Top 5 Movies of 2007

After seeing too many top 5s & top 10s, I thought its my turn to rate the "My Top 5 Movies of 2007". This is purely based on the movies that I watched in the year 2007 and I must say it was a tough call to make the top 5. What an year it was and here you go...

1. Taare Zameen Par - An out of the world movie experience. Hats off to Aamir, Amol & Darsheel.
2. Guru - Who else can make a bio-pic as interesting as Mani Sir could do in the Indian film industry.
3. Mozhi - A movie that told the outside world that even Tamil film industry can stand up to the likes of Munnabhai's.
4. Chak De India - An inspiring movie that proved the world that Shahrukh Khan is NOT all about stammering & lover boy. Given a chance King Khan will never miss an opportunity to ROCK!
5. Om Shanti Om & Sivaji for their "no-nonsense-only-pure-entertainment" value.

And here is wishing you all a very happy, safe & prosperous new year!!!

Billa 2007 - I'm tired of walking!!!

I should have stopped with Taare Zameen Par - as the last movie of this year. But the relentless movie freak in me pushed me to see Billa 2007.

If you look at the movies that I have seen this year (all have been reviewed in this blog), Billa comes right down the list in the last position. I'm not going to write more about Billa.

To sum it up - Billa walks & walks & walks - making the viewers to feel as if they came into the theatre in a sleep walking mode.

Taare Zameen Par - Review

Year 2007 was packed with pleasant surprises as far as movies are concerned. I guess this is a land mark year where the quality of Indian cinema has raised by few feet and Taare Zameen Par glitters like a Kohinoor diamond in the impressive list of movies.

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) TZP is the BEST film to be released in 2007 and it will take years together for anyone to move it out of the top 5 films of Hindi Cinema.

The movie is about a Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) with dyslexic disorder and how he manages to overcome the disorder with the help of his teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan). At the outset, it may look like a regular “under dog-overcoming-the-obstacles” kind of a movie. But what makes it stand out and shine is the way in which the script (by Amole Gupte) is treated by the director (Aamir Khan) – and I must say that both Amol and Aamir are the pillars of this movie. It’s not easy for anyone to come up like a script like this – and it’s not an everyday affair where a director can make full justice to the script. And by doing this, the clear winner is the producer (Aamir again) – where his name will certainly be in the history of cinema for having un-doubted faith in such a script and producing a classic. And Taare Zameen Par will surely tell the world loud and clear that Indian Cinema can compete with world classics that come from countries like Italy, Iran, China & Korea.

Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Awasthi will find his place in the ”top 10 performers” of Indian Cinema (mind you I’m not even considering him as a child actor). Only very few actors can shoulder a complete movie and Darsheel is a “blessed” & “gifted” actor who got this opportunity at such a young age. It’s been such a long time that I saw such an out-of-world performance and believe me, he is a genius and child prodigy. The only other child actor who can come a bit closer is Shamli for performing the mentally retarded child in Anjali. And I have no doubts that Aamir had given his heart & soul to get this soul-stirring performance from Darhseel. And here I must mention the camera work by Setu – he is remarkable in capturing even the minute expression from the gifted-boy Darsheel. Though I don’t have a dyslexic disorder, I saw myself in Ishaan in many shots – and that’s the true victory of this script. And I guess it’s true with everyone who watched TZP – the script will easily make you related to the world of Ishaan.

Aamir Khan as an actor only finishes last – for he is beaten hollow by the director & producer. Aamir as Ram Shankar Nikumbh is awesome – but honestly speaking this is a role tailor made for SRK and there were a few scenes I could see SRK in Aamir (especially the one where he talks about various personalities having dyslexic disorder).

Tisca Chopra (Mrs. Awasthi) as Ishaan’s mother is outstanding. Watch out the climax where she comes to know that Ishaan is indeed doing well and she has just lived that character. It is an extremely honest performance and it will not be possible unless you relate to the child honestly!!!!

IMHO, the only sore thumb is in the way in which Mr. Awasthi’s (Vipin Sharma) character is presented. Vipin seems to have overacted a bit in certain shots and I wish we could have had a much better performance – for this is a character that will make an impact in the minds of parents.

Otherwise, the other characters in the movies are very realistic (the principal, teachers, Ishaans elder brother, Ishaans desk mate in the boarding school) and have done complete justice to the script.

Even if you haven’t watched movies for years together, I would strongly recommend watching TZP – for it will definitely provide a different perspective towards kids and their lives. I could see that so evident in the theatre where almost everyone stood in the theatre till end credits rolled out completely and I could see most of the people going out of the theatre moist-eye, kissing & hugging their kids.

And finally to Aamir Khan:

Yours truly is “yet-to-become-a-parent” – and this movie will be in my mind forever as a reference when I bring up my kid. I owe you a lot for coming up with such a classic and I’m sure the same will be the case with others who watched Taare Zameen Par! Keep up the good work and get ready for the awards & adulations that will shower on you & Darsheel Safary in 2008.

Evano Oruvan - Review

Evano Oruvan captures your attention from the very first frame till the very end – with some power-packed performance by Madhavan and Sangeetha.

At the outset it may look like a usual story – where the protagonist takes into violence to cleanse the system. But if you get into the detail you will find that it’s not in the league of films like Gentleman, Anniyan or Ramana. That is the plus and minus of Evano Oruvan from a commercial success point of view. Most people might tend to put this into the Anniyan kind of movies and outright reject it. And there can other section of crowd that may understand that it deals with the emotional side of an individual and appreciate the movie and even call it a classic. And "yours truly" certainly belongs to the latter crowd.

