Ohh My Dog
Drama, Family (Hindi)
In Assam, 14-year-old Apu embarks on a desperate quest to rescue his beloved dog, Momo, after he is kidnapped. Meanwhile, in Bihar, a devoted dog named Oscar sets out on a perilous journey of his own to find his kidnapped (more…)
The End of Oak Street
Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller (English)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings. (more…)
Awarapan 2
Action, Drama, Romance (Hindi)
19 years later, Shivam is back. A man haunted by grief and loss, searching for a purpose for his life. (more…)
Batwara 1947
Action, Drama, War (Hindi)
The story of an elderly Hindu woman who refuses to leave her ancestral home in Lahore, only to have a Muslim refugee family from Lucknow allotted to her house following the events of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan. (more…)
Guild Reviews by Film
Vishwanath & Sons
Drama, Romance (Tamil)
Sanjay Vishwanath is an acclaimed professional handgunner in his 40s with a major stake in fame and wealth. When he comes across a woman named Maddy in her 20s, their dynamic poses many issues that they must come to terms with.
Cast:
Suriya, Mamitha Baiju, Radhika Sarathkumar, Raveena Tandon, Rajiv Menon, Sunil, Nassar, Bhavani Sre, Harsha Chemudu, Cell Murugan
Director:
Venky Atluri
Writer:
Venky Atluri
Sun, August 16 2026
It feels like it’s been forever since we saw Suriya in a film where he’s finally allowed to relax and just be. If not anything else, this could be reason enough to indulge in the corny world of 'Vishwanath & Sons'
What you’re likely to feel about Venky Atluri and Suriya’s Vishwanath & Sons will largely depend on how you feel about Mamitha Baiju’s performance in it. She plays Maddy, a surrogate mother who enters the life of Vishwanath’s titular son when he’s emotionally blackmailed into finding an heir to his $5.4 billion fortune. Atluri could have used several descriptors to explain Maddy’s character to Mamitha Baiju, but there’s no denying the hangover of a thousand loosu ponnus of Tamil cinema who had to walk, just so Mamitha could run.
Sun, August 16 2026
hings happen in Vishwanath & Sons. Lots of things, in fact, but you never learn about their weight. A young woman subjects her body to pregnancy just so she can fund her education. Later, almost on a whim, she decides to give up this hard-earned education. Meanwhile, a man who seems perfectly content being single is rather quickly persuaded to get himself a child. These are momentous choices with profound ramifications, and yet, we are never truly allowed to understand their emotional significance, the marks they leave on the interior lives of these characters.
Sun, August 16 2026
Vishwanath & Sons is a hearty family drama about a 40-year-old man struggling with the moral dilemma of being in love with a 22-year-old. But the age gap is only part of the story.
Vishwanath & Sons deals with a red-flag subject, fronted by a protagonist who is a walking, talking green flag. Sanjay Vishwanath (Suriya), a multi-millionaire businessman and Olympic-medal-winning shooter, credits his father for teaching him all those valuable lessons. He becomes a skilled shooter after his father buys him a toy gun and when Sanjay hits his first target, his dad is overjoyed and claps.
Batwara 1947
Action, Drama, War (Hindi)
The story of an elderly Hindu woman who refuses to leave her ancestral home in Lahore, only to have a Muslim refugee family from Lucknow allotted to her house following the events of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
Cast:
Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol, Abhimanyu Singh, Kanikka Kapur, Khushi Hajare, Mithun Chakraborty, Mona Singh
Director:
Rajkumar Santoshi
Sun, August 16 2026
Rajkumar Santoshi's ‘Batwara 1947’, about Muslim refugees from India in Lahore after Partition, has neither the curiosity nor courage to break new ground
Halfway through Batwara 1947, bored out of my mind, I started to wonder how the film might be if instead of Shabana Azmi playing the old homeowner it was Naseeruddin Shah channeling his Ishar Singh from Main Vaapas Aaunga. It’s not that Azmi isn’t effective, just that Mai—a Lahori Hindu who’s lost her family in the tumult of Partition and whose house is allotted to Muslim refugees from India—can only ever be an object of pity. On the other hand, a cranky, rude old timer who resents the Muslims occupying his home… now that might be a challenge to the audience. Rajkumar Santoshi’s film isn’t interested in challenges. It wants to appear bold without actually being bold. It’s adapted from a broad, didactic play by Asghar Wajahat, Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai, and the film ends up even more of a sermon. Aamir Khan, co-producer with Aparna Purohit, has never stopped lecturing viewers since the 2000s, but at least he usually does his own preaching. Here, confusingly, it’s Sunny Deol, who’s calling for universal brotherhood one minute and horse-whipping a dozen men the next.
