We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor's note: What a week for the big screen; Naseeruddin Shah and Diljit Dosanjh star in a Partition tearjerker. Manvi Gagroo and Patralekhaa Paul show us the power of sisterhood in Heer Sara. The messy and political workings of the police force snap us back to reality on The Narmada Story. And of course, the long awaited horror thriller Backrooms. On streaming, a Korean webtoon is adapted into a live action underdog tale, a feel-good teen romance, and a crime thriller that will send chills down your spine. All this and so much more to devour.
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New releases
Manvi Gagroo and Patralekhaa Paul shine as Heer and Sara in this tale about sisterhood, friendship, and family drama. A road trip buddy movie, the film follows the two girls as they cross paths and decide to drive to Puducherry from Indore. Together. On a motorbike. Sara is on her way to reconnect with her estranged mother, whereas Heer is hoping to be reunited with her boyfriend, who happens to be in Puducherry to get married to someone else. There is more than enough motivating both women to get to their destination.
Writer-director Kartik Choudhury’s debut film, Heer Sara really showcases the power of female friendship and acceptance. Not to mention, the chemistry between Gagroo and Paul does a ton of heavy lifting.
Where to watch: Theatres
YouTuber Kane Parsons, all of 20 years old, kicks off his directorial journey with a spectacular debut. Backrooms, a chilling horror film based on his web series with the same name, is “icily brilliant and genuinely disturbing”, per The Guardian. Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a bit of a loser sadsack: he drinks too much, to cope with his divorce and his dead-end discount furniture store after a failed career as an architect. He does silly TV ads. He visits a therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve). She’s sad too; dealing with the trauma of having dealt in childhood with an abusive mother. The review explains:
It’s about people walled up in their own memories, imprisoned in endlessly remembered scenes from their past, or miserably perceived versions of their present existences in which they have become caricatures of themselves, gargoyle stars of their paralysed inner world of failure.
Where to watch: Theatres
At the center of this story are two women, from two vastly different backgrounds, banding together to go up against a common enemy. In this crime thriller, written and directed by Zaigham Imam, women from Narmadapuram, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, have been going missing without explanation.
Meanwhile, Agni, a tribal woman, finds herself trying to fight against predators to protect her daughter. In an unexpected allyship, the police sub-inspector, Narmada, is on her side. This woman-led film ties together multiple plotlines; at the same time, it spends time with each character’s character, all while highlighting the flaws in law enforcement here. Featuring several actors associated with the National School of Drama, the film sidesteps unnecessary detours and cinematic embellishments in service of a strong narrative and quality storytelling.
Vinamra Mathur in Firstpost writes,
Beyond the central mystery involving the missing girls, the film thoughtfully incorporates themes such as domestic violence, police-public relations, environmental conservation of the Narmada River, and the realities of the transgender community. Despite juggling multiple subplots, the narrative never loses focus and remains firmly connected to its core mystery.
Where to watch: Theatres
The latest in the ongoing fleet of politically loaded films with a particular bent about a past India, Governor is based on the financial crisis that afflicted the country in 1990 and 1991, leading to the liberalisation reforms of the time. The gifted Manoj Bajpayee stars as Raman, the titular RBI Governor; he’s the one who finally turns things around during tough times, and it’s his advice, to the Manmohan Singh character of the film, that saves the day. The film is directed by Chinmay D Mandlekar and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah (who also produced the controversial The Kerala Story). Scroll is distinctly unimpressed; pointing to Bajpayee’s (“the ace in a pack of jokers”) character, Nandini Ramnath writes:
Here, then, is the “true” architect of India’s economic reforms, the one whom the history books have ignored but Governor has resuscitated. With such a weak foundation and a teetering edifice, it’s no wonder that Governor collapses.
Where to watch: Theatres
Imtiaz Ali’s latest star-studded film explores grief, love, romance, memory, and nostalgia set against the era of Partition. Naseeruddin Shah plays Keenu, an ailing grandfather to Nirvair (Diljit Dosanjh) who, on his deathbed, reminisces about his lost lover, estranged as a result of the Partition. Nirvair, in an attempt to decode his grandfather’s tales, traces Keenu’s memories back to Sargodha, now in Pakistan. The film flits between Keenu’s old age and his youth, with his younger self played by Vedang Raina. Through Keenu’s memories, we watch as his romance with Afsana (Sharvari) blooms.
The film peels apart the layers of Partition, its violence and its devastation, and the effects that linger in the descendants of its victims. Ali and Shah’s collaboration is only aided by the addition of Rahman’s heartwrenchingly beautiful soundtrack. Anuj Kumar, for The Hindu, writes of Ali’s approach to this film:
He treats Partition not as a grand battlefield, but as a spiritual wound, an abrupt emotional rupture between two specific individuals. Unlike movies that use 1947 to fuel aggressive nationalist sentiments, the film reminds one of the sensitive, humanistic storytelling of Deepa Mehta’s Earth and Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar, where the antagonist is not a specific community; it is the chaotic, unfeeling mechanics of history itself. By stripping the rioters of their specific religious identities and comparing them to an alien entity, the script shifts the focus from a familiar, polarising ‘us vs. them’ battle to a broader, existential commentary on the madness of violence and mocks the mechanics of hate.
