Bodhidharma or Vela

Instead of writing two different reviews, I shall try to put both in one review and also, the thought of comparing these stories struck my mind while watching Velayudham. 7aum arivu, the movie which created buzz in the cine industry right from its poster release till the irritating publicity gimmicks by the production house was released a day before the diwali to create more buzz and it was not just the special show, instead almost all the theaters screened the movie continuous shows from matinee to early morning. With all the anxiety, I watched the matinee show of 7aum arivu and after coming back from the movie, '7 aum arivu is samma entertainer' was my status message on my wall. Hmmmm, slightly makes me think if I had over bored a bit with the movie.

Expectation matters certainly! Creating so much expectation on 7aum arivu had a slight disappointment from many whereas, the unusual dark horse Velayudham, with no big publicity and very less expectation, turning out to get positive scribbles. Adding more to the factor is the vengeance on Suriya by both the fans of AJ and VJ. I was surprised to see audience in a C class theater abusing Surya on hearing positive comments from the people who came out of the theater after watching the morning show of Velayudham. 

Ok, now coming to drawing the similarities on these two stories. In 7aum arivu, china wanted to start a bio war in India by means of a virus and connecting that to the 6th century and the concept of triggering the DNA of a person who lived in 6th century. In Velayudham, the usual ordinary formula of Pakistan - India war in the form of terrorist. 7aum arivu had to trigger DNA of Bodhidharma to kill Dong Lee, here; sentiment dialogue is all needed to bring back Velayudham.

First 16 mins gimmick. Before I went to 7aum arivu, all talks were about never miss the first 16 mins, every minute is 1 crore and it is the most important part of the movie. Agreed, it is the most important part of the movie, but 1 minute = 1 crore makes me to think the way to spend money in the most unknown way!! In Velayudham, if I am not wrong, for the first 16 mins will not have Vijay but it tested the patience of his fans longing to celebrate his first screen presence. It also conveyed what the movie is all about in just 16 minutes.

Forget the first 16 mins now and move on. 7aum arivu had sluggish start after that it had the introduction of Suriya with a costly song 'Oh ringa ringa' roping 1000s of artists and dancers, shot with several random cameras in the busiest places of chennai, heavy beats, unknown lyrics, etc., After which, the movie had a dull screenplay until the Villain's entry point. But, Velayudham just had 'sonna puriyathu' with no 1000 dancers, normal camera, awesome dance and a peppy number. The pace of the movie is so swift and smart. Surprisingly, this time, there was some logic in the play.

Pakkuru, Circus, Suriya all tried to bring out laughter but not even a bit had come. Santhanam PERIOD. Vijay PERIOD. I guess these would have answered. Santhanam particularly rocked throughout the movie with his timing sense and witty dialogues. He was given a good company by the hero himself and along with the other artists in the movie.

Munandhi Charal and Emma Emma overtakes Chillax and Maayam Seidhayo as a song but as a visual appeal, everyone should succumb to Hansika. I haven't seen Engeyum Kadhal, but I wanted to watch it immediately. Not just these songs where she scores, overall, in each and every frame, she kills us with her beauty. On a serious note, Shruthy, though I feel she is not a heroine material at all, ARM had given good scope for the heroine role in this movie, but she sounded so artificial in most of the places. I should appreciate that she had dubbed for herself, but sometimes, it makes us feel that they ruining the dubbing artist. On still a serious note, she is neither hot nor sexy.

Post interval, it was quite obvious to have Vijay's usual formula like HIS movies. Praising dialogues from the common people, extra ordinary over reaction from a couple of actors, Oruthan varuvaanda, Velayudham anna da, Avan ungala saagadippan da kinda dialogues disturbs a bit. Also, quite heavy action dosage was added in the second half which was quite bad. Same holds good for 7aum arivu as well. Jonny is the villain roped in from Thailand, the master of Martial arts. Also agreed is that he is capable enough to control others mind. But ARM, you cannot keep throwing away vehicles like this in the name of Nokku Varmam. Learn to use the right talent from right people.

Surya had six packs. The climax triggered the DNA of Bodhidharma and he was reborn as Suriya. It had martial arts. It had some magic. Of course it was good to watch it on screen as well. Vijay on the other hand had no packs, the usual Villain beating hero, but it was more powerful to watch on screen. Pre release of the movie, ARM kept chanting Tamil and it will trigger the DNA of the audience as well which will bring Tamil patriotism, but to be real honest, the play was not so powerful to bring that patriotism. Ramana gave Goosebumps, 7aum arivu failed to do that.

7aum arivu is an OKish entertainer as I initially said I may have to think rewriting what I wrote on my wall. It had brave concept, unsteady screenplay, some wasted talents.

Velayudham is a pakka family masala entertainer which has got all possible elements driving the standard commercial formula of action, comedy, romance and sentiments.

Verdict - 7aum arivu had Six pack suriya, Red Giant Udhayanidhi, Giant promotion, AR Murugadoss, Harris Jeyaraj, Jhonny, Ravi K Chandran. 

Velayudham had VIJAY.

Vaagai Sooda va - A National award winner

After a pathetic Vedi for the first show, we thought we will end up watching Muran for the night show but later because of a friend, we watched Vaagai Soodava and I came to know about the movie called Vaagai Soodava and felt quite difficult to remember this name until I watched the movie. We would have often seen many movies that carry 'for the namesake message' but I don't recollect any recent movie that has taken a very good plot and conveys a message that benefits child labor in India in rural villages.

The story is set back in the 60s, where Vimal goes to a 'pottakaadu' in order to teach the children there so that he gets a certificate which will help him in getting a government job. This is actually the basic plot of the movie from which the director has beautifully taken the story to tackle the characters giving everyone equal share in the screen. The village where Vimal goes is an absolute 60s village where the children were kept illiterate and were asked to cut the bricks where they work for JP, the person who rules these people to work under him as slaves or utilize the illiterate people.

