#CelluloidCritic

Critic No. 301 Director: Hari-Harish Written by: Hari-Harish Produced by: Sridevi Movies Casts : Samantha, Unni Mukundan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Murali Sharma, Rao Ramesh Music: Mani Sharma Language: Telugu Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  An innocent woman, Yashoda, agrees to be a surrogate mother due to her circumstances. She then finds herself trapped in a world of uncertainties. Amidst a myriad of politicians, doctors, and powerful people, how does she battle her way out? REVIEW: Surrogacy is the main aspect of this science fiction thriller, built on true incidents. Even though I felt that the payoffs and character writing could have been stronger, Yashoda passes off as an interesting film that attempts to do something new. When Yashoda signs on to be part of  “Eva Institute”, a surrogacy agency, on the surface everything seems to be luxurious and comfortable. Yet there is an underlying sense that something is a miss. The film gradually anchors on this mystery and on

Critic No. 300 Director: R. Balki Written by: R. Balki, Raja Sen, Rishi Virmani Produced by: Hope Production Casts : Sunny Deol, Dulquer Salmaan, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Pooja Bhatt Music: Amit Trivedi Language: Hindi Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  A lonesome florist with a new-found love interest and a psychopath killer who targets film critics in Mumbai. Are the two related? Inspector Arvind Mathur and Dr. Zenobia are about to find out. REVIEW: When I read the synopsis of the story before watching the film, I was really hooked on Balki’s indirect commentary on film critics. At a concept level, Balki and his team of writers (Raja Sen and Rishi Virmani) have a virgin plot that focuses on the life of the film critics, whose vocation has never really been explored in mainstream Indian cinema.  Not only the premise is interesting, but after the inciting incident has been introduced, the film travels a jet speed uncovering various deaths of film critics with a poetically shot

Critic No. 299 Director: Rishab Shetty Written by: Rishab Shetty Produced by: Hombale Films Casts : Rishab Shetty, Kishore, Achyuth Kumar, Sapthami Gowda Music: B. Ajaneesh Loknath Language: Kannada Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama SYNOPSIS:  Kantara is a story set in the fictional village of Dakshina Kannada which explores the ideological conflict between humans and nature. A battle of ego swirls along the tradition and culture of the land. Will Shiva, the protagonist of the film be able to reinstate peace and harmony in the village perceiving his existence? REVIEW: Even if I am not familiar with any Indian folklore, Rishab Shetty instantly draws us into the world of Bhoota Kola and the myth behind an impressively shot flashback that lays the foundation of the rivalry between the two clans of people. The introduction of a divine spirit that watches over the forest and a stirring Kambala buffalo race within the first 15 minutes or so of the film set the tone. After the fantasy-styl

Critic No. 298 Director: R. Kaiser Anand Written by: R. Kaiser Anand Produced by: Grass Root Film Company Casts : Andrea Jeremiah, Aadhav Kannadasan, Azhagam Perumal Music: Santosh Narayanan Language: Tamil Genre: Drama SYNOPSIS:  Mathi (Andrea), who works in a sports outlet, becomes the victim of a horrendous crime committed by men in authority. Can she punish the real criminals despite all odds? REVIEW: As fast as the main inciting incident is introduced, the grittiness and raw portrayal of the sexual violence grab our attention instantly and keep us on the edge of our seats as Kaiser Anand thrillingly unveils the mystery of his disturbing tale of sexual violence. As the film runtime ticks on, our heart races as we witness the injustice that happens to the rape survivor, and as soon as we know the culprit, our anger on this corrupted Indian society kicks in.  I also liked how Kaiser not only focuses on the mystery behind the rape incident but also waves in an interesting subplot

Critic No. 297 Director: Nirmal Sahadev Written by: Nirmal Sahadev, Fazal Hameed Produced by: The Fresh Lime Sodas Casts : Aishwarya Lekshmi, Shine Tom Chacko, Surabhi Lakshmi Music: Jakes Bejoy Language: Malayalam Genre: Horror, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  A naive Kumari (Aishwarya Lekshmi) arrives in the cursed land, where people are ready to sacrifice their lives to preserve tradition and power. REVIEW: Folklore always gives you a good opportunity to grab the audience who are always drawn to such stories because, in any culture, there are always stories that are passed down. Whether they are true or not, it draws attention if told well. ‘Kumari’ is a such story about a naive girl who gets tangled in a toxic family who is creepily ready to do anything to preserve the tradition. It's just another patriarchal household where newlywed women get a warm welcome and have no clue about the overwhelming darkness that will soon engulf them.  The film also throws in scares based on threads of

Critic No. 296 Director: Vasan Bala Written by: Yogesh Chandekar, Vasan Bala Produced by: Matchbox Shots Casts : Rajkummar Rao, Radhika Apte, Huma Qureshi Music: Achint Thakkar Language: Hindi Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama SYNOPSIS:  A slick robotics expert joins a murderous plot after a passionate affair takes a sudden turn, but nothing, not even death, is what it seems to be. REVIEW: From the start, ‘Monica, O My Darling’ sparks with some kind of eccentric aura with a unique style of visual presentation. The beautiful marriage of dark, neo-noir visuals and comedic situations catches your attention quickly.  Leave the darkness aside, the film really felt like a more realistic, subtle version of Kamal’s comedy classic Panchathantiram (2002) which has a whimsical tone to it too. The music by Achint Thakkar and the quirky visuals of  Swapnil S Sonawane really keeps us invested in the tale which is packed with twists and turns.  Vasan Bala extracts top-notch performances from his acto

Critic No. 295 Director: Charukesh Sekar Written by: Charukesh Sekar Produced by: Stone Bench Films Casts : Aishwarya Lekshmi, Naveen Chandra, Bobby Simha Music: Bharath Shankar Language: Telugu Genre: Drama SYNOPSIS:  What started off as a fairy tale marriage, changed when Ammu’s (Aishwarya Lekshmi) cop-husband Ravi (Naveen Chandra) hit her. What Ammu thought was a one-off incident soon turned into a never-ending cycle of abuse, trapping her and breaking her soul and spirit. Pushed to her limits, Ammu teams up with an unlikely ally to break free. REVIEW: For the past 2 to 3 years, there have been a galore of films that have sparked to address male chauvinism and misogyny in Indian society. As some of the earlier films looked fresh, some tried to bank on the successful trend with a template story. And here we have Ammu which is stuck in between these two extremes.  In the film, Ammu struggles to break free; like a typical victim in a toxic, abusive relationship, she overthinks, bl

Critic No 294 Director: P.S.Mithran Written by: P.S.Mithran, Pon Parthiban, Roju, Binpu Ragu, Geevee Produced by: Prince Pictures Casts : Karthi, Raashi Khanna, Mohammad Ali Baig, Rithvik Jothi Raj, Laila, Rajisha Vijayan, Chunky Pandey Music: G.V.Prakash Language: Tamil Genre: Action, Drama SYNOPSIS:  An espionage agent (Karthi) who has been branded a traitor returns from exile to take down a dubious water project and safeguard the country. REVIEW: P.S.Mithran is known for his thriller films that deal with societal issues. He had a flying start to his career with Irumbu Thirai (2018) which scared the audience with a bold topic about cyber security and mobile hacking. Through Hero (2019) was a little too preachy, his attempt to try something different through a superhero film was commendable. With Sardar , his third film, I feel that he has finally mastered the trick to deliver a grand-scale blockbuster. Water preservation and commercialization is a very interesting topic not on