Naan Kadavul – a ramble through raw realities

With tons of pending work stressing my shoulders, I managed to pull some time off to watch this stunner. I was expecting a different movie from Bala and I should say I was not disappointed. Even after reading many reviews which suggested the movie to be showing disgusting realities, I never had any dilemma on whether I should watch the movie or not. Being a person who will immediately puke after seeing blood, I managed to watch many gory and disgusting movies like Hostel, Hostel2 and The Texas Chainsaw massacre without any difficulties. So, I decided to watch the movie irrespective of whatever it has!

To my surprise, it was too emotional for me than disgusting as many had suggested..especially, the scenes in which the physically challenged (thats an understatement) beggars are tortured by the villain….only Bala can tie a knot between an Aghori sanyasi and beggars with all sorts of deformities…there is no Hero, there is no Heroine, there is no Comedian, yet this film leaves a long lasting impact on you…It is a radical shift in acting for both Arya and Pooja…they completely excelled in their roles…I don’t know whether they deserve national award for their roles or not, but it is certainly the best for them so far…the task master he is, Bala extracted the best possible performance from all new comers, including those who would even struggle to open their mouth…I read somewhere that he spent nearly 9-12 hours in filming some shots…his efforts are definitely visible in the film…If I don’t mention the Maestro’s music here there’s no point in writing about the movie…the movie, which sans dialogues in many scenes, lives with Ilayaraja’s music…it is quite unfortunate that only two songs are picturized…

You all might wonder why I call this film a ‘ramble’…its because of few odd scenes that have been added just for the sake of commerical aspects…the police station scene ridiculing current actors was laughable but was an obvious digression from intended story line…similarly, I could witness lack of connection between few scenes which possibly could have occured due to the long tenure of this project, which exceeded 3 years!…the much hyped villain dies in the hands of Arya without even giving a tough fight and the movie ends abruptly…I still couldn’t figure out what was Bala’s intention…is it showcasing the Aghori life or is it bringing forward the reality of underworld mafia controlling beggars for their benefit? Though Bala managed to tie a knot between these two, it is not taut…

Punch:  Naan Kadavul – only for those who dare to experience difference and digest raw realities

Abiyum Naanum – My Review

Itz been a really long time since I watched a new Tamil movie in camera print …of late, there has been no Tamil movie which has allured me to sit and watch for whole 150 minutes…though the reviews weren’t convincing, I decided to watch this movie as I was waiting for a really long time for this…with the huge expectation after highly successful Mozhi, I would say, I was not disappointed…

There’s not much about the story…its the usual Father-Daughter relationship we have been seeing since good old Sivaji days…its the way the story has been knitted, which makes it another feel good film on the lines of Mozhi and Azhagiya Theeyae…Prakash Raj – Thrisha on screen presence cannot be any better…both of them have done full justice for their roles…even small characters like Thalaivasal Vijay, Kumaravel and Manobala are given fruitful roles and make you remember their roles till the very last frame…

As I am in the middle of a pleasure trip, I don’t have much time to discuss other positives of the movie as there are many…we will quickly have a look at the negatives…Prakash Raj seems to have got utmost importance as the story revolves around him…but at times, you may feel that its a overdose of Prakash Raj…almost in 95% of the scenes you see Prakash Raj…except one song which mostly comes in the background, other songs are big let down…for couple of songs I really got irritated as it affected flow of the movie…

In short, Abiyum Naanum may not be the greatest Tamil movie of all time, but still makes you feel good when you watch…another feather in Radha Mohan’s cap, probably a hat-trick …

P.S: I watched this movie in worst possible cam print which could have attributed to some of the -ves…watching in theater will certainly be umpteen times better…

Dasavatharam – Review

Yesterday midnight at 12 I was cursing myself for staying late in the office with hell lot of work. But good that I was able to use that as the reason for reaching office late today after watching this movie. Here goes my review.

Spoiler Alert:
If you don’t want to know the story or interesting sequences of the movie, please avoid reading. I cannot write reviews like some websites which keep praising the movie without writing anything about the story.

