Dorothy
Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance (Tamil)
Set in a world shaped by caste, violence, and toxic masculinity, two childhood friends grow up inseparable in rural Tamil Nadu. Their lives are transformed by the arrival of Dorothy, a woman whose compassion quietly challenges the world around them. (more…)
Drishyam: The Conclusion
Thriller, Drama, Mystery, Crime (Hindi)
Years after outsmarting the police, Vijay Salgaonkar's past resurfaces when a new evidence threatens to expose his secret. As the investigation reopens, he must outwit the system once again to save his family. (more…)
Meesaya Murukku 2
Comedy, Romance, Drama (Tamil)
After facing rejection in love and getting into a fight, Jeeva learns about his father Siva's struggles and sacrifices. Inspired by his grandfather's legacy and father's dedication, Jeeva changes his outlook and works hard toward his musical dream. Through determination (more…)
Dupahiya 2
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
Dhadakpur, the Belgium of Bihar, is on the cusp of celebrating 25 years of being crime free. But chaos strikes when a never-seen-before motorbike, that was purchased as a wedding gift gets stolen 7 days before the ceremony! The journey (more…)
Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai
Drama, Romance, Fantasy (Tamil)
Caught between family duty and romantic love, a young man faces an impossible choice. (more…)
Guild Reviews by Film
Thella Kaagitham
Drama (Telugu)
Two teenagers discover first love amid the innocence, mischief, and uncertainties of adolescence. As they fall deeper for each other, the choices they make begin to carry consequences neither is prepared for.
Cast:
Harsh Roshan, Nakshatra, Deepak Malli, Sravya Dimple, Ajay
Director:
Ramesh Bandreddy
Writer:
Nandu Savirigana
Mon, October 5 2026
Impressive performances, music and cinematography lend respectability to the Ramesh Bandreddi-directed Telugu film, which has its fair share of problems
Thella Kaagitham — a blank piece of paper — is a fitting title for a story dealing with two impressionable adolescents. The success of films like Courtand Little Heartshas thrown the ball open for filmmakers to dabble with tender love, bringing a much-needed innocence to storytelling in an industry caught between testosterone-heavy actioners, cushy romances and far-fetched comedies. Intermediate students Ramu (Harsh Roshan) and Asha (Nakshatra) are 16, neither children nor adults, curiously opening up to a world full of infinite possibilities. It is a sleepy small town in late-2000s Andhra Pradesh, where landlines are commonplace, and internet penetration is minimal. Their parents have tall dreams and lead modest lives, making small sacrifices to fund their education and putting their problems aside.
Dupahiya 2
Comedy, Drama (Hindi)
Dhadakpur, the Belgium of Bihar, is on the cusp of celebrating 25 years of being crime free. But chaos strikes when a never-seen-before motorbike, that was purchased as a wedding gift gets stolen 7 days before the ceremony! The journey taken by the bride's family and ex-lover to find the Dupahiya forms the heart of this comedy, which explores the hopes and aspirations of simple people.
Cast:
Gajraj Rao, Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Shrivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Renuka Shahane, Yashpal Sharma, Anjuman Saxena, Komal Kushwaha, Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua
Director:
Sonam Nair
Writer:
Chirag Garg, Avinash Dwivedi
Mon, October 5 2026
Dhadakpur erupts when a mobile tower is set to be built on Banwari’s field, sparking panic. His son Bhugol grows popular as an influencer, while his daughter Roshni feels the pressure ahead of the gruelling SSC exam, just a week away. Her ex Amavas offers her a shortcut with pure intentions, while local inspector Mithlesh investigates a scam. The performances are decent, though the characters don’t make much progress. The pivotal cast – Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane, Sparsh Shrivastava and Shivani Raghuvanshi – do the needful, but aren’t quite tested and their portrayals hardly offer anything new. Yashpal Sharma’s cop act deserved better writing. Bhuvan Arora is strictly okay. Anjuman Saxena’s presence offers rare instances of warmth.
