Lights, Camera, Analysis: Dharani Rasendran (Yaathisai)

Recent Posts

• Lights, camera and analysis: Dharani Rasendran (Yaathisai)

• Bitty Ruminations 94 – Mani Ratnam, ARR and “Mainstream”

• Reader Writes #573: Rearview Mirror Objects: 90’s Kollywood

• Interview: Mani Ratnam / AR Rahman (PS-1, PS-2, 30+ years of collaboration…)

• Reader write #572: Thoughts on “Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal”

• A reader writes in #571: Web Series Review – Jubilee – About Mice and Humans, Stars and Black Holes

• As common star vehicles go, Farhad Samji’s ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’ (Salman Khan, Pooja Hegde) can be commonly seen

• Spotify: Cinema with BR Episode 16: 40 Years of Mani Ratnam

• Aashiq Abu’s “Neelavelicham” (Tovino Thomas, Rima Kallingal) nails the retro look and feel but lacks the emotional connection

• Reader Writes #570: The Golden Age and All That Jazz

• Dharani Rasendran’s striking “Yaathisai” is an imaginative piece of historical fiction about brutal warfare and the male psyche.

• Interview: Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, Richard Madden (Citadel…)

• Reader writes #569: Dil Chahta Hai: Narrator and Memories

• Reader Writes #568: Rearview Mirror Object: 80’s Kollywood

• Interview: Rima Kallingal, Tovino Thomas, Aashiq Abu (About Neelavelicham, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Bhargavi Nilayam…)

• Spotify: Cinema with BR Episode 15: Viduthalai, Violence, Vetrimaaran and More

• Gunasekhar’s underwhelming ‘Shaakuntalam’ needed a more cinematic vision to become the epic it wanted

• Bitty Ruminations 93 – Looking for Help (with help from lyricist Vaali)

• “The Abyss” – English translation of Jeyamohan’s Tamil novel “Ezhaam Ulagam”

• Interview: ZEE 5 Directors Muthukumar (Ayali), Prasanth Pandiyaraj (Vilangu), SR Prabhakaran (Sengalam)

• Reader writes #567: The value journaling has brought to my life

• Spotify: Cinema with BR Episode 14: Cinema in Fast Forward Mode

• Sarjun KM’s “Burqa” is an aha, solid, deliberately theatrical (and gorgeously shot) discussion of Islamic practices.

• Interview: Vikramaditya Motwane, Aditi Rao Hydari, Prosenjit Chatterjee and more (Jubilee, Prime Video)

• Lighting, Camera, Analysis: Priyadarshi, Venu Yeldandi, Harshith Reddy (Balagam, now on Prime Video)

• Interview: AR Murgados (August 16, 1947, upcoming film with Sivakarthikeyan, once proposed Vijay and Ajit combo film, etc.)

• Bitty Ruminations 92 – The Equation of Friendship

• Reader writes #566: Viduthalai Review

• Interview: Soori (Vidutalai)

• Presenting (drumroll)…WEAPON’s second extra from the right

• Spotify: Cinema with BR Episode 13: Answering Listener Questions About Vetrimaaran

• Srikanth Odela’s ‘Dasara’ is a solid, understated star vehicle that prioritizes emotion over ‘mass’ moments

• Vetrimaaran’s ‘Viduthalai – Part 1’ lacks the raw power of ‘Visaranai’, but it is a worthy, worth-watching coming-of-age action drama.

• Reader Writes #565: Book Review: The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Walben

• Ajay Devgn builds a rugged (but generic) star vehicle from Lokesh Kanagaraj’s rugged (but generic) star vehicle.

• Obeli N Krishna’s ‘Pathu Thala’ is a contrived action movie preserved only by Silambarasan

• Interview: Anubhav Sinha on Sine Curve’s reaction to ‘Ra.One’, 2.0 avatars from ‘Mulk’ to ‘Bheed’ and why he’s disappointed

• Farewell, Innocent!

• Interview: SS Karthikeya (son of Rajamouli, line producer of ‘RRR’) on how to run the Oscar campaign

• From the Web (FTW) #6: The New York Times’ AO Scott Quitting Film Criticism After 23 Years

• Reader writes #564: Thoughts on tar

• #563: A Letter to My Alter Ego: Part 2

• Anubav Sinha’s ‘Bheed’ is based on pandemic and migration and is a definite addition to his string of social cinemas.

• Interview: MM Keeravani (RRR, Oscar Winner)

• Spotify: Cinema with BR Episode 12: 5 Scenes Analyzed: “Dada”, “OK Kanmani”, “VTK”, “Sarpatta Parambara” and “Anbe Sivam”

• Krishand’s crime comedy ‘Purusha Pretham’ (on SonyLIV) delivers some big laughs, but not enough to sustain an overly long running time

• Interview: Nani (Dasara)

• From the Web (FTW) #5: How OP Nayyar Was One of the First Destroyers of Hindi Film Scores

• Reader writes #562: VAALVI (termite) – Marathi

• Interview: Gautham Karthik (Pathu Thala)