Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1
Action, Thriller (Kannada)
Exploring the origins of Kaadubettu Shiva during the Kadamba dynasty era, it delves into the untamed wilderness and forgotten lore surrounding his past. (more…)
Search: The Naina Murder Case
Crime, Mystery (Hindi)
A veteran cop gets mired in a high-profile murder case when a girl is found dead in a politician's car. With multiple suspects, how will she unmask the killer? (more…)
The Game You Never Play Alone
Crime, Mystery (Tamil)
A career-driven game developer fights back against misogynistic expectations after she becomes the target of brutal attacks online and in real life. (more…)
Guild Reviews by Film
Search: The Naina Murder Case
Crime, Mystery (Hindi)
A veteran cop gets mired in a high-profile murder case when a girl is found dead in a politician's car. With multiple suspects, how will she unmask the killer?
Cast:
Konkona Sen Sharma, Surya Sharma, Shiv Panditt, Dhruv Sehgal, Shraddha Das, Chaandsi, Sagar Deshmukh, Iravati Harshe
Sat, October 11 2025
Director Rohan Sippy proves his mettle in transposing the original material to an Indian setting
It’s just another whodunit on the face of it, but packs pertinent points as it unfolds. The title itself is a giveaway. The very first scene shows flashes of a brutal killing. Here onwards, we come to the heart of the series: Konkona Sen Sharma. She is ACP (Crime Branch) Sanyukta Das, who is about to leave Mumbai to join her husband (a credible special appearance by Mukul Chadda) in Ahmedabad.
Sat, October 11 2025
‘क्रिमिनल जस्टिस’, ‘मिथ्या’, ‘दुरंगा’, क्या आप जानते हैं कि रोहन सिप्पी के डायरेक्शन में बनीं इन सभी वेब सीरीज में एक कॉमन बात क्या है? ये सब किसी न किसी चर्चित वेब सीरीज का अडैप्टेशन हैं। अब इसी सिलसिले को आगे बढ़ाते हुए वह अपनी नई क्राइम थ्रिलर सीरीज ‘सर्च: द नैना मर्डर केस’ लेकर आए हैं। यह साल 2007 में आए मशहूर डैनिश शो ‘द किलिंग’ का इंडियन रीमेक है। यह सीरीज एक लड़की नैना के रेप और मर्डर की गुत्थी सुलझाने पर आधारित है।
Sat, October 11 2025
Homebound
Drama (Hindi)
Two childhood friends from a small North Indian village chase a police job that promises them the dignity they’ve long been denied. But as they inch closer to their dream, mounting desperation threatens the bond that holds them together.
Cast:
Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa, Janhvi Kapoor
Director:
Neeraj Ghaywan
Sat, October 11 2025
Homebound, Neeraj Ghaywan’s second feature film in a decade, is well worth the wait. Already selected as India’s official entry for the 2026 Oscars, Homebound is just as moving as Ghaywan’s widely admired debut film, Masaan. We discuss its poetic storytelling, deeply empathetic eye, and the fabulous central performances of Vishal Jethwa and Ishaan Khatter. We also talk about its daring, humanist approach to spotlighting minority communities, and how a tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic affected them. Later in the episode, we discuss the film’s chances at the Oscars.
Mon, September 29 2025
Homebound is a story of two best friends from the less fortunate backgrounds and what all they go through because of their identities. Mohammed Shoaib Ali (Ishaan Khatter) and Chandan Kumar (Vishal Jethwa) hail from a small town in India. The families of both lead a life of poverty. But that’s not all. Shoaib and Chandan also regularly face discrimination on the basis of their religion and caste respectively.
Sun, September 28 2025
The marginalised have never had it easy—but in our own fractured land, their journey is not just arduous, it is often soul-scarring, as Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound reveals.
Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and written with Varun Grover, Shreedhar Dubey, and Sumit Roy, is a poignant exploration of caste, faith, friendship, and survival in contemporary India. The marginalised have never had it easy—but in our own fractured land, their journey is not just arduous, it is often soul-scarring, as Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound reveals. Arnab Banerjee’s review of the film. With unforgettable performances, sharp social commentary, and emotional depth, Homebound stands as an unflinching cinematic mirror to caste oppression, religious prejudice, and human dignity in India today.
Hallow Road
Thriller, Mystery, Horror (English)
Two parents enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident.
