So the much anticipated Tamil movie of the year releases. Rajni movies are a craze and for someone born in Tamil Nadu, its imbibed in your DNA to shout out yourself when you see the "S U P E R S T A R" on the screen. And here comes a Rajni movie after 3 long years and it's festival time for all Tamil fans all over the world with 'Endhiran'.
What Rocked
1. The thing that rocked the most was the final 40 mins of the movie. Rajni was at his scintillating best with Chitti 2.0 :) How I wish he were a Villain throughout his career !! Whoooodaaa performance !! Especially, the scene where he tells Ash that there is a black sheep within the Robots. Awesomeeee !! Just fantastic. Thalaivaaaaaa !!!!
2. The conceptualization of the final 40 mins were just brilliant. The formations that the 100 Rajnis do were simply mindblowing. Be it the snake, or the drill, or the gun, or the final "ONE" Robo(with all Rajnis), the imagination is very good. I am not sure who to be credited with this. Whether it is Shankar's imagination or it is people at Stan Winston studio. But hats off!! Great final 40 mins and brilliant visual efx.
3. The initial few scenes with the Chitti 1.0 are quite good. The way he interprets blindly the commands did tickle your funny bone now and then. The action sequences with Chitti in the train, the 'Kaali' avatar that Rajni takes in the slum you feel like Shankar has got into the groove and its going to be a roller-coaster ride only to find that you have to wait some more time :(
Now, Now.. The hard part to swallow
1. What happened to the Rajni introduction scenes !! ? Whether it is kissing the snake in padayappa, or the camera spanning from his running legs to his face in baasha/annaamalai (and so many other movies of his), it shoots up your adrenaline. What the hell happened to Shankar!! ? Where is the slow-mo editing !! :( An introduction with Rajni screwing up a Robo isn't the best!! :( May be Shankar had wanted the introduction to be subtle, but when will we fans get a chance to throw the torn tickets up in the air and shout at our pitch !
2. The first half was extremely noise-less !! Am i watching a Rajni movie on the Second day in Chennai and that too in a low-class theatre sandwiched between Rajni fans ?!?? Sadly didn't feel so..
3. Shankar is a commercial masala director. Accepted. But if you thot first half was bad, the second half starts with something even worse. A 10 min scene where Chitti talks to Mosquitoes !! WTF !! Felt embarrassed seeing it. Toooo lengthy. May be the editor Antony dint edit it for the visual effects people have put into. But sadly, really bad.
4. With a 150 crore budget, there is no one else who could have given such an opening. I read a statistic somewhere. 2250 prints * 4 shows a day * 500 people per show * 150 Rs per tkt ~= 75 Crores a day !! But even then, Rajni is just tooo old to be accepted as a scientist :( be it the shrinking skin, or an overdone make-up to hide it, just doesn't fit in the bill !! But the Villain Rajni rocked ! He looked more chic and was oozing with style as Chitti 2.0.
All said as Shankar said this movie is an "experience". but don't go with an expectation of a "Rajni experience". No intro scene, no mass introduction song, no punch dialogues, no swinging of his coolers.
Final verdict:
Book for the 9:00 AM show and go to the theatre at 11:00 AM to enjoy this Shankar's dream project.
3/5
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Raavanan - Movie Review
Its the most expected movie of this year and the promotional campaigns by the entire team of Raavanan has been going on and on in "News" Channels in the last fortnight. And where there is much hype(which indirectly signifies that's the only way to get back the money invested on the film) the film is to be made of poor quality. But in Raavanan the crux of the story, casting and almost everything is top-class but it fails to hit the audience.
Highlights
1. First things first. Stunning Visuals.. Probably one of the best cinematography in recent times. you could get from the trailer, the quality of the camerawork and believe me its absolutely fantastic. Go and watch it in theater/get the best quality DVD to feel it(I would prefer going to theater). Santhosh Sivan has been a brilliant cameraman and I wonder why he hasn't been used so much in the industry. Particularly the Usire poguthey song and climax sequences were canned superbly. Part of the credit should go to those who chose such wonderful locations with lush green landscapes, waterfalls etc.
2. Aishwarya Rai's performance. Though she has a lesser physical activity compared to Vikram, she does her best in emoting for the scenes. I feel she has done by far her best performance in Raavanan. The movie revolves around her and she does a neat job. She has less dialogues but her eyes are made to talk more. Mani is best here.
3. Vikram as ever is at his best. Great dialogue delivery, body language. He proves he is a good actor but wasting 2 years for just a single project makes me question his choice of roles. He does what the character requires him to do.
Apart from these, no more highlights quite a lot of things that went horribly wrong.
May be Mani thought he could mesmerize the audience with just the visuals bombed badly. Story is a very predictable one. Vikram kidnaps Ash (Prithvi's wife) and Prithvi comes in search of her and he wins.. There is a twist in the climax which also becomes predictable (so should I call that a "twist"? ;) ) Prithvi has nothing much to do he keeps following Vikram throughout and wins over him.
