Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Superstar Rajinikanth’s much awaited Annaatthe released amidst much fanfare on Thursday, 4 Nov. 2021 across the world to cheering thumps from his fans, followers and devotees alike. The film, produced by Sun Network’s Kalanidhi Maran and directed by Siva who gave a hatrick with Ajith over the past 9 years, is the first big budget film to be released during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic estimated to be produced at a cost of Rs. 230 Crores. While the shooting commenced in early ‘20, it came to a grinding halt in the wake of the first ever lockdown in Mar. 20. Subsequently, shooting progressed intermittently and finally released on Deepavali day, adding to a list of Thalaivar films which have done so in the past 3 decades.  Kalaiyan, (Rajinikanth) fondly addressed as Annaatthe by locals is the Village Panchayat Leader for his town Soorakottai. He brings up his foster sister Thanga Meenakshi (Keerthy Suresh) as his own and is extremely fond of her. Nayanthara is a Lawyer whom Kalaiyan meet

  Much has been spoken, tweeted and written about #MeToo in real life. There have been some convictions, some remorse and mostly inaction in real life cases. Here’s a film that showcases the life of an office assistant who is not just subject to harassment but even embarrassed when she tries to protect her female colleague.  The film begins with Jane (Julia Garner) starting her work day in the wee hours and heads to her office set in Lower Manhattan, New York city. She’s the first one to get in to the office and manages all the administrative tasks almost alone at the office. The company, a film production house has a number of employees walking up the alley, to the pantry, in the elevator and so on but no one hardly acknowledges her presence or her contribution to the workplace. The first scene show how Jane carefully assembles the coffee mugs, washing the plates, cups and so on, takes photo copies of work files, sends emails, fixes schedules for her bosses and even interacts with the

It’s quite often in life that we blame someone around us for something. Mostly, these are opinions and are usually not fuelled with facts and analysis. Much later, we realise that whom we felt was “guilty” of something perhaps was not. We do not remorse at the moment, nor do we proclaim loudly in public or on social media that we were wrong - I am being generic and generous here about human behaviour.  The Netflix movie “Guilty” is all about this human behaviour. As the movie ends, there could be a sense of introspection to some of us. Again, it’s mostly personal, I would say.  Joe Baylor (Jake Gylenhall) works at the call centre of #911, America’s police helpline, more as a punishment transfer for a homicide case that he has been involved in. He received a few calls, during the shift, one where a guy has been robbed by a prostitute and refuses to come out of the car to check the number plate of the car - he is terrified by the fact that such a thing happened in America (sic). He gets

Even as the world is watching news on TV channels and on social media with shock horror and despair, how thousands of Afghans are trying to flee the country ever since the country has been taken over by the Taliban last week(Aug. ‘21), there has been so many past videos, case studies and Docus which are being widely circulated and discussed. While I am no one to judge whether it was right on the part of the US to have waged the war or not – I am neither a global political spokesperson nor an American, I fully empathise with the life and times of the locals, women and girl children especially, who are scared for their lives with times ahead. And with the Taliban gaining control day after day, establishing a new “Emirate of Taliban” and formally announcing to follow the Muslim Sharia Law, things don’t look good at all.   On the morning of 11 Sep. 2001, families are having a normal day suddenly when Tv news channels show how two aeroplanes attacked the Worth Trade Centre in New York at 8.

“Yeh Dil Maange more” was a popular tagline of a Cola-drink brand in the 90s. And the same was also used by Capt. Vikram Batra of our Indian Army who fought from the front during the Kargil War which Pakistan waged against India and lost miserably. Vikram and many other Indian soldiers martyred their lives to ensure India captured P 4875, one of the top peaks in the Himalayas which could give access to the enemies to enter and capture an important route and region of Jammu & Kashmir. The move, which was instigated by none other than the former Pakistan President and Army Chief Pervez Musharaff was dealt with a severe blow by the then Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Defence Minister Mr. George Fernandes. India lost over 500 soldiers but made a statement to our loving neighbour that we shall not be shied away by such war threats and mongering. It is to our record that Bharath – our country, has never waged a war against any kingdom or country in the past 2,000

Lady Superstar Nayanthara has played a few unique characters in her career spanning 18+ years. In one of her earliest movies with Superstar Rajinikanth, her character was named “Durga” and she takes the same name in her most recent outing “Netrikann” in which she plays the role of a visually challenged person. In her earlier movie “Naanum Rowdydaan” pairing with Vijay Sethupathy, she appeared in a role who cannot hear anything. With this role, she has touched the emotions of millions of her fans with a fantastic portrayal, something very close to how a real person who cannot see the world would. Very few actors / actresses have played such a role so well, notable among them being Kamal Hassan in “Rajaparvai” and Rani Mukherjee alongside Amitabh Bachchan in the movie “Black”. Quite frankly, it is extremely difficult to “act” as though one cannot see.  Nayan has done justice to this role and has stepped up expectations on her, making the audience feel worthy of her title “Lady Superstar”

Betrayal is the worst outcome a human can take. It pains. It makes you feel weak. It makes you feel numb. And most importantly, makes you feel so dumb and helpless that one actually gave themself in to the plot, most often unknowingly. Jolt is all about a woman’s betrayal. Lindy Lewis (Kate Beckinsale) grows up as a normal kid. But over time, takes over her parent’s characteristics and grows up aggressive. At one stage, she is termed “harmful” for the society and is sent to a special school to tame her mind. Sadly, it doesn’t help. She goes through medical treatment, where the medics get harmed by her tantrums. She’s sent to join and train at the Forces, where she ends up hurting even the most skilled personnel. She’s put in lock and key but her aggressive nature makes her the most vulnerable at her tipping point and she gets unexpected energies which cannot be controlled by iron and chains. Finally, Dr. Ivan Munchin (Stanley Tucci) finds a solution for her sake. She’s wrapped up with