[ghodlur]

Dragon (Tamil)

Streaming: Netflix

Having read so much about the movie in the posts in this thread, I couldn't resist seeing it but was not completely in awe of the movie. I felt the film plot, the acting by lead actors was very mediocre. I felt many things in the movie was portraying things which could negatively influence students in particular. Buying a house and an Audi with first salary was purely fictional, who does that? In nutshell I will give this movie a pass.

Rating: 2/5

[dailydriver]

#PARU PARVATHY

-Amazon Prime

A road movie of a different kind. Starts slowly, gains some momentum midway but loses track enroute the climax. This is the story of two women: one who is travelling in search of her lost partner and the other because she has lost her partner. The first is an ailing matron bound by the shackles of domesticity and the latter a dashing diva finding her mojo in her bikes, travels and blogs. Although an unlikely pair, what binds them together is their empathy for each other.

The journey is a roller coaster of emotions and experiences that, in the hands of a better director, could have inched towards becoming a cult classic. But the editor's scissors lacking sharpness and the actors' inability to emote in proportion to scene requirements makes this movie a rather long and insipid enterprise.

Can give this a try on a lazy Sunday afternoon; but absolutely no loss if you don't.

[naveen.raju]

Pravinkoode shappu



It was a decent watch with good performance by Shoubin. Basil was kind of fine but at times looked really artificial. Nothing like his other movies.
Though the story is engaging, the screenplay lets you down at times. Also, it should have trimmed a bit as it felt long. The film does show many observations like sookshma darshini but here they kind of hurried it up. Luckily we could replay it back to observe it as it’s very crucial. Would have definitely missed in the theater. Good BGM and cinematography and the chase scenes were pretty awesome as it was real and single shot.
It did fail at the theaters so had low expectations but turned out to a decent watch.

Rating - 3.5/5. Should watch (Amazon Prime).

Anbodu Kanmani



A simple family centric movie with decent story and good humor. Decent acting by all.
Rating - 3/5. Watchable (Amazon Prime).

Painkilli



This one had a weird storyline that kind of didn’t make any sense. Good comedy in the beginning but tends to get repetitive midway. Acting was decent but Anaswara was unbearable. Even Sajin looked like he was making a fool of himself towards the end.
Rating - 2/5. Can be avoided (Manorama Max)

Perasu



This one had most of the current comic actors, except Yogi Babu and it really showed. I think it would have been entertaining if he was included. From the first scene, it’s just the same situation being shown again and again. Gets really bad as the movie progresses.
Rating - 1/5. Can be avoided (Netflix)

Court - state vs a nobody



Pretty ordinary court drama. Nothing special or exciting.
Rating - 2.5/5. Watchable. (Netflix)

Bad Boyz



Watched just for the heck of it. And it was in 2x speed. There are couple of giveaways that shouts this will be horrible - Omar Lulu, Producer Abraham Mathew and actor Sheila Abraham. Cringe fest with super bad acting. I wish Rahman had not acted in this as it just degrades his image. Dhyan reminds me of the statement - Make hay while the sun shines. This dude is appearing in all movies now while Aju Varghese comes in close second but atleast he acts well.
Rating - Not worth rating it. (Amazon Prime)

Alappuzha Gymkhana



Although a pretty straight forward storyline, they have added the humor element and altered what we usually saw in other movies. But nothing extraordinary. Good acting by all, but Lukman kind of felt wooden in appearance, but loved his action sequences even though it was just a small scene. Cinematography stood out which was brilliant and the BGM supported it as well. Something that I liked was that these actors put in a good effort in building their physique but it wasn’t highlighted or celebrated like some movies. Kept it natural.
Rating - 4/5. Highly recommended. (Theater)

Am Ah



Trilled to pull out a thriller, but failed miserably. Not worth it.
Rating - 1/5. Can pass. (Sunnxt)

Gentlewoman



I wasn’t keen on this one but wife wanted to watch. Nothing new here and you can guess the next scene. Lot of loopholes which the director missed and it really didn’t make much sense. The movie had to be ended at one point else all the effort will eventually be for nothing (the story was going in such a way that there’s no way out). Acting was pretty decent and that was it.
Rating - 2/5. Can be missed. (Amazon Prime)

[saikishor]

Vidaamuyarchi
Rating: 1/5

I loved the visuals and the background score, these were the only two reasons I was able to complete the film. Story is a complete mess, and I have no idea how producers allocated so much budget for this story.

[Ananthang]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Dragon (Tamil)

Streaming: Netflix

Having read so much about the movie in the posts in this thread, I couldn't resist seeing it but was not completely in awe of the movie. I felt the film plot, the acting by lead actors was very mediocre. I felt many things in the movie was portraying things which could negatively influence students in particular. Buying a house and an Audi with first salary was purely fictional, who does that? In nutshell I will give this movie a pass.

