Guild Reviews
On Call
Animation (English)
A bear hunter tells Porky the tale of a hunt 30 years ago: a bear got a taste of his chewing tobacco and chased him down to get it; the hunter took the bear on with his bare hands rather than lose the tobacco. Or at least, that's the way he told the story.
Cast:
Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce
Director:
Robert Clampett
Dick Wolf's Streaming Police Drama Starts Strong But Fights To Maintain Pace
Thu, January 9 2025
After Law & Order, NCIS, and Chicago TV universes, veteran producer Dick Wolf makes his first streaming show with On Call. The new series is situated in Long Beach, California, where a seasoned police officer trains a newbie after one of her former trainees is murdered on the job. Starring Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente in the leads, Amazon Prime Video’s On Call flies right out of the gate but circles around the same few issues over and over again. Troian Bellisario is by-the-books officer Traci Harmon, who never fired a weapon in 12 years. Meanwhile, Alex Diaz is an overeager rookie who wants to do it again. Following the death of officer Delgado (Monica Raymund) for a routine traffic stop, the Long Beach police force is on the hunt for a cop killer. However, it is Harmon who takes the search to heart while maintaining the on-the-job lessons for the new guy on the beat.
Missing You
Drama, Crime, Mystery (English)
When Detective Kat Donovan matches on a dating app with the fiancé who disappeared years before, she learns that some secrets are best left in the past.
Cast:
Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Kate Plummer, Richard Armitage, Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton, Lisa Faulkner, Mary Malone, Brigid Zengeni, Catherine Ayers, Charlie Hamblett
Something’s missing here
Mon, January 6 2025
Her father died nearly 11 years ago. About the same time, her fiance disappeared from her life and it seems from the face of the earth. And she is no ordinary woman but the dogged Detective Inspector Kat Donovan. Could the plot get thicker? Yes it does, often too thick. Indeed, the story unfolds with much intrigue if not cutting-edge tension. Kat, played by Rosalind Eleazar, is in charge of tracing missing persons. Why she has not cared to find out where her boyfriend vanished is as baffling as his sudden popping up on a dating site. Instead, she seeks the help of her friend, private investigator Stacey Embalo (Jessica Plummer), to track him down, actually do half her jobs, including finding her way into a prison hospital. Stacey’s job otherwise is to nail cheating husbands and wives. Amidst fishing in the woes of failing marriages, she plays agony aunt to Kat and directs her to a dating app.
Harlan Coben Mystery Thriller Series Is Too Muddled To Make An Impact
Wed, January 1 2025
Since 2018, Netflix has been adapting author Harlan Coben’s catalog in the form of limited series. These have been gaining popularity over the years, and last year’s Fool Me Once with Michelle Keegan broke several records. The newest release, Missing You, revolves around a missing persons detective, Kat Donovan, and a myriad of secrets around her past. Over five episodes, these secrets emerge one by one. Detective Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar), who is already investigating a series of missing people, connects with her former fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) on a dating app. Josh ghosted her 11 years ago and is apparently living under a new name. Strangely, there is a connection to the missing woman she is currently investigating. Meanwhile, there is also the matter of Kat’s dad, a police officer who is murdered by a hitman. Eventually, Kat has to figure out what in her past and present is real and what is being kept from her.
Cast:
Aparna Sen, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shabana Azmi, Anjan Dutt, Rituparna Sengupta, Rahul Bose, Goutam Ghose, Sohag Sen, Kaushik Sen, Kalyan Roy
Director:
Suman Ghosh
Overdue Documentary Should Be Essential Viewing
Sat, January 4 2025
Aparna Sen, movie star, ace filmmaker, successful magazine editor and active civil society leader, has had an incredibly eventful and diverse career. A documentary chronicling her life and times was long overdue. But that certainly isn’t the only reason why Suman Ghosh’s Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen, should be essential viewing. Straddling a wide gamut - from the personal and professional to the political and public - and employing a wide range of interviews and reminiscences of notable contemporaries, Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen throws light on an accomplished filmmaker, her significant body of work and the complexities of the times that she lives and works in. Suman Ghosh, who cast Aparna Sen alongside Soumitra Chatterjee in Basu Poribar (2018), has produced a deft 81-minute cinematic document that encapsulates the varied facets of one of India’s foremost filmmakers. The female gaze and the primacy of films that put women at their centre are inevitably mentioned, but Ghosh, taking a cue from the subject’s stand on the matter, does not unduly foreground Sen’s gender.
