Into the Bowels of Despair

The Jengaburu Curse| Cast: Faria Abdullah, Nassar, Sudev Nair | Creators: Nila Madhab Panda Hindi | SonyLIV

A tribe deep in the bowels of Odisha, a rare mineral, which helps in nuclear power, an international tycoon, a whistle-blower, and a fragile ecosystem that starts to unravel. Add to that global powers, corrupt politicians and sold out activists and you have a series that doesn’t spare anyone. Nila Madhab Panda has long been making films on climate change, much before it became fashionable. He pours his life’s learning into a complex network that begins in London’s financial district and ends in the poisoned minefields of Jengaburu. The Bondria tribe is on the verge of being wiped out, their water poisoned, their soil barren, and their earth dead. Their ancient folklore says when the dragon king’s head awakens, the world turns to dust. Some fresh faces, notably Telugu actor Faria Abdullah and Malayalam star Sudev Nair, and veterans like Nassar and Makarand Deshpande keep the action going, as the tribals try to defend their land, as vicious with their bows and arrows as the mining lords are with their sophisticated weaponry. After Jubilee, Alokananda Dasgupta’s haunting score adds to the apocalyptic feel of an expertly shot webseries.

Why Watch it? It’s a slice of grim reality and it shows us where we’re headed—and it’s not a pretty place

When the Dead Jive

Only Murders in the Building| Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Meryl Streep | Creators: Steve Martin and John Hoffman English | Disney+Hotstar

An actor (Paul Rudd) drops dead on stage on Broadway, as our three true crime aficionados, neighbours in an Upper West Side apartment in New York, try to figure out who it could be. With Steve Martin’s goofy actor Charles, Martin Short’s nervous director Oliver and Selena Gomez’s artist, Mabel, the series, now in its third season, still manages to entertain. This time the show adds Rudd and Meryl Streep, playing Loretta, an unsuccesful actor (a hoot and hen not), and it’s a delight for the viewer. Watching master actors like them is a joy, heightened by the play within the series. Martin, Short and Gomez is all of us with our love for true crime and also not—the New York of this show is unutterably gorgeous. There is something Woody Allenesque about the rat-a-tat dialogue and the New York vibe. Add to that the intrigue of a drawing room, Agatha Christie-esque thriller (a detective even gets to say the immortal line, there’s a killer in the room), and it is no wonder that the series has acquired such a cult following. Now in its third season, featuring one mystery every time, it has built a successful franchise purely on the back of great writing and even greater chemistry between the three main actors.

Why watch it? The lines. Meryl Streep, playing an actor, saying “I am not good at table reads.” Charles explaining something, calling it a smallie, not a biggie. And yet another cliffhanger

entertainmentMartin ShortOnly Murders in the BuildingSelena Gomezstreaming businessThe Jengaburu Curse