One aspect of Drishyam that people rarely discuss is the loss of innocence that Anu had to go through. She was the only innocent one in the whole family and she had to go through so much at such a young age.

Mrunal was so good at portraying Anu's innocence, and Kamlesh as Gaitonde was an irritable jerk/comic relief for most of the film, but his character took a really dark turn here. He looked absolutely demonic during this scene with Anu, and that's what makes the climax so satisfying where he gets beaten up.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeCmFfYjORx/MXFyMXBuNWx1bnp2aA==

Gandhi is an upcoming biopic series directed by Hansal Mehta. The series is based on the books Gandhi Before India and Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, which were written by Ramachandra Guha. It will feature Pratik Gandhi as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, with the supporting cast including Bhamini Oza Gandhi as Kasturba Gandhi, and Tom Felton as Josiah Oldfield.

The music of the show will be provided by A.R. Rahman.

The show has been planned for 3 seasons. The first season titled 'Mohan' premiered at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), becoming the first Indian show to do so.

No OTT platform has been finalized for this show yet.

Vishal Bhardwaj has done something pretty unique in Indian cinema by adapting three of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies into different Indian movies,

Othello - Omkara

Macbeth - Maqbool

Hamlet - Haider

And honestly, all three are fantastic films in their own right. What I find interesting is that Bhardwaj doesn’t simply “Indianize” Shakespeare. He takes the core themes of jealousy, ambition, betrayal, revenge, power and tragedy and completely rebuilds them within the social and political realities of India.

my ranking would be:

1. Haider

2. Maqbool

3. Omkara

Haider is my personal favourite. I think it’s the most ambitious of the three, and the Kashmir setting, political backdrop, performances, music, cinematography and overall atmosphere make it an incredibly powerful film.

But I can easily understand someone putting Maqbool or Omkara at 1. They’re all so different that ranking them almost feels unfair.

Which one is your favourite? And how would you rank Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare trilogy?let's share your rank and views..

Hey everyone!

I’d been meaning to check this movie out for ages and finally got around to finishing it today. To be honest, I went in with zero expectations and barely any clue about the legal stuff (politics and constitutional articles aren't really my usual genre).

Right from the opening scene, the movie hooks you. But what really blew me away was how racy and gripping the screenplay is ❤️‍🔥. it just doesn't let you look away, moving at such a sharp pace from frame to frame.

Special shoutout to the lead performances. Yami Gautam was an absolute powerhouse and Priyamani fit her role like a glove. They both carried the film so brilliantly.

By the time the credits rolled, I honestly felt this immense sense of satisfaction and a wave of pure goosebumps. If you've been putting this off like I did, do yourself a favor and watch it. Highly recommended! ✌️

Today, the second post about Hindi cinema's ambitious swings that failed to make a creative impact focuses on arguably their biggest gamble in the last 25 years: Brahmāstra.

If you look at it strictly through the lens of pure filmmaking, script architecture, and production engineering, this project stands as the most expensive creative disaster in modern Hindi cinema.

The Production Hell that Brahmastra was...

To understand why the final product felt so incredibly dated, you have to look at the timeline. Ayan Mukerji pitched this project to Kapoor and Johar around 2014 under the working title Dragon. It was originally greenlit as a standard, high-concept urban superhero film capped at a massive at the time Rs. 100–150 crore.

But Mukherjee's shooting style balloned the budget to Rs. 250 crores by 2019 triggering a corporate sunk-cost trap- the film cannot be shevled without a devastating write-off.

The production dragged on for so long that Amitabh Bachchan grew deeply frustrated by the chaotic delays and directly approached producer Karan Johar, bluntly warning him that Ayan was wasting massive amounts of time and corporate capital.

To keep the cameras rolling when cash reserves ran entirely dry, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt had to officially waive their upfront acting fees and convert their salaries into long-term back-end equity.

By 2021, the budget has blown close to Rs. 400 crore- budget that even Khans would find hard to get greenlit.

The Filmmaking Collapse...

The script committed creative suicide through its dialogue, written by Hussain Dalal, structural flaws, lacking originality, jarring audiences.

The narrative completely sacrificed its epic superhero lore to focus on a hollow, unearned romantic subplot. The script established that "love is the ultimate power" (Shiva-Shakti), but it gave the leads zero actual emotional depth. Alia Bhatt’s Isha was reduced to a flat, one-dimensional plot device who merely existed to react to Shiva's powers.

The screenplay continuously broke its own world-building rules. Villains possessing ancient, god-like elemental cosmic powers inexplicably resorted to using generic modern automatic machine guns in action scenes.