The movie is about an individual (or should I call it “You”) who leads a mechanical life and is frustrated about the system – where anything and everything is tied to money. Though all of us would have undergone one such humiliation or frustration – we don’t end up taking it too personally – rather try to put up with the system and keep moving forward with some “hope”. Sridhar Vasudevan is also one such individual – but the continuous push from the system makes him “out-of-mind” – where in from the state of having just unanswered questions in mind – he moves to a state where he vents out his anger. Imagine if all of us get into such a state of mind!!! As the movie progresses – you too get engrossed into the emotional journey of Sridhar Vasudevan. In specific watch out for the emotional out burst of Sridhar Vasudevan in the middle of the night – where he talks about the greediness and why majority of the people are willing to go against the rulebook – or rather why very few individuals tend to go by the rulebook – there by alienated from the society and seen as jokers. Nishikanth Kamath (Director) made a smart move by having the police officer (Seeman) character as general public’s conscience – by making him go through the pain & agony of Sridhar Vasudevan. What makes this movie a classic is that by the end of the movie the police officer kills Sridhar Vasudevan in an encounter attack and then comes to know that the pistol carried by Sridhar Vasudevan didn’t even have a single bullet – thereby making a strong statement that society will always try to curb the ones who asks fundamental questions and fight for ones fundamental right – even though he/she didn’t intend to do anything wrong!!!!

Madhavan as Sridhar Vasudevan has given a fantastic performance and he is surely one of the actors who could make you cry. Watch out the scene where Sridhar Vasudevan calls his wife (Sangeetha as Vatsala). And you have to give it to Sangeetha – all I could say is Tamil cinema has missed out to capitalize on her talents. If she was a revelation in Pitha magan – she has now proved that it’s not a flash in the pan.

Seeman as the police officer is not too convincing. There are far more actors who could have done a great job in this role.

And the key thing to mention here are the dialogues. It’s mind-blowing and I was really surprised to see Madhavan has the dialogue writer – with supervision from Seeman. It’s simple yet powerful.

Nishikanth Kamath is the director of the movie – who did Dombilivi Fast (the original) in Marathi. A special thanks to him – for providing one of the best movies in Tamil Cinema. And hats off for his guts to make a movie without even a single song or comedy track or any other masala items – and yet making it very short and racy.

Evano Oruvan will certainly be a milestone in Tamil cinema and let’s give a warm welcome to Madhavan for getting into the league where we have the likes of Balachandar, Kamal Hassan, Prakash Raj, Bala, Radha Mohan, Ram (Katrathu Tamizh).

Polladhavan - Review

Polladhavan’s story line is no different from the movies like Dhil, Krieedom, Malaikottai and so on. Its about a guy who lands up in a freaky encounter with the villain and how he ends up running around and towards the ends run behind the villain group – and kills them violently.
And yes, our hero will also have a love interest – so that the viewers can see some catchy duets.

So is Polladhavan yet another run of the mill movie? I wouldn’t say so – the reason being the way in which the movie is taken with some truly great shots. The screenplay is fantastic and director vetrimaran seems to have taken enough precaution about how Dhanush should be shown. Had he not taken this caution, Polladhavan could have well become a disaster like Sullan.

It’s good to see Dhanush pick up movies that will work for him. One only wishes that he had taken this maturity 2-3 years back – in which case we would have all seen him doing movies like Kaadhal. And looks like he had taken serious note about the comments passed on his body type – he seems to have put on some weight and by the looks of it he will get into a six-pack shape by his next movie. As usual his acting in Polladhavan is mind-blowing and has proven again that if given a good script, he can shoulder a full movie with ease.

Divya (erstwhile Kuthu Ramya) doesn’t have anything major to do – but looks stunning in the song sequence (especially Nenjodu song).

Murali has Dhanush father is A class. Karunas and Santham do the usual job of hero’s friends.
One wishes that the director could have avoided the stereo-type north madras based villains. It looks too repetitive.

Though the songs are catchy – it certainly acts as an obstacle – for the otherwise racy movie.
Though Polladhavan does have it share of clichés (like North Madras Villains, usual love interest and songs), watch it for Dhanush and the novel script written by debutant director Vettrimaran!

Om Shanti Om - Review

Watch OSO and get a reconfirmation that Shahrukh Khan is the most clever and shrewd film-maker in India. Its very rare to see someone who is touted as the super-star of Indian Cinema taking up a re-incarnation based story (that is beaten up to death now) and promote as such it’s the best ever movie made in the last 2 decades. After watching the movie, I feel such a promotion is indeed required for this movie – and King Khan has done a very calculative move in terms of promotion.

OSO is a very ordinary movie and if not for King Khan, it would have been a disaster and got back into the cans within a few days run. But King Khan does an impossible act and then support it with never-seen movie promotion by having OSO events all over the place. As he rightly pointed out the only thing he didn’t do is write Om Shanti Om in his forehead.

But when you sit in the theatre and watch OSO – never have me found even a single scene as boring. Ofcourse, you have to keep away from logical thinking for 2.45 hours and what you get by doing this is – you get entertained royally. You have mushy romance, comedy, sentiment, over-acting by Khan, feel good one liners (like sachhi – muchhii) and above all get to see all your favorite stars in a song – that is choreographed in a fantastic manner.

I’m not even going to talk about the story. What is interesting is the backdrop in which the story is told and get into some risky areas by mocking at others in the film industry - and King Khan excel in laughing at himself – which I guess he and his close friend Karan has mastered (laughing at yourself)

Deepika Padukone (as Shanti Priya) is looking awesome and she doesn’t have anything major in the movie. She has all it takes to give a tough fight with the current crop of bollywood actress. Guess a south Indian has finally arrived to take up the legacy of Sridevi.

Farah Khan has proved that she has everything to become a sooper-duper masala movie maker and she doesn’t seems to have put a false face by saying she is here to make a different movie. OSO is a movie that you can watch and come out with a smiling face – as the movie does have “Happpys-endings” – and be rest assured that picture baki nahin hai!!! And yes don’t miss the end credits – one of the most innovative credit rolls seen in Indian cinema!!!

Katrathu Tamizh - Review

Was waiting for this movie since its preview in Anandha Vikatan a few months ago (earlier known as Tamil M.A). I kind of have a mixed feeling about this movie.

