Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley
Vishal Bhardwaj’s six-episode series, an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery, could easily have been a dysfunctional family drama instead of a murder mystery. There’s none of the breathless urgency of Sherlock or the Branagh Poirot films. The atmosphere is cozy, with characters rolling joints, making tea, unwinding by the fireplace in old Solang Valley houses. Wamiqa Gabbi (Jubilee) stars as the fourth-wall-breaking sleuth out to prove her fiancé’s innocence. (SonyLiv)
Brynn (Kaitlyn Dever) is a seamstress who lives a solitary, withdrawn life at her childhood home on the outskirts of a town that seemingly doesn’t welcome her anymore due to a past event. Her quiet life takes a dramatic turn one night when an intruder tries to break into her house. The intruder is not human, but instead an extraterrestrial, humanoid alien – the first of many she must encounter as the movie progresses towards a cliffhanging climax. No One Will Save You, directed by Brian Duffield, who previously wrote Love and Monsters, and served as a producer for Cocaine Bear, seems like a home invasion thriller at first but quickly turns into a captivating – and mostly quiet (the movie has just one dialogue) -- sci-fi horror ordeal that also explores themes around anxiety, loneliness, childhood friendships and personal trauma. (Disney+ Hotstar)
Also read: ‘Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley’ review: Cozy but thin
There’s nothing in Hindi cinema like Ranveer Singh turning on the full blast of his charm. His efforts make the first 80 or so minutes of this film more fun than anything Karan Johar has done in a while. Rocky (Singh), an amiable Delhi Punjabi himbo and laddoo-business scion, and Rani (Alia Bhatt), a sharp Bengali journalist, hit it off and simultaneously move into each other’s houses to see if they can live with each other’s families. It’s rather touching to see Johar still trying to make the kind of all-shrieking, morals-improving, life-is-antakshari Bollywood film that everyone else has given up on. (Amazon Prime)
Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy) are seated next to each other on a flight from New York to London—she has missed an earlier flight. Hadley is headed to her father’s wedding, and he to a memorial service. They make an instant connection but get separated after landing at Heathrow (she forgets to save his number). Obviously, fate has to intervene. A simple film with two likeable characters. (Netflix)
Union environment minister Aditya Rajbahadur (Nassar), who is in London for a UN climate change conference, escapes a bid on his life. Special agent Arjun (Varun Tej) is hired to protect him—the minister is threatening to expose tycoon Ranveer Rai, who dumps biohazard waste from Western countries in India. Despite a topical issue and some slick action, the Praveen Sattaru film gets derailed by the frenzy of things woven into the plot, including a kidnapping, a murder and a love track. (Netflix)
The series is loosely based on the life of the late French businessman, TV host and politician Bernard Tapie (played by Laurent Lafitte), who served prison time for match fixing as the boss of the football club, Olympique Marseille (OM). Each episode starts with a disclaimer that while Tapie’s journey is based on facts known to the public, his personal life and dialogue is fictionalised. Son of a plumber, Tapie’s initial attempts at starting various businesses were unsuccessful till he hit upon the idea of buying debt-ridden companies. Known to take risks, he served briefly as a minister under François Mitterrand. “I do things without looking into the rear view mirror,” says Tapie, in the film. (Netflix)