Sun, August 16 2026
The message is loud and clear: no religion is evil, only humans are; nafrat can be conquered through pyaar, siyasat se mazhab ko na milao; and above all, maanvata se bada koi dharam nahin. But they come as a listicle, instead of making you feel.
In its opening credits, Batwara 1947 brings back a significant logo. The title appears in Urdu along with Hindi and English, like it used to through so many decades, a practice which vanished quietly in the last decade. That erasure, gradual but evident, is an indicator of the state of the nation, which is busy being polarised over religion and language. It also marks a reunion between Rajkumar Santoshi and Sunny Deol, a director-star duo who gave us Ghayal, Damini, Ghatak, some of the most enduring hits of the 90s. Capturing a specific time and place, those films had a strong streak of social realism which Santoshi had a knack for, and which Deol channeled with rage and purpose.
Sun, August 16 2026
Sunny Deol makes the most of the film's quieter moments and emotive scenes to add a kind of weight that is far more powerful than his fists of fury.
Rajkumar Santoshi, reuniting with Sunny Deol three decades after their hattrick of 1990s superhits (Ghayal, Damini, Ghatak), takes the core of Asghar Wajahat’s celebrated 1989 play Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya O Jamyai Nai and effects sweeping textual changes to expand the dramatic scope of the screen adaptation, Batwara 1947. Some of extensions hit home, a few don’t. The tweaks in the period drama bankrolled by Aamir Khan Productions are dictated by the need to heighten emotional impact and give the lead actor a lion’s share of the footage. On both counts, the writer-director gets it right. Well, almost.
The End of Oak Street
Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller (English)
After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.
Cast:
Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Christian Convery, Maisy Stella, Jordan Alexa Davis, P.J. Byrne, Bethany Anne Lind, Emily Kuroda, Denitra Isler, Hudson Meek
Director:
David Robert Mitchell
Writer:
David Robert Mitchell
Sun, August 16 2026
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor do the best they can with their flimsily written roles, as do actors playing their children.
For the foreseeable future, dinosaurs will not be going extinct in Hollywood. The challenge now is how to make this era meet that era. Writer-director David Robert Mitchell (with the impressive It Follows behind him), has half an idea to pull this off. Since it involves a wormhole, and “ripples in space”, it’s just as well that he doesn’t labour the point too much. But then, labouring isn’t the strength of The End of Oak Street.
Sat, August 15 2026
Sat, August 15 2026
Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by David Robert Mitchell (of It Follows, one of the better horror films of the century), The End of Oak Street is an old-fashioned survival thriller with a clear tribute to Steven Spielberg and his groundbreaking dinosaurs. Producer Abrams himself did a Spielberg pastiche with Super 8 (2011), a cross between E.T. (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
Thudakkam
Action, Drama (Malayalam)
When danger strikes, a young woman fights to survive through courage and determination.
Cast:
Vismaya Mohanlal, Mohanlal, Aashish Joe Antony, Gibin Gopinath, Bobby Kurian, Kottayam Ramesh, Jaya Kurup, Jaffer Idukki, Gilu Joseph, Sivadas Kannur
Director:
Jude Anthany Joseph
Writer:
Jude Anthany Joseph, Linish Nellikkal
Sun, August 16 2026
Despite its familiar tropes and a forgettable cameo from Mohanlal, ‘Thudakkam’ is watchable thanks to debutant Vismaya Mohanlal’s commanding action performance
Rarely have we seen an actor’s name attached to the film’s name. The CBFC certificate for Thudakkam, directed by Judy Anthany Joseph, displays the film’s name as ‘Vismaya Mohanlal’s Thudakkam’, heralding the debut film of actor Mohanlal’s daughter. Mohanlal appears in a cameo role as a martial arts master and tells Meenu (Vismaya) that this is her ‘Thudakkam’ (beginning) and to “make your father proud”. Though Sai Kumar plays her father in the film, what is implied is not lost on anyone.
Sat, August 8 2026
The film constantly breaks the fourth wall to make obvious statements, giving signs of being rewritten to make the film appear softer for the family audience
In the interviews leading up to the release of Vismaya Mohanlal’s Thudakkam, it’s writer-director Jude Anthany Joseph spoke about how the basic concept of the film had been in discussion, as far back as 2020. There’s been a whole host of similar films that have released since, but there’s no denying the film’s obvious lack of sheen because it has hit screens after all of those films have released. In terms of its messaging alone, Darshana Rajendran’s Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaye Hey comes to mind, with recent releases such as Blast in Tamil and Maa Inti Bangaaram adding to an unignorable feeling of déjà vu. In first viewing, Thudakkam also feels like the most dated of these films, relying on a gratingly obvious amount of self-seriousness, as though it’s the first ever film to say what it’s trying to.
