[Spinnerr]

Originally Posted by Jazzybala

Tourist Family...
...a good family entertainer with a some decent comical breaks.... Kamalesh has done a brilliant job portraying his character. The direcion is steady and so is the pace...

Originally Posted by ashis89

Tourist Family is out on Hotstar .... healthy mix of comedy and good performance by all the actors, simple story and good direction....

Couldn't agree more.
Tourist Family - Simple heartwarming story, good weekend watch.

Loved Kamalesh Jagan, the young boy featured in the film, lot of potential, I am sure he will have good offers coming his way.

Rating: 3.5/5

[Asish_VK]

Balayya is Back with a Bang in his typical M.A.S.S avatar. The trident scene is just out of this world

Trailer

[RaghuVis]

Watched the Malayalam movie Padakkalam on Jio Hotstar. It is a fantasy comedy movie and a little bit on the lines of Jumanji with a board game. I would rate it an absolute fun to watch with superb acting, especially by Sandeep Pradeep and Shareef. The transformation scenes are a treat, especially by these 2. Suraj should have given a better performance considering his caliber. All in all, it's a very good one-time watch.

[benbsb29]

Alappuzha Gymkhana - Malayalam



Thank you to the makers from shying away from the typical sports based movie. It's almost expected to see the main protagonists be better than the rest and emerge victorious. Alappuzha Gymkhana (AG) tries a different and in some ways, relatable route.

Group of friends who are under performers in studies decide to take on boxing as a sport to wriggle their way to college admissions, which forms the premise of the story. What leads on from here are their antics and journey as part of this process.

AG is intended as a comedy which uses sports as a backdrop and features a good cast in my opinion. Not everything needs to make sense and stand to reason and IMHO, therein lies the appeal of such a lighthearted movie. I quite enjoyed the peppy background score which made for good entertainment overall.

Rating: 3.5/5

[PreludeSH]

Watched Thudaram with Kannada dialogues. Liked the movie for the story. I just wish they tone down the display of violence against women in movies. The ones in police station were really bad and was not needed. 4/5.

[ByKaizen]

Just got to know about this and a must-watch for every BHPian

https://www.primevideo.com/region/eu...=1750179526840

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Tourist Family is out on Hotstar and I got this recommendation from my father to watch it. An emotional family drama with a healthy mix of comedy and good performance by all the actors, simple story and good direction.

I came to this thread to post the review of the movie and saw that it has already been reviewed.

It’s been a very long time that I have seen such a clean family entertainer with such high emotional quotient. The movie has some scenes which are bound to bring tears to your eyes. At least it had that effect on me. One thing the movie tells us that the inherent goodness will always shine, no matter what. Brilliantly done. A true blue hidden gem. Added bonus is seeing Simran after long, I still remember her from her debut Hindi movie !!

Rating : 4/5 Highly recommend this gem.

[dailydriver]

Tourist Family

A feel good story, rightly appreciated across platforms. The basis of the film being the innate nobility of human nature, the movie appeals to the audience at multiple levels.

However, upon deeper probing, the underlying motive rankles me a bit.

We have an illegal immigrant family trying to hide its real identity, blending in its surroundings and eking out a decent living. Human trafficking, false documents, bomb blast, massive manhunt - you name it and the family is involved in it! Imagine something similar happening in any of the states adjoining our international land borders. Would our reactions to, and reception of, a corresponding family be on the same complimentary / adulatory lines?

In the struggle between law and compassion, which side should an innocuous bystander take?

The movie is available on Jio Hotstar.

[searacer932]

Movie : Retro
Language : Tamil
Genre : Action Drama
OTT : Netflix

My rating : 4/5

Please note that Karthik Subbaraj's movie is not everyone's cup of tea, however I do like his style of movies. His movies are different and quite dense. I quite liked this movie and it was excellent for 2/3rd. However I was not convinced about the climax and also felt that there were some unnecessary ring fights. He could have spent those efforts on building some of the other elements in the first half (example - adapted father / son relationship, the hero and heroin's relationship) and in the second half (example - the family relationship was rushed and was not convincing at all).

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

[center]Tourist Family[/CENTE

However, upon deeper probing, the underlying motive rankles me a bit.

We have an illegal immigrant family trying to hide its real

The movie is available on Jio Hotstar.

Glad someone agrees with my POV. This is nothing but a propaganda movie where the main narrative is obfuscated by an overdose (and unwanted) of emotions.