Katrathu Tamizh will certainly find its place in the top 50 movie list since the origin of Tamil film industry. Please note that this is certainly NOT an exaggeration by any means – watch it to believe it – though I don’t necessarily agree with certain views in the movie.

Getting into the details right away – Katrathu Tamizh is about a Tamil teacher earning hardly 2000 rupees per month – finding difficult to cope with loneliness especially living in a city like Chennai – trying to find out his lost love – unable to withstand the societal imbalance created largely by IT industry – therefore becoming a psychopath. Yes, you are right – this is freaking complicated!!! But what blew me away is the way in which this script is handled by the debutant director Ram (from Balumahendra’s school). The entire movie is told in the way of a first person narrative – first few scenes through Jeeva’s voice over and then through the camera of Karunas – who is apparently hired or rather forced by Prabhakar (Jeeva) to shoot his testimony.

When the movie ends, you cannot help but feel that the director is confused in terms of finding out a reason to establish the psychopath character – especially why compare a Tamil teacher’s salary with that of a IT guy. But if you really think through this, there are number of people living in this city doing a variety of jobs to ensure that they are able to meet the ends every month. And given the luxurious life led by the IT folks – it’s quite natural that there will be a sense of frustration, dis-satisfaction that may creep in for the otherwise unfortunate souls. May be that is the reason for the increasing number of kidnap cases registered in the last one year in cities like Delhi and Hyderabad. You must watch the shot where Prabhakar meets his ex-roommate who is currently working for an IT company earning around 2 lakhs – also where he bumps into a call centre employee earning 40K per month. At the outset it may look like it’s an over-kill of ranting against IT industry. But when you try to get into the details, I feel it’s indeed true that IT has created a wide gap between the “haves” and “have-nots”. 10 years back, it’s only in dream that a middle class family may want to own a flat and a car. But that’s certainly not true today – where in thousands of middle class family became fortunate enough to see their dream coming true – just because a kid from their family got into the IT industry. But there are still people who get almost the same salary (even after inflation) - if I were to tell in the way BOSS said, “rich is getting richer and poor is getting poorer”. And this story is about one such guy who is frustrated because of not being able to withstand this gap – fuelled by other factors like loneliness, lost love and being insulted for being a Tamil teacher on a day to day basis. So I finally concluded that the director’s characterization of Prabhakar and the reasoning to be fair enough.

Jeeva (as Prabhakar), I guess is a director’s delight. He gives a top-notch performance in this movie and has proved that he can shoulder a complete movie given a taut script. He has quietly surrendered himself to the director and got Prabhakar’s soul into his body. And what you see is a power-packed performance! And what is more interesting is, Jeeva has found a knack of figuring out what kind of roles will suit him and his selection so far has been almost flawless (discount his first two movies).

Anjali (as Anandhi) is probably the find of the year! But I’m afraid that the current Tamil industry would spoil her as well – look at what happened to Priya mani in Malaikottai after a stunning performance in Paruthiveeran!

Karunas (TV cameraman) is the one who makes you laugh at regular intervals – otherwise a movie like this would certainly not have many takers.

Cameraman Kathir rocks!!! Especially in the shot where the junior Prabhakar and junior Anjali gets into the hill-top - truly awesome!!!

Music certainly deserves a mention. Yuvan is as good as his father when it comes to background score – and especially identifying the scenes where he needs to keep it simple – as in no music. He has mastered the art!

And the movie certainly belongs to the director. He seems like a veteran throughout the movie and way in which he has tried to provide explanation for each and every action of the protagonist – that too in a first person narrative mode is commendable. Though I still have some reservations for some his views, he is a director to be watched out in the future. To my mind, another Bala is in the making!

A disturbing movie made in a classic way. If you don’t like serious cinemas, I wouldn’t recommend Katrathu Thamizh. Nejamma than solren!!!

Chak De India

After reading the “All Positive” reviews of Chake De India, I went into the theatre amidst a great hype about the movie. I guess many reviews have said almost everything about the story, sub-plots and various other good things about the movie. I don’t intend to repeat the same and if you find something repetitive – the fault is not mine – after-all the movie is too good.

Once I came out of the cinema hall, I felt no one other than King Khan could have done so much justice to this movie or rather I should say to the character of a deplored hokey player (unfortunate to have born as a Muslim) and a fantastic coach who took the challenge of getting together a bunch of women hockey players and make them win a world cup for India. That’s chake de India for you.

While Lagaan, Chennai 600028, Iqbal were all movies of sports genre – the am-junta could really connect to those movies because it was Cricket – which is all said and done a religion in India. It needs real guts to make a Chak de India with hockey as a background and that too focusing on women’s hockey is something that could have failed miserably – but for tight script and taut execution of the same. Kudos to Yashraj and Shimit Amin, the real captain of Chak De India!

We all would have seen King Khan portraying the roles of villain, hero, guest appearance with his trade- mark stammering and flamboyance. It needs real guts to show King Khan as loser from scene one – that too grim faced, serious looking eyes and pre/hockey-occupied mind through out the movie. And I was totally stumped by the way he fits into this role of Kabir Khan. Where were you Mr. Sharukh all these days? The last time I saw you were in Swades, I guess. National awards committee can surely not neglect this performance. Hats off to Yashraj and Shimit Amin, the real coach of Sharukh Khan!!

Girls in Indian cinema are portrayed as glamour dolls, weeping wife/mother/sister, witches, feminists, social activists and so on. It needs guts NOT have a leading lady in a movie and that too having King Khan call sheets. It needs guts to get a bunch of new faces (or almost new faces) and get them to act in a sports movie and that too play hockey and win a world cup. Fantastic job done by Shimit Amin!!!

All in all, it’s a must watch and I wouldn’t recommend a DVD for this movie. You need to see it in bigger screen – isn’t it a great fun to watch a sports match amongst a cheering crowd rather than sitting alone in front of the TV? Don’t miss the fun and I bet, when you come out of the theatre you will have a sense of pride that Indian movies have truly arrived in the world space!!!!

