moviereviews

Aarya-2

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:32:00 +0000

Aarya has just talked a villainous fiancé of Geetha into helping them and as the four elope in a car, Geetha sneezes; immediately three hands with kerchief emerge. This kind of comedy is all Aarya-2 is about. Aarya-2 is not another episode in Aarya, Ajay and Geetha’s life. It’s about people like Aarya, Ajay and Geetha who go through the same things like in Aarya. While Aarya now is a calculative selfless person (oh yes, those two characters can exist together!), Geetha and Ajay essay the same role of innocent girl torn between two guys and brainless loser respectively.

With such contrasting traits its Aarya, whose unconventional “striking like a thunderbolt” schemes and reactions to each situation (sometimes just for the sake of creating a comedy and at times pleasantly surprising) that works for the better of the movie, which otherwise could have been a boredom had it been amateurishly handled by Sukumar & Allu Arjun. From a rowdy friend to Mr. Perfect to an obsessive lover & friend on the nayward side to a true friend who is torn between self need & sacrifice, Aarya’s character (akin to Ravi Teja’s Kick) has all that Bunny needs to make his female fanatics keep whistling throughout the movie. What with difficult dance movements being displayed at élan and grace truly interspersed with the flow; like when Aarya sees Geetha’s picture with a miscreant whom he had just bashed with unreal flare like a true hero should, jumps into air and into a song, making the audience howl in frenzy with his steps what should have been just climbing up and down the stairs.

When all these are occupying our mind, who has time to think as to why should Aarya uses a ghost like car to beat everyone or why the compulsive friendship of Aarya towards Ajay is hackneyed or why … oh sorry I forgot the flaws.

Kurbaan

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:25:00 +0000

Concise version:

With the promotional team spilling us everything about the movie, there is no surprise when Eshaan locks Avantika after she finds out about the true colours of her neighbours. Instead we were waiting for the clichéd cupid love to get over and the movie to really begin. With on you face hints like when Avantika writes her address and the number of the flight in question, we were hoping for something gripping, but what we end up seeing are the ever lasting scenes just because the director had the vision that lingering the moment in the audience’s mind (not caring to convey what should be conveyed) is classy, thanks to the poor or absence of words when you need them. Ignoring the mediocrities that unfold, be it the operative nature of the FBI or the terrorists or for that matter an over indulgent reporter who becomes plain stupid to avenge for his fiancé death by infiltrating them, and if you try to look into the movie as an emotional tangle the director doesn’t let us do that too as he pushes Avantika out of the picture making this movie into a glossy non-detailed rambling of a pre-terrorist attack. If the director had wanted to use the star value to create an uncompromisable tale of love and jihad, he ends up making a mess wasting a lot of well written sequences which could have become classic had the things associated to it helped. Even with all the loose ends its Vivek and Kareena’s ernest efforts that stays in our mind long after the movie is over, overcoming the artificial seriousness that becomes so self indulging to a point that we don’t care if a character dies or cries. Yet we feel for Avantika when she pleads Eshaan to reveal his real name as he is dying. Wish there were more of such moments in this long drawn out film.

Detailed version:

There is a scene in the movie where Avantika runs home on finding about the true colour of her neighbours who are chasing her. They break in eventually and as the tension built up, Eshaan (with whom she had entered this world after the heavily sugar coated (s)cupid love seasoned with all the cliches) turns up ushering her in, from the balcony, into a twist in the tale. But we don’t feel it as the marketing team had already told us Eshaan is a terrorist. As the film nears end, we start to think where is that “controversial love making scene” hoping at least that part of the movie will be something to remember. When Reyaz requests Avantika to somehow get a document from Eshaan: cut; as anyone can guess, the oldest cliché of seducing a terrorist to peak into the document unfolds with Kareena doing a “yeh mera dil” act instead of being an emotional Avantika.

With marketing doing the needed damage before entering the hall, the direction does the rest with a tad too long lingering moments with minimal dialogue for each everlasting scene, assuming that is all is needed to make a classy scene ending up making us think about the stupidity that is unfolding. Stupidity because, what else can you call when the FBI which has a clear picture of a treacherous terrorist well knowing that he has entered their country recently, doesn’t run a search in the recent immigrant list, for Eshaan according to his “so called” plan enters the country as a civilian without any disguise; instead when caught hold of a female corpse whose left side face is damaged beyond recognition, rather than simulating the left side using the clear right side, magically creates a crystal clear photograph of her (maybe FBI did have the technology to travel back in time to take a snap of the female even before her death). Or for that matter, a reporter who when handed over the address of terrorist, instead of nailing down the people, stays up night after night watching them and when opportunity dawns he literally follows Eshaan in a queue to infiltrate the organization manipulating them, but for what? To cover a story on how terrorists eat and sleep like civilians we might wonder, No… to know what their next plan is and stop them, as we are told by the FBI in a different investigation. From what he knew from the message, they could be escaping to some third world nation as he owes to take revenge for his fiancé’s death. The terrorists aren’t far behind in the stupidity line up either. These trained people can’t even realize that a person is stationed every night at their doors watching over them. Well … what can you expect of people, who just out of anger shoots police officers at random on losing the cool, when they are supposed to lay low. It’s even strange that when there is a shoot out in a train no authority is shown to take any sort of action.

