Thavamai Thavamirundhu

In the current era of commercial “masala” films reining the Kollywood Empire, it’s really a god’s gift to get to view movies like TT. Hats off to Cheran for presenting an excellent masterpiece that would keep you engrossed for full 3and a half hours. He is always known for making offbeat films and has won awards for almost all his movies. TT comes after his “Autograph”, last year’s biggest blockbuster and so it is bound to create much hype and hoopla. Ultimately it has not only lived up to the expectations but can be classified as one of the classics of Tamil cinema.

Muttiah(Raj kiran) is a kind and affectionate father who would do anything for his two sons (cheran and senthil).He rides them to school on his bicycle ,goes to work in the same city and doesn’t worry about the pains involved in the task. Both the sons are equally loved by their mother(Charanya). As time flies the sons grow big and Muttiah runs from pillar to post for their educational expenses. But the two of them have no respect for their father’s hardships and are inclined towards enjoying the fun of youth. Later the elder one (senthil) gets a job in a leather company and starts earning. Instead of ending his father’s debt he spends them on unwanted things. Finally he gets married and there is a constant feud between the bride and mother. So they decide to shift to another place leaving the parents. Meanwhile cheran too joins an engg college and naturally falls in love with Padmapriya. Circumstances lead them to get physical and the girl gets pregnant. Cheran decides to move to the city with Padma and search for a job .Both his parents have no acquaintance of these happenings. At one point muttiah learns of his son’s wretched life in the city and gives him a surprise visit . Cheran begs for forgiveness and muttiah feels sorry for his sufferings. They (Cheran and padma) later go to his home and win over the mother also through their new born child. Step by Step they get a job and earn a comfortable position in life. They bring the parents to the city and gratify them to the fullest. How life goes on and the parents ultimately find their respective places in heaven forms the remaining.

One of the biggest highlight of the movie is Rajkiran. As a small kid I have always viewed this man as some psychotic person with protruding eyes, arrogant look and always beating up the baddies. But this performance proves how wrong I’m. He surely portrayed his acting strength in “nanda” and “pandavar bhoomi” but here he has lived the character of Muttiah. The sadness in his eyes and the tension in his nerves in various scenes are so realistic. Especially the last few words he utters before his death are sure to stay alive in our minds for a long time. All the credit goes to cheran for squeezing the real stuff out of Rajkiran. It is really a tough task to grade his performance and in the process you may go out of words. So I would like to be as concise as possible. Charanya too handles the mother role with ease. Cheran matures as an actor here. Padmapriya and the remaining cast are apt in their respective roles.


Another point worth noting is the excellent cinematography. The camera focus and movements are so brilliant. Cheran must also be appreciated for the indigenous handling of the music. He has given a musical touch to every element in the movie. In a nutshell we must be really lucky to have master creators like Cheran just like Hollywood which still holds its head high with prodigies like Spielberg and Peter Jackson

King Kong

Hollywood has been facing a glum period so far with most of its movies (including Spielberg’s “War of worlds”) failing at the BO. So one would expect it to come with all its guns firing towards the end of the year when the Christmas fever is at its peak and ultimately it has managed to present the perfect gift for the jovial festival. Peter Jackson is back after the much acclaimed “Lord of the rings” saga and he is back with a bang. Before I stepped into the theater my ideas about the film were

1. It’s going to be an out and out monster movie.
2. A psychotic ape will devastate any thing on it’s way
3. Finally it will go on the top of a 100 feet building, drum it’s chest and eventually the military would enter the scene and kill it.
But after I exited the hall I badly regretted for downgrading this film. There are a lot of genres in cinema like action, comedy, romance, drama, thriller, monster etc. I’m still not able to figure out what category this movie falls into. It seems to have a dose of almost everything. All this credit goes to the ingenious Jackson. He has constructed a fully satisfying 3 hour epic which I had been yearning for a long time from H’wood.
Normally movies with overloaded hype don’t do well but Jackson has disproved this theory by leaps and bounds. His deftness has been proved by making an extraordinary movie with an ordinary plot.

