pugazholi Reviews

12th Fail (2023)

Very well made

[8/10 · 24 March 2024]

I hardly watch Hindi movies these days (or even before since don't understand). A friend, Tamil friend, of mine recommended. Watched it reading subtitles.

Wonderful movie. The immediate feel was, a bollywood movie of Forest Gump. Movie is taking different turn for the first half until setting down on IPS. Such a wonderful performance from everyone. That girl literally seem to be challenging the hero at times even feels better showing emotion. Dady used to trust me ... not anymore. Classic dialogue, delivered well.

The small nuggets about social justice and honesty makes me feel, should rate 9. Yeah, when they say it without overdosing it. I love it 😊

Idu Namma Alu (1988)

Followed his guru

[8/10 · 4 February 2024]

This one is after Vedham Puthitu ... not sure if the discrimination topic was popular in 80s. Baghiyaraj touching this sensitive topic these day (2024) in his style. As always a great screenplay, dialogue and romance in his style.

Got to talk about Shobana, lovely pick. Bhagiyaraj always picked beautiful women from his first to last (yet to watch vetti madichu kattu). She had performed good.

He did music too, not bad i should say.

Climax dialogue is worth a mention, no veda talks about discrimination he says after reading them. Only somebody later created to their benefits, if only people understand that world will be peaceful.

Captain Miller (2024)

He did it again

[9/10 · 14 January 2024]

Another good one from Dhanush. Excellent story line & sharp dialog that talks about social justice. About British treating better than upper caste to letting the lower caste get into temple to women Dhanush saying i am washing dishes and you fixing gun. Loved it. Dhanush from first frame to last. No women character is needed but the way female is shown can be done only by periyar/anna followers. Don't know who the director is other than he did saani kaaitham, i bet he is one.

No duet, no comedy.... really brave and he believed in script. The only negative is, such long action sequences.... is it really needed?

Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal (2022)

why people did not like this?

[7/10 · 3 December 2023]

Vignesh Sivan is not a yet another director. Just from the movies, a fun loving but a very realistic. When i just thought this is some stupid fun only movie and making use of his wife/girl friend to make money, but with the wonderful climax he made me think he is different.

Vijay Sethupathi with 2 girls pair, only made me think he is lucky 😊 but when i realized husband/girl friend directing and picking him means something.

2 different story for Nayan and Samantha and a background story for vijay connecting in a very funny way with small emotions all over and finishing the story with a punch and reality. Nice.

Why imdb folks did not like this movie much? May be they expected too much? 😂😂😂

Pebbles (2021)

Never before in Tamil, i think

[7/10 · 28 November 2023]

Disclaimer: This movie is strictly for move lovers like ..... i don't know like what but not for all 😊

Did i like it, i don't know but a very different attempt. Full visual, even if you don't understand a word you can follow and understand based on your experience. A story of bringing back an angry alcoholic's wife back home.

I dont think a movie like this is ever made in Tamil. And do we even call this a movie, may be a short film.

Watched it because Manirathnam, Vetrimaran, Sudha, and few others praised it so much. I did not read any review or heard anybody even watched, I just watched based on Mani and Vetri. I as surprised.

Irugapatru (2023)

Great attempt

[8/10 · 26 November 2023]

One can agree or disagree with the solutions/result based on their personal experience.

Complex writing/screenplay, i think. 3 Family issues, wonderful definition of the problem and solution. The way connecting the back story was good story telling. The reason i said complex writing is very easily this could have seen as a documentary or advice movie, somehow director had made it enjoyable. I wish he had avoided some songs, not sure that many songs needed.

Every character had performed to the best. I think, director had given long shot for all to perform. Showing that even the therapist gets emotional with scenarios again, one can agree or disagree and call it as exaggeration of a movie but still enjoyable.

Leo (III) (2023)

Full action

[7/10 · 23 October 2023]

Not bad 😊. It's a different genre still i like Gargi, Asuran, Sarpatta more! A movie with 75% fight sequences is little too much but very watchable. Did not make you think!

Vijay as a parent of high schooler, nice. Just the 1 scene (the bad word sequence) proved he is a performer too!

I don't understand what that big deal with that bad word ... Rajini did in Viduthalai and Kamal did in Vikram. I think, the same year.

Director connected this with previous again. Looks like he will get the best drugs movie maker of india 😂. This will not make him a Manivannan of Tamil cinema but only S P Muthuraman.

Gargi (2022)

Excellent story telling

[9/10 · 22 October 2023]

Excellent movie, at interval block i said i know how this is going to end but climax took me to a surprise.

I was searching for flaws .... may be for a person in movie industry, they can find some. I could not.

Quite a few critical scenes without any dialog. Example, saravanan visiting the house to kill. Very well done.

Off of all factors in the movie, dialog made me say wow. Simple but powerful dialogue. (yet to check who it is 😊) Of course Sai Pallavi to the media camera man just 1 scene ... performamce of all characters was excellent. Shows directors hard work.

