madhan-mm

TJ Gnanavel, explores the darker side of encounter killings, raising important social questions about justice and privilege. While it follows the typical commercial cop movie formula, with Rajini's signature swagger and action-packed sequences, Gnanavel infuses the story with substance, addressing real-world issues like systemic inequality and media manipulation. The conflict between Athiyan and Judge Satyadev (Amitabh Bachchan) is brilliantly crafted, representing two opposing schools of thought: justice hurried vs. Justice delayed. The character arcs are rich with depth, particularly Athiyan's internal struggle. However, the film falters in the balancing act, with Rajinikanth's stardom overshadowing the more nuanced aspects of the narrative. But whats remarkable is to see a star of his stature to choose stories with weight, not just ones that cater to his larger-than-life image. Despite a dip in pace in the second half and a somewhat predictable climax, the film tackles significant themes and delivers a fast-paced, thrilling first half. Fafa brings the much-needed touch of lightheartedness, while Anirudh's music keeps the energy alive. Ultimately, "Vettaiyan" is a mix of style and substance, though it could have been more gripping.

Just watched "Raayan", marks Dhanush's second directorial venture, where he excels in both execution and performance. The meticulously choreographed action sequences offer a visual treat, AR Rahman's music elevates the tension in this modern action-thriller.

However, the writing department seemed to have large room for improvement, particularly in the conflicts between brothers, which feel lackluster, the villain arc, especially for a performer like SJ Surya, seemed underdeveloped, diminishing the overall impact the story could have delivered, making the film a one-time watch for its impressive performances and technical brilliance.

Genre-Bending On a surface level it appears to be a Horror-Revenge-Thriller, a genre beaten to death in our films till date. However when we look deeper we see its a challenging film with many layers. Selvaraghavan demonstrates that even the dumbest genres can be used to profound ends, not cheapening serious things but kicking them to the next metaphoric level. Genre-bending is not common in Tamil cinema but Selvaraghavan pulls it off in great style by bending a cliche horror flick to a satire-black-comedy. How the corrupted system has become a new normal and how indifferent we have become towards gruesome crimes like rape and murder is thought provoking. We do live in a world where we evidently see the dance of the devils -the song in the police station represents exactly that.

Metaphorical Exploration The film is an epic in every sense of the word. The protagonist arc is the same as any protagonist arc in the ancient Epics -God taking an avatar to kill the demon. In the age of darkness (Kaliyug) where the legal and judicial system are messed up its only God who can save the innocent in some form be it Jesus or Rama or Mariyam (avatar of Jesus indicated by the fish and bread loaf, crucification, the previous care-taker in jail for theft - like the other 2 people crucified with Jesus where thieves etc. -the detailing is mind-blowing). And like in every epic God has to go through all this pain and torture before resurrection -some assurance or evidence of sorts to make sure demon is for real and then avenging it to finally protect the innocent (child as per movie and we people as per epics)

Take-Away "Nenjam Marapadilai" is a wonderful movie with a deep lesson for all of us. We blame the circumstances for all the troubles in our life and we fail to realise that these outer circumstances are simply and fundamentally the manifestations of our own inner demons. We all have darkness within us, that deny our essential goodness and these require work to allow awareness of them and explore them if we are ever to get rid of these demons. We change our outer world and our lives, by the inner engineering that we do. The greatness of the film comes from it's metaphorical exploration of vital themes for living - depth psychology on the big screen. Brilliant work of of art!