Streaming Now: Alia Bhatt-Sanjay Dutt’s Sadak 2 Drops Amid Nepotism Debate, Masaba Masaba is Fun Watch

After getting a lot of hate online, Sadak 2, the sequel to Mahesh Bhatt’s 1991 film, has premiered digitally. While the original, starring Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt, had earned much praise the sequel has been unlucky – first due to the lockdown and second because of the nepotism debate. But if you want to judge the sequel on merit, it’s streaming now on Disney+ Hotstar.

Two other big releases this week in the world of OTT were the Bobby Deol starrer web series Aashram, directed by Prakash Jha, and Masaba Masaba, based on the life of designer Masaba Gupta. Aashram promises all the thrills you expect from Prakash Jha, alongwith social commentary, while Masaba Masaba is a fun, dramatized representation of the lives of Neena Gupta and her daughter.

Here are the titles you should check out this week on streaming platforms.

Sadak 2 (Disney+ Hotstar)

The film is a sequel of Mahesh Bhatt’s 1991 film Sadak, and marks his return to direction after several years. Daughters Pooja and Alia Bhatt feature in the film, which also stars Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapur in prominent roles. The film is about Dutt’s character Ravi’s depression and how he helps a young woman’s (Alia) encounter with a godman, who is out to expose this fake guru running an ashram. This is the first time Alia is collaborating with her father Mahesh Bhatt and sister Pooja Bhatt. The film also marks the return of Mahesh Bhatt as a director after a long time. The film released amid the raging nepotism debate in the industry, while drawing flak for featuring starkids.

Masaba Masaba (Netflix)

An unconventional life, famous mother, her fashion label, complicated matters of the heart, even an unusual name – Masaba Gupta has been juggling all of this. She is now appearing in a fiction series inspired by her life story, which gives you a sneak peek into the contrasting lives she lives. Titled Masaba Masaba, the Netflix show is a celebration of her life, successes and failures alike, packing in a ton of fun, laughter and tongue-in-cheek humour that is synonymous with her and her mother, Neena Gupta.

Aashram (MX Player)

Prakash Jha makes his digital directorial debut with this new web series that has Bobby Deol play a godman, who pretends to be holy on the outside but indulges in ungodly deeds in secret. Baba Nirala (Bobby Deol) is a new age godman, who surrounds himself with mod cons: a sprawling ashram spread over what looks like many acres, fleets of shiny SUVs, tons of staff and huge fan following which flocks for his daily ‘darshan’. Aashram shows the world of shady godmen interspersed with the evils of the caste system and exploitation of women in the name of religion. Besides Bobby, the cast includes Chandan Roy Sanyal, Darshan Kumar, Aaditi Pohankar, Anupriya Goenka, Adhyayan Suman, Sachin Shroff, and Tridha Choudhury.

Maniyarayile Ashokan (Netflix)

Dulquer Salmaan has co-produced the Malayalam movie Maniyarayile Ashokan and will also be seen in a cameo as a navy officer. Written and directed by Shamzu Zayba, the film is a romantic comedy that revolves around a man’s struggle to get married. From the trailer, the movie seems to be a comment on society’s marriage centric ideals and also its obsession with fair skin. The film also stars Anupama Parameswaran, Shine Tom Chacko, Krishna Sankar. Maniyarayile Ashokan will drop on Netflix on August 31.

C U Soon (Amazon Prime Video)

Malayalam film C U Soon stars actor Fahadh Faasil and has been directed and edited by Mahesh Narayan, while Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran also play pivotal roles. CU Soon is a gripping drama about a software engineer from Kerala who has to help his Dubai-based cousin find his missing fiancé, after she leaves behind a video-based suicide note. The entire movie has been shot with a phone camera in a controlled and restricted environment during the lockdown.

We’ll be back with more new releases on OTT platforms next week.