Sara Ali Khan appeared on Koffee With Karan with her famous abba. It was assumed that she’d be docile like Alia Bhatt or evade questions like Sonam Kapoor. But by the end of Koffee With Karan’s most refreshing episode of the season, she had given the rest of her peers a crash course in individuality.

Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s Mohalla Assi, starring Sunny Deol, releases today after a three-year-long fight with the CBFC. But it hardly feels like a victory. Instead the film feels weakened by its dated release, punished for being critical of the government.

A celebrity wedding is as much an entertainment commodity as a big-banner film. Ranveer and Deepika have coordinated everything from their Instagram wedding announcement, to Koffee With Karan’s opening episode which was designed only to get us hyped about the shaadi.

Vijay Krishna Acharya's Thugs of Hindostan is one of Bollywood’s most unambitious and derivative films; it redefines the idea of an epic disaster. It’s a frightening love-child of Mohenjo Daro and Mangal Pandey — only a thousand times worse.

Baazaar doesn’t have characters – just caricatures. Every plot point of the film is an extended open-mic joke that refuses to land. And you can tell a lot about a film where the lead – Rohan Mehra in his debut role – exists just to prove that Arjun Kapoor isn’t the most one-dimensional actor in Bollywood.

The unprecedented success of Badhaai Ho has catapulted Gajraj Rao straight into the spotlight. Although, the actor is no stranger to the Hindi film industry, it’s only in the 25th year of his career that he has become a film’s driving force and is afforded as much screen time as the lead, Ayushmann Khurrana.

As any Bong will tell you, our Durga Puja wardrobe is sacred, as big a deal as gulping down telebhajas without being punished by indigestion. We deliberate on our outfits as seriously as world leaders discuss pressing issues at the G20 Summit.

Badhaai Ho is a delightful comedy that exposes society’s hypocrisy toward sex. It underlines our unwillingness to view our parents as sexual beings, effectively asking, “Can Indians acknowledge love and intimacy only when it is young?”

Damien Chazelle’s First Man, a film about Neil Armstrong and his journey, isn’t about the mission to the moon. Or even about the moon. It’s a sombre portrait of what going to the moon and back does to a man.

Barely three months after Race 3, Salman Khan has bankrolled another nightmare, by introducing his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma in the hope that he’ll pass off as an actor. If this is not Being Inhuman, we don’t know what is.

Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun is a brilliant urban noir thriller. The film is all about clever writing, top-notch execution, and hard-hitting social commentary – but it is also a triumph of casting, and an ode to actors.

No matter how hard you scream about sexual harassment within the industry, Bollywood does not want to know. This is a machinery oiled by collective denial, which makes A-listers like Amitabh Bachchan refuse to take a stand against a male oppressor. Denial explains the flourishing careers of Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.

There’s an unspoken understanding that men are entitled to their appetites. But any woman who eats more than her acceptable “womanly” quota is spoken about in hushed whispers. For all our liberal outlook, the food that women of my generation heap onto our plates is still coloured by the assumption that we’re meant to eat less.

Sharat Katariya’s Sui Dhaaga falters in several places, but it shines when the spotlight is on its women. In a film about dignity of labour, Katariya’s mastery is most evident in parts where the focus is on the immense emotional and domestic labour every married small-town woman inevitably shoulders.

Sisters are each other’s strength and weakness – you can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha understands this language of sisterhood, where throwing abuses, insults, and jabs at each other is par for the course.

The National Award-winning Village Rockstars, India’s official entry to the Oscars, is a one-woman operation. While Rima Das intended the film to be a tribute to her village, her sensitivity and warmth guarantees that it also captures the innocence of childhood – and the doting bond between mothers and daughters.

Bill Hader’s Barry isn’t refreshing because of how casually it reverses all the crime-thriller tropes but because of how cleverly it employs them. The show’s best laughs arise from the fact that many of its protagonists view the business of killing as just another job.

Most Indian biopics are hagiographies, glossing over the imperfections of their protagonists. Nandita Das’s Manto is none of that. Her Manto is a dazzling writer, betrayed Indian, troubled alcoholic, and an absent family man in the backdrop of a divided nation.

We’ve long been accustomed to a bloated, overwrought kind of Hollywood film that exploits India’s poverty and suffering. Enter, Tabrez Noorani’s Love Sonia, that fetishises sex trafficking to eventually celebrate America’s saviour complex.

Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan is both a manifesto of modern love and a statement against Bollywood's unrealistic portrayal of love triangles. Aided by smart writing and affecting performances, the film subverts the nice guy trope and squashes the idea of the one true love.

For a lot of people, unwinding comes in the form of a Netflix binge, reclaiming a hobby, or yelling at random strangers on the internet for not wearing the right shade of woke. Me? I prefer listening to drunk girls inside a pub bathroom tell me how beautiful I am.

Men and women have reacted to Serena Williams’ outburst at the US Open final differently. Several men viewed it rather straightforwardly, siding with fairness in sport. The larger chunk of the support for Williams has come from women across the world – possibly because stuff like this happens to us every day.

The Supreme Court's historic judgement that repealed Section 377 was based on one universal message: The right to love. It’s an open discussion on love that benefits all of us, irrespective of our gender or sexual orientation.

Sajid Ali's Laila Majnu will easily end up as the most conflicting piece of cinema this year. It tests your patience with a frustrating first hour and then presents an affecting 30-minute sequence that offers a visceral portrait of the insanity of love.

A far cry from the standard alpha-male action hero, Jack Ryan is a mild-mannered protagonist who resembles an unassuming Everyman despite being entrusted with saving the world. In humanising its lead, the show conveys a pertinent idea: Not all spies are born with it.

Jack Ryan tracks an unassuming but troubled desk-bound analyst’s heroic turn into a duty agent heeding the call of duty. But its strength lies in its awareness that the war on terror is after all, a terror too.

In Amar Kaushik’s Stree, gender roles are reversed: Men are forced to comply with society’s impractical rules and police their behaviour for no fault of their own. The film uses its supernatural spirit to imagine a safer world for women, but fails to eventually carry it through.

Calcutta is full of quiet, wise fathers who have long adopted afternoon naps as a shared reaction to happiness, affection, anger, and exhaustion. Take my father for instance, over the years he has napped through celebrations, movies, and wailing babies on flights

Like Get Out and Pari, the Radhika Apte-starrer Ghoul underlines horror with context and uses it as a device to drive home a point about prejudice and gross injustice. In all three, humans are the hunters – not the hunted.

Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se.. shed a light on human rights violations and the government’s indifference to the state of affairs in India’s North East. It also remains one of the finest depictions of the all-consuming insanity of love, and leaves you with the idea that love is no less damaging than war.

For a film about sport, Gold treats hockey as a mere formality in service of an Akshay Kumar vanity project. It only exploits the star’s various talents: enthusiastic comic timing, the ability to arouse nationalistic pride, and romancing a much younger actress.

Thirty years ago, a campy croc-friendly film made us root for Rekha's revenge. Why is Khoon Bhari Maang such a satisfying watch?

Anubhav Sinha’s pleasantly hard-hitting Mulk doesn’t stray far from what is unfolding in the country at the moment. Just like in the film, an entire community has been othered and demonised. Muslims are repeatedly asked to prove their loyalty — a test that is automatically beyond their reach in a country that’s already decided that their religion excludes patriotism.

Karwaan has its share of shortcomings but it is resolutely modern – by emphasising that a girl and a guy can just be friends. This road-trip film is also proof that you can find yourself without letting a manufactured love story derail it.

Anil Kapoor single-handedly stops Fanney Khan from being a train-wreck. The 61-year-old sings, dances, and emotes with the electrifying energy and sincerity of a newcomer hell-bent on creating an impression. And this isn’t even the first time he’s has played an age-appropriate role.

After successfully foraying into Telugu and Tamil cinema, Dulquer Salmaan, a bonafide Malayalam star, is making his Bollywood debut with Karwaan. His soaring fan-following that defies language and age barriers is because he feels like the realest actor we’ve witnessed in a long long time.

Even years after their marriage, my parents remained complete strangers to each other. Their only common connection was their children. And then my sister and I moved out.

Vicky Kaushal has mastered the art of blending in. As he awaits the release of Manmarziyaan, his fifth film this year, it's clear that he’s one of the few actors who is aware that his presence and talent is a contribution to any film, not its headline gift.

Like Harry Potter, my biggest dream is also to be the chosen one. I’m ardently waiting for the day when the waitstaff at an Indian restaurant decides that I – instead of my male companion – am qualified enough to be handed the bill after a meal.

