From Hera-pheri to Hara-kiri : My quick take on Priyadarshan’s “Bhoot Bangla” (Theatrical release) Somewhere in the glorious archive of Priyadarshan, between the anarchic genius of Hera Pheri, the delightful chaos of Hungama, and the unhinged brilliance of Malamaal Weekly, lives a filmmaker who knew exactly how to make audiences howl. That man, one suspects, has been locked inside a haunted bungalow… while his doppelgänger directed Bhoot Bangla. Let’s be honest. This isn’t a

सोचा था मेंढ़ी, निकला लंगड़ा : My quick take on web series “Matka king” (Amazon Prime) I just wrapped up Matka King on Amazon Prime Video… and like any good gamble, it left me with mixed feelings. Not the dramatic kind where you either win big or lose everything. This one is subtler. It wins a few rounds, loses a few, and leaves you staring at the table wondering what just happened. Because here’s the thing, Matka King is not a bad show. Which is precisely why it’s frustratin

Love Insurance Kompany: Claim Rejected - My quick take on Tamil Movie LIK (theatrical release) I happened to celebrate Tamil New Year by watching a Tamil movie… purely by accident. Yes, a digital accident while booking tickets online. Quite poetic, because the film itself lives in the digital domain, attempting to flirt with the idea of digital detoxification. Now, forgive my limited GK of Kollywood, I scanned the screen like a lost tourist looking for familiar landmarks. Apa

A Thriller That Forgot It’s a Thriller : My quick take on web series “Kohrra S02” (Netflix) Let’s be honest, Kohrra Season 2 on Netflix is slow. It’s like a snail that gulped Red Bull… but forgot the fizz. Season 1 had set the tone beautifully, moody, gripping, quietly addictive. Season 2 smartly avoids being a direct sequel, so you can step into this foggy Punjabi world without needing a recap session. This time, the story revolves around the murder of an NRI in a Punjabi pi

Dhar’s “D-Company” : My quick take on Dhurandhar, The Revenge (Theatrical release) Dhurandhar 2 doesn’t just arrive… it storms the screen like a general who has already mapped the victory. If Part One rewrote the grammar of Bollywood’s spy thriller, The Dhar’s D Company takes that grammar, tosses it in the air, and rebuilds it into something far more audacious, layered, and, frankly, mind-boggling. Take a bow, Aditya Dhar, for crafting this deadly, dhasu, dhurandaar spectacle

“Mary”वा बन गई “Bloody”वा ! : My quick take on “Bluff” (Amazon Prime) Some actors relocate. Some reinvent. And then there is Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who has quietly turned global action into her side hustle. From chasing terrorists in Quantico to trading secrets in Citadel, she has steadily upgraded from dramatic intensity to full-contact combat credibility. The Kashibai chapter now feels like a prequel. This is the “don’t test me” sequel. If there was any lingering doubt abou

Assi Jaise Koi Nahi : My quick take on Tapsee’s “Assi” (Theatrical release) What a week. First the Men in Blue get politely flattened by the Springbocks. Then you seek emotional rehabilitation in a near empty theatre… and meet Assi. Directed by Anubhav Sinha, this gang rape drama arrives loaded with outrage, red screen flashes, and the moral intensity of a Supreme Court hearing. Intent? Noble. Execution? Exhausting. After Bheed and Afwaah, this feels like the third instalment

Its wild wild western (Ghats) : My quick take on the Malayalam movie “Rifle Club” (Netflix) It might be a sheer coincidence—or a calculated move—when the Gangs of Wasseypurwala Anurag Kashyap decided to drop his director’s hat and strip himself (literally—pun intended) to step into the Malayalam movie industry. Naturally, a bit of Bollywoodization was bound to rub off on this classy film industry. Rifle Club can easily be termed as a spaghetti western, or better yet, a parota

Boribandar Ka Dhurandar Meets Shakespeare’s Ghost. : My quick take on Vishal Bharadwaj’s “O Romeo” (theatrical release) O Romeo arrives in an era dominated by alpha-male decibel festivals like Kabir Singh and Animal. So naturally, when you hear Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri are cast, you brace yourself. You expect testosterone with background music. Surprise. This Romeo is not from that “growl and glare” league. This is not afulltoo masala cinema pretending to be deep. Thi

