The Housemaid makes up for a few hiccups with a series of sharply staged shocks, resulting in a fun and satisfying thriller, notes Mayur Sanap.
Big films like Dhurandhar, Chhava and Kantara: Chapter 1 hit box office gold in 2025, and its directors, Aditya Dhar, Laxman Utekar and Rishab Shetty, have proved their worth. But many other directors made an impact with their 2025 releases, in various languages.
In the year gone by, quite a few of the younger actors flexed their acting muscle. Whether the films were blockbusters or not is immaterial, what matters is the effort put in.
Why did Lifestyle Asia magazine honour these Bollywood personalities?
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
'A majority of filmmakers cannot truly understand the city because they don't live here,' says Anusha Rizvi, Director, The Great Shamsuddin Family.
'Nawaz's character was created around Vikram Betaal.' 'Betaal was a little more gimmicky, funny; he would laugh at you, tease you.' 'That's why I made Nawaz very quirky.'
In 2025, OTT series were entertaining enough, even though most were in the crime genre.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday slammed his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath over the language row, calling his remarks "political black comedy." Stalin said his state was not opposing a language, but its "imposition and chauvinism." He also claimed that Tamil Nadu's voice on the two language policy and fair delimitation "is echoing nationwideand the BJP is clearly rattled." Stalin was reacting to Yogi's reported allegations that the DMK government was indulging in divisive tactics by using language issue. BJP state president K Annamalai hit back at Stalin, claiming the DMK leader owns private schools that teach three languages but opposes the same policy for government school students in Tamil Nadu.
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
Agra is weird, even ambitiously so, as the film moves between being disturbing and just plain odd, it doesn't fully land on either side, observes Mayur Sanap.
Pankaj Kapur, who visibly enjoys playing the ringmaster to this family circus, is the glue that holds Thode Door Thode Paas together, observes Deepa Gahlot.
A look at the interesting movie releases lined up for November.
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
Dharmendra remained one of the most loved stars of all time, even when his movies tapered off, and age caught up with him.
'The industry has lost a legend... and we've lost someone who shaped the very soul of our cinema.'
'We have come to the point in civilisation where emotion seems to be something you hide or you have to be discreet about, or to be ashamed of.'
'He was a joyful man. He was always content with his life and never ran after money.'
'It's heartening to see that the festive energy is being driven not only by star-led blockbusters but also by fresh, content-rich films.'
Today, says Twinkle Khanna, motherhood is very different. "You're like a psychologist, you're their trainer, you're the nutritionist, you're seeing how many carbs they're eating, how many vitamins they're having, you're their chef, you're an educator and you are also their screen monitor. And you still have to make the hair along with that."
We look at the longest Hindi movies through the years, and interestingly, most of them have done well.
'In the beginning of Thamma, he's a common man like all of us. At the end of the film, he's a sexy beast!'
It looks like Diljit is having a field day with this one, one hopes his joy rubs off on viewers as well, notes Mayur Sanap.
'Earlier, the comedy track used to run parallel to the main story with songs et al.' 'Nowadays, it's just once one scene here and there.'
'Aamir Khan and Salman Khan were already very busy. Then, Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor started signing more films, Paresh Rawalji also got busy... 'Rajkumar Santoshiji got offered Damini he was very excited about it. He told dad that since her dates were available, let me do this film quickly. But aisa hota toh nahin. That film also took time. 'So sabke dates ka problem ho gaya, including the director's.'
'The heavens will be a merrier and a happier place now.' Colleagues pay homage to Satish Shah who passed into the ages on Saturday.
September has packed in quite a bit on OTT, with many series and movies seeing their digital premiere. Joginder Tuteja lists the OTT menu for the month.
Inspector Zende had the potential to be genuinely entertaining. Instead, it settles for formulaic fun, observes Mayur Sanap.
The comedy is unfunny, the emotional bits are dubious and the music forgettable in Heer Express, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Stephen Graham won two awards at the Emmys, including Best Actor for his role in Netflix's hit drama Adolescence as well as Best Writing alongside co-creator Jack Thorne.
Asrani may have never been a marquee name up in sparkling lights or on outsized posters but the sheer proficiency with which he realised his characters has unleashed gales of laughter over five decades and made a significant contribution to several landmark films. Dinesh Raheja salutes the iconic actor.
Born on June 25, 1951, Shah was a prominent figure in Indian cinema and television. His career spanned several decades, during which he earned acclaim for his comedic timing in movies such as Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Maalamaal, Hero Hiralal, Main Hoon Na and Kal Ho Naa Ho.
September is going to be an exciting month in theatres.
It was a black weekend for the Bollywood box office, as close to half a dozen new films arrived in theatres and all of them flopped!
After Aneet Padda, Bollywood gets ready for yet another promising actress to storm the big screen.
'Look after your own mother before looking after your neighbour's mother.' 'I don't believe in starving my own mother and feeding sweets to the neighbours.'
'I'm totally focussed on finding the right energies around me. A lot of the treatment is psychosomatic, as my mother keeps reiterating, if you think positive, positive things will happen to you.'
Flms belonging to genres as diverse as comedy, drama, romance, crime, and history get ready for release in theatres.
'We don't make films for profit and that's exactly why profit follows.'
This year, the genre has done especially well, with films like Stree 2 and Munjya. Will Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 keep up the momentum?
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