Balaji's Thots

Director Shankar’s name immediately invokes thoughts of lavish budgets, exotic locales, extravagant song sequences and elaborate action set pieces. But all that is icing on the cake. His films have always had some interesting ideas(even if many of them were variations on his favorite vigilante/social reformer theme) at their core, whether it was a Robinhood-style […]

I have noticed that I am looking forward to the Oscars a little less each year. There was the high of watching ARR hold those 2 statuettes in his hands back in 2009 but since then unimpressive hosts, weak jokes, nominations for movies I haven’t seen and boring thank you speeches have made the Oscars […]

Based on his films so far, director Rajkumar Hirani has hit upon a rock-solid formula for his movies. He picks an establishment that is ostensibly about serving people but is seen by the public as a money-making endeavor(a hospital in Munnabhai M.B.B.S, a college in 3 Idiots), he introduces an outsider, a rebel who questions […]

A couple of days ago, both Selvaraghavan and Simbu announced that they were coming together for a new film. While Kamal has 3 movies in various stages of completion, it looks like Simbu is trying to beat his record since this new film would be his fourth film to go into production. First there’s Vaalu, […]

Late into Darling, Tamil cinema’s latest entry in the suddenly popular horror-comedy genre, Rajendran makes an appearance as an exorcist summoned to get rid of a ghost(I’m pleasantly surprised by how smoothly Rajendran has transitioned to comedian, considering his debut as the nasty and detestable Thandavan in Naan Kadavul). His character and the segment itself […]

As I mentioned in the post about Yuvan and Harris, the two music directors have been having a rather poor run since the start of this decade. I think one of the reasons I didn’t miss them much was that Tamil cinema has given us a lot of good music during that time. With well-established […]

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 […]

Friendship is usually revered in Tamil cinema with the hero’s friends supporting and encouraging his romance and helping him and his lover elope and get married if they face opposition. Nadodigal, which admittedly took it to the extreme, is one film that comes to mind right away but it is not the only one. But […]

The Interview Its easy to see why North Korea was upset by The Interview. It attacks the country’s leader Kim Jong-un on both personal and political fronts, making fun of his stature, his character and his governance. A satirical comedy that also pokes fun at a few things American, it stars frequent collaborators James Franco […]