Movie Reviews

  Story: Ghosts of the past haunt a former athlete who accepts the job of a PT teacher in a girl’s school to bail her family out of a financial crisis. She discovers the game of kho-kho and a bunch of talented girls there and through them tries to achieve vicariously what she herself couldn’t in her career. Review: An unglamorous sport that somehow got catapulted to the National Games; the outdoor equivalent of chess where skills and strategy matter as much, if not more than, athleticism and muscle power. The game of kho-kho forms the backdrop for Rahul Riji Nair to tell the story of Maria Francis from Thiruvananthapuram who misses a chance to be in the national team because of unforeseen and unexpected circumstances. The disappointment(s) of her career are told through a series of flashbacks by the filmmaker who takes care not to dwell too much in the past but simply gives a few glimpses on her professional and personal setbacks. As the story unfolds, we find Maria coming to terms...

  Story: First Class Judicial Magistrate John Baby suffers from post-traumatic stress. One day, a friend tells him about a boy who narrates murder stories that carry real-life elements. Curious, John decides to meet the boy. Review: Award-winning film editor Appu N Bhattathiri's debut directorial  Nizhal , starring Kunchacko Boban and Nayanthara, begins with an accident involving John Baby, who is a First Class Judicial Magistrate. The incident instils post-traumatic stress in him, which follows him like a shadow. Later, during a conversation with his clinical psychologist friend Shalini (Divya Prabha), he learns about a little boy named Nitin (Izin) who narrates strange murder stories. When John meets Nidhin, he realises that his stories are not a figment of imagination, and their struggles are connected in some way. Inspired, John goes after his stories. Appu has done a good as a debut director through this investigative thriller,  whose storyline touches upon complexit...

Oh Manapenne is a film written by Tharun Bhascker and directed by Kaarthikk Sundar. It has screenplay and dialogues by Deepak Sundarrajan, and is the official remake of the Telugu film Pelli Choopulu. Harish Kalyan and Priya Bhavani Shankar play the lead roles while Anbu Thasan and Abishek Kumar play crucial supporting roles. The film is streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. Harish Kalyan plays the role of Karthik, a jobless engineering graduate who doesn't take anything serious in life. He is a good chef, but doesn't pursue it seriously. He goes to Shruthi's (Priya Bhavani Shankar) house along with his family seeking her alliance, but they realise it's the wrong house. Karthik's actual alliance wants him to succeed in a business. So he joins hands with Shruthi and starts a food truck business. The film deals with the dynamics of the relationship between the two, and also how the truck plays an important role in shaping their lives. One of the strongest elements in the ...

With the Aranmanai franchise, Sundar C seems to have built a safe zone for himself. These films are turning out to be a refuge for the director, projects that he can take up whenever his other films don't do well, and help him get his box-office mojo back. After the first Aranmanai, he had the much-trolled Aambala. And he did Aranmanai 2 right after it. Now, Aranmanai 3 comes right after the debacles that were Vandha Rajavathaan Varuven and Action. Given that these movies are more or less critic-proof - they are just about scary-enough and funny for kids, and offer momentary diversion for the adults, so what's there to complain? - Sundar C's decision only seems smart. This latest installment follows the template set by the first film just as faithfully as a ghost haunting its victim. We have a Palace, a ghost that haunts it, a bunch of eccentric characters (and there will always be a kid who will be the first one to spot the spirit), good-looking female leads, boyish-lookin...