Kreedom - Review

WARNING: DO NOT GET CONNED BY AJITH INTRODUCTORY SCENE - you may even end up walking out of the theatre by this first scene thinking that it will be yet another mindless flick like Anjaneya or Alwar. Patience most of the time would be rewarding. And Kreedom's first scene (Ajit's fight seq) is a classic example.

Kreedom also clearly indicates that Ajith does have the potential and charisma to make it big - the only thing is he needs to choose scripts like that of kreedom and not get into a self-indulgent mode like that of Alwar or Anjaneya.

Ajith ROCKS in kreedom and there a couple of noteworthy performance that will make you sit up and watch this man - just before interval scene and the climax where he cries out. All this man needs is to submit himself to a good director and not worry about punch dialogies (can also be read as Vijay bitching dialogues) - he can go places and can compete with the likes of Vikhram.

If Rajkiran was a reveletion in Thavamai Thavamirunthu - with kreedom he has joined the league of some of the greatest character artists in Tamil cinema - like Rangarao, Sivaji, Nagesh, Subbiah and so on. Rajkiran is the real hero of this movie and though I'm sure he would surely be a contender for a National award - I only wish that he gets it this time around. Ideally this man should have got the national award for Thavamai Thavamirunthu. What a performance!!!!

Though Trisha's role is insignificant - she is definitely watchable and she looks ravishing in Akkam Pakkam song. Watch out!

Looks like Saranya has become the ONE AND ONLY choice for doing the role of a mother. Her performance is as usual great.

Vivek's comedy is a big let down - though in my opinion in a movie like Kreedom he cannot do much. "Vairam Pancha Kattai" is a typical Vivet comedy and it was well echoed in the theatre as well. Santhaman and Sathyan are the other comedians in Kreedom - and well there is nothing much to say about their role - except that they come as tailor made Hero's friends.

I was told that the villain is a new comer - well all I can say is you can see him in similar roles in future. One more villain added to the already impressive list of Kollywood Villains. Director Vijay needs a special mention here for this character selection.

Music is by G.V Prakash. To sum it up - background music is awesome and songs could have been much better - though I liked the father-son son.

Vijay is the director and apparently Kreedom is the first movie. If my prediction goes right, he would soon become a more sought-after director in the coming days. Has a great potential - especially the way in which the Ajith introductory fight is picturised. At first it will look like there are lot of logic flaws in the introduction scene and you may also feel that you are watching a movie directed by an amateur director. But the scenes that gets unfolded after that is fantastic and more than anything else it is realistic. The only thing that Vijay should be wary of is NOT to fall in trap of star power and rely more on story and screenplay - just like what he did in Kreedom.

Over all Kreedom is a good movie - more realistic & mature - and if you have Ajith in this kind of a movie - what else do you need. I only wish that Ajith learns from this success and never ever attempt to do another crap like Alwar or Anjaneya or Jana. If that becomes true, I'm sure this Kreedom will NOT be his last crown and there will be more to follow in the future.

AAradhe NaaviNAAL Sutta Vadu

Not sure whether you folks read the "so-called" review of Sivaji - The BOSS by Ms. Anuradha Sengupta of CNN-IBN. In a nut-shell she declared Sivaji is the Boss of Crap (I could hear people shouting Ading.....). She also termed the record crowd that thronged the theatres all over the world as "pigs" - without even understanding the context in which THE BOSS uttered the punch line.

And now comes the amazing point and the real power of THE BOSS. Within a couple of hours, there were 965 comments logged in for this post. Anuradha Sengupta wouldn't have imagined this even in her wildest dream. Find below a couple of comments that I found as be-fitting response to the absurd review posted by Anuradha Sengupta.

This one is from Mr. Praveen.
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There is a very simple way to find out who can inlfuence whom. Though there have been a lot of people expressing angst at what has been written by Ms. Anuradha, I would put it down to sheer desperation for publicity that has prompted her to be extremely violent in her blog. The fact is that by doing such things, Ms. Anuradha will not even get that many hate mails as probably Rajini will get love mails for the movie. Also the other thing is that if Ms. Anuradha is indicating that millions of people are pigs, then it is in absolute bad taste to be telling that. Which therefore also gives us the right to call her by any animal's name we wish to and I would think that jackass would be the right terminology. Everything has a purpose and the purpose of particularly these kind of movies are just to entertain. Trying to make any intellectual sense of it is only a waste of energy. The other thing that also happens is that such blogs fan the geographical divide to greater heights with people on other side taking stances. So directly IBNlive is becoming responsible for creating these rifts. Please try and avoid such blogs which have no purpose, no meaning, are so self centered and try to prove that the author's are more human and intellectual than anyone else.
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This one is from Prashanth
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Absolutely disgusting review.How could u review a movie without understanding a word of it?Seems like a review from a deluded and deranged person.There are two ways to earn fame:By working hard or by defaming someone who is famous.Well done! U have earned it by latter means.Mind you,U cant just scribble something just for the heck of it.The 3 hrs I have spent on watching sivaji was far more enjoyable than the 10 minutes I took to read ur review and write this comment.What a waste of precious time reading your Blog!
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This one is from Vignesh - and it is really mind blowing...

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The two wheeler and four wheeler parking Collection for this crap moive has crossed the total Box office collection of Jhoom barabar Jhoom.

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This one is from Krish

You have taken Blog Writting to a different level, is this a shameful attempt to gain publicity by cursing the movie?Agreed, the movie wasn't the best we have ever seen, but still it deserves credit for the technical brilliance and hard work put in by the crew.You would do better to stay away from writing abt movies for some years..if u call this CRAP..i wud call ur blog the WORST EVER PUBLISHED ARTICLE on the internet.may be CNN-IBN deserves the credit for having u on board.
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And this is the BEST ONE

looks like you did'nt manage to get an interview from him... lol.

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PS: The comments are put in as it appears in the blog...

