Member Reviews

Human beings are bound to have a breaking point, the limit till which they can take all the pain and sufferings that life throws at them. Geetha, the protagonist of Fazil Razak’s Thadavu(The Sentence) being screened in the international competition category at the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), does not seem to have one. In the short period from the life of the 51-year old that we get to see in the film, she lands in one crisis after another, the latest one being more grave than the previous that it seems impossible that she would overcome it. But, for the woman scarred by two unsuccessful marriages and a series of unfortunate events, including being blamed for a child’s death for no fault of her own, the question of giving in does not arise.

Written and directed by Mudassar Aziz, the film does bring tones similar to his previous releases like Khel Khel Mein, Pati Patni Aur Woh, Happy Bhag Jayegi series. While his previous films had some aspects working for them, Mere Husband Ki Biwi falls short on most of them. Led by Arjun Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Rakul Preet Singh, the film attempts to explore a good concept about divorce and separated families but the message is lost somewhere between all the twists and turns that don’t add much. The comic timings often work but the screenplay doesn’t support or appreciate the comedy as much. The film begins with Arjun Kapoor’s Ankur Chaddha dreaming about his monstrous ex-wife, Prabhleen Dhilon played by Bhumi Pednekar. Ankur and Prabhleen have separated for over two years but she continue to haunt his dreams, and his reality. Her memories continue to get in the way of his new relationships, however, his one loyal friend refuses to give up even if it lands them in trouble. Ankur is finally able to move on when he visits his hometown to finalise a deal, where he meets his college’s ‘IT’ girl Antara Khanna played by Rakul Preet Singh.

अंकुर चड्ढा और प्रभलीन ढिल्लों (जिसे फिल्म में ढिल्लों, ढिल्लोन, ढिल्लन भी कहा गया) का तलाक हो चुका है लेकिन प्रभलीन के साथ बिताए बुरे दिन अंकुर की यादों से नहीं निकल पा रहे हैं। उसे पुरानी दोस्त अंतरा खन्ना मिलती है, दोनों करीब आते हैं कि तभी प्रभलीन लौट आती है और अंकुर को वापस पाने की जुगत में लग जाती है। कौन जीतेगी इस रेस में? हस्बैंड को छोड़ चुकी बीवी या हस्बैंड की होने वाली बीवी? अपने आकर्षक नाम और अपनी कहानी की रूपरेखा से लुभाती इस फिल्म को पति-पत्नी के रिश्ते की पेचीदगियों के इर्दगिर्द बुनी एक कॉमेडी फिल्म का कलेवर दिया गया है। फिल्म अपने फ्लेवर में है भी ऐसी जिससे हल्की-फुल्की कॉमेडी उपजती रहे और रिश्तों की संजीदगियों पर बात भी न हो। अपने ‘बॉलीवुड’ से आने वाली इस किस्म की फिल्में अक्सर यही तो करती आई हैं। आइए, देखिए, टाइमपास कीजिए और जाइए। जिसे कोई सीख लेनी हो ले ले, हम तो मसखरी दिखाएंगे।

In a literal world, ‘Baksho Bondi’ — Bengali words carrying set meanings — need not exist together. When translated to English, ‘baksho’ means ‘box’ and ‘bondi’ is ‘captive’; both denoting the idea of being boxed up. But then again, in a literal world the verbatim translation of ‘Baksho Bondi’ would be a phrase: captive in a box. Yet first-time directors Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi forsake precision in favour of interpretation, choosing Shadowbox (Baksho Bondi, 2025), meaning to fight with an imaginary adversary, as the English title, and in doing so, shrink the subjectivity of a person to the objectivity of an experience. The result is a film that unfolds as an interplay of both titles —imbued with the angst of confinement and the spirit of resistance— while mirroring the ambiguity that comes with it. Maya (Tillotama Shome) lives with her husband and son in Barrackpore, a neighbourhood located at the fringes of Kolkata, a densely populated Indian city. She works constantly although the specificity of her labour takes shape later. She irons clothes and ferries them from door to door on a cycle, and does domestic work for a family. In between, she outlines her husband’s routine and instructs their teenage son Debu to help him with it.

The fine line between journalism and sensationalism is fast becoming wafer-thin. Even those not privy to the world of journalism are aware of the falsehoods the media propagates in search of truth. So, what can the showrunner of ‘Crime Beat’, Sudhir Mishra, tell us what we already don’t know, or go beyond what Hansal Mehta’s ‘Scoop’ or ‘The Broken News’ offered? ‘Crime Beat’, like Mehta’s ‘Scoop’, is very much an insider account of investigative journalism. Based on the novel ‘The Price You Pay’ by Somnath Batabyal, who spent a decade covering crime, it takes us into the heart of news gatherers. Set in 2011 in New Delhi, a journalist, Abhishek Sinha (Saqib Saleem), in pursuit of page one stories even recreates the drama for a story. Of course, before we meet the protagonist of the series, we are introduced to Binny Chaudhry (Rahul Bhat). Hailed as a messiah, he is on the verge of surrendering to the police but before we get to know who he is, he is shot dead.

In his short lifetime of 38 years (1882-1921), Subramania Bharati left an indelible mark on Tamil society. His rousing poetry and prose introduced many to the concepts of patriotism and female emancipation, and enhanced them in those who already possessed it. His love for the country, and towards his Parasakthi, the divine feminine are well-known. The nimirndha nannadai (graceful walk with head held high) and nerkonda paarvai (straightforward vision) he visualised women to possess still serve as an inspiration to some and an aspiration for others. Despite multiple readings of Bharati’s life over the ages, there’s still scope to analyse the various facets of his life. And, that’s what the film Shaktidasan (devotee of Shakti), by director Usha Rajeshwari sets out to do.

