Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
Drama, Romance (Marathi)
A thirty-year-old city-dweller compelled to spend ten-day mourning of his father in the rugged countryside of Western India tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, he must decide the fate (more…)
The Ba***ds of Bollywood
Comedy, Action & Adventure (Hindi)
In this high-stakes drama, an ambitious outsider and his friends navigate the chaotic, larger-than-life, yet uncertain world of Bollywood. (more…)
Jolly LLB 3
Drama, Comedy (Hindi)
The third part of the Jolly LLB trilogy brings back Jagdish Tyagi and Jagdishwar Mishra for the biggest face-off as Janki Devi Solanki awaits justice against industrialist Khaitan in a satire on the judiciary, justice and the gulf between the (more…)
Nishaanchi
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
Twin brothers, identical looks but different values, face brotherhood, betrayal, love, and redemption. Their paths weave through crime into a deeper story of human nature and its results. (more…)
The Trial S02
Drama, Crime, Mystery (Hindi)
A housewife is forced to take full responsibility of her family after her husband is imprisoned over a corruption and sex scandal. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Opus
Horror, Mystery, Thriller (English)
A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago. Surrounded by the star's cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.
Cast:
Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Melissa Chambers, Tony Hale, Stephanie Suganami, Mark Sivertsen, Amber Midthunder, Tatanka Means
Director:
Mark Anthony Green
Writer:
Mark Anthony Green
Despite a spot-on John Malkovich, Opus aims to be Midsommar-lite but doesn't quite get there
Thu, September 25 2025
If you have to cast someone as a 60-plus rock star who was once known as the “Wizard of Wiggle,” had 38 No. 1 hits in the ‘90s and used to date Cindy Crawford among many others — and now runs a (ahem!) cult — there is really only one name that comes to mind: John Malkovich. Besides being one of Hollywood’s most mystifying stars, Malkovich,71, has directed a play in Latvian, designed his own fashion lines, and even starred in a movie called Being John Malkovich that explores entering his mind. He has participated in shooting a film designed to be viewed in the year 2115, a project that highlights his unusual approach to filmmaking. His involvement in Being John Malkovich, he has claimed, was a deliberate choice, as he wanted to be involved in the “weirdest Hollywood movie ever made”. He has also famously said that “he believes he is the least eccentric person he knows.”
Boong
Drama (Hindi)
In the valley of Manipur, Boong (*a little boy) plans to surprise his mother with a gift. In his innocence, he believes that bringing his father back home would be the most special gift. His search for his father culminates into an unexpected gift – a new beginning….
Cast:
Gugun Kipgen, Bala Hijam, Angom Sanamatum, Vikram Kochhar, Hamom Sadananda, Jenny Khurai, Nemetia Ngangbam
Director:
Lakshmipriya Devi
Writer:
Lakshmipriya Devi
A beautiful coming-of-age Manipuri film that bares its soul on its own terms
Thu, September 25 2025
In a country that is so diverse that there is a new language, a new cuisine, a new landscape, a new cultural ethos, and even a new set of rules and regulations every 100-200 kilometres, perspective is everything. That is why it feels futile to try to make sense of the things that are ‘different.’ Why not just embrace the vibrance of diversity without trying to burden it with the monotony of uniformity? When Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong presents us with her view of Manipur, it doesn’t ask us to analyse the differences, but to appreciate the similarities. And the best way to do it is to tell a film through the eyes of a boy, who might be corrupted by the world around him, but he has the excuse of saying, “But I didn’t know better.”
A Small Film With A Big Soul
Wed, September 24 2025
Boong tells the story of little Brojendro “Boong” Singh (Gugun Kipgen), a naughty Manipuri kid from Imphal who sets out to search for his absent father in the bordertown of Moreh. It’s been years since his dad left home, phone calls have stopped being returned, but young Boong wants to surprise his single mother Mandakini (Bala Hijam) with the ‘gift’ of the man’s return. He leaves him voice messages to no avail. Their village mysteriously receives news of the man’s death, but Mandakini refuses to believe it. Boong notices her distress, so his journey with best friend Raju (Angom Sanamatum) into the unknown — into neighbouring Myanmar, even — is framed as a bittersweet Home Alone-coded adventure. The two boys reach their destination by hiding in a wreath next to the corpse of a friend’s grandfather in a hearse.
Palpable tension reverberates throughout the film.
