Endhiran!

**Posted in Claps and Boos**

Sci-Fi movies have been rare in Tamizh movies. The genre is a difficult one - especially given the fact that the exposure of people, to enable them to think akin to the Matrix or the Bicentennial Man, is going to be difficult outside of the major cities in TN. Shankar, thanks to Sujatha's collaboration (my suspicion), has been able to deal with the concept/question of 'what if machines could feel emotions?' in a way that is very layman friendly.

Instead of trying to do a structured review, I think let me collate things that made me clap my hands (nod to where I'm writing this!)

• Rajni Kanth - he is there in every scene of the movie and has stood up and delivered in a way that only he can. Thankfully, the movie had zilch heroism/image boosting scenes. Having said that, Rajni shows us a sneak peek into his power-packed performance days of 70s and 80s by playing the character of the Robot quite well. His robot character pretty much dominates the second half of the movie and if done badly would have caused a nasty stink. His comic timing, dialog delivery timing are almost impeccable and make us wish that he can turn the clock backwards and start growing younger. Of course, there were scenes where you were able to see through the make up of the scientist Rajni Kanth; But it is only a sad attestation to the fact even when he is 60 years old, there is no other lead actor who can take over the mantle from him. In terms of style and charisma, Rajni beats Vijay, Ajith, Surya, Vikram and all later actors put together black and blue. If any other actors claims to aspire to be the replacement to the Superstar title, they should be made to watch Endhiran and that will cure them of their conceit and vanity.
• Graphics/Props - for Tamizh Cinema standards, the special effects, props and graphics were fantastic. Special mention has to go the sequences with multiple robots and the scenes where the skeletal robot makes its appearances. Lots of times money is spent in tamizh cinema on song sets and costumes (Shankar himself being the guilty one lots of times) - but here Shankar (and of course Sun Pictures) have put the gargantuan budget to good use. The detailing in some scenes and real life dynamics that have been incorporated into some scenes were quite good, again, considering we are talking about a tamizh movie.
• Story/Screenplay - After some patchy work like Boys and Sivaji in terms of story and screenplay, Shankar makes a refreshing switch back to his halycon days of Mudhalvan, Indian with a solid story with a screenplay that kept me from looking at my watch for the entire running duration - a feat that only few tamizh movies have lived upto recently. Though not entirely flawless, I would say that Shankar's admission that this script was thought of a decade ago is true, given that is very well thought out and laid out like a crisp dosai!
• Background Music/Songs - ARR - enough said!

Try as I might, it is difficult to pick a negative (fanatics of arthouse cinema, indie film junkies and perfection pattabhiramans, will not be seeing this movie and would not be reading this review as well!); But if I had to, the only thing would have been that though Rajni Kanth pulled off the role of the robot, it would have been amazing to see him in his youth doing the same role.

After a really really long time, I have seen a tamizh movie in the theaters which has made me feel that it was worth every cent!! Not often do you see a costly and hyped movie living up to its expectations, but Endhiran does; and I think Shankar owed me a big one after ditching me and robbing me of my money in Sivaji!!

If you liked Endhiran as well, go ahead and review it at www.clapsandboos.com

Get Ready Folks!!

Thalaivar back to form. I hope Shankar does far better than Sivaji - The graphics in the movie is fantastic - almost comparable to Hollywood standards! Sep 24th, can't wait for it!!!!

Endhiran - Thalaivar back with a bang

Albeit my 'wig' concerns, these stills raise some hopes

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya?

http://www.clapsandboos.com/reviews/whiff-of-fresh-air

Recently, Tamizh Cinema has been engulfed in a wave of nauseating, stale air of egotistical heroes and creators who have hyped up efforts or have ended up giving movies so bad that at the end of the movie, you saw a wave of people trying to scramble to the exits to go home and douse their burning stomach for shelling out money to another mass masala movie.

Amidst this, விண்ணைத்தாண்டி வருவாயா? (Vinnaiththaandi Varuvaaya)comes as a whiff of odor neutralizer. This movie might not impress folks as one of the classics, but, surely at this point of time when the people who go out to see Tamizh movies are forcefully made to take dip in the 'masala' sauce, Gautam Menon tries to respect the intelligence and the sensibilities of today's audience. He has presented a simple tale - with a good screenplay and of course aided by some very mature, understated performances from his lead pair. And of course, he has also made a masterstroke with some of his casting choices - the best being Ganesh as the Kaakha Kaakha Cameraman character.

The tale in a nutshell is that Karthik (Simbu) and Jessie (Trisha) are living in the same house. While Simbu falling in love is predictable, the twists after that are not the usual fare for the Tamizh Audience. Jessie seems to be modeled on the modern day young woman, who does not know what she wants and the highlight of the movie is that Gautam has shown her wavering mind without making her character seem slightly lunatic, the case with movies like Aanadha Thaandavam. The movie is about whether Karthik and Jessie make the relationship work and make their families happy as well.

Simbu has morphed himself from the his previous unpopular version to a subtle, cool and good looking hero. His reactions and dialog delivery, while reminiscent of Surya in Vaaranam Aayiram - which I think originates from Gautam Menon - are cool and bring that smile on your face. Trisha looks like a freshly minted coin and passes muster in a complex character, based on the scope for heroines in today's movies. I seriously hope that Simbu sticks to this uber cool version and Trisha maintains her radiance and the slight streak of acting talent she has shown in this movie.

The movie has a very strong technical performance from its crew. The first and foremost person who makes you sit up and take notice is Rahman - He has delivered a killer soundtrack with almost every song in the album a noteworthy one. He backs that up with terrific BGM work. I think after Mani, Gautam has been able to get Rahman back to his standards of Alaipayuthey and Kannathil Muthamittal. The psychedelic rock based Aaromale was just a precursor to the influence of rock music in VTV. While Rahman had served classic soft Jazz in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa, here in VTV, Rahman has gone into the Pink Floyd - AC/DC mode with some great rock based BGMs in the movie. All pretenders to the throne in Tamizh Film Music move over, the Emperor who was on extended vacation abroad and in Hindi hinterlands, has come back to reclaim his throne with a killer soundtrack giving hitherto unexplored genre in Tamizh Music and depending on the scene, soul stirring, heart warming, rousing and peppy BGM/rerecording.

