An year roundup of movies I loved in 2016
2016 is ending with Na.Muthukumar not around us. That’s a big void, emptiness around the beautiful lyrical wonder which existed around us, like water, Air, fire. He was a magician yet very simple who could tear us apart when we are in pain & his words would cry with us . It would also form the bliss which we long when are hearing . Today I am eagerly waiting for Tharamani ! When Ram and Yuvan are with Na Mu, the spirits are close to god level. 2016 has also taken Editor Kishore, Panju Arunachalam away. I am waiting for 2016 to die off soon, for taking away so much of genuine creators. In 2016, many movies died out of poor reviews though with real work. Savari, Kutrame Thandanai, Uriyadi were such examples. Duruvangal 16 doing well in the end of 2016 is a good sign, with positive reviews.
I started 2016 ambitiously with Bala’s Tharathappattai; I did like the first 10 minutes on the movie but I came out really aggravated about the way Bala’s movies over the recent years. I am sure about the grittiness which defines his movies, but over the years it has been a rough watch than the experience of a creator on screen. I would definitely like to see Rajini Murugan genre often, it was an aggressive formula with high humor sense; Velaiyinnu vantha Vellaikaran was an equivalent entertainer. Some how these movies should be there around every season, These movies deprived of any much of tautness, any much of complexities, Boy meets girl, A comedian friend, fighting with wealth with a villain- I am not getting bored of it.
Vijay Sethupathi was there on
theatres the whole year, 6 movies – Andavan Kattalai, Dharmadhurai , Iraivi,
Kakakapo, Sethupathi, Rekka. I loved Andavan kattalai for Manikandan's
script,but I would watch it again for Rithika's no noise performance.
Vijay sethupathi was at his best in Iraivi; raw, Spectacled, Old
fashioned, Greeced up. I would still like Karthik Subburaj confide certain
aspects about the screen play of Iraivi and that one discussion how he narrated
that script to Vijay Sethupathi and SJ Surya. Iraivi was a painful watch for
every man, but it was a nail on the coffin for egoistic creatures & it
spoke so much of veracity and obviously it didn’t fare well. I still get
shivers the moment I think about the ruthless murder during the flee episode
with that producer. It took years for many directors in Tamil to handle a
subject with maturity, Iraivi just sailed it beautifully till the end, throwing
away hard hitting on males chauvinism. On the other hand Dharamathurai, Kakapo,
Rekka was a disaster for him . I expected heaps from Sethupathi – blood and
crime, but somehow it shocked me with its mellowed, No noise screenplay. I am
still waiting that blood and crime movie from Vijay sethupathi like ones from
Jigarthanda Asault Sethu Younger days. That one scene where he escapes in a
mofussil bus from court in a Lungi , how I long that scene to continue with
Karthik Subburaj taking it serious with that scene. AYM was a horrible watch
and Except for the song , I wish the movie and its silly dialogues never
existed.
Iruthisutru brought that joy of
winning, it really gave me the goosebumps, it just celebrated true
performances. It was a clear documentation of good actors on screen with a
brilliant screen play with a fantastic music. I loved Theri, If there was one
movie which I have watched more than 50 times this year, it would be Theri.
Thanks to Athira who makes me watch every day, but watching it again didn’t put
me to shame, One of the very good mass entertainer. Mahendran on screen is so much for me, Like Balu Mahendra on screen (Thalaimuraigal). I
wonder why Kutrame Thandanai didn’t get the laud as it should have, it was more
compact and it conveyed a restrained approach of Manikandan. He didn’t attempt
to preach the same way he did it in Andavan Kattalai. I wasn’t convinced with
Appa, though it gave an important message on raising a Kid. I disliked from the
way Samuthrakani treated the pregnancy with midwives without taking to
hospital ( Going back to primitiveness ) till taking that extra mile on that
puppy loves. I had a good watch with Amma Kanakku, it had very good
performance, It was genuine concern of a mother who is struggling to build a
life for her girl. ( Again thanks to Athira for making me watch this twice 😉
And then Kabali happened, It’s
still miles away from an adrenaline rising Rajni Movie. But why not Rajini act
in Ranjith movie than the vice versa. It had lot to do with binding than emotions to expectation than the actual politics which the movie spoke here and
there. I would still rate Kabali high for a composed Rajini, daring Ranjith and
that episode of Radhika Apte – Mayanadhi was a revelation of filming a Rajini
song.
I was happy
in 2016 , that I had a Anurag Kashyap movie in his core base with his most
trusted soldier Nawazudhin. Raman Raghav was brutal and a clear cut stand out
of the Bollywood movies. Aligarh was a delight and celebration of performances
and loneliness. It is a wish for any movie lover to make your favorite
actors struggle on screen than to win, be lonely , put to dark. That
brings you closer to that art than watching a movie. Aligarh, Maheshinte
Prathikaram does the same. Pink was a noisy movie in social media, It conveyed
that “No means No “and that’s the only part which worked for me in the movie.
Somehow Amitabh’s court scenes were a letdown. If you haven’t watched
Airlift , watch it for the screen play, it's a well executed movie of 2016. Lal Rang
starring Randeep Hooda was a surprise watch of 2016, totally rustic and dark.
I am yet to watch Chennai 600028
and Dangal, I have heard good reviews about both of it, I would be watching
both in couple of days. But 2016 has been a real mix of good and average movies
like any other year. This year away from India , I have the real challenge of
watching it delayed.
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