Mon, September 22 2025
The Ba***ds of Bollywood
Comedy, Action & Adventure (Hindi)
In this high-stakes drama, an ambitious outsider and his friends navigate the chaotic, larger-than-life, yet uncertain world of Bollywood.
Cast:
Lakshya Lalwani, Farhan Qureshii, Sahher Bambba, Mona Singh, Raghav Juyal, Anya Singh, Rajat Bedi, Manish Chaudhary, Bobby Deol, Manoj Pahwa
Director:
Aryan Khan
Writer:
Aryan Khan, Bilal Siddiqi, Manav Chauhan, Dev Singh
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
Unabashedly whacky take on Bollywood with an overdose of expletives
Thu, September 25 2025
The Ba***ds Of Bollywood revolves around Aasmaan Singh (Lakshya), who dreams of becoming a famous movie star. After arriving in Mumbai from his hometown Delhi and struggling for some time, he gets an opportunity to showcase his heroic skills and bags the film Revolver. The movie becomes a hit and he achieves initial stardom. Aasmaan stays with his uncle Avtar (Manoj Pahwa), who has been struggling all his life to become a singer and musician, and his loyal best friend Parvaiz (Raghav Juyal). His mother Neeta (Mona Singh) once dreamt of becoming an actress but could not be more than a background dancer. His father Rajat (Vijayant Kohli) is suffering from a liver disease.
(Writing for M9 News)
Noisy Parody, Little Fun
Mon, September 22 2025
Aasman Singh is an overnight sensation, having made a remarkable acting debut and working wonders. He gets into a salty banter with Karishma, the daughter of a star, Arjun Talvar, at a roundtable interview. Cashing in on the controversy, Aasman and Karishma are paired in a new film, and love is in the air. Yet, their romance struggles to take off, thanks to an ugly tiff, an underworld deal and a long-buried secret.
(Writing for The Voice of Fashion)
Aryan Khan flips the script
Mon, September 22 2025
For as long as Bollywood has existed, dynasties have shaped its stories, both on and off screen. Shah Rukh Khan, however, was the self-made outlier—the Delhi boy who rewrote the rules of stardom. His son Aryan Khan inherits not just wealth and visibility, but the paradox of being heir to self-made Bollywood royalty. So, when Aryan steps forward as writer-director of The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the series is inevitably being measured against not just his craft but his surname also. From its opening frames, The Ba***ds of Bollywood announces itself as more than just another OTT drama. Aryan’s debut as director is glossy, meta, and occasionally satirical, as eager to lampoon the industry as it is to luxuriate in its glossy surfaces. The series is, in many ways, a tug-of-war between love and resentment: for the power of Bollywood mythology, for the spectacle of its excess, and for the suffocating hierarchies that govern who belongs and who does not. That tension animates the show, and also exposes its unevenness.
Nishaanchi
Crime, Drama (Hindi)
Twin brothers, identical looks but different values, face brotherhood, betrayal, love, and redemption. Their paths weave through crime into a deeper story of human nature and its results.
Cast:
Aaishvary Thackeray, Vedika Pinto, Monika Panwar, Kumud Mishra, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Vineet Kumar Singh, Girish Sharma, Rajesh Kumar, Gaurav Singh, Saharsh Kumar Shukla
Director:
Anurag Kashyap
Writer:
Anurag Kashyap, Prasoon Mishra, Ranjan Chandel
Anuraag Kashyap Plays it Safe and Has His Eyes Fixed on the Box Office
Mon, September 22 2025
The strongest and weakest thing about Anurag Kashyap’s latest is that it is, indeed, an Anurag Kashyap film. As the film plodded along frustratingly in its third hour, I realised he’s still got the goods as a director. It’s something I gleaned from a tender moment in the sprawling 176-minute Nishaanchi. Wrestler-turned-goon Jabardast Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh) has just killed another pehelwaan (wrestler), after finding out he has wronged a local woman. This is Kanpur in 1996, and it’s not just the woman’s ‘honour’ Jabardast wants to avenge; he also wants to settle his score with a man (son-in-law of the president of the wrestling club), who got picked as the captain, ahead of Jabardast for years, forcing him to gulp his humiliation and give up wrestling to become a thug. In the scene, Jabardast is lying in bed with Manjiri (Monika Panwar) telling her he’ll have to surrender to the police. Being the right-hand man of a well-respected/feared thug, Jabardast has been assured that he’ll only have to serve a brief sentence, after which he will come back.
