Sankalp
Drama (Hindi)
SANKALP is a premium Indian socio-political drama that explores how power is manufactured not through elections, but through mentorship and institutional control. Inspired by the ancient Chanakya–Chandragupta chronicles, the series reimagines political strategy for modern India, where classrooms replace battlefields (more…)
Dhurandhar: The Revenge
Action, Crime, Thriller (Hindi)
As rival gangs, corrupt officials and a ruthless Major Iqbal close in, Hamza's mission for his country spirals into a bloody personal war where the line between patriot and monster disappears in the streets of Lyari. (more…)
Made in Korea
Romance, Drama (Tamil)
A woman from a small town in Tamil Nadu moves to South Korea — a place she always dreamed of — but struggles to find her footing in a foreign land. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Project Hail Mary
Science Fiction, Adventure (English)
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.
Cast:
Ryan Gosling, James Ortiz, Sandra Hüller, Lionel Boyce, Milana Vayntrub, Ken Leung, Priya Kansara, Mia Soteriou, Annelle Olaleye, Maya Eva Hosein
Director:
Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Sat, March 28 2026
Based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir (of The Martian fame), Project Hail Mary is a mixed bag. It promises a lot but doesn’t quite deliver. The film relies more on the charm of its lead actor than on the screenplay by Drew Goddard, which reportedly remains very faithful to the book.
Sat, March 28 2026
You just begin.” This line, at the end of The Martian, released 11 years ago and packing in the kind of repeat-value watch few films have managed to over the last decade, struck home then and is particularly resonant in the times we live in. It was part of a speech that Mark Watney (Matt Damon) delivered to a roomful of aspiring astronauts when asked what kept him going alone in a capsule on Mars when almost all hope had faded away. Watney’s speech, and the film’s optimistic message: that you just get to work, solving one problem after another, figuring it out step by step until you have finally changed things for the better — feels relevant in every step of the world we live in now.
Muthu Engira Kaattaan
Drama, Crime, Action & Adventure (Tamil)
A story of an man who becomes a legend, a Monster, and a Miracle, depending on the Storyteller.
Cast:
Vijay Sethupathi, Milind Soman, Sudev Nair, Vadivel Murugan, Risha, VJ Parvathy, Kalaivani Bhaskar, Muthukumar, Abi Nakshathra, Gemini Mani
Director:
M. Manikandan, B. Ajithkumar
Writer:
M. Manikandan
Sat, March 28 2026
Before Tamil superstar Vijay Sethupathi, who is also the producer of the Tamil series ‘Muthu Engira Kaattaan’, appears in his titular part, we see his smiling head. To begin with, the thriller set in a Tamil village and in a forest area rests on the dilemma of three policemen. The outsider wants the station to be shut because it is visited by creatures like snakes. Constable Kaali Pandiyan (Vaidivel Murugan), who happens to be the son of an affluent goat herder from the village, is so besotted with his wife that the thought of leaving the village for an outstation posting is outright unpalatable to him.
Tighee
Drama (Marathi)
Swati has built a respectable life in Mumbai, but everything is unravelling. Her predatory boss exploits her financial condition while her husband drowns in debt. When Swati comes to know her ailing mother Hemalata is not long for this world, Swati returns to a house that once was home. Her childhood home in Pune with her scorned younger sister Sarika, who has cared for their difficult mother alone for the last three years. The sisters' reunion is brutal, filled with accusations of abandonment. Fighting guilt, rage, and helplessness, the three find peace, until a fateful night when Swati discovers her old wedding video. The film explores how families survive through silence, sacrifice, and secrets that both save and destroy them.
Cast:
Bharati Achrekar, Neha Pendse, Sonalee Kulkarni, Jaimini Pathak, Pushkaraj Chirputkar, Nipun Dharmadhikari, Shrirang Deshmukh, Sanjay Mone, Mrinmayee Godbole, Siddharth Menon
Director:
Jeejivisha Kale
Thu, March 26 2026
A dark cloud of anxiety and unease hangs over Swati (Nehha Pendse) as she negotiates unwanted attention of her boss (Jaimini Pathak) and a mounting debt. Her younger sister, Sarika, (Sonalee Kulkarni) is in no better position, feeling stifled as the sole caretaker of their ailing mother and a stuttering career. The estranged sisters are united by the fact of their mother (Bharti Achrekar) being terminally ill. It doesn’t take long before they start bickering like children even as they turn caretakers.
Tue, March 17 2026
The many permutations of human relationships, and the stereotypes tied to them, feel particularly puzzling today. Can’t two sisters ever be mature and jealousy-free? Will a single mother not be an adequate provider to her daughters? Are all daughters really “daddy’s little girls”? Can’t sons find their best friends in their fathers? Tighee, directed by Jeejivisha Kale, suggests that all of this is possible today. It simply depends on the circumstances people find themselves in. The film’s philosophy is more along the lines of what I would call ‘unity in adversity’.
Sat, March 14 2026
Daredevil Born Again S02
Drama, Action & Adventure, Crime (English)
Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
Cast:
Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Margarita Levieva, Matthew Lillard, Tony Dalton, Michael Gandolfini, Nikki M. James, Arty Froushan, Genneya Walton
Wed, March 25 2026
In its second season, Daredevil: Born Again is finding its voice after switching streaming platforms in 2025. As the show returns, Mayor Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) has supposedly “fixed” New York. But a select few know what’s really going on behind the scenes. The darker storyline features an energised and determined Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fighting back from the shadows. Co-creator and writer Dario Scardapane carves out a relevant and timely narrative that will feel all too real. With brutal action and heart-pounding stakes, the Marvel series has set the tone for what’s to come next.
Dhurandhar: The Revenge
Action, Crime, Thriller (Hindi)
As rival gangs, corrupt officials and a ruthless Major Iqbal close in, Hamza's mission for his country spirals into a bloody personal war where the line between patriot and monster disappears in the streets of Lyari.
Cast:
Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun, Rakesh Bedi, Danish Pandor, Gaurav Gera, Manav Gohil, Ankit Sagar
Director:
Aditya Dhar
Tue, March 24 2026
Dhurandhar: The Revenge doubles down on everything that made the first film so controversial. The level of sycophancy on display borders on the pathetic. We discuss the film’s plodding narrative, pointless diversions, and shameless devotion to the ruling party. We also talk about plot twists that you see coming from a mile away, the protagonist’s muddled motivations, and the convenience with which certain hurdles are overcome.
Sun, March 22 2026
A little more than 40 years ago, cartoonist Alison Bechdel formulated The Bechdel Test, which, over the decades, has become an essential metric to evaluate the representation of women in media, with special emphasis being laid on film. The Bechdel Test has a simple ask — to assess whether a piece of performing art has (a) at least two named women and (b) whether the female characters in it engage in a conversation (or more) on a topic which is something other than that centred on a man. Many films, since then, even while not being feminist in the classical sense of the term (or female-centric, according to commonly-used parlance), have proved to be worthy candidates of the test. Many others have not, despite their on-the-surface female presence, been able to pass muster. But no film, at least in recent times, would perhaps have failed it as spectacularly as Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
Sat, March 21 2026
Never before has cinema exercised such formidable influence as it does in the present moment, particularly within India. Technological sophistication has refined nearly every facet of filmmaking; yet, in this relentless pursuit of scale and spectacle, a measure of restraint often appears to have been relinquished. The industry now stands at a curious intersection where artistic ambition, public sentiment, and institutional interests frequently converge. Films, filmmakers, and narratives alike are championed or contested with equal fervour, often within frameworks that extend beyond the purely cinematic. Such an environment, while undeniably vibrant for audiences, inevitably shapes the nature of the stories being told.
