Tue, April 29 2025

Does take a bit too far in places

Another Simple Favour directed by Paul Feig is a sequel to A Simple Favor released in 2018. Both films are based on a book of the same name by Darcey Bell. The sequel is based on the characters written by Darcey Bell but does not explore the same tone or plotline as the previous film. We do get to see many characters return but the twists take wilder turns as the story moves forward. The 2018 film was known for take a deep dive into the thriller genre and exploring the stereotypes in it with two female characters but the sequels drops it all to explore something different. The film begins with Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie Smothers, who has turned into a celebrity and an author. While she is preparing to release her book based on Blake Lively’s Emily aka the allusive blonde in her life, Stephanie is also suffering from PTSD about her crime solving days. She decided to leave it behind after a man shot himself for being accused of sexual harassment and possibly abuse. However, as Miles’ mother she decides to move on with her life. But Emily isn’t done with her yet.

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Tue, April 29 2025

Director Paul Feig's sequel in the Italian countryside is a diverting laugh until it takes a very dark turn.

Based on the characters by author Darcey Bell, the sequel to A Simple Favor (2018) returns with double the craziness and twists of the first film. Several familiar faces are back in Another Simple Favor, directed once again by Paul Feig. But it’s the weird bond between frenemies Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) that elevates this fun and freaky sequel. The Italian setting and the wedding venue lead to wild storytelling, which is only saved by the stars’ chemistry and banter. Emily, who is out of prison on appeal, invites her old bestie Stephanie to be her maid of honour at her Italian wedding to a wealthy Italian man, Dante Versano (Michele Morrone), who may or may not be in the mob. As the wedding festivities take off, the bodies begin to drop like flies, and unsurprisingly, mommy vlogger Stephanie is one of the suspects. Is this one of Emily’s tricky traps again?

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Tue, April 29 2025

Writer-director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan bookends his 129-minute biopic on social reformers and educationists Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule with the events of 1897. Poona is devastated by the plague. Savitribai runs across parched land to bring an ailing child to a makeshift medical camp. Before the doctors can pronounce a prognosis, events move back in time to 1848. Savitri was a child bride then, married to the slightly older Jyotirao Phule who, even as a teenager, was progressive enough to want his wife to be educated. This did not sit well with his conservative father (Vinay Pathak). Undeterred, Jyotirao continued to encourage not just his wife, but also the younger village girls, to learn. Now older and more committed, the Phules’ egalitarian practices and focus on social reform conflicted with the caste hierarchy of the time. The ire of higher-caste men, enraged that the ‘untouchables’ were stepping out of their lane, compelled the couple to move away from their family home. Joy Sengupta plays the upper-caste Vinayak, Darsheel Safary is the adopted son Yashwant Phule, and Amit Behl plays the head priest. Sharad Kelkar serves as narrator, giving the staccato screenplay some cohesion.

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Sun, April 27 2025

Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitri Phule were a social reformer couple who worked for the causes like eradication of caste discrimination, women education, widow remarriage, etc. Filmmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s Phule is a biopic on their lives and struggles. Jyotirao is married off to Savitri when they were kids, as per the traditions and customs of that era. They both belonged to the (so-called) lower caste. Jyotirao starts educating his wife from an early age as he strongly believed that it’s important for women to be educated. The movie starts off in 1848 when Jyotirao (Pratik Gandhi) and Savitri (Patralekhaa) are already grown-ups and working towards education of girls from their neighbourhood in Pune (then Poona). The two face strong opposition from the (so-called) upper caste people of that time.

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Sun, April 27 2025

Some of its scenes reflect the present, showing that society has not changed much for more than a century

One could argue: making a biopic in Hindi cinema these days is a lost battle even before one begins. Such is our legal system, our near-Olympic status at taking offence as a society, the cumbersome process of obtaining life-rights, and the patronising tone filmmakers adopt to turn someone’s life story into a moral science lesson (or they won’t get it). It’s no surprise then that most biopics coming out of Hindi cinema re-manufacture a stale, reverential tone with intermittent cues of inspirational music – so much so that my brain almost involuntarily switches off during such sequences these days. And god forbid if the film has the slightest socio-political criticism. Then the headache of battling the CBFC (censor board), with the livelihoods of hundreds of crew members being on the line – it’s no surprise why nearly every filmmaker is cautious, even if the film is set around characters who took on Brahmanical patriarchy more than a century ago.

