Da 5 Bloods is streaming on Netflix. (Photo: Netflix)
Even though the lockdown is being lifted in phases in the country, the chance of visiting a theatre doesn’t seem possible anytime soon. Thanks to OTT platforms and the onslaught of digital content, India (and the rest of the world) is slowly getting used to a life without cinema theatres.
After the release of Ponmagal Vandhal, Amazon Prime Video saw yet another big-ticket release with the Shoojit Sircar directorial Gulabo Sitabo, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana.
The Indian Express critic Shubra Gupta wrote in her review, “This is exactly the kind of space that writer Juhi Chaturvedi, long-time Sircar collaborator, is so good at filling up. Both Vicky Donor and Piku were delightful comedy of quotidian manners: the first gave Bollywood a new kind of hero in Khurrana; the second gave the Bengali alimentary canal the importance it deserves, through Bachchan’s elderly gent and his penchant for gelusil. Both proved, as well as the sombre outlier October, that the story is king.”
As the country mourns the death of young actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, the best way to pay tribute to him is revisit his movies. Sushant took a gamble with Sonchiriya as he played a dacoit from the Chambal area. Even though his co-stars included actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Ranvir Shorey, Sushant managed to stand out.
Read more | Best Sushant Singh Rajput movies you can watch online
Helmed by Drew Goddard and co-written by him and Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods is a subversive horror film that takes the hackneyed remote forest cabin premise of so many horror films and turns it on its head. The result is a smartly written and acted movie. Chris Hemsworth plays the role of Curt Vaughan, who is one of the college students who go on a vacation to that forest cabin.
A dazzlingly beautiful and bloody Neil Gaiman adaptation, American Gods has Bryan Fuller's distinctive touches that help make gore look beautiful. It is not just all visual, however, as American Gods nicely elaborates upon the eternal war between tradition and modernity without straying too far from its solid source material. Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
A DC TV show that embraced the crazy after tip-toeing around it for a couple of seasons. And it is live-action. There is few things off-limits or too insane for this show. It may not have Batman (Bruce Wayne is a young boy in the show) but it has every single member of Batman's rogues gallery, and this was just as good.
Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney play the roles of school superintendent Dr Frank A Tassone and district official Pamela Gluckin, respectively. The two are accused of embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from district funds. Their job is to bury the accusation and keep it from going public.
An Amazon Original, Lore is based on a podcast of the same name. Every episode of the show tells the origins of a horror story and although it is more of a documentary than drama, it is a slickly produced show that is engaging enough for a binge. You might want to check out the podcast as well. It is sublime.
The Indian Express film critic Shubhra Gupta wrote about Da 5 Bloods, "Da 5 Blood is a non-stop riotous mix of a war drama, a western, a study of crime and redemption, a savage satire, an actioner, laced with a strong emotional quotient. And the whole is a huge punch in the gut. Lee’s purpose is as clear as it has always been, and he starts as he means to go on, picking on salient historical points. The black movement was at a fever pitch in 1968, amplified through the powerful voices of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King: the five young soldiers hear the news of the latter’s assassination on the radio, while they are on the field. In the present day, as they are readying for their trip into the jungle, one of them says: ‘we fought in an immoral war that wasn’t ours, for rights we didn’t have,’ and it feels like an epitaph."
Released in 2004, Howl’s Moving Castle is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s darkest films. Set in a fictional kingdom where magic and technology co-exist, the movie has a clear anti-war message. There are the usual fantasy elements, but there are also scenes where the cost of war is shown in vivid detail. The director made this film as he was greatly troubled by the events of the Iraq War and has even gone on record to call this his “favourite creation” ever. The movie makes for a difficult watch, but it is a necessary one.
From South Korea, Something in the Rain is a beautiful, light-hearted rom-com. The show focuses on an unconventional relationship between a 30-something woman and a man who is in his mid-20s. The lead actors’ chemistry in the show is so genuine that you cannot help but root for them. The show delves into their struggle with the age difference, breaking the taboo around it and subsequently, finding the courage to go public with it. There is also a fantastic sub-plot that highlights the various problems faced by women in the corporate world of South Korea.
Uriyadi (2016), starring Vijay Kumar in the lead role, is considered one of the best political thrillers in Kollywood. The film is set in the 1990s and follows four socially-conscious college-going boys. Even though the second part which hit screens last year was a let-down, Uriyadi is an unmissable film, and I highly recommend it.
The Vast of Night, an indie sci-fi thriller distributed by Amazon, harks back to classic stories and accounts of UFOs and alleged alien sightings, and the steady diet of shows and movies made on them which many of us grew up on.
This show revolves around a murder in which the high-profile Raikar family is implicated. The drama unfolds like a whodunnit mystery where the makers try to hold your attention with every cliffhanger. The series stars Neil Bhoopalam, Parul Gulati, Ashvini Bhave, Kunal Karan Kapoor and Atul Kulkarni.
This brilliant, and little-known, Showtime miniseries, starring Benedict Cumberbatch deals with a traumatic childhood, substance abuse and also with recovery and redemption.
The 2013 anthology film, directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar, celebrates 100 years of Hindi cinema. It showcases the influence of movies on our daily lives. Akhtar’s segment, Sheila Ki Jawaani, narrates the story of a 12-year-old kid who dreams of becoming a Bollywood dancer and worships a Katrina Kaif barbie. He takes inspiration from her fairy tale success story. But, his parents force him to take football training and leave dancing.
Mrs. America is a Hulu miniseries created by Desperate Housewives and Mad Men alum Dahvi Waller. Starring Cate Blanchett in the lead, the series is set in the 1970s 'United States and is about the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment or ERA by second-wave feminists.
Directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, One Child Nation talks about the ramifications of the one-child policy of China that lasted for almost 25 years. It’s a harrowing account of people who emotionally talk about the harsh experiences their families went through as China enforced the policy on all its citizens.
Starring Jitendra Kumar in the lead role, Panchayat streamed on Amazon Prime Video. The engaging show was set in a village where Jeetendra’s character has started his first government job. His dreams are bigger but for now, he tries to find peace with the village folk. The show also starred Raghubir Yadav and Neena Gupta.
This French horror series revolves around the young novelist Emma who realizes that the characters she writes in her horror novels are also in the real world. The show, sadly, got cancelled after just one season, but there are enough spooky moments to make you jump.
Disney+’s adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s first two fantasy adventure books, Artemis Fowl is about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind from Ireland who wishes to save his father abducted by a gang of fairies, who want a specific item back that Fowl had stolen.
Helmed by Shoojit Sircar, Gulabo Sitabo is a quirky dramedy that premiered on Amazon Prime yesterday. Set in Lucknow, Amitabh Bachchan plays Mirza who owns an old haveli, while Ayushmann Khurrana plays his tenant Baanke who just won’t vacate the place.
Read more | Gulabo Sitabo review: A middling dramedy