Balaji's Thots

2012 has seen Tamil cinema give us movies in many different genres with romcoms, psychological thrillers and period films all having been released so far this year. This Friday sees a film in an exciting genre that has seen very few entries – a superhero film. While the uniqueness of the genre alone would make [...]

Attakathi tells a simple story and is populated with familiar characters. But its the way in which it tells the story that helps it stand out. Like Kalavaani, Attakathi also moves its story along with a humorous undertone. This helps it capture situations in unique fashion in the first half and keeps things interesting when [...]

What cycles lack in size and speed they make up for in agility and maneuverability, qualities that come in handy when riding on city streets. That is made very clear in Premium Rush, a film whose highlights are the numerous bike chases that happen on the busy New York streets. Its never tense or thrilling [...]

Reviews for Naan Ee, Billa 2, Mirattal and Eppadi Manasukkul Vandhaai are now online at the reviews site.

After Think of a Number and Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon became my new favorite author with his knack of creating absorbing, intriguing puzzles and unravelling them in logical yet surprising ways. But those characteristics are not in much evidence in his 3rd novel Let the Devil Sleep. The book’s central puzzle isn’t interesting [...]

The phrase ‘dawn of a new era’ is thrown around rather carelessly these days as it is used to refer to anything new or different from the norm. But few, if any, will dispute that August 15, 1992 truly marked the beginning of a new era in Tamil film music. That was the day Manirathnam’s [...]

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 [...]

Ishaqzaade is the latest movie to prove that even the most well-worn of stories can be presented in an interesting fashion on screen. Though it has a familiar story of star-crossed lovers facing hurdles in their romance because of their families, the film holds our attention because of the the way the romance is developed [...]

With hits like Oru Kal Oru Kannaadi and Kalakalappu, comedy seems to be the flavor of the season with Santhanam, the most popular comedian. Those are the two things director Madhesh has banked on for Mirattal as he wrings comedy out of a story with a lot of potential for action and gives Santhanam a [...]

Malayalam cinema has had sort of a rejuvenation in recent times with a number of original, interesting films from young directors being recognized by viewers. 22 Female Kottayam, from Aashiq Abu, the director of Salt N’ Pepper, is one such film. With a strong female protagonist, interesting supporting characters and a bold ending, the film [...]