A wedding unraveling a dysfunctional family, an espionage thriller, a gangster drama, a fantasy thriller and a period actioner. Here are five films streaming on ZEE5 to binge on this Navratri weekend.
Love, Sitara
Directed by: Vandana Kataria
Cast: Sobhita Dhulipala, Rajeev Siddhartha, Sonali Kulkarni, B. Jayashree, Virginia Rodrigues, Sanjay Bhutiani
Love, Sitara begins with a Kerala wedding, introducing Sobhita Dhulipala’s character, Tara, and her dysfunctional family who are experts at masking the hypocrisy and secrets threatening to tear them apart. Tara’s own life is far from ideal. Early on, she panics after discovering she’s pregnant despite using contraception and impulsively proposes to her chef boyfriend, Arjun, hiding the truth. Their wedding is scheduled at Tara’s childhood home, which serves as an occasion to look at the state of Indian marriage.
Berlin
Directed by: Atul Sabharwal
Cast: Aparshakti Khurana, Ishwak Singh, Rahul Bose
Set in 1993 New Delhi, Atul Sabharwal’s latest film follows Ashok Kumar (Ishwak Singh), a deaf-mute man suspected of being a spy and murderer. Pushkin Verma (Aparshakti Khurana), a sign language expert, is brought in to help interrogate Ashok but he soon gets sucked into a dangerous web of espionage involving rival intelligence agencies and political power play. Jagdish Sondhi (Rahul Bose), head of the Soviet Desk, questions whether a man like Ashok could truly be a spy. This gripping thriller explores internal politics and the murky world of information trading.
Murshid
Directed by: Shravan Tiwari
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Tanuj Virwani, Vedika Bhandari, Zakir Hussain
In Shravan Tiwari’s gangster series, Kay Kay Menon plays the titular role of a once-feared gangster who is drawn back into a violent world when his ally-turned-foe Farid (Zakir Hussain) disrupts his peaceful retirement. Murshid rose to power after killing a rival and taking control of Mumbai’s underworld. Following his son’s death, he renounced crime, donating his fortune and passing on the reins to the ambitious but reckless Farid. When Murshid’s younger son Junaid (Ashish Sharma) is framed by Farid’s men and targeted by Afghan dealers, Murshid returns to action, leveraging his network to rescue ?????WHO??????him.
Gyaarah Gyaarah
Directed by: Umesh Bist
Cast: Kritika Kamra, Raghav Juyal, Dhairya Karwa, Aakash Dixit
This is a fantasy thriller series based on the Korean drama Signal (2016). Set across three decades — 1990, 2001 and 2016 — the show combines mystery, science and mysticism. The story unfolds in Uttarakhand, where in 2016, police inspector Yug Arya (Raghav Juyal) begins to receive mysterious transmissions from Shaurya Anthwal (Dhairya Karwa), dating back to 1990, 1998 and 2001, through an old walkie-talkie. These timelines intersect briefly at exactly 11:11pm. Together, Yug and Shaurya work to solve cases across their respective eras.
Veduthalai: Part 1
Directed by: Vetrimaaran
Cast: Soori, Vijay Sethupathi, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Rajiv Menon, Bhavani Sre
Viduthalai is a Tamil language crime thriller directed by Vetrimaaran, based on Jeyamohan’s short story Thunaivan. Set in 1987, the film follows constable Kumaresan (Soori), who is assigned the task to capture separatist leader Vaathiyar Perumal (Vijay Sethupathi), suspected of orchestrating a train derailment as a protest against the government’s mining plans. As he uncovers cases of police brutality and falls in love with Pappa (Bhavani Sre), a villager, Kumaresan faces a moral dilemma about capturing Perumal.
