One who was waiting in the bus stop for years for the right bus to come and eventually when the right bus came to the bus stop, he couldn't board the bus on time! But this special bus did not wait for him and made him to wait for another week or so to get the ride. Yes! that was my situation with respect to watching Nandalala. I nearly anticipated the movie to hit the screen much earlier and waited for a long time and eventually, when the movie hit the screens, I was unable to grab the first ride of the movie and at last somehow, I managed to watch this Travelogue.
I went literally overbore in praising Mysskin's earlier works. Chitthiram Pesudhadi didn't unveil in depth before I met Mysskin to speak about Nandalala and Anjadhey during the shoot of Nandalala. Anjadhey, during its release didn't either create a big impression before I completed watching the movie. After its release, it was vice versa on my view about the director. That's how came the hype and expectation for Nandalala in me which made me to wait for years, very eagerly!
Mysskin, here has started to kick off at the very moment the movie starts with the title card itself. As soon as the title rolls, we could see the musical genius name 'Ilayaraja' to indicate the importance of his work in this special movie and the title 'Nandalala' carries equal importance to the subject of the movie. It's about a journey of two children, who wants to meet their mother with two different reasons. I said two children as they both though physically of two leagues, mentally one and the same. Each and every scene until the first 20 mins will have equal ratio distribution for the two lead characters in the movie namely Baskar Mani (mentally ill person residing in an Asylum) and Aggi (10 year old student under the guidance of his grandmother). With the given 20 mins until when the two lead characters meet each other, the director has given a beautiful description about the character and their motto and the reason for the journey and the instances that motivates them to see their mother.
Aggi
* Everyone returns from school with their parents but he is left alone standing in front of the school.
* He never likes to be kissed by others even though it's real love.
* He likes MOTHER, be it whatsoever.
* An incident triggers him to see his mother.
* Excursion in his school gives him a chance.
Basker Mani
* Never likes MOTHER.
* Never likes if someone addresses him as Mental.
* He doesn't like to be in Asylum as he thinks he is alright.
* An incident triggers to him to meet his mother.
* He manages to escape from the Asylum.
This is when the two characters meet each other to take the journey with both being selfish in the beginning to meet their mother but later getting convinced due various incidents that occur during their journey. When their journey becomes difficult because of shortage of money, they decide to walk along to depend on the people who pass by. They eventually meet many people with different personalities and fall under different situations. With almost every strangers being important, there are many who steals our heart. I am not going explain each and every situations as it end by typing the whole story. But the director introduces a prostitute on their journey played by Snigdha, who in turn turns out to be an important character for the movie.
The director has cleverly bisected the movie into perfect halves with routing the screenplay with enough evidences. With incidents that introduce more characters, the director increases the pace of the movie in their journey. I could remember a few clichés in the movie. When the lead meets a physically disabled person who directs them a route, Baskar Mani calls him 'Nondi' which then the person ceases to help them. It's a fantastic scene after which the disabled person goes to help another woman who was in the verge of getting raped by two persons. I also loved the scene when Baskar Mani utters where Aggi's mother is when Aggi urges him to tell where his mother is. The shot was composed beautifully allowing Baskar Mani to think for a while and utters 'Thaaivaasal'. The climax scene needs no explanation which has been composed excellently well. The scene when he kneels down in front of his mother and Aggi runs towards Baskar Mani is simply magnificent. With that scene, he explains how Baskar Mani's mind has changed as his intention on the visit is to slap his mother on not coming to see him during his stay in the Asylum. Also, the boy, who kisses the prostitute on seeing his real mother, is top notch.
The strangers have done pure justice to their role and each one of them has been used in the right scene and their synchronisation is clever, where they were utilized in the later part of the movie. Mysskin as an actor is yet another brilliant debut by a director-actor trend and hope it could continue whenever it's required alone. The boy has got a great calibre and will run places. The item girl, Snigdha who was used for an item song has done good justice for a character role.
Mahesh Muthusami's camerawork continues to speak and stand alone in this Mysskin movie as well. The amount of hard work involved in handling the camera is evident in many scenes where the cameraman literally has to run/walk/crawl/roll along with the lead characters to make it a real look. His closes up shots, semi-shots, long shots were cleverly advised by the director to make it come real. The entire journey wouldn't have been so realistic without his intense work behind the camera.
The journey would be incomplete or rather wouldn't have even started without the Third lead character in the movie, the Musical genius Ilayaraja. One would know in the end, why HIS name came first in the title card with HIS top notch terrific background score. If the scenes were composed by the director, Ilayaraja's music elevates those scenes with his background score to give the audience the feel of the character and the scene. The songs literally give you goose bumps and ideal usage of silence yet again proved the power of silence. As I said, the movie would have looked like a trash without the Maestro's magical work.
Mysskin, as a director, scores again and in every movie, he goes a step ahead and sure to go places with his upcoming movies.
Verdict - Tamil Cinema needs such movies more frequently! Please watch it!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
ENDHIRAN - MAGNUM OPUS
From almost sticking to a stereotype formula with his core plot, the social awareness director, Shankar has finally come up with a pure Sci-Fi genre with a tag 'Asia's costliest movie' and with the costliest cast. I am not a great fan of the director but most of his movies have provided enough entertainment be it any form. The director was quoted as someone equivalent to KB in yielding the required input for the movie from any potential cast. I was one among the people who had ROTFL for this statement given by Rajnikanth during Sivaji's silver jubilee celebration. But I was awestruck that the director has got that calibre though not to the extent of KB. If one has to do a quick brush up, almost all his movies carried the same core plot but told to us in much more interesting way so that one wouldn't feel it's a replica. So, does the costliest movie in Asia worth the money spent on it? You must have known Shankar on how he spends money lavishly on areas where it's absolutely not worth of, but Endhiran is an exception. The maker didn't invest his bet on unwanted irrelevant sets. Neither had he spent on disco camera for the stupid stunts nor for the roll over camera for songs. Every money spent of animatronics is worth each and every penny.
The name is Rajnikanth
Be it any Rajni movies, one would mostly talk about his screen presence, style, punch dialogues, action stunts but hardly one talks about his acting or the performance. It had been made by the man himself as he chosen the path to comfort his calibre. Forget about the path he choose, there will be a much or major impact because of his screen presence. There were movies which ran just because for the magic man. But hardly a very few directors uses the acting skills in him. In the 80s, we have seen the BAD ASS Rajni in Netrikan, Moondru Mugam, Moodru Mudichi, Avargal etc., Shankar has significantly used his potential and it's where Rajni just took over from the director for a period of 30 mins in the movie with his magnificent performance as a bad ass. Not many carry that villainous wicked look. Many villains require dialogue delivery or voice modulation or aggressive roughness to make them call a Villain. But, the opening scene of the version 2.0 is evident from the wicked look followed by his ultra laughter. It's not just the bad ass role where Rajni outshined. There has been enough hard work from the man. If you observe Chitti throughout the movie, you could make out the way he walks, the way he hugs, the way he talks, the way he moves his body signifies the amount of hard work the man has put. Why Endhiran is different from other Rajni movies? Can you think of any Rajni movies where there is no introduction song with a mass opening scene and sans punch dialogues? Well, watch Endhiran DOT
Shreya was superb. Nayantara was plump. Trisha was sexy. But for some reason, I just HATE Ash to the core. I used to text message during her screen presence in Raavan. But in Endhiran, she didn't even allow me to answer my phone. I am not ashamed to admit that she is indeed a HEART THROB. Good that unlike other heroines of Tamil cinema, she managed her presence to a significant part of the movie. Her lip sync was near perfect and an apt voice selection to dub for her. Though there isn't anything to talk about the chemistry, the pair looked individually great as the movie doesn't demand intimate relationship except for the songs.
Danny as Dr Borra was strictly OK to his role. But the director should have at least helped to work with his lip sync. Except for the dialogues in English, he was having a very tough time with his lip sync. But most of the scenes where kept as a long shot to hide it. There aren’t any special characters to talk about the other cast in the movie. The whole movie was run by Rajni-Ash-Rajni with some mind blowing visuals from the maker.
Creativity Emperor Shankar
I will never call him a great director. Neither I call James Cameron or Andy Wachowski a great director. But these directors are known for their creativity. Of course, it's too early to map Shankar on par with these legends or the benchmark directors. But at least in India, Shankar earns that respect for directing a movie like Endhiran. The story is perfect. Screenplay waves from good to better to worse to best as the movie progresses. Dialogues are simple and smart. Especially the one liners delivered by Chitti is magic. Direction again waves in a similar sinusoidal pattern. But at the end of the day, his creativity stands tall diluting the areas of miss hit. The way he choreographed the stunt sequences in the climax is simply magnificent and top notch. There are enough scenes where there is Shankar's magic touch to speak about his creativity. The scene where Rajni portrays as Amman has a beautiful correlation to the start of the scene where speakers chant Amman song. The way how the Robots manipulates and unites to form different pattern makes one spellbound. The usage of Animatronics is excellent in almost all the scenes and the graphics is something a bonanza for the audience. We had seen a decent CG work in his recent movies and we have seen hardcore desi CG works in many Indian movies as well. The man's strongest power in film making, Visuals, has helped him in Endhiran brilliantly though there was an over dosage it was much appreciated.
What are the SIGHS in Endhiran?
The man behind the camera, Randy has easily the unluckiest guy in the planet, who has wasted the opportunity given to him. After coming from a rich Sivaji (talking with respect to the cinematography) Endhiran is a damp squib. The visuals of the songs were strictly OK with a mind-blowing location carrying more value. The man should try to learn what to show and how to show! Good that he has shown Ash as a beauty prince!
Another master to contribute to the sigh is our renowned Editor Anthony. When every other crew wants Tamil cinema to be taken to the next level, our editor wants to go back a step. There is a pause many places and people are enlightened that there will be a song in another 3 seconds with an abrupt cut. The switch over doesn't really happen in a smooth manner between scenes and this makes the quality diminished.
The long run of the movie is yet another factor to sigh. When you have plenty of visuals towards the end, why not place the song appropriately or leave a few unwanted songs and release it as a separate album? The first 30 minutes where kept for the sake not to miss two songs! When Shankar can understand the strength of Rajni and kept the bad ass character, he could have captivated to run long by shortening other sequences.
Jarring BGM is another pain in the ass. Credit for making an effective audio should goto the sound engineers for making the Robot voice clear with robotic sound. I am strictly against the version 1.0, 2.0 BGM track. Thanks to the Arima song which has moulded quite efficiently for the climax background score. But suprisingly the songs which I thought would be pathetic have come out good. I never expected Boom Boom Robot da to be choreographed well but it ended with a good note. We lost the opening song as it was segmented as the movie required. Irumbile was just OK whereas Arima Arima had massive visuals. Kilimanjaro was saved because of its location.
Verdict - Step inside a theatre to experience a roller coaster ride DOT
The name is Rajnikanth
Be it any Rajni movies, one would mostly talk about his screen presence, style, punch dialogues, action stunts but hardly one talks about his acting or the performance. It had been made by the man himself as he chosen the path to comfort his calibre. Forget about the path he choose, there will be a much or major impact because of his screen presence. There were movies which ran just because for the magic man. But hardly a very few directors uses the acting skills in him. In the 80s, we have seen the BAD ASS Rajni in Netrikan, Moondru Mugam, Moodru Mudichi, Avargal etc., Shankar has significantly used his potential and it's where Rajni just took over from the director for a period of 30 mins in the movie with his magnificent performance as a bad ass. Not many carry that villainous wicked look. Many villains require dialogue delivery or voice modulation or aggressive roughness to make them call a Villain. But, the opening scene of the version 2.0 is evident from the wicked look followed by his ultra laughter. It's not just the bad ass role where Rajni outshined. There has been enough hard work from the man. If you observe Chitti throughout the movie, you could make out the way he walks, the way he hugs, the way he talks, the way he moves his body signifies the amount of hard work the man has put. Why Endhiran is different from other Rajni movies? Can you think of any Rajni movies where there is no introduction song with a mass opening scene and sans punch dialogues? Well, watch Endhiran DOT
Shreya was superb. Nayantara was plump. Trisha was sexy. But for some reason, I just HATE Ash to the core. I used to text message during her screen presence in Raavan. But in Endhiran, she didn't even allow me to answer my phone. I am not ashamed to admit that she is indeed a HEART THROB. Good that unlike other heroines of Tamil cinema, she managed her presence to a significant part of the movie. Her lip sync was near perfect and an apt voice selection to dub for her. Though there isn't anything to talk about the chemistry, the pair looked individually great as the movie doesn't demand intimate relationship except for the songs.
Danny as Dr Borra was strictly OK to his role. But the director should have at least helped to work with his lip sync. Except for the dialogues in English, he was having a very tough time with his lip sync. But most of the scenes where kept as a long shot to hide it. There aren’t any special characters to talk about the other cast in the movie. The whole movie was run by Rajni-Ash-Rajni with some mind blowing visuals from the maker.
Creativity Emperor Shankar
I will never call him a great director. Neither I call James Cameron or Andy Wachowski a great director. But these directors are known for their creativity. Of course, it's too early to map Shankar on par with these legends or the benchmark directors. But at least in India, Shankar earns that respect for directing a movie like Endhiran. The story is perfect. Screenplay waves from good to better to worse to best as the movie progresses. Dialogues are simple and smart. Especially the one liners delivered by Chitti is magic. Direction again waves in a similar sinusoidal pattern. But at the end of the day, his creativity stands tall diluting the areas of miss hit. The way he choreographed the stunt sequences in the climax is simply magnificent and top notch. There are enough scenes where there is Shankar's magic touch to speak about his creativity. The scene where Rajni portrays as Amman has a beautiful correlation to the start of the scene where speakers chant Amman song. The way how the Robots manipulates and unites to form different pattern makes one spellbound. The usage of Animatronics is excellent in almost all the scenes and the graphics is something a bonanza for the audience. We had seen a decent CG work in his recent movies and we have seen hardcore desi CG works in many Indian movies as well. The man's strongest power in film making, Visuals, has helped him in Endhiran brilliantly though there was an over dosage it was much appreciated.
What are the SIGHS in Endhiran?
The man behind the camera, Randy has easily the unluckiest guy in the planet, who has wasted the opportunity given to him. After coming from a rich Sivaji (talking with respect to the cinematography) Endhiran is a damp squib. The visuals of the songs were strictly OK with a mind-blowing location carrying more value. The man should try to learn what to show and how to show! Good that he has shown Ash as a beauty prince!
Another master to contribute to the sigh is our renowned Editor Anthony. When every other crew wants Tamil cinema to be taken to the next level, our editor wants to go back a step. There is a pause many places and people are enlightened that there will be a song in another 3 seconds with an abrupt cut. The switch over doesn't really happen in a smooth manner between scenes and this makes the quality diminished.
The long run of the movie is yet another factor to sigh. When you have plenty of visuals towards the end, why not place the song appropriately or leave a few unwanted songs and release it as a separate album? The first 30 minutes where kept for the sake not to miss two songs! When Shankar can understand the strength of Rajni and kept the bad ass character, he could have captivated to run long by shortening other sequences.
Jarring BGM is another pain in the ass. Credit for making an effective audio should goto the sound engineers for making the Robot voice clear with robotic sound. I am strictly against the version 1.0, 2.0 BGM track. Thanks to the Arima song which has moulded quite efficiently for the climax background score. But suprisingly the songs which I thought would be pathetic have come out good. I never expected Boom Boom Robot da to be choreographed well but it ended with a good note. We lost the opening song as it was segmented as the movie required. Irumbile was just OK whereas Arima Arima had massive visuals. Kilimanjaro was saved because of its location.
