Entertainment
The only ground left for Karol G to break? Her own
In February of last year, Karol G boarded a private plane out of Burbank with 16 passengers on board. Just minutes after takeoff, the Colombian singer — one of the biggest global stars in Latin and pop music — saw smoke pouring out of the cabin. The pilots signaled for emergency landing maneuvers; her life flashed before her eyes.
“I was with my parents on the plane, my whole family, and all of us were like, ‘No, it can’t be like this,’” Karol G said, recalling the horrific day in an interview from the top floor of the L.A. Times’ offices in El Segundo, overlooking the Los Angeles International Airport flight path.
“It was really terrifying, visually,” she continued. “Seeing smoke inside the plane, every alarm going off, it was crazy. We were saying goodbye to people. I was just thinking about my one sister that was still in Colombia, that if something happened, what’s that gonna do to her? We were just sitting, waiting.”
The pilots quickly brought the plane down to a safe landing in Van Nuys, mercifully avoiding the fates of peers like Jenni Rivera, Aaliyah and Ritchie Valens.
A year and a half later, the now-34-year-old Karol G released “Tropicoqueta,” her fifth LP. The 20-track album spills over with so much abundant life — searing emotion and refined songcraft, winking humor and quaking bass, Latin music history and “la hora loca” of her Colombian community’s block parties — that it stands in defiance of that near-miss with death.
“Tropicoqueta” is up for Latin pop album at the 2026 Grammys, where Karol G previously won for música urbana album in 2024. (She’s a multiple winner at the Latin Grammys as well.) She also has a Coachella headline slot coming in April, making her the first Latina to top the world’s most influential festival. And at an incredibly fraught moment for Latinos and Latin culture in the U.S., she’s bringing a hemisphere’s worth of history and hopes with her onstage.
“It’s kind of my mission. I see it like my purpose,” she said. “I have a big, heavy responsibility on me being the first Latina to headline Coachella. I need to go and represent my Latina community and speak for my people and for women. It’s a good opportunity to get to more people around the world, and I think it’s my opportunity to get them involved in the place that I come from.”
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
Carolina Giraldo Navarro is from Medellín, Colombia. As a teenager, her powerhouse vocals and brash charisma stood out onstage, and in a community famous for its raucous all-night street parties, like the ones she documents on “Tropicoqueta’s” self-titled closing track, she was serious about her music career: She had a brief teenage stint on Colombia’s version of “The X Factor” and went on to school in New York in the mid-2010s to study the record business. Later she racked up hits collaborating with Ozuna, Bad Bunny, J Balvin and others just as her home-base genre of reggaeton ascended to a global phenomenon on its own terms, in its native language.
Karol G turned heads not just for being a young woman in a hypermasculine genre, but for how she both mastered and expanded the genre from the moment she emerged in it. On her breakout 2017 hit with Bad Bunny, “Ahora Me Llama,” she brought both formidable bars as an MC and a poignantly melodic touch to that trap brooder. 2020’s “Bichota” became a mission-statement single for its bulletproof confidence and how she packed every line with fresh filigrees of hooks.
Her world-conquering 2023 LP “Mañana Será Bonito” had a post-breakup fervor of self-rediscovery, the first all-Spanish-language album by a woman to top the Billboard 200, home to her highest-charting Hot 100 single (the No. 7 “TQG,” with Shakira) and a Grammy winner for música urbana album. That year, she played two nights at the Rose Bowl to 120,000 fans, becoming the first Latina to headline a worldwide stadium tour.
What ground was left to break on a new album? Only her own.
“Tropicoqueta” is an adoring, comprehensive sweep through the generations of Latin music that made her. The LP starts with “La Reina Presenta,” a blessing from Mexican pop icon Thalía, a formative influence who passes the torch here over her classic “Piel Morena” — “You, showing me your new music? What’s the one I liked again? Play it, it’s so good,” Thalía says on the track.
Then come 19 more songs that cover the sweep of Latin music, past, present and future. There’s the sweltering bachata of “Ivonny Bonita,” with a guest turn from Pharrell; dips into the regional Colombian folk genre of vallenato; a veritable mariachi symphony on “Ese Hombre Es Malo”; and a heartrending duet with Marco Antonio Solís (of Mexican rock legends Los Bukis) on the regal “Coleccionando Heridas.” Even on the sly club-merengue “Papasito,” the album’s lone song partially in English, the tune and its charmingly retro video wink at, inhabit and critique the north-south love affair tropes that the first generations of Latina pop icons had to contend with and made magic within.
