Tarudeep Baidya

One of the most overhyped web series of all time. I understand why a section of the audience might find it entertaining, but the way certain Bollywood insiders — like Karan Johar and Farah Khan — are glorifying this series and Aryan Khan is beyond comprehension. These are the same people who publicly claim that nepotism doesn’t exist, yet time and again they promote mediocrity created within their own circle while conveniently ignoring truly powerful, well-made content. Let’s be honest — where was this level of enthusiasm when masterpieces like Sacred Games, Scam 1992, Scam 2003, Aspirants, Kota Factory, Panchayat, Kaala Paani, NCR Days, or Sapne vs Everyone were released? Each of these series delivers storytelling, performances, and depth that completely outclass The Ba**ds of Bollywood*. Take Sapne vs Everyone, for instance — a series that’s relevant, philosophical, and deeply impactful. Yet, because it comes from an outsider like Ambrish Verma, it doesn’t get the same industry backing. That’s the hypocrisy that continues to plague Bollywood — an ecosystem that claims inclusivity while systematically sidelining genuine, outsider-driven creativity. From an audience perspective, I expected a raw, unfiltered look into the underbelly of Bollywood — something that exposes the industry’s real workings. Instead, what we got was a heavily fictionalized, glossy version that does no justice to the premise. At one point, Bobby Deol is shown chasing the lead trio in a sports car on an under-construction flyover, eventually launching off it — a sequence so absurd it completely breaks the illusion of realism. If this is what’s being hailed as Aryan Khan’s “brilliance” as a director, then it’s a sad reflection of how low the bar has been set by industry insiders. Rather than pushing shallow, overproduced vanity projects, Bollywood needs to start supporting content that’s actually worth the audience’s time — content that is genuine, thought-provoking, and impactful. The only redeeming aspect of this series? It gave Rajat Bedi’s career a much-deserved revival — and for that, I’ll genuinely give credit. But beyond that, this show is just another glossy example of how nepotism continues to suffocate creativity in Bollywood.

Few days ago I saw this podcast where Ashish Chanchalani was talking heavily about "Maanaadu" calling it the best time loop movie ever. He also spoke about how this movie comes across so logical in terms of showcasing "time loop". This intrigued me into watching this movie. Talking about the acting performances: the leading man (Silambarasan) gave a mediocre performance. By mediocre, I mean it didn't feel like he was meant to play that character. It felt like as if that particular role could have been done better by some other actor. No doubt Kalyani Priyadarshin is a phenomenal actress. But the character played by her came across as a total dum-dum throughout the film. If there's one actor who did complete justice to the screen time given was none other than S. J. Suryah. My God, another outstanding performance in his filmography. He came across as a perfect antagonist for this movie. Now talking about the script and overall movie experience, it was indeed an edge-of-the-seat thriller film. The storytelling was gripping and kept me engaged throughout the film. Also, Ashish Chanchalani was somewhat right about what he said. We can see a logical (although mythological I would say) explanation for the time loop thing. Most importantly, both protagonist & antagonist are in the time loop and both are doing their best to outsmart each other. The fight between protagonist & antagonist involved more of mind games and less of fist fights. Overall, the movie came across as a really smart movie.

Heard a lot about this movie on various blogs. Hence decided to give it a try. The movie is way too fast paced. No story, no plot, no build-up. The dialogue delivery of lead actors were not at all up to the mark. At times, it felt like as if they were talking to themselves. I saw Tanya Maniktala's work before. She is a good actress but her talent is totally under utilized in this movie. Raghav undoubtedly delivered an impactful performance. He was the only one who was well into the character. But still better direction and script would have added more value to his performance. There was absolutely no point in casting veteran actors like Harsh Chhaya & Ashish Vidyarthi and wasting their talent & experience in such a manner. Now talking about its action sequences, many people on the internet were comparing it with Hollywood movies like "John Wick" and calling "Kill" the best Indian movie in action genre. After watching the movie, it felt like the blog writers were drunk or something to make such an illogical comparison. And this movie is no where close to being the best Indian movie in action genre. One thing is clear. The producers of the movie spent zillions on blog writers to create valuable content around the movie and eventually create buzz and word-of-mouth of the movie. Overall, this movie is painful to watch.