Verdict - Step inside a theatre to experience a roller coaster ride DOT
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
An example for Cheap Direction!
SPOILER ALERT
The controversial director Saami, who loves making movies with disgusting themes, has paraded his perversion yet again. All his movies have been certified as 'Adult only', which, I am sure Saami would feel proud about. I liked his earlier films, not for his film-making but for its brave concept. His films evoke interesting discussion on public forums and on blogs. One should know what and how to make a movie. He is a perfect example for students of film-making on how not to make a movie.
Sindhu Samaveli is about a forbidden relationship within the family but except for Saami, none would understand what the director has tried to showcase in the film. He is brave enough to reveal his inspiration, Ivan Turgenev's First love . But it looks like Saami wanted to present the Tamil audience with perfect B-grade soft porn film. The movie is about a relationship between daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. One shouldn't question how pervert the director can be? Well, that's not the point here. There are millions of instances and incidents that happen across the country. In fact, there are relationships which are much more disgusting. But when it comes to film making, there needs to be some sort of finesse.
Balachandar's Aboorva Raagangal too dealt with such a theme. But Balachandar's handled the issue well with well-etched out emotions sans vulgarity. And there are millions of such movies which even got nominated for Oscars from world cinema. There are movies describing the intimate relationship between a mother and son have been conveyed poetically.
The director has shown the love between the lead pair (actual pair), a boy who is younger than his beloved by 3 years. The hero's dream of becoming a teacher makes him to go out of the city for a teacher training institute. This makes his wife and his father to be alone in the house. Earlier instances have shown the father character to be a service man and he has lost his wife in an accident. The director has also shown the father character as someone who had very less chance to enjoy sexual pleasures since he was fighting for the country in far away lands. When these two characters were alone, the father character who never really had any intentions, suddenly changes when he gets to see her assets. Such series of instances makes him go wild and mistake happens. But the daughter-in- law also started to have similar feelings and the next sequences of scenes show them as husband wife relationship. To explain the way the scenes were picturised gives the audience a feeling or even a message that 'Do not leave your wife alone and go to a different place'.
Either the director should have shown such a relationship as real love and not just longing for their bodies. The movie had the following to make it an example for non-sense movie making.
They are:
• Poor acting
• Non sense music
• Sick screenplay
• Irritating comedy
• Cheap direction
Verdict : Careful where you want to watch this movie!!!!
The controversial director Saami, who loves making movies with disgusting themes, has paraded his perversion yet again. All his movies have been certified as 'Adult only', which, I am sure Saami would feel proud about. I liked his earlier films, not for his film-making but for its brave concept. His films evoke interesting discussion on public forums and on blogs. One should know what and how to make a movie. He is a perfect example for students of film-making on how not to make a movie.
Sindhu Samaveli is about a forbidden relationship within the family but except for Saami, none would understand what the director has tried to showcase in the film. He is brave enough to reveal his inspiration, Ivan Turgenev's First love . But it looks like Saami wanted to present the Tamil audience with perfect B-grade soft porn film. The movie is about a relationship between daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. One shouldn't question how pervert the director can be? Well, that's not the point here. There are millions of instances and incidents that happen across the country. In fact, there are relationships which are much more disgusting. But when it comes to film making, there needs to be some sort of finesse.
Balachandar's Aboorva Raagangal too dealt with such a theme. But Balachandar's handled the issue well with well-etched out emotions sans vulgarity. And there are millions of such movies which even got nominated for Oscars from world cinema. There are movies describing the intimate relationship between a mother and son have been conveyed poetically.
The director has shown the love between the lead pair (actual pair), a boy who is younger than his beloved by 3 years. The hero's dream of becoming a teacher makes him to go out of the city for a teacher training institute. This makes his wife and his father to be alone in the house. Earlier instances have shown the father character to be a service man and he has lost his wife in an accident. The director has also shown the father character as someone who had very less chance to enjoy sexual pleasures since he was fighting for the country in far away lands. When these two characters were alone, the father character who never really had any intentions, suddenly changes when he gets to see her assets. Such series of instances makes him go wild and mistake happens. But the daughter-in- law also started to have similar feelings and the next sequences of scenes show them as husband wife relationship. To explain the way the scenes were picturised gives the audience a feeling or even a message that 'Do not leave your wife alone and go to a different place'.
Either the director should have shown such a relationship as real love and not just longing for their bodies. The movie had the following to make it an example for non-sense movie making.
They are:
• Poor acting
• Non sense music
• Sick screenplay
• Irritating comedy
• Cheap direction
Verdict : Careful where you want to watch this movie!!!!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
In the Name of Entertainment
I was quite surprised to see positive reviews everywhere. Have I missed except for the first 10 mins of the movie? I cannot watch it one more time for this ONLY reason. Looks like, Suseendharan who carried Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu quite pleasantly until the climax has decided that its time to join the commercial bandwagon. It is certainly has nothing new to offer. A typical middle class family with an unemployed youth with a sister waiting to get married. A father, who struggles to make ends meet working as a call taxi driver. Desparate coincidence of a group of villain to get interfered in hero's family. Final countdown to climax where hero quenches victory. Very recently, we would have seen a similar tag in 'Polladhavan'. Wonder what made the director to choose the title 'Naan Mahan Alla'.
Karthi, the lead in the movie, has done quite well, although the role does not offer much scope. The run-of-the-mill boy next door character looked out of place and unpleasant. In the first half, he makes the audience laugh with his wit. In the later half, he transforms into a rampaging lion out for revenge. The action sequences in the climax had a liberal dose of exaggeration, but the short comings were compensated by the conceptualisation. In Tamil cinema, there is no need to talk about heroine except in very few cases. Well, I am certainly not talking about the exceptional cases here. Applause for Suseendran for getting the casting right. Especially, the Goondas. Especially the guy who plan's the murder was an outstanding piece of work, in terms of casting. And the big henchman in the city was top notch. After scoring high in the casting department, one wonders why their screen space was reduced.
Yuvan Shankar Raja should be walking away with most of the accolades the movie receives for the mood. His background score is quite brilliant and adds more flavour to the screenplay. Cinematography was pretty decent and nicely done in the busy streets of the city.
The director should probably take up refreshing concepts and handle it in a better way. Just like his earlier venture, Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu which was a welcome and refreshing movie for Tamil Cinema.
Verdict - Mindless in-the-name-of Entertainment
Karthi, the lead in the movie, has done quite well, although the role does not offer much scope. The run-of-the-mill boy next door character looked out of place and unpleasant. In the first half, he makes the audience laugh with his wit. In the later half, he transforms into a rampaging lion out for revenge. The action sequences in the climax had a liberal dose of exaggeration, but the short comings were compensated by the conceptualisation. In Tamil cinema, there is no need to talk about heroine except in very few cases. Well, I am certainly not talking about the exceptional cases here. Applause for Suseendran for getting the casting right. Especially, the Goondas. Especially the guy who plan's the murder was an outstanding piece of work, in terms of casting. And the big henchman in the city was top notch. After scoring high in the casting department, one wonders why their screen space was reduced.
Yuvan Shankar Raja should be walking away with most of the accolades the movie receives for the mood. His background score is quite brilliant and adds more flavour to the screenplay. Cinematography was pretty decent and nicely done in the busy streets of the city.
The director should probably take up refreshing concepts and handle it in a better way. Just like his earlier venture, Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu which was a welcome and refreshing movie for Tamil Cinema.
Verdict - Mindless in-the-name-of Entertainment
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Romantic ride from Chennai to Madras
Tamil Cinema had History movies as well as period movies but you can easily hand pick them. If you have to take History movies, a few brilliant numbers that strike first are Siraichaalai, directed by Priyadarshan, taking a portion of patriotic struggle in a prison as well as tagging a love story. Also we had many biographies like Bharathi, Periyaar, Iruvar, etc., which again portray about them. If you have to pick real period movies, we have our Hey Raam from our Master Kamal Haasan which was again a research on a truth. In the recent times, we had several 'in-the-name-of-period-movies' like Subramaniapuram and a few others which had very less use of art work but more dependant on Ilayaraja to show case them as a period movie. But Madarasapattinam holds a clear Period tag with appreciable research on Vintage madras.
The story should not be confused as a patriotic movie as marketed or as shown in the trailers. This is purely a romantic story 'PERIOD'. This is a clever take for a period movie. Quite often, when you make a period or a history movie, 99% will fall under patriotism. Yes, even this movie has such scenes but the romance was given more importance and Vijay has clearly conveyed at right situation. August 15, 1947 is THE day for the Indians, but when Paridhi hears about the British will be leaving the town, you could see a sigh! Even in scenes when Indians were eagerly expecting the Independence Day, you could see the lead in search for their love. But, Vijay has also touched many political areas during that time of Madras pretty carefully.
Before I dig the cast, I must appreciate the art director and the whole team's research work for taking us a tour to ancient Madras. The immense hard work in the art direction elevated a big higher with Nirav's magic in the form of camera. Check out the tone of color being used to differentiate Madras from Chennai. Lastly, I saw such a work in Kanchivaram thought it didn't have scope to show the present. Both were sensational throughout the movie. They don't just merely show us the hand pulled vehicles, trams, motor vehicles, etc., but they have concentrated on the tag or the advertisement it carries. Bravo! Adding more to it, they also tried to cover a few political events that happened during that era. We could see Nasser (Wrestling teacher) being an ardent follower of Nethaji, where he still believes that he is alive. And whenever an airplane flies, people started shouting 'kundu poduraanga' to imply the bombing in Madras during 1940s.
Talking about the cast and in particular about the support cast needs a special mention here. Late VMC Haneefa, man, we just lost a brilliant actor! As usual he made us laugh with his remarkable sense of humor and witty dialogues and of course his dialogue delivery. Aarya as Paridhi did a neat role. But the ample scope was put on Amy who carried the movie from the beginning till the end credits. If you know that she dubbed her own voice, she danced, she sang, will you believe? Not just that, her acting was sensational. She did right reactions at right places. The old Amy was magnificent. She had a dignified appearance which she carried very well. Balaji and the other comedian were seriously good in evoking laughter than the so-called Vivek & Vadivelu's irritation screen presence with a separate track for them. The taxi driver did a good role with stressing on donation part again and again. So, the casting was rightly chosen and quite neatly placed by the director.
I seriously had no hopes in the music when I heard GVP. But after listening to tracks pre release time, my hopes were quite decent. I can see maturity in this movie. The love theme was very clever and smart one which elevates the screen. His BGM in other scenes were also quite good and importantly not irritating. First thing that strike me at the cinema hall was the work of the editor Anthony. The screenplay travels from London to Chennai to Madras to Chennai to Madras to London to Chennai. The travel is smooth as a Benz car ride. The connector for the period switch like Sudhesi Mithran to Hindu or the Coovam to the Thames River is top notch! I never felt any jumps in the scene or any disturbance when a switch over is made. Great work in the editing department.
Vijay, the director after remaking scripts has proved that he has got some caliber and stuff. The opening scene seriously made me to think if it's going to be another Titanic but he just erases our thought soon. When you think that he has come to pre interval Lagaan, he comes again and ceases your thought immediately. I am just trying to say that one cannot take these scenes as evidences to equate it to Lagaan or Titanic. Though he still carried Priyadarshan flavor in the movie, I could see a new entry to the group of good film makers.
Verdict - Go for the pleasant romantic ride from Chennai to Madharasapattinam
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
The story should not be confused as a patriotic movie as marketed or as shown in the trailers. This is purely a romantic story 'PERIOD'. This is a clever take for a period movie. Quite often, when you make a period or a history movie, 99% will fall under patriotism. Yes, even this movie has such scenes but the romance was given more importance and Vijay has clearly conveyed at right situation. August 15, 1947 is THE day for the Indians, but when Paridhi hears about the British will be leaving the town, you could see a sigh! Even in scenes when Indians were eagerly expecting the Independence Day, you could see the lead in search for their love. But, Vijay has also touched many political areas during that time of Madras pretty carefully.
Before I dig the cast, I must appreciate the art director and the whole team's research work for taking us a tour to ancient Madras. The immense hard work in the art direction elevated a big higher with Nirav's magic in the form of camera. Check out the tone of color being used to differentiate Madras from Chennai. Lastly, I saw such a work in Kanchivaram thought it didn't have scope to show the present. Both were sensational throughout the movie. They don't just merely show us the hand pulled vehicles, trams, motor vehicles, etc., but they have concentrated on the tag or the advertisement it carries. Bravo! Adding more to it, they also tried to cover a few political events that happened during that era. We could see Nasser (Wrestling teacher) being an ardent follower of Nethaji, where he still believes that he is alive. And whenever an airplane flies, people started shouting 'kundu poduraanga' to imply the bombing in Madras during 1940s.
Talking about the cast and in particular about the support cast needs a special mention here. Late VMC Haneefa, man, we just lost a brilliant actor! As usual he made us laugh with his remarkable sense of humor and witty dialogues and of course his dialogue delivery. Aarya as Paridhi did a neat role. But the ample scope was put on Amy who carried the movie from the beginning till the end credits. If you know that she dubbed her own voice, she danced, she sang, will you believe? Not just that, her acting was sensational. She did right reactions at right places. The old Amy was magnificent. She had a dignified appearance which she carried very well. Balaji and the other comedian were seriously good in evoking laughter than the so-called Vivek & Vadivelu's irritation screen presence with a separate track for them. The taxi driver did a good role with stressing on donation part again and again. So, the casting was rightly chosen and quite neatly placed by the director.
I seriously had no hopes in the music when I heard GVP. But after listening to tracks pre release time, my hopes were quite decent. I can see maturity in this movie. The love theme was very clever and smart one which elevates the screen. His BGM in other scenes were also quite good and importantly not irritating. First thing that strike me at the cinema hall was the work of the editor Anthony. The screenplay travels from London to Chennai to Madras to Chennai to Madras to London to Chennai. The travel is smooth as a Benz car ride. The connector for the period switch like Sudhesi Mithran to Hindu or the Coovam to the Thames River is top notch! I never felt any jumps in the scene or any disturbance when a switch over is made. Great work in the editing department.
Vijay, the director after remaking scripts has proved that he has got some caliber and stuff. The opening scene seriously made me to think if it's going to be another Titanic but he just erases our thought soon. When you think that he has come to pre interval Lagaan, he comes again and ceases your thought immediately. I am just trying to say that one cannot take these scenes as evidences to equate it to Lagaan or Titanic. Though he still carried Priyadarshan flavor in the movie, I could see a new entry to the group of good film makers.
Verdict - Go for the pleasant romantic ride from Chennai to Madharasapattinam
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Where is the REAL VAALMIKI?
Raavanan falls for Sita and probably a kind of vice versa as well which makes Raavan, an unexpected love triangle. Well, there must be various country dependant factors in MR’s(Mani Ratnam) mind to carefully adapt Ramayan. But the man who made Dalapathi which is a clear inspiration of Mahabharath, the Karnan episode fails to render something which is of Mani’s standard. Focus is given more on the making rather than the film making, the STORY!
