This week, two Indian cinema titans try to recapture their magic with Thug Life, although the outcomes are combined. Meanwhile, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong delivers a pointy satire on the digital age with Mountainhead, and the gritty indie thriller Stolen proves there’s nonetheless life left in edge-of-your-seat storytelling. Just when you thought hope was out of trend, Tourist Family affords a young, borderless view of belonging. Let’s unpack.
Hype verify
Two critics — from totally different generations — caught the much-awaited Kamal Haasan–Mani Ratnam collaboration Thug Life on the opening day and recorded their reactions for The Hindu (full video on-line).
So, how did that go?
Watch: Thug Life: First day first present reactions
| Video Credit:
Sudhish Kamath
To sum up Shilajit Mitra’s ideas : “Thug Life is all vibes — gun-toting gangsters flipping on shades while Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam sprint around in a cinematic candy shop of their own making. But the result is bloated, disjointed, and crusted with clichés. The film’s ambition to become an emotionally immersive gangster drama is undercut by its eagerness to fit the pan-Indian blockbuster bill. The action sequences, in particular, are poorly directed and performed — a shocker, given the talent involved. The film’s saving grace is the beautifully composed ‘Aanju Vanna Poove’ and Malayalam actor Joju George, who brings a warm, bearish presence to an otherwise dull and draining experience.”
Most critics at the first present appear to agree.
In Thug Life, Kamal Haasan performs a model of Santa Claus who arms out dying as a gift. Mani Ratnam, in the meantime, appears to be Benjamin Button-ing as a director — rising youthful and extra amateurish with time. This seems like his beginner section: a filmmaker nonetheless determining character consistency and primary continuity.
One second, 4 events are battling it out in Goa. The subsequent, Kamal calls one in every of them to meet — not close by — however in Delhi, as if location logistics are non-obligatory for climactic showdowns.
While some consider in getting old gracefully, Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan are rebels who need to exit all weapons blazing — even when they’re firing blanks.
The delulu land
A nonetheless from Mountainhead
| Photo Credit:
Special association
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong returns with Mountainhead, a satire on tech billionaires and their delusional realities. It arrives at a second when these males more and more form the world. Starring Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, and Jason Schwartzman, the movie nails a world the place a meme tweeted by the man who purchased Twitter turns into a authorities division. It drops simply as Elon Musk’s Neuralink trials flip science fiction into actuality. Mountainhead leans into that post-human nervousness.
It’s sharply written, uncomfortably related, and stuffed with exquisitely profane humour. Don’t learn spoilers. Just dive in — it’s uncommon to discover a movie this well timed and this humorous.
The thrill isn’t gone
Set over one night time, Stolen (on Prime Video) begins at a railway platform the place two brothers witness a child being taken. What follows is a spiralling nightmare the place every determination tightens the noose. Abhishek Banerjee delivers a shape-shifting efficiency in a lean, anxiety-fuelled thriller that by no means loosens its grip.
A nonetheless from Stolen
| Photo Credit:
Special association
Fasten your seat belts. This is a automotive crash you’ll be glad to witness from the security of your sofa.
Hope, humour and coronary heart
Remember how Schitt’s Creek refused to empower homophobia and as an alternative constructed a world of kindness? Tourist Family treads comparable floor. In the very first scene, a policeman detains the members of a refugee household for deportation however lets them go after being known as “brother”. The tone is evident: this isn’t about oppression. It’s about belonging.
Watch it if you need hope with out sentimentality, humour with out cruelty, and household with out borders — with a contact of Rajkumar Hirani’s model of utopia.
From the hottest shows to hidden gems, missed classics to responsible pleasures, FOMO Fix is a fortnightly compass by way of the chaos of content material. Expect well timed suggestions, spoiler-free insights, and an sincere heads-up on what to not miss.
Published – June 06, 2025 03:19 pm IST