Rating: 2/5

I see it slightly different, and that is what I emphasised to my son. There are no shortcuts in life, hero worked hard once he joined the company, which gave him success. End of day, he could have done the same thing in college too and achieved the same success well before. End of day, we all should learn to balance our life and actions in any stage of our life, which we should be coaching our kids, and the rest will/may fall in place

[jonesanto]

As an avid Mohanlal fan, it has been a disappointing ride.

But man, the L brand is back. The cherry on top for us is his love towards the Ambassador...

A must watch! Everything else will be a spoiler.

[rajeevsulu]

L2 Empuraan

Streaming on Jio Hotstar

I loved the movie. The film has been shot very well. I watched it in one go. This does not happen very often these days. Eagerly looking forward to the next part.

Cheers

[doxinboy]

Thudarum (Malayalam)
In Theatres 4/5

I don't understand Malayalam and rely on subs. You don't know when it hits. But it hits hard.

Amongst all other languages I love movies coming out of Kerala for its sheer reality and ability to make movie feel like reality. Thudarum is a hard hitting movie that captivate our soul and crushes it. I saw the movie without reading any reviews. Just like everyone here I wanted to checkout the Ambassador. If you have time to KILL, go to the nearest screen. In Bangalore I rarely come across the audiance clapping and sitting while the end credits roll. Thudarum is one such gem.

Big screen experience is must.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

#PARU PARVATHY

Can give this a try on a lazy Sunday afternoon; but absolutely no loss if you don't.

Saw this while on a long flight and liked it. I then played it for my Mom who is in her 70s and she enjoyed it a lot as well. Agree with your points - Deepika Das has done a decent job but could have been better (read somewhere that she is a relative of Yash), elderly lady has acted well. Would rate it 3/5


Nodidavaru Enanthare
I saw another movie - which is a travel journey but a more emotional one - again on flight and I felt this one is more nuanced and the music/lyrics are amazing. Acting by Naveen Shankar is good. Would rate it 4/5

[jomyboy]

L2 Empuraan

I found this to be mindless drivel. Mohanlal & co. going the Salman Khan way, but yeah horses for courses.

[naveen.raju]

Thudarum



Now this was missing from Mohanlal for quite sometime. Something that suits him really well and had been doing successfully. I recommend not to see any online reviews as it might say “similar to a particular movie” even though that’s not the case.
Coming back to the movie - A nice thrilling subject with really good screenplay, cinematography and BGM. Mohanlal was all natural which we had missed and Shobana supported him well towards the end (Felt she wasn't quite natural in the beginning). Binu Papu portrayed one of his best acting here but the highlight was the Circle Inspector - He just nailed it for someone coming in front of camera for the first time (he’s an active person behind the screen). He’s here to stay. The movie could have trimmed a bit (some action scenes were a bit long).

But overall, a really good theater watch. I could see the fans enjoyed this more than L2:Empuraan.

Rating - 4/5. Highly recommended (Theater).

ED: Extra Decent



Started off well but after 20-30 mins, it starts getting weird. Second half gets totally bizarre and doesnt make any sense. No point in watching this even though Suraj tried his best.

Rating - 1/5. Can skip (Manorama Max).

[RaghuVis]

It took a month for the L2 disappointment to be washed away with Thudarum. It is one of the decent movies in at least 4-5 years from Mohanlal. For those who have not watched, please do not go with humungous expectations. It is not an out-of-the-box movie. Mohanlal has not done anything out of the ordinary. On the contrary, he has done what many of us love him for -- being an Ordinary Citizen.

This is for his fans who love him as an actor rather than a superstar.

[Geo_Ipe]

Thudarum - Malayalam, Theatres



A solid Mohanlal performance, after years of mediocre & cringe worthy performances. Wonderful to see Shobhana on the big screen after such a long time as well. However, the best performance was by Prakash Varma - debut movie apparently! Supporting cast of Maniyanpilla Raju, Binu Pappu, Irshad Ali have all done 100% justice to their characters. I'm surprised I have not heard about director Tharun Moorthy before this movie though.

Please note that this one isn't a family drama nor a love story between man & his car.

Must watch.

Rating - 5/5

[myavu]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

...but the highlight was the Circle Inspector - He just nailed it for someone coming in front of camera for the first time (he’s an active person behind the screen). He’s here to stay.

He's also the nephew of legendary actor (late) Jagannatha Varma. Like M.G. Soman's dialogue in the movie Lelam, "Genusinte kanom."

[MaxTorque]

I too watched Thudarum and liked it. After a long gap I watched a Lalettan movie in theater. I stayed away from Lalettan movies from the day I watched Casanova in theater. Then I watched Drishyam in theater. I felt like they could have trimmed a bit.

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

I'm surprised I have not heard about director Tharun Moorthy before this movie though.

Then you have to watch Operation Java and Saudi Vellakka for sure. But it is hard to watch them without expectations now.

Originally Posted by myavu

He's also the nephew of legendary actor (late) Jagannatha Varma.

Thanks for the info. Now we can find some similarities between Prakash Varma and his uncle. His casting was a very clever move I would say. Very hard to guess his character when watching the film. His mannerism is too good.