Berlinale 2026 Diary 8 – Amay Mehrishi’s exquisite ‘Abracadabra’, and the weight of a watchlist
This has been a relatively short visit to Berlin. At a press screening, a friend asked if there was a movie I was especially bummed about missing out […]
Berlin 2026 Diary 7 – Srikanth Srinivasan, Berlinale programmer, speaks about his work and the “use” of film festivals
Srikanth Srinivasan is a film critic and programmer from Bengaluru, India. He has been involved in the selection of films at the Berlin Film Festival, the Berlin Critics
Berlinale 2026 Diary 5 – ‘Queen At Sea’, with Juliette Binoche, is a quietly devastating drama about dealing with aged parents
There are times I look into a mirror and I don’t know the person staring back at me. In my mind, I’m still the guy who giggles whenever
R Gowtham’s ‘Members of the Problematic Family’ (Sikkalaana Kudumbathin Uruppinargal) had its world premiere in the Forum section of Berlinale 2026
R Gowtham’s Members of the Problematic Family (Sikkalaana Kudumbathin Uruppinargal) is structured like a memory piece – though it might be incorrect to use the word “structured”. This
Berlinale 2026 Diary 3: ‘Rose’, Sandra Hüller, and gender politics in 17th-century Germany
It happens all the time, and yet, when it happens again, it seems amazing. I’m talking about how someone can be very talented and yet relatively under the
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Berlinale 2026 Diary 2: A Tamil movie, and filmography and bibliography as autobiography
In an interview, Vetri Maaran expressed regret that the climactic action block of his first film, Polladhavan, had been inspired by an action stretch in Apocalypto. So his next movie, Aadukalam
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Berlinale 2026 Diary 1: Mainstream cinema, slow cinema, political cinema, and Arundhati Roy’s no-show
The first time I covered the Berlin International Film Festival was in 2015. I got trolled endlessly about watching Fifty Shades of Grey on an IMAX screen (a world premiere,
Bejoy Nambiar’s ‘Tu Yaa Main’ is a terrific couples-therapy drama inside a terrific creature feature.
There are two couples in this wickedly enjoyable movie. The first pairing is that of Adarsh Gourav (as Maruti) and Shanaya Kapoor (as Avni). So what about the
Aravind Siva’s ‘The Tablet’, which world-premiered at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, is a quietly powerful story of a woman with a secret
Raichal plays a woman who lives in Sivakasi. She has a secret. She is not ostracised by others, but she has self-ostracised herself, in the sense that she
Abhiraj Minawala’s ‘Mardaani 3’ shows that the female-led cop franchise still has fuel
If you’ve seen the first two installments, you know what to expect. But a charged, convincing Rani Mukerji, the emphasis on women on both sides of the law,
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Sutan Gowda’s ‘Valavaara’ is an earnest, watchable tale about the importance of love and money
A family of four is headed by a farmer who is always angry with his older son. And then something happens that’s likely to make the father angrier
KJ Surendar’s ‘Maayabimbum’ is an old-school, ‘Sethu’-like romantic melodrama
A young man in prison thinks back about his life and his love and his obsession with sex. The result is a drama that’s uneven, but never uninteresting.
KJ Surendar’s ‘Maayabimbum’ is an old-school, ‘Sethu’-like romantic melodrama Read More