F1: The Movie
Action, Drama (English)
Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory. (more…)
Metro... in Dino
Drama, Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
Follows interconnected stories of several different couples, each facing a crossroads at different stages in their lives and relationships. (more…)
Heads of State
Action, Thriller, Comedy (English)
The UK Prime Minister and US President have a public rivalry that risks their countries' alliance. But when they become targets of a powerful enemy, they're forced to rely on each other as they go on a wild, multinational run. (more…)
Jurassic World Rebirth
Science Fiction, Adventure, Action (English)
Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, covert operations expert Zora Bennett is contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world's three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora's operation intersects (more…)
Guild Reviews
Thammudu
Action, Comedy, Family (Telugu)
A troubled man reunites with his sister to protect her and a group of villagers from the brutal plans of a violent criminal businessman.
Cast:
Nithiin, Sapthami Gowda, Laya, Varsha Bollamma, Swasika, Saurabh Sachdeva, Hari Teja, Srikanth Iyengar, Temper Vamsi, Chammak Chandra
Director:
Venu Sriram
Writer:
Venu Sriram
Nithiin struggles in an excruciating survival thriller
Mon, July 7 2025
There is a fine line between inventive and outright bizarre. On paper, Thammudu might have seemed like a gripping watch —blending complex family dynamics, childhood friendship, and a good-versus-evil survival thriller. But in execution, it is more of an endurance test than an immersive film. Written and directed by Venu Sriram, starring Nithiin, Varsha Bollamma, Sapthami Gowda and Laya, the film tries to juggle too much, and drops most of it. Nithiin plays Jai, an archer chasing gold at the world championship. His struggle, we are told, is not about fitness or skill, it is emotional baggage. He confides in childhood friend Chitra (Varsha) about his broken bond with his sister (Laya) and the regret that has been weighing him down. Chitra, meanwhile, is apparently a successful entrepreneur who wins ‘Start-up of the Year’. What does her company do? The film does not tell us. On stage, she announces her love for Jai, tearfully calling him “more than just a boyfriend.” Logic takes a backseat, and so does character depth.
Heads of State
Action, Thriller, Comedy (English)
The UK Prime Minister and US President have a public rivalry that risks their countries' alliance. But when they become targets of a powerful enemy, they're forced to rely on each other as they go on a wild, multinational run. Allied with Noel, a brilliant MI6 agent, they must find a way to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the free world.
Cast:
Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Paddy Considine, Carla Gugino, Stephen Root, Jack Quaid, Sarah Niles, Richard Coyle, Aleksandr Kuznetsov
Director:
Ilya Naishuller
Action film plays to its stars’ strengths
Mon, July 7 2025
Heads of State is exactly what it promises: a fast-paced, action-packed buddy comedy that leans into its absurdity with style, big laughs and big action set pieces. Ilya Naishuller directs a script by Harrison Query, John Applebaum and Andre Nemec, which clearly understands the assignment—pair two mismatched but magnetic leads, toss them into a high-stakes international mess, and let the chemistry and chaos unfold. John Cena and Idris Elba headline the action-comedy as two political powerhouses. Cena plays Will Derringer, a former action movie star whose latest job is as President of the United States, while Idris Elba plays Sam Clarke, the current Prime Minister of the UK. The latter’s calm, calculating exterior hides a former life in the British special armed forces, whereas Derringer relies on his celebrity to skate through his tenure. When a diplomatic visit to England almost goes off the rails (over a plate of fish and chips, among things), a little diplomatic engineering provides the perfect photo-op to change the narrative surrounding their public discord. Derringer and Clarke travel on Air Force One together, but things go sideways while they are en route to a NATO meeting in Italy.
Action In A Punny World
Fri, July 4 2025
Agent Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) does it first. “We’ll ketchup with you…” British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) later ketchups up with her. “Everything harpoons for a reason,” he says self-consciously after they’ve emerged from a series of set action pieces with multiple weapons. But it’s weapons’ lord Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine), a Russian arms dealer with more money to burn than the security budgets of the US and UK put together, topped with a personal revenge agenda, who’s set off the action all over. Especially targeting the President of the United States of America Will Derringer (John Cena), a Reagan type actor-turned-politician, and PM Clarke. Director Ilya Naishuller (Russian filmmaker) with writers Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query, make a punny, funny, action film where the end’s obvious but the ride is lighthearted.