It takes a certain kind of courage to write a one-note film and pack it with well-choreographed action set pieces without any of the trappings (barring an item number, sigh!) of a film where the hero is the saviour. For instance, the traditional mother sentiment is turned on its head — with the mother (Sudha Belawadi) telling others that the families of those in the police force should be brave — and there’s no romance angle that diverts the hero from his grand goal. This is one of the main reasons the film races past at a spiff two hours and 13 minutes. But what debut director Vijay Karthikeyaa has with him is an action star of Sudeep’s calibre. This is the kind of role Sudeep can do with his eyes closed — show brawn, fight, and casually spread his charisma around. And, he delights his core fan base with this film where he does all the things they’ve come to expect of him — kickass action, punch dialogues and a certain swagger that, strangely, comes effortlessly to someone also capable of deep nuance and sensitivity.

In a recent interview, actor Rajiv Thakur admitted that audiences that have seen him as a fixture on Kapil Sharma’s comedy shows will have no idea that he played a menacing terrorist in the spectacular streaming series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. And those who discovered him through IC 814 wouldn’t know that he has spent years as a part of Sharma’s silly troupe. In the Venn diagram of Indian entertainment, these audiences will never intersect, even though both IC 814 and The Great Indian Kapil Show are available on Netflix. Similarly, it is possible that cinephiles familiar with Takeshi Kitano through his art-house yakuza movies, or his memorable appearance in the hyper-violent Battle Royale, will collapse in shock they are told that he was so central to the game show Takeshi’s Castle that they named it after him. Kitano gets to play with his two creative personalities — the Golden Lion-winning filmmaker and the court jester — in his latest movie, Broken Rage, which was released on Prime Video with less fanfare than what you’d find at funerals in certain cultures.

सोचिए, एक लड़की जिसने आज के जमाने में शादी से पहले कभी इंटीमेट नहीं होने की कसम ली हो, जिसका बॉयफ्रेंड तीन साल से उस खास दिन का इंतजार कर रहा हो, उसे अचानक पता चले कि वो प्रेग्नेंट है। है ना विचित्र परिस्थिति! पर इसी अजीबो-गरीब सिचुएशन को काफी मजेदार तरीके से हैंडल करती है वेब सीरीज ‘ऊप्स! अब क्या?’, जो मशहूर अमेरिकन टीवी शो ‘जेन द वर्जिन’ का आधिकारिक रीमेक है। इस वेब सीरीज में ड्रामा है, कॉमिडी है, इमोशन है, और तो और मर्डर मिस्ट्री जैसे भरपूर मसाले हैं, जो कभी-कभी अतिरेक भरे लगने के बावजूद आपको बांधे रखते हैं। यह कहानी है रूही (श्वेता बसु प्रसाद) की, जिसने अपनी नानी को वचन दिया है कि वह शादी से पहले कभी फिजिकल रिलेशन नहीं बनाएगी। उसका ओमकार (अभय महाजन) जैसा ग्रीन फ्लैग ब्वॉयफ्रेंड है, जो तीन साल से अपने अरमानों को दबाकर रूही के इस वचन में उसका साथ दे रहा है। लेकिन तभी एक दिन पता चलता है कि रूही प्रेग्नेंट है।

हमारे आम मध्यमवर्गीय परिवारों के ज्यादातर माता-पिता बच्चों की बेहतर परवरिश के लिए अपने सपनों को कुर्बान कर देते हैं। लेकिन वही बच्चे बड़े होकर अपनी ही दुनिया में रम जाते हैं। मां-बाप के लिए उनके पास वक्त ही नहीं बचता और फिर, इन बेचारे बुजुर्गों के पास बचती है टूटे हुए सपनों की किरचें, अकेलापन और उससे उपजी झुंझलाहट। आज के दौर की इसी घर-घर की कहानी का भावुक चित्रण है, फिल्म कौशलजीज वर्सेज कौशल। ये कहानी कन्नौज के कौशल परिवार की है, जिसके मुखिया साहिल कौशल (आशुतोष राणा) कव्वाल बनने के सपने को कुर्बान कर अकाउंटेंट बन जाते हैं, ताकि बच्चों की पढ़ाई का खर्च सही से उठा सकें। वहीं, उनकी पत्नी संगीता (शीबा चड्ढा) ने बच्चों को पूरा समय देने के लिए अपने इत्र बनाने की चाहत दबा दी। पर नोएडा में एक ऐड एजेंसी में नौकरी करने वाले बेटे युग (पवैल गुलाटी) के पास घर आना तो दूर, मां-बाप से बात करने का भी वक्त नहीं रहता। बेटी भी बाहर एनजीओ में काम करती है। ऐसे में, घर में अकेले बचे साहिल और सीमा अपने-अपने सपनों को दोबारा जीने की कोशिश तो करते हैं, मगर एक-दूसरे के मन की बात नहीं समझ पाते। हर वक्त एक-दूसरे से लड़ते रहते हैं, लिहाजा एक दिन इस कलेश को खत्म करने के लिए दोनों तलाक लेने का फैसला लेते हैं। इधर, युग की गर्लफ्रेंड कियारा (ईशा तलवार) को ऐसा घर चाहिए, जहां सब हंसी-खुशी रहते हों। ऐसे में, मां-बाप के अलग होने के फैसले का बच्चों पर क्या असर पड़ता है? यह फिल्म देखकर पता चलेगा।