2026 is the year of women in South Asian media. More and more films and series about women and their underexplored issues are coming out on OTT platforms and in theaters. Issues of motherhood, marriage, labor, education, and gender are now taking center stage in South Asian cinema. Here are some films that you definitely should check out.
Shape of Momo
This Nepali-language film by Tribeny Rai follows a 32-year-old Sikkimese migrant who leaves her job to return to her village in Sikkim. She returns to her childhood home, a place where three generations of women have lived—which is cursed because of the deaths of its male members. What’s striking is how she reflects on her selfhood and independence within her family’s patriarchal setup, and how she tries to make them self-reliant and free of societal expectations. The title is, of course, a satire on society’s unrealistic and unpragmatic expectations for women to make perfect momos. Shape of Momo has won several awards– Best Jury Award and the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Film in Austin, Texas, and the Grand Jury Prize at the 24th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles—and is definitely a must-watch.
Safia/Safdar
A barber falls ill, and his shop is now at risk of falling into the hands of a loan shark. The daughter, disguising herself as a boy, decides to take the reins of her father’s shop. This is a powerful premise for the film. Starring Aditi Subedi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Kanwaljit Singh, Safia/Safdar—a Hindi-language movie by Baba Azmi—examines gender inequality in a male-dominated society and highlights the lengths to which women go to claim their rightful place. You can stream it on ZEE5.
Kaalipotka
The Bengali-language series Kaalipotka follows a woman who, after enduring years of abuse, accidentally kills her husband during a violent altercation. Panicked and unsure of what to do next, she turns to her three friends for help in disposing of the body. While the premise may initially bring Maa Behen to mind, Kaalipotka takes a much darker route. The thriller is raw, unsettling, and unflinching in its portrayal of guilt, desperation, and female friendship.
Swastika Mukherjee, Shruti Das, Himika Bose, and Sreya Bhattacharya deliver compelling performances that anchor the series. What makes this series particularly intriguing is its departure from conventional portrayals of women, in which they are often expected to embody purity, virtue, and moral righteousness. The series, in contrast, presents female characters who occupy morally ambiguous spaces. Watching them navigate crime, violence, and its consequences offers a refreshing and thought-provoking perspective rarely seen on screen. You can stream this on ZEE5.
Nooru Saami
The Tamil-language film Nooru Saami tackles the rarely discussed issue of women’s remarriage in rural societies. A widowed mother of two men finds love again, but society reprimands her and decides to teach her a lesson. Starring Swastika, Vijay Antony, Ajay Dhishan, and Lijomol Jose, the film exposes the hypocrisy of Indian society, which approves widowed fathers’ remarriage but abhors the same for mothers.
“Nooru Saami‘s Selvi (Swasika) is a model mother; she is the best mother. She toiled day and night for years to educate her two boys and made them attain respectable positions in society. Since she has already ensured her children are taken care of, is it okay for Selvi to find a partner now? Through this film, I’m asking society this uneasy question,” says Sasi, the director of the film, in an interview with The New Indian Express.
