GOA

My Review : Goa





“Goa ” , A Venkat Prabhu Holiday – this how the movie is advertised & one need not think hard to decipher the true meaning behind it . Venkat Prabhu , the scriptwriter has had a gala time holidaying at the expense of Soundarya Rajnikanth with his buddies leaving Venkat Prabhu , the director high & dry . He somehow manages to scrap through by borrowing scenes , gags , dialogues et al from his previous 2 & manages to cheat the audience with a mindless ,brainless , soulless , story less , ..less, ..less, …less……..movie.

“Goa ” has no structure what so ever but hangs like a series of disjointed gags which gives one a feeling of watching assembly line comedy scenes in channels like Adhtiya or Siripoli rather than watching a full length feature film. It is really shocking whether the same person who enthralled the audience with couple of movies with taut & engaging screenplay is the man behind this humbug .

Among the actors Sampath shines in a very difficult role which he has done very diligently & dignifiedly. It is a tight rope walk for him for slight exaggeration may made it look like a caricature but he comes through with flying colours .

Premji Amaran like his elder bro tried to play it safe with what comes to him naturally but it does gets under the skins of the audience after a point of time. How long will we be able to watch the same routine again & again . It gets irritating after a while.

Others in the cast have nothing special to do but to look dapper & do some silly gags of their own. Much publicized glam-doll avatar of Sneha is a dam squib.

In Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music “Vailba Va va ” & the theme song are rocking the charts already & bound to stay on the top for long. But re-recording with additional support from Premji strictly follow the previous Venkat Prabhu movies with ample use of various songs & BGMs of yesteryear hits.

SakthiSaravan’s cinematography is breathtaking & showcases the beauty of Goa & Thailand is all it’s splendor.

Expectations were high on this one with Venkat Prabhu in line of a hattrick but the end result is dismal .

On the whole, better book a holiday in Goa this summer rather than venturing into theatres showing Venkat Prabhu’s Holiday & don’t forget to take DVDs of “Chennai 28” & “ Saroja ” ….

Bottomline : “ Enna Koduma Sir Idhu “……

2 / 5

TAMILPADAM

My Review: Tamilpadam



Folks, the wait is over. All those of you who were longing for a movie of Hollywood, Jupiterwood , Saturnwood standards , “Tamilpadam ” is your pick. What are you waiting for .Hop onto your bikes & speed straight to the theatres near you showing “Tamilpadam” .This is once in a lifetime experience & “Classic” of this magnitude is very ,very rare to come across in Tamil cinema.

Movie should be watched atleast thrice for you to get a foothold of such a difficult & complex script & the occult themes & messages abound in the movie. Who can’t afford such liberties don’t worry , in couple of days websites & various social networking sites like Orkut & Facebook will be full of discussions & theories “Decoding Tamilpadam”.


James Cameroons , Steven Speilbergs, QuentinTarantinos please give way . C.S.Amudhan has arrived & how . He has redefined the art of direction with his vision of new age cinema. Seamless confluence of history & contemporary as well as time machine & gravity defying sequences are sure to generate a WOW! from one & all & will surely leave the doyens of filmmaking chindown.C.S.Amudhan is here to stay.

Move over – all the “Mass ”/ “Ounce”/”Tonne ”/”Pound” heroes. “Agila Ulaga Superstar ” , “Eluchi Thalapathi” ,”Vice-Captain” Shiva has redefined Heroism. Here after every heroes will knell down with shame unable to match the charisma , style , talents of Shiva. Fairer sex are bound to drool over this next chocolate hero.The middle aged “T.V serial ” watching aunties have got their next “Chella pillai “(boy next door ). He also moves the elderly lot to tears with his emoting skills , especially when he is left high & dry searching for his parents & when he does finally meet them by singing their “family song.” Forgot to mention , he is the next “Kadhal Mannan ” –look out for his romantic scenes especially the “ Bharatham “ scene.

Disha Pandey is the most talented & most pretty faced heroine we have come across over a decade in Tamil cinema. She looks every inch a “Pachai, Manjal , Sivapu Tamizhachi “ & her lip sync is as “perfect” as it may get.Way to go girl & keep rocking. (By the way heard her fans have already started “Bhoomi puja ” for constructing a temple for her “near Trichy.”)

The onscreen chemistry of the lead pair is out of the world.Just sample the expressions these two have worked hard to get in the “Oh Maha Seeya ” sing especially at the “Lollaku dol dappi ma” sequence. Mind-blowing & epitome of romance which will move even those granite hearted of people.