The Astronaut
Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller (English)
After returning from her first space mission, astronaut Sam Walker is placed under NASA’s care at a high security house for rehabilitation and medical testing. However, when disturbing occurrences begin happening around the property, she fears that something extraterrestrial has followed her back to Earth
Cast:
Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Miličević, Scarlett Holmes, Macy Gray, Reza Diako, Daniel Quirke, Daiana Madeira, Christine Abernathy
Director:
Jess Varley
Writer:
Jess Varley
Mon, March 23 2026
The last time Kata Mara appeared on the big screen as an astronaut, it was The Martian. The Ridley Scott film, which has immense repeat-watch value, cast Mara in an important role, but like her peers on that Mars mission, she did end up being a side player to Matt Damon’s “Martian” Mark Watney. Like in The Martian, Mara’s Sam Walker is also part of a failed space mission, but all comparisons to the 2015 film end just about here.
Chiraiya
Drama (Hindi)
Kamlesh's world as a devoted wife and daughter-in-law shatters when her new sister-in-law confides a disturbing secret about her wedding night, forcing Kamlesh to confront uncomfortable truths within her own family.
Cast:
Divya Dutta, Sanjay Mishra, Prasanna Bisht, Siddharth Shaw, Faisal Rashid, Tinnu Anand, Sarita Joshi
Director:
Shashant Shah
Writer:
Divy Nidhi Sharma
Mon, March 23 2026
क्या शादी वो लाइसेंस है, जिसके बाद पति अपनी पत्नी के साथ कुछ भी कर सकता है? क्या सात फेरों के दौरान पति को तन, मन, धन अपर्ण करने वाली स्त्री की ‘ना’ का कोई अर्थ होता है? क्या शादी के रिश्ते में भी ‘कंसेंट’ के कोई मायने हैं? वेब सीरीज ‘चिरैया’ कुछ ऐसे ही जरूरी सवाल पूछती है। JioHotstar पर 20 मार्च को रिलीज यह सीरीज मैरिटल रेप जैसे ऐसे गंभीर विषय पर आधारित है, जिसे ना समाज गलत मानता है, ना कानून गुनाह।
Sat, March 21 2026
Chiraiya takes on the uncomfortable, often avoided subject of marital rape in India. The JioHotstar show is based on the idea that marriage itself does not imply consent. For a while, Chiraiya really bends into that discomfort. But what starts off as a character-driven drama with a very quick setup slowly turns into something more heavy-handed and less satisfying. The six-episode Hindi series is based on an idea by Soumyabrata Rakshit, created by Divy Nidhi Sharma and directed by Shashant Shah. Set in Lucknow, the story follows Kamlesh (Divya Dutta), the ideal daughter-in-law in a tightly-knit clan led by the scholarly Papaji (Sanjay Mishra).
Fri, March 20 2026
There’s a special genre of Hindi social dramas that distinguish themselves by making a mess of perfectly sensible themes. They’re so chuffed about saying something progressive that they say it with the confidence of a 5-year-old teacher’s pet. They’re so determined to school the average viewer that they do it in the syllabus of pandering. They’re so convinced that only intent counts that the storytelling is treated like a Zoom meeting with an attendance-not-mandatory option. Did I need to use such an unnecessarily colourful analogy? No, but it would help if the film-making tried to be as creative. Chiraiya is the latest example. It brings a cartoon knife to a live-action gunfight. It’s more frustrating to watch because the ideology is sound, but instantly subdued by the demands of a deafening algorithm. The result is a performative women-written-by-men project, where the depth is more theoretical than practical, and where artificial moments are spoon-fed to convey brutal truths.
Aadu 3
Comedy, Fantasy (Malayalam)
Shaji Pappan and Co. opens a Pandora's box of reincarnations and multiple timelines leading to comic chaos of epic proportions.
Cast:
Jayasurya, Vinayakan, Sunny Wayne, Saiju Kurup, Vijay Babu, Vineeth Mohan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Harikrishnan, Bhagath Manuel, Indrans
Director:
Midhun Manuel Thomas
Writer:
Midhun Manuel Thomas
Fri, March 20 2026
How can a cinematic idea, which has been milked to its limits, be stretched further without seeming like the filmmaker is flogging a dead goat, er, horse? Bring in multiple timelines, make the same characters do the same things but in different time periods and maybe let these characters from various eras collide. Well, that is exactly what writer and filmmaker Midhun Manuel Thomas does with Aadu 3: One Last Ride: Part 1, the third instalment of the spoofy satire Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyaanu (2015).