A lively portrait of an artiste
Sat, January 4 2025
Parama : A Journey With Aparna Sen is a lively portrait of an artiste, with conversations that the director conducts with his subject, and her subjects. It begins, aptly, with a sequence from Sen’s first directorial, ‘36, Chowringhee Lane’, a 1981 film that brings alive a slice of Calcutta long since vanished. Violet Stoneham, played unforgettably by Jennifer Kendal, is an Anglo-Indian-school teacher-spinster who lives alone. An accidental meeting with a former student and her boyfriend injects warmth and colour into her drab life, but the change is sadly short-lived. Ghosh and his team take Sen to the building — the kind in which the lifts didn’t work, the bare tangle of electricity wires hanging dangerously low over the staircase — in which the film was shot, and we hear her reminisce about how one of her best films, and one whose portrayal of loneliness still aches, came together.
Badminton
(Hindi)
Set in a bar, the story revolves around witty banter, secrets, and an unpredictable turn of events.
Cast:
Jim Sarbh, Sayani Gupta, Vijay Maurya, Mohammad Ebdullah
Director:
Dibakar Banerjee
Writer:
Anuvab Pal
Dibakar Banerjee Aims, But Misses the Mark
Sat, January 4 2025
Given the times we live in, it’s a source of constant intrigue that Hindi cinema’s politically aware film-makers have to be smart about expressing themselves. They have to be subtler and sneakier with their views, but also stay just as accessible. You see a push-and-pull balance with the more prolific storytellers like Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra and Anubhav Sinha. But cult-status directors like Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee have found it visibly harder. At times, their opinions are nearly too pure. You can tell that they have so much to say—there’s a lot of emotion, passion, cynicism and awareness—but they’re running out of commercial road.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Action, Science Fiction, Comedy, Family (English)
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.
Cast:
Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub, Krysten Ritter, Adam Pally
Director:
Jeff Fowler
Jim Carrey's Grinch Like Performance Is The Highlight
Fri, January 3 2025
After two successful releases, the series is nowhere close to its end and isn’t bad. Featuring an ensemble cast of Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and many more the film does justice for its young and adult audience. The makers manage to strike an almost balance between entertaining both of its audiences. Unlike many sequels, this one stays true to its core and explores a more chaotic version of Eggman, taking it to the next level. The writing and performances keep the films from falling into the same trap as all other sequels. The makers don’t waste time setting the story or the gap between the films. Just as the family of three aliens and two humans is celebrating Sonic’s Earth Birthday another catastrophe befalls their world. On the other side of their world, another alien is wreaking havoc. A sinister and darker version of Sonic called Shadow has broken out of a 50-year-old prison and is out for revenge. As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles begin to investigate they wonder if they know the full truth.
The Pickle Factory
(Hindi)
Mahika, an intern at a family business, bonds with colleagues and overcomes challenges, discovering the importance of family and friendship.
Cast:
Tanya Maniktala, Ritwik Bhowmik, Sohaila Kapur, Gagan Dev Riar, Naveen Kaushik
Tanya Maniktala, Ritwik Bhowmik Star In A Dull and Immature Workplace Comedy
Thu, January 2 2025
The Pickle Factory is what happens when The Office (U.S.) and Better Life Foundation (India) reluctantly get married (arranged) and have a pious, Doordarshan-loving child that refuses to grow up. It’s the kind of stagey and adolescent workplace comedy that went out of fashion years ago. You want it to work, of course, for several reasons. The 10-episode show revolves around the quirky employees of a family-run pickle company; imagine the readymade Hindi ‘achaar’ proverbs.
