8 Thottakkal is a film that could have been so much more, but loses steam in the second half in spite of a towering performance from M.S.Bhaskar. Too many stage-play-like dialogues and convenient coincidences bring down the engagement quotient. Still a good effort from a debutant filmmaker who places value on content over style.
With dark humour as its uncompromised base, Maragadha Naanayam keeps adding more flavours of fantasy and adventure as it rolls along. Witty writing covers up for the flat lining phases of the narrative to ensure the creativity stays afloat to spring surprises!
Rangoon is driven way above your average lot of whodunits by confident performances and concerted efforts at stringing a credible story. Pampered by brilliant music and captivating songs, the overall experience is nothing short of a roller-coaster that looked promising for even more!
Yeidhavan is another one of the promising ventures that loses steam towards the end primarily due to too much of spoon feeding via dialogues. Still it is a watchable film from debutant Sakthi Rajasekaran, Kalaiarasan and Team.
A young couple is being shown a fully furnished house in Mumbai by a broker who waxes lyrical about the housing society and how neighbors are never a problem as everybody has their own business to mind. As decision time beckons we see the differing perspectives of the couple and the fact that they are in a live-in relationship. Out of nowhere, the broker says the society doesn’t allow live-in couples. Of course, we don’t see the lady breaking into a song to impress the association head à la Ok Kanmani. The broker instead proposes an idea to solve their problem. And what an idea it is!
In an age where content-driven movies are hard to come by and humor usually means double entendre, Ondu Motteya Kathe is a welcome change and has not just a simple and strong story line but also some intense individual performances and shrewd direction. It does take guts to make a movie out of a situation that one come across in everyday life but it take some real astuteness to sell it as a product and convince the audience. Raj B Shetty checks these boxes!!
With an ensemble cast, rich production canons, stunning cinematography, frame-after-frame jaw-dropping extravaganza, S.S. Rajamouli has not just matched the anticipations but has truly outstripped his own benchmarks. This truly is one magnum opus not just for its grandeur but also for its captivating acting and keep-you-glued-to-your-seats story-telling.
Backed by concerted efforts from the technical team to offer an immersive audio-visual-emotional experience to the viewers, 'Pa Paandi' evolves ever so seamlessly into a beautifully packaged drama – a power packed movie that makes for a compelling watch with the family!
The sincerity and extravagant making of a film set completely in the forests makes up for the film's shortcomings as a story-telling device. The enjoyable action sequences with the fit-as-a-fiddle Arya at the forefront make this a bearable watch.
Beaten-to-death Bairavaa, Bogus Bogan, Sonorous Singam 3, Cocky Kavan - The less said about the big films of 2017's first quarter, the better. There have been quarters when our team has had a tough time in deciding which film to leave while making the Quarter's 'Top Picks'. This one too was difficult but for the exact opposite reason! Of the 43 releases in the quarter, 4 off 5 films that made it to our list are small films from inexperienced film makers that endeared us with their charm and intent. So biggies in pipeline, beware. We see a shift in pattern coming along. Heading to our Five (yes, we were forced to cut down from 'Six' to 'Five') picks now:
