What to Watch in 2026: Films: Call of Duty
The three Khans return, promising blockbusters at the ripe old age of 60. The next generation is stepping up to the plate as well, across languages, whether it is Yash in Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown Ups or Ram Charan in Peddi. What will make our pulse race in a year when everyone is recalibrating their films after the Dhurandhar effect?
KING
Director ›› Siddharth Anand | Cast ›› Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Suhana Khan | Hindi
Shah Rukh Khan returns to the big screen after three years in Siddharth Anand’s fast and furious King, said to be reminiscent of Leon: The Professional (1994). Suhana Khan, the actor’s daughter, plays his protégé and he has wisely surrounded her with actors such as Jaideep Ahlawat and Arshad Warsi. Suhana was less than memorable in her first film, The Archies (2023), so this is her acid test.
LOVE AND WAR
Director ›› Sanjay Leela Bhansali | Cast ›› Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Alia Bhatt | Hindi
Sanjay Leela Bhansali believes in scale and spectacle. Love and War promises plenty of both as Indian Air Force officers played by Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal war over Alia Bhatt. The filmmaker has hotly denied that his movie is a remake of the 1964 love triangle Sangam, but it is safe to say that the classic offers some inspiration.
It's A Big Deal!
30 Jan 2026 - Vol 04 | Issue 56
India and European Union amp up their partnership in a world unsettled by Trump
PATRIOT
Director ›› Mahesh Narayanan | Cast ›› Mohanlal, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil, Nayanthara, Revathy | Malayalam
Mohanlal and Mammootty reunite and ponder over matters of state in this movie directed by Mahesh Narayanan. Fahadh Faasil is there too, in what promises to be a cracker of a movie. “Complete the sentence,” says Mohanlal in the trailer, “Great Indian traitor or...patriot?” We can’t wait to find out.
DHURANDHAR 2
Director ›› Aditya Dhar | Cast ›› Ranveer Singh, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun | Hindi
How did Hamza Ali Mazari (Ranveer Singh) become the killing machine, eliminating all his rivals? Aditya Dhar’s sequel to Dhurandhar (2025) offers the back story as Mazari becomes the king of Lyari in Karachi and fulfils Ajay Sanyal’s (R Madhavan) Operation Dhurandhar. “Ghar mein ghuskar maarna” and all that.
LAHORE 1947
Director ›› Rajkumar Santoshi | Cast ›› Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi, Ali Fazal | Hindi
Rajkumar Santoshi rarely makes films, but when he does they usually resonate. Sunny Deol plays the head of a Muslim family that migrates to Pakistan after the Partition and encounters a Hindu woman living there. Based on Asghar Wajahat’s play, Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai, it is produced by Aamir Khan. Will it be a war mongering Border 2 or a peace-promoting Ikkis?