Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein — now streaming on Netflix — has an inherent promising black comedy setup at its core. In it, a powerful politician’s doe-eyed daughter Purva Awasthi (Anchal Singh, from Undekhi) has had her eyes on the accountant’s veritable small-fry son Vikrant “Vicky” Singh Chauhan (Tahir Raj Bhasin, from Chhichhore) since they were … Read more
What are the biggest movies releasing in November 2023? The Marvels is poised to continue the erratic Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style, transporting us to a destabilising universe where Carol Danvers’ (Brie Larson) powers get entangled with other intergalactic heroes. It is the shortest film in the franchise — running at … Read more
Gehraiyaan — the new Amazon original movie with Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Ananya Panday — is a classic case of being all over the place. It starts off as a romantic character drama, as the Gehraiyaan trailers and songs have hinted at. An aimless woman (Padukone) is trying to pick between two guys and … Read more
The Fame Game — the new Netflix series with Madhuri Dixit Nene, now streaming — at its heart, desires to be an examination of the dark side of being a celebrity. That explains the title switch from the more intriguing and psychological Finding Anamika to the plainer and more generic The Fame Game. Through its … Read more
Mai — streaming Friday 12:30pm IST on Netflix — keeps asking the same question in the beginning through its titular protagonist: “Who killed my daughter?” For a series that’s meant to be about a mother (Sakshi Tanwar, from Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii) trying to find those who did the deed, it’s a simple way to … Read more
London Files — the Arjun Rampal-led series, now streaming on Voot Select — is a hilariously bad cop show. There’s no getting around it, so I might as well acknowledge that straight up. Rampal’s police detective is stuck inside the TV, except he doesn’t know it. After all, that’s the only way to explain his … Read more
Modern Love Mumbai — the first Indian spin-off of rom-com anthology Modern Love, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video — opens with the same words as its American counterpart: “Inspired by personal essays from The New York Times column Modern Love. Certain elements have been fictionalised.” But curiously, unlike the original, Modern Love Mumbai doesn’t … Read more
She season 2 — now streaming on Netflix — might be one of the worst things Imtiaz Ali has ever put on paper. From the start of season 1, Ali’s tenet with She has been that sexuality can empower women. But he hasn’t had the faintest idea how to go about it. (And though Ali … Read more
For unjustifiable reasons, Shoorveer — now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar — brings together the (best of the best from) Army, Navy, and Air Force. It’s really an excuse for Shoorveer to give us jet planes and dogfights. But the cameras on the new Hotstar Specials series never actually took off. Everything shot against the sky … Read more
Jaadugar — now streaming on Netflix — gets everything wrong from the first minute. In it, Jitendra Kumar plays “Meenu” Narang, a toxic and insufferable man-child who thinks he knows what love is. Meenu declares that he loves someone the first time he meets them. (Ew.) Meenu proposes marriage repeatedly, at times weeks after he’s … Read more