What I liked in the movie is not exaggerating things or deviating from what the director has intended to convey. You have the coin. Hero, Herione, Villain, people who work as slaves and children. Move the coin in such a way that hero and villain meets. First instance, the slaves support the villain unknowingly. Later reveal the super power of the hero. NO, the same happens even in this movie, but the way it was told is awesome. The character of the protagonist is actually to get the certificate which will help him to get a government job as a teacher and hence, the movie revolves around him and focus is being given on that character and what was his motto during that time. Heroine slowly starts to fall for the hero but without telling him her love.

Casting is playing a vital role in many feel good movies these days. This movie is no exception. You just name a character in the movie and each and everyone in the movie were damn apt casted. I never felt anyone being misplaced here and I am seriously not over exaggerating here. So as their acting which comes quite naturally. The children were handpicked by the director I guess. He made them look like real life brick cutters who are from remote parts of Tamil Nadu. Vimal has done a neat job following Kalavaani, an apt 1960 teacher with the style of that period, he looked neat and clean. The heroine is another beauty without makeup but I sincerely hope to see these people with their actual face to see and get surprised.

I never knew Poraale Poraale belongs to this movie, somewhere in the radio in the night while sleeping; I have listened to this song which didn't attract me at that time. Watching it on screen, learn from this song how to shoot a romantic song. The music director, even now I do not know his name and but I suspect this could be his debut film, is packed with talents in him. The background score is adding more value to the movie and its elevating the scenes as needed. Only in some occasions, I slightly feel that the BGM has over used to make you not understand the dialogue; otherwise it is picture perfect music that soothes you.

Art and cinematography adds another list in the good aspects of the movie. The entire movie is shot in a village; I would say approximately 2 or 3 grounds of land with a few huts here and there. Cinematography is particularly good in the songs and gives a good feel especially the night scenes where the lighting is used precisely.

After giving a feel good entertainer in the name of Kalavaani, the director has come with up a hard message driven movie. As I have mentioned it earlier, the movie never was shifted to a different route even a slightest moment and the screenplay was crafted to utmost perfection. The dialogues, acting, casting everything should be credited to the director and more importantly at this period and giving a period movie of early 60s, the director definitely has done a significant job here.

Verdict - Mark my words, it is a clear National award winner.

Engeyum Eppodhum - Cute always

We would have heard about different road accidents or perhaps even seen some huge accidents but none would have put us as one of the victims of the accident. That is what the movie is all about. I do not see any message or awareness being promoted in this movie as I read tweets and wall posts from other film viewers who think the movie is telling some message about driving lessons. Yes, to answer the next question, I am completely against the climax message carry over in the movie or the end credits. The way I have seen the movie or rather I understand the movie is to think ourselves as one of the victims of the accident and carry a heavy heart when you leave after the movie.

That's how the movie starts basically with a collision of two buses and the story takes a rewind of 4 hours describing the passengers who were travelling in these two buses and giving the narration of a few lead characters with a flash back. Not just that, the director also makes us feel for the other characters in the movie by showing just glimpses of their whereabouts. I liked this special touch from the director instead of using a physically challenged person or a cute lovely girl dying in the end. So, the narration that happens with the passengers of these buses takes us till the death, sorry the accident.

The director has typically shown a normal life story throughout the movie not exaggerating any scene or situation. Un-crowded bus from the usual movies, change in the share autos (one who has travelled in share autos will know the difference that I am talking about), using the A/C bus, Trailer bus. These things though many wouldn't worry or concentrate much, this doesn't give the audience any stereotype feel when watching the movie. Likewise goes with the other flashback in the movie that talks about the love affair of Jai and Anjali. The worker changing the uniform and more importantly coming to the shift in casual dress of the colour of their lover's costume and getting changed, the auto driver asking Jai 'Is this the first time you are coming in auto'.

Screenplay is simple amazing in this journey. What's the interesting factor is, when the director takes us to a flashback of one pair, he doesn't continue till the end instead, he abruptly stops with a flash and return to the live journey and moves to the other bus to come in a different route. This is actually a clever screenplay that will leave the audience to be keen on what has happened to them and why are they in this bus.

Also the way the director has narrated the flashback scenes makes me to write the caption for my review as 'Cute'. The instances in Ananya and Sharvanand pair are really cute with Ananya behaving. A new girl from village comes to Chennai, not trusting anyone but being supported by a totally unknown stranger and her suspicious character are just cute. If for Ananya, so for Jai in the flashback of Jai and Anjali. I just wanted to stress a few lines and if you have not seen the movie, I bet you will get reminded of these lines while watching the movie. ESPIRIT hospital, Bru coffee, drinking coffee in bulk, these are just awesome.

Often, these days, the directors have improved a lot when it comes to casting the characters. I haven't seen a single misplaced cast in the movie or probably they must be negligible. A Dubai return eager to see his daughter who even has got her voice asking to pick the phone as a ringtone is top notch. Casting of other characters apart from the lead (doesn't mean they are not apt) is ultra.

SPOILER ALERT

Acting becomes so easy when you have a strong screenplay that keeps going with a pace and momentum. Jai and Anjali have especially done their job perfect. Jai's character and his acting will leave everyone enjoyable in the movie and carry a heavy heart in the end. Anjali as a different forecast lover has done very well in the movie. The new comer Sharavanand is also blended nicely to the character who reveals his name at the end. Ananya facial expression is enough to make her look cute and needless to say anything extra.

I never knew 'Govinda Govinda' belongs to this movie. I was excited to see the song in the movie and so as 'Maasama maasama' song. Other songs could have made a bit peppier to make them remember or murmer. CG sequences during the collision are something nice or more like Final destination sort of revealing what exactly an accident means.

First movie for the director, he should be thanking the producers to believe his script as this script if told in the form of storytelling would probably make the producers yawn. All we expect is 'a long way to go and give us more feel good entertainers'.

Verdict - Please do not miss this journey!

