, Adventure (Hindi)
Trapped in an empty swimming pool, two content creators must fight for their survival against a ferocious, bloodthirsty natural predator.
Cast:
Adarsh Gourav, Shanaya Kapoor, Kshitee Jog, Parul Gulati, Ansh Chopra, Mona Singh, Hussain Dalal
Director:
Bejoy Nambiar
Writer:
Abhishek Bandekar

Sat, February 21 2026
It’s not every day that Hindi film audiences get to see a creature spread fear and panic. Of late, Maddock’s horror comedies have shown the appeal of creating a worthy nemesis with the Stree films and Munjya. Bejoy Nambiar’s Tu Yaa Main reminds us why we love to fear the croc in a survival thriller. After all, when it comes to sleek killing machines, it doesn’t get better than the cold-blooded amphibious reptile. Tu Yaa Main starts out as a love story between two Gen Z creators. The girl’s (Shanaya Kapoor) famous, rich and privileged; the boy’s (Adarsh Gourav) from Nalasopara and lives in a crammed house with his family. She’s sophisticated; he’s the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Opposites attract, suggests Nambiar, as he sets out to establish why despite their differences they are MFEO (made for each other).

Mon, February 16 2026
Bejoy Nambiar’s Tu Yaa Main, a relationship drama in the garb of a creature film, redeems an animal and a profession. Both, unfortunately, were subjected to great disservice in Hindi films. Given that the animal has lasted longer, its ignominy is greater, and therefore, the absolution was both inevitable and overdue. Nambiar’s film proves to be largely effective in this regard as it takes crocodiles from the mouth of disrepute and posits them in a narrative where they are given space to lay eggs, chill a little, and nap.

Mon, February 16 2026
Directed by Bejoy Nambiar and adapted by Himanshu Sharma from the 2018 Thai thriller The Pool, directed by Ping Lumpraploeng, Tu Yaa Main is a curious addition to Hindi cinema’s sporadic engagement with the creature feature. The original was a compact, high-concept survival drama built around the simple premise of a man trapped in a drained swimming pool with a crocodile, trying to find a way out. Nambiar retains the skeletal premise but sets aside that minimalism, expanding the thriller framework into a 145-minute romantic drama inserted with class commentary and influencer satire. The result is an ambitious film intermittently exhausting itself instead of tightening its grip.

The Last Thing He Told Me S02
Mystery, Drama (English)
A woman must forge a relationship with her teenage stepdaughter in order to find her husband, who has mysteriously disappeared.
Cast:
Jennifer Garner, Angourie Rice, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Sat, February 21 2026
Jennifer Garner is back as Hannah Hall in this family thriller, The Last Thing He Told Me. In the first season, Hannah watched as husband, Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), disappeared after his tech company faced financial issues. She and her stepdaughter, Bailey (Angourie Rice), learn to move on with their lives. The Apple TV series returns after a three-year gap with Owen back in their lives, opening up a whole can of worms. The mystery drama series leans heavily on its past with several Hollywood stars from David Morse, Rita Wilson, and Judy Greer, as the show travels to France to close out a traumatic chapter.

Heated Rivalry
Drama (English)
Two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey are bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.
Cast:
Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova
Director:
Jacob Tierney
Writer:
Jacob Tierney

Sat, February 21 2026
Created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney, Crave’s Canadian series Heated Rivalry has taken the world by storm. On February 20, it lands in India on Lionsgate Play. The show adapts the books of author Rachel Reid, which focus on the unlikely love story between two top players, Canada’s Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Tierney’s show elevates the material, getting to the heart of the matter as the two men meet when they are teenagers as rivals and end up as each other’s partners, away from the public eye. The low-budget series connects strongly due to its heartwarming screenplay and the refreshing performances from the cast.

The Night Agent S03
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

Sat, February 21 2026
Last season, Peter Sutherland made a deal with the devil, and this time, it comes back to haunt him again. The likeable and dependable Gabriel Basso is back to lead Netflix’s The Night Agent for its third season. Created by Shawn Ryan, the espionage drama loses a few key players from previous seasons, but gains intrigue with another White House mystery that leaves viewers on the edge throughout. The first season of The Night Agent is ranked tenth in Netflix’s most-watched shows of all time, and the drama has enough juice to power a few more seasons, going by the quality of this latest instalment.

Goat (2026)
Animation, Comedy, Family, Action (English)
Will, a small goat with big dreams, gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball – a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will's new teammates aren't thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that 'smalls can ball'!
Cast:
Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, Jenifer Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Jelly Roll
Director:
Tyree Dillihay
Writer:
Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley, Nicolas Curcio, Peter Chiarelli

Fri, February 20 2026
In terms of animated sports comedies featuring anthropomorphic animals, the bar is high. Surf’s Up (2007) set it nearly two decades ago; the mockumentary sports comedy about a young northern rockhopper penguin (voiced by a still-sane Shia LaBeouf) who dreams of becoming a professional surfer is unsurpassed in ingenuity, wit and underdog cinema (it’s one thing to make an animated film, it’s another to ‘shoot’ it like a live documentary). I’ll never forget the truth of the moment the protege discovers that his idol (Jeff Bridges) has been alive all along. The medium melts away, the cutesy humour pauses and out comes a classic genre trope. The heart doesn’t care if it’s not a live-action scene; emotions do not discriminate. Manufacturing them from scratch is arguably harder.


Kohrra 2
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
When an NRI bridegroom is found dead days before his wedding in the countryside of Punjab, two cops must unravel the troubling case as turbulence unfolds in their own lives.
Cast:
Barun Sobti, Mona Singh

Thu, February 19 2026

Sat, February 14 2026
Screenwriter, showrunner, and now co-director of Kohrra S02, Sudip Sharma has mastered the art of writing loud silences on page. Like Garundi (a scene-stealing Barun Sobti) bumping into his brother, Jung (Pardeep Singh Cheema) at his sister-in-law’s baby shower, and offering him a drink. Everyone except Garundi is able to read the room here. In the first season, the low-level cop is shown to be groomed by his sister-in-law, Rajji (Ekta Sodhi). Jung (shown to be impotent earlier) knows this child isn’t his — and even though he’s aware of his wife’s transgressions, he can’t seem to look it in the eye anymore. Jung tells his brother he wants to go to a Gurudwara and offer ‘seva’ (service) to the almighty. Jung is clearly perturbed by Garundi’s presence, but is too consumed by his own shame to address it. Similarly, a few scenes later, a heavily pregnant Rajji is living with Garundi and his wife, Silky (Muskan Arora), battling morning sickness. Garundi helps her stand upright in front of a sink; their sudden proximity only dawns on both once Silky enters the scene and interrupts it.

Sat, February 14 2026
Preet Bajwa is found dead on her family’s poultry farm. Cops Dhanwant Kaur and Amritpal Garundi soon discover the family has been hiding a dark secret for twenty years: they were keeping people as slaves. As the police get closer to the truth, the family takes desperate, violent steps to hide their crimes. The story shows how old secrets eventually catch up to people and destroy their lives.