Idhu Namma Aalu

My review: Idhu Namma Aalu

Pandiraj's long delayed "Idhu Namma Aalu" is definitely not a perfect movie by any means but it entertains. It is a good comeback for Silambarasan aka Simbu aka STR (or whatever his current name is !). It does have a lots of autobiographical notes as the movie deals with love life of a person who finally ties his knot with a bride sought by his father. And the pairing of Simbu with Nayanthara did arouse curiosity. Their chemistry on screen is superb this time, better than when they were seeing each other a decade back. 

The movie follows a lighter vein throughout its length and the mood is made light that even the forced serious turn that it tries to take towards the end seem to end up as unintended comedy.  Nonetheless the movie is one of the better romantic comedies in the recent times with witty oneliners. Is spite of a neat romantic portions, sizzling chemistry between the lead pair, Soori overshadows everything else by his terrific oneliners. It is one of the prime reason why this movie has done successfully well. 

Simbu is earnest in his effort while Nayanthara is ravishing. Andrea on the other hand looks jaded and throughout the movie sports a quizzical smile of that of a patient who must have got hit in her head severely.  Soori is the real hero of the movie as far as I am concerned. He rocks the show and is definitely one of his career best. Loaded with Pandiraj's witty dialogues he just brings the roof down. 

Kuralarasan has had a decent debut as music director with couple of songs like "Kaathaga"and "Kanne Un Kadhal" hum-worthy. His background score is also pretty decent. Balasubramniam has kept his frames bright and colourful in keeping with the levity of the overall proceedings. 

On the whole, "Indhu Namma Aalu" is a nostalgic trip down the memory lane for all those who must have got married arranged by the family harping particularly to those days between engagement and marriage, an arranged roamnce kind of situation. 

Bottomline: A lively romcom with awesome Soori oneliners.

3.5/5

Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu

My review: Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu

"Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu" (GBSM) is a yet another one of those promising lineup of impressive movies that Kannada cinema is witnessing over the past few months, following "U turn" and "Thithi". And it again reinforces the fact that if Rakshit Shetty associated with a movie then it is bound to be mighty good. It is a scintillating debut for Hemanth Rao, who belies the fact that he is a greenhorn with his masterful command over the medium of cinema. A wonderfully written and terrifically made movie, GBSM leaves you awestruck with the manner in which Hemanth has carved a such a non-linear movie so seamlessly. 

It is refreshing to see a kannada movie dealing so sensitively and scientifically with Alzheimer's. And how Hemanth Rao has weaved a story that is full of thrills and suspense with a missing person with Alzheimer's as its fulcrum is just terrific. Movie takes its own sweet little time to get on the track but once it happens what follows is an engrossing tale that has many strands that gets tied together and each knot getting unraveling as the movie progresses. It is yet another wonderful attempt at the hyperlink format of screenplay in Indian cinema.

Since it follows a hyperlink narrative, it have many strands with each character clearly etched and well rounded. The central character of the one with " godhi banna sadharana mykattu, Venkoba Rao played by Anant Nag is one of his memorable roles so far. He is just fantastic as a person suffering from Alzheimer's with blissful unawareness of the dangerous situation he has gotten into. He has lots of memorable scenes in the movie, the one about black dog and white dog is my favorite. Without him it would have been nearly impossible for the movie to have been made. And it would be a very difficult job for any one to reprise this role if and when the movie gets remade in any other language.   

Rakshit Shetty as his callous son who rediscovers himself and his father while he goes in frantic search of him is again tremendous. The gamut of emotions he brings out effortlessly on screen needs to be savored on screen. Shruthi Hariharan, as the doctor who takes care of Venkob and who assists in his search is impressive. Achyuth Kumar is fast developing into one of the  best supporting actor in Kannada. Here again he vindicates it. Vasishta Sinha gets a meaty role as a gangster with conscience and Ravikiran as his assistant Manja whose indiscretions lead them into trouble are both good.

Movie is technically sleek with able support from Charan Raj, the music director who has given some lilting melodies, and Nanda Kishore, the cinematographer who has come out with some good frames.

On the whole, GBSM is one of the finest debut works in the recent years.

Bottomline: A magnificent movie.

4/5

  

Manithan

My review: Manithan

"Manithan"is a remake of "Jolly LLB", a hindi movie that was a sleeper hit in 2013. The tamil remake stars Udhayanidhi Stalin in the titular role and Prakashraj as the antagonist. Movie directed by I.Ahmed. There is a visible improvement in his narration and direction this time which was suspect in his previous two movies. Though it is a faithful remake with some additions with respect to the female lead's portions, Ahmed come out with a gripping movie. This is by far his best work yet.

The coming of age stories are not that new to tamil cinema. The story of "Manithan" is simple, movie is told in a linear easy narrative style yet it strikes a chord or two with the audience. It is one of the well written and well made movies in the recent times and a perfect launch vehicle for Udhay away from his tedious rom-coms so far. Dialogues play a very important role in creating the impact the movie does create and the credit for it should goes to Ajayan Bala. 

Udhayanidhi Stalin is good in his role of Sakthivel, a fumbling young lawyer who decides to take on the mighty. This is by far his best though he has a long way to go before he can take claim of being a reliable actor. Prakashraj is terrific while Radharavi is stupendous in a role only he could have done with such panache. Hanshika Motwani looks awfully out of place from the milieu in which the movie is set. On the other hand, Aishwarya Rajesh has a better role. Vivek is reliable as ever. 

