Janani K

Crores of people are flocking to theatres across the globe to watch Jana Nayagan and bid farewell to the man who entertained them for over three decades. Every cheer, every whistle and every celebration is for one person. Thalapathy Vijay. No, strike that. It’s Chief Minister Vijay now. Is Jana Nayagan an emotional goodbye to an actor or a rousing welcome to the Chief Minister? Neither, as it turns out — it’s mostly just a film that can’t decide what it wants to be.

Tamil cinema fans from the ’90s have grown up hearing Idhayam Murali in their everyday life. For those who don’t know the context, late actor Murali acted in a film titled Idhayam, where his love remains one-sided as he never confesses his feelings. Little did anyone know it would become a pop culture term. Decades later, Murali’s son Atharvaa is headlining Idhayam Murali, playing a character who just cannot bring himself to confess his love.

The world always teaches you that you are a nobody in the larger scheme of things. Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathy’s I, Nobody explores a similar theme, but goes one step ahead to ask a much-needed question: What does a nobody have to do to get justice? In one of the film’s crucial scenes, a police official explains to Prithviraj’s Rajeevan the concept of the food chain – but with a twist. The grasshopper, at the bottom of the pyramid, should not just eat grass. It should eat the frog that preys on it. That’s how cut-throat the world is.

There are very few mainstream Indian shows willing to build an entire story around sex education without reducing it to awkward jokes or moral sermons. Super Subbu, Netflix’s first Telugu original series, deserves credit for attempting exactly that. Directed by Mallik Ram, the seven-episode dramedy takes an inherently uncomfortable subject and wraps it in humour, family dynamics and small-town eccentricities. For a while, it works beautifully. But just when it seems ready to say something meaningful, the series retreats into safe territory, leaving several of its strongest ideas hanging.

In 2018, director Venkatesh Maha waltzed into Telugu cinema with the path-breaking C/o Kancharapalem, one of the industry’s finest films of the decade. After Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya and an episode in Modern Love Hyderabad, the filmmaker is back with Rao Bahadur – a film that Mahesh Babu and Namrata Shirodkar saw enough potential in to present. It hit theatres on July 3.

In a span of two months, we saw Samantha, Preity Mukundhan and Abhirami ace action like no one in Maa Inti Bangaaram and Blast. But Aishwarya Lekshmi did it back in 2022 when she wrestled her way into the hearts of audiences with her role in Gatta Kusthi. Four years later, the team reunites for a sequel that promises to delve deep into the lives of Veera, Keerthi and their daughter, Mathi Malar.

There was a time when romantic dramas offered a comforting escape, especially amid the flood of hypermasculine action thrillers dominating the screens. Over the years, however, the genre has evolved to reflect changing relationships and sensibilities. Director Kishore Kumar’s Heartin is one such attempt to tell a love story rooted in modern-day relationships. Shiva (Sananth) is the head chef and partner at a Jaipur restaurant owned by his close friend Mani (WhatsApp Mani) and Mani’s wife, Ankita. During a heritage walk, he crosses paths with Sadhana (Emaya). A series of charming meet-cutes blossoms into friendship, which eventually turns into love. Yet, even as their relationship deepens, Shiva remains emotionally guarded: he rarely smiles, carries a brooding aura, and initially hesitates when Sadhana confesses her feelings.

Over the years, films centred on scams have found love among fans in Tamil cinema. From Sathuranga Vettai to Doctor to Lucky Baskhar to Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal, several such films have remained favourites with fans. This week, Arjun Das, Anna Ben, Yogi Babu and Vadivukkarasi are exploring this genre with director Harish Durairaj’s Con City. Did they succeed? Let’s find out! Saravanan (Arjun Das) and his wife, Mithra (Anna Ben), run a humble mess in Mangalore. They are the parents of a young, physically challenged Jeeva (Akilan) and live with Mithra’s brother, Jackie (Yogi Babu), and Janaki (Vadivukkarasi). We are shown that Saravanan and Mithra are not on talking terms, but they continue to co-parent their kid. One day, Jeeva goes missing from school, and a look at the CCTV video reveals a dark secret that unravels everyone’s backstory and how they found each other.