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Readers Write In #329: ‘How HB and BR helped evolve my taste
(by Akila Narayanan) On Day 3 of the 4th Test match between India vs Australia, I was watching an ‘Extra Innings’ session anchored by Harsha Bhogle (HB) and simultaneously surfing BaradwajRangan’s(BR) blog posts. The thought that instantly struck me was how both of these gentlemen have helped evolve my taste for cricket-watching and movie-watching over […]
Pulikuthi Pandi on SUN NXT, with Vikram Prabhu, Lakshmi Menon: A generic drama with a solid surprise
January 19, 2021
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/tamil-review/pulikkuthi-pandi-review-sun-nxt-a-generic-rural-drama-with-a-solid-surprise-vikram-prabhu-lakshmi-menon-tamil-movies-baradwaj-rangan/ M Muthiah has a good head for plot, but his screenwriting is like what you’d find in a TV serial. Still, the last hour made me sit up. Spoilers ahead… “A film by M Muthiah” carries the same cachet as, say, “a film by Quentin Tarantino”. The two directors may exist at the opposite […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
#AskBR – Master
January 19, 2021
In which I answer a few questions on an older film… or a new one… or talk about actors and directors… or take on a few YouTube comments… For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2020 Film Companion.
Posted in: #AskBR, Cinema: Tamil
Readers Write In #328: Sir
January 18, 2021
(by Anuj Chakrapani) I don’t know how attentive I am when watching movies, but if I am not wrong, I have just watched an entire movie without knowing the male protagonist’s name. We know him as “Sir” throughout; he happens to be a man in his late twenties (or early thirties maybe), and lives in […]
Readers Write In #327: Bridgerton is no Jane Austen
January 18, 2021
(by Doba) Those of us who were not satisfactorily entertained by the drama at the Capitol – no offence to the fine performances of the ladies and gentlemen, there, but they were sadly lacking in sex appeal – have turned to Netflix’s period drama Bridgerton in the last few weeks. With the devastatingly handsome leads […]
Readers Write In #326: Thoughts on Master
January 17, 2021
(by S Masthan Reddy) #MasterFilm – Decided to go to this movie in theaters after they said only 50% occupancy is allowed and booked for the fourth day. Into the movie with calm ambiance, not usual for Vijay movie. The movie starts with an interesting reveal of a character, rather I would say intense. After […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Readers Write In
Mads Matthiesen’s Sundance-winner ‘Teddy Bear’, now on mubi, is a gently told male-emancipation story
January 16, 2021
https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/mads-matthiesens-sundance-winner-teddy-bear-now-on-mubi-is-a-gently-told-male-emancipation-story-9204491.html Despite the “finding love” premise, this is not a rom-com. It’s more about a man trying to break free of psychological shackles, both self-imposed and mother-instilled. Spoilers ahead… The first image of Mads Matthiesen’s Danish short film, Dennis (2007), is that of a big man, a really big man, a hulk of a man […]
Posted in: Cinema: Foreign, Firstpost Column
Surge On Like a River
January 16, 2021
V Shyamala, founder of Suzhi Publications, has translated into English a collection of essays by popular Tamil orator Smt. Bharathy Bhaskar, published in Tamil as ‘Nee Nadhi Pola Odikkonduiru’. She asked if I could do a review. I couldn’t, but I said I could put up an excerpt on the blog. Here it is. Do […]
Posted in: Books
The Great Indian Kitchen on Neestream, with Nimisha Sajayan and Suraj Venjaramoodu: A powerful tale of emancipation
January 15, 2021
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/malayalam-review/the-great-indian-kitchen-malayalam-movie-neestream-a-powerful-tale-of-emancipation-nimisha-sajayan-suraj-venjaramoodu-baradwaj-rangan/ The title can also be extrapolated to mean… The Great Indian Traditional Patriarchal Household. This is the kind of setup where the men retire after a certain age, but the women never do. Spoilers ahead… In The Great Indian Kitchen, written and directed by Jeo Baby, Nimisha Sajayan plays… I don’t remember her name. […]
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Television / Online
Bhoomi on Disney+ Hotstar: Jayam Ravi’s underwhelming drama reduces a serious issue to inept comedy
January 14, 2021
