Nanban!

The frame by frame remake of 3 idiots - Nanban, has indeed been one of the most awaited movies this New year. And, the verdict - from what I see, seems to be divided. The biggest obstacle to any remake is casting. That too for a multi-starrer college based story! The director/producer should literally look out for heroes who can fit in as a college student. Casting is what made the audience wait for this movie. Ilaya Thalapathi Vijay as a College student-who changes the education system is something that only Shankar could have thought of. I guess its the Rajini power that has got into him!

Probably everyone who knew Hindi or even had Hindi literate friends would have watched 3 Idiots. ( Thats what an Aamir Khan movie does to the audience.) A remake of such a remarkable movie is no joke. Shankar has remade this movie shot by shot. Overall, it does look good. I am on the that side of the audience who thought it was not bad at all. Yes, Vijay didn't have the Aamir khan aura around him. He definitely didn't look like the star of the college. But, he did what ever he could. Most importantly, he didn't overact. He did look convincing as Paari. If you are a theevira vijay hater - I am sorry I can't help you. Srikanth and jeeva, fit in really well, and Srikanth's narration was complete justice to the original. Sathyan, as silencer - the California's kongu magan was good, but not perfect. There was no way the Kovai accent could get out of him-even when he says California! Nevertheless, he was funny. Sathyaraj, finally acted in one movie without his stupid misfit punch lines. And thank god he didn't drag his son in to do a role. There were some parts where I thought Boman Irani outplayed him. Oh! I forgot Ileana - she comes in between scenes. She has tried to do a Kareena kapoor, not the Princpal's daughter. So effectively she was ineffective! Anuya as Sathyaraj's elder daughter was a surprise. (Adhukulla heroine ku akka role a!)

Music - Harris saar: Pinnipedal eduthutar. I guess you would have seen the link already, if not please do.

While I do all this, in the other tab of my browser, I am downloading the solutions manual for tomorrow's assignment. Before we decide if Vijay was the right replacement for Aamir Khan, lets just pause for a while and think-"Am I passionate about what I am doing now"? We have successfully engineered a generation, but we fail to realize all that we lost in the process. Keep thinking. And, I wait for the solution manual to download.

Mayakkam Enna - A Selevaraghavan movie

I would want to start off with a small suggestion to Selvaraghavan - He can actually go about registering his brand of stories! Mayakkam Enna is yet another page from Selvaraghavan's "Kadhal kadhaikkal notebook".

So here goes the story. Dhanush (Karthik), an aspiring wildlife photographer (What a transition sirji - from kozhi pandhayam spot fixer to Wildlife photographer!). Genius. Yes, if you can believe Premji amaran being in IIT, you should believe Dhanush is called Genius. Well, in this context Genius is namma hero's patta per because he is a weirdo. Okay, enough of Hero saar! Lets move on to the heroine intro. An ad agency employee in Chennai,Yamini, who agrees to date Dhanush's friend, but finds herself in love with Dhanush. The Bermuda triangle is formed. Things get sorted out quickly, some kadhal konden-ish scenes in between, and Genius gets married to Yamini. (Sadha yamini becomes Genius Yamini :P, Sorry for the PJ, Kinda compensating for the bland humor in the second half) As usual, a bad guy spoils the things in life, and Karthik goes into this Vazhve mayam phase. Mrs Genius Yamini rises up to the situation, and helps her hubby come out in flying colors.

Mayakkum MUSIC. Strikingly, I felt, it was not the Oda oda or Kadhal en Kadhal that took the attention, instead it was the theme and overall BGM which fitted in so well. I would say, this was just another movie made palatable because of Dhanush, Richa and GV, Deepa Venkat(for lending her voice and more so, for doing it so well!!)The heroine deserves an applause. Okay, so the not so good thing about the movie is that its excruciatingly slow. And any tamil film buff would guess what would happen after the interval, Predictable plot. A lot of unwanted uncomfortable lines-the beauty of script writing or dialogues lie in leaving the meaning for the audience to interpret- needn't make things too obvious, kinda spoils the fun. Must mention about the photographs. Really good pictures. I would give the movie a overall 3 on 5.

