The film provides a stark contrast to the romanticized depictions of Kashmir often seen in Bollywood songs. Instead, it portrays a Kashmir marred by political turmoil, wreaking havoc on the lives of its inhabitants. “The Winter Within” leaves a lasting impact, brutal and devastating, as it delves into the harsh realities of the region.

The narrative unfolds with a striking scene of a dead body being brought to a gravedigger, setting the tone for the lyrical yet hard-hitting storytelling that follows. The focus then shifts to Srinagar, where Nargis, portrayed in a closeup by Zoya Hussain, works as a housemaid for a wealthy family. Her free time is dedicated to embroidery work with the assistance of Yaseen, a local man fond of her. Nargis, grappling with the absence of her missing husband, exhausts her savings to bribe a police officer in hopes of locating him. Unbeknownst to her, she falls victim to a deception, unsure of Manzoor’s fate.

Forced to leave her job, Nargis returns to her village, accompanied by Yaseen, who expresses a desire to marry her. Unexpectedly, a knock on Nargis’s door reveals Manzoor’s presence. A haunting figure, Manzoor appears lifeless, and the narrative shifts into a drama unfolding through revelations about his past. The film explores how Manzoor’s haunted presence informs Nargis’s present.

Shanker Raman’s cinematography lends stunning visuals to “The Winter Within,” capturing the contrasting warmth of interior scenes in Nargis’s home against the frozen, deserted exterior. The film, however, experiences a drop in energy in the second half as it shifts focus from Nargis to explore how Manzoor attempts to restart his life. Despite a narrative leaning towards predictable beats, Zoya Hussain’s compelling performance keeps the film engaging.

“The Winter Within” is an unsettling and essential piece of cinema, unafraid to confront the uncomfortable truths at the heart of Kashmir. Aamir Bashir skillfully navigates the complexities of the region, presenting a narrative that goes beyond the surface, urging audiences to contemplate the profound challenges faced by the people of Kashmir. The film’s exploration of love, loss, and the impact of political turmoil adds a layer of depth, making it a thought-provoking and impactful cinematic experience.

There’s a scene in the new film Flora and Son where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character takes a rather mean-spirited attitude towards James Blunt and his pop anthem “You’re Beautiful,” without realising that the movie he’s in is the cinematic equivalent of that song — frothy, uplifting, and deeply heartfelt. Directed by John Carney, best known for his music dramas Once and Begin Again, Flora and Son finds the filmmaker returning to familiar themes — the volatile middle-ground between passion and pragmatism, blue collar existence, and male angst.

It’s also two movies stuffed into one. The first is a working class drama about a young single mother named Flora (Eve Hewson, returning for her second Apple project after the brilliant Bad Sisters) and her delinquent teenage son Max (Orén Kinlan) butting heads under the same roof in Dublin. The second is a sweeping romance in which Flora decides to take online guitar lessons to impress men in bars. After scanning the internet for a suitable teacher, she picks Jeff (Gordon-Levitt), a slightly older man who lives across the world in sunny southern California.

To make ends meet, Flora works odd jobs here and there. She was only 17 when she gave birth to Max, and in one scene, she lets him know how deeply she resents having him and losing her youth. Max’s father, a local layabout named Ian (Jack Reynor) is a failed musician who’ll tell anybody within earshot that his band was once listed to play the same gig as Snow Patrol. He spends most of his days playing video games now.

Max divides his time between Flora and Ian, but doesn’t really like either of them. He acts out by engaging in petty crime, routinely ending up at the local police station, where the cops welcome him like a hotel concierge would a regular guest. But because his crimes are mostly harmless, he is let off with slaps on the wrist. The threat of being sent away to a juvenile detention centre, however, looms large. To get away from the gloominess of her life — it’s all manufactured chic, by the way; this isn’t a gritty Shane Meadows movie — Flora begins to look forward to her weekly guitar lessons, which essentially function as therapy sessions for both her and Jeff, who has his own past demons to vanquish.

Even though they’re connecting only virtually, there’s an immediate spark. While Jeff tells her to broaden her horizons, she engages him in conversations about his own songs, which he admits with a certain bitterness were never good enough. It’s almost as if he had been waiting all his life for someone to give him this reality check. But Flora doesn’t merely stop at telling him that his music is unmemorable; in keeping with the film’s spirit of emotional growth, she offers tips on how to make it better.

Crowley understands that staring at laptops isn’t the most cinematic of set-ups, and so, after a couple of virtual interactions, he feels confident enough to put Flora and Jeff in the same physical space. During a particularly emotional Zoom lesson, the camera pans over to the side, and we see him sitting across the table from her — this is reminiscent of how director Park Chan-wook made phone conversations more dramatic in Decision to Leave. But crucially, it’s always Jeff who manifests inside Flora’s apartment, or, on one memorable occasion, on her rooftop; there’s a reason why she isn’t magically transported to California.

Flora and Son is an almost pitch perfect feel-good movie — the sort that an even slightly cynical viewer would describe as contrived. And you wouldn’t even be able to challenge them, because they’d be right. The emotional beats land with scientific accuracy, there’s an effortless charm to the performances and writing, and such an easygoing rhythm to the storytelling that it makes the experience impossible to resist. It’s never easy to surrender yourself completely to a film, especially one that comes across as so desperate to be liked, but it helps when directors are able to make convincing arguments for why you should.

