So you wanna watch something…

BigBug: The plot isn’t exactly new: Lazy humans have handed over everything to AI—and robots have smartened up and decided to get rid of us. A group of bickering neighbours find themselves locked in together as their household androids try and protect them. While the robot uprising in its many forms has been done to death, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet—of ‘Delicatessen’ and ‘Amélie fame—brings his signature whimsical colour palettes and kooky characters—including a robot that is described as “just a high-tech dildo.” Another reason why it’s worth checking out: It’s his first outing in nearly a decade. There are no reviews as yet, but you can read a 2019 interview with Jeunet where he talks about funding the film—as well as other projects—here. Drops today on Netflix.

Gehraiyaan: Alisha (Deepika Padukone) turns 30 and finds herself stuck in a rut—until her cousin (Ananya Pandey) shows up, with her fiancé (Siddhant Chaturvedi) in tow. Of course, Alisha develops a connection with the fiancé—bonding over a common history of pain. The hotly-anticipated release explores the themes of intimacy and infidelity in relationships. There are no reviews for the film, but everyone is raving about its soundtrack—which has been called “ecstatically claustrophobic.” For more, check out this thought-provoking interview with the film’s ‘intimacy director,’ Dar Gai. We can’t wait to see what the hype is about. Releasing today on Amazon Prime Video.

Inventing Anna: This series is based on the real life story of Anna Delvey (Julia Garner)—a charming twenty-something con artist who took the New York glitterati for a ride. It’s received wide praise but it may take a couple of episodes to warm up. BBC Culture describes it as “brashly, glossily entertaining and knottier, more complex fare than it first appears, offering enough to justify its tabloid entertainment value.” The Hollywood Reporter says it is “savvy, sly and compulsively watchable.” The miniseries releases today on Netflix.

Mahaan: Gandhi Mahaan (Vikram)—the son of a Gandhian activist—feels stifled by his family’s high-minded values. That’s until he turns 40, when he meets an old friend (Bobby Simha) who runs a liquor business. One thing leads to another and the once soft-spoken teacher turns into a gun-toting gangster. Three decades of questionable choices come to a head when Gandhi is forced to face off against his now-adult son—played by Vikram’s IRL son Dhruv. The Hindu has “mixed feelings” about the film but describes Vikram’s performance as “fantastic.” The Quint calls it “messy” and isn’t impressed by this “messy concoction.” Streaming now on Amazon Prime.

Death On The Nile: This is director Kenneth Branagh’s second outing as director of an adaptation of a famous Agatha Christie novel—and as her most famous detective Hercule Poirot. The first being ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. A rich heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) and an out-of-work Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer) are on their honeymoon in Egypt with close friends and family. But trouble lurks in the form of a jealous ex—Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey)—and many guests with grudges of their own. The Guardian dismisses the movie as a “rather stale and two-dimensional tale.” ABC News says Poirot’s “multi-storied imperial 'stache” has more “screen charisma than most of the actors in this dreary, DOA sequel.” But critics aside, we still plan to check it out for its gorgeous visuals—and Ali Fazal and Kenneth Branagh. The combination is reason enough to watch this star-studded outing. The movie premieres in cinemas today.    

Badhaai Do: This is another Bollywood stab at bringing usually taboo topics to the big screen. This time, the subject is the “lavender wedding”—where two queer people marry each other for the sake of convenience. Shardul Thakur (Rajkummar Rao) is a cop who convinces a teacher Suman Singh (Bhumi Pednakar) to get hitched—just to make their respective families happy. This sequel to ‘Badhaai Ho’ is all about this odd couple navigating daily life as roommates—and trying to avoid detection. Some have criticised the subject as regressive, but the trailer promises a fun watch. It releases in theatres today.

A list of good reads

• Sandip Roy pays a lovely tribute to Lata Mangeshkar in this NPR audio essay.
• NPR also tackles a tricky question of online etiquette: What skin colour emoji should you use?
• Rest of World has a fascinating deep dive into an AI project that attempts to decode an ancient Indus Valley script—which has defied translation for a 100 years.
• News9 looks at how female superstars in the South are writing their own rules.
• MIT Technology Review has a long read on Shi Zhengli and her team—who have become the focus of the “lab leak theory” of the origins of Covid. Why this is good: It is based on extensive access to Zhengli.
• Nieman Lab uses Forbes.com to illustrate why contributor-based journalism produces bad content from writers who are ”barely vetted, unedited, expected to produce at quantity, and only occasionally paid.”
• Confused about those .eth domain names? TheNextWeb has a useful explainer.
• The Guardian looks at how broken global supply chains have created a crisis in the book publishing industry.
• Also in The Guardian: An eye-opening piece on how Brad Pitt’s highly praised low income housing project in New Orleans—launched in the wake of Hurricane Katrina—has turned into an ungodly mess.
• House & Garden offers a close up view of a Washington DC exhibit of 1,000 years of Indian textiles. Just the photos are worth a look.
• Speaking of premium pretty things, Habitus profiles the remaking of an exquisite Lutyens bungalow in Delhi.
• New York Post takes an amusing look at the “year of the dong”—when male actors bared all on the big screen with the help of prosthetics.
• Daily Beast surveys the latest research into hacking meditation—with the aim of giving us a “shortcut” to mindfulness.
• The Atlantic has a very good read on how climate change is stretching Mumbai to its limits.