Sat, March 29 2025

The biggest problem with the Nithiin, Sreeleela-starrer is that it merely goes through its motions, and ends up as a rather tepid affair.

Robinhood movie review: Director Venky Kudumula loves making films that have a simple premise, a convincing lead, enjoyable songs, and a convoluted narrative seamlessly tied together with a lot of laughs. In his latest, Robinhood, all of these are in place, but with the laughs not enough, and the ambitious narrative not being supported by the writing, Venky’s dreamy house of cards crashes down. Remember Ravi Teja-Surender Reddy’s Kick? The film that was about a do-gooder thief who tries his best to outwit the system and a tough-as-nails cop, and serve the needy by robbing from the rich. The same film was remade in Tamil with Ravi Mohan, Kannada with Upendra, and Hindi with Salman Khan. Did you ever think what would happen if Nithiin starred in the rehash of the 2009 film? No, right? Neither did many others, but Venky had other plans, and he mixes elements of yet another Telugu film that Salman Khan remade in 2011 — Ready.

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Fri, March 28 2025

The Venky Kudumula directorial is a costly reminder of how scale and big names cannot salvage an underwhelming product

It is one thing to not take yourself too seriously when you are making a comedy and another when the irreverence serves as a mask to camouflage a lazily-written and a casually-executed film. To make up for a shallow plot and the limitations of its leads, the film is desperate to elicit laughs. Apart from Nithiin and Sreeleela, the presence of multiple comedians, actors from at least half a dozen film industries, an in-form composer and a cameo by Australian cricketer David Warner try to salvage a mess. The Telugu film Robinhood, much like its title, leaves little to your imagination. An orphaned protagonist, Ram (Nithiin), takes inspiration from a school pledge to claim that the entire country is his family. In his childhood, he uses this excuse to rob the rich and helps run orphanages that are starved of funds (which is reminiscent of the Ravi Teja-starrer Kick). It is amusing that it takes the cops over a decade to focus on this case and nab the culprit.

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Fri, March 28 2025

Director SU Arun Kumar effectively crafts a complex story about love, loyalty and more that takes place in just one night.

For those who, in the flush of their youth in the early 2000s, in Tamil Nadu, life was coloured by many movies starring Vikram, but most notably Dhill (2001), Gemini (2002), Dhool (2003) and Saamy (2003). He had many hits post those too, but they all demanded so much of him physically — he gained weight, he lost weight, prosthetics were called in — we rarely got to see the performer in him shine without a crutch. We hardly got to see his shy smile or just be part of the universe created by a director, without drawing any attention to himself. Thaandavam (2012) and Mahaan (2022) were rare exceptions. The audience had to wait till 2025 to see vintage Vikram or the people’s much-loved Chiyaan back on the big screen. As Kaali in SU Arun Kumar’s Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2, Vikram makes time stand still, and you can also see the film as a continuation of the works he greenlit in the 2000s. There’s action - yes, there’s love - yes, there’s sentiment - yes, but there’s also that lovely thing missing in most films — a hero who is part of the ambience, a hero who prefers lurking in the shadows, a hero who shies away from the spotlight. Cinematographer Theni Eswar lights and frames these dark spaces beautifully, considering most of the film takes place at night.

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Fri, March 28 2025

Arun Kumar has risen up to this challenge of making a Vikram film that will appeal to all, and even when he falters, there are a lot of positives

In many ways, Veera Dheera Sooran is director SU Arun Kumar’s version of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Kaithi. The entire film unfolds during a single night, and builds towards an important event that must take place at sunrise. There is a gang on the run, and hunting them is a police officer with a plan. There is a sense of urgency. There are chases, fights, and violence. And then… there’s a weapon of mass destruction waiting to be unleashed. And yet, Veera Dheera Sooran is as distinct a film as Kaithi. How beautiful is it that similar stories can look and feel so different because of a filmmaker’s style and vision, and of course… the actor’s stardom?

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Fri, March 28 2025

The film doesn’t hold your hand—it drops you straight into a world already in motion. Director SU Arun Kumar uses smart storytelling, understated character moments, and emotional depth to elevate a familiar “man with a past” narrative into something bold and immersive.

