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Archive for May 2014

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


Kochadaiyaan (King with a Long Mane) - Motion Captured, Emotions Butchered!



It’s that season in Kollywood where the almighty ‘thalaivar’ appears on screen, stoking the frenzy flames from his ever growing fan base with his infectious style, larger than life image and unparalleled charisma that can only be matched with the yesteryear Kollywood doyen, late M.G.R. This time around Rajni appears on screen in an animated avatar (no pun intended) along with so many others who have been not so well animated as ‘thalaivar’ was.

The basic plot element is a ‘classic revenge story’ where a son seeks revenge for his father’s unfair trial - of course both the role of father and that of the son has been played by Rajni. K.S. Ravikumar has sewn a good storyline that augurs with the mythological milieu where the story takes place. Coming up with names like ‘Kottaipattinam’ and ‘Kalingapuri’ for the places in which the story takes place was by itself a sort of mise en scene which implants a sense of ambiance in the audience’s psyche.

Ravikumar’s forte as an ace screenplay writer has been leveraged thoroughly as the script had a logical plot and subplots which was apt for an animated movie. The dialogs were also powerful enough to usher in the mass hysteria among the fans. However Soundarya’s direction and her much talked about ‘Motion Capture Technology’ which is also the USP of the film is something that everyone yearned for as it is the first to employ such a technique in Indian cinescape. It was quite disappointing to say the least, especially given the fact that the Kollywood audience have been well exposed to dubbed Hollywood animation movies in recent times. So even if they don't intend to compare the two worlds which are worlds apart in terms of animation techniques, standards and execution, there definitely exists a void in their minds and that is very much evident in Rajni’s introduction scene.

The build up for Rajini’s arrival was well done, he literally flies with his chariot from one mound to another and then when his face is about to be revealed, whistles fly from various corners of the theaters and as soon as the crowd witnesses his face, the whistle sounds almost subvert, as if witnessing an anti-climax - because their perception of Rajini and his charisma has drastically taken a beating thanks to a lifeless eyeline that hardly moves, stiff eyebrows and a face that only betters a mannequin. The eyes and the eyebrows are quintessential in conveying the expressions of a person and if there are hardly any movements, then there ought to be a collateral damage as far as performances are concerned. The same is true with almost all the characters including that of Deepika Padukone, Aathi, Nasser, Sarathkumar, Jackie Shroff and Rukmini. A brilliant piece of thought in this quagmire was a brave attempt to animate Nagesh and bring him back to life - a great example of wishful thinking. Also all the other characters other than Rajini looked almost similar and sometimes it was hard to distinguish between them.

Even though the length of the movie is just under 2 hours, there were almost 5 songs (big and small) which were harping on the formulaic Kollywood predicaments with average music from the wizard, ARR. The action sequences were quite laudable but there was nothing outstanding and the 3D version was a big let down as there were hardly any compelling special effects for it.

Definitely there are more than a handful of reasons to watch this movie apart from it being the ‘thalaivar’ film. But my reservations with Kollywood’s ability to match Hollywood in the animation and special effects department sadly lingers - there is miles to go before we leap!!

Verdict: Worth a Watch (for the attempt)!

Rating: For the Plot: 2.5 / 5; For the Animation & Special Effects: 1/5

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


Yamirukka Bayamey (It’s Always Dreadful With Me Around) - To Kill a Scarecrow!




How can a supernatural thriller be fun and comic? Comedy and Horror are genres which are poles apart. Few decades back, Kollywood had minced the two and have given a successful genre with the ‘Kalyanaraman’ series with Kamal Haasan playing the mortal and the ghost! Even recently, the little known movie, ‘Aananthapurathu Veedu’ kind of fell into this genre but was a dud at the box office and also not to forget the 'Muni' series that made merry at the box office sometime back. Now that debutante Deekay has come up with ‘Yamirukka Bayamey’, that mixes and remixes the two genres without caring much about the finesse in the screenplay!


Kiran (Krishna) along with his girlfriend Smita (Rupa Manjari) finds himself in a financial jeopardy and so he decides to inherit his father’s ancestral property which is a huge and secluded bungalow. He decides to renovate and transform it as a guest house in order to make ends meet. He is assisted by Sharath (Karunakaran) and his sister Saranya (Oviya). While they experience strange things in the bungalow, they fail to realize that its because of a ghost that haunts the place until they face it head on. At a point they realize that escape from the place is impossible unless they manage to pass the ‘buck’ to a scapegoat! Their subsequent escape from the horror was narrated in a fun and frolic way with a light screenplay that did not take the ghostly part of it seriously until the climax!


The experience was that of purchasing a ticket and walking into a ‘Bhooth Bangla’, very much prepared to face whatever comes our way and enjoy it as it happens! The dialogs carried many casual adult themed remarks and neither were the actors serious nor was the plot! But still the fun aspect in the script was held firmly by the performances - especially that of Karunakaran, who is silently creating some ripples without an official comedian's tag. Krishna and Roopa were stereotypes, while Oviya has taken up a full time glam doll kind of a roll with the likes of yesteryear actresses like Heera and Sanghavi.


The thrills were limited but the fun proved to be unlimited in-spite of so many loosely held up scenes that made no sense at all but has been largely saved due to the crispy length of the movie! Can be watched once for a good attempt at blending horror with comedy which is a rare phenomenon in Kollywood!