Having gotten used to glitches, we as an audience respect a film if the characters are drawn out well with their actions meant only to be reaction to a situation. Instead we get a feeling that situations were created only for us to see their reactions. Or else why else should Eshaan take a bullet near his heart during the most idiotic scene of the film and ask Avantika to meddle his heart as blood oozes out artificially. Though this might sound like a well written scene, when you see it on screen what registers is completely different thanks to the lingering of moment concept as Mr. Eshaan “am stone hearted” Khan tries so hard artificially to stand the pain while Avantika genuinely scared of the situation tries her best in her perplexed state. The same goes for another well written scene too. When Eshaan aims at Reyaz point black, he prays after asserting him their jihad is only against the innocent people; but what we see is Eshaan like a smart dude repeats his punch line and points the gun on his head and Reyaz rambles on some innocent people affecting thing and then as an afterneath thought says a prayer. This moves Eshaan and he reveals the location of the bombs (which aren’t that effective btw – the FBI officer standing just few feet near it was all alive and in action after it exploded in another location). Had the dialogues in these situations been very brisk and witty instead of the old fashioned all “this is for a girl” – be it Eshaan and Reyaz, with a better command over the scenes instead of trying to be clever in the wrong way by not conveying what should be conveyed, we wouldn’t have thought of these mediocrities created by the contrived characters.

Kanden Kadhalai

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:03:00 +0000

When Shakthi is shown meeting his ex with a flashback of their relationship following it, we get a glimpse of the “suitability to the native” tool that Kannan is going to use for this remake. While Jab we met was – jab things happens it reveals itself – Kanden Kadhalai is all about seeing is believing – everything said then and there, leaving us dry at the end as we know from the time Gautam (Munna) hides inside the car, Anjali will end up marrying Shakthi. It is as if the director has made up his mind that tamil audience’s intelligence is not adept enough to handle the multiple layers of the script Imtiaz had in hand. Where Imtiaz employs sarcasm and subtle emotions or witty dialogues for that matter to handle a situation which made the usual story that JWM was into an intelligent film, Kannan (who did something of that sort with Jayam Kondan) assuming we won’t understand them, adds commercial gimmicks to some of them which even though good only makes the movie an one time watch; or else why should Shakthi fight, why should he let Anjali's brother hit him, Gautam be reduced to an all black character on which Shakthi lights a torch, Anjali have the "train missing" dream symbolising her missing the love of her life, Shakthi have feelings for her from the beginning itself, Anjali instead of answering: Mokkai Raju indeed is a fertile guy and i knows it well; which should have led into a suggestive murkier phase as the camera zooms out, keeps quiet, Shakthi proclaim time and again from the beginning itself for us to understand that she has changed him a lot and what ever his mind set is now (and then later) is all because of her which Aditya only does to make her realise – and yet we only get to see Bharath overacting as a "take it easy" guy (though he shines as an introvert). But Kannan’s descriptive mode does enhance the script, when he shows Shakthi search for her arduously aided by Vidyasagar’s melody while Aditya just finds her out or the way the whole cellphone, from the way the idea springs up in Shakthi’s mind, is handled. He also should be appreciated for invoking the local flavour without being clichéd or artificial; well apart from the leading lady and her cousin. Tamanna, though slips into the role easily and performs commendably, she doesn’t look like a Theni-kari.

Peraanmai

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:43:00 +0000

When Suseela dies, Dhruvan instead of shedding tears, runs across in all directions to check if any threat still exists while others break down, and then joins them only to remove her shoes; for people alive are more important in war. Welcome to the world of Dhruvan who is leading a silent war to bring the tribal up the ladder of status; a model person who keeps quiet when insulted beyond disgrace and takes up the punishment for the fallacious acquisitions bestowed on him by his caste centric officer, but in a flash kills intruders cold blooded, that too with stealth, methodically. With an extremely high IQ thanks to his exposure to books, he speaks on world politics through the eyes of Karl Marx and many ideologists, the power of working people, internal and international politics, caste preference, farming, life in forest and the behaviour of fauna, physiology and even on advanced weaponry as a matter of factly which can only be answered by his books, as he takes us through the dense forest with five ignorant girls from the parallel world (as chivalrous as possible) whose hormones seems to be working overtime for there interest to shoot men in langottis or speak about sex or walking nude at midnight just for the sake of revenge, evolve into mighty force through the lessons of Dhruvan after hating him for being a lower caste person and teams up with him to literally fight for the nation, for a cause which is threateningly weak.

It's very rare that such screenplay takes the visual form which deals about tribal even though it glorifies them many a times and yet the panache with which Jayam Ravi takes up this character makes us overcome all the flaws, for the script has so many gem of a sequence like when Ravi replies for “we never knew you could speak english well”, “my people don’t understand english and you people don’t like me to speak in english” or the master stroke in the concluding scenes in a very subtle manner establishes the role of authority as Ponvaanan receives all the glories for Ravi’s labour, the main theme of the script.

