Sruthi Ganapathy Raman
HollywoodReporterIndia·Film Companion·The News Minute
Baththa
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
Baththa is filled with rich characters and richer performances. In a film that is essentially a gradual but seismic undoing of a gangster, we also get an enriching human drama that surprises and inspires in equal measure. Watching Vijay Sethupathi devour the role of a gargantuan man, who is slowly but steadily reduced to a small, gentle giant, is an absolute treat.
Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
'Toxic' presents a house of mirrors that is largely out of service, failing to deliver a coherent or compelling narrative despite its ambitious premise of exploring a man who doesn't fear death.
Karavali
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
An intense Kambala drama that remains emotionally distant.
Aadarsha Kutumbam House No: 47
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
Aadarsha Kutumbam aims for a quirky, disruptive rewrite of the family drama, but it's too safe and dreary to achieve that ambition. The film loses its way after a promising interval, resorting to lewd comedy and mindless action sequences that undermine its potential emotional resonance.
KD – The Devil
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
'KD: The Devil' flirts with the idea of an underdog's ascent in a blood-soaked world of crime, offering fleeting moments of kitschy fun in an otherwise jarring action drama.
Korean Kanakaraju
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia
Mild laughs and no scares in this bloated horror comedy.
Kingdom
2025 · HollywoodReporterIndia
Vijay Deverakonda and Satyadev deliver immersive performances in an often colourless film.
Star
2024 · Film Companion
The little moments get lost in an overwritten, cloying drama.
Indian 2: Zero Tolerance
2024 · Film Companion
Indian was by no means a perfect film. It was still a film drenched in sexual innuendos — a marker of films from a particular time. But it still had just the right amount of rigour that made us root for its far-fetched world where a timeworn veteran could kick a man or two.
Maharaja
2024 · Film Companion
A flawed yet gripping human drama in which storytelling is the hero.
Garudan
2023 · Film Companion
In the end, it all comes down to how this director re-introduces a new kind of hero. Jithu Madhavan crowned Fahadh Faasil a modern mass king in by fully surrendering to the actor’s wild yet delicate side. Durai Senthilkumar tries to do the same with Soori. While it might not be as effective in its writing, Soori quite easily makes up for it in Garudan.
Premada Oorali
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Oct 2026
The real problem lies in the writing, which seems to believe it is forward-thinking in its treatment of marriage, love and premarital relationships, when its ideas are, in fact, deeply problematic. As the furious, asinine men judge women for autonomy over their lives and bodies, the film gradually joins in, leaving us physically recoiled.
Anbe Diana
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Jul 2026
'Anbe Diana' is a deeply unserious film that offers breezy moments within its flippant romance narrative.
Lenin
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Jul 2026
Akhil Akkineni and Bhagyashri Borse play convincing star-crossed lovers in this drama that never quite gets its pitch right
Sing Geetham
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Jun 2026
Singeetham Srinivasa Rao's return to direction is a Telugu musical that tells the story of an eccentric mining village and appeals to the childlike wonder within us — one we gladly give in to.
Anaganaga Oka Raju
2026 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Jan 2026
Naveen Polishetty's latest Telugu comedy is essentially an assembly line of gags. But this observation does not in any way detract from the film, which takes joy in its simplicity and never overstays its welcome.
Raju Weds Rambai
2025 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Dec 2025
Despite a compelling core, this romance stays outdated. Raju Weds Rambai sets out to tell us a story that's as old as the hills.
The Girlfriend
2025 · HollywoodReporterIndia · Nov 2025
We experience this dissonance quite a bit through the film, up until the climax. But through all of the warts, the writing stays strong. It doesn’t advocate virtue signalling, and neither does it place the onus on women to fix men.
Lubber Pandhu
2024 · The News Minute · Sep 2024
A nuanced drama unfolding on the canvas of a sports film
Parking
2023 · Film Companion · Dec 2023
Parking is at its most fascinating when it shifts gears — going from being a fun "spirit of neighbourliness" drama with sprinkles, to a dark pit where a dangerous cocktail of rage and id takes over two men. Despite its lack of know-how in the last act, Parking is still a trip worth your time for all the raw discomfort it makes you feel.
Jailer
2023 · Film Companion · Aug 2023
Nelson gives us the Rajinikanth we treasure in this fresh form of the age-appropriate Tiger Muthu Pandian. But the film keeps us waiting for the real Nelson that we know to stand up—a reinvention of Rajinisms for the new age that occasionally shines through, yet the film doesn't fully embrace Nelson's edge and distinctive voice that makes his work memorable.