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Upbeat Punjabi beat
(2.5/5)

Chamak

Cast: Paramvir Cheema, Isha Talwar, Akasha Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Mohit Malik, Mukesh Chhabra, Gippy Grewal, Prince Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky, Rakesh Bedi, Mahabir Bhullar, Navneet Nishan and Hobby Dhaliwal

Upbeat Punjabi beat

Hitting the right notes, mostly
(3/5)

Netflix The Archies

Cast: Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi ‘Dot’ Saigal, Yuvraj Menda, Suhaas Ahuja, Tara Sharma, Satyajit Sharma, Koel Purie, Alyy Khan, Kamal Sidhu and Luke Kenny

Hitting the right notes, mostly

Perfect world, characters too good to be true

ZEE5 Kadak Singh

Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Sanjana Sanghi, Jaya Ahsan, Paresh Pahuja and Dilip Shankar

Perfect world, characters too good to be true

(2.5/5)
An atypical survival drama

Joram

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Smita Tambe, Megha Mathur, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Rajshree Deshpande, Apurva Dongarwal and Bharti Perwani

An atypical survival drama

(3/5)
Delicious reimagination of an epic tale

Wonka

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Calah Lane, Paterson Joseph, Freya Parker and Matt Lucas

Delicious reimagination of an epic tale

(4/5)
Bahadur bid to measure up to Sam

Sam Bahadur

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Sanya Malhotra, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Neeraj Kabi, Edward Sonnenblick, Govind Namdev and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Bahadur bid to measure up to Sam

(3/5)
No reprieve because Papa didn’t preach

Animal

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor and Triptii Dimri

No reprieve because Papa didn’t preach

(1.5/5)
A Christmas bonanza that is not despite the gifted Eddie Murphy

Prime Video: Candy Cane Lane

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Thaddeus J Mixson, Ken Marino and David Alan Grier

A Christmas bonanza that is not despite the gifted Eddie Murphy

(2.5/5)
Fictional city that borders on reality

Prime Video: Shehar Lakhot

Cast: Priyanshu Painyuli, Shruthy Menon, Kubbra Sait, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Shruti Jolly, Abhilash Thapliyal, Chandan Roy and Manu Rishi Chadha

Fictional city that borders on reality

(3/5)
A nearly perfect story

Limited series: A Nearly Normal Family

Cast: Lo Kauppi, Björn Bengtsson, Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors, Håkan Bengtsson, Christian Fandango Sundgren and Eva Westerling

A nearly perfect story

(3.5/5)
Cheat-chat works

Farrey

Cast: Alizeh Agnihotri, Ronit Roy, Prasanna Bisht, Sahil Mehta, Zeyn Shaw, Juhi Babbar Soni

Cheat-chat works

(2.5/5)
Simply putt, engaging golf drama

Amazon miniTV: Slum Golf

Cast: Mayur More, Sharad Kelkar, Arjan Aujla, Sumeet Sachdev, Vallari Viraj, Bhoomika Meena, Satyam Sharma

Simply putt, engaging golf drama

(3.5/5)
Games adults play, in a reality show

NETFLIX Squid Game: The Challenge

Cast: Executive producers: Nicola Brown, Tim Harcourt, John Hay, Toni Ireland, Anna Kidd, Stephen Lambert, Louise Peet, Nia Yemoh and Stephen Yemoh

Games adults play, in a reality show

(3/5)
Napoleon, the not-so-great

Napoleon

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Rupert Everett, Edouard Philipponnat, Catherine Walker, Ludivine Sagnier

Napoleon, the not-so-great

(3/5)
This portrayal of ordinary men, who do their duty at grave risk to their lives and jobs, is a tale that startles and impresses in equal measure

Limited series: The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984

Cast: R. Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyenndu, Babil Khan, Sunny Hinduja, Juhi Chawla Mehta, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Philip Rosch, Raghubir Yadav, Mandira Bedi, Connor Keene, Sunita Rajwar and Manish Wadhwa

This portrayal of ordinary men, who do their duty at grave risk to their lives and jobs, is a tale that startles and impresses in equal measure

(3/5)
Driven by music

Trolls Band Together

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Camilla Cabello, Eric André, Kid Cudi, Troye Sivan, Daveed Diggs, Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, Zooey Deschanel and Walt Dohrn

