Towards the end of the Netflix film, Sila Samayangalil, there is a terrific shot. A seated character casts a shadow on the wall and it lingers for some time as a shocking piece of news is delivered. The man and the shadow, one and the same for much of the film, are now distinct. At this moment, the room is awash with light and dark interspersed in measured intervals. The real reason is because people are moving in and out of the light source. But the metaphorical reason is a battle that has long been waged between such dualities — light vs dark, right vs wrong, perception vs reality. That…

Given all the rural films we’ve made over the years, you’d think it’d be hard to think of something new in the genre. But PG Muthiah’s Maduraveeran can’t be so easily dismissed. It has all the typical moments you would expect from such a film, and yet, it also manages to pull away from the trappings of the genre. Take, for example, the hero introduction scene. Kodhandam (a hilarious Bala Saravanan) asks his lackeys to get the hero who is returning home but unfortunately, they end up bringing someone else. You may expect a rousing entry for the hero, but Muthiah will have none of it. He introduces Durai (Shanmugapandian)…