#CelluloidCritic

Critic No. 248 Director: Anand Shankar Written by: Anand Shankar Produced by: Mini Studios Casts: Vishal, Aarya, Thambi Ramaiah, Mamta Mohandas, Mirnalini Ravi, Prakash Raj, Karunakaran Music: S Thaman (songs), Sam C.S (score) Language: Tamil Genre: Action, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  Chozhan (Vishal) crosses path with his long lost childhood friend (Aarya) when the investigation on the bombings happen in the locality where he loses few of his loved ones. Will he be able to stop his long lost friend who has now turned into a deadly enemy? REVIEW: Anand Shankar has always focused on giving the audience action driven thrillers in the span of 3 films in his career. While Arima Nambi worked wonders as a good debut, Iru Mugan has tons of commercial liberties though the film ended up as a blockbuster. With 2 strong actors in hand with a juicy plot this time, will Anand Shankar manage to give a more focused film with Enemy ?  The film starts off with an epilogue showing an ex-CBI offic...

Critic No. 247 Director: T.J Gnanvel Written by: T.J Gnanvel Produced by: 2D Entertainment  Casts: Suriya, Lijomol Jose, K.Mainkanden, Rajisha Vijayan, Prakash Raj, Guru Somasundram, Thamizh Music: Sean Roldan Language: Tamil Genre: Drama, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  Sengeni (Lijomol Jose), a pregnant woman from a primitive tribal community, searches desperately for her husband (K.Manikanden), who is missing from police custody. So as to find her husband and seek justice for them, as their voice, a High Court advocate, Chandru (Suriya) rises in support. REVIEW: From the first few scenes, you will sense that the film is going into the route of recent Tamil films about caste oppression and police brutality like, Visaranai (2015), Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban (2020) and Karnan (2021). However, Jai Bhim throws us a few surprises and takes us closer to the oppressed community through an intense, investigative thriller that layers its mystery quite effectively....

Critic No. 246 Director: Siva Written by: Siva, Savari Muthu, Antony Bhagyaraj, Chandran Pachaimuthu Produced by: Sun Pictures Casts: Rajinikanth, Keerthy Suresh, Khushbu, Meena, Soori, Jagapahti Babu, Abhimanyu Singh, Prakash Raj Music: D Imman Language: Tamil Genre: Action, Drama SYNOPSIS:  Kaalaiyan’s (Rajinikanth) beloved sister, Thanagameenakshi (Keerthy Suresh) returns to her village after her studies and soon the family arranges for her grand marriage. Fate strikes with a different plan when circumstances lead Thangam to get into a web of trouble and Kaalaiyan has to save her before it's too late.  REVIEW: After giving a blockbuster emotional film like ‘Viswasam’ , all eyes were on ‘Annatthe’ as it marks Rajinikanth’s return to a village space drama after a very long time. Known to balance melodrama with the right mix of ‘masala’ ingredients, on paper Siva really looked like a perfect fit to shape a vintage Rajini film. So did ‘Annatthe’ crackle as expected?’ ‘Anna...

Critic No. 245 Director: Sundar C Written by: Sundar C, Venkat Raghavan, Badri Produced by: Avni Cinemax, Benzz Media Casts: Sundar C, Raashi Khanna, Andrea Jeremiah, Arya, Vivek, Yogi Babu. Manobala, Sakshi Agarwal, Sampath Raj, Amit Bharghav, Myna Nandhini, Nalini Music: Sathya C Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy, Horror SYNOPSIS:  The ghost of a wronged mother (Andrea) who tries to take revenge on her husband, Zamindar Rajasekhar (Sampath) and his daughter (Raashi Khanna) is stopped by Ravi (Sundar C) who tries to solve the mystery that lies in the past of Zamindar.  REVIEW: By now, the audience should have known that they should not expect any kind of logic in the Aranmanai series. The first one was loud and illogical but had a strong comedy and had a basic but clean story. The second was a carbon copy of the first with a much diluted comedy but was made with a strong technical back up and performances. However, the third deteriorates more and gives us a half baked film th...

Critic No. 244 Director: Nelson Dilipkumar Written by: Nelson Dilipkumar Produced by: Sivakarthikeyan Productions, Vik Manmooth Casts: Sivakarthikeyan, Vinay Rai, Priyanka Arul Mohan, Archana, Zaara Vineet, Yogi Babu, Milind Soman, Illavarasu, Deepa Shankar, Redin Kingsley, Arun Alexander Music: Anirudh Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  A military doctor, Varun helps his ex-fiancé, Padmini to find her niece who had been kidnapped before she is led to a fate by an underworld mafia.   REVIEW: We saw a distinctive style in Nelson’s vision of black comedy in Kolamavu Kokila (2018) and how he is able to convey a dark world with an expertly layered comedy. In Doctor , Nelson attempts the same in a much bigger scale and with much more characters. The most striking factor of the film other than the wicked comedy is how Nelson has completely changed the acting dynamics of Sivakarthikeyan’s acting style, making him play subtle (almost like a humanoid) througho...

Critic No. 243 Director: Vineeth Varaprasad Written by: Vineeth Varaprasad Produced by: Ekka Entertainment Casts: Kavin, Amritha Aiyer, Kiran Konda, Gayathri Reddy Music: Britto Michael Language: Tamil Genre: Horror, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  A usual working day turns unusual for Guru (Kavin) and Harini (Amritha Aiyer) when they get trapped in their haunted office. A patterned game unlocks a mystery and a lift is their only way out.  REVIEW: From the word go, Vineeth doesn’t waste the time much time and he quickly introduces the tone of the film with realistic scenes in the office with a slow subtext about corporate culture and gradually introduces his supernatural angle that anchors his intention to reinvent the horror tropes we see in Indian films in a claustrophobic setting.  The film begins with Guru (Kavin), an IT professional, who is transferred to a branch in Chennai. He meets Harini (Amritha Aiyer), an HR professional, with whom he shares an unpleasant past. Guru, k...

Critic No. 242 Director: Manu Ashokan Written by: Bobby Sanjay Produced by: Dreamkatcher Casts: Suraj Venjarmoodu, Tovino Thomas, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Shruthi Ramachandran Music: Ranjin Raj Language: Malayalam Genre: Drama, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  Paul’s daughter Sherin is no more and her husband Allen has remarried. When he visits the new couple, who is also taking care of his grandson, a few doubts pop up in his mind, regarding his daughter’s death. REVIEW: Losing our loved ones in a freak accident is everyone's worst nightmare. The suddenness of the tragic event can be unbearable and even change our course of life. Kaanekkaane focuses on such emotion and incident with dwelling into various perspectives.  Paul (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a deputy tahsildar, is still grappling with the death of his daughter Sherin (Sruthy Ramachandran), who was married to Allen (Tovino Thomas). The couple also has a little son, Kuttu. Allen goes on to marry Sneha (Aishwarya Lekshmi), who cares for K...