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Tue, April 29 2025

Director Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar’s Marathi movie Devmanus is the official remake of directors Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal’s Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta starrer 2022 Hindi movie Vadh (which this reviewer hasn’t seen). The movie is a fine emotional crime drama. The story takes place in Kopargaon in Maharashtra. Senior citizen couple Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his wife Laxmi (Renuka Shahane) are staying alone after their son Madhav (Ruturaj Shinde) migrates to the US and gets married over there without their consent. Keshav is a tuition teacher cum farmer, who somehow managed to gather loan to get Madhav educated in the US. Along with the bank, he also had to take money from the local contractor and an evil goon Dilip (Siddharth Bodke) while mortgaging their ancestral house.

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Fri, April 25 2025

Keshav and Laxmi's simple life spirals into a moral struggle after a life-altering incident that blurs the line between right and wrong and sets him on a path of choosing between repentance and atonement.

What happens when a simple, calm, composed man commits a crime out of helplessness? Is the crime justified? Does the man repent? Does he get caught? Devmanus answers all these questions and does it while keeping you hooked. An adaptation of Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal’s Hindi film Vadh, Devmanus sees Mahesh Manjrekar and Renuka Shahane stepping into Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta’s roles. The film is a thrilling drama that packs all the right punches – stellar performances, a gripping story, beautiful shots, taut editing and a fitting background score. Owing money to a loan shark, Keshav (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Laxmi (Renuka Shahane) are struggling to make ends meet. The impending tension of losing their mortgaged house makes the couple helpless as Dilip (Siddharth Bodke), the goon who they’ve taken the money from, shows up drunk at their doorstep anytime he wishes to. Things take a drastic turn one day and the lives of Keshav and Laxmi change forever.

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Sun, April 27 2025

Filmmaker Pratik Rajen Kothari’s Gujarati movie Auntypreneur has an unusual title. A person who carries out business is called entrepreneur. So, when an aunty becomes an entrepreneur, she becomes an ‘Auntypreneur’, as per the movie. What sets the protagonist of the film aside is the necessity angle of her business. Auntypreneur takes place in today’s times in Malad, Mumbai in Poonam Co-Operative Housing Society. Jaswanti Gangani aka Jasu (Supriya Pathak Kapur) stays with her young tenant Raju (Parikshit Tamaliya) and maid Manda (Margi Desai). Her son Bhavik (Ojas Rawal) has been in Dallas, US, where he is doing very well. Jasu once imagines her housing society about to be demolished by the municipality in her dream. Unfortunately, her nightmare comes true as the municipality gives an eviction notice to the CHS. It says that their builder hasn’t paid property tax worth Rs. 1.96 crores and has run away outside the country. Hence, if they don’t pay up the amount within four months, their building will be demolished.

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Sat, April 26 2025

Robots, Dinosaurs, its got it all

Crayon Shin-chan The Movie; Our Dinosaur Diary released in 2024 in Japan and became one of the highest grossing movies of the year. The film is all set to release in India on May 9 in several dubs including Hindi which essentially has been childhood for several generations. The film brings back every character imaginable from the series back to the big screen with Avengers like event, major villains, and emotional arc with a message for young audience. The film beings with Shin Chan getting ready to celebrate summer vacation, but Nohara family’s fans to go to the beach are cancelled. Shin Chan’s dad is called to office, and it leaves him with the option to go out and play with his friends. The family is seen going through its usual tasks, Shiro is seen taking care of himself, Mrs Nohara taking care of Shin Chan’s dad and Himawari. Shin Chan decides to step out with the gang and go to the park, meanwhile, the country is getting ready to welcome Dinosaurs back to civilization in an island park.

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Sat, April 26 2025

Jaaji gets married to Dushyanta, the youngest son in a joint family that’s guarding a mystery, in return for a 5-acre property. Right on the day she enters her in-laws’ house, her father-in-law is found dead. Her brother-in-law Mahesha has strange visions about his ex-wife Pushpavati. Over time, Jaaji realises that the house harbours secrets that could destroy her peace. The show largely rests on Kushee Ravi’s steady shoulders. She carries the drama with a convincing performance as a confused daughter-in-law trying to uncover the secrets of a strange and eerie family. It’s clear she has grown as an actor since her Dia days, and it’s heartening to see a new side to her talent. Manasi Sudhir also stands out, bringing strength and a strong screen presence to her role.

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Sat, April 26 2025

There are more than a few kinks that need to be straightened out, but full points to Sundar C for giving Tamil cinema its Vadivelu back.