Blue

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Director: Antony D' Souza

As the piano strikes the majestic sound of jazz backed by Shreya and Sonu which swiftly changes to western classic ala Arabian nights which was about the mysteries of the land of no water, A.R.Rahman introduces us to the depth of the blue ocean, the similarity being that, both explores treasure, by which one might mistake this to be a riveting experience and sure it promised to be at the initial few scenes when Akshay sleep-swimmingly fights a shark and then makes fun of Sanjay for his over-weight and lazy approach to this role (which even in anyone’s dream he never fits) while boxing, Zayed ACTING like a pro aided by wonderful camera work backed by stupendous bgm races his bike to victory, and Lara clad in a two-piece bikini in her most glamourous self scorches the screen. But things get boring after Lara gets intimate with her grand-pa boy friend suggesting the other meaning for the title to be indeed true, Akshay still sleep-swimming and rambling just lines without punches and Zayed keeps a somber face for the loss of the love of his life who he met for just 2 mins. Things get even boring with the repeated scary face of Sanjay when ever “lady in blue” is mentioned, Akshay still rambling silly lines about kismat & will and Zayed still crying. When Rahul Dev enters and tries to attack our Bhai with his daughter like gf at his house, in the name of breakthrough technique in camera, makes the two teams fire their guns at the sides when they are standing behind each other which makes Bhai to loose his gf and reveal the tragic story of his father who died because his son literally and figuratively hit the bucket. After consoling the weak heart they map their way with the help of a song, to the treasure trove surrounded by sharks which incidentally are typical Indian side-artists in a masala hindi film who are just there to on-look the happenings (well here they swim here and there) where they meet the enemy and after the climax like a post climax Akshay drops a secret in the name of plan B with the bgm of Fiqraana playing behind and makes us scream OMG!

For dicussion on the music of Blue click here.

Aadhavan

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:55:00 +0000

Director: K.S.Ravikumar

When asked what he knows, the over enthusiastic Murugan alias Aadhavan alias Madhavan like an adept who knows it all yet humble, starts rambling on for 10 reels about varies intricacies in cooking and then as one would expect, at various scenes throughout the film he demonstrates that he knows everything from enacting a monkey (the stunts; not Anand Babu), to yoga, to acting like Shivaji, to various forms of dancing and if you aren’t satisfied he does a Rajini ala muthu style and even shells out a sentimental scene for the sake of it akin to Varanam Aayiram; ultimately ending up proving yet again that none has the speed and grace of MGR to enact the “Naan aanaiyital” and when the cool dude sure-shot assassin walks out of his yacht with anger that he missed his target and being insulted for that, the wanna be cool act acclimates to great heights. If that is not enough we have the yesteryear overacting queen reprising her caricature, while the Thara without any spark, reduced to just repeating “it’s ok!” could borrow few tonnes of makeup from the former, for it’s not ok for us to be scared during close-ups so often which the younger Aadhavan does, whose face stuck using chewing gum (that Aadhavan uses throughout the movie) to the older one just for the sake of proving that if its Aadhavan’s role, his face should one be there regardless of the age or ridicule factor.

The over enthusiasm even spreads to the Commissioner and AC, the duty conscious strict officers that they are, who directs NSG commanders proving that NSG may rank above State police but FEFSI chairman will always have more authority than them. If this is not enough, the icing of the cake (the rotten one) is in the form of the director and the producer appearing in a cameo when all gasped: finally (!!) lets go, and repeats the 10 reels dialogue that Madhavan did with few lines shared by the producer acid testing his acting skills for his debut venture next. It’s a pity that the director who has given ample attention to the gizmos failed to demand songs that suit the movie which though good doesn’t get along with the flow if by luck it ever tries to be. If not for the comic timing of Suriya and Vadivelu in the first half, everyone would have been long gone.

For detailed discussion on the music of Aadhavan click here.

Kandasamy

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:01:00 +0000

Director: Susi Ganesan
Cast: Vikram, Shriya

Apart from good screenplay- a super hero movie needs a great build-up for the hero entry and then slowly with the power of deception, terrorize the enemy and bring a smile in our face which should widen as the hero displays his master stroke of appearance; a stylish movie demands great camera angles with rich colour tones, glamorous heroine dancing her way into our heart, exotic locations, a stud who is the epitome of trend; a Robin Hood movie should offer a clever and cunning hero with a completely contrast alias, a moving circumstance to be an outlaw, an intelligent officer to nail him down and finally a social message; a masala movie need a heroine exposing every time she appears on screen, an item number, few lines praising the hero, gravity defying fights, cantankerous comedy track and sentimental scenes.

I guess Susi started off with a Robinhood script, digressed into other subjects and concocted a dish with the weakest ingredients from them all in poor ratio, making this movie to not even become a collection of well executed set-pieces. Hence, what we see on screen is a drama troupe, whose members become big officers and stage a poorly executed incarnation drama to bring back Indian money locked abroad to use them for adopting villages, with their super cool (wannabe) (fe)male protagonist depicting himself as a multi-millionaire(but only a CBI officer) in day and a cock at night which sings while fighting crime, all because there is a far-fetched relation between his friend’s hand being cut and poverty; all in the name of God.

In the name of sleekness, Susi shuttles with different tones for filming, changes the hero’s dress from casuals to blazer before his execution, ultra-modernizes CBI and never let important scenes to linger in our minds in the name of fast paced editing.

One feels bad for Vikram, the only good the film offers. Every time he gives a menacing smile we feel his cry to save the film.

Verdict: 1/5 Stars

Kaminey

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Director: Vishal Baradwaj

This dedication to yore with its engaging as well as tiring allusion to the yesteryear is a winner from the start.

