Daredevil Musthafa

This movie is about what happens if a Muslim boy Mustafa joins a school where majority students are Hindu.

Writer initially traverses us through the history of the village.Then we get to see the friendship of the key characters and then comes the entry of Musthafa. Director manages to show the shift in the intensity of the rivalry between Musthafa and the others, starting from banter to fight. Along with these characters, we get to know more about the plight of the school infrastructure and the reason behind it. Along with the main conflict, writer adds another small conflict that hurt the ego of English teacher character, which in turn gets resolved more convincingly than the main conflict.

Another major plus point is the writing of the main characters. Though Musthafa is shown as naive person, he too crosses the limit once in hurting the religious belief of another character and that adds genuinity to the character. One the friend character too changes his mind and that has been conveyed convincingly through dialogues.

Coming to the performance, the actor who did the role of Musthafa did justice to his role. Though the character had limited screen space, actor who did the role of Sports sir successfully portrayed the ability of the character to handle various situations. Iyengar character too had flawed nature of ego and competitiveness and credit for the actor.

Background score mostly scores towards the end trying to convey the emotions of thep characters. Cuts were nice enough to maintain the flow of the narrative when the conflict changes.
The main negative I felt was that director barely tries to create the friendly ambience of Mustafa along with the others and that makes the sudden shift of the central character seem bit hurried.
Daredevil Musthafa is a comedy cum sports drama (I don’t know if I can call it a period movie), that highlights the relevance of prioritizing unity and not hatred. Hurried finish may have affected the end but surely not the overall impact.

Watch link: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0PZKXT61C9O536H6QAK40Q76NH/ref=atv_dp_share_mv

Me Vasanth rao

This movie is available on Jio cinema with subtitles. Hope jio cinema improves their support to the regional contents.

Me Vasant Rao is about the journey of Vasanth rao from normal clerk who loves music to a renowned singer whom people admire.

This movie starts with the birth of Vasanth rao and shows the conflict leading to the separation of Vasant’s mother from his father. We got to see the fight of the single parent in raising him and the way he is raised up. We then get to see multiple people that he meets and learns various lessons from them.

There are few other recent movies (Disciple, Qala) that narrates the lives of hindustani musicians. This movie is different in the way of portrayal of the protagonist. He is someone who keeps his identity in music without imitating others.He never believed in defining rules in music.He sings solely for happiness and takes his music to his heart. That’s why he was able to make a change in the mind of audience. Writer successfully create an emotional connect well enough to understand the character.

Supporting characters were written well enough to support the protagonist at crucial situations(Begum character, Friend, Mother character). Director uses optimal use of music to uplift the narration. Some of the terms related to hindustani music were new to me. (For instance: Gharana, Lavani). Happy that I got introduced to these terms.

Songs were so soothing to hear, especially Shreya ghoshal song. No wonder Rahul Despande earned national award for one of the song. Art team made the time period look authentic(Riot scene involving train). After point of time (Specifically after Vasanth met a woman and sang Lavani song), story moves slowly. Cuts could have been better to help the viewer keep engaged.

Coming to the performances, Rahul Despande did an excellent job in portraying the hardships of Vasanth rao. He portrayed the conflict of being a responsible family man and passionate singer, with atmost perfection. Special mention to the actor who portrayed the childhood of Vasanth and mother character (I have seen her in Vaalvi movie previously. Watch out for an interaction scene with Vasanth when he goes back to work). Amey did notable performance as Deenath Mangeshkar, one of the life changing person for Vasanth. There is a scene where he says, “When you want to sing and don’t get audience, that too is poverty”. That dialog shows his passion towards music.

Other than the tiring length, main drawback was that father character wasn’t having much screen space as expected.

Me Vasanth rao is a memorable ode biopic of an artist who shows his talent without trying to please people or looking for acclaim. Most recommended for someone who knows Marathi music culture .

Cliché statement to add: Not Everyone’s cup of tea.

Watch link: https://www.jiocinema.com/movies/me-vasantrao-marathi/3751217/watch

Burqa

A small bold movie that questions some of the customs in Islam. Though the total length is under 90 min, Director Sarjun manages to ask the right questions within the time period.
Najma, a nurse is stuck inside a house because her husband died recently. What happens when Surya, a goon runs into her house asking for water and later makes change in her life.
In the beginning, Najma denies to help him because of the custom. Later, we get to see conversation and arguments between these two. Dialogues were spot on.

