Subscribe:
RSS feed
Karthik Subbaraj’s ‘Jagame Thandhiram’, with Dhanush and Aishwarya Lekshmi, wants to say a lot but ends up a generic watch
Spoilers ahead… Text: Jagame Thandhiram begins with the image of a boat in the English channel with refugees who are approached by an English patrol boat. If you look at Karthik Subbaraj’s career you will find a very similar scenario in Neer where three Indian fishermen (Vijay Sethupathi plays one of them) are attacked by a Sri Lankan patrol […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
Readers Write In #372: ‘Mare of Easttown’ and the ‘Mad Men’ syndrome
June 16, 2021
(by Madan Mohan) Mare of Easttown, the crime series starring Kate Winslet as the eponymous Mare (short for Marianne), has won much critical acclaim, particularly for the acting and more specifically for Winslet nailing the Delco accent (Delaware county of Pennsylvania). And while I did enjoy it too, I was left with a feeling of […]
Interview: Aishwarya Lekshmi (‘Jagame Thandiram’, ‘Mayaanadhi’…)
June 16, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Jeeva KJ’s ‘Richter Scale 7.6’ is a superb debut that folds its man-vs-nature message into pure cinema
June 16, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: The dramatic title, Richter Scale 7.6, reminds us of an earthquake. But the film is as peaceful and placid as the surface of a lake. It’s a two-character drama between a father (Ashok Kumar Peringode) and a son (Murugan Martin). The father is a folk theatre artist, a singer and a dancer […]
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Television / Online
Interview: Santhosh Narayanan (‘Jagame Thandhiram’, Enjoy Enjami, Shenbagame…)
June 14, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Interview, Music: Tamil Cinema
Suseenthiran’s ‘Eeswaran’, starring Silambarasan, is a generic rural drama with ideas but no follow-through
June 13, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: Eeswaran is set in a village in Dindigul where Periyasamy (Bharathiraja) is a patriarch. A tragedy strikes him at a very young age and over time his children move to Chennai. They’re all all fighting each other due to money issues. What brings Periyasamy’s four children back to their village is the pandemic. […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
My two-part interview by Raunaq Mangottil (on nostalgia, Nayagan, theaters, reading, screenwriting & train journeys)
June 11, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Raunaq Mangottil.
George Kora & Sam Xavier’s ‘Thirike’, is a heartwarming story about brothers, but it needed a little more gravity, a little less sugar-dusting
June 8, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: Thirike is the story of two brothers Thomas (George Kora) and Ismu, played by TikTok star Gopi Krishnan who has Down’s syndrome. Gopi Krishnan is the film’s rockstar. His performance is so endearing, real and without self-pity that he’s a natural film star. You, too, want to give him a big hug that Thomas […]
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Television / Online
Interview: Rohith VS (a spoilery deep dive into the ideology and imagery of ‘Kala’)
June 8, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Interview
Readers Write In #371: Sippi irukudu: Musings about a Timeless Treasure
June 5, 2021
(by S Madhumithaa) With the number of days where we are finding ourselves locked inside the four walls of our homes never ending, my gratitude for art is exponentially increasing. A couple of days back, I decided to watch the legendary K.B’s Varumayin Niram Sivappu. This time, I found myself unable to get over the […]
Posted in: Music: Tamil Cinema, Readers Write In
Wokeness and art
June 5, 2021
QUOTE: “But what songwriter could have predicted thirty years ago that the future would lose its sense of humour, its sense of playfulness, its sense of context, nuance and irony, and fall into the hands of a perpetually pissed off coterie of pearl-clutchers? How were we to know?” The original article is here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/nick-cave-talks-about-whether-he-feels-the-need-to-change-problematic-lyrics-live/ Nick […]
#AskBR – Remembering SPB with singer Srinivas
June 4, 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 ©2021 Film Companion.
Tanglish Talks: A Hero’s Journey (with due apologies to Joseph Campbell)
June 4, 2021
I keep writing scenes and other random stuff. Thought they’d make for fun blog posts, titled ‘Tanglish Talks’. Do read, share, mock, comment, ring the bell icon, whatever 🙂 ! என் வளர்ப்பு ஒரு அனாதை ஆசிரமத்தில்.களத்தூர் என்கிற இடத்தில் ஏதோ ஒரு மூலை.தினம் காலையில் கடவுள் வாழ்த்து பாட வைப்பார்கள்.“அம்மாவும் நீயே அப்பாவும் நீயே…” என்று போகும்…கன்னத்தை கிள்ள வைக்கும் முகம்.பணக்காரர்கள் இருவர் வந்தார்கள்.மிகவும் […]
Posted in: Tanglish Talks, Writing
Jack Prabhu & Santoshh KK’s ‘First Nights’, premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival, is a fairly interesting dive into the psychology behind wedding nights
June 3, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: The premise of this film, made with a cast of newcomers, is what the title promises: the first night or the wedding night. In the case of arranged marriages, this can be an awkward thing. Long, long ago when marriages were arranged by elders, the couple barely met. After marriage, they would […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
#AskBR – Ilaiyaraaja and Mani Ratnam birthday special
June 3, 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 ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: #AskBR, Cinema: Tamil
Interview: Karthik Subbaraj (Jagame Thandhiram)
June 3, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
Interview: Malavika Mohanan
June 1, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Readers Write In #370: The Josef Stalin Story
May 29, 2021
(by G Waugh) DISCLAIMER: This essay is a humble attempt to recount whatever I had read recently in historian Isaac Deutscher’s definitive book- Stalin, A Political Biography. There will be plenty of events here which I have discussed already in my series of essays in this blog titled The Russian Revolution. I really request my […]
Posted in: Politics, Readers Write In
Radha Mohan’s ‘Malaysia To Amnesia’ (Vaibhav Reddy, Vani Bhojan), on ZEE5, is a bunch of lame jokes woven around an adulterer
May 28, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: Malaysia To Amnesia is the kind of film where the joke is someone mispronouncing Alzhiemer’s as ‘algebra’. There are four major characters in the film. Arun (Vaibhav) is a successful businessman and his wife, Suja (Vani Bhojan), is a homemaker; they also have a cute little kid. There’s Mannar (MS Bhaskar), their uncle, […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
Karthik Rapolu’s ‘Ek Mini Katha’ (Santosh Shobhan, Kavya Thapar), on Amazon Prime, is a barely okayish watch about a man who thinks he has a small penis
May 27, 2021
Spoilers ahead… Text: In Ek Mini Katha, Santhosh (Santhosh Shoban) plays Santhosh, a man who thinks that he has a small penis, and this gives him a complex. There’s a scene that shows Santhosh as a college student: his girlfriend invites him to her house to have sex but later kicks him out. The assumption is […]
Posted in: Cinema: Telugu, Television / Online
Recent Comments
 | H. Prasanna on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | kaizokukeshav on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | Madan on Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy’… |
 | Senthil S on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | Sri Prabhuram on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | Ruminating Aesthete on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | anonymousviolin20 on Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy’… |
| Madan on Readers Write In #372: ‘… |
 | Rahini David on Readers Write In #357: On my l… |
| Madan on Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy’… |
 | Siddharth Sung Venka… on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | Bala on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
| Madan on Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy’… |
 | hari on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
 | Rithvik on Karthik Subbaraj’s… |
June 18, 2021
20