Mankatha - Ulle Veliye!!!

Something on a personal front, I am missing those days in Chennai, particularly these first day first show or rather first day early morning shows that too for a Ajith movie. Sleepless night spending time on all the social networking site, hearing all the rumors of relatives/friends abroad commenting the first word of mouth, neutral fan/ajith fan/ vijay fan review from abroad and getting up early in the morning and watching the 5 AM show in a pakka mass theatre! Priceless - but just for that moment! What happens after that show gets over? Game ON!

Certainly, the expectations are high for various reasons! Obviously the 50th game for Ajith, which he has landed with an OKish director this time bearing in mind what Vijay did for his 50. Strangely, the songs turned out to be good this time, which I felt after a long time, say Kireedom. The trailer - just increased the expectations to reach sky high! Before the game actually begun, there were games started well in advance for the release of the movie where the movie was tossed to different hands.

Venkat Prabhu known for his clever steals from Hollywood movies and he has already let the audience to determine what movie is Mankatha ripped, by the promos and the trailer. But, at least, I can say this is not a RIP OFF of any Hollywood movie thought it had glimpses of Italian Job. So, I basically wanted to put this review in terms of what I felt are IN and what I felt were OUT.

Don't shout at me for it. I very much understand 'Strictly no logic' for a commercial movie but having a heist plan and going with a logicless screenplay seriously is annoying. The Heist plan is absolutely yuck and just for bike stunts which we all know Ajith can do wonders, you cannot have a pretty logic less stupid plan using a magnet to lift a giant carrier when the driver is JUST speaking or showing his papers! And another logic less factor that irked me was the police character involved in the heist. Having been caught red handed that he is involved and he still manages to get help from the police department! Where are you with movie boss??

Songs, they just proved the typical formula in Tamil Cinema. But having had a good response for the audio release, I must say except for the opening Song 'Vilayadu Mankatha', the other songs weren't picturized well and particularly, the placement of the songs are speed breakers. You don't have smoking facility inside the theatre premises these days Venkat Prabhu and please bear in mind when you place the songs in your next movie at least. Moving further, did you ever see the song 'Bin Laden' and where you convinced with the singer-actor synchronization? Or did you at least feel if it's a mandatory factor at that place? And the much hyped Open the bottle is a bizarre! We all know Ajith cannot dance and you are not making any Guinness record here Mr Venkat Prabhu. Lastly, my favorite Ballelakka has landed to the ugliest characters (except Rai) in the movie!

Trisha, Andrea, Anjali, Lakshmi Rai...hang on! I am not typing the heroine names in Tamil Cinema, as a matter of fact, these bunch of ladies are part of the movie and trust they come not more than 10 minutes in the movie. There were 4 item girls in the song 'Open the bottle' and I don't see any difference from the screen share between these 4 and the other 4. Well of course, the item numbers rocked. You could have at least saved our souls with the help of Lakshmi Rai but you had to get convinced for the censors by doing a smudge effect for close up shots. Poor we are man!

You had 50 bunches of characters in Chennai 28. You had 40+ in Saroja by roping in all the television serial actors. You had 30+ in Goa. See, you can't just keep having the same bunch of folks in all your movies and that especially, when you think they don't fit the bill. Prem Ji was seriously annoying but I can admit the IIT factor and 'Kirukkan' look alike match. But man, we are seriously tired of his Ilayaraja numbers and pathetic punches. I am sure most of us will agree here with the cast you believed in the boy called Mahat! Only one question that I can ask you, 'Where on earth you found him'? He doesn't know to act. He doesn't know to smile. He doesn't know to romance. He doesn't know to dance. We wonder what made you to choose him other than the money factor (if at all). Even if someone can tolerate these, when someone ask ' Mahat, be ready' for which replies 'Naan porandhulendhe reddy dhaan da'. UFFF this is atrocious.The problem is when you have too many characters, this gives you less scope for the main characters to contribute or even if they have done that, it will go unnoticed. Ganesh as the police SI is a good choice though and he has lived up to the expectations. I can probably detail on the lead characters in the para to come.

So having said all these, we have Ajith Kumar! He has done in Vaali. He contributed in Varalaaru. I should thank you for utilizing the skills of the actor which he is good at. But still, with due respect to the character played by him and the performance of Ajith, I still feel, there is more which you can extract from him and there are some which you can avoid him doing that. Throughout the movie, the saracacism shown by Ajith Kumar is bloody brilliant! But when the same sarcacism comes in the form of comedy, this is where the actor is a letdown. For instance, sarcacism between Ajith and Arjun was top notch whereas it was a big let down in the car scene between Ajith and Premji. Certain things which you could have avoided are the wicked smile, the chess scenes could have been made shorter in length. Arjun, on the other hand, I felt is an extended guest role kind. But yes, he has done it pretty neat with what was asked from him. As I mentioned earlier, though he had done his job, with the amount of characters in the movie and their background not explained properly, it will leave the contribution made by the main characters unnoticed.

Music as such also has been the same as the title of my review. It was OK in parts and noisy in some scenes. There are a few interesting things tried for the stunt sequences which I felt didn't go well. But he managed with the title roller being a catchy one. Same holds good for the cinematography as well.

All these above talks indirectly the direction and I guess I must thank him for not giving an absolute shit but at the same time, he needs to get out from the stereotype casting and improve on the loop holes to increase the pace of the movie.

Verdict - One Man Show

REPENTANCE - Episode IV

Days rolled by and it had been close to 7 months now. Haritha made a few decisions not to think about her past and was getting accustomed to the new life. One evening she was checking her mails. There were around ten mails floating on top of her mailbox received in the past one week, all from the same person. Yes, they were from Vimal, Haritha’s ex boy friend. She was so thrilled for a moment but then realised that she did not belong to him anymore.

She decided to delete all of them at one shot, but that was not easy for her to do. She quickly clicked on one of them which read,

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’’ Just a formal Hi or an affectionate dear, I don’t know how to address you Haritha. I can only blame my fate and bad luck. It’s too late now and I have been living a depressed life all through. It is just too hard to be away from you and I mean it.

