Baradwaj Rangan Movie Reviews

Gold
Review

Alphonse Puthren's 'Gold' (Malayalam) has a lot of big ideas but they don't come together as a satisfying whole

The Teacher
Review

Vivek's underwhelming 'The Teacher' (Malayalam) might have worked better as a pulpy B-movie than a “serious film with good intentions”

Hadinelentu
Review

Prithvi Konanur's superb 'Hadinelentu (Seventeeners)' opened the Indian Panorama section at IFFI; it's about a leaked sex tape, and is a scalpel-sharp dissection of caste

Dostojee
Review

Prasun Chatterjee's Dostojee is a moving, lyrical drama about a childhood that struggles to transcend communal tensions

Sree Dhanya Catering Service
Review

Jeo Baby’s terrific ‘Sree Dhanya Catering Service’ is a funnier, more free-flowing take on ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’, with men doing the cooking this time

Wonder Women
Review

Anjali Menon's intermittently effective 'Wonder Women', on SonyLIV, is best enjoyed as an experiment in narrative technique

1744 White Alto
Review

Senna Hegde’s ‘1744 White Alto’, with Sharaf U Dheen, is a kind of stoner comedy where some jokes land big-time while others feel forced

Anel Meley Pani Thuli
Review

R Kaiser Anand’s Anel Meley Pani Thuli, starring Andrea Jeremiah as a rape survivor, on SonyLIV, is a strong story that needed stronger writing

Monica O My Darling
Review

Vasan Bala's 'Monica, O My Darling', on Netflix, with Rajkummar Rao and a top cast, is a very enjoyable ‘retro’ murder-mystery, propelled by a super-retro score

Mukundan Unni Associates
Review

Abhinav Sunder Nayak's 'Mukundan Unni Associates', with a superbly cast Vineeth Sreenivasan, is a delicious, deadpan, dark comedy

Love Today
Review

Pradeep Ranganathan's 'Love Today' has a great theme that is let down by the writing, which settles for easy jokes and easy sentimentality

Mili
Review

Mathukutty Xavier's ‘Mili’, with Janhvi Kapoor, shows that even a pure 'genre film' can be elevated through superb writing

Appan
Review

Maju's 'Appan', with Sunny Wayne and Alencier Ley Lopez, now on SonyLiv, is an interesting drama that is better with characters than plot

Ram Setu
Review

Abhishek Sharma's tedious 'Ram Setu', with Akshay Kumar as an atheist archaeologist, is an adventure only in name

Thank God
Review

Indra Kumar's 'Thank God', with Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra, is a dull and shallow dramedy about a man who faces his sins

Padavettu
Review

Liju Krishna's 'Padavettu', with Nivin Pauly and Aditi Balan, is a powerfully cinematic story of an unlikely saviour

Monster
Review

Vysakh's 'Monster', with Mohanlal and Honey Rose, is a pulpy thriller that entertains until it starts to explain itself

Sardar
Review

PS Mithran's 'Sardar', with Karthi and Raashi Khanna, is an engaging spy thriller that sticks close to the genre

Prince
Review

Anudeep KV's 'Prince', with Sivakarthikeyan and Maria Ryaboshapka, applies the 'Jathi Ratnalu' formula to a love story and falls flat

Ammu
Review

Charukesh Sekar's 'Ammu', on Amazon Prime Video, with Aishwarya Lekshmi and Naveen Chandra, is a partly effective domestic-abuse drama

Doctor G
Review

Anubhuti Kashyap's 'Doctor G', with Ayushmann Khurrana and Rakul Preet Singh, is a weak dramedy about a male gynaecologist

Vichitram
Review

Achu Vijayan's Vichitram, with Shine Tom Chacko and Kani Kusruti, is a lovely ghost story filled with lovelier human drama

Kantara
Review

Rishab Shetty's 'Kantara' is a solid masala-myth that, despite its issues, finds new ways to tell an old story about ‘The Chosen One’

Vikram Vedha
Review

Pushkar-Gayatri’s 'Vikram Vedha', with Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan, is a smart action film that struggles when it tries to get philosophical

Ponniyin Selvan 1
Review

Mani Ratnam and his fantastic team beautifully capture the essence of Kalki's characters in 'Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1', which infuses a period story with a sense of lived-in reality

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