The soundtrack of Amazon Original Movie Gehraiyaan is one of the most awaited albums of the year.
The movie’s title track, which was revealed in the teaser, is already trending on social media, and ‘Doobey’, a glimpse of which was featured in the trailer has left audiences wanting for more!
The wait is now come to an end, as the first song from the film’s soundtrack ‘Doobey’ is now out!
Designed by Ankur Tewari, the alluring song is composed by Kabeer Kathpalia a.k.a OAFF and Savera, written by Kausar Munir and sung by Lothika Jha.
Speaking of the first song, Ankur Tewari shared, “From the onset I knew that the music of Gehraiyaan had to be true to its story and allow the audiences to be absorbed into the world of these characters. Kabeer, Savera and our lyricist Kausar, have all done a phenomenal job at bringing in the youthful essence yet keeping the intrigue intact! And Lothika’s vocals add the right amount of freshness and intensity to the song.”
Adding further, musician Kabeer Kathpalia aka OAFF says, “It was an incredible experience to work on this film and its music. The adoration that we have been receiving since the first teaser, has been extremely special and definitely humbling. With Doobey, we wanted to recreate the feeling of free-falling; the heady rush of a new relationship, of being in love. Gehraiyaan truly a special album for each of us and we’re really hoping the audience enjoys listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it.”
Alongside Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi, the film also features Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa as leads along with Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapur in pivotal roles. Jointly produced by Viacom18 Studios and Dharma Productions in association with director Shakun Batra’s Jouska Films, the movie will have its World Premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on February 11, 2022 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Amazon Prime Video unveiled the intriguing trailer of the much-awaited Amazon Original movie, Gehraiyaan.
Directed by the very talented Shakun Batra, Gehraiyaan is a relationship drama that looks beneath the surface of complex modern relationships, adulting, letting go and taking control of ones’ life path. The film features Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Panday in the lead along with Dhairya Karwa, Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapur in pivotal roles.
Jointly produced by Viacom18 Studios, Dharma Productions and Shakun Batra’s Jouska Films, the movie will have its World Premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on February 11, 2022 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Speaking about the film, Deepika Padukone said:
“Alisha, my character in Gehraiyaan is extremely close to my heart and certainly one of the most challenging characters I have portrayed on screen. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to play a role that was fun and challenging at the same time. Each of the characters’ struggles and arcs are real, raw and relatable. Our endeavour is to take viewers on a journey they will relate to. When it comes to dealing with relationships and human emotion, Shakun is truly a master of his craft. With Gehriyaan, again, he has woven a story that will appeal to all and I am thrilled that along with Amazon Prime Video we are able to take this story to audiences worldwide.”
“In a manner, this seems like coming back home to me,” Siddhant Chaturvedi said, “I started my journey as an actor with Amazon Prime Video and now Gehraiyaan, a film I am so incredibly proud of will premiere worldwide on Amazon Prime Video! I feel there is a little bit of Zain in all of us. His ambition, aspiration, passion for his dreams and his struggles when faced with tough choicesare all extremely relatable. For each of us, Gehraiyaan is a movie that is all soul and heart, and I am thrilled that the movie will premiere to a global audience across 240 countries and territories.”
Ananya Panday said: “Shooting with the wonderful cast and crew of Gehraiyaan has been an absolute high point for me and I never wanted the shoot to end! There’s a certain realness to the story of Gehraiyaan; while the film dives into the complexity of relationships it also talks about the thrill of being in love, of discovering oneself and charting ones’ path. Tia has been one of my favourite characters to play and the way Shakun has dealt with the modalities of each character and has brought out the best in every one of us in his unique way is amazing. I am so glad that the audience can enjoy the film on Amazon Prime Video in India and across the world. I look forward to the reactions and conversations!.”
Dhariya Karwa said: “It is every actor’s dream to have their work reach out to the widest possible audience and I am excited for the global release of Gehraiyaan on Amazon Prime Video, through which the movie will reach viewers across the world. The experience of working with such a talented cast and creators is one that I will cherish forever. I look forward to how the viewers react to the movie.”