I think this is based on a real incident that happened in chennai. Sai Pallavi was lucky to get such a lead character. It will be one of the best of her carrier.

Erumbu (2023)

Good one

[8/10 · 4 September 2023]

A good Malayalam movie like simple feel good movie. We all need to support by watching from prime 😊

No black/white, just gray characters. Not only the kids, or Charle but every single character had performed so well shows the director's hard work.

They had picked a small village in north tamil nadu and completed the movie. I feel few folks from the village had acted too.

We would expect when Charlie slaps wife, it would be a big Tamil cinematic drama, no. Like many families, i guess (i have not seen much), next scene moves on. Probably i could list 5-6 scenes like this, all creates a real life like feel.

Maamannan (2023)

Not as bad

[7/10 · 12 August 2023]

Not as bad as i expected 😊. Love the topic taken but i guess Mari Selvaraj is a slow to write a script kind of guy who needs lot of time to complete a script. Every sequence in pari yerum perumal was needed and perfected to core but here at least an hour can be trimmed. This makes the first 15-20 minutes and last 30-40 minutes boring.

Everybody including Keerthy had performed well. Only exception mom character Veerai. Top of the list for performance is again, Fahadh 😊. No surprise, right? When he was able to compete with Kamal ... the only other fight he got is with Dhanush.

My recommendation to Mari is to move on to other areas of interest other than caste. The topic is important but not always need to be the core of a script.

Modern Love Chennai (2023– )

What the heck ...

[9/10 · 3 June 2023]

Watched just.... Neinaivoo Oru Paravai. Wow.... what to say, for the first half, i was like what the heck going on. The way the story and real connects. Wow.... what a screenplay. He made us feel, what he is not saying is worth not saying ... wow. Just 2 more things to not being a spoiler.

Man.... at 80. How in the world Raja can do it. What kind of music is that? I don't think he had done anything like this ever. I was wondering what kinds of instrument he used

1. I wish i did not know it was ilayaraja before watching 2. While Thyagarajan had picked a super performing female character, why a dummy male 😊

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022)

Need patience

[6/10 · 29 April 2023]

You will learn what is - "testing the patience" mean when you watch this movie. Rating is pretty good and mammooti, story line is interesting but was not a friday night movie. May be you need to be in a mood to watch such movie.

Very interesting camera. Camera on the other end of the corridor of a hotel. Some one comes and wakes up each of them. Camera captures knocking all 6-8 doors. Wow ....

only realized after a friend told me, there is no background score. No BGM at all. Just to consciously watch it, i am thinking will watch it again.

Don't take me wrong, not a bad movie but need some extra movie love to watch it 😂

Dada (2023)

Kavin.... wow!

[7/10 · 8 April 2023]

Who is Kavin guy? Excellent performance. Later learned, big boss and tv series popular actor. He is just keeping the movie going with his performance. A simple 1-line wvwnt in a Baghyaraj style movie, made into a feature film. Good direction, camera, music. Worth a watch.

The first scene in the bed, next scene crying, next pregnancy. Movie seem to moves fast with events but nothing unexpected still worth a watch. Director avoided unnecessary parents sentiment but not sure why he had let aiswariya talk so much. The only most irritating character. Bhyagaraj done great 👍

Climax, nothing extraordinary but with both their performance and mutual understanding without dialog makes it memorable.

Viduthalai: Part 1 (2023)

World class

[8/10 · 2 April 2023]

Another world class movie by Vetri. The romance track is little longer than needed, it felt but when we see the last 30-40 minutes it makes sense why he had spend that much time. Wow ... Is that Soori? He fits perfectly to the story line and even romance sequences did not feel odd.

If i don't talk about the background score, i am not xx's kid 😊 Not a noise in background but it flows with the scene. Only Karthik Raja can come close to it. Both the songs were good, listened to it on the screen for the first time!

Part-2 will be for sure more engaging & powerful, no doubt. Vijay Sethupathi full naked in 2nd. No discrimination for Vetri most women nude sequence in first part and in second Vijay 😂

Vaathi (2023)

Good story line

[8/10 · 19 March 2023]

Another bi-lingual after Vijay ... i guess both are trying to increase the salary 😊

Not sure why both picked a screenplay with 1980s style. Tamil and Telugu for sure got better players.

My rating for the movie is 7 but 1 extra for Dhanush and the story line. Very scary to see private running public schools. Don't recall this happening in Tamil Nadu i guess it did in Telugu nation.

I am of a strong believer for state running education and healthcare. Hope this ignites that idea.

GVPrakash done good in both songs and background, but background was too loud for me. Not sure if that's just me feeling so but he tones down on dialog delivery. Liked that part.

Varisu (2023)

Rajini style Family drama

[6/10 · 16 January 2023]

A rajini style family drama. I am surprised people still make main stream movies with these kinds of story line. Maybe there is still an audience for this, only the box office result will tell. I will go with Blue chattai punch line, if you like TV serial style family drama... Go for it. Honestly, being a rajini fan who had seen lot of movies like this. Have a mixed feeling about this movie 😂

Imman had done BGM well. May be little loud but was worth a mention.

