We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor’s note: Exciting week. Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, based on the making of Sylvester Stallone’s iconic film, Rocky, releases in theatres, Karan Johar’s Student of the Year comes back as a series and a sombre one at that; Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2 drops on Netflix, so does Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra.
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New releases
I Play Rocky (English)
Peter Farrelly’s drama is a film about a film. It tracks the way in which the 1976 Sylvester Stallone Oscar-winning boxing movie, Rocky, was made. It recreates the struggles of Stallone, who wrote the screenplay and eventually played the lead. He is portrayed by Anthony Ippolito here, who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Stallone and has garnered praise.
As the man himself, Anthony Ippolito is an eerie likeness of the young Stallone. It’s almost a cine-seance: the same face, the same seductively slurred voice, the same ox-adjacent physique (though not as stacked and defined in 1976 as an unclothed man in a comparable role would need to be now). What is so incredible is that Ippolito is no one-trick pony. In the 2022 Paramount+ miniseries The Offer, about the making of The Godfather, he played the young Al Pacino. That was a stunning likeness, too.
Where to watch: Theatres
Student of the Year: After Dark (Hindi)
Karan Johar’s fun and frothy Student of the Year gets a violent makeover as the film franchise pivots to a show. Directed by Reema Sengupta, who earlier helmed the terrific 2023 short film Nocturnal Burger, the show stars Shanaya Kapoor, Divik Sharma, Manya Grover, and Mannat Duggal. The premise is this: a popular girl in school is found dead, prompting the arrival of her identical twin to unravel the mystery.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Parivarik ManuRanjan (Hindi)
This romantic comedy is directed by Varun V Sharma and is fronted by Pankaj Tripathi and Aditi Rao Hydari. The story revolves around a 40-year-old man, Ranjan Dubey (Pankaj Tripathi), a bachelor who falls in love with his housekeeper and property manager, Helen (Aditi Rao Hydari). Set in Lucknow, the film feels derivative but still has loads of charm.
“Till the story remains focused on the tentative romance and the impact of Helen's entry into Ranjan's disorderly life, the film is enjoyable. When the outside world intervenes, it falls apart, and strains to recapture the sweet humour of the earlier scenes,” a review in Rediff states.
Where to watch: SonyLiv
Heartland (English)
This neo-noir thriller stars Jessica Chastain as Misty Jones, a has-been country music star whose best days are behind her. So she becomes a self-styled local sleuth in George, having left Nashville a couple of decades ago. But she gets sucked back into that world when her estranged brother shows up; her niece, young Nashville country singer, has gone missing. Chastain as Misty Jones has been praised but the reviews for the film are mixed; writes The Guardian: “To be fair, there’s something appealing, and country-esque, in the space between cheesy and serious. But Heartland seems more destined for background music than a hit.”
Where to watch: Netflix
12 12 12 (English)
Anthony Mackie (of MCU fame, among others) leads this whirlwind eight-episode heist drama. As with many of Apple TV’s best productions, 12 12 12 too is slick and sexy, sharply shot, and with a plot that takes a bit of getting used to. Mackie, playing FBI agent Jack Strickland, is obsessed with catching Paul Slavin (Jamie Dornan), a notorious thief planning a grand and elaborate heist at a fancy Swiss bank. Narratives intersect and diverge as Jack must get hold of Paul before it’s too late. Praising the show, ScreenRant considers the performances by Mackie and Dornan to be their “career-best work”.
Where to watch: AppleTV
Being Heumann (English)
The life and work of Judy Heumann, considered the “mother” of the disability rights movement, is celebrated in this docudrama that, while a bit reductive in its good-versus-evil framing, is a lively and heartwarming ride. It’s based on her memoir, largely centring around a San Francisco government building in 1977 by Heumann and over a hundred other activists, as they tried to force Jimmy Carter and his government’ hand to bring into effect the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The film, featuring several disabled actors (including Ruth Madeley as Judy), treats the disabled activists with a lot of care and empathy, highlighting their resilience in the face of an ableist system and individuals. Writes Rogerebert.com: “The film is for the battles won, the ones yet to be fought, and dares us to imagine and ask for a better world.”
Where to watch: AppleTV
Fresh off the big screen
Ranabaali (Telugu)
This Rahul Sankrityan film stars Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna, and is a fictionalised take on the Great Madras Famine of 1876-1878, which took place in the Rayalaseema region of southern India. Deverakonda plays the titular role, fighting for his people as they suffer from starvation.
Where to watch: Netflix
Jailer 2 (Tamil)
Nelson Dilipkumar’s film takes off from where his 2023 outing concluded. Fronted by Rajinikanth, the sequel follows Tiger Muthuvel Pandian, the retired jailer, as his peaceful life is interrupted and he is forced to get back into action to protect his family.
As was expected, the film did tremendous business upon release and got good reviews. “The first half of Jailer 2 is stuffed to the brim with such inventive scenes where the highs of mass moments are balanced with laugh-out-loud silliness. What’s even rarer is seeing Rajini remain a spectator while the other characters are allowed to deliver the big laughs, even if it’s at his expense. It’s original and clever, and Jailer 2 stands to be one of Rajini’s funniest films in decades,” a review in the The Hollywood Reporter states.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Daayra (Hindi)
The Meghna Gulzar film is loosely based on the 2019 Hyderabad gang-rape and murder case where a young woman was gang-raped and the accused were killed in police encounter. Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the narrative is designed to put forth various perspectives, putting the moral onus on the audience to decide for themselves. The film didn’t receive favourable reviews upon release but the performances were lauded.
Where to watch: Netflix
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