In Santosh Narayanan's music all the songs are good while background score elevates the narration to a great extent. Madhi's cinematography gives the movie a glossy feel. 

On the whole, "Manithan" is one of the better written and well made movies in recent times tough it is a remake. 

Bottomline: Nalla manithan

3.5/5  

U Turn

My review: U Turn

Pawan Kumar's "U Turn" after his pathbreaking "Lucia" had a lot riding on it which further got accentuated by the curiosity enhancing promos and teasers. This time he tries to deal with a topical issue of traffic violation and the consequences it would lead to.

Movie is terrific as far its making is concerned as well as its staging. Like he effortlessly did in his previous two movies the narration takes a while to set its pace but gradually it does sucks you into it. After the initial lull you end up getting engrossed to the proceedings. The first half is terrific with the plot neatly staged and the twists and turns neatly packaged. At the halfway mark you leave for the intermission with anticipation of what is going to happen in the second half.

I think upto 50 % of the second half Pawan Kumar in his terrific form has done such a flawless and meticulous narrative filled with mystery and intrigue that it back fires him when he takes a recourse to horror trope not able to find a suitable salvation to the mystery he has built all the while. Once the horror turn happens, there is a "U turn" in the narration and movie nosedives towards ordinary. You end up feeling cheated all the while and in the end you come out of theatre with mixed feelings. What could have been another masterclass from the auteur, the movie ends up just about okayish.

Movie solely belongs to Shraddha Srinath, the fulcrum around whom the whole movie revolves. She is just terrific. The gamut of emotions that the character goes through is brought out neatly by her. She is ably supported by all in the support cast. Special mention should be made on Roger Narayanan as sub-inspector Nayak.

Technically the movie is top-notch. All the three cinematographers and the music director have done their jobs with perfection to make it a visual and aural treat.

On the whole, "U turn" starts of well, builds up momentum and reaches a crescendo by the three quarters of its length following which there is a steep fall that brings down the movie from the exalted position it ought to have reached to somewhere near the ordinary.

Bottmline: Faltering climax undermines a wonderful cinema

3/5

Iraivi

My review: Iraivi

Karthik Subburaj after his two previously immensely impressive works falters with his self-confessed ode to K.Balachander, Balu Mahendra and Sujatha, "Iraivi". In my opinion Karthik Subburaj's noble intention in doing a movie that deals with the travails and tribulations of women gets diluted and the message gets lost due to the focusless screenplay and unintended glorification of the errant men.

 I don't know where he went wrong exactly but the wrong message seems to have gone into the viewers which is elucidated from the fact that when S.J.Suryah tells "AAn" the crowd goes into raptures while when it is followed by "kevalamana piravigal illa naama" with dead silence. Also the glorification of the male lead leads to even when he shuns the worried father of his wife, people clap and whistle, which is shocking. I think movies such as these are more dangerous than the routine masala crap which objectifies women as no one takes them seriously. 

You know something is wrong when you don't feel for any of the characters in the movie. Be it the hardships undergone by both Ponni and Yazhini, or the final tragedies that befall Arul and Michael, the movie didn't move me emotionally. Some may say it is subtle film making at its best but i doesn't mean that you fail to connect emotionally with the audience. 

When you look at it as a cinema, the making and execution of the shots are all great. Acting is terrific, led by S.J.Suryah in a once in a lifetime performance that might surely get him an award or two, ever reliable Vijay Sethupathi, and brilliant understated work by both the lead ladies, Kamalini Mukherjee and Anjali. The making is first class, technically movie is awesome backed up by brilliant musical score by Santosh Narayanan. 

On the whole, "Iraivi" in my humble opinion didn't made me angry or sad or happy when it ought to, a well made movie which fails to communicate what it wanted to. 

Bottomline: Less about Iravi, more about Sathaan.

2.5/5

24

My review:

24 is what you get if a writer-director from the 1950's time travels and make a movie with a crew of 2016. To call it 'science fiction' is the worst disrespect you can give to that term. It is a movie for dummies.

Bottomline: Paatti sonna kathai.

2/5

Fan

My review: Fan

Maneesh Sharma's Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Fan" is a delightful cinema. It has been long since SRK is seen in a movie as an actor rather than a star, though in one of the roles in this movie he portrays a star. Movie has terrific writing diligently supported by stupendous acting by SRK. Though there are gaping logical loopholes in the narration, the screenplay and direction by Maneesh Sharma is such that it gets camouflaged by the proceedings that keeps you hooked to the screen. 

"Fan" is a one man show of Shah Rukh Khan. Both as the dangerously obsessive fan Gaurav Chanda as well as a headstrong star in decline Aryan Khanna, SRK is tremendous. This is one movie in which both the roles in the dual role has generous shades of grey. At one point you root for Gaurav and at others you sympathise for Aryan. But in the end you hate neither of them. Such is the beauty of the narration and performance by the star, SRK. 

We all knew that SRK is a terrific actor but the star in him has overshadowed him for a really long time we have almost forgotten how SRK, the actor is. We get more than glimpse of him here. It is almost a throwback to the days of "Darr" and "Baazigar" where the actor in gay abandon enthralled the audience. Here he has handled both the complex roles with elan and confidence of the veteran. 

"Fan" is a delight of those who are a fan of SRK, the actor and might disappoint those who are fan of SRK, the star, but on the whole it is a wonderful cinema with terrific acting.

Bottomline: One man show

4/5