DATA | DAILY COVID-19 VACCINATION RATE REMAINS The daily COVID-19 vaccination rate in May, after India opened up vaccination for all adults, was sluggish and similar to the pace observed in March, when only senior citizens were allowed to get EDITORIALS, EDITORIAL OPINIONS, EDITORIAL NEWS, THE HINDU The Hindu Provides Opinions, Editorials, Analysis & Articles About All The Latest, Breaking And Trending News From Around The World SUBSCRIBE TO THE HINDU DIGITAL: RENEWALS / NEW Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring. THE ECONOMIC TOOLKIT REVEALED Reading the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ’s annual report for 2020-21, the economist is driven to rethink why India today needs its central bank more than ever before. So, what would be the DATA | COVID-19 VACCINATION RATE FURTHER SLOWS IN MID-MAY Despite India allowing COVID-19 vaccination for all adults, the number of doses administered dropped significantly in May. Between May 11 and 20, only 1.57 million doses were administered per day

CORONAVIRUS

The government-controlled CoWin digitalised platform to register for COVID-19 vaccination is all set to “introduce a new functionality of allowing correction of information to be uploaded onto SRM AND THE HINDU CONCLAVE TO SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE The SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in association with The Hindu Group has launched a 15-part webinar series — ‘SRM Virtual Conclave for Career Guidance 2021’ — that DATA | ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2021: TRINAMOOL CONGRESS WINS TMC upped its vote share substantially in phases 7 and 8 that were held in late April. Polls during these phases were held in the Greater

Kolkata region

DR. AMBARISH SATWIK’S MESSAGE ON WHATSAPP GROUP OF At about the same time that Dr. Ambarish Satwik’s largely medical messaging was taking place this week, there was another, put out by Kent for their atta and bread maker.It enunciated the

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Despite making a leap in Internet connectivity, India still lags behind other BRICS nations, data from 2015 show. Bermuda tops the list of nations while many counties in DATA | DAILY COVID-19 VACCINATION RATE REMAINS The daily COVID-19 vaccination rate in May, after India opened up vaccination for all adults, was sluggish and similar to the pace observed in March, when only senior citizens were allowed to get EDITORIALS, EDITORIAL OPINIONS, EDITORIAL NEWS, THE HINDU The Hindu Provides Opinions, Editorials, Analysis & Articles About All The Latest, Breaking And Trending News From Around The World SUBSCRIBE TO THE HINDU DIGITAL: RENEWALS / NEW Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring. THE ECONOMIC TOOLKIT REVEALED Reading the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ’s annual report for 2020-21, the economist is driven to rethink why India today needs its central bank more than ever before. So, what would be the DATA | COVID-19 VACCINATION RATE FURTHER SLOWS IN MID-MAY Despite India allowing COVID-19 vaccination for all adults, the number of doses administered dropped significantly in May. Between May 11 and 20, only 1.57 million doses were administered per day

CORONAVIRUS

The government-controlled CoWin digitalised platform to register for COVID-19 vaccination is all set to “introduce a new functionality of allowing correction of information to be uploaded onto SRM AND THE HINDU CONCLAVE TO SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE The SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in association with The Hindu Group has launched a 15-part webinar series — ‘SRM Virtual Conclave for Career Guidance 2021’ — that DATA | ASSEMBLY ELECTION 2021: TRINAMOOL CONGRESS WINS TMC upped its vote share substantially in phases 7 and 8 that were held in late April. Polls during these phases were held in the Greater

Kolkata region

DR. AMBARISH SATWIK’S MESSAGE ON WHATSAPP GROUP OF At about the same time that Dr. Ambarish Satwik’s largely medical messaging was taking place this week, there was another, put out by Kent for their atta and bread maker.It enunciated the

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Despite making a leap in Internet connectivity, India still lags behind other BRICS nations, data from 2015 show. Bermuda tops the list of nations while many counties in TODAY'S PAPER NEWS, BREAKING NEWS, TOP HEADLINES Todays paper, print headlines - News from The Hindu newspaper on a

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SUBSCRIBE TO THE HINDU DIGITAL: RENEWALS / NEW Get premium and unlimited digital access to The Hindu by subscribing or renewing existing membership, which can be one time or recurring. RECOGNISING CASTE-BASED VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN The horror of the gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras in 2020 is still fresh in our minds. Activists, academics and lawyers argued that the sexual violence took place on account of DATA | DAILY COVID-19 VACCINATION PACE AT RECORD LOW IN Despite opening up COVID-19 vaccination for all adults from May 1, the average number of doses administered in India dropped to very low levels this month. In the first 10 days of May, only 1.7 DATA | DISSECTING INDIA’S SECOND COVID-19 WAVE The second wave of COVID-19 in India appears to be ascending faster than the first wave that peaked in mid-September last year. It is crucial to note that the number of COVID-19 tests being DATA | BEEF BAN, LIQUOR SALES, 'GOONDA ACT': A STORM OVER A draft law called Prevention of Anti-Social Activities has also raised eyebrows, given that the archipelago has the lowest crime rate

among States/U.T.s

DATA | INDIA'S COVID-19 VACCINATION PACE SLOWS DOWN, JULY The decline was primarily due to fewer inoculations in the last few days of March in several major States such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Maharashtra ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF… 8mins Gen. Naravane, J&K L-G Sinha discuss security situation in Union Territory ; 42mins COVID-19 vaccine: Health Ministry finalises arrangements with Hyderabad firm for 30 crore doses ; 1hr

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‘Mafia: Chapter 1’ movie review: A wonderfully ordinary movie with a great presentation

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‘MAFIA: CHAPTER 1’ MOVIE REVIEW: A WONDERFULLY ORDINARY MOVIE WITH A GREAT PRESENTATION

Srivatsan S

February 21, 2020 17:27 IST Updated: February 21, 2020 17:46 IST

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‘Mafia’: Given Karthick Naren’s fascination for Nolan’s movies, you could find a heady flavour of ‘The Dark Knight’ lying

underneath

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Srivatsan S

February 21, 2020 17:27 IST Updated: February 21, 2020 17:46 IST ARUN VIJAY AND PRASANNA STRUGGLE HARD TO KEEP THE TENSION ALIVE IN AN ADEQUATE THRILLER THAT ABUSES ITS OWN SUBSTANCE Only a sizeable proportion of our filmmakers understand the visual aesthetics of Western cinema. And there have been few very cases where a filmmaker tried to border the gap between Western and Indian cinema, without diluting the emotions that Kodambakkam screams for. Karthick Naren comes across as someone who belongs to the category of filmmakers who are heavily influenced by Western sensibilities and that’s just it. The presentation is beautiful, but of very little substance. His movies seem to flirt with the idea of ‘slow-burn’ narrative: an approach that paid off when he made the tightly-written _Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru_. But in _Mafia_, there seems to be some sort of reluctance to extend the universe that Karthick was trying to build

in the first place.

The jungle is used as a metaphor to describe the world of_ Mafia_, inhabited by animals and vultures. There is a lion in the form of Aryan (Arun Vijay) and a fox, Diwakar Kumaran (Prasanna), and the story is a tug-of-war between them. Oh, Priya Bhavani Shankar also exists here, by the way. The movie, however, offers very little scope to show friction between the two central characters, who are also extremely good-looking (costumes are by Ashok Kumar). It is sad that Arun Vijay and Prasanna — two of our really good actors — are fed cornflakes instead of raw meat. Part of the problem is the time — little under two hours — _Mafia_ dedicates for the characters to develop and breathe in. What Karthick expects his actors to do is: sport colourful clothes with matching shades, and walk in slow motion. This would have been a minor grouse, had the movie had a sturdy foundation — how marvellous was Arivazhagan’s _Kuttram 23_, which had a similar premise?

Mafia

* Cast: Arjun Vijay, Prasanna and Priya Bhavani Shankar * Director: Karthick Naren * Storyline: Aryan is a Narcotics Bureau Officer, who is on a hunt to track down the most wanted drug lord. In the due process, he discovers a significant piece of information about his past Given Karthick’s fascination for Nolan’s movies, you could find a heady flavour of _The Dark Knight _lying underneath. Early on, a character describes Diwakar as someone who hides “behind a mask”. Even if you approach _Mafia_ as a proper origins story for the second chapter — with an absurd but partly effective twist — it doesn’t take away the fact that it is _still_ a weak movie. You could sense the weakness in dialogues; in the screen construction and even in the

performance.

But Karthick shows tremendous commitment to his craft; there’s innovation in shot composition, in editing, in the way he lights his frames (Gokul Benoy is the cinematographer), the way he exploits slow-mo shots and more. But all these filmmaking merits add up to nothing. For, the world of _Mafia_ — which follows a reverse narrative, like Christopher Nolan’s _Mement_o (a movie that became a formidable part of Karthick’s filmmaking process) — is exceptionally ordinary. Consider how weakly-constructed the first act is, for instance. The primary characters; their relationships, issues and the equations they share are established in a hurry. Everything is cold, even the treatment. What it lacked was that one proper scene that would later act as an escalation point between the hero and villain, in the second act. T​hat does happen here. But in the most basic fashion. By the time the narration arrives to the final act, you can’t help but think, “Yeah, alright.” Karthick is a good filmmaker. He has the vision to execute ideas. But all he needs, at the moment, is a writer to collaborate. _Why you should pay for quality journalism - Click to know more

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Printable version | Feb 24, 2020 4:50:45 AM | https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/mafia-chapter-1-movie-review-a-wonderfully-ordinary-movie-with-a-great-presentation/article30881232.ece � THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD.

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