Balaji's Thots

When I wrote about a dip in my blogging frequency due to the World Cup and the impending TN elections back in March, I also mentioned two distractions closer to home. The first of those was the new camera, the EOS 60D. The second was the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy 2. I definitely wouldn’t […]

The 80s were truly the golden period for masala films in Tamil. With Rajni and Kamal in top form and directors like S.P.Muthuraman and Rajasekhar who understood the genre and brought out the best in the actors, the decade gave us several entertainers. Kamal’s Kakki Sattai is one of the best among those. With a […]

I’ve mentioned several times that 2010 was the best year for Tamil cinema in quite a while. From expensive behemoths like Enthiran to small entertainers like Kalavaani, the movies last year provided a lot of good cinema. But it looks like Tamil cinema in 2010 was great not just compared to previous years but compared […]

After Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu, which he made with mostly new faces, director Suseendran seemed to have moved to the big league as he worked with Karthi for the revenge thriller Naan Mahaan Alla. But he boldly returns to the starless, character-based filmmaking style of his first film for his latest flick Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai. The result […]

The 2011 TN Assembly elections must have been one of the few elections where the results were a surprise to everybody – the winners, the losers, the pollsters and the voters. While many exit polls had predicted a close finish between the AIADMK front and the DMK front, the latter was completely decimated, bringing Jayalalitha […]

Though Pokkiri and Villu, Prabhu Deva’s directorial ventures in Tamil so far, were both mass masala entertainers, his debut as a director was with two romances in Telugu. So he is on familiar terrain with Engeyum Kaadhal, which makes its ineffectiveness quite surprising. Real weak on story and character development, the film tries to make […]

The worst nightmare for any parent is undoubtedly the loss of a child. It will create a huge void in their lives and rip the marriage apart. Rabbit Hole is about a couple living through this nightmare. Never descending into melodrama in spite of the emotional subject, the film is understated and natural but still […]

After every Rajni movie is released, there is usually a lull when rumors about his next movie begin to swirl. Articles – sometimes, cover stories too – are written, fan-made posters are created, social networking sites begin to buzz and email forwards increase as these rumors begin to spread(I remember atleast two titles Jaggubhai (after […]

Since Tamil and Telugu films share a fondness for the masala genre, Telugu remakes (Siruthai was the latest high-profile one) are usually masala films that require only a few changes to suit Tamil viewers’ tastes. Vaanam, an ensemble feature that tells 5 stories running in parallel, is a rare Telugu remake that doesn’t belong to […]

David Baldacci returns to his favorite city Washington DC for his latest novel featuring the Camel Club. With good suspense and a good plot at the end of it, Hell’s Corner is a better read than Baldacci’s last few books in the Camel Club series. Unlike Baldacci’s previous books, Hell’s Corner moves along like a […]