Flora and Son
Director – John Crowley
Cast – Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor
Rating – 4.5/5

Director Atlee’s blockbuster Jawan saw a spike in numbers on its 22nd day of release, probably thanks to the combined contribution of holiday crowds enticed by a buy-on-get-one scheme. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Jawan made Rs 5.5 crore on Thursday, which is higher than the Rs 4.9 crore that it made on Tuesday and the Rs 5.1 crore that it made on Wednesday.

This takes the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer’s lifetime nett domestic total to Rs 581 crore, which means that it will probably pass the Rs 600 crore mark domestically this weekend. It didn’t even seem like Jawan was affected by this week’s new Hindi releases such as Fukrey 3, which opened to more than Rs 8 crore, and The Vaccine War, which made Rs 1.3 crore on opening day.

Jawan has broken multiple records through the course of its theatrical run. The film set new benchmarks for the biggest opening day, opening weekend, and opening week for a Hindi movie. It also became the fastest Hindi film to pass the Rs 100 crore, Rs 200 crore, Rs 300 crore, Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore marks. It will soon become the first Hindi film to pass the Rs 600 crore mark, having already broken Pathaan‘s record of Rs 543 crore to become the biggest Bollywood movie of all time in the domestic market.

With Rs 1030 crore in the bank globally, the film is just Rs 20 crore short of breaking Pathaan’s lifetime worldwide gross of Rs 1050 crore, and becoming the second-biggest Bollywood film of all time. It probably won’t be able to overtake Dangal’s lifetime global gross of Rs 2070 crore, most of which came from China. Even Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, RRR and KGF: Chapter 2 have made more at the global box office than Jawan, altough no other star besides Shah Rukh holds the distinction of having delivered two $100 million-plus grossers in the same year.

Combined Jawan and Pathaan have delivered a global gross of more than Rs 2000 crore, and have helped Bollywood return to past glory after two disappointing years because of the pandemic. Other Hindi movies that have performed well this year are Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Satyaprem Ki Katha, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar and The Kerala Story.

The third part of Kannada blockbuster “KGF”, starring Yash, will release in 2025, according to the spokesperson from Hombale Films. Production will begin on the third part of the pan India franchise by December 2023.

“On the fifth anniversary of ‘KGF’ on December 21, we will announce the release plan of ‘KGF 3’. The initial round of discussion between the director, producer and actor for ‘KGF 3’ has happened and a storyline has been discussed. The shoot will begin in October 2024 and the film release in 2025. An official announcement about the release of ‘KGF 3’ will be made in December this year,” spokesperson of Hombale Films told PTI.

The period action franchise, which started with 2018’s “KGF: Chapter 1”, followed by a 2022 sequel, titled “KGF: Chapter 3”. It revolves around Rocky (Yash) and his quest for power and wealth.

Hombale Films has three more films in the pipeline. “We have ‘Salaar 2’ with Prabhas, ‘Kantara 2’ with Rishab Shetty and ‘Tyson’ with Prithviraj Sukumaran,” the spokesperson said.

When Fukrey released a decade ago, it followed the misadventures and triumphs of two good-for-nothing school students, Choochaa and Hunny, dreaming of stepping into college life. Their acquaintances got involved in their ill-conceived plans and the mayhem that ensued. With the third instalment of this franchise, the ambition of these fukras, a term used for idlers, as well as that of the movie has grown.

The film opens with a recap of previous two Fukrey movies, which are packed into a catchy song. A nice touch, the song plays in the background as the opening credit of Fukrey 3 rolls out. The core characters reappear with their now established traits. Choocha (Varun Sharma) is as goofy and asinine as before. Hunny (Pulkit Samrat) is the brain that steers him. Panditji (Pankaj Tripathi) keeps the gang together with his wisecracks while Bholi Panjaban (Richa Chadha) has bigger plans for herself. Lali Halwai (Manjot Singh) doesn’t have a well defined role but comes into his own when he tries to make the best masala chai. Fazal is missing from this group of bumbling daydreamers but makes a cute cameo appearance.

Leaving behind her criminal past, Bholi now hobnobs with powerful people. She aspires to win in the Delhi Assembly elections and become a minister. Her aspirations to walk the corridors of power are threatened when Choocha becomes a threat to her popularity and victory. This leads to power-tussle and one-upmanship between the fukras and Bholi, who struts around with two bulky bodyguards whose presence lends her an air of comic gravitas.

Tripathi, clearly the favourite of the audience, runs away with the best lines. Even when the dialogues lack punch, his comic flair is top notch. But it’s Choocha aka Dilip Singh, the key catalyst to the narrative, who enjoys maximum attention. The first half is an overload of gags with almost an equal number of hits and misses. However, just before the interval, a bend in the plot leaves the audience wondering if the story would now take a serious turn. Well, they are not altogether disappointed.

The second half, with comparatively fewer occasions of laughter, shifts gear to serious issues that affect the common people of Delhi. Though confined to the world of Fukrey, Delhi’s perennial water crisis and the struggle against the tanker mafia gets generous screen time. Certain poignant moments, like the bold move of a boy to block the path of a water tanker, and a desperate public storming the water amusement park with a resident alligator indicate a growing crisis in the national capital.

These intense scenes aside, Fukrey stays true to its slapstick tone that draws heavily from scatological humour. Is it lazy writing, taking the easy route to tickle the funny-bone? The occasional departures from logic and believability, though downright silly, curiously manages to elicit laughter.

The popular franchise which gave us a sassy, stylish and an intelligent female don should have added more meat to the character in this outing. Her badassery — such as pairing a scorpion-shaped maangtika with bridal wear — held great potential. Instead, the film is more about fukra-panti.

Fukrey 3 movie cast: Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal
Fukrey 3 movie director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Fukrey 3 movie rating: 2 stars