The Indian content on Netflix can be divided into two sections – Pre-Covid and Post-Covid.
The pre-Covid content had very little to boast of, it almost seemed as if Netflix may not really be interested in the Indian market (or probably they were just testing it out). But post-Covid Netflix India has got its act together with a string of Original Indian content that are well worth the time for us subscribers.
That said, is their latest offering Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein worth your time?
Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein (title a clever spin-off from the song from the film Baazigar) follows the story of Vikrant who must tackle Purva, a politician’s daughter who aggressively pursues for marriage. Will he be able to reclaim his life?
The story is an interesting cocktail of pulpy humour mixed with loads of thrills. The screenplay is one helluva roller coaster. It wastes almost no time in the setup and gets straight into the mix.
The characters are introduced and the world is built simultaneously. The humour and dollops of it is tactfully inculcated in the sequences. While the humour is dark, it will surely make you laugh hysterically. The twists and turns in the plot with almost every episode ending with a cliffhanger will definitely force you to binge watch this series in a single go.
The situations created and the cat and mouse game that follows is an absolute treat. On the minor blip, the humour dries out in the second half of the series, although the thrilling drama will ensure that you are on your toes throughout. But the drama ends on another cliffhanger, ensuring nice setup for season 2 (or should I say Tu Ru Ru, Tu Ru Ru).
Overall, a brilliantly penned screenplay which is sharp and filled with humour.
The dialogues are filled with expletives but quirky and they will definitely leave a smile on your face. The music here is fabulous and the songs are well integrated in the drama. The BGM is also wonderful and blends well with the drama.
IMDB says that the series is directed by four individuals – Sidharth Sengupta, Rohit Jugraj, Ankkitha Maithy and Varun Badola and the direction is top notch. The directors have been able to keep the thrill element alive which ensures no dull moment throughout its duration. The direction deserves distinction marks!
The performances are top notch. Arunoday Singh shines in a cameo and his character will be very important in the next season.
Anant Joshi as Goldie has an impeccable sense of comic timing and he does a fabulous job. Hetal Gada as Pallavi is good particularly towards the backend of the drama. The veteran Brijendra Kala as Suryakant is absolutely brilliant and his dialogue delivery is to die for.
The other veteran Saurabh Shukla as the wily and ruthless politician is amazing. Surya Sharma as Dharmesh has a towering screen presence and an intimidating personality and he puts it to full use here. Shweta Tripathi Sharma as Shikha is such a natural onscreen and wish she had a slighter longer role but whatever the length she is fabulous to watch.
Anchal Singh as Purva is the surprise package here. Earlier seen in Undekhi (along with Surya), she delivers a very matured performance here. Her cold stares can send a shiver down your spine and her stoic demeanor adds to her character.
And My Man Tahir Raj Bhasin is on a roll. First ’83, then Ranjish Hi Sahi and now this (with Loop Lapeta out in Feb), he is slowly carving a niche and making a name for himself. A very conflicted character here by the name of Vikrant, he is absolutely terrific here and delivers a towering act.
Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is a deliciously pulpy thriller which will make you laugh and keep you interested throughout. And it is nicely setup for Season 2 (Tu Ru Ru, Tu Ru Ru)
Popcorn Rating – [4/5]
The series is currently streaming on Netflix
NOTE: THE VIEWS AND OPINION EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR. Edited by Nidhi Sahani
The Tragedy of Macbeth is an interesting genre exercise.
Joel Coen, in his solo directorial venture, executes a direct adaptation of Macbeth from a screenplay point of view. But from an aesthetic point of view, The Tragedy of Macbeth converts Shakespeare’s violent, visceral story into an impressionist nightmare.
Shot in black and white, The Tragedy of Macbeth at times feels like it has been made abstract for the sake of abstraction itself. However, the use of almost stark and brutalist architecture, featuring towering pillars and their shadows, help evoke memories from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.
The nightmarish effect is furthered by the three weird witches, who oscillate between a singular witch figure and a trio of “witches”, thereby adding to the visual ambiguity.