Fri, October 2 2026
The laidback rural satire improves upon a scattered first season, introducing stakes and problems that echo in the real world
Dupahiya is a homegrown series that’s difficult to write about. Not because it’s mediocre or anything, but because it’s the kind of low-stakes, minor-key and watchable satire that strives to be forgotten the second it ends. It’s almost too easy to engage with as ambient and family-friendly entertainment; the cast is likeable; the craft is playful; everyone gets a track (read this in Oprah’s “everyone gets a car” voice); the setting is familiar. Season 1 revolved around a stolen dowry motorbike in the crime-free village of Dhadakpur. The Panchayat hangover was strong, despite a broad storyline connecting its several characters. But Season 2 sheds the hangover — ironically, Panchayat itself has mutated into its own imposter — by being more thematically distinct. Besides the dramedy, it grows up a bit and stays tethered to the India of today. I’ll remember it more than the first season because it’s not as…content. Pun unintended.
Fri, October 2 2026
The second season of Sparsh Srivastava-Gajraj Rao suffers from a plot which doesn’t thicken till way past the halfway mark, even though it feels timely -- the leaking of exam papers.
One of the reasons that Dupahiya worked was its cheerful focus on the importance of the two-wheeler—its ‘whereof’ and ‘whyfor’. A potential groom demands a dupahiya to marry an excited girl who has fallen, not for his brash charms, but for the promise of getting away from here to there, a fictional Dhadakpur to a real-life Mumbai. It became the dhuri (fulcrum) around which the series revolves, telling the story of a gaon, its people and its politics in a spry and enjoyable way. The second season suffers from a plot which doesn’t thicken till way past the halfway mark, even though it feels timely: the leaking of exam papers is a fraught issue, whose fire has caused unimaginable turmoil.
Avaraachan & Sons
Drama (Malayalam)
Follows Avarachan, his children and the various family and social relationships that shape their lives.
Cast:
Biju Menon, Sreenath Bhasi, Vinay Forrt, Grace Antony, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Johny Antony, Akhila Bhargavan, Pauly Valsan, Parvathy Babu, Sreejith Babu
Director:
Thamby
Writer:
Thamby, Joseph Vijeesh
Mon, October 5 2026
An old-fashioned family drama dressed up as a new-age entertainer, ‘Avaraachan and Sons’ relies heavily on Biju Menon’s charm to compensate for its flat writing
Aspirations to be a new-age family entertainer are evident in Avaraachan and Sons, especially in the soundtrack, which contains liberal doses of not-so-great rap lyrics. But at its heart and in its somewhat dated approach, the Thamby-directed film remains an old-fashioned feel-good film, which serves up exciting bits only once in a while. Much of the film banks on Biju Menon’s lazy charm, which easily fits the protagonist Avaraachan, who doesn’t take life seriously, even as he expects a grandchild. A widower with two grown-up sons (Sreenath Bhasi and Ganapathy), he is unable to wean himself off the liquor bottle. Added to this is his propensity to get into trouble quite often. After one such episode, the family decides to pack him off from their coastal abode to the high ranges, where his sister resides.
Fri, October 2 2026
Biju Menon brings warmth and emotional heft to Avaraachan and Sons, which works better as a coming-of-age story of a flawed adult than as a family drama
Biju Menon has a peculiar penchant for humour. After starting with serious, mostly villainous roles, the actor reinvented himself in the 2010s, mainly with his flair for comedy. Marykkundoru Kunjaadu, Seniors, Ordinary, Vellimoonga, Kunjiramayanam, Padayottam, Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu… the actor was on quite a roll before he applied the brakes — either to avoid repetition or evade typecasting. In the last few years, he has largely stayed away from such roles, yet again focusing on intense roles, which he was always good at. That is why Avaraachan and Sons comes as a whiff of fresh air, beautifully balancing the veteran’s strengths. It has Biju Menon operating largely in his delightful ‘Maamachan zone’, but with much more emotional heft. As the titular character Avaraachan, Biju Menon is the anchor to this rocky boat that braves a few dips before reaching shore smoothly.
Meesaya Murukku 2
Comedy, Romance, Drama (Tamil)
After facing rejection in love and getting into a fight, Jeeva learns about his father Siva's struggles and sacrifices. Inspired by his grandfather's legacy and father's dedication, Jeeva changes his outlook and works hard toward his musical dream. Through determination and perseverance, Jeeva earns recognition in the music industry and brings pride to his family.
