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Archive for November 2013

Written by Hariharan Anbazhagan in , , , , , , ,


Vidiyum Munn (Before Dawn) - Dark Shades on a Blackboard!




Till date only a bunch of directors in Kollywood have had the knack of executing a thriller with a gripping narrative and finesse that the story deserves. Mysskin for one had done it thrice (‘Anjaathey’, ‘Yudham Sei’, ‘Onaayum Aatukuttiyum’) in the past and everytime he has tasted success, predominantly with a critical acclaim than a box-office triumph. Here comes a debutant director who oozes brilliance in the way he has handled a very sensitive subject and at the same time has been triumphant enough to draw decent crowds (read it as urban crowd) to the theater with an engaging narrative that was taut and thought provoking as well - extending a warm welcome to director Balaji K. Kumar who has made a bold and daring debut with ‘Vidiyum Munn’.


A story based on child trafficking and prostitution, the events unfold in a day wherein 2 females are on the run as they are about to get victimized by a bunch of thugs who want to chase them down for different reasons. Are they saved from the clutches of darkness remains to be seen.


The strength of the movie rests heavily on the narrative and the characters woven into it. Not a single character appeared to be odd and everyone played their role with ease. Pooja has made a belligerent comeback - great to see a very sensible heroine in the current context of Kollywood where heroines crave for ‘loosu ponnu’ kind of role that requires bubbly emotions and running around trees. The other two characters that were as impressive were that of Amarendran as ‘Singaram’, the pimp and John Vijay as ‘Lankan’, the deceitful and wicked detective. The duo added a sort of dark streaks that had quite a lot of emotions ranging from dread to some goofy slapsticks and kept the ball rolling.


Others who were there to support the cause were Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Vinodh Kishan and last but not the least, the child artist Malavika, who was the axle around which the story revolved. She is a natural and had that charm, angst and a languished look in her eyes pinned at once. Vinod Kishan in a negative role was stone faced, but managed to carry the surprise till the end where he unleashed it with a cool head.


Technically the movie had a lot to offer in terms of coloring, wherein a blue tint was used to usher in that eerie feel every now and then, flamboyant cinematography and chic editing.


The movie also had a handful of loose ends and left some questions unanswered as to who kills who and for what purpose. But overall, this movie needs to be watched for the way a dark  subject has been handled so neatly and brilliantly, devoid of sleaze, even though the story had much room for it.


Verdict: Very Good!


Rating: 3.5 / 5

Written by Hariharan Anbazhagan in , , , , , , , ,


Irandaam Ulagam (The Second World) - A Vile Mess!


What would one expect from a creator who has delivered films like Kaadhal Konden, Pudhupettai and Mayakkam Enna? Selvaraghavan’s leap to auteurship has hit a rigid roadblock with this really awkward and mindless journey across two worlds where misery for the audience goes on a continuum.

The movie opens with Arya crashing into the water (à la Kaakha Kaakha ’s opening scene), about to be drowned, wherein he decides to narrate a romantic tale that happens on earth and on another planet where life exists similar to earth. A death causes both the worlds to cross paths wherein Arya on earth lands up on the other planet only to infuse the feeling of love, thereby making the planet more colorful as the flowers begin to blossom there (?!).

The only positive outcome that I can interpret from this wilted piece of narrative was the implicit representation of Tamil being the mother tongue even on another planet that has been shown to exist in an unknown place in our galaxy. Apart from that, all the bells and whistles that were added to represent the foreign planet was only an exhibition of mockery towards futuristic film making. This one coming from a much respected filmmaker like Selvaraghavan who hardly misses a chance to assail stereotypical revelations in Tamil cinema, even if it means to stir a hornet’s nest was the most disappointing revelation.

The movie never had anything going for it at any point during its course, neither the narration nor the much talked about CG and VFX work. A blatant and tacky rip off from the creatures that adorned Avatar was a huge let-down. Even Selva’s strength, an intense romance, also took a back seat in this one. Depicting Anushka as the bold and daring woman in the second world and a demure girl on earth was convincing. But the same cannot be mentioned about Arya, as his acting skills have been diminishing and has taken a beating off late. Supporting cast were not significant enough and hence not worthy to mention.

Weaving a story for the second world, with some white men/women running here and there, rendering dialogs in Tamil with some perfect and imperfect lip syncs, a Goddess and a bunch of men trying to abduct her were all goof-ups that none would buy at any point.

The vision of the director to represent an unconventional world that is devoid of love and to infuse it with love thereafter is to be appreciated, but the visuals and narrative should have supported him like pillars. Sadly there were no pillars at all and the director had to lose the game that was not played in the first place.

Technically the movie was very bad, especially the scene where Arya was supposed to fight with a creature that was called as ‘Lion’. A director like Selvaraghavan approving such a pathetically drawn out CG sequence was really disturbing. Even Ramanarayana’s movies would be having better VFX and CG works.

