Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Evano Oruvan - The review

The best movie I have seen in a long time.

Evano Oruvan - The review

Looks like my stint with good movies keeps continuing with this one after Polladhavan. Evano Oruvan is a class apart. Its in a totally different league altogether. It does not make you think, it does not propose a solution, its definitely not a trend setter. What it does is , slap reality right on your face. Its so strong that there was a deafening silence when people walked out of the movie hall.

The movie is a remake of the Marathi Film Dombivli Fast directed by Nishikant Kamat (who dons the role in Tamil as well). Its about a common man's upsurgence against the society in a rather dynamic manner. Madhavan as Sridhar Vasudevan is a banker who abides by his ethics that everyone is being taught only in school. This earns him the disrespect among his co-workers, his wife and the society. Angered and cornered, he turns against them with violence as his weapon. The moment with the shop keeper is so well made and written that you feel happy for Maddy once he has shattered the shop left, right and center.

Sangeetha as the housewife is brilliant and has ideally underplayed with her emotions in the second half of the film. Its never too melodramatic.

Seeman as the corrupt police officer full of heart, wins your sympathy. His portrayal is top notch. He has the potential to become a commendable character artist.

This is an attempt to take Tamil Cinema to the next level. Do appreciate it. The Tamil audience once did a terrible mistake by staying out of the movie halls of 'Anbe Sivam'. Hope they would not repeat the same mistake again. Please do go and watch it.

Evano Oruvan - A film about you and me. Its a must watch.

Rating - 8/10.

Cheers.

Polladhavan - The review

Now its time for Polladhavan

Polladhavan - The review

I initially had my apprehensions about watching a Dhanush movie. But Voila, how bloody wrong I was. Polladhavan was clearly a surprise package. It was neatly done with finesse. Here's the storyline.

Dhanush is a happy-go-lucky guy who along with his friends Karunas (in a commendable role) and Santhanam (again..a neat portrayal) are pretty much jobless and spend their time on the streets of North Madras. Things go smooth until Dhanush's Dad (Murali) questions him about some money that has been stolen. This creates some tension among the two resulting in Dhanush questioning him about his responsibilities as Dad. Dhanush points to Murali that he has not done anything financially to help him obtain a job. Angered and Humiliated, Murali returns with 70k and asks Dhanush to take it and do whatever he wants with it. The guy he is, he goes and buys a brand new Pulsar. As luck would have it, he manages to get a job and win his girl. Dhanush thinks the bike is certainly his good luck. This bike gets stolen during a murder night and then the story revolves as to how Dhanush tries to find the lost bike. This lands him in trouble with the local duds and how he manages to reign supreme forms the rest of the story.

Its a superlative effort one should say. The director had certainly done his homework w.r.t to drug trafficking, smuggling, Bike Robbery, Pudhupettai mechanics et al. The cinematography is top notch and travels through the muddy and ugly streets of North Madras.

Daniel Balaji has done a neat job but his portrayals are getting stereo-typed. The Don Kishore gives an amazing performance and is full of class. He is not the usual Tamil film Dada that you come across. "Out" as his right hand, has also done a neat job. Though the plot is lifted from "Bicycle Thieves", the screenplay is brilliantly adapted to North Madras.

Dhanush is back to his brilliant self with a terrific performance. The face-off at the hospital between Dhanush and the gang stands out. He has certainly worked on his physique as well. South Indian "Bruce Lee" might actually suit him now.

Divya as the heroine does not have much to do. But she does not hinder the film's pace as many heroines these days do. Songs could have been much better or the director could have done away with them. The re-mix of course is bound to be a hit.

But a lot of violence and gore especially in the second half could have been avoided or underplayed. This is bound to keep the family and women crowd away.

Vettri Maran seems to be a class act. We hope this effort will not go unnoticed and he gets back to film-making and delivers some commendable performances such as this.

Polladhavan - Quality.

Rating - 7/10.

Cheers.

Vel - The review

After a short break, here goes Vel.