Thu, March 19 2026
One suspects that the experience of reading the script of Aadu 3: One Last Ride: Part 1 must have been a thousand times more rewarding than the experience of watching the film. This is not because one’s imagination isn’t limited by budgets or by performances, nor does it have much to do with this film getting lost in execution. Of all the films of this franchise, this is the only film that relies almost entirely on literal humour. Instead of trusting these characters to deliver the goods with the film’s organically silly situations, Midhun Manuel’s writing goes overboard with wordplay and puns. Now, these are fun at the beginning and you also understand the cleverness of some of the usages, but you can’t help but imagine how much funnier it may have been to read these lines on paper, rather than make a huge ensemble present them, each with their own eccentricities and styles. Instead of figuring a specific brand of humour for each character (like in the previous films), Midhun chooses to repeat the same style of dialogues for all, lending a homogeneous dullness to a film that could have gone anywhere.
Jazz City
(Bengali)
Set in 1971 Calcutta, a jazz club becomes the backdrop for a revolutionary awakening as music intertwines with language, identity and the birth of a nation during a pivotal historical moment.
Cast:
Arifin Shuvo, Shataf Figar, Arpita Chatterjee, Shreya Bhattacharya, Sauraseni Maitra, Sayandeep Sengupta
Director:
Soumik Sen
Writer:
Soumik Sen
Thu, March 19 2026
We’re back to 1971. Again. Contemporary Indian cinema will have you believe that South Asian history — nay, human civilisation itself — begins and ends with 1971. Dinosaurs probably went extinct just before that. Jokes aside, so much of historical storytelling is concentrated into that one decade that the fatigue is real. Ironically, mainstream Bollywood at the time reacted to all the national turmoil with Angry Young Men and disillusioned anti-establishment heroes. But today’s stories are more focused on painting that very country as a vessel of patriotism, political courage and cultural superiority. Naturally, this happens at the expense of two familiar neighbours. To its credit, Jazz City finds a new and expensive way to flaunt India’s role in the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Ustaad Bhagat Singh
Action, Comedy, Drama (Telugu)
A tribal boy is shaped by the values of his teacher, who gives him the name 'Bhagat Singh'. He grows up deeply rooted in strong morals, which guide his actions throughout his life.He stands firm against injustice and takes on powerful evil forces, even when facing overwhelming odds.
Cast:
Pawan Kalyan, Sreeleela, Raashii Khanna, R. Parthiban, Nawab Shah, Avinash, Gautami Tadimalla, Narra Srinu, Naga Mahesh, Temper Vamsi
Director:
Harish Shankar
Writer:
Harish Shankar
Thu, March 19 2026
In 2012, when director Harish Shankar teamed up with Pawan Kalyan for Gabbar Singh, an adaptation of Dabangg, it resulted in a massy outing that capitalised on the star’s nonchalant attitude. The film entertained, even if it did not break new ground in storytelling. A lot has changed since then and the star is now the deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. In Ustaad Bhagat Singh, the director rehashes the outdated template of Gabbar Singh, and infuses it with a heavy dose of ideology that powers the actor-politician today. The result is a narrative that appears to be randomly stitched together to tick a few boxes on a checklist.
Made in Korea
Romance, Drama (Tamil)
A woman from a small town in Tamil Nadu moves to South Korea — a place she always dreamed of — but struggles to find her footing in a foreign land.
Cast:
Priyanka Arul Mohan, Park Hye-jin, Rishikanth, Thirunavukkarasu
Director:
Ra. Karthik
Writer:
Ra. Karthik
Sat, March 14 2026
Netflix’s new Indian original movie, Made in Korea, is a lazy excuse of a film made by an inept group of people with no idea what they’re doing. The very existence of such slop is a slap in the face of talented filmmakers who struggle for decades trying to do honest work. This is an insult not only to them, but also to audiences who pay hard-earned money to Netflix every month. Here is proof that the unemployment crisis isn’t restricted to men. We discuss the film’s clueless protagonist, her pointless motivations, and the aimless narrative that she is confined to. We also raise questions about the plausibility of such a premise, and the movie’s cartoonish attempts to “honour” Korean culture.