Priyanka Chopra’s average action-comedy is like Main Hoon Na with a bigger budget
Wed, July 2 2025
A key part of movie promotions these days involves the lead cast going on the talk show circuit (as they normally would), and instructing the audience to essentially lower their expectations. In fact, it’s almost as if Priyanka Chopra remembered all those times that she and her fellow Bollywood stars sold their movies by telling viewers to leave their brains outside the theatre, and introduced this strategy to her new friends in Hollywood. She’s been going around saying that her new action film Heads of State is an undemanding Friday night watch, but, unsurprisingly, it fails to meet even those standards. Directed by Ilya Naishuller, who previously made Hardcore Henry and Nobody, Heads of State is the kind of Prime Video programming that enters your eyeballs, bypasses your brain, and leaks out of your ears. Like his previous films — Hardcore Henry was presented in first person, while Nobody transported a middle-aged man into a John Wick-style world — Heads of State works better as a concept than in execution. It stars John Cena as the President of the United States and Idris Elba as the British Prime Minister, while Chopra plays an MI6 agent who might as well have been airdropped into the movie from Citadel.
Jurassic World Rebirth
Science Fiction, Adventure, Action (English)
Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, covert operations expert Zora Bennett is contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world's three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora's operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that's been hidden from the world for decades.
Cast:
Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain
Director:
Gareth Edwards
Writer:
David Koepp
Torn between homage and reinvention
Mon, July 7 2025
More than 30 years ago, Steven Spielberg directed the action adventure Jurassic Park, based on Michael Crichton’s novel about genetic modification, paleontology and the dangers of man meddling with nature. Jurassic Park, the movie, in which velociraptors first darted across our screens and into our nightmares, premiered in 1993, and was a blockbuster. Crichton wrote another novel and Spielberg directed its adaptation. The Lost World: Jurassic Park released in 1997. Neither did Crichton write any more Jurassic Park novels, nor did Spielberg direct further sequels though though he remained on as executive producer for the franchise’s subsequent films—five of them, including the latest instalment: Jurassic World Rebirth.
(Writing for OTT Play)
Who Let The Dinos Out (Again)?
Mon, July 7 2025
Genetically altered freaks. Engineered entertainment. Responding to audiences. These are some of the phrases used to describe mutated dinosaurs and the programme that ‘created’ them in Jurassic World: Rebirth. But these phrases apply better to the long-running film franchise itself — so genetically altered from its original DNA, so engineered to entertain younger audiences, that they’ve become big dumb monster movies rather than the poignant sci-fi adventures that Steven Spielberg introduced to the world. The best part of Rebirth — the seventh of the long-running series and the first following the doomed Jurassic World trilogy — is the pre-film teaser of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Wait, who am I kidding? The teaser didn’t even play before my matinee show in Mumbai. But even the anticipation of the teaser is the best part of this prehistoric movie.
Hybrid Models
Sat, July 5 2025
When Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), inspired by Michael Crichton’s novel, it marked a significant turning point in cinema. Never before had such visual effects been used combined with a thrilling story told in a masterly manner. Although technology has advanced over the years, the depiction of dinosaurs remains largely unchanged, and the storytelling has not seen any remarkable enhancements.
Metro... in Dino
Drama, Romance, Comedy (Hindi)
Follows interconnected stories of several different couples, each facing a crossroads at different stages in their lives and relationships.
Cast:
Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Saswata Chatterjee, Veerendra Saxena
Director:
Anurag Basu
Love feels a tad dated in Anurag Basu's multi-city saga
Mon, July 7 2025
Seventeen years after he tugged heartstrings with Life in a… Metro, Anurag Basu and Pritam are back navigating love in the big city, or should we say cities. The stories this time shift between Bengaluru, New Delhi and Calcutta. For Metro… In Dino, Basu adopts a less-seen, interesting narrative device to lure viewers into the world: characters introducing themselves by way of sing-song dialogue delivery. There’s Sara Ali Khan’s Chumki professing she’s confused and unsure; there’s Konkona SenSharma’s Kajol discussing her insipid marital life; there’s Anupam Kher, playing a widower, opening up about losing his loved ones in an accident; there’s Ali Fazal’s aspiring singer sharing his struggles. And there’s Pritam, Papon and Raghav Chaitanya, the travelling troubadours in the backdrop. Offering a peek into a character’s current state of mind and establishing their world, the first half breezes past.