Cast:
HipHop Tamizha Adhi, Ketika Sharma, Chaithra J Achar, Ramya Ranganathan, Harshath Khan, Shah Ra, Karunas, Nassar, Aadukalam Naren, Karunakaran
Director:
HipHop Tamizha Adhi
Writer:
HipHop Tamizha Adhi
Mon, October 5 2026
Given how my heart beats for underdog narratives and anti-system stories, it’s so hard not to praise Meesaya Murukku 2. This is, after all, a film about people trying to get through a door that generations of powerful people have guarded. Talent isn’t enough here. Generations pass, gaana changes, and yet, the struggle remains. That’s why I totally dug the idea of Adhi playing Jeeva, and the young versions of his father and grandfather (senior versions are played by Baba Bhaskar and Karunaas). Beyond the opportunities it provides Adhi to shine, it’s narratively a beautiful emotional choice. It suggests that the years pass, the hairstyles change, the language changes… And yet, the young man trying to get through the door bears the same face. It’s the same dream being denied by the same person.
Fri, September 25 2026
Directed by Hiphop Tamizha Adhi and starring himself, Karunas and Baba Baskar, the gaana-driven musical explores the class divide in the music world and the struggle for gaana to find mainstream recognition. Spanning the musical dreams of three generations, the film has an interesting premise but remains disappointingly hollow.
Meesaya Murukku arrived in 2017 and remains a film that still serves as solid motivation to youngsters. A coming-of-age musical that doubled as Hiphop Tamizha Adhi’s biography, it was everything youngsters lapped up. Eight years later, Meesaya Murukku 2 is here. A spiritual sequel, the second part now sheds light on gaana — often linked to a particular era — and how it hasn’t got the recognition it deserves.
Fri, September 25 2026
Takes on gaana culture, caste and class barriers in the music industry, but its many ideas come at the cost of a focussed story
Meesaya Murukku 2 has some basic ideas that would fill the first few pages of a Pa Ranjith or a Mari Selvaraj script, which explains how it opens: a traditionalist orthodox musician grabbing a recording chance that was otherwise meant for a rooted gaana artiste. Here, we see characters named Das and Lakshmi from Royapuram, in true retro style, filling the theatre with lines in Madras baashai. Very soon, we cut to characters called Siva and Jeeva. What connects these people and why do they struggle to find success in this world?
Dorothy
Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance (Tamil)
Set in a world shaped by caste, violence, and toxic masculinity, two childhood friends grow up inseparable in rural Tamil Nadu. Their lives are transformed by the arrival of Dorothy, a woman whose compassion quietly challenges the world around them.
Cast:
Keerthy Suresh, Sananth, Rishikanth, Jeeva Subramanian, Ramachandran Durairaj, Muthukumar, Soundara Raja, Anthony Daasan
Director:
Karthik Subbaraj
Mon, October 5 2026
Mon, October 5 2026
Dorothy is the work of a film-lover. That’s, perhaps, its biggest strength. But, by the end of the film, it also seems like its most glaring limitation.
One of the great joys of watching a Kartik Subbaraj film is enumerating a list in your head of his possible sources of inspiration. It remains true for his latest directorial venture, Dorothy, too. Like how a home without a woman’s touch has echoes of Kanu Behl’s Titli (2013) – a film about a carjacking crew, comprising a father and his three sons. A scene where the couple bows down to touch an elder’s feet, only to cut to a marriage scene when the couple gets back up, but the man has been replaced by someone belonging to the same dominant caste as the woman. It’s the kind of deadpan comedy scene I’d expect in a modern Malayalam film. A character tries to clumsily kill someone, and repeatedly fails, reminiscent of the assassins in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges (2013). A black-and-white track takes place in the present, while cutting to a flashback in colour, like in Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000). There’s also the grit and rigour of the Madurai gangster film, championed by the likes of Vetri Maaran, M. Sasikumar, given how the film centres itself around young boys being taught to ‘man up’ each time they walk, eat or wince while seeing a floating corpse, violence. They’re also repeatedly told crying ‘like a woman’ is disgusting.