Spoiler alert: Dhadak is as terrible as anyone who has watched Sairat expected it to be. If there’s anyone who can take the ignored issue of caste and ignore it even further, it’s a Karan Johar production. The result is a risible, candyfloss film that embodies everything Sairat mocked.

In Soorma, Sandeep Singh’s wife – Harpreet Kaur in the film – abandons her husband soon after he is paralysed. She is also painted as a distraction for Singh’s goal-scoring abilities. I’ll let you guess what happened in real life. Hint: None of it.

As Killing Eve and GLOW have proved, there’s nothing more fun than watching women being absolute jerks – and absolutely human – on screen. If these shows, frontrunners for the Emmys, are any indication, we’re thankfully past the age of niceness.

Isle of Dogs is a testament to the urgent need for animated movies to address socio-political context. Just like last year’s Paddington 2, Wes Anderson also emphasises the power of kindness and the importance of embracing outsiders instead of expelling them.

In Netflix’s Sacred Games, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane deliver a thriller that doesn’t shy away from being an indictment on religion. The show argues that religion has always been used to shape politics, commit murder, and amass wealth.

If you’ve ever wondered whether it was possible to pull off a millennial iteration of When Harry Met Sally, Set It Up comes very, very close. It exists as a canny tribute to the rom-coms of yesteryear, hitting a sweet, nostalgic feel-good spot.

In Sanju, Ranbir Kapoor hits the peak of his physical acting. It’s a trait that has elevated most of his roles. For, Kapoor doesn’t just act or deliver lines or play fictional characters. He recreates them down to the very last detail.

In Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic on Sanjay Dutt’s life, the greatest villain is the media – not Dutt’s self-destructive behaviour. Sanju does exactly what it proudly announces that it doesn’t do: glorify Sanjay Dutt.

The FIFA World Cup 2018 has been full of surprises just like Germany's loss tonight and these annoying football fans who turn up at every house party. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the world is incomplete without these un-fans around you.

The most inventive stroke of Ari Aster’s Hereditary is that it has the greatest horror villain of all time: family inheritance. The film takes the saying “skeletons in the closet” literally, giving us a genuinely terrifying portrait of a family’s breakdown.

Race 3 swaps Nawab Khan for Blackbuck Khan and makes the grave mistake of thinking it can pass off as a film. It is so excruciatingly brainless that it makes Baaghi 2 look like a cinematic accomplishment.

In the Netflix anthology Lust Stories, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, and Karan Johar do the delicate dance between emphasising how “lust” is a forbidden emotion for Indian women and how despite this conditioning, women seem to know exactly how to recognise it.

In admitting that the Quantico episode showing a fictional Hindu being a terrorist was inaccurate and implying that she prioritised nationalism over everything else, Priyanka Chopra did the opposite of what we’ve come to expect out of her: taking a stand.

After doing a surgical strike on Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani, Karan Johar is all set to ruin Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat by remaking it as Dhadak with Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar.

Last night, Sunil Chhetri and his men who won 3-0, forced Mumbai to keep aside its cynicism and invest in the other boys in blue. It taught Mumbaikars that any sport is a two-way game: It thrives on its determined players as much as on its spirited supporters.

Dear Indian Grandmother offended by the masturbation scene in Veere Di Wedding, it's understandable why you were flabbergasted after watching it. After all, the last time you watched a film featuring four women was the Nirma commercial.

Let down by Harshvardhan Kapoor, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero gets close, but never quite addresses the elephant in the room: the futility of vigilantism. All it succeeds at becoming is a cross between Malad’s Rang De Basanti and Dahanu’s The Shape Of Water.

Veere Di Wedding stars four talented actresses, is produced by two women, and co-written by one. That makes the film a worthy candidate for The Bechdel Test. But does it fulfill the three conditions: Does it have two or more female characters, do they talk to each other, and do they discuss something other than men?

We are so used to seeing martyr moms and haanikarak bapus on screen, that Farooq Shaikh’s portrayal as Bunny’s endearing dad in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani provides a much-needed respite. The film, which completes five years today, rejects stereotyping the older generation as dream killers.

When I was growing up, litchis were on an equal footing with mangoes during the summer. But now, you have Katrina Kaif seductively endorsing the shiny yellow fruit. As a result, the humble litchi remains as ignored as Abhishek Bachchan.

Before the age of socially conscious filmmaking dawned on us, Shaad Ali's Bunty Aur Babli, that completes 13 years this week, reminded Bollywood that it’s possible to make an entire film on just one word: fun.