“I think it’s the riskiest album in my career because I didn’t know how to put all these genres together and have it make sense,” she said. “After ‘Mañana Será Bonito,’ I had a lot of pressure. I had everyone, like, asking, ‘What’s next after this album, what’s next after all of these hits?’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what is gonna be next?’
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“But on this album, my people inspired the concept,” she continued. “I just wanted to go back to my roots, back to the music that I grew up listening to. In my house, I used to listen to everything because my father was a singer. He used to play for us salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton. I started thinking that I wanted my people to feel nostalgic and in a different time in life. With ‘Colleccionando Heridas,’ especially, there are moms with their girls and their grandmas listening together because grandma loves Marco Antonio Solís, moms love the song and girls love Karol G. To be music that all the family can listen to, that’s a super special thing for me.”
“There is something that goes beyond doing a musical collaboration with a colleague. It is to live a magical experience, full of sensitivity and authenticity,” said Solís, who performed a moving duet with Karol G at the Latin Grammys. “That has been my experience with this great artist and human being, who deserves to be in that place that only corresponds to her.”
“Tropicoqueta” wears its history lightly on record (though Karol G coaxed the legendary Cuban American journalist Cristina Saralegui out of retirement for a context-heavy interview about the album). It’s laced with a few ultramodern cuts as well: If the reggaeton bounce of the Nina Sky-sampling “Latina Foreva” felt slight as a standalone single, it takes new form on an album tracing just how a banger like that came to be. “Un Gatito Me Llamó” is the most revved-up club track she’s ever tried, and “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” just brought home the Latin Grammy for song of the year, where Karol G gave a feisty speech in defense of its genre range.
“Lately, a lot of professional people have an opinion of what people should and shouldn’t do, what they should and shouldn’t like, how they should dress,” she said while accepting her award. “I started to feel like nothing I was doing was good and like I was losing my magic, like I was losing the wonder. This happened during a strange time in my life, and the only thing that was left from all of that for me was to go back to the root and the intention and return to the purpose of what I’m doing because I love it, because I like it and because I was born for this.”
“Tropicoqueta” sounds like a hundred different genres because, to be true, it had to.
“In Italy recently, I was in an interview, and there was a guy that told me, ‘Latin music is reggaeton.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but it’s not just reggaeton.’ He was like, ‘No, I cannot tell them apart.’”
“Like, I know this is hard to explain,” she said, giggling at the comprehensiveness of his ignorance. “But we are a universe of cultures and different sounds.”
Fittingly, at this year’s Grammys she’s the front-runner in the more genre-broad Latin pop album category. (Her frequent writing partner, Edgar Barrera, is up for songwriter, non-classical.) And though nods in the big three mainstream categories didn’t materialize, that wasn’t a total surprise for an LP so meticulous about playing with classic Latin genres.
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“I’m always gonna celebrate everything that I’ve got in my life, because I’m the only one that knows how hard it [was] for me to get to this point,” she said. “If I don’t get another Grammy, I don’t take it, like, super personal. But meeting Beyoncé at the Grammys was pretty special, right? The first time that I won the Latin Grammy, it was huge, celebrating with a lot of people that I grew up listening to, just saying, ‘Hi, I’m Carolina from Colombia,’ that was kind of unreal for me. It’s still unreal for me.”
In case this wasn’t abundantly clear, Karol G is one of the most commercially, creatively significant artists on the planet, of any genre, full stop. She needs no institution’s imprimatur, and there’s no corner of the industry promising anything she hasn’t already achieved.
Yet she still feels ambitious, hungry even, about the two weekends in April next year, when she will headline the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, wrapping up a bill with Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber as her main-stage mates.
Karol G last played the fest in 2022, a trial run for the history-sweeping philosophy of “Tropicoqueta.” “When they first invited me, I was like, ‘I can’t believe that I had this opportunity, because there’s a lot of artists that couldn’t perform in there, even having legendary songs.’ That’s why I decided I’m gonna celebrate the songs that opened the door for me. That’s why I did ‘Gasolina,’ Ricky Martin, Selena Quintanilla. It was a way for me to honor what all the different artists did for me to be there. I think I had a ‘before’ and ‘after’ with Coachella.”
While she’s tight-lipped about how next year’s set will update her raucous stadium tour, she did promise “a lot of different worlds for this show. I want to show all the evolution that I’ve had in my whole career, a really huge, innovative show.”
For her, there’s still something tantalizing about topping a mixed-genre bill before an audience that may not have heard her music at all. Is it weird to be one of the biggest musicians on Earth and yet still, in some circles, be introducing herself?
