Cobalt Blue

Sachin Kundalkar adapted his own 2006 Marathi novel into this 2022 Hindi film. In a traditional family in Kerala, an aspiring writer and his sister both fall for the unnamed man who moves in as a paying guest. The story is built from the brother's point of view, and its real subject is less the relationship itself than how a desire that cannot be named has to be hidden inside a household. The visual language is heavily stylised: palette, framing and light all try to imitate the novel's impressionistic manner, and sometimes screen the feeling off. Deliberately leaving the lodger played by Prateik Smita Patil as a blank makes the film cold for some viewers. Even so, it is rare for a mainstream Indian streaming production to place queer desire at the centre this plainly. Who it's for: viewers who like literary adaptations, queer Indian cinema and atmosphere-led storytelling. Who it's not for: those who want the characters' interiors explained, or who will find the slow pace and held-back narration wearing.