Fresh time, an antagonist is being given a heroism opening which indirectly MR tries to convey the hero of the movie or rather, the mould that he has deliberately done to the epic which is a MYTH. Ramayan as everyone knows is a battle between Rama and Raavana and here MR has tries to portray the other side of Raavan or probably the actual nature of Raavan. One myth or truth which I heard from my grand parents is Raavan was a perfect man and never harass women. Throughout the movie Veera, the Raavanan character never touches the Sita, Raagini. This piece of screenplay I expected it from the beginning and MR does justice to it. So what were the aspects that stopped or interrupted MR’s freedom in film making? I feel MR tried to show the vice versa part which I have explained earlier but you know the freedom struggle to showcase the myth in INDIA
Where and all I have seen MR’s touch in the movie? First scene that I can remember is the conversation between Aish and Vikram in front of Lord Vishnu who is also an avatar of Lord Venkatesh according to the Hindu mythology. The dialogues were brilliant in that scene and perhaps the only scene where I felt MR’s trademark in dialogues. The person who claimed credits for a master class dialogues in probably the best of MR’s movie failed here with HER sluggish dialogues and unwanted poem in interesting places. Another piece of interesting narrative in a MR’s movie from the others is the scenes that speak for themselves. When we see Vikram with a plaster in his neck, there isn’t a voiceover on the whereabouts of the wound. But with a flashback sequence, MR let the audience to connect the screenplay. The voiceover or the introduction given to Veera is probably what the director wants to mould the actual myth. He desperately wants to portray Raavanan as a good humble and honest person and Raam, has been shown as a clever and cunning person with his own Male Chauvinistic character as that to the actual myth. Here in Raavanan, MR has adapted the play Ramayan with clever spots. The exile of 14 days in the forest, the forest itself, the Bridge connects Raam and Raavanan, Soorpanaka being threatened by the cops that her nose will be cut and the Hanuman character played by Karthik with clear or rather annoying experience of jumping from trees to vehicle and what not?
But why would he want to show the character Raam has too badly? I agree he has a mindset to showcase something contradictory, but shouldn’t they follow with some acceptable evidences? We saw MR in Iruvar, though there was a slight corner favoring MGR, it still remains a cult classic under MR’s cap. The reason behind killing Raavanan’s brother who has come to talk for peace and the torture done by him to a guy who has already lost his arm is seriously sick!
It’s quite usual to make people talk about the cinematography when it has some breathtaking visuals and never seen or impossible to shoot scenes. But I am not saying those weren’t shot poor! Many forget to think the composition of the shots being used. Whenever Raavanan is shot, the shot is made jarring or shaky indicating how mad he is! And also the conversation between two persons was shot in a rotary motion capture just to indicate the raise over. Of course the shots in the initial and the final sequences of the movie were seriously breathtaking visuals and make everyone to talk more on cinematography. Also cinematography talks on the lights as well. From the usual Tamil cinema trend, MR chooses a different track but he has got his own trend to follow which I feel he never comes out of it. MR showed dark light for an introduction of an antagonist and the kidnap is done on a day light! Also MR has done neat justice on the costume as well. Throughout the movie, you could see the black shade in Raavanan’s character and white shade in Vikram’s character. But these costumes explicit their character to the outer nature but signifies indirectly as the narrative goes.
ARR for any movie is a big plus, but the songs were placed in some positions that caused an obstacle to the pace of the movie. They literally acted as a speed breakers as I witnessed a series of speed breakers as if I am traveling in a road where you have 4 schools. I could see 3 songs in a span of 14 minutes. The background score had it bits and pieces from various historic movies from Hollywood
Though the movie had many interesting parts, I feel that Mani should have either gone for an Iruvar Style or a totally different adoption! This half baked product is something no one will expect from Mani’s caliber. There were many open ended questions about the logical connection in the movie on how Karthik was able to find Sita’s place. Also he could have shown his trademark stress on the screenplay. We needn’t be taught more on Karthik’s character by jumping in every scene and the way he sits. We needn’t be taught on Soorpanaka in the form of Priyamani to be stressed on cutting her nose.
Verdict : Making speaks more than the screenplay! Mani, is it seriously under you belt?
Review posted at www.clapsandboos.com
Monday, June 14, 2010
Orr Iravu - Indian answer to Paranormal Activity
Orr Iravu initially called ‘ERAA’ comes with a tag ‘India’s first viewpoint film’ also called ‘camera point of view’ movie. Perhaps we have seen and astonished at the recent Paranormal Activity or the classic Blair Witch Project. In the lines comes an Indian answer to Paranormal Activity, Orr Iravu.
Movie starts with a serial and never goes or drags like an usual serial. The momentum keeps going with awesome non linear play. The movie takes break between the reality show and the protagonist’s narration. What I mean by Protagonist is the camera itself. The story is pretty simple and cool about the mystery involved in the death of Nakulan Ponnusamy, a Paranormal Investigator. A dead man narrating his death is something unusual but that’s excellently connected with the help of the reality show in the form of evidences and proofs.
For Tamil Cinema, we have literally drenched on seeing White Ujaala Saree, Fox howling, Blood shed faces, etc., We keep telling ourselves when will we change from these portrayal of ghosts! Well, we have finally a movie of such kind, which really speaks about reality. This is just to stress the fact that the amount of investigation and ground work has been done by the team for talking a movie which is very much lacking in many potential directors. Now days, we hardly see a movie without song, glamour, lip lock scenes, etc., These are just bitter facts about the trend that we have and there are movies like this which needs a welcome.
There are so many things in the movie to be enjoyed. First thing that will make everyone to speak is the camera man! The hero himself has handled the camera and this is an excellent work. Beautiful usage of natural lights and thoroughly maintained the realism throughout the movie. Another thing to be loved is the narration and dialogues. We have very less cast in the movie and most of the play was occupied the camera himself. I started enjoying the dialogues when Nakulan started to feel from the moment he walked out of Anand’s house after collecting his assignment. He takes us a ride along side with him explaining how he enjoyed things as he sees. There were witty dialogues and teasers kept then and there. Lovable haunting back ground score. If I had to name one horror movie in which I enjoyed and literally haunted by the music, I would say ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. A background score for a movie earns full marks when it buzzes your ear after several hours of the movie. Rosemary’s Baby’s BGM score haunts me even now! But now I have watched Orr Iravu. Period. Well, it’s not just the BGM alone, there are 3 brilliant men behind the scenes as well as in the scenes, the directors of this paranormal thriller. Handheld camera shoot is probably the toughest work for the editing department. But Hari has made it look so smooth and pleasant without any abrupt jumps. The directors of the movie have done a remarkable job by keeping the audience engaged every minute. It’s seriously a roller coaster experience, as the movie makes you yourself what will happen next? Thought it’s quite evident that Nakulan will die, it’s quite commendable job to make the audience engaging even though they knew what’s gonna happen at the end.
Verdict – A must watch for the brave attempt and a roller coaster experience!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Movie starts with a serial and never goes or drags like an usual serial. The momentum keeps going with awesome non linear play. The movie takes break between the reality show and the protagonist’s narration. What I mean by Protagonist is the camera itself. The story is pretty simple and cool about the mystery involved in the death of Nakulan Ponnusamy, a Paranormal Investigator. A dead man narrating his death is something unusual but that’s excellently connected with the help of the reality show in the form of evidences and proofs.
For Tamil Cinema, we have literally drenched on seeing White Ujaala Saree, Fox howling, Blood shed faces, etc., We keep telling ourselves when will we change from these portrayal of ghosts! Well, we have finally a movie of such kind, which really speaks about reality. This is just to stress the fact that the amount of investigation and ground work has been done by the team for talking a movie which is very much lacking in many potential directors. Now days, we hardly see a movie without song, glamour, lip lock scenes, etc., These are just bitter facts about the trend that we have and there are movies like this which needs a welcome.
There are so many things in the movie to be enjoyed. First thing that will make everyone to speak is the camera man! The hero himself has handled the camera and this is an excellent work. Beautiful usage of natural lights and thoroughly maintained the realism throughout the movie. Another thing to be loved is the narration and dialogues. We have very less cast in the movie and most of the play was occupied the camera himself. I started enjoying the dialogues when Nakulan started to feel from the moment he walked out of Anand’s house after collecting his assignment. He takes us a ride along side with him explaining how he enjoyed things as he sees. There were witty dialogues and teasers kept then and there. Lovable haunting back ground score. If I had to name one horror movie in which I enjoyed and literally haunted by the music, I would say ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. A background score for a movie earns full marks when it buzzes your ear after several hours of the movie. Rosemary’s Baby’s BGM score haunts me even now! But now I have watched Orr Iravu. Period. Well, it’s not just the BGM alone, there are 3 brilliant men behind the scenes as well as in the scenes, the directors of this paranormal thriller. Handheld camera shoot is probably the toughest work for the editing department. But Hari has made it look so smooth and pleasant without any abrupt jumps. The directors of the movie have done a remarkable job by keeping the audience engaged every minute. It’s seriously a roller coaster experience, as the movie makes you yourself what will happen next? Thought it’s quite evident that Nakulan will die, it’s quite commendable job to make the audience engaging even though they knew what’s gonna happen at the end.
Verdict – A must watch for the brave attempt and a roller coaster experience!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Thursday, June 3, 2010
And the name is Ilayaraja
This article doesn’t talk about the great work of the Maestro and one cannot summarize praising his works in a single article as the MAN has achieved something that easily touches the sky. This article is about the Love, the Madness, and the Respect I have for the Genius ‘Isaignani’ Ilayaraja.
Sir, I feel privileged to live in your era. I can proudly tell my grand children that I lived in the period where one of the world’s greatest composers lived. I can even tell them the magic you have in your music, which is always unique, and I am sure your music will still haunt them and their future generations to come. And I also wish you be there at their period as well. And that’s probably one of the reasons why I don’t want your birthday come every year!
Sir, every individual will feel happy when they have a unique identity. Of course, I am no exception. But I will feel happier if someone addresses me as Ilayaraja’s Fanatic. Likewise Sir, everyone will definitely feel flying high when someone praises him or her. I will fly high when I hear people wishing you, praising you, talking about you and even when your name is heard. The happiness at that moment is seriously incomparable Sir and I feel standing tall and punch my cheeks when people chant you.
Sir, I was not born Atheist. But I practiced atheism as I grew. But still, I worship you Sir! These are not just phrases, I mean it Sir. And I am sure there are a lot of atheists turned into theists after 1976, with your divine music! My bad luck Sir, I was born a bit late in the 80s to get converted. I never had the habit of chanting Mantras or prayers Sir, but these vanished when I heard your Thiruvasagam. Do you know Sir, since the age I can recollect and remember, no single day I have been without listening to Janani Janani Song from Thaai Mookambigai. I seriously don’t know Sir, whenever I hear this song, I tend to forget everything what I am doing and dedicate myself to the song. Is it because of your divine voice Sir? Likewise how many songs should I name Sir? If one talks about getting Goosebumps whenever they hear a song, I think it’s solely belong to you and the magic in your voice! I couldn’t even imagine if someone can be in a normal state of mind when they hear ‘Poovar Senni Mannan’ from Thiruvasagam. This particular song haunted me for years and even now Sir.
Sir, why didn’t you go to Bollywood Sir? I have no other cheap thoughts but honestly Sir, if you were at Bollywood, I couldn’t even imagine the number of laurels and awards and honors that you would have got! Is it because of the fact that you were doing close to 50 films a year Sir? Sir, I would like to stress that statistical fact that a year consists of 52 weeks. I know Sir, during 80s and early 90s, you did 40+ movies a year and 99.9% turning out to be chartbusters and evergreen hits. Or is it because the musicians in Bollywood couldn’t match your pace Sir? I remember what SPB told in your concert Sir. When you went to Bombay for composing Thalapathy songs, the musicians and technicians over there couldn’t play for your composition and politely told you not to come to Bollywood. Is it true Sir? I know Sir, apart from all these things, the love you have for your mother and your motherland is the kernel factor. Still Sir, I am very angry on the awards and honors you got Sir. I was thinking Sir, a MAN who has 800+ movies with everlasting evergreen numbers, has got just 3 National Awards and no international awards? Later I came to know the rules and criteria for the National Awards Sir. They cannot give 40+ awards for Best Music Director in a year isn’t it?
How many singers have you introduced Sir? How many directors and how many music directors you have introduced sir? More than that, how many lead heroes earned name because of your song Sir? Will Tamil Cinema remember actors like Mohan, Murali, Ramarajan, etc., sans Ilayaraja? Music be it in any form, the technicians will pick at least one of your song as their favorite and difficult composition.
‘Pudhu Raagam Padaippadhaaley Neeyum Iraivane’ isn’t it Sir? How much have you explored in music Sir? How many ragas have you introduced and invented and redefined? Recently, you composed a song with just 3 swaras ‘Sa’ ‘Ri’ ‘Ga’. I am truly amazed! I don’t know proper music Sir, nor I have learnt carnatic. But still your experiments surprise me and make me astonish. I am just trying to imagine what will happen to people who learnt proper music. How many renovations have you made from your own songs? And how many music directors said you are their inspiration! Retuned songs from Paa and Cheeni Kum made Bollywood to praise your great evergreen hits! How many dimensions have you given to a single song? You did something, which no other music director has ever done. You went to Hungary and Budapest and did Symphony. Doing a Symphony is something a lifetime ambition and dream for many music directors but you surpassed everything Sir.
Finally, as Odysseus says in Troy, If they ever tell my story let them say I listened to great musicians. Let them say I lived in the time of Ilayaraja!
Sir, I feel privileged to live in your era. I can proudly tell my grand children that I lived in the period where one of the world’s greatest composers lived. I can even tell them the magic you have in your music, which is always unique, and I am sure your music will still haunt them and their future generations to come. And I also wish you be there at their period as well. And that’s probably one of the reasons why I don’t want your birthday come every year!
Sir, every individual will feel happy when they have a unique identity. Of course, I am no exception. But I will feel happier if someone addresses me as Ilayaraja’s Fanatic. Likewise Sir, everyone will definitely feel flying high when someone praises him or her. I will fly high when I hear people wishing you, praising you, talking about you and even when your name is heard. The happiness at that moment is seriously incomparable Sir and I feel standing tall and punch my cheeks when people chant you.
Sir, I was not born Atheist. But I practiced atheism as I grew. But still, I worship you Sir! These are not just phrases, I mean it Sir. And I am sure there are a lot of atheists turned into theists after 1976, with your divine music! My bad luck Sir, I was born a bit late in the 80s to get converted. I never had the habit of chanting Mantras or prayers Sir, but these vanished when I heard your Thiruvasagam. Do you know Sir, since the age I can recollect and remember, no single day I have been without listening to Janani Janani Song from Thaai Mookambigai. I seriously don’t know Sir, whenever I hear this song, I tend to forget everything what I am doing and dedicate myself to the song. Is it because of your divine voice Sir? Likewise how many songs should I name Sir? If one talks about getting Goosebumps whenever they hear a song, I think it’s solely belong to you and the magic in your voice! I couldn’t even imagine if someone can be in a normal state of mind when they hear ‘Poovar Senni Mannan’ from Thiruvasagam. This particular song haunted me for years and even now Sir.
Sir, why didn’t you go to Bollywood Sir? I have no other cheap thoughts but honestly Sir, if you were at Bollywood, I couldn’t even imagine the number of laurels and awards and honors that you would have got! Is it because of the fact that you were doing close to 50 films a year Sir? Sir, I would like to stress that statistical fact that a year consists of 52 weeks. I know Sir, during 80s and early 90s, you did 40+ movies a year and 99.9% turning out to be chartbusters and evergreen hits. Or is it because the musicians in Bollywood couldn’t match your pace Sir? I remember what SPB told in your concert Sir. When you went to Bombay for composing Thalapathy songs, the musicians and technicians over there couldn’t play for your composition and politely told you not to come to Bollywood. Is it true Sir? I know Sir, apart from all these things, the love you have for your mother and your motherland is the kernel factor. Still Sir, I am very angry on the awards and honors you got Sir. I was thinking Sir, a MAN who has 800+ movies with everlasting evergreen numbers, has got just 3 National Awards and no international awards? Later I came to know the rules and criteria for the National Awards Sir. They cannot give 40+ awards for Best Music Director in a year isn’t it?
