Janani K

Jatadhara is an engaging, visually striking supernatural thriller that successfully merges commercial spectacle with artistic expression. It begins with a mythical narrative of how hundreds of years ago, with absence of banks or safe deposit vaults, when people used to store and hide gold and valuables beneath their homes to safeguard their hard earned wealth from dacoits. The introduction goes back and forth from the current day seminar on paranormal phenomenon and ghosts by the Indian Paranormal League where one attendee stands out declaring that he strongly believes that there are no ghosts.

How many of you have ever been in a relationship that might feel perfect, but the timing doesn’t let you pursue it? Do you revisit the relationship and think how life could have changed if you ended up marrying your partner? Or do you move on in life even if you don’t get proper closure? Director Prasanth Vijay’s ‘Ithiri Neram’ is a film that addresses all these and the societal judgement that comes with past lovers meeting for one last time. Will it be the last time?

‘Aaromaley’ arrives at a time when Tamil cinema desperately needs light, feel-good romantic dramas. Directed by Sarang Thiagu and starring Kishen Das, Shivathmika Rajashekar, and Harshath Khan, this warm romantic entertainer offers genuine laughs and authentic moments that mirror real-life relationships. It carves out space for itself by focusing not on larger-than-life heroes, but on ordinary people navigating honest feelings.

A good murder mystery and investigation thriller depends solely on the stakes and the balance between hunter and hunted. The film is uplifted when the cop investigating the crime is shown to be equally brilliant as the killer he’s chasing. Vishnu Vishal’s ‘Aaryan’ is one such murder investigation thriller that relies on the brilliance of its characters. But the big question is, does it achieve this balance? Let’s find out!

‘Bhoothakaalam’ and ‘Baramayugam’ are two promising horror films that came from Malayalam cinema and also found their audience across the country. These two horror films in particular introduced director Rahul Sadasivan to the world, who, with his penchant for the genre, crafted two brilliant masterpieces that earned the love of the audience. Especially when horror has almost become a joke in Indian cinema, he is back with his third horror film offering, ‘Dies Irae’.

Director Shanmugam Muthusamy’s ‘Diesel’, starring Harish Kalyan, Vinay Rai, and Athulya Ravi, attempts to tell the story of fisherfolk caught in the world of crude oil smuggling. Despite its ambitious canvas, the film lacks originality and crumbles under derivative storytelling and technical incompetence. ‘Diesel’ opens with promise. Director Vetri Maaran’s commanding voice-over—reminiscent of his ‘Vada Chennai’—sets up a compelling premise about fishermen protesting a 17-kilometre crude oil pipeline installation on the shore, protests that end in tragedy and bloodshed. It’s the kind of socially conscious setup that suggests substance. But that’s where the promise ends.

Director-turned-actor Pradeep Ranganathan, with just three films, carved his own path in Tamil cinema. He sells his eccentricity and has been the face of loud films that capture the pulse of youngsters. With his fourth film, ‘Dude’, he seems to have course-corrected his way by working on one big criticism that followed him from his first film. And that is about his films being anti-women. But, how exactly has he turned this image with ‘Dude’? Let’s find out!

A skeleton of a bison (kaalamaadan in Tamil) plays a metaphorical role in director Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Bison’. The bison - massive, powerful, and resilient - becomes a symbol of everything Kittan (Dhruv Vikram) must embody to survive in a world that refuses him dignity. At a PT teacher’s home, the skeleton hangs on a wall as a memory of his father’s occupation. In the hands of Kittan (Dhruv Vikram) and his father Velusamy (Pasupathy), it’s worshipped as a God, a form of Varaha. In the climax, the closing shot of Kittan holding the skeleton underwater holds immense power. That’s what ‘Bison: Kaalamaadan’ is all about – channelling the rage and strength of an animal that refuses to be tamed.