Viduthalai – Part I – A ring side view of police force

Official Trailer: Viduthalai Part I is about the conflict between the government which wants to take away and provide the forest land for mining to a corporate and the villagers who are against it. This conflict pits the police force against the Makkal Padai (People’s army). Makkal Padai has the support of the local population. A simple story of development Vs rights/conservation, good Vs evil. Where Viduthalai differs and gets

 

Fast Cuts – A Man Called Otto, Kill Boksoon

A Man Called Otto: Similar to Gran Torino, A Man Called Otto is a story about how an unlikely friendship can change someone’s life for the better. Otto is a grumpy and an unhappy widower who has given up on life following the loss of his wife. He doesn’t let anyone get close to him. He wants to end it all. He is the kind of person who disconnects electrical

 

Fast Cuts – Vaathi and Don

Vaathi: Vaathi does engage the audience with few interesting arcs, smartly written and staged scenes. Schools which are supposed to provide education have become money making centers with the motto that one needs to pay to get good education. Vaathi smartly contrasts this with the movie hall (aptly named Lakshmi) which becomes a place for our protagonist to teach his students. Lakshmi and Saraswathi have swapped places. This arc is

 

The Banshees of Inisherin – A fresh perspective on Friendship

Official Trailer: We have seen many movies on friendship. Kollywood heroes from love stories are always seen with 3-4 friends who play the Hanuman delivering messages. Or they reveal a key secret to the heroine that changes her heart. Most of the time friendship stories are about sacrifice, betrayal, separation, or breakup. In The Banshees of Inisherin, director Martin McDonagh gives us a fresh perspective on friendship that I haven’t

 

Iratta – Minor flaws aside, a satisfying thriller with a gut-wrenching climax

Official Trailer: Iratta is a solid directorial debut by Rohit M.G.Krishnan. He knew he has a great story to tell in his hand and that confidence shows in his direction. We have seen so many movies with twins as protagonists. When we think we have run out of ideas, we get Iratta with its fresh spin with twins. It is a police procedural drama bookended with a strong opening stretch,

 

Hidden Figures – Powerful and Inspiring

Official Trailer: In Hidden Figures we follow the story of Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Gobels, and Mary Jackson, part of group of African-American female mathematicians, dubbed as human computers, who rose the ranks of NASA, crossed gender, race, and professional lines against the odds with their brilliance and desire to dream big. I hit upon this hidden gem of a movie on Netflix. Missed it when it was released in 2016.

 

Vaarisu – Cliched movie further let down by lazy writing

Official Trailer: Vaarisu is as cliched as it can get. There is nothing wrong in making a cliched movie. Formulaic movie can be made interesting with a fresh approach and angle. All it takes is spend some energy in writing. Love stories have been there from the time images started moving on the screen. Still, we get engaging love stories like Alai Payuthe, VTV, Thiruchittrambalam, La La Land. Guess the

 

Sembi – Interesting parts don’t add up to the whole

Official Trailer: Sembi has multiple interesting threads. Anbu the bus, represents a microcosm of the society. Passengers of the bus are from different segments of the society. Along with their value system and perceptions (of others). Then we have the lawyer character thrown into the mix of passengers who plays the catalyst role. Like a catalyst can he brings in the change in the behavior of the passengers in Anbu.

 

Vani Jayaram – A Tribute

Growing up, till certain age I didn’t pay attention to playback singers. Rather I believed the actors sang the songs. Thanks to Puthiya Varpugal which made me realize there is something called dubbing voice and playback singers. Only then I realized Pongum Kagalosai one of my favorite songs from Meenava Nanban (1977) is sung by Vani Jayaram. From then onwards, I started paying attention to the singers. We had many