Guild Reviews
Viduthalai Part 2
Action, Thriller, Drama (Tamil)
Troubles worsen for Kumaresan after the capture of Perumal, and soon he is confronted with having to make a choice between performing his duties as a police constable, or taking a stand for what is right.
Cast:
Vijay Sethupathi, Soori, Manju Warrier, Chetan, Tamizh
Director:
Vetrimaaran
When words overpower feeling
Sat, January 11 2025
In Viduthalai Part 2, a film that leans more on thought than emotion, more on words than feelings, my favourite portion is a brief, tender exchange between Perumal (Vijay Sethupathi) and Mahalakshmi (Manju Warrier). They are united by their disillusionment with life and society. Mahalakshmi has almost adopted the appearance of a man (and we later learn why), while Perumal, when tentatively reaching out to her about the prospect of a relationship, stammers and stutters, unsure of himself. Vetrimaaran beautifully allows Mahalakshmi time to respond to Perumal’s proposal, time to think, time in which to give us a beautiful Ilaiyaraaja song. And when you hear his melody, love, expectedly, blooms.
Vetrimaaran Delivers A Noble But Generic Political Drama
Mon, December 30 2024
Vetri Maaran’s Viduthalai Part 1, told from the perspective of a new police constable Kumaresan (Soori), posted in a rural hillside Tamil Nadu village, explored the story of an extremist organisation named Makkal Padai and its head Perumal Vaathiyar (Vijay Sethupathi). Makkal Padai has a history, but when we entered the world in the first part, the conflict was immediate as the terrorist organisation had just bombed a passenger train killing and injuring several lives. The premise answered both ‘why and why now’ of the film’s existence. It ended with the arrest of Vaathiyar, aided by Kumaresan, who is on the brink of getting disillusioned with the government’s propaganda against the organisation. The effective first part left us with many questions about Vaathiyar and how it will affect Kumaresan.
Vetrimaaran's Preachy Yet Compelling Character Study About A Terrorist Who Becomes A Hero
Wed, December 25 2024
In the first part of Viduthalai, you’d remember the long trek Kumaresan (Soori) undertakes to reach the camp where he is posted as a police constable for the first time. Even for a story that takes more than five hours to unfold, you’d remember the slow pace with which he treks across terrains, water bodies and hills to finally get to the top. Until today, I felt the pacing was intentional because we needed to understand how remote and challenging it was going to be for Kumaresan to work there. Narratively too, it was important for us to register the hostile terrain everyone in this movie was fighting over, right from the locals to the police and the mining corporation that wants to set up shop there.
Identity
Action, Thriller, Mystery (Malayalam)
A sketch artist and a cop work together to unravel the identity of an elusive killer using the descriptions of his face, etched into the memory of an eye-witness to the brutal crime
Cast:
Tovino Thomas, Trisha Krishnan, Vinay Rai, Mandira Bedi, Shammi Thilakan
Director:
Akhil Paul
Writer:
Anas Khan
Tovino Thomas And Trisha's Overstuffed Thriller Has Identity Issues
Fri, January 10 2025
There is a 10-minute-long sequence in Identity, in which an important character explains a medical condition called prosopagnosia—a rare cognitive disorder where damage to a particular part of the brain affects the patient’s ability to identify faces. The scene itself is loaded with exposition, almost like a TED Talk, but it is effective in explaining the condition of the film’s most important character. As a detail, it sounds just about right to make the character appear mysterious, vague and, of course, human. But on a screenplay level, it forms a solid base to explore the unreliable narrator trope—where the only person whose observations matter, is the one who cannot be relied on at all.
Trisha And Tovino Thomas' Thriller Is Engaging But Wants To Be Many Things At Once
Fri, January 10 2025
Identity sets off as a film about Haran Shankar (Tovino Thomas), a boy with an abusive father, who turns him into a perfectionist with obsessive-compulsive disorder. As we expect the film to be about this eccentric personality solving cases, we are thrown into a story of a serial rapist, who blackmails his victims with videos of the crimes. When we think it is going to be about nabbing this criminal, he gets killed by an unknown person (we instantly know who it is). Alisha (Trisha), the witness of the crime, gets a peculiar disease called Prosopagnosia aka face blindness, due to an accident right after witnessing the murder, which renders her incapable of recognising faces. Now, we settle for a concept film about this person with face blindness trying to identify the killer with the help of Haran, who also happens to be a good sketch artist (thanks to his mom). But no. Identity is neither that. It keeps turning into a different film every 20 minutes. You have a gripping flight sequence where Haran tries to stop a collision. Later, we also get an enjoyable Bondish fight sequence in a private jet. Clearly, Identity has an identity crisis.