Sundar C is a rather enigmatic filmmaker who understands the kind of nuanced conversations around cinema on social media, and still makes a film that would invariably be contentious in such a space. In fact, in a recent interview, Sundar C said that his films don’t have a lot of bloodshed, voyeuristic camera angles, double-meaning dialogues, and glamour for the sake of it. But then, Gangers is like an antithesis to his belief system as the film has bloodshed, voyeuristic camera angles, double-meaning dialogues, glamour for the sake of it, and… oodles of humour that salvages the film whenever it dips into unsavoury territories.

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Fri, April 25 2025

With only sporadic laughs, Gangers is a predictable and dull affair as Sundar C and Vadivelu fail to reclaim their old glory.

There’s an explanation for the weird title Gangers when a character wonders isn’t ‘Gangster’ the right term to use. Vadivelu as Singaram goes, “That’s an old term. This is for a change." Thus, the title ends up being the unique thing about Gangers, which is a reiteration of many such comedy dramas of Tamil. It isn’t unusual that Sundar C has stuck to a template yet again with Gangers. But the problem here is that the film has nothing else going for itself other than the template. Scenes cruise through checking all the usual boxes, following all the cliches with complete nonchalance, revealing a half-hearted effort in the writing and direction. The expectations, if any, about the collaboration of the hit duo Sundar C and Vadivelu after years, quickly turn into disappointments as the duo fails to recreate their past glory.

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Fri, April 25 2025

The veteran comedian Vadivelu returns to form in Sundar C’s heist comedy that fails to play to its strengths and suffers from an identity crisis

Two clips from recent promotional interviews went viral for the most ironic reasons. A Telugu producer asserted that there’s no nepotism in their film industry, and closer home, Sundar C, while promoting his movie Gangers, said his films never have double-meaning dialogues or suggestive sequences. Of course, netizens called it out and had a field day on social media. In fact, that is one of a few more concerns that plague Gangers, a rudimentary heist comedy almost rescued by the back-in-form legendary comedian Vadivelu. Veteran filmmaker Sundar C’s films are known for their simple plots, and Gangers is no different. The film is a mishmash of several ideas and templates we have gotten accustomed to — some from the director’s yesteryear hits. When a schoolgirl goes missing, her teacher, Sujitha (Catherine Tresa), takes it up and gets an undercover cop to serve as a teacher. Meanwhile, Saravanan (Sundar C) lands up in town as the new PET teacher for a school where Singaram (Vadivelu) holds the same position and has an eye for Sujitha. Is Saravanan the appointed cop? What’s the correlation between the teachers and the local gangsters masquerading as bigwigs? What are the films these plot points remind you of?…

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Sat, April 26 2025

With the strength of the film seemingly lying in comedy, the detours into emotional zones, and some serious zones are distracting at best, and infuriating at their worst.

The first time you meet Yoshinori Tashiro in Shiva’s latest film, Sumo, he is wearing a mawashi, the outfit worn by Sumo wrestlers. Apparently, he washed up the shores of Chennai, and has the mental makeup of a 1.5-year-old child. And somehow, that means, the wrestler’s only focus is to satiate his tremendous appetite. He finds an immediate connection with Shiva (Shiva) because… well, you need a reason for the movie to move on, and they didn’t find anything else to do. Willing suspension of disbelief, anyone? After this point, we are asked to willingly suspend our disbelief on multiple occasions, and we would have done exactly that if the film didn’t abruptly shift tones in every second scene to thrust a sense of reality in the world of absurdity.

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Sat, April 26 2025

After making three franchise films in a row, Ryan Coogler sinks his teeth into weighty themes with his gloriously vengeful vampire thriller.

When Edgar Wright dropped out of directing the first Ant-Man movie for Marvel, pretty much everybody agreed that it was for the best. He ended up making the wholly original Baby Driver instead. Ditto for Ava DuVernay, who passed on directing Black Panther for the studio. They went with Ryan Coogler, who delivered a true cultural touchstone; Black Panther became the first superhero movie to earn a Best Picture nod at the Oscars and catapulted Coogler into a club normally restricted to white visionaries such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. But it seems like Coogler always knew that the invite was conditional; while his white counterparts could go on to do whatever they wanted next, as a Black filmmaker with one blockbuster under his belt, he’d have to provide further proof of his capacity to comply — a guarantee, if you will, before he could be allowed to make something as audacious as his fifth feature, Sinners.

