We recommend: The best new movies and TV series

Editor’s note: A mixed bag of a week. Long awaited Kay Kay Menon starrer finally gets a release, Ravi Kishan headlines yet another series, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1994 classic 1942: A Love Story is getting a re-release, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner come together in One Night Only, and Akshay Kumar leads from the front in Welcome to The Jungle.

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New Releases

Dial 1975 (Hindi)

Set against the Emergency, the film tracks a politician’s effort to procure a wireless telephone that will let him communicate with his allies without being eavesdropped. It is an intriguing premise that dives headlong into a period ripe with censorship and, while that holds water, Navneet Behal and Vibhu Kashyap’s film fails to commit to it. Instead, it unfolds as a middling drama that squanders its potential and plays out as multiple films all at once. Starring Kay Kay Menon, Tom Alter, Pravessh Rana, Kirti Kulhari, Dial 1975 had a delayed release and this datedness has seeped into the filmmaking. 

A review in The Hollywood Reporter writes, “Multiple players and ideologies set out to weaponise the phone, but the movie focuses too much on the crowded mechanics of this race. The meaning of it all — a silenced country desperate for a new technology that might transmit their voices — is mysteriously lost in translation.” Having said that Kay Kay Menon is quite incapable of giving a bad performance and that might be a reason to give this film a shot. 

Where to watch: Waves OTT

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit (Malayalam)

In Gireesh AD’s latest film, an age-gap romance takes centrestage. Justin (Nivin Pauly) is a bachelor who does a host of things. He runs a catering business, produces his brother’s films. And then there is Ashley (Mamitha Baiju), a young girl who moves to a new neighbourhood and has a crush on Justin. The film has an easy charm (supplied in abundance by the presence of Nivin Pauly) and remains alert to the pitfalls of the age difference between the two characters. For instance, it is the girl who takes charge, falls in love, and makes decisions. 

The film has received unanimous praise upon release but as a review on The News Minute points out, “Yet, one cannot ignore the effort to paint as ‘cute’ the relationship between a college girl and a man almost as old as her uncle.” 

Where to watch: Theatres

7 Dogs (Arabic)

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Arabic hit is out in the theatres, dubbed in Hindi. The story revolves around an Interpol officer, Khalid (Ahmed Ezz), who arrests Ghali (Karim Abdel Aziz), an integral part of a crime syndicate, but then requires his help to bust the network: 7 Dogs. The film, a campy and messy affair, also stars Bollywood superstars Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan. 

A review in Scroll states, “Halfway between Mumbai masala and Hollywood salsa, 7 Dogs is the kind of over-the-top timepasser that thrives on low expectations. Although Salman Khan makes no impact, Sanjay Dutt is a good fit as the flamboyant Ranjit.”

Where to watch: Theatres

Khalifa (Malayalam)

In this thriller directed by Vysakh, Prithviraj Sukumaran plays Aamir Ali, a gold smuggler. Although a textile shop owner initially, Aamir was forced to enter the dangerous world of bootlegging after his father was arrested on false charges. The filmmaker is known for making commercial blockbusters, and his collaboration with the superstar is therefore not surprising. However, the film has received mixed reviews. 

“The problem is Khalifa restricts itself to familiar gangster-film territory. There’s hardly anything here that we haven’t already seen in a multitude of gangster dramas already: the honest father framed by powerful enemies, the son forced into crime, political-business-criminal nexuses, revenge and the restoration of family honour,” writes The Telegraph. 

Even so, the review lauds Prithviraj’s performance: “Aamir’s swagger, aggression and confidence are conveyed with ease. Whether he is walking into a confrontation, staring down an adversary or taking on a group of attackers, Prithviraj commands the frame.”

Where to watch: Theatres

Clean Up Company (Hindi)

It is Ravi Kishan’s world and we are all just living in it. The actor-politician has been everywhere. He has featured in multiple films and shows and, when not acting, he is busy becoming an essential (and often cringe) pop culture icon by being meme-ed. In this latest appearance, he stars in Clean Up Company, a series revolving around three friends that make a business out of disposing of dead bodies. Set in Sahibganj, the show also stars Vishal Jethwa, Amey Wagh and Atijesh Gupta. 

Where to watch: Amazon MX Player

Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing (English)

In March 2024, the world heard of the mysterious death of John Barnett, a former Boeing employee turned whistleblower. Two Boeing planes crashed in the span of five months, back in October 2018 and March 2019, leading to the death of 345 passengers. In January 2024, a door plug blew out mid-flight—a danger Barnett had warned about. Since Barnett, many employees have come forward to reveal Boeing’s lack of care for the security and safety of its passengers.