The story of Macbeth has been retold countless times, but Coen forgoes the theatricality of actors’ performances in this film. Perhaps it is because a camera can convey dialogues more easily to the audience than actors to the audience sitting in the back rows of a theatre. As a result, the verbose dialogues from the play are spoken with a whispery effect, bearing in them the pace and flow of a regular conversation, which robs the cadence of the play but helps us view it in a different rhythm.
It’s also interesting how Coen uses shadow due to lights from the pillars to convey Macbeth’s mindset during a soliloquy. I personally thought that the choice of Denzel to soliloquise with a whisper helps convey the impression of an internal monologue while also hinting at a sense of madness taking over, at least for me.
Performance-wise, Denzel Washington effectively conveys the almost pathetic nature of Macbeth during the moments of emotional outbursts. Frances McDormand, on the other hand, is too reserved to let out any impression. However, during the end, she ultimately manages to imbibe her character with a haunting effect. Corey Hawkins shines as Macduff in the limited screen time he has.
It was the first time while watching a Shakespeare adaptation that I realised I was reciting the lines of the play from my memory. The nostalgia of Shakespeare is a unique gear that I didn’t know existed for me. But even as an adaptation, the nightmarish feeling it evokes separates the Tragedy of Macbeth from its 25 other adaptations.
However, it is far from perfect. It can come off as a little too bloodless and emotionally distant at times for its own good. It’s not the Throne of Blood, but then again, nothing can capture that raucous energy of Kurosawa’s adaptation.
Final Verdict:
The Tragedy of Macbeth is still distinctly abstract, a faithful adaptation almost painterly in its interpretation, and an interesting genre exercise created because, well, why not?
Popcorn Rating – [4/5]
The Tragedy of Macbethreleases globally on Apple TV + on January 14, 2022.
Picture an Indian version of the Hunger Games. But instead of the elite watching the games for their entertainment, they are playing them.
Now imagine a royal gharana (family) from Rajasthan with a king whose kingdom needs an heir, for which his four daughters i.e., the princesses have to compete. Except the competition is a hoax and can be won by playing some odd “Squid-esuqe” games termed as ‘The Royal Games’.
That’s the premise of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati starring an ensemble cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Raghuvir Yadav, Lara Dutta, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, Cyrus Sahukar amongst others.
Without giving away too much of the plot, here’s a brief synopsis:
Raja Mrityunjay (Naseeruddin Shah) is a lonely king of a dwindling kingdom and a palace that he is soon to be evicted from. Desperate to protect his possession and reconcile with his estranged daughters, his advisor Mishraji (Raghuvir Yadav) spins an elaborate plan for the princesses to participate in a contest to win the crown along with a huge sum of money.
The only problem is – the daughters have held an interminable grudge not only against their father but also each other, and refuse to part of a dysfunctional family again.
However, each of them also has their own struggles and motive to play along and win the title.
Kaun Banegi Shikharwati starts off on a cheesy note but quickly picks up the pace to unravel the dark secrets of the Shikharwati family.
What’s refreshing to watch is the screenplay’s ability to explore interconnected genres. What appears as a slapstick comedy at first swiftly shifts into drama, horror, suspense, and even romance at times.
Also, it’s great to see makers experimenting beyond stories and genres these days. The treatment of the show is quite inspired, especially the introductory montages of the games where Mishraji is narrating the rules as well as chronicling a time in Shikharwati’s history.
Speaking of the actors, each one deserves high praise for performing at their best.
From Shah as a lonely king clad in Adidas track pants to Dutta playing a stubborn perfectionist and a bully, a zen-like Khan as a vulnerable woman perpetually seeking validation, and Kamra as an insensitive social media influencer to Singh playing an introvert – the arcs of each character makes them likeable as well as believable. You’re not watching them as one-dimensional characters – they’re all like us.
Well, maybe a dramatized version of us.
Not to forget Yadav whose stellar performance as Mishraji or “friend” to the king, steers the whole narrative of the series.
