Update: Check out this week’s binge-watch list.
Our weekly recommendation list this time around is dominated, for a change, by two web series --- featuring yesteryear Bollywood divas Sushmita Sen and Raveena Tandon.
The two star in two of the most anticipated web series. Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen leads the cast in the Season 2 of her highly successful Aarya. Raveena Tandon, for her part, makes her digital debut with the thriller Aranyak.
Also in the mix is the desi noir anthology series Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam. This series is headlined by prominent Pakistani actors.
The two films in the weekly offering are Telugu ones, Pushpaka Vimanam and Maa Oori Polimera.
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Aarya Season 2
Director: Ram Madhvani
Cast: Sushmita Sen, Sikandar Kher, Vikas Kumar, Mayo Sarao, Ankur Bhatia, Akash Khurana, Dilnaz Irani
Language: Hindi
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Release date: December 10, 2021.
Synopsis: The second season of the Emmy-nominated show will follow the journey of Aarya, the indefatigable mother who doesn't mind stretching the boundaries of morals to safeguard her family and children.
The first season saw how the happily married woman's world turned upside down when her husband is shot and family intrigue and criminal gangs run circles around her. In the second season, the same plot is understandably extended with similar variations. This time around Aarya is up against Russian drug lords and also local lumpen elements. Again, her grit and gumption has to save the day for her family. The series is directed by Ram Madhvani, who recently helmed the hit film Dhamaka.
Aranyak
Director: Vinay Waikul
Cast: Raveena Tandon, Ashutosh Rana, Parambrata Chatterjee, Zakir Hussain, Meghna Malik, Indraneil Sengupta
Language: Hindi
Platform: Netflix
Release date: December 10, 2021.
Synopsis: Yesteryear Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon is testing the waters of streaming platforms with this web series. She made her film debut in 1991 with Patthar Ke Phool, which was produced by GP Sippy Films. And now, she is making her OTT debut, again with Sippy Films. In that sense, she is returning to the place where her career began from. Raveena plays Kasturi, an investigator tasked with finding a vanished young traveler.
The crime thriller is about how after the disappearance of a foreign teenage tourist in a misty town, an under pressure woman cop gets hot on the trail of a blood-thirsty serial killing entity in a dark sylvan hill. In the bargain, she has to join forces with a male counterpart who is out to replace her. He has no love lost for her.
Apart from the thrills of murder and mystery, the series will be a visual spectacle too.
Pushpaka Vimanam
Director: Damodara Attada
Cast: Anand Deverakonda, Sanvi Megha, Geetha Saayini, Sunil, Kireeti, VK Naresh
Language: Telugu
Platform: Aha
Release date: December 10, 2021.
Synopsis: The story is about a math teacher Sundar, whose life takes an unfortunate turn with the death of his wife. His mundane life is now in a tizzy. This dark comedy thriller is also in a sense a social commentary on arranged marriages, societal pressures and moral policing. The film is rooted in middle-classness, something which you saw in the previous films (Dorasani and Middle Class Melodies) of Anand Deverakonda, the brother of Vijay Devarakonda, who is the producer of the film.
Anand has managed to choose interesting scripts for all his films in his short career so far. Amidst the big-budgeted masala razzmatazz of typical Telugu movies, his flicks, rooted in reality, stand out in impressive relief.
When it released in theatres this November, the movie got a good response.
Maa Oori Polimera
Director: Dr Anil Vishwanath
Cast: Satyam Rajesh, Getup Srinu, Bala Aditya, Kamakshi Bhaskarla, Ravi Varma, Chitram Seenu
Language: Telugu
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Release date: December 10, 2021.
Synopsis: Whatever our views on black magic may be. It has always provided intrigue and interest as a cinematic plot. And it is the backdrop of this Telugu flick. Can murder on suspicion of black magic be justified? This is the basic premise of this thriller that is centered on the lives of naïve folks of a fishing hamlet in Telangana.
The story picks the thread as an investigation after a cop begins probing his brother’s murder on suspicions of black magic and witchcraft. The fetching locales and quirky characters are the film's highlights.
Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam
Director: Meenu Gaur
Cast: Sanam Saeed, Sarwat Gilani, Mehar Bano, Faiza Gillani, Beo Raana Zafar, Samiya Mumtaz, Eman Suleman
Language: Hindi
Platform: Zee5
Release date: December 10, 2021.
Synopsis: A female-centric neo-noir thriller directed by a British Indian woman director that is dominated by Pakistan cast. This in itself should kindle your curiosity. The director Meenu Gaur has gone on record saying that she wanted to bring forth a female perspective of the story of femme fatales.
The filmmaker has said that the anthology asks the fundamental question: ‘what would you fight for? What would you kill for?' Each episode is thematically built around a query of this type. And the charm lies in the fact that the answers to the same question are different. In one episode, the trigger is love; in the another it's duty. Passion, justice, revenge, power and revolution are all reasons for killings in the various episodes. The whole series offers an peep into the human soul and what we get to see is an eerie reflection.
As theatre releases increase, the number of straight-on-OTT premieres have understandably dropped. But that doesn't mean the entertainment has trickled to a stop. New series and newer stars are emerging on streaming platforms. Happy viewing.