Moreover, if you strip the film of its Hindu mythological names, the underlying blueprint was a blatant, uninspired mimicry of Western superhero templates. Shiva was a standard Harry Potter/Luke Skywalker clone with their mixed backstory- the chosen orphan running an orphanage who discovers a hidden destiny. The secret society- Brahmansh- operated exactly like a low-rent Jedi Order, failing to offer a distinct cultural identity.

While the technical execution of CGI by Prime Focus was commendable, the visual aesthetic was non-interesting using default neon, comic-book world.

Ranbir Kapoor delivered arguably his worst acting performance in years which he accepted that was so basic that it isn't something he is proud of.

To conclude, it was a massive attempt, but unfortunetly failed on both filmmaking and production fronts.

​

The Sports category has concluded.

Chak De! India (2007) wins Best Sports with 157 upvotes, securing its place in the Best of Bollywood Hall of Fame.

Current Winners

Romance — Veer-Zaara (2004)

Action — Kill (2024)

Comedy — Hera Pheri (2000)

Drama — Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001)

Thriller — Andhadhun (2018)

Horror — Tumbbad (2018)

Biopic — Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)

Family — Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994)

Gangster — Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Cop — Sarfarosh (1999)

Sci-Fi — Mr. India (1987)

Fantasy — Jajantaram Mamantaram (2003)

Sports — Chak De! India (2007)

Now it's time for the most divisive category: Best Film.

This is the big one.

Not necessarily the biggest blockbuster, the most popular film, or the film with the biggest star — which Hindi film do you believe deserves to be considered the best of Bollywood?

Which Hindi film deserves the Best Film spot on the Best of Bollywood Hall of Fame grid?

📜 Rules

- Hindi/Bollywood films only.

- One film per comment.

- Upvote existing nominations instead of reposting them.

- The highest-upvoted nomination at the end of the week wins.

- In case of a tie, the higher-ranked comment at the close of voting wins.

Voting closes next Sunday at 9 PM IST. 🎬

Let the debates begin.

Source: https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/bollywood/exclusive-siddharth-p-malhotra-reveals-ikka-sequel-and-shaque-season-2-are-in-the-works-also-shares-happiness-at-the-response-to-parineeti-chopra-starrer-show-havent-got-so-many-c/

Siddharth P. Malhotra is the co-producer and director of Ikka. He is also credited as a co-creator of Shaque. Other credits include being the director of Hichki (2018) and Maharaj (2024)

I first watched I Am Kalam when I was 11, and for some reason, Bhati Mama has stayed in my memory ever since. Even after all these years, he’s one of the characters from the film I remember really clearly. So I wanted to give some appreciation to both the character and Gulshan Grover’s performance.

Bhati Mama, played by Gulshan Grover, is the owner of the roadside dhaba where Chhotu (Kalam) works. He is a practical, grounded and kind-hearted man. He runs his business and expects Chhotu to work, so there is a certain strictness to him, but he is also generally sympathetic towards the boy. He is not portrayed as cruel or heartless; he is simply a man trying to run his little dhaba and get through everyday life.

The dhaba itself is an important part of the world of the film. It is a place where different kinds of people meet, from travelers to people connected to the nearby palace. Bhati Mama's relationship with the French traveler Lucy is also a small subplot connected to him. Through all of this, he helps make the film feel grounded and real.

I also think Bhati Mama represents the difficult circumstances that Chhotu has to live within. At the same time, he is not simply a symbol of hardship. He becomes a part of Chhotu's world and, in his own small way, gives him a place where he can work, dream and grow.

What I especially like is that Bhati Mama doesn't need to be some larger-than-life hero. He is just a regular man living an ordinary life. He could easily have been written as nothing more than “the dhaba owner,” but there is a lot of warmth and humanity in the way he is portrayed. His relationship with Chhotu feels natural and believable, and that makes the character feel incredibly real.

And Gulshan Grover was fantastic. His performance is so grounded that you almost forget you're watching an actor. There is a certain ease to Bhati Mama's mannerisms, expressions and the way he interacts with the people around him. He gives the character personality without ever overplaying it.

To me, Bhati Mama is practical, caring and grounded, while also being an important supporting figure in Chhotu's journey. He may not drive the main dream of the story, but he is an integral part of the environment in which Chhotu's character develops.

Anushka Sharma as Akira in Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Her journey of being a journalist, her circle of friends, the entire arc on the army base was the most interesting part of the film, and brought life into an otherwise boring one. Her character challenged Samir, but she also developed because of him.

Katrina Kaif as Babita Kumari in Zero

Felt this could've been another installment of Fashion / Heroine, and Katrina actually for once demonstrated some acting chops. Her character was chaotic, interesting and messy. I wanted to know more about her life, how she became famous, why etc. Favourite dialogue is when she looks in the mirror and says 'I'm so white, I don't need makeup to look good.' Just revealed a lot about her that I wish they explored.

