#CelluloidCritic

Critic - No.163 Director: Shankar Casts:  Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Sci-Fi Music: A.R.Rahman SYNOPSIS: Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth) reassembles Chitti to fight an undefined fifth force that is wiping out mobile phones of the people in Tamil Nadu. REVIEW: After delivering a memorable sci-fi flick, Endhiran (2010), Shankar started works on the sequel in 2014. After a whirlwind of problems, 2.0 (2018) has finally seen the light. As the most expensive Indian film ever made, does 2.0 delivers what it has promised? From the word go, the film jumps into establishing the death of an old man who commits suicide in a signal tower. Subsequently, mobile phones are being pulled away from the common people and Vaseegaran gets involved with the ministry to solve this unknown phenomena. From the trailer, we would have guessed the entire story and more less, 2.0 gives us what we expect in terms of story and much much more

Critic - No.162 Director: A.R.Murgadoss       Casts:  Vijay, Varalaxmi, Kajal Agarwal, Radha Ravi, Pala. Karuppiah Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Drama Music: A.R.Rahman SYNOPSIS: NRI corporate tycoon Sundar Ramasamy comes to India to vote, only to learn that his vote has already been cast. While he reclaims his right legally, it also sets in motion a chain of events that eventually lead him to enter the political fray, trying to change the system. REVIEW: Vijay and A.R. Murugadoss are coming together for the third time looking for a hat trick blockbuster hit backed by a big player, Sun Pictures.  Even before we catch the film, the story is already flashed out, thanks to all the pre-release controversy the film got looped in. Does the film contain sensitive scenes like mentioned in the cases? Yes and No. The film might be the most boldest from A.R.Murgadoss, with direct attacks on the ruling party and depiction of real life historical moments (including death of

Critic - No.161 Director: Prem Kumar        Casts:  Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha, Aadithya Baaskar, Gouri, Devadarshini, Janagaraj, Bagavathi Perumal, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Kavithalaya Krishnan Language: Tamil Genre: Drama / Romance Music: Govind Vasantha SYNOPSIS: After chancing pass his native place, Tanjore, Ram (Vijay Sethupathi), a travel photographer decides to organise a reunion with his school friends. After 22 years, Ram meets his childhood sweetheart Janu (Trisha) that sparks a flood of memories.   REVIEW: ‘96’ joins the list of films that successfully rekindles our school memories convincingly in the likes of Autograph (2004) and Premam (2015) . Right from the first frame, the film starts to stir our emotions through sounds of nature followed by the soulful ‘Life of Ram’ track that grows on us with its arresting visuals in Andhaman. Ram’s simple life and motivations are established in that so subtly. The visual storytelling starts there and echoes throug

Critic - No.160 Director: Mani Ratnam          Casts:  Vijay Sethupathi, Silambarasan, Arvind Swamy, Arun Vijay, Jyothika, Prakash Raj, Aishwaraya Rajesh, Aditi Rao, Dayana, Jayasudha, Thiagarajan Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Drama Music: A.R.Rahman SYNOPSIS: After a fatal murder attempt on a powerful mafia Senapathy (Prakash Raj), his three sons (Arvind Swamy, STR, Arun Vijay) aim to seat on the throne even if they have to turn against each other. REVIEW: Right from the announcement till the latest promo videos, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (CCV) has made a spot on noise among the Indian film circuit. After experimenting with two light hearted films (OK Kanmani & Kaatru Veliyidai), Mani Ratnam returns to his 80s love of portraying the tricky, complex emotions in the world of gangsters. Loosely based on Ponniyin Selvan, Mani threads a story about how three brothers who have totally different characteristics are in the race to seat on their father’s power

Critic - No.159 Director: Gokul Casts:  Vijay Sethupathi, Sayyeshaa, Yogi, Suresh Chandra Menon, Madonna Sebastian, Saranya Ponvanan Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Comedy SYNOPSIS: A simple man Junga (Vijay Sethupathi) turns into a quirky, miserly don to save his legacy and his ancestral property, a movie hall. REVIEW: Junga is one of the most anticipated film this year due to Gokul-Vijay Sethupathi’s previous combo Idharkuthaane Aasai Pattai Balakumara (2013)’s massive success and the shift it briught to comedy writing in Tamil cinema. So does Junga keep up to its expectations? From the very scene where the police plans an encounter for a dreaded don, Junga, director Gokul establishes a black comedy that rides on a spoof tone. He uses yesteryear blockbuster scene references and pays a tribute to don films in the start. Vijay Sethupathi is introduced in a Baasha style conductor and we are taken into his brief love story with Madonna that doesn’t pay off a

Critic - No.158 Director:  CS Amudhan Casts:  Shiva, Iswarya Menon, Sathish, Kalairani, Disha Pandey, Chetan, Kalairani, Santhana Bharathi, R Sundarajan, Manobala Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy Music: N. Kannan SYNOPSIS:   A stringent cop, Shiva tries all the possible ways to nab a dreaded don who poses a big threat to the society   A stringent cop tries all the possible ways to nab a dreaded don, ‘P’ (Sathish) who poses a big threat to the society. REVIEW: In 2010, CS Amudhan introduced the genre of spoof in Indian cinema through Tamizh Padam that was embraced with open arms by the audience. It turned out to be a blockbuster but there were no films that dared to follow the spoof genre. After 8 years, with updated content and some innovative techniques, CS Amudhan and Shiva are back with a bang! The most striking factor about the film is the well-structured story that flows from the start to an end. Unlike the first instalment, the film is more cohesive in t

