Karnan – What you do if where you live and your name controls your destiny

Official Trailer: Let’s get the few obvious questions out of the way. Which one is better, Mari Selvaraj’s first or his second movie? Pariyerum Perumal (PP) or Karnan? To me, both are director’s movies and showcases his talent, how not to get carried away by the message compromising the art of cinema, how to make a good cinema with great content. Both had oppression, a universal subject, as the core

 

OTT Picks – Night in Paradise, Trial of the Chicago 7, BlacKkKlansman, Unhinged, and More

Night in Paradise (on Netflix) – Are you Okay? Should I be Okay? Official Trailer: Night in Paradise is a gritty gangster drama, with wonderfully staged scenes. What works is well paced action scenes, dramatic interaction scenes, cinematography, and music. Loved the interaction scenes between Tae-gu and Jae-Yeon, few conversations bordering on surreal. Sequence where the cop brokers a deal between two rival gang leaders gets you on the edge.

 

OTT Picks – Utopia, Russian Doll, Queen’s Gambit, I am not OKAY with this

From the series I watched in last 3-4 months, highly recommend the following four. All these four have many things in common – not from the content but how they have been made. Many things work in favor of these series. Fresh in their approach and narrative style. Talented cast with magnetic performances and class acting. We get both complex and ambiguous characters which adds to the intrigue and quirky

 

Joji

Official Trailer: [SPOILERS AHEAD] Dileesh Pothan’s movie starts with a note that Joji is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. While knowing the original story may make it interesting trying to map the characters, you don’t necessarily have to know the original play to appreciate Joji. P.K.Kuttappan, a rubber estate owner, is a strong person (physically too). As the head of the family, he controls and manages the family including

 

The Great Indian Kitchen – we need stories…many stories like this

Disclosure: This article (with few edits) also published within the organization I work for. Posted here with permission from organization The Great Indian Kitchen is a Malayalam language movie released 15th Jan 2021 on NeeStream, a Malayalam OTT platform, with subtitles. Official Trailer: Watching The Great Indian Kitchen (TGIK) is an experience in itself. There are movies, well-made ones, that talk about social issues in a hard-hitting way. They do

 

Master

Official Trailer: Master has lots of things going for it…Vijay, and Vijay Sethupathy for one. Then Lokesh Kanagaraj who has created a name for himself with engaging Mahanagaram, a superb hyperlink story, and Kaithi, a Die hard and Rambo rolled in to one. Vaathi coming and Kutti story has been on the charts for sometime now. Prelude with intro of the villain Bhavani made me smile. Bhavani gets a super

 

Bhoomi – better off if he had taken the trip to Mars

Official Trailer: Take a serious social issue and use it as a star vehicle, to sell the star, this has become a Kollywood trademark. In the process, nuance, and logic goes out the window. Insult the victims (of the issue) and the audience. I guess this trend started with Gentleman. We have seen it in so many movies in last 2 decades including Kaththi, Sivaji, Sarkar, and now we get

 

Paava Kadhaigal – 2 hits, 1 near miss, 1 fell short – a good start

Official Trailer: First season of Paava Kadhaigal from Netflix is out and has four episodes. First season explores the subject of honor. Family honor. Common theme in all the four episodes is that women bear the pressure of upholding the honor of the family. Or is it their bodies? As the mother from Vaanmagal episode says to her daughter your body is like temple. You need to protect it. If

 

Soorarai Pottru – Soori, Sooran, and the Masses

Official Trailer: After watching the movie what stood out for me was Sundari’s character, from here onwards referred as Soori. While the story is about Sooran, genuinely heartening to see the effort that has gone in to give equal weightage to Soori’s role. A woman with a dream, a career ambition. A woman of conviction. Yes, we see them around us, in our family, in our work place, and in