Tovino Thomas-Trisha Krishnan investigative thriller gets lost in a convoluted plotline
Thu, January 2 2025
If someone were to narrate the story of Identity, directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, chances are that halfway through, the person will get lost in a maze of complicated side stories. It need not have been that way, for at its core, there is a fairly interesting and mostly uncomplicated storyline which holds up the film until the interval point. After that, one can witness the screenwriter being acted upon by the pressure to keep the audience guessing. For, by the halfway point, we almost get an idea of all the principal players and there is little left to uncover. It is at this point that the tedious work of the writer begins, building up elaborate plotlines for the villain’s true intentions and the hero’s real identity (which reminds one of such surprise reveals in quite a few other movies). Several of these plotlines are convoluted. It would require immense amounts of patience to untangle all the motives of the multiple villains in the narrative.
Miss You
Romance, Comedy (Tamil)
What happens when a guy falls in love with the girl he thought he hated the most? Why does her simple `no` mean so much more than it seems?.
Cast:
Siddharth, Ashika Ranganath, Karunakaran, Balasaravanan, Sastika Rajendran
Director:
N. Rajasekhar
Siddharth’s Old-School Rom-Com Is Nearly Decent
Fri, January 10 2025
It’s been a minute since a rom-com like Miss You was made in Tamil. It is not to say the film is rare or great, but it is just one of those old-school rom-coms that harps just on a straightforward story and drama. A kind that hasn’t been around for a while now. Directed by N Rajasekar, starring Siddharth and Ashika Ranganath in the lead roles, Miss You reminds you of the times when not every single release had to be unique or bearing a USP or having the need to cater to the whole nation. It has low stakes, featuring normal people, cliched songs, and fights that evoke a sense of nostalgia. The strong point of Miss You is that is aware of its limitations and contrivances. At one instance, when a character is forced to narrate the past, he lets out a disclaimer that the ‘flashback’ is going to feature a story within the story. That doesn’t absolve the film of its mistakes, but it is nice to know now and then that the filmmakers aren’t in a bubble.
(Writing for All in a Frame)
Tue, December 17 2024
In times when films have become social/ideological statements, it’s refreshing how Miss You still wants to be a simple story about ordinary people, everyday situations. The plot, centred on memory loss, fragility of modern-day marriages and second chances, banks on its slice-of-life treatment to see itself through. Yet, its simplicity paves the way for mediocrity due to the jaded treatment, time-tested storytelling tropes and poor music. There are flashes of Siddharth’s good-ol charm and decent performances by Ashika Ranganath and Karunakaran for intermittent relief. Miss You has its moments but is too casual and lacks conviction to be a memorable romance drama.
Much potential without payoff
Tue, December 17 2024
You know, it sometimes feels like films don’t quite appreciate the promise of their premise as much as we do. Miss You, for instance, teases a fascinating idea: a man forgets a significant period of his life after an accident—how does this affect his love life? It’s not exactly a groundbreaking premise; memory loss is a well-worn trope. But within this framework lie rich possibilities: repercussions on relationship dynamics, explorations of vulnerability, and the bittersweet beauty of rediscovery. We see this potential, but the frustration is in the film’s failure to do so.
Soodhu Kavvum 2
Comedy, Crime, Thriller (Tamil)
A gang of kidnappers find they have bitten off more than they can chew.
Cast:
Shiva, Karunakaran, Aruldoss, Ramesh Thilak, Yog Jappie
Director:
S. J. Arjun
Writer:
S. J. Arjun
A Dishonour To Vijay Sethupathi’s Phenomenal Dark Comedy
Fri, January 10 2025
Watching Soodhu Kavvum 2 makes one realise the genius of the first part and its director Nalan Kumarasamy. More than the delicious dark houmour and wacky texture, the life of Soodhu Kavvum (2013) lies in its sarcastic pessimism. Nalan doled out a cynical comedy about a corrupt society beyond reckoning. Yet, his dark comedy made everyone overlook the philosophical core of his world. The title of the film Soodhu Kavvum (Evil Engulfs) is part of the Hindu god Krishna’s sermon in Bhagavad Gita, which goes: Dharmathin Vaazhvuthanai Soodhu Kavvum, Aanaal Dharmam Irudhiyil Vellum (Evil will engulf the dharma, but the good will always triumph in the end)." Though director Nalan’s film just takes part of it, ‘Soodhu Kavvum’ is a complete statement in the context of the movie. Evil engulfs. Period. The truth doesn’t triumph here, but that doesn’t seem to be a bad thing as it looks at life with a sense of sardonic humour that is soothing and pleasurable.