Critic - No.157 Director: Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar Casts:  Radhika Apte, Bhumi Pednekar, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani, Neha Dhupia Language: Hindi Genre: Drama Lust Stories Official Netflix Link: https://www.netflix.com/title/80991033 SYNOPSIS: ‘Lust Stories’ presents four short films that explores love, sex and relationships in the evolving modern India. REVIEW: After the successful anthology ‘Bombay Talkies (2013)’ , the four talented directors have joined hands again for another thought provoking entertainer that is made for Netflix this time. ‘Lust Stories’ provides an insight of each of the directors’ interpretation on the subject of ‘lust’. Presented as a triumph of feminism in modern India, the film conveys its point without being too blatant in its voice. The film sets off with Anurag Kashyap’s story about Kalindi (Radhika Apte) who becomes infatuated with her student after a one night stand. As scandalo

Critic - No.156 Director: Shyamprasad Casts:  Nivin Pauly, Trisha Kirshnan, Siddique, Vijay Menon, Neena Kurup Language: Malayalam Genre: Drama / Romance Music: Gopi Sundar, Rahul Raj, Ouseppachan, M.Jayachandran SYNOPSIS: Life takes a beautiful turn when a socially awkward, mathematic genius Jude (Nivin Pauly) and an extroverted talented singer Crystal (Trisha) become friends. REVIEW: The film starts off by a narration of how Jude explains that happiness is expressed by a smile. He conveys it like a theory and calculation. After the opening credits, we are pulled into the world of Jude, his fascination of oceanology, his rigid timetable routine and his OCD behaviours of how he wants his things to be. We get to see how socially awkward Jude is but also witness his tenderness through his passion towards mathematics. With a neat progressive sequences, we get to understand Jude’s family and each of their character very quickly. Shyamprasad’s writing brilliance l

Critic - No.155 Director:  Shakthi Sounder Rajan Casts:  Jayam Ravi, Nivetha Pethuraj, Aaron Aziz, Ramesh Thilak, Jayaprakash, Vincent Asokan, Arjunan, Aarav Ravi Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Thriller Music: D Imman SYNOPSIS: The Defence Space Division in India, hires a skilful trickster (Jayam Ravi) and travels to space to stop a destructive asteroid from hitting the planet. REVIEW: Shakthi Sounder Rajan is one of the most underrated upcoming director who dares to venture out into outlandish themes that are influenced by Hollywood. Nanayam (bank heist), Naaigal Jaakirathai ( a thriller with a canine as a sidekick) and Miruthan (zombie) contained a definite drive to push the boundaries despite whether they are successful or not. In Tik Tik Tik , he literally attempts to soar higher, quite literally. The film starts off with a very template style of small catastrophe that strikes Chennai which moves on to establish the main threat that is about

Critic - No.154 Director:  Pa. Ranjith Casts:  Rajinikanth, Nana Patekar, Huma Qureshi, Eswari Rao, Samuthirakani, Anjali Patil, Dileepan, Manikanden Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Drama Music: Santosh Narayanan SYNOPSIS: ‘Kaala’ (Rajinikanth) who is celebrated as the King of Dharavi, fights for keeping the land safe from mighty politician and the land mafia, Hari Dhadha (Nana Patekar). REVIEW: Even though ‘Kabali (2016)’ emerged as a blockbuster in the box office, both cinema fans and Rajini fans were mildly disappointed by the dullness and subtlety that worked against the film. The film was seen as an experimental film by Ranjith who attempted to force in a few commercialism that the story didn’t warrant. No one can deny the film’s genuine content but the execution left us half hearted. Whereas, ‘Kaala’ is different. Right from the marketing campaigns, the film looked and felt more local, raw and at the same time with Ranjith’s similar political ideology o

Critic - No.153 Director:  P.S.Mithran Casts:  Vishal, Arjun, Samantha, Robo Shankar, Dehli Ganesh Language: Tamil Genre: Action / Thriller Music: Yuvan Shankara Raja SYNOPSIS: A hot headed military officer, Kathiravan (Vishal) tries to expose the crime of data stealing and misuse of it to make money from innocent people by a master hacker, White Devil (Arjun). REVIEW: Cyber-crime is one of the prevalent topics worldwide, thanks to the immense growth of technology and the ease of data sharing it has facilitated. Even though in surface, the topic might look a bit straight forward, the complexity of these technology is limitless. Debutant director P.S.Mithran has researched deeply and has crafted a film that is intelligent, relatable and engaging. The film sets up with a strong tone by establishing the master hacker, White Devil who is working towards his ultimate goal of having every individual’s information and money in hand. On the other end, we are introdu