(Writing for OTT Play)
Anurag Basu’s Musical Throbs With Longing
Sun, July 6 2025
Few filmmakers aim as high as Anurag Basu. The striving is driven more by curiosity than ambition — the desire to see what can be achieved when a story is set to music and punctuated with whimsy. The symphony is rapturous but not guaranteed, making his storytelling both messy and distinct. Inconsistent as this might be, it can also be rewarding: the highs in his films are so potent that the lesser moments are frustrated and elevated in anticipation Metro… In Dino is no exception. Basu’s feature is characteristically chaotic, buzzing with the cacophony of a crowd and beating with a single heart. It has the levity and longing of his later style and bleeds more than builds. It carries the hurt of unspoken words and the humour of saying it aloud. A spiritual sequel to Life in a… Metro, Basu’s latest has similar vibes but differs in spirit. If the 2007 film was concerned with the loneliness of citied existence then Metro… In Dino is about the cities we carry within ourselves.
(Writing for The Daily Eye)
Love in the time of urban chaos
Sat, July 5 2025
In the ceaseless hum of city life, where buildings scrape the skies and dreams stretch further still, Anurag Basu returns to familiar terrain—with unfamiliar faces and untold tales. Metro… In Dino is less a sequel than a kindred spirit to Life in a… Metro (2007), that elegiac hymn to urban loneliness and love. Where the earlier film rode on the late Irrfan Khan’s quiet gravitas, this one blooms with a new ensemble of characters—a tapestry woven with fresh threads but dyed in the same bittersweet hues of metropolitan melancholy. If love is a constant, it is so not because of its predictability, but because it defies time, space, and season. That is the foundational pulse of Metro… In Dino: the unbelievable becomes believable, the mundane profound. Basu doesn’t just craft stories—he paints atmospheres, where cityscapes become emotional landscapes, and each window, each narrow alley, tells a tale of yearning. This spiritual successor traces the contours of contemporary relationships—fractured, ephemeral, tender, and quietly devastating—against the backdrops of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bangalore, cities not just as settings but as sentient beings. They breathe, they pulse, they ache along with the lovers they cradle.
Dheeran
Drama (Malayalam)
A man’s experiences of being a hero and an outcast in his village lead him to taking justice into his own hands.
Cast:
Rajesh Madhavan, Shabareesh Varma, Jagadish, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Manoj K Jayan, Vineeth Radhakrishnan, Sudheesh, Ashokan, Aswathy Manoharan, Unnimaya Nalappadam
Director:
Devadath Shaji
Writer:
Devadath Shaji
Rustic humour works, but film loses its way midway through
Sun, July 6 2025
Right from the title Dheeran (brave), which defines the protagonist, almost every other character in Devadath Shaji’s debut directorial has a defining trait. From a Hindi-obsessed welder to a local don who is more interested in his perfume business to an illicit liquor brewer who has a penchant for stirring up trouble even in the most peaceful of circumstances, it is a motley crew of oddballs. Eldhose (Rajesh Madhavan), the protagonist, gets that unlikely name which he struggles to live up to from an act of bravery in childhood, that also becomes a moment of tragedy in his life. Director Devadath Shaji, who wrote the screenplay of Bheeshmaparvam, gives a wrapping of humour to convey all that he wants to. Beneath its surface layer of easy humour, which keeps the film engaging atleast until the halfway point, Dheeran is also about the long-lasting impact of certain events in the lives of people. One particular incident leaves all those who are involved in it deeply scarred, some physical while for some others it is mental. The incident also dictates the whole village’s perception of a particular character.
3BHK
Family, Drama (Tamil)
A middle-class family battles financial hurdles and personal setbacks while pursuing their dream of owning a home in the bustling city.
