I am back after almost a year. The last year has been filled with many interesting events and had kept me occupied all along. Blogging was something that I had almost given up until now. I wanted to bring to your notice this Thamizh movie Aanmai Thavarel and so here I am.
This movie was released in June, 2011 but I had the opportunity to see this movie only now and I am thoroughly impressed with the movie. This movie has a strong theme and even though there are many unknown faces the movie is extremely well made. Technically the movie is great with wonderful photography, nice locations. But more than that it is the theme, the acting and most of all the direction. The movie is about human trafficking and it is so well made that it sends a shudder down our spine and really makes us aware of what could go wrong if we dont live with caution. The distraught that the girls face has been wonderfully captured. The helplessness, pain of the protagonist is very well captured. The heartless villains are also great. This is by far one of the best movies in recent times that I have seen.
I would never request anyone to see a movie but would only recommend but this is one movie that you should definitely watch and I request you to do so. After watching this movie, I felt as to if there is any sense of humanity left in this world is lost. I am most disappointed that such a nice well made movie did not gross well at the box office and I hope that atleast the movie gets the attention that it deserves.
Children, especially girls please listen to your parents and grandparent in terms of not going alone in the night.
Showing posts with label Tamil Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tamil Movie Review. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Ko - Movie Review
Ko is a thamizh movie that is loosely based on the events in the life of a photo journalist. The star cast includes the multi talented Jiiva (formerly Jeeva), Ajmal, Pia Bajpai and a debutant Karthika (daughter of yesteryears star Radha). The direction is handled by Ayan fame K V Anand, music by Harris Jeyraj, stunts by Peter Hein. So all in all it is quite a team that has been brought together for the movie.
The movie is about the events in the life of a photo journalist aptly played by Jiiva. The story is a political thriller with loads of commercial elements. As far as the story goes I will not spoil it for the people who have not seen it yet.
The movie has a very taught, interesting script, excellent executed by K V Anand who has once again proved that he is quite the director with another blockbuster. Never once will you feel that the movie is boring as the scenes are crafted very well and as in other K V Anand movies dont miss even the minutest and subtlest of details as they are very important to the movie. The music from Harris as usual is superb and not just the songs. Anand has picturized the role of the journalists as they are today and not type casting them to wearing khadi kurtas. Every single detail has been thought about meticulously. Anand however missed the placement of the song Vennpaniye in the movie. This kind of cuts the flow and there were grunts from everyone in the theatre. The election compaigns are captured well and also there is a dig at Lok Paritran too and the subtle reasons as to why they failed.
Coming to the acting Jiiva and Ajmal have potrayed their respective roles extremely well. However, I got the feeling that Jiiva's role was more than that of a photo journalist. But that could also be that I misunderstood his role to be the accompanying photographer of a journalist. But nonetheless these two have given their best and I can't think of anything that they lack. I feel that Prakash Raj and Kota Sreenivasa Rao however have not been utilized very well. More so with Prakash Raj than Kota Sreenivasa Rao. The debutant actress Karthika is a very tall actress. She has shown some expressions but could improve. Pia has her usual role and she has done it quite well. Unlike other commercial movies of India the heroine has some role though not very great. Bose Venkat in his cameo has done very well and plays an extremely important role in the story.
Photography, as in any Anand's movie, is extremely good. Especially the songs, Ennamo Edho, Amali Thumali, Gala Gala and Vennpaniye have been extremely well shot, especially Amali Thumali. Also the action sequences are extremely well taken. Pay special attention to the climax for the photography too.
Stunts by Peter Hein are very good especiaally in the climax. However, the first action sequence after the bank robbery feels a bit over the top even though it has been beautifully executed. This is where there is some logic missing. But you feel this as an after thought.
Overall, it is an excellent movie and personally, I feel this is far far better than Ayan. Also, don't miss it in the theatre as the photography mandates viewing the movie on a big screen
The movie is about the events in the life of a photo journalist aptly played by Jiiva. The story is a political thriller with loads of commercial elements. As far as the story goes I will not spoil it for the people who have not seen it yet.
The movie has a very taught, interesting script, excellent executed by K V Anand who has once again proved that he is quite the director with another blockbuster. Never once will you feel that the movie is boring as the scenes are crafted very well and as in other K V Anand movies dont miss even the minutest and subtlest of details as they are very important to the movie. The music from Harris as usual is superb and not just the songs. Anand has picturized the role of the journalists as they are today and not type casting them to wearing khadi kurtas. Every single detail has been thought about meticulously. Anand however missed the placement of the song Vennpaniye in the movie. This kind of cuts the flow and there were grunts from everyone in the theatre. The election compaigns are captured well and also there is a dig at Lok Paritran too and the subtle reasons as to why they failed.
