Ashakal Aayiram can be celebrated for the return to form for Jayaram, who owns every scene he is in, but the film around him drags and drags, with no end in sight, notes Arjun Menon.
The fact that a major studio put out a silent film starring some of the biggest names in the industry in these concerning times for the film business is the one big takeaway from Gandhi Talks, notes Arjun Menon.
Jeethu Joseph's Valathu Vashathe Kallan works better as an emotional drama than an intriguing thriller, notes Arjun Menon.
Sarvam Maya banks on its leading man, Nivin Pauly, who grasps at straws and makes the improbable scenes work with his charm, notes Arjun Menon.
Kalamkaval, like any good work of art, suggests more than it shows, raves Arjun Menon.
Cheekatlo is a run-of-the-mill crime procedural, notes Arjun Menon.
The Raja Saab is a poorly judged effort to appease to the lowest hanging fruit, and is not sincere in its ambition to entertain, notes Arjun Menon.
Vaa Vaathiyar ends up being a bland yet fascinating iteration of a masala film funnelled through the prism of a quirky humorist, notes Arjun Menon.
Vrusshabha feels like a ChatGPT prompt gone wrong, where the lazy ask for a sure-shot 'Pan Indian' blockbuster formula gives us a flimsy period epic in the guise of an incompetently drawn 'reincarnation drama', observes Arjun Menon.
Akhanda 2: Thandavam may appeal to Nandamuri Balakrishna's fans and will be a madcap awakening for those uninitiated in Boyapati Sreenu's no goofball ideas in constructing action, notes Arjun Menon.
Revolver Rita doesn't use its comic potential to its fullest and ends up a passable comedy that could have used more bite, observes Arjun Menon.
Eko, a smartly written film, loses steam midway but somehow stays afloat and deliver the goods, notes Arjun Menon.
Kaantha is a peculiar love letter to cinema that tries to integrate various genres and craft a riveting central dilemma with great eloquence and clarity, observes Arjun Menon.
Mari Selvaraj delivers his most rage-filled film in years, with a superbly cast Dhruv Vikram giving it his all, notices Arjun Menon.
'Idli Kadai wears its heart on its sleeve, embracing nostalgia and roots with both hands. Dhanush is in top form as an actor and director here, mining most of the material,' recognises Arjun Menon.
The emotional quotient of They Call Him OG falls flat, the plotting looks jerky, and the runtime feels compromised, but hey, if you are a Pawan Kalyan fan, none of this matters, notes Arjun Menon.
Rishab Shetty's Kantara Chapter 1 is an ambitious, bold update of the ideas of the first film in a much bigger canvas, discovers Arjun Menon.
Mirai is an ambitious, but lazily timid visual effects overkill that squanders away potential with an undercooked early draft screenplay that needed rework, notes Arjun Menon.
Ghaati does not understand how to harness Anushka Shetty's electrifying screen presence, complains Arjun Menon.
Coolie is expected to be an unabashed celebration of the larger-than-life ethos of Rajinikanth, predicts Arjun Menon.
The Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer is the kind of incentive superhero origin story that can alter the way such films are made in Malayalam cinema, feels Arjun Menon.
Vijay Sethupathi and Nithya Menen's electrifying performances hold Thalaivan Thalaivii together, notes Arjun Menon.
Fahad Faasil and Vadivelu more than deliver the goods, but the film, as a whole, fails to live up to their startling on-screen partnership, observes Arjun Menon.
Hridayapoorvam does not break any new ground or tell a story as old as time with any novelty but its sincerity keeps it alive, notes Arjun Menon.
Long lost brothers, downtrodden masses, a long forgotten prophecy, and a psychotic drug cartel out for blood, Kingdom plays out with the familiar ethos of umpteen films we have seen. But the execution is slick, notes Arjun Menon.
Arjun Menon celebrates his 70th birthday on August 22 by looking at his most memorable films.
Saiyaara ends up a bland rehash of old ideas served in an older bottle, notes Arjun Menon.
Kannappa is a bloated mess of a film that underutilises interesting story ideas, observes Arjun Menon.
Kubera is a well-intentioned addition to Shekar Kammula's cinematic universe that drags on but never loses its prescient quality, notes Arjun Menon.
No author in the Malayalam literary canon has influenced and profoundly changed the way normal people interact with each other than the ever-relevant, eclectic yet elusive body of work left behind by MT Vasudevan Nair, notes Arjun Menon.
If not for Tamannaah, it would have been an ordeal to sit through this uninspired horror fable, notes Arjun Menon.
Narivetta takes its cue from real-life incidents and fictionalises the ordeal through the experiences of a young cop caught in the crossfire between the police and tribals up in arms, notes Arjun Menon.
The Nani starrer is an all-out, larger-than-life upgrade of the HIT series that loses steam in its attempts at stylistic indulgences, notes Arjun Menon.
Watching Bazooka is like trying to figure out a long drawn-out puzzle that never makes sense, observes Arjun Menon.
Thudarum is a masterpiece for adults, a serious yet self-aware piece of cinema that has something for everybody, feels Arjun Menon.
Empuraan promises a world of geo-political intrigue, drug wars and action spectacle all rolled into one, observes Arjun Menon.
L2: Empuraan is an ambitious sequel that is bigger, bolder and timid in equal measure, observes Arjun Menon.
Bromance is a fun film that doesn't take itself too seriously, observes Arjun Menon.
Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi's competent performances barely elevate this romantic drama, which prefers patriotic thrills, observes Arjun Menon.
Pravinkoodu Shappu is a quirky whodunnit with its fair share of laughs, observes Arjun Menon.
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