Cast:
Siddharth, R. Sarathkumar, Devayani, Meetha Raghunath, Chaithra J Achar, Yogi Babu, Subbu Panchu, Vivek Prasanna
Director:
Sri Ganesh
Tells the story of a house, but misses to paint a tale of what it takes to make it a home
Sun, July 6 2025
(Writing for OTT Play)
Director Sri Ganesh Makes A Film That's Inauthentic To A Fault
Fri, July 4 2025
Over an hour into 3 BHK, director Sri Ganesh stages a scene in a restaurant that is completely disconnected from the rest of the film. It occurs out of nowhere and sticks out like a stray limb out of a burning pyre. Prabhu (Siddharth) and his sister Aarthy (Meeta Raghunath) take their parents, Vasudevan (Sarath Kumar) and Shanthi (Devayani), to a fancy restaurant for their wedding anniversary. The restaurant is way out of their middle class means. As a flabbergasted Vasudevan looks at the menu and his surroundings, Prabhu turns to him and says “kaalam maari pochu (times have changed)”. It is a regular aphorism, but it is also the title of a popular 1996 film from the stables of V Sekar, the ‘90s kingpin of middle-class family dramas. Dramas that might be lowbrow on the surface but have a remarkable level of honesty and clarity. They shoot straight and are seldom disingenuous. That moment really clicked into place what is not working with 3 BHK, ostensibly a similar film but one that takes itself way too seriously and has very little authenticity to deserve our attention.
Siddharth, Sarathkumar power through feel-good drama that hits home
Fri, July 4 2025
For a middle-class family, owning a house is a distant dream – one that not many can afford. For some, this dream is their sole identity. For others, it is a mark of respect. But how long must a middle-class family of four toil to own a 3BHK flat in a high-rise building, especially when life keeps throwing curveballs their way? That’s exactly what director Sri Ganesh’s ‘3BHK’ explores. Vasudevan (Sarathkumar) is the sole breadwinner of a middle-class family of four. He and his wife Shanthi (Devayani), along with their son Prabhu (Siddharth) and daughter Aarthy (Meetha Raghunath), move from one rented house to another as he continues to save for a home of their own, because for Vasudevan, house = respect. ‘3BHK’ chronicles several decades of Vasudevan and his family’s life and their struggle to fulfil their dream. Every time they get inch closer to it, life intervenes – where needs become more important than wants. Vasudevan invests in Prabhu’s education, so he can share his dream and the burden of saving money with him. But, Prabhu, like Vasudevan, is fighting his own battle – one that drains him physically and mentally. When will Vasudevan’s dream come true?
Paranthu Po
Music, Comedy, Drama (Tamil)
Gokul’s financial reach far exceeds his reality, but juggling unpayable loans and dodging debt collectors, he tries his best to provide for his pampered son, Anbu. With his mother away on business, Anbu persuades his father to go on a motorcycle trip through the countryside – a welcome break from everyday hustle, that helps Gokul realise that his son’s tantrums have a far deeper root than he thought.
Cast:
Shiva, Grace Antony, Mitul Ryan M, Anjali, Vijay Yesudas, Aju Varghese, Jess Sweejan, Balaji Sakthivel, Sreeja Ravi
Director:
Ram
Writer:
Ram
An enjoyable and poignant pursuit of happiness that never forgets to have fun
Sun, July 6 2025
Charming family film teaches joy in life's simple things
Fri, July 4 2025
What does an eight-year-old want? His parents, who enroll him in a prestigious elite school, give him access to everything. He has access to a computer, Zomato/Swiggy, expensive waveboards, all materialistic things, and has enrolled him in all classes and extracurricular activities. Yet, the eight-year-old is not happy and craving something that is beyond his and his parents’ understanding. What more can the parents do? This is what Ram’s ‘Paranthu Po’ is all about. Gokul (Mirchi Shiva) and Glory (Grace Antony) lead a hustling life, bound by countless EMIs and their dream of giving ‘everything’ to their fussy son, Anbu (Mithul). Gokul is a man who is struggling to set up a shop, while Glory owns a saree shop to sustain their life. When they are at work, Anbu, who is on his half-yearly holiday, is locked up inside his home and forced to take part in the classes his parents have enrolled him in.
Hebbuli Cut
Drama (Kannada)
Hebbuli Cut is a tender and timely reflection on social injustice, childhood desires, and the immense strength required to claim one`s dignity in an unequal world. Told with warmth, humour, and heartache, it`s a poignant story for anyone who has ever dared to dream.
