This beloved American animated series was made into a notably unsuccessful film by M. Night Shyamalan in 2010. Netflix will be hoping the new series about a boy who must learn to “bend” the four elements will fare better than most live-action adaptations of animations. Starring Gordon Cormier, Dallas Liu, Kiawentiio and Daniel Dae Kim. (Netflix)
Don Palathara is a prolific independent filmmaker from Kerala with a distinctive voice. His latest is Family, which debuted at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2023. It’s a tense film about a close-knit Christian community that’s forced to confront rumours about one of its members. (In theatres)
Vivek (Bodhisattva Sharma), a promising student, is enrolled in coaching classes in Kota for the IIT entrance examination. This film, set in the 1990s, is the directorial debut of Varun Grover, himself an IIT graduate. Grover has worked as a lyricist for dozens of films. (In theatres)
The first trailer of Mean Girls was coy about the fact that it’s a musical. But after the success of Wonka, the Hollywood musical is back, and Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr’s film will be hoping for a warm reception from viewers probably unaware of the popularity of the original, non-musical version of Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey. This one stars Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys), Reneé Rapp, Aulii Cravalho and Christopher Briney, and some familiar faces from the first film. (In theatres)
Compiled by Uday Bhatia