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

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

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

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

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.. !!