The Homegrown Watchlist: Essential Shorts, Films & Plays To Watch This September

We can only afford to surrender so much of our attention to the endless churn of headlines, outrage, and doom-scrolling. As endless news cycles keep us perpetually anxious and distracted, choosing what we watch, read, and listen to can become a small but meaningful way to reclaim our attention. Films, books, and theatre do more than provide an escape from the web; they sharpen our understanding of the world, complicate what we think we know, and nourish our minds in ways slop cannot. After all, we are what we eat, and it’s time we were as mindful of what we consume culturally as we are of the food and drinks we consume every day. Here are two features, one short, and a play to watch in September:

‘Daayra’ follows two senior police officers who find themselves on opposing sides of a case that forces them to confront the meaning of justice. When a young woman, Ragini, is found dead after disappearing on a highway, DCP Raman Kumar (Prithviraj Sukumaran) takes charge of the investigation. His subsequent “encounter” with the accused — and the events that follow — puts him at odds with DCP Ajooni Kohli (Kareena Kapoor Khan), who approaches the case through the lens of institutional accountability and due process. ‘Daayra’ examines how a single crime can polarise society and raise difficult questions about the limits of the law.

Directed by Meghna Gulzar and written by Gulzar, Sima Agarwal, and Yash Keswani, the film explores the murky space between justice, punishment, and public outrage. Tickets are available on District.

‘Babita Singh Reporting’ follows ASI Babita “Baby” Singh (Nimisha Sajayan), a people-pleasing police officer who accepts a false charge to get a two-week suspension to leave for her sister-in-law’s godbharai ceremony. But the family visit takes a darker turn when her childhood friend Bansi (Barun Sobti) is murdered that very night. Faced with dismissive in-laws, an indifferent husband and an apathetic local police force, Baby begins investigating the murder on her own. What starts as an attempt to uncover the truth gradually becomes a personal reckoning with the compromises she has made at home and at work.

Directed by Ambiecka Pandit and written by Amita Vyas, the crime drama places a woman cop at the centre of a murder mystery while exploring marriage, workplace hierarchies, the nature of Indian policing, and the struggle to be taken seriously. ‘Babita Singh Reporting’ is now streaming on Prime Video.

‘Bhed, Bakri, Bhoot’ is a sharp, darkly comic short film that turns a public bathroom wall into a canvas for India’s many frustrations. When a heartbroken brass band musician scribbles a bitter message about his lover, his private outburst soon becomes a collective outlet, with strangers adding their own grievances, anxieties and political frustrations to the wall. As the chorus of opinions grows louder, the bathroom’s crumbling state goes unnoticed— until government officials arrive.

Written and directed by Shivam Shankar, the short film takes an irreverent look at the culture of “opinions” and noise that distract us from collective responsibility and action. Starring Vandana Joshi, Prasanna Bisht, Apeksha Iyer, Naseem Mughal, and Rishi Solanki, the award-winning short has travelled across festivals including IFFSA Toronto, International Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and Tirana International Film Festival. Presented by Abhishek Chaubey and Navdeep Singh, ‘Bhed, Bakri, Bhoot’ premieres on the Oh Short Flips YouTube channel curated by Anurag Kashyap on September 24.

Set in the first half of the 20th century, when several seismic events changed the course of history, Rajat Kapoor’s ‘The Thing With Feathers’ follows ordinary individuals across India and Europe who lived through this tumultuous period. Earlier this month, I interviewed Kapoor and cast members about the enduring allure of the stage, the challenges of staging a devised play, and what it means to be an actor now. Read the interview here.

The play will be staged at the OP Jindal Auditorium in Delhi on September 26 and 27. Tickets are available on BookMyShow.

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