I know you will be surprised to receive a letter from me but I had no choice. Your thoughts have been constantly running in my mind for months now gushing like a wind in my heart. Every time I think of you, I am hit with conflicting emotions and I do not know how to express myself. My day starts and ends with you.

My passion towards you in an extreme state can be scary; I know you would almost want to shut it away for the fear that it will eventually destroy you. But, I can only think of my feelings and love for you. You opened my eyes and made me realise how love should feel. Now when I wish to perceive it the way you wanted me to see, you’re not with me.

Even though sadness and desperation are with me all the time, I always hope that you would drive them out from my life. I apologize to you a thousand times. Please do not consider this mail as nonsense. I know it is ridiculous but I m crying in pain.

Haritha, can you imagine the pain of something that you had virtually owned for years, now being snatched away? That is how I lost you. I only want you to be with me as a friend, and help me cope up with my life. This sentence may sound really funny.... but I m forced to name it this way.

All that I want is to hear from you once. Will you speak to me? Don’t leave me alone. Understand that I m not being a barrier between you and your partner, I m just pleading you not to jump out of your past life when I m still drowning in it.

Haritha’s Vimal (Couldn’t help this one Haritha)

(This was the signature Vimal used when they shared mails before her marriage)

At this juncture, Haritha was all tears. She at once logged off. Her head began to spin and she was unable to rest at one place. But she was not emotionally strong to delete the mail. The night went by and she dint reveal this to her husband. The next morn she again sat down to read it. This time she was much more patient and intended to reply as well.

Vimal,

I don’t want you to suffer. It’s high time now for you to realise that we are more like strangers because of the kind of past relationship we had, which cannot transform and take any shape now. Please have a positive approach towards your life and I ll pray for you. Take care.

Bye,

Haritha

Though Haritha made her mail simple and clear, she felt like speaking lots to Vimal. She made herself aware of the position she was in. She didn’t want to invite trouble into her smoothly running life as she was happy with Aurav’s approach on this issue. She tried to forget but with slight anticipation, she kept checking her mails for Vimal’s reply. At times her mind became numb about the thoughts of her present life and she frequently remembered her past.

As expected she did receive a mail back from Vimal.

Haritha,

I am really happy. Thanks for the reply. It feels as if I m isolated from everyone and worried that I would die without hearing your voice. Can you please call me once? Just once and then I am deciding on my destiny. I m waiting.....Please don’t make this wait unsuccessful like the one I made for you and finally gave up.

Call me at +07433356798

Vimal

This time it was tough for Haritha. She was not for it. She had a wavering mind and realised that it wouldn’t be right if she decided to speak to him. Some gut feeling in her kept forcing her to call him but she was very conscious not to. She tried to be ignorant about this but she really couldn’t. Finally after a lot of thinking, it was just NO, NO and NO. She kept receiving mails from Vimal for the next 3 days, requesting her to call him.

This didn’t seem to end and so Haritha gave up. She as well couldn’t rest her mind in anything. ‘’Let me call him once and get everything sorted’’, she said to herself. The next day as soon as Aurav left to work, she took her mobile and started dialing Vimal’s number. It was too early to call him, thinking of this, she finished all her work and then called him. The mobile rang thrice and reached voice mail. She dropped the call and in a few minutes, she got a call. Vimal’s number was flashing on her mobile screen.

Haritha was very nervous. Her Heart beat tremendously fast. With slightly trembling fingers, she pressed the green button on her phone.

Repentance - Episode III

It was Friday and this was exactly two months after Aurav and Haritha got wedded. They used to spend time out on Friday nights. They generally visit a friend’s house or step into a restaurant for dinner. But Aurav was disturbed because of his wife’s prolonged silence and had no idea of making it out for dinner that evening. He was crushing his brain to somehow know what was wrong. He tried to recollect if it was anything to do with his past that was affecting her but no; he had hardly any affairs or noticeably strong incidents.

Haritha always had the memory of Vimal in her mind, heart and soul and it kept reappearing now and then. It was unimaginable for her to realise that she was married to a stranger. But on the other hand, she pitied her husband. He was so patient with her and she wanted to confess whatever was in her mind. Haritha also realised that in the two months that they were together now, Aurav had not troubled her for any reason nor had he been harsh to her under any circumstance.

Aurav returned home late that evening. He prepared his coffee as usual and went in to see what Haritha was doing. She was penning down something in her diary. He went closer, sat next to her and said ‘Listen Haritha, I m sure I have been loyal to you. If there is something that’s troubling you, please tell me.... I m your better half and I m ready to share any kind of emotion that you have suppressed within you’’. He further added,’’ I had imagined a very cheerful married life, but till now it has only been grey. If you wish to spend some time home, please visit India and be back once you get a feeling that your husband is longing for you’’.

‘’I m worried that both of us have lost our lives for no reason, Is it a sin for a newly wedded guy to dream about spending joyful days with his girl. Every time I touch you, I just want you to feel my expression of love for you, but you are trying to get away from me’’. Haritha could realise the pain in his voice. At once she held him close and cried out loud as if she was shedding all her worries and pains on him. Her cry continued for about five minutes and Aurav tried to pacify her.

Haritha wiped her eyes and said, ‘’some relationships like ours are fast-paced and result in hurried weddings. But I always had a feeling that mine seemed almost choreographed to follow a certain path that was prepared long ago by destiny. When I tried to be sincere and honest in demanding it, I was cheated.

Aurav sensed a slight shiver by what his wife said. ‘’Just the way my parents cheated me, I cheated Vimal’’, sighed Haritha. Aurav felt heavy on hearing the reason behind his wife’s silent protest. On the other hand, he also had great hope and confidence that he could bring her out of this mindset.