The next guy to thank would be the camera man, Manoj, who has made sure that the visuals are pleasing, soft, and of course has made the lead pair look cool and romantic. There are a few unusual shot compositions and camera angles which reinforces he is here to stay, especially with what we had already seen in Eeram. It has been a good sign that Tamizh Cinema is unearthing good DoP in the last decade or so with Ravi K Chandran, Santosh Sivan, Rajeev Menon, Nirav Shah, Mani Kantan and a few others, trying to add to the illustrious bracket comprising of Balu Mahendra and P.C. Sreeram.

The final and the force behind the movie is Gautam himself. My respect for this man grows with every movie. After Mani Ratnam (on whom, admittedly, he has modeled himself), here is a Tamizh director whose movies give respect to the viewer. His dialogs at various points in the movie is very apt. While I have always been a proponent of the director not taking on too many hats is a movie, I think Gautam is a person who does well writing dialogs for his stories as he infuses the necessary feel in to the dialogs. While pondering on this it is curious to note that people complain about English dialogs and over urbane feel in his movies - I feel while we have been led to believe that 'realism' is 4-5 bush-bearded, 'its-been-10-days-since-i-took-a-bath' guys, sickles and lungi and beedi, I guess Gautam's movies are representative of another side of reality - the urban middle-class/upper middle class.

On an ending note, I guess there are two people who reiterate what they can do - ARR and Gautam and a few others who show you that they too are relevant in the current day scenario - Simbu and Trisha, the people in question. I just hope they continue their form from VTV onwards into their future movies as well.

Bottomline: Double Thumbs-Up!!!

B and C Center Audience - Modern Day Mythical Creature

For the original, please visit: Claps and Boos

How often have you come across these?

1. Hero gets down from a car. Camera low angle pans from the heroes shoe lace to head. And then the camera keeps a low angle shot and the hero walks as if he in constipation (aka slow motion).
2. Some horrible ‘punch’ dialog, where the line has no relevance to the movie or the scene – but has loads of meaning of the star’s real life activities
3. The hero is allowed to gallivant with whores, call girls and all that. But the heroine has to be a vestal virgin. If she was previously married, it would not have been consummated.

The reason that the hero (in the case of non-acting actor Vijay) or the directors give us, the audience, is that they are catering to the B and C center audience. I have been long wondering who this mythical C Center audience is who is receiving so much leniency from the director and the film fraternity. The scenes in Vettaikaaran or Aegan did not impress anyone – which is why you see the movies had a poor run in the theaters starting not only in Sathyam in Chennai but also at Kottaampatti.

I strongly believe that today’s heroes treat cinema as an easy way to make money. If you have some political backing or financial backing, you can quite easily make a movie and then using the political strings make a publicity splash with “Siraapaga vetri nadai podum” being tagged to the movie right from the first of the movie’s screening in all TV channels. And from thereon, all you got to do is to turn up for shooting and you are an ‘actor’. Bash up 5 goons, sing 5 duets, talk some utter crap dialogs as ‘punch’ dialogs and go home and in the process make a bit of money. This seems to be a sweet deal to me.

In Shankar style, while MBA’s from IIM or B.Tech’s from IIT fight to keep themselves at the top of the pecking order in their industries by taking up more certifications, the Tamil Hero has perhaps the cushiest job that you can imagine. He has an excuse to do nonsensical stuff – tell the population that B and C Center audience only like that kind of stuff, conveniently hiding the fact that their recent movie was ripped in every available center. Starting from Rajni Kanth and Kamal Haasan to the newest kid on the block like Vishal and Bharath invariably are nowadays using this reason of center audience for giving stupid movies.

From all these, I can have only two inferences – that this mythical B and C center audience is nobody but the brainless fans/fanatics for these actors. These fans have to be classified in the lowest possible IQ group known to mankind. How often have I seen some guy say “I’m seeing this movie for __________”. These fan boys are not only insulting their intelligence (assuming they have some) but also spoiling Tamil Movies for the general audience too (Point to be noted: Any actor’s fan boy population is surely less than the other group of normal Tamil cinema audience). These fans/fanatics of these heroes are the reason number one that Tamizh cinema has denigrated to its current levels. That is why you see a substandard actors like Silambarasan or Jai or any other new actor who do not have even an iota of acting skill in them trying to ‘praise’ another established hero to make sure he will get some stupid fan boys of the established hero to support him. So this fan boys syndrome is like a plague, threatening to make Tamil Cinema irrelevant and stupid in this age of realistic cinema. While we see an Avatar and are wowed by the technical aspects in it or 3 Idiots and cannot stop gushing about the story, we turn a blind eye towards stupid movies being churned out in Tamil cinema.

In this regard, I declare the fan boys of heroes as Public Enemy No.1 for Tamil Cinema.

Ayan - A Review

I was seeing a tamizh movie in a theater in Chennai after what seems to be ages. So the review might be slightly biased positively towards the movie.

1. Story
Typical Masala fare. But nowadays, tamizh movie directors package their masala quite well with technology that you do not realize what you are being fed. My parents tell me that when I was young they used to feed me when I was gazing at advertisements on TV, as I was very picky about food. Similarly, what was started by Vishnu Varadan (Billa) and Shankar (Sivaji) is now being followed by Anand in Ayan. There are intro songs, some personal reference dialaaks ("Namakku eppovum Jo thaaan!") and some well choreographed fights and a stupid heroine who looks good.

2. Cast
Surya all the way - If the same movie was made by Ajith or Vijay, it would have sunk without a trace as people will clamour for change from them. Surya, who is now on the rise to the superstar status, tries his hand and since he is relatively new to this genre of films compared to A or V, makkal don't seem to mind. Surya seems to have gained weight after his 6 pack look for Varanam Aayiram. His hairdos, costumes and coolness factor makes you realize why every guy who you meet on the streets of Chennai is a 'fan' of Surya. The female population has already seemingly willed their sothu to Surya and cannot get over the fact that he is already married to Jothika. He is now a complete package - Has the looks, seems to have picked up the basics of tamizh padam dancing and is quite good in comic timing and Tammanna Bhatia is good looking in stills but looks like a Vellai Eli in the movie. As is the marabu in tamizh padams, she is shown as a desperate to fall in love, stupid and sometimes annoying girl who goes to college (but rarely you see her studying/going to college) who dances quite well in the songs. Nandu Sindu Fame Jagan is the main comedy track. Though he manages to raise a few laughs, he mainly relies on double meaning jokes to make his stuff work. The villain was more a comical one than anything. Prabhu has seemingly settled to play support to heroes. He carries on his good work from Billa in this movie too, playing his part with quiet efficiency. He somehow was in the same boat as Rishi Kappor in Dilli - 6 (a good role in an average movie. I know I do great flattery to Dilli - 6 by calling it average. It should be called crappy). Renuka of KB Teleserial fame is quite jarring with her kural and chennai tamizh.

