Mister Madras

It’s that time of the year again! Just like last year, I am leaving it to all the other bloggers, trackers, reviewers and fans of Tamil cinema to come up with the usual list of best films of this year. I am certain that most of us would’ve seen almost all these films. If you ask me for my top 10, here they are (in the order they were released) Peranbu To Let Thadam Super Deluxe Monster Jiivi Magamuni Oththa Seruppu Size 7 Asuran Kaithi Apart from these films, I also liked  Petta, Viswasam, Nerkonda Paarvai, Namma Veetu Pillai, Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu, Raatchasi, Vellai Pookal, Mehandi Circus and Kolaigaran . Apart from these films, there were some which also made its way to the big screens this year but didn’t get the recognition it deserved. So here’s my post where I list the most underrated Tamil films of 2019. PS: Kindly note that these films are in the order in which they released this year. Unlike other listicles which would contain films the writer had watch...

A month back, I decided to do regular year-ender listicle and I had already published My Favourite Tamil Songs of 2018 as well as The Most Disappointing Tamil Films of 2018 . But I’ve seen a lot of ‘best film’ posts and this year, the number of good films was way too many that the people themselves know which films these are. If you still insist on a list, here are my quick 10 favourites (in the order they released) Irumbu Thirai Kaala Kadaikutty Singam Pyaar Prema Kaadhal  Merku Thodarchi Malai  Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Pariyerum Perumal 96 Ratsasan Vada Chennai Any regular film lover would’ve seen most of these films so I didn’t really want to stick to the regular year-ender post on my picks for ‘the best Tamil films of 2018’. There were a few gems which also made its way to the big screens this year but didn’t get the recognition it deserved, so here’s a post for the most underrated Tamil films of 2018. PS:  Kindly note that these...

Just as always, 2018 too had its fair share of good and bad films. While an article on good films is obviously due and almost everyone with an internet connection is anyway doing it, how about a list of the 10 most disappointing Tamil films of the year? PS:  Of course there were terrible low budget films as always but I’m sticking to 10 films which had known and bankable stars who are known for delivering decent films. Also, kindly note that these films are in the order in which they released this year. Gulaebaghavali On paper,  Gulaebaghavali must’ve sounded like an interesting gangster comedy film but on screen, that’s not what we saw. What we got was a film that tested our patience with silly humour, bad acting and a terrible screenplay. What makes me sad was how they wasted a talent like Revathi and that too by naming her Maasha and making it look like this film happens in the same universe as the 1990’s brilliant comedy flick Arangetra Velai.  Sketch 2018’s...

Despite songs not getting their due they like they used to before, Kollywood is still managing to churn out some ear-pleasing tracks each year and 2018 hasn’t been different either. As the year comes to an end, here are some of the tracks that won our hearts and made their respective films even better. PS:  There are many albums where there is more than one song which is worthy enough of getting a spot in this list, so we’re restricting one song per album (which will be more of a favourite pick). Kindly note that we’re not ranking these songs and they’re numbered in the order in which their respective films released. Kannave Kannave Film: Sketch Singer: Vikram Lyrics: Vijay Chandar Music: Thaman Kannave Kannave captures the emotions of a local man who falls for a girl. The ‘localness’ is signified in the lyrics and Vikram even makes the lines act when it comes out of this mouth. Colourful and beautiful, this song is a lovely melody, made only better ...

Director: Peyton Reed Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas After the shocking events of  Avengers: Infinity War , which released earlier this year, many were left wondering if Marvel was going to take a serious route akin to its DC counterparts. Those who kept track of its line-up of films, however, knew that Ant-Man and the Wasp would be anything but serious. The twentieth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t really change the tone set by  Infinity  War . It happens right after  Captain America: Civil War,  which also explains why Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and his team weren’t a part of the war against the mad Titan, Thanos. While the other films in the universe resort to a fair amount of serious storytelling, the  Ant-Man  series stands testament to Marvel’s (and Disney’s) way of having fun whilst doing this. This was abundantly made clear in 2015’s  Ant-Man , which was in stark contra...

Typically, our biopics have been about politicians like Periyar and Kamaraj. In recent times though, we have shifted away from solemn stories of freedom fighters to the more fanciful lives of celebrities.  Nadigaiyar Thilagam , the biopic on actor Savitri, has been a huge success, and now, films on Sanjay Dutt and NTR are in the offing too. Here’s taking a look at our own celebrities whose lives are deserving of a film adaptation: Bhanumathi Widely known as the first female superstar of the South Indian film industry, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna’s first film,  Vara Vikrayam , had her play a 13-year-old girl who’s forced to marry an old man and commits suicide. Her inspiration to join the field of cinema came from her own home in the form of her father Bommaraju Venkata Subbaiah who was a well-known stage performer. Famous for being paid more than the male contemporaries of her time, Bhanumathi was also a producer, director, writer, singer, and music director. Surely, a great story’s in ther...

  Perhaps no other film has made  Kaiju , which means ‘strange beast’, as popular among the masses as the 2013 sci-fi monster film,  Pacific Rim , but of course, that’s not the first time Hollywood paid homage to the genre. The  Kaiju  genre originated in 1954 when the iconic monster film,  Godzilla , was made by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. And that was not the first monster film, of course, as Tomoyuki Tanaka was actually inspired by all the reception Japanese people gave to classics such as  King Kong  (1933) and  The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms  (1953), in creating the Godzilla franchise, which, by the way, holds the record of being the longest continuously running movie franchise. With the sequel to  Pacific Rim –  Pacific Rim Uprising  hitting the screens this Friday, here are some iconic Hollywood monster films. Are you sure you’ve caught them all? King Kong  (1933) This classic adventure film is sure to make every greatest-films-of-all-time list. The sto...