Tag Archives: Kabali

Darbar (2020) Tamil Movie Review: All Style and No Substance

SUPERSTARS in cinema is a rare concept now, probably the only star in the world who has seen such a longevity in his career is Rajinikanth. Perhaps no other star in the entire cinematic history of the world has played the lead role and shouldered such big budgets beyond the age of 60. Continue reading “Darbar (2020) Tamil Movie Review: All Style and No Substance”

The Best of Tamil Cinema in 2016

2016 was an interesting year for Tamil Cinema with a variety of topics being explored. Some big films didn’t do well, while some small films made impact. Certain stars did well,while some of them didn’t really do well. Here are the films in my opinion which stood a little apart from the rest of the pack and made an impact this year.The movies aren’t sorted in any order of merit. Sorting is done based on release dates.

Continue reading “The Best of Tamil Cinema in 2016”

Rajinikanth on a High

Disclaimer- Well, let me tell you very clearly, I am an atheist and hence i can’t call myself a Rajni fan.
Also, I am my own boss, so it won’t be proper if I called somebody else Thalaivar. I love Thalapathi, not because it is a Rajni film, but because it is a Santosh Sivan and Mani Ratnam film. For me, Sivaji – the Boss was satire and Enthiran was surrealistic imaginations of a person who doesn’t know anything about ceiling fans. The point is this is a totally non-serious and vella article without any intent and motivation. I hope the title will be self-sufficient to understand what my intent here is.

Continue reading “Rajinikanth on a High”

Kabali Movie Review: Rajini’s Swag is Intact, But the Film Needed More than That

In a scene from Pa.Ranjith’s Kabali we see an ageing gangster attend a graduation ceremony at a rehabilitation centre which is close to his heart. Kabaleeshwaran (Rajinikanth) is recently out of jail after 25 years and is still trying to find out some answers. The students ask him various questions, on his past life-how he became a gangster, how he landed up in jail, about his marriage etc. One of them, Meena (Riythvika) even asks as to how did Kumudhavalli (Radhika Apte) fall in love with a dark looking guy like him and pat comes the reply that it’s all about the power of black colour. Now this seemingly simple dialogue is what makes it fun to watch a Rajini film, the fans love it and even the others will certainly smile on hearing this. Cut to another scene, this time in a 5 star hotel room in Chennai where Kabali and his daughter Yogi (Dhansika) are startled to hear the doorbell ring quite a few times, only to realise that the person at the door is none other than their local support provider.Continue reading “Kabali Movie Review: Rajini’s Swag is Intact, But the Film Needed More than That”

Kabali: A Quick Review

 

Kabali Poster 10It is confirmed now that this is Kalyug: Tarzan is a family man, Superman is emotional, Batman spends more time with his girlfriend and Rajinikant has become old!!! I always thought age can never catch up with Rajini, only Rajini can catch up with age (my original :P). But Pa. Ranjith (director of Kabali) has proved me wrong. For our consolation, he has given us Radhika Apte as Kabali’s wife and Dhansika in one of her hottest roles.

Kabali (Rajini) is the ‘Robinhood Don’ of the Tamils in Malaysia as he takes over from his godfather (Naseer) and fights Tony (Winston Chao). But unlike Marlon Brando who plots and kills slyly, Kabali believes in style- driving over his opponents or shooting them on a billiards table. After all, his wife has been killed and he is looking for vendetta after being released from prison.Continue reading “Kabali: A Quick Review”

In Conversation with Rekhs, the Doyen of Subtitling in South India (Part 2): On Subtitling-the Competition, Recognition, Memorable People/Movies, Kabali and More

In part 1 of our conversation with popular subtitling expert Rekhs we discussed a variety of topics including her journey into films and subtitling, the process involved, subtitling for songs, challenges involved etc. Here is Part 2, the concluding part of the freewheeling chat with Rekhs.

(You can check out Part 1 of the conversation here) Continue reading “In Conversation with Rekhs, the Doyen of Subtitling in South India (Part 2): On Subtitling-the Competition, Recognition, Memorable People/Movies, Kabali and More”

In Conversation with Rekhs, the Doyen of Subtitling in South India (Part 1): On Subtitling-the Journey, Process, Challenges, Milestones Etc.

Rekhs is someone who hardly needs any introduction as far as people who have been following Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu cinema are concerned. After all she is the one who has gone on to bring subtitling to the attention of the common viewer so wonderfully. In a relatively interesting span of 6+ years she has already gone on to take care of the subtitling for more than 350 films, mainly across Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. This Friday (22nd July) sees the release of Pa.Ranjith’s Kabali, one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year and this is again a film which has seen the involvement of Rekhs. Here in the first part of our conversation with Rekhs she shares a lot of insights on how it all started, how her journey has been so far, the challenges that she has faced and some remarkable films that she has been part of so far.Continue reading “In Conversation with Rekhs, the Doyen of Subtitling in South India (Part 1): On Subtitling-the Journey, Process, Challenges, Milestones Etc.”

Kabali Music Review: Santhosha Magizhchi !

‘Nee vaa thozha’, in those powerfully asserted words, starts the opening ‘Ulagam Oruvanukka’ song with a very clearly ‘oruvan oruvan mudhalali’(Muthu) inspired beat. The beat slowly also changes to a more ‘maro maro’(Boys) beat, but inspirations aside let us see how the graph of the song proceeds. Sa Na (Short hereafter for Santhosh Narayanan) himself starts the vocals and you do have initial jitters if whether a relatively less experienced singer like him can do justice to the enormous duty of delivering a superstar intro song. The song has a steadily energetic feel to it with good chorus and strong lyrics. The lyrics till the first whistle are pretty straightforward hero worship stuff with a small dose of anti-establishment flavor. The nice Hollywood western type whistle, followed by a slightly awkward ‘Kabali’ chant give way to a totally different ball game though. This is also just the time at which the song clearly says that Kabali has been a cage for long and is released into the nation now (cage- jail possibly????)Continue reading “Kabali Music Review: Santhosha Magizhchi !”