The choices for this weekend on our weekly recommendations on Indian OTT platforms are dominated by South Indian movies. Three, to be precise. One each from Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
And one of them is straight on the streaming platform release. That would be the Tamil movie Teddy.
The Kannada movie Act 78 is making it to the OTT platform very soon after its release in theatres.
The Telugu release, Naandhi, is also fresh off cinema halls.
These three top movies once again underline the rising power of OTT platforms in India.
We round off the weekly recommendation with two web series in Hindi. Qubool Hai 2.0 and Love J Action — both, incidentally, belong to the romance genre.
Naandhi
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Director: Vijay Kanakamedala
Cast: Allari Naresh, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Priyadarshi
Synopsis: It is a gripping thriller. It is about a middle-class youngster who is a software engineer. His wedding is fixed with a girl of his choice, and in the happiness, he books a flat. As it happens, while returning home, he is stopped by the police and arrested for the murder of a social activist. the case drags on and the young man is undertrial for five years.
Now, a new woman cop follows up this case, and he manages to get a bail. Can he prove his innocence as he is out now? Allari Naresh’s bravura performance as the sinned-against youngster is the talking point of the industry now.
Language: Telugu
Platform: Aha
Release date: March 12, 2021.
Teddy
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Director: Shakti Soundar Rajan
Cast: Arya, Sayesha Saigal, Sakshi Agarwal, Sathish, Karunakaran, Magizh Thirumeni, Shabeer Kallarakkal
Synopsis: Any movie that skips release in theatres and makes it to an OTT platform carries in it an attraction. Any movie that features real-life couple in the leads adds its own attraction.
Teddy, releasing directly on Disney+ Hotstar, with the husband and wife team of Arya and Sayesha, ticks both the boxes.
This is said to be a fantasy thriller, and one that seems to have borrowed from the Hollywood comedy movie Ted. But this one is not an out-and-out comedy movie as it tackles the story of organ trafficking.
The talking teddy bear is the major attraction of the film. But it has enough meat in the writing to keep you invested in the lives of the other characters in the film. Maghizh Thirumeni, who is a director, plays an important role in the film. The action scenes have been shot entirely in Azerbaijan.
Language: Tamil
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Release date: March 12, 2021.
Love J Action
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Director: Saurabh Tewari
Cast: Anud Singh Dhaka, Kangan Baruah Nangia, Puru Chibber, Rohit Chaudhary, Priyank Tiwari
Synopsis: This romantic-drama-meets-suspense series traces the aftermath of a lover-boy’s quest to find the girl of his dreams. It’s a large-hearted story set in a small city. It is about making sincere attempts in life. As one line from the series’ promo said “Koshish karne walo ki Kabhi har nahi hoti” (There is no defeat for those who keep trying).
The story is about love but there is plenty of drama and action surrounding it. There is a case of mistaken identity. There is false understanding of kidnap. Everything adds up to a nice spicy broth.
Language: Hindi
Platform: SonyLiv
Release date: March 12, 2021.
Qubool Hai 2.0
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Director: Ankush Mohla and Glen Baretto
Cast: Karan Singh Grover, Surbhi Jyoti, Lillete Dubey, Mandira Bedi, Sourab Raj Jain
Synopsis: The characters of Asad and Zoya that made a huge impact on many viewers when they arrived through in the first season of Qubool Hai. Not just them, many characters in the 10-episoded second season of this Hindi series make a comeback.
But their “universe” is entirely different this time. For starters, it has been shot at different locations. And the treatment with more action and intrigue offer a fair bit of variety. Karan Singh Grover, as the taciturn man with OCD, is at again. His action capers are the highlight of the series, which, as it happens, is still about love and bonding.
Language: Hindi
Platform: Zee5
Release date: March 12, 2021.
Act 78
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Director: Mansore (Manjunatha Somashekara Reddy)
Cast: Yajna Shetty, Pramod Shetty, B Suresha, Achyuth Kumar, Avinash
Synopsis: This was the first Kannada film to be released in theatres after the Covid-19 lockdown was relaxed. Already, the film has made it to Amazon Prime Video. The trailer of the film tickled most viewers’ expectation. A pregnant walks into a government building and holds the office and the people who work there as hostages, after it is revealed that she is a human bomb.
This premise is good for enticing most people. And it is supposedly based on an incident that the director Mansore had witnessed.
But the story is about bureaucratic apathy and red-tapism. It brings out the pain that government Acts (refer to the title) inflicts on those governed by them. The film also adroitly manages to faithfully portray the media’s insensitive role in such issues.
Language: Kannada
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Release date: March 12, 2021.
Three action packed movies and two love-based series. You can’t ask for a better weekend viewing.