3. Direction/Screenplay
The director has managed to take a very normal tamizh pada story and managed to keep you away from looking at your watch/cell phone for time for 3 hours, which is a great feat given the kind of movies I have been seeing in tamizh recently. I think, a major portion of this credit should also go to Surya who has literally appeared in each frame of the movie and done everything from comedy, fight, romaans and the usual hero stuff without appearing tacky.

4. Music/BGM.
BGM was pure comedy for the scenes with the bad guy. The songs though are quite catchy. I didn't like them when I listened to them when the audio released. But seeing the movie, made me a big fan of 3 songs (below). Harris Jayaraj has managed to elevate and seperate himself from the pack of music directors in tamizh - I can say that A.R. Rahman apart, no other music director has been so consistent in giving popular music.

Oyaayiyae Yaa - TamilBeat.Com

Nenje Nenje - TamilBeat.Com

Vizhi Moodi - TamilBeat.Com


Overall Opinion:

One time watch. Watch it for Surya.

Vaaranam Aayiram

The film was quite a refreshing change from what I've seen so far in this year - Dasavadharam, Kuselan, Aegan, Kuruvi etc. The story was honest and most of the segments were interesting and had you engaged and were also, mostly rooted in realism - well, almost.

1. Story - Its a story of a man sharing his reminiscences of his father and the impact has had over him, after coming to
know that his father died. The son is currently on some mission and so cannot return to his home -
so he does the thinking part.


Segment 1: How Dad and Mom met
This is the second weakest segment in the movie. The effective use of the song -
Mundhinam Parthene has been used well to take the story forward without wasting time
and dialogue. The choreography looked weak and somehow you were left wondering
if the song could have been made better.

Segment 2: Surya's (son) childhood
This segment worked - the director established that they were not a well-to-do
family without too much of the exaggerated scenes which we came to see in
Thavamaai Thavamirundhu. The scene where the son says his father was his hero - and
the visual shows his dad driving the lorry is what would appeal to any 5 or 6 year old.

Segment 3: Surya in College/Romance with Meghna (Sameera Reddy)
Without a doubt, the strongest segment in the movie - Gautam Menon had
told this was supposed to be an original movie in itself and it showed in the overall
scheme of things. This segment also had the best placed and best choreographed song - Adiye
Kolludhey. The scenes between Surya and Sameera were 'cute' without trying too much -
a hallmark of Mani Ratnam - and I've already said that GVM is the only probable person to
continue Mani's style in tamizh.

Segment 4: Surya in depressed mode
Was overdrawn and though the way the director shows the child rescue episode
as a positive starting point to Surya's recovery, it did seem like overwrought.
The song Anjala, was basically trying to hammer into you what the scenes were supposed
to be doing - that Surya was dejected, depressed and suicidal. But I felt it could have been
cut at the point where the dad sees his son sprawled out on the floor.

Segment 5: Surya in Army, Divya-Surya falling in love, getting married and Father
falling sick and dying.
This segment was supposed to be a closure to all movie - the romance between
Surya and Divya was half baked and quite superficial and again, this might have been
intended, but compared to the warmth in the Surya - Sameera track. And the make-up and
the way Surya acted as the dad was kind of falling short of expectation, especially after being
used to Kamal in Indian and Naayagan.

2. Direction, Screenplay and Dialogues
Gautam Menon needs to delegate the responsibilities - he needs to grow
into a screenwriter and I believe he should use another screenwriter for his stories.
His direction is definitely good - he can still improve in a few other places, but come on, I
never expected this movie to be this good. While Gautam Menon's dialogs are becoming
stereotypical (much like Mani Ratnam's), they are becoming mundane (not like Mani Ratnam's).

3. Acting
Obviously the movie is Surya's and he comes out looking really good - a dependable actor
prone to the cliched (like the way he played the last days of the dad character). His 6 pack
look will make already drooling female population drool more. Its a pity he is short - a few
more inches and he might have been ideal for his physique. Sameera Reddy is a big
improvement from the 'aunty' whom I saw in Musafir. She is perhaps a good find this year
in Tamizh Cinema. Divya Spandana is boring - she has, perhaps, 2 expressions and when
you see B.S like this , you wonder "En da inda madri sappa figure ellam yeathi vidareenga?"
Simran makes you feel what if she had continued to act more often in tamizh movie. Barring her
make-up, she was really graceful and mature and was a fantastic foil for Surya.

4. Music and BGM
Harris Jayaraj provides you 3 good songs - Adiye Kolludhey, Mundhinam and Nejukkul.
The BGM is nothing big to write about.


On the whole, Vaaranam Aayiram was definitely worth the hype - dependable
acting with a good storyline which does not assume that audiences are imbeciles and idiots.

There were a few flaws like:
1. The fast money in the post graduation phase
2. Surya's sister being totally ignored in terms of character development. While her friend
Divya gets married to Surya and has a kid and all that, Shreya remains unmarried and
living with her parents till the end. I can go on like this, picking on small details, but again
compared to Vijay kind of movies, this is much much much better. I also liked the meticulous
details like the visa interview and other details were good to see in a tam movie.


Verdict: Paisa Vassol - at $10 per ticket, I felt this movie was good.
P.S: the Audio system totally sucked at this Channelside Cinemas, which is supposed to
be in the most happening part of Tampa and there was this desi software makkal who kept
talking and talking crap-o-shit-o. I searched 10 minutes to get the ideal seats and then these
junta plopped right in the row in front of me and the usual giggles and wisecracks kept me
wanting to shift 10 rows away from them.

Tamil Cinema Initiative

A group on people in Orkut Tamizh Cinema are trying to come up with a list of 100 Tamil Movies - which will feature movies which receive the maximun number of votes. They are interested in coming up with a genuine list and not ones which would be crowd pleasing. So please mail me your list of movies, preferably, covering the 60s, 70s and 80s (if possible) along with other recent ones. Mail your lists to karthiksriram[at]gmail[dot]com.