Vel - The Review

I got so fed up with this movie that it took me nearly a month to think about writing the review. Vel is totally full of formula, that leaves you thinking about directing your own movie. I am not going into the details of what its all about. When I did read some reviews about this movie, I thought it was a decent attempt with an intelligent and racy screenplay. This was no where near to intelligent.

The whole film is made in such high decibel that you tend to walk away from the screening fed up with those "Yeeeeeiiiiiiiii"s and "DDDDeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiii"s. GOd knows why Surya would choose a film such as this after a stint with the likes of Gautam Menon and Bala.

Asin in a hopeless role. Saranya, the stereotype mother. Lakshmi, the filmy grandmother.Kalabavan Mani, the good-for-nothing villain. You name it...you got it. This film is full of cliches and formula that you can almost predict the whole movie since the first reel.

Phew...What a waste of time. Stay as far away from this as you can.

On the other hand, if you do like this movie (as they did in many B & C centres), kindly stop reading my blog. Its not meant for you.

Rating : 2/10

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Kannamoochi Yenada - The Review

Here goes Kannamoochi

Kannamoochi - Vijay Natarajan's Review

Ten minutes into the movie, something makes you feel that this movie is not of the same league as Kanda Nal Mudhal. May be because the handling is on similar lines as Kanda Nal Mudhal or may be , you were expecting too much? The movie starts with Prithviraj(Harish), a young software professional who runs his Uncle's(Radha Ravi) company in Kuala Lampur, and Sandhya (Deva), a Psychiatry student in KL , having an unpleasant introduction.

Harish falls in love with Deva, and soon Deva reciprocates in typical filmy style. Harish , earns the enemity of his Uncle because of this, as Deva belongs to a different caste. Soon, his Uncle chucks him out of his company and Harish is jobless. In the meantime, Deva plans to bring Harish to Chennai to meet her family and earn their acceptance. Harish, does not disclose about his current situation to Deva (for reasons known only to the Director) and decides to travel to Chennai to meet Deva's family (Sathyaraj and Radhika). Sathyaraj, who is totally against his daughter's wish, wants to prove that Harish is not a suitable match for her. What follows then is being told in a rather subdued manner when you expect something close to a laugh riot. How Harish finally manages to win Sathyaraj's heart and in turn redeems his relationship with Sandhya forms the rest of the story.

Sathyaraj, wins the race hands down with his timing and dialogue delivery. His lines such as "Nalla paruppu sambhar vasana adikkudhu" and "Yen, Aunty'nu koopudalaamay" bring the house down. The first half travels with ease and is easy on the eyes and mind.

The second half, stumbles, gets slower , takes an altogether different (& unnecessary) path. The screenplay especially loses its track with the introduction of Sri Priya.

The whole movie appears to be some kind of an expensive theatre act.

If only the director had the guts to give more use to the scissors , the screenplay would have been crisp and taut. But , nevertheless, you need to give credit to the director for giving a decent , funny family entertainer with healthy comedy.

Kannamoochi - Play the game Once.

I would rate it 4/10.

Cheers.

Azhagiya Tamil Magan - The Review

Ok...this blog looks virtually non-existent..primarily because I returned to India. So I'm back to doing what I love most...watching movies...So I just thought I'll share my review with you folks...So here goes ATM.

ATM - Vijay Natarajan's Review.

The movie begins in typical Vijay style with the hero emerging victorious in what he does. This time though , he is a 100m dash Runner and the fastest in the state.
What follows next is the opening song which showers laurels on Vijay. But for a change the song impresses you , courtesy AR Rahman's music and voice. Its all too familiar after that. Multi millionaire girl(Shreya) meets Small town boy , what else, falls in love, and to everyone's surprise, both their parents decide not to be stereotype filmy parents and accept for their marriage.