How many singers have you introduced Sir? How many directors and how many music directors you have introduced sir? More than that, how many lead heroes earned name because of your song Sir? Will Tamil Cinema remember actors like Mohan, Murali, Ramarajan, etc., sans Ilayaraja? Music be it in any form, the technicians will pick at least one of your song as their favorite and difficult composition.
‘Pudhu Raagam Padaippadhaaley Neeyum Iraivane’ isn’t it Sir? How much have you explored in music Sir? How many ragas have you introduced and invented and redefined? Recently, you composed a song with just 3 swaras ‘Sa’ ‘Ri’ ‘Ga’. I am truly amazed! I don’t know proper music Sir, nor I have learnt carnatic. But still your experiments surprise me and make me astonish. I am just trying to imagine what will happen to people who learnt proper music. How many renovations have you made from your own songs? And how many music directors said you are their inspiration! Retuned songs from Paa and Cheeni Kum made Bollywood to praise your great evergreen hits! How many dimensions have you given to a single song? You did something, which no other music director has ever done. You went to Hungary and Budapest and did Symphony. Doing a Symphony is something a lifetime ambition and dream for many music directors but you surpassed everything Sir.
Finally, as Odysseus says in Troy, If they ever tell my story let them say I listened to great musicians. Let them say I lived in the time of Ilayaraja!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Morning Walk!!!
It’s Sunday night 10 o clock and we just returned from Chola Sheraton after having a decent dinner with the gift coupon valid Rs 2000 but we ended paying additional 3200 as the bill amount! Goodness a buffet costs 800 but it had quite a lot menu items. So, I searched for my mobile to keep alarm at 4:30 AM. Everyone at my home was in a shock and the first question was “Are you planning to watch any movie? It’s not even a Friday and what’s special?” I got pissed off! I said ‘I am planning to go for jogging and walking’. Everyone laughed wickedly! This time I didn’t even turn on my monitor because this stupid facebook and orkut always ask me to sit in front of it. So it’s snoring time!
Morning Raaga started to play in my mobile!
Shivah shakthya yukto yadi bhavati shaktah prabhavitum
Na chedevam devo na khalu kusalah spanditumapi
Atas tvam aradhyam Hari-Hara-Virinchadibhir api
Pranantum stotum vaa katham akrta-punyah prabhavati
Na chedevam devo na khalu kusalah spanditumapi
Atas tvam aradhyam Hari-Hara-Virinchadibhir api
Pranantum stotum vaa katham akrta-punyah prabhavati
Now you know why I never turn off or snooze the alarm signal! I took my mobile to the hall and let it play and started to brush my teeth! I went and changed to sporty fit. Citibank round neck Tee, Tracks and the new-born Nike Shoe J with Nike socks. I know I will sweat like a pig even if it’s early morning 4:30 hence I took a handkerchief and I stole 20 rupees from my dad’s wallet! All set ready! I opened the door and I didn’t wake anyone at home and went down! I loved climbing down the stairs and I kept watching my new-born shoes all the way! I open the main gate and something stopped me! I forgot my ‘vappaati’ my mobile! My baby has got an application called Walk mate and it’s quite amazing as it counts the number of steps and sets me a goal for everyday! By default the goal set was 10000 steps a day and I thought it’s quite easy to achieve. So I went back and took my mobile and started Walk Mate! Baba counting starts!!! I just crossed my street walking and I didn’t want to jog because of stray dogs! Counting showed 45. I was calculated 10000 in the mind and I don’t have 45 in my fingers :P. And now the running begun!
Oru sooravali kalambiyadheyyyy
Siva thaandavan thodangiyadheyyyy
I ran, jogged, ran, jogged but never stopped. May be because of the new shoe and I didn’t want to stop and I felt very comfortable and I never looked straight instead my eyes focused my shoes always! I started from 13th Main road, crossed Karthik Tiffin Center, crossed KFC, still I didn’t stop, crossed Santhosh stores, crossed LKS Jewelers, Crossed Hi Style, Reached Blue star signal, now I am trembling a bit but I didn’t want to stop and I continued, crossed HSB and reached Ayyapan Temple! I know I shouldn’t stand or take rest and hence I continued walking slowly. Let’s see what does the walk mate shows? 857, Holy EFFFFFF!!! Now I valued the walking and I know it’s not an easy thing to achieve 10000. I entered Anna Nagar tower and the time was around 4:50.
Anna nagar tower is not the old one anymore. It has been renovated superbly and they are yet to fully open the park to the public and still some renovation work is going on! Early morning 5:00 had quite a decent crowd and but I couldn’t even see a single youth except me! All I could see fall over 50s and 60s. I never say anyone running or jogging and everyone were walking! So after coming from a long jog I decided to walk for a while! Interesting people! Very interesting people! The surrounding would approximately be around 2kms and I decided to take the longest boundary! I had many company! When people carried a stick in their hand, I carried my mobile and kept seeing the count every now and then! There is levels 2k 4k 6k 8k and you have the goal 10k. I am at 1389. After walking for a while and I decided a jog and the surface was very good to jog as it had a mosaic laid in the pathway. As usual, my eyes started to search for good looking figures but poor thing it was too dark! I checked the time it was quarter passed 5 and I still couldn’t believe why it’s too dark! “Otha specs marandhuta da pannnada” But it’s OK if I had to wear my specs, I would certainly a wiper fixed to my specs. There was an aunty who was walking very briskly. I had a strong feeling that she is walking in a very strange way after getting some advice on how to walk briskly from someone! I laughed and surpassed her! Now I had a company. One uncle with blue tee was jogging and I was confident that people will also jog in the park J but the man who was jogging, people who were walking could easily overtake this man!
I successfully completed one full round and I could make out the path. Now I started to have a feeling as if I am walking here daily. There was an old man who was greeting everyone he surpassed! And he was walking or rather coming in the anti clockwise direction so that he can greet many! He said Morning Sir! Morning Madam! Good Morning Saab! But when I crossed him, he said Welcome! “okkaali ivar aayul kaapteedu pola” When I came to see many greeting each other, I felt I am a new comer! But I wish that way and I never mingle with others and too all oldies J
Now it was almost 6o clock and the crowd has increased. People started groups and there was one bloody group of men who were walking blocking everyone’s way. They were speaking non sense and laughing bull shit and clapping craps. They must belong to the Nitrogen Oxide family in the name of ‘Laughing therapy’. I wanted to over take them so that I can jog for a while! I did and started to jog! I slowly stopped! “iyyyyy Ladies ladies ladies!!!” at last, God is great! I saw someone of my age! ‘Super figure illenaalum oru pakkuvamaana figure’. Now there is no time for slow walking! Come on Vicky! But she didn’t stay even for a round! Wonder where she went so soon! Every time I kept meeting an old man near the gate no 2 and he walks anti clock wise direction and this time I was a bit slow that I met him sooner before gate no 2 came! An old man can walk faster than me!
I completed 4-5 rounds and after which I couldn’t. My walk mate showed 7500 and I know I couldn’t reach the goal. So I decided to call it a day! Came out of the park and stepped inside a tea shop! Ordered for a tea! Near that Tea shop there was a bunk shop where they kept a lot of vessels filled with colorful water. Everyone who was coming out from the park was having the juice and per glass it costs 5 rupees. I was so curious to ask him what it is, but another man overtook me! I came to know they were herbal juices. They had at least 10 different types and you can mix them have it in a single glass as well. But I didn’t want to have so I started back home! I never thought I will wake up so early and I could complete walking approximately 10 km. But in the end, I made it. I came walking all the way home! It was a good show for a debutant and let’s see what’s there for tomorrow onwards!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Crazy Crazy Crazy ALL THE WAY
If there is an expectation or rather an attraction for this movie 'Kola Kolaya Mudhirika', there can be only one man, Crazy Mohan, the story and dialogue writer for this movie. Apart from him, there is absolutely nothing or none from the crew who can attract the audience to watch this movie. The director certainly won't feel good to tag 'From the director of Vallamai Thaarayo' and I feel except for the Crazyest part, the other two namely direction and screenplay are probably amateur and contributed its share to the flip side of the movie.
The story is about a treasure hunt told in a comical way and Crazy has just used all characters on earth to connect the story and make the treasure hunt a valuable one. Of course, the verbal master, the man who contributed a lump some in most of Kamal's movie has yet again proved that he can use his vocabulary skills at the best comical way. But we didn't have a Kamal who literally mastered each and every slang and quite brilliant in dialogue delivery so that it doesn't spoil the actual content. Well, the actors of KKM did a fair job thought I personally felt a few can be replaced with many others.
We had Munnadi Pinnadi Kannadi in Panchathanthiram and we have Theriyaadhu Theriyum here! There are other numerous worthy mention dialogues that play with words. The way how he drags to tell that the 'Kadhal Dhaadha' died because of the fish thorn! It's just amazing and clever play of words. I can't still stop laughing when I think of the conversation.
Avalo periya dhaadha-nu solreenga, oru saadharana mullu kuthi sethi poitaara??
Mulla kaalula kuthalapa thondaila kuthichu!
Edhuku thala keezha nadakkanam?
Saapdumbodhu kuthichipaaa!!!
Edhukku mullu laam saaptaaru?
Iyyo meen saapdumbodhu mullu kuthichu paaa!!
Of course, like this there are numerous witty dialogues and one can discover more such interesting dialogues probably at the second or third watch! So without a second thought, people who love Crazy's work can definitely watch the movie million times as we even see Panchathanthiram thousand and odd times just for the witty dialogues.
Talking about the performance and casting, we have loads. Since the story tend to connect more and more characters. As I said earlier, the lead role done by Karthik could have been given someone else. It doesn't mean that he didn't do his job well but in some areas he over reacted to the scenes. The same holds good for the heroine Shikha. MS Bhaskar utilizes efficiently for the minimal scenes given to him and he has done very effectively. The comical villains Anand Raj, Vaasu Vikram and others did a very good job. Jayaram comes as a cop and his performance needs no explanation as we have already seen him with Crazy's work in Panchathanthiram. There were quite a few guest appearances from Radha Ravi, Sarath Kumar and the man himself Crazy Mohan. No matter how many characters were there, they did a great work and more importantly they didn't spoil the play.
Now we have the area Direction and Screenplay! Probably the only area which is on the other side. We knew the general trend in Tamil Cinema to include songs here and there in the screenplay. There should be at least one of the two conditions to accept this inclusion.
1) There should be a demand for the song in the screenplay.
2) Even if there is no demand, the song should be pleasant to listen.
In KKM, both the conditions are ruled out. There is absolutely no necessary or need for songs and moreover, the songs were seriously horrible! Adding to that, it even spoils the play. Also, it's the director's responsibility to divide the first half and the second half in a sensible way. It took about 90 mins for the interval to come and the second half just went in a flash. The climax, I felt that it was kind of amateurish to finish it like that.
So, where are you crazy fans? Grab it quickly before the ugly Lion starts to roar!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
The story is about a treasure hunt told in a comical way and Crazy has just used all characters on earth to connect the story and make the treasure hunt a valuable one. Of course, the verbal master, the man who contributed a lump some in most of Kamal's movie has yet again proved that he can use his vocabulary skills at the best comical way. But we didn't have a Kamal who literally mastered each and every slang and quite brilliant in dialogue delivery so that it doesn't spoil the actual content. Well, the actors of KKM did a fair job thought I personally felt a few can be replaced with many others.
We had Munnadi Pinnadi Kannadi in Panchathanthiram and we have Theriyaadhu Theriyum here! There are other numerous worthy mention dialogues that play with words. The way how he drags to tell that the 'Kadhal Dhaadha' died because of the fish thorn! It's just amazing and clever play of words. I can't still stop laughing when I think of the conversation.
Avalo periya dhaadha-nu solreenga, oru saadharana mullu kuthi sethi poitaara??
Mulla kaalula kuthalapa thondaila kuthichu!
Edhuku thala keezha nadakkanam?
Saapdumbodhu kuthichipaaa!!!
Edhukku mullu laam saaptaaru?
Iyyo meen saapdumbodhu mullu kuthichu paaa!!
Of course, like this there are numerous witty dialogues and one can discover more such interesting dialogues probably at the second or third watch! So without a second thought, people who love Crazy's work can definitely watch the movie million times as we even see Panchathanthiram thousand and odd times just for the witty dialogues.
Talking about the performance and casting, we have loads. Since the story tend to connect more and more characters. As I said earlier, the lead role done by Karthik could have been given someone else. It doesn't mean that he didn't do his job well but in some areas he over reacted to the scenes. The same holds good for the heroine Shikha. MS Bhaskar utilizes efficiently for the minimal scenes given to him and he has done very effectively. The comical villains Anand Raj, Vaasu Vikram and others did a very good job. Jayaram comes as a cop and his performance needs no explanation as we have already seen him with Crazy's work in Panchathanthiram. There were quite a few guest appearances from Radha Ravi, Sarath Kumar and the man himself Crazy Mohan. No matter how many characters were there, they did a great work and more importantly they didn't spoil the play.
Now we have the area Direction and Screenplay! Probably the only area which is on the other side. We knew the general trend in Tamil Cinema to include songs here and there in the screenplay. There should be at least one of the two conditions to accept this inclusion.
1) There should be a demand for the song in the screenplay.
2) Even if there is no demand, the song should be pleasant to listen.
In KKM, both the conditions are ruled out. There is absolutely no necessary or need for songs and moreover, the songs were seriously horrible! Adding to that, it even spoils the play. Also, it's the director's responsibility to divide the first half and the second half in a sensible way. It took about 90 mins for the interval to come and the second half just went in a flash. The climax, I felt that it was kind of amateurish to finish it like that.
So, where are you crazy fans? Grab it quickly before the ugly Lion starts to roar!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Friday, April 30, 2010
SURA that's rotten to even smell
I have seen many reviews for many movies where there will be a precautionary warning stating SPOILERS AHEAD, but the spoilers are strictly applicable for movies that has something in the name of story or suspense thrillers. But when it comes to Vijay's movies, the term called spoilers rules out based on the following two criteria. Firstly, following the same old story template without deviating any format other than the costume and secondly absolutely no story. Sura falls in the first category of using the perfect story template from his previous 49 movies. I often tend to remind about the story board template in most of the Vijay movies just to set a reminder to all movie buff about the trend or rather the stereotyped stories that's followed in his movies and I have to present the same here as well.
Story Board Template
Title Credits (5 mins being 50th movie) - Hero Introduction with comical scenes - Opening Song with a mass message - Heroine Introduction - Hero's so called Dream project - Villain Introduction - Unnecessary Duet - In between connectionless Comedy - Villain - Hero Clash - A promise to revenge - Intermission (best part in the movie) - Rise of a Phoenix - Another Duet number - In between comedy scenes part 2 - Final battle - At last, THE END.
