Khuda Haafiz, starring Vidyut Jammwal, is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.Theatres and film and TV production remain largely suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. And new content, filmed months and even years in advance, continues to be released on streaming services. There might be a lack of stuff to watch next year, but for now, we are fully stocked.
This week, the two biggest releases had women in lead roles. Janhvi Kapoor starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl was the biggest release this week. The Netflix movie, which is about the titular Gunjan Saxena — the first Indian female air-force pilot in combat, was directed by Sharan Sharma. It also stars Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi.
In a PTI interview, Janhvi had spoken about portraying Gunjan Saxena. She said, “It is an important story and it should reach people. I think it is a story of hope. This story, meeting Gunjan ma’am and spending time with her has reinstated my belief in myself. I hope it impacts people the way it impacted me.” The actor added that the father-daughter relationship shown in the film is its real heart and her dynamic with Pankaj Tripathi translated on the screen. “I got a chance to learn from him, to talk to him about his work and movies. I was very excited. Gunjan ji looks up to her father and idolizes him and that’s how I look up to Pankaj ji. Even on the sets, I would watch him perform and seek his guidance. Basically, we had a similar relationship off camera.”
Pankaj Tripathi spoke to Indianexpress.com about the film. He said, “Janhvi and I met on a flight six months before we started work on Gunjan Saxena. We were going to Goa. This girl walked in and greeted me. She then told me that when I was sent the script for Gunjan Saxena. She prayed and pledged to God that she will become a vegetarian so that I agree to do the film. The day I agreed, the director called her to share that I was onboard. I had gone to my village where there’s little internet, so it took me around 10 days to respond to the director’s message. I told her she should’ve informed me about her pledge before. I would’ve then said a yes without even reading the script (laughs).”
Other important releases this week include Khuda Haafiz, Dangerous and Abhay 2.
Here are the movies, web series and TV shows on platforms like ZEE5, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, SonyLIV, ALTBalaji and Voot
James Bobin directorial Dora and the Lost City of Gold was a live action adaptation of Nickelodeon's television series Dora the Explorer. It starred Isabela Moner in the lead role as the titular explorer. The film was acclaimed by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored 84 per cent. The critical consensus read, "Led by a winning performance from Isabela Moner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a family-friendly adventure that retains its source material's youthful spirit."
Just like how the English author Alan Moore boldly confronted the contemporary social and political issues in the United States in the late 1980s, Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen deals with the present concerns: chiefly white supremacy and racism. And it does it amazingly well.
If only the zombies in The Walking Dead knew they would not lose their wits if they had a ready supply of human brains! At least that is the premise if this show, which is equal parts horrifying and funny (uproariously so). If you liked horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Zombie Island, you can't go wrong with this one.
A Ryan Murphy creation, American Horror Story is incredibly scary, but the more interesting thing is every season of the show tells a new story. So if you don't like a particular season (unlikely), you can skip it and jump to the next season without losing any backstory.
Two brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, team up to fight supernatural threats. The threats include vampires, shape-shifters, demons, even angels and Lucifer himself among others. The premise is basically the same every episode. Dean and Sam spot news hinting at something bizarre and race to the location in their Impala, acting as FBI agents. Despite repetitiveness, Supernatural has remained enjoyable across 13 seasons (!) because of some really interesting characters. My favourite is Crowley, a powerful demon with whom the brothers have a love-hate relationship.
Beautifully shot and acted, this drama, set in Victorian London, brings to life some of the most terrifying and well-known characters of British literature, including Dracula, Jack the Ripper, Frankenstein’s monster, Dorian Gray and others. It is a compelling story of a woman’s struggle against forces of the dark and tells a coherent story across three seasons, a kind of hasty ending notwithstanding
One of the longest runnings horror shows, the post apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead is immersive and believable not because it has zombies and special effects, but because it paints fellow humans as the real villains, instead of the ‘walkers’. And don’t we know it? Andrew Lincoln plays Rick Grimes, a former sheriff, who leads a band of hardened survivors across the length and breadth of the United States. The Walking Dead streams on Netflix
Let's not spoil its plot, but in Calibre, two men go hunting in the Scottish countryside and get more than they bargained for. The film is a harrowing watch, and it’s like the tragedy at the centre of the story occurred with you — so good is the direction.
Three kids break into a blind veteran’s secluded house, thinking it would be an easy job. Go inside and pick up the money. If the vet wakes up, knock him cold and run away. However, they are in for a nasty surprise.
Two legends – Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson – play terminally ill men completing their wish list before they “kick the bucket”. Freeman and Nicholson’s performances elevate the relatively weak script.
Inspired by comic-books, high-school student Dave Lizewski transforms into a masked crime-fighter and becomes an internet sensation. However, he is not the only player in his game and others play dirtier. This movie is immensely profane, violent and a lot of fun. It is directed by Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn.
This Lily James and Michiel Huisman starrer is an engaging film that bibliophiles would love. The characters are well-drawn, and the cast is great too. The setting is also quite well-realised, and the English countryside never loses its charm.
This show created by Jonathan Nolan is basically about artificial intelligence. The writing is good, and that is no surprise considering that people like Nolan and JJ Abrams are involved in the show. Lost fans would find themselves at home, not because the two shows are in any way similar, but because Michael Emerson is at the top of his game in both shows.
An underrated show of the time when the Palace of Versailles was being built, and the court was being moved from Paris to Versailles. The show offers insight into the politics of the time and how kings dealt threats, internal and external.
The Last Kingdom is about how the country of England came to be. It is based on Bernard Cornwell's books. The main character is a deposed lord living as a Viking. It gives some interesting insights on Alfred the Great, the man who first envisioned the idea of England as a single entity as opposed to a conglomerate of disparate kingdoms like Mercia and Wessex.
A Stephen King adaptation, the events in HBO's miniseries The Outsider are kicked in motion by the rape and murder of a child. All the circumstantial and DNA evidence and eye-witness reports point towards Jason Bateman’s Terry Maitland, a baseball coach with easy access to kids. But he says he was at a conference outside town during the incident, and there is footage affirming his claim. Ben Mendelsohn’s Detective Ralph Anderson is tasked with the investigation.
Lauren Miller’s Like Father, starring Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammar, is a perfect time-killer in these times when we are confined to our homes. It is set during a cruise and is a perfect virtual getaway and escape for you. If you cannot go on vacation, enjoy is vicariously. Also, there is a story and an excellent performance by Bell, without whom this film would be so much tosh.
A mysterious quarantined zone is affected by an alien phenomenon that is mutating creatures and landscapes inside it. The zone is surrounded by a shimmering electromagnetic field and it is thus called the Shimmer. The zone is getting larger and the US government believes that it would one day surround the whole world if not stopped. This Alex Garland directorial has elements of science fiction, horror and mystery. Its denouement is a gorgeous interplay between mind-bending visuals and incongruous electronic notes.
This movie was about a school kid who has nothing special about him. His fortunes change, however, when he pulls King Arthur’s famous sword Excalibur from the stone it is buried in. According to the Arthur stories, only the true king could pull the sword and wield it. The film was an enjoyable adventure for kids and adults alike.
Brightburn was a truly terrifying superhero (or supervillain?) horror film. It was an inversion of Superman’s lore. Everything else was same, just one thing was reversed. Just like Clarke Kent, Brandon Breyer came from outer space and fell in a Kansas farm. And just like Clarke, he found loving parents. But instead of being a kind, thoughtful individual, he submitted before his darker proclivities and went on a murder spree. That was incredibly scary, just the thought of it: an evil, amoral and invulnerable kid with nobody to stop him.