Horror isn’t a strong suit for Indian filmmakers, with overly dramatic camera angles, cheap jump scares, and cringe writing dominating the genre, but Vikram Bhatt’s latest horror thriller, Bloody Ishq, somehow manages to stoop further. The film has all the trademarks of a poor horror flick, plus very shoddy CGI overused beyond reason. Bhatt has
Culture
This week’s OTT lineup is packed with exciting post-theatrical releases, including Rajkummar Rao’s sports drama Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, Manoj Bajpayee’s revenge thriller Bhaiyya Ji, and Divya Khosla’s jailbreak thriller Savi – A Bloody Housewife. Additionally, Vikram Bhatt’s horror movie A Bloody Ishq makes its debut on Hotstar as the sole major Indian original release.
This week ranks high in the entertainment quotient, with several Indian Originals released. Firstly, we have an intriguing murder mystery in the form of Neha Sharma and Purab Kohli’s 36 Days – out now on SonyLiv – in which an air hostess is found dead. Next, we have Riteish Deshmukh’s Pill, which takes a dig
The key ingredient of an effective murder mystery is its ability to keep the viewers hooked to the whodunnit plot and surprised at every reveal. The best ones keep you invested with a healthy dose of adrenaline and a steady drip of anticipation for what’s going to happen next. Sadly, 36 Days, SonyLiv’s latest crime
After a long gap of four years, Prime Video’s blood-soaked original Mirzapur is back! The show stars the likes of Pankaj Tripathi, Rasika Duggal, Shweta Tripathi, and Ali Fazal. In this season, Tripathi’s iconic character of mobster Kaleen Bhaiya takes a backseat, and Faisal’s Guddu Bhaiya shines despite new threats and contenders for the reign.
Last time we were in Mirzapur, Ali Fazal’s Guddu Pandit had conquered the Tripathis and was finally sitting on the throne he had coveted for long. He was now supposedly the new king of Mirzapur, or so he thought, like the rest of us. But just like the unexpected goons of the blood-spattered city, who
Indian cinema’s portrayal of women often veers between two extremes: sari-clad maternal figures or vodka-sipping partygoers, with filmmakers struggling to strike a balance and give a rather realistic portrait. Prime Video’s latest original, Sharmajee Ki Beti, attempts to do so through the story of five women, all carrying the same titular surname, across three generations.
This week, among the Indian originals, we have anthology-style drama Sharmajee Ki Beti and Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s hilarious murder mystery Rautu Ka Raaz. The former focuses on the challenges that women of different age groups face. At the same time, the latter introduces us to a funny murder mystery. Amongst the post-theatrical releases, we have A24’s
he biggest OTT release this week has to be TVF’s Kota Factory Season 3 on Netflix. The feel-good show follows the main aspirants in their final year of preparation as they juggle between preparing for JEE and board exams. Meanwhile, their star teacher, Jeetu Bhaiya, is fighting his own battles. Next in line is the
As someone who has first-hand experience of being torn between the upcoming competitive exams that determine your career trajectory and the board exams at school, I finally felt heard when Kota Factory’s Vaibhav gave an almost [Kaartik Aryan’s] Pyaar Ka Punchnama style rant about the dire conflict. If you focus on one, the other gets
TVF seems to be harbouring the secret magic formula for creating shows that feel like a warm hug. The same fuzzy feeling inhabits the third season of Panchayat, TVF’s social comedy series that began in 2020. The new season features beautiful writing, nuanced performances and, to my surprise, a more realistic portrayal of rural India,
Murder in Mahim, JioCinema’s new original series based on Jerry Pinto’s novel of the same name, is a crime thriller that tells the story of a brutal murder of a gay sex worker in a public toilet at Mumbai’s Mahim railway station. Starring popular character actions Vijay Raaz and Ashutosh Rana, the series blends conventional
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has become synonymous with extravagantly lavish sets and his latest Netflix original TV series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, is no exception to his signature filmmaking style that favours flamboyance, glitz, and grandeur – except in this case, it has superseded characters and screenplay. There are dazzling diamonds, ornate buildings, intricately designed ensembles,
Indian artists secured big wins at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, bringing home a total of six Grammys, three of which were bagged by the legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain alone. The music awards took place February 4 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and was hosted by comedian Trevor Noah for the fourth
For the first time, the Oxford English Dictionary is giving a chance to the people to vote for the word of the year. According to a BBC report, a team of lexicographers from Oxford University Press has narrowed down the list to just three words – metaverse, #IStandWith and the phrase goblin mode. The Oxford
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum believes that Dogecoin and ZCash could follow the popular cryptocurrency and go green. September marked a historic event in the blockchain industry, with Ethereum’s long-awaited green upgrade, popularly known as the Merge. The recoding on the Ethereum blockchain from an energy-comsuming Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model
Emoticons have fundamentally altered the way we communicate digitally. Emojis are a popular way for people to express or convey their emotions and sentiments in text. Our ability to communicate has been greatly improved by emojis, to the point that many smartphone keyboards now suggest appropriate ones as we type. On July 17, people all across
2021 was supposed to be the year we started recovering from the train-wreck of a year that was 2020. Instead, it turned out to be a much longer version of the past year. This long and somewhat difficult year had its share of hilarious memes that became a few constant sources of joy for most
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is offering free audiobooks and ebooks to the first novel in her series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, throughout April, to help families in lockdown during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, Rowling has also launched a new digital hub called “Harry Potter at Home”. Each week on “Wizarding Wednesdays”,
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — the first Harry Potter book — will be read chapter-wise by several celebrities, author J.K. Rowling has announced. That includes Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, ex-footballer David Beckham, Fantastic Beasts stars Eddie Redmayne and Claudia Kim, and actors Stephen Fry, Dakota Fanning, and Noma Dumezweni. Fry has previously
Hamilton is coming to Disney+ Hotstar this July. This is big news, because it was originally headed for cinemas globally in October 2021. Star, writer, lyricist, and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda announced Tuesday that the recorded version of his 2015 Broadway musical of the same name is coming to Disney’s streaming service on July 3. That’s