Coming to the acting Jiiva and Ajmal have potrayed their respective roles extremely well. However, I got the feeling that Jiiva's role was more than that of a photo journalist. But that could also be that I misunderstood his role to be the accompanying photographer of a journalist. But nonetheless these two have given their best and I can't think of anything that they lack. I feel that Prakash Raj and Kota Sreenivasa Rao however have not been utilized very well. More so with Prakash Raj than Kota Sreenivasa Rao. The debutant actress Karthika is a very tall actress. She has shown some expressions but could improve. Pia has her usual role and she has done it quite well. Unlike other commercial movies of India the heroine has some role though not very great. Bose Venkat in his cameo has done very well and plays an extremely important role in the story.
Photography, as in any Anand's movie, is extremely good. Especially the songs, Ennamo Edho, Amali Thumali, Gala Gala and Vennpaniye have been extremely well shot, especially Amali Thumali. Also the action sequences are extremely well taken. Pay special attention to the climax for the photography too.
Stunts by Peter Hein are very good especiaally in the climax. However, the first action sequence after the bank robbery feels a bit over the top even though it has been beautifully executed. This is where there is some logic missing. But you feel this as an after thought.
Overall, it is an excellent movie and personally, I feel this is far far better than Ayan. Also, don't miss it in the theatre as the photography mandates viewing the movie on a big screen
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Endhiran - Movie Review
Endhiran, the most awaited Thamizh movie to date, costliest movie ever made in India and yes, it lives up to its hype to a large part thanks mainly to the vision of Shankar. It is a commercial movie on the basis of Artificial Intelligence.
Disclaimer - I apologize for any spoilers. They are completely unintended.
Even though it is touted as a Rajnikanth movie, I see it largely as a Shankar movie. The story is not revolutionary as many other movies that are coming out today in Thamizh. So what is so great in this movie?
1. After Kamal Hasan starrer Vikram, this is the only other Science Fiction movie
2. Shankar has shown his technical knowledge what with the use of medical terms for forcefully moving the hip bones to deliver the baby was exceptional (I don't remember the medical term) and shows his research (also the part to stress it was an age old practice). Also to give Shankar credit for his research on humanoid robots such as the use of the motors, the processor and the neural schema (shown when Danny Denzongpa was talking to Chitti) is good. He has shown as using State Diagrams when teaching/programming emotions to Chitti.
3. The richness which Shankar has brought into the movie such as the sets, even the cars (only Audi, Benz, BMW and Benteley are used in most parts). There is grandeur everywhere and sometimes it is a bit too much. I can't believe his productions are low to medium budget
4. Rathnavelu's camera is exceptional especially the scene at Perungudi landfill where there is a upside-down shot of the car and the capture of the action sequences
5. Graphics and Animation, which is there from the first scene to the last. It is extremely good. Even the minute differences between the hand textures of Rajnikanth and Chitti (when they hug) are shown clearly. I noticed that the entire graphics team consisted of people of Eastern and South Eastern Asia regions.
6. Shankar's direction and most importantly his vision for the movie and his ability to bring it on screen. Scenes where in Chitti say's that humans lie for self preservation, his idea of choosing the university for Robotics research (Carnegie Mellon Univ.), the idea where in emotions are to be programmed to Chitti and subtly uses the lightning strike as a intervention from God to instill emotions in the robot, Danny's words when he says that "the story starts now" when Rajnikanth successfully "programs" emotions into Chitti are few instances.
Not Impressive/Dissapointing parts
1. Every frame has Rajnikanth and there seems to be an overdose. Also Chitti, when it turns rogue, is characterized as very close to human emotions. I am not sure if that would be the actual case, but then again we have not seen a robot with emotions.
2. Aishwarya Rai's character lacks depth or for that matter even the characterization is incomplete. Something seems completely amiss. She does look extremely good for a close to 40 year old. Can't imagine her for a medical student
3. The sets of the labs of both Ranjnikanth and Danny seem to be a bit too exaggerated, especially considering that the projects are govt. financed.
4. A bit too lengthy
5. Some of the action scenes are not logical such as when Chitti fights the rogues on the train. I cannot fathom a titanium rod hitting a person with huge force and the person stands up to fight again.
6. The movie though very nice misses some special ingredient from Shankar and it looks like the script was definitely changed for Rajnikanth and I guess Shankar has admitted to it to and so not all attributes of Shankar's film is visible in it.
7. The last scenes where in Rajnikanth tries to stop Chitti is all too difficult for the common illiterate people to understand and one thing that I dont understand is how is worming one robot can worm the others. Is it that all the robots are networked? I can probably try to understand worming but how about deactivating a module on one robot deactivate it on other robots. Even if it was a server-client architecture the robot used was a client (here I am assuming that the server is Chitti) how did it affect the other robots?
8. Also, my personal opinion is that the movie might have been well made if one of the newer heroes would have acted such as Surya or Jiiva but I guess a movie of such huge budget needs a huge star and with Tamil Nadu it is either Rajni or Kamal and both their styles are very evident and huge to be modified for the movie.
