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Mimi(Netflix, Jio Cinema)

Starring Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi

Directed by Laxman Utekar

Somewhere in the middle of the paternity muddle created by a screenplay that is smart and savvy but not always logical, a doctor played by Jaya Bhattacharya looks straight at expectant mother Kriti Sanon and says, “Your unborn child will be born disabled…. He has Down Syndrome”.

What????!!!!

Later the child is born perfectly normal. No one thinks of taking legal action against this abominably ill-informed doctor. Instead there is the child’s legal parents, an American couple who should be denied visas the next time they decide to come to India to collect a baby, threatening to take the child’s biological mother to court. Pregnant pauses are alien to the world created in this entertaining but somewhat irksome dramedy.

But hang on. Mimi is not as heavyhanded as it seems to be. It has its...

Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, FandangoNOW, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical Action Point (comedy; Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Johnny Pemberton, Aidan Whytock, Joe Vaz, Leon Clingman; rated R) Deadpool 2 God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness (family drama; David A.R. White, John...

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."  - Oscar WildeThe Actor made my Springbok Cinema list for 2015, putting it among the very best South African films to cross my path last year. This came as a surprise to me, considering what I knew going in: that The Actor was a $4,000 found-footage indie thriller by a first-time feature director and his small band of aspiring filmmakers. What I did not know going in was that Aidan Whytock - the director, as well as titular Actor, and producer, and co-writer - is a budding South African auteur, and that he would wring more thought from me with his discomforting debut than almost any other filmmaker...

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The Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is an iconic Southern African antelope, and treasured among South Africa's iconography as an emblem of excellence. By "Springbok Cinema" I therefore mean to infer South African filmmaking that I feel embodies this spirit of excellence. Spirit is key. Aidan Whytock's profoundly personal and disturbing The Actor cost less than $4,000 and remains largely unseen, but wrung more thought from me than almost any film I saw this year. Festivals - play this film! Chappie cost $50 million and was widely panned by critics, but I found its flaws irrelevant in the face of Neill Blomkamp's inspired collaboration with Ninja and ¥o-Landi Vi$$er of Die Antwoord. In fact, some sharp-eyed readers may recognize the Springbok emblem I've used below; it first appeared on the lapel of...

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Oh, the lengths that some people are willing to go through to further their career. In the South African horror flick The Actor, someone is taking their preparation for a potential role a few too many steps too far. Simon (Aidan Whytock) lives for two things: his dream of becoming an acclaimed actor, and his love for Sarah (Heidi Bottcher), his twelve-year old daughter he only gets to see on the weekends. Unfortunately, as his ex-wife Emily (Shannyn Fourie) often points out, his career is stagnating, and Nathan (Gregory Parvess), his best friend turned agent, isn't trying that hard to help him.So, when Simon is offered a chance to audition for the role of a man possessed by a demon, he decides to go the distance,...

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