The ultimate goal is to come up with a video featuring montage shots and bits about these movies from people who voted (you). You can even send us a short video bit of you giving your 2 cents on a movie and it might be in the final cut too. This project is turning out to be much bigger than what the initiative originally planned with some big names about to become involved. So you never know with what names yours would be placed in the final video. So please take 5 minutes off and mail me the list.

Subramaniyapuram

After many recommendations and rave reviews, got to see this movie. This movie is perhaps the most over rated movie this year, apart from Dasavatharam, of course! The art director has done an out of the world job - he has recreated the feel of 1975-80s - Was not born then - but then I have seen movies made then.

The acting: None required as most of the characters except the female lead sport a boochaandi beard. The heroine with her egg-eyes irritates the hell out of me by her constant, supposedly thiruttu glances.

Music: Kangal Irandal, copied from Azhagaana Rakshashiye and Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran is good while other songs are pukes. BGM - the director uses old IR tunes in places - while this is novel the first time it happens, repeated use makes me feel Mr. James Vasanthan did not have sarakku to last a whole movie.

Camera: I saw it OL and hence no idea about how good/bad it was.

Story and Direction: La Boys, the movie just shows the lead characters as carefree youth who do nothing except theru-porukaradhu. This makes me feel good for whatever happens to them in the end. Perhaps the director intended it that way.

On the whole, a very bad year for Tamizh Cinema, except for Anjaadhey.

Kuselyan - review in proxy

Avoid at any cost - in exact words of a friend, indha padam hit aana
apram innum para kevalamaana padam ellam varum.

Edited:

What more can you expect? P. Vasu, Vadivel and the ever over-rated Pasupathy!! Songs were trashy and Nayanthara in a rain song - which will satiate the jollar-gal. Sivaji was bad - Dasavadharam was worse - Kuselan is pathetic. I don't even want to go near the place which is going to screen Marmayogi.

Aascar Awards

Got this from the Tamizh Cinema Community:

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AASCAR AWARDS COMING SOON

In a quick and stunningly pro-active response to Kamal Hassan's comments about the Oscars, the tamil film industry has instituted a new award that will honour accomplishments in areas that are important to local sensibilities and context.


The awards will be known as the AASKAR (Academy that Agrees Stupidly to Kamal's Arbid Requests) awards, and will be handed out at a glittering ceremony at German Hall next March.


Renowned actor Prakash Raj proudly displays the Aaskar that he is going to win for 'Best Performance as a Bad Guy Who Talks Like a Good Guy'.


Speaking on behalf of the newly formed academy, film fanatic Tony Chacko said “We will honour all those things about Tamil cinema that snobbish institutions like the Oscar Awards continue to ignore. For instance, we will have an award for 'Best Class Film', and 'Best Mass Film'.”, he said, to thunderous applause from Perarasu. Apparently, the Aaskars will also honour films with 'Best Youth Subject', 'Best Pathos', and 'Best Sincere Lou'.


There will also be a range of unique awards for actors, in categories such as 'Best Performance as a Hero's Friend', 'Best Sister Role', and 'Best Performance by Charlie as a College Student'(which, of course, will go to Charlie every year). Awards have also been announced for outstanding performances in categories like 'Rich Girls', 'Marwari Aunties', and 'Panchayat Heads'.


“This is great news!”, gushed an ecstasic Priya Krishnan, known all over the world for her love for cinema. “Now we can all play chess!”, she said, strangely.


“I hope this is not some sort of a joke or spoof. ”, said Wildlife Photographer S.U.Saravanakumar, breaking the fourth wall with consummate ease.


Apparently, writers and technicians will also be given their due. Among the awards for their contributions are 'Best Griffness in a Screenplay', 'Best Punch Dialogue', 'Best Needless Special Effects' and 'Best Interval Bang'. There is also rumoured to be a special award for 'Best Performance by Vijayakumar as Sarath Kumar'.

The award itself is a statuette that depicts Kamal Hassan screaming with rage (at the Oscars, probably). “It's a truly grand trophy”, said well-known architect Chiraag Kapoor, cheek firmly in tongue (er . . tongue firmly in cheek . . er . . both are same). The trophy has been designed by someone named Thyagu.



Kamal Haasan, rejecting preliminary designs for the Aaskar Award Statuette, expresses his displeasure to the designer (not in picture).


In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of Grand (Kamal Hassan) not winning any award, the organisers have decided to give him a 'Lifetime Achievement' award for his entire lifetime. “His entire lifetime is an achievement!”, said R.S.Prasanna, a lifetime fan of Grand's lifetime.


In fact, the academy is not only celebrating Tamil Cinema, but will have certain awards for excellence in other language films as well. 'Best Pointless Rahul Bose Film', 'Best Original Bollywood Song that Eerily Resembles A European Hit', and 'Least Hopeless Kannada Film', are some of the categories that will cater to the rest of the country.


The announcement has sent producer Oscar Aaskar Ravichandran into fits of desperation, as he now has to change his name once more. According to sources, he has shortlised 'Aughscar', 'Wahskhar', and 'Gavaskar' as possibilities.

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Update: The source seems to be here: http://www.bosey.co.in/

Tamil Cinema Round Up

Have been the moderator of the Orkut Tamil Cinema Community for a while now and not a day passes over with out a Rajni-Kamal fight or Ajit-Vijay fight or worst of all, Simbu-Danush fights. Apart from these you have fights for and against Mani Ratnam, ARR, Ilayaraja, Gautam V. Menon, Surya, Vikram, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Harris Jayraj. Snippets of the sensible stuff that can be taken out from the innumerable senseless posts:

1. Rajni Kanth

Was a great actor. Now firmly entrenched in the hero mode, the script of a rajni movie is this: First half Rajni does comedy and more often than not, right about at interval, Rajni is cheated or suffers ill-luck that takes him to the brink of life. Second half has Rajni coming back hard at rivals and doing his swish swish finger snapping and the panj dialog... While this is mostly true, its sad that Rajni Kanth has forever turned his back on good cinema.

2. Kamal Haasan

Once upon a time Kamal Haasan was someone who believed that good acting and storyline/script can make a movie successful. Nowadays, more often than not, he has resorted to panj dialaaks (VV, Dasa) and has relied heavily on make-up for gimmickery - case in point - Anbe Sivam - where the storyline was good, but Kamal to please his fans did a long and over-strecthed flash-back where we see all hero traits - Kiran falling for the macho, umbrella brandishing Kamal etc. Will we get another Mahanadhi or Nayagan from him?