It is the depression period and people are suffering for food and water. Financial troubles put filmmaker Jack Black (don’t know his name in the movie) out of business but his hunger for fame, money and glory doesn’t end. He plans to somehow complete his movie by shooting it in a remote island. He finds his leading lady in Ann (Naomi watts), a comedy play artist and arranges for a ship to travel to the island. He also manages to lure his script writer, James (Adrian brody), into the ship with the scent of money. They finally reach the island and discover it to be an inferno of rotten skeletons and carcasses. But little they know what else is in store for them.

The natives of the island start to attack them but the crew overcomes them with guns and arms. But the islanders somehow get hold of Ann and bait her as a piece of sacrifice to the gigantic ape, King Kong. But Kong develops high emotions for her and takes care of her. He acts as her savior when she is attacked by dinosaurs and other eccentric creatures. Particularly the action scene involving Kong and the two T-Rexes is damn gripping. Meanwhile the other crew members search for Ann and in the process many of them get devoured by the weird beasts present there. At one point they give up but James, who loves Ann, goes on with the search. He finds her and they both manage to escape from Kong (thanks to the bats!!!!). But our ape doesn’t give up and chases them and eventually gets trapped by Black and his men. Black brings Kong to the city and exhibits him as the eight wonder of the world. During the exhibit Kong gets provoked, breaks the chains locking him and enters the streets and there is complete mayhem in the city. He somehow finds Ann, who also has by now developed a friendly relation with the ape and takes her to the top of the Empire State building. The army gets alerted and they attack Kong from all directions even though Ann shouts at them to go away. Unable to withstand the pain of countless bullets piercing his body Kong lets go and falls a 100 feet.

What is so alluring about this movie is that Peter has given a human touch to the ape. All the emotions of anger, jealousy, bravery and even kindness have been imbibed in the ape. The scene in which he plays with Ann by pushing her and then laughing heartily is fascinating. Also the scene where he turns away his face expressing his anger and the end scene where he evokes a feeling of pity and mercy among us are equally good. Another point worth noting is that in the direst situations, there is an element of subtle humor. The scene where jack tries to attract a native child with a chocolate bar bears testimony to this and also the dinosaur chase sequence is equally both thrilling and funny. Jack either leaves us in splits or at least makes us smolder a smile whenever he appears. Baxter, the hero of Jack’s movie is also hilarious.

Graphics are at their best in the movie. I don’t know how they made the island natives look more ghastly than the beasts. The cameraman deserves special mention .the way he is handled the camera when Kong leaps from one place to another and also the swift shifting of the scenes depict great skill and experience. Overall “King Kong” is a 3 hr joy ride and you don’t feel bored even for a second. All this has made me more eager for Peter’s next venture.

Kandha Naal Mudhal

Oh man really, indha movie “kandha naal mudal” ennaku thalai suttudu .We all would have heard the proverb that a rotten apple spoils the whole basket and you cannot find a much better interpretation of this quote as in this movie. Laila is the rotten apple here and she has practically destroyed the entire film. It has got a sublime story and a blend of good actors like laxmi, revathi and even prassana but still her frequent appearance (being the heroine) makes the movie irksome. She is capable of giving out expressions only when she is hot under the collar at the hero and during the rest she is absolutely blank and stupid. She has been in the industry for 5 years and still she is not able to get familiar with the language and also she has not yet given us a convincing performance.

Ok now about the story. Pretty simple Ramya (laila) and Prassana are always at loggerheads right from their childhood. The same conditions start to prevail even after they meet after 20 years. How their encounters gradually develops to friendship and naturally ends in wedlock forms the rest. We also have a Yankee dude (Karthikkumar) who is prassanas best friend. Prassana has been brought up by Karthiks family (laxmi and co) and hence he will do anything for them. Ramya’s family (Revathy and co) wants her to get married to Karthik. Ditto in the case of karthik’s side. At first sight itself Karthik and Ramya say yes and the engagement also takes place. As Karthik comes to know get he realizes that she is not the perfect match for him. The reason is that Ramya in order to impress him agrees to all of his views in various subjects and hence Kartik says that he doesen’t want a dumb girl like her and he feels there is no “chemistry between them”. He asks to postpone the marriage for 6 months just for the contentment of the parents but tells out his real intentions of not being interested in the marriage to Ramya in the airport while he is leaving to the States. She thinks that Prassana is behind all this. Meanwhile Ramyas sister gets eloped with her lover. This results in Revathy getting a heart attack and being admitted to a hospital. Now Ramya is confused on how to tell about her broken marriage to her mother. She passes this shock to her father who advises her to keep it n secret till revathy recovers. Now prassana, who is always a good guy, helps her out in this tough task and eventually they end up falling for each other. Now prassana has also got to look at kartiks parent’s intentions as it is they who have provided him with the life he is living. So in a state of dilemma he somehow convinces Kartik that Ramya is the best bet for him. Whether Ramya and prassana get to listen the wedding bells for each other under these critical conditions forms the climax.