Sivaji - Review

Before it “cools” down – thought of writing a few lines about Sivaji. First of all, the movie is true to the punch dialogue “Pera Kettala Chumma Athiruthu Ella”.

Only a Rajni movie can command such a crowd and I was stunned to see the crowd today morning at Sathyam Cinemas – supposedly an up-market multiplex. People just went to their child-hood days by shouting slogans and that too the crowd was mix of youth and family audience (that too on a first day show). Celebration ALL the way.

Guess most of you would have already read the reviews in various sites – so just to put things in perspective – yes, the first half tends to be a bit sluggish. But IMHO (in my humble opinion) Shankar would have felt that this could have been the only way through which you can have a thoroughly “Rajni-packed” movie in the second half. So if you are a big-time fan of Rajni and if you are unfortunate to see the movie yet, don’t get perturbed by the first half movie reviews. You may tend to agree with me if you see the movie. You need to see the difference of Rajni turning into a Lion’s way in the second half and hence the director had to establish the ground for the same – eventually focusing on Rajni getting his hand dirty in the corrupt system and entertain the audience with Rajni-Vivek comedy. And this is certainly NOT disappointing and Vivek needs a special mention – he SIMPLY ROCKS. Watch out for the punch dialogues that he puts forth on behalf of Rajni.

Suman as Adiseshan is a revelation in Sivaji and he definitely stands up to the stature of Rajni – where he needs to out-smart him and make Rajni vulnerable in front of the corrupt system. The second innings for Suman has taken a jump start with Sivaji and he is sure to go places.

And there is already news that Shreya Saran is paired up with next-gen stars like Vijay and Ajit – and she has strongly made a bid for the Heroine number ONE in Tamil cinema through Sivaji. Shreya Saran as Tamil Selvi looks ravishing and she is out of the world in the song sequences. And the credit should definitely go to Shankar – the man who can show wonders in the screen.

All the other supporting characters like Raghuvaran, Uma Padmanabhan, Patti Manram Raja, Saloman Pappyya, Manivannan, Vadivukkurasi have done a neat job – though the scope is VERY MINIMAL.

Now I guess you would be wondering that I haven’t said anything about THE BOSS.

BOSS comes to the limelight only towards the end of first half and thereafter the movie is completely shouldered and taken at a brisk pace by THE BOSS. And it takes a gigantic leap when Sivaji transforms to MGR. The lion takes a lonely charge against the corrupt system (Singam single’ah vandhu ore kalakkal than). I don’t want to get into the details – otherwise it would spoil the fun of watching THE BOSS. An actor in Rajni comes to the fore-front when he imitates MGR, Sivaji and Kamal - especially when there are hordes of people who earn their bread and butter by imitating Rajni style – you should see our man donning the roles of the legends.

Today I saw a Rajni movie made by Shankar and I guess will go in for the second time to watch the Shankar movie acted by Rajni. Shankar has created a new benchmark in this movie and I will write more on his direction and other areas like music, camera & dialogues when I’m done with the second time (Shankar movie acted by Rajni).

On the whole Sivaji reflects the real Rajni. If we consider his minor political stints and other good things that he tried to do in the last couple of things like interlinking of rivers and so on as a FIRST HALF movie – where he actually had to bite the dust owing to the prevailing system – the expectation from the people (especially the ardent fans) is that he needs to turn into a LION in the coming years where he can actually help cleansing the system in real life – and if that happens I’m sure it will be even more ROCKING than the actual second half of Sivaji – THE BOSS. Will Rajni lend his ears?

Its been ages...

Its been ages since I went to a theatre...I guess the last time I had this long a gap is when I was in +2. Guess it was around 8 months at that point...

Anyways I was able to catch up on a couple of movies via DVD. Saw City of God (CoG) and My Best Friends Wedding.

CoG is a brazilian film - guess Selvaraghavan got thoroughly inspired by this movie - lots of scenes from Pudupettai have striking resemblence to this movie. Its about kids getting into crime - with a taut screenplay. One of the best made movies on crime. If you hate seeing violence in movies - suggesst you keep away from this movie - for it has an attrocious number of gun shots!!!

My Best Friend Wedding is a romantic comedy - with Julia akka in the lead role. This movie is for the ardent fans of Julia Akka (and this includes yours truly). An out and out JR movie.

Oh yes, I attempted to see Cinema Paradisco - an Italian movie - but in vain. Honestly speaking, couldn't manage the first 10 mins of the movie - may be it had to do with my frame of mind when I started. Apparently this one is amongst the classics. Will try to catch up sometimes later and keep you posted.

Waiting for Sivaji - The BOSS. Pera Kettala chumma athiruthu ella!!!!

Mayakannadi-Review

Movies like Autograph and Thavamai Thavamirundhu made me watch Mayakannadi on the first day. First off it would be unfair to compare any director's previous movie(s) with the current one - unless there is a HUGE difference in the quality of the films. So I'm not going to compare Mayakannadi with Autograph or Thavamai Thavamirundhu.

Coming to the story of the movie - it is NOT a new story - guess lots of people have taken this route. The only key difference is in the earlier movies with similar story line, the hero/heroine will become wealthy over a single song. Here Cheran has taken the most pragmatic and realistic path and tried to emphasis on the importance of knowing ones real capacity/ability and do what he/she is good in doing. I cannot stop but think about a similar story being told by Durai in Mugavari (Ajith starrer). But all said & done, it’s the treatment that matters and Mayakannadi and Mugavari are poles apart in this aspect.

One key thing I felt after watching this movie is - the actor in Cheran has gone on an over-indulgent mode - which doesn't gel well. It’s extremely difficult to accept Cheran in the character of Kumar. But on the other side - director Cheran would have thought he needed a guy who doesn't have a major screen presence - so that he can showcase his story in a much better fashion - for had he chosen a "good-looking" hero for this movie the audience would have probably found it difficult to accept the ending. So from a director’s angle I guess it makes sense to have an actor like cheran in the lead role.