Cast:
Mounesh Nataranga, Mahadev Hadapad, Uma Yg, Punith Shetty Allama, Mahanthesh Hiremath, Ananya M.K
Director:
Bheemarao P
Writer:
Anantha Shandreya
(Writing for The NEWS Minute)
Incisive, engaging take on simple desires derailed by caste
Sat, July 5 2025
At a very basic level, Bheemarao P’s debut film Hebbuli Cut, set in Chandrabanda in the North Karnataka–Telangana border, is about a young boy’s aspiration to get a fashionable haircut, like Sudeep’s in Hebbuli, and the path he takes to get it. At a deeper level, it is about how society and its obsession with class and caste kill spirits, bit by tiny bit, even as someone is in quest of dignity. This is probably one of those very rare Kannada films that speak about caste without couching it in pleasant, acceptable language. But, to its credit, it does so without being preachy. Vinaya (a brilliant Mounesh Nataranga) is the heart and soul of the film, keeping things going with his hope, joy, silent anger, and shy smiles. His parents are Mallanna (Mahadev Hadapad is pitch-perfect as dad, who is afraid for his son), who repairs shoes for a living, and Kanaka (the lovely Uma YG of Cinema Bandi fame). Vinaya grows his hair long, and all he wants is to get it cut by Channa (Mahantesh AS), the curly-haired wonder of Modern Men’s Buty Parlar, the go-to person for a good haircut. But he has to make do with the local barber, who is summoned home when the deed has to be done. The mother is constantly complaining about the unruly mop, the father does not mind, because they are not raising it with fertiliser or water.
The Old Guard 2
Action, Fantasy (English)
Andy and her team of immortal warriors fight with renewed purpose as they face a powerful new foe threatening their mission to protect humanity.
Cast:
Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Veronica Ngo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Uma Thurman, Henry Golding, Kamil Nożyński
Director:
Victoria Mahoney
Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman chew each other up in Netflix’s cheap-looking sequel
Fri, July 4 2025
We had no idea how good we had it in July 2020. Little did we know, for instance, that the pandemic just… wouldn’t end. Petrol was cheaper, the air was cleaner, and we were getting used to life at home. Plus, you could still count on Netflix to occasionally produce an impressive film or two. Extraction remains one of the slickest action movies of the last five years; in fact, it basically cannibalised The Old Guard, an equally good Netflix original that debuted only a few weeks later. Starring Charlize Theron alongside an overqualified supporting cast, the movie screamed for a sequel, which was quickly approved. But did you know that The Old Guard 2 was shot three years ago? The movie had been sitting on the shelves for quite some time before being released this week, and it shows. In case you weren’t aware that The Old Guard 2 existed, don’t blame yourself; it’s not your fault. Netflix has been suspiciously quiet about it, perhaps because the finished movie resembles a work-in-progress — a film that hasn’t yet been streamlined on the edit table. It retains the hyperreal gloss of ungraded raw footage, while giving the strong impression that what we’ve been presented with is some kind of unfinished cut. Among the film’s many flaws — we’ll get to the rest momentarily — is Barry Ackroyd’s flat cinematography.
Show Time
Comedy, Thriller (Telugu)
"Show Time" is a gripping thriller that explores how an accidental murder shatters the lives of a middle-class family. The story follows a seemingly ordinary family whose world turns upside down when a momentary lapse in judgment leads to an unintended crime. As they struggle to cover up the incident, they are pulled into a web of lies, guilt, and paranoia, testing their bonds and morals.
Cast:
Naveen Chandra, Kamakshi Bhaskarla, Raja Ravindra, Naresh
Director:
Madhan Dakshinamurthy
Writer:
Srinivas Gavireddy
(Writing for The Hindu)
Naveen Chandra’s crime thriller flatters to deceive
Fri, July 4 2025
Naveen Chandra, who has had a handful of theatrical releases this year, has been steadily winning over audiences across OTT platforms with a stream of consistent, assured performances. His latest Telugu film, Show Time, perfectly aligns with his forte: a crime thriller with a minimalistic setup, banking on a supposedly offbeat concept. The core premise of the film seems to be an offshoot of Ayyappanum Koshiyum (the inspiration behind Pawan Kalyan’s Telugu film Bheemla Nayak). It centres on an ego-driven, crooked cop named Lakshmi Kanth (Raja Ravindra) and a hot-blooded common man, Surya (Naveen Chandra), who refuses to yield. However, their confrontation largely takes place within the confines of a crime scene. Both men have an ugly face-off when Lakshmi Kanth desperately instigates Surya, his family, and neighbours, rebuking them for creating a nuisance at night. Just when the tense atmosphere seems to settle, Surya’s wife, Shanti (Kamakshi Bhaskarla), finds herself trapped in a crime. As Surya attempts to resolve the crisis with the help of a lawyer, the cop tries to prove he’s in charge.