Heard of the proverb ‘All’s well that ends well’? Well, here’s something which was not going well with mutitude of problems but managed to strike the bull’s eye at the end. Yes, I am talking about Dasavatharam – the latest Kamal Hasan movie which faced myriad of controversies and issues and finally released today with a bang.

The story unfolds in Chennai, 21st Century with Govinda Rajan (Scientist Kamal-1) addressing thousands of people about why he was there then. Immediately we are taken to 12th century when 2nd Glothunga Chozhan an ardent Saivite decides to knock off the Vishnu idol from the Temple at Chidambaram. As expected Rangaraja Nambi (Kamal-2) makes his entry and thrashes the soldiers of the king. He tries to argue but fails and finally asked to chant ‘Ohm Namashivaya’ at least once and he will be emancipated then. He utters ‘Ohm Namo Narayanaya’ and thrown into the sea with the idol. That’s it. The flashback so emotional and touching but has nothing to do with the movie except that the name of the deity thrown into the sea is also Govinda Rajan.

We come back to 21st century and Govind works in Seagle which researches on bio weapons. He finds the most dangerous bio-weapon is planned to be sold to a terrorist group by his chief. He snatches it and runs out of the place. He is chased by the villain Christian Fletcher (Kamal -3) and George Bush’s (Kamal -4) men. The box travels to India along with that Kamal and the story also shifts to India. The whole movie is a chase for Govind and the box by the villain and the local RAW Police headed by Balram Naidu (Kamal-5). Needless to say that it ends in a positive note.

This movie is one of the milestones in Tamil cinema in terms of technology and screenplay (with minor flips). Climax Tsunami scene has been shot excellently which makes you drop your jaws with awe. The movie’s pace is equivalent to that of a Hollywood thriller in the first half with comedy interspersed in between which makes you not to look at your wrist watch. Second half is slower than first half with social and agnostic messages interspersed and you can feel the reduction in pace. Some how KS Ravikumar has failed to keep the momentum in the second half or may be it is intentional.

It’s a total feast for Kamal fans and they deserve it after a long wait. I can bet – no one in this world can match Kamal’s abilities in dialog delivery. Be it the Telugu-Tamil accent by Balram Naidu (my choice of best character in the movie), pukka brahmin old lady accent by Krishnaveni, Nagacoil tamil accent by Vicent Poovaragan or the American English accent by George Bush and Christian Fletcher, Kamal scores 200/100. But out of 10 (Rangaraja Nambi, Govinda Rajan, Christian Fletcher, George Bush, Avtar Singh, Krishnaveni Patti, Japanese Martial Artist, 7 foot Kaliafullah, Vincent Poovaragan and Balram Naidu) characters, only 3 or 4 (Balram Naidu, Krishnaveni Paatti, Vincent Poovaragan and Christian Fletcher) make an impression. Other characters have been added just for the sake of it. Kamal’s manerism as all these characters is impeccable. Especially Christian Fletcher who imitates contemporary Hollywood Villains. It is just awesome.

Though there are no duets, Asin has an important role to play and she has done it neatly. If she moves to Bollywood, Kollywood will surely miss a talented actress. I felt she still has scope for improvement in her dialog delivery. Or may be since she acts with Kamal, it looked obvious. Mallika Sheravat is aware of what audience expect from her and she is generous enough in giving it.

-ves:
* Reduced pace in second half
* Scenes where the graphics could have been better (in the flash back and during chases)
* Kamal’s dance in Oh Oh Sanam (his age is felt only there)
* Strong characterization for 5 of the characters and very weak for others

But, as a whole, its a racy and novel entertainer. It’s undoubtedly worth the money that you are spending. After all, its K.S.Ravikumar who has wielded the megaphones and he knows the pulse of audience.

Verdict: Are you still reading my review? Damn…go and book your tickets…

3R strike platinum

Wondering which 3 Rs I am referring to. Ravi, Raja and Remake. If you are somewhat familiar with what is happening in Tamil Film Industry aka Kollywood, you must be conversant with these three words. Raja’s (the director) fourth consecutive Telugu Remake with Ravi as hero, ‘Santosh Subramaniam’ is a real treat to watch.

