Only a few film stars have truly reflected the pretty-next-door girl. Savitri in the 60s, Sharadha in the 70s, Shoba, Suhasini, Revati, Archana in the 80s, Suvalakshmi in the end of 90s, and Anjali in 2000s are a handful. Every fan has a list like this in their mind. A few recent ones are...
The film industry is where one hears the following phrases frequently: Different, Rare, Achievement, Impossible and heights of imagination. But rarely do we come across a movie that gives meaning to these words. The film Iravin Nizhal, written, acted and directed by Radhakrishnan Parthiban, is...
One thing that Rocketry certainly does is to show that just like the movie’s theme, the image or what is initially thought to be true is rarely ever so. The image of Madhavan as an aging chocolate-boy – the 50+ boy known as Maddy – is not the entire truth. Directed and written by Maddy turned R...
The USP of Maamanithan was that llaiyaraja, Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja were going to collaborate in it. Then it got reduced to Ilaiyaraja and Yuvan and that Yuvan was going to produce the film. The shooting was finished in 37 days but the release was postponed several times over three...
The Suzhal web series, directed by Bramma-Anucharan, sets out to spin a story about sexual harassment of children. The in-thing today is that we take for granted the character of the people we’re moving with. In fact, our understanding of others is purely based on what they look like. That is...
The buzz that Vikram 2022 had was unprecedented. The teaser was intended to satisfy the expectations of those who felt Kamal hadn’t played action hero in a long time. Snap previews and media updates only served to heighten the excitement. Even before the film's release, deals worth more than a...
When we think of Krishnakumar Kunnath, KK, in Tamil songs, what comes to mind is SPB. It may be wrong to compare two talents but, in the case of KK, this is inevitable. I had one of his songs from the film Ji as my mobile caller tune. Vambai vilaikku vangum vayasu (This is the age of getting...
The Sirpurkar commission has found that the encounter in the 2019 Disha rape and murder case in Hyderabad, Telangana, was likely staged and fake. Its revelations make us wonder if the recent Malayalam film Jana Gana Mana said the unsaid in the Disha case. While justice delayed is justice...
Nenjukku Needhi is the contemporary DMK's stand on caste. It recognizes that caste rules against dalits and oppresses them but unlike recent "dalit films" addresses it from the broader society's point of view. Udayanidhi had been acting as a romantic hero when the DMK was in opposition, barring...
Jana Gana Mana, a Malayalam film, breaks new ground by being an openly political film without being preachy. It goes farther than any ideologically based political film, too. Starring Prithviraj, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Mamta Mohandas and Ilavarasu and directed by Dijo Jose Antony, Jana Gana Mana...