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Tue, April 22 2025

Coogler compresses centuries' worth of the Black experience into a beautifully pulpy and poignant 137-minute motion picture about one wild night at a barrelhouse, bloodthirsty vampires — and music.

SINNERS stars Michael B Jordan as identical Black twins Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown in 1930s Mississippi. It’s been 7 years, and their loaded backstory — a troubled childhood with a violent father; a World War I stint and plenty of PTSD; a brief return only to have their lives upended by tragedy; an escape to big city Chicago and an entry into the Al Capone gangster universe — bleeds into this film. None of it is shown, but every moment bristles with the unresolved baggage of history. Smoke’s reunion with his estranged wife, and occult ritualist Annie. Stack’s reunion with his white ex-girlfriend Mary. The brothers using their Chicago “blood money” to buy an abandoned sawmill from a former Klansman; their ‘recruitment’ of old friends to turn the sawmill into a rocking juke joint. A fleeting argument where Stack accuses Smoke of letting Annie “again” come between the brothers.

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Sun, April 20 2025

Sat, April 26 2025

Its funny, scary and wholesome

The film begins with a flashback of a small lost bear who goes missing after chasing an orange and falling into a river. But the story begins with Paddington receiving his British passport. To celebrate, he writes a letter to his aunt Lucy about how the city and the Browns have changed since the last time they met. He talks about how the kids have grown up while the parents are hoping to spend more time with each other. Despite the changes and the world growing apart, Paddington still enjoys his life in London. He soon finds out that his aunt has been in bad health from the mother reverend at the home for retired bears. Worried for her, Paddington decides to go to Peri to check on her, and the family agrees to join him. With the new passport and Mr. Brown’s new boss urging him to take risks, the family takes the risk to spend more time together before the kids start their separate lives at college. The trip isn’t as easy as they expected it to be, as after landing in Peru, they find out Aunt Lucy has gone missing.

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Sat, April 26 2025

Star Wars for Adults

Andor returned for season 2 earlier this week with the bleak future for the Rebels and the Empire. The show explores the political implications of the war between the Empire and the Rebels as they struggle to take hold on the galaxy. Instead of the usual good verses evil, the series explores a more deeper look into what went down as we see the personal journey of some Rebels, different versions of Rebels as well as the proceedings of how the Empire began to take control of the senate. The season beings with one end goal in mind, aka the Battle of Yavin. Beginning 4 years before the battle, the show follows the course of actions that lead to the establishment of rebel forces on Yavin and the consequences of Empire’s growing power across the galaxy. While some Senators are seen fighting for the rights of the people, other are seen working with the Empire to save their backs. Meanwhile different wars brew across the galaxy, with rebels taking charge on different planets to fight against the Empire.

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Thu, April 24 2025

It’s not hyperbole to call Andor the best Star Wars series. Since the franchise has shifted to web series, Tony Gilroy’s prequel saga is the richest telling from the galaxy, as it explores themes and arcs that seem far, far away but are more timely than one can imagine. Led by a fantastic ensemble cast, Andor Season 2 is a wonderful return to form for the franchise as the series hurtles towards the events of the feature film Rogue One (2016). Picking up one year later, Bix (Adria Arjona) and Cassian (Diego Luna) have long left Ferrix, but there are new battles to fight. Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) prepares for the wedding of her teenage daughter while dealing with unexpected hitches in her secret fight against the Empire. Dedra (Denise Gough) and Syril (Kyle Soller) meet his mother, while Rogue One’s Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) presents a disturbing plan to a select few. There are several plots bubbling, and each one leads us to the inevitable mission from the film.

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Sat, April 26 2025

Impressive plot and characters

One of the biggest releases in animation has reached the Indian shores. The film is the second installment in its series title Ne Zha. Set in a fantasy world, it follows a spirit core and demon core that have been born into children and have to go on long tendinous journey to discover themselves. The sequel explores their story as they have already been accepted by their surrounding but still have more inner acceptable to go through. Ne Zha 2 begins with both Ne Zha and Ao Bing getting their own bodies from the gifted seven coloured lotus. However, before Ao’s body is able to take full form he is forced to use his powers to defend Chentang Pass from his father’s wrath. Ne Zha promises to bring back an elixir to revive the lotus and make a new body for him. But his demon core would not let him enter the spirit world to win the elixir in a competition. Ne Zha and Ao Bing then decide to share their bodies to win the elixir.

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