When the Telugu movie ‘Bommarilu’ became a blockbuster with Siddarth as the protagonist, Tamil people were quite sure that someday they will see the same movie with Ravi replacing Sid and Raja wielding the megaphone…and it is yet again a frame to frame copy with little changes to suit Tamil audience…

I don’t know from where Ravi gets this much energy (only) in his brother’s films..be it comedy, sentiment, dialogues, dance – he has done immaculately well…Genelia cannot be any better…as a bubbly fun loving girl, she is just apt…she has all reasons to celebrate as she has got her first blockbuster in Tamil…

the movie never sags anywhere…right from the first frame till the last frame, it kept me engaged…dialogues need a special mention here…throughout the movie you find witty dialogues uttered by Santhanam, Ravi, Sathyan and Genelia bringing the roof down…’Adadaa Adadaa’ and ‘Eppadi Iruntha’ songs deserve a place in your iPod…even I changed my ringtone to the theme music…biggest disappointment is Sadagopan Ramesh(remember this name?) who comes as Ravi’s elder brother…he comes in 4 scenes, pronounces 2 dialogues which have no more than 3 words…

With no perverted thoughts, triple meaning dialogues and skin show and more importantly with no good (family) movies around the corner, Santosh Subramaniam is all set to run for more time…

Kuruvi – A stereotype Vijay movie

After a lot of hype, yet another Vijay movie fails to impress you with its script and sequence. When the Gilli (which is a blockbuster) team came together for another movie, even Vijay haters expected a great movie. But when you watch this movie, within the first few minutes you understand that it is nothing but another formulaic, illogical Tamil movie which has nothing new to offer. I still don’t believe how Dharani has given a run-of-the-mill movie like this. Those who have seen his Dhill and Gilli would have definitely expected a lot from him. But Alas! he fails to deliver what he is supposed to.

When Vijay wins a car race by controlling the accelerator with his teeth, you get to know where this movie is leading to Usually ‘Kuruvi’ is a codeword which is used to refer to persons who smuggle contraband illegally between the countries. But here it has been used to refer Vijay just because he carries some goods (Mango and Silk Sarees ) for the Tamilians living in Malaysia..GOK how he carries a sugar-candy which is equivalent to the size of a diamond when he enters the Villain’s premises without even knowing that he is going to steal a diamond…when he jumps (nearly flies with his wings) to catch a train from the top of a building, you will really want to jump out of the theater…he doesn’t stop it there…in the whole movie, he keeps jumping either to thrash the gundas or to escape from their bullets (matrix style )!…whatsoever, there’s no logic, from the beginning till end…hope Vijay is not becoming another Vijayakant…

Trisha has nothing to do in the movie except to show some skin…she has no options as Shreya and Nayan seem to be capturing her market in Tamil…when she sees Vijay jumping, she immediately falls in love with him (what a crap!) and follows him till the climax…even Vivek fails to tickle your funny bones…after the initial few minutes, whenever he comes, you can expect some bawdy dialogue…Vidhyasagar’s songs are OK…except for the then then song, no other song is hummable with the kind of obscene lyrics they have…BGM is the worst at its best…when you guess that there will be a fight, you get it…when you guess there will be a song, you get it…there are neither interesting twists nor intelligence in screenplay which never allow you to sit comfortably for 3 hours…

above all, the movie has inspirations from many sources…most of the fights and jumping sequences remind you the chinese kung-fu movies…my friends say that after interval many of the scenes and sequences are stolen from the telugu movie ‘Chatrapathi’…at times it seems Dharani has compromised a lot for Vijay…many, unwanted punch dialogues targeting his rivals in many places where they don’t fit at all…

Vijay has no time to show his acting skills as for all the 180 minutes he keeps chasing the baddies and thrashing them…unless you are an ardent Vijay fan, who can enjoy whatever he does, my humble opinion is ‘Kuruvi’ is quite avoidable…

Taare Zameen Par – immaculately perfect

First of all, I should admit that I don’t watch Hindi movies that often…credit goes to the education system in Tamilnadu which didn’t allow me to learn Hindi…I watch a Hindi movie only if I get really good reviews from my friends and of course if I get the subtitles…all my friends kept telling that ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is a wonderful movie and a must watch…when I read the story in sites, I didn’t realize how the movie is going to be…but after watching the movie yesterday, if I say it has impressed me, its an understatement…

