We recommend: The best new movies and TV series
Editor’s note: A busy week: Prithviraj Sukumaran headlines heist thriller I, Nobody, Akhil Akkineni returns to the big screen after three years with Lenin while Sunny Deol is back to courtroom drama with Ikka. A return to form for Olivia Wilde, who takes a wild swing with The Invite, and there’s more Dhamaal on the big screen.
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New releases
I, Nobody (Malayalam)
An incident changes a person’s life. This one-line has served as the premise of several films, including Nissam Basheer’s new work. The filmmaker takes it forward from here and crafts a thriller grounded in reality. I, Nobody tracks Rajeevan (Prithviraj Sukumaran), a government employee whose life is upended after he witnesses a bank heist.
The film brings together Sukumaran and Parvathy Thiruvothu after years, and the reviews have been mixed. The Indian Express notes, “The biggest issue, and it is the one that drags the film down, is pacing. At close to two hours and forty minutes, I, Nobody needed to earn every minute of its runtime. The second act sags; scenes are held longer than they need to.”
The review does reserve the lead’s performance for special praise. “Prithviraj blends into the character with restraint, and there is something commendable about the choice. He does not walk into the film like a star. He lets the character be small, confused and scared.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Lenin (Telugu)
Love can be many things. Murali Kishor Abburu’s new film, starring Akhil Akkineni, dives headlong into this, nudging at the violence of the emotion and arriving at a story that brims with love and revenge. All the while, the narrative doffs its hat to epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana and draws references that, in turn, supply the scale of the production.
Even then, reviews suggest that the underwhelming execution outweighs the ambition. The Hindu writes, “The origins of the love story could have been explored with greater depth instead of following a conventional meet-cute template. Rather than establishing a strong bond between the lead characters, the film offers an overdose of song and dance.”
Where to watch: Theatres
The Invite (English)
Four years after Olivia Wilde helmed Don't Worry Darling, a psychological take on the life of a homemaker, the filmmaker has switched gears with The Invite, a comedy dotted with stars. Starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Wilde herself, the film is an adaptation of the Spanish drama Sentimental (2020) and revolves around two sets of couples, and much of the drama surfaces when their (sex) lives intersect. And it all starts with a harmless invite.
Wilde has always been a singular storyteller. Her debut work, Booksmart (2019), remains a classic coming-of-age film and The Invite may well be a strident return to form. A review on The Guardian states, “Regardless of which couple you relate to, The Invite is a rip-roaring viewing experience. The film toys with thriller genre conventions, amping up the pressure as the dinner party goes from bad to worse, to then recast it as sexual tension in the same domestic setting.”
Where to watch: Theatres
Dhamaal 4 (Hindi)
Few things refuse to evolve like Bollywood comedies. They remain dipped in offensive humour, slapstick, and regressive comic tropes. That, however, hardly dents their appeal. Many of the popular ones in the early 2000s continue to exist through franchises, and a more recent example of this is Dhamaal 4. The first instalment released in 2007 and, since then, the original ensemble—comprising Arshad Warsi, Sanjay Dutt, Jaaved Jaaferi, Sanjay Mishra, Ashish Chaudhary—has gone through various permutations and combinations. The fourth iteration, directed by Indra Kumar and headlined by Ajay Devgn, is more of the same—a host of actors thrown in a web of confusion—as one recycled joke follows another. Having said that, there is an undeniable charm in watching seasoned actors like Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, and Mishra making a meal out of familiar moments.
Where to watch: Theatres
The latest in the long running Evil Dead horror franchise originally started by Sam Raimi over 40 years ago, this one is directed by French filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček. And, as you’d expect, it’s gory and terrifying. Alice (Souheila Yacoub) isn’t quite grieving as much as she perhaps should after the death of her husband, William (George Pullar). Which seems to bug his parents quite a bit, leading to serious tension. Soon enough, we’re introduced to characters becoming ‘Deadites’, the zombie-demon hybrid specific to the Evil Dead series, and that’s when things become fun. Or not, depending on your tolerance to gore and violence. “In terms of gore, it reaches far beyond mere steps”, The Guardian points out. “…Vaniček’s bodily punishments […] recall the New French Extremity horror films of the early 2000s in their relentless flinch tests. Name a body part whose injury gives you anxiety, and Evil Dead Burn will aim something sharp in its direction.” Oof.
