Harikrishnan Umapathy

Had the opportunity to watch Vijay Sethupathi's 50th film 'Maharaja' with the cast and crew at the IFFLA (Indian Film Festival Los Angeles) on Jun 30th 2024. To give some stats, there were about 300 movies submitted from Indian Subcontinent for this film festival, off of which only 21 were finally chosen and Maharaja was the special closing night screening. Anurag Kashyap seems to have sent this movie for the nomination. I was expecting that the movie will have a world wide release after the screening at film festivals, however it was released every where except Souther California 2 weeks before this screening. I was desperately waiting to watch the movie in theater after reading rave reviews all along. I didnt read or watch any reviews fully as I wanted to go and watch it without any spoilers whatsover. I have watched the director Nithilan Swaminathan's first movie 'Kurungu Bommai' (2017) and was impressed by the screenplay and story telling. I was intrigued when I came to know that the director hails from Vellore district which is where I come from. I absolutely loved the movie. Saying that it is a 'Non-Linear' movie is a blunt statement. Most of the non-linear movies you watch, when you watch it, you will mostly know from the start, that it is non-linear. The beauty of this movie is that you wouldn't even realize that it is non-linear until you reach a certain point in movie. And even after you realize that it is non-linear, it becomes even more interesting, because the forthcoming scenes, you will be trying to assess the timeline of the scene you are watching. Is it happening now, did this happen before that etc. The movie runs for a good 2 hours 20 minutes and there is not a single shot where you feel it is unnecessary. Very strong writing and excellent editing. Vijay Sethupathi cannot ask for more for his 50th movie and it is a true come back for him. It is a wholesome package for thriller fans and like I said before, the screenplay is such, that it holds you at the edge of your seats. It is only for mature audience and strong hearted, there is lot of gory violence and hard hitting scenes. Nevertheless, it is a must watch and one of the best Tamil movies so far in 2024. Anurag Kashyap always has a flair for south Indian movies and looks like he wants to keep him associated with this side of the country through movies. His performance is on par with Vijay Sethupathi and they both deliver a power packed performance from their own standpoint. I loved the background score of the movie, it is very enthralling and elevated both the emotional scenes and action scenes to another level. Even the action sequences felt so real and powerful and were emoting the pains and anger of the characters rather than trying to be a cliche one. If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend this from my side and I hope you will also enjoy as much as I did.

It is one of the highest rated films of the year. Why another Godzilla movie? How will it keep one engaged? What could they make anymore to keep it still worth the watch after so many Godzilla movies in the past. I, too, had all these questions when I was debating to go to this movie. However, the reviews and ratings all along have been positive unanimously, so I couldn't resist the temptation. Finally gave in and went to watch it on a big screen. Oh yes, it was still engaging, entertaining, and thrilling despite all the previous ones. One of the main reasons, as many pointed out in reviews, is that it had a great human touch. It had a proper blend of patriotism, humanity, guilt, revenge, and love. Yes, it's a good masala movie. Please watch it in theaters if you can for its stunning visuals, CGI, and haunting background score. Running in theaters near you in Japanese with English subtitles. Couldn't believe that it was made with a mere $15 million budget. You need to see it to believe it.

A web series review. Did you enjoy the malayalam medical thriller movie, 'Virus', if so, there is a delicious feast waiting for you. Started watching this series, 'Kaala Paani' after hearing some good reviews of it. 7 Episodes, every episode runs for about an hour easily. Was initially skeptic to spend that kind of time for finishing the series. But glad that I convinced myself and did it. Kudos to the writers who has meticulously and painstakingly written the characters with so much depth. Most of the main characters in the movie have done utmost justice to the script written by their top notch performances. Some of the twists and turns towards the later episodes will be completely unpredicted and will certainly blow your mind away. Series speaks loads about human emotions, compassion, in time of crisis how humanity sustains, abundant knowledge of our legacy and ancestors. There is a specific portion that touches and talks about caste system, I am not going to debate it here, but it was a bold and brilliant way of expressing their view points on this topic. You will know when you watch it and which portion I am talking about. If not anything you will feel positive and thankful about what you have. There might be bits and portions where it might feel little slow, but behold it is all worth it. There will be some deep emotional scenes, so brace yourself. In fact, I havent felt any slowness or anything, but saying in general if at all you are looking for fast pacy thriller then this is not for you. Nevertheless, if you are looking for engaging screenplay and fantabulous performances, then you are up for a treat as I said earlier. Will definitely stand out as one of the best things I have watched this year (movies and series put together). I cant recommend this enough, watch it and let me know what you think. No profanity or adult only content, so you could watch it with your kids.

Just completed watching this korean series on prime. It is nothing short of a roller coaster ride. When the world is trying to catch up to Korean movies filmmaking finesse, these guys are constantly raising the bar and going to the next level. It is extremely challenging to confine this series to one genre. At the same time, it is hard to blatantly tag it as masala because there is so much detailing done for each genre, and they are organically connected to each other and doesn't seem filmy at all. Keep in mind it is a fantasy series but like I said it has drama, thriller, mystery, time loop all blended. Imagine 8 characters syncing up and showing emotions of one person. All 8 of them expressing the emotions of that one character has done a phenomenal job. There is a chasing scene in one of the episodes, and the action choreography is nothing short of any Hollywood action sequences that you would have recently cherished. One of the episodes called 'Memory', is my most favorite. The brilliance of the writers is so evident. Don't give up easily. Life is a gift, and you can not underestimate it. It is the main theme. But the way it is presented is superb. I highly recommend this series. You can not watch it with kids. the korean industry is known for their gory raw scenes, and this one is not an exception. There will be lots of emotional, mother sentiment scenes, but I would say it is well worth it. I'm still mentioning it here so that you know whats coming. It was one of the best Korean content I watched in the recent past. Enjoy!

This movie is directed by Oriol Paulo, the one who gave another fantastic masterpiece movie, ‘ The Invisible Man’. I liked the invisible man movie a lot and no wonder it got remade as ‘Badla’ in Hindi and ‘Evaru’ in Telugu. The Innocent series is an adaption from the book of the same written by Harlan Coben. Harlan Coben is one of the best Spanish thriller writers and Oriol Paulo is one of the best thriller movie directors. So the combination is just super hot and the end product speaks for itself. The Innocent series is a multilayered, brilliantly narrated story. Each episode uncovers more of a single character and starts the narration at that point. You cannot keep a tab of the number of twists and turns that you will see in every single episode. Every single dialogue, every single scene has relevance and in the beginning it might look like a normal scene, but later on you will realize that it is also essential and conveys relevance. The cast has done lot of justice to their roles and added a lot of character. Many people play lead roles and almost all of them have played significant roles. Beware of the most gruesome action scenes, not limited to crushing skull, breaking bones etc. Nudity, Profanity is unavoidable for the gangster/underground world based subject taken in hand. Nothing is out of context. So strictly, no kids. To sum it up, there is also a twist in the last 5 seconds of the entire season. Thats just brilliant. Happy to hear that Netflix has signed a contract with Harlan Coben for 14 of his books. Cant wait. I hope you watch and enjoy this show as much as I did.