Kraven the Hunter
Action, Adventure, Thriller (English)
Kraven Kravinoff's complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Cast:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, Russell Crowe, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Levi Miller, Tom Reed, Billy Barratt
Director:
J.C. Chandor
The audience is hunted in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe film
Thu, January 2 2025
A long, icy road is the first shot of Kraven the Hunter, the sixth film in the infamous Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Given how all the other films, except the Venom movies, turned out to be fiascos, the very first shot of Kraven felt like a metaphor for the studio’s long and trying journey with Marvel’s IPs. After all, it’s not a lot to work with when you only have characters commonly associated with Spider-Man and you cannot even use the friendly neighbourhood superhero. Despite being far better than Morbius and Madame Web, Sony’s latest and possibly final superhero outing, Kraven the Hunter, still misses its mark by miles.
Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Action Heavy Film Makes Madame Web Look Good
Thu, January 2 2025
Kraven the Hunter finally saw its release in Indian theaters but despite the delays and built-up anticipation this film has turned out to be another disappointment like Madam Web. The film explores the story of Spiderman Universe villain Kraven the Hunter. The titular role of the film is played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, who is known for his looks physique and charm but none of it transfers to his on-screen character Kraven the Hunter. The film begins with Kraven’s latest task at a Russian prison. The man of honour and code walks into the jail to kill his target but on his way out does not hesitate to take a few guards down. Kraven isn’t a hero, he isn’t good but the film works on proving that he is with his every decision until it serves right for the plot. After a quick introduction, much of the film takes place in the past as Sergei and Dimitri’s toxic childhood is explored — more like explained. We also get a montage of how he trains in the jungle as a child while honing his powers, super strength and other abilities. He also takes down many animal poachers but it doesn’t really add any dept to his role in the film. It could serve as his connection to the animal world, but it isn’t as effective due to a lack of authentic interaction.
Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
Comedy (Marathi)
Set in 1942, Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi is a hilarious tale of a peaceful Indian village suddenly thrown into chaos with the arrival of Hitler. Amid World War II's disruption, people in the village, led by their local theater group, battle to defeat the dictator. Will they succeed in their comical quest to conquer Hitler?..
Cast:
Prashant Damle, Vaibhav Mangle, Adwait Dadarkar, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Mrinmayee Godbole, Sunil Abhyankar
Director:
Paresh Mokashi
Writer:
Paresh Mokashi
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
Decent entertainer trapped in the wrong medium
Thu, January 2 2025
Filmmaker Paresh Mokashi’s Mukkam Post Bombilwadi is based on his own Marathi play of the same name. The story takes place in 1942 when World War II is in full swing. Adolf Hitler (Prashant Damle) is under pressure for not having won the war despite fighting it for years, especially from his wife Eva (Deepti Lele). Winston Churchill (Anand Ingle), the Prime Minister of Great Britain, is making things more difficult for him. Meanwhile, in Bombilwadi village in Maharashtra’s Konkan, Varvante (Vaibhav Mangle) heads a theatre group. He is struggling hard to rehearse for a play with the members of his troupe (Devendra Pem, Geetanjali Kulkarni and Ritika Shrotri). Vaidya Buwa (Sunil Abhyankar) and Bhaskar (Pranav Raorane), who are also a part of the theatre group, have made a bomb to blow up Britishers.
