Upperstall

Geetu Mohandas’s gangster drama, Toxic, has all the exaggerated trappings usually assembled for a star vehicle, and it deploys them with almost devotional commitment. Running for more than three hours, the film advertises itself as a ‘fairy tale for adults’; what it delivers is closer to a ‘weary-saga’ designed to entertain people of all ages, provided they have the stamina to sit through it.

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In To Die A Frenchman, directed by Pankaj Rishi Kumar, the principal drama revolves around the stipulations of Articles IV and V of the 1956 Treaty of Cession between France and India, which came into force in 1962.

Heartin, currently streaming on Prime Video following its theatrical release on June 26, 2026, marks Kishore Kumar’s directorial debut. Although the film presents an intriguing concept around a complex love triangle, it remains somewhat superficial and on the surface. Heartin begins in Jaipur, where Shiva (Sananth) is the head chef and the co-owner of a Tamil food joint alongside an old college friend, Mani (Whatsaap Mani).

Rajkumar Santoshi’s Batwara 1947, based on Asghar Wajahat’s play, Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai, approaches Partition not by reopening its wounds but by asking what, amid them, might have survived. Set against the communal violence surrounding the creation of two nations along religious lines, it is a charged drama about the stubborn persistence of human kindness.

Awarapan 2, a sequel or, more accurately, a forced extension of Vishesh Films’ 2007 film, Awarapan, arrives with the confidence that nostalgia is enough to do much of the heavy lifting, trading on the memory of its predecessor with the faith that a familiar title can make even wafer-thin material seem palatable.

Operation Safed Sagar: The Untold Story Of The Kargil War, streaming now on Netflix, dramatises the contributions of the Indian Air Force squadron, Golden Arrows, during the 1999 Kargil War between India and Pakistan. Directed by Oni Sen, the six-part series offers a new perspective on the historical Kargil War, but is somewhat let down by following the typical narrative flow of any other war film.

Balan: The Boy,  streaming now streaming on ZEE5 following its theatrical release earlier in the year, explores the complexities of survival and identity through the lens of a broken mother-son relationship. While this psychological thriller, directed by Chidambaram, offers an intriguing story with significant potential and the film has its large share of moments, it does falter in places, losing some of its emotional grip in the second half.

Musafir Cafe, directed by Ruchir Arun and based on the book of the same name by Divya Prakash Dubey, aims to explore the intricacies of contemporary love. Streaming on Netflix, it spans over 8 episodes and seeks to offer a modern perspective on romance across two different timelines but ultimately fails to do live up to its interesting premise.

Semmalar Annam’s assured directorial debut in Tamil, Mayilaa (Peahen), is a quietly affecting exploration of faith, freedom, and the resilience of a woman navigating deeply unequal social realities. Poongodi (Melodi Dorcas), affectionately known as Mayilaa, for her devotion to the village goddess Mayilatha is entrusted with organising the annual temple festival. She dreams of offering the deity a new sari, but poverty and an abusive husband leave that promise increasingly out of reach.