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..