A theatrical farce that's hilarious only in parts
Wed, January 1 2025
Around two decades ago, Paresh Mokashi gave the Marathi theatre audience a play called Mukkam Post Bombilwadi, which revolved around an absurd but hilarious story. For the big screen, Mokashi and team adapt the same premise on a cinematic scale. Set in 1942, Mukkam Post Bombilwadi unfolds in three locations – Adolf Hitler’s office in Germany, Winston Churchill’s war room in London, and the sleepy village of Bombilwadi in Konkan, Maharashtra. Amid mounting tensions of World War II, Hitler (Prashant Damle) gets a call about some innovation in Japan that can help him win the war. In no mood to waste time, Hitler decides to fly to Japan on his own (despite not knowing how to fly a plane). In the meantime, Churchill’s (Anand Ingale) spies tell him about Hitler’s plan and the British PM vows to stop Hitler come what may. The story then shifts to Bombilwadi, where multiple things are unfolding – a play is being rehearsed, a British police officer in love with Hitler’s partner Eva Braun is more focused on staging Shakespeare’s plays than maintaining law and order in Bombilwadi, and freedom fighters are plotting to send the Brits back with the ‘do or die’ slogan. In between all this, Hitler crash-lands in Bombilwadi. How, and what happens later is what the film is largely about.
Baby John
Action, Drama, Thriller, Crime (Hindi)
John's peaceful life with daughter Khushi is disrupted by a sex-trafficking gang. Revealing his past as DCP Satya, he seeks revenge for his family's murder, saving minor girls and punishing the criminals, before starting anew.
Cast:
Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Rajpal Yadav, Sheeba Chaddha, Jackie Shroff, Salman Khan, Sanya Malhotra, Khushi Bhardwaj, Resh Lamba
Director:
Kalees
Writer:
Kalees
Wed, January 1 2025
One big yawn
Sun, December 29 2024
‘Baby John’ has all the trappings of a mass entertainer, having been produced by Atlee, the record-maker ‘Jawan’ director whose remake of Tamil film ‘Their’ it is. Headlined by a fairly bankable star, Varun Dhawan, who can certainly act, he does try to energise the proceedings. South Indian sensation Keerthy Suresh is making her Bollywood debut and yesterday’s ‘Hero’ Jackie Shroff plays the vilest of vile badman. On the side is the beautiful and talented Wamiqa Gabbi.
A Culmination of Hindi Cinema’s Laziest Instincts in 2024
Thu, December 26 2024
Nothing screams ‘crisis’ in Hindi cinema right now more than Salman Khan showing up in his second ‘star cameo’ of the year – hedging his bets between two cinematic universes; hoping at least one of them works. Something works. This is not a spoiler, given how the film’s PR and fan accounts are enthusiastically ‘leaking’ his entry scene on social media. Khan’s films proudly flaunted their ‘critic-proof’ status for a long time, but have looked increasingly silly in the last five years. Apart from YRF’s spy universe, Khan’s Chulbul Pandey has announced himself in the Rohit Shetty cop universe, and now alongside Varun Dhawan in the Baby John universe – where he’s called (what else, but) Agent Bhai Jaan. It looks like even Bollywood’s loosest canon is looking to diversify his portfolio, fervently praying to make windfall gains from one franchise. The devil-may-care swagger has been replaced with the caution of a star unsure of his place.
Barroz
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Thriller (Malayalam)
Barroz has been protecting D' Gama's treasure for 400 years and has been entrusted to hand over the treasure to a true descendant of D' Gama. One day, a boy comes in search of Barroz, claiming that he is a descendant of Vasco da Gama. Barroz sets on a journey to find out the boy's true ancestors and history.
