Cinema, Karam, Kapi

The magnum opus Indian 2 feat. Kamal Hassan and a dozen other top names from Indian cinema, that has been in the making for over 5 years, bankrolled by Lyca Productions, directed by Shankar, and with music by Rockstar Anirudh, is ready to be showcased on the silver screens across India come July. The film has witnessed high expectations even as Kamal Hassan and Director Shankar are coming together after their previous outing “Indian” in 1999. The music album which was released 2 weeks back had a muted response, with ardent fans of the previous movie franchise comparing it with AR Rahman’s musical on which 5/5 songs went on to become a hit.  During the music release, Anirudh himself confessed that there was only one ARR and that none could replicate his work. After much ado, the release date of the film has been fixed on 12 July 2023. A peak muhurtam day, the film is expected to witness packed crowds for the first 2-3 weekends with the diehard fans of the nearly 70years old Kamal ...

A sitting Chief Minister, running a party that is 50 years old, has to face trial over a case that is at least 17 years old. His daughter, son in-law and a political advisor are all looking to fill his large shoes, while the main Opposition party is busy trying to bring down the party in power.  A political drama unveils in Director Vasanthabalan’s political thriller “Thalaimai Seyalagam”. With a wide ensemble of actors, the Director has taken the liberty to craft a piece of work that is captivating and engaging enough for one to finish the entire web series in one go.  In deep interior Jharkhand, a woman is punished brutally, to which she takes revenge. The Director skilfully doesn’t reveal who she is until the climax. How I wish he never did, and continued with Season 2 of the web series.  Cut to Chennai, there is a lot of buzz at the house of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Arunachalam (Kishore). He is about to travel to a small town in Andhra Pradesh where the Hon’b...

What happens when a person builds his or her business with a certain tenacity, has a repute of being self-made, going through all odds in life, who is eventually brought down by the same lenders or investors who helped him or her grow the business?  He / She fights it back and goes all out to ensure the business they built brick by brick, is retained somehow.  That’s the story of Charlie Crocker (Jeff Daniels) in this web series in Netflix. Charlie celebrates his 60 th with almost the entire who’s who of Georgia, Atlanta in tow. Much to everyone’s envy, Charlie who lives a high life, doesn’t disappoint the glitterati on his big day.  He was once married to Martha (Diane Lane) and is now living with his second wife Serena Crocker (Sarah Jones), after offering a settlement to his ex-wife and their teenage son.  Trouble brews when the Raymond Peepgrass (Tom Pelphre), the manager at Plannersbanc who lent Charlie’s business to fund his dreams along with his Boss Harry Za...

Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s directorial and the much awaited and talked about “Lal Salaam” will hit the screens on 9 Feb. ’24. The film features a host of artists such as Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth as the key characters with KS Ravikumar, Thambi Ramaiah, Livingston, Senthil among many others, playing support roles.   Bankrolled by Lyca Productions, Aishwarya’s third directorial has music by Oscar Winner and Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, where the two are collaborating for the first time.  The director’s first film titled “3” was released in 2012 and featured Actor Dhanush (to whom she was married back then) along with Shruti Hassan, the elder daughter of Actor Kamal Hassan. Her sister Soundarya Rajinikanth directed her maiden venture “Kochhadaiyaan” feat. Superstar Rajinikanth which released in 2014.  Superstar Rajinikanth will be seen as “Mohideen Bhai” only in a cameo role in Lal Salaam, though his presence is expected to increase the “saleability” of the film across cinema ...

Illegal immigration has been a global draw over the last few decades. From finding a job to moving for social security or seeking a political asylum, it’s been considered normal to jump borders without appropriate approvals   from government authorities.   Many even take pride in doing so, while several thousands lose their precious lives while doing so.  Dunki is a film about four such aspirants. I wonder why the mighty emperor SRK had to choose such a subject. Maybe, that’s what those with a “strong might” do, once in a while. Many would remember that King Khan did so earlier with “Love you Zindagi” in as well.  Directed & edited by Rajkumar Hirani and Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment & Jio studios, Dunki (donkey route) is all about a bunch of Indians taking the illegal route to travel to the United Kingdom.  Set in the mid-90s, Manu Basgeet (Tapsee Pannu), Balinder “Buggu” Lakhanpal, (Vikram Kochhar) and Balli Kakkad (Anil Grover) live a wretche...