Guild Reviews
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
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
Jatt and Juliet 3
Comedy, Romance (Punjabi)
A police officer aspires to marry his well-off boss and joins her on a trip to the UK to track down a woman.
Cast:
Diljit Dosanjh, Neeru Bajwa, Jaswinder Bhalla, B.N. Sharma, Rana Ranbir, Akram Udaas
Director:
Jagdeep Sidhu
Writer:
Jagdeep Sidhu
Diljit Dosanjh sparkles in this playful entertainer
Thu, June 27 2024
Diljit Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa’s Jatt & Juliet 3 does what Punjabi cinema does best — delights audiences with nutty situations, punchy one-liners, and dollops of humour, which makes for an enjoyable family entertainer. Bringing back the Diljit Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa jodi, the beloved franchise is now helmed by writer-director Jagdeep Sidhu, who has taken over the reins from Anurag Singh, and has collaborated with Dosanjh on Sher Bagga (2022) and Shadaa (2019) previously. Fateh Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) and Pooja (Neeru Bajwa) are police constables, but she is his senior. Both have their own selfish reasons for wanting to get married to each other and deceive the other about their true intentions. However, things don’t pan out as planned and threaten to spin out of control when Jasmin Bajwa (Daisy) enters the picture. She is wanted for committing fraud and Pooja and Fateh are sent to London to bring her back. In the midst of it all, Fateh is solely concerned about money and spins a yarn for both Daisy and Pooja.
Kota Factory S03
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
In a city of coaching centers known to train India’s finest collegiate minds, an earnest but unexceptional student and his friends navigate campus life.
Cast:
Jitendra Kumar, Mayur More, Ranjan Raj, Alam Khan, Ahsaas Channa, Revathi Pillai
Director:
Pratish Mehta, Raghav Subbu
Writer:
Puneet Batra, Pravin Yadav
Lost for answers
Thu, June 20 2024
Kota Factory has never lived up to its title. The name suggests a grim look at the dystopian reality of teenagers in their formative years transported to a town in the middle of nowhere for a single mindless pursuit. Instead—over 10 episodes across two seasons—we’ve been treated to a sentimental and meandering look at the life of students. Kota Factory isn’t in black-and-white because it’s drained of life. It’s in black-and-white because the creators, themselves former IITians, are nostalgic for the past. The third—and what feels like the final—season wants to course correct. It wants to brush up on lessons it has ignored so far. But it has no idea how to communicate any of it. Everything is too literal or spelt out.
LSD2: Love, Sex Aur Dhoka 2
Drama, Comedy, Crime (Hindi)
In a high-tech world, three intertwined stories discuss identity, online intimacy and the allure of social networks.
Cast:
Paritosh Tiwari, Bonita Rajpurohit, Abhinav Santosh Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Swaroopa Ghosh, Uorfi Javed, Mouni Roy, Anu Malik, Sophiya Chaudhary, Tusshar Kapoor
Director:
Dibakar Banerjee
Writer:
Dibakar Banerjee, Prateek Vats, Shubham
A Spotify Review
Sun, June 16 2024
Dibakar Banerjee is going to have to make two good movies to compensate for whatever hellish assault on the senses Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 was. We discuss the film’s muddled social commentary, the frustration oozing out of every frame, and the general incoherence of the arguments. We also compare LSD2’s aesthetic and thematic shortfalls, especially when compared to Banerjee’s past work, while wondering why he couldn’t find room for any self-reflection.
Kudi Haryane Val Di
Drama (Punjabi)
Attempting to impress a woman whose family is passionate about wrestling, a man accidentally bluffs his way into a coaching job.
Cast:
Ammy Virk, Sonam Bajwa, Yashpal Sharma, Yograj Singh
Director:
Rakesh Dhawan
Writer:
Rakesh Dhawan
A delightful romantic comedy
Fri, June 14 2024
Written and directed by Rakesh Dhawan, Kudi Haryane Val Di, starring Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa in the lead roles, brings a freshness to Punjabi cinema with its exploration of cultural differences between the states of Haryana and Punjab. Dhawan explores the cross-cultural theme with the backdrop of wrestling to create an enjoyable drama. Shivjot (Ammy Virk) is the only son in a family of wrestlers but has no interest in wrestling. Carefree and lazy, he reads poetry in the hopes of finding a partner who will make his heart skip a beat. As luck would have it, his gaze falls across the wrestling arena, and he finds Neelam (Sonam Bajwa), the daughter of Mann Singh Dahiya (Yashpal Sharma), the proud owner of an akhara or wrestling ground. Unlike Shivjot, Neelam is passionate about all things wrestling, and in a turn of events, Shivjot finds himself as the coach of Mann Singh’s wrestling team, just as a ploy to get close to her. But when Mann Singh’s arch-rival Sheeshpal throws down the gauntlet, Shivjot must rise up to the challenge and prove himself to be worthy of Neelam’s love.