“I love that. If you are on tour, you know that the people there are waiting to see you, and they already know the songs,” she said. “But festivals give you the opportunity to open doors for more people that don’t know your music, who don’t know nothing.”
Coachella is just one place she’s opening more of her life to. In her May Netflix doc “Karol G: Tomorrow Was Beautiful,” she spoke about being sexually harassed and retaliated against by a former manager when she was a teenager.
“It’s always a challenge, you wake up and you think you forget things, but you’re never gonna forget,” she said, recalling that painful era in her career. “That part was specifically hard to put out, but my team were saying, ‘There’s a lot of people that are going to understand you, and they have their own crosses behind them getting really heavy. So maybe if they see through you, they’re gonna get more power to hold them.’ It was hard, but I think I’m an instrument of something.”
She also headlined the NFL’s halftime show in its Brazilian debut in September, an homage to her South American neighbor’s rhythms and plumage bookended by the United States’ flagship expression of sporting and economic muscle. “We don’t really do American football in our Latino countries,” she said. “So when the NFL called for that specific show, I told them I’m gonna bring the flavor of this album. ‘You are American football, but I’m Karol G and my album is about my roots.’ They were like, ‘No, we love that. Actually, that’s what we want.’ I loved that show, it was an opportunity to keep growing our movement.”
So what does she make of the right-wing backlash to her peer Bad Bunny — an outspoken American citizen of Puerto Rican descent who declined to tour the U.S. due to ICE raid fears — performing in Spanish at next year’s Super Bowl?
“It’s crazy. I think it’s only a few people that think that way, and most are really enjoying the decision to have him on the stage,” she said. “The people that are saying no, they’re powerful and they have a voice, so people listen and they make it like a big deal, but I can tell that Bad Bunny is going to kill it. He’s ready for that. He’s part of both worlds — Puerto Rico is an American territory, and at the same time, is Latino. I think, for the moment that we are having as humans, it’s great to have him represent everything. They’re just gonna make him do it even better and higher.”
What first made the likes of Bad Bunny and Karol G remarkable has, subtly, emerged as a key feature of their massive international appeal. No one blinks at Karol G headlining the world’s biggest festivals singing entirely in Spanish, drinking deeply from Latin music history. Reggaeton is the backbeat of the Global South and thrills the North; “Tropicoqueta” was a gift of the music she adored growing up with, it belongs to the world now too.
“When you start doing music, you just do music that you love, and everything is so good. But then you get teams, and they have expectations about numbers. They have expectations about streams, consumption, everything. That puts a lot of pressure on the artist,” she said. “You can get lost between the purpose and the results, and this can change all the art. So I tried all the time to be focused on my purpose, on what I want to do.
“Like, I don’t want to do an album in English, because maybe it’s time to do a crossover thing, because it’s gonna get more people. No, I don’t want to do it that way. It would be falling expectations of who I am. I just want to do that if I feel that,” she said. “‘Mañana’ killed for streaming. But the things that ‘Tropicoqueta’ brought me are super different. I thought I was doing an album for my Latina community, and it brought me fans from all over the world that I didn’t expect. That’s why you have to take care of the purpose instead of the result. The success, the love, that’s gonna be gone one day. The unique, real thing that I have forever is the feeling for my music. This is the one that I have to take care of the most.”
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
Movie Reviews
‘See You When I See You’ Review: Cooper Raiff Gives a Deeply Felt Lead Turn in a Tragicomedy That’s Sad for the Wrong Reasons
After a 14-year hiatus during which he focused on directing television and acting, Jay Duplass made a welcome return to features in 2025 with The Baltimorons, a gentle May-December romance with an After Hours vibe and an unassuming charm that sneaks up on you like a surprise hug. I wish See You When I See You had a similar effect, but despite its sincerity and the raw pain of shattering real-life experience that infuses it, this feels like a knockoff struck from the template of a thousand bittersweet, funny-sad indie grief dramas branded with the old-school Sundance stamp.
Dysfunctional family whose members seem to have forgotten how to communicate? Check. Belabored metaphor that never adds up to much (in this case a sage grouse at risk of extinction)? Check. Surreally stylized flourishes that are both awkwardly realized and inorganic to the prevailing mood and style? Check. Random nostalgic nods to ‘90s bands? Check. Treasured childhood memory tarnished by soul-crushing trauma? Check. Tinkly piano score poised to underline every emotional beat? Check. The list could go on.
See You When I See You
The Bottom Line Not if I see you first.
Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Premieres)
Cast: Cooper Raiff, Hope Davis, Lucy Boynton, Ariela Barer, Kumail Nanjiani, Poorna Jagannathan, David Duchovny, Kaitlyn Dever
Director: Jay Duplass
Screenwriter: Adam Cayton-Holland, based on his book, Tragedy Plus Time: A Tragi-Comic Memoir
1 hour 42 minutes
All this is a shame since first-time screenwriter Adam Cayton-Holland, adapting his 2018 memoir Tragedy Plus Time, is clearly drawing from a very personal well in depicting with candor the spiraling chaos of a young comedy writer as he struggles to move forward after his beloved younger sister’s suicide. The authenticity of the writer-protagonist’s feelings is undermined by the banal familiarity of a specific indie-film model.
It’s doubly regrettable because Cooper Raiff pours a ton of heart and humor, along with PTSD, into the author’s stand-in, Aaron Whistler. He’s likable and funny, and even when the character is pushing people away like a flailing mess, he never forfeits the audience’s compassion.
Duplass could not have wished for better preparation for material of this nature than his work as producer and director of six episodes — including the pilot — of HBO’s sublime Bridget Everett series Somebody Somewhere. That series started from a similar place, with a central character trying to regain her footing after the shattering loss of a sibling and tending to deflect her sorrow with humor. Every single member of the ensemble felt fully lived-in and relatable, something that can be said for only some of the principal roles here.
It’s been two months since Leah (Kaitlyn Dever) took her own life and her devastated family has still not been able to agree on funeral arrangements — if they are to have one at all. The urn containing her ashes sits conspicuously on the mantlepiece in her parents’ loveless bedroom.
Leah’s mother Page (Hope Davis) has become closed-off and sour, doing her best to ignore her own grave health situation; her husband Robert (David Duchovny) pours himself into his work as a civil rights attorney, avoiding the subject of Leah; their other daughter Emily (Lucy Boynton), who has her own young son to care for, urges Aaron to see a therapist and goes from impatience to anger at the extent to which his grief has hijacked everyone else’s loss. Aaron and Leah were always members of a private club from which Emily felt excluded.
A big part of Aaron’s trauma is that he was the one who found his little sister’s body; when he is forced, after a DUI charge, to sign up for a mental health diversion program, he’s uncooperative and hostile with the therapist, who tells him nothing he didn’t already know. Later, when he finds an empathetic therapist with whom he connects (Poorna Jagannathan), Aaron initially remains blocked, only able to revisit the night he found Leah dead up to a point.
Raiff is very good in these scenes, which makes it frustrating that the memory flashes throughout of time spent with Leah are so clunky and obvious. Dever is always a compelling presence, but Leah seems more like a bundle of exposed nerve endings than a real person — the dangerous, out-of-control highs, the precipitous lows, the psych ward stints. The worst part, though, is a thuddingly literal device so poorly handled it yanks you out of the movie every time — a hole opens up in the ceiling or sky at a certain point in Aaron’s recollections, and Leah is sucked up into the atmosphere.
There are sweet interludes when Aaron reconnects with his girlfriend Camila (Ariela Barer), who is furious about him ghosting her for months until she learns the reason. Still, it’s clear to her that Aaron is not OK, causing her to pull away again.
The scenes that work less well and seem virtually superfluous are those with Kumail Nanjiani as Adeel, an environmental activist who drags Aaron along with him to break into a fracking site that is disturbing the breeding ground of…the sage grouse.
Duplass can’t be accused of lacking sensitivity as a director, and in the moments when See You When I See You works best, the movie has an infectious warmth. Until it turns into treacly cliché. The performances mostly are better than the material deserves — Raiff in particular, but also Davis and Boynton. No one enjoys beating up on a film in which the writer has invested so much of himself and his pain. But Cayton-Holland and Duplass have somehow made an authentic tragedy feel phony and unaffecting.
Entertainment
Writers Guild Awards nominations include ‘Sinners,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ and more
The awards momentum for “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” continues to build.
Ryan Coogler’s historical vampire horror and Paul Thomas Anderson’s comedic political thriller were among the nominees for the 78th Writers Guild Awards announced Tuesday. Both films were also nominated in their respective writing categories for the 2026 Oscars.
Along with “Sinners,” the original screenplay nominees include the spy thriller “Black Bag” (David Koepp), the parental psychological dramedy “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (Mary Bronstein), the ping-pong picture “Marty Supreme” (Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie) and the multi-perspective mystery horror “Weapons” (Zach Cregger).
