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Ponmagal Vandhal - Review

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After donning roles of a Petty Thief, a Police cop, a Teacher, a Radio Jockey and a happy go lucky homemaker, Jyothika Surya stars as a Lawyer in her most recent outing Ponmagal Vandhal and also has a brief dual role of sorts. Directed by debutant JJ Fredrick and produced by Surya’s 2D Entertainment (as he always does for his beloved), PV is essentially not a Court Drama as one would see in the film’s trailer.   Kamal Hassan’s Mahanadhi was a critically acclaimed film in 1994 when it released which was about child sex-abuse, a topic that was not so popularly discussed in public domain then. But due to 100s of cases which have occurred in India over the years and now that this has become a Living room banter across SEC households, the topic gets mainstream visibility and the Crew have chosen a much appreciable subject that could win hearts.  PV is an emotional drama about Child Rape cases and the ordeals one goes through growing up as a victim. The protagonist argues how t

Relevance of Cinema Theatres

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Two weeks back, we were watching Dharma Durai at home feat.  Superstar Rajinikanth on Raj Tv, a regional Satellite Tv channel that has remained in ”existence” for over 2 decades as a GEC. No matter which channel has innovated or grown, this one remains loyal to its user base telecasting movies of yore from the 70s, 80s and sparingly from the 90s. When Thalaivar appears in the first scene (in a negative film mode, a novel attempt by Director Rajashekar those days and repeated later by Director Suresh Krishna in Baasha!) and fights off the rowdies, I was howling, clapping and all excited in front of the TV screen much to the surprise of my kids – perhaps with almost the same enthusiasm I had when I watched First Day First Show at National Theatre, Tambaram ( a suburb of Chennai) on 14 Jan. 1991.  I was, with all glee sharing the events of that day with my  family when I witnessed lathi charge for the first time as Police was regulating the frenzied “rasigans” outside the theatre wh

The cult of Chandramukhi

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The distance from Koramangala to RT Nagar in Bangalore is around 14 Kms over 25 mins at that time of the day, rather night. But the bike ride felt eternal. My skin under the full sleeves’ shirt was shivering like never before. My closest experience to something similar was during the early 1980s when I watched “My Dear Kuttichathan” at Devi Theatre in Chennai. Be it a graphically shot snake coming out of a chandelier or the evil-filled Raja Vettaiyan walking with his sticks screaming “Laka Laka Laka” or the Rajapalayam Dogs barking fiercely and of course the extraordinary eye movements of the ecstatic Chandramukhi showing off her jewels, the entire movie was a bit on the edge when I watched it for the first time on this day, 15 years back. I feel the same every time I watch this film till now – around 50+ times during the past 180 months. The scary ride was because I was returning back from PVR at Forum Mall after watching First Day Night Show and Bangalore’s lonely roads were infamous

When an OTT got Rajinified

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It was a yet another Monday for millions across the world. 23 rd  March 2020. But for some of us, it was a special day ahead. A day, Rajini Fans worldwide had marked in their Calendars as an important one. A few lucky of us would watch the Premier twice, others once. As I always wake up in the wee hours and prepare for a 4am “darshan” of Thalaivar at Kasi Theatre or Rohini Silverscreen at Chennai for an FDFS – First Day, First Show, I was all excited from the previous evening onwards. Just that I would be watching it all alone on my iPad in the confines of my favourite  chair at home, without the usual brouhaha outside and inside the theatre, save for the whistling, thumping and howling that I would anyway do all by myself. I would after all get to see “Thalaivar” in action with the wilderness on a small screen. The Discovery Plus App premiered at 6am and the Television premiered at 8pm. I was lucky to see both, one alone and the evening session with the family alongside Dinner.   It w

Vaanam Kottatum - Film Review

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Among the most awaited movies of 2020 was Vaanam Kottatum. In a typical Mani Ratnam style movie (story & script is by him, btw) with a star cast that’s been resplendent over the past few years in his movie, Director Dhana sends home a message of, duh. Actually nothing.   VK is a family drama, a non-gripping father-son story that also involves the lives of those around. As is the case of many of the ace Director’s films, the story is loose with many open ends and makes the viewer wonder why certain characters even appeared. Like MJ. Sriram who’s only purpose was to offer a drink to a stranger who ends up at his home while there’s an IT Raid going on (we don’t know what business he ran and why they were there) at his scenic ECR-styled bungalow. I sincerely hoped this movie to be a head turner for Vikram Prabhu and Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, a sort of coup with kids of two yesteryear heroes coming together. But that wasn’t the case to be, finally. Shanthnu barely gets to share screen spacer

Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal - Film Review

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Was eagerly awaiting to see this film on the OTT platform and finally found time yesterday. The title is from a song from the critically acclaimed “Thiruda Thiruda” which was a movie about a heist, a wild goose chase and romance intertwined. KKK is almost similar. Except that it is contemporary and is tuned to today’s times. Debutant Director Desingh Periyasamy has made a movie that resonates well with the current generation across many aspects of life – Money, Romance, overnight riches and everything in between. That the storyline is somewhat familiar to Thaana Serndha kootam is one thing; that there is no 15 minute preaching at the end of the movie to justify the crime is the best thing. Perhaps, why it ran for a few weeks to packed multiplexes in key metro cities.    Siddharth (Dulqueer Salman) is happy go-lucky guy along with his side-kick and friend Kallis (Rakshan). They do odd jobs and for the first 10 minutes in to the film, no one knows why they exist, especially the car chase

New Films on OTT? Let’s begin.

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It’s a known thing to my friends and extended circuit of people that I am a huge fan of Superstar Rajinikanth for over 40 years now. What very few people know is that I am also a big fan of the “Actor Kamal Hassan” though I don’t subscribe to his personal views on various issues including Spirituality & Religion, Politics and Current Affairs. However, I have seen almost all of his movies over the past 30 years of which at least a dozen films, over a hundred times (Still lesser than my penchant for watching Thalaivar movies). I have adored Kamal for his forward thinking on various business affairs – be it behind the camera or in front of it, casting himself as a “Her” with much authenticity or himself as 10 avtars; doing stunts real time notwithstanding his age, build and risk involved. His onscreen histrionics in films like Nayagan, Hey! Ram, Mahanathi to name a few won him awards & accolades, critical acclaim as well as controversy – it’s a package after all. Today,