Guild Reviews
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, Taranga Sarkar, Anirban Bhattacharyya, Arya Mallick, Mohua Sarkar, Supriti Bhadra, Satish Thakur, Satyaprasad Bose, Darshana Banik
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, Rahul Vohra, Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, Anil Charanjeett, Ravi Khanvilkar, Suriya, Iravati Harshe, Ashok Lokhande, Prakash Belawadi, Saurabh Goyal, Dan Dhanoa, Jay Upadhyay, Shivraj Walvekar, Gurpal Singh, Aman Kanojia
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, Patralekhaa, Gopal Datt, Rajesh Sharma, Anjum Batra, Samuel John, Asheema Vardaan, Dr. Ravi Bhushan, Rekha, Manish Tyagi, Nikhil Mehta, Sukhbeer Pal Kaur, Subha Rajput, Suraj Singh, Satta Dhillon, Kapil Arya, Ansh Kaushik, Rose Sardana, Jinal Jain, Simarpreet Singh
Director:
Simarpreet Singh
Writer:
Harman Wadala, 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, Shobana, Rajendra Prasad, Pasupathy, Anna Ben, Keya Nair, Harshith Malgireddy, Ayaz Pasha, Humhu, Kavya Ramachandran, Anil George, Disha Patani, Brahmanandam, Keerthy Suresh, Vinay Kumar, Sanjay Ratha, Dhruv Sincro, Venkata Ramana, Hamish Boyd, Advait Chauhan, Sanghwa Shin, Prashant Yarramilli, Baby Sanvitha, Rasool, Chandra Mohan, Sai Krishna, Joher, Bhaskar, Asif, Anoushka Maskey, Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, Arjun Das, Vijay Deverakonda, Malavika Nair, Padmaja, Mrunal Thakur, Dulquer Salmaan, Aakash Srinivas, Hearty Singh, Oziel Jivani, Arjun Varma, Srinivas Avasarala, S. S. Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma, Anudeep, Faria Abdullah, Đorđe Stojiljković, Zoran Pecenkovic, Santhosh Narayanan
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, Aniruddh Dave, Nitin Bhajan, Hemangi Kavi, Shreyas Talpade, Brijendra Kala, Dilnaz Irani, Bhagyashri Borse, Sonali Kulkarni, Gavie Chahal, Pushkaraj Chirputkar, Ganesh Yadav, Jagat Rawat, Shivraj Walvekar, Samyak Shringirishi, Ayan Khan
Director:
Kabir Khan
Writer:
Sudipto Sarkar, Kabir Khan, 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
Murder in Mahim
Crime (Hindi)
Police officer Shivajirao Jende and his friend, Retired journalist Peter Fernandes plunge into a murder investigation in Mumbai's underbelly. In a thrilling tale adapted from Jerry Pinto's critically acclaimed book, they uncover secrets of desire, greed, despair and also confront the shadows of their long lost friendship.
Cast:
Vijay Raaz, Ashutosh Rana, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Shivaji Satham, Divya Jagdale, Smita Tambe, Bharat Ganeshpure, Rajesh Khattar, Benafsha Soonawalla, Sonal Jha
Director:
Raj Acharya
Vijay Raaz rescues an uneven police procedural
Sat, May 11 2024
Raj Acharya’s “Murder in Mahim” – the eight-episode police procedural streaming on JioCinema, suffers from an adaptation problem, the most unfortunate flaw currently ailing Indian long-format storytelling. The story, about the violent murders of lower-class sex workers, is adapted from Jerry Pinto’s eponymous novel and the show is helmed by Vijay Raaz and Ashutosh Rana, two formidable acting powerhouses capable of elevating any script.
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, Robin Das, Amala Paul, Shobha Mohan, Nasar Karutheni, Baburaj Thiruvalla, Akef Najem, Aji George, Vijay Chandrachudan, Ajesh Babu, Hasan Zaman, Sunil Kumar Muscat, Shijo Dominic, K C Eapen, Ranjith Ambady, Giovanni V. Giusti
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.
Amaltash
Drama, Romance, Family (Marathi)
Living in an old city, serendipity smiles on composed musician Rahul when he meets warm and spontaneous Keerthi, who is intrigued by his music.
Cast:
Rahul Deshpande, Pallavi Paranjpe, Pratibha Padhye, Deepti Mate, Trisha Kunte, Abhay Kanvinde, Anjali Joglekar, Bhushan Marathe, Jacob Panicker, Mayuresh Wagh, Omkar Thatte, Raghunandan Kulkarni, Sagar Karpe, Sandhya Bade, Sudhir Phatak, Sunil Juneja, Swapnil Patil
Director:
Suhas Desale
Writer:
Suhas Desale, Mayuresh Wagh
A breeze of freshness that makes you pause and reflect
Sat, February 17 2024
Often, it is the films made with passion that leave a lasting impression on the minds of the viewers. Nothing larger-than-life, no grand sets, nothing unbelievable – just a simple story told with sincerity and made relatable by its characters. If Amaltash was to be explained in brief, this would suffice. Amaltash is a simple, straightforward story of a gifted musician named Rahul (Rahul Deshpande) whose life has changed after an incident in his past. Rahul has learned the importance of soaking in the small pleasures of life and being composed in the most strenuous of situations. Enter Keerti (Pallavi Paranjape), the NRI from Canada who lands in Pune to meet her grandmother (Pratibha Padhye) and has a chance encounter with Rahul who is at her granny’s house to tune their piano. Taken by Rahul’s musical prowess, Keerti meets him again at Rahul’s friend’s music store. They talk and bond over music and soon strike a friendship. Love blossoms organically. But are they meant to spend their life together?
Kiss Wagon
Animation (Malayalam)
In the realm of Mountland, Ms. Isla maintains control through a labyrinthine parcel service system. It’s the only form of order in this chaotic world. As the Atqaba religious festival nears, Ms. Isla is entrusted with the delivery of an unconventional package from an important figure, and its destination is anything but usual. It’s a mission even she feels unsettled by, but her reputation is everything, so she sets off on the perilous journey.
Cast:
Reshma Ramachandran, Jicky Paul, Midhun Murali
Director:
Midhun Murali
Writer:
Midhun Murali
(Writing for Film Companion)
A Meditation On Love, Civilisation, Violence And Religion
Tue, February 6 2024
This January, Malayalam cinema saw the convergence of its two extremes. A big-budget drama featuring a male superstar who wields unassailable influence over the local audience was released in theatres on the 25th, jolting the film ecosystem out of its lull. Coincidentally, Kiss Wagon, an experimental feature film directed by Midhun Murali, premiered in IFFRʼs (International Film Festival of Rotterdam) coveted Tiger Competition section, where it won two prizes– the FIPRESCI award and the first Special Jury Award.