Thursday, January 29, 2009

VENNILA KABBADI KUZHU

My Review: VENNILA KABBADI KUZHU

Powered by: Chakpak.com Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu 


Another Young team...Another movie set in the rural Madhurai-Dindugal area....Another movie with a novel theme...& it looks like yet Another movie with low expectation that is going to be a hit...

Plot: Story revolves around a fumbling kabbadi team which finally achieves glory & the price it has to pay for it...

Vishnu :Emotions & expressions comes naturally to him & his sombre face suits well to his characterisation.

Both the heroines Saranya Mohan & Shruthika are cute & cheerful though neither of them don't have much to do. Atleast Saranya has couple of songs to show while Shruthika is very native yet beautiful.

Kishore is first class & looks every inch a coach but His tamil pronounciation is an aural torture.

This is one of those movies in which the supporting cast rocks.Ayyapan , Appu , team captain , team member with voracious hunger , town bus driver , Hero's mother ....the list is long..

Technically the movie is rich & grand.

Laxman joins the list of promising young cinematographers . HIs work is praise-worthy.

Mu.Kasivishwanathan has chiseled the movie with great care.

Music director Selvaganesh is a worthy addition to tamil cinema. All songs are soft yet humworthy while BGM ably supports the narration.

Suseendran comes across as a director with a lots of potential in him to make it big .He has shown flashes of brilliance in this movie & will learn a lot from this experience .

Few brilliant scenes are the one in which Mari explains to Ayyapan why he ate very little which shows his affection towards his mom, the friendship between Mari & the Bus driver & the race scenes involving the two , the pep talk coach gives to the team during their first game , the Parotta shop scene....

Few negatives are there too. The sentiment in the end seems to forced into the script & looks contrived.The friendship between Mari & the epileptic opposite team member as well as the character of Shruthika were not used properly .Also the kind of impact that one gets when the underdogs win finally seems to be missing here.

Setting aside the few negatives , the movie has lots of positives to look up to & savour. On the whole movie is good .

Bottomline: Will have a favorable outing in the BO.

3.5/5

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Kadhalna Summa Illa

My Review :Kadhalna Summa Illa




At the outset i want to clarify that Raj Co's part dubbed , part remade "KADHALNA SUMMA ILLA " from critically acclaimed Telugu movie "Gamyam" is not a routine masala commercial potboiler. It is an intelligently written piece of work with many layers of moral thoughts and messages intertwined into what seems to be a normal script; Kudos to Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi . The movie scores in driving home some very serious and contemporary issues in a very light hearted manner . Though the movie moves at it's own pace , Ravi Krishna enlivens the proceeding with his witty one-liners.

Plot : It is journey of a rich spoilt boy into a responsible man in his quest for love .

Ravi Krishna : He has single handedly carried the movie on his shoulders and with some great results at that. Never imagined that he will be so good at comedy before this one.And he makes a lasting impression on the viewers.



Shravanand: He looks every inch a rich savvy young businessman ala Madhavan in Anbe Sivam. (Though he has not matched up to his acting). He has done a decent job .

Kamalini Mukherji : A come-back of sorts for her and inexplicably barring one scene with Ravi Krishna almost all of her scenes have been dubbed from the original.Hence it lacks in the nativity factor as her lip-sinc goes awry.

M.S.Baskar has once again proved that however small a character may be, he is always there with a sterling performance.

All other characters have something significant to do to the screenplay .None has been wasted. Even Thejasri, whom we thought was there just for an item number , has a good role which goes along with the story.

Music is nothing but reusing Vidhyasagar , Manisharma and E.S.Moorthy's songs from Telugu. "Ennamo seithai nee " and "Om siva sambo sambo" are nice to hear as well so see.

Vincent's cinematography travels beautifully along with the story without any gimmicks.

Dialouges deserve a special mention . They are witty , hilarious and at the same time thought provoking.(Forgot the dialogue writer's name [:-(])

Ilankannan (who's first movie "Otran" was a decent effort) has faithfully followed Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi's effort in the original for some 40% of the movie that he has remade.Only thing is he may have done better in the last 15 minutes or so .The climax looks contrived and lacks some spark .

Go for it if you are of an intellectual kind .

Bottomline :Intha padam neenga ninaikara mathiri "SUMMA ILLA"....

3.5/5

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Padikathavan

My Review:Padikathavan




The company with the midas touch , "Sun Pictures" have once again proved that what ever they touch turns into gold.Their 4th venture jointly presented by the legendary Vijaya Productions is sure to reap a bounty harvest this pongal.Suraaj has become a master in churning out action-comedies. And for Dhanush it proves once again what a shrewd decision maker he is .

Plot : A love story of an uneducated boy & an intelligent girl with lots of twists & turns .

Dhanush : He has done a neat job in a role that seems to be exclusively written for him. Though in the first half he disappoints with the same " love smitten angry young man " mode of his that has become redundant , he enlivens the proceedings in the second half along with Vivek. He dances like a dream & packs a punch in the comedy scenes. By trying out various genres & successfully at that ,he has proved that he is a worthy talent indeed who's actions speak volumes rather than his words.

Thamana : The story does not provide enough fodder for her talents though she looks gorgeous & glamorous in this movie than ever before. However she must take care as far as the lip-sinc is concerned .