I wanted to include Ranveer Singh as Khilji, but technically he is a leading role despite being treated as a side character in the film.

in the movie there's one villager who told one outsider that he has written a script but he isn't a professional one. i don't remember much he might talked to a reporter saying (I'm not sure if this is correct) - "Madam, main koi professional writer nahi hoon, par mere paas ek bohot achhi story hai..." i don't know

• During the media frenzy, an eccentric local villager takes advantage of the big-city journalists being in town. He approaches one of the prominent news reporters (an outsider) to eagerly pitch a movie script he has written, explicitly mentioning that he isn't a professional writer but has a great story to tell.

Source:

https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/2106284377160462594

Drishyam: The Conclusion is now estimated to collect 190+ crores by the end of the weekend. The film has broken the following records:

Biggest Day 1 collection of Ajay Devgn's career (previous record held by Singham Again)

Biggest Gandhi Jayanti release (previous record held by War)

2nd biggest opening of 2026 (behind Dhurandhar: The Revenge)

4th biggest opening for a Bollywood film (behind Animal, Jawan, and Dhurandhar: The Revenge)

In 2014, Shahrukh Khan described his upcoming film Fan as something he wanted to do an intense, yet commercially viable film.

Looking back, that almost feels ironic, because the attempt to make the film more commercially viable is probably what hurt it.

The premise itself was fantastic. What happens when a superstar is confronted by a fan whose admiration crosses the line into obsession? It is one of cinema's most popular templates, and for good reason. The fan thinks he knows the star. The star doesn't even know the fan exists.

And Fan starts well.

Gaurav Chandna is interesting because he isn't an action hero. He's just a fan. He lives in Delhi, runs a small cybercafé, copies Aryan Khanna's mannerisms and knows everything about his films and career. Aryan isn't just his favourite actor. He has become a part of Gaurav's identity.

So when Gaurav goes to Mumbai to meet him and Aryan rejects him, he can't accept it. For Gaurav, this isn't just a superstar refusing to meet a fan. Aryan is rejecting a relationship that existed almost entirely inside Gaurav's head.

That's the most interesting part of the film.

But then the interval happens and the film starts becoming something else.

Instead of taking Gaurav's obsession further, the film turns him into an action/spy character. Suddenly he's travelling across countries, pulling off elaborate plans, escaping people and surviving things that feel completely out of character.

He basically becomes an Indian Ethan Hunt.

Gaurav should have become more dangerous psychologically, not physically. His obsession could have become more disturbing and unpredictable. He knows Aryan's habits, his public image and the way people around him behave. That could have made for a much better cat-and-mouse thriller.

Instead, the obsession becomes secondary to the chase.

And Aryan Khanna is another huge missed opportunity.

Shahrukh Khan playing both Gaurav and Aryan should have allowed the film to explore the difference between the celebrity a fan imagines and the actual person behind him. But we barely get to know Aryan.

Is he lonely? Is he tired of fame? Is he arrogant? Does he actually care about his fans? What does being worshipped by millions do to a person?

The film doesn't really explore any of this.

At times, it almost feels like Shahrukh Khan decided, "I'm Aryan Khanna." Instead of creating a fictional superstar who happens to be played by Shahrukh Khan, the film basically creates a fictional version of Shahrukh Khan.

The irony is that a film about a fan being obsessed with a superstar also becomes obsessed with its own superstar.

And this is also a bigger problem with mainstream Hindi cinema. We often change the movie at the interval instead of taking the same movie further.

The first half of Fan is a psychological story about obsession. The second half becomes an action chase. The instinct seems to be that the second half has to be bigger- more locations, more action, bigger set pieces.

But bigger isn't always better.

The second half should have taken Gaurav's obsession and pushed it further. Instead, it changes the entire nature of the conflict.

That's why Fan failed.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd-9Q9ZDEjX/dzc0N2ozazZjeHF3

Based on the books Gandhi Before India and Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, by Ramachandra Guha

Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Bhamini Oza Gandhi, Tom Felton, and others

Gandhi is the first Indian series to have a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The series will reportedly have 3 seasons.

Official TIFF description:

In season one, we meet Mohandas Gandhi (Pratik Gandhi, no relation) before he was Mahatma as a young man in India. He is already married and expecting a first child with his love Kasturba (Bhamini Oza Gandhi, married in real life to her fellow lead). Gandhi dreams of pursuing his passion for law in distant London. After some gentle persuasion by Kasturba, the wider family agrees to support Gandhi and send him on his way, expecting his law bona fides to pave the way for a life in local politics. Yet as Gandhi experiences life in London, meeting a like-minded fellow vegetarian, Josiah Oldfield (Tom Felton, the Harry Potter franchise), and growing into a deeper understanding of his own ethics, the young barrister begins to see a greater struggle ahead for him… and for India.

