Binge Brigade

HEERAMANDI| Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Cast: Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala | Netflix

Lavish sets, rumours of reshoots, intricate costumes. Yes, it’s a Sanjay Leela Bhansali production, the first for streaming. Slated for Netflix, it is about the courtesans of Lahore’s infamous street, their lives and loves, in pre-Independence India. Its tag line says it will take us back to a time when cour­tesans were queens. The filmmaker says it is his tribute to maestros such as K Asif, Mehboob Khan and Kamal Amrohi, and to the women who have laid the foundation of arts in this country.

GULKANDA TALES| Creators: Raj & DK | Cast:Pankaj Tripathi, Kunal Kemmu | Prime Video

Strange events occur in a fictional king­dom and Pankaj Tripathi stars in the series created by the quirky twosome, Raj & DK. It sounds like a recipe made in story heaven. Raj & DK have crafted several series with a loyal fan-base, whether it is Guns & Gulaabs on Netflix, or The Family Man and Farzi on Prime Video. No pressure.

KILLER SOUP| Director: Abhishek Chaubey | Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Konkona Sen Sharma | Netflix

“I couldn’t believe we hadn’t worked together before,” said Konkona Sen Sharma about the idea of working with Manoj Bajpayee. She said yes the minute Abhishek Chaubey suggested it to her. From then on, it was receiving the screenplay one episode at a time, with each plot point becoming darker and more dia­bolical. Then it was three months of shooting in Kerala with a narrative fresh out of a surreal novel. With eye-popping colours in the production design (by the talented Tiya Tejpal) and an inspired Nassar as the police officer who won’t go away, the series is impossible to look away from.

LOOTERE| Director: Jai Mehta | Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Vivek Gomber | Disney+Hotstar

It could be something torn from the headlines today, not surprising given it is produced by Hansal Mehta. A passen­ger ship is attacked by pirates in the middle of the sea and a hero must step forward to save the day. Kapoor is the crusty captain of the ship, and Gomber the unlikely saviour.

SHOWTIME | Creator: Sumit Roy | Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi | Disney+Hotstar

There are few things as delicious for a film critic as a movie or series about the movie business. Guessing games about who is based on which real person is just one of the pleasures. Then there are the outsiders and insiders, star makers and stars, the hearththobs and heartbreaks, and the con artists and the cons. Add to that a glittering cast including Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Shriya Saran, and it’s the perfect thrill pill. “Cinema dhandha nahin, sadda dharam hai (Cinema is not a business for us, but a religion),” says Shah’s character, twirling his moustache.

NOTORIOUS GIRLS| Director: Shonali Bose | Cast: Revathy, Simran, Nandita Das | Prime Video

With a firebrand director like Shonali Bose, an edgy producer like Rangita Pritish Nandy, brilliant actors such as Revathy, Simran and Nandita Das, and set in Delhi University, expect storytelling which puts women front and centre of the narrative. It is described as a coming-of-age story of several young women, many of them new faces.

PAATAL LOK, SEASON 2 | Creator: Sudip Sharma | Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat | Prime Video

Constable Hathiram Chaudhary returns to our screens after three years. A lot has changed since season one hit the screens during the pandemic and become a huge hit. Jaideep Ahlawat has become a star, the pro­duction house Clean Slate Filmz has made some impressive choices, and storytelling has evolved. But the much- loved underdog policeman with a gift for finding trouble is very much the same as is the underbelly of Delhi.

PAAN PARDA ZARDA| Showrunner: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba | Cast: Mona Singh, Tanya Maniktala | Jio Studios

Mona Singh can’t put a foot wrong these days. Here she plays a gang boss in Bhopal, complete with accent and attitude. Variety magazine has described it as high end drama in a previously unexplored milieu.

FREEDOM AT MIDNIGHT| Showrunner: Nikkhil Advani | SonyLIV

Based on the bestseller book by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, Nikkhil Advani hammers out a narrative of the men and women who worked towards India’s independence. With Rocket Boys under his belt, expect the best and most authentic work in this. “This is a story every Indian should know,” says Advani.

GANDHI| Showrunner: Hansal Mehta | Cast: Pratik Gandhi | SonyLIV

Based on Ramachandra Guha’s books Gandhi Before India and Gandhi:The Years that Changed the World, Hansal Mehta creates a portrait of the Mahatma as a free­dom fighter and a leader.

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