She continued, ‘’Vimal was an articulate and intelligent guy. We studied together in the same college. As I grew to know him better, I was astounded at my need to share things with him as a friend and partner. We decided to take up the journey of life together’’. She lowered her tone and continued,’’ My mind spun when we were together as we talked of our personal goals and our desires for life in the future.......... Fate separated us and we are now miles apart’’.

Haritha further shared her entire past with Aurav. ’’All that you have to do now is to accept me as your partner and get going dear. I understand the suffering your going through and I m sure I can fill the gap’’, assured Aurav. He felt this was the usual pre-marriage happening and it did not mean something big. Haritha was surprised by her husband’s approach and she was feeling much better.

Haritha spoke to her mom regarding all that had happened and Madhu had a big burden thawed out of her mind. She was really satisfied and happy with the way Aurav had taken things. She further insisted Haritha to live a compatible life with Aurav and be an ideal partner to him. Haritha realised this and gradually settled into the new life.

Now the days seemed more colourful and bright for the couple. However, Haritha did not give her 100 pct living with Aurav. Outings were more frequent and the couple had taken quality time now in understanding each other.

From Suriya Sivakumar to Suriya to Suriya Jothika

14 years back, we had seen a boy making his debut with the dream girl Simran as his pair when he had Vijay who was one of the box office stars during that time. How many of us will have such a golden chance? Well it was Vasanth who roped in this man to Tamil cinema and all because of gem of tamil cinema, Mr. Sivakumar.

First few movies of a popular celebrity’s son will obviously result in a tragedy and comedy for the audience. Aval varuvala, aval varuvala song was mimicked by many teasing Suriya Sivakumar. Except for carrying the chocolate boy look, he didn’t do anything strange to attract big directors or try a different subject. From acting to dancing to fighting, what he did in Nerukku Ner was seriously funny. 

But the man took 5 years. From Nerukku Ner, he switched to another double hero subject and paired with the late Murali, in Kadhale Nimmadhi. But both the movies had a decent run with Deva, the music director who was at the peak in that time with his sensational peppy numbers. One cannot forget the song ‘Vidha Vidha ma soppu seepu kannaadi’. And then, he continued give some path breaking movies like Periyanna, Sandhippoma, Uyirile Kalandadhu. I honestly don’t remember a bit of Sandhippom or Uyirile Kaladadhu but I remember Vijay singing two songs for the movie Periyanna under the most talented director of Tamil Cinema, SAC.

In between these, Suriya Sivakumar had two decent movies which had a good story and music. They are Poovellam Kettupar and Friends, the latter being a remake of a Malayalam movie and eventually become one of the blockbuster of Tamil cinema. As I said, both had decent script but absolutely no scope of acting and Suriya Sivakumar continued to be emotionless actor sans expression and verbatim dialogue delivery.

Many would still argue, what was the path breaker for Suriya Sivakumar to become Suriya. I would still stand on the movie Nandhaa and not Khakka Khakka, of course the latter had much better acting. But, it was the movie Nandhaa, though didn’t do well in the box office, established or rather made a change to his name by throwing his dad’s name. It was Nandha which gave him Mounam Pesiyadhe which again was by the director Bala’s school of education, Ameer. Nandhaa didn’t go well with the box office but was critically acclaimed movie but Mounam Pesiyadhe had success in both areas. Also, in between the see-saw went the other side of cinema and tasted two bunch of garbage Shree and Unnai Ninaithu, the latter being the closest remake of a movie by the same director (Poove Unnakaaga).

2003 – 2005 is a period in which everyone started praising Suriya for the type of roles and the movie he selected. It is this period in which he started to concentrate more on his character than blindly selecting the movies like how he did in the past. He started with Khakka Khakka and it not only unearthed the talent of Suriya but also the director GV Menon who gave a romantic story Minnale. The movie did well at the box office and also attracted the critics. Suriya was praised for doing a cop role in more practical was than we had seen a cop before in tamil cinema.

Immediately after Khakka Khakka, he again went to the man who molded him, Bala. This time, it was not a main character, but the character which unearthed another talent, rather a difficult thing for a hero, comedy. He did the character with so much perfection, that people expected a National award for his role but poor fellow didn’t get one but Vikram bagged one for the movie.

For any actor, working under Mani Ratnam is a boon. Suriya too had that boon in Ayutha Ezhuthu. Though Madhavan did a fantastic role in that movie, Suriya was quite good enough for his character and did a decent job. Also, he did a remake of Kunju Koonan, the famous Malayalam movie as Perazhagan. The role that he did needs some effort of pain which Suriya learnt good lessons from Dilip and did a good job.

Ghajini, the plot stealer from Memento, yet again proved Suriya’s caliber. All is well known that Aamir Khan requested A.R Murugadoss to direct the same movie in Hindi which eventually become a blockbuster of all time in Indian cinema. Even though the comparison between the two Ghajini favored the Hindi version, Suriya Suriya dhaan. Another decent movie to his credit was Vaaranam Aayiram but again, because of the forth coming para, the value of his role in the movie was teased rather than being appreciated.

Now, at this point in life, he had earned a decent fame, and again he switched the cards to do some commercial pot boilers like Aaru, Sillunu Oru Kadhal, Vel. And this is another turning point in his career when added the name Suriya Jothika. He started to use his wife name in all possible areas. He started act everywhere apart from the movies. He started acting the stage, awards function, started attending regular television shows, started doing guest appearances, become stardom. This was the time when started using Jothika to earn popularity. Hope, he comes out of this sooner and get back to the period 2003-2005.

Hangover! Proves the theorem of Hollywood’s Sequel Law of movies!

SPOILER ALERT only for the minor group of people who never knew about a movie called Hangover in the past! Well, if you fall under the majority of the world who had seen the part one, there is no question of spoilers here.

It was a real pleasure meeting you!

Fuck Off!

I am thinking about getting my bartender’s license.

Suck my dick!

No, thank you!

