Balaji's Thots

One of the main reasons Malayalam cinema produces the best thrillers is that the movies have a single-minded focus on the subject without needless distractions like comedy, songs and romance. Oppam, from the successful Mohanlal-Priyadarshan duo, fails to have this focus. Its core story provides the needed thrills and Mohanlal delivers another effortlessly nuanced performance […]

The 2016 National awards were announced today. What stood out for me immediately was the fact that I was familiar with all the major winners. The lists of winners in the last few years have always been populated by at least a few films in languages like Bengali and even when the films were in Tamil or Malayalam, they […]

Alphonse Puthran’s first film was Neram, a race-against-time thriller that worked as a dark comedy with its complex plot, non-linear screenplay and quirky characters. He follows it up with the completely different Premam, a simple, soft love story. Gorgeously shot and well-acted, it is a wonderful, feel-good romance. Premam follows the Autograph template of recounting […]

In the 80s and early 90s, Mammootty and Mohanlal, with directors like Priyadarshan, Bharathan, Joshi and Sathyan Anthikad, created some enduring classics that perfectly bridged artistic and commercial cinema and made it a golden period of Malayalam cinema. But the quality of their cinema took a dive as the two actors started taking on larger-than-life […]

As a genre, the heist movie will figure near the top of my list of favorite genres. Whether the tone itself is serious(Heist) or more light-hearted(the Ocean’s 11/12/13 movies), movies in the genre offer a good mix of smarts and suspense when the heist is being planned and is carried out and a satisfactory payoff […]

Malayalam cinema has always been known for realistic dramas with strong characters and subtle emotions instead of high-flying action and visual style. But as in Tamil cinema, a new set of directors and actors has changed the movie landscape with fresh stories and new storytelling ideas. Anjali Menon announces loud and clear that she is […]

Thrillers usually bank on chases and stunt sequences to get our adrenaline flowing. Without a single such action sequence, director Jeetu Joseph  still crafts a first-rate thriller in Drishyam, a film about a man’s attempts to save his family. Brilliant and original, the film ranks as one of the finest thrillers and reinforces the fact […]

I’m of the firm opinion that Malayalam cinema gives us the best investigative thrillers. The absence of a compulsion to introduce unnecessary distractions and the willingness of the heroes to take on challenging roles has resulted in some fine thrillers(Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, The Truth are a couple that come to mind right away) over […]

Malayalam cinema has recently seen several new directors make exciting debuts as they banked on their own talent rather than the star power of the actors in their films. Sugeeth, who has made his debut with Ordinary, is another such promising director. While Ordinary isn’t as revolutionary or trend-setting as the films from some of […]

Malayalam cinema has had some good crime thrillers over the years with their lack of a need to adhere to the masala formula helping them come up with some genuinely suspenseful films. Grandmaster is their latest contribution to the genre. The film observes the basic rules of the serial killer movie faithfully but makes the elements […]