As we approach the end of August, OTT platforms have ramped up their content output, offering ample options for people to binge-watch shows and movies throughout the weekend. No one wants to waste time scrolling through streaming apps for hours, and so, we’ve come back with a list of films and shows that’ll keep you entertained. The new Star Wars live-action series Ahsoka is easily the standout, with Rosario Dawson returning to investigate an emerging threat in the galaxy far, far away. It’s already out on Disney+ Hotstar. Meanwhile, on the Indian content front, we’ve got Guns & Gulaabs, the retro-style crime-comedy from Raj & DK that blends romance, action, and nostalgia into a fine paste.
For Indian hip-hop fans, we’ve got Bajao, which navigates the Punjabi pop music industry via the eyes of three young filmmakers who’ve found themselves in big trouble. The series marks rapper Raftaar’s acting debut, and is now streaming on JioCinema. On the movie side, the Gal Gadot and Alia Bhatt-led Heart of Stone is a major one, continuing its #1 global rank, as per Netflix’s charts.
With that, here’s a guide on what to watch this weekend:
Ahsoka
When: Now streaming
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano makes her long-awaited live-action debut in the latest series from Dave Filoni, as she embarks on a new adventure to take on General Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who is poised to return as the heir to the Galactic Empire. Her effort is compounded by having to deal with her strained past — specifically, her former student Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) — an expert on explosives — who was abandoned mid-training and therefore has a bone to pick with her master. Completing the trio of returning Star Wars Rebels characters is the Twi’lek ace pilot Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), navigating the stars via her starship ‘Ghost.’
The series will also pit Ahsoka against her former master Anakin Skywalker, who we know will eventually turn to the dark side and be known as the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Hayden Christensen will be reprising that role, presumably touching on his reasons for abandoning Ahsoka many years prior. Meanwhile, the dark force honing Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his student Shin (Ivanna Sakho) serve as other major hurdles in Ahsoka’s path to saving the fragile New Republic.
The first two episodes of Ahsoka are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The remaining six will drop on a weekly basis, every Tuesday, until October 3.
Best Star Wars TV Series to Watch Before Ahsoka
Bajao
When: Now streaming
Where: JioCinema
A trio of young aspiring filmmakers — Ved (Tanuj Virwani), Dhaari (Sahil Khattar), and Cookie (Sahil Vaid) — strike a deal with a problematic hip-hop icon Babbar (Raftaar) to make a music video that would herald his comeback to the rap scene. Their lives soon take a disastrous turn when a night of celebration turns to chaos, causing them to lose a bag of Rs. 2 crore in cash, and the rapper missing. With no recollection of their memory and a 48-hour countdown, Bajao swells into a twisted search and rescue mission, navigating hip-hop culture and street crime, all the while dealing with a local gangster, whom the filmmakers appear to have wronged.
Yes, that last part is quite reminiscent of Todd Phillips’ The Hangover, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the missing rapper had been right under their noses the entire time.
Jio Studios Unveils Content Slate With 62 Titles: Raftaar-led Bajao, Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki, More
Satyaprem Ki Katha
When: Now streaming
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Kartik Aaryan stars in this musical love story as Satyaprem aka Sattu, a good-for-nothing law school dropout, who always dreams — literally — about getting married to a beautiful woman, but gets rejected for being jobless. However, the realisation doesn’t strike him hard until much later, when he encounters a mesmerising dancer Katha (Kiara Advani), who is way out of his league and is looking to marry the ideal husband — something Satyaprem isn’t.
That said, fate has different plans for him and the pair end up getting married, much to Katha’s dismay, forcing Sattu to improve his ways and become a worthy husband, while being understanding of her dark secret. Marking director Sameer Vidwans’ first Hindi-language film, Satyaprem Ki Katha also stars Gajraj Rao (Maja Ma), Supriya Pathak (Rashmi Rocket), and Rajpal Yadav (Phir Hera Pheri).
Heart of Stone
When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix
After partaking in a sleek heist in Netflix’s Red Notice, Gal Gadot is now slipping into the role of Rachel Stone, an international spy working for the Charter, an elusive group with no political leanings that relies on a mysterious asset called ‘The Heart’ for its day-to-day tasks. It’s basically a powerful AI that keeps track of a person’s digital footprint to create data that helps predict potential global threats and deliver odds of success in thwarting them. That prize soon gets stolen by the mysterious hacker Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), kickstarting a globetrotting hunt across the snowy mountaintops to even some risky airborne manoeuvres.
Heart of Stone also stars Jamie Dornan (Belfast) as the MI6 agent Parker, Matthias Schweighöfer (Army of the Dead) as the Charter’s tech specialist ‘Jack of Hearts,’ and Sophie Okenedo (Hotel Rwanda) as its leader Nomad.
Guns & Gulaabs
When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix
Guns & Gulaabs serves as an ode to Bollywood in the mid-90s, focusing its sights on a fictional cartel-run town called Gulaabganj, where a group of outlandish characters try making a name for themselves. Among them, we’ve got Rajkummar Rao’s (Monica, O My Darling) Paana Tipu, a lovesick mechanic distraught by his father’s death, who murders a couple of thugs by shoving a spanner down their throats. Hence the first name: Paana.
Then there’s Chhotu Ganchi (Adarsh Gourav), the reluctant heir to a drug empire, who struggles with transporting a large amount of opium and is hell-bent on making his father proud. Adding some spice to this interconnecting drama is a local goofy assassin named ‘4 Cut Aatmaram’ (Gulshan Devaiah), notorious for killing his victims with four stabs of a switchblade. He never breaks his rule.
Adding some normalcy to the otherwise cartoonish characters is the honest narcotics Officer Arjun Varma (Dulquer Salmaan), who turns into a chaos agent when asked to turn corrupt and help out with smuggling opium. It’s an all-around quirky story that jumps between its characters and focuses on worldbuilding in the first half before things fall into place to unfold a revenge arc, heartbreak, and the taste of sweet innocence through the eyes of three schoolmates. Adding to its aura are the vintage titles, pop-culture references, and some classical music suited to the time period to best immerse you in Raj & DK’s newly-crafted world.
Aakhri Sach
When: August 25 (Now streaming)
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Hard-nosed investigative officer Anya (Tamannaah Bhatia) is summoned to solve a bizarre case, in which the 11 members of a ‘regular’ family were found dead — 10 of them were found hanging in the courtyard of their residence. Yep, this new Hotstar Specials show is based on the infamous real-life Burari deaths from 2018, where it was concluded that the family had committed mass suicide. While going about her investigation, Anya discovers an odd connection between the house’s layout with the family member count — there are 11 windows, 11 doors, and 11 odd pipes peeking out of a wall, making for a rather perplexing case. The only solid account she has is a set of diaries maintained by the family members.
Robbie Grewal — best known for Romeo Akbar Walter — directs all episodes of Aakhri Sach, which also stars Abhishek Banerjee (Paatal Lok) as Anya’s junior officer, and Shivin Narang as a key suspect.
