Rama Natarajan

Movie was funny and engaging with lots of twists and turns for the first 90 min but towards the end became usual run of the mill. Pradeep Ranganathan is once again steals the show with his nonchalant acting and ably assisted by his co-star Mamitha Baiju. Their on-screen chemistry is delight to watch. Direction, dialogs and screenplay are a standout while music ain’t bad. Total family entertainer and worth a watch.

The idli maavu (fermented batter) metaphor—where batter evolves from idli to dosa to adai—usually implies adaptability and added value. But in the case of Idli Kadai, it felt like the batter was stretched endlessly, turning stale. Agree Dhanush tried to recreate his childhood nostalgia of “idli kadai” (if someone can finance, I’m happy to share my nostalgia of hanging out in front of the ‘milagai bajji kadai’ next to the famous Adyar Bakery), but without any real plot or content surrounding that (similar to how beautifully Mezhayagan was narrated), the screenplay resorts to usual masala and overly used sentiments. Wasted so many talented actors incl Nithya Menen who shine but her role is becoming stereotyped (lot of semblance to her character in Thiruchitrambalam). Worth a watch on OTT (2.5/5)

Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra was generally a very engaging and entertaining film with the backdrop of an Indian female superhero but unfortunately not much to show for as a superhero other than best few bad repents in the society. However, hats off to the production team for showcasing for the first time a female superhero V in the Indian film industry. Kalyan Priyadharsan is a stand out and performed her role aptly. There are many ambiguous aspects in the movie especially one where a Kannadiga police inspector only speaks in Tamil which was strange. The plot towards the end became confusing but definitely movie was left clearly with an intent of future chapters. A decent watch at best

Began with lot of potential in the lines of a ‘Diplomat’ but fizzled looking like a Hollywood flick. The final plot resembled somewhat like the court room drama scenes from A Few Good Men where Col Jessep was put on trial.

Coolie stand outs - Soubin Shahir (best among all with a very meaty role), Shruti Hassan (lot of scope to show her emotions which she has handled aplomb), Nagarjuna (shines as villain but being outshone by Soubin), satyaraj (and his reunion with Rajni after 36 years is refreshing) has done his part decently well and makes an impact while of course Super Star is awesome, looks good and does his part aptly and effortlessly as he has done in the recent past movies. Agree there’s some semblance to *Baasha* but that is where the comparison ends as the flashbacks are not that impactful like in Baasha. Pooja Hegde sizzles in the‘Monica Belluci’ song which tops the chart while Ani’s BGM is good at places but too noisy otherwise. Aamir khan has nothing much to show for and comes towards the end (like Surya did towards the end of Vikram) and looked more a clown. First half very engaging and intriguing with encouraging signs at the break while second half is so mediocre - confusing with too many villains, too many fights, too many killings that just elongated the movie with an expected end. However liked the way the movie ended pertaining to collie 5821 and his identity. Rating - 3.75 for 1st half and a 2.0 for 2nd half (but definitely far better than ‘Thug Life’ 😀)

Kamal was amazing and his chemistry with Abhirami was very natural and cute. Trisha looks ravishing but wasted. Nothing of substance in her role. Simbu has done what he was asked to (not to overshadow kamal) but to his credit, he has done better roles in other movies than this. Many actors including Nasar, Joju George and Ashok Selvan were wasted. Besides Aishwarya Lakshmi and Sanjana have done their small role beautifully. First half was better than second. Great action, stunts, visuals and locales adding to decent BGM are some of the positives. One standout is Kamala’s acting, his looks and make up. Manirathnam has lost his magic. He should just resort to producing and step away from direction. ‘Mutha Mazhai’ song was missing from the movie is another big disappointment. Over all 2.75/5

Worth seeing once on IMAX screen for the great visuals, cinematography, background score. Felt the first 30 min bit chaos and dragging but picks up steam after that. Also could have shaved 20-30 min to keep it more crisp

Waste of time.. an incoherent botched up plot with very mediocre screenplay. One of the worst films of Surya

Overall a good family crime drama taken well from a screenplay and direction standpoint, excellent cinematography at beautiful locales and both Shobhana & Mohanlal delivering a powerful yet sublime performance. Their onscreen chemistry is quite warm and refreshing. Story has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing but somehow did not find it as engaging, chilling and gripping like Drishyam was. Though the antagonists cops were cruel in their acts there were better bad cop performances in Malayalam movies. Felt the character of Master (Bharatiraja) was just a fill-in to attract Tamil audience and a reason to find excuse for Benz to leave the town when the car was misused. Of course, compared to Mohanlal’s Empuran, this is far better movie. Rating: 3/5

Sweet Kaaram Coffee started off strong with a refreshing premise, but midway it slipped into clichés and predictable tropes. The finale felt overly stretched, weighed down by excessive emotional drama.