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
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