I can keep going on with such witty dialogues from the Hangover and I must say I have seen this movie at least 50 times and I never get bored or turn to a different channel. That’s the amount of wittiness the movie had offered you and one who has seen this movie, will definitely expect at least the sequel with an equal pace if not a dull one. But the trailer literally shattered the expectations with unwinding the script, a replica of Las Vegas and with same old missing and hangover with less and boring screenplay.

Las Vegas was awesome.	Bangkok was dull and boring
The wedding boy Doug was missing and it was gripping until they find him.	Bride’s little brother comes in a scene and leaves no interest in the hunt
Stu’s missing tooth is sensational and had a great Dentist touch to it.	Tattoo, give it a break!
Mike Tyson’s tiger! There is a jungle cat in the bathroom. He is not kidding; there is a fucking tiger in the bathroom.	Boring monkey again! With a cameo role, its better Mike could have avoided it.
Jade was well apt for the movie and had a touching end.	QUESTION MARK!
Carlos! And the interesting scenes in the pool side table by Alan. ‘Not at the table Carlos’	Sticking a bottle and making a monkey sucking the penis. Ahhhhh! Please!
Melissa!	We have an empty space here as none at the reception end could make these guys rush for the wedding!
Casino, Roof, Villa Suite, Mike Tyson, Strip club, Wedding, Hospital is equal to LAS VEGAS	I will have to watch the movie again to recollect the places. Most of them which I could remember were the Dull gloomy hotel.
The approach of recollect the last night by enquiring different people with little evidences made the screenplay thrilling and captivating.	I was blown in the scene when the monk asked to meditate so that they can recollect the past!

I didn’t want to draw a comparison at all. But I had a thought if it would attract the people who had not seen the part one! But, I certainly don’t think it would be that appealing and interesting as the part one offered us. And for the people who had watched part one and a fan of part one, I certainly thought of leaving the theatre much quicker than the climax.

As I mentioned, rather than focusing on the title and standing on the same story with absolutely same casting, they must have thought something different to make it fresh and entertaining. Hangover is certainly not a worthy peg! 

REPENTANCE - Episode 2

Episode II

Keshav and Madhu got back home after sending off their daughter and son in law. The house really seemed empty. Madhu realised that it had been this way from the time Haritha’s marriage proposal had come in. She intensely felt the guilt but time and again she kept telling herself ‘’ let’s move on, time will heal the pain’’.

Next day Madhu went to temple and was getting back home when she got a call in her cell phone. She had been waiting to hear that Haritha and Aurav had reached safely. As she expected, it was a call from Aurav, ‘’Aunty we just reached home’’ he said. ‘’I was just waiting for your call Aurav’’ responded Madhu. All through the journey Haritha dint seem to have spoken to Aurav and he felt really upset about it. However he always assumed that it could be because she was being taken away so far from home. He couldn’t think of any other reason though. ‘’Alright Aunty, Haritha is taking a shower, I ll ask her to call you once she is done’’. Saying this he hung the phone and went down to get refreshed.

Minutes later he entered the bedroom and was surprised to see Haritha still bathing. ‘’Dear, is everything alrite?’’ he asked his wife, standing close to the door. ‘I m coming’’ She replied. He lolled in the couch waiting for his girl. He dint want her to be cheerless. With his eyelids shut, he was dreaming about wrapping her in his arms and cuddling her, giving her a secure and warm feeling. Disturbed by the sound of the door, he opened his eyes and saw her heading towards the mirror.

He got up slowly and reached his wife. ‘I m happy, you decided to share your life with me. I feel such love for you and I m contented with my life now. More than anything, I have an amazing level of respect for you’. Saying this he slowly inclined towards her to embrace her.’ Haritha at once snatched herself away from him and with enormous flow of nerves nous she asked ‘Did u call up mom, she must be waiting for our call’. Aurav replied’ oh yea, I did tell her that you will call her back’. She immediately took the phone and left the room.

‘Would you stop crying Haritha’ the voice on the other end sounded anxious. It was Madhu who could hear only a cry over the phone. After a few seconds, Haritha cleared up her voice and said ‘‘my mind is flooding with mixed emotions mumma, I m totally confused and lost’’. ‘’I just can’t live life this way. I m unable to cope up. I just can’t believe I m married’’ she added ‘’Haritha, these things are not something unusual in life, and this does not sound in fact wise to get struck and crib. Please be amicable with Aurav and I m sure he will take good care of you just like how papa and I did’’ Madhu shared few more talks before the call ended.

Haritha cleared her tears and was re-winding whatever she spoke with her mom, she was seated in the balcony; meanwhile Aurav had prepared coffee, ‘’I m good at making coffee and here is yours’’, handing over the mug to her he smiled and said ‘I hope you get impressed’’. There was a long pause, after which he continued, ‘’well...that was no joke; I can understand that it takes time to settle in a new place with a new person Haritha, but you can always find a good companion in me. Through any tribulations that we might have in life, I look forward to facing them hand in hand with you’’..... He got closer and said, ‘‘you are my better half. I hope and wait for the laughter and happy times that we will share together ‘’. Saying this he left the place and got busy unpacking the baggage.

Days of stillness, weeks of tranquillity and months of silence. Days kept quietly creeping out of their lives. Aurav soon realised that there was something seriously going wrong. Every time he attempted to ask her, she wasn’t giving him a firm reply. Occasional talks with parents and dinner out would change her frame of mind. Few friends would drop in and Haritha would mingle well with them and take all efforts in preparing dinner for them. But this was not good enough. In spite of asking her numerous times, he was confused and ultimately decided to speak to Haritha’s mother.

05 June 2003: At 8AM as soon as Aurav reached his work place, he called up Madhu. ‘’Aunty, this is Aurav, how are you all doing?’’he asked. ‘’Ya Aurav, we are fine. Calling up early.. is everything fine there?’’ Madhu enquired back. ‘’Well aunty..., I have been truly wanting to convey something important to you’’. ‘’I think’’ he continued, ‘’Haritha under no circumstance intends to live a happy life with me’’.

