RAAVANAN

My Review : Raavanan



Manirathanm’s “Ravanan ” a perfect example of self-indulgence at it’s pinnacle. One is at loss of words when such a pathetic writing comes from one of the legends of Indian cinema.


It is a good idea to recreate an epic in it’s modern interpretation only if it is plausible to the situations &scenario the writer has in his mind. “Dalapathy” is a good example for that. But if the writer starts at making a movie with the one &only aim of doing a modern day adaptation of the epic & all the situation and scenarios are forced into for that end we get to see only such half backed & unpalatable attempts like this movie or for that matter the recently released & very over-rated “Raajneethi”.


The movie boasts of one of the best visuals that we have seen in Indian cinemas yet. It has first class acting from all the actors concerned.But the movie gets let down by a very average writing both script as well as dialogues.


Second half atleast had some semblance of sanity in it but the first half is as wretched as it may get.To make the matters worse Suhasini’s dialogues are horrible with people then & there mouthing different dialect as they wish. Prithviraj asking for a lie-detector test on Ashwarya Rai will go down as one of the most hilarious moment (howsoever unintended it may be ) in Indian cinema.


Ambience , attires as well as the backdrop all look alien to Tamil culture & ethos which reminds us of that misadventure Maniratham & Barathiraja ventured into , “Tajmahal”.


Vikram has done his part well but his role is shoddily written. Whether he is a normal person or a maniac with hallucinatory behaviour is anyone’s guess.


Ashwarya must have worked hard for the role with all those risky shots in such a unfriendly terrain but as far as acting goes she has nothing much to do with her wooden face to make the matters worse.


Prithviraj’s role is another example for the bad writing the movie plagued with.As far as others go Prabhu, Karthik & Priya Mani have done well.


The main attraction is the cinematography ,credits shared by Santosh Sivan & Manigandan. The manner in which they have captured not only the nature’s splendour but also the human vulnerabilities is a poetry on celluloid. If only they were backed up by a solid writing things would have been even better.


A.R.Rahman’s music is average .His music for Maniratnam’s movie seem to have fallen to a pattern which he must address in the future.



On the whole, “Raavanan” is a complete letdown.


Bottomline : Bad writing.


2/5

Singam

My Review: SINGAM




Surya’s 25th movie “Singam” written & directed by Hari is a treat for the action lovers.The movie moves at a breakneck speed even before one realizes the movie gets over leaving very little time in between for the viewers to think about the logic or lack of it.

To his credit ,Hari has tried to make it as much plausible as he possibly can while maintaining the tempo of the movie right through except for maybe the songs which are only 4 ,thankfully.The flow of the screenplay is lucid & vivid that makes the viewing enjoyable & less strenuous.

When one enters the movie hall with a preconceived notion that it may be yet another masala potboiler nothing much to look forward to , what follows is two and half hours of engaging cinema .It is time for Sun pictures to rejoice & repeat their successful association with Surya after that immensely successful “Ayan” last year.

Surya is charming & dashing as ever though he tries hard to portray the role of the ruffian police.He is clearly uncomfortable in the areas where high decibel dialogue delivery is mandated. He has improved his dancing & fighting skills . The makers’ hard work in masking the massive difference in height between the lead pair is appreciable onscreen.

Anuskha has nothing much to do but to follow in similar vein as to her performance in her previous movies like “Vettaikaran”. She however sizzles in the song numbers though.

Prakashraj in yet another role of a dada which he will do with ease even in the middle of his midnight sleep.

Vinek does succeeds in spewing humor in couple of instances in a role which is a takeoff from that of Vadivelu in “Marudhamalai”.

Devisriprasad’s music has nothing to note while Priyan has done a decent work as the cinematographer.

Hari’s career is a mixed bag with a mixture of commercially super hit movies like “Saami” , “Vel” , “Tamil” as well as duds like “Seval” , “Aaru ” , “Arul”….. “Singam ” is sure to find a place in the former list.

On the whole , it is a time pass movie for the commercial film lovers.

Bottomline : Racy entertainer.

3.5/5

Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam

My Review : Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam




Simbudevan known for his fantasy movies with comical undertones has come up with yet another one with “Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam” (IKMS) .Here he has tried to pay his tribute to the cowboy genre of movies of the yore. The setting in itself is an interesting one – quiet fascinating for the kids while a trip down memory lane for the older viewers.