On Call
Animation (English)
A bear hunter tells Porky the tale of a hunt 30 years ago: a bear got a taste of his chewing tobacco and chased him down to get it; the hunter took the bear on with his bare hands rather than lose the tobacco. Or at least, that's the way he told the story.
Cast:
Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce
Director:
Robert Clampett
Dick Wolf's Streaming Police Drama Starts Strong But Fights To Maintain Pace
Thu, January 9 2025
After Law & Order, NCIS, and Chicago TV universes, veteran producer Dick Wolf makes his first streaming show with On Call. The new series is situated in Long Beach, California, where a seasoned police officer trains a newbie after one of her former trainees is murdered on the job. Starring Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente in the leads, Amazon Prime Video’s On Call flies right out of the gate but circles around the same few issues over and over again. Troian Bellisario is by-the-books officer Traci Harmon, who never fired a weapon in 12 years. Meanwhile, Alex Diaz is an overeager rookie who wants to do it again. Following the death of officer Delgado (Monica Raymund) for a routine traffic stop, the Long Beach police force is on the hunt for a cop killer. However, it is Harmon who takes the search to heart while maintaining the on-the-job lessons for the new guy on the beat.
Missing You
Drama, Crime, Mystery (English)
When Detective Kat Donovan matches on a dating app with the fiancé who disappeared years before, she learns that some secrets are best left in the past.
Cast:
Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Kate Plummer, Richard Armitage, Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton
Something’s missing here
Mon, January 6 2025
Her father died nearly 11 years ago. About the same time, her fiance disappeared from her life and it seems from the face of the earth. And she is no ordinary woman but the dogged Detective Inspector Kat Donovan. Could the plot get thicker? Yes it does, often too thick. Indeed, the story unfolds with much intrigue if not cutting-edge tension. Kat, played by Rosalind Eleazar, is in charge of tracing missing persons. Why she has not cared to find out where her boyfriend vanished is as baffling as his sudden popping up on a dating site. Instead, she seeks the help of her friend, private investigator Stacey Embalo (Jessica Plummer), to track him down, actually do half her jobs, including finding her way into a prison hospital. Stacey’s job otherwise is to nail cheating husbands and wives. Amidst fishing in the woes of failing marriages, she plays agony aunt to Kat and directs her to a dating app.
Harlan Coben Mystery Thriller Series Is Too Muddled To Make An Impact
Wed, January 1 2025
Since 2018, Netflix has been adapting author Harlan Coben’s catalog in the form of limited series. These have been gaining popularity over the years, and last year’s Fool Me Once with Michelle Keegan broke several records. The newest release, Missing You, revolves around a missing persons detective, Kat Donovan, and a myriad of secrets around her past. Over five episodes, these secrets emerge one by one. Detective Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar), who is already investigating a series of missing people, connects with her former fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) on a dating app. Josh ghosted her 11 years ago and is apparently living under a new name. Strangely, there is a connection to the missing woman she is currently investigating. Meanwhile, there is also the matter of Kat’s dad, a police officer who is murdered by a hitman. Eventually, Kat has to figure out what in her past and present is real and what is being kept from her.
Cast:
Aparna Sen, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shabana Azmi, Anjan Dutt, Rituparna Sengupta
Director:
Suman Ghosh
Overdue Documentary Should Be Essential Viewing
Sat, January 4 2025
Aparna Sen, movie star, ace filmmaker, successful magazine editor and active civil society leader, has had an incredibly eventful and diverse career. A documentary chronicling her life and times was long overdue. But that certainly isn’t the only reason why Suman Ghosh’s Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen, should be essential viewing. Straddling a wide gamut - from the personal and professional to the political and public - and employing a wide range of interviews and reminiscences of notable contemporaries, Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen throws light on an accomplished filmmaker, her significant body of work and the complexities of the times that she lives and works in. Suman Ghosh, who cast Aparna Sen alongside Soumitra Chatterjee in Basu Poribar (2018), has produced a deft 81-minute cinematic document that encapsulates the varied facets of one of India’s foremost filmmakers. The female gaze and the primacy of films that put women at their centre are inevitably mentioned, but Ghosh, taking a cue from the subject’s stand on the matter, does not unduly foreground Sen’s gender.
