#CelluloidCritic

Critic - No. 196 Director : Jeethu Joseph Produced by: Aashirvad Cinemas Casts: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Aasha Sarath, Siddique Language: Malayalam Genre: Drama, Romance Music: Anil Johnson  SYNOPSIS:  Drishyam 2 kicks off from where the sequel left off - ‘The perfect crime', has a key eyewitness now and it gives a redirection to the Varun Prabhakar missing-case investigation that has left the cops red-faced 6 years ago. REVIEW: It is always a gamble when you attempt to recreate an intricate murder mystery, especially when you working with the same case. In the paper, one would have thought that it is almost impossible to bring in the same engagement level as the top-notch predecessor. However, Jeethu Joseph has trashed all these pre talks with another engaging tale of Georgekutty. Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is now a theatre owner and being a film fanatic, he dreams of making a film based on a story he has written. His daughters Anju and Anumol (Ansiba and ...

Critic - No. 195 Director : Tharun Bhascker, Nadhini Reddy, Nag Ashwin, Sankalp Reddy Produced by: RSVP Movies, Flying Unicorn Entertainment Casts: Lakshmi Manchu, Saanve Megghana, Abhay Bethiganti, Amala Paul, Ashwin Kakumanu, Jagapathi Bab u, Shruti Haasan, Sanjith Hegde, Satyadev Kancharana, Eesha Rebba, Srinivas Avasarala Language: Telugu Genre: Drama, Romance Music: Vivek Sagar   SYNOPSIS:  From secrets and lies to jealousy and control, four stories in this anthology film explore darker, deceptive sides of love.   REVIEW: Hindi cinema had Lust Stories and Ghost Stories , Tamil cinema had Paava Kadhaigal and Putham Pudhu Kaalai, and finally, Telugu cinema ventures out to the anthology space where various directors tell short stories based on a similar thematic note with Pitta Kathalu. It is interesting to see some strong commercial directors taking an attempt in creating short stories which set out to deal with complex emotions and characters.  Let’s take a ...

Critic - No. 194 Director : Rohena Gera Produced by: Platoon One Films Casts: Tilotama Shome, Vivek Gomber Language: Hindi, English Genre: Drama, Romance   SYNOPSIS:  An optimistic and determined young widow, Ratna (Tilotama) from a remote village, starts a new job as a live-in maid for the cynical son of a wealthy family, Ashwin (Vivek) who had just called off his wedding. They form an attraction towards each other that develops into a forbidden relationship.    REVIEW: The film’s spine is simple - a servant and a rich young man fall into a complicated relationship that acts against the social norms. However, what director Gera offers us in return are the multi-layered, complex characters that make us root for their fears, excitement, and of course romance. In the starting few scenes, we get to know Ratna quite quickly that her main objective is to save money for her younger sister who aspires to be a fashion designer accompanying a dream to have a tailor shop as ...

Critic - No. 193 Director : Ramin Bahrani Produced by: Lava Media, ARRAY, Noruz Films Casts: Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao Language: English, Hindi Genre: Drama   SYNOPSIS:  An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit to escape from poverty and rise to the top.   REVIEW: Adapted from the 2008 bestseller and Booker prize winner (by Aravind Adiga), Rahmin Bahrani injects it with terrific storytelling energy in visual form.  The White Tiger is a capitalist fable told from the perspective of Balram (Adarsh Gourav), a poor, lower-caste Bihari hired as a driver for an abroad-returned couple, the film is also a play on the idea of the selfless servant, a trope popularised by Indian pop-culture, in particular Hindi cinema. While in most films, it is shown that domestic workers are thrown into living in an enclosed limbo, The White Tiger penetrates the stereotypical story bubble deeper, revealing that in an unbalanced society, it’s easier to take away options f...

Critic - No. 192 Director : Jeo Baby Produced by: Mankind Cinemas, Symmetry Cinemas, Cinema Cooks Casts: Nimisha Sajayan, Suraj Venjaramoodu, T Suresh Babu Language: Malayalam Music: Sooraj S Kurup, Matthews Pulickan Genre: Drama   SYNOPSIS:  After marriage, a woman (Nimisha) struggles to be the submissive wife that her husband (Suraj) and his family expect her to be. The story follows her journey, as she changes herself and, even more so, changes the household.   REVIEW: ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ , directed by Jeo Baby swoops its way into the league of my favourite 10 Malayalam films with its genuine, realistic writing and meticulous direction. The subject matter about patriarchal society is old as a hill but Jeo’s detailed visual storytelling immerses us into the world of...oh wait, we don’t know the name of the lead character here. Often called out as ‘molae’, a generic Malayalam term of endearment for girls. We have seen nameless protagonists in Kurosawa and Clint...

Critic - No. 191 Director : M Muthiah Produced by: SUN Entertainment Casts: Vikram Prabhu, Lakshmi Menon, Samuthirakani, Vela Ramamoorthy, R.K.Suresh, Singam Puli, Dheena, Bala Language: Tamil Music: N.R. Raghunathan Genre: Action, Drama   SYNOPSIS:  Pulikkuthi Pandi (Vikram Prabhu), a ruthless youngster who fights for justice, transforms into a kind and humble husband for his wife, Pechi (Lakshmi Menon). But as fate turns brutal, his patience is tested.   REVIEW: After a decent streak of 5 rural dramas, director Muthaiah has anchored his trademark and filmmaking voice within the genre. Out of his previous films, I liked his treatment for Komban (2015) and Marudhu (2016) where he has centered his story against relationship conflicts and stakes, in a very earnest manner. Despite being quite inconsistent in character building, Muthiah’s films typically work to tell a message in the end for the audience (fully convincing or not is another issue). Shot during the pandemi...

Critic - No.  190 Director : Suseenthiran Produced by: Madhav Media Company, D Company Casts: Silambarasan TR, Barathiraja, Nidhi Agarwal, Nanditha Swetha, Bala Saravanan, Munishkanth, Kaali Venkat, Stunt Siva Language: Tamil Music: Thaman Genre: Action, Drama   SYNOPSIS:  Eeswaran tells the story of Periyasamy (Bharathiraja) whose simple and joyous life turns into a nightmare when internal familial disputes start to emerge. Eeswaran (Silambarasan), the loyal servant of the household attempts to bring together the family who are in the modern-world race to success.   REVIEW:   Silambarasan TR who has been acting since he was 5 years old, kicked off his career with a dream start in 2002, churning out back to back blockbuster hits racing steadily into the top league of actors at such a young age. However, his career hit a speed breaker in 2015 with a disaster film ‘ AAA’ that kind of pulled him down to rock bottom and the consistent flops after that didn’t hel...