Guild Reviews by Film
Tees
Drama, Science Fiction (Hindi)
Spanning across 90 years, follow a middle-class Muslim family across three generations. 2042. Six months after his manuscript titled Tees (30) is rejected for publication by the Literature and Arts Commission, Anhad Draboo, a young freelance prostitute, meets Niharika, a “reader” from the Commission – who has been searching for Anhad ever since she read his manuscript. 2018. Zia Draboo, a corporate lawyer living in Mumbai and all set to buy the flat she has been renting with her partner Meera, finds out she cannot buy it because of the Housing Society’s resistance to her name. 1989-90. Ayesha, a housebound State Radio newsreader in Srinagar, Kashmir, reaches out to her childhood friend Usha to solicit help from her husband – a government official. She needs it for her own husband, Ghulam Muhammad, who faces bankruptcy and ruin amongst rising unrest in the city.
Cast:
Naseeruddin Shah, Huma Qureshi, Manisha Koirala, Kalki Koechlin, Neeraj Kabi, Divya Dutta, Zoya Hussain, Shashank Arora, Rohan Joshi
Director:
Dibakar Banerjee
Writer:
Dibakar Banerjee, Gaurav Solanki
Fri, November 15 2024
Dibakar Banerjee's generation-spanning saga about entrapment and emancipation remains incarcerated in Netflix's digital dungeon. What a crime.
In director Dibakar Banerjee’s Tees, three generations of a Kashmiri family grapple with identity, erasure, and a desire to be heard in an ever-evolving and increasingly intolerant India. It is cruelly ironic, therefore, that the movie itself has been throttled like its characters. Originally titled Freedom, the ambitious saga has effectively been caged on a hard disk by the paranoid Netflix. But despite being denied a release by the streamer, Tees was presented in its complete form at the 13th Dharamshala International Film Festival recently, with Banerjee present to soak in the warmth that seemed to be emanating from the hundreds of pilgrims who queued up for it on a winter evening. Tees opens, rather worryingly, with a scene that wouldn’t feel out of place in Banerjee’s latest, Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2, which was more an act of self-immolation than self-expression, if we’re being honest. A computer-generated black cat walks towards us, before it is revealed to be the internet avatar of a human being looking for a connection. The year is 2042, and a young writer named Anhad Draboo (Shashank Arora) appears rattled by the rejection of his rebellious verses by an overbearing government.
Khwaabon Ka Jhamela
Drama, Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
Shehnaz rejects Zubin's romantic proposal because she finds him boring. Later, Zubin gains confidence after meeting Ruby. Just as their romance blossoms, Shehnaz returns to Zubin's life. What unexpected twist awaits him?
Cast:
Prateik Babbar, Sayani Gupta, Danish Husain, Kubbra Sait, Freddie Love, Lillete Dubey, Kaizaad Kotwal, Karan Kalra, Shahrukh Sadri, Anisa Butt
Director:
Danish Aslam
Writer:
Danish Aslam
Sun, November 10 2024
After a messy breakup with his girlfriend Shehnaaz, Zubin moves to London for a holiday and bumps into Ruby, an intimacy expert on film sets. Realising Zubin’s love life is in disarray, she decides to help him out and even lets him stay in her room. He, in turn, restores the balance in Ruby’s financially insecure existence. Zubin, Ruby and her roommate Quinn forge an unlikely friendship over a week. Prateik Babbar is maturing like fine wine. He’s an apt choice for the role and one senses he’s similar to Zubin in more ways than one – just that he’s figuring himself in front of the camera. Sayani Gupta is equally convincing as Ruby, her characterisation is one of the film’s major strengths. Kubbra Sait is a natural, though one would’ve liked to see her role fleshed out more convincingly.
Here
Drama (English)
An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New England where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.
Cast:
Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Ellis Grunsell, Teddy Russell, Finn Guegan, Callum Macreadie, Lauren McQueen, Grace Lyra
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Sat, November 9 2024
Set entirely in the drawing room of a house, ‘Here’ explores the relationship this home shares with generations of its inhabitants, making it privy to their lives and events that unfold.
