Balaji's Thots

Before he turned actor, Sundar. C was primarily known for light-hearted comedies(Ullathai Alli Thaa was the best of these) that featured multiple tracks and a huge group of characters. So it was a surprise when he made a serious, gangster-themed film Nagaram when he took up directing duties again. But he returned to familiar territory […]

Action in Hollywood movies typically means lots of chases, explosions and gunfire. They are all executed well and can be thrilling when done well but for more personal, hand-to-hand combat, we usually need to turn our attention towards Asian films. Indonesian film The Raid: Redemption fully satisfies the thirst for that kind of action. Simply […]

1981’s Thillu Mullu, the first film to fully showcase Rajnikanth’s knack for comedy, has rightfully earned a reputation as a comedy classic with its funny situations, witty dialogs and terrific performances. The remake falls short in all 3 aspects. While not the sort of disaster that some of the other remakes have been(Murattu Kaalai comes […]

Director-actor Manivannan passed away on Saturday. A talented director and actor, he had a long, fruitful career where he donned many hats and played a part in many hits. Manivannan was quite versatile as a director. After working with Bharathiraja for several years, he made his debut with the woman-centric family drama Gopurangal Saaivadhillai, the […]

Mentioning director Bharathiraja’s name immediately brings to mind romances and dramas in a rural setting, thanks to the path-breaking films(16 Vayadhinile, Mudhal Mariyaadhai to name a couple) he has delivered in those genres. But the director has shown himself to be equally adept at crafting urban thrillers also, giving us different kinds of thrillers like […]

In Angels & Demons, author Dan Brown hit upon a formula – a long chase with clues hidden in famous works of art – which later found huge success with the publication of The Da Vinci Code. He followed the formula in The Lost Symbol, delivering a mix of history and suspense based on the […]

Over the Memorial Weekend, we took a road trip to Redwood National and State Parks, a protected area comprised of Redwood trees and a portion of the coastline, close to the Oregon border. Known primarily for the redwood trees, the parks offered many other attractions and as a bonus, the return drive from the parks […]

I’ve always felt that the seeds for this mini-renaissance we are currently seeing in Tamil cinema were sown by Sasikumar with his Subramanyapuram, a brave and uncompromising film that relied more on characterization and story than stars and stunts. So its ironic – and a little disappointing – that at the time that a brave […]