Endhiran Movie Review

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

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 :)

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

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..

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

Delhi 6 - A disappointment for a A R Rahman fan

After the stupendous success of RDB, Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra(ROM) is back with his latest 'Masakali' Dellhi 6. The theme of the movie is not something extraordinary. Its what we have seen in a lot of Indian movies. Probably a mix of Anbe Sivam's 'You are the God' theme and Bombay's 'Muslim- Hindu culture terrorism'. 

Roshan comes from America with his grandma so that she can spend the final leg of her life in the Indian soil. He comes here and as any other foreigner feels the difference the moment he lands  in the Delhi airport. He watches the news channel in the airport telecasting a Breaking News of a 'Monkey man running amok in Chandi Chowk'. This Monkey(Kala Bandher) episode doesnt stop there. You believe it or not, that's the heart of the story !!!! !!! 

He meets up with Sonam Kapoor who wants to be the next indian idol. How this 'Kala Bandher' creates a cultural divide between the muslims and the hindus and how Abhishek ends the  whole episode (you guessed it right with a good emoting dialogue in the climax. C

mon thats how it should be at the climax.)  and joins with Sonam Kapoor forms the story. 

Now for some review from my side. Sonam Kapoor has very less to do in Delhi-6. Looks great in some scenes especially the Masakalli Number. She is gorgeous except for a little over-sized nose. Abhishek as usual carries him well through out the movie, but after seeing his performance in 'Dostana' I think I expected a bit more from him. The other characters , Rishi Kapoor, Atul kulkarni have done well as they've very little to do.

But .. But.. But.. All these said there are in fact a lot of disappointments, particularly for people like me who dont understand Hindi fully but still go for a Hindi movie because of one man called 'A R Rahman'. Would you believe of all the tracks in the album only 3 songs where in full in the movie. My personal favourite 'Rehna Tu' was just for over one minute. !!! Or the title track 'Delhi 6' sung by Blaaze and Tanvi was also for just over a  minute. With some of the best songs composed by Rahman (I would rate this much better than the oscar nominated SlumDog Millionaire) in recent times, its really unfair to cut short these songs.  But the good thing was 'Masakalli' was there in full. A lot has been said about this song, but its my turn to tell it. What lyrics, what singing and mainly what kind of music by the genius. Particularly the humming that starts off the song is mind-blowing. Its very unique. I dont know if any of you have noticed this, in the last stanza of the song there is a sound very similar to the sound that comes when someone pings u in gtalk. Everytime i hear that, i would check whether someone had pinged me !!!!!! Believe me i'm nt exaggerating. As I said all the songs are trimmed and you've almost 6 songs in the first half(including Masakalli).  

The next most disappointing was the number of minutes given for the 'Ramayan' drama tat was staged. That was pretty too much. I almost felt like watching the full 'Ramayan' serial. the editor could have included some songs for those scenes.  All said the first half of the movie is quite boring but the second half is ok..

So would give **1/2 out of 5 for 'Delhi 6'. Dont go with high expectations and come out with satisfaction.

Dhaam Dhoom !!

When u enter the theatre, u have the thought this is one last time u r going to have a feel of Jeeva's cinematography. And he proves that too .. But does the movie really live up to its hype? Ok.. Let me analyze.

Story:
Gautam(Ravi) goes to Russia to attend a medical conference with just a couple of weeks for his marriage with Shenba(Kankana Raut). He goes there and finds himself involved in a murder of a famous Russian model. He gets caught by the 'Siripu' police of Russia( wherever it is , be it India or Russia police ll keep on chasing the hero and never gets him caught !! but this time the hero rides a bicycle with his hands cuffed and the police chase him in Ninja bikes and still cant catch him !! Tamil cinema vaazhga !) There comes the advocate ... (Forgot her name in the movie. Lakshmi Rai) to save him from this along with Jayaram (from Indian Embassy). The mystery unravels and Gautam finds that it was Jayaram who is the mastermind of the murder of the model. And there ends the story.

My Review:
1. The first half of the movie is a kind of good. with his love with shenba and a hot song !! (Azhiyile Mutkulikum... ) The first 30 mins in the movie and u ve 3 songs. Kankana looks good in certain scenes but at times overplays her role( Thank God.. its not as annoying as Genelia's in Santhosh Subramaniam)
2. Ravi does some good action sequences but still u've all those gravity defying stunts. i don no why directors still prefer impractical stunts. people have become more educated and ppl need a movie that is more realistic. Gone are those days where rajni used to jump like gold-medal olympic gymnast and ppl still yell at them. The highlight stunt is the intermission frame where Ravi is shot by a bullet and he keeps on flying as a hydrogen gas balloon. To be very frank how much ever crores the directors have, they're used to making these idiotic chasing sequences(Dasavatharam for eg.)
3. When u hear that jayaram is the villain, u think there is a twist(if u don know that he is the villain) but he never suits for the role. having seen him in panchathantram and more of a comic role, u r not able to accept this role. probably prakashraj would ve fit in much better.
4. The worst part is the climax where u don no whats happening and suddenly u ve the title song appearing on the screen and ppl moving out of the theatre when u realize that the movie is over. had jeeva been there he might have conceived it in a different and better way.
5. The best thing about the movie is the Music(i don mean the BGM. BGM is ok. not very good. it gets too noisy sometimes.) The songs are really good and good that they avoided the Uiyalo song in the movie. particulary the 'Anbe Anbe' song is picturised great. there u see Jeeva at his best.

All said, the movie is worth watching once(atleast for Jeeva and songs) as u see the cinematographer's visuals on the theatre screen for one last time.


Stars: 2/5 (Watchable once)