AADHAVAN

My Review: Aadhavan



“Aadhavan ” from the combo of K.S.Ravikumar & Suriya , both riding on a successful upward tide has raised expectations right from its beginning. Whether the movie lives up to the expectations is partially in the affirmative. The movie is a routine K.S. Ravikumar formula of a family entertainer with heavy doses of action. What keeps the movie interested is Vadivelu & only him.

First half is racy with rib tickling comedy thanks mainly to Vadivelu & Suriya to some extent & gets over even before you realize . Sadly the second half peters out into a mundane affair without any ingenuity where the director has borrowed heavily from the movies of yesteryears .

Suriya is good in his role of an assassin with a past . But when each & every one time & again compares him with M.G.R., Shivaji , Rajini & Kamalhassan it becomes irritating.

Nayanthara don’t have much to do in a shake- a – leg –wet-the-eyes role.

Vadivelu is the real hero of the movie without whom the movie would have become very much boring. He revels in the role of Banner’ji & he is there onscreen almost throughout the movie. The manner in which he gets caught on camera time & again plotting to kill his boss is a scream.

SarojaDevi is more of a caricature than anything else. Sad to see a legend as she is reduced to such an insipid role.

Movie has a whole loads of supporting actors who do their jobs without any fuss.

In Harris Jayaraj’s music couple of songs are good.

Ra.Ganesh’s Cinematography is stylish.

Movie has K.S.Ravikumar stamp all over it but it gets redundant after a point. His dialogues are funny & lively which keeps the movie going.

On the whole , first half is good but second is tiring.

Bottomline: Vadivelu the saviour.

3/5

PERANMAI

My Review: Peranmai





“Peranmai ” lives up to the reputation of being a S.P.Jhananathan movie.He has once again taken up a topical issue & plotted it well into a story & screenplay (credited to Kalyanakrishnan )and presented in a palatable manner.The movie is high on intentions , adequate on the technology front & making wise .That the movie is devoid of any romantic interludes or duets despite having 5 heroines & a romantic hero is big relief .

Jayam Ravi shines in the role of a young forest officer who belongs to the tribal community.He is restrained in his portrayal & that elevates the impact of his characterization. It is such a surprise to see an action movie without even an iota of heroism , infact the hero is humiliated to the core right through the first half.Also the manner in which his superior officer gain all the accolades & awards bypassing the real person who did all the hard work is shown in a hard hitting manner & realistic to the day to day happenings.

Movie has 5 female leads, chosen more for their acting prowess rather than on their looks have done good jobs. Especially Saranya & Vasundhara shine in their roles.

Ponvannan & Urvashi give ample support while Vadivelu comes in more of a serious role than much comedy.

Much hyped Hollywood actor Roland Kickinger as the antagonist doesn’t live up to the hype in an underwritten role.

Vidhyasagar is the music director & it’s been ages since he gave music of any notice & he continues in that vein here too.

S.R.Sathiskumar’s cinematography is very good & thinking of how much toil he must have undergone in shooting in such inhospitable terrains is a great achievement .The movie is a visual splendour & celebration of nature.

All said & done , where the movie lacks or lags is in the dialogues – which are very crude & B-gradish [almost as crude patriotism as that in “Gadar – the prem katha ”] overdose of patriotism & racial profiling . Lewd dialogues from the mouth of the girls too adding to the hum din [censor have mercilessy butcherd almost 20% of the dialogues..!].

Also the manner in which Ravi takes a lecture before each & every step becomes irritating after a point of time which gives a feel of watching Discovery channel rather than a movie. Ponvannan’s uncalled-for action on the tribals is contrived .

If only Jhana has removed such irritants & reduced the length of the movie to 90 mins or so , “Peranmai ” would have become a “cult” movie of the south. But what we got is a movie high on ideas but dragged down the aisle by the routine commercial considerations or should we say the maker’s indulgence.

Bottomline : Peranmai = 40% Pudhumai + 60% Palamai

3/5