Ellam ok, but I still don't understand the reason behind Dhanush's kudumi in the last half. Yaarukavudhu purinja sollunga pa!

7m Arivu - too good in Papers!!!

The lookout for an entirely new plot in story making forum of tamizh cinema takes a new turn with 7m arivu’s arrival!!! Seems more stress and care was taken in script as they stepped back in film making. Story about the not so known glory of Bodhi dharman and mix up of sci-fi stuff makes it an interesting plot. Deserving a bouquet, the director shines for such a script.

Narrations initially make it more of documentary kind and the flashback scenes were kindling interest. But, as the real part of story in present starts, the director takes some leniency on logic. Especially the casting of the main villain was too confusing as he is given all mighty super powers. One controlling someone’s mind is agreeable, but then making a layman a martial arts expert in a moment is something not practical.

Surya, as far his part is concerned, has done his part explicitly well. And more of that youthful energetic Surya( ayan, aadhavan kind) is seen here too, which actually is boring especially in his intro song. His ground work for the character and acting has been classy.

Shruthi hasan, a fresh arrival to kollywood has been impressive. More of Tamil nativity speaking could be brought in, especially the slang. Johnny tri nguyen, another imported villain has delivered good with his looks and body language. But, then some more work could have been made in his casting. 

Harris Jeyaraj could have worked more on background as the feeling of freshness in the script was not amicably complemented by the music. Rather, songs and BGM lower the tempo of the story at places. Ravi.K.Chandran shines with his lens at picturing some song sequences. Anthony has done a decent job in editing for a movie demanding more from him.

It makes us feel that the Director has involved himself much in expressing the urge to kindle one’s forgotten glory that he actually has overseen few logical errors in the script. The message is delivered. But the typical Murugadoss style and realism is missing here (We still remember the romance part in tamil Ghajni flashback!!).

At last, an impact which was supposed to be made on seeing such a film after this sort of hype created was not that deep enough. Anyways, worth a watch one in theaters for something NEW from the director’s story board!!!  

Check out the trailer here at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3s27ROJ2G4

Wish you all a happy and safe Deepavali!!!!

Mankatha - In and never out!!!

 Every actor achieves a milestone in his 50^th and 100^th films and so on. But then, if there could be someone who has got a gifted opening and even after a series of disappointments can make a huge impact and could bounce back with a bang, it is none other than the “ULTIMATE STAR”.

He is more an actor than a hero in this multi-starrer action flick. A simple plot, The plan of a gang to loot a lump sum of the bet money and elope and the cat and mouse chase and twists following. Venkat prabhu has the Midas touch of flavoring every recipe with comedy aroma and no wonder he tries it here too and is partly successful with it.

Ajithkumar, on his part delivers 100% and deserves due credit for his long wait with appetite for performance and Arjun, a surprise cast adds significance to the plot with his role. Hardly have we found the need for Trisha, and Andrea etc. The songs were dragging in the first half and we even started wondering when the story would actually begin. Yuvan is magical with his BGM scores and with the initial Mangatha party number. Premji could have been used in a more candid way, we thought. Lakshmi Rai makes a mark in her little screen appearance. Overall, all the stars in the film add up to glittering commemoration of the milestone by Ajith.

Venkat prabhu, could reduce a bit on comedy and shall try to make an impact in the depth of the story. Cameraman Sakthi saravanan, is at his best during the fight and chase scenes. The stunt is awesome during that highway chase, and credits to editors Srikanth and Praveen to add pace.

 

 Again, Police made a puppet here and few cliché of Tamizh cinema repeated here. Proper placing of songs and better visualization of few songs would have added tempo to the story. But every flaw is forgiven for the final twist in the climax and justification of the title there. No doubt the director deserves the praise and a special salute for Ajith Kumar for selecting such a plot and character. 