Writers Ananya Banerjee and Simran Sahni have carefully penned the characters to ensure each lead gets equal screen space. And it’s amazing to see four leading ladies come together for a quirky show like this along with the entire ensemble. My favorite was Gayatri’s (Soha Ali Khan) stoic shaman-like daughter Padma, played by Alisha Khare.
Shoutout to Director of Photography by Linesh Desai for exquisitely capturing the flavor of Rajasthan and skillfully transforming the mood with all the interwoven genres (note: you’ll see what I mean in the “horror” scenes). The cinematography is top-notch.
Also, special mention to production design by Priya Suhas for creatively and cohesively elevating the visual appeal of the show.
Final Verdict:
If you’re looking for a family-friendly show this weekend, Kaun Banegi Shikharwati is worth your time. A binge-worthy series – it’s fresh, it’s quirky, and it’s thoroughly entertaining.
Bollywood has often faced criticism for not accurately portraying mental illness. However, there’s been a significant shift is highlighting the subject with nuanced storylines to shed light on the issues.
Recently, we witnessed a glimpse of childhood trauma caused by possible parental negligence in the Animal trailer, where Ranbir Kapoor’s character is seen confronting his father.
Image from Animal
Here are 7 Bollywood films whose stories were driven by characters with trauma… and perhaps how they dealt with it.
** several spoilers ahead! **
Please note, I’m not a professional in the subject. These are merely my observations of the characters and their complexities.
Dum Laga Ke Haisha [2015] : Prem Prakash Tiwari (played by Ayushmann Khurrana)
Image from Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Prem’s lack of interest or aptitude to study becomes the cause of his inferiority complex. The constant nagging of his family and taunts of being a failure in life for not pursuing a steady career with any growth prospects inevitably worsens his trauma with age.
To top it off, when he is reluctantly married off to the girl who doesn’t fit the typical standards of “beauty”, his defense is to play the victim as his coping mechanism. Perhaps the anxiety of never having a win in life, makes it easier for him to blame others for his ineptitude and incompetences.
There is one instance in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, when Prem attempts to channel his energies by studying for a much-dreaded English exam and appears for it with confidence. However, the overwhelming fear of another failure along with the emotional turmoil of a broken marriage almost paralyzes him. Instead of choosing to fight against the fear, he once again opts for flight and leaves the paper with an emotional note.
It’s the crippling fear along with the feeling of shame and embarrassment that makes Prem suicidal. He doesn’t have a shoulder to lean on for comfort or support – his parents and friends have given up on him and he’s pushed his wife away. With no one to share his pain with, he internalizes the impending humiliation.
Although Prem wins the race (pun intended) in the end, I would’ve also loved to see how Prem turn his life around for the better.
Hasee Toh Phasee [2014] : Meeta (played by Parineeti Chopra)
Image from Hasee Toh Phasee
Meeta lacks courage to speak her mind (without the help of alternative substances) because she’s been hushed before.
She comes from a conservative family of mostly daughters and always tends to cause trouble. Although, what her mother and other elders think of as disobedience is rewarded by her father as skill.
Unlike Prem from Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Meeta is academically inclined to achieve excellence as a scientist, takes risks and isn’t afraid of asking questions. But again, she has been silenced from a young age on the account of being a “difficult child”.
From being slapped by her uncle to being accused of causing a heart attack to her father, Meeta struggles to cope with the trauma of being the black sheep and the guilt of causing her family distress.
Though she succeeds at inventing a revolutionary solution to produce sustainable electricity, she’s misunderstood as a selfish drug-addict who’s up to no good, ever!
Atrangi Re [2021] : Rinku (played by Sara Ali Khan)
Image from Atrangi Re
Atrangi Re highlights the trauma of a young girl, Rinku, who witnesses the murder of her parents, burned to death in a dangerously public setting. While the film does a fine job at shedding light on the issue, it doesn’t quite deal with it with sensitivity required for such a subject.
It drops some educational elements to help the story move forward, includes some superficial knowledge about therapy and medication as treatment, but it’s all simply to complete a “love story”.
