Not even in his wildest dreams did cinematographer-turned-director Mahesh Limaye imagine that his first Marathi feature film Yellow would create such a devastating impact.
The film is all about how a weak, good for nothing is suddenly transformed into a boxing champion by the power of true love.
Set in the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Santosh Sivan's Inam brings to light the plight of the thousands of hapless Lankan Tamils, who were caught in the crossfire between the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) and the Sri Lankan government.
'Kumbalangi Nights is a movie that respects women, but most importantly, it's a movie that loves them,' says Sreehari Nair.
'You can't take your eyes off him.'
Kamal Haasan pays rich tribute to his Sadma director.
Alas, as an indictment of our legal system, Court doesn't prick deeply, says Raja Sen.
'The director casts two attractive people where he ought have chosen a couple of actual actors instead, and thus it becomes hard to care about the protagonists or their sundered hearts, and despite aesthetic appeal, what we end up with is -- at best -- a screensaver,' says Raja Sen.
Kangana Ranaut's guts, Amitabh Bachchan's venomous threat and dark TV serials occupied Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week.
Ace filmmaker Balu Mahendra makes a sensational acting debut in Thalaimuraigal.
The stark simplicity of the dialogues, the well-etched characters, the intriguing plot, the captivating music, the cinematography, but most of all the brilliant twist at the end makes Director Balaji K Kumar's Vidiyum Munn a must watch, says S Saraswathi
'Maneesh Sharma's Fan should be good. It will have Shah Rukh doing something entirely different from what he has been doing recently.'
It was a crazy week for the world. Sukanya Verma cannot claim to be any different.
What happens when you shoot at night, under pouring rain, as electrical wires snake around and your eyes turn gritty due to lack of sleep?
At 148 minutes, Spectre feels like the longest Bond film of all time, says Raja Sen.
'This colliding of worlds is a feature of chawl life in Mumbai, where the clashes in one household often become prime-time television for the neighbours; where the boundaries of good sex, lechery, and incest are frequently blurred,' says Sreehari Nair.
Pooja Bhatt's irrepressible cuteness, Rekha's amusing cartoon, Asha Bhosle's super songstress power, Akshay Kumar's sparkling white sneakers and shaved chest find a mention in Sukanya Verma's weekly column.
'Sudhir Mishra takes us into the dreams and fears of our politicians, into their self-deceiving pitches, and he shows us their demons and angels,' says Sreehari Nair.
This Dhanush starrer is a must-watch!
'People with a lot of dreams and passion are paying a lot of money and making a film for two years. Then, one random person who might be a lawyer or a teacher or a social worker, comes and finds a character (in the film) kissing for too long and asks for it to be cut down. That doesn't sound right.' Filmmaker Pritam D Gupta talks about his long hard battle with CBFC.
Suriya's charisma and director Hari Gopalakrishnan's brilliant screenplay make Tamil film Singam 2 a joyful experience.
'But practically speaking, I have to feed myself and pay my bills, so I have to do a few commercial films too', Sruthi Hariharan tells Praveen Sundaram/Rediff.com
Can Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha bring back the magic created by Rajesh Khanna and Nanda in the 1969 original?
Raag Desh is one of the best films of the year, Sreehari Nair raves.
'I believe that one thing leads to another. Seenu Ramasamy's Thenmerku Paruvakaatru earned Vijay Sethupati the role in Karthik's Pizza, which was a huge success. You cannot credit just one film to his success, there were a number of films.' Nalan Kumarasamy talks about success, and superstar Vijay Sethupati.
'The very basis of film censorship lies in the fact that films are considered to be mass medium, and that raw emotions of cinema have the capacity to move you.' 'Which film has moved people into action in the last 40, 50 years?' 'No film.'
The film falters on many coutns, says Paloma Sharma.
'Mahesh Bhavana is a young man who is beaten up in the town's marketplace and who consequently pledges that he won't wear his slippers again, till he avenges the beating.' 'But Mahesh can't get his revenge that easily -- his punisher is off to a distant land. So what does Mahesh do? He waits. And the town waits with him. And we wait with him.' 'Maheshinte Prathikaram is one of those movies where I didn't know what hit me. I don't remember another movie -- at least in recent times -- that I surrendered to with such happiness,' says Sreehari Nair.
'How can you blame poor Kabir Khan for the Tubelight fiasco?' 'We know that his Job Description expects him to work below full capacity, to sell his soul, and we know his SOP-sheet has the title: Design the next Salman Khan Project.' Sreehari Nair sees through Kabir Khan's cunning.
Dil Dhadakne Do unravels like an entire season of soap opera condensed into a nearly three-hour movie, writes Sukanya Verma.
'Omerta is a work of true moral force; it is, at the risk of sounding fancy, a motion picture for our times,' says Sreehari Nair.
Sriram Adittya throws light on Bhale Manchi Roju releasing on the Christmas Day.
Thanga Meenkal is a heartwarming story told brilliantly with a simplicity and honesty that is seen so rarely in films these days.
The Revenant is a devastating, visually jawdropping film that, for all its sins of tedium, makes up with scale what it lacks in artfulness, feels Raja Sen.
Watch the trailers and predict the winner.
Sonam Kapoor is exceptional as Neerja Bhanot, says Raja Sen.
Keeping it short and so sweet at the 90th Annual Academy Awards.
'You walk out of Mukkabaaz feeling good about yourself, but unlike Kashyap's best pictures, it releases you from the responsibility of seeing yourself in it; the movie is darn clever, most of the way, but it hardly has any wisdom,' says Sreehari Nair.
Crimson Peak is not for everyone, but the mood is set very early on, says Raja Sen.
Talvar is a cleanly-crafted film, says Raja Sen.
