Writer-director Jeethu Joseph strikes gold with Drishyam 2, his sequel to the 2013 thriller film. Jeethu adeptly guides the viewers through its ingenious narrative before leaving the movie and us in existential dread. Replace Drishyam's sappy morality with the film's serious existentialism, and there you have it - The perfect sequel.
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Writer-director Khalid Rahman asks us to make giant leaps of faith in Love, a bizarre thriller with one twist too many. It is an odd attempt at making a cautionary tale on the effects of anger on love. It is also a bit of a head-scratcher, to say the least.
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Ramin Bahrani's The White Tiger is a flawed yet fascinating look at India's casteism and class divide. The Netflix movie is based on Arvind Adiga's novel of the same title. It does not quite attain perfection, but even amid all of its flaws, it never ceases to be compelling thanks to Adarsh Gourav's magnetic performance.
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Jayasurya and Samyuktha Menon excel in a decent tale of an alcohol addict. More than the performances in Vellam, it is the casting that does wonders here. For instance, Murali is a man committed to overcoming his flaws played by an actor who is so committed to his craft.
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With The Great Indian Kitchen, writer-director Jeo Baby has taken his artistic sensibilities to the next level. His film works as a slap on the face of misogyny and patriarchy in Kerala society. Do find time to see it.
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Tribhanga - Tedhi Medhi Crazy is a well-intentioned film about a dysfunctional family. Director Renuka Shahane has a good theme and some fine performers to work with here. Unfortunately, however, the promise in the material or the casting never quite translates onto the screen properly.
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Bhoomi is the kind of film that conveys its novel ideas with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. As a result, it comes across as more of a PR exercise than a movie released on Disney+ Hotstar.
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Lokesh Kanagaraj humanizes Vijay's character in Master. Vijay does not play a messiah in the film. That he has some personal demons make the character interesting. And, that Kanagaraj is not afraid of deviating slightly from commercial film formulas make Master worth watching, despite its flaws.
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Rohena Gera's Sir is a simple portrait of a relationship between a young architect and his live-in maid. Not a moment in this film seems unauthentic. And, while little seems eventful here, a lot of it still lingers in the mind long after the first viewing.
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The best thing about the Tamil adaptation of Martin Prakkat's Charlie is that it makes us want to revisit the Malayalam film, like all good remakes do. It may be familiar material for the viewers of the original, but is different in its own regards.
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For a movie that talks about the power of the written word, little in Satish Kaushik's Kaagaz seems powerful or inspired. It is one of those by-the-numbers biopics that could have worked more if the writing was up to it. Watchable and well-intentioned, this Kaagaz is a story better told on paper.
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Director Satheesh Paul's film is a police procedural whose inspiration is quite obvious, and whose treatment generic. It avoids many thriller genre cliches, despite not transcending these. It is for a sucker for the genre, and is available on a Pay-Per-View basis on the app Prime Reels.
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