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Browsing All Posts filed under »Cinema: Tamil«
“Kaaki Sattai”… Heavyweight film for lightweight hero
Spoilers ahead… Sivakarthikeyan’s star is on the rise, so you can’t just cut to him in the midst of a scene in your movie. But he doesn’t have that larger-than-life image – not yet, anyway – and he’s still known more as a comedian. How, then, to plan the hero-introduction shot? In Kaaki Sattai, the […]
“Yennai Arindhaal”… A first-rate Ajith movie
February 22, 2015
Spoilers ahead… Before we begin to discuss Yennai Arindhaal as a Gautham Vasudev Menon film, we need to discuss it as an Ajith film – because he’s the elephant and you can’t get a proper look at the rest of the room without regarding him first. On the surface, this is very much a mass-hero […]
“Anegan”… A great plot and nothing else
February 21, 2015
Spoilers ahead… One thing we have to say about KV Anand: the man believes in spinning a yarn. At purely the plot level, Anegan is something of a pulp masterpiece. It may have to do with reincarnation. It may not. Because if it’s really reincarnation, then why does Madhumitha (Amyra Dastur) treat it so casually, […]
“Thamizhukku Enn Ondrai Azhuthavum”… Less thriller than comedy, but some big laughs
February 21, 2015
Spoilers ahead… The opening minutes of the intriguingly titled Thamizhukku Enn Ondrai Azhuthavum hint at one of those films that’s so out of the box that the box is here and the film is on the moon. While our big-name filmmakers refuse to budge from formula, we look towards newcomers to take us someplace… well, […]
Women and song
February 4, 2015
So there’s a new Gautham Menon movie out this week. I look forward to his films, for two reasons mainly. One, to see the way the heroine has been shaped. I know. This is borderline-blasphemy considering it’s essentially an Ajith movie and all, but even in Menon’s big-star outings like Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu – the kind […]
“Isai”… Lots of problems, but the preposterous plot pulls you through
January 30, 2015
Spoilers ahead… SJ Surya’s Isai begins with a curious disclaimer, that what we’re about to see is fiction. Wait. Isn’t that obvious? After all, this isn’t a biopic. But slowly, we begin to see why this bit of bordering-on-legalese was necessary. The film tells the story of a famous film-music composer named “Isai Vendhan” Vetrichelvan […]
“Aambala”… Bits of comedy, a lot of useless filler, and at least one existential question
January 15, 2015
Spoilers ahead… The ideal Sundar C movie would last 30 minutes. Don’t believe me? Then do the math yourself. Aambala, for instance, goes on for some two-and-a-half hours. The songs take up about half an hour, and they add nothing – despite the fact that the tunes by Hiphop Thamizha are really catchy. Take away […]
“I”… A terrific performance let down by an uninspired, exhausting movie
January 14, 2015
Spoilers ahead… Is there another filmmaker as fascinated by the double role as Shankar? (Even the frivolous Jeans is riveted by the sight of twins.) Where others employ this trope as merely a means to magnify the hero – see two stars for the price of one! – or maybe to flesh out the separated-at-birth […]
My top twenty
December 27, 2014
Recalling the Tamil films of 2014 that, even if not great in the overall sense, stood out for some reason(s). Here, in alphabetical order. Appuchi Gramam: A meteor threatens to annihilate a tiny village in a clever little subversion of the Hollywood disaster epic. Stuffed with a ton of clichés, yet the sci-fi backdrop makes […]
“Kayal”… Has its moments, but strains too hard to be an epic
December 25, 2014
Spoilers ahead… The ignition point of every love story is the stretch where the hero and heroine meet – and in Kayal, the director Prabhu Solomon gives us a wonderfully orchestrated sequence. Aaron (Chandran) and his friend Socrates (Vincent) have unknowingly abetted a crime – at least, it’s a crime in the eyes of the […]
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February 27, 2015
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