However, on the flip side, I also agree with writer Himanshu Sharma’s argument that he “wasn’t making a documentary”.
“You may say it trivialises the issue, but I would just like to say that I was trying to make these difficult topics simple, so that it can be accessible and can reach a larger number of people,” Sharma said recently.
Overall, unfortunately, the makers may have trivialized PTSD and child trauma a little too much.
Meri Pyaari Bindu [2017] : Bindu (played by Parineeti Chopra)
Image from Hasee Toh Phasee
Bindu is rash, unreasonable, and also selfish, but it’s probably because she has a lot of unresolved issues that she can’t come to terms with.
She loved her mother who suddenly died in an accident caused by her drunk father. Her resentment towards her father is so strong that she’s constantly escaping him and reality – her coping mechanism.
No amount of love from friends, music or even Abhimanyu (Ayushmann Khurrana) can really fill that void. Perhaps that’s the reason she compromised on being in a relationship with him whom she was never really in loved. He was simply her distraction and a safety net, till it all got too real and she escaped again.
That’s why Bindu is surprised at her own abilities to be a dedicated mother who’s succeeding at raising a daughter and is in a happy marriage – something she doesn’t feel the need to escape.
Highway [2014] : Veera (played by Alia Bhatt)
Image from Highway
Veera comes from an affluent family with dirty dark secrets. She is a victim of child sexual abuse but instead of being encouraged to right the wrong, her mother and guardian has directed her to sweep in under the rug.
As a woman, Veera has been scarred by the incident and understands the severity of it but is captive to her domesticity in Delhi. She yearns for freedom, not just from the incestuous sexual offender but everyone involved in suppressing her.
Veera’s childhood trauma is severe that she seamlessly and comfortably finds her solace with her kidnapper Mahabir (Randeep Hooda). A case of Stockholm Syndrome or finding peace and independence in the company of a stranger?
She finally feels safe in a world that will not harm her or silence her. She’s free to climb mountains, travel on the roof of buses, hold a gun, make Maggi in a tiny shack… Veera was just looking for a place that felt like home, instead she found a person she could call home, Mahabir!
Dear Zindagi [2016] : Kaira (played by Alia Bhatt)
Image from Dear Zindagi
Kaira’s story opens as a promising cinematographer navigating through her career and love life. Except she’s unfulfilled with both and her life seems to be crumbling down before her eyes.
She breaks up with her childhood sweetheart only to be left heartbroken by another man immediately, she’s being removed from her apartment in Mumbai and has no choice but to stay with her parents in Goa. That’s when the trauma resurfaces.
Kaira has abandonment issues because her parents left her to live with her grandparents after she failure a year in school. Due to this, she associated any failure in life with total abandonment. Understandably the reason why she also had commitment issues in her relationships.
She internalized the childhood trauma to the point that cause her sleepless nights and made her irritable at happy couples around her.
Possibly the only film in recent times that intelligently explored therapy to heal our mind and shed some light on parents-children relationship.
Tamasha [2015] : Ved (played by Ranbir Kapoor)
Image from Tamasha
Another film that cautiously highlights a traumatic parent-child relationship is Tamasha, where the child is conditioned to accept conventions of society in personal and professional life.
Tamasha follows the story of Ved through different stages of life, starting from a boy in his formative years, a young man in his adolescence, and a 30-year-old adult.
We see Ved’s journey of self-exploration through extreme highs and lows; He painfully struggles to navigate love, career, relationships with colleagues and friends, and even himself. An inherently creative storyteller, charismatic and free soul is confined to the chain of societal norms and family expectations of a “successful” man.
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali tackles the challenges of a borderline bipolar disorder and frustration of crushed dreams in the most sensitive way… almost communicating with an millions of people in the same situation who are yearning to break free.
Image from Highway
Do you remember any film that dealt with childhood trauma and complex characters? Please share in the comments.
Gaining over 50,000 YouTube views overnight, song Age Adare based on a true story about love and heartache, is the first hit release of newly formed UK band Rojo. Since its release hashtag #rojofied has been trending online.
