Nadunissi Naaygal

My review :Nadunissi Naaygal





The pack may be glossy, state of the art, wonderfully coloured, attracting to the eyes, produced with aid of latest of technologies. But in the end of the day if the pack contains only poison, then what is the use of making the pack so sleek & lustrous , never mind the statuary warning written in an illegible font in one corner of the pack. That sums up Gautham Vasudev Menon’s latest offering “Nadunissi Naaygal ” .

Technically the movie is on par with the best of bests. Right from the first shots of the movie it is clear that technical team of the movie has done a fabulous job of it. Manoj Paramahamsa’s cinematography is top notch , especially the colouring & the gloss as well some of the novel camera angles he has tried , awesome is the word. Art direction & DI of the movie makes the movie watching experience grand.

If only Gautham Vasudev Menon , the writer has thought of something novel & new , the end product would have been one of the best done in the country. On the contrary by taking recourse in to the old sadistic thrillers of the yore & joining the bandwagon of portraying the mentally ill persons as dangerous & psychopathic, Gautham has done no good for those who are working tirelessly for to alleviate the stigma associated with mentally ill & mental illness. The disclaimer in the end does no good as enough harm has been done already.

As far as acting goes except Sameera Reddy who has done a decent job as the damsel in distress , amateurishness is writ large as far as the rest of the cast are concerned. It is as if the other actors were given old “psycho” movies for them to rehearse before they started filming the movie.

Veera tries to imitate all those cult psychologically challenged roles like that of Kamal Hassan of “Sivapu Rojakkal ” , Pratap Pothan of “Moodupani” , Dhanush of “Kadhal Kondaen” , Simbu of “Manmadhan”...so on. Swapna who plays the caretaker & godmother of the protagonist , is graceful in her normal avatar but suddenly turns hopelessly out of place in her other role of the instigator.

That Gautham has managed to keep up with the thrills sans background music is a laudable achievement in itself & his courage and gumption in this regard warrant a standing ovation. Also as far as the screenplay goes , movie is lucid & travels at an optimum pace with no place for yawn in between.

The problem with the movie is the content & hence it doesn’t stand a chance in the box-office because it right away shoos away family audience as well as female audience. And finally anyone who compares this movie with “Sivappu Rojakkal” must be despised with cause it was done aesthetically which is what missing here in “ Nadunissi Naaygal”.

On the whole , “Nadunissi Naaygal” is technically brilliant but thematically appalling.

Bottomline : For your sadistic pleasure...!

2.5/5

Thambikottai

My Review : Thambikottai



The opening scene in which the brother of one of the city’s most dangerous rowdies teases newly joined lecturer (!) in a filthy language. It is followed by 2 minutes full of punch dialogue mouthed by the lecturer eulogising the hero who incidentally is the brother of the lecturer . Next shot a pulsar bikes pounces on one of the villan’s henchmen & the hero enter into the scene in a ritualistic manner camera panning from the leg upwards..! “Poduvaga enmanasu thangam” resonating in the background as the hero takes on the villan & his gangs...!!!

Uff...! “Thambikottai” is a routine masala caper without anything new whatsoever. Movie is debut for the director Ammu Ramesh who has taken it in a ritualistic fashion Tamil Cinema for the last 75 years has got used to. In the days of “Aadukalam” , “Yutham Sei” & “Payanam” where the directors have tried to think out of the box , Ammu Ramesh has strictly stuck onto a story as old as hills.

One wonders what made Naren choose this subject considering the time he has taken (or wasted) in such a banal attempt. He does his part well but there is nothing novel to take notice of.

Poonam Bajwa in a strictly proverbial role heroines of Tamil Cinema have got used to ,has done her job well.

Shanthanam has done a good job as ever. He is the only solace for the viewers & he keeps the movie in good humour.

Sangetha hams as does Rajenendran while Prabhu & Meena aquaints themselves well.

D.Iman’s music is nothing to take note of while Cinematography by Kannan is supportive to the director.

Ammu Ramesh tried to play it safe in his first movie. Though he shows flashes of promise in comedy sequences , he needs to work a lot in as far as screenplay & novelty are concerned .

On the whole , “Thambikottai” is a hackneyed , prosaic ,mundane , pedestrian , clichéd , trite....what not.

Bottomline : AVOID..!

