What to watch on OTT: Ibrahim Ali Khan’s debut Nadaaniyan, Daredevil Born Again, The Waking of a Nation, Nickel Boys

Nadaaniyan
Netflix

This rom-com is about a South Delhi diva, a middle-class overachiever boy, and one outrageous plan as she hires him as her fake boyfriend to save her squad. Directed by Shauna Gautam, Nadaaniyan explores a fresh take on modern romance where digital interaction drives the complexities of young love. This also brings on screen the fresh pairing of debutant Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor. Produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, the film’s cast also features Mahima Chaudhary, Suniel Shetty, Dia Mirza and Jugal Hansraj.

Nickel Boys
Prime Video

Based on Colson Whitehead’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys, this movie secured double Oscar nominations — for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay — this year. Set in the 60s Florida, it follows Elwood Curtis, whose college dream is shattered due to an innocent misstep when he accepts ride from a man who has stolen a car. Implicated as an accomplice, he is sentenced to Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory sunk deep in the Jim Crow South. There, he encounters another ward, the seen-it-all Turner. The two Black teens strike up an alliance: even though they follow different ideologies. Notwithstanding the brutality they experience at the Academy, Elwood holds onto his humanity.

The Waking of a Nation
Sony LIV

Created and directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Ram Madhvani, The Waking of a Nation is a powerful historical drama inspired by true events. The series explores the events leading up to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The series follows Kantilal Sahni (played by Taaruk Raina), as he unearths a deep conspiracy rooted in colonialism and white supremacy. The show reimagines history through the lens of the Hunter Commission’s inquiry. Talking about the series, Madhvani says: “It’s more than just a show—it’s my way of highlighting India’s rich history and the struggles we’ve faced.” The series features a stellar ensemble cast, including Taaruk Raina, Nikita Dutta, Sahil Mehta, and Bhawsheel Singh Sahni, among others. The show is written by Shantanu Srivastava, Shatrujeet Nath, and Ram Madhvani.

Dupahiya
Prime Video

The series follows the story of three desperate small-town misfits who crash a reality show audition, convinced it’s their only shot at winning back a stolen motorbike. The series is set in the village of Dhadakpur—also known as the Belgium of Bihar – that is on the cusp of celebrating being crime-free for 25 years. But chaos strikes when a never-seen-before motorbike, that was purchased as a wedding gift, gets stolen. With the fate of the wedding left hanging, the journey the family and the ex-lover of the bride take to find the Dupahiya (two-wheeler) forms the heart of this comedy that deals with the hopes and aspirations of simple people. Created and executive produced by Salona Bains Joshi and Shubh Shivdasani under the Bombay Film Cartel banner. Directed by Sonam Nair and written by Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg, with an ensemble cast featuring Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane, Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Shrivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi, and Yashpal Sharma in the lead roles.

The Leopard
Netflix

Based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic novel, The Leopard is a political tale, but it’s also incredibly personal: the story of a family in the midst of nationwide tumult. “The Leopard tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina (Kim Rossi Stuart), a Sicilian nobleman whose family weathers the changing tides of Italian life during Garibaldi’s conquest. When the Redshirts arrive in Palermo, Corbera and his family flee to his Donnafugata estate, where their situation quickly becomes precarious. As times change, the Corbera family will have to adapt to survive — or die on the vine,” says the Netflix synopsis.