Recent Reviews by Vishal Menon
The Hollywood Reporter India
Vishal Menon is the Assoiciate Editor at The Hollywood Reporter, India. He was previously with Film Companion and The Hindu. He writes about Malayalam and Tamil Cinema.
Films reviewed on this Page
Vettaiyan
Unsubtle, Clunky But Engaging
A cop drama using cinematic tropes to make you rethink who you should be whistling for.
Journalist-turned-director T. J. Gnanavel doesn’t seem to care much for any sort of filmmaking subtleties. It’s as though he enjoys dialling up the volume knob to underline his already-dramatic writing, and doesn’t let you rest until you feel the full weight of a scene’s emotions. This was obvious in the way he didn’t stop by just showing you a police officer dragging a beaten-up Manikandan K. into the back of a police jeep in Jai Bhim (2021).