The story is about two brothers who want to step out of their bourgeois life and accrete into the riches in their own contrasting way. Circumstances change their future one rainy night, which leads into a bloody battle of smuggling, gang-war and maharastrian language politics. Shahid plays the twins who are a mixture of callowness and callus in different ratios with their own speech problems, in his carrier best performance in this dark comedy-action drama. Having taken a typical bollywood masala plot, Vishal fills the screenplay with an overdose of cinematic depiction allover – be it the Charlie’s dream or him running like a horse race. He also employs witty conversations which takes a toil on so many topics which sometimes get overly multi layered that it becomes esoteric for the people who comes in for entertainment from this enormously packed 2 hour film.

Every character has been given a sub-plot all concatenated in this straight forward screenplay which itself is a great leap from the mainstream cinema. These characters also have different dialects and sometimes languages for them and priyanka excels here.

Vishal has extracted the best from his artist and technicians alike. Gulzar’s words enchant us and take us back to the 70s when it needs to with apt tunes by VIshal and effective background score which rings tan de tan in our ears, while the cinematography captures the vision of the director with artistic style with good aid from the editing department.

Even with its quibbles Kaminey stands out from the rest for its originality as well as inspired usage of screenplay techniques making it a class apart, opening up a next genre for classy masala films.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Director: David Yates

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

The shear spectacle of the annihilation of brockdale bridge, the arcanus work that Malfoy does to abet Voldemort, the way each antagonists flock the screen with their style rather than their terrorizing acts (excluding the abstruse Snapes with his acerbic nature), the glorified and magnified portrayal of magic as something chimerical for us – muggles contrast to the book, the beautified and uncurly Hermione - all intended to glamorize the movie and provide a visual spectacle doesn’t make the eyebrows rise. Instead the way Harry adulates Giny at the party, the amazing reactions that Hermoine gives whenever Ron romances Lavender, the bravade that Ron shows in Quidditch field assuming he had all the luck he needed, the gentle humour that Slughorn fuses into his conversation especially in the opening sequence – in short the lighter moments that plays around the fantasy makes the attenuated screen version of the 606 page novel work, covering up the lack of depth and the intricate details into a 2 ½ hour movie resulting in just a rich - gloomy film(more so for the dark hue). In few sequences like when Malfoy walks over to the room of requirement or the confrontation with Tom, the screen is packed with many a detail which will be appreciated even in second viewing; but these sequences are very few.

Harry potter movies are famous for the grandeur and HBP stays true to it – a testimony to that is the climactic endeavour. More mature acting is visible here but the young Tom Riddle is the show stopper with his aberrant pronunciation. HBP has the best cinematography yet in Potter series, but the background score is not elevating and many sequences have blunt ends thanks to editing.

But who cares if all the movies don’t have any connections and they on the whole don’t tell the story that JKR wanted to tell; as long as there is enough laughs and fantastic graphics to keep the muggles agape and the know it all recollecting the books and make us long for the Deathly Hallows. Hope it justifies JKR’s work like Narnia is doing after 50 years to C.S.Lewis’ work.

Ayan

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Director: K.V.Anand
Cast: Suriya, Prabhu

Take a story which deals about smart smuggling, but this has to reach the masses so cast the hottest stars in the town and make them prance in glamorous outfits, do breath-taking stunts, add sentiments and finally flavour it with bawdy comedy which borders chauvinism; but then the script is about smart smuggling, so lets add science say chemistry facts in to it; for this to be believed the hero has to be educated so lets make him do MSc. Comp. sci., but isn’t he a smuggler? Then let’s make him do distant education. Will the audience accept this? Then for their sake, let’s make him speak madras slang in two scenes and peter english in another two scenes. The screenplay has to be tight- then let the audience think that the bad guy out smart our hero every half an hour and at the end of those scenes by flash back technique we show who is the smartest. Isn’t this script heavy for the audience? Then let’s add a revenge angle to the story line by killing few good guys and end the movie in typical mass entertainer style with the clash of brawns. But again the intelligent audience will be disappointed, so let’s put few intelligent tricks and end the movie in such a way that hero joins the law force to curb smuggling. Doesn’t this look similar to catch me if you can? Then let’s add a scene making fun of directors stealing scenes from foreign films and justify that this is just an inspired tale.

It’s evident that Anand has the penchant for weaving stories based on clash of the brains, but here trying to capture all segment of the audience looses the balance between crass entertainer and smart movie. Suriya, Antony and M.S. Prabhu does what they were instructed and the outcome clearly shows the director’s wavering attention. While Harris escapes with the poorly placed and choreographed songs, puts up a poor show in the back ground score.

Verdict: Anand strong in science, but weak in direction.

Yavarum Nalam

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Director: Vikram
Cast: Madhavan

Even with bizarre logics and clichés you can win over the audience, if you are in good command over the script: Vikram proves this with his Yavarum Nalam, a part horror and part thriller movie. Be it the standard flashback or the usual twists or the standard spine chillers like close up shots of eyes, sudden knock on door, dog seeing spirits, photos going haywire- Yavarum Nalam has good dosage of everything that a thriller usually shows, yet somewhere down the line falls short, due to the lack of creativity which the concept offers.

The story is about how Manoj (R. Madhavan) tackles the situation, when spirits take control of machineries in his new flat. Vikram shows brilliance with the way he embeds humour in scenes which also scares you. His mark continues in the way he shows Manoj handling the troubles caused by the spirits as a part of his routine. He should also be applauded for not showing spirits in masked gory faces and also for avoiding darkness.

