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...