Priyamani talked so much in the interviews and her character comes a mere 15 mins and that includes a 5 min song!!! I think Mani, after seeing Priyamani in Paruthiveeran thot she acts well in a gang rape scene and gives her a similar such sequence and she does well here too :)
Biggest let down was ARRs BGM .. Songs were not upto the standards(let alone Usire poguthey, kalvare) and his BGM was even poorer. This could probably be his worst ever composition for a Mani movie.
The climax was a little confusing. Is Ash falling in love with Vikram? Is Vikram in love with Aishwarya Rai? or probably is Mani also confused on this and thought that it would be best for the audience to decide?
Though the movie runs for over 2 hrs and 15 mins you feel as if you have watched a 3 hr movie. Very slow/poor screenplay, very cliched story, very predictable scenes makes you feel its not worth even a watch but I still recommend you to go for it just for the stunning visuals by Santhosh Sivan and for Aishwarya Rai.
2/5 for Mani's Raavanan..
P.S: I have not watched 'Raavan' yet but am sure AB would have definitely not performed as Vikram. So I guess, it should be still worse :)
Highlights
1. First things first. Stunning Visuals.. Probably one of the best cinematography in recent times. you could get from the trailer, the quality of the camerawork and believe me its absolutely fantastic. Go and watch it in theater/get the best quality DVD to feel it(I would prefer going to theater). Santhosh Sivan has been a brilliant cameraman and I wonder why he hasn't been used so much in the industry. Particularly the Usire poguthey song and climax sequences were canned superbly. Part of the credit should go to those who chose such wonderful locations with lush green landscapes, waterfalls etc.
2. Aishwarya Rai's performance. Though she has a lesser physical activity compared to Vikram, she does her best in emoting for the scenes. I feel she has done by far her best performance in Raavanan. The movie revolves around her and she does a neat job. She has less dialogues but her eyes are made to talk more. Mani is best here.
3. Vikram as ever is at his best. Great dialogue delivery, body language. He proves he is a good actor but wasting 2 years for just a single project makes me question his choice of roles. He does what the character requires him to do.
Apart from these, no more highlights quite a lot of things that went horribly wrong.
May be Mani thought he could mesmerize the audience with just the visuals bombed badly. Story is a very predictable one. Vikram kidnaps Ash (Prithvi's wife) and Prithvi comes in search of her and he wins.. There is a twist in the climax which also becomes predictable (so should I call that a "twist"? ;) ) Prithvi has nothing much to do he keeps following Vikram throughout and wins over him.
Priyamani talked so much in the interviews and her character comes a mere 15 mins and that includes a 5 min song!!! I think Mani, after seeing Priyamani in Paruthiveeran thot she acts well in a gang rape scene and gives her a similar such sequence and she does well here too :)
Biggest let down was ARRs BGM .. Songs were not upto the standards(let alone Usire poguthey, kalvare) and his BGM was even poorer. This could probably be his worst ever composition for a Mani movie.
The climax was a little confusing. Is Ash falling in love with Vikram? Is Vikram in love with Aishwarya Rai? or probably is Mani also confused on this and thought that it would be best for the audience to decide?
Though the movie runs for over 2 hrs and 15 mins you feel as if you have watched a 3 hr movie. Very slow/poor screenplay, very cliched story, very predictable scenes makes you feel its not worth even a watch but I still recommend you to go for it just for the stunning visuals by Santhosh Sivan and for Aishwarya Rai.
2/5 for Mani's Raavanan..
P.S: I have not watched 'Raavan' yet but am sure AB would have definitely not performed as Vikram. So I guess, it should be still worse :)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The new flavour for "IPL 4"
DISCLAIMER:
This post was supposed to be published on the final day of IPL 3. But as a perfect S/W professional, the deadline got missed due to some poor planning.. So please spare me for posting this so late. I know all of you are so engrossed with the news on the T20 debacle, the pub brawl, Kirsten's comments on the fitness , but lets take sometime to look at IPL 4, the "most successful IPL" (term already coined by IPL Governing Council)
Lalit Modi may not be the official commissioner for the next IPL, but he has already jot down some new rules for next year's IPL to make it more interesting and more nail-biting. And here are those. (Note: A little bit of this already made rounds in Cricinfo :(, but believe me I m not plagiarizing, I had these things on my mind but couldnt post it before)
1. From next year, there will be no one-sided matches. All of 94 matches will, as Ravi Shastri would say, "Will go down the wire" (*Whistle**Whistle*). This is done keeping in mind the interest of the public watching the match at the stadium and those watching it on SET MAX. The maximum run difference with which a the side batting first can beat the side chasing is within 10 runs and all matches will be played atleast played till the 19th over. Similarly the maximum wicket difference for a win would be utmost 3. So even if a side (with all of 10 wickets in hand) need 6 runs from 1 over to win, they would end up as losers as they should have lost atleast 7 wickets. Speaking on this Lalit Modi said "We have always heard people talking about keeping wickets in hand to win a match, but now with this new rule the sides should have a strategy to lose a wicket at the right time. This would make a more mental competition between sides apart from Cricket".