Since the over all movie's theme is about the "have-nots" yearning for a "haves" life and the pain they undergo to become rich - the first half of the movie is completely dedicated to showcase those yearnings. This to an extent makes it an over-kill and at times may test your patience - especially if you are used to the regular run-of-the-mill masalas.

It’s the second half that makes it a more captivating movie - as it sends out a strong message to the current generation. Especially there are few scenes that needs to be mentioned here -

• The scene where Kumar (Cheran) decides to go take an illegal job to save his mother
• The sequence where Maheswari (Navya) pleads with her father about her marriage and why she wanted him to provide a chance to Kumar.
• The last 5 minutes where the saloon owner (Radha Ravi) talks about the importance of hard working and why one shouldn't think of becoming a millionaire over night. Though it might sound preachy - it certainly makes sense.

Coming to performance of the actors in Mayakannadi - it just revolves around Kumar (Cheran) and Maheswari (Navya Nayar). Though all the other characters (like Beauty parlor owner Radha Ravi, Maheshwari's father, the drug dealer) have done their job neatly - the movie is a out-an-out Cheran/Navya's show. And there seems to be a terrific on-screen chemistry between Cheran and Navya.

Cheran (as I mentioned earlier) seems to have gone on an over indulgent mode. He some how doesn't fit into today's youngster role. Though I do agree that this character doesn’t need a good looking chap - it would have made a huge sense to put in a guy like Dhanush or Bharath in the lead role - it would have been an apt fit. Cheran as a director is too good - and guess he should start following the message that he gave in this movie - which is to excel in what you are good at - in Cheran's case is direction and certainly not grease paint.

Navya Nayar - what a terrific performance from this lady? She is awesome and just fits into the character of Maheswari like a T. You must watch this movie atleast to see Navya's performance. Any idea how the girls from Kerala put up some grand performance consistently?

Music is by Illayaraja. Songs are average and the maestro has shown his true color in the background score - which is superb.

On the whole, if you discount the dragging first half and if you can put up with Cheran's performance (especially first half), you might well consider that Mayakannadi is certainly not a bad movie. And yes, especially watch it for Navya's out-standing performance. At the box office I'm afraid that this may not be a huge success.

Mayakannadi is for folks who want to encourage good cinema - though it amounts to going through some over-indulgence from the film maker.

Awesome Threesome!!!

A Cindrella Man stepped into A Good Year in The Pursuit of Happyness!!!

Any guess on what the above mentioned line mean? This long weekend I ended up buying three DVDs - Cindrella Man, A Good Year and The pursuit of Happiness - oh no it is Happyness. Saw one movie a day - started with A Good Year followed it up with PoH and Cindrella Man.

If I were to rate the best - it is undoubtedly Cindrella Man followed by PoH and then A Good Year.

Oh no - clicked on the "publish" button even before I could complete the review of each movie. Will follow up with the reviews in the next post. Keep visiting...

Oscars Got Departed???

Saw "The Departed" after all the hype and hoopla. First off, does it deserve an Oscar? IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), the answer is Yes and NO!!!!

So why Yes - May be the Oscar panel wanted to do justice to Martin Scorsese and did not want to repeat the shabby treatment it dished out for some genius like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. So in that way yes - "The Departed" deserves an Oscar.

So why No - it is an often beaten up story and is equivalent to the run-of-the-mill masalas that Telugu and Tamil industry dish out on a regular basis. There is no major thing in this movie that leaves the viewer stunned!!! It is a plain vanilla cop-going-under-cover story. So in that sense, Nope - "The Departed" doesn’t deserve an Oscar at all.

But what is impressive to note is - our local guy "Ulaga Nayagan" (notice the paradox???) Kamal got inspired by "Internal Affairs" a decade ago and gave a stunner called "Kurudhi Punal". And I would rate "Kurudhi Punal" better than "The Departed" any day any time.

Yes, "The Departed" do have some sequences that have a Scorsese touch and dealt with class. And Learnado's depiction of cop-going-under-cover is A class - and I just couldn't stop but compare it with our Vijay's role in Pokiri and believe me I was in splits. Yeah Pokiri should be watched after keeping your brain at home - so no regrets.

So as you could see, there are lot of things that could be related to our good old Tamil movies. And overall not a great movie watching experience!!!!

Mozhi - Review

It’s been ages since I saw people laughing their hearts out and shed some tears as well in the theatre. Mozhi did that magic and I was spell bound with the impact that it created. Radha Mohan has literally sculpted the characters with perfection and screenplay may well be included in the list of classics.

I’m unable to find words that would describe the performance of the lead characters Archana (Jo) and Karthik (Prithvi). I would rather leave this to the viewers to feel it to believe it.

The same can be said about the supporting characters Sheela (Swarnamalya), Viji(Chellam Prakashraj), professor (selvi fame Andvar Lingam), apartment secretary.

Though there are some moments in the film that look artificial, it just gets nullified by the overall performance of the team and movies like this if criticized for some minor pitfalls would only have a negative impact on the genuine film makers.

All said and done, Mozhi is a classic in all ways and a must have DVD (post original is released) at home!!!

Paruthi Veeran - Review

One of the best debut performance and that too as hero of the film -not many people have got this opportunity in Tamil Cinema so far. Actually I'm unable to name even a few - hmm..come to think of it - you have Danush in Kadhal Konden (discount his thulluvatho Elamai), Vikram in Sethu (discount all his previous movies)... But all these guys have in one way or the other faced the camera before taking up the film completely on their shoulders. I can only think of the great Sivaji Ganesan's debut in Parashakthi but he too had his fair share of training in acting through dramas. So Karthi is a clear winner in this regard - he has given a stunning performance as Paruthi veeran. He steals the show from the word go in this movie - starting from the introductory scene - to where he uses his muscle power to "pick up" the one that was otherwise brought by a lorry driver - to where he thwarts the "kusthi vathiyar" group almost effortlessly - to where he is seen cutting one of the ears of a policeman who slapped his chittappa (saravanan) - to where he mercilessly ignores Muthalagu's love - to where he realizes the true love of Muthalagu and then tattoos her name with a heart symbol (with a clear ambu) - to where he shows that tattoo to Muthalagu and man you should watch that stylish pose - an amazing actor has arrived. If he continues with this dream run, he is here to give a stiff competition to the likes of Vikram and ofcourse his brother Surya.