Cast:
Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell, Tadhg Murphy, Stephen Jones, Paul Tylak
Director:
Babak Anvari
Writer:
William Gillies
Thu, October 9 2025
Every parent’s worst nightmare comes scarily alive in Hallow Road, a smartly mounted and slickly directed thriller that is packed as much with chills as it is laden with metaphor. Hallow Road is directed by British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari, who has earned his stripes in the horror genre with a few memorable titles, including the 2019 film Wounds, starring Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson and Zazie Beetz. In his latest turn, he takes his craft a notch higher with a single vehicle-two people story that takes place within the course of a few hours one night.
Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1
Action, Thriller (Kannada)
Exploring the origins of Kaadubettu Shiva during the Kadamba dynasty era, it delves into the untamed wilderness and forgotten lore surrounding his past.
Cast:
Rishab Shetty, Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram, Rakesh Poojari, Gulshan Devaiah, Pramod Shetty, Prakash Thuminad
Director:
Rishab Shetty
Writer:
Rishab Shetty, Anirudh Mahesh, Shanil Gowtham
Tue, October 7 2025
The second instalment of Rishab Shetty's blockbuster franchise aspires to do too much more but fails to match the authenticity of his 2022 opus.
Filmmaker-actor Rishab Shetty had set himself a lofty task after the unprecedented blockbuster success of Kantara (2022), particularly in its Hindi-dubbed version. Much like Prashanth Neel (KGF, 2018-22) and Sukumar (Pushpa, 2021-24), Shetty, too, expanded the universe of his pan-India franchise. Only instead of going forward, he chose to go back in time to establish the origins.
Tue, October 7 2025
तीन साल पहले कन्नड़ से हिन्दी में डब होकर आई थी ‘कांतारा’। एक लोक-कथा के मिश्रण में मूल निवासियों के जंगल पर अधिकार के संघर्ष, अमीर-गरीब और ऊंची-नीची जाति के भेदभाव और दैवीय न्याय को दिखाती वह फिल्म सीक्वेल की संभावना के साथ खत्म हुई थी। लेकिन जब इसके निर्देशक-अभिनेता ऋषभ शैट्टी ने ऐलान किया कि वह उसका सीक्वेल नहीं बल्कि प्रीक्वेल लाएंगे तो उत्सुकता और बढ़ गई थी। अब आई ‘कांतारा-चैप्टर 1’ उस बढ़ी हुई उत्सुकता को पूरी तरह से शांत करती है।
Mon, October 6 2025
Kantara: Chapter 1 ends in a divine showdown. It offers nexpected twists to hints of larger battles ahead, the finale sets the stage for an even bigger story to unfold.
There are films that end with closure, films that end with questions. And then there’s Kantara: Chapter 1, which ends with a divine tiger, a scheming princess, a possessed king, and Rishab Shetty turning into a ball of fire before shapeshifting into a goddess’s wrath. Yes, subtlety packed its bags early in this movie. And chances are you walked out of the theatre blinking and muttering, “Wait, what just happened?”
Sharp Corner
Thriller, Comedy (English)
A dedicated family man becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house – an obsession that could cost him everything.
Cast:
Ben Foster, Cobie Smulders, William Kosovic, Gavin Drea, Emily Jewer, Susan Leblanc-Crawford, Sebastien Labelle, Rudy Harris, Isabelle MacNeil, Eugene Sampang
Director:
Jason Buxton
Writer:
Jason Buxton
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
Animation, Action, Fantasy (Japanese)
In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.
Cast:
Kikunosuke Toya, Reina Ueda, Shiori Izawa, Tomori Kusunoki, Shogo Sakata, Fairouz Ai, Karin Takahashi, Natsuki Hanae, Yuuya Uchida, Maaya Uchida
Director:
Tatsuya Yoshihara
Sun, October 5 2025
हॉलीवुड और साउथ की फिल्मों के बाद अब एक नए किस्म का सिनेमा बॉलीवुड को टक्कर देने सिनेमाघरों में दस्तक दे चुका है। यह नया फॉर्मेट है, जापान की धरती से पूरी दुनिया के Gen Z दर्शकों को अपने मोहपाश में बांधने वाला एनिमे। हाल ही आई एनिमे फिल्म ‘डेमन स्लेयर: इन्फिनिटी कैसल’ के बॉक्स ऑफिस पर धमाल मचाने के बाद अब इस शुक्रवार, एक नई एनिमे फिल्म ‘चेनसॉ मैन- द मूवी: रेज़े आर्क’ थिएटर में पहुंच चुकी है।
The Game You Never Play Alone
Crime, Mystery (Tamil)
A career-driven game developer fights back against misogynistic expectations after she becomes the target of brutal attacks online and in real life.
