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...