Joining “One Battle After Another” in the adapted screenplay category are the alien comedy “Bugonia” (Will Tracy), the gothic monster movie “Frankenstein” (Guillermo del Toro), the Shakespeare tragedy “Hamnet” (Chloe Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell) and the period piece “Train Dreams” (Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar).
The television series nominations included past nominees such as “Andor,” “Severance” and “The White Lotus” on the drama side, as well as comedies “Abbot Elementary” and “Hacks.” New series being recognized include “The Pitt,” “The Studio,” “The Chair Company” “Pluribus” and “Task.”
The winners will be announced at at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York on March 8. The Los Angeles-based show will be hosted by Atsuko Okatsuka and streamed live on the WGA West’s YouTube channel.
Screenplay nominees
Original screenplay
“Black Bag,” David Koepp
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein
“Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
“Sinners,” Ryan Coogler
“Weapons,” Zach Cregger
Adapted screenplay
“Bugonia,” Will Tracy (based on the film “Save the Green Planet,” written and directed by Jang Joon Hwan)
“Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro (based on “Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley)
“Hamnet,” Chloe Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell (based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell)
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson (inspired by the novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon)
“Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar (based on the novella by Denis Johnson)
Documentary screenplay
“2,000 Meters to Andriivka,” Mstyslav Chernov
“Becoming Led Zeppelin,” Bernard MacMahon & Allison McGourty
“White with Fear,” Andrew Goldberg
Television, streaming and news nominees
Drama series
“Andor” — Tom Bissell, Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Beau Willimon
“The Pitt” — Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle
“Pluribus” — Vera Blasi, Jenn Carroll, Vince Gilligan, Jonny Gomez, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock
“Severance” — Adam Countee, Mohamad El Masri, Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman, Anna Ouyang Moench, K.C. Perry, Megan Ritchie, Erin Wagoner, Beau Willimon, Wei-Ning Yu
“The White Lotus” — Mike White
Comedy series
“Abbott Elementary” — Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Lizzy Darrell, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Chad Morton, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Rebekka Pesqueira, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner
“The Chair Company” — Zach Kanin, Gary Richardson, Tim Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Sarah Schneider, John Solomon
“Hacks” — Genevieve Aniello, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jess Dweck, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky
“The Rehearsal” — Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola
“The Studio” — Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen
New series
“The Chair Company” — Zach Kanin, Gary Richardson, Tim Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Sarah Schneider, John Solomon
“The Pitt” — Cynthia Adarkwa, Simran Baidwan, Valerie Chu, R. Scott Gemmill, Elyssa Gershman, Joe Sachs, Noah Wyle
“Pluribus” — Vera Blasi, Jenn Carroll, Vince Gilligan, Jonny Gomez, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock
“The Studio” — Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, Frida Perez, Seth Rogen
“Task” — Brad Ingelsby & David Obzud
Limited series
“The Beast in Me” — Howard Gordon, C.A. Johnson, Ali Liebegott, Daniel Pearle, Gabe Rotter, Erika Sheffer, Mike Skerrett
“Black Rabbit” — Zach Baylin, Sarah Gubbins, Kate Susman, Andrew Hinderaker, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Carlos Rios
“Death by Lightning” — Mike Makowsky
“Dying for Sex” — Sheila Callaghan, Harris Danow, Madeleine George, Elizabeth Meriwether, Kim Rosenstock, Sasha Stewart, Sabrina Wu, Keisha Zollar
“Sirens” — Bekah Brunstetter, Dan LeFranc, Colin McKenna, Molly Smith Metzler
TV & streaming motion pictures
“The Best You Can,” Michael J. Weithorn
“Deep Cover,”Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow
“The Life List,” Adam Brooks (based on the novel by Lori Nelson Spielman)
“Swiped,” Bill Parker & Rachel Lee Goldenberg and Kim Caramele
Animation
“Abe League of Their Moe,” Joel H. Cohen (“The Simpsons”)
“Don’t Worry, Be Hoopy,” Lindsey Stoddart (“Bob’s Burgers”)
“It’s a Beef-derful Life,” Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin & Wendy Molyneux (“The Great North”)
“Parahormonal Activity,” Loni Steele Sosthand (“The Simpsons”)
