PLUS: Our critic writes in from TIFF 2025
India vs Pakistan | Asia Cup 2025: All Eyes On Rivals Ahead Of Likely Rematch |
With both teams eyeing bragging rights and tournament momentum, Karan Pradhan previews the first of potentially three high-voltage IND vs PAK face-offs at the Asia Cup 2025. |
WITH TWO POINTS tucked comfortably in their respective back pockets, Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha will go face off in what is unarguably the marquee clash of the T20 Asia Cup . Given prev alent political conditions, bilateral series are currently impossible, and as a result, the only time you’ll see India play Pakistan in a cricket match is in an ICC/ACC tournament. Say what you will about organisers doing their utmost to shoehorn as many India-Pakistan encounters into a tournament (no matter how much it imbalances the groups), nothing comes close to the amount of attention and drama these matches generate. India made short work of the UAE in their opening encounter (something that can be attributed as much to the home team’s impatience with the bat as the visitors’ dominance) and after a laboured start, Pakistan swatted aside Oman with equal ease. This, both teams’ second in the group stage, is likely to be the sternest test either will face in the current section of the tournament, with a match each against Oman and UAE respectively to follow. Since their first-ever meeting on the T20I stage — a tied game in Durban that had to be decided by a bowl-out in 2007 — India and Pakistan have played each other a further 12 times in the format. The team in the blue corner have won nine of those and the team in the green corner has had to make do with just three. And the last time they met was in New York in the T20 World Cup last year. Continue reading... |
| | TIFF 2025 | CRITIC's NOTEBOOK |
| | It Was Just An Accident by Jafar Panahi: Effective Study of Compassion |
AT THIS POINT, it is impossible to extricate the myth of Jafar Panahi from the mythology of his films. His work is rooted in the historicity of Iran and, punctuated by his appearances, blurs the lines between fact and fiction. Panahi’s repeated inclusion of self in his films ( The Mirror, Taxi, No Bears) tethers them to his reality — a filmmaker striving to make films in politically hostile circumstances — and to the reality of the land. In It Was Just an Accident, the connection is further strengthened, even though he remains absent. The film, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, starts with an unbroken shot inside a car. It is night, and a family is returning home. Crucial details arise: the woman is pregnant, the man is silent, and their young daughter is sitting in the back of the car. She is jumpy and wants to hear the music loud. The man resists, and in the confusion, their car hits a dog. Restive silence fills the frame till the car breaks down. Help is far, but someone decides to help. Afar, another man watches the scene unfold. Continue reading... — Ishita Sengupta |
| Poetic License by Maude Apatow: When Three Is Company Too |
IN FILMS, the presence of three is inherently fodder. The arrangement can be disruptive, but it is mainly used by makers to arrive at familiar resolutions. In her wonderfully assured directorial debut, Poetic License, Maude Apatow flips the script. She takes three people, resists settling for sweeping endings and shakes things up for fun. It is a lovely detour that is consistently rewarding. Ari (Cooper Hoffman) and Sam (Andrew Barth Feldman) have been friends for a while. As students, their lives have been mostly spent on campus. Things, however, are about to change. The erudite Sam has his eyes set on a finance job, while rich Ari is still figuring things out. A poetry class together becomes their way of hanging out. But when Liz (Leslie Mann) sits with them in class, their attention towards each other wavers a little. And, there is a problem: Liz is a married woman with a daughter. Her professor-husband’s new job at the university brings her to a quiet town from Chicago, and she's auditing the poetry class they're all in. Continue reading... — I.S. |
| | The one newsletter you need to decide what to watch on any given day. Our editors pick a show, movie, or theme for you from everything that’s streaming on OTT. |
| This weekly newsletter compiles a list of the latest (and most important) reviews from OTTplay so you can figure what to watch or ditch over the weekend ahead. |
| In which we invite a scholar of cinema, devotee of the moving image, to write a prose poem dedicated to their poison of choice. Expect to spend an
hour on this. |
| | Hindustan Media Ventures Limited,
Hindustan Times House, 18-20,
Second Floor, Kasturba Gandhi
Marg, New Delhi - 110 001, India |
DOWNLOAD THE OTTPLAY APP ⬇️ |
| | Liked this newsletter? Share it using the buttons above ⬆️ |
If you need any guidance or support along the way, please send an email to ottplay@htmedialabs.com . We’re here to help! |
©️2025 OTTplay, HT Media Labs. All rights reserved. |
| | |
