For a Gautam Vasudev Menon film, it is an odd title for a film. But then, GVM, as he is fondly known, has been trying to reinvent himself and step out of his comfort zone for some time now. We saw that attempt in his earlier film Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu as well. Not just the... Continue Reading →
Dhurandhar – My Flash Review!
Dhurandhar is scripted, directed, and produced by Aditya Dhar, whose earlier directorial outing was Uri: The Surgical Strike. If the "Josh levels" were high in that film, Dhar takes them even higher in Dhurandhar. Although the film opens with a long disclaimer stating it is purely a work of fiction, most viewers can tell that... Continue Reading →
Kantara: The Legend – Chapter 1 – My Flash Review
I finally caught up with Kantara: Chapter 1 on OTT this weekend. In my review of the earlier Kantara film, I had mentioned that the film was a normal commercial film that was saved by the last 20-odd minutes with an intriguing climax sequence. Since we were told that this part is actually a prequel... Continue Reading →
Lokah Chapter 1 – My Flash Review!
In Indian cinema, this is a season of “Chapters”. Recently, we had Kantara Chapter 1, and now we have this. This sets the stage for a cinematic universe similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For Malayalam cinema to attempt this is ambitious in itself. In its first part, with intriguing world-building, though with the usual... Continue Reading →
Mirage – My Flash Review!
Mirage, the Malayalam film streaming on OTT, is directed by Jeetu Joseph. His reputation as a master of the crime thriller genre precedes his movies. He gained national recognition with Drishyam—1 & 2 and established a new genre called the Drishyam genre. However, his other films, like Memories, Neru, Nunakuzhi, Kooman, and others, confirm his... Continue Reading →
Hridayapoorvam – My Flash Review!
Nowadays, Malayalam films are known for investigative thrillers, police procedurals, and serious cinema in general. However, in the 80s and 90s, one out of two Malayalam films was a slice-of-life comedy of the slapstick or situational type. Mohanlal featured in many of those films as the hero, with co-stars like Srinivasan playing active foil roles.... Continue Reading →
Maareesan – My Flash Review!
For the first few minutes, you could easily mistake Maareesan for a Malayalam film where characters speak in Tamil, as is common in Malayalam movies. This is not only because of the presence of Fahadh Faasil in those scenes but also due to the overall look and feel. The entire first half of the film... Continue Reading →
Ronth – My Flash Review!
Ronth, usually pronounced Rondhu, means patrolling in police parlance in Malayalam and Tamil. Accordingly, this film is about a pair of police officers—one a seasoned, dyed-in-the-wool cop and the other a Greenhorn —who are on night patrol duty. The film, set in a small town in Kerala, is about what happens during that one night... Continue Reading →
The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assasination Case – My Flash Review!
I was in Chennai on my summer vacation break in May 1991 when the dastardly and gruesome assassination of Rajiv Gandhi happened. In the very early hours of that day, I was woken from deep sleep to hear the breaking news. Since then, I have closely followed every detail of the investigation that ensued. I... Continue Reading →
Kesari Chapter 2 – My Flash Review
The tagline for Kesari Chapter 2 states that it is an untold story of Jallianwala Bagh. Indeed, it is because we have not read about this story or its main protagonist, Sankaran Nair, in our history books. Therefore, first, kudos to the makers for dusting this story from the archives and presenting it as a... Continue Reading →