Janani K

Muthu Alias Kaattaan, starring Vijay Sethupathi, begins on a shocking note. A few minutes into the first episode, a local villager discovers a severed head perched on top of a rock — with no body in sight. It is the kind of opening that promises a gripping, atmospheric mystery. Across 10 episodes on JioHotstar, the series attempts to deliver on that promise. Does it get there? Let’s find out! The village police station is facing an existential crisis — negligible cases have brought it to the brink of shutdown. When officer Kalai Pandiyan (Vadivel Murugan) receives a call about the severed head, he seizes the opportunity and nudges his seniors to take up the case. An elderly villager (Balaji Sakthivel) identifies the dead man as Muthu, and the investigation begins.

Investigative thrillers have been done to death in cinema. They hit screens every week, follow familiar beats, and more often than not, blur into each other. The rare ones that stand apart share one quality — they never take the audience for granted. They treat viewers as intelligent, engaged participants in the puzzle rather than passive observers waiting to be told the answer. The question Mrithyunjay raises from the outset is a simple one: does it earn its place among those films?

Imagine a foul-mouthed matriarch who terrorises everyone with her mere presence, yet delivers the most valuable lesson on independence, agency and womanhood. If you operate on social media’s version of morality, your mind will immediately question this dichotomy. But Sivakumar Murugesan’s Thaai Kizhavi grounds you, drags you back to real life and makes you laugh while quietly asking the most important question of all — what does it mean to truly live, rather than merely exist in someone else’s shadow?

Naaku galeej anipisthundhi, which translates to “It’s all too awkward,” is a repetitive phrase in KV Anudeep’s third film, Funky. After two hours and eight minutes, it’s this thought – and the only one – that you are left with. Director KV Anudeep’s unique sense of humour may not be everyone’s cup of tea. In three films, he’s made that loud and clear. But there’s a sense of earnestness and honesty in Jathi Ratnalu and Prince that hardly makes you look away. You’d want to know what new trick he has up his sleeve the third time around.

Murder mysteries and investigation dramas always rely on thrills, suspense and high-stakes drama. Most whodunnit thrillers have a male hero leading the investigation from the front. The Telugu film, Cheekatilo, has the feisty Sobhita Dhulipala leading a murder mystery, thereby standing out from a crowd of films of the same genre. Did Cheekatilo manage to crack the formula? Let’s find out!

A few minutes into Nivin Pauly’s Baby Girl, we are taken into a hospital where the doctors have called Code Pink. Those who are familiar with medical dramas like Dr House or Grey’s Anatomy would be instantly hooked, as Code Pink means a baby is missing. In director Arun Varma’s Baby Girl, a three-day-old baby girl goes missing. Sanal Mathews (Nivin Pauly) is an attender who is in the thick of things here. At its core, Baby Girl shows immense promise to be an emotional thriller. But, Baby Girl takes a different route and struggles to find a balance between being a drama and a thriller.

In a world where audiences constantly gravitate towards big spectacle films, your heart still aches for a cute, funny movie that tugs at your heartstrings, makes you laugh, and lets you simply enjoy your time at the theatre. While these films don’t get the same attention as big-budget entertainers, they hold a special place in your heart. That’s exactly what Jiiva’s Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimayil offers.

Parasakthi – the 1952 film title holds significance for multiple reasons in Tamil cinema. The original was crucial for catapulting Sivaji Ganesan’s stardom and popularising DMK’s (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) ideology in Tamil Nadu, championing Dravidian politics. Decades later, Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi, which tackles Hindi imposition, hits theatres ahead of Pongal. Does it ignite fire among viewers? Let us find out!