Movie Review: Hotspot
The film is divided into 4 antholgies, linked together by the narration of a debut film director (Vignesh Karthick) to his producer.
Happy Married Life is the first in the anthologies.
Dhanya( Gouri Kishan ) marries Vijay (Adithya Bhasker) and brings the mapillai home, in a role reversal from the traditional roles in society. The house husband even wears a thali and looks after the home while his wife works in office.
But wait, is this reality or something else?
In the next section, Golden Rules, a young girl Deepti ( Ammu Abhirami) loves a guy Siddharth ( Sandy Master) and convinces her parents in a novel way to agree to their marriage. But to their horror the lovers discovers a secret which changes everything in their relationship. What happens next?
In Thakkali Chutney, Anita ( Janani Iyer) is a reporter who loves Vetri ( Subhash), (who works in IT. He is fired due to a misdemeanour in office which he hides from Anita. In order to meet expenses at home, he takes up an unusual profession which causes serious issues in their relationship. What happens to them?
In Fame Game, a child, Rakshita and her kid brother, are children of Kalaiyarasan and Sofia, who play a lower middle class couple. The parents admit their children in a reality show. Slowly with rising success of Rakshita, coached extensively by her mother, they too rise up in life. But one day, a horrific tragedy occurs which makes the parents rethink the choices they have made with their kids. What happens next?
The anthologies are presented in an intersting manner, to drive home the point of serious underlying issues in society, which need one's attention. Be it the man-woman dynamics, the difference between love and lust and their role in modern relationships, or the issue of the exploitation of children in the name of reality shows, which deal with adult themes many a time, the normalisation of which takes a toll on young minds and even loss of innocence.
In the first 3 antholgies, ample with is used to amp up the impact of points the director wants to make. The 4th anthology is by far the most potent and impactful of the lot. The third anthology stirs up the pot and questions the ethics in ' modern' relationships and the double standards of some men.
Superb performances by every actor, are the backbone of each story. Kudos to each one of them for pulling it off. Kalaiyarasan, Sofia, Janani, Subash and Adithya Bhasker have meaty roles which they bite into and shine in the process.
Vignesh himself in the director's role does a good job of it.
On the flip side, the second anthology of the lovers who discover a secret, seems incomplete as compared to the other three. There are instances which come across as preachy in the first anthology.
Overall, Hotspot puts the viewer in the hotseat and makes him put on his thinking hat and ponder the many roles, relationships, innate biases and issues that need attention in our social fabric. Narrated in a sometimes wacky, other times emotional but overall simple, hard-hitting and entertaining manner.
Rating : 3/5
Starring - Kalaiyarasan, sofia,
Sandy, Ammu Abirami , Adithya
baskar, Gouri kishan, Subash,
Janani iyer and Others
Directed By Vignesh Karthick
Produced by KJB Talkies - Bala
Manimarbhan
Seven Warrior - Suresh Kumar &
Gokul Benoy
Presented by Sixer Entertainment
- Dinesh Kannan