3. Ajit

From 2002-2007 not even one of his movies could be classified as even a one-time watch. From the handsome and smart young man looks of Amarkalam, Kandukondein (2), Mugavari, Ajit has aged too fast for his own good, in terms of looks. Billa was a throwback to a timeperiod when Ajit films were good and entertaining and hopefully, with a Gautam Menon movie on the anvil, things are seemingly looking up. But please, we don't want to see his Tamil Nadu police style thoppai, anymore!

4. Vijay

Post Ghilli, Vijay and his directors are on a competition - who can rehash Gilli-formula better than others. There are all kinds of sentiments - Father, Mother, Sister, 'lauv'-er, wife, kids, concubine, neighbor's dog and what not? And if the news articles are anything to go by, his next movie after Villu (forget that Villu's stills look exactly like Pokkiri, which itself was a frame-by-frame, socks to socks ctrl-c, ctrl-v of the telugu Pokkiri) is with Perarasu. God Save Him!

5. Danush

Danush is following his father-in-law in terms of predictability of scripts. First Half - Danush is irresponsible, drinks, father scolds, Danush once again drinks, smokes, sees 'anda' madri padam (if Kasthuri Raja is involved in any capacity in the movie, then we are also shown the 'anda' madri padam too) and then sees some good looking girl (Shriya, Nayanthara, Trisha etc) and then decides that she is the girl for him :O. Second half: Danush becomes oppicer/good student and becomes successful, albeit not in one song (he needs to become a bigger star to follow Rajni in that) and the most unbelievable thing happens - the female lead falls for Danush. I know love is blind and all that crap - but Danush? Shriya?? Kali Kaalam muththi pochu!

6. Simbu

Imagines himself to be the next Superstar while the only thing I can see his as is the Next-TR and no, that is not a compliment (seemingly, TR and his son think that the number of views that TR's videos have on youtube is a direct reflection of TR's fan base - Ninaippu daan Pozhaippai kedukiradhu!). With no iota of embarrasment our Little Superstar kicks a bus and it goes back by 10 feet. And then he targets a panj dialaak at Danush, Aishwarya, Kamal, Rajni and even on the audience! Hope he migrates to music videos or Lollu Sabha for good.

7. Mani Ratnam

My favorite director, currently stuck in a 'trisanku' sorgam. He feels Hindi Films are commercially more viable - but indi makkal are used to seeing Rakhi Sawant prancing with a costume which follows the logic, 'Seen is an Ocean, Unseen is a drop'. Hopefully his better sense should prevail in the near future.

8. ARR

A person who brooks no comparison, let alone with Ilayaraja. He is like Federer - he is in a different playing field/zone. This guy has been a chameleon and the variety of his music has not been matched by any other MD in India. While many senior citizens vouch for Ilayaraja's melodies, there is no particular strain of music in which Rahman specializes. He is the complete package. But currently, his success rate has come down with atrocious albums like Azhugiya.. sorry, Azhagiya Tamizh Magan and Varalaaru. Looking forward to his combo with Gautam Menon in Chennaiyil Oru Mazhai Kaalam.

9. Ilayaraja

Past 'sell-by' date.

10. Gautam Menon

Has his one foot planted firmly on the vacant spot left by Mani Ratnam in Tamizh Cinema. Specializes in "cute" 'lauv' scenes, clipped english dialogs, extracting good music from the MDs. Minnale and Kakka Kakka remain favorites. But wasted an opportunity to utilize Kamal Haasan and instead came out with a horribly bloated Kamal in a horrible movie called VV.

11. Surya

Latest kid on the block. Six pack et al has made him the fitness model in Tamizh Cinema. Occasionally gives puke-able films like Vel, Aaru, Pujyam etc. Expecting Vaaranam Aayiram.

12. Vikram

Terribly over-rated. Pithamagan being the only movie where he acted well. Anniyan was crappo-shito! Has the unique ability to either look like a complete beaku or all serious in romance scenes and duets. Kandasaamy, seemingly, is looking like those unintentional comedy movies which TR and Captain regularly come up with.


13. Yuvan Shankar Raja

Mukkal and munagal characterise his singing. Decent Music Director and has a good sense of BGMs amongst the current crop of MDs.

14. Harris Jayaraj

Anda copy aagasa copy - but somehow is the most saleable MD in market. Makes a good combo with Gautam Menon. Currently, post PKMC and Unnale Unnale, all his songs sound alike.


(to be continued with others)

Dasavatharam - Views

Its sad to see Kamal Haasan being reduced to this by the audience of Tamizh Cinema. The 10 roles are a gimmick and nothing more. In the roles of Shingen, Fletcher and the old woman, the make up is so heavy that any acting, whatsoever, is ruled out. And Flectcher, aptly (as he cannot 'act') wears shades and keeps running as if there is no tomorrow. Asin repeating "Perumalae" is a definite contender for the most irritating character in tamizh cinema award. The last 10 minutes - the Ulaganaayagane song, where they show Kamal 'undergoing' extensive make-up sessions seems to be an anti-thesis to what Kamal keeps saying on tv - that doing movies is not his work, but holiday. The screenplay is good till the interval and after that it is much like KrishnaVeni - senile and pointless. Music - is puke-able. And recently I heard that the only decent song, Kallai Mattum Kandaal song is also a rip-off!!! Its pathetic that Rajni and Kamal, the two pillars which has made Tamizh cinema survive in terms of money and quality, have given us cardboardish movies in Sivaji and Dasavadharam. I hope both of them decide to hang up their boots. Kamal Haasan's looks (as Govind) easily matches his worst so far - Vasool Raja and Vettaiaadu Vilayadu! After seeing people like Surya having six pack abs, its no longer to pleasure to see Kamal and Ajit having a paunch and Vijay looking like an AIDS stricken patient.

Cast:

Its Kamal Haasan in all the important roles. Out of these, the pick is Balaram Naidu whose wit and one liners keep you interested in the movie. The character of Rangarajan Nambi is good as well. Asin is downright irritating. If I were Govind in the movie, I'd be trying to be as far away from Asin, as possible - but as they say Vidhi Valiyadhu and Govind ends up being in love with Asin.