This documentary is a sequel to Rory Kennedy’s 2022 documentary, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. Throughout the film, Kennedy returns to Barnett’s story, tracking the fall of the major US company.

Ellen E Jones writes in The Guardian,

Kennedy’s two documentaries gather their participants’ righteous rage steadily enough to burn off the cloud cover of this corporate obfuscation, leaving a clear view of the horizon ahead. In their view, until the individuals in Boeing’s failed leadership face criminal prosecution – as opposed to multimillion-dollar retirement packages – nothing will change.

Where to watch: Netflix

PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (English)

The beloved rescue pups who form the Paw Patrol crew, with 10-year-old Ryder as their boss, return in the latest iteration of this long-running animated franchise. This time, the puppies help rescue a somewhat annoying family on a fishing boat, before a series of circumstances sees the crew on a mysterious island infested by vegetarian dinosaurs. On this island, they lock horns with their bitter nemesis, Mr. Mayor Humdinger, and theatrics ensue. The film, as Rogerebert.com points out, is perfect for the demographic it’s targeting; it “couldn’t be more satisfyingly designed for its intended audience, precisely at the age when it is especially reassuring to have fantasy films about children (human and canine) who are brave, dedicated helpers and problem-solvers.”

Where to watch: Theatres

One Night Only (English)

A romcom with a bizarre twist, and one that’s divided critics. One Night Only—directed by Will Gluck (who made Anyone But You) and starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner—exists in a world where premarital sex is illegal in the US. Except for a 12-hour window on one night of the year, where anything goes. People are fitted with biosensors that detect their sexual status, and inceldom is not only thriving but also cheered on. Within this dystopian landscape, we’re presented with a meet-cute in New York between Owen (Turner) and Allie (Barbaro) who, despite the circumstances being perfect, decided not to go ahead with the act on this one fateful night. While the film has a “bright and poppy slickness”, as per The Guardian, it mostly squanders its central conceit with a sex-negative treatment: “...One Night Only weirdly plays like lulling government propaganda, a film about sex purge to be released in time for sex purge that says that actually maybe sex purge is a good idea after all.”

Where to watch: Theatres

A Beautiful Obsession (English)

This new Amazon documentary tracks the final two seasons of Pep Guardiola’s reign as the manager of Manchester City—a tumultuous period for the football great, with his team plumbing unforeseen depths even as his personal life crumbled. From passionate speeches about his divorce to dressing room spats with players, A Beautiful Obsession is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of Guardiola, one of the most influential and successful managers in modern football. His single-minded obsession with the game—this is a man who, per his friends, cannot go longer than 32 minutes without talking about football—is in glorious display in this insightful and revealing new doc. 

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

1942: A Love Story (Hindi)

It is always thrilling to watch old films on the big screen, especially if they are as visually arresting as 1942: A Love Story. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1994 classic has been restored and is having a theatrical release. Starring actors Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Manisha Koirala, the film melds the urgency of patriotism with the pacifism of love, highlighting the subtext of passion in both. 

Fresh off the big screen

Welcome to The Jungle (Hindi)

On paper Ahmed Khan’s film is not supposed to work. An ensemble of more than 30 actors, thrown into ridiculous scenarios, all for milking some laughs. And yet, it does. The story is simply this: a businessman deliberately produces a flop film as a means to launder black money. Things, however, turn serious when a terrorist attack takes place which, as it happens in Akshay Kumar films, sets forth unending chaos as the actor does most of the heavy-lifting. 

Praising the film, a review in The Hollywood Reporter states, “For better or worse, it’s a welcome change from the slapstick slop served up by nostalgia merchants these days. That’s the thing about noisy and nonsensical spoofs. There comes a point when the difference between being bad by design and good by genre is negligible.”

Where to watch: JioHotstar

The Great Grand Superhero (Hindi)

Manish Saini’s charming children's film treats its audience with the respect they deserve. The plot centres around Dipu (Mihir Godbole), a young boy who becomes famous in school once he declares that his grandfather (Jackie Shroff) is a superhero. And the one to believe in this whole-heartedly is Dipu’s friend Ladoo (Shivanssh Chourghe).

The film received widespread praise upon release. “Manish Saini’s The Great Grand Superhero is all about modest joys and simple pleasures. The Gujarati director’s first feature in Hindi after four films, including two aimed at children, is a good-natured and hilarious chronicle, steered by a bunch of utterly charming kids and a sporting senior actor,” writes Scroll. 

Where to watch: Zee5