9. Rahman's music is not as good as his past. Some songs are good such as Kilimanjaro and Kadhal Anukkal. The lyrics of the Arima song is very nice. Unfortunately, I did not focus on the background score and so I can make no comments on it. However, the title score (at the end) was very nicely done.
Overall the movie is enjoyable in parts but it is entertaining overall and I must say it is definitely worth a watch. Let me know your thoughts.
Disclaimer - I apologize for any spoilers. They are completely unintended.
Even though it is touted as a Rajnikanth movie, I see it largely as a Shankar movie. The story is not revolutionary as many other movies that are coming out today in Thamizh. So what is so great in this movie?
1. After Kamal Hasan starrer Vikram, this is the only other Science Fiction movie
2. Shankar has shown his technical knowledge what with the use of medical terms for forcefully moving the hip bones to deliver the baby was exceptional (I don't remember the medical term) and shows his research (also the part to stress it was an age old practice). Also to give Shankar credit for his research on humanoid robots such as the use of the motors, the processor and the neural schema (shown when Danny Denzongpa was talking to Chitti) is good. He has shown as using State Diagrams when teaching/programming emotions to Chitti.
3. The richness which Shankar has brought into the movie such as the sets, even the cars (only Audi, Benz, BMW and Benteley are used in most parts). There is grandeur everywhere and sometimes it is a bit too much. I can't believe his productions are low to medium budget
4. Rathnavelu's camera is exceptional especially the scene at Perungudi landfill where there is a upside-down shot of the car and the capture of the action sequences
5. Graphics and Animation, which is there from the first scene to the last. It is extremely good. Even the minute differences between the hand textures of Rajnikanth and Chitti (when they hug) are shown clearly. I noticed that the entire graphics team consisted of people of Eastern and South Eastern Asia regions.
6. Shankar's direction and most importantly his vision for the movie and his ability to bring it on screen. Scenes where in Chitti say's that humans lie for self preservation, his idea of choosing the university for Robotics research (Carnegie Mellon Univ.), the idea where in emotions are to be programmed to Chitti and subtly uses the lightning strike as a intervention from God to instill emotions in the robot, Danny's words when he says that "the story starts now" when Rajnikanth successfully "programs" emotions into Chitti are few instances.
Not Impressive/Dissapointing parts
1. Every frame has Rajnikanth and there seems to be an overdose. Also Chitti, when it turns rogue, is characterized as very close to human emotions. I am not sure if that would be the actual case, but then again we have not seen a robot with emotions.
2. Aishwarya Rai's character lacks depth or for that matter even the characterization is incomplete. Something seems completely amiss. She does look extremely good for a close to 40 year old. Can't imagine her for a medical student
3. The sets of the labs of both Ranjnikanth and Danny seem to be a bit too exaggerated, especially considering that the projects are govt. financed.
4. A bit too lengthy
5. Some of the action scenes are not logical such as when Chitti fights the rogues on the train. I cannot fathom a titanium rod hitting a person with huge force and the person stands up to fight again.
6. The movie though very nice misses some special ingredient from Shankar and it looks like the script was definitely changed for Rajnikanth and I guess Shankar has admitted to it to and so not all attributes of Shankar's film is visible in it.
7. The last scenes where in Rajnikanth tries to stop Chitti is all too difficult for the common illiterate people to understand and one thing that I dont understand is how is worming one robot can worm the others. Is it that all the robots are networked? I can probably try to understand worming but how about deactivating a module on one robot deactivate it on other robots. Even if it was a server-client architecture the robot used was a client (here I am assuming that the server is Chitti) how did it affect the other robots?
8. Also, my personal opinion is that the movie might have been well made if one of the newer heroes would have acted such as Surya or Jiiva but I guess a movie of such huge budget needs a huge star and with Tamil Nadu it is either Rajni or Kamal and both their styles are very evident and huge to be modified for the movie.
9. Rahman's music is not as good as his past. Some songs are good such as Kilimanjaro and Kadhal Anukkal. The lyrics of the Arima song is very nice. Unfortunately, I did not focus on the background score and so I can make no comments on it. However, the title score (at the end) was very nicely done.
Overall the movie is enjoyable in parts but it is entertaining overall and I must say it is definitely worth a watch. Let me know your thoughts.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Madrasapattinam - Movie Review
Madrasapattinam, the name transports a person to the pre-independence era and the movie, true to its name, is set in the colonial times. However, this movie is not another freedom struggle story, though it is not devoid of it either. If one can believe, it is a love story set in the Empire days. You might think that I am going against my policy and revealing the story but there is nothing else to it and also considering the considerable time since its release in theaters it must not matter much.
