We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor’s note: A bumper edition this time around, as we look at new releases for this week and the next. We have…deep breath… a rousing new Netflix series about the Kargil War. Imtiaz Ali’s meditation on love and loss, Main Vaapas Aaunga, is now streaming. Ted Lasso returns, once again, to an unfamiliar place in its new season. There’s a tender story about the friendship between a young boy and a stray dog, Oh My Dog. Next week, we have a new Anne Hathaway film with dinosaurs. A Rajkumar Santoshi film on Partition starring who else but Sunny Deol. And much more.
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New releases
Operation Safed Sagar (Hindi)
Netflix originals in India have battled a bad reputation for a while now, and for good reasons. Operation Safed Sagar, however, might just be an exception. Created by Abhijeet Singh Parmar and Kushal Srivastava, the six-part series portrays the role the Indian Air Force played in the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan. Moving away from the predictable theatrics that have come to dictate such narratives, Operation Safed Sagar is more grounded in its approach. The show also has a stellar cast, comprising Siddharth, Jimmy Shergill, Abhay Verma, Dia Mirza, Adil Hussain, Mihir Ahuja, among others. The show has been widely praised, with The Indian Express writing:
A rousing, moving tribute to our armed forces, Operation Safed Sagar is drama minus melodrama, toplining patriotism not jingoism. It made my eyes well up, and chest swell with pride, a perfect Independence Day watch.
Where to watch: Netflix
DC (Tamil)
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas has been a fertile literary source for adaptation. Arun Matheswaran reimagines the novel as a gangster drama with his latest film, headlined by Lokesh Kanagaraj (the filmmaker makes his acting debut) and Wamiqa Gabbi. It is a plucky move, given how many times the story of a defeated love taking recourse to alcohol has been depicted on screen. But DC introduces a moral complexity to the familiar story that is hard not to be taken by.
A review in The Hollywood Reporter writes, “It’s Arun’s re-interpretation of the novel that makes all the difference. He takes three central epic characters and places them into a world full of gangsters, guns and moral ambiguity. His Devdas is just as traumatised as those that came before him, but he doesn’t have the time nor the luxury to drown in self-pity like his predecessors.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Oh My Dog (Hindi)
Amit Rai, who had previously directed Oh My God 2, helms a new crowd-pleaser with dogs anchoring the narrative. The film is centred around the love shared by a young boy and a stray god, with an underlying message of compassion. Speaking at an event, the filmmaker had said, “Dogs teach us the purest form of love and loyalty without expecting anything in return. Through Ohh My Dog, I wanted to tell a story that is emotional, entertaining, and meaningful for every family.” Starring Pankaj Tripathi and a host of dogs, Oh my Dog is the clutter-breaker this week.
Comparing the film to Kornel Mundruczo’s White God, the 2014 Hungarian film that tracks a dog’s search for the person they love, a review in Scroll states, “Ohh My Dog is a parable about the need for goodness in a ruthless world that preys on the weak and the defenceless. Although Amit Rai undermines his screenplay’s impact through stubborn bloat, he displays empathy towards his characters, especially the poverty-stricken Prince, as well as a strong sense of justice.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Bobby Beauty Parlour (Hindi)
This charming short film by Shashwat Dwivedi—presented by Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali—is about the fragility embedded in friendships. Manu (Parul Rana) works at a salon in Noida and her best friend, Eelu (Adrija Sinha), is leaving for an engineering college in Pune. Their last day together is interrupted by a heatwave, and the external circumstances give way to an inside peek into their relationship. “Bobby Beauty Parlour is likeable, bittersweet storytelling. To not be moved by it, to some degree, is to declare oneself an a**hole,” writes The Hollywood Reporter.
Where to watch: YouTube
Awaarapan 2 (Hindi)
This sequel to the 2007 cult-classic has been long anticipated. Directed by Nitin Kakkar, Awaarapan 2 tracks the wounded gangster Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) as he embarks on the jagged journey of love and redemption. Along with Hashmi, the cast comprises Disha Patani, Shabana Azmi, and Suvinder Vicky.
