Wed, May 28 2025

By hitting all the buzzwords — Cults! Murder! Money! — Netflix's genre-bending new series is able to lure audiences in and smack them on the face with subversion.

The Caravan reported in 2024 that Nita Ambani hired choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant during the inauguration of the NMACC, which was attended by everyone from Zendaya to Gigi Hadid. Merchant, known for choreographing iconic songs such as “Kajra Re,” was reportedly with Mrs Ambani, telling her “how to smile, now to fold hands, say namaste.” This is the sort of detail about how the other half lives that would elicit gasps of disbelief from the likes of you and I. Sirens, the new dark comedy mini-series on Netflix, offers an exaggerated glimpse inside the lives of the one percent. Julianne Moore plays Michaela, the wife of a billionaire, who is joined at the hip with her assistant Simone, played by Milly Alcock.

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Mon, May 26 2025

Based on the 2023 Malayalam film Romancham, Kapkapiii is a horror comedy. Except, the only horror is that it exists, and the comedy is that there is no horror.

Sitting in 2025, a unique problem plagues Hindi cinema: the effort of watching them has trumped the labour of writing about them. While this might imply that the general quality has elevated, thereby making it difficult to unpack films, the opposite is true. The base level of movies has undergone a rapid deterioration of tragic proportions, and although most films in the last four years will reaffirm this proposition, Sangeeth Sivan’s Kapkapiii shines as a leading contender, at least this month. I don’t mean this as a jibe, but referring to Kapkapiii as a film is an overreach. Sure, in a strict sense of moving images, it qualifies, but the frivolity with which it unfolds, the indifference it offers and its absolute resistance to meaning suggest otherwise. Think of it like this: you go to watch a film and all you see is one build-up after another; you take it all in, hoping for a resolution, only for the screen to go blank at the moment of truth. It should have been a frustrating exercise, but even what we see in Kapkapiii makes so little sense that, in retrospect, no exposition could have salvaged it.

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Fri, May 23 2025

'Kapkapiii' is distracted, disconnected and has 142 minutes of vibes

It’s never a good sign when you watch a remake and immediately have to look up the story of the original to understand exactly what you watched. Being in the dark for 142 minutes can go two ways: either it happened or you slept early and had a fever dream. Kapkapiii is somehow a bit of both; the viewer is never sure where their own reality ends and fiction begins. It is disorienting, patched-up, sporadic and incomplete, and not in a good-psychedelic way. Based on the Malayalam horror-comedy Romancham (2023), it tells (but also untells) the tale of six male flatmates sharing a decrepit apartment in which strange things happen after they mess around with a makeshift Ouija board. There are also two young women who live above, a swaggy Muslim don, Kya-Kool-Hai-Hum-meets-Delhi-Belly innuendos that don’t land, a graveyard for rats (!), a weird houseguest, and jumpscares that exist for the heck of it. To be fair, they’re all as confused as we are.

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Sun, May 25 2025

Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind can be described as a heist-gone-wrong, but it is not as interested in the act of stealing itself, as it is in the robber.

Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind is masterly in the way it creates characters with their rhythms and impulses, building on them with one surprise after another, till you have no idea where things are headed — there is only a tiny instance in which the director telegraphs a punch, but that is so fleeting that you barely have time to notice it, and it’s gone. The Competition section began with Mascha Schilinski’s The Sound Of Falling, a beguiling intergenerational saga of female despair and desire. It has ended with The Mastermind, a bumbling caper cum character-study which has the director’s distinctive interplay between drollery and sharp observational skills. It has climbed to the top of a slate crowded with solid films, including Joachim Trier’s moving family drama Sentimental Value, all contenders for the Palme d’Or.

