Guild Reviews
Brinda
Crime, Mystery (Telugu)
Young, socially awkward yet morally grounded SI cadet Brinda stumbles upon a brutal murder with a chilling modus operandi. As the killer slips through her grasp, she faces personal and bureaucratic turmoil, but the hardest challenge is the moral reckoning that could define her career and conscience. Will Brinda uphold justice, or lose herself in the chaos closer to home?
Cast:
Trisha Krishnan, Indrajith Sukumaran, Ravindra Vijay, Jayaprakash, Aamani
Director:
Surya Manoj Vangala
Trisha's web series stands tall with right dose of thrill
Fri, August 2 2024
‘South Queen’ Trisha Krishnan forayed into OTT with the Telugu web series, ‘Brinda’, directed by Surya Manoj Vangala. While the web series started premiering on SonyLIV on August 2, there have been low-key promotions for whatever reason. At a time when there are many web series on multiple platforms, ‘Brinda’ stands apart. This is truly one of the web shows that deserves more promotion. Brinda (Trisha Krishnan) is a newly appointed sub-inspector, who is moody and hardly gets treated as equals at the police station. She goes to work, struggles to sleep and is quite smart. When her superiors, including Sarathi (Ravindra Vijay), want to close a murder case as suicide, she smartly points out that it’s a murder. This smart work lands her in trouble as her boss always tries to put her in place because she’s a woman. But Brinda is someone who will not take it with a pinch of salt. She teaches him a lesson.
The Test S03
Drama, Documentary (English)
A docuseries following the Australian Men’s Cricket Team, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world’s best cricket teams fell from grace and was forced to reclaim their title and integrity.
Cast:
Justin Langer, Tim Paine, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja
Short, engaging peek into cricketing drama
Mon, July 29 2024
Around halfway of the second episode of the latest season of The Test, drama erupts. English batter Jonny Bairstow ducks a bouncer, the ball goes to the keeper and the batter walks out of the crease. Pretty much a normal thing that happens during a Test match, you’d think. But there’s tense music in the background, almost like you know something is going to happen.
Raayan
Action, Drama, Thriller (Tamil)
Raayan, a simpleton patriarch has to protect his family when they inadvertently get muddled in a violent world with whirlpool of murder, debauchery, feud, politics and power, a quagmire that he has repeatedly warned them not to get pulled into.
Cast:
Dhanush, Dushara Vijayan, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, S. J. Suryah
Director:
Dhanush
Writer:
Dhanush
Dhanush's 50th film is riveting. Well, almost
Fri, July 26 2024
‘Raayan’ is a special milestone in Dhanush’s career. It marks his 50th film as an actor and his second film as a director (after ‘Pa Paandi’). For his 50th film, he donned the hat of a director, actor and writer. Has he exceeded the second time as a filmmaker with ‘Raayan’? Let’s find out! Kathavarayan aka Raayan is forced to take care of his two brothers and toddler sister after their parents vanish for two days. This marks the beginning of Raayan’s struggle. His motto is to survive in this cruel world. He fears no one, not even death. Raayan, along with his siblings, escape grave danger from their village and land in North Madras, where they find a home.
Indian 2
Drama, Action, Thriller (Tamil)
As corruption becomes rampant in the country, a group of idealistic youngsters attract attention of freedom fighter-turned-vigilante Senapathy through social media, who returns to his homeland to finish what he started.
Cast:
Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Jagan, Rishikanth
Director:
Shankar
Kamal Haasan-Shankar film is an emotionless social commentary
Wed, July 24 2024
28 years ago, director Shankar and Kamal Haasan gifted ‘Indian’ to the Tamil audience, who still celebrate it like it’s their own. Almost three decades later, the film (read: corruption) still remains relevant. But, Kamal Haasan and Shankar wanted to bring back Indian thatha (grandfather) aka Senapathy to brush up on all the corrupt activities that we’ve seen so far in umpteen movies, not just in Tamil cinema but across other languages. Chitra Aravindan (Siddharth) and his three friends run a YouTube channel called ‘Barking Dogs,’ which focuses on parodies and political satire. They end their calls with ‘Let’s bark!’ (If you think this is absurd, hold your horses). After realising that their videos, despite receiving lakhs of views, had little impact on the audience, the team starts a campaign called ‘Come Back Indian.’ According to them, only Indian Thatha, aka Senapathy, could put an end to corruption.