Catch up Mangaatha for sure if you are up for a jolly cinema experience packed with action and glamour.

180

 

A long gap after working with legends like Mani rathnam and Shankar and after inspiring performances in RDB and some telugu hits(KIKK, Nu osthaanantae…etc..), Siddarth attempts to make a comeback to Tamizh film industry.  But ultimately he tests our patience.

Well to start with, director gets a pat with the superb picturization of title and initial shots. The Fresh looking press photographer role suits one of the heroines well and a typical Chennai is captured. The back ground score and novel cinematography for the first song captures our attention. But then, I guess the director has taken a break in adding tempo to the story. Siddarth makes some philanthropic acts and mystery around his origin is maintained. But some unrealistic and unjustifiable turns take place in the story.

The opera type song by the US heroine really makes one feel the speed breaker in the story. The mix up of present and flashback fails to make an impact. Maybe a continuous thingy for flash back in the second half could have been tried. Later the usual cliché like the mom’s depart, Cancer patient   etc... , dampens the expectations created by initial shots. The main heroine tried to replicate Indian origin American and she puts up a decent show. Quite hard to imagine a doctor being arrogant at places in the second half. Few places here and there, we couldn’t avoid developing a stage drama feel.   

Novelty in Music especially BG scores, slow motion camera (Over dosage at places) tries to take the movie to greater heights. Script gets applause with the character of Siddarth, kaleidoscope view of initial phases of the movie etc. Some questions rise about Mouli family’s adapting nature, Hero’s never ending voyage etc… Maybe director should have worked more in scripting. But, always a red carpet welcome to novel attempts and work by cinematographer needs a special mention. 180 days of siddarth’s life and the twists and turns. 180 + minutes of fun, charm, love and we feel the final moments of the movie miss an accelerator. A bouquet to the director and well it’s worth a watch once in theatres mainly for the eye catching shots!!! 

and now catch up the trailer @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIdMpet_8ww180 trailer  

 

