So you want to watch something…
Well, this is the right weekend for it. Netflix is dropping a ton of new releases on December 4. A longer list is here, but these are our faves:
Bombay Rose: This gorgeously animated film—six years in the making—traces the love story of Kamala and Salim in the hustle-bustle of the maximum city. Check out NDTV’s glowing review here.
Leyla Everlasting: An antique manuscript, a toxic love triangle and a husband out to kill his wife—who refuses to die! Need we say more? This quirky dark comedy has no reviews so far, but we ❤️ the trailer.
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag: An easy and light binge, this web series stars Swara Bhaskar, Varun Thakur and Dolly Singh. It follows the protagonist Beanie Bhatnagar pursuing her dreams of becoming a stand up comic. The trailer promises lots of laughs—which we all need this year. Here is the cast talking to Indian Express about the movie’s not-so-subtle Mrs Maisel inspo.
Alien Worlds: Another quick Netflix binge: this ET-themed docuseries—which claims to “put the science back in science-fiction”—looks at what life on distant planets may be like. Decider offers a mixed review—but the trailer looks fascinating. Also: it’s only four episodes.
Prom: We plugged this one before. Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and James Corden in a high school musical. What’s not to like? Ok, so this could go terribly wrong, but hey it’s totally worth the risk.
For something very different: ‘The Trouble with Love and Sex’ is a 2011 BBC co-production that features real-life conversations from couples counselling—via animation to protect the identities of the real people who share the anguish of broken relationships and lost intimacy. Yes, it’s 50 minutes long, but this unique film is totally worth your time.
A list of weekend reads
- The most prestigious scientific journals are also absurdly expensive—exposing a global divide between researchers who can afford the price of access, and those who can not. Madhukar Pai pens a scathing piece in Forbes on the hypocritical talk of diversity in West-centric research and publishing.
- Joan Smith in The Guardian reminds us how domestic violence is often glossed over in our tributes to great men. The most recent example: Diego Maradona.
- New York Times did an excellent profile of filmmaker Anand Patwardhan.
- Soutwik Biswas over at BBC News decodes the science of the BJP’s success.
- We may have moved on, but India’s TikTok stars are struggling in its absence—as are the Indian apps which want to fill the vacuum. Ozy has this story.
- Mint offers a lovely piece on the pleasures of graphic novels in a time of great anxiety—and handy recommendations for the newbie reader as well.
- How can you not want to read this Slate essay titled: ‘The Unbearable Banality of Romance Novel Décor’?
- New York Times critics ‘best of 2020’ recommendations make for a very handy shopping list.
- Mint has a must-read on the #SaveMollem movement in Goa—and how it is a very different kind of activism led by young people.