Even though it is only a love story, there are some special elements that make the movie pretty interesting (probably not engrossing). After seeing the movie many would say it is "inspired" by movies such as Titanic and Lagaan and this is true to a large extent but still it is a very nice attempt by the Director
The most promising aspects of the movie are
1. The sets which brought to life the bygone days of the glorious Madras (Chennai has its own glory) erected by Selva (worked with Sabu Cyril earlier). The Buckingham Canal (I cannot imagine how much it has degraded. Chennai/Madras people should fight the government to restore it to its old glory at the earliest. It is a good legacy of the British we can have), the Central Station of yesteryears are best brought to life and the trams (cannot fathom the reasoning of the politicians to get rid of them)
2. The camera by Nirav Shah is great and he has captured the essence of Buckingham Canal.
3. Music by the prodigal genius of G V Prakash Kumar
4. Direction by Vijay is pretty slick. There is no ounce of over acting but some scenes seem a bit melodramatic. But at the same time some of the scenes are brilliantly captured. The wrestling match and the wry smile on the Indian Police Inspector's face, the spontaneous reaction of Arya to Amy speaking tamizh, the scene where in the Governor of Madras when walking out of the station, the activist questioning his authority since Independence was upon us, the characterization of the travel agent are some of the highlights.
5. Arya (he has actually acted after his good performance in Naan Kadavul)
6. Amy Jackson - can't believe she is in her teens. She looks so mature but she has also delivered in her acting and she is exquisitely beautiful. Very sophisticated.
The downfalls of the movie are
1. Flimsy story line
2. The execution grounds (not sure if they had one, but if it was there then it was duly captured)
3. Some of the actors were not properly utilized.
4. MSV's voice in the Meghame Meghame song (killed it)
But not many, come to think of it or it could be that I am blind to those aspects.
Do watch the movie and see how much of the good legacies of the British have been erased and how much of the protocol's established by them are still in force and also how they are being misused. We should take the good ones and try to reestablish these legacies.
Even though it is only a love story, there are some special elements that make the movie pretty interesting (probably not engrossing). After seeing the movie many would say it is "inspired" by movies such as Titanic and Lagaan and this is true to a large extent but still it is a very nice attempt by the Director
The most promising aspects of the movie are
1. The sets which brought to life the bygone days of the glorious Madras (Chennai has its own glory) erected by Selva (worked with Sabu Cyril earlier). The Buckingham Canal (I cannot imagine how much it has degraded. Chennai/Madras people should fight the government to restore it to its old glory at the earliest. It is a good legacy of the British we can have), the Central Station of yesteryears are best brought to life and the trams (cannot fathom the reasoning of the politicians to get rid of them)
2. The camera by Nirav Shah is great and he has captured the essence of Buckingham Canal.
3. Music by the prodigal genius of G V Prakash Kumar
4. Direction by Vijay is pretty slick. There is no ounce of over acting but some scenes seem a bit melodramatic. But at the same time some of the scenes are brilliantly captured. The wrestling match and the wry smile on the Indian Police Inspector's face, the spontaneous reaction of Arya to Amy speaking tamizh, the scene where in the Governor of Madras when walking out of the station, the activist questioning his authority since Independence was upon us, the characterization of the travel agent are some of the highlights.
5. Arya (he has actually acted after his good performance in Naan Kadavul)
6. Amy Jackson - can't believe she is in her teens. She looks so mature but she has also delivered in her acting and she is exquisitely beautiful. Very sophisticated.
The downfalls of the movie are
1. Flimsy story line
2. The execution grounds (not sure if they had one, but if it was there then it was duly captured)
3. Some of the actors were not properly utilized.
4. MSV's voice in the Meghame Meghame song (killed it)
But not many, come to think of it or it could be that I am blind to those aspects.
Do watch the movie and see how much of the good legacies of the British have been erased and how much of the protocol's established by them are still in force and also how they are being misused. We should take the good ones and try to reestablish these legacies.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Kacheri Arambam - Movie Review
Kacheri Arambam stars Jeeva or should I say Jiiva and Poonam Bajwa. The movie is an outright commercial movie. The story is very predictable and there is nothing new about it. But considering that a lot of the people who read dont like to be told the story I will not reveal the same. Then why am I writing this review. Is it that I am digressing from my principle of only writing positive reviews and writing my first negative review? Absolutely Not.
The movie is all Jeeva all the way. He has built up some muscle, dances exquisitely and is exceedingly good with his witty comments. Though the comedy part is supposed to be handled by Vadivelu, Jeeva far exceeds him. The dialogues are the best part and some of them are so called "Kadi" but they are really nice. The movie gives a sense of Deja Vu with the movie Run.
The movie has some good music by D.Imman. All the songs are very mostly fast paced, but somehow pleasant to the ears. Infact you can keep listening to Vitha Vitha and Kadavule Kadavule songs over and over again.
The climax is seriously badly written and there are a couple (exactly 3 to be precise) of gory scenes, but who cares when you are well entertained for most of the movie. Jeeva has always delivered decent movies if not good ones. But my only desire is that he also takes offbeat movies like Ram, Aran, Katrathu Thamizh etc along with these commercial entertainers. Also this is much better than Vijay movies.
Ofcourse waiting for his next movie which is directed by Ayan's director KV Anand and it is supposed to be action packed with yet another awesome chase scene on the streets of Puduchery like in Ayan. But, this time with cars and bikes, I presume.