அவன்-இவன்

           
            தம்பியுடன் தியேட்டருக்கு சென்று பார்த்த இரண்டாவது,விஷால் படம்,முதலாவது "தோரணை".அப்படத்தைப் பற்றி அந்த தலைப்போடு நிறுத்திக்கொள்வோம்.அவன்-இவன்,மிக நாட்களாகவே சினிமா ரசிகர்கள் பலரும் எதிர்ப்பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருந்த படம்.பல காரணங்கள் அதற்கு.முதலில்,படத்தின் இயக்குனர் பாலா,தனது கதைக்களங்களுக்காகவும்,வித்தியாசமான பாத்திரப்படைப்புகளுக்காகவும் அப்பாத்திரங்களுக்கு அவர் ஊட்டும் உயிருக்காகவும் பெயர் போனவர்.விஷால்,கமர்ஷியல் படங்களில் மட்டுமே அதிகம் நடித்துப் பழக்கப்பட்ட விஷாலை தன் பாத்திரங்களில் ஒன்றாக பாலா தேர்ந்தெடுத்தது,அதுவும் வித்தியாசமான பாத்திரமாக.ஆர்யா,பாலாவின் "நான் கடவுள்" மூலம் பெரும்பாலான சினிமா ரசிகர்களை தன் பக்கம் திரும்பச்செய்தவர்(என்னை இல்லை),இவர் மீண்டும் பாலாவுடன் இணைந்து ஒரு படம்.யுவன் ஷங்கர் ராஜா-வின் இசை.மிக நாட்களுக்கு முன்னரே வந்த படத்தின் போஸ்டர்கள்.17-ஆம் தேதிவரை வந்துகொண்டிருந்த படத்தின் ட்ரைலர்கள்.ஆக,எல்லோரைப் போல் நானும் அதிகம் எதிர்ப்பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருந்த படம்.சென்ற வாரம்தான் ஆரண்ய காண்டம் பார்த்துவிட்டு, புதுமுக இயக்குனர் குமாரராஜாவே இப்படி ஒரு படம் எடுக்கும்பொழுது,"சேது"பாலாவின் படம் எப்படி இருக்கும் என்று மனதிற்க்குள் எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பை இன்னும் கூட்டிய படம்.பதினாறாம் தேதி இரவு விஜய் டிவியில் விஷாலின் பேட்டியின்போது படத்திற்கான அவரது உழைப்பு பற்றி கேட்டு,அப்படி என்னதான் கதை படத்திற்கு என்று யோசித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தேன், படம் பார்த்து முடித்து இந்நொடி வரை அதைதான் யோசித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.சேது தொடங்கி நான் கடவுள் வரை ஏதோ ஒரு கதைப்பின்னணியைச் சுற்றி பாத்திரங்கள் உருவாக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும்,ஆக அங்கு பாத்திரங்கள் பைத்தியமாக வருவதற்க்கும் பித்தனாக வருவதற்கும் காரணம் இருந்தது.இங்கு கடைசிவரை,விஷால் ஏன் மாறுகண் பார்வை உடையவராக வருகிறார் என்றே தெரியவில்லை,மாறுகண் பார்வை இல்லாமலேயே அப்பாத்திரத்தை படம் முழுதும் நகர்த்தி இருக்க முடியும் புதிய மற்றும் வித்தியாசமான பாத்திரப் படைப்புகளுக்கு பெயர்போன பாலா அப்பணியை மட்டுமே செவ்வனே செய்துவிட்டு கதையை இப்படத்தில் மறந்துவிட்டாரோ என தோன்றும் எண்ணத்தை தவிர்க்க முடியவில்லை.விஷாலின் அபாரமான உழைப்பு உன்மையில் தேவையற்றது படத்திற்கு.பிதாமகனில் வரும் அதே செம்பட்டை தலை விக்ரம் போல ஆர்யா, சூர்யாவின் இடத்தில் அதே போல் விஷால்.போலிஸாக வரும் ஜனனியின் பாத்திரமோ லைலாவையே நினைவூட்டுகிறது.அம்பிகா பாத்திரம் சங்கீதாவை.படத்தில் வரும் விஷாலும் ஆர்யாவும்,ஏன் அவர்களது அம்மாக்கள் அம்பிகாவும் பிரபாவும் கூட திருடர்கள் சாயல் முகத்தில் கொண்டிருந்தாலும் அது முகத்தில் துளியும் ஒட்டாத வண்ணம் அந்த அப்பா பாத்திரம்(குரல்வளப் பயிர்ச்சியாளர் அனந்த்).படத்தின் போஸ்ட்டர்களில் அவனையும்-இவனையும் மிகைப்படுத்தாதிருந்திருந்தால் ஒருவேளைப் படத்தைப் பார்த்த என் போன்றோருக்கு ஜி எம் குமார் கதாநாயகனாகப் பட்டிருக்கலாம்.ஒரு வேளை அந்த பார்வையில் சென்றிருந்தால் படத்தின் கரு கிடைத்திருக்கும்.பார்த்த எங்களுக்கு ஆர்யாவும் விஷாலுமே கதையின் நாயகர்கள் என்று முன்னரே மனதில் பதிந்துவிட்டதால்,அவரைச் சுற்றி கதை நகர்வதாகவும் தெரியவில்லை.ஒருவேளை பாலாவும் எங்களைப் போன்று இதே தவறைத்தான் செய்துவிட்டாரோ?!.அதனால் படத்தின் தலைப்புக் கூட பொருந்தாதது போல ஒரு தோற்றம்.இடைவேளை வரை கதை செல்லும் பாதை வேறு,இடைவேளைக்குப் பிறகு பிதாமகனில் இருந்து கத்தரித்து ஒட்டிவிட்டது போல் இருந்தது.திருடிப் பிழைப்பவர்கள் என்றாலும் பல இடங்களில் அவர்களே உபயோகிக்கத் தயங்கும் கொச்சை சொல் வசனங்கள்.எஸ்.இராமகிருஷ்னணா?! என்று ஆச்சரியப்படும் அளவிற்கு.இவ்வாறு சொற்களை உபயோகித்து எழுதினால் அதுமட்டுமே மேதமை என்றும் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மை என்ற எண்ணமும் மனரீதியாக மனிதர்கள் பலருக்கு உண்டு.அந்த எண்ணம் இவருக்கு தொற்றிக்கொண்டுவிடக் கூடாது என்பது என் வேண்டுகொள்.தனித்தனி கதாப்பாத்திரங்களாக அனைவரும் ரத்தம் சிந்தி உழைத்திருந்தாலும்,கதை என்ற ஒன்று இல்லாமல் படம் மனதைச்சென்றடைய மறுக்கிறது.திரைக் கதையாக அல்லாமல் ஒருவேளை சிறுகதையாக வெளியிட்டிருந்தால் நன்றாக இருந்திருக்குமோ என்று தோன்றியது.ஒரே ஆறுதல் படத்திற்கு யுவனின் இசை, சோகத்திற்க்கான பின்னனிஇசையில் இவர் ஏனோ இளையராஜாவை நினைவு படுத்திவிடுகிறார்.மொத்ததில் அவன்-இவன் எவன்?.

