More navel than novel Over the years, Tamil cinema has brought to us several curious genres: comedy thriller, romantic action, action drama (Komban, for instance, is listed under this category), and now, continuing this infamous trend is Aranmanai-2, which can only be categorised under the hybrid genre, masala horror. You can easily identify this genre…

Sivakarthikeyan lifts an average film There’s pretty much nothing in Rajini Murugan that will even startle you, let alone blow your mind. It’s everything you’ve seen already, but you know the thing that differentiates stars from actors? They’re able to take your mind off the silly story; they’re able to make you forget that the…

Well shot, but no thrills Some movies are so pleasing visually, their every shot composed so painstakingly, that you are happy to cut them way more slack than you’d others. Gethu is one such. The whole movie takes place in an unknown hill station, and so, yes, the exotic locations must have naturally played their…

Many Selvaraghavan touches in a mixed bag It has always remained a mystery why Selvaraghavan’s scripts treat sex as some nasty, depraved business. The characters are most awkward discussing it—yes, even by Indian standards—and when they just have to, they spit it out like a piece of food that’s been wedged in their teeth for…

More educative than entertaining It’s impossible to resist comparing Pasanga-2 with Taare Zameen Par . They’re both about disorders (here, it’s Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), they have a chirpy, animated protagonist who totally gets children, there are concerned parents who need to be counselled, and of course, both films make points against conventional teaching methods,…