Book Club – starring Acting Avengers Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and, Mary Steenburgen — puts the limelight on the sex lives of older women, normalising their desires and insecurities.

The four-year age gap between me and my sister never seemed to matter. That is, until my 21-year-old sister decided to visit me during her college break, and I found myself morphing into a reluctant parent.

Dear Harry Puttar and Meghan Bahu, to make sure that no commoner’s derrière gets more attention that the two of you, keep only one rule in mind, which, in the words of visionary Kim Kardashian, is “Break the internet”. All you need is a hashtag – I suggest #HarryDiWedding – and the Queen dancing to “London Thumakda”.

Like Jim and Pam from The Office, our deadline-laden stressful work environments demand that we have a work spouse of our own. It's like having a safety net even when you’re comfortably sheltered; sort of like being gifted a colleague with endless benefits.

The lives of the big-eyed, gentle-faced, and maach-guzzling Bengalis are marred by a potent shadow of the world’s most deadly dose of ABC – ambol (acidity), bodhojom (indigestion), and constipation. It’s no wonder then, that the easiest way to a Bengali’s appetite is through a strip of Digene.

For a film that has clouds of nationalism overpowering every frame, the implication that patriotism is a choice – one that the protagonists are not even offered – is a brave one to make. Yet it seamlessly fits in. For Meghna Gulzar has ensured Raazi isn’t a patriotic film. Instead, it’s a film about the aftermath of patriotism.

The Handmaid’s Tale has returned with a searing second season that dwells on how the spirit of Gilead, where women have no control over their bodies, has always been alive in the real world. It’s a horrifying watch, particularly in the wake of what we’ve witnessed in Kathua and Unnao.

In a culture that still relies on the problematic viewing of children as their parents' property, 102 Not Out encourages pressurising the younger generation into fulfilling dual obligations of being both a caregiver and caretaker at the peak of their youth.

Hansal Mehta’s biopics are marked by a deep-dive into the minds of his central characters. And that is the greatest weakness of Omertà, a film on the terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. It is about as effective as a dramatised Wikipedia entry – there is nothing in its 96-minute runtime that we don’t already know.

Bengalis love Satyajit Ray and his work nearly as much as we love boasting about our impeccable knowledge about the multi-hyphenate filmmaker and universal Bengali inspiration’s incredible existence. Even if we've seen a sum total of one Ray film.

Overpacking for a vacation is a lot like being in a cult. Not only do you have to be in denial about being an overpacker, but also indulge in massive amounts of delusion and commit to making life miserable for yourself.

Veere Di Wedding comes with a baffling condition: Its insistence at not being labelled a “chick flick”. It's a film that’s for women, by women and of women. And there’s no better time to offer the world a polished definition of chick flicks, celebrating women and their stories, than now.

Three-time National Award-winner and arguably Bollywood’s most respected choreographer, Saroj Khan defended the casting couch today. In doing so, she singlehandedly put the film industry light years behind in ensuring that it can also be a safe workplace for actresses.

An indispensable asset of every Bengali, whether they are probashi, bheto, nyaka, or ghoti is their absolute dependency on the wide-ranging powers of the handy Boroline. For us, it’s not just an ointment, but a way of life; just like aloor chop on a Sunday evening or a KKR match at Eden Gardens.

Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi’s October paints a very affecting portrait of bereavement that acknowledges a stage of the grieving process that is rarely discussed on screen: survivor’s guilt.

In John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, silence holds the key to survival. Unlike assembly-line Hollywood horror, the film’s greatest strength lies in its ability to create a visual atmosphere of horror from its quietude.

Irrfan Khan's Blackmail taps something very accurate about the monsters that reside in all of us – a part that we’re happy to deny. All that the film needed, was to be a bit more brutal in the assessment of its evil lead.

A break up is followed by a round of post-break-up confessions. What could be wrong with straightforward honesty from the person who deeply cared about us? But in this seemingly friendly break-up match, no one wins – and most importantly, you lose the hardest.

Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 2 comes very close to convincing you that there can be no action hero unless he has an “I love my India” tattoo on his forehead, and no action film if it doesn’t act as a PSA for the army. It makes you miss the times when Bollywood action heroes had dhai kilo ka haath instead of dhai kilo ke abs.