Driven by music

(2.5/5)
Beauty with killer instinct

Disney+Hotstar: Apurva

Cast: Tara Sutaria, Rajpal Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Dhairya Karwa and Sumit Gulati

Beauty with killer instinct

(2/5)
Dystopian cash grab that is rather threadbare

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Cast: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Josh Andrés Rivera, Fionnula Flanagan

Dystopian cash grab that is rather threadbare

(2.5/5)
Retelling of Diana’s last days

Netflix: THE CROWN SEASON 6

Cast: Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville,Dominic West, Elizabeth Debicki, Olivia Williams, Khalid Abdalla, Salim Daw, Bertie Carvel, Lydia Leonard and Andrew Havill

Retelling of Diana’s last days

(3/5)
A familiar plot, but when one of the top directors of the times, David Fincher, drops a film like The Killer, the lovers of thrillers will have a great time

The Killer

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, Tilda Swinton

A familiar plot, but when one of the top directors of the times, David Fincher, drops a film like The Killer, the lovers of thrillers will have a great time

(3/5)
It’s all about action

Tiger 3

Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Emraan Hashmi, Revathi, Simran, Riddhi Dogra, Vishal Jethwa, Kumud Mishra, Ranvir Shorey, Aamir Bashir and Gavie Chahal

It’s all about action

(2.5/5)
Nothing much  to Marvel at!

The Marvels

Cast: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-jun, Samuel L. Jackson, Lashana Lynch, Mohan Kapur, Zenobia Shroff, Saagar Shaikh

Nothing much to Marvel at!

(1.5/5)
The Sarabha saga

Sarabha: Cry for Freedom

Cast: Japtej Singh, Kavi Raz, Ankur Rathee, Mahabir Bhullar, Mukul Dev, Jasbir Jassi, Alex Reece, Malkeet Rauni and Jaspinder Cheema

The Sarabha saga

(2.5/5)
Colours of hope

Prime Video: Rainbow Rishta

Cast: Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Ayushmaan Aishwarya, Sadam Hanjabam, Soham Sengupta, Daniella Mendonca, Sanam Choudhury, Joel Mendonca, Suresh Ramdas and Aneez Saikia

Colours of hope

(3/5)
Inspirational act, and acting

Netflix: Nyad

Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans, Karly Rothenberg, Jeena Yi, Luke Cosgrove, Eric T Miller and Garland Scott

Inspirational act, and acting

(3/5)
War story that exudes warmth

Prime Video: Pippa

Cast: Ishaan Khatter, Mrunal Thakur, Priyanshu Painyuli, Soni Razdan

War story that exudes warmth

(3/5)
Matter of faith

Docu-series: Mysteries of the Faith

Cast: Show-runner: Melanie Archer Narrator: David Harewood

Matter of faith

(3/5)
Bittersweet take

UT69

Cast: Raj Kundra, Kumar Saurabh, Gaurav Mishra, Anand Alkunte, Errol Rodrigues, Mahesh Ghag, Sadanand Patil, Ganesh Deokar, Namantar Rajendra, Vinod Suryavanshi, Ajit Ranjan, Mahadev Jadhav

Bittersweet take

(2.5/5)
Sushmita Sen shines again, Aarya sees another transformation

Disney+Hotstar: Aarya Season 3 (4 episodes)

Cast: Sushmita Sen, Sikander Kher, Vikas Kumar, Indraneil Sengupta, Ila Arun, Viren Vazirani, Aarushi Bajaj, Sohaila Kapur and Shweta Pasricha

Sushmita Sen shines again, Aarya sees another transformation

(3/5)
On the Sly, why? The  hunk turns talkative, but is not candid

Netflix: Sly (Documentary)

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Stallone Jr, Wesley Morris

On the Sly, why? The hunk turns talkative, but is not candid

(2.5/5)
Detective drama minus frenzy

Prime Video: P.I. Meena

Cast: Tanya Maniktala, Jisshu Sengupta, Vinay Pathak, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Samir Soni

Detective drama minus frenzy

(2.5/5)
From the bombings of 1941 to the blasts of 2023, the web series Bodies weaves a fascinating web of time travel and four detectives in the midst of it all

Web series: Bodies

Cast: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller, Tom Mothersdale, Michael Jibson, Stephen Graham and Greta Scacchi

From the bombings of 1941 to the blasts of 2023, the web series Bodies weaves a fascinating web of time travel and four detectives in the midst of it all