Even though lot of care has been taken to hide the fact that the movie is a bi-lingual, the poor lip-sync of Manoj’s wife, few casting mishaps and outdoor locations partly shot in Mumbai with big hoardings in hindi at the famous Mumbai beach messes it all up. That apart depicting The hindu as a tamil newspaper, news archives dating back to the 70’s looking new reduces the standard of the movie.

Acting wise Madhavan is a dream to watch. The supporting actors too have done their job to perfection. Cinematography is top-notch which ranges from highly experimental angles to stand still close-ups depicting the right amount of tone and emotions on the screen. Background score is apt but the songs by Shankar-Eshaan-Loy are poor.

Verdict: Great entertainer, if not a scary movie.

Delhi 6

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:28:00 +0000

Director: Rakesh Mehra

Cast: Abhisekh Bachan, Rishi Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor

Landing into a third world thanks to his grand mother, Roshan (Abhisek) a NRI born to hindu and muslim parents, narrates the journey within that he travels to accept a Nation for what it is, when he encounters various shades of real India and finally to give back the backward nation the lessons he learnt.

Rakesh Mehra creates a mesmerizing screenplay by treating this linear story with a non- linear narrative style which travels parallel to the vanavash phase of ramayan being played for the locals, with the former intercepting with the latter at regular intervals and then adding multiple layers to the story by showcasing communal and emotional clashes that breaks out for pointless and oddest of all causes in which the protagonist unknowingly gets involved, due to the preconceived notion or plain immaturity of the average man living in this part of the world.

Having created such a complex script, Rakesh smoothly communicates the emotions and the transition that the protagonists undergo be it visually or symbolically (dil gira dafaten sequence), but fails to communicate with effective dialogues. He also fails to use naïve situations or at least intelligent examples (seeing God through mirror) to preach the message he sets out to tell, hence ending up showing an assemblage of characters representing each aspect of old Delhi all depicted in a mockery manner who influence (rather left for the audience to assume to be influential) the protagonist to first hate the Nation and then suddenly love it.

Rakesh do succeed in comical depiction of the two ends of the nation (the news channel episode) and also the present stature of woman through the characters of Bitto (Sonam) and wife of the rich old man.

Had the screenplay been less jumpy and the message handled better, this technically brilliant movie could have been a great movie.

Rating: 2½ / 5

Naan Kadavul

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Director: Bala

Cast: Aarya, Pooja

Spell binding, captivating, haunting, exhilarating and outlandishly gory sums up Naan Kadavul; yet another master-piece by Bala. Handling a film that deals with three issues and giving equal importance to each of them while linking them to form a riveting screenplay with out the audience being bored is no less a mammoth task in which Bala succeeds but only after taking ample cinematic liberties. It takes immense strength to handle certain sequences that Bala exhibits in this documented drama; one being the introduction sequence of the physically challenged; he hits you hard on the face with the way he projects the harsh reality. Bala should also be applauded for touching many a controversial topics from who & where is God to the third eye of Shiva and finally to I am God.

All said if you analyse all Bala movies one cant but deny that the central theme remains the same in all of them: An outcast, who is made to believe he is more than human brought into civilization, where he due to unavoidable circumstances faces a local don dealing in certain unspeakable job all leading to a gory climax where the antagonist as well as a central character die. His scripts always have some scenes in which the judicial system is ridiculed, while his protagonist gives fiery expressions or wild caricatures or beats up anyone as he likes for no reasons backed by haunting re-recording of Illayaraja.

The major draw of the movie is Pooja who steals the show from Aarya reducing him to be only a well known enigma. Cinematography and editing is top notch for a film which mainly depends on the feel rather than scenes. If not for Illayaraja this movie would never be as good as it seem to be. On the whole watch it to get haunted.

Villu

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:33:00 +0000

Director: Prabhu Deva

Cast: Vijay, Nayanthara

No wonder Prabhu deva gives vijay a superman kind of introduction in Villu, because be it flying in air, planting bombs as easily as blinking the eye, riding jet boats and aircrafts and finally raising from deep sand after death to avenge the antagonists, Vijay does everything. Prabhu is also not far behind; from writing gibberish B-grade comedy track to lifting every scene in the movie from some movie or the other, Prabhu tries everything. He even surpasses Vijay with the faith cum sentiment cum fantasy cum utter stupid climax projecting Vijay as the son of the soil.

Story-wise like any Vijay film there is nothing to mention. The formula adapted by MGR half a century back and followed by Rajini later in being the chauvinistic youth who molests the heroine in every manner possible till she falls in love with him is used here too. Even the dialogues used to boast Vijay's image throughout the movie are lifted from various Rajini movies. Few sequences are even inspired from Billa, thanks to Devi's poor lift of that movie's theme music. Like any Vijay film, after every high octane fight sequence a song comes to let Nayanthara do for what she was paid for.

All said, Vijay does entertain you; be it the dance sequences or the comic situation, he scores like only he does. The aircraft fight sequence and Vijay's escape after that are well conceived. Such situations are very less yet when they come your hands automatically goes to clap; an example being the punch line- "do you know who you are up against? " And in reply – "do you know who is against you!"

Technically an average film, which tries to look rich, yet fails due to the yellows and greens chosen as wardrobe. Watch it, if you like B-grade masala movies.

Ghajini

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Director: A.R.Murgadass

Tale of redemption is not new to Indian viewers, but Murugadass strikes gold by flavouring the age old tale with the idea showcased marvelously in Memento.