Do watch the movie for a very nice timepass.
The movie is all Jeeva all the way. He has built up some muscle, dances exquisitely and is exceedingly good with his witty comments. Though the comedy part is supposed to be handled by Vadivelu, Jeeva far exceeds him. The dialogues are the best part and some of them are so called "Kadi" but they are really nice. The movie gives a sense of Deja Vu with the movie Run.
The movie has some good music by D.Imman. All the songs are very mostly fast paced, but somehow pleasant to the ears. Infact you can keep listening to Vitha Vitha and Kadavule Kadavule songs over and over again.
The climax is seriously badly written and there are a couple (exactly 3 to be precise) of gory scenes, but who cares when you are well entertained for most of the movie. Jeeva has always delivered decent movies if not good ones. But my only desire is that he also takes offbeat movies like Ram, Aran, Katrathu Thamizh etc along with these commercial entertainers. Also this is much better than Vijay movies.
Ofcourse waiting for his next movie which is directed by Ayan's director KV Anand and it is supposed to be action packed with yet another awesome chase scene on the streets of Puduchery like in Ayan. But, this time with cars and bikes, I presume.
Do watch the movie for a very nice timepass.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Aayirathil Oruvan - Movie Review
After a pretty long hiatus, I am back with yet another movie review. This time it is the Selvaraghavan movie Aayirathil Oruvan. Remember your history books Cholas & Pandyas. If you don't, then this movie will definitely remind you of them as the movie is based on them. This movie is definitely a new genre in tamil movies and something that no one has attempted before. You also need to have a mindset and a penchant for history, especially south indian history.
The move is defnitely not the greatest movie or even the best movie. There are a few illogical scenes and I really wish that they would have explained a few things more.
From the limited knowledge I have I am listing out what is best portrayed here are from history
1) A king who is ruling a waste land and his mind set. Parthiban is great as such a king.
2) A country which has fallen from its greatness
3) The battle techniques of the Cholas
4) The liberal mindset of the people (Paganism)
5) The pedastal position the eunuchs had in Indian soceity
6) True loyalty, respect for a king in Indian history before the Moghuls
7) The resourcefulness, ingenuity and knowldge of the Indians in fields such as in medicine to cure most diseases
8) Get an idea of the extent to which the Britishers destroyed our education, culture, beliefs, knowledge in order to rule. This provides a way for us to identify ourselves.
9) The tamizh from the time of the Cholas
The things that have not been portrayed well from history are
1) I don't think we had barbarianism in our culture to have acts of gladiators
2) Some of the rituals, especially the dances, considering that art and culture flourished during times of the Cholas
3) Why were the Cholas shown so dark? Is it to show them as Dravidians. Then they are falling to the lie about the Aryan invasion theory
4) The architecture of one of the temples in the ruins that look more like that from North Indian Rajputs/Marathas etc rather than from the Cholas.
There are a few more but my limited knowledge of history limits me from listing them.
Regarding the movie, this is definitely not a historical movie but is deeply tied to history even though it is fiction. The people have acted well and Reema Sen has got a very strong role where she gets to battle and she does a fairly decent job but there is absolutely no synchronization of the tamizh she speaks as usual. Karthi is great as the low class labourer (gets into the character itself). Andrea has got a good role too, but the best is Parthiban (no sarcasm, but he did not have to dance). Some scenes are illogical like how did an Indian army battalion get to Vietnam so easily, how can an iphone work as a satellite phone, where did the communication specialist go. Most of us in the theatre did not understand a lot of the tamizh as it was the thamizh from ancient Cholas/Pandyas period. That is an admirable effort. There was a lot of blood and violence but I guess it was needed as part of the movie. There has been a lot of research gone into making this movie and Selvaraghavan has brought his touch by displaying the human emotions well in the characters. But the characters of Reema Sen and Andrea have been made to be so cold and I think this was something he got inspired by Hollywood movies, though you could relate to why Reema Sen is like that.
It is a long movie, but I liked it a lot and now I am more enthused to actually catch up on my history (not the one the Britishers taught us, but the actual one) . I am not sure if you would like it, but still I would encourage you to see the movie.
The move is defnitely not the greatest movie or even the best movie. There are a few illogical scenes and I really wish that they would have explained a few things more.
From the limited knowledge I have I am listing out what is best portrayed here are from history
1) A king who is ruling a waste land and his mind set. Parthiban is great as such a king.
2) A country which has fallen from its greatness
3) The battle techniques of the Cholas
4) The liberal mindset of the people (Paganism)
5) The pedastal position the eunuchs had in Indian soceity
6) True loyalty, respect for a king in Indian history before the Moghuls
7) The resourcefulness, ingenuity and knowldge of the Indians in fields such as in medicine to cure most diseases
8) Get an idea of the extent to which the Britishers destroyed our education, culture, beliefs, knowledge in order to rule. This provides a way for us to identify ourselves.
