Swara Bhasker has been keeping busy not just in the world of social media but also her on-screen appearances. After Rasbhari and Flesh, her Bhaag Beanie Bhaag arrived on Netflix over the weekend gone by. There was practically no promotion around the mini-series and one does get an idea why that would have been the case. Despite being set as a romcom, this one is - to put it mildly - a boring series. With hardly any moments to count that actually manage to touch the heartstring, this one is a forgettable affair with no word of mouth whatsoever.
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Meanwhile ZEE5 had yet another engaged week in the space of OTT. The streaming biggie has at least one major offering every week and this time around they come up with Naxalbari and Darbaan. Rajeev Khandelwal led Naxalbari is an action thriller drama and worked with those looking for some 'masala' entertainment on screen. While there have been quite a few different stories that have been explored in the thriller genre, this is the first web series on the Naxal issue that has been unveiled. It does turn out to be an entertaining watch.
On the other hand for those hunting for an emotional drama, there was Darbaan which was yet another original film on ZEE5 and on the lines of Pareeksha and Mee Raqsam, which was another human drama that arrived a few months back. Led by Sharib Hashmi and Sharad Kelkar, this one has a small town feel and makes for a harmless watch.
As for It's My Life, which was meant to be a commercial romcom affair with Genelia D'Szoua, Harman Baweja and Nana Patekar in the lead, surprisingly it didn't see a release for itself as planned. One waits for an official announcement to come in from ZEE5 around the next planned release date. For those looking for some music, romance and light hearted entertainment, this Anees Bazmee film could turn out to be a good offering this winter.
Coming soon
This Friday is set to be quite special, what with as many as three films arriving together. These are Torbaaz, Durgamati and Lahore Confidential. Let's talk about Torbaaz first. This is one of the biggest films to be arriving on the OTT medium when one talks about the scale, size and budget. With Sanjay Dutt spearheading the effort, Torbaaz features Rahul Dev as well as Nargis Fakhri. The film is seeing a much delayed release for itself though. It was announced way back in 2016 and went on floors in 2017. Now it is finally finding a straight-to-OTT release.
The Girish Malik directed film is special as it introduces cricket in the midst of terrorism and child bombers in Afghanistan. Long back, Sanjay Dutt had done a few notable films on terrorism in the past [Mission Kashmir, Lamhaa] both of which were set in Kashmir. One now waits to see what does he bring for the audiences with Torbaaz which arrives on Netflix.
The film which was made for theatrical release this year though is Durgamati. Earlier titled Durgavati, the film features Bhumi Pednekar in the lead and is an official remake of Anushka Shetty starrer Bhagmathi. A horror drama thriller which promises some edge of the seat moments and nail biting suspense, it also boasts of an impressive ensemble cast featuring Arshad Warsi and Mahie Gill. For producer Vikram Malhotra, this is his third release on Amazon Prime this year after Breathe: Into The Shadows and Shakuntala Devi, both of which were successful.
Lahore Confidential is an original ZEE5 film that has been made primarily for the OTT medium. It has in fact been completed in record time after the streaming channel released London Confidential just a few months back. Kunal Kohli, who has directed a spy romantic drama Fanaa [Aamir Khan, Kajol] in the past does a role reversal of sorts as Richa Chadha is the spy here who goes to Lahore and falls in love with a Pakistani Arunoday Singh. The promo of the film promises good entertainment for those who love spy espionage thrillers.
Release dates
Torbaaz - 11th Dec - Netflix
Durgamati - 11th Dec - Amazon Prime
Lahore Confidential - 11th Dec - ZEE5
Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal.