Harish Film views

Director: Atlee Formulaic films have always been the safe-bet for our filmmakers ensuring a breather for struggling stars and gateway for new entrants. Is it mainly because of the abundance of successful reference material to source from for formulaic masala film, or because of the difficulty to create formulaic structures in other genres, anything done besides action or comedy in films have always been termed novel attempt. While many feel-good films have attempted to serve a commercial potboiler, only few were able to please the audience, of which Cinematographer turned Director Jeeva’s films contributed a lot. After a long lull created by his demise, debutante Atlee, with his rom-com Raja Rani, has successfully filled the gap. Adding himself to the list of new age filmmakers with great taste for visuals, Atlee creates pitch perfect backdrop for the film’s riches and lower-middle class portions. Moving further in, besides fleetingly touching the sensibilities of the well-o...

Director: A L Vijay A movie is often considered a symphony of the audio & visual medium; and sure enough the auteurs have always striven to tread on a path between the said & the unsaid in order to keep us in a trance. To achieve that feat in Thandavam, a self-proclaimed unusual revenge saga of a blind man, A L Vijay employs everything in the rule book & that could precisely be the reason for its inability to interest us. Looking at Thandavam on the whole, the crucial problem with the film clearly lies in its immature treatment. Sure the premise of the action thriller is something even an infrequent film viewer would appreciate of. But when the film sets out to express itself, what clearly could be and had been registered through the visuals gets re-registered again and again till one feels nauseated by the events. As this redundancy gradually distances the audience for the silver screen, the age old formulas to invoke emotions becomes too tiresome & juvenil...

Director: Selvaraghavan What remains of a thousand people after their Chola king dies of failure, carry him to sea, whilst (we have to guess) the Indian army (!!!) commanded by the last of the Pandiyas sleeps. They scarify their life to empower the only one (Aayirathil Oruvan), who had escaped the wrath of their tormentors earlier, to continue their battle; for Pandyas may have won the battle but not the war; ending the movie ala Dark Knight style. The problem is not what Selva wanted to say, it’s how he has chosen to say. The Cholas on their escape had set up 7 traps, but those “traps” are shown to be a kid’s play which Reema like a superstar with just 2 pistols in stand-at-ease pose crosses. The frivolous execution continues, as sun’s ray hits a pillar creating a shadow that falls on the same side as sun, forming a Nataraj shape to reveal a map, leading us to more such juvenile attempts filled with songs that are meant to be concatenated with the flow, but end up being concocted du...