9) The tamizh from the time of the Cholas
The things that have not been portrayed well from history are
1) I don't think we had barbarianism in our culture to have acts of gladiators
2) Some of the rituals, especially the dances, considering that art and culture flourished during times of the Cholas
3) Why were the Cholas shown so dark? Is it to show them as Dravidians. Then they are falling to the lie about the Aryan invasion theory
4) The architecture of one of the temples in the ruins that look more like that from North Indian Rajputs/Marathas etc rather than from the Cholas.
There are a few more but my limited knowledge of history limits me from listing them.
Regarding the movie, this is definitely not a historical movie but is deeply tied to history even though it is fiction. The people have acted well and Reema Sen has got a very strong role where she gets to battle and she does a fairly decent job but there is absolutely no synchronization of the tamizh she speaks as usual. Karthi is great as the low class labourer (gets into the character itself). Andrea has got a good role too, but the best is Parthiban (no sarcasm, but he did not have to dance). Some scenes are illogical like how did an Indian army battalion get to Vietnam so easily, how can an iphone work as a satellite phone, where did the communication specialist go. Most of us in the theatre did not understand a lot of the tamizh as it was the thamizh from ancient Cholas/Pandyas period. That is an admirable effort. There was a lot of blood and violence but I guess it was needed as part of the movie. There has been a lot of research gone into making this movie and Selvaraghavan has brought his touch by displaying the human emotions well in the characters. But the characters of Reema Sen and Andrea have been made to be so cold and I think this was something he got inspired by Hollywood movies, though you could relate to why Reema Sen is like that.
It is a long movie, but I liked it a lot and now I am more enthused to actually catch up on my history (not the one the Britishers taught us, but the actual one) . I am not sure if you would like it, but still I would encourage you to see the movie.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru - Movie Review
The above movie is not a classic or a masterpiece but it is definitely worth a watch. The movie a comedy (nothing like the Vadivelu comedy but more on the lines of Poi Solla Porom, but much better than that). There is no separate comedy track and the dialogues and situations are pretty fun to watch. Mouli is as usual his great self and he proves he cannot be otherwise. The other aspect of the movie is that the actual story begins within a few minutes of the start of the movie and the movie progresses as good pace and keeps you interested. Ajmal and Rupa have done a good job. Some of the dialogs are really good comebacks.
The background score of the movie is also pretty good by Manisharma. All the songs except for two are situational and are interlaced with scenes of the movie so dont miss them.
Technically the movie has nothing great to offer and the movie is obviously made on a shoe string budget. So no over the top, helicopter cameras, spanning angles but definitely the editing is slick which keeps you engrossed.
I would definitely recommend watching this movie if not a planned watch but even as a timepass.
The background score of the movie is also pretty good by Manisharma. All the songs except for two are situational and are interlaced with scenes of the movie so dont miss them.
Technically the movie has nothing great to offer and the movie is obviously made on a shoe string budget. So no over the top, helicopter cameras, spanning angles but definitely the editing is slick which keeps you engrossed.
I would definitely recommend watching this movie if not a planned watch but even as a timepass.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Achchamundu Achchamundu - Movie Review
Achchamundu Achchamundu is a thamizh movie that deals with a concept that has been rarely dealt with on the silver screen. The story of the movie is basically a one liner but the treatment of the topic is brilliant. The theme of the movie is Paedophilia. But the movie actually portrays much more than that. It also shows the lives of the Thamizh NRI family.
Prasanna, Sneha and John Shea are the main cast along with a sweet little kid.
The movie is the first Indian movie to be shot using the new Red One camera and one can immediately see the difference with the clarity being something that is really new. The HD quality is simply impeccable.
The background score of the movie by Karthik Raja is really of international standards. The background songs sung by the famous Carnatic singer Sowmya is very soothing to the ears and has some real good lyrics.
Coming back to the movie, the travails of the life of a Thamizh NRI family are well captured. For instance, Sneha compelling her daughter to talk in Thamizh, Prasanna's dream to own a nice big house with a big basement, the small fights over social drinking, the confusion over bringing up their child in American ways are some of the details the director has dealt with.
Ofcourse, John Shea, should also be given due acknowledgement for his role where he fits it aptly and he has done it with minimal dialogues and more with expressions.
The director, Arun Vaidyanathan, has done a really decent job in coming up with the movie both in terms of the script as well in direction (rather execution).
If you do miss it in theater try to watch it atleast on video as it is really something that we need to know about.
Prasanna, Sneha and John Shea are the main cast along with a sweet little kid.
The movie is the first Indian movie to be shot using the new Red One camera and one can immediately see the difference with the clarity being something that is really new. The HD quality is simply impeccable.
The background score of the movie by Karthik Raja is really of international standards. The background songs sung by the famous Carnatic singer Sowmya is very soothing to the ears and has some real good lyrics.
