Muthu S L

118 - An engaging thriller with a supernatural element at its heart. An investigative journalist has a recurring dream about a girl being murdered which he investigates. The movie begins with the murder of the lead Nivetha Thomas appearing in Kalyan Ram's dream. Kalyan's character being a daring investigative journalist pursues the crime from the various clues in his dream. There are several characters who come and go in his life including his fiancee Shalini Pandey and best friend Prabhas sreenu. The story while being interesting, sometimes goes out of genre mingling with fantasy. There are multiple number of twists and turns with interesting sub plots. The director has managed to include a social subject involving medical corporates in the story. The screenplay is taut and doesn't deviate much from the plot except for the first action sequence not being much use to the story. The actors played their characters well especially Nivetha being given a small screen time. Kalyan looked stylish and did enough justice to his job. Shalini looked cute with her expressions in a romantic track, apart from which she didn't have much to do other encouraging the hero with illogical motivation. However her chemistry with Kalyan was very good. The cinematography which was also handled by the director is appropriate for the subject. The only thing to be criticised is that nearing the end, the movie somewhat improvised from the dream concept in interstellar movie bringing an abrupt end to the movie without much closure. The movie has only one track which is good while the background score complements the movie very well. With a run time over just 2 hours 11 minutes the movie is a racy watch if you don't focus too much on the cinematic liberties taken. The director has managed to make us ignore the illogical parts by making us focus on the actors and the movie as a whole. This is a must watch for the weekend if you are in mood for thrillers.

Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi - This movie belongs to the buddy comedy genre which is not much of touched upon in the Telugu film industry. The plot is a relatively simple one. It follows four friends who used to make short films in college which they stopped due to various reasons in their personal life . They gather to celebrate the bachelor party of one of them when they go on a trip to Goa which changes their life. The movie is entertaining and laugh inducing to watch and at the same time handles the emotional conflicts in the lead characters with sensitivity. The cast has performed an exceptional job but the credit of the movie entirely lies on the film director Tharun. The director spins his magic in writing dialogues which we use in daily life as well as inducing comedy without much hype. The movie flows naturally with the bright cinematography, good background score and music and a neat screenplay. This is a movie to enjoy in the weekend while chilling with your friends!!

Super deluxe- a quirky dramedy with relevant commentary on sexuality, politics, relationships and spirituality. The movie is a film with four parallel plot lines running on the butterfly effect theory. A transgender, a middle class unfaithful wife, a former pornstar, a god man, five teenagers, corrupt cop, a gangster etc all find some or the role in this quirky universe created by the director. The cast is excellent in their roles with special mention to Vijay Sethupathi, Baghavathi and the little kid Ashok. Vijay Sethupathi gave his career best performance as a transgender and his characterisation as a transgender is reflective of how the society sees them as a whole. We empathise with him, feel his frustrations and fear. When tamil cinema uses transgenders as some sort of pariah to garner sympathy among the audience, the director stays true to the reality by ensuring that Shilpa ( Vijay Sethupathi's character) has its flaws and selfishness. Samantha and Fahad as a millennial couple with problems are excellent. The true find in this film is the kid Ashok and the group of teenagers. They look and act with ease and fit as if the role was written just for them. Ramya Krishnan has another bold role in her kitty with her as the voice of reason in the climax in embracing your sexuality. Mysskin who starts as a god man and his transformation into a man who is confused about god is very relevant to today's scenario. Bagavathi is perfect in his role as a sadistic cop which is a complete turn from all his other roles. He makes us cringe and irritates us to an extent that we want to do something bad to him.The camera work and editing is perfect with bright colours and gives us a feeling of being in the scene with the actors. The story is moved forward with the background noises and music with many old songs playing cameos here and there. Many important plot pieces are explained in the background noises. The movie is laughing out loud funny at places and very intensly emotional at places. The variation in emotions keeps the viewer hooked to the 3 hour long movie without any variations. The climax when all the plotlines are tied neatly brings a much appreciated satisfaction to the viewer. Over all I believe this movie is going to be a cult classic and a movie which is going to change the trend in film making in Tamil cinema. A must watch roller coaster ride!!