Movie has typical Simbudevan stamp of political satire & political references sprinkled all over which are enjoyable but he ought to have worked hard as afar as the scripting goes which is very loose & lackluster to be honest. Scenes tend to get repetitive & frankly tiring to say the least with people jumping onto horses every now & then ,songs springing out of nowhere adding to the misery of the viewers.

Another downer is that the comedy quotient is very low in the movie & hence when enters the theatre looking forward to having a blast laughing , naturally one is bound to get disappointed with when things are on the contrary.

Dialogues are the major strong point of the movie which keeps the viewers awake . None is spared with writer Simbudevan having a field day taking dig at all & sundry ,especially the India- US nuclear deal , Western World Imperialism , state of affairs in Sri Lanka & our apathy towards it , to mention a few.

The attention to details that Simbudevan has is amazing. Infact the background & the minute detailing in the background are more enjoyable & hilarious than the main movie in itself.

The casting of the movie is also impressive with everyone from Raghava Lawrence to V.S.Raghavan playing their parts well.Special mention to M.S..Baskar who have the audience in splits whenever he is onscreen with his bizarre language. Saikumar gets to mouth almost all the hard hitting dialogues .Nasser is another actor who stands up tall among the crowd.

Na.Alagappan’s visuals pay homage to the grand old man of cow boy genre movies in Tamil ,Karnan. Also his use of color tones are interesting for he tend to use them in accordance with the original movie that is getting referred to , like for instance the camera work & color tone used have a heavy inspiration from the “Indiana Jones ” series of movies. Whether it is intended or coincidental is for the makers to clarify.

G.V.Prakashkumar’s songs are very average with none hummable while Sabesh-Murali’s BGM reminds that of the old cowboy movies.

On the whole, family & kids may enjoy IKMS for its petty humor & novel settings but for the majority of the cinegoers it is a tiresome experience .

Bottomline : IKMS- not roaring loud enough to merit attention.


2.5/5

RETTAI SUZHI

My Review: Rettai Suzhi






“Rettai Suzhi ” is not a children’s movie but a childish movie . Movie is boring , screenplay is sluggish & the story is a beaten to death one right from the black and white era . Much hyped pairing of K.Balachandar & Bharathiraja falls flat with a very confusing characterization of the two. Director himself is baffled with their characterization for in one scene they both act plain childish while in another they play damn serious . Atleast Bharathiraja has some role to play while that of K.Balachandar is downright pathetic.

Only thing that keeps one going is the sparkling dialogues from Nalan Thamizh which are humorous & hard hitting at the same time. Here is a very promising writer from whom much can be expected in the future. His take on Kushboo brings down the roof with laughter. Another strength of the movie is it’s children cast who all have done a stupendous jobs though they act overtly smart for their ages in most of the scenes.

New find Aari is passable while Anjali’s “Susi” pales into insignificance especially with her’s “Kani” still ruling the minds of the cine-goers.

Karunas is humorous while others in the supporting cast don’t have anything to do . Sad to see artist of the stature of Jayachitra wasted in such an insignificant role.

Karthik Raja’s music is ok as far as the songs are concerned while his BGM is bad.

Chezhiyan’s visuals are catchy .

Thamira who used to help K.Balachandar in his serials is yet to come out of the serials mode .He ought to work hard on screenplay & direction .

On the whole , Rettai Suzhi is much ado about nothing.

Bottomline : Juvenile.

2/5

PAIYYA

My Review: PAIYYA



There are certain movies you come out of the cinema hall neither liking it nor disliking it. As a reviewer one may not have any motivation to write review for such movies for it is difficult to talk about a movie when one neither like or dislike it. ”Paiyya” is one such movie from which one returns with an empty feeling.

Except for the fact that the movie’s setting which is a travel from Bangalore to Mumbai nothing else is novel in the movie. We have a heroine eloping from home to escape a forced marriage ; a good for nothing , jobless , penniless hero falling in love at first sight as if it is the only goal of his life ; a very dangerous thug whom even the powerful police of Mumbai are scared of easily brought down by the hero to mention a few are all drawn from commercial movies which we have seen for ages.

Thing that goes for the movie are sparkling music of Yuvan Shankar Raja , wonderfully done stunt choreography by Kanal Kannan captured nicely by cinematographer Madhi & dazzling onscreen chemistry of Thamanna & Karthi . If only the old fashioned screenplay of Lingusamy was something fresh movie would have gone places . Yes the screenplay is racy but it wouldn’t have made any one guessing what will happen on screen for the happenings there are too obvious for any one who had seen Tamil movies of the yore.

