Latha Srinivasan

in NDTV

Mahima Nambiar has a significant role with a strong character arc, and she provides the important emotional connection between various characters in this film.

in NDTV

The movie ends up being more ambitious and longer but also ends up being very uneven.

in Hindustan Times

One must commend Asif Ali for doing a fine job as Sahadevan on the quest for justice. But Sethunath Padmakumar has taken one aspect alone in this story – how a fake case of dowry harassment and domestic abuse is foisted on a good man - and built a case against the law. The story is not juxtaposed against the real cases of scores of women facing domestic abuse and how they struggle to get justice. Moreover, claiming that Section 498A is a bane for all men as it is misused by women is regressive and a slight to all the women who have and are undergoing this plight. Aabhyanthara Kuttavaali has the right idea of talking about men’s rights, but the director and the story are truly misguided.

in Hindustan Times

Ever so often through the film, Hitchcock Iruthyaraj keeps reiterating to Kissa that he has to suffer through this second reality as reviewers so easily write off a film saying ‘first half lame, second boring’. In the case of watching and reviewing Santhanam’s Devil’s Double Next Level, one can’t even write ‘first half lame, second boring’ - the entire experience of watching the film was excruciating to say the least.

in Hindustan Times

The Great Indian Kitchen, for instance, provided a deep insight into the psyche of males in society and Love Under Construction could have possibly had some shades of that to give the title more meaning. As far as performances go, Neeraj Madhav, Aju Varghese and Gouri Kishan are effortless in their portrayals as Vinod, Pappettan and Gouri respectively. Neeraj Madhav and Aju Varghese are seasoned actors who have an impressive career graph and their interactions are very engaging in this series. The supporting characters Anand Mamadhan, Thankam Mohan and Ann Jameela Saleem, also make a mark. Music director Gopi Sundar has scored the songs and BGM and it's par for the course. On the whole, Vishnu Raghav’s Love Under Construction is an easy watch but not the outstanding series that it could have been.

in Hindustan Times

Writer and director Deeno Dennis clearly wanted to make a visually slick film based on a new premise where he could show a fashionable and stylish Mammukka, whom he seems to revere, in an extremely appealing way to his fans. He has added plenty of slo-mo and close-up shots and scenes to elevate Mammukka, but while doing all this, he has missed the real plot of the story. Case in point - the police investigation has numerous loopholes, and logic flies out the window, with some of the dialogues not helping either. Along with such inane lines, there is thunderous, uplifting BGM by music director Saeed Abbas, who's also added a foot-tapping rap song called Loading Bazooka by actor-singer Sreenath Bhasi to liven up the proceedings.

in Hindustan Times

At the end of the film, though, one wonders what the eventual takeaway was from the lives of Kannan and his family. Yes, we do see the transformation of not just Kannan but also Ramayya move away from fantasy to reality and try to showcase real-world heroism and strength to brave adversity. Like the title - Madras Matinee - was it supposed to be a lazy afternoon timepass, looking at the life of a lower middle-class family in Madras? Or was it supposed to be about humanity triumphing over everything? Madras Matinee is imperfect in its execution, and while one empathises with Kannan and his family, one doesn’t find a real-life hero to cheer on.

in Hindustan Times

What makes Abin Joseph’s script compelling is the strong emotional undercurrent that is part of everyone’s life story, be it Varghese, Bashir or the tribals. Each of the characters has been given a voice of their own, and through Varghese, Narivetta focuses more on the police rather than the oppressed. However, it superbly showcases how the state and the police conspire to suppress the already marginalised and Varghese’s expose shows how not all working for the state may agree with this narrative. The violent clash between the police and tribals is a stark reminder that such atrocities continue to exist today, and people need to be aware of the realities of many communities.

in Hindustan Times

While the premise of the story - the supernatural and body swapping element - is interesting, the entire aspect of setting it in a college and using it in the context of a professor who eyes an HOD chair is extremely flimsy. The story is weak from the beginning and while the four students, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharafudheen have been used to elicit laughs using situations, mannerisms and dialogues, it’s only partly effective. It is the performances of Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharafudheen (especially after the body swap occurs) that stand out and it is thanks to them that the movie keeps the audiences engaged for the most part. However, this is just not enough to make the movie totally fun ride. The female characters in the movie - Jeevika and Shaji’s wife (Pooja Mohanraj) - hardly have no major role to play and that’s unfortunate.

in Hindustan Times

Thug Life has many shades of Nayakan especially in the first half where we see the introduction of various characters in the gangster drama. In the first half Mani Ratnam crafts the character of Shaktivel and the world around him with precision using symbolism, other characters and interesting set pieces. Amar’s story and character are finely etched out, and their relationship is established subtly and strongly. The interval provides the major turning point but unfortunately, everything unravels rather rapidly in the second half turning into an incoherent spectacle. What plagues the film is the the ‘old wine in old bottle’ screenplay which loses steam mid-way incorporating far too many unnecessary characters, meandering through various places with glaring loopholes and quite a few insipid dialogues. The movie has emotions, intense action and some romance but the plot is thin and execution was paramount to making this flick highly engaging. And that’s where it falters.

in Hindustan Times

Before the release of the film, director Tharun Moorthy, who’s known for Operation Java and Saudi Vellakka, had stated that Thudarum was his effort to present Mohanlal aka Lalettan, the actor, and how he wanted to see Mohanlal on screen. Moorthy gives us Lalettan in the highly relatable character of a middle-aged neighbourhood taxi driver who loves his family and presents this in a simple small-town story. Yes, there are strong vibes of Drishyam as you watch the film – in Shanmugam and his family, and the way there is a shift in the narration from the family angle to an unforeseen terrible incident.

in Hindustan Times

Tourist Family is a wonderful tale from Abishan Jeevinth which reiterates, yet again, that one must love one's neighbour and humanity above all.

in Hindustan Times

Technically, the movie is top-notch – the BGM and songs by GV Prakash add a lot of depth to this emotional film.

in Hindustan Times

Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times said the film is "timepass and if you go in with no expectations, you will not come out raving about the film but you won’t come out bitterly disappointed either".

in Hindustan Times

Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Bagheera is a homegrown Batman film that is mostly entertaining and a new genre for Kannada filmgoers to explore."

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