Karnan Movie Review: Mari Selvaraj’s dance of defiance makes for glorious cinema

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’.

Sulthan Movie Review: Bad villains and forced messaging stifle a great premise

“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.”

Teddy movie review: The teddy is alive, the film not so much

“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?”

Selvaraghavan: I hope to make films till my last breath

“I owe it all to cable television. It did not matter if I was beaten up at home for wasting time on it; I would sit and watch the same films over and over again on channels like Star Movies. I was addicted. I was intoxicated by what I was watching. Cinema is an irreplaceable teacher. After everyone at home slept, I would watch cable television all night long, the volume barely high enough for me to hear what was going on.”

Nenjam Marappathillai Movie Review: A twisted dark comedy that works brilliantly in patches

“SJ Suryah plays this character with much charismatic relish that it got me thinking about whether the same praise that’s generally accorded to subtlety in performance is generally accorded to such exaggerated portrayal. The actor is a fantastic fit in the Selvaraghavan universe. His face is dry and stoic one minute, and in contorted fury, the next. He hams it up without inhibition, and with such conviction that you ask no questions when he takes to mimicking the late Sivaji Ganesan in dialogue delivery.”