Streaming Guide: Films, series to watch on May 12

One of the finest women-centric movies made in Bollywood, Damini starred Meenakshi Sheshadri, Rishi Kapoor and Sunny Deol among others. Helmed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the film told the story of Damini, who went all out against the system to seek justice.

In this Anubhav Sinha directorial, Rishi Kapoor played a Muslim man who tries his best to bring back honour to his family after a kinsman gets involved in terrorist activity. Mulk won praise for its performances and direction. The movie also featured Taapsee Pannu, Manoj Pahwa and Ashutosh Rana.

The show is immaculately made. The budget has been put to good use. The cinematography and visual effects are simply excellent. The writing is consistently smart, with weighty, substantial dialogue that one has to pause and replay to fully grasp it (or at least I did that). This series demands your constant attention. Bingeing won’t do justice here. To read more, click here.

Dave Chappelle is America’s master comedian, actor and writer. He is also pretty controversial. Dave brings all of these aspects of his personality to the table in his special titled Dave Chappelle: Equanimity and Bird Revelation. In these two sets, Chapelle throws light on the Trump election, the #MeToo movement and his big break from show business. Engaging from start to finish.

If you are looking for a slice-of-life kind of drama then Hospital Playlist should be at the top of your to-watch list. "Every day is an adventure for five doctors and their patients inside a hospital, where birth, death and everything in between coexists," reads the official synopsis of the show.

One of the first Netflix stand-up specials from comedian and artiste Hasan Minhaj, Homecoming King is more of a tale than a stand-up. It has a love story at the centre of it and a delicate narrative of love and laughter is built around the central romantic plot. It is also a well-told story of immigration and it’s deeply personal. All the good things.

It is witty, funny and gives a new way to look at the world around us, especially the one inhabited by the so-called middle-class people. Biswa’s punch lines are smooth, his observations are hilarious and his delivery is on point. What more do you need from a stand-up really?

Self-driving cars. Phones that are essentially a hologram that snap into existence in the L between the forefinger and thumb. The promise of eternal life even after you are dead. These are the few salient features of Upload, a quirky, sci-fi-ish show that is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. To read more, click here.

The high school teen narrative has still not lost its charm, though no one has been able to fill the chasm left by John Hughes. Never Have I Ever too employs many of the staples of the genre. The super attractive jock who doesn’t notice the nerdy but attractive heroine; the quirky best friends who are the perfect sidekicks; the cliques here are no patch on The Breakfast Club, but there is a distinct ‘cool’ and ‘uncool’ divide.

Also read | Never Have I Ever review

HBO’s comedy drama Bad Education goes behind the real-life embezzlement scandal at a Long Island school district. Based on a New York magazine article titled “The Bad Superintendent,” the film details the crimes of a celebrated school superintendent Dr Frank A Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and his assistant superintendent Pamela Gluckin (Allison Janney). To know more, click here.

"There’s enough here, all-round, for the second season. Can we have a little more of Rohini Hattangadi, who plays a modern-ma-in-law, dancer of Zumba, and carefree driver of cars? And more credible, less eye-roll situations? Strong women dealing with bad stuff can make for good stories: bring on season two," wrote The Indian Express' reviewer Shubhra Gupta. 

Also read | Hundred review

A new show starring the likes of Neha Sharma, Piyush Mishra and others, Illegal is your quintessential courtroom drama. Our verdict reads, "Writer Reshu Nath has penned a smart and entertaining web series. Each episode has interesting plot twists. The courtroom sequences, where a rape case is being debated, is devoid of theatrics. There is simply an argument with both the lawyers citing the laws and presenting their evidence. Despite being a legal drama, the writing never gets heavy." Read more here.

Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla starrer is a perfect family entertainer. The story revolves around Rahul (Khan), the caretaker of his two nephews Vicky and Sunny and niece Munni. Rahul is tormented by Bijlani (Dalip Tahil) who wants to take over the former’s business. However, Bijlani is ready to let things slide if Rahul marries his daughter Maya. Amid this chaotic life, he has an unwanted guest at home, a Tamil girl called Vyjayanthi Iyer (Chawla). But because the children like her, he can’t let her go. Now, how he copes up with three naughty children, one prankster guest and two villains of his life, makes for the narrative of Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke.

