This is an ambitious amalgam of local myths, legends with superhero world building that works to a large extent.
Kalyani is convincing in the titular role of Chandra and Naslen, with his buddies, presents an apt foil for her more serious part. The surprise cameos spike up the narrative flow and kindle our interest in future movies from this universe.
Director Dominic Arun is able to mix familiar elements from popular cinema with a narrative which one usually associates with Hollywood fare.
The production design, cinematography and VFX complement each other to belie the limited budget and succeed in creating rich visuals. There is no comparison to MCU or DC movies in terms of the budget and spectacle value. But, the success of the movie is finding a happy balance between remaining rooted while daring to tread a road less traveled which is enough to overlook its faults.
In true MCU style, there is a mid-credit and post-credit scene too hinting at future movies.
Malayalam cinema, which has hitherto found its forte in deeply affective, albeit, simple human dramas, makes a formidable mark in its initial foray into superhero-verse.
AN IMPRESSIVE FIRST STEP INTO AN EXCITING NEW WORLD !
Coolie is a POWERHOUSE which, when it hits its peak output - in patches, packs a punch with loads of nostalgia, an ensemble starcast and above all, vintage Rajni vibes.
It is also a powerhouse that struggles and sputters to keep the spark on consistently.
Nag & Soubin make a mark. But, Loki fails to soar.
Overall, an above average outing, at best, that doesn't actually have an "Arangam Adhirattume" outcome.
This is the story of a middle class family's quest to rise up the economic ladder and realise their long cherished dream of buying a home that they can call their own.
An affective drama that unfolds at an unhurried pace radiating lived-in feelings and warmth. It is elevated by the pitch-perfect performances of the entire main cast lead by Sarath Kumar and Siddarth. They are ably supported by Devayani, Meetha Ragunath and Chaitra Achar.
Director Sri Ganesh who had made an impressive debut with 8 Thottaakkal is in fine form.
Overall, this is a simple drama done neatly without exaggerated melodrama and nowadays, that is indeed rare.
Horror comedies are a done-to-death genre by now, and can barely squeeze a laugh for the life of the makers. But, Su From So, which is more a comedy with just a hint of horror, comes as a refreshing new entry to this league and succeeds spectacularly.
Set in Marlur in rural Karnataka, populated with a plethora of characters with their own eccentricities, the story follows the sequence of unfolding events when a love-struck young man's risqué behaviour goes sideways.
Debutante director JP Thuminad keeps his narrative simple and firmly rooted in the rural milieu with its own peculiar social dynamics as well as belief systems. He has filled his canvas with a rich palette of colourful characters played by an excellent cast of non-stars, including himself, who render full justice to their respective parts.
Thuminad mines the quirks of this setting and the characters for a near non-stop laugh riot. It has been a long time that I had laughed so hard in any movie. He also sneaks in an affective story arc that resonates without overpowering the lighter note that movie intends to strike and that underlines his calibre as a creator to look forward to.
F1 - The Movie follows the classic movie template of maverick washed out "star that never was" coming back to the arena for a last hurrah and juxtaposes him with a young, cocky rookie who is yet to prove his mettle, as they are forced to work together for a team that is scrapping at the bottom of the charts.
Yet, despite the dead-beat predictability of the premise, director Joseph Kosinski, who delighted us with his last feature - (another retelling of a classic - Top Gun : Maverick) - creates movie magic by brilliantly harnessing the charm quotient of Brad Pitt along with a stellar supporting cast that includes Javier Bardem & Kerry Condon.
The racing sequences come alive on the big screen and even someone like me, who has never had any interest in the sport, could feel the rush of adrenaline as the mean machines whizz past on the tracks.
Self referencing to past glory days is a tested trope for fan service in big star movies, especially in recent times. But, when a trope is given a too long a rope to span an entire movie, to feel like self reference Pro Max level, the end product is this (இது🤦🏽♂️).
It is, at best, GOOD, if you are a Thala fan(atic) Pro Max, which director Adhik Ravichandran clearly appears to be.
If you are not, as is the case of unlucky majority, this LOUD movie veers wildly between a BAD & UGLY mishmash of a messy drive down memory lane of Thala filmography.
Remix of past hit numbers, presence of not one, but two of evergreen divas of Tamil cinema, Thala seeming to have a ball of a time with a steady stream of super solo-mo shots - nothing seems to come to the aid here as the movie sinks beyond any scope for salvage.
The movie kicks off in the very first minute when a five-month old baby is stolen from a lone and seemingly hapless mother sleeping on a railway platform in the wee hours of the night. Two wealthy brothers who happen to be at the station get embroiled in the search for the missing baby along with the mother as they venture into the wilderness of somewhere in rural India.
What follows is a search that, in its near ninety minute rollercoaster ride, is nerve-racking and deeply unsettling. It is unsettling because we know that such incidents are not uncommon, especially to those who get stuck in the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic pyramid or for the unfortunate few of those from the higher echelons who happen to get caught in such situations. If one happens to inhabit the privileged upper rungs of that pyramid, there is a sanguine hope that one is shielded from such misfortune, especially when one carefully hones the skill of remaining resolutely indifferent to the plight of those unfortunate others. The narrative here smartly short-circuits this false sense of security as the two brothers of privilege are thrown into the thick of things with a desperate mother.
While one of the brothers is eager to lend a helping hand, the other is unwilling to step out of his carefully constructed cocoon and get any grime on his designer-ware in helping a stranger - that too, someone who belongs to a class of expendables who could as well be entirely invisible to his field of vision except for a few moments when they happen to serve some functional utility.
Debutante director Karan Tejpal designs a textured narrative where the surface level layer of being a tense thriller about the search for a missing baby transcends seamlessly into a search to understand one another and in some deeper sense, understand oneself along with the instincts that remain hidden underneath the masks we wear as civilized citizens or the cocooned existence to preserve oneself from those who are not so fortunate.
The lead cast consisting of Abhishek Banerjee, Harish Khanna and Mia Maelzer ace their respective parts with their rich shades of grey, moral ambiguity, vulnerability and transformative arcs.
Karan Tejpal delivers a movie which is a near relentless odyssey that is also several things at the same time - a gripping thriller, crisp drama, redemptive role-reversal, a sharp social commentary on our starkly different worlds inhabited by those on either side of class divide as well as rural-urban divide along with difficult moral dilemmas. That a director could achieve all this in a debut feature without being preachy, judgmental or adding even an ounce of narrative flab while keeping the viewers engrossed with bated breath on what is coming next indicates a rare talent worth cheering.
Inspired by real events, this gritty multi-faceted thriller has won several global accolades before its much delayed debut in India.
A CHILLING, THRILLING & UTTERLY FULFILLING QUEST !
