By Joginder Tuteja
This week saw a solitary notable OTT arrival Helmet when it comes to Hindi outings and that was due to a reason. After all, the fifth season of Money Heist also released and with the biggie capturing the imagination of audiences worldwide, it made sense for most OTT channels to refrain from unveiling their outings. Of course, ZEE5 has a continued line up right through the year and that was seen this Friday as well with the release of Helmet.
A Dino Morea production, Helmet has actually sprung a pleasant surprise since as an original film, it works well to narrate a social subject (usage of contraceptives) and that too in an entertaining way. From the core concept perspective, it does remind of Rajkummar Rao and Mouni Roy's Made In China. The actors who come together in Helmet belong to the same space as well, what with Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Verma coming together in the film, just like Rajkummar Rao, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee did in Stree.
What works most about Helmet is the manner in which Satram Ramani keeps the narrative quite fluid with seamless integration of scenes. The mood is kept light hearted throughout and though there is hardly any full throated laughter at most junctures, the smiles do stay on for the majority of film. A taboo subject like this could well have turned cringe worthy in hands of a lesser director and team of actors but thankfully that doesn't turn out to be the case in this smile-through film.
Coming soon
This is going to be an exciting week ahead for those looking for variety as three distinct offerings are set to release on back to back days. These are Mumbai Diaries 26/11, Candy and Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai.
Mumbai Diaries 26/11 is a web series and has Nikkhil Advani step in as a director after delivering a hit film Batla House with John Abraham. A dramatic thriller, this one takes viewers to the horrifying night of 26/11 when terrorists attacked Mumbai. A fictional tale set in a hospital where patients' lives were at risk, even as the terrorists roamed around in the vicinity, this one has Mohit Raina and Konkona Sen Sharma leading the show along with Shreya Dhanwanthary.
Promo of this show, which is set to premiere on Amazon Prime, has made a hard hitting impact and one can expect a binge worthy outing here due to the core theme. Nikkhil Advani has done quite well in the past when it comes to this mode of storytelling [D-Day, Batla House] and there are good production values guaranteed, considering Emmay Entertainment [Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani] at the helm of affairs. The team recently released The Empire which is a hit show at Disney+Hotstar and a repeat is expected here as well.
Another major show arriving in the coming week is Candy. This one looks like a dark thriller in the offering which has murder, mystery and even supernatural/paranormal elements coming together in the sleepy hills. Led by Richa Chadha who plays the role of a cop and tries to connect the dots between candy concealed drugs being distributed to students and the killings that happen around them, Candy also features Ronit Roy in a key role yet again after the hit web series Hostages.
A flagship web series arriving on Voot Select, this one is all the more special since it is directed by Ashish R Shukla who had made one of the best shows of 2020, Undekhi. That too belonged to the drama-thriller genre and made quite an impression. Now one expects the same with Candy as well.
Meanwhile for those looking forward to some fun outing amidst the family members, there is an easy breezy Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai coming on ZEE5. An original movie, this one picks from newspaper headlines that had made quite some waves back in time when a currency note was found with 'Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai' scribbled over it. A fictitious tale set around who possibly was Sonam Gupta and what made her do something that resulted in her lover scribbling such a note, the Ssaurabh Tyagi directed film is set as a lighthearted entertainer.
The film is spearheaded by Jassie Gill and Surbhi Jyoti with Vijay Raaz in a key role. Jassie Gill was seen as Kangana Ranaut's supporting husband in sports affair Panga while Surbhi Jyoti makes her Bollywood debut after a very successful TV stint and some Punjabi movies as well. Together, the couple is looking nice and one hopes for a sweet and harmless fun affair ahead.
Release dates
Candy - Voot Select - 8th September
Mumbai Diaries 26/11 - Amazon Prime - 9th September
Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai - ZEE5 -10th September
Watch this space for more updates.