u/Electronic_Effort_42

I feel like the audience was too naive at that time to think that scene was fundamentally and politically vile. Andha time-la audience vandhu idhellam thappu-nu realize pannala adhanaala accept pannitaanga, seri vitruvom, but why did seniors like Rajini and Vivek, who were more experienced at that time didn't object to this? Why did they never question Shankar, even though this guy had the problematic instincts in his mind? I think Solomon Pappaiya felt disgusted on that scene and had turned down several offers to act in Tamil films after that.

The film single-handedly ruined Chiyaan's market in Kollywood, and put resiganeshan Susi Ganeshan in MIA for eight years in Kollywood until Thiruttupayale 2 and again MIA after that.

Vikram was in his absolute peak of getup fetish putting so many getups but the superhero costume was unintentionally funny walking like a cock and putting kokkarakko sounds. The villains were caricaturish, Shreya's glamour was too cringey and overboard making family audiences avoid this film, Vadivelu's comedy track didn't feel in sync with the story. The last of the two straws that broke the camel's back was the Mexico portion where the urine filter was atrocious and the nauseating editing that sticks overlong for three hours.

The elephant in the room for all these problems was the overhype given by Thanu and co. where the marketing was literally way overboard and the highly publicized move of adopting villages was like yabba dei. All these things literally grated the audience that led them to hate the film. I can remember the one-line review for this film being Top10 Suresh coded which says, "Kanthaswamy = Nondhasaamy".

Also Tamizh Padam too roasted the film.

I think Obsession still needs to be discussed because of what it intended to be showcased. This movie in one way had stripped off the vanilla dreams of how pathetic men on screen were getting their trophy (the girl he desired, who is way out of his league) by showcasing the outcome of such things. Tamil cinema (or mostly Indian cinema), in one way, is guilty of glorifying such men onscreen without understanding the bad influence that happened to that can cause society.

Bear is a pathetic guy who took the shortcut to confess his love to his co-worker rather than being straightforward (Idhaya from Idhayam Murali is the final boss in this category) and make the girl a mere puppet dancing to his tunes. This kind of pathetic guy is what the vetti paya heroes on screen had been especially when you look at Dhanoss-na from Padikkathavan, Mappilai, Thiruvilayadal Aarambam, SiKa from Maan Karate, Remo, and probably Simpuh as well as all of the heroes who did that vetti paya roles who have nothing in their life but fancies for the girl who is way out of his league and want her to fall in love and if she doesn't reciprocate, these guys end up singing soup songs and lament that "indha ponnungale ippadithan". The damage they did to the society during the 2000s and 2010s were irreparable.

The worst part is these guys end up with what they achieved (they got the girl, I mean their obsessed trophy), and the film ends with a happily ever after (no one even knows what happens after the end credits). But our guys aren't that lucky, and hence that frail ego kicks inside and unalives the person who rejected his advances. Obsession is one way a right step in that aspect, as Bear had to face the consequences of his actions and realized that it was wrong, hence he unalives himself in the end. The same way, Drago(ava)n, who was a cringeworthy hero in the start, had to face his consequences of his actions, but the outcome wasn't that brutal but anyone he met his end (faced a jail term for accepting his mistakes and become a better person in the end).

I think most people had misinterpreted the context of the film because of the censor board cutting an important scene and literally made people feel Bear as the victim while he was actually the villain. This was the same interpretation made during the Lover release while many claimed Divya as the toxic ponnu while the real culprit itself is Arun. What to do when most of the male population here are being involuntary celibates and AFCs. Male loneliness epidemic had spread too far beyond anyone's imagination. Anyway, I yapped whatever I thought and I am leaving here to share your thoughts.

Beyond the stylish visuals, cuts and music, it was a wild idea to release a teaser without even having the official title of the film. I think it was known as AK53 at that time. Even if you check the Aarambam teaser on YouTube, it would still show it as AK53 teaser on the official Sony Music channel which released it. Look how AK subtly announced that "they haven't decided the title yet" in the teaser itself. That was a smart marketing move from the producers to increase the hype for that film. And look at the standards of how today's marketing in Kollywood has been.

