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Monday, September 1, 2025
TopicTamil cinema

Topic: Tamil cinema

Are Tamil films lazy or nostalgic? Retro hits from Kaithi to GBU wearing thin

Old hits have long featured in Tamil films, usually to evoke a certain era. But in the last four or five years, these blasts from the past often arrive without rhyme or reason.

MN Nambiar, Tamil cinema’s most convincing villain wielded swords with MGR, worshipped Ayyappa

MN Nambiar acted in more than 1,000 films, often cast as the archnemesis of MGR with iconic fight sequences. A trained martial artist, Nambiar used real swords in these scenes.

Silk Smitha challenged South Indian orthodoxy. For that, she was reduced to a sex symbol

Silk Smitha worked in more than 450 films, with the likes of Kamal Haasan, and Sridevi. But even today, she's only treated as an actor to objectify.

Ghilli to Vallavan—Tamil Nadu’s Gen Z watch old movies in theatres. It’s a dance party

Theatres in Chennai engaged with cinema lovers by fulfilling their demands to repeat the songs and even muting the music at times, allowing the crowd to shout out the lyrics.

‘It comes from anger’. Tamil singer Chinmayi Sripada isn’t afraid to speak her mind

Chinmayi Sripada was among the most fearless voices at height of MeToo movement. In this interview, she talks about her childhood in Chennai & why she does not shy away from speaking her mind.

Lokesh Kanagaraj is Tamil Tarantino. His hit-machine universe is ready & ripe

Vikram and Kaithi have become part of what his fans call the Lokesh Cinematic Universe or the Lokiverse

Mohan G’s Bakasuran is outdated. Selvaraghavan makes it mildly bearable

It is a template borrowed from when women were deployed as objects to satiate details of an over-sexualised plot.

Varisu is a long tribute to Vijay’s superstardom. Director Vamshi has nothing new to offer

Varisu repackages an old story and serves it using an outdated template. But fans of Vijay will get their money and time's worth.

Ponniyin Selvan-I: There is no guidebook to make a Chola period movie, researchers say

Mani Ratnam’s PS-1 has motivated senior citizens who had grown up listening to their parents read the novel trek over to cinema theatres after years.

‘Gargi’ is special for two reasons: It is bankrolled by a woman and led by Sai Pallavi

'Gargi', streaming on SonyLiv, initiates an important conversation about what happens when a family sides with the abuser instead of the survivor.

On Camera

India has 30 days to pull off fast reform. Hold crash meeting of Centre & state

In India, we are accustomed to glacial change. We love appointing Committees to ‘look into’ reform. Unfortunately for us, the rest of the world moves fast.

A Rs 33,000 cr ‘banking fraud’: ED’s case against Arvind Dham, Amtek’s web of ‘500 shell companies’

ED has accused Amtek promoter Arvind Dham of controlling web of nearly 500 shell companies operating as a layered structure, with up to 15 levels of indirect ownership, to divert funds.

‘Real-time, all-climate’ explosives detector could enhance airport & border security—no dogs, no swabs

Bengaluru-based CeNS designs accurate, portable, and cheap sensor using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. It could significantly reduce risks at vulnerable choke points. 

For Indian Mercedes, Asim Munir’s dumper truck in mirror is closer than it appears

From Munir’s point of view, a few bumps here and there is par for the course. He isn’t going to drive his dumper truck to its doom. He wants to use it as a weapon.