Slow, Sharp, and Surprisingly Satisfying : My quick take on “Vadh 2” (theatrical release) Let me start with a mild spoiler alert. Vadh 2 is not a sequel in the conventional sense. The makers call it a “spiritual sequel.” I am still not entirely sure what that means. Maybe it means same vibe, different story, and no homework required. The good news is you can watch it without seeing Vadh. It works perfectly well as a standalone film. The only bridge to the earlier film is the

Promised a Swamp, Delivered a Puddle : My quick take on web series “Daldal” (Amazon Prime) Every now and then, you start a series not out of excitement, but inertia. That’s how DalDal entered my watchlist. With the Indian cricket calendar unusually quiet (post Kiwis series) and expectations cautiously neutral, Amazon Prime’s crime thriller felt like a reasonable punt. Seven episodes later, it felt less like entertainment and more like endurance training. The title suggests a

From ‘Rescue Time’ to Showtime: Mardani 3 Surprises, My quick take on Rani Mukherji’s “Mardani 3” Walking into a late-night show at a Dubai multiplex on day two of a big-ticket Hindi release and finding exactly three human beings felt less like cinema and more like a private screening sponsored by YRF. For a fleeting moment, I thought I had accidentally booked a home theater experience with Dolby loneliness. Somewhere between the popcorn counter and my seat, the echo of YouTu

Deadly Daredevil Dhurandar : My quick take on the movie “Dhurandar” (Theatrical release) Aditya Dhar’s “Josh” is clearly intact as he delivers a dhamakedaar Dhurandar. This film deserves a watch , for its novel plot, its carefully chosen cast, their gripping performances, and the way it recreates an era of yesteryears with striking authenticity. The production design and locations make you feel like you’re truly walking through the dangerous, claustrophobic lanes of ‘lyari’ K

India’ 300 that wasn't : My quick take on “120 Bahadur” (theatrical release) Nahi yaar… nahi jama. That would be my spontaneous take after watching 120 Bahadur in the theatre. It honestly pains me that such a powerful plot, a golden chapter from the Indian military annals, failed to create even a ripple on the big screen. Full marks to the makers for choosing the story of Major Shaitan Singh, whose feat is still feared, or rather revered, by the Chinese. But the way this towe

Katanas, Kartoos Aur Confusion: My Quick Take on Web Series “Last Samurai Standing” (Netflix) Honestly, The Last Samurai Standing felt like watching Hunger Games, but with more katanas and fewer motivational speeches. What starts as a seemingly authentic page from Japanese history, when proud samurai were becoming as “obsolete” as fax machines, quickly turns into a survival reality show where the contestants don’t get roses; they get swords. With the Meiji era shifting societ

Run! Srikant Run!! : My quick take on “Family Man S03” (Amazon Prime) After Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, the theatre of action shifts to the breathtaking Northeast in Season 3 of The Family Man. Shot against the pristine canvas of the Seven Sisters, the series brings an invigorating freshness, so much so that you momentarily consider packing your bags and heading straight to the land of hornbills and hills. For the first time ever, our Family Man, Shrikant Tiwari, is truly on the

The Reluctant Watch That Became a Binge: My quick take on movie “Nishanchee 1&2” (Amazon Prime) Let me confess at the very outset: the poster of Nishanchee gave me a déjà vu so strong, I almost checked whether Guns & Gulaabs had quietly released an unofficial cousin. It also reminded me of those pulpy “thriller kahaniyas” stacked at A.H. Wheeler stalls on railway platforms, the kind you buy only when your train is late and your standards drop. Naturally, I avoided the movie f

Daiva Darshan – When Myth Walks and Cinema Roars : My quick take on movie “kantara : Chapter 1” (theatrical release) Some films speak to...

In the Court of Public Entertainment: Case No. 3 — Jolly LLB vs The Audience : My quick take on “Jolly LLB 3” (Theatrical release)...