2. Considering the kind of entertainment that Sreesanth provides on the field, Lalit Modi has added a clause especially for Sreesanth. A new rule applicable only for Sreesanth. According to this rule, Sreesanth will be "The Player for all Teams" . More on this rule, Lalit Modi said," Sreesanth is a unique character. its fun to have him on the field and we have discussed with SET MAX and they report that the TRP ratings go off the roof when he plays for Kings XI Punjab. So we ll have him as permanent member in all IPL Matches". Asked about what will happen if both the teams playing on a particular day prefer not to have Sreesanth in the side, Mr Modi said, "There will be an auction for not having him in the side. Whichever team bids higher, they will be declared winner and Sreesanth will have to play for the other team". On hearing this none of the teams felt happy apart from the MI.
3. With a completely new auction for all players in the next years IPL, Modi was excited and said, "this is going to be the most profitable revenue generating auction for the IPL. No other sport, NBA, EPL, nothing comes close to our auction". He also added that, "the maximum cap for a single player will be $7m and anything over it will go to IPL(which invariably means it goes to Lalit Modi's personal account)
4. "A Greener IPL 4" :Next year the IPL is gonna be greener than this year. We will be having 2 stupid green tips instead of one(which no one is gonna understand) and at the end of the match there will be twice the amount of firecrackers to celebrate the win and pollute the environment. When asked whether the firecrackers are contradicting the Green IPL theme, Lalit said, "in IPL 3 we did the same. we got tremendous response on the use of firecrackers from some eminent personalities like Shilpa Shetty. So we are gonna continue this year as well. Its our interest to keep our franchises happy as well as give some Green tips for others to follow".
5. IPL 4 on Twitter!! : If it was YouTube this year, the next year it is going to be Twitter. You have to follow Lalit Modi to keep updated with the scores. He said, "I will be posting the updates on the scores for every 5 overs. The Live telecast from the stadium will be delayed by 5 mins. So you can keep updated with the latest score by following me. "
6. After the amount of media attention that Lalit Modi got post the Sashi Tharoor controversy, Mr Modi has decided to rope in one politician to play the role of a spoiler like Mr Tharoor to keep the events off-the-field also very interesting in the next IPL. "With Mr Tharoor,we never really rehearsed to have such events. It just happened. It was wonderful to keep some news about IPL to be telecasted on the News channels. So we are planning to rope in Lalu Prasad Yadav for next year's IPL to be our "Controversy Politician". He is funny and a great critic. So you guys will be enjoying a lot more next year on the off-the-field events. My team has prepared some great controversial stuffs over which me and Mr Yadav would be fighting on the last few weeks of IPL 4. I assure you that" said Mr. Modi
7. Next years commentary team to talk sensible. As people criticized the commentary team's poor vocabulary this year, the IPL has decided to give coaching to the commentators. Modi said "This is one area which we would definitely like to improve. We have a very strong commentary team, but its unfortunate to hear such comments about them. So we are planning to have the coaching done by Ramiz Raja to our commentary team who would give expert advice on the use of English language and the cricket jargons. I listened to one of the best ever lines by Ramiz during the ongoing t20 wc which made him the inimitable commentator to seek advice from. And this was the line which made me a fan of him.'Everything on the on side, nothing on the leg side... and all the runs have been on the on side'. Also, since we know the results of each and every ball of the match, we would have Ramiz to write down and the commentary team will just have to read it out during the Live telecast. " But Sivaramakrishnan has strongly opposed this by saying he has done dumber commentary than Ramiz but amazed by why Lalit preferred Ramiz. (Probably they had an auction for that too!!! )
This is all what Lalit Modi had to say when asked about IPL 4, but since he was busy preparing the 9000 page defence document to BCCI, he signed off from us in typical Rajni style saying "this is just a trailer. Await more news"
Watch this space for more guys !!
This post was supposed to be published on the final day of IPL 3. But as a perfect S/W professional, the deadline got missed due to some poor planning.. So please spare me for posting this so late. I know all of you are so engrossed with the news on the T20 debacle, the pub brawl, Kirsten's comments on the fitness , but lets take sometime to look at IPL 4, the "most successful IPL" (term already coined by IPL Governing Council)
Lalit Modi may not be the official commissioner for the next IPL, but he has already jot down some new rules for next year's IPL to make it more interesting and more nail-biting. And here are those. (Note: A little bit of this already made rounds in Cricinfo :(, but believe me I m not plagiarizing, I had these things on my mind but couldnt post it before)
1. From next year, there will be no one-sided matches. All of 94 matches will, as Ravi Shastri would say, "Will go down the wire" (*Whistle**Whistle*). This is done keeping in mind the interest of the public watching the match at the stadium and those watching it on SET MAX. The maximum run difference with which a the side batting first can beat the side chasing is within 10 runs and all matches will be played atleast played till the 19th over. Similarly the maximum wicket difference for a win would be utmost 3. So even if a side (with all of 10 wickets in hand) need 6 runs from 1 over to win, they would end up as losers as they should have lost atleast 7 wickets. Speaking on this Lalit Modi said "We have always heard people talking about keeping wickets in hand to win a match, but now with this new rule the sides should have a strategy to lose a wicket at the right time. This would make a more mental competition between sides apart from Cricket".