Being a runner-up in a world that places an unbending prestige on being the absolute best at everything is like being a dusty cassette in the time of Apple Music; an expiry-date-laden book shop in the age of the immortal Kindle; wholly redundant.

Hichki suffers from the same condition that afflicts most films with a social message: a severe case of good intentions that justifies the lack of risks. And there’s only so much heft Rani Mukherji can afford a half-baked comeback role.

Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons, was a brilliantly observed family drama. It also stood out from a sea of Bollywood offerings that stereotyped homosexuality, by having a gay character in the lead whose orientation is almost incidental to the plot.

Just like Bollywood has Vivek Agnihotri and Yash Chopra has Uday Chopra, Bengalis have daak naams: It’s a part of your identity that you didn’t ask for, and one that you can’t shake off. It’s a walk of shame that never seems to end.

I regret to inform you that the home delivery of your abs, slated for arrival in the first week of April, has now been indefinitely postponed. Let me make a few things clear: Making vegetable Maggi your staple diet isn’t “eating your veggies”

Beginning with Frances McDormand’s stunning speech, “speaking up” about diversity, inclusion, and the gender gap was a duty left to the women. Not one male Oscar winner so much as touched on #MeToo or harassment.

Anushka Sharma’s Pari is one of the rare instances of an A-lister putting their weight behind the bastardised Bollywood horror. In fact, the film may just reinvigorate the genre because it is the most inventive horror film in years.

Amruta Fadnavis has, time and again, gone out of her way to prove her dedication and loyalty to being the Maharashtrian Michelle Obama that the state needs, deserves, and will probably have to tolerate for the next few years.

Dum Laga Ke Haisha is a brilliantly observed portrait of the burden of aspirational manhood innumerable small-town men carry all their lives, headlined by a heroine, who is completely unapologetic about her weight. It is arguably Yash Raj's best romantic comedy in recent years.

The culture of 24/7 availability isn’t just limited to our overtly exacting work lives: It is reflected in our binge marathons, the bane of read receipts, and the constant curation of our social media lives.

Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a chilling portrait of the power of female rage, the imperishability of grief, and the elusive nature of closure. In a way, it also summarises the year of #MeToo.

Heralded as Bollywood’s first “female superstar” in the 80s’, Sridevi was also Bollywood’s first heroine-comedienne. She taught us that it was okay for girls to be funny, that they could make you laugh.

I've had enough of you commenting "Fittey Muh" and "Hatdi ni tu" on my Instagram posts, Diljit Dosanjh. Today, I watched High End and decided it's time I delete Instagram and move to Snapchat. Keep saying “Kylie Kitthe" forever.

In the age of Netflix and zero torrenting, we’re all consumed by a desperate, obsessive urge to watch a TV show, movie and, podcast the moment they are out. This race to keep up with the “it” shows of the moment, is exhausting.

Hostiles reminds us that there is no greater mistake than not learning from the mistakes of our past. By taking a long, hard look at the dangers of division in 19th-century America, it goads contemplation of the racial divide that exists even to this day.

Love Per Square Foot, a spiritual and millennial update of Gharaonda, delves into the perils of negotiating your space in a relationship in a city where existence is as much as an act of rebellion as compromise.

Love as we knew it has changed and along with it the idea of "proposing" to someone has become an afterthought. The proposal has been replaced by a text, a kiss, a right swipe. A quaint remnant of a bygone era; a chipped but not quite broken Victorian teacup.

Shahenshah, Amitabh Bachchan’s comeback vehicle will go down in history for gifting the world two extraordinary pop-culture moments: a nocturnal avenger who wore the raddest costume ever, and a catchphrase that keeps on giving.

In his latest socially conscious outing, PadMan, Akshay Kumar lends his support to women empowerment, and his wife, the self-proclaimed Mrs Funnybones, is by his side. R Balki may be credited as the director of PadMan, but it is in fact Khanna’s very expensive Juhu lens that dominates much of the film.

Unlike Hollywood, the workings of Bollywood rely heavily on intricate filmi family and friends route. To be an actress in Bollywood, and to speak out against one of its own, is to risk one’s career. For every allegation against Jeetendra and Nana Patekar, there are thousands that we hear nothing about.

“Menstrual hygiene can’t be tackled by an advertising or a marketing team,” said Arunachalam Muruganantham toward the end of Amit Virmani’s 2013 documentary Menstrual Man. Will Akshay Kumar’s PadMan prove him wrong?