Where to watch: Theatres
Ah, the smell of a sweet summer romance. This romantic drama series, adapted from bestselling novel Every Summer After (2022) by Carley Fortune, splits its timelines, occurring across teenage eras as well as into adulthood. Percy (Sadie Soverall) spends her summers as a teenager at her family’s cottage, where she strikes up a friendship with Sam (Matt Cornett), which eventually—over years—blossoms into romance. Years later, we meet Percy and Sam as adults, estranged exes meeting each other after forever. How did their stories diverge? Praising the show, Variety writes how it “captures the whimsy, nostalgia and heartbreak of first loves and tragic endings,” calling it a “feel-good tale” that “infuses the perfect amount of depth and emotion to elevate it beyond a typical teen romance.”
Where to watch: Prime Video
Based loosely on the Ranga-Billa case of 1978, where two teenagers were offered a lift on their way to record a show for All India Radio in the national capital, and subsequently kidnapped, this series starts with the kidnapping of two teenagers as well. Starring Ali Fazal as the Sub-inspector on the case and Sonali Bendre as the distraught mother of the missing children, this crime thriller has moments of intense tension and devastatingly real horrors, gripping your heart and making your blood run cold.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Reverting to the old-school format, The Polygamist ditches the newfound trend of eight-episode seasons with a whopping 22 episodes for its debut season. This South African ‘supernovela’ is based on a novel by Rue Wythe, and tells the story of Jonasi Gomora, a wealthy and highly successful millionaire, married to social media darling, Joyce. He really does seem to have it all. However, when his secrets and flaws are revealed, the facade begins to crumble and he must deal with the consequences of his own actions.
This is a typical soap opera, replete with infidelity, family drama, lust, and revenge, perfect for binging.
Where to watch: Netflix
This South Korean manhwa (or webtoon) has been adapted into a Japanese live action series now on Netflix. It’s a theatrical and exaggerated underdog story, about a high school kid who’s getting routinely bullied, while his mum is going through cancer treatment. Things get to a head; a video of a fight where our protagonist tries to fight back goes viral and leads to a whole bunch of drama. The series is both “hopeful and bleak at the same time,” writes Decider, with convincing performances.
Where to watch: Netflix
This Malayalam police procedural film, directed by Martin Joseph Tharakunnel, is about a sub-inspector (Shane Nigam) who, at first glance, finds himself posted in a peaceful rural haven. Of course, things aren’t quite as they seem; the dead bodies start to mount. The movie, per critics, falls short of expectations somewhat, but there’s an electric twist that helps redeem it somewhat.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Fresh off the big screen
Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan join hands again (with fellow musketeer Paresh Rawal in tow), in an attempt to recreate the glory days of Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), to mixed results. This horror comedy feature, now streaming, tries hard to capture the lightning in a bottle that’s bound to pop up when you place Akshay Kumar in a haunted mansion with Priyadarshan behind the lens.
Arjun (Kumar) is in London with his sister, Meera (Mithila Palkar); she’ll be married soon. There’s mythology of some sort, a guruji, an underground tree within which resides a spirit, and a whole bunch of shenanigans that, per critics, feel dated. The Indian Express rues the missed opportunity here:
However, certain things, especially those that once cracked us up, should be left strictly alone: nearly 20 years on, this combo, which brings back some more of the originals like Rajpal Yadav, Paresh Rawal, and Asrani, is a dated ungainly mess, more horror less comedy, which only starts coming together well into the second half, but by then it’s too little, too late.
Where to watch: Neflix
Where does one even begin to reckon with the legacy of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, towering and polarising in almost equal measure? This biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua with Jackson’s estate backing it, provides one particular strand of his history: it is about the childhood prodigy fighting his family—particularly his dad—to find his own identity, eventually reaching global superstardom of the kind rarely seen before or since. The narrative is neat, glossing over some of the hardships he faced, and it’s effective—the film has had great success at the box office, grossing almost a billion dollars worldwide—as it charts the rise of Jackson. It’s also been criticised for not addressing any of the allegations of child sexual abuse levelled against Michael Jackson.
Where to watch: BookMyShow (buy or rent)
One more chapter
If you’re looking for a typical, bingeable drama, this is your jam. Back for its fifth season, Sweet Magnolias is an American romantic drama series based on the novels by Sherryl Woods. The show follows three women from Serenity, South Carolina, as they navigate love, romance, career and family. This season opens with Dana and Helen traveling to New York to visit Maddie. In the bustling, crowded big city, the ladies live it up, sipping cocktails, walking around Central Park, and visiting all the typical New York City sights.
But they can’t escape life back home for too long. Their real life issues begin to creep up on them—with exasperating husbands, new businesses and a complicated engagement to manage, the show never lets up on the drama in the three girls’ lives. What remains consistent, however, is the joy in their friendship. The show never loses sight of what it’s really about—the deep relationship these three women share with each other, and the love they have for each other.
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz writes for Fangirlish,
If Sweet Magnolias knows how to do something, [it’s] deliver on the connection between these three women, who you always 100% believe are each other’s not just best friends, but almost sisters.
Where to watch: Netflix
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