A lively portrait of an artiste
Sat, January 4 2025
Parama : A Journey With Aparna Sen is a lively portrait of an artiste, with conversations that the director conducts with his subject, and her subjects. It begins, aptly, with a sequence from Sen’s first directorial, ‘36, Chowringhee Lane’, a 1981 film that brings alive a slice of Calcutta long since vanished. Violet Stoneham, played unforgettably by Jennifer Kendal, is an Anglo-Indian-school teacher-spinster who lives alone. An accidental meeting with a former student and her boyfriend injects warmth and colour into her drab life, but the change is sadly short-lived. Ghosh and his team take Sen to the building — the kind in which the lifts didn’t work, the bare tangle of electricity wires hanging dangerously low over the staircase — in which the film was shot, and we hear her reminisce about how one of her best films, and one whose portrayal of loneliness still aches, came together.
Badminton
(Hindi)
Set in a bar, the story revolves around witty banter, secrets, and an unpredictable turn of events.
Cast:
Jim Sarbh, Sayani Gupta, Vijay Maurya, Mohammad Ebdullah
Director:
Dibakar Banerjee
Writer:
Anuvab Pal
Dibakar Banerjee Aims, But Misses the Mark
Sat, January 4 2025
Given the times we live in, it’s a source of constant intrigue that Hindi cinema’s politically aware film-makers have to be smart about expressing themselves. They have to be subtler and sneakier with their views, but also stay just as accessible. You see a push-and-pull balance with the more prolific storytellers like Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra and Anubhav Sinha. But cult-status directors like Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee have found it visibly harder. At times, their opinions are nearly too pure. You can tell that they have so much to say—there’s a lot of emotion, passion, cynicism and awareness—but they’re running out of commercial road.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Action, Science Fiction, Comedy, Family (English)
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.
Cast:
Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey
Director:
Jeff Fowler
Jim Carrey's Grinch Like Performance Is The Highlight
Fri, January 3 2025
After two successful releases, the series is nowhere close to its end and isn’t bad. Featuring an ensemble cast of Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and many more the film does justice for its young and adult audience. The makers manage to strike an almost balance between entertaining both of its audiences. Unlike many sequels, this one stays true to its core and explores a more chaotic version of Eggman, taking it to the next level. The writing and performances keep the films from falling into the same trap as all other sequels. The makers don’t waste time setting the story or the gap between the films. Just as the family of three aliens and two humans is celebrating Sonic’s Earth Birthday another catastrophe befalls their world. On the other side of their world, another alien is wreaking havoc. A sinister and darker version of Sonic called Shadow has broken out of a 50-year-old prison and is out for revenge. As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles begin to investigate they wonder if they know the full truth.
The Pickle Factory
(Hindi)
Mahika, an intern at a family business, bonds with colleagues and overcomes challenges, discovering the importance of family and friendship.
Cast:
Tanya Maniktala, Ritwik Bhowmik, Sohaila Kapur, Gagan Dev Riar, Naveen Kaushik
Tanya Maniktala, Ritwik Bhowmik Star In A Dull and Immature Workplace Comedy
Thu, January 2 2025
The Pickle Factory is what happens when The Office (U.S.) and Better Life Foundation (India) reluctantly get married (arranged) and have a pious, Doordarshan-loving child that refuses to grow up. It’s the kind of stagey and adolescent workplace comedy that went out of fashion years ago. You want it to work, of course, for several reasons. The 10-episode show revolves around the quirky employees of a family-run pickle company; imagine the readymade Hindi ‘achaar’ proverbs.