Tech Crew:
KSR - 25/100
Cameraman (Ravi Varman, I guess) - 80/100
Music - 0/100
BGM - 30/100
Make up - Biggest letdown - no marks!

History/facts Distorted:
Kamal Haasan (or the director KSR) is confused between Shavities and Smaarthas. People who are called Iyers of today (except the Ashtasastram sub-sect) are Smaarthas and have neither ill-will towards Maha Vishnu nor particular attachment to Parameswaran. In fact, in the Sandyavandhana ritual, we do say, Asavadityo Brahma / Brahmaivaasmi// meaning, Light/Sun is the only God and I myself am a manifestion of Sun. I make an educated guess that Vadakalai Iyengars, who I think have their scriptures in Sanskrit, follow Yajur Upakarma which means they might have the same Aikyanusandhaanam. I have been to Chidambaram, but failed to notice if the Perumaal there is vadakalai or then-kalai. But going by logic, with the Nataraja being non-lingam form, which is a classical Chozha/Aadheenam/pre- 'rise of thenkalai' trait, I'm tempted to believe that the perumal has to be vadakalai too - which makes the whole 12th century epsiode shaky and iffy as Kamal Haasan says, "Adiyen Ramanuja Daasan" - meaning he is a then-kalai Iyengar. I'm not a pro on the history of Smaarthas and Iyengars, but someone who is more knowledgable, please enlighten me on this. And in fact, when I say Smaarthas are not anti-Vishnu, there can be no greater proof than Maha Periyava Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi of Kanchi Sankara Math (I'm not calling on jayendra Saraswathi because of various reasons - the prime being, I myself am not convinced that the Math is as sacred it was when Maha Periyava was the Mata-athipathi) who signs (they cannot ink their name as they have renounced the world ) as "Naarayana-Smriti" (meaning, a Tool of Sri Naarayana). Well, people can ask me why the heck I dissect a masala movie thus far - its just to show how the concept of Brahmism has been raped and interpreted in totally erroneous ways, thanks to the Dravida Movement.


P.S: I'm trying to come up with a post as to the origin of the Vedas, which I came to know by attending some arbit discourse in April 2007 in Chennai (when I had actually gone there for Arusuvai Arasu's Canteen's Badam Alwa and some vadais. :D). Any help with regard to that is welcome!

Anjaadhey - First good movie of 2008

Saw Anjaadhey today - albeit online streaming video.

Well, I thought of Kakha Kakha and Kurudhi Punal as defining movies for the cop genre. But I think Anjaadhey, minus a performer like Surya, story-wise has definitely scored over Kakha Kakha. Instead of going in for a usual review let me list the features which appealed (and which didn't) to me.

Good Aspects:

1. No glamorization of villain or hero - in fact, IMO Ajmal was given almost as much importance and scope as Narain, the protagonist.

2. No gross visuals (Gautam Menon, are you listening?) and no justification for Prasanna's obsession - it is shown that Prasanna is, naturally, a person with a psychological disorder.

3. The screenplay was taut and gripping. No unwanted Amma, Thangachi sentiment scenes which tend to put me off. On the same vein, thank god, Narain and Uttara were not shown to be doing "lauvs" in usual tamizh cinema paani.

4. Stunts, whatever little there was were natural and no rope oriented flyings... And the fights were shown to be short and swift.. Much like what Vishnu varadan told in his Tv interviews before the release of Billa. That lent more credence to the encouters/fights.

5. Awesome characteriastions - Ponvannan was very good. Livingston and MS Bhaskar were correctly underplayed. Pandiarajan was very efficient too. And I don't know whether it was for that reason - but Narain identifying the voice of Pandiarajan was believable. Pandiarajan's voice is not ur usual voice. Touche, Myskin.

6. BGM was not a cacophony - I found the BGM in Kakha Kakha whenever Jeevan came, to be outright "the rejected" . The Music director has lost the plot in the songs (will talk about it later) but has scored in the BGM dept.

7. I liked the way Mysskin had avoided to show anybody as good or bad. Everybody was portrayed as normal human beings, having shades of grey - nothing more or nothing less. There is often a tendency to portray people as caricatures (either too good or too bad).


8. The way Ponvannan investigates the case is superb. It seems much more closer to reality than stuff like "Raghavan Instinct" kinds. For this alone, Mysskin deserves praise, if not for the other reasons.


9. This movie, once again reiterates that you don't need 'kuthu' paatu and a comedy track to make the audience like the movie. And thankfully, there are no punch dialogs like "Nee adicha piece, Naan adicha maasu", "Naan onnu ninaichenna, Ennalaye Kaaya vaikka mudiyadhu" kinds. I still maintain that apart from Rajni Kanth, anybody else mouthing punch dialogs looks funny.


10. Amongst cop movies in tamizh cinema, I liked KurudhipPunal and Kakha Kakha. But after Anjadhey, I would say, in order of merit, it is KurudhupPunal, Anjaadhey and Kakha Kakha.



Aspects which I didn't like.

1. Except for the Kathaala song, others were downright horrible. Mysskin, who goes on record saying he doesn't like having songs could have avoided those songs - the movie would also been shorter, adding to the already good screenplay.

2. Some scenes were too dark for my liking. But that could also be because I saw it on my comp and not on the big screen.

3. I felt Narain was very limited in his acting skills. I think Mysskin should try to convince bigger stars (I Know he will say that the big stars are afraid to experiment....). But this movie is not experimental. The protagonist wins at the end, which is what those big stars want and so, I think Mysskin should be more convincing when narrating scripts to those stars.

Overall, the first good film of 2008.

I would give it 4 Starts out of a possible 5.

Best Romantic Numbers in Tamizh Cinema

Mush day here once more. Archies makes a killing as do florists who can even sell arugumpull to some ilichavaayan. Last year, I listed out some romantic movies, ranted and riled and also a tale with a twist.This time around, came up with this list of my favorite romantic songs - in some songs, the picturization is good. In some the lyrics are good. In some both are awesome. Feel free to suggest more and I shall add them.

For those who are yet to "propose",




For those young starstruck lovey-doveys



Ditto



For those of you who are married, I can hear you groan when you see the guy getting married so many times :P



Awesome Lyrics



Perhaps an idea for a date?



One of my Favs



Good picturization plus lyrics.









This list is pretty contemporary - I have missed out lots of classics - but then, this mush day is for teens and twenty somethings, not 30 plus and 40 plus kizhavaals.

