#CelluloidCritic

Critic - No. 227 Director : Laxman Utekar Written by: Laxman Utekar, Rohan Shankar Produced by : Maddock Films, Jio Studios Casts: Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Sai Tamhankar, Manoj Pahwa, Supriya Pathak, Evelyn Edwards, Aidan Whytock Language: Hindi Genre: Comedy, Drama Music: A.R.Rahman SYNOPSIS:  An aspiring actress in a small town, Mimi (Kriti Sanon) agrees to bear a child for a visiting couple seeking a surrogate mother for money, but her experience takes unexpected turns when the couple is informed that the child might have a problem.  REVIEW: Surrogacy dramas are not very common in Indian cinema but ‘Mimi’ takes the idea to the masses clearly with effective situational comedies laced with a nice emotional conflict to talk about what motherhood is. No, it is not that it hits unknown or fresh territories, but the film does come out as a heartwarming watch, thanks to Laxman Utekar’s sharp direction.  Based on Marathi film ‘Mala Aai Vhhaychy!’ by Samruoddhi Porey, Mimi is skillf

Critic - No. 226 Director : Pa. Ranjith Written by: Pa. Ranjith Produced by : Neelam Productions, K9 Studios Casts: Arya, Pasupathy, Dushara Vijayan, Kalaiyarasan, John Kokken, Santosh Prathap, John Vijay, Anupama Kumar, Shabeer Kallarakal, G.M. Sundar, Vettai Muthukumar, Sanchana Natarajan, Kaali Venkat, Tiger Thangadhurai, Maran Language: Tamil Genre: Action, Drama, Sports Music: Santosh Narayanan SYNOPSIS:  A young man, Kabilan, from the Black Town of 1970’s segregated Madras finds himself with the opportunity to redeem his boxing clan and himself from years of defeat. With rivalry breeding outside and within his gang, can he do it? Will he be allowed to? REVIEW: Pa.Ranjith is known for his raw and bold dramas that often tell the stories of the underprivileged or the Northern Madras of the Indian community. He did take a slight diversion by giving us a few commercially inclined yet powerful films such as Kabali (2016) and Kaala (2018) with superstar Rajinikanth. It is immensely

Critic No. 225 Director :Ranjeet Kamala Sankar, Sali V Written by: Abhayakumar K, Anil Kurian Produced by : Jiss Toms Movies, Manju War Productions Casts: Manju Warrier, Sunny Wayne, Alencier Ley Lopez, Niranjanan Anoop, Babu Annur,Shyamprasad, Rony David Language: Malayalam Genre: Horror, Thriller Music: Dawn Vincent SYNOPSIS:  After breaking her mobile phone, technology addict Tejaswini (Manju Warrier) finds her new phone taking control of her life.   REVIEW: ‘Chathur Mukham’ instantly gets connected to us, thanks to the relevance of social media/technology addiction that is highly prevalent in the current society. Though the film has a few commercial liberties taken, the makers have tried their best to balance it by introducing a few interesting horror set pieces that visually look intense.  Thejaswini (Manju Warrier) is a social media addict, who constantly updates images from her daily life online. After she breaks her smartphone, she decides to buy a new one from an online sto

Critic No. 224 Director : Arun Prabu Purushothaman Written by: Arun Prabu Purushothaman Produced by : Sivakarthikeyan Productions, Madhuram Pictures Casts: Pradeep Anthony, TJ Bhanu, Diva Dhawan, Aahrav, SN Bhatt Language: Tamil Genre: Drama Music: Pradeep Kumar SYNOPSIS:  A middle-class youngster, Prakash (Pradeep Anthony), who leads a mundane life, experiences a roller-coaster ride after meeting two women of contrasting personalities.   REVIEW: Director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman proved his mettle in his very film, Aruvi , one of the best Tamil films we saw in the decade. While Aruvi had revolutionary social commentary on several controversial topics, Arun has taken a lighter route this time by making a philosophical film that almost feels like a pleasant dream. Like how the character Tanya utters in the film, “People Whom you meet have the power to change your life” and “Tomorrow is Tomorrow” , the film strives to inject in the audience the importance of living life to the fulles

Critic No. 223 Director : Mahesh Narayanan Written by: Mahesh Narayanan Produced by : Anto Joseph Film Company, Carnival Movie Network, AP International Casts: Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan , Joju George , Vinay Forrt, Sanal Aman Language: Malayalam Genre: Action, Drama Music: Sushin Shyam SYNOPSIS:  A past ridden with crime, death, and pain is recounted to Freddy (Sanal Aman), a juvenile criminal, who has been assigned to eliminate his estranged uncle Sulaiman (Fahadh Faasil), an aging patriarch, while behind bars.   REVIEW: The film kicks off with a nerve-wracking intensity and you are thrown with many characters that are scrambling a chaotic situation. Packed with action, characters, and conflicts - in the family, community, and with politicians - the first scene might seem suffocating but despite the breathlessness, something will hook you to stay to witness the backstory of this powerful man, Sulaiman.  Traveling in a non-linear fashion, the film depicts how politicians manipul

Critic - No. 222 Director : Vinil Mathew Written by: Kanika Dhillon Produced by : Colour Yellow Productions, T-Series, Eros International Casts: Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey, Harshvardhan Rane, Aditya Srivastava, Yamini Das, Daya Shankar Pandey, Ashish Verma Language: Hindi Genre: Crime, Mystery, Romance Music: Amit Trivedi, Amar Mangrulkar SYNOPSIS:  Under investigation as a suspect in her husband’s (Vikrant Maseey) murder, a wife (Taapsee Pannu) reveals details of their thorny marriage that seem to only further blur the truth.   REVIEW: The film opens with a bomb blast that kills Rani’s husband that sets off an investigation against her by the police who suspects her to be involved in the murder. With intercuts of flashbacks, we see Rani’s (Taapsee Pannu) married life has much less action than the gritty crime novels she is an ardent fan of. While Rani roots for some physical intimacy and tries to seduce her quintessential husband Rishu (Vikrant Massey) they end up sleeping early

Critic No. 221 Director : Leena Manimekalai Written by: Leena Manimekalai, Rafiq Ismail, Yavanika Sriram Produced by : Karuvachy Films, Golden Ratio Films Casts: Semmalar Annam, Ajmina Kassim, Patrick Raj Language: Tamil Genre: Drama Music: Karthik Raja SYNOPSIS:  This film is a tale about a young girl, Yosana (Ajmina Kassim) who grows up in the slave caste group, becoming immortalized as their locality, Maadathy.   REVIEW: Sudalai (Arul Kumar), Veni (Semmalar), and Yosana (Ajmina Kassim) are a family of three belonging to a caste that is forced into washing blood-stained menstrual cloth and wraps of corpses for a living. Yosana (Ajmina Kasim) is a free-spirited young girl who loves to explore in the wild and admire the beauty of nature, which is often disliked by her mother. This ‘unseeable’ community has an urgency to reach home before some villager comes across them, which often will invite danger and insults to them. Leena speaks through her exquisitely filmed nature shots that n