War Dog: Guns and posers

War Dogs reminded me of quite a few films that were far more successful at doing what it tries to do. It begins by showing a gun pointed at one of the protagonists, David Packouz (Miles Teller), who coolly takes on narrating responsibilities and makes a comment to us about the gun’s making. “It’s a…

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K. S. Ravikumar: Cinema is just business

  S. Ravikumar, whose Mudinja Ivana Pudi has just released, tells me that he has nothing to prove to anybody and that his track record speaks for itself Excerpts of the conversation in video Before answering the first question, K. S. Ravikumar mentions that he isn’t altogether comfortable with speaking in English. I tell him he’s free to talk…

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Minor issues

Where I talk about how adultification of children is common across Tamil cinema and television

Giving love a bad name?

Iru Mugan’s trailer, released this week, shows Vikram playing Love, a campy character who’s seemingly the villain. Do such portrayals reinforce negative stereotypes about homosexuals and transgenders?  Prakash Raj actor I think it’s wrong to be insensitive towards a community, and depict its members only as villains. Even when I agreed to play a transgender…

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In search of a hit

The films Bharath rejected went on to become hits—like Thiruvilaiyaadal Aarambam that went to Dhanush. “But I know there’s no use thinking about this. Dhanush refused Kaadhal, and it came to me. It all evens out.”