The Burden of Greatness
Mon, September 22 2025
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
Kashyap throws in some more shootouts in familiar territory
Sun, September 21 2025
Ah, the age-old tale of twin brothers with identical looks but vastly different values. It’s been done to death in Hindi cinema, and yet, here we are again—because why not revisit a classic, right? In Nishaanchi, Anurag Kashyap takes another swing at his Gangs of Wasseypur-like canvas, complete with brotherly brawls, betrayals, love affairs, and the occasional redemption arc. You know, just your typical Bollywood recipe for family dysfunction. Produced by Ajay Rai, Vipin Agnihotri, and Ranjan Singh under JAR Pictures, in collaboration with Flip Films, this film stars newcomer Aaishwary Thackeray alongside Monika Panwar, Vedika Pinto, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and the inimitable Kumud Mishra. Kashyap once again takes a deep dive into the murky waters of small-town India, where politicians are corrupt, cops are bent, and men are generally itching to pull the trigger. It’s not just about a bullet to the head, though—no, no. The real violence here is much more intimate, and yes, we’re talking about the good ol’ Purabiya slang. Let’s be real: this is not the polite underworld; it’s the kind where you need to duck every five seconds.
The Trial S02
Drama, Crime, Mystery (Hindi)
A housewife is forced to take full responsibility of her family after her husband is imprisoned over a corruption and sex scandal.
Cast:
Kajol, Jisshu Sengupta, Kubbra Sait, Alyy Khan, Sheeba Chaddha, Sonali Kulkarni
(Writing for M9 News)
Better Sequel, Still Forgettable
Mon, September 22 2025
The Trial, the Hindi adaptation of the popular show The Good Wife, didn’t particularly have a good start with its first season, although it garnered enough viewership for Jio Hotstar to renew it for another instalment. The show struggled to rise above a collection of stray events in a middle-aged woman’s life, desperately rushing through episodes in a bid to keep a viewer hooked.
Mon, September 22 2025
जानी-मानी अदाकारा काजोल की डेब्यू वेब सीरीज ‘द ट्रायल’ का पहला सीजन काफी चर्चा में रहा था। अपने पति से धोखा खाने के बावजूद समाज में उसका हाथ थामकर खड़ी होने वाली पत्नी, अपनी बच्चियों को प्रोटेक्ट करने वाली एक मजबूत मां और वकालत की दुनिया में फिर से अपनी पहचान तलाशती वकील नोयोनिका सेनगुप्ता के रूप में काजोल को काफी पसंद गया था। अब इसका दूसरा सीजन आया है, लेकिन इस बार वो पहले वाला तेवर और रोमांच नदारद है। इस बार के कोर्ट केसेज जहां फीके हैं, वहीं राजनीति के मैदान में चलने वाली बयानबाजी भी खोखली मालूम देती है। चर्चित अमेरिकी सीरीज ‘द गुड वाइफ’ पर आधारित यह कहानी पिछली बार से ही आगे बढ़ती है, जहां नोयोनिका (काजोल) के ना चाहते हुए भी उसका पति राजीव (जिशु सेनगुप्ता) राजनीति में उतर जाता है। इस कारण उनके रिश्ते में तल्खी बनी रहती है, जिसका असर उनके बच्चों पर भी पड़ता है। उसकी जिंदगी में राजीव की विरोधी नेता नारायणी भोले (सोनाली कुलकर्णी) की भी एंट्री होती है, जो नोयोनिका की लाख कोशिशों के बावजूद उसके परिवार को राजनीति का दलदल में घसीट ही लेती है।
The Trial Season 2 has no reason to exist
Sun, September 21 2025
Remaking The Good Wife was never a good idea. Having a poorly-made second season follow up what was at best an average Season 1 has been disastrous. The Trial, that marked Kajol’s web series debut, recently dropped its sophomore season — making for six episodes of unnecessary melodrama, surface-level courtroom action and a soap opera feel to what should have been a gripping, intense legal thriller. Streaming on JioHotstar, Season 2 takes place three months after the first season ended (which was in 2023). The Sengupta couple — Noyonika (Kajol) and Rajiv (Jisshu Sengupta) are caught in an increasingly fractured relationship. Noyonika is now a much sought-after lawyer while Rajiv is trying to clean his scandal-ridden image by joining politics (but, of course!). Noyonika’s colleague Vishal (Alyy Khan) still holds a candle for her, even as their law firm acquires a new partner (Param Munjal, played by Karanvir Sharma) who has his own rules of how to keep the system going, thus disrupting the balance of power. Malini (Sheeba Chaddha), the Khanna in Khanna & Chaubey, feels increasingly threatened enough to want to start her own firm, seeking Noyonika’s allyship.
