Tag Archives: Shankar

Kadhalan (1994): The Beginning of Shankar’ Extravaganza

The second film of every director is special, considering it is a make or break situation for most of them. Kadhalan came right after Gentleman made a splash at the box office counters of Tamil Nadu & the rest of South India. The film was remade in Telugu with megastar Chiranjeevi donning the lead role. The soundtrack of Gentleman was super popular and thus everyone was looking forward to seeing what the director will make after this solid debut. This was before Brahmandam (grandeur) and Shankar became synonymous. Continue reading “Kadhalan (1994): The Beginning of Shankar’ Extravaganza”

Hero (2019) Tamil Movie Review: The Origin Story of A Fraudster

The superhero genre has been under much discussion in recent times, with each camp divided over the same. In India, this genre is difficult to establish due to the followings 1) Our Heroes can literally do everything right from dance to fights 2) Most of our superheros are just blessed with divine powers. Continue reading “Hero (2019) Tamil Movie Review: The Origin Story of A Fraudster”

2.0 Movie Review: Shankar’s Sci-fi Extravaganza

Shankar’s films have always been known for extravagance and visuals. To some of Shankar’s films may be in your face and loud, but for those who are familiar with his work, it is known that they are up for a magical ride of three hours. Shankar and Rajamouli are two of the last showmen in the Indian film Industry. I feel that the last showman in Bollywood was Mukul Anand.Continue reading “2.0 Movie Review: Shankar’s Sci-fi Extravaganza”

Khaidi No 150 Movie Review: Megastar In A Lacklustre Film

After 9 years of exile and political misfire, Telugu actor Chiranjeevi is back on the silver screen. The actor has singlehandedly ruled Telugu cinema for more than two decades. If the question in your mind is does Chiru still have acting chops, the answer to that is a resounding YES. Not many actors in the world can pull off action, dancing, comic timing all with equal ease, it is something only a few Indian actors can do. And Chiranjeevi is one of them, who does all of this with a remarkable elan. Continue reading “Khaidi No 150 Movie Review: Megastar In A Lacklustre Film”

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.”

20 Years of Indian: When Shankar and Kamal Haasan Created History

Let’s go 20 years back, to the day, May 9th, 1996, when the epic masterpiece Indian released and how it has stayed strong in the history of cinema.

Just like how today cinema lovers are in frenzy with the excitement of waiting to see how a young director Pa. Ranjith is going to direct Superstar Rajinikanth in Kabali, back then after the announcement of Indian with Shankar going to direct Kamal Haasan should have created the same excitement. As after all Shankar was the happening director in Tamil Cinema with two back to back blockbusters Gentleman and Kadhalan, who had arrived in cinema with a bang! Another notable coincidence between Shankar and Pa. Ranjith is that their third film is with Kamal Haasan and Rajinkanth respectively !!!Continue reading “20 Years of Indian: When Shankar and Kamal Haasan Created History”

10 Endrathukulla and the Curious Case of Being Vikram

Vikram is one of the most talented as well as hardworking actors not just in Tamil Cinema, but perhaps across Indian cinema these days. I don’t think I will be exaggerating when I say this. After all for someone who had started off as an actor way back in 1990 with En Kadhal Kanmani,before finally finding success with Sethu in 1999, he has come a long way indeed. It wasn’t that he got a bad start, in the first 3 years of his career itself he had 4 Tamil films as hero, which included films directed by well-known names like C.V.Sridhar, S.P.Muthuraman and P.C.Sreeram. His best bet among these definitely was P.C.Sreeram’s Meera (1992), a film whose music is popular even today but which somehow did not live up to its potential. Later Vikram went on to feature in many Malayalam and Telugu films, mostly as the 2nd lead, in an attempt to survive and keep himself running in the race.Continue reading “10 Endrathukulla and the Curious Case of Being Vikram”

Shankar’s I: A Misunderstood Beast ?

**SPOILERS FOLLOW **

In Shankar’s latest magnum opus, titled ‘I’, the central character Lingesan is injected with a lethal virus that results in a total disfiguration of his body. After spending several days in the dark, he finally decides to face the dreadful truth and takes that walk into his gym room. Staring back at him he finds a grotesque version of himself. A version he hardly recognizes and so altered from his original self!Continue reading “Shankar’s I: A Misunderstood Beast ?”