Prassana is evolving well as an actor. He is one guy who can make it big in the industry. He had given a good performance in “Azhagiya theeeye” and is much better and mature here. He also handles the humor part pretty well. Hats off to this man who made this movie quite entertaining with a silly co artist (laila).Laxmi, Revathy, Kartik and the rest have played their part well. Yuvan’s music is as melodious as ever. I’m perplexed not to find an element of PC sreerams adept cinematography in any part except the songs. Another disappointment is why an ace actor like Prakashraj decided to produce a movie with such an ordinary plot. I advise u guys not believe the Hindu’s punch line that this move is to relish like a good cup of coffee. Where is the element of refreshment if the coffee has no sugar or milk huh??????????

Ghajini

At last one of the most eagerly expected movies of the year has finally made it to the screens after a hell lot of delays. AR Murgadoss after proving his dexterity in “Ramana” proves again in “Ghajini” that he is no run of the mill guy. He has crafted a deft, taut thriller in “ghajini” and has lived up to the expectations of the viewers. With “Chandramuki” and “anniyan” being classified as psychological thrillers, this too falls into the same category but is different with its own style and structure.

Sanjay Ramsamy (Surya) suffers from short term memory loss after being hit on the head with an iron bar. HE is not able to store anything in his mind for more than 15 mins. How he follows his daily routine is brought out in a lurid way. He has only one mission in life and that is to find out the man behind his condition and who is also the killer of his lover, Kalpana (Asin). He implements awesome techniques like tattooing to keep track of his requirements. Whenever he is on the hunt, he keeps himself well equipped with electronic gadgets like camera and digital alarm. He misses his target several times by nailing the wrong persons. Consequently the villain (Pratap rawat) is baffled at all these happenings and in turn he tries to discover who is behind this. Meanwhile a cop (riyaz) investigates the murders and finds out that sanjay is the wanted guy. He ransacks his house to find valuable evidence against him and through this he gets hold of Sanjay’s diary. It is revealed in the diary that sanjay is a rich business tycoon and tells of his attraction to the model Kalpana and their friendship blossoming into love. His memoirs are then again narrated when Nayantara, a medical student interested in sanjay’s peculiar case, finds his other diary where he continues his relationship with Kalpana. On further examination Nayanthara and Co learn that Kalpana was brutally murdered and Sanjay badly injured in the incident. So she provides vital assistance to Sanjay to help him nab his man. How Sanjay with all his disabilities tracks down his villain forms the crux of the story.


Surya after a comic role in “Mayaavi” has put forward a marvelous performance in two completely different avatars. We can notice a sharp contrast between the businessman surya and the patient affected surya. The scene where he is flabbergasted to find that the man he is tracking is twins clearly indicates his potent acting caliber. Surprisingly the limelight is also shared by Asin. The scenes in which she plays pranks with her ad director and co artistes are cute. Even her comic encounters with surya not knowing that he is the real sanjay were also hilarious. She has really got a great future in kollywood and she has proved this with only 3 films in her bag. As for Nayantara she is the weak point of the movie. Who the hell suggested her to wear modern clothes??????? She looks damn fat and flabby and the “X Machi” song in which she happily exposes her navel is so disgusting. Pratap Rawat could have acted more human. Why is he portrayed like an animal????? I really don’t get it.

The music is mediocre. “SUTTRUM VIZI” and “oru malai” are worth hearing. The climax action scene is worth noting. It has been shot in an exquisite manner with the camera rotating appropriately at various instances. Overall sanjay may not remember anything after 15 mins but this movie will be afresh in our minds for more than 15 years or even longer than that.