Shakthi Thirumagan
Action, Drama, Thriller (Tamil)
A tribal woman is brutally assaulted and killed. Her newborn is mercilessly abandoned in a dump yard, left to die. But fate intervenes — an old man discovers the infant and decides to raise him as his own. The child, named Kittu,After the old man’s death, Kittu is left to fend for himself,determined to confront his mother’s killer.
Cast:
Vijay Antony, Trupthi ravindra, Vagai Chandrasekar, Sunil kripalini, Cell Murugan, Rini Bot, Riya Jithu, Kiran Kumar, Master Keshav
Director:
Arun Prabu Purushothaman
Writer:
Arun Prabu Purushothaman
Promising political drama overpowered by preachiness
Mon, September 22 2025
Power. In this world, which is all about the ones on top governing the kinds of lives lived by the ones on the bottom, power is ultimate. Of course, there is the adage that ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ But when presented with the possibility of having absolute power, there are not many who would deny that opportunity. Shakthi Thirumagan is about a person who refuses to deny that opportunity. One which he carefully crafted over time, greased more than a few palms, did more than his fair share of nefarious activities, and gained the key to ultimate power: information. In many ways, Arun Prabu Purushothaman’s Shakthi Thirumagan is a film about how the biggest power in a democracy, even if it might seem increasingly futile in an intolerant world, is the right to ask the right questions to the right people at the right time to get the right kind of information.
Jolly LLB 3
Drama, Comedy (Hindi)
The third part of the Jolly LLB trilogy brings back Jagdish Tyagi and Jagdishwar Mishra for the biggest face-off as Janki Devi Solanki awaits justice against industrialist Khaitan in a satire on the judiciary, justice and the gulf between the privileged and the people on the other side of the spectrum.
Cast:
Arshad Warsi, Akshay Kumar, Saurabh Shukla, Gajraj Rao, Seema Biswas, Amrita Rao, Huma Qureshi, Ram Kapoor, Shrikant Verma, Sushil Pandey
Director:
Subhash Kapoor
Writer:
Subhash Kapoor
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi & last 30 minutes are the highlights
Sun, September 21 2025
olly LLB 3’s backstory dates to 2011 in Parsaul, a remote village in Rajasthan. An aged farmer Rajaram Solanki doesn’t agree to sell his land to India’s richest businessman Haribhai Khetan (Gajraj Rao) for his ‘Bikaner To Boston’ residential complex project. He is then framed in a fake case about non-payment of dues. He loses the case. Dejected, he dies by suicide. But his wife Janaki (Seema Biswas) vows to get justice, not just for Rajaram but also for various other farmers, whose lives are negatively affected by the project. The story moves few years later in Delhi, where advocate Jagdishwar Mishra aka Jolly (Akshay Kumar) from Lucknow and advocate Jagdish Tyagi aka (also) Jolly from Meerut are always seen fighting over stealing each other’s cases in a lower court. The two can’t see eye to eye. One day, Janaki approaches them with her late husband and other farmers’ case. However, she no fees to pay to any of the two Jollys.
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
Saurabh Shukla and Gajraj Rao make it watchable!
Sun, September 21 2025
Film ideas often originate from a simple “spark”—a personal experience, a keen observation, or even an arbitrary thought—that is subsequently nurtured through creative techniques such as brainstorming, research, and writing. Once an idea takes root and begins to blossom, there’s no turning back for the creator. Following the phenomenal success of Jolly LLB (2013), writer-director Subhash Kapoor drew inspiration from the complexities of the Indian legal system, rather than from a specific case, and capitalized on this concept with the sequel Jolly LLB 2 (2017). Now, the third instalment in the series, Jolly LLB 3, continues this tradition, promising yet another legal comedy-drama that blends elements from real judicial cases into entertaining, and often humorous, narratives that highlight both the legal system and its human side. Directed by Kapoor, the film stars Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, and Saurabh Shukla, with Amrita Rao and Huma Qureshi reprising their roles from the previous films. The plot is inspired by the 2011 land acquisition protests in Uttar Pradesh.
