The 13th Chennai International Film Festival originally scheduled in December 2015 had to be postponed due to the floods in Chennai and it was finally held between 6th and 13th of January 2016, across seven screens within the city
Aferim is definitely an ageless masterpiece with oodles of technical brilliance and is such a well written satire of a certain time period and an associated social system, that it stays relevant even when extended to the current time!
Even as Pichaikaaran wavers a lot in its search for finding Villains and crusader case-points for the hero, the film ends up being a watch one wouldn’t regret because of its fresh core treated with overwhelming moments and the commercial additions that work in parts.
Pokkiri Raja starts out slow to pick up an entertaining touch on the way - though oscillating between two varied modes of narration, the fun manages to evade the pits and keeps the movie quite funny up till the very end!
Maheshinte Prathikaram is a testament to the art of filmmaking that a pleasant light tale dealing with human emotions can be made into an engaging likeable mainstream film aided by flawless casting & immaculate cinematography.
Concussion is a sports drama that has struck the right balance between handling the emotions and keeping the audience engaged by virtue of a pivotal lead character played to perfection by the protagonist – a stunning show of character and appealing visuals!
Trainwreck features a host of brilliant performances, majorly emotional in content and lesser in humor. Though damp at places, the well-paced screenplay aided by some funny dialogues takes it to the brink of survival and accounts for an ordinary movie without much to rave about.
Aarathu Sinam is an attempted thriller that holds enough promise with a decent core and ample support from the cast and crew, but goes haywire with the treatment provided as it loses sight of the bigger picture in the quest for trivial targets!
45 Years is not a third act that culminates into an anniversary but a beautiful journey full of ups & downs explaining who the couple are, how they came together & how they have spent their lives making decisions that has brought them where they are now. Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about the destination.
‘When Marnie Was There’ has a fabulous story & fantastic visuals backed by a pleasing background score, however the meandering screenplay and heavy, emotional dialogues makes this film not fall in the league of Studio Ghibli’s best.