Aamir Khan has just perfectly wielded the megaphones without any traces of debut…the continuity between the scenes, cinematography, way the characters have acted (sorry lived) and Aamir Khan’s role, everything is just impeccable in this movie…Darsheel Zafary as Ishaan Nandkishor Awasthi is a ‘real discovery’…I have no words to describe this kid’s acting…Aamir Khan as Ram Nikumbh is so apt…the scene which describes how Ishaan derives the answer of 3X9 shows the story telling power of Aamir…

I don’t really empathize myself with any movie…but when I watched TZP(without understanding many of the dialogues to the fullest extent), I was burst into tears thrice…that doesn’t mean the movie is mawkish…it is unadulterated expression of emotions…

All 5 C’s of a cinema (Camera, Continuity, Cutting, Close-ups, Composition) are consummate in this movie…I must appreciate cameraman Setu’s job here…it is just top notch…above all, the story and the characters are gems on the crown…

a royal salute to Aamir for taking a dare step in making a movie out of this story and making it perfectly…though janta have recognized his efforts,bollywood doesn’t seem to have…in StarDust awards the best movie of the year 2007 was Jab We Met (I cannot comment as I haven’t watched) and the dream director was Farah Khan for OSO (a total crap except for the heroine )…

I have already added this movie into my favorites…I urge you to add this to your ‘List of movies I should watch before I die’…if I say this movie is comparable to ‘One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest’ and Darsheel’s performance is comparable to Jack Nicholson, its not a hyperbole…

Indralogathil Na. Azhagappan – Is Vadivelu trying to swallow more than what he can?

Before I could write about this movie, I should first admit that I haven’t watched the movie yet and more importantly, I am not going to watch this movie. The information and comments that I am providing here are from various veritable sources including some of my friends who have watched the movie.

It is not new for Tamil industry for a comedian, villain or a director to try as hero. But they should not forget their limits and USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Vadivelu’s USP is comedy which is conspicuously lacking in this movie. After a ton in his first movie as a protagonist, Vadivelu fails to impress in his second innings…Director Thambi Ramiah had misconstrued the success of Imsai Arasan and made this movie as a message conveying media. Though Imsai Arasan had good messages to the society, the core of the movie was comedy. Where as, INA tries to preach and preach and preach rather than tickling our funny bones.

The story unfolds with Azhagappan, a drama artist running a small troop. When the celestial beauties Rambha, Menaha and Urvashi come to earth, Rambha gets dwelled into the acting of Vadivelu and forgets to return back to Indralogam on time. So, she gets penalized and becomes a statue on earth (adangappa…evlo naalaikku dhaan idhe kadhaya ottuveenga?). Vadivelu, as advised by his astrologer garlands the statue to be his first wife which brings Rambha back. Rambha takes Vadivelu to heaven and hell. Vadivelu is totally taken aback by the horrible conditions and wicked tortures at Yama loga and mutiny against it…the story ends in a positive note with what he was able to do…

Unrefutably, Vadivelu is a versatile actor…he carries away himself with finesse in all the 4 roles except that in Yama role he has acted for 10Rs where as his salary was 5 Rs…the director seems to have convinced that Vadivelu is the USP of the film and not comedy…there is an opening song for Vadivelu which is comparable to that of contemporary mass heroes…there’s an item number with Shriya…do we need all these in a comedy movie?…

Out and out, its not a comedy film…it has serious messages for the society interspersed with comedy scenes here and there…if you are looking for a mythological movie which sans logic or if you are overzealous about Vadivelu, you can watch the movie…if you are looking for a full length comedy, this movie is not worth the ticket price…some scenes really test your endurance to resist the temptation of going out of theater…

Positives: Sets, Vadivelu, Comedy (though very few)
Negatives: Music, prolix dialogues, myriad messages, ho-hum draggy scenes

Verdict: Indralogathil Na.Azhagappan is IMSAI

You can share your views if you have watched

P.S: Thala, ippdi usuppethi usuppethiye udamba rana kalam aakkidaraangale…paathu padhoosa irundhukkunga…aanaa, innamum indha oor ungala nambudhu…