Also, the announcement of the immediate next film Veeram even before the Aarambam title being officially announced was cherry on the cake.

Padame washout aayirukku. Idhula vera BTS release panram

This meme might be a joke, but what I'm saying is something serious.

VTV itself released a decade ago and now it was re-released in VR Mall on 4 February 2022. Now it's 2026, that film has been running for almost four years, ever since its re-release.

Since Feb 2022, the film itself has run for 1600 days in VR Mall with limited showcasing. If you consider the original release, the longest run for a Tamil film is Chandramukhi which ran for 805 days at Shanthi Theatre. After that, you have Magadheera which ran for around 1000 days in theatres. Now VTV's re-release run itself has surpassed these theatrical runs.

It is no surprise that this film would end up becoming the longest running Indian film in a theatre after DDLJ, that too for a re-release in the near future. I'm not kidding, but VR Mall theatre owners might find some way to do this, as there are still people turning up for it.

Nicholas Braun is way too tall, athletic and boyish, giving the "gentle giant" vibes, and also looked interesting and young-looking. Since Nicholas would be 28–29 and Timothée being 20–21, during the filming and release of this film it also becomes more a bit age appropriate, as both Elio and Oliver have a seven year age difference in the novel. Nicholas and Timothée's height difference makes the film a bit interesting.

What if CMBYN was made with Tom Holland as Elio and Nicholas Braun as Oliver in the mid-2010s (2015–2017). Tom as Elio gets the twink looks almost right because of his height and appearance and Nicholas Braun looks boyish despite his gigantic height that mogs Tom's lean and twinkish appearance.

I feel like I would anyhow go with Timothée being Elio should be unchanged as he has that angelic face. But I feel Nicholas Braun as Oliver instead of Armie Hammer which would be actually looking fine, as both Elio and Oliver have a 7-year age gap and Nicholas in place of Armie would be actually age appropriate, and looked like a big boy.

What do you think about it?

Padam rls aagi rendu naal thaan aaguthu, athukkulla "Tamil audience failed rah" posts. Ivanunga polambal-kku oru alave illa pola.

Kathukitta motha vithaiyum.... marakka mudiyuma!! Kokesh Lanagaraj-kellam munnodi da indha Lingu Bhai. 😂😂😂😂😂

This happened to be the favorite film for most people in the sub, but I don't think this had got the similar appreciation during its release. Suriya as Raju Bhai looked fab and Samantha looked sexy, the friendship dynamic between Raju and Chandru looks interesting, and visuals by Santhosh Sivan makes it even more stylish. But everything was wasted in a predictable, nothingburger of a screenplay that looked like a rehash of Baashha.

And the overhype being the icing on the cake, that led to people troll this film heavily and held a dubious distinction of the first Tamil film to be trolled through memes and being the pioneer of internet meme culture in Tamil Nadu.

Samantha bikini and Yuvan's banger album was the second and third good things to happen for this film. The first, being the union of anilaaamais, who joined hands to heavily bash the film.

In one way, I can thank this movie for existing. Because, one person who roasted the film twice now gave the career biggest success and comeback vehicle for Suriya.

Thodari had been a guilty pleasure film but one part of me got disappointed because of the potential it had. The concept of saving so many passengers on a high-speed train itself is a fantastic premise that something was executed well in Unstoppable (2010). But here in Thodari, the story itself had too many deviations.

From that loosu ponnu character Keerthy Suresh (who got that Kirukki Suresh name because of this until Mahanati), to mindless comedy gags which had no value to the story, illogical sequences like Dhanush dancing on top of the train in a song (which Ajith foreshadowed this in Kandukondain Kandukondain) and too many deviations had heavily diluted on what the film was supposed to be it. The elephant in the room was the poor CGI which was something important for a complex story on a train journey from Chennai to Delhi (I think it is because of budget constraints, but was a distracting element to see on screen).

