In the hands of any other actor in Tamil cinema today, Don would have been a painfully mediocre film. In Sivakarthikeyan’s hands, it’s a forgivably mediocre one
Continue readingSaani Kaayidham on Amazon Prime Video Movie Review: Keerthy Suresh Skillfully Shoulders An Indulgent Revenge Saga
Arun Matheswaran’s writing is not flimsy, but it is not enough to rise beyond the film’s visual mastery
Continue readingKaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal Movie Review: A Hotchpotch of Escapist Male Fantasies
As a shower thought, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal is a fantastic idea. But Vignesh Shivan doesn’t show the skill or inclination to expand on that idea in any interesting way.
Continue readingK.G.F: Chapter 2 Movie Review: A Rocky Stack Of Set-ups And Punch Lines
K.G.F: Chapter 2 is loyal to its prequel, its genre, its narrative and its purpose. If you can buy into it and survive till the end, the climax is cathartic
Continue readingBeast Movie Review: Nelson Loses And Vijay Gains In This Unremarkable Yet Absurdly Entertaining Action Film
AnbAriv’s action choreography, Manoj Paramahamsa’s cinematography, Anirudh’s background score and Jani’s dance choreography uphold a film that Nelson’s writing doesn’t
Continue readingTaanakkaran, on Disney+ Hotstar, Movie Review: An Earnest Vikram Prabhu And An Excellent Supporting Cast Hold Up An Uneven Cop Film
If you can look past the repetitive scenes, melodrama, useless love track and the lecturing climax, Taanakkaran is an interesting film about the police force
Continue readingManmadha Leelai Review: Venkat Prabhu Squanders The Opportunity To Have Made A Truly Adventurous Film
Manmadha Leelai is an unsatisfying quickie, especially if you’re a woman in the audience. Even if the pain isn’t unbearable, the effort to sit through it is most certainly not worth it.
Continue readingSelfie Movie Review: A Dense Thriller That Feels Longer Than It Should
Director Mathi Maran makes an interesting debut with Selfie, a film that is worthy of appreciation more for what it tries to do than what it achieves
Continue readingMaaran, On Disney Hotstar, Movie Review: Dhanush Tries His Darnedest To Make This Drab Work, And Fails Still
We would be kinder to the cluelessness of the film, if only it didn’t scream “watch me, I’m so clever” at every chance it got.
Continue readingEtharkkum Thunindhavan Movie Review: Yet Another Male Saviour Narrative About Violence Against Women
Suriya feels miscast as Kannabiran — too stiff to be goofy, too upright to be shady, too clear-headed to be vulnerable — a role perhaps more suitable for Karthi
Continue readingHey Sinamika Movie Review: A Trite Film With No Romance Or Humour
Every frame, scene, dialogue, event, song, dance feels like an awkward performance put up for an Instagram audience, in an effort to stage ‘authenticity.’
Continue readingValimai Movie Review: Laughable Yet Slick, Choose What Of It You Will
H Vinoth relies too much on Dilip Subbarayan’s stunt choreography, who for his part stages some enjoyable sequences.
Continue readingIrai On Aha Tamil: Sarathkumar Barely Rescues An Overlong Bore
It diligently follows the template for hill station noir to the point of being unimaginative.
Continue readingFIR Movie Review: A Clumsy Film That Takes Its ‘Message’ Too Seriously
How do you know that a film is too taken by its own message? There’ll be a Gautham Menon voiceover to explain it to us
Continue readingKadaisi Vivasayi Movie Review: M Manikandan Effortlessly Mounts A Terrific Film About The Everyperson
M Manikandan writes and films it more like a poem of multiple verses than as a screenplay in three acts
Continue readingMahaan Movie Review: An Unbearable Film About Unhinged Men
At two hours and forty two minutes, Mahaan is a self-indulgent and vacuous film. At its best, it’s tiresome. At its worst, it’s an abomination.
Continue readingMudhal Nee Mudivum Nee Movie Review: This Zee5 Film Should Have Been A Music Album
This Darbuka Siva film is proof that there is a limit to nostalgic value too.
Continue readingPutham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa Review: Madhumitha Shines In This Otherwise Middling Anthology
Given the nature of emotions it explores, Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidhyaadhaa is easy to relate to. But, it offers no more satisfaction than a Twitter conversation with a stranger.
Continue readingNaai Sekar Movie Review: Despite Sathish’s Best Efforts, This Film Is A Wreck
A premise so flimsy, writing so unimaginative, filmmaking so tiresome, Naai Sekar is dog poop on the screen.
Continue readingBest Tamil Films Of 2021
If the worst of 2021 are defined by their disregard for the audience’s intelligence, the best brought with them one thing: Surprise.
Continue readingBlood Money Movie Review: This By-The-Book Film Struggles To Engage
The film can’t decide if it wants to be an investigative thriller or an emotional drama — it makes a combination of the two that fails on both counts.
Continue readingJail Movie Review: A Tedious Film That Cannot Make Up Its Mind
In an industry that gave us Kaala, Karnan, Asuran and the like, Vasanthabalan’s film feels trite. Like an idea gone to screen too soon.
Continue readingBachelor Movie Review: An Uneven And Tone-deaf Film About Toxic Relationships
Without a persistent voice to balance the testosterone overdose, Bachelor is vacuous at best, and downright boring at its worst
Continue readingNithya Menen On Co-Producing Skylab, ‘Packaged Cinema’ And The Future She Wants To Create
“Just hearing the narration of Skylab gave me hope. I felt that in a world where there are stories like this, I will be fine,” says the actor.
Continue readingMaanaadu Movie Review: This Quintessential Venkat Prabhu Film Gives Simbu His Do Over
Maanaadu is entertaining not because the two leads are smart, but because they are ridiculously ordinary.
Continue readingPon Manickavel Movie Review: Prabhu Deva Power-Walks Through An Inept Film About An Incompetent Cop
The film is unwatchable, so hopefully, the impact it would have on public consciousness will be minimal.
Continue readingSabhaapathy Movie Review: This Santhanam-Starrer Is A Test Of Patience
This attempt to be unlike your regular quick-wit and ‘counters’ Santhanam film, suffers precisely because of it.
Continue readingManikandan, Inconspicuous Yet Striking
Inspired by the adulation his mother was getting for her effervescent performances in front of family, Manikandan took to mimicry. He has come a long way since.
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