The tipping point was the climax where the so called good cop says "who said you are refugees?". The director has cleverly sneaked in the agenda surreptitiously

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by para_7k

The director has cleverly sneaked in the agenda surreptitiously

Given that I have been closely following the politics of the state and the neighborhood nation for over three decades, and having realised that physical boundaries separating the two geographies were but mere mounds that could be scaled easily (metaphorically speaking), I would stop short of calling it a pure propaganda movie. However, I completely concur that there is much more to the narrative than is visible to the naked eye; and that most reviews in the media are highlighting just the hunky dory side, barely mentioning the squalid underbelly.

* * *

A number of recent movies have, for me, reignited the debate of whether one should take off one's thinking cap when viewing them! What is it that we are seeking from them - pure entertainment? validation? food for thought? inspiration? catharsis?

The answer to this will decide what I will make of a particular screen presentation.

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

A number of recent movies have, for me, reignited the debate of whether one should take off one's thinking cap when viewing them! What is it that we are seeking from them - pure entertainment? validation? food for thought? inspiration? catharsis?

The answer to this will decide what I will make of a particular screen presentation.

Well, the take away part is certainly subjective but your point brings out another perspective about the times we live in. The sheer number of opinions and views also the proliferation of movies that solely succeed for the quality of content.

Also the OTT platform has given us the "re-watch" access which can make us revisit our subjective opinions to make them more objective.

A complete propaganda or not, it would be near impossible for someone to comprehend the underlying narrative unless they have been followed the long standing conflict.

[dailydriver]

NALE RAJA KOLI MAJA

A simple, no nonsense story of a school girl wanting to eat chicken on a Sunday - a day that also happens to be Gandhi Jayanthi; thereby limiting its availability in the market. The movie is the second in the Koli Trilogy (the first being Koli Taal and the third yet to be made) directed by Abhilash Shetty and features very identifiable characters in mofussil and rural settings. The protagonist is that ubiquitous neighborhood little girl - vivacious, chirpy, lovable, but irrevocably stubborn. The locale, language, mindset and symbolisms are typically reminiscent of the world that long-term city dwellers have little knowledge of, or affiliation to.

Available on Prime for free.

While on the topic, let me redirect the readers to another movie about Chicken Curry, that I had mentioned here last year. Worth a watch.

[dailydriver]

MERKU THODARCHI MALAI

Had watched this a couple of years ago in a film festival. A tragedy of immense intensity borne out of man's greed is showcased through the story of a peasant's yearning desire to buy a piece of agricultural land. How the universe and its minions conspire to prevent him from achieving this minor thing is the crux of the matter. There are certain scenes that are sure to leave the viewer moist eyed.

Not available on any OTTs as of now.

KADAISI VIVASAYI

Available on Sony Liv, the movie is set in a nondescript village in Tamil Nadu. Whereas the protagonist in Merku Thodarchi Malai is a youngster raring to take on life through a piece of farmland, Mayandi - the main man here, is an octogenarian struggling to hold on to the last vestiges of agricultural life - in the literal as well as metaphorical sense. The trials and tribulations he has to pass through, in the larger interests of the community are presented in a playfully sarcastic manner. The sad reality of ignorantia juris non excusat is hard to digest. Although it ends on a happy note, the struggles that the salt of the earth have to face on a daily basis is brought forward through a sequence of events surrounding the protagonist.

Good for a leisurely watch on a weekend.

[RaghuVis]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

However, I completely concur that there is much more to the narrative than is visible to the naked eye

Originally Posted by para_7k

Glad someone agrees with my POV. This is nothing but a propaganda movie where the main narrative is obfuscated by an overdose (and unwanted) of emotions.

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Tourist Family

However, upon deeper probing, the underlying motive rankles me a bit.

I saw the movie a couple of weeks back, and these were the same thoughts that came to my mind. I thought of not posting it, but then I realized we are becoming complicit by keeping quiet. One should appreciate the writer's cunning mind for making the points without being overly forceful.

1. It is one thing that fake Aadhaar cards and electoral cards are being made. We are all aware of that menace in our society. But to show it in a positive light does not deserve support.
2. Not sure how many noticed that the main antagonist is a Hindi-speaking Police officer. Another movie that is pushing the north-south divide.
3. They don't realize that it is lower lower-income level of people that gets affected by people coming illegally and taking their jobs.
4. There are a few hidden points on religion as well, which I really do not want to explain further and make people more obvious.
5. The biggest problem I have with the movie is that it does not reflect the real refugees who have come from Sri Lanka and their stories. There are thousands of Tamil Refugees who are still languishing in camps for more than 20-30 years. They do not have proper jobs, a house or any prospect for that matter.

The movie completely romanticized the reality of illegal migration, and packaged in a charming and humane way.