Priyamani is a reveletion in this movie - the scene where she is wacked by her father and then hogs chicken curry - truly awesome. And yes she has given a stunning performance in climax - though it could have been done in a much better fashion. But she has done what is expected out of her (infact exceeded the expectation) - so she is not be blamed if the climax turns out be a gory one.

And other familiar faces are Saravanan, Pon vannan and Kanja Karuppu. Its a tailor made role for all three and all have exceled. And I will not be surprised if Nasser gets replaced by Pon Vannan in some of the upcoming movies - especially the films that have a village backdrop.

Coming to the director of the movie - Ameer. First off he comes from Bala's school of direction and no wonder he has chosen a platform where he shows the life of some unknown people. The story line is fairly simple and it goes like "As you sow, so shall you reap". But he has done that with fine screenplay and characterization. The very fact that he could take a debut like Karthi and make him live that character is an indicatioin of the potential that Ameer as a director can offer to the tamil film industry. He has definitely made his presence visible and I will not be surprised if he reaches a legendary status in the next 10 years.

And to the much talked about climax of the movie - yes there is no second thoughts that it is gory and people with a light heart may not be able to even see through the end. You can view this in two ways.

Point A - it is a directors movie and he has all the right to express what he wants in a movie and for all you know Ameer would have thought this climax would justfy the base story line - which is "as you sow, so shall you reap".

Point B - you have people from all walks of life watch movies and having such a scene is certainly going to have its own repurcussions. You certainly cannot watch this movie with the family - but still I could see loads of people coming with their family (including kids) to the theatre - and this movie is apparently given a A Certificate. Do theatres really care about the censor certificates? Anyone hearing???? Hello.....

Pachai Kili Muthu Charam - Review

Pachai Kili Muthu Charam - Catchy title. Definitely a title that could pull the crowd to theatre. And Gautam Menon has already established himself as a saleable director and his brand value does have the elements to pull the crowd. Jo with her scintillating looks doesn't need major explanations as to why she is a crowd puller. Sarath kumar does have some pockets of people that vouch for his screen presence.

So this movie has the right set of people joining hands in the pursuit of providing a block buster. Does it work? It's a 50-50

Its no more a news that this movie is inspired based on an English Novel called Derailed and Gautam had tried his best to be faithful to the plot. Tamil cinema has not seen such a bold script in the recent past. So that by itself makes this movie work - but only 50%.

What doesn't work in this movie is the characters.

Sarath Kumar has chosen a different role in this movie and is definitely a welcome change from his regular Nattamai or police officer characters. But does he fit into the character of Venkatesh - a man whose life takes a somersault because of an unfortunate incident. The answer is a NO. He seems to have the hangover of his earlier movies and he gives a stiff look in areas where it is not warranted. Heard that this role was first offered to Kamal - and had he taken up this role it would have been awesome.

Jo - she is one of the finest female lead artists that Tamil cinema has produced so far - she does have the capability to take up any sort of roles - but it is hard to see her in this role. Some how her facial expressions doesn't suit this character which has negative shades. There can be two reasons for this - one - she has done too many "nice-bubbly" characters and hence it is not easy to accept her in a role having negative shades. Reason two, the director could have provided some background in terms of the negative character - so that it is easy for the audience to accept the character.



Andrea plays the role of Venky's (Sarath) wife - kalyani. In a nutshell, she has a long way to go to establish herself as an actress. She definitely got to hone up her acting skills.

Milind Soman plays the role of villain - and Gautham has lent his voice. The problem with Gautam's villains off late is - they all have a striking resemblance to the pandiya character of Kakkha Kakkha. His villains will have a long hair, would wear a worn-off jean throughout the movie, will be surrounded by some tapori look alikes, bad language, and high decibel and so on. Milind's character is no different in this movie.

So Gautam has succeeded in choosing a bold script. Dialogues are definitely bold in some shots and he has done neat job w/regards to choosing the technical crew. Arvind's camera is excellent - especially in some close ups.

But Gautam has failed miserably in the casting - which to my mind is a key thing that brings down the movie. And of course I should say that the last 20 mins is a regular Tamil cinema pot-boiler and I could visibly see the crowd going impatient towards the end of the movie.

Pachai Kili Muthu Charam - one of the best title movie in the recent past - could have been better in terms of watching experience!!!

Patchai Kili Muthu Charam - Preview

Oh yes...I've certainly got out of hangover that I had post reading Usha's Kodumai Blog...and I'm definitely not trying to ape Kodumai Usha by providing a catchy title to this blog post.

This is the movie that I'm planning to see tonight - directed by Gautam Menon of Kakha Kakha fame!!! (I certainly want to discount the mediocre VV - which apparently turned out to be a blockbuster - given that there was no quality cinema during that film's release time and yes, certainly because of the BRAND Kamal).

I did listen to the songs of Patchai Kili Muthu Charam - not completely impressed with songs - it is a regular Gautam/Harris combination and it is something that I'm used to now - though "Un Siripinil" may end up as a chartbuster in the coming days.

The main reason to watch this movie - that too first day is - because of the trailer - which makes me feel that this movie indeed would be be slick and racy. And another major reason is JO. Her "suppose to be" last but one appearence and if the trailers are of any indication - she seems to have captured a meaty role in this movie.

So folks, I will follow up with a review of this movie either tonight or tommorrow. So watch out this space...

Kodumai Da Saami - Page Turner!!!