‘Enter late and exit early’ is a popular screenwriting mantra that demands a writer start off the scene a bit late, narrowing it down to the important processing of the narrative, and exit before the resolution, leaving the audience wanting more. Director SU Arun Kumar has applied a part of this technique to the whole of Veera Dheera Sooran, which seems like a midpiece of a narrative. Hence, it’s numbered ‘Part 2’, despite being the first segment to get released. When we enter the world of Veera Dheera Sooran, it feels like you opened a novel midway. The characters are already established, and so are the origin of the context, and the motive of the characters. The film doesn’t wait for you to catch up, because it attempts to create a reality, where you are just an observer. It is indifferent to your understanding of what’s going on, and that’s the brilliance of Veera Dheera Sooran. It is more like reading a book than watching a film because it demands your investment. Things kick off when a husband complains to the police that Kannan (Suraj Venjarmoodu), an influential gangster, has done something to his missing wife and daughter. SP Arunagiri (SJ Suryah), who harbours vengeance for Kannan and his father Ravi aka Periyavar (Prudhvi Raj), uses the opportunity to end the two. When things get bad to worse, Periyavar seeks the help of an old friend, Kaali (Vikram), who is now running a provision store in a village. We are never explicitly told about all of their dynamics, but we seem to get it. That’s the splendour of the writing. You understand the characters by their actions, and not by what they say. Kaali is tasked with the job of killing the SP, but things take a different route when a hit job goes haywire.

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Fri, March 28 2025

Netflix's eight-part murder mystery, from prolific producer Shonda Rhimes, wants to march alongside the genre's greats. But a part of it also wants to throw a banana peel in their path.

Embracing the immaturity of a sitcom and the put-on sophistication of prestige TV, Netflix’s The Residence nestles into a comfy stylistic nook that makes more than eight hours of (surprisingly dense) storytelling go by in a flash. The murder mystery show is produced by the prolific Shonda Rhimes but spearheaded by writer Paul William Davies, who injects it with such an infectious sense of fun that you can’t help but play along. At least until the feature-length finale, which strains to deliver the sort of satisfying climax that you’d expect from a show that name-checks The Murder of the Orient Express and Knives Out with such affection. The genre’s ongoing resurgence didn’t, as many have decided, begin with Rian Johnson’s hit. The movie did admittedly well, leaving Netflix with no option but to hurl a reported $100 million at Daniel Craig to lure him back as the smooth-talking detective Benoit Blanc. But a couple of years before Knives Out, however, director Kenneth Branagh reintroduced Agatha Christie’s enduring detective Hercule Poirot to audiences with his largely reverential The Murder of the Orient Express. Believe it or not, the movie was a bigger hit than Knives Out. Branagh made the correct decision to not tinker with the book’s now-legendary climax, having understood that without it, it’s no different from the scores of other murder mysteries that Christie would churn out on a monthly basis.

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Fri, March 28 2025

The ‘MAD’ trio returns in a new setting and the result is a patchy absurd comedy. A few segments bring the house down while the rest fizzles

In late 2023, when director Kalyan Shankar’s campus comedy MAD introduced the audience to the three protagonists after whom the Telugu film takes its name, their antics forged an instant connect with the student community and anyone who wanted to reminisce campus fun. It worked as a Happy Days redux for a new generation, served with large doses of silly but mostly likeable humour. A worthy follow up to a runaway hit is a tough act to pull off. Sangeeth Sobhan, Narne Nithiin and Ram Nithiin return in a new set up, accompanied by Vishnu Oi and Muralidhar Goud. However, the material they are dealing with is like a patchwork of segments. Some generate ample laughs while the others fizzle, even within the framework of absurd comedy. In that sense, MAD Square is no Tillu Square, the other sequel comedy blockbuster from the same production house. The MAD trio — Manoj (Ram Nitin), Ashok (Narne Nithiin) and Damodar aka DD (Sangeeth Sobhan) — has moved on since the campus days but little else has changed. Their post-campus days unfold through a flashback narrated by Ganesh aka Laddu (Vishnu Oi), who is now in prison.

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Fri, March 28 2025

Obtuse, poorly paced, and mildly incoherent, director Mimi Cave's psychological thriller has style to spare, but not enough meat on the bones.

After breaking out with the horror-thriller Fresh a few years ago — this was the movie in which Daisy Edgar-Jones played a young woman on a blind date with a man who turns out to be a cannibal — director Mimi Cave stays firmly in her comfort zone with her sophomore project, this week’s Holland. The cast is bigger, as is the budget and the scale. Fresh was mostly restricted to one large house, where the predatory male protagonist would lure his female prey and then, literally feast on them. An entire suburban town serves as Cave’s playground this time around; and at least one of its citizens is a killer of women. Nicole Kidman plays Nancy, a seemingly mild-mannered woman who works at the local school and dotes on her husband, Fred, played by Matthew Macfadyen. The one-time heartthrob — he played Mr Darcy in 2005’s Pride & Prejudice adaptation — seems to have been typecast as weaselly villains following his memorable performance as Tom Wambsgans in HBO’s Succession. Fred works as an optometrist; he’s the sort of guy that everybody seems to be friendly with, but crucially, not friends with. Nancy becomes suspicious when he starts going on weekly work trips, often using the flimsiest excuses.