2. Considering the kind of entertainment that Sreesanth provides on the field, Lalit Modi has added a clause especially for Sreesanth. A new rule applicable only for Sreesanth. According to this rule, Sreesanth will be "The Player for all Teams" . More on this rule, Lalit Modi said," Sreesanth is a unique character. its fun to have him on the field and we have discussed with SET MAX and they report that the TRP ratings go off the roof when he plays for Kings XI Punjab. So we ll have him as permanent member in all IPL Matches". Asked about what will happen if both the teams playing on a particular day prefer not to have Sreesanth in the side, Mr Modi said, "There will be an auction for not having him in the side. Whichever team bids higher, they will be declared winner and Sreesanth will have to play for the other team". On hearing this none of the teams felt happy apart from the MI.
3. With a completely new auction for all players in the next years IPL, Modi was excited and said, "this is going to be the most profitable revenue generating auction for the IPL. No other sport, NBA, EPL, nothing comes close to our auction". He also added that, "the maximum cap for a single player will be $7m and anything over it will go to IPL(which invariably means it goes to Lalit Modi's personal account)
4. "A Greener IPL 4" :Next year the IPL is gonna be greener than this year. We will be having 2 stupid green tips instead of one(which no one is gonna understand) and at the end of the match there will be twice the amount of firecrackers to celebrate the win and pollute the environment. When asked whether the firecrackers are contradicting the Green IPL theme, Lalit said, "in IPL 3 we did the same. we got tremendous response on the use of firecrackers from some eminent personalities like Shilpa Shetty. So we are gonna continue this year as well. Its our interest to keep our franchises happy as well as give some Green tips for others to follow".
5. IPL 4 on Twitter!! : If it was YouTube this year, the next year it is going to be Twitter. You have to follow Lalit Modi to keep updated with the scores. He said, "I will be posting the updates on the scores for every 5 overs. The Live telecast from the stadium will be delayed by 5 mins. So you can keep updated with the latest score by following me. "
6. After the amount of media attention that Lalit Modi got post the Sashi Tharoor controversy, Mr Modi has decided to rope in one politician to play the role of a spoiler like Mr Tharoor to keep the events off-the-field also very interesting in the next IPL. "With Mr Tharoor,we never really rehearsed to have such events. It just happened. It was wonderful to keep some news about IPL to be telecasted on the News channels. So we are planning to rope in Lalu Prasad Yadav for next year's IPL to be our "Controversy Politician". He is funny and a great critic. So you guys will be enjoying a lot more next year on the off-the-field events. My team has prepared some great controversial stuffs over which me and Mr Yadav would be fighting on the last few weeks of IPL 4. I assure you that" said Mr. Modi
7. Next years commentary team to talk sensible. As people criticized the commentary team's poor vocabulary this year, the IPL has decided to give coaching to the commentators. Modi said "This is one area which we would definitely like to improve. We have a very strong commentary team, but its unfortunate to hear such comments about them. So we are planning to have the coaching done by Ramiz Raja to our commentary team who would give expert advice on the use of English language and the cricket jargons. I listened to one of the best ever lines by Ramiz during the ongoing t20 wc which made him the inimitable commentator to seek advice from. And this was the line which made me a fan of him.'Everything on the on side, nothing on the leg side... and all the runs have been on the on side'. Also, since we know the results of each and every ball of the match, we would have Ramiz to write down and the commentary team will just have to read it out during the Live telecast. " But Sivaramakrishnan has strongly opposed this by saying he has done dumber commentary than Ramiz but amazed by why Lalit preferred Ramiz. (Probably they had an auction for that too!!! )
This is all what Lalit Modi had to say when asked about IPL 4, but since he was busy preparing the 9000 page defence document to BCCI, he signed off from us in typical Rajni style saying "this is just a trailer. Await more news"
Watch this space for more guys !!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Story of Vijay's next thriller movie - Sura
Source: Indiaglitz
"The story is about the power of youth. Usually most of the youth wants to play safe when they see atrocities happen in front of them. They feel insecure and tries to escape out of the situation fearing many factors. But Vijay having all the courage tries to put things right by using all right means including politics. But when all fail he becomes a one man army to weed out social crimes without fearing for anything just like a shark would hunt its prey alone. With sufficient political overtones ‘Sura’ will also have its share of punch dialogues. "
Verdict: In Goundamani's voice
"iruvanthanju varushama ne ithaye thaana da solitu irukka.. makkale intha maathiri naaingala elaam neengale adichu thorathidunga"
--Edited post the release
Sorry guys, this was not the original story. The movie sucked much more than this :)
I believe even the above story could have been better
:)
I m planning to sue Indiaglitz for giving us the wrong story
"The story is about the power of youth. Usually most of the youth wants to play safe when they see atrocities happen in front of them. They feel insecure and tries to escape out of the situation fearing many factors. But Vijay having all the courage tries to put things right by using all right means including politics. But when all fail he becomes a one man army to weed out social crimes without fearing for anything just like a shark would hunt its prey alone. With sufficient political overtones ‘Sura’ will also have its share of punch dialogues. "
Verdict: In Goundamani's voice
"iruvanthanju varushama ne ithaye thaana da solitu irukka.. makkale intha maathiri naaingala elaam neengale adichu thorathidunga"
--Edited post the release
Sorry guys, this was not the original story. The movie sucked much more than this :)
I believe even the above story could have been better
:)
I m planning to sue Indiaglitz for giving us the wrong story
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya - An Honest Review
After waiting weeks for the audio to release and after weeks of waiting for the movie to release, got a chance to watch VTV today. Ok, Lets make this straight. It's not a movie that is action-packed, has hero delivering punch dialogues, has unconnected and illogical scenes. All said, its not a movie that is an edge-of-the-seat thriller that have you hooked to it. There are times in the movie where you feel you could go and grab a Coke from the canteen or think of your TL advising you for not meeting your expectations. But all said this is one beautiful, sensible, practical love story between Karthik and Jessi.