“Scared Screenless,” Bill Odenkirk (“Futurama”)
“Shira Can’t Cook,” Mehar Sethi (“Long Story Short”)
Episodic drama
“7:00 A.M.,” R. Scott Gemmill (“The Pitt”),
“A Still Small Voice,” Brad Ingelsby (“Task”)
“Charm Offensive,” (“Pluribus”)
“Execution,” Eric Tuchman (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
“Got Milk,” Ariel Levine (“Pluribus”)
“Reunion,” Mara Brock Akil (“Forever”)
Episodic comedy
“A Call from God,” Mohammed Amer & Harris Danow (“Mo”)
“Pilot’s Code,” Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola (“The Rehearsal”)
“Prelude,” John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, Danny R. McBride (“The Righteous Gemstones”)
“The Promotion,” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Peter Huyck & Alex Gregory & Frida Perez (“The Studio”)
“The Sleazy Georgian,” Megan Amram (“Poker Face”)
“Worms,” Ayo Edebiri & Lionel Boyce (“The Bear”)
Comedy/variety series – talk or sketch
“The Daily Show,” Head Writer: Dan Amira; Senior Writers: Lauren Sarver Means, Daniel Radosh; Writers: David Angelo, Nicole Conlan, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Jennifer Flanz, Jason Gilbert, Dina Hashem, Scott Hercman, Josh Johnson, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Matt O’Brien, Joe Opio, Randall Otis, Zhubin Parang, Kat Radley, Lanee’ Sanders, Scott Sherman, Jon Stewart, Ashton Womack, Sophie Zucker
“Have I Got News for You,” Head Writer: Mason Steinberg; Writers: Jim Biederman, Daniel Chamberlain, Jodi Lennon, Michael Pielocik, Jill Twiss
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Senior Writers: Daniel O’Brien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Seena Vali; Writers: Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Sofía Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford
“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Head Writer: Alex Baze; Supervising Writers: Seth Reiss, Mike Scollins; Closer Look Supervising Writer: Sal Gentile; Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Jenny Hagel, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Amber Ruffin, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit, Jeff Wright
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Alison Gates, Erik Kenward, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette; Senior Writer: Bryan Tucker; Supervising Writers: Dan Bulla, Will Stephen, Auguste White, Celeste Yim; Writers: Steven Castillo, Michael Che, Mike DiCenzo, Jimmy Fowlie, Sudi Green, Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Allie Levitan, Ben Marshall, Lorne Michaels, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Moss Perricone, Carl Tart, Asha Ward; “Weekend Update” Head Writer: Pete Schultz; “Weekend Update” Writers: Rosebud Baker, Megan Callahan-Shah, Dennis McNicholas, Josh Patten, KC Shornima
“They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce,” Writers: Andy Blitz, Kevin Dorff, Jon Glaser, Tami Sagher
Comedy/variety specials
“82nd Annual Golden Globes,” Written by Barry Adelman, Nefetari Spencer, Mike Gibbons, Brian Frange, Sean O’Connor, Alex Baze, Bob Castrone, Chris Convy, Anna Drezen, Jess Dweck, Noah Garfinkel, Lauren Greenberg, Ben Hoffman, Ian Karmel, Andrew Law, Mike Lawrence, Jon Macks, Bonnie McFarlane, Chris Spencer, Matt Whitaker
“The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation,” Written by Ian Berger, Devin Delliquanti, Jen Flanz, Jordan Klepper, Zhubin Parang, Scott Sherman
“Marc Maron: Panicked,” Written by Marc Maron
“Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor,” Written by Jon Macks, Chris Convy, Lauren Greenberg, Skyler Higley, Ian Karmel, Sean O’Connor
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” Written by James Anderson, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan Shah, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Mike DiCenzo, James Downey, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fowlie, Alison Gates, Sudi Green, Jack Handey, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Dennis McNicholas, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Josh Patten, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Bryan Tucker, Auguste White
Quiz and audience participation
“Celebrity Jeopardy!,” Head Writer: Robert Patton; Writers: Kyle Beakley, Michael Davies, Terence Gray, Amy Ozols, Tim Siedell, David Levinson-Wilk
“Jeopardy!,” Writers: Marcus Brown, Buzzy Cohen, Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Jim Rhine, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Amy Ozols, Billy Wisse
Daytime drama
“Beyond the Gates,” Writers: Sara A. Bibel, Jazmen Darnell Brown, Ron Carlivati, Susan Dansby, Cheryl L. Davis, Christopher Dunn, Robert Guza Jr., Gregori J. Martin, Lynn Martin, Danielle Paige, Judy Tate, Michele Val Jean, Teresa Zimmerman