Fri, March 13 2026
Made In Korea is quite the clever title for the film it turned out to be. The most obvious reading is that the film was made in Korea, but it indicates the coming-of-age story of a lady named Shenba (Priyanka Mohan), giving us the sense that the real Shenba was made in Korea after she migrates there. And then there is the pun. After Shenba makes her way to Seoul, she finds work in a mansion as a ‘maid’, looking after the old lady who lives there. But there ends anything one can remotely term clever about this film.
Thu, March 12 2026
The Tamil film Made in Korea reveals that there is a tangible connection between Tamil Nadu and South Korea. In 48 AD, Princess Sembavalam, aka Queen Heo Hwang-ok, from Tamil Nadu, went to start her new life in South Korea after marrying King Suro of the Gaya Kingdom. The protagonist of the South film, Shenba, becomes fascinated with the country after dressing up as the young queen at school one day. The feature, written and directed by Ra. Karthik follows a different kind of adventure as Shenba struggles to survive in the land of her dreams. Priyanka Mohan plays the young woman in the mediocre coming-of-age story.
Sankalp
Drama (Hindi)
SANKALP is a premium Indian socio-political drama that explores how power is manufactured not through elections, but through mentorship and institutional control. Inspired by the ancient Chanakya–Chandragupta chronicles, the series reimagines political strategy for modern India, where classrooms replace battlefields and bureaucrats replace soldiers.
Cast:
Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, Neeraj Kabi, Kubbra Sait, Meghna Malik, Kranti Prakash Jha, Saurabh Goyal, Tushar Pandey, Danish Iqbal
Director:
Prakash Jha
Writer:
Reshu Nath
Sat, March 14 2026
Revenge is the name of the game… well, in most crime thrillers. ‘Sankalp’ by Prakash Jha opens with a couple of bodies arriving at the gurukul run by Maat Saab (Nana Patekar). Before we learn who died and at whose hands, we are taken back to the unfolding of events six months earlier. Bit by bit, we grasp who Maat Saab is and how he derives his power. Bureaucracy in India is the bulwark through which the veins of power run and control the system. What better way than to infiltrate this very nerve centre with an army of loyalists? He picks up boys and girls from underprivileged backgrounds, educates them and trains them to crack the UPSC examination. Voila, a team of exceptional men and women in positions of extreme privilege within the civil services (from IAS to IPS to IRS) are ready to do his bidding.
Fri, March 13 2026
A rare filmmaker who understands the pulse of heartland politics, Prakash Jha returns this week to his Raajneeti universe along the Ganga with a flawed yet engaging take on benevolence. The series Sankalp stands out for its intellectual ambitions and strong performances. It succeeds as a reflective political drama rooted in moral ambiguity, but its bloated narrative structure and lack of visual innovation prevent it from becoming addictive. In an era of flashy spectacles, Jha sticks to a traditional, issue-driven style, prioritising realism and complexity, though some methods of portraying power corridors and the dynamics between kingmakers and rebellious disciples now feel clichéd in the series format.
Fri, March 13 2026
Some shows are so long and expansive that they become like senior family members — you don’t know if you like or dislike them because you’re inherently attached to them. Especially if nearly 500 minutes are consumed in one day, for professional reasons. Sankalp is (finally) over, but I have to be honest: I find myself missing how talkative and busy and overbearing and old-fashioned it was. I’m not sure what to do with my time anymore. There’s a certain sort of antiquity to a Prakash Jha directorial in this age: a narrative that’s about politics without being political, a potboiler about grassroots power and wise teachers and manipulative king-makers and faithful students, a traditional assortment of characters with shifting allegiances, mythology-fuelled dialogue, a chessboard that’s supposed to convey mind-games and twisty moves and metaphorical pawns. Even when I wasn’t paying attention to one of its 15 subplots, I grew to respect the scale. It’s not peak storytelling, but it’s the kind of committed mid-tier entertainment that reclaims the genre from the algorithmic clutches of modern streaming. In short, Sankalp is watchable because it doesn’t pretend to pander.