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Sat, May 24 2025

विलियम शेक्सपियर की ‘रोमियो जूलियट’, ‘मैकबेथ’, ‘हेमलेट’ और ‘ओथैलो’ जैसे नाटकों पर दुनियाभर में फिल्में बनी हैं, लेकिन राइटर-डायरेक्टर राहुल डा कुन्हा अपने ही चर्चित नाटक ‘पुणे हाईवे’ को बड़े पर्दे पर लेकर आए हैं। बग्स भार्गव कृष्णा के साथ मिलकर लिखी और डायरेक्ट की यह फिल्म अतीत के घाव और मौजूदा समय में हुए एक अपराध के बीच दोस्ती की गहराई परखती है। हालांकि, कमजोर स्क्रीनप्ले के कारण यह मर्डर मिस्ट्री कुछ खास प्रभाव नहीं छोड़ पाती। कहानी चार दोस्तों खांडू उर्फ प्रमोद खंडेलवाल (अमित साध), विष्णु (जिम सर्भ), निक्की (अनुवाब पाल), खांडू की बहन नताशा (मंजरी फडनिस) और बाबू (हिमांशु बालपांडे) की है। चारों बचपन के दोस्त हैं। ये सभी साथ बड़े हुए हैं, इसलिए इनका रिश्ता बहुत मजबूत है। फिर भी जब बाबू पर जानलेवा हमला होता है, तो बाकी तीनों दोस्त चुपचाप बस देखते रहते हैं, क्योंकि वह हमला ताकतवर नेता मानसेकर (शिशिर शर्मा) ने करवाया होता है। यही नहीं, खांडू खुद मानसेकर के लिए ही काम करता है। इस वजह से विष्णु और खांडू में नैतिकता को लेकर बहस भी होती है, मगर उनकी दोस्ती बरकरार रहती है। यह दोस्ती तब भी नहीं टूटती, जब विष्णु की वजह से खांडू की बहन नताशा का दिल टूट जाता है। मगर तभी मानसेकर की बेटी मोना (केतकी नारायण) का मर्डर इन चारों की जिंदगी में उथल पुथल मचा देता है। मोना के मर्डर से इनका क्या कनेक्शन होता है? किसने किया है मर्डर? यह जानने के लिए फिल्म देखनी होगी।

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Sat, May 24 2025

Radhi resigns from her job, seeking solace at home, while Reena, promoted as a senior resident, clashes with Arjun, now a CEO. A new batch of interns arrives as Teju, working in a modest clinic, refuses to forgive Naveen. Madan contemplates suicide amidst mounting financial woes. The new in-charge, Preetham, assigns Reena a high-profile case with ulterior motives. Anumol is the glue that keeps the soul of the show intact, using her strong screen presence and maturity in handling even clichéd situations with ease. Deepa Balu has a vibrant persona, so does Yogalakshmi. Charukesh, Amit Bhargav, Sharmila Thapa, Padine Kumar, Sarvhaa, RG Ram and other actors in the hospital gang hold the fort with natural, spontaneous performances.

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Sat, May 24 2025

After wishing death upon Mehek via the Knock Knock app, Tanya is blackmailed by the Knock Knock Killer. She allies with Adheer, and they investigate the mysterious attacks, leading to shocking revelations about her friends and Adheer’s past. The killer is eventually unmasked at a party, and their motivations are revealed as Tanya learns the true extent of the dangerous game she entered. Aadhya Anand is easily the pick of the lot; she genuinely infuses life into her dialogue delivery and expressions, unlike most of her co-stars. Arjun Deswal possesses the ‘hunk’ looks, though his character is notably underdeveloped. Kush Jotwani’s role sparks intrigue occasionally, yet his performance largely lacks significant impact.

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Sat, May 24 2025

Guy Ritchie's new film, modelled after the Indiana Jones and National Treasure movies, is an unevenly paced and unenthusiastically acted letdown.

After he directed Aladdin — the anonymous 2019 remake that you’d forgotten made over $1 billion at the box office — Guy Ritchie became extremely prolific almost overnight. He made another movie that same year. But more importantly, Aladdin marked a major stylistic evolution for the famously flashy filmmaker: he got really into clothes. Nowadays, you find yourself admiring the tailoring in his films more than the films themselves. There is little, for instance, to like about Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. But, boy, was Cary Elwes dressed smartly. Unfortunately, the costumes in Ritchie’s recent films are inversely proportional to their quality. The worse the movie, the better the clothes. The clothes in his latest, Fountain of Youth, are excellent.

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Fri, May 23 2025

The action filmmaker Guy Ritchie is at it again as the adventure film reunites two estranged siblings on a quest of a lifetime.

After Inheritance, the adventure film Fountain of Youth is the second streaming film of the week to take viewers around the world. From London to Giza, the feature goes on a whirlwind ride to solve an impossible quest. The answer is in the title itself, the Fountain of Youth. The promise of eternal life is too much to resist for many, as John Krasinski’s Luke recruits his younger sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) to help him. Their adventure is thrilling, engaging, and surprisingly well done for a streaming film. The Purdue siblings are poles apart. Luke (Krasinski) follows his father’s teachings and is now an art thief. Charlotte (Portman) has become an art curator but is missing the joy in her life. Her son Thomas (Benjamin Chivers) believes she begins to gain some adventure with the return of her brother. Together, they work on finding the elusive Fountain of Youth with the backing of an Irish billionaire, Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson). But they have all sorts of people on their trail, including Interpol, trying to stop them. Will they succeed?

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Sat, May 24 2025

In its efforts to present a level-headed and well-rounded account of the story, the upsetting Netflix true crime series leaves out several crucial aspects of the case that inspired it.