Movie boasts of an ensemble cast of the most talented of youngsters around like “ Venniraiadai “ Moorthy , M.S.Baskhar , Manobala as younger buddies of the hero. Paravai Muniyamma comes in one of the most surprising & shocking characters we have come across in Tamil cinema so far & bound to generate goose bumps when she declares “Ellam pughazhum iraivanukkey..” . Other Gen-X talents like V.S.Raghavan , Shanmugasundaram have showcased their talents amply.

Kannan’s music is a classical mix of folk , melody & modern jazzy footnotes. “Pacha Tamilan ” is a foot tapping number with some amazing footwork by Shiva & very humble hero praising lines & “Karuthu”s. “Oh Maha seeya ” is delightful melody with a innovative & not heard before lyrics which is a tribute to Tamil loving people all over the world.

Nirav Shah’s cinematography amply supports the director’s vision . He excels in the action sequences with many spiral & booming shots.He has tried hard to conceal the dupe of the hero in the action sequences.

“Tamil Padam ” is a must watch for all those who used to watch only Siberian , Afghani , Ukrainian , Sudanese movies downloaded from Torrents & were longing for movies of such caliber in Tamil.

Those midgets who don’t like this movie just go to hell. You all don’t know even iota regarding movies. You better stay away.

Bottomline : Sema Kalaai....

3.5 / 5

NANAYAM

My Review:Nanayam



Capital film works’ “Nanayam ” is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller which keeps the audience glued to their seats right through. The debutant director Shakti S Rajan who is also the writer has done a very good job . “Nanayam ” will surely be the surprise winner among all the pongal releases.

The premise of a bank robbery is not only novel to Tamil cinema, it is a fresh departure from the routine “ Dada – Madhurai- Aruval “ stories which we come across every other Friday. Tight screenplay without any loose ends , power packed performance from the two heroes , sleek cinematography innovative editing all makes it a worthy movie watching experience.

Prasanna looks suave & debonair in the role of the chief security officer of “ the world’s safest bank “ caught between his loyalty for his Boss and his love for a stranger . He has excelled in the action sequences to .

Sibiraj’s is a career best role so far & he has lapped it up with glee. His screen presence is thoroughly enjoyable (probably for the first time in his career) & sparks fly whenever he is onscreen. Even though he is the antagonist he succeeds in making us rooting for him.

Heroine of Nanayam has a lot more to do than just romance & shake a leg or two. Ramya has a substantial role to play but she is yet to get into the nuances of expressions & emoting.

S.P.Balasubramanyam does a good job in the role of Prasanna’s Boss with a secret to hide.

Om Prakash’s cinematography is another top draw for the movie. He has presented the movie in a very glossy & lustrous manner.

“Naan Pogiraen ” & “Ka ka ka ka” are enjoyable numbers from James Vasanthan while Sai Thaman’s background scores leaves a lot to be desired with heavy influences from Ilayaraja’s score in “Michael Madana Kama Rajan”.

On the whole , “Nanayam ” is a must watch.

Bottomline : Honestly good.

3.5/5

KUTTY

My Review :Kutty.




“Kutty ” frame by frame remake of Telugu hit “Arya ” fails to create the impact the original created in the viewers. It is plagued by a very slow narration & echelon of artificiality right through the narration. It is bewildering how a script that did wonders in one language gets lost in translation. Even the hardworking Danush & better performance from Shriya fails to elevate the movie which is downright boring .

Danush has done a decent job to recreate “Arya ” as “Kutty ” however for those who got bedazzled with Allu Arjun in the original may find Danush’s a tad mediocre. Yet he manages to come to his own in the climax outburst.

It is one of those rare movies where Shriya has shown her acting talent instead of what she actually does. It is a deglamourized role for her she acquits herself well.

Dhyan , the third of the love triangle is adequate. He should have worked hard on the lip sync for he looks out of place in many areas where he is required to mouth lengthy dialogues.

Neelima as Shriya’s friend is charming & has given more than a strong support.

Devisriprasad has repeated his tunes from the original which has a very strong Telugu influence. “Feel my love ” is a good melody.

Balasubramanyem’s cinematography is nowhere near the original where Rathnavelu have done a stupendous work which was in fact one of the USPs of the movie.

Mithran R Jawahar has written the dialogues & directed this movie originally scripted by Sukumar . He has played it safe this time & instead of meddling with the script like that he did in his earlier movie “Yaradi Nee Mohini” here he has faithfully followed the original. But the thing is that he has failed to recreated the magic of the original with the sluggish screenplay playing the spoilsport.