Akshay & Arshad’s film takes a stand for farmers
Sat, September 20 2025
Most of us grew up with elders who constantly chimed, “Do not waste food.” On one hand, it was the sentiment that a wasted serving could have fed someone poor. On the other hand, they knew the effort it takes to harvest a basket full of cauliflowers or tomatoes. Having grown up (and past these ideas), we now casually discard food if the preparation isn’t to our liking. But where do the raw materials come from? After all, a typical Indian dish requires ten ingredients, including oil. In Subhash Kapoor’s Jolly LLB 3, we take a riveting trip down those lanes – into the thankless lives of Indian farmers, steeped in poverty and systemic neglect. As we know, Jolly LLB 3 is a franchise film where a not-so-smart lawyer (Arshad Warsi and/or Akshay Kumar) takes on the system and earns justice for a needy person or community. Also, the guys share a common name. Jolly No. 1 (Arshad Warsi) and Jolly No. 2 (Akshay Kumar) practice in a Delhi court, and their squabbles over hijacking each other’s clients are a running joke.
Police Police
Comedy, Drama (Tamil)
A cop hires a criminal to become a cop illegally. How long will they manage to get away with it?
Cast:
Sujitha Dhanush, Jayaseelan, Shabanaa Shahjahan, Senthil Kumar
(Writing for M9 News)
Stale Cop Story, Just for Timepass
Sat, September 20 2025
The series follows the story of an SI Raja and a gambler named Murali, and how they clash and unite for a common purpose later. Giving up his past, Murali seeks redemption by helping Raja solve a crime. After Raja’s aggressive actions in a few cases, his manipulative colleague Vaavar rises to prominence. Meanwhile, Raja tries to reestablish his position by making an offer to Murali to turn a cop.
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
Drama, Romance (Marathi)
A thirty-year-old city-dweller compelled to spend ten-day mourning of his father in the rugged countryside of Western India tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, he must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Cast:
Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap, Dhananjay Jambar, Sandhya Pawase, Hemant Kadam, Vidhya Joshi, Ram Daund
Director:
Rohan Kanawade
Writer:
Rohan Kanawade
A lyrical, languid journey of self-discovery and belonging that offers hope even in difficult circumstances
Sat, September 20 2025
(Writing for OTT Play)
An Astounding, Assured Debut
Sat, September 20 2025
Fairly early in Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), a character is instructed on how to grieve. Don’t cut your hair, don’t ask for a second helping and walk bare feet for the next couple of days. Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) has just lost his father but his extended relatives have no time for feelings. The mourning ought to be communal and hence regimented, an ask which falls in line with their larger curiosity in Anand’s life: at 30 years of age, why is he still unmarried? The demand to conform and the desire to live form the crux of Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda, a strikingly assured debut and the first Marathi film to be premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. After Anand’s father passes away, his mother persuades him to go to his ancestral village for the stipulated 10-day mourning period. He resists suggesting that he will go to pick her up instead. A quiet telling-off changes his mind as they both journey back to a place which has more memories than people.
Rohan Kanawade Both Deploys And Subverts The Weepy Gay Man Genre
Sat, September 20 2025
A weepy gay man is a genre unto himself, moping throughout, a smile as though kryptonite, whose relationship to life is mediated by melancholy and self pity, a melancholy and self pity that gushes from the wellspring of his wounded sexuality. Valid or not, this misery is templated. Writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), the first-ever Marathi-language feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2025 as part of their World Cinema Dramatic Competition, both deploys and destabilises this genre. Here, the melancholy of Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), the queer protagonist, is actually grief — his father passed away, and it is under the shade of this grief that the story of his sexuality stretches itself in a quiet, twilled yawn.
Don't Tell Mother
Family, Drama (English)
Aakash, a 9-year-old boy is subjected to physical violence at school by his Math teacher and ends up hiding it from his strict but caring mother. When tragedy arises, irreplaceable bonds are forged between Aakash, his mother and his innocent younger brother, Adi in this tender family drama set in the 90s Bangalore.
