League of impressive women characters of K'town in 2018

Women-centric movies are on the rise in Kollywood in recent years thanks to the two female superstars of the industry, Jyothika and Nayanthara, who pioneered and sent out a ray of hope in the male-dominant system by starring in heroine-led movies and laid a new path of feminism in K’town.

The year 2018 had about 15 women-centric films played by leading heroines, including Jyothika, Trisha, Nayanthara, Samantha, Anushka, Keerthi Suresh and Aishwarya Rajesh. Apart from them, even male-centric movies portrayed strong women who have been shown as weak and objectified for a long time in cinema.

It was freshers reign at Kollywood in 2018

It’s almost a lifetime’s research, skill and waiting that reflect in the first work of any creator in an art form. This is so true in cinema, the art form of art forms which has witnessed masterpieces from filmmakers and artistes in their debut venture.

Here's 10 unnoticed but critically worthy films of 2018

The pace of evolution of Tamil film industry in making movies that are critically worthy and classic in nature went a level up in 2018. In fact, this year witnessed a lot of socio-political narratives of life-like stories and people on the silverscreen.

Movies like Vada Chennai, Merku Thodarchi Malai, Pariyerum Perumal, Kanaa and Ratsasan triggered debates on social topics like exploitation of cultural identities, communalism, women empowerment and violence against girls in a very sensible way and won critical acclaim. There were also films like 96, Irumbu Thirai, Kolamaavu Kokila and Imaikka Nodigal that had mass appeal.

He should've been our Finance Minister

A tea stall is like a benchmark to measure inflation in semi-urban and rural areas. Apparently, Sivakumar, who runs Bhagavan Tea Stall at Vamban village in Pudukottai district is pretty sure about this and says that he has come across words like, 'Neenga thara sambalathula oru tea kudikka mudiyuma' asked by daily wage labourers to landlords.

So, he has made one big decision that came after his entire village was devastated by Cyclone Gaja that made its landfall in Cauvery delta region in November this year.  And, the decision is to waive all the existing debts kept at his shop by the villagers who lost everything to the disaster. I wanted to talk to him and somehow traced his phone number to greet him. We had a simple conversation during the call.

KGF Chapter 1: Personifying a war between greed and power

Throwing a secret initially and unfolding it in the later part of the screenplay is the most interesting trait and that’s what Yash’s KGF – Chapter 1 has done. Though Prashanth Neel’s directorial venture is a Tamil-dubbed version of the first instalment of this Kannada period-action-drama, it establishes a lot of instances that anyone can relate to.

போற்றவில்லையென்றாலும் தூற்றாமல் இருப்போம்!

அண்மையில் தமிழ் மொழிக்கான தந்தி முறையை கண்டுபிடித்து பயன்பாட்டுக்குக் கொண்டுவந்த 'தமிழ்த்தந்தி' சிவலிங்கனார் காலமானார். அவரைப் பற்றியும் அவர் உருவாக்கிய முறையைப் பற்றியும் அவர் இறந்த பின்னரே நான் தெரிந்துகொண்டேன். இதில் நான் தலைகுனிந்து வெட்கப்படுவதற்கும் ஒரு காரணமிருக்கிறது. சிவலிங்கனாரின் இல்லம், நான் 2016ஆம் ஆண்டுவரை வாழ்ந்துவந்த திருச்சியின் அதே கே.கே நகரில்தான் இருந்துள்ளது. கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒன்றரை ஆண்டுகளுக்கு மேலாக ஊடகவியலாளனாக நான் திருச்சியில் பணியாற்றியபோது அவரைப் பற்றி அறியாதிருந்தது எனக்கு உறுத்தலாகவே இருக்கிறது. அவரை ஒரு முறையாவது பேட்டி கண்டிருக்கவேண்டும். குறைந்தது, தந்திச் சேவையை அரசு முடக்கியபோதாவது அவரின் கருத்துக்களைக் கேட்டிருக்கவேண்டும். நான் அதைச் செய்யத் தவறிவிட்டேன் என்பதைத் தாண்டி, அவரைப்பற்றிய செய்தி எங்கும் கிடைக்காதிருப்பது எனக்கு இன்னும் வருத்தத்தைத் தருகிறது. நேற்று பெய்த மழையில் முளைத்த காளாண்களுக்கெல்லாம் தனி பக்கம் இருக்கும் விக்கிப்பீடியாவில் கூட அவருக்காக ஒரு பக்கம் ஒதுக்க இங்குள்ள இணையதள ஆர்வலர்கள் விருப்பம்காட்டவில்லை என்பது கூடுதல் தகவல்.

Naangaam Vidhi: Yeah, that's why it happens

Sci-fi genre has always worked out better in short-films than a feature. Maybe people do not want to spend a long time to watch a movie like 24, and they prefer a film on the smaller screen that runs for just, say, 24 minutes.

Apparently, it is also a fact that when the run-time is less, we'll have a more engaging screenplay - if and only if the details of the plot-points are enough to substantiate the science elements dealt in the screenplay. When I happened to watch my close-friend and aspiring filmmaker Anu Sathya's sci-fi pilot-short film 'Naangaam Vidhi', I felt the same.

I feared of losing 30-year friendship with AR Rahman: Rajiv Menon

When filmmaker Rajiv Menon had a simple conversation with Johnson, a mridangam-repairer owning a small shop in Mylapore, he says he never had a thought that the storyline of Sarvam Thaala Mayam (STM) would pop up as a little spark. “But it has happened, and that is from where I built the plot and its conflict,” the Minsara Kanavu director said about the movie that is a couple of weeks away from release.