Enakku Innoru Per Irukku

My review: Enakku Innoru Per Irukku

The hit team of "Darling" is back with their second movie "Enakku Innoru Per Irukku" (EIPI). Sam Anton who showed glimpse of his comical prowess in his debut seems to have perfected it in his second venture, EIPI. On the outset if you are the one who looks out for logic, political correctness and morality in cinema, then you can just avoid this movie because it has none. It is a comical-gangster story in which showcases how a haemophobic wastrel becomes the next don aka naina aka godfather of Royapuram. 

First half is non-stop laughathon. Sam has taken recourse to every genre of comedy possible be it, slapstick, farce, parody, satire, blue, word play or even dark comedy to keep the audience in splits. The sequence which satires the "super singer" audition, the spoof of many gangster movies, the intelligent use of famous punchlines in comical of situations, the whole bride seeking sequence are few examples of wonderfully written and staged stretches that evokes laughter to the extent that it hurts your tummy.

On the other hand, the second half fails to emulate its predecessor as the movie takes a dichotomous route with the serious portions taking over and the comical portions not that impressive. As the mood is set so light in the first half and the continues in that  vein in the second too, the serious portions fails to create any impact, Even the what could have been wonderful mass transformation moments in the second half towards the climax seem less impactful and play out like episodes from "Lollu Sabha". But in the end, you don't come of the theatre unsatisfied. Movie entertains and people who crave for it would be satisfied. 

There is a tremendous improvement in the overall development of G.V. Prakashkumar as an actor. He emotes well, dialogue delivery has improved by leaps and bounds and tries his hand at dancing too well. Ananthi is good in the limited portions that she gets to perform. Yogi Babu is the show stealer among the support cast which has lots of promising names in it. His physique, dialogue delivery and timing harmoniously lends a stupendous hand to the effectiveness of his effort in evoking laughter, which he does in tonnes. This movie is sure going to be a game changer in Babu's career. Another promising actor who evokes notice is Vijay Varadharaj, a youtube sensation with "Temple monkeys". His effortless miming comedy is another asset to the movie. Saravanan, V.T.V. Ganesh, Rajendran (who is fast emerging as one of the most sought  after comedian at least in terms of the theatre response ), Nirosha, Karunas, Charlie, among others have given admirable support. 

The remix dependent songs and back ground score gels well with the mood of the movie and having the lead protagonist compose music for the movie helps. Technically movie looks top class with good cinematography by Krishnan Vasant, especially the special mention to the fact the most of the movie happens in the night or poorly lit atmosphere and his visuals are flawless. 

On the whole, "Enakku Innoru Per Irukku" is a light weight movie that will surely hurt your tummy laughing. 

Bottomline: Unpretentious laughathon 

3.5

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