Beyond all these issues, there was a really good film lying there. If some capable director had made a no-nonsense action film set on a high speed moving train it would have been bonkers to watch. Because of Thodari, even if someone attempts to make a movie with a similar theme, people would have called it a "copy" and blah blah and made it flopped at the BO, even if it is miles better. This is why ruining good concepts with poor or amateurish execution makes me frustrated because these kinds of films can go above and beyond the market and get applause all over the world. I hope Mysskin won't make the same mistake with Train.

In the party song featured in 18am Padi, that showcased Saniya Iyappan in a glamourous and sexy avatar. But what was the major problem is that Saniya was actually 16–17 years old when the film was released, which means that she was actually a minor. It is really shocking that, what was considered to be a progressive industry like Mollywood had not bothered to glamorize and sexualize a minor for a special song and no one had bat an eyelid. What do you think about it?

Vetrimaaran has faced a lot of criticism on glorifying violence and how it impacts society, but nobody acknowledged the subtle message of what Vetrimaaran says. In Vada Chennai, though the entire film is mostly violent and bloodshed, the subtle message that he said throughout the film is the people in the locality should avoid violence and do something beneficial for their and their future generations, to focus on education and sports. Also in Asuran, the final message that Dhanush said to Ken was "people would take our lands or money, but no one would lay our hand when we are educated enough" and this symbolises how "education is important for our society". Vetrimaaran covers a lot of spectrum on incidents of the oppressive system rather than going one dimensional, which is why he has been respected among audiences.

The blind hate on Vetrimaaran is in one way similar to what that tweet pottavan's idol was facing in his earlier stages where he has been constantly cornered for glorifying stalking when other actors did the same thing in the past (and in some way it was valid). But this Vetrimaaran hate was purely out of context. And I feel Vetri is becoming more commercialized as the man who is being firm on choosing GVP for his films, is now working with Anirudh and Sai Abhyankkar for his films and the recent Tamil Murugan film had an haphazard rushed announcement just to counter that NTR Murugan film announcement. I'm not doubting his craft, but there have been recent criticisms for him after Viduthalai 2 got mixed responses. I hope, his craft will speak for this.

Though not a joke, it is really bad how the use of AI might impact cinema in the near future. And recent Tamil films had much of the AI slop integrated with it, and producers and creators find it to be cheap and best. Sad that many people are seemingly okay with it. Economical constraints should only open doors for more creative brainstorming and thought process, not to pull into creative bankruptcy.

Idhayam Murali felt like a good timepass watch for me and worked for a casual viewing experience, but one thing that sticked out like a sore thumb was the school portions where Atharvaa, Sudhakar, Dravid and Rakshan looked odd as school students. Don't hate me, but look closely, endha angle-layavadhu paatha ivanga school student madhiri theriyuraangala.

One reason why most Gen-Z audiences here aren't supporting to romcom films (except for PR films) is mostly because of the casting of 30s and 40s guys as school and college students. It looks not only odd and performative and makes the "feel-good" movie aspect "feel bad". Young people want to watch young people on screen but they aren't given a chance. And because of these, the Gen-Zs aren't supporting rom coms, and they go ahead with the loud action, fast-paced mass movies or some cases, explore world cinema.

I feel like the "vettipaya hero romcom era" was almost convincing than whatever with the current romcoms were. At least that kind of characters suited those heroes when they are in their late-20s and early-30s, and they no need to break a sweat by shedding so many kilos to look like a school student and college student. But that portrayal itself came with a set of problems and got so much backlash afterwards, that they completely avoided that so much that now these actors in those age brackets had to play younger characters which often looks awkward and they also avoid romcoms and go ahead with serious films, which somewhat benefits them. As a result, we get less romcoms and comedy, and more serious films. I hope the tide changes soon.

Welcoming that mandatory Sarathkumar and Vimal schoolboy template in that comments

Bhagyashree Borse for iSai's 6th single