Member Reviews

Right from the casting of the delightful Nithya Menen as Shriya, to the picture-perfect houses; from AR Rahman’s youthful score to the way these songs are shot, coded in shades of red and blue; there’s a dotingly recreated design in Kadhalikka Neramillai that is meant to evoke Mani Ratnam’s O Kadhal Kanmani (2015). Like the 2015 romance, Kiruthiga Udhayanadhi’s film also is set around two hyper-individualistic protagonists, each with their own sets of rules and quirks. If OKK was about a couple that was marriage-averse, Kadhalikka Neramillai is about two people who do not believe in commitment. But what if you add an extra layer of conflict into their midst by throwing in the idea of having children? That is what makes Kadhalikka Neramillai a cultural update of O Kadhal Kanmani, like a thought exercise that was born when someone mooted, “What if Tara and Aditya from OKK met, but later, when they are in their 30s?” It’s this bit of tweaking that makes for a more complex film. In a casual breakfast scene set at Shriya’s house, we see her correcting her mother (lovingly called Kanmani!) when she assumes Shriya to still be a virgin. This isn’t a movie about glossy love-at-first-sight moments or syrupy meet-cutes. Well into their adult lives, both Sid (Ravi Mohan) and Shriya (Nithya Menen) have been through enough heartbreaks to realise that love is… a matter of time.

‘God works in mysterious ways’ they say, and in a way, love does too. While the romance genre itself is done to death in all art forms, very few Tamil films have captured the intricacies of contemporary relationships and the multiple factors that might have to fall into place for them to work. The latest to join the elusive list is director Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Neramillai starring the fantastic duo, Nithya Menen and Ravi Mohan. In Kadhalikka Neramillai, Shreya (Nithya) and Sidharth (Ravi Mohan) are two oddballs with diametrically opposite belief systems, only their recent heartbreaks and profession being the common factor between them. While fate brings them together, the meet-cute leads to a dead end. When their paths cross years later, one is now a single parent while the other gets an unwelcome visitor from their past. Whether they put aside their differences and come together forms the rest of Kadhalikka Neramillai.

Director Vishnuvardhan returns to Tamil cinema after a decade. Known for his unique style of storytelling, the Shershaah director picked a suspense drama with Nesippaya and introduces legendary actor Murali (late) and actor Atharvaa’s younger brother, Akash Murali, to Tamil cinema. Alongside Akash Murali is director Shankar’s daughter Aditi, who is regarded as one of the most promising talents in recent times. Diya Ramalingam (Aditi Shankar) is accused of murder and is lodged in a prison in Portugal. Indrani (Kalki Koechlin) is representing her and is trying to secure a re-investigation despite pressure from influential people. Meanwhile, Diya’s ex-boyfriend Arjun (Akash Murali) gets to know of her arrest from the news and heads to Portugal.

Indian cinema in recent years has seen violent, high-octane action films attracting a larger audience. However, for those who grew up in the ’90s, rom-coms hold a special place in their hearts. Director Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Neramillai, starring Nithya Menen and Ravi Mohan, offers a respite from the flood of violent films released every week. But does Kadhalikka Neramillai have all the elements of a perfect rom-com? Let’s find out! Siddharth aka Sid (Ravi Mohan), a structural engineer, is a man against having kids. At his engagement, Nirupama (TJ Bhanu) fails to show up due to their differing ideologies. Shreya (Nithya Menen), an architect, is in love with Karan. After their marriage registry, he cheats on her. However, Shreya asks Karan for one last favor, and it’s not divorce. This leads to Shreya’s fun-filled meeting with now-single Sid.

No one in Telugu cinema loves playing the saviour as much as Nandamuri Balakrishna. The more grave the injustice, the more weapons he can wield, the more henchmen he can kill, and the more noise his dialogues can make. Probably why he feels most at home in a Boyapati Srinu film which allows him to be all this and much more. In Bobby Kolli’s latest, Daaku Maharaaj, Balakrishna is a do-gooder with a strong emotional core. He is a doting guardian of a young girl who seems to effortlessly put a smile on his face. And yes, he is also a saviour who saves an entire district from brutal oppression, wields fascinating weapons, kills hundreds of henchmen in innovatively gory ways, and says lines like, “If you shout, it is barking… if I shout…” and Thaman inserts a lion’s roar in the background score. Daaku Maharaaj is the quintessential Balakrishna film, but it is burdened by the hangover of a number of films including Rajinikanth’s Jailer, Kamal Haasan’s Vikram, and the ‘God of Masses’ own filmography.

Director William Friedkin was so old and uninsurable during the making of the courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial that the Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro sat beside him on set every day, contractually bound to take over in case Friedkin were to — forgive the morbidity — die mid-production. The legendary filmmaker got the job done, but passed away not long afterwards. He was 87 years old. Clint Eastwood is even older; at 94, he just delivered what could be his final film, Juror No 2. Coincidentally another courtroom drama, the movie arrives over three decades after Eastwood entered the self-reflective phase of his career with the contemplative Western Unforgiven. In the last decade or so, he has devoted himself — as one would expect of a dying man — to understanding the idea of decency. Having made a name for himself in a genre famous for viewing the world in black and white, Eastwood has spent the better part of the last couple of decades dabbling in different shades of grey.

It is tempting to place Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Neramillai beside Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani. Yet, Kadhalikka Neramillai is more radical than the veteran’s take on modern romance. While the aesthetics of OK Kanmani cater to the day and age (like all of Mani Ratnam’s works), the film, which ponders a lot about the conventional marriage institution, ends up on a conservative note. Tara and Aditya of OK Kanmani toy with the idea of living together and defying social norms, but end up finding solace in the status quo of the institution. On the other hand, Kiruthika Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Nermaillai might not share the superlative writing and finesse of Mani’s work, but the film is truly modern in thought.

This review is based on the initial three episodes of the new Netflix show titled Black Warrant, based on a book of the same name by journalist Sunetra Choudhary and former Tihar Jail superintendent Sunil Gupta. However, going by the detailing shown in these episodes, there are chances of the rating going even higher eventually. Confession in the beginning: I haven’t read the book, which has given me a fresh perspective that is mostly driven by the entertainment quotient of the show. If you’re not looking for the mismatch between the book and the show, then you’re mostly looking for the right tempo and pace. Seconds into the show and you meet the lead of the biographical drama, jailer Sunil Gupta, a docile-looking but gritty middleclass boy with empathy in eyes and a hesitant body language. Wait a minute, have I not seen this full of potential actor somewhere before?

Perhaps the year’s most striking documentary, Sugarcane is billed as an ‘investigation’ into the crimes that were committed by Catholic missionaries against Indigenous peoples of Canada across a century, but it is equally successful as an examination of inherited trauma, and as a study of a community in crisis. At the beginning of the 20th Century, schools were set up specifically for Indigenous children across North America, ostensibly to help them assimilate into Western culture. The children were subjected to unspeakable crimes at these ‘residential’ institutions, operated exclusively by the Catholic church, causing many of them to take their lives as they grew older. The magnitude of the tragedy, which is revealed gradually throughout the film, is immeasurable.

Trust Wallace to get himself mixed up in a plot that puts all of humanity at peril. The eccentric inventor — he’s the protagonist of Nick Park’s four-time Oscar-winning stop-motion animation series — makes his streaming debut alongside his ‘top dog’ Gromit with the feature-length Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Released on Netflix, the film is a pure nostalgia trip for fans who grew up with their charming adventures, replete with quirky household gizmos, absurd villains, and more cheese than you’d find in a Frenchman’s larder.