This time as Vijay quoted in the audio release function, he mentioned about what's different in the movie. The fact he mentioned has got nothing to do with the story but he thought that it's a different story where he fights for a village rather than fighting for his lover/friends/sister etc., Being the 50th movie, there isn't no shortage for punch dialogues and politics aimed dialogues and scenes. As any other Vijay movie, he never fails to entertain us with his comical stunts and illogical scenes. But there are a few scenes that literally beat me to death. I should have seen close to 500 movies in the past 3 years and I never seen such a poor screenplay and illogical scenes in those movies.
There are movies, in fact, loads of movies where love blossoms between Hero and Heroine. In most of the cases, it would be either one of them falling for the others power/courage/smartness/nature/sympathy. I heard love is blind and concluded it after watching this movie. Heroine decides to commit suicide for losing her pet named Ramesh and hero saves her from the suicide attempt. Next day Hero helps a poor man by buying the pens he wanted to sell and that impressed heroine. Come on! Now don't tell me the love blossomed because of helping tendency or the bubbly character of heroine. And pity fact is Tamanna's role as usual is meant only for these cheap and silly romance scenes and of course the Villain has to kidnap her in order to black mail the hero so there comes another presence of Tamanna.
Villain, in the name of a Minister is actually the funniest part of the movie. In Tamil Cinema, we have seen lip mis-sync for heroines and for songs where it usually happens. Here, the villain does the job wherein there is absolutely no lip sync for his powerful dialogues. There is a special package missing here where his movies carry a bunch of different Villains al together. But somehow he managed to pull back a Police Inspector villain, Riyaz Khan towards the end for a revenge attempt situation. Poor guy he has just two scenes in the whole movie. Adding to that, the villain also proved in this movie about his capability and power that he is not a weak guy with his force which is evident from the introduction scene where he identifies a third person in his godown with the help of the perfume which his henchmen doesn't use. Isn't it funny?
Vadivelu, well after a roaring success of Pokkiri, he is back with Vijay in this movie to fill the humour. But the director failed to understand the fact that when a whole movie can deliver a comical stuff why would he need a specialist in the name of Vadivelu to add salt in the wound. But actually, the comedy scenes are enjoyable in bits and pieces but the poor thing is the synchronization of these comedy scenes to the play of the movie. It sometimes connects well if it comes with the combo Vijay-Vadivelu but often it tends to deviate with totally irrelevant sidetrack comedy scenes. A few scenes made me to serious think what made the director to have such irrelevant comedy tracks. With such a tremendous combo, I still enjoy each and every comedy scenes in Pokkiri but it has successfully played havoc in Sura.
This could probably be the only good part in the review as it speaks about the music and choreography. There were many other actors who wanted to showcase themselves as a great dancer by asking their choreographers to give tough movements which literally makes the song to fit in dance reality shows. But the silent man does it so easily. I was stunned with his movements for the song 'Naan Nadandhal Saravedi'. Credits should also be given to the dance master Robert for giving such a beautiful movements and Vijay has danced brilliantly for the song. Another good number in the music is Bommayee song, which is rich with the sets and the catchy hip lift dance movements. But the background score is not that great in the movie. Unlike Pokkiri, though it's a straight lift from the telugu original, it was sensational for the movie and added a great energy to the screenplay. But I bet, if Vijay doesn't possess this skill, he would probably join hands in opening another Jewellery shop storey building along with Top Star Prashanth.
We had 23-am Pulikesi in Pokkiri, we had a Bharathiyar in Villu, we had a Michael Jackson in Vettaikaran. But these are used only for songs. Why the hell we had an Avtar Singh as a customs officer in Sura? Will he not check in the mirror for the so-called get-ups that he pick? And did the director think that the audience are so dumb? Can anyone imagine if a group of henchmen smuggling goods in the ship can mistake a cracker rocket for bullet? Can't they even distinguish between a rocket launcher and an ordinary Sivakasi rocket? It was rib tickling comedy as Vijay's people started firing or rather bursting crackers and that made the smugglers to think that it's customs firing shot guns and rocket launcher. Thank God, Vijay didn't opt for any comical stunts to diffuse the bomb in any other means in the climax.
Now we have to give some respect to the critically acclaimed director SP Raajakumar. Immediate question that came to my mind as soon as I heard about this 50th movie was why did Vijay choose this man to direct his 50th movie? On what basis or on what ground rule he selected or trusted or had faith on this wonderful man. The man has given some movies, which many wouldn’t even, heard about it. Even when a debutant makes mistakes we can excuse him being his first movie or when a critically acclaimed director makes a mistake we can excuse him or blame him to own the result. Upon knowing the success of Azhagar Malai and En Purushan Kozhandai Maadhiri and if you are still adamant to work with him, what should I call you in spite of being your 50th film?
Verdict: SA Chandrasekar trusted on Vijay, Vijay trusted on SP Raajakumar, SP Raajakumar trusted on Sun Pictures. It's up to you whom you should trust, but if you trust me, I can save Rs 100.
Story Board Template
Title Credits (5 mins being 50th movie) - Hero Introduction with comical scenes - Opening Song with a mass message - Heroine Introduction - Hero's so called Dream project - Villain Introduction - Unnecessary Duet - In between connectionless Comedy - Villain - Hero Clash - A promise to revenge - Intermission (best part in the movie) - Rise of a Phoenix - Another Duet number - In between comedy scenes part 2 - Final battle - At last, THE END.
This time as Vijay quoted in the audio release function, he mentioned about what's different in the movie. The fact he mentioned has got nothing to do with the story but he thought that it's a different story where he fights for a village rather than fighting for his lover/friends/sister etc., Being the 50th movie, there isn't no shortage for punch dialogues and politics aimed dialogues and scenes. As any other Vijay movie, he never fails to entertain us with his comical stunts and illogical scenes. But there are a few scenes that literally beat me to death. I should have seen close to 500 movies in the past 3 years and I never seen such a poor screenplay and illogical scenes in those movies.
There are movies, in fact, loads of movies where love blossoms between Hero and Heroine. In most of the cases, it would be either one of them falling for the others power/courage/smartness/nature/sympathy. I heard love is blind and concluded it after watching this movie. Heroine decides to commit suicide for losing her pet named Ramesh and hero saves her from the suicide attempt. Next day Hero helps a poor man by buying the pens he wanted to sell and that impressed heroine. Come on! Now don't tell me the love blossomed because of helping tendency or the bubbly character of heroine. And pity fact is Tamanna's role as usual is meant only for these cheap and silly romance scenes and of course the Villain has to kidnap her in order to black mail the hero so there comes another presence of Tamanna.
Villain, in the name of a Minister is actually the funniest part of the movie. In Tamil Cinema, we have seen lip mis-sync for heroines and for songs where it usually happens. Here, the villain does the job wherein there is absolutely no lip sync for his powerful dialogues. There is a special package missing here where his movies carry a bunch of different Villains al together. But somehow he managed to pull back a Police Inspector villain, Riyaz Khan towards the end for a revenge attempt situation. Poor guy he has just two scenes in the whole movie. Adding to that, the villain also proved in this movie about his capability and power that he is not a weak guy with his force which is evident from the introduction scene where he identifies a third person in his godown with the help of the perfume which his henchmen doesn't use. Isn't it funny?
Vadivelu, well after a roaring success of Pokkiri, he is back with Vijay in this movie to fill the humour. But the director failed to understand the fact that when a whole movie can deliver a comical stuff why would he need a specialist in the name of Vadivelu to add salt in the wound. But actually, the comedy scenes are enjoyable in bits and pieces but the poor thing is the synchronization of these comedy scenes to the play of the movie. It sometimes connects well if it comes with the combo Vijay-Vadivelu but often it tends to deviate with totally irrelevant sidetrack comedy scenes. A few scenes made me to serious think what made the director to have such irrelevant comedy tracks. With such a tremendous combo, I still enjoy each and every comedy scenes in Pokkiri but it has successfully played havoc in Sura.
This could probably be the only good part in the review as it speaks about the music and choreography. There were many other actors who wanted to showcase themselves as a great dancer by asking their choreographers to give tough movements which literally makes the song to fit in dance reality shows. But the silent man does it so easily. I was stunned with his movements for the song 'Naan Nadandhal Saravedi'. Credits should also be given to the dance master Robert for giving such a beautiful movements and Vijay has danced brilliantly for the song. Another good number in the music is Bommayee song, which is rich with the sets and the catchy hip lift dance movements. But the background score is not that great in the movie. Unlike Pokkiri, though it's a straight lift from the telugu original, it was sensational for the movie and added a great energy to the screenplay. But I bet, if Vijay doesn't possess this skill, he would probably join hands in opening another Jewellery shop storey building along with Top Star Prashanth.
We had 23-am Pulikesi in Pokkiri, we had a Bharathiyar in Villu, we had a Michael Jackson in Vettaikaran. But these are used only for songs. Why the hell we had an Avtar Singh as a customs officer in Sura? Will he not check in the mirror for the so-called get-ups that he pick? And did the director think that the audience are so dumb? Can anyone imagine if a group of henchmen smuggling goods in the ship can mistake a cracker rocket for bullet? Can't they even distinguish between a rocket launcher and an ordinary Sivakasi rocket? It was rib tickling comedy as Vijay's people started firing or rather bursting crackers and that made the smugglers to think that it's customs firing shot guns and rocket launcher. Thank God, Vijay didn't opt for any comical stunts to diffuse the bomb in any other means in the climax.
Now we have to give some respect to the critically acclaimed director SP Raajakumar. Immediate question that came to my mind as soon as I heard about this 50th movie was why did Vijay choose this man to direct his 50th movie? On what basis or on what ground rule he selected or trusted or had faith on this wonderful man. The man has given some movies, which many wouldn’t even, heard about it. Even when a debutant makes mistakes we can excuse him being his first movie or when a critically acclaimed director makes a mistake we can excuse him or blame him to own the result. Upon knowing the success of Azhagar Malai and En Purushan Kozhandai Maadhiri and if you are still adamant to work with him, what should I call you in spite of being your 50th film?
Verdict: SA Chandrasekar trusted on Vijay, Vijay trusted on SP Raajakumar, SP Raajakumar trusted on Sun Pictures. It's up to you whom you should trust, but if you trust me, I can save Rs 100.
Friday, April 23, 2010
ரெட்டை சுழி - மெகா சீரியல் எவ்வளவோ தேவலை!
படம் பார்க்கும் போது எனக்கு ஏற்பட்ட சந்தேகம் இந்த படத்திற்கு எதற்காக இயக்குனர் சிகரத்தையும் இமயத்தையும் நடிக்க வைத்துள்ளனர்? நல்ல Character artist நடிக்க வைத்திருக்கலாமே!! வீனா போச்சு ரூ 430. இவர்கள் மட்டும் போதாது என்று S Pictures வேற. அப்படி என்ன தான் கதை இதுல? சுமார் கி பி 40 வருடங்களாக தோழர் என்கிற நம்ம பாரதிராஜாவுக்கும் ராமசாமி என்கிற பாலச்சந்தருக்கும் பகை. உங்க வீடு பகை இல்ல எங்க வூட்டு பகை இல்ல அப்படி ஒரு பகை. இந்த வீட்டில் ஒரு பயிங்கிலி அந்த வீட்டில் ஒரு பட்டாலத்தானை லவ்ஸ் பண்றாங்க. அட ஆமாங்க சின்ன வயசுலேந்து லவ்ஸ்! அவங்க சேர்வார்களா இல்லையா?
இதுக்காக படத்த பாருங்கன்னு சொல்ல வரல, கண்டிப்பா சேருவாங்க! படத்தில் ஒன்றாவது சொல்ற அளவிற்கு நல்லா இருக்கும்னு பார்த்தா ஒன்னு கூட தேரல! இயக்குனர் தாமிரா ரொம்ப தந்திரமா யோசிச்சு பெரும் புலிகளுடன் சின்ன வாண்டுகளையும் சேத்து நடிக்க வச்சிருக்கார். ஆனால் பசங்களை வச்சி படம் எடுத்தா பாண்டிராஜ் ஆகமுடியாது சார்.
படம் தான் மொக்கைனு பார்த்தா மியூசிக் டாப் டக்கர். ஒரு பாட்டும் மனசுல நிக்கல. இதுல வேற அவங்களே அவங்களை கலாயக்குறாங்க. படத்தோட Editor பாராட்டணம். ஒரு முழு நீல சீரியல் கொடுதிருகாறு. Camera அது இதுனுலாம் போக வேண்டிய அவசியமே இல்லை. படத்தோட கதை எல்லாத்தையும் மறக்கடிக்க வச்சிடுச்சு. பாலச்சந்தருக்கு ஒரு 4 பக்கம் dialogue. பாரதிராஜாவிற்கு என்ன ஒரு 8 பக்கம் இருக்கும். சின்ன சின்ன வாண்டுகளுக்கு சேர்த்து ஒரு 10 பக்கம் அம்புட்டுத்தான்.
நானும் எத்தனையோ படங்கள் பார்த்திருக்கேன், அவ்வளவு ஏன் கோலங்கள் மெகா சீரியல் கூட பார்த்திருக்கேன் சார்! இப்படி ஒரு காவியத்த என் வாழ்நாளில் பார்த்ததில்லை! மிக்க நன்றி தாமிரா அவர்களே! நீர் வாழ்க! சமீபத்தில் ஒரு புதிய விதிமுறை போட்ருக்காங்க loss ஆனா மறுபடியும் அதே producer கூட இன்னுரு படம் பண்ணிதரனம்னு. எப்போ அது இயக்குனர்களுக்கு தகும்னு தெரியல!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
இதுக்காக படத்த பாருங்கன்னு சொல்ல வரல, கண்டிப்பா சேருவாங்க! படத்தில் ஒன்றாவது சொல்ற அளவிற்கு நல்லா இருக்கும்னு பார்த்தா ஒன்னு கூட தேரல! இயக்குனர் தாமிரா ரொம்ப தந்திரமா யோசிச்சு பெரும் புலிகளுடன் சின்ன வாண்டுகளையும் சேத்து நடிக்க வச்சிருக்கார். ஆனால் பசங்களை வச்சி படம் எடுத்தா பாண்டிராஜ் ஆகமுடியாது சார்.
படம் தான் மொக்கைனு பார்த்தா மியூசிக் டாப் டக்கர். ஒரு பாட்டும் மனசுல நிக்கல. இதுல வேற அவங்களே அவங்களை கலாயக்குறாங்க. படத்தோட Editor பாராட்டணம். ஒரு முழு நீல சீரியல் கொடுதிருகாறு. Camera அது இதுனுலாம் போக வேண்டிய அவசியமே இல்லை. படத்தோட கதை எல்லாத்தையும் மறக்கடிக்க வச்சிடுச்சு. பாலச்சந்தருக்கு ஒரு 4 பக்கம் dialogue. பாரதிராஜாவிற்கு என்ன ஒரு 8 பக்கம் இருக்கும். சின்ன சின்ன வாண்டுகளுக்கு சேர்த்து ஒரு 10 பக்கம் அம்புட்டுத்தான்.
நானும் எத்தனையோ படங்கள் பார்த்திருக்கேன், அவ்வளவு ஏன் கோலங்கள் மெகா சீரியல் கூட பார்த்திருக்கேன் சார்! இப்படி ஒரு காவியத்த என் வாழ்நாளில் பார்த்ததில்லை! மிக்க நன்றி தாமிரா அவர்களே! நீர் வாழ்க! சமீபத்தில் ஒரு புதிய விதிமுறை போட்ருக்காங்க loss ஆனா மறுபடியும் அதே producer கூட இன்னுரு படம் பண்ணிதரனம்னு. எப்போ அது இயக்குனர்களுக்கு தகும்னு தெரியல!
