Dive into a supernatural showdown in a fictional town in the 1990s, unravel a chilling murder in an influential family in the present era, and experience the transformative power of Kashmiri music in the 1950s — all perfect picks to cozy up with during the winter holidays…

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansali Murders (Netflix, 2025)

The first edition of Raat Akeli Hai released in 2020, and the film quietly stood apart from conventional whodunits. Centered on Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), it explored a murder inside a wealthy household, peeling back layers of class privilege, patriarchy and moral decay. The crime itself was gripping, but what lingered was the atmosphere — suspicion hanging thick in the air, silences speaking louder than confessions, and a detective who felt more human than heroic.

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansali Murders follows Inspector Jatil Yadav as he is called to investigate the brutal murder of a prominent industrialist from the influential Bansali family. The crime takes place inside the family’s ancestral home, a space filled with wealth, tradition and tightly guarded secrets. What initially appears to be a straightforward case quickly unravels into something far more complex and sinister.

As Jatil begins questioning members of the Bansali household, it becomes clear that nearly everyone has something to hide. Beneath the surface of respectability lie simmering resentments, old betrayals, disputed inheritances, and deeply entrenched power dynamics shaped by class, gender and patriarchy. Each character offers a version of the truth — partial, polished, or deliberately misleading — forcing the investigation to rely as much on silence and body language as on evidence.

The case pulls Jatil into a morally ambiguous terrain, where right and wrong are blurred. Much like the first Raat Akeli Hai, the investigation is not just about identifying the killer, but about understanding the social ecosystem that made the crime possible. The inspector must navigate loyalty, corruption and his own sense of justice while confronting how privilege can distort accountability.

Our picks of what to stream over the winter holidays. Don’t forget to pair with a steaming cup of tea or hot chocolate and some hot popcorn…

As the mystery deepens, the film shifts from a conventional whodunit into a psychological and social study, showing how violence often emerges from years of emotional neglect, exploitation and suppressed rage.

The Bansali Murders is less about the shock of the crime and more about the slow, unsettling realisation that, in some households, the real crime began long before the body was found.

Stranger Things (Finale season, Netflix, 2025)

This is the perfect show to get your ’90s nostalgic fix. Few shows have earned their place in pop culture quite like Stranger Things, and this holiday season is the perfect time to return to Hawkins (fictional town, Indiana, United States) for its final chapter.

Part 2 (Part 1 came out earlier this year), Season 5, doesn’t just promise answers and spectacle, it offers emotional closure to a story many of us have been growing up with for nearly a decade.

But first, a recap. Season 1 began as a small-town mystery: a missing boy, a strange girl with powers (Millie `Bobby Brown in her breakout role as Eleven), and the unsettling discovery of the Upside Down — a dark, creepy world full of monsters that live in parallel to ours. Seasons 2 and 3 expanded the world with the Mind Flayer, the Starcourt Mall and secret Russian experiments, while deepening the bonds between a group of kids learning how to be brave before they were ready.

By Season 4, the show grew darker and more psychological. The mystery villain, Vecna, emerged as a terrifying embodiment of trauma and guilt, Max’s survival became the emotional core and Hawkins itself was left fractured, literally and emotionally.

Season 5 picks up in the aftermath of that devastation. The Upside Down is no longer contained; the threat is out in the open. What lies ahead isn’t just one final battle, but a reckoning. Expect the story to return to its roots — friendship, loyalty and sacrifice — while delivering the scale of an epic ending. The characters are older now, shaped by loss and survival, and the final season is poised to explore what it means to carry the weight of everything you’ve endured and still choosing hope.

This holiday season, go back to Hawkins. Season 5 is also the final season of Stranger Things. Some finales are meant to be savoured, not rushed, and this one deserves your full attention.

Songs of Paradise (Amazon Prime, 2025)

And finally, away from doom and gore, we have Songs of Paradise (2025), inspired by the life and legacy of Raj Begum, a celebrated Kashmiri singer known as the Melody Queen of Kashmir and one of the region’s first prominent female playback voices.

Raj Begum was a pioneering artist whose music and cultural impact helped open doors for women in a society where public artistic expression was often constrained.

In the film, the central character — Zeba Akhtar aka Noor Begum (stage name) — is a fictionalised portrayal inspired by Raj Begum, played in youth by Saba Azad and in later years by Soni Razdan, as she navigates personal and societal barriers to find her voice and legacy through song.

Portrayed in her youth by Saba Azad, who gives an absolutely stellar performance, Zeba’s dream of singing boldly unfolds against the backdrop of mid-20th century Kashmir, where women rarely had the opportunity to perform publicly. As she evolves into Noor Begum in later years, played with depth by Soni Razdan, the film traces her journey from shy aspirant to revered melody queen.

She fights the patriarchy, gets vilified by her own neighbours when her identity is leaked and is given death threats, all in the name of ‘honour’, but still manages not only to persevere but also thrive.

Watch Songs of Paradise not just for the stellar performance and engaging storyline but also for the absolute visual treat the film is — you’re plunged into a world of intricate traditional Kashmiri architecture, language and poetry, reflective of its rich artistic heritage. It’s set in the 1950s and later decades, so the costumes, set design etc is a feast for the eyes.

For anyone looking to combine the warmth of human stories with a hint of nostalgia and the magic of music this holiday season, Songs of Paradise is a beautiful film one can watch with any member of the family.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 28th, 2025