The music was good, but the BGM by Anirudh was out of sync with the narrative. The movie at 2:40 hrs was a total drag and nowhere did it seem to appeal.

Its advisable for Selva to make a hard stop at making such painful and really expensive experiments and instead concentrate in narrating down-to-earth subjects with a riveting screenplay where his strength lies unperturbed.

Verdict: Avoidable

Rating: 1 / 5

Written by Hariharan Anbazhagan in , , , , , ,


Pizza II - The Villa - Thin Crust!






Apart from the name and the genre there is not much of a similarity between the first and the second part of the ‘Pizza’ franchise. In fact the producer would have wanted to establish ‘Pizza’ as a brand for all the horror movies from the production house; apart from that, there is nothing much to construe. I went into the movie with little expectations as the pre-release buzz for this one was average and came out with nothing much lingering in my mind. Just an average or a below average movie that passes by without creating much of an impact that it was meant to create.


The story is about a struggling writer who finds its hard to get his first book published. His girlfriend and a few other friends are his only companions who support him in this cause. After his father’s demise, he finds out that his father owns a villa in Pondicherry and has hidden the fact from him. He decides to sell off the property in order to make money to publish his work. As soon as he moves into the villa, he is obsessed with its quaint charm and strange things start happening in his life. How does it affect him and his girlfriend forms the rest of the story.


The plot had so many open ended questions and the thrill that a film in this genre was meant to create simply fell flat as there were hardly any surprise elements. The only silver lining in the script was a minor twist at the climax and that was a bit of a cliche. The director tries to nudge the story every now and then with some special effects and sound but hardly succeeds in his attempt as he had nothing solid in the script.


I cannot help but compare it with the first part of Pizza that had a decent story and a gripping narration that worked big time and also Karthik Subburaj provided the much needed jerks in almost all the scenes with his brilliant screenplay. But here, it seems the newbie, Deepan had no clue about what he was trying to do. Had he mimicked some Hollywood thrillers, he would have made a decent movie, but he failed in that respect too. He tried to mimic a part of ‘Conjuring’, but due to lack of detailing in CG and VFX that attempt went for a toss and the director’s hat flew over the roof!


Performances from everyone including the lead cast, Ashok Selvan and Sanchita was average. Almost everyone in the movie tried to underplay their role due to the movie’s theme and so none of their performances stood out.


Music and editing were the two departments where the movie scored remarkably well. Santosh Narayanan’s brilliant title score and BGM were too good for this story. Hope he gets much better scripts in the future to showcase his work in a better way. Editing by Leo John Paul was slick and kept the movie well under 2 hours. Cinematography by Deepak was good in parts, but nothing much to brag about.


An attempt to make a slick and taut thriller under 2 hours is to be lauded but the director has to realize that horror movies need a solid premise upon which the narrative has to be carefully knitted - sound and visual effects should only compliment that! Better luck next time!!


Verdict: Below Average

Rating: 1.5 / 5

Written by Hariharan Anbazhagan in , , , , , , , , ,


Pandianadu (Land of Pandyas) - Old Wine Tastes Good!



One has to give a toast to director Suseenthiran for not only pulling off a well crafted thriller, but also he has managed to deliver the same stuff that he delivered a few years back as ‘Naan Mahaan Alla’, relabeled and managed to serve it afresh with his remarkable ability to pen a screenplay that was refreshing and equally engaging!

The plot is set down south as the name of the movie suggests and so not surprisingly we are given a slice of the lives of goons ruling the soil where they dictate terms! On the other hand there is a common man (Vishal) who also happens to be the protagonist for this story, whose life is given a spin by the baddies. The hero wants to take revenge and so does the hero’s father (Bharathiraja). How they manage to succeed in their agenda in having their revenge has been told in a well structured format without exploiting much of cinematic liberties in a typical ‘Suseenthiran’ style.

Though there are a lot of cliches in the movie, be it the southern ethos where the plot is set, a guy falling for the girl at first sight, a corrupt police official, a ferocious villain and some naive sidekicks, we tend to buy these only because of the plot in which they were convincingly woven into. Also the characterization of Vishal in the movie came as a whiff of fresh air as he was not given the license to explode until the climax, whereupon the director manages to convince the audiences that the threshold has been reached and its now time for the timid protagonist to unleash his virile instincts. In short, Suseenthiran creates an illusionary ‘real world’ that was much more convincing than the real world and that spelled the success for the scriptwriter in him.

Vishal, as mentioned before has carefully handpicked this role that was meaningful and believable. Hope he picks a cue from this smart move and rebuilds his career with much better roles.

Lakshmi Menon as the school teacher looked too young for the role and seemed like she was thrust into the uniform of ‘Kaakha Kaakha’ Jothika. Her outfits did not match her at all as she looked over-the-top for the ambiance of the script. My only worry is that she could do much heavier roles that demands a lot of performance rather than sticking to run-of-the-mill roles as this one in order to earn some quick bucks and fame.

Bharathiraja as Vishal’s father was a surprise selection. He brings in the angry old man’s role to the table who is hardly able to do anything at all for the injustice done to him and his family. Somasundaram as Vishal’s brother could have been used in a much better way as he is an actor who has done a memorable role in ‘Aaranya Kaandam’. Vikranth in a cameo was brilliant and made his presence felt as the angry young man. The new villain in tinsel town Sharath Lohitashwa was right on the money from the start till the finish.

Music by Imman was average and no song made an impact, be it a melody or a folk number.

Cinematography and editing were just about ok. Editing was fine for almost the whole movie except for a song in the latter half which was added only because of commercial reasons.

This movie is the dark horse that has emerged as the clear winner among the three Diwali releases (‘All in All Azhaguraja’s’ report seems to be bad) with Sussenthiran’s earthly charm simmering in the screenplay that classifies the movie as a certain ‘worthy watch’ entertainer, as the characters in the movie were much more humane and the script was also equally thrilling!

Verdict: Worth a Watch

Rating: 3 / 5

Written by Hariharan Anbazhagan in , , , , , , , , , , ,


Aarambam (Beginning) - All Style, No Substance!




“Keep it slick and stylish, no matter what” has been the mantra for all movies from director Vishnuvardhan’s stable. His second collaboration with Ajith in ‘Aarambam’ has a casting coup with Arya, Nayantara, Tapsee and Telugu star Rana Daggubati playing a cameo. The film was engaging to some extent, had style, more style than needed, but lacked substance that makes or breaks a film. Though this movie was not that badly broken, but certainly had some cracks wide open with obvious plasterings over it!


Ashok (Ajit) and Maya (Nayantara) are partners in crime who go on a rampage seeking revenge for the atrocities done to them. In the process, they rope in Arjun (Arya), a computer hacker and his dumb girlfriend Anitha (Tapsee) to help their cause. Cops and baddies are after all four of them as the heat picks up. Did Ashok and Maya have their revenge and at what cost is the outline of this stylish movie with retrograde stuff!


A scene was judiciously lifted off from the 2001 Hollywood movie, ‘Swordfish’, whereupon Hugh Jackman would be demanded to break into FBI’s secure network by John Travolta. Here Ajit and Arya trade places with Travolta and Jackman respectively, while Nayantara does a decent ‘Hale Berry act’ by just being a stylish witness to all these theatrics!


Vishnuvardhan has picked it up from where he left in ‘Billa’. Here too Ajit walks with his shades on in almost all the frames, does the chasing in cars, drives a Ducati towards the climax, delivers the punches both with his mouth and fist, drives a few scenes with his tongue-in-cheek humor but had no qualms in showing off his age with wrinkles below his eyes and an authentic salt-and-pepper look certifying that the actor is coming-of-age! But still he torched the screen with his electric screen presence and looked ravishing as the angry-middle-aged man.


Nayantara was not in her elements. She tried to put in some buxom glamor by exposing her thunderous thighs during a ‘wicked-seductress’ scene, but that was not as well received as her bikini-act that was in ‘Billa’. Acting and Nayantara have not gone that well and so its better not to ponder into that now.


Arya was loyal to his favorite ‘director-friend’ in his fourth successful collaboration by playing a good second fiddle and was not all that embarrassed to be sidelined for most of the movie. In fact he also was a part of a sight-gag in a whacky flashback that invoked little laughter. His love-affair with Tapsee was just an add-on offer to the movie but was not a definite need as neither of them looked serious even though the movie had something serious to offer to both of them.


Among the supporting cast, Kishore was noticeable because of his apt casting as the member of the ATS squad, Mahesh Manjrekar and Atul Kulkarani as baddies were stereotypes and Rana Daggubati in a cameo was supportive in his own capacity.


Music by Yuvan was another highlight and my pick of the lot would be "Melala Vedikudhu" which was choreographed very well and splashed a ton of colors on screen and brought in a festive mood. I have to admit that I really missed the ‘Arey Rama’ number which was there in the album but sadly did not make it to the screen. The BGM was also decent.


Cinematography by Om Prakash was vibrant and segued the movie’s discourse so well that everything blended well within the frame.


Editing by Sreekar Prasad was stylish and had an element of elan as the cuts looked sleek. Had the second half been tapered a bit, it would have been a great job altogether.


Director Vishnuvardhan has delivered a ‘mass-film’ as it is known popularly in the BO trade circles that has the potential to create the BO magic and make the producers and distributors happy. But if you’re looking out for something really different and thought provoking, then you’ll start to regret 10 minutes into the movie.


Verdict: Average - One Time Watch for its stylish presentation

Rating: 2.5 / 5