‘Life happens while you’re busy making other plans’. ‘Here’ is a moving love letter to life and fleeting time. The iconic Forrest Gump team (Hanks, Wright, Zemeckis) reunites after 30 years to give us yet another poignant human story on the evolution and circle of life. While one constantly looks ahead, the story urges you to live in the present, live ‘here’, where every beginning is the end and vice versa.
Rahasyam Idham Jagath
(English)
Rahasyam Idham Jagath" . is an exciting sci-fi adventure film, blending Indian mythology with historical discoveries found in Oregon, USA. With a fresh and intriguing storyline, this film promises to deliver a visually stunning and unforgettable experience for the Indian audience. Witness the mystery unfold in theaters worldwide on November 8th!
Sat, November 9 2024
Director Komal R Bharadwaj’s Telugu indie ‘Rahasyam Idham Jagath’ is ambitious in using science, technology and stories from the Indian epics for an adventure drama, but falls short in its execution
How far would you go to help your loved ones? This question is oft explored in books and cinema. If done well, it can be an emotionally moving drama. Komal R Bharadwaj, who has written and directed the Telugu indie film Rahasyam Idham Jagath, gives this idea a different spin, interspersing elements of science fiction and mythology. There is romance, a bitter past, a possibility of revenge, unexplained murky happenings in an eerie setting and the possibility of time travel through a wormhole. It is an ambitious, interesting idea on paper but does not translate to an engrossing adventurous ride, despite the earnest execution of the film.
I Am Kathalan
Thriller, Drama (Malayalam)
How many servers would you hack for love? What started as a silly attempt to win back his girlfriend turns into a dangerous game of revenge for Vishnu, risking everything he cherishes.
Cast:
Naslen, Anishma Anilkumar, Dileesh Pothan, Lijomol Jose, Vineeth Vasudevan, Sajin Cherukayil, Vineeth Vishwam, Arshad Ali, Kiran Josey, Zhinz Shan
Director:
Girish A. D.
Fri, November 8 2024
Despite being an engaging watch, ‘I Am Kathalan’ hits a little below the mark compared to director Girish A.D’s previous outings
If there exists a parallel world where losers are guaranteed to find salvation, Girish A.D’s characters would probably be the rulers of that world. Down and out protagonists have been a common factor in all his films till date, be it Thanneer Mathan Dinangal or Super Sharanya or Premalu. His latest outing I Am Kathalan is no different, but just as always, he brings the same underlying theme in a different packaging.
Mura
Action, Thriller (Malayalam)
In Trivandrum, four inseperable friends, from raw, rustic background Anandhu, Saji, Manu, and Manaf plan the ultimate heist, their one shot at turning dreams into reality. But as they dive deeper, shadows from the past surface, unraveling hidden motives and testing loyalties in ways they never saw coming. When friendship clashes with ambition, how far will they go for revenge?
Cast:
Suraj Venjaramoodu, Hridhu Haroon, Maala Parvathi, Kani Kusruti, Kannan Nayar, Jobin Das, Anujith Kannan, Sibi Joseph, Alfred Jose, Krish Hassan
Director:
Muhammad Musthafa
Writer:
Suresh Babu
Fri, November 8 2024
Director Muhammed Musthafa's Mura, starring Hrithu Haroon, and Suraj Venjaramoodu, is a violent revenge thriller. The film, with brilliant stunt sequences, packs punch during pre-interval, but fizzles out later.
Director Muhammed Musthafa made his debut in the critically acclaimed Malayalam film, Kappela. The film, which is streaming on Netflix, stood out in terms of filmmaking and social message. After four years, he is now back with an action entertainer, Mura, which features Suraj Venjaramoodu and All We Can Imagine As Light-fame, Hridhu Haroon. Let’s see how the film has turned out. Local gangster Ani (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is the right hand of tough businesswoman Rema (Maala Parvathi), who entrusts him with many illegal activities. Ani, who is in touch with many rowdy gangs in the locality, reaches out to Anandhu (Hridhu Haroon) and Saji’s gang about a high-profile robbery. Anandhu, Saji, Manu and Manaf are young guns who grew up together, and know how to escape a crime scene.
