Etharkum Thunindhavan movie review: Suriya shoulders a thoughtful commercial film

There is a viral video of Director Mari Selvaraj speaking about the film Papanasam, the Tamil remake of the Malayalam hit Drishyam. The film is about a girl who accidentally kills her harasser, after being blackmailed with a private video taken without her knowledge and consent. The father goes to extreme lengths to protect his daughter from the police and finally saves her. “Why does the father, at no place, tell her that she has nothing to be ashamed of? It’s the harasser who should be ashamed,” asks Mari. It is an important question, reflective of the cultural patriarchal ethos of our society. Finally, we seem to have an answer in Pandiraj-Suriya’s Etharkum Thunindhavan.

Continue reading “Etharkum Thunindhavan movie review: Suriya shoulders a thoughtful commercial film”

Kolamaavu Kokila movie review: Nayanthara hits it out of the park with this one

I have to admit that I was rooting badly for Kolamaavu Kokila. It was for several reasons. First, when have we had a woman drug peddler for a protagonist? Second, the film is headlined by Nayanthara, who is truly living up to her Lady Superstar status. While there is much to complain about the roles that our heroines get in commercial films, we have an actor who is slowly proving that women-centric films could be profitable as well. Nayanthara did it with Aramm, and now, she is poised for another win with Kolamaavu Kokila. Continue reading “Kolamaavu Kokila movie review: Nayanthara hits it out of the park with this one”

Junga movie review: A gangster satire that digresses more than it entertains

Junga starts on a confident note. The eponymous hero played by Vijay Sethupathi is all set to be killed in a police encoutner. On the way, Junga tries to set the policemen against each other, making easy conversation. The intrigued policemen wonder how he is nonchalant about his impending death and ask him his story. What more of a cue does Junga need to plunge into a flashback? Thus, begins the story of Junga, the stingy don. Continue reading “Junga movie review: A gangster satire that digresses more than it entertains”

Magalir Mattum movie review: Go watch this Jyothika starrer and take your mom along too

Magalir Mattum’s title credits goes like this — Oorvasi, Bhanupriya and Saranya Ponvannan’s names come together first and then says ‘ivargaludan Jyothika’ (with them Jyothika). Couldn’t have been more apt as the film belongs to the older ladies. However, it is not a documentation of them getting together to complain about their lives. Magalir Mattum is genuinely about these women. It goes beyond the men in their life, the dreams that have been buried or the sacrifices they have had to make. The main strength of Magalir Mattum is the empathy it invokes. Whether it is Gomata (Oorvasi), Rani (Bhanupriya) or Subbu (Saranya), their lives are stories we get to see in our families. But what is fascinating is Bramma’s pick of situations. The familial predicaments of these women are interestingly at odds. If Gomata’s problem is a dead husband and a son in a different country, Subbu and Rani’s qualm is the existence of their husbands. (Subbu has an alcoholic husband and in Rani’s case an indifferent one.) Bramma’s writing will bring flashes of conversations with women of your own family and that is a major asset for the movie. Continue reading “Magalir Mattum movie review: Go watch this Jyothika starrer and take your mom along too”

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