Cinema Roundup + Favourite Films - March 2025
Superboys Of Malegaon (Reema Kagti)
There weren’t many new films released in our cinemas this month because it was Ramadan. Generally, cinemas here see a drop in number of audiences during Ramadan, so regional film distributors hold off releasing any new big titles. Which is why films like Black Bag by Steven Soderbergh and Mickey 17 by Bong Joon Ho are scheduled to be released here in April instead of March like everywhere else.
Favourite new releases:
Superboys of Malegon (Reema Kagti) - Reel Cinemas (Dubai Mall)
This was the standout film for me this month. Set in the late 1990s in Malegon, India, I did not know going in that it is based on a true story. When a local videographer makes a mashup of films starring Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films, to screen in a cinema run by his brother to attract audiences who have been dwindling, the rapturous reactions led him to make more. But this time to remake Bollywood classics by involving locals to act and help make the film. Films for the people of Malegon by the people of Malegon.
It that would pair well with Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind - both have similar themes of DIY remakes of blockbusters, friendship and community, but this one also addresses what happens when money, ambitions and fame get in the way. The film is charming, uplifting and bittersweet.
Salma (Joud Saeed) - Cinema City (Arabian Centre)
A Syrian film that appeared out of nowhere, if it weren’t for me checking the weekly cinema listings, I wouldn’t have known this was showing. Starring Sulaf Fawakhergi as Salma, a local hero who helped save lives during a recent earthquake that hit Syria. She is also struggling to make ends meet, and needs to produce a death certificate for her husband (who was imprisoned many years ago and there seems to be no trace of him in any official records) in order to to claim his pension and to facilitate other life admin, in a society rife with bureaucracy and corruption. The film is rough around the edges, but sharp on its commentary about the current state of politics.
Honorable mention:
A Working Man (David Ayer) - VOX Cinemas (Wafi)
This was released on March 27, a few days before the Eid Al Fitr holiday. I didn’t think it was as good as Ayer’s previous film The Beekeeper (also starring Jason Statham), but I had a good time nevertheless watching Statham as a construction worker (and a former black ops military man) tracking down, beating up and killing Russian sex traffickers and drug dealers who kidnapped his boss’s daughter. There’s a night time scene in a forest that is made to look like it is lit by a supermoon, and we also also hear Moonlight Sonata playing in a separate scene. I found myself intrigued by these moon related connections.
Other new releases that I wished I liked more:
Monsieur Aznavour (Grand Corps Malade, Mehdi Idir) - Cinema City (Arabian Centre)
French language film about Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) that I struggled to enjoy.
Opus (Mark Anthony Green) - Star Cinemas (Al Ghurair)
Liked the songs more than the actual film. The scene with John Malkovich singing 35mm works as a standalone music video.
Locked (David Yarovesky) - Reel Cinemas (Dubai Mall)
A mostly one location film set inside a hi-tech luxury SUV, where a break-in turns into a trap. A gripping start that faltered towards the end.
Rep Cinema
Four films starring Ranbir Kapoor were re-released this month and I watched all of them:
Bachna Ae Haseeno (Siddharth Anand, 2008) - Star Cinemas (Al Ghurair Centre)
Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (Shimit Amin, 2009) - VOX Cinemas (Wafi)
Rockstar (Imtiaz Ali, 2011) - VOX Cinemas (Grand Hyatt)
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (Ayan Mukerji, 2013) - Reel Cinemas (Dubai Mall)
I liked them all except for Rockstar, and as always, there were a few standout musical numbers, especially:
- Jogi Mahi in Bachna Ae Haseeno - the melodrama, the colours, the choreography!
- Balam Pichkari from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - I’m a sucker for a holi musical number (Jai Jai Shivshankar from War is another fav)
Both worth the ticket price alone to watch on a big screen.
Films watched in other spaces:
- How Love Moves (Pallavi Paul, 2023) at Sharjah Biennial 16. Thankfully there was a bench with a back rest in the exhibition space. Filmed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, about the care and work at an Islamic cemetery in Delhi amidst anti-muslim sentiments and violence.
- A selection of short films at Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, organised by Cineolio (founded by filmmaker Nawaf Al Janahi and a champion of showing short films publicly). https://www.cineolio.com/cinenights/140325
- Screening of Terra Femme (Courtney Stephens, 2021) at Jameel Arts Centre, a screening co-organised by me, and presented by The Culturist Film Club and Tamreez Inam.