Where to watch: Theatres (August 15)
This is old school all the way. Rajkumar Santoshi directs a film backed by Aamir Khan and fronted by Sunny Deol. Santoshi’s new film, as the title suggests, is about the 1947 Partition as it focuses on a family uprooted by the event and a woman in Lahore refusing to let go. This becomes the setting to explore humanity and empathy in a world where both are shrinking.
Where to watch: Theatres (August 15)
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star in this new sci-fi survival film written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. The film tracks the journey of the Platt family after an extraordinary cosmic event sends their sweet little part of suburbia into a period millions of years in the past. Which, of course, means… dinosaurs! The comparisons to Jurassic Park are unavoidable, but this is a fresh take on the concept by Mitchell, with the monotony of suburban life placed against the chaos of dinosaurs. Speaking about the script for The End of Oak Street, Hathaway said:
It really focused on human drama as this thing happens to the family, that forces them together, forces them to open up, to trust each other, to rely on each other, and to really value each other in a way that maybe they hadn't had an opportunity to do in a long time. And it teaches them where their hearts really are."
Where to watch: Theatres (August 15)
After the mixed reception to Supergirl, the DC Universe expands into Lanterns, a new eight-episode superhero series created by Chris Mundy. It follows the story of two Lanterns—grizzled pro Hal Jordan (played by Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), the new recruit—as they investigate a murder. These two Green Lanterns, intergalactic peacekeepers, are on a murder case that Stewart feels could have broader implications, as it leads them down unfamiliar paths. Early reviews are calling this show an “absolute banger”.
Where to watch: JioHotstar (August 15)
Fresh off the big screen
Main Vaapas Aaunga (Hindi)
At a time when Hindi cinema has become a battleground for polarised narratives, Imtiaz Ali tells a story about love. His latest is a post-Partition drama that looks at the horrors of 1947 not through what was gained—two countries, independence—but by what was lost: people, relationships, love.
Kenu (Vedang Raina) a Sikh boy, is in love with Jiya (Sharvari), a Muslim girl. Their relationship, blossoming and bashful, gets disrupted when India stands to be divided. What starts out as an upheaval they were determined to overcome, engulfs their story and their whole lives. They part, grow old, but on his deathbed, a dementia-addled Kenu refuses to leave without Jiya’s permission.
Main Vaapas Aaunga became a case study of sorts for the way it grew through word of mouth. And among many reasons to watch the film, Naseeruddin Shah’s wrenching performance stands at number one.
Where to watch: Netflix
Uyir (Malayalam)
M Padmakumar’s police procedural drama is based on the life of Shaji Maarad, a police officer. It has a remarkable premise: when a body of unidentified woman surfaces is found in an abandoned well, Ajeeb Rahman (Roshan Mathew), keeps looking for suspects across states. Rahman is on probation as a sub-inspector and the more he keeps digging, the more an instance of suicide shapeshifts to something far more grave.
The film, however, was not received too well upon release. Terming it as “bland, tiresome crime drama”, a review in The Indian Express states that the film “never quite pulls the audience into its world, let alone offers uninterrupted engagement. And both the writing and direction are to blame for the film’s dullness.”
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Good Luck Have Fun Dont Die (English)
Gore Verbinski’s sci-fi comedy paints Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the bad guy. Sample the setting: a man (Sam Rockwell) claims he is from the future. His story gets grimmer. Dependence on smartphones has caused a complete breakdown of society, lending AI disproportionate control. What the man wants is to gather people and find the source of the rot, something he claims to have already done many times.
The film received mixed reviews but its ingenuity was lauded. “Even if much of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is in need of a rethink, it’s hard not to enjoy the scrappy, animated brainstorm taking place in front of us. The mess of it all is at least a very human one,” writes The Guardian.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Love Lies Bleeding (English)
Rose Glass’ 2024 film is about a gym manager, Lou (Kristen Stewart), who falls in love with a bodybuilder named Jackie (Katy O Brian). Set in 1989, Glass makes something hypnotic out of the premise as love gets entangled with passion. Despite the blood and the biceps, Love Lies Bleeding manages to be both tender and violent.