Sanjay (Aamir) a business tycoon takes the path of revenge after his lover is brutally murdered. With only the name Ghajni as a clue, how Sanjay, now suffering from short term memory loss avenges the dead of his dearest forms the crux of the movie.

Ghajini which begins as a tale of revenge shifts to romantic comedy and finally ends in typical filmy style with Aamir removing the rod with which he was stabbed in his stomach, after killing the antagonist and walking alive.

The balance between realism and fantasy is maintained nicely in the action sequences while Ravi Chandran with his measured lighting creates magic. Antony deserves credit for not letting the movie sag one bit. Except some sequences Rahman elevates the movie with his background score and soundtrack.

Aamir gets into the skin of the character of a person suffering from short term memory loss; his expressions in the beginning few sequences of the movie is testimony to the anger and pain the character has within, yet he slips a bit when he plays the youthful business tycoon when compared to the tamil version. Asin reprising the character she perfected in the tamil version is not as bubbly as she was then, yet she shines.

Pace is the main asset of this revenge saga leaving the viewers no time to question the flaws, yet for a script which was modified to pump in more logic there are many a sequences which will irk, like when a person who can't remember anything after 15 minutes is shown as breaking down after reading two complete diaries. Watch it only for its entertainment value.

Verdict: 3 ½ / 5 stars

Rab ne bana di jodi

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:08:00 +0000

Director: Aditya Chopra

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka, Vinay Pathak

Every film doesn't' have a great concept. It takes great screenplay and direction to make a flawed concept into a great movie. Rab ne bana di jodi(RNBDJ) does have an interesting concept, but poor screenplay plays spoil sport here.

Story wise it is about Surinder(SRK) who wanting to make his wife Taani(Anuskha) be happy again comes in disguise as the fun loving Raj only to make her life more complicated. Whom she chooses (or God chooses) to be her lover forms the rest of the story.

Aditya Chopra forgot the most important aspect of commercial film making while writing the script: the audience should not be let to think about the movie while watching it. It is accepted that Taani can't identify her husband in disguise the first time they meet, but even after days of being together with both the characters; her inability to identify the disguise is plain stupidity. SRK's character is the most confusing character of all in the film; if Raj can be that intelligent in making her fall in love with him, then why does Surinder try such atrocious ideas to impress her? It was like Surinder was willingly being reserved to make Taani love Raj. Then what is the use of singing "slowly slowly love will come" every now and then?

If at all one wants to watch this movie, then it is for SRK; be it the reserved Surinder who loves his wife behind her back or the openly flirting Raj, SRK essays both the roles to near perfection; especially in the scene near the climax where SRK cries and laughs at the same time when Taani tells to Raj that she is in love with Surinder. On the whole RNBDJ is half baked: see it if you must.

Verdict: 2/5

Yuvvraaj

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:04:00 +0000

Director: Subash Ghai

Cast: Salman, Anil, Katrina, Zayed

From the time the title shows the name A.R.Rahman till the end where he makes a small appearance; its Rahman's film all way. He enchants us through out with his brilliant songs and impeccable background score. But sadly the film is only an assemblage of mesmerizing tunes with poorly conceived story backed by very bad screenplay and editing; mainly in the second half.

It's accepted that Subash Ghai has tried a musical here but it's so over the top and clichéd with pointless scenes thrown in, making the film sink deep. Though the witty dialogues does make us laugh and forget the atrocities that is being screened; the film doesn't work on the whole.

Story wise the film is about an arrogant Devan(Salman) and spoiled brat Shanu(Zayed) scheming to get their deceased father's fortune from their autistic music-genius brother Gyanesh played sincerely by Anil.

Apart from few fiery dialogues the two brothers exchange, there seems to be no plan what so ever. To top it the attorney played by Mittun is irritating; so are the family members of the brothers. While Zayed's role is poorly written, Salman doesn't make use of a great opportunity. Two people who make the film passable (apart from Rahman) are Anil and Katrina; the latter attracting us with her god sent beauty with convincing acting and former with his antics though it gets over the top at times. Look out for the scenes where Anil sings: commendable enacting.

A film worth the watch for Rahman fans and a big no for everyone else.

Rating: 2/5

Vaaranam Aayiram

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:03:00 +0000

Mission accompolished!

Director: Gautham

Gautham proves with this film that even with a poor screenplay you can make a lovable film if you are sincere in what you want to convey. Leave the fact that the film doesn't have a flow, leave the fact that emotions are conveyed through words rather than visuals and get ready to be swept off your feet by the examples set by daddy as to how a dad should be.

Story-wise the film is basically the recollection of memories of Suriya, exploring various stages of his life, where his dad has helped him move ahead after he learns that his father has passed away.

It is accepted that Suriya is only recollecting various incidents in his life, but while narrating, the seamless flow that is required is missing; result the film doesn't show anything more than what was shown in the trailer. It is disheartening to see the most important sequences in the film being handled amateurishly. Example- the kidnap sequence which was supposed to show the transition in Suriya never establishes that. There seems to be an air of artificiality in most part of the film; mainly when Suriya tirelessly praises his dad in every other scene, as a consequence the drama and emotional touch seems to be forced in. Yet the point that is made with these forced situations is heart warming.

Technically the film is brilliant, baring poor back ground score. Unnecessary songs do irritate the viewers, but hey it's a tamil film, people come mainly to see marvelously choreographed songs than the film on the whole.

All said the film is worth a watch for the point it makes and obviously Suriya who has single handedly carried the film.