Apocalypse Z - The Beginning of the End
Drama, Action, Horror (Spanish)
When a kind of rabies that transforms people into aggressive creatures spreads across the planet, Manel isolates himself at home with his cat, relying on his wits to survive; but soon they must go out in search of food, by land and by sea, dodging many dangers.
Cast:
Francisco Ortiz, José María Yázpik, Berta Vázquez, Iria del Río, Marta Poveda, Amalia Gómez, María Salgueiro, Yuri Mykhaylychenko, Ian Monclús, Yaiza Macías
Director:
Carles Torrens
Wed, November 6 2024
Despite a solid emotional core, the Spanish-language film on Prime Video demands comparison to older (and better) zombie thrillers.
Influenced by every zombie thriller ever made, but more specifically, by the video game series The Last of Us, Prime Video’s Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End is a competently crafted thriller let down by a lack of ambition. The Spanish-language film unfolds across a year in the life of a grieving man named Manel, who is caught by himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Manel is heartbroken over the death of his wife in a car crash not too long ago — the movie opens with this tragic scene — and is hanging on by a thread when the fast-spreading virus breaks out. Having survived the pandemic, everybody assumes that they can handle this outbreak as well. But they have no idea just how terrifying things are going to get. Initially, Manel decides to stay put at home and ignore the government’s instructions to participate in a military-aided evacuation. But after a couple of months in isolation, he has no choice but to make a move. Manel’s sister left with her family for the Canary Islands just as the outbreak got out of control, and even though he lost all contact with them a while ago, he decides that the smartest thing to do would be to make his way to them. Apocalypse Z is divided into chapters; not literally, like a Quentin Tarantino movie, but more structurally.
Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare
Documentary (English)
Kirat falls for a man she meets online, only to get swept up in a virtual relationship that upends her life for years, in this shocking documentary.
Cast:
Kirat Assi, Hemma Gulhane, Anurag Mehra, Ariya Larker
Director:
Lyttanya Shannon
Tue, November 5 2024
Even seasoned true-crime documentary aficionados will be left perplexed and very, very uncomfortable by what unfolds in this recently released watch on Netflix. A large part of that has to do with the fact that Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare feels both relatable and ridiculous at the same time and brings to the fore the dark abyss that is the Internet as well as exposes the shocking depths that human apathy can plunge to.
Longlegs
Crime, Horror, Thriller (English)
FBI Agent Lee Harker is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.
Cast:
Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, Lauren Acala, Kiernan Shipka, Maïla Hosie, Jason William Day
Director:
Osgood Perkins
Writer:
Osgood Perkins
Tue, November 5 2024
As is the norm in promoting any product these days, in the run-up to its theatrical release, Longlegs fell back on social media influencers to market it as the ‘scariest film of the year’. A far more interesting promotional campaign, which quickly went viral, included cryptic ads in newspapers, billboards across Los Angeles comprising nothing but a phone number which, when called, had actor Nicolas Cage, who plays the titular character, whisper ‘threats’ to listeners. A true-crime website was specially designed to detail the antecedents of Longlegs’ long list of victims. A modestly budgeted horror film was turned into an event, which made everyone ask: is Longlegs the most terrifying film in recent times?
Thu, July 18 2024
Longlegs is the rare psychological horror movie that truly gets under your skin. Featuring an instantly iconic performance by Nicolas Cage, the movie creates an ominous atmosphere with the help of a measured pace and an unsettling reliance on silence. We discuss the film’s grounded first act and its rapid descent into full-blown supernatural horror. We also talk about director Osgood Perkins’ immersive framing and the film’s themes of parenting and childhood trauma.
The Midwife's Confession
Documentary (English)
Using archive footage that has never been seen before, this BBC documentary "The Midwife's Confession" explores the disturbing subject of infanticide in rural India – and tells the moving story of one woman’s campaign to save girls’ lives.