Karthi is dashing but compared to his previous two movie here he has nothing to do as far as the acting is concerned & same goes for Thamanna too . Milind Soman is wasted in such a banal role.

Kanal Kannan’s stunts are stylish & are a treat to the eyes especially the car chases with the one just before the interval just too good. It wouldn’t have made such an impact if not for some amazing cinematography from Madhi . He has done a stupendous job too.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is the major reason for the opening the movie got with all the songs topping the charts for couple of months now. “Thuli Thuliyai ” , “Yen Kadhal Solla ” & “Adada adada adai mazhada” are gems.

On the whole , “Paiyya ” joins the list of movies which after being hyped a great deal turning out to be a bummer .

Bottomline : Very average .

2.5 / 5

ANGADI THERU

My Review: ANGADI THERU





“Angadi Theru” is a worthy follow-up to “Veyil ” from Vasanthabalan. Movie captivates the audience with it’s authentic portrayal of life beneath all those humongous shops that adorn Ranganathan street , ever-busy buzzing locality of T.Nagar. It depicts the joys , sorrows , trials & tribulations that embellish such shops. It is definite that anyone who happen to watch this movie will undergo a change in their outlook towards the salespersons or else their anatomy is devoid of any modicum of flesh. And credit for it goes to the writer-director Vasanthabalan,

Movie has many moments of emotional intensity that will surely draw a tear or two & not many may succeed in coming out of the hall without a secretion of their lachrymal gland in any of those scenes. Even in couple of sequences which is intended for humour will draw tears like that one in the mess when Mahesh & Pandi go to lunch for the first time . But the movie can’t be categorized as a tear jerker for it has many sequences that may uplift our spirits. The manner in which a jobless youth invent a job for himself , many of those one-liners from that visually impaired elder , Chinnaponnu’s response to her baby’s condition (this one brought the auditorium to raptures ) , the finale , so on.

On the down side , there is overt villainisation of the supervisor & owner of the shop .Also pathos seem to be contrived at some sequences especially the fate of the heroine towards the end . But it is heartening to note that this time no one dies in the end which is the wont usually in such “realistic” movies.

That the movie is capable of drawing myriad of emotions from the viewers is not only due to the Writing & direction but the credit must also go to all the actors who have done very good jobs themselves. Mahesh has belied his inexperience & comes out with a knockout performance as does Anjali who looks very beautiful after “Katradhu Tamil” (albeight without any make-up which made her look pathetic in other movies of her’s.) Pandi , A.Venkatesh , Pazha.Karupaiah , the one’s who come as Shopia Mary , Sowndarapandian & his lover, & each and every small characters that live through the street have all have been pillars of strength to the director’s vision.

“Aval appadi ondrum” stays in our heart long after the movie is over while backgroung score of Vijay antonym may have been better for it gets repetitive.

During the 150 minutes we are theatre we get a feeling of as though we are in the Ranganathan street & traveling with those characters & credit for that must go to the cinematographer Richard Maria Nathan along with the director. Count on him , he will sure go places.

On the whole , “Angadi Theru ” is reason why people still classify movies as ART.

Bottomline: Hard-hitting.

4/5.

MATHIYOSI

My Review : MATHIYOSI





Nandha Periyasamy’s “Mathiyosi ” based on the caste conflicts that are abound in the south Tamilnadu is a well written movie but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Direction is pathetic ,old fashioned , full of clichés & stereotypes which leaves the movie high & dry . As far the story is concerned , though it follows the movies like “Renigunta ” ,”Subramanyapuram” in dealing with youth bent on violence , Nandha Periyasamy’s social consciousness shows in his pragmatic portrayal of the caste discrimination & it’s ramifications.

Another strong point of the movie is the fine acting from the actors concerned. Harish , Gokul , Alex , Shammu & Ravi Mariyah have done wonderfully well while others are not left behind. Here & there overt histrionics take over which spoil the good work done in general.

Guru Kalyan’s music has nothing in it to write about while Vijay Armstrong’s camera work is laudable.

One gets a doubt while watching the movie why director has chosen the title “Mathiyosi” for he has not that himself except for his touch on the casteism . Movie starts of well & intriguing in the first half but once the story travels to Chennai it fails to sustain interest.

On the whole , “Mathiyosi ” can be watched once especially for it’s noble intentions.

Bottomline: Not different .

3/5