In this era of exploitative true crime television, Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story stands out as being unusually restrained. But this depends entirely on your ability to resist googling the sordid scandal that inspired it. The show will work only for those who aren’t familiar with the case; anybody who remembers reading about it in the papers will probably wonder what made the filmmakers omit crucial details. Nevertheless, Fred and Rose West is an unusually well-made piece of true crime TV; it circles the case, but doesn’t circumvent it. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the series was produced by the streamer’s UK arm, which has historically been superior to the American (and certainly, the Indian) wings. Fred and Rose West is perhaps the most disturbing documentary of its kind that the streamer has released since 2019’s Tell Me Who I Am, another British production.

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Fri, May 23 2025

Even regular watchers of true crime like me will find it extremely harrowing to sit through Fred and Rose West, whose logline of ‘A British Horror Story’ doesn’t even come close to describing what a turbulent ride this newest offering from Netflix is. For those familiar with the gruesome details of the case, the three-part documentary will function as an uncomfortable throwback. For those like me who didn’t know about it at all, Fred and Rose West is yet another (and, by far, most shocking) eye-opener of the depravity that humankind is capable of.

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Sat, May 24 2025

A slow-burn thriller that addresses class-disparity, toxic masculinity, and the exploitation of cheap labour, Secrets We Keep takes a rather familiar premise and transforms it into something entirely more complex.

Rules don’t apply to the rich in Secrets We Keep, the addictive new Nordic-noir series on Netflix. The six-episode thriller unfolds through the perspective of Cecilie, a young mother who lives along with her lawyer husband and their two children in a spectacular lakeside villa in Denmark. Her seemingly idyllic existence is upset by the disappearance of her neighbour Katarina’s au pair, a Filipino immigrant named Ruby. Only a day ago, Ruby had approached Cecelie in confidence, and had asked for her help in being extracted from Katarina’s home. Something was very wrong, Ruby said. Cecelie awkwardly avoided any trouble, and advised Ruby to raise any concerns that she might have with her employers. Little did she know that Ruby would go missing under mysterious circumstances mere hours later.

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Wed, May 21 2025

The conversation around Adolescence, the globally-acclaimed show that pierces the zeitgeist to succinctly outline the corrosive impact of online misogyny on the impressionably young minds of teenage boys and the growing threat of the ‘manosphere’, continues to grow. Taking it further is Secrets We Keep, a Danish series that falls on the fringes between social commentary, edgy thriller and a somewhat consistently entertaining binge-worthy watch.

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Wed, May 21 2025

Fri, May 23 2025

Kesari Veer: Legend of Somnath isn’t shy about what it wants to be. It’s a full-throated, slow-motion-laden ode to sacrifice set against the backdrop of 14th-century Gujarat. The film reconstructs the tale of Hamirji Gohil — likely a historical figure about whom not much is known beyond legends and folktales. But once the dust settles (and the background score finally fades), what does the ending actually mean? This is your Kesari Veer movie story and ending explained, and also learn about the cast of the movie, trailer, and more. The Kesari Veer movie is something of a historical epic account with an eye on a cultural assertion. It is stylised to a pitch of crescendo. It occasionally can stray beyond historical consensus — that, I would say, has never really been unusual in Bollywood. I mean, Chhaava was pretty recent and had its hero chucking a shield at the enemy like Captain America. At the heart of the Kesari Veer story is a man standing in the path of an invading army and an important Lord Shiva temple (Somnath).

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Fri, May 23 2025

A mean-spirited vibe parading as a historical drama.

I suspect this is going to be a short review. Not just because Kesari Veer is unwatchable in so many different ways that one is spoiled for choice. But also because I’m tired of writing the same thing about multiple Hindi period dramas — if one can call them that — over the last few years. As a critic, I’ve gotten to a point where I robotically tick off a mental checklist. Provocative? Of course. Islamophobic? Certainly. Hate-mongering? Obviously. Misinformation parading as creative license? Sure. Kesari Veer is a 162-minute inspired-by-true-events slog about a Rajput warrior who tries to defend the Somnath temple against the Tughlaq Empire in the 14th century, but it’s also another 21st-century excuse to demonise Muslims in a communally sensitive country through the elastic medium of history. In another era, it would’ve been banned. All of this goes without saying. It’s the starting point. Tell me something new.

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Fri, May 23 2025

The Moghuls are bad, they wear black. The Hindus are brave, they’re covered in saffron. The screen is red – with blood. “I wanted it to be green,” sneers Zafar (Vivek Anand Oberoi) who wears kohl in his eyes, eyes the throne in Delhi, dreams of being called Sultan and targets Somnath Mandir where the faith of the kaafir resides. Weaned on unwavering belief in ‘Har Har Mahadev’, Hamirji Gohil (Sooraj Pancholi) is courageous and chivalrous. It wins him the admiration of tigress Rajal (Akanksha Sharma) and her father Raja Vegdaji Bhil (Suniel Shetty), a devout Shiv bhakt. Together, Hamirji and the Bhils will guard Somnath against the wicked Zafar Khan. The battlelines between noble believer and cruel plunderer are so clearly drawn that Kanu Chauhan’s story and screenplay begins and ends there.