ஈரம்..

I was Watching the Movie EERAM on Vijay TV (22nd may'11)..Just thought  of Sharing this Review I wrote Long back when the Movie was Released.

       A recent movie i saw and amazed at,taking "water" as theme a new crew of totally unknown people in the ocean of kollywood just has done there job "beautifully well" to give one amazing thriller to the cinema lovers.Though the movie is categorized as thriller, it has got all ingredients in it,that one normal cinema should have ,romance,comedy,family sentiments etc etc.. for those who got demented with RGV's typical so called thriller turned comical movies,this would be one best ever counter curse"A FAMILY THRILLER",Ramgopal should learn a lot from this debute crew.Rite from the"name of the apartment" to "The sun signs" the director didn't miss the theme,Hats off to arivazhagan.Shankar ,as a producer should continue encouraging these kind of new concepts.The hero,aadhi as vasu,he is one best fit for the role of Police officer. Nandha,as bala he really thrill the audience with his timed dialogue delivery.He looks totally a different nandha from the one we saw in Mounam paesiyadhae and Punnagaip Poovae.He for sure will go places with his well versed acting skills. Next,the heroine sindhu menon as ramya can a ghost be cute? but she is,both as ghost and as human she look more than pretty.Especially when she comb up tht single strand of hair that will fall on her forehead n her "Only for others" practical nature,she just lives that character.Love the way her character been Portrayed.The trio is really making a good show..Music scored by Thaman of "Boys" fame..Simply rocking he is!..My pick,"Tharai Irangiya paravai  Polavae"...it would be an utter waste if i dont mention about "MANOJ PARAMAHAMSA" cinematographer of this muvee.he is making me question,"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THESE DAYS MAN??!!"...

முதல் யுகத்துல நல்லவங்க மட்டும் இருந்தாங்க..ரெண்டாவது யுகத்துல நல்லவங்க கெட்டவங்கன்னு தனித்தனியா இருந்தாங்க ..மூனாவதுல நல்லவங்க கெட்டவங்க சேர்ந்து இருந்தாங்க.ஆனா, இந்த கலியுகத்துல ஒவ்வொரு நல்லவனுக்குள்ளையும் ஒரு கெட்டவன் இருக்கான் ஒவ்வொரு  கெட்டவனுக்குள்ளையும் ஒரு நல்லவன் இருக்கான் 

its so damn true...
a must watch "FAMILY THRILLER" for those masalaphobic eyes.. :))