Where to watch: Theatres
Ikka (Hindi)
Sunny Deol is not new to courtroom dramas. The actor’s turn as a lawyer with a thriving moral core in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Damini (1993) remains memorable and, with Ikka, he returns to familiar territory. It follows Arjun Mehra (Deol), an invincible lawyer with unpliable ethics. As it turns out, he is supposed to represent Shauryaman Gaur (Akshaye Khanna), an industrialist's son accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to murder his date. Standing on the other side is public prosecutor Madhura (Tillotoma Shome).
Ikka has been praised for its old-world style. As The Quint states, “The courtroom thriller brings Deol back to his Damini days, with a courtroom serving as an arena for him to scream justice at us and fight for the little guy. Director Siddharth P Malhotra’s (Hichki, We Are Family, Maharaj) film is loud, unsubtle, and armed with an emotion-splaining background score determined to do all the feeling for us and leave little to the imagination (or heart).”
Where to watch: Netflix
The Apartment Job (Korean)
This one is a Korean show that, like much of the material emerging in this space, offers an emotional richness in its longform storytelling that’s bound to catch unsuspecting viewers off guard. The Apartment Job is a comedy drama that revolves around a former gangster who goes the extra mile by going undercover to find a hidden stack of money. In the process, he becomes a local hero by standing up against corruption.
Where to watch: Netflix
Land of Football (Malayalam)
In Land of Football, the love for football is distilled to a geographical specificity, as the documentary looks at the extent to which the passion for the game has shaped and seeped into Kerala’s social structure. The non-fiction hinges on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar when hordes of Malayali supporters were spotted wearing jerseys of national teams and were termed by some international media as fake fans.
The film, releasing right as the 2026 World Cup reaches its business end,delves deep into this, unearthing in the process the deep fixation that the state has for the sport by contextualising the visuals. Love, much like sports, transcends cultural barriers.
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Choddobeshi (Bengali)
Bengali shows and films are not having the best moment for a while now. However, some works still evoke curiosity. Aritra Sen’s Choddobeshi, a seven-episode series starring Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, and June Maliah, is one of them. Adapted from Abhirup Sarkar’s celebrated novel Chowdhury Barir Rahashyo, the murder mystery is fronted by Chattopadhyay, who plays a detective called Aditya Majumdar. Aditya is assigned a high-profile murder case of an aging actress that makes him privy to one of the most powerful families in Kolkata. What follows is a high-stakes drama that threatens to dismantle his already fragile personal life as well.
Where to watch: Hoichoi
Fresh off the big screen
Peddi (Telugu)
In cinema, sports has been a vehicle to underline social injustice. Buchi Babu Sana’s Peddi follows a similar path. Set in the 1990s, the film revolves around the titular protagonist, a prodigious batter from a marginalised community. His rise brings to light the many problems that his village was dealing with, including the residents not having the right to vote.
The Ram Charan starrer has had its share of controversy. Peddi faced backlash upon release as many called out the filmmaker for objectifying the lead actress Janhvi Kapoor in his depictions. What followed was a public apology from the filmmaker as he re-edited the portions in the theatrical cut. It received unfavourable reviews, with one in The Hindu stating, “Yet, much of this material does not land strongly enough to make us invest in the village’s fate. Had these portions been written and executed with greater emotional depth, Peddi’s struggle for identity would have resonated far more powerfully.” However, Charan’s performance was widely appreciated, making a case for the film.
Where to watch: Netflix
One more chapter
Trying S5 (English)
Esther Smith and Rafe Spall return as Nikki and Jason, on the fifth season of British family sitcom Trying. The couple’s struggle to conceive led them to the path of adoption. And, after many seasons of figuring things out, they became adoptive parents to two children. And then, in season four’s cliffhanger, the two teens’ biological mother showed up at their doorstep. The new season of this very charming show sees our central couple trying to navigate this odd dynamic, but the focus remains on Nikki and Jason and their rock-solid relationship, even as new challenges emerge. As a review notes:
Each adventure ends with a moment of hugging and learning that could easily be emetic pap but never is because the writing’s too emotionally intelligent and the cast are too damn lovable. Instead, Trying has the power to bring a tear to the driest eye without warning, and that’s the case again in season five.
Where to watch: Apple TV
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