Mister Madras

After a number of rom-coms with Santhanam and an action flick, Udhayanidhi Stalin is back on the silver screen with Manithan which falls under the courtroom drama genre, something that he is new to. Director I.Ahmed, who gave us the breezy entertainer Endrendrum Punnagai , wields the megaphone for Manithan which is a remake of the 2013 super hit Hindi film, Jolly LLB . Apart from Udhay, the film boasts a plethora of talents such as Hansika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Prakash Raj, Radharavi, Vivek and others. As far as the technical crew is concerned, the tunes are composed by the hot and happening Santhosh Narayanan and cinematography is by R.Madhi. Just like all the films he has starred in, this too has been produced by Udhay’s home banner, Red Giant Movies. Manithan is the story of Sakthi (Udhayanidhi Stalin), a struggling lawyer who tries to make his mark in order to win his girlfriend’s (Hansika) hand by wooing her father. Situation forces him to reach Chennai where he locks h...

Occasion:      Restaurant Week India Location:     Focaccia, Hyatt Regency, Teynampet Duration:     22 April to 1 May, 2016 Focaccia is a restaurant that’s close to my heart for a couple of reasons. It did put a smile on my face when I got to know that I’ll be checking them out for the Restaurant Week India. Click here to read my review on Focaccia when I tried it two years back. Restaurant Week India – What is it? Cellar Door Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. has been organising culinary events across India since their first Restaurant Week event in Mumbai in September 2010. Their flagship event, Restaurant Week is a celebration of the finest culinary experiences in India. They offer the opportunity to dine at each city’s finest formal dining restaurants through a three-course prix fixe menu at a fraction of the price it would normally cost. Restaurant Week runs typically in March/ April and September simultaneously across Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The...

Director – actor Sasikumar and village scripts go hand in hand. The only difference in his new movie Vetrivel is the fact that it’s based in Tanjore rather than his tried and tested Madurai. Vasantha Mani joins the line up of directors that Sasikumar has introduced to Tamil cinema, with this flick. Sasikumar plays the lead and apart from him, Prabhu, Mia George, Ananth Nag, Thambi Ramaiah, Viji Chandrasekhar, Varsha, Nikhila, Renuka and Ilavarasu are a part of this expansive cast. D. Imman has composed the music for this film which is produced by Trident Arts and distributed by Lyca Productions. Vetrivel is the story of two brothers (Sasikumar and Ananth Nag). Sasikumar falls for Miya George while Ananth Nag ends up in a relationship with Varsha, who is the daughter of the village President, Prabhu. When his younger brother’s love story goes through a tough patch, Sasikumar takes charge and tries to solve the issue. But in the name of solving it, things lead to a misha...

Occasion:      Bangkok Street Food Festival (Songkran, Thai New Year 2016) Location:     Benjarong, TTK Road, Alwarpet Duration:     6th to 24th April, 2016 There were places that I’ve reviewed with the starting words, ‘I have always wanted to try this place out but a plan never materialised and finally I tried it’ and so on….. I bet I can say that no other place in Chennai would suit those words more than Benjarong does. That’s what happens when almost all your friends have tried it and you don’t have company to go to a place. There are a few must try places in each city and if one hasn’t tried it, it’s a disgrace to call that person a foodie. Well, I guess I can be called one finally now because this place easily tops the list of must try restaurants in our city for any foodie. Songkran, the Thai New Year was the occasion for which I was invited and the chef, Ram Kumar , has designed the menu based on Bangkok’s street food. Given b...

One of the most anticipated flicks of this year is finally here, Ilayathalapathy Vijay’s ‘Theri’. ‘Raja Rani’ fame Atlee wields the megaphone for this action film that has an all star cast which includes Samantha, Amy Jackson, ace director Mahendiran, Raadhika, Prabhu, Baby Nainika and ‘Naan Kadavul’ Rajendran. ‘Theri’ is the story of Joseph Kuruvilla (Vijay), who tries his best to live under the radar with his daughter (played by Meena’s daughter, Nainika). When a situation arises, thanks to Annie (Amy Jackson), his low profile identity comes under threat. When Annie tries to uncover the past, we’re taken to a flashback sequence where Vijay is shown as the honest Deputy Commissioner, Vijay Kumar. A brutal incident makes him lock horns with Mahendiran, a soft spoken yet relentless politician. Who comes on top in the end and whether justice is served forms the story line of this flick which also answers the question of how...

The Jungle Book needs no introduction. It’s a story that we’re all used to, if not as bedtime stories during our childhood, at least as stories that we were forced to read in school. When resurrecting a story well known to the masses, it’s no secret that director Jon Favreau has some big shoes to fill. There is almost no deviation from Rudyard Kipling’s classic works on which this story is based on. Mowgli (played by newcomer Neel Sethi), is a human boy, called as a ‘man-cub’ and raised by a wolf pack headed by Akela (voiced by the Breaking Bad fame, Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o, who won an Oscar for her debut flick, ’12 Years a Slave’). He was brought to them as a baby by the black panther, Bagheera (Ben Kingsley). All goes well until the Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), senses a threat by the man-cub and demands his life. Fearing his safety, Bagheera guides Mowgli to the ‘man-village’ and encounte...

The dumpling loving panda is back and this time, Po (Jack Black) is all set to get back to his roots. Kung Fu Panda 2 ended with Li Shan (Po’s father) sensing that his son is still alive and they’ve ventured more into this story with Kung Fu Panda 3. In the spirit realm, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) fights and loses to an adversary, a yak named Kai (J.K. Simmons), who has defeated other Kung Fu masters and taken their chi (life force). Kai comes to know about the Dragon Warrior Po and decides to defeat him to take his powerful chi. Back in the valley, Po, who is at his very best with Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Crane (David Cross) for company, encounters his long lost father Li (Played by an underrated Bryan Cranston). When Po gets to know that Kai is after him and the only way to defeat him is to learn to use chi, he goes with Li’s advice and heads to the secret panda villa...