Yaradi Ne Mohini - Review

Whoo ha!!!! Saw a movie first day first show after what seems like ages. And its been a while since I wrote a review for a brand new movie.

Yaradi Nee Mohini (YNM) - one couldn't have a better title having Nayanthara as the heroine. She is out & out ravishing in this movie.

Story wise YNM has nothing new to offer - its already a remake of a telugu movie (Adavare Mattalakku Arthale Verule) by Selvaraghavan - which by itself is a rehash of DDLJ and several other hindi movies.

After seeing some great movies from Selvaraghavan - YNM certainly comes out as a disappointment. Screenplay does look interesting in bits & pieces - but IMO it fails to impress on a whole. At the outset the movie seems to be too lengthy and at times drags a lot as well. But it will certainly appeal to the masses - as it turns out to be a clean family entertainer. Also Selva has proved that he is well versed at making commercial pot-boilers as well.

Dhanush is a clear winner in YNM. He seems to be concentrating on what will work and what will NOT work for him and he comes out with flying colors in YNM as well. One more hit added to his kitty. The role is tailor made for him - that was handled by a much older Venkatesh in Telugu version where he was a total mis-fit. Watch him imitating "Vietnam Veedu" Sivaji in "palakattu pakkathile" song. As I used to say - Dhanush is one hell of a talented actor who can overcome his limitations (cann also be read as looks)

Nayan looks like a goddess. She is one major crowd puller and she has once again added a smash hit to her kitty after Billa.

And Raghuvaran has ensured he will make everyone feel for his absence - by providing one of his best performance till date.

The surprise pack of this movie is Karthik (mirchi Suchi's hubby). He was always seen as one NRI character in a couple of movies (esp alaipayuthe). In YNM, he proves that he has a strong theatrical background. IMO, he is sure to get more offers after this movie. Can well be a good supporting artist if he succeeds in choosing the right films.

There is nothing major to write about the other characters in the movie - its almost stereotyped ones including Nayan's sister character - who gets a bumper prize in the form of a duet song with Dhanush. And yes, she is good in the song - but IMO, she has a long way to become a lead material.

Technical team has done a neat job - a special mention to the cinematographer. Yvan is at his usual best - as you hear him in all Selva's movies. Special mention to "yengeyo Partha mayakkam" - a clean melody thats already a huge hit. Surprise pack is the remix song - "palakattu pakkathile" - well choreographed song!

Its very hard to pass a judgment on Jawahar - the director of YNM. Its a frame by frame remake of the telugu version but for the climax and the remix song. But all I can say is he is nowhere closer to "remake raja" - director of Jayam, M Kumaran, Something Something. Guess we will have to give him one more chance to prove his mettle - and wish he takes something that is inspired rather than copied.

All said & done, go watch YNM - for it is a clean entertainer. But ensure that you don't ask how come Dhanush is not aware of his close friend's fiancee. That's commercial cinema for you....

Raghuvaran is no more...

Looks like the month of February & March 2008 is a loss for Tamil Cinema. If it was Sujatha in the month of February, its now the turn of Raghuvaran in March.

Read that he is 60 years old - which is a surprise given his thin frame. But he is one great example for the younger generation - if your personal life is in shamble - no matter how great you are in the professional life - you will always be left alone even in your death bed. And imagine how pathetic it would be if you feel lonely and deserted in the death bed - the mental trauma will be much higher than the physical pain. And Raghuvaran was a living example!

May his soul rest in peace! And though it may sound cliche, its indeed a HUGE LOSS for Tamil/Telegu Cinema. He was all said & done - one of the best villains in Tamil film industry - and I could hear you guys saying "I Know - I know & I know" (puriyatha puthir)

Writer Sujatha is No more...

The man behind EVM – and what an eventful journey even after retiring from BHEL.

His Katrathum Petrathum articles were a treat to read - given the unbiased view of the good, bad & ugly in movies, literature, music, science, politics & what not.

He was a significant contributor in all the movies that he worked so far – be it story, script or dialogue writing. His best being Kannathil Mutha mittal.

His penchant for explaining science & technology in tamil is commendable. I still remember reading an article where he explained about CD-ROMs in such a simple language around 12-13 years back and also rightly predicted the direction in which the audio/video market will move in the future and also about piracy – he was spot on!!!!

An all time romantic classic novel like “Pirivom Santhippom” – I was told that many got so inspired with the novel – that there were too many girls named as madhumitha (lead character in this novel). I will have to read that novel again - what a page turner it is...

Overall – a truly inspiring and an eventful journey came to an end – but - yes his writings will be remembered forever!!!

1 Minute Reviews...

Whoo haa!!! Atlast found some time to blog. Seems like ages since I got back to my hobby. Loads of things happening at the personal & professional front - and yours truly was completely swamped!!!!

And I guess the place that I have recently moved may not feed enough for the movie freak in me - and I think I will have to manage with DVDs.

So managed to see three movies in the last one month - and in that only one from the pongal released. Find below the 1 minute review.

Pirivom Santhippom

This is the only pongal release that yours truly saw - so it would be unfair to conclude that its the best of the lot - but I read in lot of articles that its the best. I somehow couldn't come to terms about Cheran being a hero - there is something that is missing. And come to talk about Sneha - VOWWWWW. She is absolutely fantastic - though I wouldn't call it her best perfomance till date. Yours truly liked the first half of the movie and the director has given a realistic touch - especially the marriage sequence & the fondness of joint family. The second half tend to drag a lot - but may be Karu Palaniappan (director) wanted to get the viewers feel the pain that Sneha undergoes - though for me personally it was a bit over kill.

And yours truly verdit - all in all decent family movie!

Kalloori

What a movie!!!!! Has all the ingredients to become a classic. You folks would read lot of reviews about this movie and comparisons to Kaadhal. To my mind, it should not be compared with Kaadhal - for a simple fact that its a different genre! The kind of meticulous shots that Balaji Shaktivel (Director) kept is truly awesome and trust me if you are movie buff - you will find so many nuances every time you see this movie.

And yours truly verdit - a must have HOME DVD!!!!

American Gangster

I felt may be my friend was correct in saying that Hollywood churns out the BEST gangster movies. American Gangster is truly a work of genius. Guess the likes of Ram Gopal Varmas, Gautham Menons would take an inspiration in the days to come.

And yours truly verdit - a good Sunday noon watch!!!!

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.