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Monday, March 29, 2010
Quarter-Quarter-Quarter
FRIDAY, the day in which most of the Tamil movies operate their child to be born in the silver screen. This has become a custom with some actual funda behind it. When a movie hits the silver screen on Friday, which is the last working day in India, the production unit rely on the fact that people tend to approach cinema malls during Friday weekend followed by two weekly holidays. Hence, the production unit tosses the movie on Friday to get good profit immediately in the first three days of the release so that it can act as a psychological advantage to showcase the box office report in the news and media sites. Well this year was quite a boon as it started with FRIDAY, 01-01-2010. But unfortunately not many producers were ready to compete with last year biggies, AVATAR which continued to dominate the box office for nearly 8-10 weeks running at packed houses. All we had was just 3 income tax releases on the opening day of the year, namely, Pugaipadam, Thunichal and Nil Kavani Kadhali. No one even knows that these duds were released on the auspicious day of the year but as usual they did their part not to run more than a week doing justice to their producers.
Now comes the Pongal clash with no movies from the leading stars Ajith and Vijay. It was a peaceful Pongal but we had the Magnum Opus Aayirathil Oruvan, the much-awaited release at last hit the silver screen on Pongal, the Tamil New Year. The movie had mixed reviews from the day it was released and it had also created rich interest amongst the audiences of quality cinema who went a step higher in decoding the nuances in the movie. But in the end, Selva has to re operate his child as the audience failed to understand most of the second half and also chopped a few unnecessary scenes. But the movie made a good show in the business and it was clear winner in the Pongal battle with other movies Kutty, Dhanush starrer failing to do enough business and Porkkalam, which was nothing other than waste of money. The other dark horse in the pongal battle was the Capital Cine Work's Naanayam, which earned decent reviews, but the movie failed to run well because of poor marketing.
Moving to the end of the month, we had close to 5 movies with screens swarming to get the biggies. We had the much-publicized Tamil Padam, a spoof of popular movies. The movie and the marketing strategy has created enough hype to attract the audience with it's pre release interviews and the famous 'Mirchi' Shiva, doing the lead role, which is a in deed quite a controversy role as he had to spoof the most popular heroes of south. But quite surprisingly the team has managed to keep up their expectations and I would say they lived to their expectations. They spoofed in each and every form from the trailers, songs, names and even the newspaper advertisements. Along with Tamil Padam, we had another Production debutant, Soundarya Rajnikanth came with Venkat Prabhu's Holiday 'Goa'. Venkat Prabhu carried the hopes from Chennai 28 and Saroja but this time, it was more close to a spoof and dry humour. The movie didn't do good business in the box office as it lacked in the fundamental story. Not all movies with Prem Ji can fetch you good profit in the box office is what Venkat Prabhu learned from this movie. The movie which created controversy in the internet media, which was leaked in the internet even before the movie hit the silver screen, Jaggubhai, from KSR and Sarath combo with the comedy legend Goundamani getting back to acting also released along with these two movies. When you don't have content, no matter you create as much hype as you can, Tamil audience has been matured enough to place the movie in the garbage when it does not have any content to satisfy their money that they spent. Jaggubhai clears grabs a place in the wastebasket. Now a days, it has become a principle of telecasting trailors imitating Sun Pictures with a few taglines and punch dialogues from the movie. It was 'Vaaaa Daaaaa' with Vettainkaran where Sun Pictures kept shouting in all their channels to promote their production. We had an english version of 'Vaaa Daaaa' with Dhairiyam, P Kumaran starrer shouting 'Come Onnnnnnnnnnn'. Who can answer the following question? Name the list of theatres in which Dhairiyam was released? Hint: No of days the movie ran is equal to the list of theatres the movie was released.
Perfect month February first witnessed Ajith's Aasal. With no major hopes because of the production company and with not much pre release hype, the movie literally bombarded at the box office. The fans and the neutral audience did not have any relieving factor that they can cherish for except for the factor 'Ajithkumar' and his so-called screen presence. Another humorous part of the movie was the promotion that they made or rather the promotion from an actor to a co-director Ajith kumar. Sluggish dry humour, senseless songs, irrelevant fights, not-at-all-necessary screenplay has made the movie to find the next place in the waste basket. With this, I hope the end of Charan can soon come. A quarter without Sun Pictures? Defintely not, this time they had an interesting impossible combo of Vishal playing a play boy character in TVP - Theeratha Vilayaatu Pillai. Once again, Sun Pictures proved and stand strong in claiming that 'We will promote only movies with rubbish masala'. Can someone please show them quality movies please?
Failed to release on the Valentine's Day, Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya was released towards the end of February. With Gautam's magic the movie stood tall and won several critics and also made good money at the box office. The movie, for the first time had Simbhu with a neat acting and has showcased Trisha as a good and hot heroine. The X factor of the movie is that it made the audience to feel their presence in the movie as it was taken in such a manner that it would have happened in every man's life. Not to forget the Oscar Winner's return to Tamil Cinema after a long gap. The songs are still ruling the box office and each and everyone's hello tune.
The month of March, where every producer scared to release their baby because of the violent IPL season 3 also had a few releases. We had Jai starrer 'Aval Peyar Tamizharasi'. The movie was pretty decent and also did arguable money in the business because of the killer IPL that literally made every human being to sit and watch the match. We also had other few duds like Thambikku Endha Ooru, Veerasekaran, Kumarin Pennin Ullathile and Yaadhu Maagi which won the straight seat in the waste basket. With Chennai Super Kings, literally failing in most of the matches, hope started to shift its focus towards cinema again. At the right time was released Vasantha Balan's Angadi Theru. The movie gave a brilliant portrayal of the Angadi Street and it earned excelled reviews from all corners of the world. With the quarter almost getting over, we wish to see more Angadi Therus and more 1000 in 1 movie to come.
Article posted @ http://www.clapsandboos.com/
Now comes the Pongal clash with no movies from the leading stars Ajith and Vijay. It was a peaceful Pongal but we had the Magnum Opus Aayirathil Oruvan, the much-awaited release at last hit the silver screen on Pongal, the Tamil New Year. The movie had mixed reviews from the day it was released and it had also created rich interest amongst the audiences of quality cinema who went a step higher in decoding the nuances in the movie. But in the end, Selva has to re operate his child as the audience failed to understand most of the second half and also chopped a few unnecessary scenes. But the movie made a good show in the business and it was clear winner in the Pongal battle with other movies Kutty, Dhanush starrer failing to do enough business and Porkkalam, which was nothing other than waste of money. The other dark horse in the pongal battle was the Capital Cine Work's Naanayam, which earned decent reviews, but the movie failed to run well because of poor marketing.
Moving to the end of the month, we had close to 5 movies with screens swarming to get the biggies. We had the much-publicized Tamil Padam, a spoof of popular movies. The movie and the marketing strategy has created enough hype to attract the audience with it's pre release interviews and the famous 'Mirchi' Shiva, doing the lead role, which is a in deed quite a controversy role as he had to spoof the most popular heroes of south. But quite surprisingly the team has managed to keep up their expectations and I would say they lived to their expectations. They spoofed in each and every form from the trailers, songs, names and even the newspaper advertisements. Along with Tamil Padam, we had another Production debutant, Soundarya Rajnikanth came with Venkat Prabhu's Holiday 'Goa'. Venkat Prabhu carried the hopes from Chennai 28 and Saroja but this time, it was more close to a spoof and dry humour. The movie didn't do good business in the box office as it lacked in the fundamental story. Not all movies with Prem Ji can fetch you good profit in the box office is what Venkat Prabhu learned from this movie. The movie which created controversy in the internet media, which was leaked in the internet even before the movie hit the silver screen, Jaggubhai, from KSR and Sarath combo with the comedy legend Goundamani getting back to acting also released along with these two movies. When you don't have content, no matter you create as much hype as you can, Tamil audience has been matured enough to place the movie in the garbage when it does not have any content to satisfy their money that they spent. Jaggubhai clears grabs a place in the wastebasket. Now a days, it has become a principle of telecasting trailors imitating Sun Pictures with a few taglines and punch dialogues from the movie. It was 'Vaaaa Daaaaa' with Vettainkaran where Sun Pictures kept shouting in all their channels to promote their production. We had an english version of 'Vaaa Daaaa' with Dhairiyam, P Kumaran starrer shouting 'Come Onnnnnnnnnnn'. Who can answer the following question? Name the list of theatres in which Dhairiyam was released? Hint: No of days the movie ran is equal to the list of theatres the movie was released.
Perfect month February first witnessed Ajith's Aasal. With no major hopes because of the production company and with not much pre release hype, the movie literally bombarded at the box office. The fans and the neutral audience did not have any relieving factor that they can cherish for except for the factor 'Ajithkumar' and his so-called screen presence. Another humorous part of the movie was the promotion that they made or rather the promotion from an actor to a co-director Ajith kumar. Sluggish dry humour, senseless songs, irrelevant fights, not-at-all-necessary screenplay has made the movie to find the next place in the waste basket. With this, I hope the end of Charan can soon come. A quarter without Sun Pictures? Defintely not, this time they had an interesting impossible combo of Vishal playing a play boy character in TVP - Theeratha Vilayaatu Pillai. Once again, Sun Pictures proved and stand strong in claiming that 'We will promote only movies with rubbish masala'. Can someone please show them quality movies please?
Failed to release on the Valentine's Day, Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya was released towards the end of February. With Gautam's magic the movie stood tall and won several critics and also made good money at the box office. The movie, for the first time had Simbhu with a neat acting and has showcased Trisha as a good and hot heroine. The X factor of the movie is that it made the audience to feel their presence in the movie as it was taken in such a manner that it would have happened in every man's life. Not to forget the Oscar Winner's return to Tamil Cinema after a long gap. The songs are still ruling the box office and each and everyone's hello tune.
The month of March, where every producer scared to release their baby because of the violent IPL season 3 also had a few releases. We had Jai starrer 'Aval Peyar Tamizharasi'. The movie was pretty decent and also did arguable money in the business because of the killer IPL that literally made every human being to sit and watch the match. We also had other few duds like Thambikku Endha Ooru, Veerasekaran, Kumarin Pennin Ullathile and Yaadhu Maagi which won the straight seat in the waste basket. With Chennai Super Kings, literally failing in most of the matches, hope started to shift its focus towards cinema again. At the right time was released Vasantha Balan's Angadi Theru. The movie gave a brilliant portrayal of the Angadi Street and it earned excelled reviews from all corners of the world. With the quarter almost getting over, we wish to see more Angadi Therus and more 1000 in 1 movie to come.
Article posted @ http://www.clapsandboos.com/
Friday, March 26, 2010
A Brilliant Portrayal of Angadi Theru
Angadi Theru audience can never have a negative mindset as Vasantha Balan gave a stunner called 'Veyyil' a few years back under Shankar's banner. Now with international recognition with various awards that Veyyil fetched him, he doesn't need the banner anymore. With expectation comes responsibility and the responsibility was held perfect by Vasantha Balan who has portrayed the Angadi Theru. Often, when you give a decent movie, you tend to see shades of the same movie in your upcoming movies as well. But Vasantha Balan stands as an exception in the street of Angadies. I am sure there is tremendous homework behind this attempt. It's not an easy task to portray the inner life of the sales guys working in famous all-in-one shops that too located in the busy bee of Chennai.
The movie is about the life of people working in a Angadi Street (Street that has got only shops). It doesn't focus only on the lead pair but also describes how people live a life managing a business in this street. There are many brilliant scenes to describe both shades of people. The platform shopkeepers, the individual sellers, the cruel supervisors, the physically challenged people and also the policemen who safeguards the public from cheaters and thieves.
The movie would have been a zombie if importance is not give to the casting. Vasantha Balan scores high here. We saw his casting brilliance in Veyyil, especially the flashback episode of choosing the child artists. I am not at all surprised to see the same brilliance in Angadi Theru. If I had to pick someone who was mega brilliant, it would go to the director A. Venkatesh. I was shocked to his stunning performance. The character that he played, the ruggedness that he had and of course the look made it to say that the casting of his character can never be replicated by anybody else. I in fact felt, instead of directing horrible commercial movies, he can do such meaningful character roles. The other significant factor about other cast involved in the movie is that they resembled as if the real sales guys were asked to act. Only odd feel about the cast that I felt was the character Kani played by Anjali. Her glamy look doesn't make her an apt character to play a salesgirl role. But still, she did role to perfection. Also, the typical 'Annatchi kadai' slag was maintained fantastically throughout the movie. One can notice the slang on how it differs when rendered at different emotion.
Paandi, the KKK fame needs some special mention for his humor in the movie. In general, we often see the screen presence occupied by the lead pair of a movie. But here, we could see that more than two cast shares the screen presence throughout the movie. Paandi, in this movie is not meant for filling the comedian role alone. He shares some significant screen space in many scenes. Along with Paandi, there are other casts like Shophie Mary, other supervisor, the Great Annatchi and many others who have done a neat job.
Vasantha Balan has also taken a dig at many real life incidents or rather accidents and cleverly connected to his child, the screenplay. None can forget the accident that caused the life of the platform livers when a lorry overrun on the platform resulting in many lives. Also, another accident in the improper level crossing. He has used these real accidents into the screenplay apt and certainly not to create tragedy like how we had seen in several movies in the past. He has also taken a dig at Saravana Stores describing how cruel they are with poor illiterate people from village and how rude they are to these people. He has also concentrated on describing how people come to a different city to earn for their family, which is entirely dependant on the person for bread and butter. There are quite a few scenes where Vasantha Balan has literally made the audience to move with the screenplay and fantastic dialogues by Jayamohan. When a dwarf worries that his kid was born resembling him with crippled legs and hands, his wife was very much happy with the way the kid was born resembling him. Asked why, she replied, none can question her on her chastity as they live in the streets and moreover her husband is a dwarf. This specific scene took the audience off their seat and got accolades.
Who can take an open challenge to go and shoot with your mobile camera in the Ranganathan Street? I bet, you will immediately delete the video from your mobile on seeing the quality of capture. Imagine the shoot, which took place in the same street with no sets. Normally, when you shoot in public, it will attract the crowd, but you are in a street where you can see 4 people per square meter. These are more than enough challenges for the debutant Richard. Be it the busy Ranganathan Street or the clean drought village, the debutant scores significantly high and claim due credits for his phenomenal work behind the camera.
Music and the background score for the movie did not let the momentum of the movie to go down. In this aspect, both Vijay Antony, who has also handled the background score and G V Prakash has done a decent job with neat songs and rhythmic clear BGM.
Vasantha Balan scripts each and every frame brilliantly. The continuity has been maintained very well with Sreekar Prasad doing a crisp work with his scissors. Vasantha Balan gave valid justification and also did not over bore the audience with too much emotion or too much humor. He is just 3 movies old director and he has got the ability to maintain the pace and calculate the pulse of the audience. You get to see a lot of beggars who can bring soft corner as soon as you see them. But Vasantha Balan did not bring the emotion in just showing them but also used them along with the screenplay to bring in emotion. Overall, the product is a very neat and genuine attempt and a welcome movie for the Tamil Cinema Audience.
Review posted @ http://www.clapsandboos.com/
The movie is about the life of people working in a Angadi Street (Street that has got only shops). It doesn't focus only on the lead pair but also describes how people live a life managing a business in this street. There are many brilliant scenes to describe both shades of people. The platform shopkeepers, the individual sellers, the cruel supervisors, the physically challenged people and also the policemen who safeguards the public from cheaters and thieves.