Upto this point the movie travels with ease with Vijay carrying it in his shoulders through his trademark comical touch. Then Vijay(Guru) realizes that he is suddenly able to see the future. He consults Dr.Rudhran who confirms that its due to his extra sensory perception. (Clearly made scene for B & C centres). Then the unimaginable twist happens, Guru has one of the weirdest dreams where he stabs Shreya with a knife. Banking on the fact that, whatever he dreams is definitely bound to happen, he decides to stay away from Shreya for her safety (and rather expectantly, does not inform anyone about that).

Guru moves to Mumbai where the director invites you with another surprise (Sweet for some, bitter for many). Yes, Another Vijay(as Prasad). Only then Guru realizes that the person in his dream must have been Prasad and gears up to save Shreya from him. But unfortunately Guru meets with an accident in Mumbai and is hospitalised. Prasad, leaves to Chennai, to collect his debts from a jeweller in Chennai (played by Sayaji Shinde). Again, the plot gets predictable here, Shreya meets Prasad in Chennai, assumes he is Guru and takes him home. Prasad, who does not wish to let go of this golden opportunity, clearly impersonates Guru to stake claim of all of Shreya's property. Its all too convenient for Prasad, that Guru maintains a diary (Yaawwnnn!) where he pens down all important occasions in his life.

When Guru does recover and return to Chennai, no one (including his friends) is ready to believe that he is Guru. No prizes for guessing what happens next, yes, good meets good, bad learns his lesson and end of story. The fact that Prasad realizes his mistakes coz of a lengthy sentence spoken by Shreya(on Chastity) is totally filmy and unrealistic. Shreya has the usual role to play , that of a dumb doll. So it does appear convincing, when she is not able to differentiate between both the Vijays. She always picks the wrong guy. Music acts as a saving grace, but badly inserted songs , disturb the already dented tempo. Oh yeah!, we do have Namitha, who is ironically paired against Prasad. For all, she appears less than 5 minutes in the movie barring one item number where she is full of flesh in the literal sense.
Overall the movie might seem enjoyable, if you decide not to wear your thinking hats.

Mothathil Azhagiya tamil magan - Paamargalukku mattum.

For others, ATM roughly translates to [A]VOID [T]HIS [M]OVIE.

Rating - 4/10.

Cheers.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Parthasarathy Team!


Disclaimer - If you are not a cricket lover..please refrain from reading this!

I guess I had mentioned earlier that we are all cricket freaks. I got to know half of the cricket-playing Chennai crowd during those years. The place where we normally play in Annanagar is called P&T quarters (Postal & Telegraph). Its owned by the P&T department , but anybody can go and play there. Its quite big, and in weekends there used be atleast a hundred guys playing. It would be a real mess. Most of the time, naanga velayadara team vandhu....yedhavadhu local pasangala dhaan irukkum...in chennai terminology..'local'na...local dhaan..."Yei...inna romba pesura...adchaen'na vaai keenjikkum"...idhukku peru dhaan local...so mostly idhu maari edhavadhu team kooda dhaan velayaduvoam...and ella match'layum kandippa edhvadhu sandai varum...appo chinna pasanga ellam kaadha moodipaanga...yen'nu naan solla thevai illa. Avolo nalla nalla vaarthai'ya varum.

So we got into a habit of playing regularly with one particular team...naanga andha team'a Ameer team'nu solluvoam...yen'na avanaala dhaan naanga thoappoam..paradesi...eppadiyavadhu oru 5 wicket eduthuduvaan. Andha team'la ellarum..."highly educated" vera...enakku therinju evanum college pola...poana oru rendu peru...mudikkavae illa...SO every week ivanga kooda velayaduvoam...adhu maari oru week naanga varum bodhu...."Dei Vantaanunga da...Parthasarathy Team'u" appadi'nu oru sound vandhuchu....Yaaru da adhu'nu paatha...ivanunga dhaan...

Usually...all Brahmins are referred to as 'parthasarathy' (courtesy - Koundamani in Indian), and appadi kooptaa.. adhu oru kevalam.Enakku therinju..enga team'la yaarum indha brahmin slang ellam pesa maatoam..except one guy...Vaidy.