Lead singer Anjelo Leeson says “Rojo was a life-long dream of mine and the band members, to do something different in the UK music industry and bring Sinhala music to the forefront.”
Age Adare was written by Anjelo Leeson, who also stars in the music video alongside Venushka Condegama and Rachael Dixon, produced by Tale Media.
Rojo’s multi-lingual and talented band members, Thamara Perera, Anjelo Leeson, Thilina Fernando and Vinoj Silva, not only sing popular covers but also write, sing, and produce original English, Hindi and Sinhala songs and music.
Whilst the lyrics of Age Adare can only be understood by a person who is proficient in Sinhala, the catchy tune will surely have you humming along to it in no time!
Recently Sinhala music has particularly gained international popularity following the worldwide release of Sri Lankan hit song Manike Mage Hithe by Chamath Sangeeth, Satheeshan and Yohani, so much so that several artists have sung covers of the same song in a number of languages including Arabic, Bengali, Hindi and an English version by UK based, Arjun the artist.
It’s that time of the year again when we recap the year’s best films.
I’m sure you’ll be bombarded with such lists everywhere on the internet right now. But this year’s different for me – I missed a lot of cinema and great content in 2021 (I was taking some time off of screens) so this video is about the most memorable films I watched this year.
So it’s NOT a very exhaustive list.
Here’s goes (In no particular order):
Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraarstarring Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor who gave great performances. This got a lot of mixed reviews but I absolutely loved it and in fact watched it twice. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee – Very subtle and impactful story. But, unfortunately got lost due to an extremely delayed release and maybe some negligence and creative differences with YRF that failed to promote the film properly, I think.
2. Drishyam 2– A sequel to the 2013 Drishyam directed by Jeethu Joseph. If you’ve seen the first film, in whichever language, this one is not to be missed. It definitely holds up as a power-packed sequel – its bigger, better, more dramatic and more thrilling than the first.
SIDE NOTE: My husband had never seen a Malayalam film before and I made him watch Drishyam 1 and 2 – he’s not only a FAN now, but holds the franchise as a benchmark for all films.
Here’s the review of the film.
3. The Great Indian Kitchen – another gem from Malayalam cinema, directed by Jeo Baby. It highlights toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes, and deep rooted patriarchy in our society. What’s splendid here is that we experience all this while watching the film through the routine of the wife (played by Nimisha Sajayan) who’s life in altered 180 degrees after the wedding. She’s always seen in the kitchen cooking and cleaning every waking minute in contrast with that of her new husband’s routine whose life doesn’t seem to be affected much… and obviously there’s more to uncover as the film progresses. Brilliant storytelling.
Fun fact – none of the characters in the film are given any names. They are simply referred to as their relationship to one another. There’s a husband and a wife, a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, a cousin, a servant – perhaps because it’s showing us a generalized view of every relative including a husband and wife where roles and duties are set. No questions are asked and there’s no intentions of changing the status quo.
The next 2 films, I think, are game-changers in Hindi cinema for their subjects, even though they’re vastly different in treatment.
4. Pagglait, written & directed by Umesh Bist, is a charming film that will nudge you to question and think about status quo. The premise is about a young widow whose husband has died within five months of marriage, but she’s unable to grieve his sudden demise. The magic of Pagglait lies in its simplicity and the moments shared in silence – the moments between characters as well as the ones shared by Sandhya (played by Sanya Malhotra) with herself. I think it’s essentially about Sandhya navigating through the different stages of grief and loss. You can catch my detailed review of Pagglait here.
5. Rashmi Rocket – I loved this one not because of its cinematic brilliance but because it has the guts to present such a unique and unexplored topic of hyperandrogenism and make it palatable for the mainstream audience. I have to admit, I know very little about this subject and gender testing in sports – so it was definitely catered towards people like me, who is almost 90% of the world’s population, I guess.
6. 55km/sec – This is a short film directed by Arati Kadav. You may remember her as the brains behind the 2020 gem Cargo. This little nugget is a reminder of lockdown 2020, except it IS the end of the world! There is no vaccine to save humankind.
