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Ramarajan, my favourite tamil film hero
தமிழகத்தின் ஒரே ஒரு மாட்டுக்காரன், மக்கள் நாயகன் எங்களின் கரகாட்டக்காரன், எங்க ஊரு பாட்டுக்காரன் திரு ராமராஜன் அவர்களின் “சாமானியன்” பட வெளியீட்டை ஆவலாக நான் எதிர்பார்க்கிறேன். உண்மையாக தான் சொல்கிறேன். கேலி செய்யவில்லை. எனக்கு உண்மையிலேயே திரு ராமராஜனின் திரைப்படங்கள் பிடிக்கும். அதுவும் “செண்பகமே செண்பகமே” பாடல் எனது வாழ்நாள் விருப்பம். பொறியியல் கல்லூரியின் (1992) ராகிங் போது பொதுவான கேள்வி, உனக்குப் பிடித்த ஹீரோ யார் என்பது. நாம் பதில் சொன்னவுடன் அவரைப் போல நடிக்க, ஓட, ஆட சொல்வார்கள். என் முறை வந்த போது, எனது விருப்பமான கதாநாயகன் என்றதும் யோசிக்காமல் நான் சொன்ன உண்மை “திரு ராமராஜன்”. கல்லூரி பேருந்தே அமைதியானது! “சீ போட”, உன்னையெல்லாம் எதுவுமே செய்யச் சொல்ல முடியாது. நல்லகாலம், எங்க ஊரு மாட்டுக்காரன் போல, மாடு இருப்பதாய் கற்பனை செய்து பால்கறக்க சொல்லவில்லை, என் சீனியர்களுக்கு அந்தளவு புத்திசாலித்தனம் இல்லை! #Ramarajan #samanyan #collegedays
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Love Today (2022), a treat for the youth
For the youth of today, their centre of universe and lifeline is their mobile phones. Love Today (2022) directed and acted by Pradeep Ranganathan spotlights this trend in a humorous fashion. What made the film different was its treatment of the story – it was completely relatable and there was no preaching, moral advice or crime-solving. The audience in the theatre voted yes for the film, and following them, mangoidiots gives a Ripe. Ivana as Nikitha and the love interest of the hero has delivered a convincing performance. Pradeep Ranganathan in his debut as an actor has made a fine effort, but almost in every frame, he reminds us of a…
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Coffee with Kadhal (2022), decaf and lukewarm!
A large family with three brothers and one sister, four to five couples, and misaligned affections should’ve been a perfect plot for a comedy from Sundar C. Unfortunately, a weak screenplay has resulted in a decaf coffee that was lukewarm. I am puzzled about why Yogi Babu and Kingsley were so under-utilized. Coffee with Kadhal (2022) gets a ‘rotten’ in our mangoidiots score. Srikanth, Jiiva and Jai play the role of three sons to the character of Pratap Pothen, it was sad to see the underrated actor in Kollywood perform in what is likely to be his last film. DD (Dhivyadharshini) comes as the sister to the three brothers and…
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Sardar (2022), an enjoyable spy film
Tamil Cinema in recent times has rediscovered the spy genre, we have seen it with Vijay‘s Beast (2022), Kamal‘s Vikram (2022), Suriya‘s Kaapaan (2019) and now Sardar (2022). In a dual role, Karthi has done a fine job in this spy thriller, Sardar (2022). This, and the focus on a single theme: exposing the bottled water mafia, made this film by Director P S Mithran, enjoyable. Raashii Khanna is the female lead, with yesteryears actress Laila playing an important role. They are joined by Munishkanth in a character role and Youtube fame Master Rithvik, who delights us with his charm. Rajisha Vijayan, an actress from Malayalam is a promising addition to…
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Prince (2022), a disappointing Sivakarthikeyan film
To tell a comedy, cultural differences have been an effective tool and used well like in Mind Your Language or even within the English world like in Matt LeBlanc‘s Episodes. But times have changed, societies have evolved and Gen-Z is particular (rightly so) not to stereotype or be insulting other cultures, languages or nationalities. Director Anudeep KV has been tone-deaf to these with his creation, Prince (ப்ரின்ஸ்) starring Sivakarthikeyan and Maria Ryaboshapka as leads. The story is about a social teacher in a Pondicherry school and the new English teacher from Britain. That’s all. Debut to Kollywood, the Ukrainian Maria Ryaboshapka is attractive, friendly and has tried to emote her best.…
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Bachelor (2021), was quirky and slow yet enjoyable
The film had an interesting narrative style. In most scenes, we get dropped in the middle of the happenings, there were no gaps between scenes or context provided. This was profound in the first thirty minutes when we see countless characters in a bachelor pad and haphazardly several events happening. We are confused, only to understand what the director Satish Selvakumar had conveyed when the courtroom drama unfolds in the second half. Bachelor (2021) starring Divya Bharathi and G V Prakash Kumar becomes memorable only near the climax, which means you need to endure more than two hours of the slow and quirky screenplay. Due to its length, the film…
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Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022)
It has been a dream for generations of Tamilians to have writer Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvam come to the silver screen. Many years ago, I watched the adaption of the novel into a stage play which was breathtaking. Ponniyin Selvan 1 (2022) by veteran director Manirathnam benefits not only from Kalki’s rich imagination but a dazzling lineup of stars: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi & many others. Writer Jeyamohan‘s dialogues and the screenplay aided by Elango Kumaravel were the real strength of the film – their work has answered how the characters should be speaking, do they speak in contemporary Tamil or alienating the audience by speaking the…
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Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (2022), a chaotic monologue by Pa Ranjith
Director Pa Ranjith is a well-known and welcome voice in Tamil cinema talking about the atrocities committed against Dalits and the oppressed in his cinema. In his latest film Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (2022) he has taken it to new levels and made a film that feels like a lesson on the subject. He deserves appreciation for openly presenting the important issues of intercaste marriages and the resulting honour killings, but an entire film with no discernable story makes it uninteresting. It gets our mangoidiots rating of Raw. As a director, Pa Ranjith displays his magic in the opening scene where a couple who are in bed, start a casual conversation followed…