KGF - This is one south indian movie that managed to create some hype in the north and has it managed to live upto it's expectations- I would say it has to some extent. I have been waiting to watch this movie since the first trailer released some two months ago. This is about a character called Rocky played by Yash who on his mother's last words wants to become a very rich man by becoming powerful. For this he is tasked to take out a gold mafia leader in exchange of control over Bombay city. As far as the story and screenplay go, it is well written with a multitude of characters having some influence on the protagonist's life. The first half seemed a little bit dragged out with many scenes to elevate the background of the hero which could have been reduced. There was no need for a song with Tamannah at all. I loved the second half though and the way they paved the way for the sequel with a terrific gasp worthy moment at the end has to be appreciated. The main lead Yash was terrific in his role, even though he didn't have much lines to say. Most of his scenes were either action or showing emotions. The many villains were terrifying at times and laughable at others. Though this is centred on the journey of a man, the only female character other than the hero's mother was the love interest of yash. The role given to her was negligible and it's far fetched to think one can fall in love with another without talking about anything. Technically this film is very strong in all departments. The cinematography especially in the gold fields thoughtfully shot. The action was believable and powerfully presented by the cinematographer. The emotions in this movie were strong and the cruelty show in the second half has a very powerful impact on the veiwer. The background music at times were inducing goosebumps in me. The editing was crisp and the sometimes non linear screenplay was neat. This movie is a must watch for viewers this weekend who love movies with commercial elements!

Mari 2 - I was initially sceptical about what was the reason for actually needing a sequel for the original Mari film before e this one released. To be frank, i am still sceptical after watching the latest release. The movie is better than the first one in terms of the story, screenplay and the underlying emotions since the first film lacked in any real emotions for the characters. However instead of the naughty don from the first film, we get a righteous don in this one who doesn't like anything to do with drugs and respects women. This movie is not as comic as the first one but does have better action. What I missed the most was the mass BGM and songs from the first part. Yuvan's BGM was more subtle and was apt for the film. The on screen chemistry between the lead pair was terrific, mostly due to Sai pallavi. Overall it's a good family entertainer to watch on the weekend.

When I am posting this I have gone through about 45 mins of the film..but man, this movie is giving more chills and goosebumps than any horror movie I have watched...🥶🥶

Just so to clarify : I have been waiting to see this movie since the trailer released so e two - three months ago. I have always loved Kajol's charming screen presence, and this movie I believe solely relied on the two lead actors charisma and the music. The movie, a tad melodramatic at times, is also sweet and cute at the same time. The overprotective indian mother protrayed by Kajol is one we can relate to at some part of our life. This movie is comic, dramatic, charming and feel good and it's definitely a must watch this weekend if you love being smothered by your mom.

A story focussing on transformation is always acceptable, be it changing oneself or changing one's surroundings. An this is one such story based on a factionist leader's transformation into an advocate of peace. The plotline has been widely use before, but the director's writing makes it different from the others. And the important thing to be noted in this movie is that the women in the movie are responsible for driving the change in the protogonist. As usual, NTR Jr. is terrific in his performance and performes with controlled intensity. The production values, action choreography, and the music composer have to be appreciated.The director has subtly balanced the lead actor's mass image with the story without becoming too overbearing.Kudos to the director for portraying women as strong and sensible people instead of as the usual side characters. A movie to be watched in the weekend!!

LKG - An engaging political satire with an emphasis about learning the politics surrounding us. Lalgudi Karuppaiah Gandhi, a small time politician who wants to achieve big in the world of politics, undergoes a journey to rise to the post of Chief Minister. RJ Balaji has hit jackpot with this script by combining his well known social sensibilities with his charming personality. He has provided with a convincing performance both as an actor and as a writer. The story is engaging and believable with the current topics of interest playing cameos here and there. More than being a political spoof, this is a well needed journey into the inner workings of politics. The strength of the movie lies in the characterisation of the main character LKG who aspires to be a good politician for his own gain and not for the people. This provides us with the sarcastic view a real politician would have of the people who believes his lies. The other actors like Priya anand, Nanjil Sampath have done enough justification to their roles. Mainly Nanjil Sampath who acts as LKG's father provides comic relief as well as serious depth to the lead character's personal life. The cinematography, editing and the other technical departments have worked well together. Background score and music by Leon James complements the film well. The only thing to be judged is that the movie sometimes oscillates between something serious and something comic, not being completely true to the other. But this is what I believe makes LKG work magic among the audience. A must watch this weekend. 😁😁