Coming back to the movie, the travails of the life of a Thamizh NRI family are well captured. For instance, Sneha compelling her daughter to talk in Thamizh, Prasanna's dream to own a nice big house with a big basement, the small fights over social drinking, the confusion over bringing up their child in American ways are some of the details the director has dealt with.
Ofcourse, John Shea, should also be given due acknowledgement for his role where he fits it aptly and he has done it with minimal dialogues and more with expressions.
The director, Arun Vaidyanathan, has done a really decent job in coming up with the movie both in terms of the script as well in direction (rather execution).
If you do miss it in theater try to watch it atleast on video as it is really something that we need to know about.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Ayan - Movie Review
It has been a long time since I have posted and I thought what better way that to write about something that I am completely obsessed with and your guess is right. It is about movies and in particular about tamizh movies.
I know it has been some time that the AVM productions Ayan released and it probably makes not much sense to write a review about a movie that has been running successfully for more than three weeks now. But I just wanted to put my thoughts and observations about it.
The highlight of the movie is the screenplay which keeps you engrossed for the complete duration of the movie. The direction is exceptional too. Every minute action of the actor can be linked to the story (for those who have seen the movie, just recollect the scene where Surya and Jegan are in the hotel room in Congo where Surya puts the diamonds pack in the bag and Jegan who is lying down kind of gets up to see where the diamonds are kept and put it in perspective to the story just around interval). For those who have not seen the movie I hope I have not given away the story.
The choreography of the stunt sequences by Kannal Kannan is very good and Surya does them all without any substitutes. Surya's agility is exceptional and the chase sequence in Congo (based on the French art of Free Running called Yamakasi) is testament to this. This sequence is portrayed well and also equally brilliantly captured on camera by MS Prabhu. This reminds one of the initial chase sequence in Casino Royale. Equally spectacular is the car chase sequence in Malaysia. Stunts are definitely the best I have seen in Tamizh movies.
Technically the movie is brilliant with some awesome photography of Congo/Ethiopia in the movie. The colour combinations work wonders. They have shot in a place that has the sand dunes and then right next to it is the deep blue sea. This is simply exquisite.
As for the story well it is nothing great but the main point being that Anand, the director, has explained everything to the viewers and there is very minimal lack of logic.
The comedy is not a separate track but well with the story line and handled by Jegan with some awesome dialogues that suit the situation and at the same time don't seem over the top. Also, one important difference I found with other movies is that this character has a lot of substance and importance which in itself is a revelation.
The heroine Tammanna is quite alright nothing too great though she looks real nice.
Overall it is really a good movie with all that is required to click with the masses and also tease the multiplex crowd too. My recommendation would be to definitely watch the movie and preferrably in a good theatre.
I know it has been some time that the AVM productions Ayan released and it probably makes not much sense to write a review about a movie that has been running successfully for more than three weeks now. But I just wanted to put my thoughts and observations about it.
The highlight of the movie is the screenplay which keeps you engrossed for the complete duration of the movie. The direction is exceptional too. Every minute action of the actor can be linked to the story (for those who have seen the movie, just recollect the scene where Surya and Jegan are in the hotel room in Congo where Surya puts the diamonds pack in the bag and Jegan who is lying down kind of gets up to see where the diamonds are kept and put it in perspective to the story just around interval). For those who have not seen the movie I hope I have not given away the story.
The choreography of the stunt sequences by Kannal Kannan is very good and Surya does them all without any substitutes. Surya's agility is exceptional and the chase sequence in Congo (based on the French art of Free Running called Yamakasi) is testament to this. This sequence is portrayed well and also equally brilliantly captured on camera by MS Prabhu. This reminds one of the initial chase sequence in Casino Royale. Equally spectacular is the car chase sequence in Malaysia. Stunts are definitely the best I have seen in Tamizh movies.
Technically the movie is brilliant with some awesome photography of Congo/Ethiopia in the movie. The colour combinations work wonders. They have shot in a place that has the sand dunes and then right next to it is the deep blue sea. This is simply exquisite.
As for the story well it is nothing great but the main point being that Anand, the director, has explained everything to the viewers and there is very minimal lack of logic.
The comedy is not a separate track but well with the story line and handled by Jegan with some awesome dialogues that suit the situation and at the same time don't seem over the top. Also, one important difference I found with other movies is that this character has a lot of substance and importance which in itself is a revelation.
The heroine Tammanna is quite alright nothing too great though she looks real nice.
Overall it is really a good movie with all that is required to click with the masses and also tease the multiplex crowd too. My recommendation would be to definitely watch the movie and preferrably in a good theatre.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Vaaranam Aayiram - Movie Review
This Tamil movie as usual is superb on the technical aspects as most movies these days especially movies directed by Gautam Vasudeva Menon. Awesome photography, great picturization and some stunning locations. San Francisco, Berkeley, Jaipur, Kashmir, Delhi and even our Singara Chennai have been portrayed so beautifully.