Kraven the Hunter
Action, Adventure, Thriller (English)
Kraven Kravinoff's complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Cast:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott
Director:
J.C. Chandor
The audience is hunted in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe film
Thu, January 2 2025
A long, icy road is the first shot of Kraven the Hunter, the sixth film in the infamous Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Given how all the other films, except the Venom movies, turned out to be fiascos, the very first shot of Kraven felt like a metaphor for the studio’s long and trying journey with Marvel’s IPs. After all, it’s not a lot to work with when you only have characters commonly associated with Spider-Man and you cannot even use the friendly neighbourhood superhero. Despite being far better than Morbius and Madame Web, Sony’s latest and possibly final superhero outing, Kraven the Hunter, still misses its mark by miles.
Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Action Heavy Film Makes Madame Web Look Good
Thu, January 2 2025
Kraven the Hunter finally saw its release in Indian theaters but despite the delays and built-up anticipation this film has turned out to be another disappointment like Madam Web. The film explores the story of Spiderman Universe villain Kraven the Hunter. The titular role of the film is played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, who is known for his looks physique and charm but none of it transfers to his on-screen character Kraven the Hunter. The film begins with Kraven’s latest task at a Russian prison. The man of honour and code walks into the jail to kill his target but on his way out does not hesitate to take a few guards down. Kraven isn’t a hero, he isn’t good but the film works on proving that he is with his every decision until it serves right for the plot. After a quick introduction, much of the film takes place in the past as Sergei and Dimitri’s toxic childhood is explored — more like explained. We also get a montage of how he trains in the jungle as a child while honing his powers, super strength and other abilities. He also takes down many animal poachers but it doesn’t really add any dept to his role in the film. It could serve as his connection to the animal world, but it isn’t as effective due to a lack of authentic interaction.
Mukkam Post Bombilwadi
Comedy (Marathi)
Set in 1942, Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi is a hilarious tale of a peaceful Indian village suddenly thrown into chaos with the arrival of Hitler. Amid World War II's disruption, people in the village, led by their local theater group, battle to defeat the dictator. Will they succeed in their comical quest to conquer Hitler?..
Cast:
Prashant Damle, Vaibhav Mangle, Adwait Dadarkar, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Mrinmayee Godbole
Director:
Paresh Mokashi
Writer:
Paresh Mokashi
(Writing for The Common Man Speaks)
Decent entertainer trapped in the wrong medium
Thu, January 2 2025
Filmmaker Paresh Mokashi’s Mukkam Post Bombilwadi is based on his own Marathi play of the same name. The story takes place in 1942 when World War II is in full swing. Adolf Hitler (Prashant Damle) is under pressure for not having won the war despite fighting it for years, especially from his wife Eva (Deepti Lele). Winston Churchill (Anand Ingle), the Prime Minister of Great Britain, is making things more difficult for him. Meanwhile, in Bombilwadi village in Maharashtra’s Konkan, Varvante (Vaibhav Mangle) heads a theatre group. He is struggling hard to rehearse for a play with the members of his troupe (Devendra Pem, Geetanjali Kulkarni and Ritika Shrotri). Vaidya Buwa (Sunil Abhyankar) and Bhaskar (Pranav Raorane), who are also a part of the theatre group, have made a bomb to blow up Britishers.
A theatrical farce that's hilarious only in parts
Wed, January 1 2025
Around two decades ago, Paresh Mokashi gave the Marathi theatre audience a play called Mukkam Post Bombilwadi, which revolved around an absurd but hilarious story. For the big screen, Mokashi and team adapt the same premise on a cinematic scale. Set in 1942, Mukkam Post Bombilwadi unfolds in three locations – Adolf Hitler’s office in Germany, Winston Churchill’s war room in London, and the sleepy village of Bombilwadi in Konkan, Maharashtra. Amid mounting tensions of World War II, Hitler (Prashant Damle) gets a call about some innovation in Japan that can help him win the war. In no mood to waste time, Hitler decides to fly to Japan on his own (despite not knowing how to fly a plane). In the meantime, Churchill’s (Anand Ingale) spies tell him about Hitler’s plan and the British PM vows to stop Hitler come what may. The story then shifts to Bombilwadi, where multiple things are unfolding – a play is being rehearsed, a British police officer in love with Hitler’s partner Eva Braun is more focused on staging Shakespeare’s plays than maintaining law and order in Bombilwadi, and freedom fighters are plotting to send the Brits back with the ‘do or die’ slogan. In between all this, Hitler crash-lands in Bombilwadi. How, and what happens later is what the film is largely about.