25 C Bollywood / The New Indian Express
You know youve signed up for a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy in the holiday season when every speaker blares, Its the most wonderful time or Jingle Bells. Meet Me Next Christmas sticks to a familiar path with Layla (Christina Milian), who finds herself stranded at an airport on Christmas Eve due to a snowstorm. As she waits for the next flight out, she encounters two men, including one with whom she shares an instant connection. James (Kofi Siriboe) suggests that if theyre both still single, t
Be it a film about a feared gangster or a young college student, mainstream Indian cinema almost always makes space for a love track and the mandatory love song. Usually these songs arrive early in the film, showcasing the blossoming romance between the leading pair. In Varun Tej starrer Matka, this moment comes as a surprise, arriving deep into the second half, going back in time, and capturing a few vignettes from the happier days of Vasu (Varun Tej) and Sujatha (Meenakshi Chaudhary), long aft
You can hear a clock ticking in almost every scene of Freedom at Midnight. The historical drama chronicles the events that led to Indias independence, dampened by the horrific reality of the Partition. The clock serves as an instrument of urgency. But you never feel a sense of impending doom as a countrys fate is being decided behind closed doors. What could have been a riveting thriller, functions as a drama that is rather mellow. The details are dense but the storytelling remains straightforwa
What makes a nation? Kings? Heroes? Laws? Ridley Scott presents a stirring tale of unabashed romanticism to tell us that a nation is perhaps a shared dream. Gladiator II begins with Numidian soldiers, men and women, taking up arms to defend their motherland against the invading Roman army. With his wife slain and captured to be sold as a slave, Hanno/Lucius (Paul Mescal) vows to take his revenge against the Roman army by killing its celebrated general, Acacious (Pedro Pascal). However, fate has
Before we get into the journey of the titular character in Bhairathi Ranagal, it is important to trace his rise, which was brought about through Mufti (2017). An undercover cop, Gana (Sriimurali), infiltrates the criminal syndicate controlled by Bhairathi (Shivarajkumar) in Ronapura. In the second half of Mufti, Bhairathi Ranagal takes over as a ruthless don. Shivarajkumar leaves a lasting impression on the audience in the role of Bhairathi. Muftis end, where Bhairathi is seen kept under CBIs cu
Vishnu Vinays debut directorial Anand Sreebala is a mystery thriller that attempts to balance entertainment with an examination of justice and the human cost of investigative oversights. Loosely inspired by real-life cases where the deaths of young women were hastily dismissed as suicides, the film does not claim to recount any particular incident but instead crafts a fictional narrative with striking familiarity. The film opens with the quote, It is through intellect that we prove, but through