ABCD

What a title! Quite innovative isn’t it. Saravana Subbiah (the director) returns after a long gap from his debut washout “Citizen” and one can assure that this movie is going to face the same fate. He has created one hell of a blunder with this project. The title refers to the starting letters of the four main characters: Anand (Shaam), Bharathi (Some female), Chandra (Sneha) and Divya (Aparna).Anand is a typical job searching youth. He lives as a tenant in Chandra’s house. Chandra after being badgered by her husband (Subbiah) returns to her house (after his death) fully clad in a colorful sari and festooned in jewels .Quite intriguing huh? She and Anand develop a close friendship and at various instances she recalls her husband’s torturing acts. Meanwhile enter two characters in his life: Divya and Bharathi.Bharathi is a working woman who has the burden of earning the bread and butter for her family of 6.Her father deserted them when she was a little child. So she has a biased view that men are stone hearted and cruel. But Shaam with his soft and tender nature proves that her theory is wrong and the consequence is that she too starts to woo him. In addition we have Divya who is an orphan and has been grown in a church. She meets with an accident and Anand admits her in a hospital, the outcome of which she too falls for him. Whom our Romeo cares for forms the climax and the winner is…………………Chandra. This we come to know at the movies last moments.

It seems that the director has deliberately made this movie a pain in the ass for the viewer. I mean the scenes lack the vigor and liveliness, the actors barring Sneha are impotent in expressing their emotions, the songs are a racket to the ears and ultimately the whole backdrop of the movie is insipid. Vadivels comic track was a bit fun but this is not him at his best as in Chandramuki or Sachin. Subbiah joins the list of directors who has a farce dream of making it big in acting. C’mon man not all u guys are a Cheran or even a SJ surya. In a nutshell if u guys r having an idea to go for a movie doesn’t even ever commit a blunder by selecting this crap.

Aaru

Before we go into this movie let us have a look at director Hari’s career. He created a blockbuster in “Samy”, mediocre ventures in “Tamil”, “kovil” and “Ayya” and eventually a blunder in “Arul”. So what class does Aaru fall into? One might expect that with Surya’s star presence, he might have scored a perfect sixer with Aaru. But sorry guys the bitter truth is that the duo have been bowled out for a duck. Surya after a scintillating performance as the suave business tycoon as well as the disciplined short term memory loss patient in “ghajini” steps into the shoes of a local rowdy in Aaru and I find the transition quite unsuitable for a romantic hero like him. Presently he is at the peak of his career donning many versatile roles. As a rule in Tamil cinema stars often prefer to don a rogue’s character when they taste the fruits of success. Rajini did it, Vijay did it, Vikram’s rough and tough “Sethu” sparked off his career, and Simbu after “Manmadhan” success played a rowdy in “Thoti jaya”. And does surya fare well? It is a dimension he has never entered before (Nanda an exception) and I would brand this as his first out and out commercial action flick. The story, as you might have guessed, is about a local rowdy Aaru (surya) brought up in the den of a bigger don (Ashis Vidyarti), mainly by his maternal sister (Malavika). Aaru has all the love and affection for Ashis but the latter regards him in the standards of a servant and decides to get him killed in some circumstances. Aaru learns this somehow and then starts a tit for tat game of revenge. Trisha is mainly a supplement to the movie (as is the case in most of her films) just for the romance scenes and showing off her hip. But I really appreciate her running capabilities in the song and police chase sequences. She can be our next PT Usha. Ishwarya, Kalabavan Mani and Ashi’s brothers (whoever the heck they are) are shouting at the top of their lungs throughout the movie. Think they swallowed a couple of loudspeakers before their takes. Vadivel’s comedy doesn’t send the funny bone tickling and you feel that he is going over the same stuff again and again. This is what happens if you don’t have a control over the number of movies you are acting in.
So it is naturally Surya who takes the cake. He manages to speak the slum dialect efficiently though quite fast. But he enacts the soft and romantic scenes with more ease and skill. He is certainly one actor to watch for but as a big admirer of this guy I feel he need not have done this movie. Of course he did a similar character in nanda but it wasn’t as loud as our aaru here. In kakha kakha too he played a cop who is calm and composed. So it would be better to spot Surya when the backdrop is serene and placid.
Devi Sri Prasad’s music doesn’t set your foot tapping. Only the “Paarkada” song is honey to the ears. Language is very strong and it has become a salient feature of a Hari movie. Violence is also too thick. What’s the use of having gore violence with no other element to back it up Hari????????????????