Verdict: 3/5

Roadside Romeo

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Director: Jugal Hansraj

Roadside Romeo is a rich-rag-happy ending tale of Romeo (a dog) who finds a way to live in the gutter and in the process finds love in the form of Laila and wins her over the obstacle called Charlie anna. With Road side Romeo Yashraj has found a way to make money out of their poor scripts. Remove the dogs and make actors play the roles they voiced; then Roadside Romeo will end being damp squib. One wonders if Yashraj knows anything else than DDLJ, proving yet again Chak de! India was a flash out of the pan.

All said, yet this being an animation film all the clichés and nostalgic moments which we all have gotten bored of doesn't look that bad. Look for the scene that comes after Romeo does a Raj of DDLJ by lending his hand from train; intelligent script writing. But is there anything original in this script? The director answers that too with the game the dogs play at night to wake the humans- clever again. These interesting moments though very good are very few and far between. Even scripting wise in the first half, the director seems to be in a hurry to say everything, making us feel distant from what is happening on the screen.

Technically Roadside Romeo is a good attempt by Indian standards but can never be called a revolutionary. The voice sync is not that great especially for Laila. Kareena fails to bring life to the wonderful body language created for Laila. Of all the actors Javed Jaffery stands out which his marvelous command over the character. One can't stop smiling at the way he pronounces Row-meow (Romeo).

On the whole a time pass film not for the kids but only for the teen.

Verdict: 3/5 stars

Saroja

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Go without expectations

Director: Venkat Prabhu

Saroja, the second outing of the team of Chennai-28 is undoubtedly a very good attempt in Tamil cinema, but for a movie which promised to offer more than few smiles it falls short.

Half an hour into the movie and three songs up we can clearly judge the director's intentions: to not make a film which will stand the test of time for it near flawless and perfect script like his previous venture, but a film which covers all its flaws with the humor coated with it.

Story-wise the director took the script of 'Judgement night', mixed it with the concept of our very own 'Anjathey' and finally coated it with lots of nostalgia and humor, not to forget the 'home alone' style climax.

The graph of the film starts from negative and gradually attains great heights near the pre-climax, but falls badly after that. But Premji carries the whole movie on his shoulders to make us forget the negatives. Yet the director could have given more justice to the tagline "heroes are not born, they are made" more effectively like in 'Judgement day'.

Attempting to indianise the script of 'Judgement day', Venkat pumps in unnecessary songs and pointless guest-appearances (though Brahmanadham impresses). It is shear shame that only in Tamil cinema a guy's girlfriend dances obscenely for his accomplices. Of all the songs only "dosh" song jells with the film though all are crafted well. The background score impresses throughout except for the theme chosen for the antagonist. Cinematography and art is shear pleasure to view.

All said about the negatives one can't but appreciate Venkat's skill to grab the attention of the average film-viewer, make him sit throughout the 2 ½ hrs without getting bored. For this one reason alone Saroja is worth the watch.

Verdict: 3stars

Dhaam Dhoom

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:58:00 +0000

Director: Jeeva

Jeeva seems to have done the same mistake which his bollywood counterparts are doing: making a sleaze and chic film by compromising the script.

The film has an ages old storyline whose treatment which promises to be different at the beginning fails so badly that you wish they had made a typical Tamil film instead.

Ravi, a doctor by profession leaves for Russia a fortnight before his wedding to attend a medical conference. By circumstance he is trapped there by the local police on the charges of murdering their commissioner's daughter. The rest of the story revolves around how the protagonist succeeds to clear his name.

Few comparison between typical tamil cinema and Dhaam dhoom; the hero instead of singing a dapankuthu sings a rap for his intro, instead of running around the local streets the hero WALKS in the streets of Russia while the police chases him in motorcycle and car.

But don't worry its still is a tamil film, this they prove by making the hero fly in air, take a bullet on the left chest and just walk away; heroine who doesn't even look a bit like a tamil girl; the accused making more public appearance than Obama probably did for his entire election campaign with the only person the police suspects him to be with.

Even though the film has tones of clichés the first half keeps you engrossed. Only in the later part of the film does the director slip with his age old approach. Yet the pace in the film never slips thanks to the technical department. All the actors have performed well, that includes Kanga who in a role which completely doesn't suite her has done it decently baring the poor lip sync.

On the whole a time pass if you don't have anything to do.

Verdict: 2 ½ stars.

Race

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:54:00 +0000

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kanna, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu ,Katrina

kaif, Sameera Reddy.

On recommendation from a friend I went for this film. What should

have been a great entertainer turned out to be nothing more than a

typical bollywood film of the 70s.

The film opens with Saif meeting with a car accident.

Flashback: Saif is the owner of a horse race track. He is SHOWN as an

intelligent person & loves adventure [!?!].His younger brother Akshay

is a drunkard. There is a so called villain in the film. In one such

race, Saif looses his bet because his rival had allegedly bribed

Saif's horse rider to slow down. When Saif sees his rider getting

money from his rival he plants a bomb on his car. The director being

the clever person here, before you think 'why can't he plant the same

on the rival's car?' silences you with a punch dialogue! The story

takes a turn here as Saif meets with an accident.Cut.

