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The Superwoman trailer just dropped, and the internet is already picking it apart for being “too quirky” or that it centres a young woman who drinks too much, is reckless, and doesn’t have her life together. This is coming from a place of comparison to last year’s Superman, who was framed as this beacon of hope who sees the good in everyone. Meanwhile Superwoman, played by Milly Alcock, quite literally contrasts him in the trailer when she says, "He sees the good in everyone. I see the truth.”
And honestly, as a DC fan, I would like to make a simple argument for her: Superwoman never had the luxury of optimism that Superman had. He grew up in a loving family on an idyllic farm and doesn’t even remember Krypton. For him, hope is easy. For her, Krypton is a wound that never healed; it’s the home she is still grieving the loss of. Of course she’s going to be "a mess".
And the idea behind that reaction is one we’ve all seen play out before. It mirrors how we talk about men and women in the real world. Men often float through life unaware of the structures that protect them, while women are told they’re “too critical” or “nagging” for simply noticing the things that make our lives harder. We don’t get the privilege of being effortlessly optimistic. And this version of Superwoman feels like a solidaristic extension of that courtesy we aren't quite granted.
She doesn’t have to be a hero in the most obvious, tired sense. She can be cynical, off-balance — a bit of a loser even — and still be taken seriously. This portrait of Superwoman which might I add is impressively faithful to the comics, taps into that 'loser daughter core' we have been craving in cinematic representations. Our culture only celebrates extremes: it's either the trad wife or the hyper-successful, overachieving, CEO single woman. But where is the average, unremarkable woman who's just trying to exist with her books and movies under a cozy blanket this winter? (Yes, I'm kinda of talking about myself). If you're a fellow unremarkable girly, hit me up.
Here's what we have for you this week:
The animated short by Dheemant Joshi uses humour to capture a moment almost every girl recognises: the stress of a sudden pimple. The film builds its story from real interviews with young women, letting those everyday anxieties play out in an exaggerated, almost comic way. By treating a small incident as something big and memorable, Eruption shows how early and how often girls are made to think about their appearance, and how sharing these stories can take the edge off experiences that feel isolating at the time.
Watch it here.
On his new single, singer-songwriter Shourya Malhotra blends a straightforward folk-tinged melody with a message about love, loss and dog adoption. The music video, shot inside a Delhi dog shelter in partnership with Fur Ball Story, shows abandoned dogs waiting for homes alongside real moments of care and connection. Malhotra’s lyrics and images highlight how dogs enter and change our lives, reminding us why adoption matters in a country where stray dogs and shelters are often overlooked.
Listen to it here.
In her new photo series, Shreya Rana spends time between Mumbai’s Dhobi Ghat and the neighbouring Kamathipura district, paying attention to the overlap between two spaces. Her photographs follow the people who move through both areas — laundry workers, sex workers, families, children — and focus on the routines that hold these communities together.
Check out the series here.
This is the first publication of its kind to bring together Himalayas' food, crafts, stories, rituals and landscapes in one place. Developed by the Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation, the book is built from years of fieldwork across Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim. It documents how communities pass knowledge down, how local practices shape daily life, and why this material matters at a time when much of it risks being lost or forgotten.
Read about it here.
Tipai’s forest retreat in Goa is built around a simple idea: create a place where visitors can experience the landscape without disrupting it. The architects rely on local materials, lightweight structures and open layouts to strike this balance. In a region where tourism often comes at the cost of the environment, Tipai offers a small but thoughtful example of how hospitality can work with the ecosystem.
Learn about it here.
Sameer Seth and Yash Bhanage’s journey with Hunger Inc. — from The Bombay Canteen to Bombay Sweet Shop, shows how much of their success comes from treating Indian food as something joyful and approachable. Their latest conversation with Homegrown traces how the team builds menus, expands into new formats and still keeps the focus on simple ideas done well. Whether it’s rethinking classic mithai or creating dishes that reflect the city around them, their “empire” has grown not from scale alone, but from a steady, thoughtful approach to pleasure, nostalgia and everyday eating.
Read it here.
This feature highlights five films from the Nagari Film Festival that look at Indian cities as living, shifting subjects. Each film approaches urban life through questions of housing, migration, labour and neighbourhood change, but together they show how cities shape the people who move through them. The festival’s shortlist offers an accessible way to think about how design, policy and everyday experience collide in fast-growing urban centres.
Find out more about them here.