The movie would have been a zombie if importance is not give to the casting. Vasantha Balan scores high here. We saw his casting brilliance in Veyyil, especially the flashback episode of choosing the child artists. I am not at all surprised to see the same brilliance in Angadi Theru. If I had to pick someone who was mega brilliant, it would go to the director A. Venkatesh. I was shocked to his stunning performance. The character that he played, the ruggedness that he had and of course the look made it to say that the casting of his character can never be replicated by anybody else. I in fact felt, instead of directing horrible commercial movies, he can do such meaningful character roles. The other significant factor about other cast involved in the movie is that they resembled as if the real sales guys were asked to act. Only odd feel about the cast that I felt was the character Kani played by Anjali. Her glamy look doesn't make her an apt character to play a salesgirl role. But still, she did role to perfection. Also, the typical 'Annatchi kadai' slag was maintained fantastically throughout the movie. One can notice the slang on how it differs when rendered at different emotion.
Paandi, the KKK fame needs some special mention for his humor in the movie. In general, we often see the screen presence occupied by the lead pair of a movie. But here, we could see that more than two cast shares the screen presence throughout the movie. Paandi, in this movie is not meant for filling the comedian role alone. He shares some significant screen space in many scenes. Along with Paandi, there are other casts like Shophie Mary, other supervisor, the Great Annatchi and many others who have done a neat job.
Vasantha Balan has also taken a dig at many real life incidents or rather accidents and cleverly connected to his child, the screenplay. None can forget the accident that caused the life of the platform livers when a lorry overrun on the platform resulting in many lives. Also, another accident in the improper level crossing. He has used these real accidents into the screenplay apt and certainly not to create tragedy like how we had seen in several movies in the past. He has also taken a dig at Saravana Stores describing how cruel they are with poor illiterate people from village and how rude they are to these people. He has also concentrated on describing how people come to a different city to earn for their family, which is entirely dependant on the person for bread and butter. There are quite a few scenes where Vasantha Balan has literally made the audience to move with the screenplay and fantastic dialogues by Jayamohan. When a dwarf worries that his kid was born resembling him with crippled legs and hands, his wife was very much happy with the way the kid was born resembling him. Asked why, she replied, none can question her on her chastity as they live in the streets and moreover her husband is a dwarf. This specific scene took the audience off their seat and got accolades.
Who can take an open challenge to go and shoot with your mobile camera in the Ranganathan Street? I bet, you will immediately delete the video from your mobile on seeing the quality of capture. Imagine the shoot, which took place in the same street with no sets. Normally, when you shoot in public, it will attract the crowd, but you are in a street where you can see 4 people per square meter. These are more than enough challenges for the debutant Richard. Be it the busy Ranganathan Street or the clean drought village, the debutant scores significantly high and claim due credits for his phenomenal work behind the camera.
Music and the background score for the movie did not let the momentum of the movie to go down. In this aspect, both Vijay Antony, who has also handled the background score and G V Prakash has done a decent job with neat songs and rhythmic clear BGM.
Vasantha Balan scripts each and every frame brilliantly. The continuity has been maintained very well with Sreekar Prasad doing a crisp work with his scissors. Vasantha Balan gave valid justification and also did not over bore the audience with too much emotion or too much humor. He is just 3 movies old director and he has got the ability to maintain the pace and calculate the pulse of the audience. You get to see a lot of beggars who can bring soft corner as soon as you see them. But Vasantha Balan did not bring the emotion in just showing them but also used them along with the screenplay to bring in emotion. Overall, the product is a very neat and genuine attempt and a welcome movie for the Tamil Cinema Audience.
Review posted @ http://www.clapsandboos.com/
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa - A Romantic Journey
In order to start a review for this romantic journey of Gautam Vasudev Menon's Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa, I had to go back and refresh during the initial promotions of this movie. It did create a lot of expectations when Gautam interestingly cast his cast with popular romantic movies such as Kandukondain Kandukondain, Alaipaayudhey, Uyire and his own Kaakka Kakka. And the tag after these stills goes as 'A different Romantic Story' AGAIN. Now after watching the movie, if one can recollect these stills and promos made, the tag which said AGAIN was genuinely a ‘A Different Romantic Story’.
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa??????
So what's Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa? It's romantic journey and the chemistry between Karthik and Jessy. It's so poetic that the feel has been given in the form of narration in the first half where Karthik (Simbhu) explains about the cyclone that hit him in his life and it moves on the same life cycle during the second half. Not often you see concentration on the screenplay in Tamil Cinema or at least in the recent Tamil Cinema. But Gautam disproves the fact that Tamil Cinema is not stereotype. Karthik, the lead character in the movie, is an aspiring movie maker and he makes uses of this lead throughout the movie without any point of discontinuity in the screen play. At the end, he eventually becomes a director, yet another time, when you have a love failure, you tend to be successful in your career.
Simbhu - Keep it up!!!
I was under a complete shock when I heard Simbhu is doing the lead character is Gautam's romantic movie. But he has done exceptionally well for the character. It will be even better if he continues to do the same in other movies as well. The main problem is the mass gimmick, over shadowing these stars thereby making them to do cheap stunts in the movie which will definitely be totally irrelevant. But wonder how many Gautams or Selvas would be needed for our mass heroes??? Even in the stunt scene, clear narration was given to showcase the talent he possesses as a boxer in his school days. More importantly, the stunt scene or rather a threatening scene was actually a real life threatening scene. Simbhu has deviated from his usual roles and has given something which I would say it as a neat and clean role.
Ganesh - Worth-a Worth-illaya??
I should definitely talk about casting and I cannot forget the man, Ganesh, who does the role of a Cinematographer in the movie. The man is known for his ultimate voice which initially was a bit irritating and but later it went hilarious and interesting. People would be able to identify him as the librarian with a peculiar voice informing Simran about Krishnan in the movie Vaaranam Aayiram. Yes, we have the same man here doing a lengthy role as a person who comes along with the lead character throughout the movie. He has even reduced the role for a separate comedian with his interesting sighs and discomfort ness. "Worth-a Worth-illaya" it's simply great to listen and see such dialogues rendered from his voice.
She is beautiful - She is Sexy too!!!
What about the doll 'Trisha' as Jessy? My goodness, I should thank Gautam Menon for making her come in saree 90% of the movie. As Karthik says in the movie, She is beautiful, She is Sexy and of course she is hot. Probably this should be her first film which I can think of where she has really ACTED. All that is needed for the role is a confused state of mind and more importantly a character which one would probably hate for the decision that she takes and the way she confuses and gives reason to Karthik. I think she has got full marks but again, the same principle holds good for Trisha too just like Simbhu. Rather than being a mere doll in all the movies.
Oscar Winner's decent show!
Now comes the Oscar winner ARR. Well, I could probably remember only one director who has effectively utilized ARR for a musical treat. None other than Mani is whom I was talking about. Here, Gautam Menon has used Rahman to at least good if not the best. The songs were clear chartbusters before the movie was released and still ruling the music office. Gautam was reasonably well in picturising the songs though not great. Here, we tend to notice that more or less all the three songs in the first half were picturized in a more similar manner. Poor Rahman failed to create magic in the background score. I agree the BGM was good, but not perfect in many places. Wonder what made Rahman to go for a rock music for the scenes that portrays Trisha's confused state of mind. That piece of note is seriously jarring and irritating to hear that it disturbs the entire scene.
Manoj was brilliant with the camera. Initial scenes, especially in the sets where Karthik tries to meet directors were shot on a hand motion camera is really catchy one. Also the songs were beautifully shot in many locations. Not to forget the close up and out of focus shots were shot really well. Of course, it was directors’ way of thinking and style of making.
Gautam Vasudev Menon
The man behind all the credits, Gautam Vasudev Menon. In the masala times of Tamil Cinema, it's quite a relief factor with people like Gautam Menon, who can give sensible audience respect and quality movies. Courage is needed to mock your own movies. Gautam Menon does that in VTV where Karthik when he says that he wanted to work as an assistant director to Gautam Menon, Ganesh mocks him by saying "Why do you want to make a Tamil movie in English?" Also when he goes to Kerala to search Trisha, he mocks Vaaranam Aayiram mentioning about the travel to the US. The director has done brilliantly well especially the screenplay needs a special mention. I enjoyed the first half narrative style and the current on play technique for the second half. Especially the climax twist is really good. More than that, he has molded the cast to perform what he wanted is stunning. I said stunning because of the lead pair here who doesn't own anything to their credit in the name of acting.
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa??????
So what's Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa? It's romantic journey and the chemistry between Karthik and Jessy. It's so poetic that the feel has been given in the form of narration in the first half where Karthik (Simbhu) explains about the cyclone that hit him in his life and it moves on the same life cycle during the second half. Not often you see concentration on the screenplay in Tamil Cinema or at least in the recent Tamil Cinema. But Gautam disproves the fact that Tamil Cinema is not stereotype. Karthik, the lead character in the movie, is an aspiring movie maker and he makes uses of this lead throughout the movie without any point of discontinuity in the screen play. At the end, he eventually becomes a director, yet another time, when you have a love failure, you tend to be successful in your career.
Simbhu - Keep it up!!!
I was under a complete shock when I heard Simbhu is doing the lead character is Gautam's romantic movie. But he has done exceptionally well for the character. It will be even better if he continues to do the same in other movies as well. The main problem is the mass gimmick, over shadowing these stars thereby making them to do cheap stunts in the movie which will definitely be totally irrelevant. But wonder how many Gautams or Selvas would be needed for our mass heroes??? Even in the stunt scene, clear narration was given to showcase the talent he possesses as a boxer in his school days. More importantly, the stunt scene or rather a threatening scene was actually a real life threatening scene. Simbhu has deviated from his usual roles and has given something which I would say it as a neat and clean role.
Ganesh - Worth-a Worth-illaya??
I should definitely talk about casting and I cannot forget the man, Ganesh, who does the role of a Cinematographer in the movie. The man is known for his ultimate voice which initially was a bit irritating and but later it went hilarious and interesting. People would be able to identify him as the librarian with a peculiar voice informing Simran about Krishnan in the movie Vaaranam Aayiram. Yes, we have the same man here doing a lengthy role as a person who comes along with the lead character throughout the movie. He has even reduced the role for a separate comedian with his interesting sighs and discomfort ness. "Worth-a Worth-illaya" it's simply great to listen and see such dialogues rendered from his voice.
She is beautiful - She is Sexy too!!!
What about the doll 'Trisha' as Jessy? My goodness, I should thank Gautam Menon for making her come in saree 90% of the movie. As Karthik says in the movie, She is beautiful, She is Sexy and of course she is hot. Probably this should be her first film which I can think of where she has really ACTED. All that is needed for the role is a confused state of mind and more importantly a character which one would probably hate for the decision that she takes and the way she confuses and gives reason to Karthik. I think she has got full marks but again, the same principle holds good for Trisha too just like Simbhu. Rather than being a mere doll in all the movies.
Oscar Winner's decent show!
Now comes the Oscar winner ARR. Well, I could probably remember only one director who has effectively utilized ARR for a musical treat. None other than Mani is whom I was talking about. Here, Gautam Menon has used Rahman to at least good if not the best. The songs were clear chartbusters before the movie was released and still ruling the music office. Gautam was reasonably well in picturising the songs though not great. Here, we tend to notice that more or less all the three songs in the first half were picturized in a more similar manner. Poor Rahman failed to create magic in the background score. I agree the BGM was good, but not perfect in many places. Wonder what made Rahman to go for a rock music for the scenes that portrays Trisha's confused state of mind. That piece of note is seriously jarring and irritating to hear that it disturbs the entire scene.
Manoj was brilliant with the camera. Initial scenes, especially in the sets where Karthik tries to meet directors were shot on a hand motion camera is really catchy one. Also the songs were beautifully shot in many locations. Not to forget the close up and out of focus shots were shot really well. Of course, it was directors’ way of thinking and style of making.
Gautam Vasudev Menon
The man behind all the credits, Gautam Vasudev Menon. In the masala times of Tamil Cinema, it's quite a relief factor with people like Gautam Menon, who can give sensible audience respect and quality movies. Courage is needed to mock your own movies. Gautam Menon does that in VTV where Karthik when he says that he wanted to work as an assistant director to Gautam Menon, Ganesh mocks him by saying "Why do you want to make a Tamil movie in English?" Also when he goes to Kerala to search Trisha, he mocks Vaaranam Aayiram mentioning about the travel to the US. The director has done brilliantly well especially the screenplay needs a special mention. I enjoyed the first half narrative style and the current on play technique for the second half. Especially the climax twist is really good. More than that, he has molded the cast to perform what he wanted is stunning. I said stunning because of the lead pair here who doesn't own anything to their credit in the name of acting.
Review posted @ www.clapsandboos.com
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Pongala Pongal - A Look Back
We had a good Pongal with Aayirathil Oruvan which was released nearly after 2 years of making. Though it had some mixed reviews in the beginning, later it started to pick up as the movie was trimmed by deleting a few unwanted scenes especially in the second half. Now that, the word of mouth has started to spread and it seems to be really good. But the trade reports however seems to be in favor of Aayirathil Oruvan. Let's see if it continue the same becomes a super hit.
Of the other movies that released along with Aayirathil Oruvan, it looks like Naanayam seems have to positive reviews for the concept and the screenplay. Kutty as well receives decent reviews. One sure shot disaster is Porkkalam which failed to attract the audience which created or rather made the audience to anticipate for the movie with its trailer and the promo stills.
So that's for this year. Can we also rewind back and check what happened for Pongal? We have some good old memories as well.
2006
It was a clash of titans. It was so designed to have their movies clashing most of the time during the Pongal season. And this year it was Aadhi and Paramasivam. Aadhi carried the hopes Vijay-Trisha winning combo from Ghilli and Thirupachi but it went nowhere since the content was empty. So surprisingly it turned out to be one of the worst disaster movies in Vijay's career. Well Paramasivan, it was P Vasu who carried the momentum from Chandramukhi. Expectations were high for this movie but it failed to satisfy the audience completely because of ridiculous script. Though it was not a fully satisfactory movie, it did manage to collect some money.
2007
It was the year, where the term Pongal was rephrased to Pokkiri Pongal. This time, Vijay joined hands with Prabhu Deva in remaking the Telugu blockbuster Pokkiri by Mahesh Babu. The team was able to replicated each and every thing from the telugu movie and with the inclusion of Vadivelu's awesome comedy track, the team was able to give a stunning block buster. We also had an Ajith movie which Ajith would never wanted to get reminded off, Alwar. Except for the lead pair Ajith-Asin, there wasn't any expectation for the movie and the movie turned out to be the best disaster in Ajith's career. But Ajith's Varalaaru which was released 2006 Diwali, still continued to run in major screens. Another movie which turned to be a success along with Vijay's Pokkiri was Thamarabarani. It was Vishal who paired with the new face Bhanu under Hari's direction. The movie also created expectations as Nadiya made a comeback again. The movie turned to be a super hit and ran for more than 100 days.
2008
The year which probably witnessed maximum releases because of the absence of Vijay or Ajith movie which usually share more screens if it had released. But we had Vikram's Bheema which was desperately waiting for years to hit the silver screen. Lingusamy carried his success after Run and the songs were ruling the radio stations pre release time. But the movie was a complete disaster for Lingusamy. Kaalai, the Simbu starrer was another big disaster which had absolutely nothing in the movie other than personal vengeance. Karu Pazhaniyappan's Pirivom Sandhipom had good response and it was actually the only movie which made a good profit of all Pongal releases. Other two movies were Pazhani and Vaazthukal. Pazhani, as usual had a typical Perarasu's story and it made decent money whereas Vaazthukal failed to cross even 10 days.
