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Browsing All Posts published on »January, 2016«
The women in waiting
More Oscar-season talk. This week, about the actresses. I know people are going on about the lack of diversity at this year’s Oscars – as opposed to all those other years when people of colour hogged all the nominations, resulting in howls of protests from the whites – but the real scandal may be that […]
“Irudhi Suttru / Saala Khadoos”… A heart-warming boxing drama
January 29, 2016
Spoilers ahead… There’s a sly joke in Irudhi Suttru about the Kollywood (and indeed, the Tamil) tendency to bestow titles and nicknames, put up cut-outs and banners, transform the most ordinary of events into a combination of Pongal, Deepavali and the Superstar’s birthday. The utterly ordinary event, here, is the return of Hissar-based boxing coach […]
After-effects of an award
January 27, 2016
With Rajinikanth’s Padma Vibhushan, the North is finally seeing what the Superstar is all about. Baradwaj Rangan reports. “Hey Ram! Is it raining?” These were the first words out of Mrs. Sharma’s mouth when she opened the door and saw her husband, soaked from head to toe. Mr. Sharma didn’t reply. She looked past him and […]
A bit of bragging
January 26, 2016
I’m beyond-beyond-beyond thrilled that my blurb for Anand Pandian’s excellent book, “Reel World: On Location in Kollywood”, is featured alongside one by Walter Murch, the legendary sound designer and editor, whose film work includes The Godfather movies, Apocalypse Now, and The English Patient. Flipkart link for the book: https://tinyurl.com/hvkphqd Copyright ©2016 Baradwaj Rangan. This article […]
“Airlift”… A fine mix of Western understatement and Indian heart
January 24, 2016
Spoilers ahead… In August 1990, when Iraqi forces took over Kuwait, Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) discovered that he had to get out with his wife Amrita (a lipstick-happy Nimrat Kaur) and little daughter. But instead of buying three one-way tickets – a matter of loose change for this business tycoon; he’d just have to sell, […]
All signs point to Leo
January 23, 2016
In the year of DiCaprio, some thoughts on acting and this year’s Oscar for Best Actor. One moment during this year’s Golden Globes left me misty-eyed. It was when an actor, long overlooked, took home a prize. Clearly, others in that glitzy hall felt the way I did, for they gave the actor a standing […]
“Moondraam Ullaga Por”… An imaginative premise, that’s about it
January 22, 2016
Spoilers ahead… It’s 2025. Things look slightly different. The handheld devices, for instance, have a holographic quality. But The Hindu still looks the same – there’s even the same masthead. And Tamil film heroes still behave the same way. Take Saravanan (Sunil Kumar), the Indian soldier who’s been captured by the Chinese and is being […]
“Chalk n Duster”… Stuff N Nonsense
January 20, 2016
Spoilers ahead… In the innocuously titled Chalk N Duster, director Jayant Gilatar sets out to add a new villain to the pantheon. Gabbar Singh. Mogambo. Dr. Dang. And now, Kamini (Divya Dutta). Don’t be fooled by the fact that she’s the headmistress of a high school. In her quest to make the school “No. 1,” […]
“Rajini Murugan”… A lazy comedy saved somewhat by its star
January 18, 2016
Spoilers ahead… When you ask young actors why they keep making the same kind of movie, they’ll say they want to establish themselves first, with these “safe films” – but here’s the rub. Once you’ve established yourself, once you’ve become the brand ambassador for a certain kind of movie, once you know this is what people […]
“Gethu”… A stylish but empty thriller
January 18, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Now that Santhanam’s star is on the wane, Udhayanidhi Stalin must have been in a fix about his forthcoming film. “Why not try action?” someone must have said. Hence, Gethu, which begins with a sniper (Vikranth) in Leh. I didn’t get his name. Wikipedia says it’s David Christopher. It doesn’t matter. He could […]
Mad visuals and melodrama
January 16, 2016
Brief notes from the 13th Chennai International Film Festival. Where are the great images? I kept asking this question during this year’s edition of the Chennai International Film Festival, usually a December fixture in the city’s cultural calendar but postponed a month due to the floods. When I say “great images,” I’m not talking about […]
“Thaarai Thappattai”… Warmed-over Bala, but still worthwhile
January 15, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Why doesn’t Bala make comedies? His obsession with bloodbaths may suggest he has one of the most twisted minds in the industry – it’s a wonder he’s not yet been snapped up as a consultant by the people who run Hell, to design increasingly vivid tortures. But his mind is also one of […]
“Kathakali”… A fairly watchable thriller
January 14, 2016
Spoilers ahead… If Murder on the Orient Express were set on land and made into a masala movie, it might resemble Pandiraj’s Kathakali. The film is a whodunit centred on this question: Who killed the gangster Thamba (Madhusudhan Rao)? We know it’s not Amudhan, because this part is played by Vishal, the hero – or […]
“Azhagu Kutti Chellam”… Seriously amateurish, but a notch better than ‘Pasanga 2’
January 14, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Normally, I wouldn’t have written about Azhagu Kutti Chellam. It would have been one of those films I saw just because the job demands it – maybe you’ll have to refer back to it someday while writing about another movie, or maybe there’s an actor in a small role who shows promise. But […]
“Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam”… An unbelievable story about an unsuited couple
January 13, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Gitanjali Selvaraghavan’s Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam begins with a note that it’s difficult to describe some love stories… “But we’ve tried.” (I liked the word used: muyarchithirukkirom. I also like the title, reminiscent of the slow-burn LR Easwari song from Dharisanam.) But is it really so hard to describe this love story? Just call […]
“Chauranga”… A gently hypnotic drama about fiery issues
January 11, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Why watch Chauranga when a lot of what it’s about – pig-herding, love across caste lines, the constant tensions between Dalits and the people who won’t treat them as equals, the young boy who decides enough is enough – was already seen in Nagraj Manjule’s Marathi drama Fandry? One reason could be the mood […]
On the watch
January 9, 2016
Looking back at my vacation viewing, which included heavily intellectual entertainment like… um, ‘Downton Abbey’. What does a film critic watch while on vacation? I was surprised people even thought this was a question worth asking, but then someone explained why. With “normal” folks (a category I clearly do not belong to), holidays are a […]
“Wazir”… A decent relationship drama, a silly thriller
January 9, 2016
Spoilers ahead… Bejoy Nambiar likes slo-mo songs. His most sensational use of the technique came in the Khoya khoya chand sequence in Shaitaan. Guns were blazing. People were fleeing. The sequence had all the makings of a white-knuckle thriller, but the slo-mo made it something else. The most important aspect of a chase, time, was […]
Yesterday never dies
January 2, 2016
Thoughts on the ‘Star Wars’ prequels, occasioned by the intergalactic success of the latest film in the franchise. The hate for the latter-day Star Wars movies understood I never have. That the force was beginning to weaken in George Lucas was evident right from The Return of the Jedi, whose Ewoks, those toy-store-ready furballs, hinted […]
Baradwaj Rangan 
January 30, 2016
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