“The actor will be remembered as a man with the laugh of a child, as a comedian who inspired us to laugh so.”
“The most conviction you spot in this film is when actor Richard barks. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d ever type in a film review.”
Each time, Karnan shows spunk, these angels rise. They appear in dreams as guides; they appear as voices of encouragement and applause. They even dance about, when, finally, war seems inevitable. There can be no peace when the real authorities, police officers tasked with the role of being guardians, turn out to be agents of oppression instead. ‘Utraadheenga Yappo’ calls them ‘thoppi potta pei’ and warns, ‘kandavana adikka varaan; kanavayellaam posukka varaan’.
“At the foundation of this film is the almost mythical relationship between Sulthan and his uncles, with there being half-hearted attempts to show these men of violence some empathetic understanding. The same film that argues for their humanity, also keeps undercutting it by showing them as creatures driven by bloodlust. In one scene, they are all sleeping, but the mere whiff of a blood drop is enough to get them all aroused. Sulthan is also often shown whipping about his beloved uncles, like they were cattle to be shepherded.”
“I wish Teddy had remained content with being a drama about a man and his newfound, strange companion, a teddy bear called Sri. Unfortunately, the film would rather be a thriller, one that is tasked with the difficult, mirthless topic of illegal organ trade. Was this genre chosen so any comparisons with the English film, Ted, could be easily shrugged off?”
Sudhir Srinivasan 