Present tense: Till now the film is shown as being narrated by Anil

kapoor [don't ask why he doesn't enter the screen now even though he

is in the cast!].Enter Bipasha, a model and a friend of Saif. Akshay

falls for her. With help from Saif he marries her. Meanwhile there is

Katrina, the secretary of Saif who is trying for him. Another twist-

Akshay and Bipasha were separately trying for Saif's money. Akshay

knowing Bipasha's background asks her to join hands to kill his

brother. They succeed too. Now enters Anil kapoor and Sameera Reddy as

the investigating officers. There is another twist that Katrina is

Saif's wife. Who gets the 100million dollar insurance money of Saif

form the rest of the story?

Be it poor camera angles or clichéd dialogues, Race has it all.

Sometimes you feel you are watching a south Indian film on hearing

those punch dialogues. Skin show seems to be forced in.

The characters of Anil and Sameera resemble that of the officers who

come in the Tamil film Aburva Sagotharargal. Emotions take a burner here especially in the scene where Bipasha seduces Saif. These

flaws eventually hide the poor acting of Katrina and Akshay's poor wig

selection. Only Anil, Saif and the hot cars makes the film viewable.

Summing up, if you are ready to leave your brain outside you will

simply enjoy the film.

Verdit: comedy of the unintentional kind!

Kuselan

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Wasn't Baba better?

Cast: Pasupathy, Meena, Rajinikanth
Director: P.Vasu
Kuselan proves yet again that a film need not be good if it has the best technicians and actors. Re-make of a Malayalam classic, Kuselan has nothing to offer except the face of the Super Star (SS). What should have been an emotional drama of a poor man, who happens to be the friend of SS, turns out to be the trailer of an enigma called Rajini.
Pasupathy is a struggling barber, who was the best friend of the SS in his school days. What happens after the SS comes for shooting to his town forms the crux of the story.
Uniqueness is the forte of Kuselan: People who don't have food to eat, wear brand new dresses; houses and even ground-well made of cardboard; women only interested in showing their assets; children mocking their father and asking him how he can be happy in spite of being a loser; mothers running Christian institutions defaming their religion by being interested in money and fame; a film crew supposedly shooting for a film named 'Kuselan' only shoots 'Annamalai part-2' and 'Chandramuki part-2'; dolphins swimming in the river of a tropical country.
Thank goodness Vasu didn't make Rajnikanth play himself, because the real SS doesn't wear 2-inch make up or poor wig which shows off badly even while relaxing or speak such poor lines in his real life.
Coming to the technical department, DI brings in artificial coloring to the film. Arvind does a decent job with the camera except for the scenes with Nayanthara. Except 'Om Zaarare', Prakash disappoints. Sets, special effects and CG are a big let down. Saravana does a neat job in editing though. Acting department isn’t worth mentioning.
On the whole, a forgettable movie experience.

Hancock

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:16:00 +0000

Director: Peter Berg

Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman

Hancock is one of the movies that everyone desperately wants to like. But however we try at some point of time we give up on it, owing to its poor packaging.

The movie has a great plot; never ever tried, supported by one of the best in their business. Hancock is a superhero with all great powers but lacks discipline and social interest. Hence even though he tries to save people it ends up affecting others. In a twist he is helped by Ray Embrey become a better person. What happens after the people like him forms the rest of the plot.

The story has a lot of twists that might have looked astounding in paper but on screen they bore us; full credit for this mistake goes to the screenplay department. The graphics are not bad but they are expected to be very good. Will smith looks better as a dysfunctional superhero than as a reformed person. The only scene that takes us by surprise is when Mary Embery; wife of Ray Embrey, beats Hancock. Emotional connection between the screen and the audience is absolute zero. The background score is not up to the mark baring the climax sequence.

The movie does have some lightening moments and two fairly engaging action sequences, but that alone can't save the movie from the slump it takes from the word go.

It seems like Hancock is Hollywood's reply for our very own embarrassment called Krish.

Rating: 1 star(for the plot alone.)

Sarkar Raj

noreply@blogger.com (mr.weirdo!!) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:45:00 +0000

Cast:Amitabh, Abhishek, Aishwarya Rai,

Director:Ram Gopal Varma

RGV is back with his cult characters in this sequel. The movie has two inspirations backing the script; Sarkar and Godfather. Whenever the movie draws inspiration from Godfather the film impresses, but when they move under the shadows of Sarkar it looks clichéd.

This time around RGV didn’t go for an elaborate story. Rather he has tried to play with the characters; their reactions and the genre that Sarkar has created. He has completely played with the enigma of the previous part in the first half. The story doesn’t seem to move at all here. The moment he shifts to Godfather mode by murdering Avantika, the movie unfolds in a rapid pace with series of twist and turns. The surprise package of them all, being the characterization of Aishwarya.

Story wise Anitha(Aishwarya) CEO of Sheppard Power Plant, brings a power plant proposal to be set up in rural Maharashtra before the Nagres. After much reluctance from Subash, Shankar persuades him to accept the proposal, only to realize the dire consequences later. How the Nagres face these problems form the rest of the plot.

The emotional passage of the father and son and later the emotions of Sarkar are the highlights of the movie. RGV could have avoided the lighting and style of filming which was used in Pudhupetai, in few scenes. That apart, technically Sarkar Raj is one of the best films made. The bgm, the lighting, and the close-ups –all blend well to create a great movie experience and RGV takes the credit for his shear capability to do it.

Watch the movie to relive the Sarkar magic without great expectations; for RGV has proved yet again that he is the best person to have adapted Godfather.

Verdict: 3 1/2 stars.