Cast:
Mohanlal, Maya Rao West, Rafael Amargo, Sara Vega, Pranav Mohanlal, Caesar Lorrento, Padmavati Rao, Jayachandran Palazhi, Pedro Figuerrito, Guru Somasundaram
Director:
Mohanlal
Mohanlal’s passion project ends up as a lost opportunity
Tue, December 31 2024
Dream projects often come with their share of self-indulgence and doses of obsession. Yet, somewhere one gets to feel things expressed right from the heart of the maker, who has immersed his soul in this idea for so long. What one misses amid all the plasticity of Barroz, Mohanlal’s dream project and his debut directorial, is such an expression which hits us right where it matters. It is no wonder then that one is largely left untouched by the fantasy drama that plays out over 150 minutes. Part of the reason for how Barroz turned out in the end could be the abrupt exit of Jijo Punnoose, the brilliant brain behind India’s first 3D film My Dear Kuttichathan, in the early stages of the project. One of his major grouses was the drastic tinkering with his original screenplay. His stand appears to be justified since one of the weakest elements of Barroz is its unimaginative screenplay filled with overdramatic dialogues that spoil every other scene.
Mohanlal's Directorial Debut Is A Visual Splendor But Falls Short on Execution
Thu, December 26 2024
Debutant director Mohanlal has been hung up on the 3D element of Barroz: Guardian of Treasures. So much so that every other aspect of the film has gotten little to no attention. Even Mohanlal, the incredible performer, is absent as everything about Barroz comes across as a stage play captured on camera. The only focus of the team has been to come up with various ways to gloat the 3D elements of the film on the face of the viewer. A flower bouquet will get an unnecessary slow-motion shot as Barroz extends it to Isabell (Maya Rao). The idea is to impress the audience as the flowers extend outside the screen, but even children (who seem to be the target audience of the film) lose interest as such gimmicks become redundant. Beyond the brilliant execution of the 3D technology and the superlative production design, Barroz has little to offer concerning an engaging story.
Doctors
Drama (Hindi)
Doctors is set at the high-stakes Elizabeth Blackwell Medical Centre in Mumbai, where Dr. Nitya Vasu begins her surgical residency with a personal vendetta against Dr. Ishaan Ahuja, believing he is responsible for her brother's disability. However, as she works alongside him, Nitya realizes Ishaan is not the villain she thought, and her animosity turns to attraction. The series explores intense medical cases and the personal struggles of residents, including ambition, love, and betrayal. The season culminates in shifting relationships, with old enemies becoming allies, a tragic event reshaping the group, and Nitya and Ishaan's love emerging at great personal cost.
Cast:
Sharad Kelkar, Harleen Sethi, Viraf Patel, Aamir Ali, Vivaan Shah, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Faezeh Jalali, Teena Singh, Sarah Hashmi, Abhishekh Khan
Director:
Sahir Raza
Sharad Kelkar’s show makes you feel and think, doesn’t sugarcoat harsh realities of medical profession
Mon, December 30 2024
India’s answer to ER/Grey’s Anatomy is here: Doctors, which is as straight-forward a title as you can get, is about just that, a bunch of medics, ranging from eager new residents to rockstar surgeons, as well as other denizens– nurses, interns, administrators– who make up a busy hospital. It takes a couple of episodes for the 10-part show to get into the groove, which gives us an insider’s look at medical practitioners going all out in high-stress emergencies, as well as dealing with those who are struggling with terminal diseases. These are humans who are also doctors. We see them as people, with their strengths and weaknesses, but who do not compromise when it comes to saving the lives of their patients.
A Medical Drama That Operates on Vibes Alone
Sat, December 28 2024
It often takes no more than five minutes to tell that a ten-episode series is going to be … not good. Yet, it’s my job to watch the whole thing. I can’t just abandon it the moment I realise it’s fundamentally flawed. So, I spend a day or two watching the next 395 minutes, hoping against hope that a miracle changes my mind. But, of course, it never comes—the craft is all wrong, the writing is dated, the music is uninspired, and the acting is everywhere. Yet, when a series is so long and stubborn and voluminous, one tends to develop a strange attachment to it. There’s no escape, so I simply make peace with—and normalise—the mediocrity at hand. It’s a reluctant bond, the kind you have with a month-long cough. But it’s a bond nevertheless, and when it ends, a part of your life ends. That’s what Doctors became to me.