A dark fantasy anime, Tokyo Ghoul explores a world where ghouls live in secrecy alongside human beings. The ghouls are essentially creatures who look and behave like humans but they have to eat human meat to survive. As you can imagine, the show is visceral and grotesque but it is also one of a kind. And if you move past the violence and gore, there is actually a very touching storyline that explores humanity in all of its grey shades.

The story revolves around Ananya Rawat (Joshi), an ambitious and hardworking middle-class girl. Her parents have spent all their money on making their daughter a pilot. And, she is the first female pilot of Indie Airlines, where she has to fight the patriarchal mindset along with doing her job.

What happens when great actors like Varun Badola and Shweta Tiwari come together on screen? The audience gets to watch a good show. Mere Dad Ki Dulhan is not your typical Indian TV show. At the heart of it is a beautiful relationship between a single father Amber (Badola) and his young daughter Niya (Anjali Tatrari). Niya wants to set up her father with someone. Enters a forty-something single woman Guneet Sikka (Tiwari), who starts living in Amber’s house as a tenant. Amber and Guneet cannot stand each other but unknowingly start liking each other on a dating app. Watch this show for an entertaining story and some brilliant performances.

Alfonso Cuarón’s most personal film, Roma, is stunning, but is also a hard film to watch if, like me, you are not used to long stretches of dialogue-less scenes. This film, more than any I have ever seen, needs patience. If you can stay with it long enough, however, Roma is extremely rewarding. The tracking shots are something to behold. It is so astoundingly rich visually and emotionally that it is hard to put into words.

This highly-rated German show is a mystery series about what happens when mutiple children go missing in a town. Kind of like Stranger Things minus the whole exaggerated science-fiction angle.

The Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta praised the film and called lead actor Sanjay Mishra’s performance “faultless”. In her review she wrote, “Kaamyaab is a moving, consistently engaging portrait of an artiste as a weathering, weathered man. And Sanjay Mishra is faultless as the lead character - always the bridesmaid, never the bride; an insider but always on the outside.”

The Anurag Singh directorial is the story of three friends Guri, Deep and Sher Singh who stay together in the university hostel. The film revolves around their friendship, and how their love life lands them in trouble. The film is a fun watch on a lazy weekend.

Shala is a Marathi web-series streaming on YouTube. It is a story of three school friends and how they tackle every day issues that come their way. It is a beautiful coming of age story, which will give you a peek into the lives of students in the interiors on India.

Directed by Mysskin, the film has no heroine and no songs. It is a neo-noir thriller filled to the brim with dark humour and raw emotions. OA, which stars Mysskin himself and Sri of Vazhakku Enn 18/9 fame in the lead roles, is the tale of a man trying to redeem himself in society. The movie brilliantly shows society in its cruel, unforgiving form. And the suspense element holds up right until the end of the film.

Released last year, Tune in for Love is a slow-burning South Korean romantic-drama that traces the journey of the protagonists over a decade. Even though the pace is slow, the movie evokes a sense of nostalgia and also has a beautiful soundtrack. Fair warning: you are bound to shed some tears.

A gripping drama about a dysfunctional Indian family, Kapoor & Sons explores family dynamics in Indian, or more broadly South Asian families, in a surprisingly mature way — a rarity for Bollywood. Ratna Pathak Shah, Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra, Rishi Kapoor and Fawad Khan star.

This Netflix film deals with the platonic friendship between a boy and a girl. There is also an LGBTQ angle, but it is not sanctimonious and engages with the audience’s beliefs with gentle humour.

Written and directed by Vetrimaran, the movie documented the culture around cockfight. It earned Dhanush his first National Award for Best Actor.

Mark Ruffalo stars in I Know This Much Is True in a double role of twin brothers. The official synopsis of the HBO mini-series reads, “Based on the 1998 bestselling novel by Wally Lamb, adapted and directed by Derek Cianfrance, this limited series follows the parallel lives of identical twin brothers, played by Mark Ruffalo. A family saga, it tells a story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness set against the backdrop of 20th-century America.”