Malayalam cinema legends Mammootty and Mohanlal are set to reunite on screen in Mahesh Narayanan's espionage thriller 'Patriot' after 18 years, with Mammootty in the lead and Mohanlal in an extended cameo.
Sean Baker's indie film, Anora, hits a streaming channel soon after the Oscar triumph. For the cinema aficionado, gems of world cinema are available on OTT-- some free, some to rent or buy-- it just needs an eye out for films worth watching, and the patience to search across platforms. A pick of 10 recent films that currently streaming.
Aseem Chhabra lists his top 10 films from this year's Sundance festival, a blend of narratives and documentaries made in the US and other parts of the world.
Pankaja and O'Sey Balamma bring deeply personal yet universally resonant stories to Sundance. They represent a new wave of South Indian storytelling, blending cultural authenticity with cinematic innovation, and mark an important step in amplifying regional voices on the international stage.
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
A recent report in The Hollywood Reporter has listed 46 women as the Most Influential Women in International Film, and the ladies in positions of executives, producers and creatives.
'I don't know how long cinema will survive.'
'You need the drishti, the experience. I am beginning to see things differently.'
For the special screening of their film Aranyer Din Ratri at Cannes, Sharmila and Simi were dressed to the nines.
The Mumbai-born film-maker is currently working on two films set in her city, which will form a trilogy along with All We Imagine As Light.
'I am not a mother and never had an abortion either, so I had to understand motherhood and child loss from anecdotal experiences of others.'
This year's Sundance Film Festival was rich with films and the theatres were warm, even as temperatures outside dipped to below freezing point. It snowed only once but the sidewalks remained slippery for a few days.
'October end, during a checkup for an autoimmune thing I got a shock diagnosis: a routine scan revealed a small malignant tumour in the kidney. Utter bolt from the blue.'
'My family are the mainstream audience and think I am wasting my time. Until I make a Rs 100 crore film, they won't be convinced.'
'But when we actually express ourselves, sometimes our parents can surprise us, because they just love their children.' 'Sometimes it's just that simple. That is what I wanted to show in this film.'
'The flutters of excitement of a high-school romance, and then how life changes.'
How wonderful it would be for all of us to watch the Oscar ceremony on March 2, 2025 and watch AWIAL win an Oscar, notes Aseem Chhabra.
'The film-literate public in Kerala are not happy watching run-of-the-mill movies.'
'It's taken me very long to get my foot into the door. But the kind of work or central roles that I want are still few.'
'When Bad Newz was given to me to direct, the first thing I did was go back to my childhood.' 'It's an ode to Hindi cinema.'
At Rs 2,000, you can gift yourself an awesome sensory experience for Diwali.
'Life had its own plans and now I have learnt to go with the flow.'
'Usually, we are always worried that we are missing out something in life.' 'We are very keen for the audience to have this as a cinema experience in theatres.' 'You get the rare chance to be patient.'
'I went to a school in Baroda, where if the boys harassed us, the teachers pulled the girls aside and said, "Oh, your skirts are too short".' 'They made us feel ashamed of having any sexual feelings or having bodies that were growing up to be a young women.'
Writer-director Dr Biju talks about life after winning a national award for Veettilekkulla Vazhi
'Something which is just entertaining you continuously is not giving you a moment to pause, reflect or think.'
'If it weren't for Om Puri, a whole range of our big city experiences wouldn't have found their honest representations on the screen.'
Sukanya Verma gives us a lowdown on all those wonderful movies she saw and movies you need to see as and when they arrive to a screen or streaming space near you.
'He's always been an all-inspiring kind of director that nobody can surpass,' R Madhavan tells Subhash K Jha about Mani Ratnam.
'Whatever I have directed has been so far from my world.'
'He provokes you intellectually so hard that you really break out of your shell and come up with something creative.' 'He can extract a creation out of you, such is the power of Godard and his films.'
It is by no means a perfect list and I might have missed out some important films but these are films that have entertained me, taught me how to be compassionate, to view the world, and understand people, their histories, behaviors and customs.
Appearing before cheering fans at the star-studded opening ceremony of the Kolkata International Film Festival in Kolkata on Thursday, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan spoke of staying positive and alive, and on the new crop of historical films being steeped in 'fictionalised jingoism'.
From world cinema to old-fashioned whodunits, it's all there on OTT this week. Sukanya Verma makes her recommendations.
'...and showcased in their original beauty.'
'What an incredible opportunity to bring back one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema on the big screen.'
The next 12 months will see many world cinema heavyweights unveiling exciting new films.
'We didn't expect the film to be recognised at this level; we focused on making an honest and simple film.' 'We didn't have any expectations even like being appreciated at festivals.'
Medieval heroes, cursed heroes, monsters, scamsters, there's no dearth of action on OTT this week, Sukanya Verma tells us.
The actor was buried at the Versova Kabarstan in north west Mumbai.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances