The Long Take

Can Dhamaka —the new Netflix thriller directed by Ram Madhvani—reintroduce Kartik Aaryan as a serious dramatic performer? We discuss whether the film lives up to the potential of its high-concept premise, the various grudges that it bears and how it fares, and how reticent it is to deviate from the Korean original on which it is based. — Hosted by Akhil Arora and Rohan Naahar , The Long Take is fu...

Red Notice —Netflix’s latest bid at spawning an action film franchise—feels like it has been created by an algorithm in a Hollywood lab. Will it follow in the footsteps of Extraction , or end up more like 6 Underground ? We discuss how tragically it wastes three of the world’s biggest movie stars in Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot—while pondering over the boring and repetitive careers...

Does Chloé Zhao’s Eternals really deserve the unenviable tag of being the worst-reviewed Marvel movie? We talk about the film’s glaring plot holes, its false sense of ambition, and how it wastes stellar performers in Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. We also discuss the bland action, the absence of Zhao’s distinct style, and the overstuffed roster of characters. — Hosted by Akhil Arora and Rohan Naa...

Director Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune looks wonderful and is filled to the brim with A-list actors, but it is oddly distant and too reverential of the source material. The film’s most subversive moment is when it reveals itself to be half a story. We discuss its over-reliance on clunky exposition, how it fails to do justice to evergreen themes such as colonialism, and...

Sardar Udham —director Shoojit Sircar’s new film starring Vicky Kaushal as the revolutionary freedom fighter—is an indescribable epic that alternates between a spy thriller and a quiet character study, but has the scope of The Revenant and Lawrence of Arabia . We discuss the film’s unique time-hopping structure, and the incredible final act, in which Sircar dramatises the Jallianwala Bagh massacre...

With Rashmi Rocket —director Akarsh Khurana’s new film on ZEE5—Taapsee Pannu finds herself in the unenviable position of having starred in three terrible films in the same calendar year. If Pannu were in Hollywood, no filmmaker would touch her. Not only does Rashmi Rocket do a disservice to the real-life stories it is inspired by, it also disrespects two beloved film genres by making a mocker...

Even the random appearance of a Karni Sena guy can’t distract from the fact that House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths —the new true crime documentary series on Netflix—is more than just a by-the-numbers telling of a crime story that gripped the nation. We talk about our memories of the Burari deaths, the seemingly endless dark spiral that Indian news media is in, and directors Leena Yadav and Anubh...

Break Point —the new ZEE5 documentary series directed by Ashwiny Iyer and Nitesh Tiwari—soars on the strength of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi’s compelling story, but it’s no The Last Dance. We talk about the seven-part series’ cheap-looking filmmaking—the fake backgrounds, the cheesy graphics, and the lack of archival footage—and wonder how much better it would’ve been had the Tiwaris put...

The second season of Kota Factory —now acquired by Netflix—begs the question: why was this TVF show ever popular in the first place? We discuss its one-dimensional characters, and its tendency to overuse Jeetu Ex Machina, which involves throwing Jitendra Kumar’s fan-favourite character at every problem. We also talk about its lack of female perspective on screen, the series’ ignorance of real...

Sandwiched between two godawful short films in Ankahi Kahaniya —the new anthology on Netflix—is director Abhishek Chaubey’s near-silent near-perfect story about solitude in a big city. We discuss the jarring discrepancy in quality in these three chapters, how director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari failed to capitalise on an intriguing premise, and why director Saket Chaudhary might get slapped by Meryl Stre...

Mumbai Diaries 26/11 —the new Amazon ensemble series led by Konkona Sensharma and Mohit Raina—is flying under the radar for now, but as we discuss on our podcast, it probably won’t for long. We talk about the show’s politics, which feel almost revolutionary in the context of what we’ve been made accustomed to seeing. We wonder how creator Nikkhil Advani can deliver both this and The Empire. A...

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings took us back to cinemas after 18 months—and we liked it so much that not once do we discuss committee-driven filmmaking or cynical-minded China appeasement, topics that should invariably come up while talking about Disney movies. What we do discuss is Tony Leung’s scene-stealing turn as the “villain”, comparing him and the film favourably to Black Panther...

Dev Patel-led epic medieval fantasy The Green Knight —written, directed and edited by David Lowery—takes an Arthurian legend and filters it through a millennial lens. We discuss the film’s momentous scale, its timeless anxieties, and Patel’s near-perfect central performance as a talentless man who believes he’s destined for greatness. Along the way, we talk about our favourite scenes, the exquisit...

