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Twenty-five years of ‘Iruvar’
Wrote this post on social media. Happy 25th birthday, IRUVAR. You came on Januray 14, 1997, and forever changed the people who liked Mani Ratnam’s films into two camps: The first said: “he used to be such a good storyteller who made such heartwarming films… I wish he made movies like MOUNA RAAGAM again”. The […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Readers Write In #435: Twenty-five years of ‘Minsara Kanavu’
January 15, 2022
By Sundar Commemorating its golden jubilee year, AVM released Minsara Kananvu on Pongal, 1997. It was the directorial debut of Rajiv Menon, who was by then a famous cinematographer, thanks to Bombay. I had a ball watching Minsara Kanavu. We were some fifteen of us, exclusively school kids (grade details: withheld), watching one of the initial shows of the […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Readers Write In
No Stranger Conversations
January 15, 2022
From R Kailasham: Dear Readers and Well-wishers: my e-book is out, and here is my announcement as promised. This book is a collection of short stories centred around conversations between strangers. In these imaginary conversations between fictitious characters, I explore how a dialogue stripped of “small talk” might look like. Borrowing the dictum that people open up […]
Posted in: Books
Halitha Shameem and Richard Anthony’s films are the best in ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadha’, on Amazon Prime
January 14, 2022
Spoilers ahead… If transcribed, you can read the text here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/ Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
Tamil Directors Round Table 2021
January 13, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
Tanglish Talks: Happy Pongal
January 13, 2022
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 🙂 ! “Happy Pongal” என்று சொன்னால் எனக்கு ஒரு மாதிரி இருக்கும். இது உழவர் திருநாள். நான் ஏரை தொட்டது கூட கிடையாது. மாடு என்றால் பயம். கொம்பை வைத்து கீறி விடும் என்ற பயம். […]
Posted in: Tanglish Talks, Writing
Interview: AR Rahman and Shekhar Kapoor (On their new stage show, how music happens, etc.)
January 12, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
Interview: Balaji Mohan, Halitha Shameem and others (on their Amazon anthology ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyadha’)
January 10, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
The Spam: Fifty Shades of Mylapore
January 8, 2022
Author Bio : Don Cavarcci works for a multilateral institution by day and is a cartoonist by night. He’s a classical music afficionado, both Western and Carnatic, and made Chennai his permanent home since 2001. He lives in an apartment on the East Coast Road with his wife and kid aged 23 years old. In […]
Posted in: Books
Readers Write In #434: On Leo Tolstoy’s ‘A Calendar of Wisdom’ and the idea of daily devotion.
January 8, 2022
By J. Eswar A Velocity of Being, edited by Maria Papova, was an unusual book to read. The book carries one letter on each page. The letters all follow a theme – what reading means for the letter writer. But the letters are written by individuals from diverse backgrounds. To read these letters like a […]
Posted in: Books, Readers Write In
Interview: Manikandan and Vijay Sethupathi (On friendship and ‘Kadaisi Vivasayi’)
January 5, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
Interview: Basil Joseph (A spoilery deep dive into the writing and making of ‘Minnal Murali’)
January 4, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, Interview
The top 10 films of 2021: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema
January 3, 2022
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2022 Film Companion.
Readers Write In #433: Retro Movie Review: Hum Tum (2004)
January 3, 2022
Retro Movie Review: Hum Tum (2004) By R. Kailasham ‘Was a long and dark DecemberFrom the rooftops I rememberThere was snow, white snow’Violet Hill, Coldplay Winter is delayed for the folks of Pittsburgh. I had traveled up the Duquesne Incline to see the city from an elevated vantage on New Years’ eve. The new year […]
Food Companion: Vetri Maaran
December 31, 2021
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Ahammed Khabeer’s ‘Madhuram’ (Joju George, Shruti Ramachandran) is a set of love stories as sweet as the title
December 29, 2021
Spoilers ahead… If transcribed, you can read the text here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/ Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam
Aanand L Rai’s ‘Atrangi Re’ (Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, Sara Ali Khan) is a wonderfully prickly love story that literalises the phrase “madly in love”
December 29, 2021
Spoilers ahead… If transcribed, you can read the text here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/ Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi, Television / Online
Interview: Atharvaa Murali (on ‘Thalli Pogathey’, ‘Kuruthi Aattam’, remaking ‘Idhayam’, etc.)
December 28, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
Interview: Ranveer Singh (on ’83’, Bhansali, ‘Simmba’, etc.)
December 27, 2021
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2021 Film Companion.
Readers Write In #432: ‘Minnal Murali: Film Review’
December 27, 2021
(by Sundar) Minnal Murali, directed by Basil Joseph, picks up where most superhero films typically end. The writers (Arun Anirudhan and Justin Mathew) repeatedly up the ante for you to an extent that you go through an unjustifiable feeling of being let down in the climax. Basically, you keep longing for more. And that marks […]
Baradwaj Rangan 
January 15, 2022
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