At this juncture Madhu was taken aback, ‘’She was perplexed and worried not knowing what Haritha did.

At every point in her conversation with her daughter, somewhere stuck a bit of advice and counselling, but she realised that it did not in fact help. ‘’What’s wrong Aurav? Any misunderstanding between you guys?’’ asked Madhu. ’’I cannot scan her mind and see what is troubling her aunty, but in spite of the enormous attempts that I have made, she is ignorant with me’’, I feel sorry telling you this, but I m not left with a choice’’. Can you please try speaking to her?’’ he asked Madhu. ‘’You don’t worry Aurav, I will take it with her and put things right’’. With this reassurance from Madhu, the conversation ended.

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EPISODE III - Will be posted on 03 June 2011

Click here for EPISODE I 

Kandaen - Stinks a bit!

The story is pretty old for Tamil Cinema. To summarize the plot, Vasanth (Shanthanu) wants to escape from his grandfather (Vijaykumar) who has arranged a marriage and hence convinces Vijaykumar that he is already in love and comes to Chennai promising that he will bring his beloved within a month’s time. But the real factor is that he needs a hunt for his girl. How he hunts what happens next is the simple plot spoiler of the movie.

It's been long time since I have seen such classic pile of shit! Every time, I see Shanthanu, his magnum opus Sakkarakatti strikes my mind hard and believe me, I am still struggling to come out from the Hangover! But I must say Kandaen is not in the same league of Sugar cube. As a matter of fact, no other movie can ever come close to Sugar cube. Alright, back to business on Kandaen.

It has become a trend these days to pull Santhanam to boost the show. It’s at least good for the audience when the screenplay is dull. But, to make the optimum use of the comedian is another let down. He evoked laughter then and there with his share of space that was given to him and did a good part. Overall, when you come out of the theatre, you will certainly tend to feel that more space should have been given to the comedian.

I was thinking if I can think of any other positives for the movie, believe me, I cannot crush my mind anymore. But the negatives are available in bundles.

Screenplay

I accept that for the screenplay to be a kick ass it often needs twists and turn and more importantly the pace should never decrease to make the audience scratch their ass. The director has made a tug of war play. To validate this phrase, I have quoted the following lines from the movie.

அப்பா! நான் வசந்த்-அ ரொம்ப LOVE பண்றேன் பா! அவன தான் கல்யாணம் பண்ணிப்பேன்.
அப்பா! என்ன மன்னிச்சிடுங்க பா, நான் ஏமாந்து போய்ட்டேன். சத்தியமா நான் இனிமேல் அவன பாக்கமாட்டேன்.
அப்பா! சாரி பா, அவன் என்ன ஏமாத்தள, என்மேல இருக்கிற லவ் நால தான் அப்படி பண்ணான்.
அப்பா! அவன் ரொம்ப மோசம் பா!

And this doesn’t stop between the lead characters, but it continues to their parents as well. Till climax, we could see the battle between the two parties.

Now coming to what the characters have done, Shanthanu, forget him, if he is going to do such scripts, I could see a new Vijay and Ajith in the new future, clearly with respect to selection of scripts. The scope doesn’t demand acting caliber for Shanthanu, even otherwise I have confidence in him. Narmada, played by Reshmi is good except for the scenes where she comes in saree or half saree. She impresses with her beauty and definitely a worthy candidate for so-called Tamil cinema heroines. Santhanam has been discussed initially in the positives but again, he is not utilized to the fullest. Vijaykumar was desperately fit to the movie with an aim to bring the Nattamai fame. Some point in time, it becomes very boring and irritating. Aasish Vidyarthy is wasted abruptly for not using his villain skill in which he would have done a cake walk.

Music and camera needn’t to be discussed at all! But certainly these songs especially in this movie are a serious pain! I didn’t get a relief with the songs after a dull screenplay. Camera! Come on, stop being a technical critic. For a debutant director, he has to make more effort to capitalize the chance and he eventually failed here. Illogical scenes, unnecessary shots, boring screenplay make Kandaen a boring place to spend time.

Stanley Kubrick - The Greatest of all time. PERIOD.

"If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed".

How many directors will accept this or boldly quote this? I bet, you can use your fingers to count. Crediting himself 16 titles with two documentaries and a short from the period 50 to 99 leaves you with only one word to his films, QUALITY. Though he had some trademark shots and characters in his movies, each and every film will leave us unwind multi-million nuances and benchmarks for the budding directors to learn from the Greatest.

The Killing, based on the novel Clean Break, film noir and may be first of a kind for a film noir to keep the plot simple and sweet with no fat on it. Even though it had non linear sequences, of course unique for its time, it's a very straightforward movie. The Heist plan is a Kubrick killer and trademark factor. It is indeed inspired many including the Tarantino who worshiped this movie.

Point to be noted is that this is the third movie of Kubrick and the first one which showed there is a man in the making. The Killing is certainly an exquisitely timed masterpiece and the first certified classic from Kubrick. Though, other Kubrick thriller over shadowed this movie, I want to highlight this movie as this is the first movie which I saw of Kubrick's direction that motivated me to start the journey and I completed and enjoyed Kubrick's journey.

As I mentioned earlier, though you will see some common trademark I must say in all his movies, the man almost touched and mastered all the genres. Can we call that as a classic entry in each genre? What about Dr Strangelove, the classic satire comedy? Or the real definition of horror in 'The Shining'? or Anti-war controversy in Full Metal Jacket, or a period drama touch in 'Barry Lyndon' or the famous, innovative, Sci-Fi in 2001 Space Odyssey or the classic film noir in 'The Killing' or or or I am bored with typing this OR. You name the rest and I will map the genre. This unique calibre has made him never to repeat. A dozen movies over the span of 50 odd years, the director distinguished him unique and never made any sequels.