“General Hospital,” Head Writers: Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten; Writers: Cathy LePard, Emily Culliton, Nigel Campbell, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Kate Hall, Stacey Pulwer, Ryan Quan, Louise Rozett, Scott Sickles, Micah Steinberg
“The Young and the Restless, Associate,” Head Writers: Jeff Beldner, Marla Kanelos, Dave Ryan; Writers: Susan Banks, Amanda L. Beall, Marin Gazzaniga, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips
Children’s episodic, long form and specials
“The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” Matt Fusfeld & Alex Cuthbertson
“Stay Out of the Basement: Part I,” Rob Letterman, Hilary Winston (“Goosebumps”)
“Merry Giftmas,” Halcyon Person
“I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals,” Craig Silverstein, Rick Riordan (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”)
“When We Lose Someone” Sean Presant (“Tab Time”)
Short form streaming
“The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel,” Jimmy Kimmel & Jesse Joyce
“Sesame Street YouTube: Take a Moment with Jonathan Bailey,” Andrew Moriarty
Documentary script – current events
“Syria After Assad,” Martin Smith (“Frontline”)
“The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram,” Thomas Jennings and A.C. Thompson (“Frontline”)
“The Rise of RFK Jr.,” Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser (“Frontline”)
“Trump’s Power & the Rule of Law,” Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser (“Frontline”)
Documentary script – other than current events
“Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act,” Chana Gazit (“American Experience”)
“Clearing the Air: The War on Smog,” Peter Yost & Edna Alburquerque (“American Experience”)
“Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP,” Rob Rapley (“American Experience”)
“Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s,” Jason Sussberg
“Mr. Polaroid,” Gene Tempest (“American Experience”)
News script – regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report
“Devastating Flooding in Texas,” David Muir, Karen Mooney, and Dave Bloch (“World News Tonight with David Muir”)
“The L.A. Wildfires,” David Muir, Dave Bloch, and Karen Mooney (“World News Tonight with David Muir”)
News script – analysis, feature, or commentary
“Eye on America: Coldwater Creek,” Cait Bladt
“Gaza, Hannah Arendt, and The Banality of Evil,” Basel Hamdan
“Mysterious Russian Deaths,” Michael Rey, Cecilia Vega, Oriana Zill de Granados (“60 Minutes”)
“Remembering Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israeli Forces,” Lisa Salinas
“Uphill Battle,” Richard Buddenhagen, Kay Lim, Lesley Stahl (“CBS News Sunday Morning”)
Digital news
“Altadena Residents Know Their Community Is Worth Rebuilding. Can They Protect Its Legacy?,” Taiyler Mitchell
“American Siberia,” Alexander Sammon
“An Isolated Boarding School Promised to Help Troubled Girls. Former Students Say They Were Abused.,” Sebastian Murdock and Taiyler Mitchell
“How Cassie’s Lawsuit Against Diddy Galvanized A Movement of Survivors,” Njera Perkins and Taiyler Mitchell
“Trump Sent Them to Hell. Now He’s Erasing Them Altogether,” Matt Shuham and Jessica Schulberg
Radio/audio nominees
Radio/audio documentary
“Episode 2: A Game of Telephone,” Heather Rogers, Rachel Humphreys, Colin McNulty (“Camp Swamp Road”)
“Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie,” Max Freedman (“Decoder Ring”)
“Why Women Kill,” Mary Harris and Elena Schwartz (“What Next”)
Radio/audio news script – regularly scheduled, bulletin, or breaking report
“ABC News Radio Top of the Hour News,” Robert Hawley
“CBS World News Roundup,” Paul Farry and Steve Kathan
“Hasan Piker Knew Charlie Kirk,” Mary Harris and Madeline Ducharme (“What Next”)
Radio/audio news script – analysis, feature, or commentary
“How Will We Feed Our Neighbors?,” Mary Harris and Anna Phillips
“The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter,” Gail Lee
“We Made a Memecoin,” Lizzie O’Leary, Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort
On-air promotion
“Behind the Crown: King & Conqueror EPK,” Molly Neylan
“CBS Comedy,” Dan Greenberger
Movie Name : Sirai
Streaming Date : Jan 23, 2026
Streaming Platform : ZEE5
123telugu.com Rating : 3.25/5
Starring : Vikram Prabhu, LK Akshay Kumar, Anishma Anilkumar, Ananda Thambirajah
Director : Suresh Rajakumari
Producer : SS Lalit Kumar
Music Director : Justin Prabhakaran
Cinematographer : Madhesh Manickam
Editor : Philomin Raj
Related Links : Trailer
Sirai marks the 25th film of actor Vikram Prabhu. The Tamil movie was released on Christmas Eve and went on to score hit status at the box office. It has now arrived on OTT with a Telugu dub, and here is our review of the crime drama.