Fri, October 2 2026
Karthik Subbaraj’s Dorothy is a cinema of red herrings and foreshadowing.
Karthik Subbaraj’s Dorothy is a cinema of red herrings and foreshadowing. In the beginning, it declares itself as a ballad to the friendship of Karthi (Rishikanth) and Subbu (Sananth), their early childhood in school, their companionship that triumphs caste, and their affection that transcends class. It is an inception that’s familiar to the Tamil audience, one that evokes so many films from the past, from Uyarndha Manithan, Paarthal Pasi Theerum and Alayamani to Sattam, Annamalai, Thalapathy and Friends. Subbaraj sets it closer to his stomping grounds—in and around a village in Madurai in the mid-90s. If the last fifteen years are any indication this points to only one genre—the gangster saga known as 3Ms, Madurai Murder and Mayhem—and so goes Subbaraj, populating the film with familiar tropes and beats, making Karthi and Subbu the muscle for a local thug.
Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai
Drama, Romance, Fantasy (Tamil)
Caught between family duty and romantic love, a young man faces an impossible choice.
Cast:
Nivin Pauly, Anjali, Soori, Ravi Mariya, N. Azhagamperumal
Director:
Ram
Writer:
Ram
Mon, October 5 2026
Sat, October 3 2026
Director Ram's Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, starring Nivin Pauly, Anjali and Soori, is an eccentric tale about a man who is 8,000 years old. His escapades in an evolving world make for an unbearable, torturous two hours in the theatre.
Over the past few months, a popular meme featuring actor Karunas’s dialogue from Polladhavan has been doing the rounds: “Seri da, ippo enna?” (Okay, what now?). It is a short, almost throwaway line, but one that fits just about every occasion when you are subjected to an inconsequential story and find yourself desperately searching for a comeback that will shut the conversation down. “Seri da, ippo enna?” does the job. Brief, dismissive and brutal.
Thu, October 1 2026
Whenever this film moves away from the train and indulges in a fairy tale about a man and a woman finding themselves and falling in love again and again, Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai shows what it could have been...
Eternal. There is so much positivity to the idea of something being eternal. But is it always a great thing? Experiencing a love that transcends time and space is a beautiful feeling, but what if it comes with the pain of separation, the angst of yearning, and the burden of repetition? In fact, the nameless protagonist (Nivin Pauly) of director Ram’s latest, Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, is an immortal being who has been walking through the sands of time for over 8,000 years. He is worldly wise, weary, and anything but winsome. But one can’t blame him for his irritable demeanour because, as Kamal Haasan wrote in Uttama Villain, “Saagavaram pol sogam undo…” (Is there anything sadder than being immortal?) What keeps him walking on the face of the earth? Love. So an immortal falls in love with someone (Anjali); he has met her five times over 8,000 years, and between each meeting, he craves her and lives his life searching for her. Now, this timeless love story has all the makings of a… let’s say timeless love story. But even with the backing of a whimsical idea, it is perplexing to see Ram try to ground his film in a moving train that, unfortunately, chugs around in circles.
Digger
Comedy, Drama (English)
The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.
Cast:
Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Robert John Burke, Emma D'Arcy, Burn Gorman, Sophie Wilde
Director:
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Mon, October 5 2026
Starring in his first non-action film in 14 years, Tom Cruise is wasted in this self-satisfied satire.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Digger might be the most self-serious unserious film I’ve seen in recent memory. Ostentatious sets, unsubtle acting punctuated by facial tics, and a score (by Cosmo Sheldrake) that underlines nearly every emotion: the film rarely looks like the finest hour of its star-studded team. Then, about a third into the 129-minute film, Inarritu reveals his conceit: what we’ve been watching is a rehearsal of a play called Fossil Fools, supposed to premiere later in the day. Built around greedy fossil fuel baron Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), who [in the film’s world] triggered an apocalypse with his reckless extraction rigs in Greenland and Alaska, Inarritu’s film admits to be aiming for a deliberately underwhelming play. Its lead, Curtis Markson (Cruise, the actor playing Digger) says he feels “disconnected” with the play. However, Digger also commits the cardinal sin of supplementing the play with a film that has frustratingly little to add to modern discourse. As a result, the over-the-top play begins to look like an excuse for a shoddy film.