1.5/5

Payanam

My Review : Payanam




Radha Mohan has tried to travel in the unfamiliar terrains for the first time in “Payanam” which is an action thriller whilst his previous 3 movies were feel good family entertainers. It is refreshing that the director has tried to break away from the mould but that he is clearly uncomfortable in handling an action subject with elan shows.

Movie though set in an novel backdrop & managed to do away with the routine hero-heroine pattern as well as songs , the backdrop gets tiring after a while. Agreed it is a very difficult job to sustain the interest of the viewers in such kind of subject , RadhaMohan could have thought something out of the box rather than taking recourse to his trademark comical oneliners which doesn’t gel well with the movie of this genre.

Movie has an artificiality writ large all over it & in some places the happening borders on a stage drama like. Though they have tried hard to showcase the production values as high as possible unfortunately the averageness of it comes out . Though the director manages to pump in the adrenaline here & there , they are very few to warrant any significance. Also the recourse to melodrama , contrived nationalistic jingoism & comedy in the most unwarranted of sequences makes “Payanam” a very average travel.

As far as the ensemble cast goes Nagarjuna , Prakashraj , M.S.Baskar , Kumaravel , Chaams shines in their roles . Others in the cast are adequate though those who play the terrorist hams & overacts.

Background score of Praveen Mani hurts the viewers ear drums. It’s a very average work by the Musician , may be Radha should have stuck on with Vidhyasagar one more time.

K.V.Guhan’s cinematography is good & manages to infuse frenzy into the happenings.

On the whole , “Payanam” is a strictly average offering from the makers of such remarkable movies like “Azhagiya Theeye ” , “Mozhi” & “Abhiyum Naanum”.

Bottomline: an arduous journey...!

2.5/5

Yutham Sei

My Review : Yutham Sei



“ Yudham Sei “ is yet another thriller from Myshkin presented in a lyrical manner. Myshkin seems to have mastered the act of presenting an action-thriller in a poetic style which did with elan in “Anjathey” . Though the movie has the “Anjathey ” hangover all through , “Yutham Sei” keeps one at the edge of the seat right from the scene one to the last. Though the screenplay is slow paced , Myshkin succeeds in weaving a storyline which engages the viewer glued to the screen all through.

The basic plot is strikingly similar to that of Sasikumar’s latest dud “Eesan” .The basic difference is the clarity of thought & purpose shown by Myshkin which was totally lacking in the former which led to its downfall.The background research is thorough & almost all the medical jargon mouthed in the movie is authentic & to the point .The manner in which director has managed to showcase reality is awesome though some sequences may be off-putting for many.

Myskhin has once again done away with the structuralistic model of Tamil cinema in that there is a protagonist who is not that all powerful but has his own shares of vulnerabilities & greyishness. There is no heroine or a comedian as such as well as there is no duets or romantic angles.This clarity of purpose that the director has shown coupled with courage shown by the producers in supporting that purpose has culminated into such a thoroughly enjoyable movie for the movie buffs.

One scene worth mentioning among many is that fight sequences in which Cheran takes on the assassins with just a nail-cutter.This will go on as one of the best action sequence of Indian cinema history.

One can only see the policeman J.K onscreen not actor Cheran which is in itself speaks volumes of the manner in which he has acquainted well with the character. Almost every other character is well casted & the actors have done credibly well. Be it Selva , Y.G.Mahendra , Lakshmi Ramakrishna , Jayaprakash , Manickam Vianayagam or the new comer Dipa Shah & many other unknown artists , the whole cast has performed exceedingly well.

Cinematography by Satya is another brawny point why this movie is a must watch. He has strictly followed Myshkin style of film making .The numerous low angle shots as well as the slow-motion shots which has become a signature style of Myskin is abound here too. Can’t help the thought that the low angle shots may be a bit overdone here .

Music is by K , which again has the typical Myshkin tough all through. Basically who ever the music director may be the background score of all Myshkin movies follow the same pattern. More so that invariably the dialogues are bare minimum & the music has to fill-in in most of the places which it does commendably.

To sum it up , “Yutham Sei ” is yet another movie from Myshkin which will make Tamil Cinema proud among the larger audience .Though he seems to have got trapped in to his own stereotypical mould , the end product is still worthy . May be he should try to break from the mould of his in the future , else his movies make become hackneyed .

Bottomline : Commendable.

4/5