Kuruthi —the new Malayalam-language movie on Amazon Prime Video—has a lot on its mind: communal hatred, environmentalism, and a Biblical notion of good and evil. But does it do justice to any of those ideas? We discuss the film’s hyperreal nature and how it could’ve gone further (akin to its inspiration Get Out ), director Manu Warrier’s meticulous handling of the home invasion portion, and its la...

Just because Sidharth Malhotra looks like a movie star, Bollywood has spent a decade trying to make him one. His latest vehicle, the war drama Shershaah, is a by-the-numbers vanilla biopic that doesn’t do justice to its subject, the Kargil War hero Captain Vikram Batra. We discuss the film’s strange pacing, director Vishnu Varadhan’s handling of the action and the drama, Dharma Productions’ delibe...

Is James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad a much-deserved apology to DC fans for David Ayer’s mismanaged original film? We discuss why we are willing to ignore the movie’s thin plot, have come to embrace its ridiculous and over-the-top tone, and believe The Suicide Squad would be deemed “anti-national” if it was made in India. We also talk about our favourite gags (shout-out to King Shark and Polka-Dot Ma...

The Kriti Sanon-led Mimi is an improvement on the 2011 Marathi-language original, and still somehow downright terrible. We discuss the disingenuous twists, its unwillingness to confront reality, and director Laxman Utekar’s embrace of tonal imbalance as a defining characteristic. Along the way, we delve into the film’s irresponsible and egregious handling of surrogacy, suicide, bigotry, and other...

Is the politically-charged crime saga Malik —the latest Fahadh Faasil-Mahesh Narayanan collaboration, surprisingly picked up by Amazon Prime Video—an ambitious misfire or a brave success? We discuss the film’s episodic structure, debate if it would’ve been better as a miniseries, analyse its kitchen-sink filmmaking, and list all its influences. Later, we talk about the Emmy nominations, where ever...

Is Black Widow a fitting farewell to Scarlett Johansson or a middling Marvel movie lacking a voice? We discuss the film’s emotional underpinnings, Florence Pugh’s wry-humour character, the perfunctory handling of its themes, and Marvel’s persistent villain problem made large. — Hosted by Akhil Arora and Rohan Naahar , The Long Take is fully bootstrapped. Please consider donating if you enjoy our w...

Not content with being a homage to Indian pulp fiction, Haseen Dillruba —the new Netflix movie starring Taapsee Pannu and Vikrant Massey—is also a mix of cringe comedy, ‘90s Bollywood romance, and C.I.D. infused with crime noir. Unsurprisingly, it does none of that well. We discuss why Pannu needs a better director than Vinil Mathew, his inability to handle the motley of genres at play, and what’s...

Not all chapters in Netflix’s new anthology series, Ray —starring Ali Fazal, Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, and Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor—are worth watching. But are any of them actually good? We talk about the uneven quality of the four episodes, how they deviate from Satyajit Ray's short stories on which they’re based, and who among the three directors—Srijit Mukherji, Abhishek Chaubey, and Vasan Ba...

Is director Amit Masurkar’s Sherni —starring Vidya Balan as a forest officer—a worthy follow-up to Newton ? We discuss the film’s ambitious ideas, Masurkar’s commentary on India under the Modi regime, and the film’s many passions, including environmental conservation, gender equality, and native representation. Later, we talk about the behind-the-scenes reshuffle at Netflix India, and what that co...

Is The Family Man season 2 a breezy action series or a racist dog whistle for the far-right? We discuss the indefensible failures of Raj & D.K., the series’ strong points—including those fascinating long takes—and the performances and characterisation of Samantha Akkineni and Manoj Bajpayee. — Hosted by Akhil Arora and Rohan Naahar , The Long Take is fully bootstrapped. Please consider donatin...

Does Cruella —the latest in the long line of Disney’s live-action reimaginings—earn its edginess? We discuss the campy performances of stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson, its derivative storytelling and myriad inspirations, and the film’s wall-to-wall soundtrack. Later, we talk about Amazon’s $8.45-billion takeover of MGM, and what that could mean for the James Bond franchise going forward. Chapte...

Martin Prakkat’s Nayattu —our first film from the Malayalam New Wave, streaming on Netflix—is a genre-fluid thriller with grave undertones. We debate the film’s plot holes, discuss its handling of the Dalit struggle, and dive into its broad socio-political themes. Later, we talk about the teaser trailer for Marvel’s Eternals , and wonder why in the world they chose to ignore director Chloé Zhao—an...