Although Baahubali 2: The Conclusion is still holding strong in cinemas, several films across languages are trying to woo audiences away from SS Rajamouli’s gigatonne.
Meri Pyaari Bindu (Hindi) Akshay Roy’s directorial debut follows the lives of a writer and a singer in 1980s Kolkata. The romantic comedy stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra and has been scored by Sachin-Jigar.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Guy Ritchie takes a bash at revisiting the legend of King Arthur, the highly mythicised British ruler from the fifth century AD. Charlie Hunnam plays Arthur, Eric Bana plays his father, Jude Law is evil warlord Vortigern and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey plays Arthur’s wife Guinevere.
Lens (Tamil) Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan’s directorial debut deals with voyeurism in today’s digital world. A married man who is estranged from his wife because of his addiction to virtual experiences is invited to witness a stranger’s suicide on Skype.
Sarkar 3 In the third edition of the Sarkar franchise, Amitabh Bachchan reprises his role as Mumbai mob boss Subhash Nagre. Ram Gopal Varma’s film claims to feature an “angrier than ever” Nagre. Amit Sadh plays Nagre’s grandson, Manoj Bajpayee is a political activist who opposes violence, while Yami Gautam is the daughter of one of Nagre’s old enemies.
Alien: Covenant (English) Ridley Scott returns with the second installment of the space horror prequel series. Michael Fassbender plays Walter, an android similar to David from Prometheus (2012). Walter and the ship Covenant hunt for a planet that supports human settlements. The film also stars Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride and Demián Bichir.
Ramante Edanthottam (Malayalam) Kunchacko Boban plays a middle-aged man who owns a forest resort, into which walks the woman of his dreams (Anu Sithara). The film has been written and directed by Ranjith Sankar.
Posto (Bengali) Director duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy directed a drama about modern-day parenting. Soumitra Chatterjee plays a grandfather who fights his daughter and son-in-law for the custody of his beloved grandson.
Lahoriye (Punjabi) Set against the backdrop of the Partition, this Amberdeep Singh drama follows two young lovers who are separated by the events of 1947. The film stars Amrinder Gill and Sargun Mehta.
Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (Tamil) A classic star-crossed romance gets political overtones in this Udhayanidhi Stalin starrer. Directed by Ezhil, the action comedy also stars Regina Cassandra, Srushti Dange and Soori.
Radha (Telugu) Sharwanand Myneni plays a wisecracking cop, sharing screen space with Lavanya Tripathi. The police comedy also stars Ashish Vidyarthi. Chandra Mohan Chintada, who has been an assistant director in Telugu cinema, makes his directorial debut.
Maasthi Gudi (Kannada) Set in the hill ranges of Karnataka, the semi-period film stars Vijay Kumar BR and Kriti Kharbanda and explores environmental damage and poaching. The movie has been written by Kumar and directed by Nagshekar. The film was mired in controversy over the drowning of actors Anil Kumar and Raghav Uday during production.
Venkatapuram (Telugu) Starring Rahul Haridas of Happy Days fame, this Telugu thriller follows the life of an innocent who is slapped with false murder allegations. Written and directed by debutant Venu Madikanti, the film also features Mahima Makhwana, Ajay and Ajaygosh.
Liftman (Kannada) Veteran Kannada actor Sunder Raj plays a lift operator working at Karanataka’s Vidhana Soudha. A huge chunk of the film transpires in a lift. The film has been written and directed by Kaaranji Shreedhar.