Ashikha N

Here, even the so-called heroic moment doesn’t belong to the obvious protagonist. Instead, the film finds its emotional highs in letting unexpected players rise and evolve. In doing so, Alappuzha Gymkhana offers a celebration of collective spirit.

Maranamass teases the setup of a gripping, killer-centric narrative to shift focus and choose instead to revel in the eccentric world the killer inhabits, where the chaos is just as compelling as the crimes.

From invoking the Madurai Veeran song to crafting a role that allows Vikram to unleash his full potential, evoking shades of his most celebrated performances, S.U. Arun Kumar’s Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2 understands the fine line between being loud and being truly impactful.

Prithviraj Sukumaran’s L2: Empuraan expands Lucifer (2019), fully realizing Stephen Nedumpally as Khureshi Ab’raam, and while it boldly takes a stand on saffron politics and amplifies scale and spectacle, it falters in narrative cohesion.

"It is my job. My ancestors did this before me. We don’t have the luxury of thinking," says Pawan Choudhary, a cremation worker from the Dom community, as he reflects on his work, in the documentary Wounds of Pyre—Inside the Minds of Cremation Workers. But how did this work become the community’s identity? Directed by Babita Gautam and Sahil Valmiki, the documentary film seeks to answer this unsettling question.

Directed by debutant Sarath Chandran R.J., Ouseppinte Osiyathu is a compelling slow-burn drama set against the breathtaking expanse of cardamom plantations in Idukki’s Peerumedu.