The controversial 'Paths of Glory'. I would say the best of Kirk Douglas which was banned in France for its corrupt depiction on French authority. Probably one of the best controversial anti-war movies ever made. The usage of the artists is another feather in the cap for the master. And Paths of Glory is an evident example but let's also not forget our Jack for his attempt on the psychological horror The Shining.

Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to stop worrying and Love the Bomb! needs a certain mention when we speak about Kubrick. Simply one of the funniest and cleverest political satires ever made. Who else can take a serious subject like cold war and tell the story like a comedy? The clever and witty dialogues need some special mention here. I could recollect the Major King Kong statement 'Well boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader's mule, the radio is gone and we are leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we would need sleigh bell on this thing??? LOLS

The man who turned a dumb shit into a classic. Yes, I am speaking about Spartacus. It was Anthony Mann who should have taken Spartacus who fell out with Kirk approached the master to fix the product. In fact, Kubrick did not like the screenplay but eventually churned the cream into butter. It was this movie and the success of this movie gave Kubrick an artistic control for his future movies which he didn't get at this one though.

The famous Arthur Clarke said 'If you understand '2001', we failed'. Now mera favorite Space Odyssey. Many critics would have used the word roller coaster ride, breathtaking visuals, cinematic imaginary, etc., the same critics had they seen 2001 Space Odyssey wouldn't mind admitting that these words came from this movie. This sci-fi adventure is a brilliant meditation on existence of mankind in the never ending universe. There is no dialogue in the first 25 minutes nor in the last 23 minutes where the director let the audience to understand and read the movie. Another brilliant thing that Kubrick carefully moulds is that if you observer the space scenes, all you can hear is the film's music and no other sound or noise is heard in the space parallel with the fact.

What's it going to be then, eh? A Clockwork Orange, a movie that joins the list of movies that was banned in several countries for the controversy and horrific scenes. But certain movies will take some time to get appreciation which may not come timely. This one will fall under that cater. But the movie was primarily banned for the graphic violence becomes the least surprising aspect of the entire picture. Indefinitely a timeless classic.

One of a few directors who innovated the music used in movies. The favourite Blue Danube in Space Odyssey and draft shift to Beethoven in Clockwork Orange. Certainly left many followers, inspiring the way music is used in movies.

The Shining. Someone ask a good film buff what according to him/her is a horror movie or put in different words, which movie will they quote as an example of an horror movie. If I had to hear a different movie other than The Shining, well, I am bowled there. The ominous opening shot that follows Jack's car on his journey to the mysterious hotel is simple a magnificent with the background score adding such a cliff to the start of a horror movie.

Kubrick joins the league of Hitchcock, Griffith and the almighty Kurosawa. Hope you got what I am referring to! Yes, Kubrick never won an Oscar and so as the other great talented directors whom were acknowledged by the Academy. Yet, I stand on the point saying that Oscar isn't lucky enough to get clenched by the magic hands.

Charlie Chaplin - The Genius

First of all, the idea behind this article is not to talk about the work done by the little master. As a matter of fact, I found an article in a local newspaper here in the UK which had a column allotted for the Great Dictator. After reading the column, I just had to recollect the movies, silent movies and stage dramas of Chaplin and I wanted to give a short jist about the genius with some good pictures (credited to the actual source sites).

More than 70 years since he last appeared on the screen, Charles Chaplin's Little Tramp remains a supreme icon not just of the movies but of the 20th century - still he is recognized and loved every part of the world. If there can be an explanation for his success, it's his capability to transmuting the anxieties and concerns of human life into comedy. Certainly, it would have had some reflections of his personal life experiences.

Chaplin was an orphan at the age of 3 when his parents were separated and he indeed grew up in extreme poverty. But at the age of 10, he became a professional performer. His interest was not only as an artist, but he soon started showing interest in every department in drama. For every Kamal hassan, there will be a K. Balachandar. Likewise for Chaplin, he met Mack Sennett, the famous Keystone studios which was the major production house during early 90s. It was him, how implanted the idea into Chaplin's mind that he must direct himself which will give him freedom to perform and think and innovate.



Chaplin mastered the craft of film with phenomenal speed, and after the first three months in pictures was to direct all his own films. The first four years in pictures saw him develop from the carefree knockabout of the keystone comedies, to introduce irony and sentiment, and to progress to the Mutual masterpieces that included The Pawnshop (1916), Easy Street (1917) and The Immigrant (1917). It was First National who gave the breakthrough for Chaplin and came Shoulder Arms (1918) where he transmuted the horrors of the First World War into comedy.

The time of the giants is the year 1919 where the four the giants of the Hollywood at that time formed something called United Artists. For those who are not aware about the giants, they are Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Griffith. Chaplin's first release through the company was 'A Woman of Paris (1921), a dramatic film designed to start Edna Purviance.


Those who had watched his comical drama in many television channels must have noticed the same heroine in almost all his movies/dramas. Yes, Edna Purviance, the most faithful lady whom Chaplin trusts a lot and there were some rumors as well involving them.

Arrival of the talking pictures, the year 1927. It was a big challenge to Chaplin than to most other directors. His wordless pantomime had won a universal audience, which would inevitably shrink if he now spoke in English. Chaplin's response was to continue making silent films. It was when 'City Lights' (1931) and Modern Times (1936) with the sound track used only for the sound effects and musical work came. In fact, the little master who had touched every department in film making had revealed his new avatar in musical department when he composed musical score for the movie 'Modern Times'.



In 'Modern Times', Chaplin brought the comic weapon to bear on burning issues of the day at that time particularly the industrialization and the confrontation. Then comes my favorite of them all 'The Great Dictator' where his targets were fascism and its leaders. In fact, he got some complaints from the critics that the comic sense was exceeding the boundary.



 He continued with 'Monsieur Verdoux' and 'Limelight' for The United Artists and did a few other movies for some British Production pictures and it was the Christmas day 1991 when our genius left the world leaving us with no such icon for his replacement. PERIOD.