Story:
Set in 2003 in Guntur, Srinivas (Vikram Prabhu) is a head constable in the Armed Reserve (AR). During an escort duty, a prisoner attempts to escape, forcing Srinivas to shoot him dead, which puts him under scrutiny by higher authorities. While the enquiry is still ongoing, Srinivas is assigned another escort duty to transport Abdul Rauf (L. K. Akshay Kumar), a murder convict, from a central prison to Kurnool. During the journey, Srinivas senses something amiss, and the situation worsens when Abdul goes missing. With the prisoner required to be produced in court the very next day, the tension escalates. What happens next? Does Srinivas and his team manage to trace Abdul? Who is Abdul, and what is his backstory? The rest of the film unfolds the answers.
Plus Points:
The film touches upon a different and rarely explored aspect of police life. Unlike most films that focus on senior officers and portray them heroically, Sirai revolves around a head constable from the Armed Reserve. Srinivas is shown as a grounded human being rather than a larger-than-life policeman, which makes the approach refreshing.
Vikram Prabhu delivers a neat performance, but the actor who truly stands out is L. K. Akshay Kumar. He effectively portrays the dilemma, pain, and hope of a prisoner, and his performance becomes a major driving force of the film.
The flashback narrated from Abdul’s point of view is emotional and engaging. Along with the emotional depth, the suspense maintained in certain scenes, especially during the escape sequence and the pre-climax and climax portions, works well.
The police station episode after the escape, the emotional scenes in the final 30 minutes, including the courtroom portions, and the suspense-filled climax are well executed and keep the viewer engaged.
Anishma Anilkumar, as Kalavathi, delivers a neat performance. The remaining cast members perform adequately.
Minus Points:
There is limited scope to point out major drawbacks. Some viewers may find the initial portions slightly routine, but the narrative picks up as the film progresses.
Though Vikram Prabhu is the lead, his role offers limited scope for performance. While he gets sufficient screen time, the character does not demand much in terms of expressions. His personal life angle is underdeveloped, and the character of his wife adds little value to the story. In the flashback portions, the love story and conflict scenes could have been explored in more detail.
Technical Aspects:
Despite this being his debut, director Suresh Rajakumari impresses with his screenplay and execution, giving the film the feel of an experienced filmmaker’s work.
Justin Prabhakaran’s background score is one of the film’s highlights and plays a key role in maintaining suspense and enhancing emotional moments. Madhesh Manickam’s cinematography is neat and serves the narrative well.
Editing by Philomin Raj is effective, keeping the film crisp within its two-hour runtime. The production values are decent, and the Telugu dubbing is clean and well done.
Verdict:
On the whole, Sirai is an engaging crime drama backed by a solid screenplay and effective execution. Vikram Prabhu is decent, but L. K. Akshay Kumar steals the show. The police station episode, flashback portions, emotional moments, and suspenseful climax make it a film worth watching. Though the narration feels slightly slow in the beginning, it does not last long. On the whole, Sirai is definitely worth a watch for its content, execution, empathy, and humanity.
123telugu.com Rating: 3.25/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team
North Korea’s Kim to outline plans to boost nuclear arsenal
Rep. Ilhan Omar rushed by man on stage and sprayed with liquid at town hall event
Unsealed records in Idaho student murders detail victims’ injuries, final movements
GOP campaign touts MAGA bonafides as critics urge Trump not to endorse in key primary: ‘Keep Iowa red’
Houston school district trying to woo parents while losing students amid school choice competition
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
North Korea’s Kim to outline plans to boost nuclear arsenal
Rep. Ilhan Omar rushed by man on stage and sprayed with liquid at town hall event
Video: F.A.A. Ignored Safety Concerns Prior to Collision Over Potomac, N.T.S.B. Says
Democrats demand Kristi Noem be fired or warn impeachment will follow
EU Commissioner Virkkunen urges US to respect EU digital rules
-
Sports1 week agoMiami’s Carson Beck turns heads with stunning admission about attending classes as college athlete
-
Illinois6 days agoIllinois school closings tomorrow: How to check if your school is closed due to extreme cold
-
Pittsburg, PA1 week agoSean McDermott Should Be Steelers Next Head Coach
-
Lifestyle1 week agoNick Fuentes & Andrew Tate Party to Kanye’s Banned ‘Heil Hitler’
-
Pennsylvania2 days agoRare ‘avalanche’ blocks Pennsylvania road during major snowstorm
-
Sports1 week agoMiami star throws punch at Indiana player after national championship loss
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoNortheast Ohio cities dealing with rock salt shortage during peak of winter season
-
Technology5 days agoRing claims it’s not giving ICE access to its cameras