Sreehari Nair introduces you to three promising movies coming up.

'Stree's allegorical approach doesn't interfere with its need to endear and entertain.''Important ideas of empowerment and item songs as well as chills and chuckle coexist to fulfil its objective of thoda hasao, thoda darao,' says Sukanya Verma.

'We have worked hard to make a big epic homage to a man, scholar and politician, who is misunderstood.'

'Deeply flawed, Sacred Games and Mirzapur come nowhere close to representing the diversity of stories from this country,' says Vikram Johri.

'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is a step backward for the portrayal of female camaraderie in our movies,' argues Sreehari Nair.

The 91st Annual Academy Awards was anything but boring, feels Aseem Chhabra.

'In the new Bollywood, where success can translate, like a chain reaction, into gains in related fields, mere appearance on the screen is no longer a guarantor of fame,' says Vikram Johri.

While Pa Ranjith proved yet again to be the salt of the earth in his land mafia film, Zoya Akhtar took a haphazard route to make something that was hardly rooted in Asia's biggest slum, feels J Jagannath.

Unlike his The Lunchbox, Ritesh Batra's Photograph fails to engross us, feels Ritwik Sharma.

'The Telugu original with its brilliant rendering of the hero by Vijay Deverakonda works better than Kabir Singh.''It also has a sharper play of caste politics and raw authenticity of characters rooted in a local universe that gets lost in translation when it is remade for a pan-India audience,' argues Ritwik Sharma.

Shah Rukh Khan had David Letterman in his grip, giving him no quarter whatsoever, declares Sreehari Nair.

The long-awaited book is frank, funny, self-lacerating and full of gossip worthy anecdotes. What else could we ask of the Rocketman?

'The vitriol against Deepika Padukone, who is a hugely popular star, will fade over time. But let's not forget what caused it,' says Shuma Raha.

Only Bong Joon Ho -- whose film Parasite won the Oscars for Best Film, Best Director, Best International Feature -- knows how to work with a heavy hand and still get respectable results, says Ranjita Ganesan.

What has not changed in a decade is the character of Rizwan Khan. He is complex, multi-dimensional and lovable. In fact, his character continues to grow on you, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.

Aseem Chhabra imagines a time, 20 years from now, when movie-watching in theatres will be long gone, thanks to the coronavirus, and pens a letter to his grandchild, explaining the magic of the cinema hall.

Most of us have a memory like that with our fathers, tucked away in the back of our minds or hidden away in family albums. Irrfan's passing took us right back. It's also what made it so personal to so many of us, points out Abhishek Mande Bhot.

Carols, motets, hymns, songs, and madrigals reflect the enthusiastic joy and high spirits of Yuletide celebrations in Williamsburg.

From the Summer 2002 Journal: "Making "Cents" of Colonial Money"