I've always had my love for Gautam for 2 things, one, even his promotions for his films are classy and two, his take on romance is unbeatable.
Some highlights:
1. I love the initial credits :) and the final ending scene leading up the final credits as well :) Sounds stupid? seriously.. I just love the way the names roll over on the water.. I think Vignesh can take us in detail if he liked it :)
2. Simbhu grabs his role-of-a-lifetime with ease. I have hated him when he does some stupid things with his fingers and I've cursed Gautam for choosing him in this project. But he fits in the bill perfectly. He looks fit and he looks smart(I never thot i would tell this in my life :( ) and plays his role to perfection.
3. Trisha looks stunning in certain scenes and the romance between the two looked so real on the screen. And yeah, they shared a good chemistry, physics, biology, whatever.
4. ARR !! Thalaivar rocks with the BG score and no need to tell about the chartbuster songs.
5. Cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa(of 'Eeram' fame)'s lens captures Chennai, NY, Kerala, Malta as never before. This movie is definitely classy just because of this man whose visuals are a treat.
6. Gautam Menon chooses to have a breezy first half and tries to make a feel-good second half.. The first half has Simbhu and Ganesh going behind Trisha. Ganesh gives the humor quotient and believe me they're so good with no double meanings. The second half staggers a bit and Gautam tries to revive himself with the screenplay at the end. The songs are placed to perfection and you don't feel so bad to sit through them.
This movie is of typical Gautam's style and is definitely not for the B and C centers. People hate Gautam for having English dialogues in Tamil films(and he criticizes himself in the movie with this) and he has chosen to have Malayalam a little bit as well in the movie. Overall, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya is a slow, poignant, sensible love story that may not be considered as Gautam's best. And if you ask did it meet my expectations, the answer is YES !!
Watchable once..
3 out of 5 stars for Gautam's love-story-yet-again Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya
I've always had my love for Gautam for 2 things, one, even his promotions for his films are classy and two, his take on romance is unbeatable.
Some highlights:
1. I love the initial credits :) and the final ending scene leading up the final credits as well :) Sounds stupid? seriously.. I just love the way the names roll over on the water.. I think Vignesh can take us in detail if he liked it :)
2. Simbhu grabs his role-of-a-lifetime with ease. I have hated him when he does some stupid things with his fingers and I've cursed Gautam for choosing him in this project. But he fits in the bill perfectly. He looks fit and he looks smart(I never thot i would tell this in my life :( ) and plays his role to perfection.
3. Trisha looks stunning in certain scenes and the romance between the two looked so real on the screen. And yeah, they shared a good chemistry, physics, biology, whatever.
4. ARR !! Thalaivar rocks with the BG score and no need to tell about the chartbuster songs.
5. Cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa(of 'Eeram' fame)'s lens captures Chennai, NY, Kerala, Malta as never before. This movie is definitely classy just because of this man whose visuals are a treat.
6. Gautam Menon chooses to have a breezy first half and tries to make a feel-good second half.. The first half has Simbhu and Ganesh going behind Trisha. Ganesh gives the humor quotient and believe me they're so good with no double meanings. The second half staggers a bit and Gautam tries to revive himself with the screenplay at the end. The songs are placed to perfection and you don't feel so bad to sit through them.
This movie is of typical Gautam's style and is definitely not for the B and C centers. People hate Gautam for having English dialogues in Tamil films(and he criticizes himself in the movie with this) and he has chosen to have Malayalam a little bit as well in the movie. Overall, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya is a slow, poignant, sensible love story that may not be considered as Gautam's best. And if you ask did it meet my expectations, the answer is YES !!
Watchable once..
3 out of 5 stars for Gautam's love-story-yet-again Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tamil Padam - An uniquely cliched story
One of the movies I've been looking forward in 2010 released and I should say it definitely met my expectations, if not exceeded. Making a spoof isn't a difficult task but entertaining people with a spoof is quite a work. During my coll days, we did a spoof of the movie 'Arul'(Can I call that a spoof) and nobody even gave a smile and the judges were hoping(/praying) that we finish it much ahead of the scheduled 10 min slot !!
To understand the nuances of 'Tamizh Padam'(TP) you must have been a movie buff who has watched quite a lot of Tamil blockbusters from the 90s. The movie kick starts with a take on Simbhu. And after that no one is spared from the Tamil industry. From Rajni, Kamal, A R Rahman to Vikram, Vijay, Raghuvaran, Ramarajan, TP leaves no one. The first half runs just over an hour and its a complete interlink of scenes from Thalapathy, Baasha, Ghajini, Run and believe me the spoof of every scene was just bang on.