Awarapan 2
Action, Drama, Romance (Hindi)
19 years later, Shivam is back. A man haunted by grief and loss, searching for a purpose for his life.
Cast:
Emraan Hashmi, Shabana Azmi, Disha Patani, Suvinder Vicky, Vijayant Kohli, Atul Kumar, Aniruddh Rawal, Shriya Saran, Puran Gabbi
Director:
Nitin Kakkar
Writer:
Balal Siddiqi
Sun, August 16 2026
The film is a technical if not a spiritual upgrade but it can’t escape the franchising of its lone-wolf protagonist
The thing about nostalgia is that it only works in retrospect. Before getting on with Awarapan 2, I rewatched the 2007 original. The Mohit Suri moper might seem too emo for today but its gloom came from a genuine place of trauma. Criminal and atheist Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) once fell in love with Aaliyah (Shriya Saran). He was taken by her devotion towards her Allah. He had found somebody to live for, to believe in. But then she was taken away from him, by a bullet that had his name on it. He then walked, lost and listless, on the sidewalks of an unnamed South Asian town, in trenchcoats as life passed by him. Every young guy who had loved and lost felt Shivam’s angst. Every young guy who wanted to feel Shivam’s angst listened to the songs. Heartbreak was now cooler than falling in love. Sadness was aspirational. The angry young man had gone international and he had Mustafa Zahid as his wailing voice.
Sun, August 16 2026
Sat, August 15 2026
Awarapan 2 is a continuation of Awarapan (2007). Shivam Pandit (Emraan Hashmi) is miraculously saved despite being shot several times after the end of the first film. The second movie continues years later when he is doing an odd job in a town in Rajasthan. He is still mourning the death of Aaliyah (Shriya Saran), who he dearly loved and regularly visits her grave.
Agadha
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller (Telugu)
A solitary girl encounters a towering twelve-handed mystical idol in a torch lit shadowy cave, creating an atmosphere of spirituality and dark intrigue.
Cast:
Kamakshi Bhaskarla, Shravan Reddy, Ulka Gupta, Jovika Vijaykumar, Roshan Basheer, Bhanuchander, Keshav Deepak, Viva Raghav, Shreya Rani Reddy, Shiju
Director:
M. S. Raju
Writer:
M. S. Raju, Chaitanya Vege
Sun, August 16 2026
M.S. Raju’s Telugu horror-fantasy boasts striking visuals and myths, but underwritten characters keep it from delivering genuine chills
Barely a week after Korean Kanakaraju, a no-brainer milking the viewer’s endless appetite for horror comedies, Telugu cinema’s tryst with ghosts, evil spirits and tantric practices continues with Agadha, set to a different metre. It is a primitive yet visually arresting good-versus-evil supernatural thriller that takes itself quite seriously. Agadha arrives with an underdog advantage. One does not expect much, going by director MS Raju’s modest track record. In this film, he has banked on a young team to deliver the goods. On the surface, it has the staple ingredients of a rustic horror tale, with occult rituals, hymns, long-bearded sages and even older belief systems, but it is staged with flair.
Lanterns
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Action & Adventure (English)
Two intergalactic cops, new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, are drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
Cast:
Aaron Pierre, Kyle Chandler, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan
Sat, August 15 2026
The newest DC Studios series is an expansive space mystery that delves deep into the origins of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Some viewers may remember Ryan Reynolds playing Hal Jordan in the 2011 film Green Lantern. With the new HBO series, the character of Hal has gotten a complete overhaul as the origin and future of DC Studios’ Green Lantern are reintroduced in a way that will pleasantly surprise fans. In fact, creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King subvert the superhero series to present a layered mystery that explores the core of its leads and ensemble characters. Every twist and turn in Lanterns gives audiences a taste of different genres, from sci-fi to mystery, buddy comedy to a Western. But ultimately, Lanterns is a story about a mentor and mentee who end up teaching each other more than they expected.
Magudam
Action, Thriller (Tamil)
Peaceful medical representative and shipping harbor worker Linga's life changes because of betrayal and conflict in a coastal community.