‘हिन्दुस्तानी’ वापस जाओ… गो बैक ‘इंडियन’…
Sat, July 13 2024
आदरणीय हिन्दुस्तानी जी, 1996 की मई में जब आप पहली बार सिनेमा के पर्दे पर तमिल में ‘इंडियन’ और हिन्दी में ‘हिन्दुस्तानी’ बन कर आए थे तो हम दर्शकों ने आपका तहेदिल से स्वागत किया था। उस फिल्म में आप नेता जी की सेना में सिपाही थे लेकिन जब आपने आज़ाद भारत में भ्रष्टाचार का बोलबाला देखा तो आप खुद भ्रष्टाचारियों को सज़ा देने में जुट गए। आपके तरीके गैरकानूनी थे लेकिन हम लोग आपके पक्ष में थे क्योंकि आप वह काम कर रहे थे जो दरअसल सरकार को करना चाहिए था। ‘अपरिचित’ तब तक आई नहीं थी और ‘प्रहार’ के मेजर चव्हाण हमें बता गए थे कि सिपाही का काम है लड़ना, लड़ाई के मैदान भले ही बदल जाएं। उस फिल्म के अंत में अपने भ्रष्ट बेटे को मार कर आप हिन्दुस्तान से गायब होकर सिंगापुर चले गए थे। आखिरी सीन में आप हमें उम्मीद दे गए थे कि आप जल्द लौटेंगे और एक बार फिर से भ्रष्टाचारियों का विनाश करेंगे। लेकिन आपने लौटने में 28 बरस लगा दिए, क्यों…?
Bad Newz
Comedy, Romance, Drama (Hindi)
After a whirlwind marriage with social media influencer Akhil Chadha that ends in divorce, chef Saloni Bagga meets hotelier Gurbir Pannu. One night with Gurbir – and then also with Akhil – leads to Saloni getting pregnant. But who's the father? By a one-in-a-billion twist of fate, Saloni is carrying twins – and not just any twins, each child has a different father!
Cast:
Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri, Ammy Virk, Neha Dhupia, Sheeba Chaddha
Director:
Anand Tiwari
Writer:
Ishita Moitra
Bad Newz Is Bad News
Fri, July 19 2024
चमकीली, चटकीली ‘बैड न्यूज़’
Fri, July 19 2024
एक लड़की है सयानी-सी। एक दिन एक लड़के से वो मिलती है-बिस्तर में। कुछ देर बाद उसका एक्स-पति आता है। वह उससे भी मिल लेती है-बिस्तर में। अगले महीने आती है यह बैड न्यूज़ कि वह मां बनने वाली है और बच्चे का बाप उन दोनों में से कोई एक नहीं बल्कि दोनों ही हैं। मेडिकल साईंस का यह करिश्मा करोड़ों में एक बार होता है, लेकिन असंभव नहीं है। अब दोनों बापों में ठन जाती है कि बच्चा असल में किसके पास रहेगा। इस ठनाठनी में दोनों बार-बार भिड़ते हैं और उनकी हरकतें देख कर दर्शक हंसते हैं। इस फिल्म की लगभग पूरी कहानी इसके ट्रेलर में खोली जा चुकी है। वैसे भी यह कोई सस्पैंस फिल्म तो है नहीं। सो, ऐसी फिल्मों में कहानी से ज़्यादा कहानी का ट्रीटमैंट देखा जाता है। और चूंकि यह एक अलग किस्म का सब्जैक्ट है-थोड़ा टैबू सा, थोड़ा हटके वाला, तो हमारे फिल्मकार अक्सर ऐसे विषयों पर कॉमेडी का आवरण चढ़ा कर उन्हें परोसते हैं। फिर चाहे वह ‘बधाई हो’ जैसी फिल्म हो या फिर लगभग ऐसी ही ‘गुड न्यूज़’ जिसमें दिखाया गया था कि कृत्रिम गर्भाधान कराने पहुंचे दो जोड़ों में से क्लिनिक वालों की गलती से एक के स्पर्म दूसरे की बीवी को और दूसरे के स्पर्म पहले की बीवी को दे दिए जाते हैं। वह फिल्म हंसते-गुदगुदाते और अंत में इमोशनल करते हुए अपनी बात कह रही थी और इस फिल्म में भी वही तरीका इस्तेमाल किया गया है।
Manikbabur Megh
Drama (Bengali)
Manik is a lonely middle-aged man who lives with his father, but with whom he has no contact. Instead, his life consists of taking care of his plants and ants, plus a spider and a lizard. But then a change happens in the man’s dull life – he notices a cloud in the sky that seems to follow him all the time. Life takes on a new, previously unknown value for him. Is it friendship or perhaps love?
