Sudhir Srinivasan

Baththa Movie Review: The Boy and The Monster

Baththa, played by Vijay Sethupathi, is a frightening gangster. He is driven by ego, and no threat scares him. At home, he casually slaps his wife, throws a plate full of food, yells at his daughter. And he seems to be getting away with everything. So, you really wonder who’s gonna put him in his…

Dorothy Movie Review: The Violence of Denying Yourself

Dorothy is almost a horror film, isn’t it? The setting of period Madurai feels like a ghost town, where anecdotes of murders and suicides are casually shared. “This is where my mother and sister’s bodies were found!” says young Subbu. Something about this young boy being so nonchalant about it broke me, just as it…

Enna Vilai Movie Review: When the Case Becomes Bigger than the Man

You know, I really, really dug the first half of Enna Vilai. I enjoyed how lived-in everything feels, how its characters seem to have lived long before the movie began and will continue to live long after it ends. We just happen to catch them during a particular time in their lives… especially Thavasi (Karunas),…

Toxic Movie Review: What Happened to a Man for Him to Become This?

What might happen when a woman filmmaker gets the opportunity to make a film about violence and sex? What might happen when she gets access to all the familiar toys of the male-star vehicle: the punch dialogues, the star, the swagger, the slow-motion sequences, the sex, the violence… What might she bring to this cinema…

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit Movie Review: The Forgotten Plains of Beauty

While watching Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, I kept thinking about one of my favourite quotes about love, by Victor Hugo: “The first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a young girl, it is boldness.” You see the timidity when Justin (Nivin Pauly, who seems perfect for these characters) is entertaining feelings…