Like every week, we have handpicked a variety of offerings from the many Indian OTT platforms to sort out your visual entertainment needs. What we have is an interesting web series that is centred on India's all-time staple: politics and religion. And then we have three 3 Hindi movies, including the much anticipated, and dare we say much 'disliked' on internet, Sadak-2. There is also Masaba Masaba, a fictionalised real-life story on Neena Gupta and her born-out-of-wedlock daughter Masaba. Thrown into the mix is a Telugu movie dubbed from Malayalam, and a straight Malayalam movie that is made is for OTT platforms, and is also touted to be a screen-based thriller. The film's premise and its production is mouth-watering. It is titled CU Soon, and it adds to the thriller movie's essential intrigue.
So without much ado we will get a low-down on them:
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Masaba Masaba
Direction: Sonam Nair
Cast: Masaba Gupta, Neena Gupta, Satyadeep Mishra, Neil Bhoopalam
Synopsis: Neena Gupta, the actress, has had a colourful and chequered life. Masaba Gupta is Neena's daughter through an affair with West Indies cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards. Masaba too has had an eventful life. She is a fashion designer, and her love life is the focus of glossy magazines. Their life stories are interesting and exciting in a sense, and no wonder it is being made into a series. Adding to the excitement is the fact that both Neena and Masaba are playing their own fictionalized selfs for the series. It is a genre that is slightly new for Indian audiences. But with love, affairs, glamour of high-life at its centre, these things will be lapped up by the viewers.
Language: Hindi
Platform: Netflix
Release date: August 28, 2020.
Sadak-2
Director: Mahesh Bhatt
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Gulshan Grover
Synopsis: Sadak was a popular hit movie from the early 90s. The gritty film turned out to be a milestone in the careers of Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt, who as it happens, headline the cast in the sequel Sadak-2. The movie also stars Alia Bhatt. Of course, the film is directed by the dad of the sisters Mahesh Bhatt, marking his return to the medium after nearly two decades. Sanjay Dutt, the maverick performer, must be itching to prove a point or two to his critics while the young Aditya Roy Kapur would be equally keen to make a mark and cement his position in the industry. Unfortunately, we cannot have the biggest talking point of Sadak-1 --- Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who passed a few years back. His performance as the eunuch Maharani is a hall-of-famer in Hindi cinema.
Language: Hindi
Platform: Disney Plus Hotstar
Release date: August 28, 2020.
And The Oskar Goes To
Director: Salim Ahamed
Cast: Tovino Thomas, Sreenivasan, Anu Sithara, Lal, Salim Kumar
Synopsis: Make no mistake about it, this is the dubbed version of the much-acclaimed Malayalam movie of the same name. The Aha platform is doing well to bring to Telugu some of the better movies from Mollywood (Malayalam movie world). A few weeks back it was Trance. And now And The Oskar Goes To, which as can be gleaned from the title, is about the travails of a young director in making a film that becomes the country's official entry for the Oscars. The film is even-toned and realistic, with top-notch performances from Tovino Thomas, the ever-reliable Sreenivasan, Salim Kumar and Lal.
Language: Telugu
Platform: Aha
Release date: August 28, 2020.
Ram Singh Charlie
Director: Nitin Kakkar
Cast: Kumud Mishra, Divya Dutta, Akarsh Khurana, Farrukh Seyer, Sharib Hashm
Synopsis: The lives of circus artists have always been a muse for story-tellers. In the early 70s, there was Raj Kapoor's maudlin Mera Naam Joker. And then we had a popular and enjoyable Doordarshan serial, titled simply Circus, from the 80s that featured the current Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan. Kamal Haasan's much talked of elf role as Appu Raja was a circus clown. There was also the Malayalam classic Thampu, made by the master G Aravindan. Ram Sing Charlie is about the life of circus performers after a famous circus troupe (Charlie) winds up. It is a tale of optimism and never-say-die spirit. The much needed spirit for the times.
Language: Hindi
Platform: SonyLIV
Release date: August 28, 2020.
Aashram
Director: Prakash Jha
Cast: Bobby Deol, Aaditi Pohankar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Darshan Kumaar, Anupria Goenka
Synopsis: This web series is an interesting mix of politics and religion as the story revolves around a Godman named Baba Nirmala (played by Bobby Deol). He is revered by the so-called 'lower castes'. Politicos also seek him out due to his popularity among the masses. But things get tricky as women belonging to the aashram go missing. With Prakash Jha helming the series, there is plenty of political punch in the series.
Language: Hindi
Platform: MX Player
Release date: August 28, 2020.
CU Soon
Director: Mahesh Narayanan
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran
Synopsis: Any movie with Fahadh Faasil in the lead these days is sure to have a unique story and treatment. And this intriguingly titled movie, which is a straight OTT release, certainly assures us that. This 90-minute thriller was apparently wrapped up in 18 days, shot with multiple digital tools, with a 67-page screenplay.
The film is bracketed as a work-from-home film. This is the first screen-based Malayalam film, produced by Fahadh himself. Screen-based films are entirely captured on mobile or digital screens, be it the visuals or even the plot.
Language: Malayalam
Platform: Amazon Prime
Release date: Septemeber 1, 2020.
These six offerings are a heady mix that will whet your entertainment needs for the weekend and also the week emerging out of it.
- Do not forget to check out the biggest Tech stories of this week