Some of the highlights of the movie:
1. First half as i said a laugh riot. Each and every scene is a treat to watch.
2. The killing sequence of 'Delhi' Ganesh using the technique of Aboorva Sagotharagal was just amazing. The body language of Shiva is just irreplaceable. Shiva tries a 'Aboorva Sagotharargal' Kamal and uses a marble to kill 'Delhi' Ganesh only to find that his target gets missed each time. And after trying for more than 5 times he goes to 'Delhi' Ganesh and says "enna sir. unaku oru interestey ila. yean ne aadite iruka. oru edathula nillu sir. miss aaite iruku paaru"..
3. The 'Pachcha' song and 'O Maha Zeeya' song are definitely a perfect Tamil movie number. Dont forget to note Shiva's reaction when he sings 'Lalaaku Dol Tabi ma' in the 'O Maha Zeeya' song.
4. The scene where he meets the heroines father and challenges him that he would marry his daughter only after becoming a multi-millionaire. After this dialogue, the heroine's dad asks his servant to bring a cup of coffee. Followed by A song sequence where Shiva becomes a millionaire in 2 mins and comes back to the Heroine's house in a BMW and says "ipo naan unna vida kodeesvaran". The servant brings the coffee and the heroine's dad says "coffee kondu varathukulla epadi da ivan periya aala aanan"
5. The Bharathanatyam sequence by Shiva is yet another highlight. Watch out for the scene and the manner in which this scene ends. 2 words "JUST AWESOME"
Having said all these, there are so many scenes where I had great laugh. Be it the 'Mouna Ragam', 'Run', 'Anniyan' spoof it was an entertaining 2.5 hrs. On the whole, it's a different experience after having seen decades of cliched Tamil movies. The second half of the movie is a lil slow, but I would say its worth it. After all, its a different attempt and Shiva proves to be a revelation.
4 stars out of 5 for TP and a must watch..
To understand the nuances of 'Tamizh Padam'(TP) you must have been a movie buff who has watched quite a lot of Tamil blockbusters from the 90s. The movie kick starts with a take on Simbhu. And after that no one is spared from the Tamil industry. From Rajni, Kamal, A R Rahman to Vikram, Vijay, Raghuvaran, Ramarajan, TP leaves no one. The first half runs just over an hour and its a complete interlink of scenes from Thalapathy, Baasha, Ghajini, Run and believe me the spoof of every scene was just bang on.
Some of the highlights of the movie:
1. First half as i said a laugh riot. Each and every scene is a treat to watch.
2. The killing sequence of 'Delhi' Ganesh using the technique of Aboorva Sagotharagal was just amazing. The body language of Shiva is just irreplaceable. Shiva tries a 'Aboorva Sagotharargal' Kamal and uses a marble to kill 'Delhi' Ganesh only to find that his target gets missed each time. And after trying for more than 5 times he goes to 'Delhi' Ganesh and says "enna sir. unaku oru interestey ila. yean ne aadite iruka. oru edathula nillu sir. miss aaite iruku paaru"..
3. The 'Pachcha' song and 'O Maha Zeeya' song are definitely a perfect Tamil movie number. Dont forget to note Shiva's reaction when he sings 'Lalaaku Dol Tabi ma' in the 'O Maha Zeeya' song.
4. The scene where he meets the heroines father and challenges him that he would marry his daughter only after becoming a multi-millionaire. After this dialogue, the heroine's dad asks his servant to bring a cup of coffee. Followed by A song sequence where Shiva becomes a millionaire in 2 mins and comes back to the Heroine's house in a BMW and says "ipo naan unna vida kodeesvaran". The servant brings the coffee and the heroine's dad says "coffee kondu varathukulla epadi da ivan periya aala aanan"
5. The Bharathanatyam sequence by Shiva is yet another highlight. Watch out for the scene and the manner in which this scene ends. 2 words "JUST AWESOME"
Having said all these, there are so many scenes where I had great laugh. Be it the 'Mouna Ragam', 'Run', 'Anniyan' spoof it was an entertaining 2.5 hrs. On the whole, it's a different experience after having seen decades of cliched Tamil movies. The second half of the movie is a lil slow, but I would say its worth it. After all, its a different attempt and Shiva proves to be a revelation.
4 stars out of 5 for TP and a must watch..
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Aayirathil Oruvan - Aayirathil Oru Padam
With two and a half years of effort by the whole crew of AO it all comes down to this. A movie that had a concept that could've taken the whole industry by a storm and could've easily been the "movie of a lifetime" marred by profane dialogues mostly towards woman, horrible scenes tat sometimes makes you feel "why the hell I'm watching this movie", unbearable background score, graphics work that makes it look like a cartoon movie, a completely lost polt at the end and finally after the 3.5 hr so-called "epic" you think how the censor board cleared this movie for release!!
Here's the story:
A group of archeologists headed by Reema Sen with Andrea in the team head to a dense forest in Vietnam where the Cholas supposedly escaped during the war, hid there and made their last footprint. Karthi joins the team to help them. To reach the place they had to cross thru some 7 traps(or should i call Crap). And at the end of the first half, as you can expect, just Reema, Andrea and Karthi get into the place and then they stare at the world of Black Magic ... Tadaan.. !! Interval..