Cast:
Vishal Krishna, Anjali, Dushara Vijayan, John Vijay, Jayaprakash, Ajay, Vamsi Krishna, Abu Salim, Arjai, Vj Jhansi
Director:
Vishal Krishna
Sat, August 15 2026
Starring Vishal, Anjali and Dushara Vijayan, Magudam marks Vishal's directorial debut. This revenge saga has a story that feels borrowed from the 1940s. But director Vishal dusts off the dated premise and brings it into 2026 with a lousy screenplay and hideous visual effects.
Actor Vishal’s directorial debut has hardly been a bed of roses. His journey behind the camera began in 2020, when he took over Thupparivaalan 2 after a fallout with director Mysskin, who had helmed the first film. Despite Vishal taking charge, the project never saw the light of day. Cut to 2026, and Vishal finally makes his directorial debut with Magudam. Ironically, the film has a backstory not entirely different from Thupparivaalan 2. Following creative differences, Vishal took over the film from director Ravi Arasu. Unlike Thupparivaalan 2, however, Magudam did make it to theatres.
Fri, August 14 2026
There’s not a single frame or dialogue in 'Magudam' that feels original. Everything feels like a copy of a copy of a hundred movies you’ve been watching for decades.
40 minutes into the three-hour-long Magudam, you feel like there’s almost nothing you’ve been told that matters to the larger plot. You’re introduced to a medical representative named Kripa and his family, and told repeatedly about their middle-class desire to buy a car. It’s info the film could have conveyed with one succinctly written dialogue, but Magudam hammers this point into our heads with sentimental scenes, a cringy family song about this dream and the most gnawingly dated comedy scenes led by Thambi Ramiah. It becomes clear as day that this car is going to be important to the plot, but given the amount of time it takes to keep droning on about it, you begin to expect a twist so original that you imagine M Night Shyamalan shifting base to Saligramam to live closer to Vishal.
Rehmat
Drama (Punjabi)
Three interconnected stories in present-day Punjab. A woman secretly shelters a wounded stranger within her home, while his family endures the weight of grief and impossible choices. Meanwhile, a mysterious elderly man arrives in a village, calling himself God.
Cast:
Naseeruddin Shah, Mita Vashisht, Suvinder Vicky, Diya Kamboj, Harwinder Singh Aujla, Jaswant Zafar, Navjot Randhawa, Anita Meet, Inder Bajwa, Sahej Aziz
Director:
Gurvinder Singh
Writer:
Gurvinder Singh
Fri, August 14 2026
Gurvinder Singh’s tranquil picture of India’s most storied region had its world premiere in the main competition of the 79th Locarno Film Festival
It’s present-day Punjab but it could be Punjab 1995; it could be India 1984. The village of Gujjarwal bristles with unsaid questions and silent answers. Big Bollywood movies (like Dangal) have been shot in the region, but the place is haunted by its own fictions. Everyone’s story is interconnected, like desperate organs of a wounded body. A young man named Keshav is absent from one household; a young father named Balwinder is missing from another. The police go around camouflaging bloody encounters as separatist violence and communal unrest. They assure Keshav’s family that his Sikh killers will be brought to justice; they visit Balwinder’s family to keep an eye on their voices.
Fri, August 14 2026
Rehmat is Gurvinder Singh’s idea of how he wants to see India: warm, thoughtful and neighbourly.
In Gurvinder Singh’s Rehmat, no guest is turned away. Whether it’s an alleged militant, or an out-of-state traveller, everyone is offered the respectful hospitality one associates with Punjab. Singh’s film opens with a prologue text noting the chapters of violence Punjab has witnessed during its many socio-political upheavals, and has left its scars. Especially the partition of 1947, and the insurgency of the 1980s. It might have contributed to the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) for an entire generation, and yet it’s this dichotomy that seems to be at the heart of Singh’s film: a state full of traumatised civilians don’t let bitterness get in the way to greet an unannounced guest. It’s probably not a coincidence that the title of Singh’s film translates to ‘grace’.
Ohh My Dog
Drama, Family (Hindi)
In Assam, 14-year-old Apu embarks on a desperate quest to rescue his beloved dog, Momo, after he is kidnapped. Meanwhile, in Bihar, a devoted dog named Oscar sets out on a perilous journey of his own to find his kidnapped owner, a 15-year old.
