So you wanna watch something...

Sharmaji Namkeen: This is Rishi Kapoor’s last ever movie and he plays Brij Gopal Sharma—who has taken early retirement and lives with his two grown-up sons. Bored with his life, Sharma starts dabbling in cooking and is soon catering kitty parties for a group of women—and becomes their BFF. Now, here’s the odd thing—since Kapoor died in the middle of filming—Sharma is played by both him and Paresh Rawal, often shifting from one scene to another.

Firstpost says the effect is surprisingly not jarring: “Rishi Kapoor’s endearing swan song is like the food that Sharmaji dishes out: well-balanced with just the right amount of sugar and spice, not aiming to be flashy but offering the comfort of a home-cooked meal.” You can read other positive reviews on Mashable and The Quint. Now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Moon Knight: The series is a spin-off of a minor Marvel hero created in the 1970s—and whose defining trait is what we today would call dissociative identity disorder. In other words, this superhero—played by Oscar Isaac—is two different people in one body: a well-mannered clerk working at a museum gift shop and a former mercenary and avatar of a justice-seeking Egyptian god. And these two guys don’t like each other very much—which is the source of much of the movie’s drama and humour. Ethan Hawke plays Harrow, the villain, and F Murray Abraham is the voice of the god.

New York Times calls the writing a little piecemeal and the direction at best competent—but suggests it remains watchable for “the Isaac vs. Isaac cage match, which supplies fair to middling action and sentiment and consistently satisfying laughs.”  The series is the pick of the week for The Guardian which calls it “a heady psychological thriller, realised with pace and invention, and animated by Isaac’s compellingly jittery and tormented central performance.” Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood: Award-winning director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Boyhood) offers a nostalgia trip to America circa 1960s in this animated ode to childhood. Stan is a kid living in Houston—fantasising about being picked by NASA to pilot a secret Apollo Mission. But much of the movie focuses on his real life—and is what The Guardian calls “an overwhelmingly real, almost novelistically low-key film…a nonstop madeleine-fest, a revival of memories curated with passionate connoisseurship.” Variety calls it “a teleportation device” loaded with the kind of “endearing personal details” that make Linklater’s work resonate with millennial audiences. We can’t wait to watch this one. Drops today on Netflix.

Kaun Pravin Tambe?: Shreyas Talpade makes a comeback in this true story of a single-minded cricketer Pravin Tambe—who dreamed of making the national team and failed. The movie follows his life journey as a 20-year-old aspiring cricketer—battling failure and disappointment—to finally end up playing for the Rajasthan Royals at the age of 41. There are no reviews as yet, but Indian Express interviewed both Talpade and Tambe—read them here and here. Premieres today on Disney+Hotstar.

Better Nate Than Ever: This love letter to musicals is all about Nate Foster, a seventh-grader madly in love with theatre. With his parents away for the weekend, Nate and his best friend Libby decide to sneak out and audition for ‘Lilo and Stitch’ on Broadway. Of course, he gets a callback—and the rest of the movie is about him chasing his big dream. Variety says: “Funny, vibrant, yet schmaltzy to a fault, this Disney Plus family film can carry a tune, but falters in crafting a runaway hit.” New York Times calls it a “slight film” but praises the “hearty performances” of the leads. Now streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

A list of good reads

• Mel Magazine has the delightful history of the infamous comb-over—perhaps the least elegant solution for hair loss.
• Global Heritage Travel offers a useful guide to buying sustainable souvenirs.
• DKB pronounces the death of Google search—an assessment we strongly agree with.
• Vir Sanghvi in The Print looks at the sudden surge of anti-US sentiment in the Indian rightwing after the Ukraine invasion.
• Buzzfeed News looks at how 3D nipple tattoos are transforming the lives of women who’ve had breast reconstruction surgery.
• Also in Buzzfeed News: A good essay on why it is okay and even better say the word ‘fat’—as opposed to ‘obese’ or ‘overweight’.
• Wired reports on a sinister new way to beat multifactor authentication.
• We are planning to try this guide to making an omelette in The Guardian.
• We now have TV ratings again since BARC is back in business. Mint explains why no one cares anymore—including advertisers.
• RestOfWorld reports on the Indian founders flocking to Chile.
• Founding Fuel looks at why Indian companies are in a rush to bring back employees to the office.
• The Culture Trip pays tribute to the ‘darshinis’ which are a hallowed Bangalore tradition.
• Sunil Khilnani’s eviscerating essay on the British empire in The New Yorker is an excellent read.