Mon, October 5 2026
Alejandro G. Iñárritu's ‘Digger’, starring Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon, is a wild punt that never comes close to delivering on its political and cultural criticisms
In the run-up to Digger’s release, a stray theory caught on that Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s film might be a stealth musical. It was a sizeable enough rumour that the studio actually issued a disclaimer that it wasn’t. I was reminded of this at the end of an elaborate sequence, the centrepiece of the film in many ways, in which oil tycoon Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is addressing a European Parliament of sorts. He starts off conciliatory and ends up combative, enraging his audience to the point that they stop yelling and start singing “blah blah blah blah blah”.
Sat, October 3 2026
I must confess, it took me some time to wrap my head around Iñárritu’s new offering, Digger — but I was glad it gave me considerable food for thought. As far as ambition goes, it is audacious — few films even dare to aim this high, let alone pull it off. On the flip side, it doesn’t come off perfectly as intended. Iñárritu’s screenplay digs deep, but then has trouble getting out of the hole it has dug.
Drishyam: The Conclusion
Thriller, Drama, Mystery, Crime (Hindi)
Years after outsmarting the police, Vijay Salgaonkar's past resurfaces when a new evidence threatens to expose his secret. As the investigation reopens, he must outwit the system once again to save his family.
Cast:
Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran, Rajat Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat, Prakash Raj, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, Kamlesh Sawant, Saurabh Shukla
Director:
Abhishek Pathak
Mon, October 5 2026
Sat, October 3 2026
The final Drishyam chapter returns to Vijay Salgaonkar’s world of lies, memory and moral ambiguity, writes Arnab Banerjee, as Abhishek Pathak explores whether a carefully constructed story can ultimately overpower the truth itself while testing memory and justice.
Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay Salgaonkar in Drishyam: The Conclusion, the third and final chapter of the Hindi-language Drishyam franchise, directed by Abhishek Pathak. Tabu, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta and Rajat Kapoor reprise their roles, while Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj join the ensemble as the story moves towards its promised denouement. The franchise has always revolved around a deceptively unsettling question: if a lie is constructed convincingly enough, can it eventually become indistinguishable from truth? The concluding chapter now has the unenviable task of giving that question a final dramatic meaning.
Sat, October 3 2026
Drishyam The Conclusion (unofficially known as Drishyam 3) starts off six months after the previous film Drishyam 2 ends. Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn), his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) and two daughters Anju (Ishita Dutta) and Anu (Mrunal Jadhav) have moved on in their lives in Goa but they are well aware of the impending danger. They know that Meera Deshmukh (Tabu) and her husband Mahesh Deshmukh (Rajat Kapoor) are still vying for justice for their dead son Sameer aka Sam (Rishab Chadha). And that is exactly what the couple is thinking.
#Love
Drama (Tamil)
The pragmatic creator of a dating app and her adventurous competitor test their theories about love in a 60-day challenge to find their ideal partner.
Cast:
Arjun Das, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Arjun Chidambaram, Gayatri Hariharan, Surya Rajeevan, Arjun Manohar, Abishek Joseph George, Harini Sundararajan, R. Badree
Director:
Balaji Mohan
Writer:
Nirmal Williams, Sharada Subramanian, Shweta chakravarthy
Sat, October 3 2026
Tara, an ambitious startup founder, and Matthew, a disinterested investor backing a rival product, set each other a 60-day challenge. Their ideologies clash as they date through each other’s platforms. When a genuine romance emerges, they are caught between their feelings and their corporate careers.
Fri, October 2 2026
An uninspired, insipid Netflix drama where storytelling and romance — indeed, love itself — struggle to survive
Love is a risk we endure. In a sense, then, love stories become thrillers where the stakes are not of life, but of the self—will the self survive love? For love turns stone-faced, gruff voiced men into pouty mush pots and softens the hardened boundaries of women—you almost don’t recognise people in love. Love ruptures the self, and something new emerges out of it. The best love stories, then, tease out this tension, this emergence, and revel in it, goad it further, while the worst think of this tension, this emergence, as reluctant plot pushers.