There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There isno tomorrow to look forward to. It is the last day on Earth and life, as we know it, is coming to a definitive end.
If that synopsis doesn’t excite you to watch the film, I don’t know what will !!
On the same subject, is my next pick
7. Don’t Look Up – The film just dropped on Netflix, starring some of most prominent actors in Hollywood – Leonardo DiCaprio Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, Care Blanchett, Tyler Perry (there’s many more). While 55km/sec is a drama taking us through final hours before the comet hits, Don’t Look Up is an out and out satire of how the world, or shall I say America, will deal in such a situation.
It’s hilariously blunt and kinda scary of how media and the government are so one-dimensional in the way they approach crisis – the news and politics during this pandemic is a prime example of that.
Here’s a bonus – not a 2021 release but a film that I recently watch and loved.
8. The Farewell (2019) – It’s such a delightful and heart-warming film about immigrants and first generation kids navigating through traditional values alongside embracing modernism. It’s a whole lot of family dynamics and bonding, celebration of life, mindfulness, love we all have for our grandparents. Written and directed by Lulu Wang and brilliantly performed by Awkwafina … who took my breath away in the last scene
You have to watch it !!
I really want to hear from you and expand on this list. If there’s something you watched and found memorable, please share in the comments so I can also watch it too… because there’s so much out there that I can barely keep up!
Also don’t forget to follow and subscribe to the channel!!
ZEE5 Global, the largest streaming platform for South Asian content, announces the trailer of Kaun Banegi Shikharwati. A series full of drama and Kaun Banegi Shikharwati is a dramedy based on the life of the Royal King (Naseeruddin Shah) and his dysfunctional family. The trailer itself gives you a glimpse of all the madness one can expect in the series. The intriguing trailer takes one through the exhilarating journey of Raja Mrityunjay and his daughters Devyani, Gayatri, Kamini and Uma who all come together after years to save the Shikarwati. The series comprises madness, the crazy riot and the royal contest the four queens go through to be the ultimate winner. This contest indeed turns the dynamics of this dysfunctional families where they bond, stay together and fight together. It will be interesting to see if they will be able to save the mahal.
Soha Ali Khan shared, “I have been looking forward to do something out of the box and Kaun Banegi Shikharwati turned out to be exactly what I wanted. The script was the first thing that caught my attention and of course, the talented star cast! I am sure the families who will watch our series will be able to relate. Hope they enjoy watching the trailer and the series which premieres 7th January on ZEE5.”
Lara Dutta shared, “It was such a refreshing experience shooting for this series with such great co-stars who together are a mad bunch to handle. Family dramas might be common, but this dysfunctional family is unlike any you have seen before, and we can’t wait for everyone to join this crazy family on their crazy adventures only on ZEE5.”medy which will take you into the lives of Royal Princesses and their not so Royal lifestyle. The series is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Emmay Entertainment and directed by Gauravv Chawla and Ananya Banerjee. It stars Naseeruddin Shah, Raghubir Yadav, Soha Ali Khan, Lara Dutta, Anya Singh, Kritika Kamra, Cyrus Sahukar and Varun Thakur in pivotal roles.
Anya Singh shared, “It was an enriching experience for me shooting with such talented actors. They have pushed me to give my best and I hope audiences enjoy my work and our bond when they see the show. Lockdown has made us realise the importance of family and this show embodies the same sentiments that no matter how angry and upset you might be with a loved one, life is too short to hold onto grudges. That’s what I want everyone to take back from this series.”
Kritika Kamra shared, “With ‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’, I got 3 sisters for life, and I couldn’t have asked for more. The shoot was a laughter riot, and I hope the chemistry between us sisters translates well onto screen as well. While the show will make you laugh and cry, it will also make you want to reunite with your loved ones for that tight, warm hug. So, do watch it on ZEE5 with your loved ones.”
Get ready to enter the crazy world of Shikharwati’s only on ZEE5, premiering 7th January.
