Homegrown Watchlist: 4 Films You Should Watch In January

If you know me in real life, you know I don’t watch a lot of films. In fact, I might even say I prefer books. This is largely true, but it wasn’t always the case. The truth is, I am what I like to call a relapsed cinephile. Somewhere along the line, between work and the internet-inflicted attention span of a gold fish, I lost the ability to watch films without getting distracted. It’s different with books because I almost always read physical books, preferably paperbacks, and can generally force myself to put my phone away and focus on the pages without the never-ending barrage of notifications. The same isn’t possible on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop — the most “convenient” ways of watching films these days.

This year, I am trying to change that. The following watchlist highlights four films I have already watched or I am looking forward to watching in January. Each of these films, in its own way, challenges the dominant narrative modes of mainstream South Asian cinema today: the algorithm-friendly romance, the nationalist spectacle, the glossy urban drama. Instead, they focus on the quieter, underground negotiations that shape life across the subcontinent today: the “almost relationships” formed by digital uncertainty; the small-town social codes that still influence love and mobility; the generational effects of state violence and unresolved national trauma; and the slow, tender rituals through which older couples find meaning in grief and companionship.

These four films resist oversimplifying the social and cultural complexity of South Asia into simple arcs or moral certainties. They address a region struggling with intimacy, identity, and history in real time, and appeal to audiences increasingly drawn to stories that mirror their own experiences. They remind us that some of the most urgent conversations occur in the quiet, unhurried spaces of independent cinema.

Structured as a series of loosely connected, non-linear vignettes, ‘Scenes from a Situationship’ follows Udit and Tanisha as they drift into, through, and around each other in what can be best described as a prolonged emotional holding pattern. Between them there is intimacy, humour, resentment, tenderness, tension, sex, withdrawal, and reconciliation, but no real progress. Munjal’s choice to avoid a conventional narrative arc mirrors the internal logic of the situationship itself — its cyclical, unresolved, and strangely addictive nature that makes it the definitive romantic relationship of the 2020s. Learn more about the film here.

Nabin Chauhan’s directorial debut, ‘Unko Sweater', is an understated, emotionally precise drama that uses a small-town love story to interrogate the social hierarchies that shape everyday life in eastern Nepal. Chauhan sidesteps the melodrama often associated with South Asian cinema for stillness, gestures, and atmosphere to show how caste expectations and inter-ethnic tensions shape the choices of young people like Dharanidhar and Phool in the rigid Nepali society. The performances — especially Bipin Karki’s understated turn as Dharanidhar Kafle — give the film a lived-in texture, while Miruna Magar’s warmth and playfulness as Phool pushes against the constraints of tradition. The metaphor of the woolen sweater recurs as a symbol of care, but also of the fragile protections people try to knit for themselves within rigid social structures.

Amid a surge of jingoistic war films driven by loud spectacle and adrenaline-fueled bravado, the gentler stories, those that focus on the toll and suffering of war, often go unnoticed. ‘Ikkis’ is one such film. Directed by Sriram Raghavan, it draws inspiration from the true story of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, who was killed in action at just 21 (hence, the title of the movie) during the Battle of Basantar in the 1971 India–Pakistan War. The film follows two parallel journeys: Arun Khetarpal’s path to the front lines, fueled by his excitement and passion for fighting for his country; and his father Brigadier M. L. Khetarpal’s journey back to Lahore to visit his childhood home and attend a college reunion, years after his son’s death. Both stories come together as M.L. Khetarpal (played by Dharmendra in his final role) visits the site where his son was killed. Learn more about the film here.

Varun Tandon’s award-winning short film ‘Thursday Special’ is a tender exploration of love, companionship, and change. The film follows the lives of Ram and Shakuntala, an older couple whose marriage has settled into the comfortable, almost invisible routine that accumulate over a shared lifetime. When their Thursday ritual is unexpectedly interrupted, the disturbance forces them to confront the grief, silence, and unspoken tenderness that have shaped their companionship. The short film, presented by Vikramaditya Motwane and Shoojit Sircar releases on 29 January 2026 on the @humansofcinema YouTube channel.

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