Director:
Anubha Bhonsle, Purnima Mehta
Mon, November 4 2024
‘लड़की के मुंह में नमक डाल कर मुंह दबा देते थे, या फिर यूरिया खाद डाल देते थे, कई बार गर्दन पकड़ कर भी मरोड़ देते थे तो बच्ची मर जाती थी।’ बिहार के गांवों में दाई का काम करने वाली महिलाएं जब यह कहती हैं तो सुन कर दिल दहल जाता है। सच तो यह है कि बी.बी.सी. के यू-ट्यूब चैनल पर आई एक घंटे की डॉक्यूमैंट्री ‘द मिडवाइफ्स कन्फैशन’ (The Midwife’s Confession) देखते हुए दिल एक बार नहीं, कई बार दहलता है, बेचैन होता है, चौंकता है, उछलता है और डूबने भी लगता है।
Cast:
Arshad Warsi, Meher Vij, Baby Kiara Khanna, Shataf Figar, Arvind Kumar, Alisha Chopra, Jeeveshu Ahluwalia, Shilpi Marwaha, Kanwer Pal Kamboj, Sachin Negi
Director:
Abhishek Saxena
Writer:
Abhishek Saxena, Shaheen Iqbal
Mon, November 4 2024
अस्सी के दशक के पंजाब के बारे में मुमकिन है नई पीढ़ी के लोग खुल कर न जानते हों। उन्हें यह न पता हो कि सांझे चूल्हों और साझी विरासत वाली पंजाब की धरती पर उन दिनों फसलों की हरियाली से ज़्यादा बेकसूरों के खून की लाली दिखती थी। कुछ लोग थे जो परायों के बहकावे में आकर अपनों को ही मार रहे थे। जहां एक तरफ हिन्दुओं को चुन-चुन कर मारा जा रहा था और उन्हें पंजाब छोड़ने पर मजबूर किया जा रहता वहीं दूसरी तरफ सिक्ख भी पूरी तरह से सुरक्षित नहीं थे। लेकिन उस माहौल में बंदा सिंह चौधरी जैसे कुछ लोग थे जिन्होंने पलायन करने, डरने या मरने की बजाय मुकाबला करने का रास्ता चुना था। यह फिल्म ’बंदा सिंह चौधरी’ उस एक बंदे के बहाने से ऐसे लोगों के जुझारूपन की कहानी दिखाती है।
Fri, October 25 2024
Arshad Warsi is such a pleasing performer that he manages to lift even the worst things he is in. Playing a central character usually gives a good actor something to do. Not here.
Based on a real-life character of the same name, Bandaa Singh Chaudhary tells the tale of a man who stood his ground and fought against tremendous odds during the 1980s in Punjab, when militancy was rising rapidly, propelling a clutch of separatist movements. With Arshad Warsi playing the eponymous Banda, and Meher Vij as his spirited wife Lalli, this film had the potential to deliver a strong character study set during one of the most turbulent periods of recent Indian history. But nothing does the subject any justice, neither the story-telling nor the performances.
Brother
Drama, Family, Comedy (Tamil)
Karthik, an unwavering idealist, goes on a journey to restore harmony in the fractured family and prove himself, when his pursuit of justice inadvertently clashes with family loyalty.
Cast:
Ravi Mohan, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Bhumika Chawla, Natarajan Subramaniam, Rao Ramesh, VTV Ganesh, Achyuth Kumar, Saranya Ponvannan, Seetha, Sathish Krishnan
Director:
M. Rajesh
Sat, November 2 2024
Director Rajesh knew what worked and what didn't with his comedies. However, over the past few years, he is just attempting to regain past glory, and this is just a disappointing addition to that list.
In the 1980s and 90s, we had a steady stream of films about an outsider coming to a broken home, and uniting everyone. Visu almost perfected this template. We saw it happen in the 90s and 2000s too where the setting of the home was extended to a college, a workplace, a village, etc… Basically, Indian cinema loves its feel-good family entertainer space where there are clashes of ego, but all’s well that ends well. There was a time when M Rajesh could effectively milk these situations, and effortlessly conjure hilarious scenes with his oddball protagonists. There was a time when he soared past the generic nature of the central plot, and neatly wrapped it all up with his brand of comedy. Unfortunately, hardly any of this happens in his latest film Brother.