Theri attempts to make a point that a clichéd story that has been beaten to death in Tamil cinema, when infused with a big star cast and the right budget can still be made palatable. Despite being predictable from start to finish, the movie has its share of intense moments smartly laced to make it worthwhile!
While it is fairly common to have a pleasant or even a shocking family drama, it is extremely rare to see Kapoor & Sons, a thrilling family drama that too in the mainstream space with established actors. The film doesn’t have a protagonist or an antagonist but embraces the differences between characters whole-heartedly giving a fabulous experience as a whole.
Tamasha is another addition to one of those breezy and light Imtiaz Ali trademark movies; just that it does not create the impact that his old movies did. Slick, power-packed performances by Ranbir & Deepika and A R Rahman’s scores are not enough to hold a crumbling screenplay.
Disney has played to its strength of showing anthropomorphic mammals having fun on the screen, buts adds a much needed dimension of relevance to the real world with this movie that strikes that quintessential balance while retaining oodles of fun and entertainment!
This year kicked off with low key releases until the festivities began with four movies squaring off on Pongal Day aimed at catering to different audience. With Gethu and Rajini Murugan falling prey to cliches, Kathakali edged ahead for its absorbing content but the darker Tharathappattai from Bala remained etched in memory for the terrific acting and enchanting music from the Maestro Illayaraja. When the wave subsided, comedy-horror-glamour was back with Aranmanai-2, but the boxing drama Irudhi Suttru starring a beefed up Maddy stole the limelight for its honest attempt. The best phase was seen around the release of the much anticipated Visaranai which was hard hitting and liked by hard code cinephiles. Jil Jung Juk started another wave of ambitious movies including the first zombie flick in Tamil - Mirudhan which missed out to Pichaikaran,Sethupathi and Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum that made to our list of best flicks this quarter.
'Hello Naan Pei Pesuren', is a dated, atrocious film running on wafer-thin plot with few routine horror set-pieces! The film is only bearable due to the heavy humour quotient helmed by the inimitable ‘VTV’ Ganesh.
Thozha is a crowd-pleasing emotional drama that sticks to its core pretty well without deviating much into the so-called commercial elements. Watch it for Nagarjuna’s stellar performance, Karthi’s spontaneity & Prakashraj’s class!
Sawaari belong to the suspense-road-thriller genre; something that is not attempted often in Indian cinema and not a successful genre too. However, Sawaari’s sharp writing and rip-roaring background score keeps you hooked for the most part and masks the lack of budget convincingly.
Airlift in all its essence is like a well-oiled machine. With a gripping real-life story and a narrative as nail biting as it can get, it is surely a winner, for it has all the essentials that a thriller needs.
‘Bus 657’ feels like one of those impromptu rides take with no clue about the destination to be reached, mostly due to an impoverished story line and partly due to misfit casting – one clueless journey into obscurity!
