#CelluloidCritic

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...

Critic No. 241 Director: Deepak Sundarrajan Written by: Deepak Sundarrajan Produced by: Passion Studios Casts: Vijay Sethupathi, Taapsee Pannu, Yogi Babu, Jagapathi Babu, Rajendra Prasad, Raadhika Music: Krishna Kishore Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy SYNOPSIS:  Rudra (Taapsee), a small-time burglar, gets into a palace full of ghosts. Along with the ghost, she finds out the mystery about the owner of the palace - Annabelle Sethupathi. REVIEW: Horror comedy is an overused genre in Indian cinema and still the craze and following for these types of films never subside. However, Annabelle Sethupathi is an interestingly tricky product that does not really sit in the league of Aranmanai nor Kanchana series. In this film, the ghosts themselves get scared by the intruders at times. Annabelle Sethupathi is treated more like a children comedy that does not take itself seriously from the first frame. Sometimes it even gives us vibes of a horror parody, drawing references from recent f...

Director: James Wan Written by: Akela Cooper, James Wan, Ingrid Bisu Produced by: New Line Cinema, Starlight Media Inc, My Entertainment Inc, Atomic Monster Productions Casts: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jean Louisa Kelly Music: Joseph Bishara Language: English Genre: Horror SYNOPSIS:  Madison (Annabelle Wallis) is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities. REVIEW: After a powerful start with a slate of horror films ( Saw, Conjuring 1 and 2, Insidious ), James Wan went on to make bigger, family-friendly studio films such as Furious 7 (2015) and Aquaman (2018). Known for his gritty writing of horror with a fine balance of emotions, James Wan returns back to his roots with Malignant.  With a visual nod to the 90s type of Dark Castle opening of a horror flick, the film sequence sustains its outlandish plot that feels like a homa...

Critic No. 239 Director: Vijay Written by: K.V.Vijayendran Prasad, Vijay Produced by: Zee Studios, Vibri Motion Pictures, Karma Media and Entertainment, Gothic Entertainment, Sprint Films Casts: Kangana Renaut, Arvind Swami, Nassar, Samuthirakani, Thambi Ramaiah, Madhoo, Shamna Kassim Music: G.V.Prakash Kumar Language: Tamil Genre: Biography, Drama SYNOPSIS:  ‘Thalaivi’ is a biopic that traces Tamil Nadu ex-chief minister, late Jayalalithaa’s (Kangana Ranaut) inspirational journey from her arrival as a young actor in the world of Tamil cinema who reaches new heights of superstardom and eventually becomes Thalaivii- a powerful figure in the world of politics.  REVIEW: An iconic figure in Indian politics, Jayalalithaa’s political journey is known to many who have been following the news closely for decades. Famous Indian films such as Iruvar (1997) and Queen (2019) series have shown some interesting aspects of Jayalalitha’s life but Thalaivi focuses on a particularly imp...

Critic No. 238 Director: Delhi Prasad Deenadayalan Written by: Delhi Prasad Deenadayalan Produced by: Seven Screen Studios Casts: Vijay Sethupathi, Parthiban, Karunakaran, Raashi Khanna, Manjima Mohan Music: Govind Vasantha Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller SYNOPSIS:  A budding politician, Singam (Vijay Sethupathi) has devious plans to rise in the ranks until an unexplainable force emerges to interfere with his every crooked move. REVIEW: After decades, we saw how the hero-villain relationships can be treated with a light vein of wisecracks and counters through Vijay Sethupathi and Parthiban in Naanum Rowdy Thaan (2015). This definitely raises the expectation for Tughlaq Durbar when these two names are back together and this time for a political comedy which has scope for ample of witty liners. With promo materials suggesting a high concept treatment for the film, curiosity was high to know what might be the plot all about. Tughlaq Durbar starts off with an inte...

Critic No.237 Director: John Krasinski Written by: John Krasinski Produced by: Platinum Dunes, Sunday Night Productions Casts: Emily Blunt, Cillian  Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski Language: English Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi SYNOPSIS:  Following the events at home, the Abbott family now faces the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path. REVIEW: Written and directed by John Krasinski, who appears again on-screen in an extended flashback sequence at the beginning of the film, A Quiet Place Part II picks up from where it left off with Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe), and the newborn baby abandoning their destroyed home. They set out to find other surviving humans, armed with the knowledge that Regan’s cochlear implant makes the monsters vulnerable enough to get a shot. They also co...

Critic No. 236 Director: Karthik Yogi Written by: Karthik Yogi Produced by: KJR Studios Casts: Santhanam, Anaga, Shirin Kanchwala, Yogi Babu, Anandraj, Nizhagal Ravi, Munishkanth, Rajendran, Sha Ra Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja Language: Tamil Genre: Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi SYNOPSIS:  It’s the year 2027 and electrician Mani (Santhanam) is unable to realize his dream of becoming a hockey player and he hates his married life with Priya (Anaga), a girl once he loved head over heels. When Mani stumbles upon a time machine, he decides to go back to 2020 to stop the most devastating event of his life - his wedding.  REVIEW: It is an interesting connection done by director Karthik Yogi for the title, Dikkiloona, a game that Babloo (Senthil) invented in Gentleman (1992). When he tries to play ‘Dikkiloona’ (where you have to move backward and collide another person’s butt with yours; if you know, you know) with Mani (Goundamani), he gets a kick in his rear. The same analogy of moving ...