Films involving controversial issues may have some kind of propaganda. Sarjun never tried to include any kind of propaganda in his writing. The most important thing is that Sarjun never blames religion or gender as a whole. We get to see her husband Anwar understanding her really well. We also get to see Najma’s father taking the initiative for her higher studies. Sarjun also brings in her problems in very subtle manner. I really loved the climax and the background score in that scene. Sarjun never leaves us with a solution to Najma’s problems. He raises major concerns regarding how Najma accepts her life to be, without asking questions.
Cuts were precise as every conversation scene had relevance in the movie. Arabic touch in background score gave a unique feel to the viewers. Frames were beautiful to keep the viewers engaged within limited location.

Just like Kalaiyarasan’s character says, Mirnaa had to show the pain and inner thoughts and feelings of loneliness of the character and she does that effectively. Though it’s not a challenging character, Kalaiyarasan gets a character with a painful past. He too manages to convey it really well as the movie progressed.

The only concern was that some of the viewers may feel that story is worth only for short film runtime. Lack of cinematic elements may be an issue for some .But surely not for me.
Burqa is an underrated daring movie that deserved to be watched atleast for the questions that Sarjun asks. Watch it on Aha Tamil.

Verdict: Worth the time

Purusha pretham

Purusha pretham is the story of Super sebastian, who narrates half truth to his colleagues regarding some of his case incidents. He got stuck with an unidentified body investigation and a lady claims it to be her husband. Is something fishy in it ? Watch the movie and find out.

Though predictable, Krishant has managed to make the viewer engaged with dark humour. I really loved Krishand’s idea of adding supporting documents and information related to some of the dialogues. Just like his previous movie, he keep giving social commentary as required in the narration. He deserve praise for highlighting the flawed system that causes trouble to the cops. We get to see the hierarchy of bossing of cops throughout the movie. We also get to see much more conveyed through dialogues. For instance: the scene where Jagadish’s character Dileep discusses about their backup plan during suspension. Writing of characters was good enough to back the unique style of making. Scenes involving lemonade and orange juice were really funny. Lighting gave a different feel to the movie.

Prasanth Alexander gets to play the best character of his career till date. He managed to portray the frustration and ego of the character. After Rorschach, Jagadish gets a really well-written role of an experienced cop and he made the character memorable. Darshana too performed her role with limited emotions. Other notable performers are James Elia, Mala parvathy.

Major issue was the length. Cuts could have been done better to avoid focusing on some of the unnecessary supporting characters. Though the tension was maintained in pivotal scenes, I’m not a big fan of the rap music used as background score.

Eventhough it may takes time to get into the tone of the movie, I’m sure that once viewer is into the movie, viewer will stay engaged throughout for the most part.

Watch link: https://www.sonyliv.com/movies/purusha-pretham-malayalam-1000214563?watch=true

Thalaikoothal

Thalaikoothal is about Pazhani (Brilliant Samuthirakani) looks after his bedridden father and how the people around him compels him to do the ritual.

what makes Thalaikoothal different from other films (KD- which is a satire and Baaram- which is a social drama) narrating about the same ritual, is that Director never tries to give a strong buildup around the ritual. We get to see the situation of each members in the family. Pazhani had to go for a security job to look after his father. His wife and other relatives looked clearly dissatisfied with the situation. In parallel, we see Pazhani’s father, Muthu living in his dream. Along with Pazhani’s family, we also see Pazhani’s friend getting involved in the situation.

Director succeeded in conveying the affection of Pazhani towards his father. In a scene, Pazhani’s friend says, “I don’t know about rebirth. If there is one, I wish to be your father in the next birth “. Pazhani replies , “Never, he will be my father in every life”. There are many such instances of Pazhani and his daughter showing the affection to Muthu. In parallel, Director Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan traverse through the romantic world of younger version of Muthu. Top notch visuals and heartfelt background score makes the flashback portions more compelling. Visuals shown from the perspective of Muthu’s eyes looked impressive.

