We recommend: The best new movies and TV

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway: Based on the true story of Sagarika Chakraborty, who documented her experiences in her book 'The Journey of a Mother', this is a film about an Indian mother’s decade-long custody battle for her two small children—taken away by the Norwegian government on account of ‘improper parenting’. The film is directed by Ashima Chibber and the brilliant Rani Mukherjee plays the titular Mrs Chatterjee—portraying a mother’s anguish—with the versatile Jim Sarbh as her lawyer. 

Reviews are biased towards Rani Mukherjee’s performance, but also call out the misses. The Quint says “the film’s biggest flaw is that most of the themes it touches upon are cursory or anecdotal at best.” Similarly, Indian Express points out that “the film lets go of the details and nuances that’s essential to establish a connection with the audience.” Our Take: We are excited to see Rani Mujherjee back in a serious role befitting someone of her acting calibre. The film released in theatres yesterday.

Zwigato: In ‘Zwigato’, comedian Kapil Sharma stars as a food delivery agent. Directed by Nandita Das, who has made critically-acclaimed films like ‘Firaaq’ and ‘Manto’, the movie follows the story of a food delivery rider and his family—providing insights into the life of a working class man starting his job as a delivery man after losing his role as a floor manager at a factory.

Indian Express praises the movie and calls it a “powerful mirror to today’s India”. Scroll also praises the performances of Kapil Sharma and Shahana Goswami, and says the movie is a “gentle and revealing slice-of-life drama”.  Our take: We’re curious to get a glimpse into the lives of the people we see so often but know so little about. ‘Zwigato’ was released in theatres yesterday.

The Magician’s Elephant: Based on the book written by Kate DiCamillo, this animated fantasy film follows Peter, a young boy in search of his long-lost sister Adele. He’s been told by a fortune teller that he must find a magician with an elephant. As part of this adventure, Peter must complete three impossible tasks. 

Reviews for the animation are mixed. Variety says, “Their story beats are familiar, but Peter is easy to root for and the animation itself has an elegant quality befitting the narrative’s whimsy.” OTOH, The Guardian is a little harsher and finds it “disappointingly unmagical”, adding: “The animation doesn’t help: characters speak with blank paralysed faces as if they’ve had botched Botox.” Our take: It’s been a while since we saw a hopeful and wholesome animated movie, and this one seems to have all the right ingredients. The movie hit Netflix on March 17. 

Extrapolations: This is a sci-fi anthology series about humanity’s reckoning with climate change in the 21st century. Starting in 2037, the series explores possible futures of the impact of climate change—mass deaths due to heatwaves, portable oxygen being on sale, a tech billionaire holding onto the patent for desalination of water, and countries fighting over resources.  

The Verge isn’t impressed with the show, but says that ‘Extrapolations’ “has a lot of interesting ideas, and at times, they result in an interesting story”. For AV Club the show is “excruciatingly long” and “draining in all the wrong ways”.  Our take: We’re going to be tuning in mainly for the ensemble cast (Kit Harrington, Meryl Streep, Edward Norton, Forest Whitaker, and many more).

Here’s a new chapter…

Ted Lasso: Everyone’s fave football drama is back with its much anticipated third season—which is sadly also the final season of this beloved show. Watch how Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and the team get through the Premier League without their ace coach Nate. The first episode of the new season dropped on Apple TV+ on March 15.  

Rocket Boys: This Indian web drama focuses on the formative years of independent India and narrates the incredible life and times of Dr Homi Bhabha (Jim Sarbh) and Dr Vikram Sarabhai (Ishwak Singh) as they attempt to make India a nuclear nation. The new season follows their challenges after Nehru’s death. It is out now on Sony LIV.