Cast:
Chandan Sen, Debesh Roy Chowdhury, Arun Guha Tharkurta, Bratya Basu, Nimai Ghosh
Director:
Abhinandan Banerjee
Writer:
Abhinandan Banerjee
Abhinandan Banerjee and Chandan Sen present a magical love song through their cinema
Fri, July 12 2024
Manikbabu (Chandan Sen) lives a lonely life. He is first chased and then romanced by a whiff of cloud that only he can see. What do we see when we look at the sky? Manikbabu sees a whiff of cloud that refuses to leave him. He decides to embrace that celestial piece of cloud in his life. This lonely man and his quirky environment – his noisy ceiling fan, his rooftop greenhouse, the hanging lizard in the bathroom, the pile of files on his office table, and so on – tell a lot of hitherto bottled-up stories. The film is a collage of those chronicles.
Sarfira
Drama (Hindi)
A young man from a remote village dreams of launching his own airline service. However, he must overcome several obstacles and challenges in order to be successful in his quest.
Cast:
Akshay Kumar, Radhikka Madan, Paresh Rawal, R. Sarathkumar, Seema Biswas
Director:
Sudha Kongara Prasad
Thu, July 11 2024
Wild Wild Punjab
Comedy, Adventure (Hindi)
Four friends road-trip across Punjab to help one of them get over an ex-girlfriend, but are quickly caught in a fiasco like no other.
Cast:
Varun Sharma, Sunny Singh, Jassie Gill, Manjot Singh, Ishita Raj Sharma
Director:
Simarpreet Singh
Writer:
Sandeep Jain
Puerile buddy comedy is not wild enough
Thu, July 4 2024
It was evident, even before Varun Sharma clambered onto the roof of a car, unfastened his fly and shot out a tall projectile of piss, that Wild Wild Punjab was not a serious film. But is it even that wild? The aforementioned scene is probably the looniest thing that happens — a nod, perhaps, to Fukrey 3, which had an entire pee-based plotline dedicated to Sharma. The rest of Simarpreet Singh’s film is oddly strained and docile, a blur of ham-fisted hi-jinks and inane one-liners. “Respect, dude,” someone tells Sharma’s character, a compliment I cannot extend to the film.
Barzakh
Drama, Mystery, Thriller (Arabic)
Unaware of the evil lurking around her, Farah makes the trip to the family farm to visit her uncle Rachid who has suddenly become very sick. Being that her uncle is her only surviving family, Farah plans to convince Rachid to return to the city with her so she can take care of him. But upon her arrival to the farm, she begins to experience unsettling psychic visions and a series of events with mysterious circumstances which pushes her to reconsider all of her plans and ultimately face her destiny.
Cast:
Fatma Nasser, Jamel Madani, Mohamed Sayari, Nour Bettaïeb, Oussama Kochkar
Director:
Kays Mejri
Writer:
Karim Elamouri
Fawad Khan grounds a bewitching, overblown saga
Thu, July 4 2024
“The past is not dead. It’s not even past,” wrote William Faulkner. Everything in Barzakh — images, ideas, sounds — responds to that famously Faulknerian sentiment. The title refers to a kind of limbo, an earthly purgatory, where the dead move amidst the living. The six-part series has been shot in the ravishing Hunza Valley, in Northern Pakistan, and is drenched in a despairing, deciduous beauty. Characters converse in pseudo-spiritualistic fragments and heartsick hokum (and also do shrooms). Mountains, as usual, hold the key to everything. Watching the series, I found myself nervously wondering if, across the border, the director Imtiaz Ali was paying attention. What if he feels a little bested, and takes it up as a challenge?
Kalki 2898 AD
Drama, Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction (Telugu)
In the year 2898 AD, around 6000 years after Kurukshetra war, Ashwatthama gears up for his final battle of redemption at the sign of hope in a dystopian world and Bhairava, a wisecracking and self-interested bounty hunter, tired of the perilous life becomes the hurdle in the process.