Not sure why they did not have an episode with the lead women character. Star cast was powerful, they have done their job pretty good.

Kalaga Thalaivan (2022)

Worth a watch

[8/10 · 29 December 2022]

A slow start but director had done an excellent job. Worth a watch, trying to talk about making public sectors private. Editing and stunts were worth a mention. All characters acted pretty good. Climax was not a typical fight or chasing... very well executed with some worth the advice. Even if you know martial arts, single person can not win when more than 2-3 fight 😊

Not sure who the heroin is, should I say good or not good. Not sure.

Oh, the girl with the villain. Nice play. Typically, they don't keep a girl as an assistant. Is it samooga neethi paarvai ... don't see any good reason to have that character except to show to audience there may not be some cruel rape scene!

1 extra point for Uthay, for may be his last movie. 😂

Iravin Nizhal (2022)

Could have been simpler

[7/10 · 26 December 2022]

Great attempt (non-Linear single shot) with a decent story line (gangster killing himself for his daughter) but Radhakrishnan Parthibam should not make the audience feel the pain he took to make this movie. It become like the olden days overacting of sivaji. I wish Parthibam works in malayalam industry for few years to understand what simplicity is.

Yet 7 because after TR, now looks like Parthiban had taken over the man with self confidence challenge 😊

Honestly felt like I learned some new curse words and it's meaning. Puthiya Paadhai was a huge success because it pulled family crowd, looks like Parthibam forgot the learning from his first movie. Oh may be he planned for OTT only to have a high dose of adult-ish content 🤔

Kantara (2022)

Really? Worth this high rating?

[6/10 · 17 December 2022]

I have no idea why this movie is rated so high on IMDb.

Mokka comedy (Tamil language), bad editing, not great star cast and ok direction. Just because friends said climax is awesome, watched it fully. My 1 liner; 80% of the movie is not watchable ... Last 20% is ok, comparitively makes the climax good.

I don't even want to go to my believe system, but what are they trying to say. A super human being protects the village, ok let be it. Can we not make a good comedy with the tribal back drop.

I should agree with the kantar consume hero had performed very good, and he had done a good job overall too.

Wanted Kishore, I am sure he accepted because this is a movie from his state.

Love Today (2022)

Fun story done done right

[8/10 · 24 November 2022]

This reminds me Parthiban and Pandiyarajan first movie. Is he the hero? When the movie ends ... we walk out with a wow. Every body done the best, feels Sathya Raj ranks 4th after hero, heroine and Radhika. Simple story line and well executed.

Adults only content more than a normal movie. May be but I guess social is dominated by A and politics. I guess, the treatment is justified.

Does the hero mimic Dhanush? Is it just me feeling or others too? Who is that girl, next door girl and beautiful. I am sure she is from Kerala, yet to research and confirm 😂

Not sure if they got U or A certificate. Hope it's A.

Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022)

He did it at last

[6/10 · 2 October 2022]

After years at last this movie is made and hit the silver screen, we should appreciate Maniratnam for that. Hope none of the viewers see this as a real history. Even kalki himself did not use udyarkudi proof

Movie is definitely mixed feel for a person who read the novel. Forgetting the novel and watching is not easy.

For those who did not read, I don't know if the movie does justice. May be it did, need to talk to few 😊

It is unavailable to compare this to bahubali , there was a heroism in it. Which is missing here.

When we watch any Dhanush movie, you like the movie or not one would say, what a performance. All actors done good but does not create a wow moment. (Note : I am not a fan of Vikram)

Thiruchitrambalam (2022)

Very few realize who loves us

[8/10 · 4 September 2022]

Nothing special about it, that is what makes it special. Another Malayalam movie style story and execution. Reminds me of silunu oru kaadhal for some reason. I loved that kovie. Many did not like. This looks like many liked it like me 😊. Some said nithya menen performed well, now I realize they don't know what natural acting is. As always Dhanush acting Vera level. Munishkanth is the only over acting in the whole movie. He got to watch all Dhanush movie.

How can I miss bharathiraja and prakashraj. Looks like Tamil industry missed bharathiraja acting for long time.

I rener watching some movie with the same movie line, not sure if it was in malayalam.

Suzhal - The Vortex (2022– )

Well written and executed

[9/10 · 22 August 2022]

Very well written, I guess, Pushkat-Gayatri are competing for bhagyaraj status for screenplay. While the subject is depressing, making, performance, suspense is worth a watch.

Etharkkum Thunindhavan (2022)

Good topic to be covered

[7/10 · 15 August 2022]

While there are few cinematic stuffs, the subject and the emphasis on raising boys well is worth a watch. Cast is good, from devadarshini to Saranya to illavarasu.

Thiruda Thiruda (1993)

One of the best of ARR

[7/10 · 14 August 2022]

If not for the movie, watch for songs. The attempt is worth it but the A class audience of Mani had watched many similar Hollywood movies like this made it a failure, I guess.