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Wed, March 26 2025

Co-creator and director Seth Rogen plays a newly promoted studio head who has hilarious encounters as he struggles to keep the company afloat.

Making movies is a serious business. But in the Apple TV+ series, The Studio, co-created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, seeing the behind-the-scenes decisions on how movies get sanctioned is very funny business indeed. Rogen is Matt Remick, who is bumped up as the head of Continental Studios, and has to prove himself over and over as he tries to do what he loves the most, make movies. The clever and biting satire lifts the lid on awards ceremonies, industry parties, and of course, the deals that go into making sure the movies get sanctioned in the first place. Corporate CEO Griffin Mill, played by the excellent Bryan Cranston in a guest appearance, promotes Matt Remick as top boss and sets some unreasonable expectations on him. The movie-loving executive has some tough decisions to make from here on, most of which he fumbles badly. Like most studios, Matt must launch a franchise based on a nostalgic brand like Barbie, and watching him and his team put together a film on Kool-Aid is downright hilarious. Even more cringeworthy are Matt’s interactions with people who make movies; he has a desperate need to be liked. At times when absolutely everything goes wrong, he and his team manage to hold it through.

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Sat, March 22 2025

After Ted Lasso and Severance, Apple seems to have landed its third major breakout hit, a showbiz satire starring Seth Rogen as a lovably clumsy studio head.

The Studio has two things going against it. Films and shows about the entertainment business often struggle to crawl out of their niche corners, unless, of course, they’re packaged like Argo. Second — and this might be a bigger problem — The Studio is on Apple. Nobody watches stuff on Apple. At most, they watch Ted Lasso and Severance and swiftly cancel their subscriptions. The best that The Studio can hope for is to organically find an audience like those flagship shows did, because it certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as them. Clever, crafty, and caustic when it needs to be, it’s the best new comedy series of 2025 so far. The Studio features Seth Rogen in the lead role of Matt Remick, an executive who lives and breathes cinema, and harbours a long-held dream of becoming a studio head. In the first episode, he’s handed the proverbial keys to the castle on a conditional basis by the head honcho of Continental Studios, played by Bryan Cranston in a performance so boozy that it might require a breathalyser test. Tasked with fast-tracking a movie based on the beverage brand Kool-Aid — you read that right — and turning it into a billion-dollar hit akin to Barbie, Matt finds himself torn between his artistic aspirations and the primal impulses of his lizard brain.

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Mon, March 24 2025

Created by Neeraj Pandey, this second instalment in the Khakee franchise is a typical crime drama from the filmmaker, packed with lots of jaw-dropping twists

A standalone followup to Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, this new instalment is set in Kolkata, with the only similarity being a cop bringing down a crime nexus. In Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, the corruption is deep-rooted, wherein the politicians in power already have an alliance with gangsters. The Hindi series, created by Neeraj Pandej, boasts of a star-studded cast who fill out the erractic narrative in which every man and woman is out for themselves. The crime thriller is set in the early 2000s, with Parambrata Chatterjee playing an honorable cop who sets out to break up the lawlessness in the city. However, his death sets off a chain of events that leads to the downfall of the whole criminal alliance between the ruling party, the cops, and the top crime lord Bagha (Saswata Chatterjee). Afterwards, the balance of power continues to shift as everyone tries to make a play. But with a new man on the scene with IPS Arjun Maitra (Jeet), it starts off a bloody game of chess.

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Sat, March 22 2025

Ruffians in Kolkata kidnap a noted politician’s grandson. A sincere officer Saptarshi comes on board to resolve the issue, seemingly linked to a dreaded gangster Bagha. While the boy is released, tensions erupt between Bagha and his henchmen, eventually leading to twin murders. A new cop Arjun Maitra comes on board to clean the mess. Jeet holds his own as a police officer with a conscience. He plays a straightforward character (sans much evolution), ensuring restraint and keeping his emotions at check. Prosenjit Chatterjee is perfectly cast as a crooked politician. The performer uses all his experience well, bringing a method to the madness. Chitrangada Singh, despite a late resurgence, is wasted in a one-note role. Playing friends-turned-foes, both Ritwik Bhowmik and Aadil Zafar Khan display adequate spunk and verve in their portrayals. Parambrata Chatterjee and Saswata Chatterjee don’t get to do much in the ‘basic’ roles. Amidst the heavyweights, Aakansha Singh holds the fort, performing a crucial role with composure. Mimoh Chakraborty tries to make the most of a well-etched character. Shraddha Das looks like a dream in a brief appearance.