Cast:
Siddarth Swaroop, Aishwarya Dinesh, Anirudh P Keserker, Karthik Nagarajan, Sachit Murthy
Director:
Anoop Lokkur
Writer:
Anoop Lokkur
A Charming Tale of Growing Up in 1990s Bangalore
Sat, September 20 2025
Maybe the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz was right—“When a writer is born into a family, the family is finished.” Artists look at their past as grist they can reframe on their terms. And this anxiety of re-writing one’s personal history sometimes shines through—the best memoirs are, after all, shameless and transgressive, and timid are those that cave under the weight of this trespassing anxiety. or writer-director Anoop Lokkur’s debut Kannada feature Don’t Tell Mother, which had its world premiere at the 30th Busan International Film Festival, this anxiety has been swept aside and muscled under by nostalgia. Set in Jayanagar, Bangalore in the 1990s—a significant Brahmin bastion—the film follows two siblings, Akaash (Siddharth Swaroop) and Adi (Anirudh P. Keserker), young boys inching towards self-hood, as they make space for their childhood alongside punctures of parental influence and interference, school-day routines, classmate cacophony, and the sudden calls and catfights with neighbourhood friends. They live next to a mosque, so the azaan becomes part of their life’s sounds—one the film makes forceful, by cutting to images of the chanting minarets. (In a post-Babri 1990s, when the Infosys IPO is being launched, you feel the film will say more about this, but it doesn’t, and lets these images, like that of Muharram, puncture the proceedings as a form of spectacle without discourse.)
Beauty
Romance, Drama (Telugu)
A moving and suspenseful tale of a father's unshakable love. When his daughter suddenly goes missing, his world is turned upside down. What begins as a desperate search soon becomes a gripping journey filled with questions of trust, innocence, and the true meaning of unconditional love. A film that belongs to everyone, Beauty explores a parent's relentless hope and the lengths they will go to for their child.
Cast:
Ankith Koyya, Nilakhi Patra, Naresh, Vasuki Anand, Prasad Behara, Nithin Prasanna, Muralidhar Goud, Nanda Gopal, Nagendra Medida
Director:
J S S Vardhan
Writer:
J S S Vardhan
A relevant, unsettling tale of relationships
Sat, September 20 2025
At a time when Telugu cinema often leans on grand canvases and visual effects to mask weak storylines, it is refreshing to find reminders that storytelling still matters, even in modestly budgeted films. Little Hearts, released recently, captured the innocence of young romance and parental bonding with crackling humour. This week’s release, Beauty, written by RV Subramanyam, takes a darker path. Director JSS Vardhan, credited with additional screenplay and dialogues, slowly peels back the layers to deliver an unexpected jolt. Led by Ankith Koyya, Nilakhi Patra and VK Naresh, the film gradually assembles what first appears a frustrating puzzle into a striking whole.
Mirage
Thriller, Drama (Malayalam)
A woman joins forces with a journalist to investigate secrets her fiancé was keeping from her after she is informed he has died in a tragic train accident.
Cast:
Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali, Sampath Raj, Hakkim Shajahan, Hannah Reji Koshy, Arjun Gopan, Saravanan, Deepak Parambol
Director:
Jeethu Joseph
Writer:
Srinivas Abrol, Jeethu Joseph
Jeethu Joseph drowns the viewer in the mirage of a perfect thriller
Sat, September 20 2025
Sometimes, the final moments in a movie suddenly brings its title to mind, making us marvel at the ingenuity of naming it that way. Jeethu Joseph’s Mirage attempts something similar, only that one is left wondering how the titular warning was not fully understood. The final act of the movie is filled with mirages, one scene after another, each of which misleads us into thinking that this is the big reveal, only for the screenwriter to throw another ‘twist’ in the tale at us. After encountering several such mirages, one huffs and puffs to reach the real climax of the film, vowing never to trust any character in a film. In the larger scheme of things, screenwriters Jeethu and Srinivasan Abrol are also seeking a mirage — that of the perfect thriller climax which no one would guess. Red herrings, convoluted stories and obscure incidents tenuously connected to the narrative are thrown at us with this sole aim. That also proves to be the film’s undoing.
Jeethu Joseph Ties Himself Into Knots
Sat, September 20 2025
It must have been some sort of a cruel in-joke to name the company Ashwin Kumar (Asif Ali) runs ‘Pure Facts’. It’s an online media company based out of Coimbatore, and we listen to Ashwin talk repeatedly about how he doesn’t believe in sensationalism or emotions, believing in a brand of objective journalism that provides pure facts to its viewers. You assume that he’s the stereotypical idealist but there’s always a dissonance between what he says and how he behaves. A few scenes later, after he’s tried to convince us of his ethical ways, he nonchalantly reveals how his modest operation makes money. Without making it sound like blackmail, he says he investigates the inner workings of big corporates and agrees to not reveal them on his platform for a “fee”.