F1: The Movie
Action, Drama (English)
Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory.
Cast:
Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Kim Bodnia, Tobias Menzies, Shea Whigham, Sarah Niles, Samson Kayo, Lewis Hamilton
Director:
Joseph Kosinski
Brad Pitt takes a page out of Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan playbook, and tears it to shreds
Thu, July 3 2025
Nearly four decades ago, the late director Tony Scott, star Tom Cruise, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer attempted to re-conjure the magic that made Top Gun such a cultural touchstone with Days of Thunder, a racing movie that followed the same basic structure, but replaced the fighter jets with fast cars. Now, Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski are essentially following the same playbook with Top Gun: Maverick and the recently released F1. The only difference, this time around, is that Cruise didn’t return for the sports drama, perhaps because he has been occupied for the last half-decade by the Mission: Impossible franchise. But this was all for the best, because nobody other than Brad Pitt could’ve played the role of the seasoned drifter Sonny Hayes. It’s an odd observation to make, because Cruise literally played the most famous drifter of them all, Jack Reacher. Twice. But he was famously miscast in those movies. Not because he didn’t fit writer Lee Child’s physical description of the towering Reacher, but because, as an actor, Cruise doesn’t exactly project the going-with-the-flow energy that is required for such a character. He is simply too intense, his persona is too curated, too meticulous to play someone that lives like hobo. There’s a reason why people joke that he’s actually an alien scientologist sent to spy on earthlings. Pitt, on the other hand, has the exact opposite screen presence. He’s a relaxed, relatable, somewhat rudderless.
A Hollywood Summer Blockbuster in its truest sense
Sun, June 29 2025
Brad Pitt takes you on an exhilarating yet predictable ride
Sun, June 29 2025
When you combine two of the most popular entities of the world – Brad Pitt and Formula One racing- in a film, you can expect it be a big blockbuster hit. One of the most popular stars of Hollywood, Pitt has been credited with some of the biggest hits of all time and earned an Oscar award for his performance. The man splashing comes back in F1: The Movie as a Sony Hayes, a rule breaker, a has-been driver who left the circuit years back after a freak accident. When Sony is pulled back into the circuit- this time by an old friend and fellow rider (Javier Bardem in a delightful role) and Sony has to face his demons, move past personal setback, and even befriend a weary rookie driver (Damson Idris) to win F1.
AIR
Drama, Comedy (Telugu)
Three boys. One elite college. A system that demands perfection. Arjun, Imran, and Raju come from different worlds but share one secret: they don’t want to be here. As rebellion sparks friendship, their bond deepens amid pressure, heartbreak, and identity struggles. Guided by a radical teacher with a troubled past, they must decide who they truly are—beyond marks and expectations.
Cast:
Harsh Roshan, Sunil Varma, Chaitanya Rao, Harsha Chemudu, Sandeep Raj, Jeevan Kumar
(Writing for M9 News)
Inter Trauma Tale Only Works in Parts
Thu, July 3 2025
Arjun’s a carefree lad who wants to join the same college as his crush, Jayashree. Tired of his irresponsible ways, his father, Raju, sends him to a hostel. Meanwhile, Imran, the village’s top student, sees his father take out a loan to admit him to a reputable college. From grim food to homesickness and relentless timetables, the trio’s intermediate years get off to a far-from-ideal start. Yet, a strong friendship helps them muddle through the stress. The three young blokes, Harsh Roshan, Bhanu Prakash, and Jayatheertha (playing Arjun, Raju, and Imran), deliver confident, refreshing performances that help us look beyond the show’s issues. Besides their impressive screen presence, they embody all the naïveté, playfulness, and early adult-ish arrogance you tend to witness in an average 16-year-old. Campus tales enjoy an everlasting appeal. While they generally try to tick the same old boxes – the highs and lows of studenthood, academic pressures, a brush with first love, a dose of bromance, and coming-of-age motifs – newer backdrops and different timelines infuse new life into the template. ETV Win’s AIR (All India Rankers) packages that bittersweet nostalgia with humour aplenty.