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Sat, March 22 2025

The second outing of a well-made franchise is a tough nut to crack. ‘Khakee: The Bengal Chapter’, a standalone sequel to Neeraj Pandey’s acclaimed series ‘Khakee: The Bihar Chapter’, faces the same acid test of great expectations. The anticipation is high, but can the master of thrillers up the game once again, or ends up delivering more of the same? Showrunner Pandey’s creative signature is writ all over as the series brims with immense possibilities. Only, these mostly remain unrealised. The subject at hand, a self-righteous cop pitted against the politician-gangster nexus, is nearly on the same lines as ‘The Bihar Chapter’, which was based on the memoir, ‘Bihar Diaries: The True Story of How Bihar’s Most Dangerous Criminal Was Caught’, by Amit Lodha. ‘The Bengal Chapter’ is a fictional story written by Pandey, Debatma Mandal and Samrat Chakroborty.

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Sun, March 23 2025

Created by Katie Robbins, the complex but biased family drama skews in favour of the adults as it debuts on OTT.

There have several documentaries and series dissecting the curious case of Natalia Grace, a young Ukrainian girl with dwarfism adopted by an American couple. Later, the couple, Kristen and Michael Barnett, allege that they’ve been misled and Natalia is actually an adult. The adoption drama, which later escalates into a legal trial, is detailed in the new JioHotstar series, Good American Family, led by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass. The tone of the series feels similar to a horror film or a car crash, when you know that the inevitable is upon you soon. Kristen (Ellen Pompeo) and Michael Barnett (Mark Duplass) already have a strained marriage, raising three boys, including one with autism. They are seeking to adopt a young girl to complete their family. Kristen is shown as a selfless Midwestern mother, running a rec center for special needs and raising her autistic son, who is considered a prodigy. Meanwhile, Michael is shown as slightly more needy and unable to handle the larger pressures of life. Their marriage is one crack away from splitting when Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) enters their home.

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Sat, March 22 2025

Yet another Disney live-action remake, hardly better than any of the others

Yet another remake of yet another often retold Disney classic is revisited as the Marc Webb-directed musical Snow White. Featuring a mix of new and old songs, a fresh cast, the same story by the Brothers Grimm rehashed by writer Erin Cressida Wilson, and some new but questionable creative ideas. Snow White is thus named by her perfect parents, the King and Queen, because she was born on a snowy night. They lead a happy life, spreading joy among their happy subjects. Young Snow White (Emilia Faucher) makes delicious apple pies for all the townspeople as they sing along merrily. But after her mother dies, her father remarries a beautiful woman who turns out to be singularly evil. This spells the end of the kingdom’s days of plenty, and long-term servitude for Snow White. Gal Gadot, with all the regalia, is the menacing Evil Queen, adorned in gems and drenched in complex vanity and greed. She repeatedly seeks validation from the magical mirror. But her evil reaches a new high when she is threatened by Snow White’s beauty and grace, condemning her stepdaughter to death. However, Snow White manages to escape and finds shelter in the unlikely company of seven dwarves.

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Sat, March 22 2025

Vikram Bhatt's Tumko Meri Kasam is a vanity vehicle. This is not an anomaly but given the rut Hindi cinema is in, the existence of such a film only reinforces the pliability of the industry.

Second time within months there is an Aurangzeb reference in a Hindi film. If the Mughal ruler was vilified in Laxman Utekar’s Chhaava then he is freshly referenced in Vikram Bhatt’s Tumko Meri Kasam. A character wickedly says he can do anything to sit in the seat of power, like Aurangzeb. But neither the man saying it is particularly odious nor is the outcome of the mention a disaster. One can argue about the overall ineffectiveness of Bhatt’s new work, but, in reality, Tumko Meri Kasam harks back to the good old time in Hindi cinema when films were made without agenda and motives, and scenes were allowed to breathe and not spliced together by furtive video-game editing. Well, one part of this is more true than the other. Scenes go on unendingly in Tumko Meri Kasam (endearing at first and grating soon after) as the narrative veers towards propaganda. Except, Bhatt’s film props up a man and not a nation. But given that it props at least something up, Anupam Kher features in a central role and does everything. He stands in court as the accused; he argues as his own lawyer and doubles up as a detective to find loopholes in the case even as police officers remain conspicuously absent like what we are watching is a figment of someone’s imagination.