On the whole , “Kutty ” is boring .

Bottomline:

2.5/5

VETTAIKARAN

My Review: Vettaikaran




“Vettaikaran” latest Vijay flick is definitely better than couple of his previous releases but by no means it imply that it is a good movie considering the standard of movies which we come across off late in Tamil.”Vettaikaran ” is entertaining for most parts but it is unbearable to say the least as far as it’s last half an hour is concerned.

Vijay for all his sincerest of efforts what he urgently needs is a good scriptwriter who can sustain the interest of the viewer till the end credits or else must choose the right script to remake from other languages. Else though Vijay fans are a loyal bunch of supporters they may still remain his fans but only thing is that instead of watching such redundant flicks one after another in cinema theatre they may well restrict themselves to watching some of his better movies like “Ghilli ” , “ Kadhaluku mariyadhai ”, “ Kushi ” , “Sachein ” ….in home theatre.

Vijay is the sole redeeming factor of the movie shouldering such a week script ably with his charisma & screen presence. One wonders how he manages to look younger & younger with every passing year & every other movie. He looks dashing, has had a field day in doing comical sequences thus vindicating the fact that he is the best when it comes to doing comedy among his peers & elegant personified in the action sequences, though his fan are bound to get disappointed by the fact that he has very limited scope as far as dancing is concerned. Vijay has underplayed in this movie which is the right way to go & if only he chooses a better script henceforth, both he himself & his fans will have reasons to rejoice.

Anushka does what she knows & what has made her a successful actress in Telugu.

Salim Ghouse has made a welcome comeback after a long hiatus .It is such a pleasure to hear his Tamil diction which very few North Indian actors hope to manage. Rest of the villain gang is straight out of Perarasu’s stable.

Vijay Anthony’s music is a strong draw for the movie. “Karaikalan ” & “Chinna thamarai ” are excellent while “ En uchi ” & “Naan adicha ” are foot tapping . “Puli Varudhu” has grown up with repeated hearing . As far as re-recording goes it is all noise & hum din.

Gopinath’s ,the cinematographer’s visualization of the songs especially “Karaikalan ” & “Chinna thamarai “ are pleasing. Also the wide angle & freeze frame shots in the fight sequences are good .Technically movie is better.

Babu Sivan has written & directed the movie & makes his debut. His writing I good for about three quarters of the movie but he seem to have lost it all in the final quarter. He has a good flair for comedy .Him being the erstwhile assistant of Dharani shows. Dharani hangover is evident all through the movie & Babu Sivan has industriously followed his mentor’s template of Family-Romance-Comedy in the first half, hero falling at the interval & his raise & retaliation in the second.

On the whole , movie is entertaining in parts but on the whole it is routine masala which may not be palatable for all .

Bottomline : Where is the script...

3/5

PUGAIPADAM

My Review : PUGAIPADAM




“Pugaipadam ” is by newcomer Rajeshlingam in which he has tried to explore uncharted terrain – college friendship. The novelty of the theme is appreciable only that he must have understood the need for subtlety before execution. Over the top acting marred by some equally exaggerated sequences which transport the viewers to the cinematic colleges of 80’s .The redundant screenplay which becomes tiring after a point makes it a strenuous experience.

The debutant’s eye for emotions stand out in couple of sequences especially the English lecturers sermon to the student from Tamil medium school as well as the sequence where the friends separate along the gender lines. The major letdown is the climax which looks contrived . The manner in which the students behave with their H.O.D , the students getting away from copying in the exams & how suddenly people become friends & fall in love with one another are rather way too cinematic .

As far the actors goes only Priya , the one who plays Bala & senior girl passes muster. Rest of them ham it up . Special mention is must about that one who plays Krithika Rao who’s characterization is precariously placed on a thin thread dangling in between overtly zealous & insanity . It is sad too see experienced actor like Shanmugasundaram being caricaturized . Television actors Neelima & Venkat shine with their experience.

Gangai Amaran’s songs are way too noisy except for couple of melodies. Too many songs sprouting out from no where mars the proceeding very badly.

Vijay Armstrong’s camera captures Kodaikanal is all it’s glory .

Editing is haphazardly done .One doesn’t know whether B.Lenin , the movie’s editor or the theatre operator is to be blamed.

On the whole , Pugaipadam is great on ideas but pathetic in it’s execution.

Bottomline: Pugaipadam - old & outdated...

2/5