50 Years of Rajinikanth: Seven Pivotal Films in Superstar’s career

(This piece was written for the news website thenewsminute.com and was first published on August 13, 2025, and can be read here:  https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/mullum-malarum-to-kabali-seven-pivotal-films-in-rajinikanths-50-year-career ) For film buffs, August 15 this year marks an important milestone. It will be 50 years since Rajinikanth literally ‘gatecrashed’ the world of cinema in K Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal. 50 years – let that... 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 →

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 →

Thug Life – My Flash Review!

Thug Life is a bad film, but not a bad film too. Now, what is this Kamalism? Let me explain. For a Mani Ratnam film, it is indeed bad. In his entire filmography, this must be the most “UnManiratnam” film to date.  All the elements of his craft and film-making style, which endeared him to... Continue Reading →

Thudarum – My Flash Review!

The poster and the trailer gave the vibes of another Drishyam-type film from Mohanlal. Indeed, the first half an hour or so proceeds like that. The hill town setting, family banter, teenage kids, and slice-of-life happenings all conform to the Drishyam template until that moment arrives. However, it then takes a different turn, and I... Continue Reading →

Chhaava – My Flash Review!

Against the usual norm of a hero introduction scene, Chhaava begins with a scene that introduces the villain. The villain here is Aurangzeb, often referred to in this film simply as Aurang, the last of the famous Mughal kings who ruled India. When the film’s promos started appearing, I thought it was another film based... Continue Reading →

Dragon – My Flash Review!

Within a few minutes into the film, we understand the backstory behind the title, which is quite interesting in itself. D. Raghavan, a studious young man, changes his name to Dragon to elevate his “cool” quotient in college and attract good-looking girls. From this point on, he embarks on a path of self-destruction, with his... Continue Reading →

Officer On Duty – My Flash Review!

The film opens with a tight close-up shot for a few seconds of a police officer hanging from a noose, taking his life. As the film progresses, there are a couple of more people who hang themselves to death. In the hero introduction sequence, the male lead, who is a police officer, hits a woman... Continue Reading →

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