Tag Archives: Vijay Sethupathi

67th National Film Awards (for films from 2019): List of Winners

The 67th National Film Awards were announced earlier today in New Delhi. This was after a long delay of a year or so due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The awards are for films from the year of 2019. The announcement event was organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Continue reading “67th National Film Awards (for films from 2019): List of Winners”

Master (2021) Movie Review: Vijay Shines, Lokesh Flatters to Deceive

Covid-19 has given a break to theatre-going experience across the globe. Even though Indian cinema halls have opened up slowly from October 2020 onwards, there has been no tentpole release which has revived the fortunes of cinema halls so far. December saw the release of Telugu film Solo Brathuke So Better which indicated that the audience in Southern India is willing to watch movies in the theatre. With this being the Pongal/Sankranti week in India, we have two films in Tamizh and three in Telugu (plus Master’s dubbed version) hitting marquee in a span of less than a week. If we go by the initial response, it is sure that cinemas are here to stay and co-exist with OTT. Continue reading “Master (2021) Movie Review: Vijay Shines, Lokesh Flatters to Deceive”

Petta Movie Review: The Stars Are Out Tonight

There’s something to be said about the excitement in the air, as one walks into the theatre for a Rajinikanth movie. The old cliché about a Rajinikanth movie being an event didn’t ring true for a while, what with the critically reviled Kochadaiyaan and Lingaa and mixed feelings with regard to Kabali, but with Kaala, it seemed like the star for a change made way for the actor, and 2.0 was for the fans and fans alone.Continue reading “Petta Movie Review: The Stars Are Out Tonight”

Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Movie Review:

Godfather has been an inspiration for filmmakers across the globe. Closer home Mani Ratnam has adapted it as Nayagan. What makes Godfather interesting is that it showcases the human side of the mafia, people who are vulnerable and jealous like us.Continue reading “Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Movie Review:”

’96 Movie Review: Some Reflections…

SPOILER ALERT

96 is a bittersweet amalgamation of the ‘BEFORE‘ series – chiefly ‘BEFORE SUNSET‘— by Linklater, beautifully mapped onto the Indian landscape by contouring out the emotional crests and troughs of childhood love, its extensions, and its sustenance. It is a triumph for one of the most interesting actors to emerge out on the Tamil screens, Vijay Sethupathi, who brings his own brand of ‘casualness’ to his act, yet segues it – mainly in the second-half – into a fine act embodying a character who pretends to be living in the ‘moment’ but is really living in the past savoring moments of first love which are, obviously, momentous to him. [In fact, the film opens with a song ‘The Life of Ram’, with the lyrics and visuals expounding on the loneliness that’s part of Ram’s existential crises, as well as the thread he hangs onto to continue his existence. It shows him living life as a travel photographer, but travelling alone, and seemingly enjoying the independence—(he pulls a cart for an old man in Calcutta; drives in circles in his car onto a vast, open field; sits staring at the horizon on a beach, and runs on sand-dunes in Rajasthan, while the lyrics convey his feelings that he hasn’t understood the world yet though his hair has greyed..)— that a relationship-less existence provides, but that’s actually a facade.] There’s a nod here to Ranbir’s characters from Ali’s films portraying his alone-self in a populated world that’s hard to miss.Continue reading “’96 Movie Review: Some Reflections…”

Vikram Vedha Movie Review: Oru Mellisaana Kodu

The game of Cops and Robbers has been a rich narrative source in Cinema, and it lends itself generously to most genres, be it drama, thriller, action or comedy. When the same is combined with the folksy tale of Vikram-Betaal (Vedhalam in Tamil) that we’ve grown up hearing, it is quite evident that the audience is in for a tale of a cop and a gangster, far removed from the sensibilities of a Gautham Menon or a Mysskin. After the rather enjoyable if a tad lightweight Oram Po and Va Quarter Cutting, director Pushkar-Gayathri return from a 7 year hiatus with Vikram Vedha, and it is up to the audience to decide, was it worth the wait?Continue reading “Vikram Vedha Movie Review: Oru Mellisaana Kodu”

The Best of Indian Cinema in 2016: A Perspective

Let me begin by honestly admitting that 2016 was a lukewarm year for Indian Cinema, at least that would be something that I firmly believe in. Be it Bollywood/Hindi cinema or any of the regional language film industries, things were largely subdued for a major part of the year. Be it businesswise or with respect to the quality of output, 2016 definitely seemed to lag behind 2015, forget going anywhere beyond that for a comparison. It’s not that the year was totally beyond redemption, there were some positives as well, but they were not sufficient enough to completely lift up the spirit of Indian cinema overall. Let’s begin by taking a look at Bollywood to start with. 2016 saw only 2 big blockbusters, Sultan and Dangal, none of the other successful films were runaway hits as such. So while Salman Khan and Aamir Khan delivered big time with Sultan and Dangal respectively, SRK came up with Fan which met with a mixed response, while gaining back some traction with one of the better Hindi films of the year, Dear Zindagi.Continue reading “The Best of Indian Cinema in 2016: A Perspective”

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”

Iraivi Movie Review: An Interesting Tale of Three (WO) MEN

At the very outset let me start by confessing that Karthik Subbaraj makes it difficult for critics when it comes to reviewing his films. I say difficult because he comes up with films for which it is tough to analyse things in detail as such and also avoiding serious spoilers as well. At the same time he packs in way too much into his films, that it is tough not to think, assimilate one’s thoughts and then come up with something that you feel is satisfactory enough for the film in question. With his third film, the well anticipated Iraivi now in theatres it’s also heartening to say that Karthik has managed to pull it off once again. He has come up with a film that once again carries his stamp of intelligent filmmaking and is completely different from his earlier works, Pizza and Jigarthanda. With Iraivi the focus is on just a few characters, 3 men and 3 women to be precise. It’s a story of multiple relationships, with nothing seen as simple and straight forward.Continue reading “Iraivi Movie Review: An Interesting Tale of Three (WO) MEN”