A gist of new movies in theaters this week and what they offer

• Chup: Revenge of the Artist (Hindi): One of the highly rated movies this week, Chup starring Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol in the lead is a thriller directed by R. Balki and is about a psychopath serial-murdering film critics giving inappropriate ratings to films. The movie comes with strong technicals and performances from Dulquer, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Saranya Ponvannan among others. [Chup Review]

• Dhoka: Round D Corner (Hindi): Despite starring names of repute like Madhavan, Aparshakthi Khurrana, Darshan Kumar among others, this suspense thriller/hostage drama has been widely criticized for bad writing and poor performances. The story revolves around a husband-wife/terrorist-police quad and keeps the audience guessing on who's telling the truth and who's not.    

• Chattambi (Malayalam): This film is directed by a debutant named Abhilash S Kumar and stars Sreenath Bhasi in the lead. It is about a violent man's last days and a fate that befalls him. The movie has been praised for its intriguing plot and its screenplay for being engrossing despite no twists, turns or songs. 

• Buffoon (Tamil): A crime thriller starring actor Vaibhav in the lead, the movie is about how two stage artists become pawns in a political power game and are falsely implicated in a police case. Watchable film for sure. [Buffoon Review]

• Trigger (Tamil): A cop thriller starring Atharvaa in the lead, Trigger follows a second generation policeman's resolute behind stopping a criminal mastermind and his nefarious child-racket. Also makes for a decent watch among releases this week. [Trigger Review]

• Aadhaar (Tamil):  Starring Karunas, Rythvika, Iniya, Arun Pandian among others, Aadhar is about a the road to justice after a labourer's wife goes mysteriously missing a day after delivering a baby. The movie comes with a compelling story, but old fashioned melodrama as well.  

• Dongalunnaru Jagratha (Telugu): Telugu version of the Argentine-Spanish crime thriller 4x4 (2019), this film starring Sri Simha, Samuthirakani among others is about how a small time thief breaks into a customized car and gets trapped in it. Why was he trapped, why can't he escape and what is Samuthirakani character's connection to then unfolds in a nail-biting manner.

• Krishna Vrinda Vihari (Telugu): A light-hearted drama surrounding an orthodox family and a culturally crossed romance, Krisha Vrinda Vihari stars Naga Shaurya, Shirley Setia, Raadika Sarathkumar among others and makes for a decent one time watch. 

• Others: World's most famous live action movie Avatar (2009) has re-released with much fan-fare in India this week. It follows a paraplegic marine named Jake who is sent on mission to a place named Pandora, inhabited by people called the Navi. How he borders the bridge between humans and Navi and tackles challenges along the way forms the rest of this visually stunning story.
  • Other films in theaters this week include Mollywood actor Shankar's Ormmakalil (Malayalam),  a bilingual titled Prem Geet 3 (Hindi/Nepali), Ikshu (multilingual), which is a drama about a 16 year old trying to find his missing parents, a romance drama titled Kuzhali (Tamil) and a suspense thriller called Drama (Tamil).