Fri, October 2 2026
Balaji Mohan’s Netflix series stars Aishwarya Lekshmi and Arjun Das.
Balaji Mohan’s six-episode Tamil series on Netflix sets up a wager between chemistry and compatibility. What makes two people fall in love: chemistry or compatibility? #Love gives the familiar romantic question a contemporary spin through dating apps, algorithms and start-up culture. The result is breezy viewing that raises potentially interesting questions about how we connect. Written by Nirmal Williams along with Sharada Subramanian and Shweta Chakravarty, the series revolves around two competing dating apps. Tara (Aishwarya Lekshmi), the self-made founder of Found, believes that relationships are built on compatibility. Matthew (Arjun Das), a wealthy investor and adventure junkie, backs Find My Bae, which puts chemistry first.
Pooja Meri Jaan
Thriller, Crime, Romance (Hindi)
After Pooja rejects Aniket’s romantic advances, his subsequent death by suicide leaves her facing accusations. As lawyer and friend Sana investigates the circumstances surrounding the incident, questions of obsession, consent, responsibility and the truth behind Pooja’s relationship with Aniket begin to emerge.
Cast:
Mrunal Thakur, Huma Qureshi, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Vijay Raaz, Sunita Rajwar, Rajesh Jais, Suparna Marwah, Chaitanya Vyas, Nikhil Angrish, Madhu Sachdeva
Director:
Navjot Gulati
Writer:
Navjot Gulati, Kanishka Singh Deo, Niren Bhatt
Sat, October 3 2026
Pooja and Aniket perform a play in front of a live audience. Right after it ends, Aniket proposes marriage, only to hear that Pooja is already in a relationship with another man, Vikram. Aniket is hellbent on earning a yes from her and keeps calling her. The next morning, Pooja receives the news that Aniket is no more. How far was Pooja responsible for Aniket’s death?
Fri, October 2 2026
The over-designed social drama struggles to stay mature about the premise of an ‘imperfect’ woman who is put on trial for the suicide of her boyfriend
Pooja Meri Jaan opens with a dramatic Romeo and Juliet rendition on a Delhi stage. The Shakespearean tragedy ends with both deaths, there is applause, and the lead actors proceed to hijack the spotlight: ‘Romeo’ Aniket (Vikram Singh Chauhan) proposes to ‘Juliet’ Pooja (Mrunal Thakur) in front of a packed theatre. Seconds later, she rejects him backstage. He is devastated, her words hurt, he rides home in the rain like a broken Vishesh Films hero — and kills himself. Pooja is soon booked for abetment of suicide, and the rest of the film revolves around her trial in the court of public opinion.
Fri, October 2 2026
Mrunal Thakur's Pooja is the kind of modern, independent young woman whom the manosphere - desi or elsewhere - hates.
Pooja (Mrunal Thakur) is in the dock. Her jilted boyfriend Aniket (Vikram Singh Chauhan) is dead, and the blame has been placed squarely upon her slender shoulders. Her lawyer Sana (Huma Qureshi) is not well-versed in criminal law, but she’s a friend, something the investigating officer Jatin (Vijay Raaz) is clearly not. He’s convinced that Pooja is responsible, and vows to make her pay. Pooja is the kind of modern, independent young woman whom the manosphere — desi or elsewhere — hates. She has a busy dating life, and doesn’t think that it’s her job to rescue the men she’s with. It’s even-stevens, and if the men have a problem, there’s the door. Which is pretty much how it should be, but of course it’s not, whether it’s in the movies or real life.
Sigma
Action, Crime, Drama (Tamil)
A daring treasure hunter throws caution to the wind, outwitting deadly traps and treacherous allies with sheer nerve and cunning.
Cast:
Sundeep Kishan, Faria Abdullah, Raju Sundaram, Sampath Raj, Shiv Panditt, Anbu Thasan, Yog Jappie, Magalakshmi Sudarsanan, Sheela Rajkumar, Kamalesh Jegan
Director:
Jason Sanjay
Writer:
Jason Sanjay
Sat, October 3 2026
Director Jason Sanjay's Sigma is a heist drama starring Sundeep Kishan, Faria Abdullah and Sampath Raj. The film is replete with stale ideas that are executed with the least care, making for a frustrating watch.