Coming to the writing of the characters, Jayaprakash gives ample screen space to the major supporting cast also. Some of the punchlines of the character of Aadukalam murugadoss were spot on. Backdrop of his character also looked authentic.
Performance wise, Samudrakani puts up a compelling performance as Pazhani. He managed to convey the pain of the character. The actress who did the role of his wife also performed well enough. Special mention to Kathir to excel in the flashback scenes. Some of the actors in minor roles looked bit amateurish initially.

Coming to the drawbacks, though the magical realism worked well for some portions, it looked like used unnecessarily in some portions. Some scenes towards the end felt bit lagging and story moves bit slowly. Cuts needed better rework. Predictability backfires the engaging factor in the movie.
To sum it up, Thalaikoothal is a moving tale that opens more about the ritual and how people are forced to do it.

Watch link: https://www.netflix.com/title/81606171

The story of things

It’s not common that horror or supernatural dramas offer surprise package to the audience. SonyLiv original Tamil anthology series ‘The story of things’ contains 5 short about how old or replaced things communicates with a person.

First episode ‘Weighing scale’ highlights the journey of a struggling actor and problems happening after an incident.Writer really well portrays the conflict between success and guilt.Background score along with the compelling performance of Bharath helps in building tense moments. The only concern was the unnecessary focus on horror part of the episode title though some of them works well.

Second episode ‘Cellular phone’ revolves around Vannamayil (or VM) and her bonding with her mother. Writer initially establishes the conservative nature of mother character and how Vannamayil got adapted to a scheduled life. Dialogues including a story narration in different scenes smartly adds nuances to the narration. For instance: the tale of a dog fallen in a well. Though the horror element is not very nerve chilling, the director maintains the supernatural ambience really well. The Final emotional breakdown was really touching. Aditi balan did justice to her role as the overthinking ‘VM’.

Probably weaker compared to the others, third episode ‘Compressor’ is about the weird incidents happening for a couple when they buy an old model AC. Director maintains the supernatural element throughout by utilizing silence and the sound of the AC as required. Background score manages to create scary moments and effectively bring in the conflict between the interactions of the couple.Main drawback was that the writer never tried to explain those weird incidents unlike the previous 2. Climax remained wanting more for a finish. Slow burning style may not be acceptable for everyone.

Fourth episode ‘Car’ focuses on ‘Brito’ who experiences incidents similar to his childhood memories and shows why travels back to his old house after years. The main similarity of 2nd and this story is that both portray wrong parenting.Siddique nails his role as the strict and abusive father. Shanthanu Bhagyaraj lends equally good support as Britto who carries the trauma and is scared of cars because of his daunting past His performance adds authenticity to the transformation of the character.Unlike the 3rd one, the Director manages to make a clear indication of the hallucination and supernatural elements in the narration.Climax revelation was smart enough and unexpected.

As we say ‘Save the best for the last’, fifth episode ‘Mirror’ is the best of the lot.Sethu, a guy with suicidal tendency witnesses a life inside an old mirror in his new house.Background score maintains the pleasant feel mostly. Interaction scenes of protagonist and girl are joy to watch and refreshment from the dark mood set by the other stories. Anshitha Anand and Vinoth Kishan share a sweet chemistry between them and that makes the short more enjoyable.Climax, particularly the last 5 min turn around seems a bit confusing but the uniqueness complements the unusual ending.
Final revelation will make viewers wonder how this was actually written and that makes this one an engaging watch.

Watch link: https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/story-of-things-tamil-1700001109/weighing-scale-1000203234

Most underrated movies of 2022

2022 witnessed a lot of quality cinema on OTT and big screen.It includes movies with less expectations making a big impact (For example: Love Today,Jaya jaya jaya jaya he),
big budget movies like PS-1,Karthikeya-2,Kantara etc.. and more. Bringing the most underrated top movies of an year is not an easy task just because
2022 was such a delightful year for a cinephile. Below is the list of top 5 underrated movies of 2022.
Note that I have excluded the movies I reviewed earlier this year.