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Fri, May 23 2025

Director Arumugakumar's 'Ace', starring Vijay Sethupathi, Rukmini Vasanth and BS Avinash, is a heist drama that relies heavily on one character. The film's convenient writing is its biggest letdown.

Vijay Sethupathi and director Arumugakumar’s debut collaboration ‘Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren’ polarised audiences completely - viewers either loved its zany approach or absolutely despised it. There’s no middle ground. When the duo reunited for ‘Ace’, expectations were quite so-so. The question remained: Could they craft a film with universal appeal this time around? Let’s find out! Bold Kannan (Vijay Sethupathi) is an enigmatic figure desperate to shed his criminal past and start a new life. His only link to his former life is his last phone call to imprisoned associates. Relocating to Malaysia, he befriends Arivu (Yogi Babu), a rag picker who masquerades as a businessman to impress Kalpana (Divya Pillai), a hotel owner.

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Fri, May 23 2025

The jokes don’t matter after a point, the motivations of most characters are too silly to be taken seriously, and even the usually dependable Vijay Sethupathi comes across as too casual to care

Ace is a film one could call “ironically nostalgic”. It’s neither intentionally aspiring to appeal to one’s nostalgia by trying to recreate a beloved time period, nor is it a film that’s set in the 80s or 90s. Ace is set very much in 2025, and it’s a film that wants to be the sort of cool movie from back when Orkut was considered fashionable. This isn’t just because it borrows elements from decade-defining films such as the Oceans series or gangster comedies like Snatch (2000) or Swordfish (2001). It also feels like a movie that’s stuck in that same period without realising that a film needs to do a lot more to be considered funny today. For one, the makers of Ace feel they’ve done enough just by creating a bunch of wacky characters to get us to look past scene after scene of impossibly convoluted sequences. It is partly a bank heist comedy that shuffles between a long-winded chase movie and a melodramatic love story between a hero who has nothing to lose, and a girl confined to her complex circumstances. Tying up the many disconnected strands of the film is Yogi Babu’s Arivu, a character so loud and underwritten that he simply shouts a joke or two in his attempt to save a dry scene.

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Fri, May 23 2025

Yogi Babu’s relentless one-liners, a poker-faced Vijay Sethupathi, an earnest Divya, and an assured Rukmini carefully take us through Ace

In Ace, multiple things keep happening at the same time. There is so much chaos, and a lot more convenience. But it is that kind of film where we know everything will fall in place, simply because what’s the point otherwise? When we watch Ocean’s Eleven, we want the protagonists to steal and escape. Or closer home, when we watch Sadhuranga Vettai, we want the heist to be successful because it is cathartic to see a well-laid plan come into fruition despite all odds. Just like every Indian heist film, there is a larger reason for the protagonists to indulge in this crime, but writer-director Arumugakumar doesn’t aim for the stars in Ace. His reason is simple, his heist is simpler, and the execution is simplest. Then what holds the film together? The chaos.

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Fri, May 23 2025

This live-action remake of the timeless 2002 Disney feature-length cartoon is not Pixar-heavy or allegorical; it's just a simple fairytale about misfits uniting to belong in an America on the margins.

I have my reservations about live-action hybrid remakes of animated Disney classics. I just don’t see the point. The original invariably does a better job of charming newer generations of kids and adults (on smaller screens). The odd tech and VFX updates aside, there’s no real add-on; it’s like watching the capitalisation and credit of cultural interest into a bank account that refuses to invest in the current market. Remaking beats a re-release, sure, but it’s a mighty expensive way of telling the same story twice. The commercialism is grating, especially when the film in question is a cutesy childhood fable about the wonders of being young. But the most pressing question surrounding this remake/adaptation cycle is: Have we run out of imagination? Is there no will to create something new?

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Fri, May 23 2025

In a world that’s brimming with intolerance, isolation, war and loss, Lilo & Stitch feels like a soothing balm.

After the untimely death of her parents, little Lilo (Maia Kealoha), wanders around a Hawaiian island wreaking havoc. Unable to process loneliness and grief, she gets along with fishes and frogs, but makes the life of her elder sister Nani miserable. Looked upon as a misfit by girls her age, Lilo’s wishes of finding a true friend are answered when an equally troublesome alien Stitch, (voiced by Chris Sanders) bumps into her. It’s interesting when characters aren’t likeable per se and yet you weep for them. Both the lead characters (Lilo and Stitch) are destructive and don’t regret the bad behaviour one bit. It is people around them who must get used to it and find their way around these two. While the film revolves around the little girl and her alien pet, it is Lilo’s relationship with her sister Nani (Sydney Agudong) that lies at the heart of the story.

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