Bheemaa - is netraya uppumaa

Caught up with Bheema yesterday. The theatre board had a "There will be blood" sign outside the one playing Bheema - it proved to be true on 2 counts:
1. First to last, every character you see, dies
2. Vadivel lingo - Blood? Same Blood!!!

Cast:

Vikram steals the show. He has proved enough and doesn't need to prove his ease at portraying strongman roles. But sadly, Vikram looks too old in song sequences (make-up man, are you listening?). But his broad shoulders and bulging biceps makes his powerful punches a tad believable.

Prakash Raj - as soon as I saw him in a don role, I thought he would reprise his "chellam!!" role from Ghilli once more. I, for one, was irritated with PR's repeat of those lines in movie after movie. But he has shed that baggage and has performed well. To be honest, if Dhalapathy was ever remade, PR SHOULD fill in the role of Mammooty.

Trisha - is like a pickle. Comes and gyrates in songs and goes away and only substantial scene is the one where she gets killed.

Others: Raguhvaran = wasted.
Thalaivaasal Vijay = a second lease of life?
Aashish Vidyarthi = Eeks - enough of his aeeeei and daaaaais.


Direction and screenplay and stunts:

Lingusaamy - you have proved that Run was a flash in the pan. You messed up in Ji and again here. Lingusaamy thinks he is making cute romantic scenes (like Mani Ratnam), but ends up irritating us. In this age, he asks us to believe that a college going girl falls in love with a thug, for apparently no other reason than that he fell and rolled on her one night.... I don't expect logic in tamizh movies, especially when a person like Dharani says his only motive is to entertain. People like Lingusaamy call his movie technically slick and all that crap and he gives us such a half baked product... And action scenes - every scene you see vikram suspended by ropes (atleast they could have made some effort to hide the rope tugs on vikrams shirt) and in one scene when vikram jumps off from a building and cycles his way down, you are reminded of Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan and its Hanuman! Please don't cheat tamizh audience saying this is slick. And supposedly, you said Billa was made to run.

Though Vishnuvaradhan screwed up bigtime by having the same story, he atleast compensated for it in other aspects. Good stunt sequences and scenes where the rope tugs were almost hard to find.


Music and BGM:

Only 2 songs were good - Mudhal Mazhai and Ragasiya - but they screwed them up with bad/redundant picturisation. Vikram really looks funny when he tries to be the cute romantic, especially in the ragasiya song. Sirupaarvayale looks like a spoof version of Athiradee kaaran.

BGM - the Oru Mugamo bit and the related BGM is good, though the beat is similar to the Jana Gana Mana bit and the related BGM in Aayitha Ezhuthu. The other BGMs are simply laughable, especially one which comes for actions scenes of vikram, the BGM, by the sound of it, was more like an epic movie BGM....


Producer:

The crowd here was countable - 20 people in a theatre which could seat 150 people and this was the second show in the South Florida region, which houses the max Tamizh people in the florida state.

The first mistake AMR did was to make movies with his son(s) as hero and director. The second was making this movie over this protracted a period.


Verdict: If you are really bored, can watch this once - I saw this movie as there was no football yesterday.

Stars: 1.5/5

Billa - Review - Packaging does matter

Finally caught up with the new Billa last week.

My 2 cents:
1. Cast

a. Ajit

Acting in a role of Rajni Kanth really requires some guts and to give Ajit his due, he hasn't tried to imitate Rajni either in mannerisms or dialogs or anything. Ajit pulls off the don role with ease, as predominantly requires him to maintain a detached attached look and in the role of Velu has tried some comedy which are mostly of the slapstick kinds - he is not majorly successful in this and it is majorly because of bad dialogs. The action scenes show Ajit in full flow and the car chase scene - I think it is one of the more realistic car chases I have seen in tamizh cinema - no dupes and the director has really used Ajit's racing background very well. Along with Nirav Shah, Ajit remains a pillar for this movie clicking with the audience. But looks-wise, Ajit needs to shed weight - he looked trim and fit in Kireedom and has to go back to that mode. His paunch really looks bad in the second half - I have seen his interview in Sify regarding his weight, but my take on actors is that they have to keep their looks intact as their livelihood depends on their looks and their talent.

b. Prabu
Has tried a difference character role - and has succeeded mostly. But in certain places, shows wrong face reactions - which leaves the audience confused. His role is developed better than the one for Balaji in the original

c. Nayantara
Looks like a dream and has really taken risks and performed stunts pretty well. Is a huge huge improvement on the obese Sripriya in the original.


d. Namitha
Totally unwanted and has been included only for some B- or C- Class audience. Pathetic.


Direction - Screenplay - Dialogs

Vishnu Varadan has done the same mistake that Shankar did in Sivaji. While concentrating on making the film a visual masterpiece, he has lost some points on the screenplay and dialogs section. The english bits of dialogs are good, much better than the bits used by Gautam Menon in his films. But VV has to be given due credit for completely reworking the film and for me, who has watched the old Billa atleast 10 times, I wasn't able to see any resemblance to the old film's scenes. But the only bad thing was VV has failed to create more twists and turns and so, the film is pretty predictable, especially in the 2nd half.

DoP

Nirav Shah, take a bow - you, along with Ajit make this a super duper viewing experience. The action scenes rock and I won't be surprised if he gets a National Award soon.

Music

YSR has scored well with My Name is Billa and Vethalaya Potendi and Seval Kodi and has majorly screwed up with the other 2 songs. The BGM, though more than makes up for the songs with a pulsating bit. To listen to it, see the esnips widget below

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Editing

Sreekar Prasad has made sure, the film is crisp and there are no jarring cuts and continuity shifts.

Costumes

Anu Varadan - You've really made everybody look ravishing in this movie - and easily she walks away with the years best costume designer award for 2007.


On the whole, the movie is a definite one-time watch - just for Nirav Shah and Ajit - they have given their heart out for this movie. And defintely, this movie does give a new direction for commercial tamil cinema - with technical finesse apparent in every frame.


Verdict - 3.5/5

Evano Oruvan - A review

The initial stills evoked interest. They hinted at something different and daring. And Madhavan is one of my favs. And this review - boy, did it evoke interest? I got to see the movie on an online pirated streaming version - well, I'm pretty ashamed for that, but come on, this movie didn't release in this godforsaken city on the west coast of the east coast.