Cast:
Shraddha Srinath, Santhosh Prathap, Viviya Santh, Syama Harini, Hema
Sat, October 4 2025
Shraddha Srinath and Santosh Prathap anchor a pulpy thriller about gamers and scammers
Cliffhangers are the hot sauce of series storytelling. They’re meant to make us drool, lean forward, smack our lips in anticipation. They are old spice, essential for closing out seasons but also necessary as episode-to-episode hooks. They fulfil an ajinomoto-like role in the cooking of compelling shows, and even the most prestigious chefs will cop to their use. The American television critic Emily Nussbaum is dead-on when she writes, “…cliffhangers are fake-outs. They reveal that a story is artificial, then dare you to keep believing.”
Fri, October 3 2025
The Game wants to comment on the internet, cybercrime, privacy laws, misogyny and sexism, but really knows nothing about any of them. Shoddy filmmaking and performances only make it worse.
THE GAME: YOU NEVER PLAY ALONE is ominous not only in its title but also in its inaugural stature as Netflix India’s first Tamil original of the year. So far, Netflix has mostly dabbled in anthologies in Tamil; web series are a rarity. The world of web series is slow to take off in South India owing to factors like budget constraints, the scepticism about streaming within the film industries, and operational reasons from writing to production. It’s still at a nascent stage, even as OTT platforms introduce new series in several south Indian languages, and streaming itself is undergoing a churn in how it is viewed and operated. At this time comes The Game, a Tamil series starring Shraddha Srinath and Santhosh Prathap, written by Deepthi Govindarajan and directed by Rajesh M Selva. It takes long form’s trusted entry-level genre — thriller — and encapsulates it within a game developer’s world where digital objects become as much of a minefield as real life.
Fri, October 3 2025
Steve
Drama, Comedy (English)
Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.
Cast:
Cillian Murphy, Tracey Ullman, Jay Lycurgo, Little Simz, Douggie McMeekin, Youssef Kerkour, Roger Allam, Emily Watson, Archie Fisher, Araloyin Oshunremi
Director:
Tim Mielants
Sat, October 4 2025
It’s an all-time performance by Murphy, who somehow stages Steve as both victim and survivor in a setting that democratises the nature of suffering.
STEVE opens with a 48-year-old man (Cillian Murphy) on his way to work. He’s full of nervous energy. The way he’s psyching himself up, you’d think he’s going to war. It’s going to be a long and complicated day. He knows it, not because the film revolves around this day, but because it’s just another day. The moment Steve reaches work, the war begins. As the headteacher of a school of reform for troubled boys, he is pulled into the quotidian mayhem of his ‘job’. The students of Stanton Wood are already at it: Jamie and Riley are fighting like animals again, Tarone is provoking everyone, Shy is brooding and simmering after a heartbreaking phone call with his mother. It’s 1996, and the heavy-metal emotions of youth clash with the hard-rock resilience of adulthood. Steve tries to calm them down, assuage them, warn them, banter with them; he’s everywhere and nowhere.
Cast:
Dhanush, Rajkiran, Arun Vijay, Nithya Menen, Sathyaraj, Shalini Pandey, Vadivukarasi, Samuthirakani, Ilavarasu, R. Parthiban
Director:
Dhanush
Writer:
Dhanush
Sat, October 4 2025
Sat, October 4 2025
Fri, October 3 2025
Dhanush’s 'Idli Kadai' swings between brilliance and banality, offering both tender, timeless moments and frustratingly overcooked clichés
It doesn’t take Dhanush more than five minutes to both frustrate and fascinate you with his filmmaking. In one scene, we see Murugan (Dhanush) on a video call with his fiancée Meera (Shalini Pandey) after returning to his village. Murugan is in Tamil Nadu and she’s in Bangkok; he is poor, and she is rich. But instead of using a line or a frame to underline this disparity, director Dhanush stages Meera outside her mansion, seated on the bonnet of a white Rolls Royce. The next time we see her, she FaceTimes Murugan with a champagne flute in hand, strutting around the deck of her yacht. And in a silly line, her wealthy father Vishnu Vardhan (Sathyaraj) explains to his spoiled son: “We millionaires don’t get to where we are in life just because of hard work and talent.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Drama, Crime (English)
The shocking true-life tale of Ed Gein, the infamous murderer and grave robber who inspired many of Hollywood's most iconic on-screen killers.
