TheReviewMonk
VM

Vishal Menon

The Hindu·Indian Express·Film Companion

13Reviews
Rarely scored1 of 13 scored
3Publications
Kaala

Kaala

2018 · The Hindu · Jun 2018

...an underwhelming film made for Rajinikanth, the politician

Pelé: Birth of a Legend

Pelé: Birth of a Legend

2016 · Indian Express · May 2016

All too linear and straightforward. Pele: Birth of a Legend, is a glorious opportunity missed. It had all the ingredients for a humongous biopic. With Pele, the canvas was always going to be broad. But the simplistic treatment, followed by the feeble performances by the cast, makes this film a huge let down.

3.0
TRM 5.2
Full review ↗
Sethupathi

Sethupathi

2016 · The Hindu · Feb 2016

Sethupathi is one of those films with a second half so good that you are willing to forgive it its first-half flaws. Vijay Sethupathi, who we last saw playing a rowdy in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, shows that he can be just as good playing a character on the other side of the law.

Uppu Karuvaadu

Uppu Karuvaadu

2015 · The Hindu · Nov 2015

One wonders what these ideas could have been with better execution, with a bit of craft. There's so much good material, so many interesting characters, so many funny ideas…but they remain mere ideas as we watch Uppu Karuvadu.

Hero

Hero

2015 · The Hindu · Sep 2015

It's rather surprising that Salman Khan, given his present form, has chosen to produce such an insincere film. What do you call a film even Salman Khan can't save? Hero.

All Is Well

All Is Well

2015 · The Hindu · Aug 2015

All is Well is the kind of film you want to show to that relative who assumes it's easy to watch movies for a living.

Hamari Adhuri Kahani

Hamari Adhuri Kahani

2015 · The Hindu · Jun 2015

...could still have an audience considering the lady sitting next to me was sobbing during the climax, but given how the three youngsters sitting in front of me were constantly on their phone, it is perhaps a story that would have been best left untold.

Bombay Velvet

Bombay Velvet

2015 · The Hindu · May 2015

In one of the most spectacular-looking Hindi films in recent times, Kashyap transports us effortlessly to a different age and time. Despite pacing issues, the tendency to overstate the obvious and an inconsequential Tommy gun shootout, the film stands true to an indie filmmaker's idea of a blockbuster. The film is every cinematic cliché and so much more. It is every crime movie you have already seen but so much more.

Vai Raja Vai

Vai Raja Vai

2015 · The Hindu · May 2015

With Vai Raja Vai, Aishwaryaa has gone unapologetically commercial and this time, her protagonist, Karthik (Gautham Karthik) suffers (or should I say gains?) from a Nostradamus-like power to predict. As I walk out of the theatre, I can't help but feel that her second film too suffers from bipolar disorde

Ungli

Ungli

2014 · The Hindu · Nov 2014

With its incoherent subplots and all its silly dialogues that would embarrass even David Dhawan's dialogue writer, Ungli becomes a shadow of what it could have been.

Happy Ending

Happy Ending

2014 · The Hindu · Nov 2014

The promos -- with its kitschy Paaji Tussi Such a Pussycat song -- promised a quirky entertainer from the makers of the poignant Shor in the City and the fun Go Goa Gone. But what it becomes, at the end of it, is the kind of film it thinks it's making fun of.