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Kurdwin Ayub’s films shine light into complex cultures through outsider perspectives. Her previous work, Sonne, offered a Kurdish teenager’s vibrant yet conflicting life in Vienna. Now in Mond, the lens shifts to Florentina Holzinger’s Sarah, an Austrian martial artist drawn overseas.

Once a champion Mma fighter, Sarah now battles emptiness after a crushing defeat. When an opportunity emerges to train three wealthy Jordanian sisters, Sarah eagerly jumps at the escape. But all is not as it seems in the ornate desert home. The listless girls appear more interested in malls than training, living cloistered with strict rules and surveillance.

As Sarah observes their sheltered world, questions surface. Why did the family hire her, if not for fighting? Why this isolation? Her curiosities grow as unexplained events come to light. Yet cultural divides and nondisclosure agreements constrain Sarah’s understanding. Trapped between curiosity and duty and her own caged identity,...

I’ve become quite a fan of mafia-style series like Farzi, Mirzapur, and Paatal Lok—they always seem to grab my attention. So, naturally, when I started watching Murshid, especially with Kay Kay Menon in the lead, I had high hopes. But to be honest, it felt repetitive and pretty mediocre. Anyway, to give you an idea, “Murshid” revolves around a mafia boss of the same name. He had left his life of violence after his older son’s death but had to pick up a gun again to save his younger son. As he became powerful once more, he grew even more influential in the end. The question is, what really happened to push Murshid back into this life? And who were the key characters that influenced his return to power? Let’s break it down in this cast and character guide of Murshid season 1.

Spoilers Ahead

Murshid

Kay...

Kay Kay Menon is back with another rebellious performance in the new Zee5 Global series Murshid, where he plays the part of the eponymous feared and notorious mafia don. Known as the “King of Mumbai,” Murshid ruled the city’s underworld for 20 years. He was a figure everyone feared yet couldn’t ignore. But after the tragic death of his elder son, Murshid made a life-changing decision – he put down his gun for good. He swore to leave behind his ways and promised never to turn to violence again. Instead, he took all the wealth he had accumulated and gave it away to the people of Mumbai. He helped the poor, the downtrodden, and the sick. Even though he walked away from his dangerous past, people still remember him. They still fear him, but there’s a deep respect for what he did for them. But, as life plays tricks on him,...

Unfolding in two very different locations, “Moon,” the elliptical second feature from Iraq-born Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub (“Sun”) follows a mixed martial arts fighter who has reached the end of her competitive career. Faced with a lack of opportunity in her small Austrian town, she accepts a temporary gig training the daughters of an ultra-rich, but shady Jordanian family. While the multiple ellipses may annoy the more narratively-driven viewer, others will thrill to the mood Ayub creates and the way she plays with audience expectations. The film nabbed a special jury prize in Locarno competition as well as the independent film critics kudos, and should be in demand at further fests.

After her last go-round in the Mma cage leaves her sorely beaten and defeated, Sarah (Florentina Holzinger) falls into a depression. Previously, she lived to train and compete, but now she has a hard time figuring out her next step.

Toronto, May 15 (Ians) People often tend to forget where they’ve kept their phones or glasses. Now researchers have developed a novel robot programmed with artificial memory that can help find the lost objects.

According to the team from the University of Waterloo in Canada, the robot may particularly help people with dementia.

“The long-term impact of this is really exciting,” said Dr. Ali Ayub, a postdoctoral researcher in electrical and computer engineering at the varsity.

“A user can be involved not just with a companion robot but a personalised companion robot that can give them more independence,” he added.

Ayub and three colleagues were struck by the rapidly rising number of people coping with dementia, a condition that restricts brain function, causing confusion, memory loss and disability.

Many of these individuals repeatedly forget the location of everyday objects, which diminishes their quality of life and places additional burdens on caregivers.