Cast:
Charlie Hunnam, Olivia Williams, Laurie Metcalf, Tom Hollander, Suzanna Son, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville, Joey Pollari, Charlie Hall, Tyler Jacob Moore
Fri, October 3 2025
Produced by Ryan Murphy, the third season of Monster is more interested in his legacy than his crimes.
“Only a mother could love you,” scolds Ed Gein’s mother Augusta (Laurie Metcalf). Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology returns for a third time on Netflix with the story of serial killer and grave robber Ed Gein, who the series would have you believe is the godfather to the rest of the murderers that followed. Charlie Hunnam plays the title role and really sinks into it. However, the screenplay by Ian Brennan is overly indulgent dragging the story over eight episodes and moving it from tangent to tangent.
I Poppy
Documentary (Hindi)
The divergent paths of poppy farmer Vardibai and her activist son Mangilal intertwine in this powerful documentary about a Dalit family’s resistance against systemic oppression.
Director:
Vivek Chaudhary
Writer:
Vivek Chaudhary
Fri, October 3 2025
Vivek Choudhary’s powerful 75-minute documentary took the Best International Feature at 2025 Hot Docs and won the Busan Cinephile Award
I, Poppy follows an old poppy farmer and her troubles with a ‘wayward’ adult son. Like several others in her Rajasthani village, Vardibai Meghwal owns a patch of land and a poppy-farming license. She is a grassroots supplier of opium, the precious Black Gold that contains morphine used in both medicinal and illegal drugs. The trade is far from profitable, but she perseveres; she cannot afford to worry about moral implications. Her grandsons help her toil in the field. But Vardibai considers her son, Mangilal, a liability for not entering the family business, slacking on his teaching job and barely contributing to household expenses. The situation is dire. Mangilal is an addict who, according to his mother, needs to be cured and controlled and rehabilitated. He is amused by her taunts; he’s never at home, always distracted by hallucinations of an alternate reality.
13th
Drama (Hindi)
13th tells the story of Ritesh, a successful venture capitalist who reunites with his maverick IIT-JEE mentor, Mohit Tyagi Sir, to help scale his visionary educational institute. The series unfolds against the backdrop of India's most gruelling academic competition and a startup culture fixated on valuations. At its heart, 13th is a deeply nostalgic, human story of a master and his pupil-bound by ambition, respect, and the lessons that shape a lifetime.
Cast:
Gagan Dev Riar, Paresh Pahuja, Girija Oak, Pradnya Motghare, Abhishek Ranjan, Jai Kishan
Director:
Nishil Sheth
Writer:
Sameer Mishra
Thu, October 2 2025
गुरु गोविंद दोऊ खड़े काके लागू पाय, बलिहारि गुरु आपनो गोविंद दियो बताय… एक बच्चे के जीवन में गुरु का क्या स्थान होता है, यह संत कबीर दास ने इस दोहे में बखूबी बता दिया था। वाकई एक सच्चा गुरु अपने शिष्य के जीवन की दिशा बदल सकता है। एक ऐसी ही गुरु-शिष्य की जोड़ी की कहानी पर बनी है, ‘13वीं: सम लेसन्स आर नॉट टॉट इन क्लासरूम्स’वेब सीरीज। जैसा कि शीर्षक से ही साफ है कि सारे सबक क्लासरूम में नहीं सिखाए जाते, यह सीरीज इंसान को डर, असुरक्षा, ईष्या, घमंड जैसी उन कमियों से निपटना सिखाती है जो किसी किताब से नहीं सीखा जा सकता।
Thu, October 2 2025
The TVF-coded drama about a former student and his mentor launching an ed-tech startup has the personality of an algorithm
Inspired by the real-life journey of educator Mohit Tyagi and his platform Competishun, 13th is a five-episode drama about a venture capitalist who quits his job to help his former mentor build an ed-tech startup. It is composed of two timelines around a decade apart: the struggle of cocky IIT-JEE aspirant Ritesh (Paresh Pahuja) under the tutelage of crowd-favourite MT Sir (Gagandev Riar) is intercut with the struggle of corporate star Ritesh teaming up with a vintage MT Sir to turn this vision into a unicorn. The protege and teacher trade roles across phases; Ritesh chooses to ‘invest’ in Mohit the way he once invested in him. The ominous-sounding title refers to the term used for students who take a drop year after their 12th to prepare for the JEE entrance exam — like Ritesh does in Kota in 2005, but also like he figuratively does after getting disillusioned with startup culture years later.