Apparam..avanungala kooptu kaettoam..
"Dei..Enna da Parthasarathy team'nu koopadreenga"
"AAma unga team'la dhaan oru parthasarathy irukkaanay"
"Evan da adhu...enna Pannaan?"
"Dho..Vaidy dhaan"
Apparam kaettoam avan enna sonnaan'nu...As I said..neraya peru velayadittu irupaanga anga..and once Ameer picked up the wrong ball(which belonnged to some other team which was playing) and started to bowl...Appo ivan..Ameer kitta poyi...

"Dei...Idhu Avaa Ball...Naama idhula poattundrikkoam"...appadi'nu solli irukkaan....adhula aarambichadhu dhaan...inikku verikkum engala Parthasarathy team'nu dhaan koopudraanga...

Dei Vaidy..evan kitta enna pesradhu unakku theriyaadhu???

Guys..chk the comment he has given for my previous blog ...I'm pasting it here...Nee innum thirundhavae illa da.

"Machi avan irunda , story'a mathirpan... sauce'la thanni vitutanga'nu sollirpan, andha lady'um oru spoon pottundrpa... "

Ok..Cya later.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

An Ice-cream I can never forget


This is my first post in the New Year and I would like to start with one of my favorite incidents ever. It was during one of the years in college....but the actual incident happened with my mates from school. We all decided that it was a long time since we went out as a group...and decided that we would go out for dinner...I dont remember if it was anybody's treat....but we all went....Motham oru 10 peru iruppoam...ellarum saerndhu Residency Towers ponoam...most of our treats would be in Residency...eppayum pola...semma theeeni...sema kadhai'nu treat pochu...idhula konjam thanni vera...Indha Veg pasangalukku avolova variety illa like in most buffets...so avanga eppavumay...dessert'la dhaan kuriyaaa irupaanga....anga dhaan kudutha kaasa vasool panna mudiyum....and ofcourse Residency has a good dessert menu for Buffet . So ellathayum mudichittu...dessert kaaga ready aayittu irundhoam....appo first round dessert saaptuttu....we were almost full (the non-veg guys..that is)....aana indha veg pasanga...dessert'a mattum oru 3-4 rounds povanga...finally it was time for Ice-cream...first Saravanan ponaan (the guy who has commented in all my blogs). He's one of my closest friends ever...Ennayum kooptaan...seri'nu naanum ponaen...first avan poyi...vanilla ice-cream oru 3 scoops eduthaan...if u guys wud have noticed...they have this chocolate syrup,some caramel and nuts along with the ice-cream that u can use....ivanum...konjam chocolate syrup eduthaan...apparam konjam nuts eduthaan....apparam innoru syrup irundhudhu....it was almost white ....honestly we dint know what it was...enna paathaan...enakkum theriyala...seri try pannalaam'nu adha eduthu oru 3 or 4 spoons poattaan ice-cream'la....naan innum ennoda turn kaaga pinnadiyae ninnuttu irundhaen...ivan indha syrup podaradha paathuttu...oru lady ivan kitta vandhu..."Excuse me...That is not syrup...thats the water for washing the spoons"...appadi'nu sonna....ivanukku enna pannradhu'nae theriyala..."Oh...Ok" appadi'nu sollittu...enna thirumbi paathaan....Naan eppadi anga iruppaen....Eppo ava..."water for washing"'nu sonnaalo...appavay naan angaerndhu escape...nera yennoda place'ku vandhuttaen....ennala sirippa adakka mudiyala...table irundha ellarum kadhaya kaettuttu....avan varum bodhu oatti thallittoam...nalla vela..just miss...naan mattum ivanukku munnadi poyirundhaen...idhay nelamai dhaan enakkum...Thanks da nanba!!!. But to be Honest...athana peru andha water'la spoon'a wash panni....it looked just like some kinda syrup...enna irundhaalum...Naan escape!!. Ok thats it for now...Cya soon.