Nelson's sudden downfall may have been due to mishandling a Tamil industry heavyweight, Vijay, for ‘Beast,’ leading to a bland action film, where the humour takes a back seat. He decides to double down by signing on an even trickier assignment with Rajinikanth, which has turned out to be an uneven venture.
Madonne Ashwin’s debut 2021 National Award winning film ‘Mandela’ was received warmly by critics and audiences alike. The Yogi Babu starring satire deftly explored themes of identity and politics without compromising artistic sensibility. For his follow-up feature, Ashwin teams up with Sivakarthikeyan for the satisfying meta-masala film ‘Maaveeran.’ This is a return to form for Sivakarthikeyan, whose recent two films 2022’s ‘Don’ and ‘Prince’ failed to live up to the quality of 2021’s ‘Doctor.’
Following a fantastic debut and sophomore feature with 2018’s ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ and 2021’s ‘Karnan,’ Mari Selvaraj returns with his latest endeavour, the political family drama ‘Maamannan.’ Selvaraj focusses on tackling caste issues through his filmography, revealing the inhumanity and obstacles the Dalit community face under oppression and marginalisation.
‘Por Thozhil’ stands on a decent albeit formulaic plot, a good central performance from Sarathkumar and a progressively tense second half.
For this anthology, Amazon Prime made the intelligent decision of passing the mantle of Creative Producer to one of Kollywood’s best: Thiagarajan Kumararaja. The result of this is a collection of short films at least a few leagues above the standard witnessed in previous attempts.
Nelson Venkatesan’s previous outing was a well-made family entertainer called ‘Monster,’ starring a typically cartoonish SJ Suryah as a man haunted by a mouse. The film is innocent fun, which are two words I would not use to describe his most recent work ‘Farhana.’ Venkatesan completely shifts gears, to deliver a solidly thought-out thriller. It impressively weaves through themes of masks, desires and self-control.
Venkat Prabhu’s latest cinematic offering arrives not too soon after his best work with 2021’s ‘Maanaadu’ and last year’s middlingly received ‘Manmadha Leelai.’ ‘Custody’ is a bilingual venture, featuring names from both the Tamil and Telugu film industry, including lead Naga Chaitanya. Despite a cult following for his films, Prabhu’s filmography has been spotty at best - ‘Mankatha’ seemed like a fluke until ‘Maanaadu.’ With ‘Custody,’ Prabhu has slipped back into cruise control.
Seven months after the release of the first instalment of ‘Ponniyin Selvan,’ the conclusion of the two-part film hits screens worldwide.
The Divisional Secretariat of Karaithuraipattu organised an Iftar event on 18th April for the Muslim community of the area to break their fast. Muslim residents and others locals participated in the event. During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims worldwide commemorate the first revelation of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon Him, by fasting from sunrise to sunset, prayer, reflection, and community. The first revelation is an event described in Islamic tradition, in which angel Jibril visits the prophet and reveals to him what would later become the Qu’ran. The Iftar...
Despite the second year of the economic crisis, Tamils in the North-East celebrated the first day of the Tamil Puthandu, the New Year, on the first day of the Tamil calendar, which falls on 14th April. Puthandu being the equivalent of the Spring equinox is celebrated by many cultures in South Asia and South-East Asia and by the diaspora communities from these cultures. The Tamil solar calendar developed during the Chola empire, from the 9th to the 13th centuries, was part of a method used to mathematically compute the age of the earth using astronomical data. This calendar has been referenced...