Actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are in the news for different reasons today. But, earlier this week at least, the actors were celebrated for quite a different achievement. Their 16 Vayathinile completed 40 years since its release. An iconic film that established Rajinikanth – Kamal Haasan and Sri Devi as the holy trinity of Tamil cinema, the film went on to achieve cult status. On its fortieth anniversary, we took another look at this Bharathiraja directorial, and spoke to the man himself about the many ways the film shocked the audience when it released.
Read Here: 40 Years Of 16 Vayathinile
Tamil film industry’s fascination with sequels continues this year. With several sequels lined up for release, we took some time to find out if these films really needed to be made and if the audience were up for them.
Read Here: One Too Many – Kollywood’s Fascination With Sequels
The ladies of television emerged triumphant on Emmys night. As the likes of Lena Waithe and Nicole Kidman bagged those top awards, it was a win for women all over the world. Or so we’d like to think.
Read Here: Emmys 2017 – A Night That Belonged To The Ladies
Anu Hasan, Ms Indira herself, has made that much-talked about comeback soon. The actor spoke to us about the many ways the film industry has tried to typecast her and her attempts to evade it all.
Read Here: Anu Hasan Interview – This Hasan Likes To Work On Her Own Terms
Meanwhile, Tharangam actress Santhy Balachandran dodged all our attempts to pry some information about her debut film.
Read Here: “The Film Wouldn’t Exist Without Malu” – Santhy Balachandran Interview
Urvashi, on the other hand, lamented the lack of comedy writers for women, and told us all about the fun she had while working with Jyothika and co. for Bramma’s Magalir Mattum
Read Here: Urvashi Interview
Later, Vinay Rai, in an interview, told us that he waited eleven years to shed his chocolate boy image.
Read Here: The Vinay Rai Interview
The releases this week were a mixed bag. Junior NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa failed to impress despite the theatrics of its male lead.
Read here: Jai Lava Kusa Review
Soubin Shahir’s Parava offered an intimate portrayal of adolescence, with brilliant performances from its mostly-fresh cast.
Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi could have been so much more, but it ended up being a standard rape-revenge feature in awe of its male lead. Its storyline deserved better treatment.
Newton’s story is neither new nor shocking, but it is the stellar performances that make the film work.
Pokkiri Simon claims to be a comedy, but the joke, for the most part, is on the film’s inability to deliver emotions right. The lead actors ham it up in every scene, and the technical departments aren’t of much help, either.
Read here: Pokkiri Simon Review
Recommended
If anything, Kalavu Thozhirchalai is ambitious. It wants to be a pacy crime thriller with an ingenious plot, and to this effect, it wants to employ the ever-fascinating legacy of the Chozhas.
Read here: Kalavu Thozirchalai Review
For a film that originally intended on chronicling Haseena’s life, it ends up focusing on irrelevant details, characters, with hurried cuts and camera work not really helping this lost cause. Of what could’ve been an interesting, maybe even a feminist take on a woman who made everybody afraid of her, falters into a caricature of the person. It’s time Bollywood revisits the whole idea of biopics.
Read here: Haseena Parkar Review
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