Inside Out 2
Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family (English)
Teenager Riley's mind headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone.
Cast:
Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu
Director:
Kelsey Mann
An expansion, not an evolution
Fri, June 14 2024
Inside Out was a breathtaking showcase of Pixar at its best. In imagining our inner selves, the original Pixar movie gave life to our warring emotions, how memories are formed or repressed, and what it means to embrace great change. It truly understood how our brains work. But it wasn’t a philosophical treatise—Inside Out was great entertainment too. Amy Poehler’s unbridled optimistic Joy was a driving force behind that. She contrasted nicely with Anger’s (Lewis Black) outbursts, Fear’s (Bill Hader) jittery and Disgust’s (Mindy Kaling) judgmental behaviour, and Sadness’ (Phyllis Smith) willingness to wallow.
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
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
The Boys S04
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure (English)
A group of vigilantes known informally as “The Boys” set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
Cast:
Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell
Elon Musk’s Twitter feed come to life
Tue, June 11 2024
In one of the early episodes from The Boys season 4, a white woman—dressed in a tight-fitting red and blue outfit, who describes herself as an author, filmmaker, political activist, commentator, and leading voice of the alt-supe movement on YouTube—addresses a small audience at a conspiracy theory convention. In her opening rant, which she says will last the next two hours, she claims that Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is working with the “Hollywood paedophile cabal”. She plugs in a false flag operation, references to Satan, and implies that Tom Hanks had a whistleblower killed. Sitting amidst the audience, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) asks Frenchie (Tomer Capone) if people really fall for this kind of nonsense. He replies: “People will believe anything. Even something as ludicrous as the moon landing.”
The Acolyte
Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (English)
A hundred years before the rise of the Empire, the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic have prospered for centuries without war. During this time, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past.
Cast:
Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae
Jedi galore but can’t light it up
Tue, June 4 2024
Since the beginning, every Star Wars movie has had a lightsaber duel. On rare occasions, only in the prequel trilogy, have there been situations where we have had more than two lightsabers in one scene. Towards the end of the fourth episode of the new Star Wars series The Acolyte, a masked stranger—wielding a red lightsaber—confronts our protagonist. In response, they are met with eight lightsabers: some green, others yellow, and one blue. It’s a fascinating and incredulous moment, not least because we haven’t seen the likes of it in live-action Star Wars. It’s made possible thanks to The Acolyte’s setting in the High Republic era—a hundred years prior to Episode I – The Phantom Menace—during a time when the Jedi Order was at the peak of its power.
Crew
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
Three ordinary air hostesses from Mumbai embark on a journey to pursue their dreams but find themselves caught up in unexpected misfortunes.
Cast:
Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kriti Sanon, Diljit Dosanjh, Rajesh Sharma, Trupti Khamkar, Kapil Sharma, Saswata Chatterjee, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Myra Singh
Director:
Rajesh Krishnan
Writer:
Mehul Suri, Nidhi Mehra
A Spotify Review
Mon, May 27 2024
Crew, the new heist movie starring Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Kriti Sanon, effectively weaponises middle-class angst against corporate overlords. We praise the film’s dedication to punching up, the instant relatability that it is able to generate for its characters, and its tightly constructed first half. But we also criticise its endless product placement, and the relatively disappointing second hour, which asks the audience to re-engage with the film through a whole new lens.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Action, Science Fiction, Adventure (English)
As the world falls, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the wasteland, they encounter the citadel presided over by Immortan Joe. The two tyrants wage war for dominance, and Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Cast:
Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Elsa Pataky
Director:
George Miller
Writer:
Nico Lathouris, George Miller
Richer than ever before
Thu, May 23 2024
Less than an hour into Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga—the franchise’s first prequel, first spin-off, and first movie centred on a woman—the audience is treated to a 15-minute ultra-complex action sequence. In it, a young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy), who has hidden herself to escape the brutal and captive life she’s known, is caught in a raid on a newly built War Rig. It’s a giant of a thing—an all-wheel drive truck pulling a chrome-plated tanker, with a rail on top that allows men to defend it, and two digger arms attached to the side to deal with nuisances. The scene is even more fascinating. What begins as a parasail wing shooting out of a motorcycle is just the start. It has countless moving parts—the multiple fliers add dynamism to the set piece—and yet it’s all coherent and easy to follow.