Please visit : www.clapsandboos.com
Of the other movies that released along with Aayirathil Oruvan, it looks like Naanayam seems have to positive reviews for the concept and the screenplay. Kutty as well receives decent reviews. One sure shot disaster is Porkkalam which failed to attract the audience which created or rather made the audience to anticipate for the movie with its trailer and the promo stills.
So that's for this year. Can we also rewind back and check what happened for Pongal? We have some good old memories as well.
2006
It was a clash of titans. It was so designed to have their movies clashing most of the time during the Pongal season. And this year it was Aadhi and Paramasivam. Aadhi carried the hopes Vijay-Trisha winning combo from Ghilli and Thirupachi but it went nowhere since the content was empty. So surprisingly it turned out to be one of the worst disaster movies in Vijay's career. Well Paramasivan, it was P Vasu who carried the momentum from Chandramukhi. Expectations were high for this movie but it failed to satisfy the audience completely because of ridiculous script. Though it was not a fully satisfactory movie, it did manage to collect some money.
2007
It was the year, where the term Pongal was rephrased to Pokkiri Pongal. This time, Vijay joined hands with Prabhu Deva in remaking the Telugu blockbuster Pokkiri by Mahesh Babu. The team was able to replicated each and every thing from the telugu movie and with the inclusion of Vadivelu's awesome comedy track, the team was able to give a stunning block buster. We also had an Ajith movie which Ajith would never wanted to get reminded off, Alwar. Except for the lead pair Ajith-Asin, there wasn't any expectation for the movie and the movie turned out to be the best disaster in Ajith's career. But Ajith's Varalaaru which was released 2006 Diwali, still continued to run in major screens. Another movie which turned to be a success along with Vijay's Pokkiri was Thamarabarani. It was Vishal who paired with the new face Bhanu under Hari's direction. The movie also created expectations as Nadiya made a comeback again. The movie turned to be a super hit and ran for more than 100 days.
2008
The year which probably witnessed maximum releases because of the absence of Vijay or Ajith movie which usually share more screens if it had released. But we had Vikram's Bheema which was desperately waiting for years to hit the silver screen. Lingusamy carried his success after Run and the songs were ruling the radio stations pre release time. But the movie was a complete disaster for Lingusamy. Kaalai, the Simbu starrer was another big disaster which had absolutely nothing in the movie other than personal vengeance. Karu Pazhaniyappan's Pirivom Sandhipom had good response and it was actually the only movie which made a good profit of all Pongal releases. Other two movies were Pazhani and Vaazthukal. Pazhani, as usual had a typical Perarasu's story and it made decent money whereas Vaazthukal failed to cross even 10 days.
Please visit : www.clapsandboos.com
Decoding Aayirathil Oruvan
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers and the author expects the readers to have watched the movie before reading the article. This article doesn’t proclaim that Aayirathil Oruvan is the greatest movie ever made in the history of Tamil Cinema. It’s a brave new welcome attempt which will promote new genre like this. As every other film, this film also has its own set of flaws and the content here only tries to bring out the flavor of the movie.
One of the most anticipated movies has finally arrived and opened to houseful shows with great expectations. But sooner, after the movie was screened, there were predominantly these kind of audience, a mixed response.
a) loved the movie so much that they wanted to watch it again to understand the nuances and other details about the movie.
b) Weren't impressed with the movie which fell short with their expectations.
c) Found the first half to be engaging while they couldn't make out what was being conveyed in the second half.
d) Found that the movie had gore and unwanted scenes in the movie.
e) Yet another movie
To answer them all, here is a conversation between Clap and Boo had after a few rounds of vodka at the local bar; Apparently, I snooped on them to find out their opinion. Guys, It cannot get bigger than this...Clap and Boo discussing the movie together!
Read on to know what they felt about this film!
Boo: What the hell? Are you going to tell me some connection to this scene of 'Therukoothu' and the storyline?
Clap: Hang on, Boo! One step at a time!
Boo: Aah! I think we must concentrate on the narration here! Now I know why Selva has kept that 'Therukoothu' scene. Oh man, looks interesting.
Clap: Wow! That was quick! Also note the credits title then and there in the movie. If you observe the first frame of the movie, you will have the credits indicating 'One small village' Tanjore (now). Immediately, the focus shifts to Tanjore in 1279 with the same story, where Parthiban recite, wait till the messenger comes and followed by the narration by Selva.
Boo: I guess I got watch the movie very keenly!
Clap: Of course you need to! I hope you don't shoot any question in the title credit!
Boo: Hopefully not! Seems like the adventure going to start! So this team headed by Reema will head to find the Professor as well as the Chola kingdom where they lived is it?
Clap: Bingo!
Boo: Do we really need this MGR song?
Clap: Come on man! Living in Tamil Nadu, are you not a fan of MGR? Stealing his title Aayirathil Oruvan, you should at least pay some justice!
Boo: Oh yea! I love this song!!!
Boo: How come Andrea can speak that Tribal language? Isn't it funny? Why does the head of the tribal people leave them without killing them???
Clap: I seriously don't know how a tribal language will be? Moreover, the guide who accompanies them will understand that language, so obviously, Andrea being an archeologist, would probably knew that language. The Tribal head is warning them and they just threaten them. This is quite evident from the guide who speaks to Azhagam Perumal.
Boo: Hmmm, yea, what about the slide what contains the painting?
Clap: Hold On! Like I said; one step at a time!
Boo: Wow, thank God, Karthi didn't die because of the Red Indians. Oh man, why did the leader of the Red Indians kill himself, what's there show a clip in black and white?
Clap: I myself don't know what's the reason behind this? Let's wait and see!
Boo: Who is this Azhagam Perumal? I thought he belong to Indian Army! Lols!
Clap: Did you notice that he was asking Reema Sen that he mistook them and he needed additional men from ex military army, private forces, mercenaries, armed forces and weapons.
Boo: What's there to notice this point?
Clap: Just a heads up!
Boo: Why are they threatening Karthi? Can't they just leave him when he is not interested?
Clap: I feel something fishy here!!!
Boo: Ah song!!! Can I get you something?
Clap: Hang on! Did you infer subtext from this song? Oh Eesa, which means Oh Shiva, The protector. They have realized that they have intruders in their path and a song for protection. Of course, it's not needed though!
Boo: Man!!!!!!!
Clap: Observe this closely Boo! Check out the traps Andrea says. It seems there are 7 traps and she says they have surpassed 3 traps. Kadal, Kaatuvaasi, Kaaval Veerargal, Sarpam, Pudhakuzhi, Pasi & Dhaagam and Grahamam. If you had noticed, initially they while coming to the island, they will be attacked by some sort of jelly fish followed by the threatening of the tribal and then the attack of Red Indians who are supposed to be the protector of the forest. Now it's the time to Sarpam, that's snakes.
Boo: Yea, I can co relate them buddy! I guess after escaping from this trap, these three might get separated!!
Clap: Wow, you can become a screenwriter too!!!
Boo: Reema and Karthi - why are they always out of sync??
Clap: Don't think too much dude!!!
Boo: Don't you think this is too much dude!!! She shot him and he didn’t die!!!! Funniest part of the movie with rubbish logic.
Clap: I guess, there should be some connection Boo! Remember, when the red indians tried to cut his neck his uncle rescued him and now Reema Sen shot him but nothing happened. Remember man! Selva is not a Perarasu!
To read more please visit - www.clapsandboos.com
One of the most anticipated movies has finally arrived and opened to houseful shows with great expectations. But sooner, after the movie was screened, there were predominantly these kind of audience, a mixed response.
a) loved the movie so much that they wanted to watch it again to understand the nuances and other details about the movie.
b) Weren't impressed with the movie which fell short with their expectations.
c) Found the first half to be engaging while they couldn't make out what was being conveyed in the second half.
d) Found that the movie had gore and unwanted scenes in the movie.
e) Yet another movie
To answer them all, here is a conversation between Clap and Boo had after a few rounds of vodka at the local bar; Apparently, I snooped on them to find out their opinion. Guys, It cannot get bigger than this...Clap and Boo discussing the movie together!
Read on to know what they felt about this film!
Boo: What the hell? Are you going to tell me some connection to this scene of 'Therukoothu' and the storyline?
Clap: Hang on, Boo! One step at a time!
Boo: Aah! I think we must concentrate on the narration here! Now I know why Selva has kept that 'Therukoothu' scene. Oh man, looks interesting.
Clap: Wow! That was quick! Also note the credits title then and there in the movie. If you observe the first frame of the movie, you will have the credits indicating 'One small village' Tanjore (now). Immediately, the focus shifts to Tanjore in 1279 with the same story, where Parthiban recite, wait till the messenger comes and followed by the narration by Selva.
Boo: I guess I got watch the movie very keenly!
Clap: Of course you need to! I hope you don't shoot any question in the title credit!
Boo: Hopefully not! Seems like the adventure going to start! So this team headed by Reema will head to find the Professor as well as the Chola kingdom where they lived is it?
Clap: Bingo!
Boo: Do we really need this MGR song?
Clap: Come on man! Living in Tamil Nadu, are you not a fan of MGR? Stealing his title Aayirathil Oruvan, you should at least pay some justice!
Boo: Oh yea! I love this song!!!
Boo: How come Andrea can speak that Tribal language? Isn't it funny? Why does the head of the tribal people leave them without killing them???
Clap: I seriously don't know how a tribal language will be? Moreover, the guide who accompanies them will understand that language, so obviously, Andrea being an archeologist, would probably knew that language. The Tribal head is warning them and they just threaten them. This is quite evident from the guide who speaks to Azhagam Perumal.
Boo: Hmmm, yea, what about the slide what contains the painting?
Clap: Hold On! Like I said; one step at a time!
Boo: Wow, thank God, Karthi didn't die because of the Red Indians. Oh man, why did the leader of the Red Indians kill himself, what's there show a clip in black and white?
Clap: I myself don't know what's the reason behind this? Let's wait and see!
Boo: Who is this Azhagam Perumal? I thought he belong to Indian Army! Lols!
Clap: Did you notice that he was asking Reema Sen that he mistook them and he needed additional men from ex military army, private forces, mercenaries, armed forces and weapons.
Boo: What's there to notice this point?
Clap: Just a heads up!
Boo: Why are they threatening Karthi? Can't they just leave him when he is not interested?
Clap: I feel something fishy here!!!
Boo: Ah song!!! Can I get you something?
Clap: Hang on! Did you infer subtext from this song? Oh Eesa, which means Oh Shiva, The protector. They have realized that they have intruders in their path and a song for protection. Of course, it's not needed though!
Boo: Man!!!!!!!
Clap: Observe this closely Boo! Check out the traps Andrea says. It seems there are 7 traps and she says they have surpassed 3 traps. Kadal, Kaatuvaasi, Kaaval Veerargal, Sarpam, Pudhakuzhi, Pasi & Dhaagam and Grahamam. If you had noticed, initially they while coming to the island, they will be attacked by some sort of jelly fish followed by the threatening of the tribal and then the attack of Red Indians who are supposed to be the protector of the forest. Now it's the time to Sarpam, that's snakes.
Boo: Yea, I can co relate them buddy! I guess after escaping from this trap, these three might get separated!!
Clap: Wow, you can become a screenwriter too!!!
Boo: Reema and Karthi - why are they always out of sync??
Clap: Don't think too much dude!!!
Boo: Don't you think this is too much dude!!! She shot him and he didn’t die!!!! Funniest part of the movie with rubbish logic.
Clap: I guess, there should be some connection Boo! Remember, when the red indians tried to cut his neck his uncle rescued him and now Reema Sen shot him but nothing happened. Remember man! Selva is not a Perarasu!
To read more please visit - www.clapsandboos.com
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Porkkalam - Loser in the battlefield
The Polladhavan villain, the coach of Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu has finally emerged as an hero in the Porkkalam(Battle Field). I would sincerely advise him to do what he is best at. We never imagined when he did the role in Polladhavan. His slang is definitely a gift for Kishore. But the same slang will not help in donning a hero role. He was quite decent in Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu as a coach with regional slang to an accent.
A girl from Andhra escapes and come to Chennai because of forced marriage. She lands in the place of Kishore and he accompanies her. Later when she proposes him, he rejects her proposal and surrenders her to the police station where she was eventually taken to the place where she is supposed to go, Andhra. How Kishore fetches her back is the climax. Well, this template is quite common in Tamil Cinema.
Initial sequences of Kishore portrayal was rib tickling comedy but later the audience were given a so-called shocking surprise during the pre interval scene. The character was literally portrayed as a stupid common man who takes care of public nuisance. Later it was revealed during the climax that Kishore is a blind man. We also have a supporting flash back sequence why he went blind. But the flash back scene was so stupid considering the situation where he desperately need to held his girl from the villains. Well, the director stretches the story by taking Kishore to the Andhra in order fetch his girl back.
For more, please visit http://www.clapsandboos.com/user/Vikram
Friday, January 15, 2010
Kutty - Family entertainer
The team Yaaradi Nee Mohini is back with a remake of another blockbuster movie 'Aarya'. I haven't seen Aarya, even if I had, I would have still watched the movie. I was wrong with my assumption and wish before watching the movie as I expected the movie bomb purely on a thought wishing Dhanush to stay away from remakes and masala entertainers and concentrate on feel good quality movies from different directors whom he had worked in the past. Anyway, even this time, the team managed to give a decent family entertainer with of course a few horrible exceptions.
Triangle love forms the basic plot of the story with Dhanush, Shriya and Sameer. Dhanush was portrayed a feel good lovable boy by almost all the characters in the movie except the villains. How Dhanush makes Shriya to feel his love is all about Kutty. The movie had almost all ingredients to make the family audience thoroughly enjoy the movie, though I personally feel the movie is just another run of the mill but definitely a good entertainer.
It was Dhanush all the way, who has carried the pace of the movie. His humor is good in parts but the dialogue delivery especially when he is attempting comedy is something getting stereotype right from Thiruda Thirudi to Thiruvilayadal Aarambam to YNM to Padikaadhavan and Kutty. One example of such dialogue delivery that I could remember was 'unga love sollitu avangalum love panna sonna adhu peru business, that's not love' and likewise 'Uyira koduppean sonna ennoda uyira illa...' Ah enough of such dialogue delivery man!
For more review, please see http://www.clapsandboos.com/user/Vikram
Triangle love forms the basic plot of the story with Dhanush, Shriya and Sameer. Dhanush was portrayed a feel good lovable boy by almost all the characters in the movie except the villains. How Dhanush makes Shriya to feel his love is all about Kutty. The movie had almost all ingredients to make the family audience thoroughly enjoy the movie, though I personally feel the movie is just another run of the mill but definitely a good entertainer.
It was Dhanush all the way, who has carried the pace of the movie. His humor is good in parts but the dialogue delivery especially when he is attempting comedy is something getting stereotype right from Thiruda Thirudi to Thiruvilayadal Aarambam to YNM to Padikaadhavan and Kutty. One example of such dialogue delivery that I could remember was 'unga love sollitu avangalum love panna sonna adhu peru business, that's not love' and likewise 'Uyira koduppean sonna ennoda uyira illa...' Ah enough of such dialogue delivery man!
For more review, please see http://www.clapsandboos.com/user/Vikram
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