Kodumai Da Saami - when I first saw this blog name today (actually stumbled upon) - honestly speaking I did NOT have any major expectations about the blog. Started off with "Kadhai Kelu Kadhai Kelu" post - I was actually stumped by the simplicity and the originality of the transcript. And for the next 2 hours I didn't do anything but read through almost all the posts by the author.

The author of this blog (Usha) doesn't pretend to convey some message to the outside world - all she does is rant, rant and rant - but the free flow of local tamil is what makes it a fantastic read. And she has mastered the art of giving a title to the posts - all posts have some song title - like "Mudhal mudhalil parthen", "Sorgame enrallum" and so on.

The great thing about this blog is a refreshing reality writing and it just comes as if the author is talking to you.

If you are looking for fun-filled time pass - go through this kodumai da saaami!!!(http://kodumai.blogspot.com/)

Hey Ram!!!

Saw Hey Ram on a DVD and guess this is third time I'm seeing this movie. There are some movies which provides an all-to-gether different feel whenever you end up seeing the full movie. Examples: Anbe Sivam, Forrest Gump, Shawshenk Redemption.

And Hey Ram definitely falls in that category. I saw this movie in a pathetic theatre in Bangalore and honestly speaking, I hated the movie the first time. First off, I was NOT convinced with Sharukh's character. I felt it was half-baked - though my views got changed post seeing this movie a couple of times - and yes I still dont like the way in which Sharuk speaks Tamil. When I saw the movie the first time, I was NOT convinced about the first 20 mins detailing Kamal Hassan's work life - archealogy and stuff - though my views got changed post seeing this movie a couple of times - a movie like this needs a bigger canvas and mohenjadaro, indus valley civilization is definitely of that kind - what say?

OK - what impressed me when I watched Hey Ram this time around? I was actually moved by the way in which protoganist turns anti-Gandhi. The reasons were extremely reaslistic and given our current system where one can make a mountain out of a mole - Kamal Hassan has done a commendable job in driving his protaganist (played by Kamal) into an anti-Gandhi rebellion mode. Especially watch the confrontation scenes between Kamal and Sharukh...I was floored!!!

It's a must watch and I bet this movie will grow on you as you see it a couple of times - though there are plenty of chances to nit-pick as well...

3 Crore And Enough Press - Wat a Deal

Not a bad deal at all...

When you literally don't have anything to do and the so called acting (?) career is almost in the fag end... you get paid a whopping 3 crore and then get enough visibility across the globe. Who knows this may even land up in a Hollywood offer.

When it rains it pours - and in Shipa's case its all money and fame (+-).

Maniratnam's Guru Review

Dream big time and realize the same in a fashion - that’s what GURU is all about. And Mani has realized his dream once again.

And yes, it looks very much like Mani is thoroughly inspired by "Baap ka sapna" tag line and the man who enabled many average middle class Indians to have their own house or get their daughters marry or have their kids pursue higher education and what not. Yes Gurukanth desai is a replica of the one and only Dirubhai...and Mani may call it a fiction and in Mani's word - Like any fiction, Guru is based on reality. Here Gurubhai (that’s how all the characters call the protagonist) is based on the reality, Mr. Dirubhai Ambani.

And what a tribute made to the icon of India Inc - and in movies it can be done only by Mani sir.

Mani is known for his perfection - and in Guru he has reached new heights. Bringing back 1950s and 60s is no BIG deal and we have seen it in many a films in the recent times - but in Guru it forms the backdrop for the first 30-40 mins and man… you must see it to believe it - the trains, turkey in 1950s, the merchandising centre in Bombay and what not. Rajeev Menon and Sameer chanda had put their heart and soul into this project.

Mani is known for his protagonist selection - and in Guru he has reached new heights. No one other than Abhishek could have played this role with ease. And people - if you thought Abhishek was a revelation in Yuva - here he has proved that he is definitely NOT a flash in the pan. He is here to stay - truly as an ACTOR for a long time to come and has become a hot probable for this year's National Award for BEST ACTOR category. I guess the last 10 mins is enough for his lifetime.

Mani is known for his characterization of his female lead - and in Guru he has reached new heights. All his female leads have one thing in common - their ability to rise up to the occasion - especially if it is Mani's film (though every one of them has by and large done only average movies). There are umpteen examples - the likes of Nirosha, Amala, Sharanya, Madhubala and our Miss World Aishwarya Rai. And you got to give it to her - this is by far Aishwarya's best performance. The one close up shot where she cries her heart out after getting to know that the man who promised to marry her has ran away from the responsibility - she can live rest of her life with peace because henceforth no one can even question her ability as an actress.

Mani is known for his selection of antagonist character - and in Guru he has reached new heights. Mithunda as the media baron - vow what a performance and it is a pity to note that today’s directors are missing out to utilize this acting talent. After all it is not easy to get three national awards and here in Guru he has provided a riveting performance.

Mani is known for taking R.Madhavan to new levels - and in Guru he has reached new heights. Is this the same Madhavan who played as a short-tempered writer in Kannathil Muthamittal? Unbelievable!!! He has underplayed it so nicely and you know what - it needs real guts to play a supportive role and that too not in his usual flamboyant style but rather in subtle manner. Kudos to Madhavan!!!

Mani is known for showcasing some revelation performance - and in Guru he has reached new heights. Vidya Balan in an unusual character and her performance can be termed as nothing but awesome. I know that she was good in Parineeta and Lage Rago - but this is truly one for finest performance and if this can be taken as any indications - she is here to rock for the next few years

Mani is known for having a great item number - and in Guru he has reached new heights. This is one area where it looks like Mani got convinced that even if he puts half his effort it would be truly rewarding - with Mallika Sherawat for the item number - what a move...

And I guess enough is written about Mani and ARR combination and in Guru both have reached new heights.

Overall a truly inspiring movie - and it just grows on you. And Mani, if people say bad things about this movie, just ignore them as there is an old saying which goes like "if people say bad things about you, you must be doing good" :-) Haven't you heard of this saying...:-) You know what - I heard this for the first time from Gurubhai and what a killer of a quote!!!!