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/tamil-review/bhoomi-tamil-movie-review-disney-hotstar-jayam-ravi-underwhelming-drama-reduces-a-serious-issue-to-inept-comedy-nidhhi-agerwal-ronit-roy-baradwaj-rangan/ There’s a great idea, with echoes of the Swadeshi movement, that says farmers should be self-dependent. But if intentions were enough, every movie would be a masterpiece. Spoilers ahead… Bhoomi is Jayam Ravi’s 25th film, and it makes you think he is the nicest man in Kollywood. He just can’t seem to say no […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
Readers Write In #325: “Fan-made” Footnotes to the Master Review by Baradwaj Rangan on Film Companion
January 14, 2021
(by H Prasanna) 1. Godard: Someone Tarantino stole from, including his production company’s name. Godard said he would like some money for that name. See Godard-isation (no. 11). 2. Hollywood “genre” thriller: Exciting 80s movies which we feel confused about now because of all the homages in Avengers. 3. the former: Trademark BR play on […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Readers Write In
Master, starring Vijay: Flaws and all, Lokesh Kanagaraj delivers a classy “mass” movie
January 13, 2021
https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/tamil-review/master-movie-review-tamil-vijay-thalapathy-flaws-and-all-lokesh-kanagaraj-delivers-a-classy-mass-movie-vijay-sethupathi-baradwaj-rangan/ There’s one part of us waiting to see “A Lokesh Kanagaraj Film”. There’s another part of us waiting for “A Vijay Entertainer”. The film is a not-bad balance Spoilers ahead… Dear Lokesh Kanagaraj I am a fan. I love your Tarantino-esque approach to cinema, where you take a bit from this film and a […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Vijay became a star exactly 25 years ago, with ‘Poove Unakkaga’
January 12, 2021
https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/tamil-features/vijay-thalapathy-movies-vijay-became-a-star-25-years-ago-with-poove-unakkaga-vikraman/ From the perspective of pop-culture history, it’s fun to see a very “normal” Vijay, a young man looking for a job, a young man we see on the 18S bus, a young man who’s a “soft romantic hero”. The craze for Master is understandable. We haven’t been to the theatres in almost a year, […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Readers Write In #324: Maara is effervescent enough, but the filmmakers should have retained Parvathy Thiruvoth as Paaru
January 11, 2021
(by Alex John) We are witnessing an anomalous phenomenon. Maara, the remake of the 2015 Malayalam film Charlie is released on Amazon prime, and those who haven’t seen it must believe it, the film is, if only marginally, better than its original version! We all know how much remakes are hated, not just in our […]
Readers Write In #323: Reminiscences of a Yesudas concert
January 11, 2021
(by Jayram Sataluri) It was Sunday, April 17th 2011. I was at JP Stevens High School in Edison, New Jersey waiting outside the school.I did not have the exact money to pay for the ticket. But a family friend who I hadn’t seen in a decade understood my predicament and paid for it. I paid […]
Readers Write In #322: Bye Bye Miss American Pie
January 11, 2021
(by Madan Mohan) Don McLean wrote the iconic American Pie as a lament addressed to the events at Altamont, where pandemonium broke out between fans and Hell’s Angels (private bodyguards of sorts) as Rolling Stones performed their set at a music festival and also as a general critique of what he saw as accelerating cultural […]
300k subscribers
January 10, 2021
250k subscribers for Film Companion South. A big deal for a small team. Thank you SO much. Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Kannada, Cinema: Malayalam, Cinema: Tamil, Cinema: Telugu, Film Criticism, Internet, Interview, Personal
Readers Write In #321: Tell Me More
January 10, 2021
(by Sanjay NM) They say that time heals. As the days trickled, some earthly beings and a few loved ones, who had both mind and body, moved on after my death. I, having only a mind by now, had to follow them. I wasn’t complaining though. The place that awaited me was filled with wonders; […]
Posted in: Fiction, Readers Write In
Interview: Lokesh Kanagaraj (‘Master’)
January 10, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
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January 19, 2021
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