The trio get into the world of Cholas.. Yes .. Literally.. The Cholas still live in that same place and they do have a King. And that is Parthiban.. and what an entry for Parthiban.. Parthiban climbs down the chariot and while he walks down he walks only on the blood of his own people.. everytime he climbs down, 4-5 heads get chopped and he walks on the blood spilled out of it. and then he goes near a woman and she shows her breast and presses it and blood oozes out of it.. I am not exaggerating that's wat is portrayed.. ok..back to the movie.. so these 3 enter the world of 'dark' cholas and they're about to be punished when suddenly Reema uses her black magic power and tells the Cholas that she is a Chola Messenger and come a long way just to tell that war is over and Cholas can get back to their place.. Listening to this everyone in the Cholan empire give her a warm welcome like asking her to urinate standing !!
Meanwhile there is flashback. Reema is a Pandia descendent and has come to get a God's idol that the Cholas robbed from the Pandias.So she dances with parthiban, has sex with him and gets to see the idol and by this time you would know that Karthi is the actual messenger. and then there is a confusing climax where there is a war between the Indian Army and the Cholas !! I think Selvaraghavan forgot that we've got Indian AirForce to drop bombs from the sky. They go along with fighting against the Cholas and capture everyone including the Cholan Queen. And Cholan queen is made to dance to 'apadi podu' song and is urinated by the army .. Seeing this Parthiban and all his people get into water and die.. Karthi saves one kid of the Cholan dynasty and you get "Cholan payanam thodarum" and the credits..
Don't ask me what I wrote in the last para, "enakum oru mayirum puriyala da dei"..
Reema is hot but the vulgarity is too much that you can't withstand it and worse if you are with the family you would've to leave the theatre midway to prove that you are good guy.! Selva can claim that for the first time in the history of cinema more than 1,00,00,000 heads have been beheaded and 10,00,000 liters of blood has been used and there are more beep sounds to censor the bad words than the original dialgoues ! The second half is full of loopholes. why is Reema not using the black magic power to fight against them, what the hell is Andrea for in the movie, why the hell is the movie titled 'aayirathil oruvan' but you better forget all these and go home and take rest to get back to normal.
The stunt scenes were completely copied from 300, Gladiator but lets not compare, after all he has given such a wonderful movie for all of us to see. I hope this movie fails bigtime in the BO so that we don't see anymore of this kind..
1 star out of 10 for this movie just for the effort that thousand people who have put in for the movie. Refrain from watching this movie.Especially children, women and those with a faint-heart
Here's the story:
A group of archeologists headed by Reema Sen with Andrea in the team head to a dense forest in Vietnam where the Cholas supposedly escaped during the war, hid there and made their last footprint. Karthi joins the team to help them. To reach the place they had to cross thru some 7 traps(or should i call Crap). And at the end of the first half, as you can expect, just Reema, Andrea and Karthi get into the place and then they stare at the world of Black Magic ... Tadaan.. !! Interval..
The trio get into the world of Cholas.. Yes .. Literally.. The Cholas still live in that same place and they do have a King. And that is Parthiban.. and what an entry for Parthiban.. Parthiban climbs down the chariot and while he walks down he walks only on the blood of his own people.. everytime he climbs down, 4-5 heads get chopped and he walks on the blood spilled out of it. and then he goes near a woman and she shows her breast and presses it and blood oozes out of it.. I am not exaggerating that's wat is portrayed.. ok..back to the movie.. so these 3 enter the world of 'dark' cholas and they're about to be punished when suddenly Reema uses her black magic power and tells the Cholas that she is a Chola Messenger and come a long way just to tell that war is over and Cholas can get back to their place.. Listening to this everyone in the Cholan empire give her a warm welcome like asking her to urinate standing !!
Meanwhile there is flashback. Reema is a Pandia descendent and has come to get a God's idol that the Cholas robbed from the Pandias.So she dances with parthiban, has sex with him and gets to see the idol and by this time you would know that Karthi is the actual messenger. and then there is a confusing climax where there is a war between the Indian Army and the Cholas !! I think Selvaraghavan forgot that we've got Indian AirForce to drop bombs from the sky. They go along with fighting against the Cholas and capture everyone including the Cholan Queen. And Cholan queen is made to dance to 'apadi podu' song and is urinated by the army .. Seeing this Parthiban and all his people get into water and die.. Karthi saves one kid of the Cholan dynasty and you get "Cholan payanam thodarum" and the credits..
Don't ask me what I wrote in the last para, "enakum oru mayirum puriyala da dei"..
Reema is hot but the vulgarity is too much that you can't withstand it and worse if you are with the family you would've to leave the theatre midway to prove that you are good guy.! Selva can claim that for the first time in the history of cinema more than 1,00,00,000 heads have been beheaded and 10,00,000 liters of blood has been used and there are more beep sounds to censor the bad words than the original dialgoues ! The second half is full of loopholes. why is Reema not using the black magic power to fight against them, what the hell is Andrea for in the movie, why the hell is the movie titled 'aayirathil oruvan' but you better forget all these and go home and take rest to get back to normal.
