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.....