#CelluloidCritic

WW = Will Win, DH = Dark Horse Actual Winners Best Picture -         Nomadland (WW) -         Minari (DH) Best International Feature -         Another Round (WW) -         Quo Vadis, Aida? (DH) Best Animated Feature -         Soul (WW) -         Wolfwalkers (DH) Best Documentary Feature -         Time (WW) -         My Octopus Teacher (DH) Best Director -         Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (WW) -         David Fincher, Mank (DH) Best Leading Actor -         Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (WW) -         Anthony Hopki...

Critic - No. 208 Director : Dileesh Pothan Produced by : Bhavana Studios, Working Class Hero, Fahadh Fazil and Friends Casts: Fahadh Fazil, Baburaj, Joji Mundakayam, Sunny PN, Unnimaya Prasad, Shammy Thilakan, Alister Alex Language: Malayalam Genre: Drama, Thriller Music: Justin Varghese SYNOPSIS:  Joji (Fahadh Fazil), an engineering dropout and the youngest son of a rich family lives with his aspirations of becoming super-wealthy. Driven by greed and blind ambition, he decides to execute his plans following an unexpected event in the family.   REVIEW: Fahadh Fazil is one of the strongest young actors we have in Indian cinema who also has a great knack for producing good scripts that pushes the narrative styles and boundaries of the industry. After a shocking, lackluster, Irul (2021), a Netflix film that premiered a few weeks back, Fahadh strikes back with Joji , an intriguing thriller inspired by Macbeth.  The film revolves around a plantation family in Kottayam, with...

Critic - No. 207 Director : Madonne Ashwain Produced by : YNOT Studios, Reliance Entertainment, Open Window Productions, Wishberry Films Casts: Yogi Babu, Sheela Rajkumar, Sangili Murugan, G.M.Sundar, Kanna Ravi  Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy, Drama Music: Bharath Sankar SYNOPSIS:  Amid a local election with two rivals vying to win by any means necessary, Nelson Mandela (Yogi Babu) a barber lands in a curiously powerful position as the single deciding vote. REVIEW: Given the heated political atmosphere in India, there have been many interesting and effective political dramas that have come out but Mandela is one of the most focused social commentaries that also touches briefly on caste discrimination.    Mandela touches upon the weakness and strength of India’s political and democratic structures. While cash for votes has sadly become a norm in India, it has been quite prevalent in Tamil Nadu. State politics is notorious for the political parties doling out freeb...

Critic - No. 206 Director : Mari Selvaraj Produced by : V Creations Casts: Dhnaush, Lal Paul, Yogi Babu, Natarajan Subramanium (Natty), Rajisha Vijayan, Gouri G. Kishan, Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, G.M. Kumar Language: Tamil Genre: Drama, Thriller Music: Santosh Narayanan SYNOPSIS:  Karnan (Dhanush), a fearless village youth, must fight for the rights of the conservative people of his village, who are oppressed by the higher community   REVIEW: After a stunning debut with Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Mari Selvaraj continues his strong voice against the oppression of the (labeled) lower caste that shamelessly still exists in India. He opens the film with a power shot of a young girl who is suffering from fits lying helpless in the middle of the road while numerous vehicles drive past her as if nothing is happening. The camera rises up to an aerial shot, almost like a God’s view of the tragic scene. With no intervention of God, the girl dies and becomes a village deity (the vis...