The film received a lot of praise and Stewart’s performance was especially singled out. “For a film as over-the-top as this, it might be counterintuitive to talk about subtlety, but Stewart is genuinely that; her line readings are coolly calibrated, quizzical, restrained, sometimes infinitesimally double-taking at the bizarre or outrageous things happening in front of her,” wrote The Guardian.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Cocktail 2 (Hindi)
This sequel to Homi Adajania’s contentious 2012 film, written by Luv Ranjan, is no improvement on the original. The story revolves around a couple, Kunal (Shahid Kapoor) and Diya (Rashmika Mandanna), and how their long-term relationship is tested with the appearance of Diya’s friend, Ally (Kriti Sanon). On paper, it might read like a modern dissection of relationships but it translates to a tired stereotype of writing terrible female characters and designing them as “powerful”.
“Cocktail 2 coasts on glossiness and too much talkiness, overlaid with Pritam’s ever-present background music. The reprise of the still-popular songs, including Tum hi ho bandhu, is flat: all emotions are underlined and overstated, just in case we missed the stuff going on between the three,” writes a review in The Indian Express. But, a major chunk of the film is shot in Spain so if nothing, the visuals might be a draw to watch it.
Where to watch: Netflix (August 15)
One more chapter
The Lionesses—female operatives enlisted by the CIA who go undercover to fight terror—are back on the small screen this week. The critically acclaimed series, starring Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, and more, is a full-throttle spy thriller that blends high concept action sequences with quiet moments of everyday life and introspection for its principal players. The new season sees the crew embroiled in a full-scale war, with Saldaña—who plays Joe McNamara, the head of the Lionesses programme—once more in the forefront. Even so, Rogerebert.com writes: “‘Lioness’ has such a rich bounty of supporting characters that even if Joe decided to take a desk job and make it home for dinner with the family every night, the series could carry on for years to come.”
Where to watch: Prime Video
Ted Lasso Season 4 (English)
All shows end but a good show knows when to end. Ted Lasso has missed the mark by a mile. Jason Sudeikis’ series revolved around an American college football coach, Ted Lasso (Sudeikis) who is hired to coach an English soccer team. The owner’s hope of this ending in a failure is upended by Ted’s effusive optimism and good faith.
Originally planned as a three-part series, Ted Lasso really took off in the first two seasons as the saccharine premise became a smokescreen to explore something darker in all the characters, Ted included. By the third season, it had turned into fan service. Season 4 opens with Ted getting a fresh start and primed to coach a women's team. A review in Variety states, “Sure enough, Season 4 is far more enjoyable as the latter than the former — even as Ted Lasso keeps privileging nostalgia and tired subplots over its best chance at a renaissance.”
Where to watch: AppleTV
Reacher Season 4 (English)
This American crime series, based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, is about a former U.S. Army military police officer (Alan Ritchson). He has extensive training in combat but prefers to live as a drifter. The fourth season is based on Child’s Gone Tomorrow (2009); Reacher sees a New York City subway suicide and his presence in the situation embroils him into what turns out to be a high-stakes situation. Speaking about the new season, Ritchson had said, “If the story was any more high octane we’d have to check people’s heart health before watching. Things get crazy this season in the best way.”
Where to watch: Prime Video
The Traitors Season 2 (Hindi)
Filmmaker Karan Johar returns as the host of the show where a group of contestants participate together. And among them, some (dubbed as “traitors”) are tasked with eliminating the majority (dubbed as “innocents”) in order to win. Borrowed from the successful format of the British series of the same name, this is reality show at its campiest. Major highlights this time are the contestants like Mallika Sherawat, Shweta Tiwari, Aditya Kulshreshtha (Kullu), among others.
Where to watch: Prime Video (August 15)
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