I genuinely think Hawaizaada deserves way more appreciation than it gets.

There’s something about the movie that I really admire. The overall atmosphere, cinematography, music, costumes, set design and the way the film was presented all gave it a very distinct identity.

Ayushmann Khurrana was really good in it, and I especially liked how different his performance felt compared to many of his other roles. The supporting cast also added a lot to the movie.

I also appreciate the fact that the filmmakers actually took a chance on something different instead of going for a safe, formulaic Bollywood film.

It may not be perfect, but I think it’s one of those movies that deserves to be remembered and appreciated more than it currently is.

Anyone else here who really liked Hawaizaada?

So I watched The Family Man and the one take action sequences were pretty good specially the hospital one. Im wondering are there any other Indian movies/series with one take action scenes? If yes then drop the name I would love to watch them

Trying to find an Indian/Hindi romance movie I watched — please help!

I’m trying to remember the name of an Indian/Hindi romance movie, I think it was released around 2020–2025.

The plot was roughly:

• The husband is a lawyer and is quite educated/sophisticated.
• The wife is from a village/rural background and is much less educated.
• She speaks in a very old-fashioned/rural Hindi dialect or slang, and he keeps correcting the way she speaks.
• Over time, he starts falling in love with her.
• I remember the husband having a moustache and being quite slim, with a face that reminded me a little of Rami Malek.
• It was definitely a romance, and I think a significant part of the story involved their marriage/relationship.

I’ve been trying to find it for ages and can’t remember the actors or title 😭

Does anyone know what movie this is?

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd3Cs4gs67O/bGx3a3U4d2oxMHVr

After its theatrical release in 2013, it was unclear who owned the digital rights to Shahid, possibly due to asset-management issues. The film was not streaming on OTT for more than a decade until Amazon Prime Video started streaming the film for rent in 2024. However, Shahid is now available for all Prime users.

For those who are unaware about the film, Shahid is a biopic drama based on lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who almost exclusively defended people that he believed were jailed as scapegoats and were accused of terrorism. The film was directed by Hansal Mehta and it starred Rajkummar Rao, who won a National Award for his portrayal of Shahid in the film

I wouldn't just refer to the film as one of the greatest biopics of all time, but I'll go one step ahead and call it one of the greatest Bollywood films ever made. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen the film.

Sources:

https://www.news18.com/amp/movies/bollywood/gandhi-and-my-mother-first-look-manoj-bajpayee-waheeda-rehman-lead-sudhir-mishras-period-drama-ws-kl-10364884.html

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/manoj-bajpayee-gandhi-film-plot-cast-producer-1236838081/

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Waheeda Rahman, Divya Dutta, Saurabh Shukla

Sudhir Mishra's statement on the film:

This new film focuses on an important yet lesser-known chapter of history – the 21 days in the life of Mahatma Gandhi during India’s independence. At a time when the nation was stepping into freedom, and Delhi was becoming the center of power, Gandhi made an unexpected choice: he chose to walk away. But by walking away, he did not retreat. He reinvented himself. While history books record the surface events of that era, this story explores what lay beneath that famous choice and will depict the personal journey of a leader redefining his path

I have tried searching with Gemini, Claude and had no luck.

Movie is set in pre-independent India; 3 friends betray a 4th friend who is a revolutionary and that results in that revolutionary friend getting caught by the British or killed while escaping.

Fast-forward many years - that revolutionary friend's son has also turned out to be a revolutionary and ends up in a situation where he needs the help of his father's 3 friends; Having lived with guilt all of these years, they decide to genuinely help him out and try their best to help him; however at the end of the movie, the son ends up getting shot just while making his escape - while climbing a gate. One detail I am not sure about is - I think the father also gets shot in exactly the same manner previously.

It was the most haunting & tragic end to a movie that I watched when I was a kid in the 1980s. I barely understood the movie as I was a small kid when I watched it, but I do remember the guilt-driven discussions of the 3 friends when they are faced with the same situation again after many years. The deja-vu factor of the son ending up in exactly the same situation as the father along with his father's friends facing the same choice again, and the chance for redemption for his father's friends, everything brings out the max tension in the story.

If anyone has heard about this movie, please help me out.

Source: https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/amp/news/bollywood/ayushmann-khurrana-starrer-udta-teer-postponed-to-october-23/

i had only heard about 13B movie from my friends as a kid. I finally got to watch it today. R Madhavan is so good in this one.

The storytelling, thrill, mystery and plot twist at the end is amazing. Loved it! Also the tv show thing was genuinely creepy asf. This movie was way ahead of its time. Now ik why it was so well spoken among my friend group!!