Vivek: Though we see Vivek on screen ,the role he plays only brings Vadivelu in front of our eyes.(may be because it was originally written for him ) But it is one of the most hilarious comedy track we have seen from him in the recent times.The stomach ache due to the laughter has not reduced still.

Suman : His is more of a supporting role rather than that of a villain & it suits him better than over the top ones he played in the movies last year.

Shyaji Shinde & Atul Kulkarni have nothing new to offer.

Music by Mani SHarma is nothing to talk about. May be the songs may become hit after repeated hearing .

A.Venkatesh's cinematography is not spectacular but adequate for a commercial potboiler.

Story , Screenplay , Dialogues & direction are by Suraaj.He has come with a very interesting screenplay with enough twists & turns to keep one guessing till the climax. His dilagues , especially the humorous ones are a revelation.Though certain male-chauvinistic dialogues that come in the first half are clearly aimed at the front benchers.

But one aspect that irks the reviewer is how long the creators make movies with scenes which encourage eve-teasing & harassment of girls in the name of love.Also glorifying uneducated youth in the times of huge advancements in education sectors is laughable.

On the whole the movie is worth a hearty laugh & family get together.

Bottomline : Suraaj & Dhanush on a Hattrick.

3.5/5

Monday, January 12, 2009

Villu

My Review : Villu




The combo of PrabhuDeva & Vijay are back after their successful "Pokiri" with "Villu" which does have a Pokiri-hangover .The movie has all the ingredients of a commercial masala ,perfected by M.G.R & made use off by Rajinikanth- a care-free , all conquering hero ; dumb heroine who eventually falls for the hero ; caricature of a comedian ;menacing yet easily fallible villains ;always wailing yet courageous mothers ; hero introduction song ; fight-love routine ; foot-tapping songs; jaw-dropping dances;one-upmanship game between the hero & the villains;super-human stunts; mother sentiment for the ladies ; dose of patriotism .......It has it all.....

But for any movie to have a good reception among the audience it must have these ingredients in right proportion & must keep the audience engaged throughout.It is here that the creators of "Villu" have succeeded.

Plot: Any one who is familiar with the yesteryear movies of M.G.R & Rajinikanth can easily guess the plot.

Vijay :There are only a few in tamil cinema who are gifted with the kind of Charisma & ability to make a mark & rise above any script.'Villu' is yet another allround show by Vijay.He showcases all his strengths .His hard work is seen on the screen be it the dances or fights he excels. Only jarring note is that he may have done well to avoid playing the father's role .The impact would have been better if some other senior actor have played that role .



Nayanthara:As her salary goes higher & higher , her costumes go lower & lower , lesser &lesser & her acting worser &worser. He has become an expert in essaying the most dumbest of roles reserved for heroines.

Vadivelu: He is a delight in the first half but becomes irritating in the second half.

Prakash Raj: He may well have avoided such a poorly etched out role but for the fact that he owns a sensible movie company & it needs money to make movies such as " Mozhi "& " Abiyum Nanum".

Others in the cast like Devaraj , Anandraj, Aditya , Seeman ,Geetha ,Ranjitha follow the cliched mode as far as their contributions are concerned.

Special mention must be given to 'Fefsi' Vijayan for the hard work he has done in the stunt choreography.Stunts have come out very well.

Cinematography : Much talked about Cinematography of RaviVerman has nothing special to offer.In fact certain frames suddenly appear blurred .Wonder what was wrong.But he along with Prabhudeva & Vijay have given a treat in the "Nee kobapattal" song.

Music:DevisriPrasad has done a stupendous job in giving foot tapping numbers which have become very popular even beforw the release of the movie.He fails to live up to the billing in the BGM score though.

Prabhu Deva has tried his level best to repeat the magic of "Pokiri" here too .Though he seem to fail in that effort , he has given a pucca entertainer clearly keeping in mind the target audience who will lap it up with glee.Considering the personal distractions & turmoil he had undergone during the making of this movie ,the commitment he has shown to complete the movie deserves a pat on his back.

With all its moments of cliches & mundane characterisation what makes the movie click is one & only Vijay & his energy on screen.

Bottomline: Paisa-vasool.

3.5/5

Saturday, January 10, 2009

A Aa E Ee

My Review :A Aa E Ee



Some 5 years ago AVM productions gave one of the worst movie from their stable "Anbe Anbe " but in front of " A Aa E Ee " it can be classified as a classic.Atleast it had relief for the viewers in the form of Vivek in it.But here it is 2hour 20minutes of no hold barred torture .I don't know how they can come out with such a boring movie in the times when even the television serials try out new things & keep the viewers interested for years... And to think of the movie was a hit in telugu (It is a remake of telugu movie "Chandamama")sends shivers into one's spine.

Plot :No one have any clue about it including the story writer...

As far as acting goes Arvind Akash has done his best sincerely but yet another bad choice from him..Monika is sincere in her efforts. Navdeep and Saranya Mohan irritate when ever they are on screen. Prabhu has tried hard to rise above a mundane characterisation but in vain.Rest of the cast are so poor that you can find better actors than them in your school dramas.



Music by Vijay Anthony is a saving grace. "Nata nadu rathiriyil" song is hummable ...though he need not exert too much as far as the BGM is concerned.

Technically movie is not better than the TV serials ..

Sababathy again hits a trough in his erstwhile sea-saw career. Wonder what made AVM remake this movie ...God only knows it...

Bottomline :Watch A Aa E Ee -- Take home Head-ache freely...

1.5/5