(3/5)
When love is laced with greed

Killers of the Flower Moon

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion

When love is laced with greed

(3.5/5)
Sanitised version of biopic

Mujib: The Making Of A Nation

Cast: Arifin Shuvoo, Nusraat Faria Mazhar, Imam Hossain Saju, Sayem Samad, Siam Ahmed, Tauquir Ahmed, Sujon Ahmed, Chanchal Chowdhury, Riaz Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Deepak Antani, Rajit Kapur

Sanitised version of biopic

(2.5/5)
Lessons for everyone, not just IAS aspirants

Aspirants 2

Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Sunny Hinduja, Abhilash Thapliyal, Shivankit Singh Parihar, Namita Dubey, Tengam Celine and Harish Chhabra

Lessons for everyone, not just IAS aspirants

(3/5)
Lukewarm josh, rough landing of Kangana’s Tejas

Tejas

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Anshul Chauhan, Varun Mitra,Ashish Vidyarthi and Vishak Nair

Lukewarm josh, rough landing of Kangana’s Tejas

(2/5)
12th fail passes with flying colours

12th Fail

Cast: Vikrant Massey, Medha Shankar, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sarita Joshi, Sanjay Bishnoi, Anant Vijay Joshi, Anshumaan Pushkar and Geeta Sharma Agrawal

12th fail passes with flying colours

(3.5/5)
No mauj in this one!

Maujaan Hi Maujaan

Cast: Gippy Grewal, Binnu Dhillon, Karamjit Anmol, Tanu Grewal, Jimmy Sharma, Hashneen Chauhan, Yograj Singh, Nasir Chinyoti and Channa Kaur Sidhu

No mauj in this one!

(0.5/5)
Futuristic film, bleak future

Ganapath

Cast: Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, Amitabh Bachchan, Ziad Bakri, Girish Kulkarni, Jameel Khan, Rahman

Futuristic film, bleak future

(1/5)
Out of sync with the times

Yaariyan 2

Cast: Divya Khosla Kumar, Yash Dasgupta, Anaswara Rajan, Meezaan Jafri, Warina Hussain, Priya Prakash Varrier, Pearl V Puri

Out of sync with the times

(2/5)
Violence-packed drama, with intrigue, turns and twists

Leo (Tamil with English subtitles)

Cast: Talapathy Vijay, Arjun Sarja, Sanjay Dutt, Trisha Krishnan Iyer, Gautham Menon, Mathew Thomas, Mansoor Ali Khan

Violence-packed drama, with intrigue, turns and twists

(3/5)
Gripping 'Kaala Paani' tale

Netflix: Kaala Paani

Cast: Ashutosh Gowariker, Sukant Goel, Mona Singh, Arushi Sharma, Amey Wagh, Poornima Indraji, Avinash Kuri, Aradhya Ajana, Chinmay Mandlekar, David Wurawa, Desire Junior Binde and Vikas Kumar

Gripping 'Kaala Paani' tale

(3/5)
Mike Flanagan makes us grapple with multiple truths to finally drive home a simple message

The Fall of the House of Usher

Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Mary McDonnell, Henry Thomas, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Samantha Sloyan, T’Nia Miller, Zach Gilford and Katie Parker

Mike Flanagan makes us grapple with multiple truths to finally drive home a simple message

(3.5/5)
The Burial, a film on Amazon Prime Video, falls in the bracket of feel-good movies that dig deep to unearth unsavoury truths rather engagingly

The Burial

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett, Alan Ruck, Mamoudou Athie and Pamela Reed

The Burial, a film on Amazon Prime Video, falls in the bracket of feel-good movies that dig deep to unearth unsavoury truths rather engagingly

(3/5)
A heartfelt denouement of communal indoctrination

Ab Toh Sab Bhagwan Bharose

Cast: Satendra Soni, Sparsh Suman, Vinay Pathak, Masumeh Makhija

A heartfelt denouement of communal indoctrination

(3/5)
Dream run on bikes

Dhak Dhak

Cast: Ratna Pathak Shah, Dia Mirza, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanjana Sanghi

Dream run on bikes

(2.5/5)
Special edition, from house of Beckhams

Netflix: Beckham

Cast: David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Sandra Beckham, Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville

Special edition, from house of Beckhams

(3.5/5)