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Sat, March 22 2025

Nimma, a Punjabi immigrant, faces racism, forcing him into Sarab’s gang. He rises quickly, but Rawat’s mole threatens their empire. Gang wars erupt, demanding Nimma’s fierce loyalty. Sarab’s arrest leaves Nimma vulnerable, surviving an attack. A coma, addiction, and betrayal follow. Sarab escapes, leading to a vengeful confrontation between him and Nimma, fuelled by chaos and loss. Parmish Verma, the popular musician, bares his heart out to portray the angst and the chaos within Nimma. However, with more effort to internalise the role, he could have created a more lasting impact. Aadar Malik, as Nimma’s on-screen bestie and musician, has an impressive screen presence, helping him emote with precision. Kanneda is an important show, capturing the immigrant experience through an insider’s lens, reminding us that Indian stories needn’t always be home-soil bound. The series serves as a cautionary tale, depicting a 90s Punjabi life in Canada gone wrong – a musician lost in drugs, crimes, and gangs. Despite everyone’s attempts to help and transform him, redemption eludes him.

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Sat, March 22 2025

‘कन्नेडा’ वेब सीरीज के नरेटर मोहम्मद जीशान अय्यूब के शब्दों में कहें तो इसे समझने के लिए कनाडा देश को समझना होगा, जहां दो देश बसते हैं। एक गोरों की फर्स्ट वर्ल्ड कंट्री ‘कैनेडा’ और दूसरा थर्ड वर्ल्ड कंट्री से आए प्रवासियों का ‘कन्नेडा’, जिसके निवासियों को सेकंड क्लास सिटीजन समझा जाता था। यह कहानी इसी तबके के एक ऐसे बंदे निर्मल चहल उर्फ निम्मा (परमीश वर्मा) की है, जो कनाडा और कन्नेडा के बीच की इस दूरी को मिटाने के लिए कुछ भी करने पर आमादा हो जाता है। साल 1984 के दंगों के बाद अपना पिंड पंजाब छोड़कर वैंकूवर में बसा निम्मा पढ़ाई, खेलकूद, म्यूजिक हर चीज में अव्वल होता है। स्कूल में वह गोरों के खेल रग्बी में सिलेक्ट होने वाला पहला ब्राउन मुंडा बनता है, मगर गोरे साजिशन उसे ड्रग रखने के जुर्म में फंसाकर टीम से निकाल देते हैं। इसके बाद निम्मे को यकीन हो जाता है कि वह कितनी भी मेहनत कर ले, खुद को सुपीरियर समझने वाले कनाडा वासी उसे वह इज्जत नहीं देंगे। इसलिए वह ताकत और पैसा हासिल करके यह इज्जत कमाने का ठान लेता है।

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Fri, March 21 2025

The eight-episode series struggles to capture the Punjabi immigrant experience in 1990s Canada.

Kanneda, the title of this eight-episode drama, is “Canada” pronounced with a Punjabi twang. The theme is clear — an Indian immigrant story that unfolds in the awkward cultural gap between Kanneda and Canada. The setting is Vancouver in the 1990s; the narrator helpfully tells us that racism is rampant and Punjabis continue to be treated as second-class citizens. The central character is Nirmal ‘Nimma’ Chahal (Parmish Verma), a young and hotheaded chap who slowly mutates from fairytale to cautionary tale. It’s a familiar journey: Nimma starts off honest (a rugby scholarship to kickstart a music career), before losing faith in the system and getting into the drugs-and-gangster business. Flashbacks allegedly suggest that his family left Punjab during the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, but his trauma looks anything but generational.

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Sat, March 22 2025

Latika and Palash, siblings in Purulia, a small West Bengal town, attempt a bank robbery to prevent the loss of their ancestral home. Their plan quickly spirals out of control, attracting gangsters, police officers, and robbers. Hidden secrets from their past resurface, creating further chaos. They navigate a treacherous landscape of betrayals and altering alliances and face tricky situations. Tanya Maniktala is undoubtedly a promising young talent in the digital space, but one wonders if she’s consistently underselling herself by picking a series of mediocre projects (how good was she in A Suitable Boy and Kill?) She’s good in Loot Kaand, but can’t salvage it from its chaotic execution. Sahil Mehta, as the on-screen sibling, is effective, reflecting his evolution with every opportunity. Loot Kaand, as the title suggests, is the drama woven around a robbery. Director Ruchir Arun and the writers create a situation where two flawed protagonists – siblings Latika and Palash – resort to a crime out of financial necessity, only to realise they’re not alone. They find themselves entangled in a web of an arms scam, a kidnap and run for their lives amidst deceitful, dangerous men.loot-kaand

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