The songs are wonderful and melodious. 2 Songs are mediocre. Most songs have a lot of guitar either the classic air guitar or the electric guitar. No meaningless words to add the rhythm only meaningful lyrics. All genres are there from semi carnatic in Annul Maelae, rock in Adiyae Kolluthe, jazz in Mundhinam Paathaene, pop in Oh Shanthi to note a few.
Surya has acted extremely well and portrayed each phase of a man's life very well. He looks just like a teenager, a college grad, young adult and a senior citizen. He has taken great pains to physically reduce, gain weight and then loose weight again for each phase of a man's life. His portrayal of every emotion is also very sincere and there is not an ounce of over acting except possibly in senior citizen's phase. Even that can also be noticed once you leave the movie hall and retrospect.
Among the heroines Simran walks away the clear winner but not because the others did not act well but rather that she acted well. Every one has done his or her part with diligence and understood their characters well and performed well. Makeup is good, but minimal and realistic.
Regarding the authenticity of the periods in the movie from the 60s to present is really great. In the 50s the Globe theatre in Chennai was very famous while in the 60s the Pilot theatre was famous. The Iron Bridge, cars and horse carriages were there. One can also see the chronology of fashion in the movie. Everyone can relate to all the periods from the old to the young. Superb graphics to depict them too and they don't feel like graphics until you look very very closely.
The human emotions like the confusions, the infatuations, the small successes, are shown extremely well. I guess all our parents have told that they had a period in life when they had no money but enjoyed life thoroughly and you can hear the same statement here too.
The movie though was a bit illogical in a few places which takes it short of a classic. Like the awesomely stupid scene in the US Immigration office, the stupid move to come to the US in search of love (which is core to the movie) by a boy from a middle class, the age at which one can join the army considering the time he has lost and also as to how he has managed to join the army considering he has flunked Heat and Mass Transfer paper over 3 times (All mechanical guys remember HMT, awesome subject and awesome memories). Too much usage of English to portray the current middle class households and this overuse looks unnatural occasionally. Do not look for a story as you will be disappointed but to relate to the incidents.
The movie is about the impacts one one on another person's life.
But with all the negatives the one thing the movie is successful is to make you relate to your childhood, college day which I think is the most important aspect in a period movie spanning the last few decades. You come back with resurfaced memories of one's own life. The things we did and we did not. The crushes, the fights, the successes, the disappointments etc come to mind.
All in all it is really a very nice movie and I guess most will like it. Do see it and in the theater. Even if you don't see the movie listen to the songs (especially the ones I mentioned above).
The songs are wonderful and melodious. 2 Songs are mediocre. Most songs have a lot of guitar either the classic air guitar or the electric guitar. No meaningless words to add the rhythm only meaningful lyrics. All genres are there from semi carnatic in Annul Maelae, rock in Adiyae Kolluthe, jazz in Mundhinam Paathaene, pop in Oh Shanthi to note a few.
Surya has acted extremely well and portrayed each phase of a man's life very well. He looks just like a teenager, a college grad, young adult and a senior citizen. He has taken great pains to physically reduce, gain weight and then loose weight again for each phase of a man's life. His portrayal of every emotion is also very sincere and there is not an ounce of over acting except possibly in senior citizen's phase. Even that can also be noticed once you leave the movie hall and retrospect.
Among the heroines Simran walks away the clear winner but not because the others did not act well but rather that she acted well. Every one has done his or her part with diligence and understood their characters well and performed well. Makeup is good, but minimal and realistic.
Regarding the authenticity of the periods in the movie from the 60s to present is really great. In the 50s the Globe theatre in Chennai was very famous while in the 60s the Pilot theatre was famous. The Iron Bridge, cars and horse carriages were there. One can also see the chronology of fashion in the movie. Everyone can relate to all the periods from the old to the young. Superb graphics to depict them too and they don't feel like graphics until you look very very closely.
The human emotions like the confusions, the infatuations, the small successes, are shown extremely well. I guess all our parents have told that they had a period in life when they had no money but enjoyed life thoroughly and you can hear the same statement here too.
The movie though was a bit illogical in a few places which takes it short of a classic. Like the awesomely stupid scene in the US Immigration office, the stupid move to come to the US in search of love (which is core to the movie) by a boy from a middle class, the age at which one can join the army considering the time he has lost and also as to how he has managed to join the army considering he has flunked Heat and Mass Transfer paper over 3 times (All mechanical guys remember HMT, awesome subject and awesome memories). Too much usage of English to portray the current middle class households and this overuse looks unnatural occasionally. Do not look for a story as you will be disappointed but to relate to the incidents.
The movie is about the impacts one one on another person's life.
But with all the negatives the one thing the movie is successful is to make you relate to your childhood, college day which I think is the most important aspect in a period movie spanning the last few decades. You come back with resurfaced memories of one's own life. The things we did and we did not. The crushes, the fights, the successes, the disappointments etc come to mind.
All in all it is really a very nice movie and I guess most will like it. Do see it and in the theater. Even if you don't see the movie listen to the songs (especially the ones I mentioned above).
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