‘Manto’: haunting portrait of a troubled writer
Manto is essentially about a man torn apart from his beloved, which in this case happens to be the city of Bombay. He loves it because “ ye sheher sawaal nahin karta (this city doesn’t ask you questions)”. It takes everyone in, accepts unquestioningly. He speaks of moving to Pakistan only if Bombay were to relocate there.
‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’: well-intentioned but artistically deadbeat and dull
First things first, Batti Gul Meter Chalu is way too long. It refuses to cut the chase, right from the start—in setting things up and introducing the characters—till the end, in the overdrawn court room scenes that give a wannabe Jolly LLB feel. We could desperately do with a Saurabh Shukla, though, to liven things up in this one.
‘Varathan’: a prismatic narrative with terrific, and terrifying, cadence
The film may, on the surface, seem a mere thriller, but Varathan is definitely much more than that. Amal Neerad weaves a prismatic narrative out of his dark plot. And, this time around, everything seems so real and organic. There is an air of mystery and trepidation lurking over the scenic small town, seeping into every crevice of the story line.
‘Saamy Square’: Cop out
Vikram is solid in performance, as you’d expect of a seasoned actor like him, but he is let down by a lengthy film that keeps churning out cliched scenes. Director Hari works best with stories set in small towns (think Singam , Saamy and Ayya ). With Saamy Square , he’s primarily operating in home zone (Tirunelveli, Delhi and Rajasthan), but still fails to engage effectively.
‘Raja Ranguski’: Ambitious storyline fails to keep you engaged
The right man can make a good job out of any job, someone said. Clearly, writer-director Dharanidharan hasn’t read that quote. If he had, he might have thought twice before casting ‘Metro’ Shirish as this film’s lead character. Shirish plays Raja, a beat officer who is supposed to be caught in the middle of an intriguing murder mystery. He is also the film’s biggest problem.
‘Nannu Dochukunduvate’: Romance and relationships with a dose of humour
Director R S Naidu’s writing has the spark. The storyline of Nannu Dochukunduvate isn’t exceptional. However, the attention to certain real-life character traits that this writer-director translates into the script, makes this film a reasonably fun outing.
‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’: Sneak-a-boo
In The House with a Clock in Its Walls , based on a 1973 novel written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, it’s a 10-year-old boy, Lewis (Owen Vaccaro), who is ushered into the universe of sorcery — all contained in a mysterious house — by his goofy uncle, Jonathan (Jack Black). A lexophile who carries a dictionary in a briefcase, Lewis is instantly likeable because he is “weird”, as the neighbourhood witch, Florence Zimmermann (Cate Blanchett), endearingly describes the boy.
‘Mangalyam Thanthunanena’: good message lost in poor execution
The script, written by Tony Madathil, is too thin to sustain interest for two hours. There is a clear attempt to maintain a lighter mood throughout, the jokes are all stale, hardly evoking any laughter. Though the film partly redeems itself in the message that it conveys in the end, the film till then has a patriarchal male tone to it.
‘The Equalizer 2’: Just another Hollywood vigilante film
Within all the exterior machismo of a saviour on a mission, Washington, as Robert McCall, is sensitive. But there’s a lot of toxic masculinity that permeates the genre (“Be a man, son!”) for it to be nothing but a weakness, hence best kept tempered down. There’s also spasmodic discussion on evil, intent and justice, but it’s all so staccato and dull that it neither provides enough argument for contemplation or reasons for empathy.
