Oscar-nominated American drama Little Women to compete with Hindi movie offerings

Historical drama Shikara starring Aadil Khan and Sadia directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra is ultimately weak as far as the history lesson goes. Admirably shot by Rangarajan Ramabran and tightly edited by Chopra, Shikara resists the seduction of a grand-sweep narrative for an intimately observed story of a tragedy that is leavened by love. Chopra’s first film in five years is his most restrained yet.

The film focuses more on the lead couple than the problems of the refugees in general. Though a mass exodus is shown, the hurdles this huge group of people must have faced are all but glanced over. It’s as if the director doesn’t want to go there. This reluctance steals the film of some of its gravitas. The lead pair, however, impress with their natural ease in front of the camera.

Romantic action drama Malang starring Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Disha Patani directed by Mohit Suri wastes a lot of time setting up the story; far less is assigned to unravelling the mystery or providing adequate backstory to all the characters. The thriller ultimately raises more questions than it answers.

Kaanchli Life in a Slough starring Sanjay Mishra directed by Dedipya Joshii is low on content and high on skin show, . The predictability of the plot, a strong sense of directionlessness seeping through the plotline and its overall presentation makes this film a humdrum of an A-rated movie.

American period drama Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen and Laura Dern comes to India this week. This follow-up adaptation of an American classic takes an overly familiar story and makes it immediate and important and daring. Warm but never wishy-washy, cosy without being cutesy, this is a superb adaptation of the source and further evidence that Gerwig is the real deal.