Cast:
Shreedhar Dubey, Pankaj Tripathi, Rajesh Kumar, Pavan Malhotra, Geeta Agrawal Sharma, Jitendra Joshi, Bullu Kumar, Sulakshana Baruah
Director:
Amit Rai
Writer:
Amit Rai
Thu, August 13 2026
Despite a clunky storyline and some half-baked treatment, the film proves that when it comes to unconditional love and loyalty, nobody can beat dogs
It’s not every day that comes a Hindi film where one sees dogs; it’s even rarer to see them upstage humans so effortlessly. What makes Amit Rai’s feature Ohh My Dog all the more special is that he has opted to shine a light on the local ‘indies’ rather than pedigreed breeds. This lends the film a certain rootedness, a sense of relatability and authenticity. One of the dogs happens to be Rai’s own pet Oscar, but the scene-stealer here is the professional Bruno, a year-and-a-half old who runs, barks and always has a look of purpose and determination. This isn’t a four-legged creature whose sole objective here is to make audiences go ‘Aww’ (that he naturally does), but more ‘Whoa’ at his physical prowess and olfactory powers.
Mon, August 10 2026
A heartfelt canine mystery that blends childhood, loyalty, crime and courage, while finding warmth in its performances but unevenness in its lengthy, darker overall narrative approach.
There is something intrinsically disarming about dogs in cinema. Whether they are steadfast companions on perilous journeys, mischievous family pets, or silent witnesses to human joys and sorrows, dogs possess an emotional currency that few cinematic characters can match. Their loyalty is uncomplicated, their affection unconditional, and their ability to connect with children almost magical. Ohh My Dog, directed by Amit Rai, attempts to tap into precisely this potent emotional space—evoking the warm, uncomplicated pleasures of a time when Indian cinema could tell children stories that were entertaining, humane and morally resonant without talking down to them.
Sat, August 8 2026
Driven by Bruno’s soulful gaze and Maahi Rai’s charming resilience, this timely family thriller breathes new life into the human-animal genre without sinking into tear-jerking tropes.
At a time when man’s best friend is caught between systemic neglect and empty sentimentality, writer-director Amit Rai eschews melodrama to craft an absorbing thriller with a moral spine. Somewhere in Assam, young Apu’s attention-seeking dog, Momo (Oscar) goes missing. The local policeman, who looks well-meaning, tells him and his mother that their pet would have become a delicacy by now. Around the same time, deep in Bihar, Prince, a young construction worker, goes missing. There too, the ‘helpful’ custodian of law shows little interest in following the missing boy’s footprints. But the tech-savvy Apu doesn’t give up hope, nor does Oscar (Bruno), Prince’s street friend. In different timelines, as they launch their search-and-rescue missions, we get an engrossing tale with a message ensconced deep within.
Mourinho
Documentary (English)
This trophy-packed, insider-fuelled documentary charts José Mourinho's iconic rise as one of the world's top footballing managers of the most elite clubs.
Cast:
José Mourinho, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Petr Čech, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Didier Drogba, Iker Casillas, Samuel Eto'o, Javier Zanetti, Marco Materazzi
Director:
Joe Perlman
Wed, August 12 2026
The documentary series doesn't offer much fresh insight on the enigma that is José Mourinho, popularly known as 'The Special One'. For over two decades, the football manager and former player has remained one of the game’s most controversial figures and yet, there is something that draws you to him.
A colourful portrait of one of football’s most complicated characters, Netflix’s Mourinho finds “The Special One” in characteristically charismatic form. It portrays football manager and former player José Mourinho as somehow both psychologically opaque and emotionally transparent; he claims that he has never felt pressure, but he seems to thrive in it; he is capable of forming lifelong bonds with everyone except his own flesh and blood; Mourinho is an enigma, one that would take more than a Netflix series to crack.
Reacher S04
Action & Adventure, Drama, Crime (English)
Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator, has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served.
Cast:
Alan Ritchson, Agnez Mo, Sydelle Noel, Anggun, Christopher Rodriguez Marquette, Kevin Corrigan
Wed, August 12 2026
The most watched series on Prime returns with a humdinger of a season and its invincible hero who is always the last man standing.
Reacher fans, rejoice. I’m delighted to report that Season 4 of the one and only Jack No Middle Name Reacher, which has him up against a formidable pair of enemies, is a humdinger. Based on ‘Gone Tomorrow’, Lee Child’s 13th novel featuring Reacher, it begins in a Philadelphia subway in which a woman kills herself. It catapults our hero, busy minding his business till someone makes it their business, into a breakneck adventure involving an assortment of characters, including bent cops, incompetent CIA agents, evasive US presidential candidates, and sundry others, all looking desperately for a missing pen-drive. What’s so important on that drive that it needs to be found at all costs? How is it connected to congressman John Samson (Marc Blucas) and his fiercely protective wife (Kathleen Robertson)? What is it that two women from Indonesia, the attractive Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo) and her mother, Amisha (Anggun) are searching for? Why are people being killed in the most ghastly manner, with dismembered corpses strewn all over the place?