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Browsing All Posts filed under »Cinema: Tamil«
“Vanamagan”… An amiably silly comic adventure turns into tiresome drama
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/vanamagan-movie-review In the opening scene of Vanamagan (Son of the Forest), an Andamanese tribal named Jara (Jayam Ravi) is captured. He speaks to a fellow-captive in a language specially created for the film, but you wonder why they bothered. Couldn’t they have just dug into […]
“Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan”… A tiresome star vehicle with a mind-boggling stance on women
June 23, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/anbanavan-asaradhavan-adangadhavan-movie-review Most star vehicles give you one hero-introduction scene. Perhaps in acknowledgement of the tripartite nature of the title, Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan gives us three. The first is the usual fanfare around the reveal of the hero. It’s a prison-escape sequence, rather unexcitingly shot. But […]
The Jayam Ravi interview
June 22, 2017
My video interview with Jayam Ravi, a light-hearted (as in, completely un-serious) Q and A on the eve of the release of Vanamagan. Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
“Maragatha Naanayam”… Better than your average horror-comedy, but could have been much better
June 21, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/maragatha-naanayam-movie-review What would you do if your story began with a prologue in the Pallava period, dealing specifically with a supernatural emerald stone (hence the title, Maragatha Naanayam), and came to rest in the present day, with numerous raiders after the lost artefact? One option […]
“Uru”… A pretty entertaining thriller that asks us to make up our own minds
June 17, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/uru-movie-review In Vicky Anand’s Uru (Fear), Kalaiyarasan plays a writer named Jeevan. Early on, we see him waiting outside a publisher’s office, sweat trickling down his forehead. As it turns out, he needn’t have worried. The publisher loves his manuscript. The interaction between Jeevan and […]
“Peechaankai”… A killer premise that should have resulted in a way-funnier film
June 15, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/peechankai-movie-review I seem to be seeing Bresson everywhere. A couple of weeks back, we had Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu, where the donkey from Au Hasard Balthazar appeared to have reincarnated as a goat in southern Tamil Nadu, and now we have Peechankai (Left Hand), a […]
The Balaji Mohan interview
June 14, 2017
My video interview with Balaji Mohan, on the eve of the release of his web series, As I’m suffering from Kadhal. Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
The Amateur’s Art #20- “Nodiyil Oru Pizhai” (Tamil, with English subs)
June 10, 2017
See here for what this series is about. This short has been written and directed by Ganesh Dhandapani.
Readers Write In #18: The Classic Actor in Tamil Cinema
June 10, 2017
If one were to rethink T S Elliot’s illuminating article with cinema as the pivot and ask “Who is the classic actor” within the realms of Tamil cinema, a couple of names would immediately spring to mind. Following old industry practices, the names in the order of their appearances are Sivaji, Nagesh & Kamalji. The […]
“Sathriyan”… A surprisingly decent spin on the love-transforms-a-rowdy sub-genre
June 10, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/sathriyan-movie-review At the beginning of Sathriyan (Warrior), a voiceover gives us the lay of the land, that this story takes place in Trichy, that it’s about two warring rowdy gangs, and that’s there’s a love story too. In short, it’s the one-line synopsis of 5000 […]
“Rangoon”… A not-bad thriller, with a ton of interesting detail
June 9, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/rangoon-tamil-movie-review Film is a kind of fiction, but first-time director Rajkumar Periasamy — a former associate of A. R. Murugadoss, who is the producer here — fills Rangoon with the factual density of non-fiction. He has done his research, and it’s all up there on […]
“Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu”… A gem that doesn’t forget to entertain even as it pursues loftier ambitions
June 3, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/oru-kidayin-karunai-manu-movie-review What kind of narrative could one weave from the story of villagers heading to a faraway temple in order to sacrifice a goat? A road movie, certainly, with every stop introducing quirky characters, startling contrivances. Or perhaps even a thriller, given that someone dies […]
“Bongu”… A wannabe caper thriller that ends up quite dull
June 2, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/bongu-movie-review Kollywood seems to have run out of star prefixes coined from various combinations of “Ilaya,” “Super,” “Ultimate,” “Power,” and so forth. Natarajan ‘Natty’ Subramaniam’s title card in Bongu (Fraud), directed by Taj, refers to him as “Rare Piece.” It’s fun imagining scenarios where not-yet-stars […]
“Thondan”… As expected, yet another sermon disguised as a movie
June 2, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/thondan-movie-review Some people believe they’ll go to heaven if they die with the lord’s name on their lips. Here’s another option. While waiting in line outside Chitragupta’s office, make sure you’re holding on to the ticket stubs from Samuthirakani’s films. Admission guaranteed. I’m only half-joking, […]
“Brindhaavanam”… A crude mix of comedy and drama, with a few laughs from Vivekh
June 2, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/brindhaavanam-movie-review Here’s an example of what passes for comedy in a Radha Mohan movie. Sandhya (the spirited Tanya Ravichandran) pulls a male friend close for a selfie. He preens happily… until she tells him the picture is her response to a friend who went to […]
The Mysskin interview
May 24, 2017
Parts 1 and 2 of my video interview with Mysskin — on the sets of Thupparivalan — for Film Companion. Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
The Ramya Krishnan interview
May 14, 2017
My video interview with Ramya Krishnan for Film Companion. Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
The Amateur’s Art #19 – “Muyal” (Tamil, with English subs)
May 13, 2017
See here for what this series is about. This short has been written by Siddharth Subha Venkat, an assistant director who has worked in a couple of Tamil movies, and directed by R. Giridharan.
“Yeidhavan”… Too much talk, but this thriller isn’t entirely disposable either
May 11, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/yeidhavan-movie-review In just the span of the first scene, Sakthi Rajasekaran’s Yeidhavan (The Arrow Shooter) gives us two -ism dialogues, the kind that sound like quotes from the Cuddalore equivalent of Camus. The first comes when the hero, Krishna (Kalaiyarasan, who needs more spark if […]
“Lens”… A thriller, plus a gripping meditation on the evil that men do
May 11, 2017
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/article/lens-movie-review For a while, Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan’s Lens makes you think it’s one of those Se7en-like thrillers featuring a bald villain with a God complex. This one (Anandsami) keeps speaking of Satan, but he possesses godlike omnipotence – he sees everything, knows everything, controls everything. His […]
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June 24, 2017
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