MEIFF: tabloid!'s picks

I am partial to Bollywood's meandering magnum opuses and this year's Middle East International Film Festival has just delivered the mother-of-all-magnum-opuses, Blue, onto my lap. The Akshay Kumar-led underwater extravaganza promises to deliver on every count. The testosterone charged thriller has Kumar swimming with the sharks and hunting for sunken treasures in wet suits. If that's not enough visual relief — on the shore the Singh Is Kinng star will be cavorting around the svelte beauty queen Lara Dutta.

The next on my list is Dilip Mehta's Cooking With Stella. The Mehta siblings — led by the legendary director Deepa Mehta — will dish out a satirical fare about servant-boss relationships.

Director Joseph Mathew's Bombay Summer set in Mumbai sounds intriguing. After all, there is something attractive about a director who sticks to his guns and refuses to alter his film's title Bombay Summer to Mumbai Summer — despite potential political backlash.