The stunt scenes were completely copied from 300, Gladiator but lets not compare, after all he has given such a wonderful movie for all of us to see. I hope this movie fails bigtime in the BO so that we don't see anymore of this kind..
1 star out of 10 for this movie just for the effort that thousand people who have put in for the movie. Refrain from watching this movie.Especially children, women and those with a faint-heart
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya - Music Review
After having waited for more than a month and a half for this album and at times frustrated for not getting the album as promised on Dec 18th, the moment finally came down to listen to VTV.. Here's a lil review of mine on VTV. This movie is at the top of my "most expected movies for 2010"(Followed closely by Goa and Tamil Padam)
1. O Manna Penne
Sung by Benny, this song is surely a 'top-of-the chart' material. Interesting beats, superb lyrics by Thamarai and beautifully crooned by Benny.. The Malayali lyrics in between make it unique. The album opens up with this wonderful number and you can't wait to listen to other songs.. Just can't get my mind out of the chorus 'O Manna Penne' and the last stanza where benny sings "podiyan".. My Rank : 1
2. Anbil Avan
A decent number by Chinmayi and Devan.. The natasvaram bit after the first stanza is simply superb and the fast lines in between stanzas makes it more interesting. A Not-so-great song but you'll definitely love it if you keep listening to this song. My Rank: 3
3. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya
My favorite singer Karthik is back to rock with ARR but this time for a wrong song. A very slow number that makes you switch over to the next track soon.. Just 3 min song but it's sooooo lengthy.. Probably the song might go well with the movie, but definitely not a great number.. As i said, this is a song that you would love to skip.. My Rank: 6
4. Hosanna
The 'leaked' song.. The leaked version and this one is a lil different with ARR using so many instruments at the background. But amazing lyrics by Thamarai yet again. Never knew so many
4. Hosanna
The 'leaked' song.. The leaked version and this one is a lil different with ARR using so many instruments at the background. But amazing lyrics by Thamarai yet again. Never knew so many
tamil words sound so good.. Great rendition by Vijay Prakash and rap by Blaaze.. This is definitely "the" song that is gonna be played on all FM Stations for the next couple of months..
The rap part especially by Blaaze couldn't have gelled with the song better.. My Rank: 2
The rap part especially by Blaaze couldn't have gelled with the song better.. My Rank: 2
5. Kannukul Kannil
A song that sounded similar to "Karu karu" atleast for the beats when i heard for the first time. Sung by Naresh Iyer this is the only fast number in the entire album.. Great percussion and the final few seconds is just mindblowing.. My Rank: 4
6. Mannipaaya
ARR and Shreya Ghosal get-together to give us this yet-another-slow number. SG as usual is at her usual best and the moment ARR starts singing you think you're gonna have a great song. But not so great.. :( a 6 min song which is far better than the 3 min Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya track.. The bgm of the song at certain places like the one before the start of the second stanza is brilliant.. May be if you are on a train journey you would love this song.. slow and soothing.. My Rank: 5
7. Aaromale
A full Malayalam song sung by Alphonse.. I heard many ppl telling tat ARR has copied "Pink Floyd".. i've not heard Pink Floyd, so i am not sure.. Its a decent number with a great guitar intro, excepting the last portion where Alphonse shouts "Aaromaleeeeee".. that time u feel like u shd take the headphones of your ears for sometime .. A "OK" number... Probably i need to listen it for some more time before coming into any conclusion on this one. but currently, My Rank: 6
A song that sounded similar to "Karu karu" atleast for the beats when i heard for the first time. Sung by Naresh Iyer this is the only fast number in the entire album.. Great percussion and the final few seconds is just mindblowing.. My Rank: 4
6. Mannipaaya
ARR and Shreya Ghosal get-together to give us this yet-another-slow number. SG as usual is at her usual best and the moment ARR starts singing you think you're gonna have a great song. But not so great.. :( a 6 min song which is far better than the 3 min Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya track.. The bgm of the song at certain places like the one before the start of the second stanza is brilliant.. May be if you are on a train journey you would love this song.. slow and soothing.. My Rank: 5
7. Aaromale
A full Malayalam song sung by Alphonse.. I heard many ppl telling tat ARR has copied "Pink Floyd".. i've not heard Pink Floyd, so i am not sure.. Its a decent number with a great guitar intro, excepting the last portion where Alphonse shouts "Aaromaleeeeee".. that time u feel like u shd take the headphones of your ears for sometime .. A "OK" number... Probably i need to listen it for some more time before coming into any conclusion on this one. but currently, My Rank: 6
Being an ardent fan of both ARR and Gautam this review might be a little bit biased but still the album is not that bad as many claim(one of my team mate said it Sucks..!!). I would rate this album way ahead of 'Sivaji' , 'Blue'. This may not be a trendsetter of sorts but definitely a beautiful melodious album.. If you ask me if its Gautam-Harris or Gautam-ARR combo that works out, I would still go ahead with Gautam-Harris simply cos they've given 5 great blockbuster albums.. I am quite unsure how commercially VTV will be accepted by the audience.
Whatever said, I can't wait for Feb 14 for the movie to hit the screens.. !!
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