Cinema, Karam, Kapi

At a gala event held at the Nehru Indoor stadium in Chennai on 20 th Sep. ’24, the makers of Superstar Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan celebrated the audio launch as well as released the film’s trailer.  On the same day morning, the second single titled Hunter Vantaar was released by the makers across various music platforms. The film has just two songs including Manasilayo which was released 2 weeks back and has over 2.50 crore views on the official handle on YouTube.   This would be the septuagenarian’s 170 th film, even as the brisk actor is shooting for his next titled Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.  Vettaiyan, directed by TJ Gnanavel and produced by Lyca Productions has music composed yet again by Rockstar Anirudh Ravichander, his fourth with the Superstar after Petta, Darbar and Jailer. With a stellar starcast that includes Bollywood’s Shehanshah Amitabh Bachhan, Fahad Fazil and Manju Warrier from Mollywood, Rana Daggubati from Tollywood and Abirami, Ritika Singh...

The year is 1973. A region of the world ravaged by poverty and joblessness in a country led by Communists. Two men try their hand in hijacking a plane demanding a ransom which would feed their brethren back home and freedom of a few from prison, taking hostage of 80 passengers, 2 crew members, a pilot and a co-pilot.  Will the duo succeed? This is the plot of the web series on Netflix, loosely based on a real-life hijacking of an airplane in Columbia, which was then considered the longest one.   Borja (Vallentin Villafane) and El Toro Solano (Alian Devetac) board Aerobolivar 601 at Bogota, Columbia just like any other passenger. Only that they carry guns and have an agenda.   The flight is under the care of Commander Richard Wilches (Christian Tappan), a senior pilot with hundreds of hours of flying various machines that fly in the air and his co-pilot and rookie Guillermo Luis Lequerica (Johan Rivera) whom he looks down upon for his childish attitudes.   As th...

In this fast paced Hollywood crime drama, Will Smith and his partner Martin Lawrence as detectives and best friends carry the entire story on their shoulders. What starts as a fun ride slowly moves in to an action packed second half, culminating in to some fiery gunshot scenes and melodrama that was completely avoidable.   The film opens in Miami city when co-detectives Lt. Mike Lowrey (Will) and Lt. Marcus Miles Burnett (Martin) are driving down the streets on the former’s Porsche Cayenne (we wonder if cops in the US can afford one!).     In an accident that is near death, Marcus is severely injured and is admitted in a hospital. He almost reaches the heaven to meet his former boss and cop Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) who tells him a little secret. Thereafter, we see Marcus running away from his bed only to be found standing on the roof of the building.   He informs Will that something bad is going to happen and that they both need to manage the upcoming s...

The much awaited sequel of the 1996 super hit movie “Indian” released worldwide on 12 July 2024. Feat. Ulaganaayagan Kamal Hassan and a dozen famous actors (some who are no more anymore!), the film has been directed by Shankar and bankrolled by Lyca Productions with Udayanidhi Stalin (son of TN Chief Minister) releasing it in the state through his Red Giant movies.   The current generation is all about vigilantism on social media, especially - they talk a lot about numerous social issues but very less action on display - a bit of “like I really care” and a lot of “indifference” to the corruption that is rooted in today’s India.  That’s what “Barking Dogs” is, a channel operated on Youtube which is run by Chitra Aravindan (Siddharth) and his friends (Aarthi) Priya Bhavani Shankar, Thambesh (Jagan) and Harish (Rishikanth). They highlight social issues and get a lot of views, likes and followers for their online activism while raising awareness.   During one such incident, C...

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 ...