A bunch of dim-wits. Crores of money. A villain desperately hunting for a pen drive or a key. Police officers and investigators who invariably arrive at the scene only after everything has already happened. Several heist dramas have adorned the big screen over the years. Will CM Vijay’s son, Jason Sanjay, deliver something new with this heist drama titled Sigma built around new-age ideas? Let’s find out.
Fri, October 2 2026
Sundeep Kishan and Faria Abdullah lead debut director Jason Sanjay’s heist-action drama, which has some interesting ideas but ultimately struggles to break new ground
Storylines exploring the nexus between illegal gambling dens and crime networks have been overdone in Indian cinema. Within the heist-action genre, it is rare to find something that feels new. The title of Sundeep Kishan and Faria Abdullah’s Tamil film, Sigma, alludes to the Gen Z idea of a “cool quotient” and an underdog protagonist navigating chaos. The film has been in the news because it marks the directorial debut of Jason Sanjay, son of Tamil actor and Chief Minister Vijay. Like Aryan Khan, Jason has chosen to work behind the camera rather than in front of it for his debut.
Fri, October 2 2026
Burdened by logical loopholes, shallow writing and jarring technical flaws, Jason Sanjay's directorial debut tries hard to be a slick heist thriller but ends up as an incoherent mess
Guru (Sandeep Kishan), the protagonist of Sigma, is a struggling library owner and podcaster. He lives in an inherited, dilapidated bungalow that doubles as a library—a space his late mother cherished and asked him to protect. However, along with the property, he has inherited a crippling debt of Rs 1.5 crore from his late father, leaving him struggling to make ends meet. Strangely, in the many scenes set in the library, we see only books on engineering and various other study course/exam
Baththa
Thriller, Drama (Tamil)
In 1986 Madras, a timid eight-year-old boy accidentally traps a feared gangster inside a deserted school toilet. As the gangster is forced to confront hunger, loneliness and his own vulnerability, an unlikely bond begins to grow between the two, changing their lives forever.
Cast:
Vijay Sethupathi, Lijomol Jose, Santhy Balachandran, Vishnu Govindan, Arjun Chidambaram, Hari Krishnan, Ajay Ghosh
Director:
Balaji Tharaneetharan
Writer:
Balaji Tharaneetharan
Sat, October 3 2026
Director Balaji Tharaneetharan's Baththa, starring Vijay Sethupathi, Lijomol Jose and Sai Prithvi Raj, is a moving comedy drama that's wholesome and beautiful. With minor shortcomings, the film brings laughter and emotion effortlessly.
A dreaded don sees life in a certain way — he wants everyone to be afraid of him and think twice before approaching him. He almost achieves it, too. But when he strips himself of his carefully built persona, who is he? Is he someone he can be proud of? And what happens when a child unintentionally gives him a reality check? Director Balaji Tharaneetharan’s Baththa takes this concept and turns it into a wholesome drama that is equally fun and emotional.
Fri, October 2 2026
Baththa, played by Vijay Sethupathi, is a frightening gangster. He is driven by ego, and no threat scares him. At home, he casually slaps his wife, throws a plate full of food, yells at his daughter. And he seems to be getting away with everything. So, you really wonder who’s gonna put him in his place. Balaji Tharaneetharan’s film hints that an assassination attempt is on the cards. But as it turns out, Baththa’s most dangerous adversary is not a gangster, not some man who defeats him in size and strength. Instead, it’s the opposite. His reckoning comes in the form of a little, meek boy. Baththa is full of such gorgeous ideas. The tender beauty of a child’s innocence serving as a mirror to such a gangster feels almost like a ‘pure cinema’ idea. For an entire half, Baththa is stuck in a school toilet, isolated and unable to get out. The premise seems almost like it might potentially get a bit too indulgent, a bit too static, maybe test your patience a bit. But Balaji’s Baththa is magnificently kinetic.