1. Ela Veezha Poonchira (Soorya Festival- Malayalam): We often use ‘Slow-burning thriller’ to mention thriller movies with slow pace. Ela veezha poonchira
is one much movie set in a hilltop backdrop and follows a cop doing his duty. After the initial setup, the narrative moves to a crime thriller and
keeps the viewer engaged. Special mention to the sound design and performances.I don’t know when it will be available on OTT. Try not to miss it
when it is available.

2. Badhaai Do (Netflix-Hindi): Choosing an important subject for a comedy movie and narrating it without reducing the importance of the subject is not at all an easy task. That’s where
Badhaai Do stands apart. This movie asks the viewer to forget those controversies around bollywood and just enjoy the humour scenes.Most importantly,
Director maintains the perfect balance of Humour and emotional scenes.

3. Kaun Pravin Tambe (Hotstar-Hindi): Though sports drama genre is very common in Hindi, 2022 witnessed many top class movies including Jhund and Toolsidas junior. Kaun praveen Tambe is another addition to the list. The way this movie progresses and inspires the viewer makes this movie a class apart from other
sports dramas released recently. Tha main point is that the protagonist kept trying even after age and family problems affected him.
Ashish Vidyarthi’s memorable performance gives the optimal support to the lead actor.

4. Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Netflix-Tamil): Normally, Pa Ranjith’s movies gain popularity among the viewers. But this movie got the least(Length may be the reason)and that’s why I added
this movie to my list. This movie starts with Iniyan (Kalidas) and his lover Rene (Dushara Vijayan) working in a Drama troupe. But things around him change
when Kalayarasan’s character is introduced to their play practice. Pa Ranjith succeeded in portraying the transformation of Kalayairasan’s
character very effectively. It’s surely a bold attempt in highlighting the problems of people in different sections of society. Watch out for the
scene depicting honour killing.

5. Matto Ki Saikil (Prime video-Hindi): Ths movie revolves around Matto, a daily wage labourer and his relationship with his cycle. Though this slice-of-life rural drama revolves around these 2,
We see various characters around them (Including Pradhanji who addresses the problems of the villagers, caste system, financial issues and more), this movie revolves around the sorrow and ecstasy of Matto and his family. After the Zee5 original ‘Pareeksha’, Prakash Jha comes up with yet another standout performance as Matto.This movie may not have surprising moments,
may feel a bit lagging or slow for a section of viewers. But try to watch it for the story it tries to narrate and lead performance.(Try to watch subtitled version)

Toolsidas Junior

Toolsidas junior may be yet another addition to the list of predictable sports drama following a common template. But where this movie works is that deviates from the usual path and it connects well with the viewers.

Toolsidas, a snooker player in a club and an alchohol addict has a bad habit of losing to Jimmy Tandon in Finals. Will he be able to overcome it ? Or is there any twist in the tale?.

The most important positive of this movie is the path chosen by writer (Also the director and the boy in real life) to reach the destination. We never see the rise of Tulsidas senior. We see him play fantastic shots, love and show care to his little son ( For instance: Asking him to wear a full Pant saying that he is a man). We also see how alchohol plays villain in his life. But this movie is more about the rise of Tulsidas junior and the siblings relationship with love and fight. Midi- Goti (brothers) scenes are delight to watch.

Then comes the mass entry of Salam Bhai (Sanjay Dutt). He rarely talks to anyone and carries a pain of his own past. Initial buildup helps the viewers to keep invested. Writer gives the required technical detailing of the game in a simple way. Core story may remind us of other underdog sports drama (may be Jhund) but writer makes the journey more enjoyable with his detailing.

Though enters late, Sanjay dutt carries the rough and tough Salam bhai with an impactful performance. Look out for the scene after walkover match and his conversation scene with Toolsidas junior’s mother. Rajiv kapoor puts up measured performance with minimal dialogues and facial expressions that speak volumes. The boy who played the title character too made the transformation of the character look authentic.

Background score played a major role in uplifting the impact of many scenes, especially Humour scenes. Cuts were pretty decent. The only letdown was the climax. It seems that writer ignored the conflict towards the end.

Despite the predictability and not that convincing climax portion, Toolsidas junior works primarily because of the light hearted narration and the fantastic performances. This movie deserve better viewership for sure.

Watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81107547?preventIntent=true

King Richard

There is a normal template for a sports drama: Finding out the talent, training, overcoming the nerves in domestic matches and then the final success. King Richard initially traverse through the template basically but the most important positive is that it manages to move away from majority elements in the template and think out of the box.
Richard, an athlete cum business man dreams about 2 of his 5 daughters: Venus and Serena. But he had to overcome many hurdles to help them reach the stage. Will they be able to achieve it? That forms the crux of the story.

One line may feel similar to a normal predictable sports drama but it’s not. We see the support of whole family in this movie. We see the support given by the mother in different instances: She trains Serena because they can’t afford to pay fees for both. She raises her voice when cops came for enquiry corresponding to the complaint given by their neighbors. She fights with Richard when he is stubborn to take every decision related to Venus on his own. Siblings helps Venus to keep the positive atmosphere within the family.

Last but not at all the least , it’s the stubborn but not so strict father,Richard Williams who proves others wrong when others told that window for his plan is very small and very unlikely to happen. Script succeeded in adding scenes showing the confidence and self belief of the characters along with their hardwork to bring the motivation factor.

Director managed to add more detailing to the narrative. For example: the writing on the wall in a scene , ‘If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail’. Also Director made sure that character of Serena never gets overshadowed when narrative shifts to the growth of Venus Williams.

Background score aided a great support to build the tension during the match portions and in emotional scenes.
Will smith really gets into the pitch of the character. Watch out for the emotional scene in which he talks about his past. Ellis lends ample support as the wife character.Saniyya Sidney puts up a top performance ras Venus Williams. Watch out for the conversation scenes with her father character and the way she reacts to the ups and downs during match scenes. Special mention to the dialogue as well throughout the movie and the actor who did the role of main coach. Cuts were pretty good enough to maintain the flow, thrill and anxiety in the viewers especially in match portions.

I’m not that follower of Tennis. So I’m happy to get to know few names like Vicario, Jennifer Capirati, Rick Macci.
The only drawback was the way Richard responded in very few situations. I felt some of his reactions as weird. Slowness in the narrative may be an issue for some, but not for me.
To sum it up, King Richard is an out of the box movie as its climax. Just watch it.

Watch link: https://www.primevideo.com/splash/t/getTheApp/ref=atv_cf_strg_ad

Writer

We have seen many cop thrillers in different type: Action Hero Biju, in which a central character resolves all small issues, Visaranai and Kavalthurai ungal nanban, that explores the police atrocities. Writer differs from these in the core theme and the way of portrayal of few characters and their backstories.

Thangaraj is an experienced cop and he worked as a writer in writing crime scenes. As he says to a character, he barely hits anyone or uses gun. He gets the duty to look after a guy named Devakumar in a lodge. Who is devakumar and how will Devakumar’s case change the life of Thangaraj? That forms the crux of the story.

The main positive of this movie is that it neglects the usual elements in a cop story. Initially, we are shown the family dilemma of Thangaraj. Then we move to police station where Thankaraj explains to a rookie about case file details and the ‘adjustments’ to resolve cases. Then comes the core issue of the necessity of police union and Thankaraj’s fight for it.

Writing of meaty characters and their sub plots is yet another merit for this movie. For instance: Thankaraj’s companion Raja shares his story with Thankaraj where he wanted to change his life but the cops never let him to do it. The way of writing that scene and the narration that creates an emotional connect with the character elevates that scene with limited time.

Along with police atrocities, this movie highlights the importance of mental health of cops: How their indefinite work time affects their lives and their families.

Special mention to dialogues as well. For instance: Thangaraj says to the rookie in a scene:”Policele adhikarathile illatha ellarume adiyal than”. Such strong dialogues strike the right chord.

Samudrakani fits pitch perfect to Thangaraj. He portrayed the helplessness, fight and the final fierce attack with atmost conviction. Iniya was fine as Saranya in the impactful flashback portions. Special mention to background score in the chase sequences. Cuts could have been better in Devakumar’s flashback portion. The flashback seems to be stretched a bit and loses the steam.

Writer deserves a watch for the core topic it tries to discuss, Samudrakani’s intense performance and technical fineness. Do try it.