Onto the story - nothing new in that - One man rising against the widespread corruption/apathy towards virtues. Indian, Anniyan, Citizen, Mudalvan and a zillion other movies have had the same base story - what differentiates EO is the protagonist. You don't have exaggerated fight sequences where the "hero" dons 10 getups or flies 25 feet to deliver a kick to 3 men joined together using ninja or some such crap. You don't have unbelievable "akramam" happening. Mostly, everything - the cause (akramam) and the effect (Madhavan's reaction) are believable and not exaggerated. The story actually scores heavily in the manner it shows Madhavan becoming a violent man and his subsequent agony - especially the scene where Madhavan talks to God, you feel his anguish pretty well. The climax particularly would surely touch a chord with one and all, who love good cinema.

Acting

Madhavan has come up with a good performance, reminding us of Anbe Sivam, Ayidha Ezhuthu days. Sangeetha, though appearing on-screen for a few minutes, has proved Pithamagan was no flash-in-the-pan. Seeman, again, is doused with reality (edhartham) and doesn't have the usual affected (midukku) mannerisms/physical personality as do Tamizh Cinema cops. Others in the cast are effective and efficient - nothing more - nothing less. Only sore point is the Councillor who overdoes on both dialog front and acting front.

Direction:

Kamath has put in a good effort and has largely, delivered. The drug ring scotching was very cinematic, compared to the rest of the sequences. The opening sequence was top class and he has made the viewer understand the boredom/routine-ness of Madhavan's life. A very rare attempt, almost at par with Memento. It shows that Kamath has worked with the confidence of reworking/remaking his own successful script.

DoP:

Very good frame composition with excellent close up shots - the camera-work was devoid of unwanted shakes/effects whenever Madhavan goes into a frenzy which was welcome from the usual jig the camera does whenever the hero goes hyper in many films.

Music and BGM:

Compared to Dir, cast and DoP, BGM is not as effective - with silence dominating in many scenes. The song at the end credits is also not anything to write home about. On the other hand though, the silence works in most of the scenes in connecting to the thoughts of the actors on screen.

Editing:

Editing, majorly is good - a few scenes could have been cut/trimmed, especially in the second half.

Dialogs:

Madhavan has penned the dialogs and has acquitted himself well for a debudant - but at certain places, the intended punch doesn't come through - especially in the talk-to-the-god scene and the place where the old woman chastises Madhavan at the hospital.

Verdict:

The movie is one of those rare attempts at good and meaningful cinema, but could have better - mainly due to the deja vu from previous masala vigilante movies and partly because of toned down dialogues / underplayed scenes.

Stars - 4/5

Key:
0 - Horrible/Pathetic
1 - Bad
2 - Okay
3 - Good
4 - Excellent
5 - Amazing


Coming up: Reviews for Kalloori, Billa and Katradhu Tamizh.

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan = Azhugiya Kandraavi

First things first. For those of you who are "Vijay Rasigargal", please don't read further. Logic and Common sense aren't things for you, going by your star's latest venture.


1. For some one who says he makes movies for family audience, especially kids (with montage shots with kids in every movie), why the heck do you need Shakila in the movie? And do kids necessarily need to see a water drenched Namitha, wearing something which is for a girl half her size? "Dr." Vijay, please, for godsake, don't ever say you make clean films. Starting from you putting soap for Srividya, to making jokes about Shakila, you cater to C - grade audience. Period!

2. A guy who is advised by doctors not to travel from Mumbai to Chennai, can fight heavy duty, but can't run a short sprint?? WTF??? Does Vijay think people who see his movies are those with no IQ or intelligence? Gaping logic holes the size of Namitha are everywhere in the movie.

3. When will Dr. Vijays movie get out of the manja-pachcha colors of Ramarajan? Yellow shirt and Green trousers are okay, but Yellow colored staircase?? God Save Tamizh Makkal.


Okays - let me stop haranguing Vijay - onto the movie - or whatever you can call it.....

The story is liberally inspired majorly by previous double action movies, most notably Attagaasam. Attagaasam was by no means a good movie and when someone gets inspired from that, you know you are in for a pathetic movie and thats what you feel, at the end of the 2 and half hour nonsense called ATM.

Guru(Vijay) is a do-gooder on the lines of MGR in 1960s and shows you liberal doses of his sentiments - be it on kids, mother, father, next door dog... whatever. Abinaya (shriya) is the typical tamizh film heroine - zilch common sense, mouthing cho-chweet kinda inane dialogs. They meet and fall in love in keeping with the Tamizh Cinema Rules and Regulations. Only twist is that Guru happens to acquire ESP suddenly and after a couple of scary incidents, foresees himself killing Shriya. So he runs away from her and goes to Mumbai where he sees a replica of himself, Prasad (Vijay again, with the same hair style and shave panna blade illadha madri dhadi) and immediately realises that his ESP vision had this "bad" vijay killing Shriya. Fast Forward - Guru is hit by a lorry (we are thankful - he got what he deserved for his pig headedness) and Prasad goes to Chennai and Shriya, meets him and with no questions, takes him to her house. Prasad manages to fool everybody. Finally, Guru manages to get well and comes back to Chennai and in turn, is accused as an impostor. Things thankfully reach a crescendo and an inspired speech about "karpu" (Y-U-C-K) from Shriya (highly ironical, seeing her in the song sequences :P) Prasad turns a new leaf and all's well in the end. Somewhere in middle, you have a mini bit-song with Namitha and an included rape/sex scene.

Special Attractions:

1. Dr. Vijay's absolutely un-describable acting talent. Man, how did this guy even get so far with ZERO acting skills - the confrontation scenes between 2 vijays are highlights - for pathetic graphics and pathetic acting.

2. Its okay to try to become the next superstar - but dialogs like Naan thaan next BOSS, Paate podu (in Rajni's kannada accent) and the mottai boss mannerism affected character all reminds me of one character in Chinna thambi - "ennaku kalyanam! ennaku Kalyanam!!" kinds - I can imagine Vijay in same getup shouting "Naan daan next Rajni! Naan daan next Rajni!!!"

3. Thoroughly out-of-form ARR.


Trying to give stars to this movie is like trying to find a reason for Agarkar to be in the Indian team.

Verdict: ZERO Stars (ZERO acting + ZERO Direction)

Absolutely Hilarious.....

Click on the picture to read... its super duper hilarious. Vaazhgha Thalaivar!!

LKS