Hoping to recreate the massive success of the Tamil film, Vasu has recruited Raghava Lawrence and Kangana Ranaut as Vettaiyan and Chandramukhi respectively. ‘Chandramukhi’ is the film which kickstarted the comedy-horror trend in Tamil cinema, and so it is fitting that Vasu joins hands with the biggest beneficiary of the genre.
From his debut feature ‘Trisha Illana Nayanthara,’ Adhik Ravichandran established himself as the king of tastelessness. Successive films such as ‘AAA’ and ‘Bagheera’ were both critically panned and box office failures. Somehow, not only has the director managed to keep making films, but has doubled down on his style with his new film ‘Mark Antony.’ Even more surprisingly, the film manages to entertain its audience by sticking wholeheartedly to its ridiculousness.
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.