Cast:
Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan, Saswata Chatterjee
Director:
Nag Ashwin
Prabhas reigns supreme, Big B and Deepika Padukone exceptional
Thu, June 27 2024
It was 2015 when SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali’ was released and blew everyone’s mind. To this day, the two ‘Baahubali’ films not only shattered box office records but also set a benchmark for films of the same ilk. Nealy a decade later, director Nag Ashwin, with monumental ambitions, gifted ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, set in a dystopian world. With futuristic ideas coupled with Hindu mythology, the film will surely blow your mind, just like ‘Baahubali’ did. Thousands of years after the Mahabharata war, Kashi became the last city of the world. And the world is ruled by Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan), who is waiting for a magical serum to gain powers. The poor suffer in the city, while the rich enjoy their lives in the Complex, a place built for the privileged. It is Bhairava’s (Prabhas) dream to make it to the Complex. He is a bounty hunter doing petty jobs to earn the units that will enable him to earn his place in the Complex.
Mon, June 24 2024
Chandu Champion
Drama (Hindi)
9 bullet wounds (one still in the body), three different sports and an unshakable determination to fulfill the dream of an Olympic Gold later, Muralikant Petkar, India's first Paralympian to finish at the top of the podium, got the recognition by his own country 45 years after he achieved what no athlete from his country could.
Cast:
Kartik Aaryan, Vijay Raaz, Bhuvan Arora, Rajpal Yadav, Yashpal Sharma
Director:
Kabir Khan
Writer:
Sumit Arora
जिएगा और जीतेगा ‘चंदू चैंपियन’
Fri, June 14 2024
मुरली का बचपन से एक ही सपना था कि ओलंपिक में जाना है, गोल्ड मैडल लेकर आना है। बड़ा होकर वह फौज में गया तो बॉक्सिंग के ज़रिए अपने इस सपने को सच करने में जुट गया। लेकिन 1965 की जंग में उसे इतनी गोलियां लगीं कि वह अपने पैरों से लाचार हो गया। मगर उसने हार नहीं मानी और स्विमिंग करने लगा। 1972 में हुए पैरालंपिक (दिव्यांगजनों के ओलंपिक) में तैराकी में गोल्ड मैडल लेकर आया। यह एक सच्ची कहानी है और ‘चंदू चैंपियन’ (Chandu Champion) इसी कहानी पर बनी है। आप चाहें तो पूछ सकते हैं कि यदि यह सच्ची कहानी है तो इतने बरसों से हमने इसके बारे में कहीं पढ़ा या सुना क्यों नहीं? जवाब वही पुराना है कि हमारे समाज के नायकों और उनकी प्रेरक कहानियों के प्रति हमारे समाज के कर्णधारों का उदासीन रवैया इसका मुख्य कारण है। मुरलीकांत पेटकर भी ऐसे ही एक नायक थे जिन्हें न तो उचित पुरस्कार मिले, न ही सम्मान और वक्त की आंधी ने उन्हें हाशिये पर कर डाला। लेकिन पिछले कुछ सालों में जब सरकार ने ढूंढ-ढूंढ कर ऐसे नायकों को सम्मानित करना शुरू किया तो उनकी कहानी भी सामने आई और 2018 में उन्हें पद्मश्री देकर सम्मानित किया गया। उसके बाद लोगों का ध्यान उन पर गया और नतीजे के तौर पर यह फिल्म बन कर आई है।
Thu, June 13 2024
Aadujeevitham
Drama, Adventure (Malayalam)
Indian migrant worker Najeeb Muhammad goes to Saudi Arabia to earn money. However, in a twist of fate, he finds himself living a slave-like existence, herding goats in the middle of the desert.
Cast:
Prithviraj Sukumaran, K R Gokul, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Talib Al Balushi, Rik Aby
Director:
Blessy
Writer:
Blessy
(Writing for The Federal)
A survival drama, fuelled by high-octane performances
Sun, April 7 2024
There is a poetic aspect in author Benyamin’s novel reaching the hands of director Blessy. In the journey of Najeeb Muhammad, a Malayali immigrant in West Asia, who gets abducted by one of the region’s many slave owners, there is an element of miserablism that resonates with the cinematic inquiry Blessy has been conducting over the last two decades. His films, in essence, are excavations of grief from the depths of unfortunate ordinary men who go from one tragic situation to another. In Thanmathra(2005) and Kalimannu (2013), the human body becomes his primary work material. Pain and suffering are visceral in these films, animated without any subtlety to pierce into the viewer’s consciousness. In Aadujeevitham, Blessy finds a goldmine.