Chaalchitro: The Frame Fatale
Thriller, Crime, Mystery (Bengali)
The thriller delves into the lives of four cops from Kolkata Police, as they go about investigating a series of murders rocking the city. As the plot thickens, the personal lives of the men get stressed and squeezed by the ongoing turmoil.
Cast:
Tota Roy Chowdhury, Shantanu Maheshwari, Anirban Chakrabarti, Indrajeet Bose, Raima Sen, Tanika Basu, Swastika Dutta, Priya Banerjee, Ziaul Faruq Apurba, Debesh Chatterjee
Director:
Pratim D. Gupta
कसी हुई सधी हुई ‘चालचित्र’
Sun, December 29 2024
कोलकाता शहर में मर्डर हो रहे हैं-एक के बाद एक। सिर्फ अकेली रह रही लड़कियों के मर्डर। हर लाश दीवार पर टंगी मिलती है। ज़ाहिर है कि यह किसी सीरियल किलर का काम है। डी.सी.पी. कनिष्क चटर्जी हैरान है क्योंकि बिल्कुल इसी पैटर्न पर 12 साल पहले भी कई मर्डर हुए थे लेकिन वह कातिल तो कैद में है। तो कौन कर रहा है ये मर्डर…? और इससे भी बड़ा सवाल यह कि क्यों कर रहा है वह ये मर्डर…? इस किस्म की रहस्यमयी मर्डर-मिस्ट्री वाली फिल्मों में अक्सर कहानी का फोकस ‘कौन कर रहा है’ के साथ-साथ ‘क्यों कर रहा है’ पर भी होता है। सीरियल किलिंग आमतौर पर मनोरोगी, मनोविक्षिप्त लोग किया करते हैं, सो ऐसी कहानियों को सस्पैंस थ्रिलर के साथ-साथ साइकोलॉजिकल-थ्रिलर का बाना पहनाया जाता है। लेखक प्रतिम डी. गुप्ता ने यहां भी ऐसा ही किया है और बखूबी किया है। इसके साथ ही उन्होंने इन हत्याओं की तफ्तीश में जुटे चार पुलिस अफसरों की निजी ज़िंदगियों में भी बखूबी झांका है। ऐसा करने से ये लोग ज़्यादा ‘मानवीय’ लगे हैं और वास्तविक भी। यही इस फिल्म (चालचित्र Chaalchitro) की खूबी है कि यह अपना धरातल नहीं छोड़ती। इसे देखते हुए यह नहीं लगता कि आप फिल्मी मसालों में डूबी कोई कहानी देख रहे हैं। हालांकि कुछ एक बैक स्टोरीज़ कहीं-कहीं कमज़ोर पड़ती है और कहीं-कहीं स्क्रिप्ट भी हौले-से लड़खड़ाई है, लेकिन एक लेखक के तौर पर प्रतिम जहां हल्के पड़े, एक निर्देशक के तौर पर वह उसे संभाल लेते हैं। उनके निर्देशन में कसावट है और वह फिल्म में ज़रूरी तनाव, भय, रोमांच व इमोशन्स रच पाने में कामयाब रहे हैं।
Pratim D Gupta comes back to Bengal with a strong plot in a gritty thriller
Sun, December 22 2024
A gruesome murder shakes Kolkata. Seasoned cops Kanishka Chatterjee (Tota Roy Chowdhury) and Naseer (Anirban Chakrabarti) of the Kolkata Police Detective Department see an uncanny similarity in the execution from an old case. Along with these two, Ritesh Kumar (Shantanu Maheshwari) – a young enthusiastic IPS, and Bishwa (Indrajeet Bose) get together in action. Soon there are more bodies. Nothing beats a chilling thriller on a winter night, and Pratim D Gupta serves it with a delectable plot garnished with a handful of red herrings. The film, which occasionally runs into predictability, is far too engaging to find flaws. It is fast, lethal, and entertaining, keeping the guessing game on.