Verdict: Worth a Watch!

Rating: 2.5 / 5

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


Turtles Can Fly



Director / Writer:  Bahman Ghobadi
Cast : Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Hiresh Feysal Rahman
Cinematography: Shahriah Assadi
Editing: Mostafa Kherghehpoosh, Hayedeh Safiyari
Country: Iran, France, Iraq
Language: Kurdish
Release Year: 2004

This it seems was the first film that got released in the post war Iraq by a director who belongs to the Kurdish minority, that was suppressed and shattered during Saddam’s regime.

Set amidst a war torn territory, the film explores the lives of innocent people, especially children who are exposed to the dire consequences of war and who have also started accepting it as the way they would be leading their lives. A teen boy named Satellite who is manipulative and enterprising, runs the show for the entire Kurdish flock in a refugee camp that awaits information on Saddam’s next move by way of installing satellite televisions in their camp with the aid of the boy and thus his name. He also negotiates with the minesweepers in order to offer temporary jobs to the local children for removing mines planted in the area. Meanwhile there is a one-sided affair that brews between Satellite and Agrin, who comes to the camp with a toddler and her handicapped brother. Slowly it is revealed that Agrin is a rape victim and the toddler is her child who has been born out of the unfortunate rape incident.

The deluge of emotions that gets exchanged between them is explored from opposite paradigms and emotionally connects us through virtually impatient knots with bouts of silence and expressions splattered across the narrative. The character of Agrin whose fickleness as a teen girl, her struggle to come to terms with the harshness of life and her inability to do anything about it is a good example of a perfect character sketch. Also the character of her amputated brother, whose aggression is suppressed but tends to set right her sister’s life with a more matured approach should also be appreciated!

Also we get to have a taste of the conservative Kurdish culture, their ethnicity and people up close. The actors seem to have little or no acting experience at all and the movie it seems has been shot on a shoestring budget, but nevertheless captures the essence of the humaneness that prevails amidst all the chaos.

A good watch for world movie enthusiasts!

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


Yennamo Nadakkuthu (Something is Happening) - Thrills limited!



Little did I know about this movie before it got released, such was the kind of low profile that it maintained. But as soon as it released there were some really good reviews that urged me to go for it! Vijay Vasanth who was was appearing in some supporting roles has taken the plunge to do a full length protagonist’s role and the good thing was that he is aware of his strengths and has chosen an apt character and a decent story to make a mark for himself!

Vijay (Vijay Vasanth) is a poster contractor in Chennai and lives a happy-go-lucky life with his mother (Saranya) and a bunch of buddies. He romances Madhu (Mahima Nambiar) who works as a nurse and aspires to pursue her career in Canada. Madhu gets cheated on her ambitions to fly to Canada and in order to restore peace in her life, Vijay proceeds to take a risky job that is run by the mafia head and an aspiring politician, Burma (Raghuman). The job proves nearly fatal for Vijay and pushes him to a corner where he roars against the challenges and leaps forward against all odds.

On the outside this looks to be a standard template of a ‘hero triumphing over the evil’ kind of a story, but the plot was quite interesting and the debut director Rajapandi with his engaging script makes us glued to the screen at least for the first 30 minutes. The unravelling of the plot and the flashback points were done neatly. The downside was the much hyped up mystery about the touted crime - it simply falls flat, perhaps it must be because we’re used to seeing much bigger ones in real and reel lives these days! Also the characters were quite interestingly written, especially the relationship between the mother and son - Vijay hitting his mother in a fit of rage and then consoling her with a packet of ‘biriyani’ was something that would be a regular among this strata of society that is largely marginalized. Also Prabhu as ‘boxer’ Parthibhan had a brief but effective role.

So the twists were fine, plot was quite pacy, but the things that hindered the pace were a couple of songs that got thrusted and some melodrama in terms of mother sentiment which cannot be termed as entirely unwanted but the intensity was not felt as the next scene moves on without much thought.

The movie is a good break for Vijay Vasanth in his newfound avatar and hope he continues to choose the character and script wisely as he has done for this one.

Verdict: Watchable

Rating: 2.5 / 5

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


Nee Enge En Anbe (Where are You My Love?) - Essence of ‘Kahaani’ lost in the air!


As with the case of many remakes, this one too which is a remake of the Bollywood blockbuster, ‘Kahaani’, suffers a lot from the ‘ Adapted & Tweaked Screenplay Syndrome’ that got tweaked beyond what was required and that too it was done distastefully with actors very reluctantly putting up a show together. Although it was promoted as a bilingual which was made in Tamil and Telugu, there were scenes that criss-cross with quirky lip syncs for reasons unknown.

First we are shown of a bomb explosion in Hyderabad during a ‘supposed-to-be’ kite festival. Then the narrative moves forward in time where Anamika (Nayantara) lands in Hyderabad from US in search of her husband (Harshvardhan Rane) who had come there to take up a project in his IT company’s Indian branch. Her voice goes unheard in the police station where she tries to file a complaint regarding her missing husband and is aided by a Tamil speaking cop, who eventually starts to investigate the whereabouts of her husband along with her. A twist in the tale reveals the real mission behind Anamika’s arrival and her subsequent actions.

Its appreciable to not stick with a scene-by-scene remake with an attitude to improvise on certain plot points. But the bottom-line is that everything that is on paper has to be convincingly brought out on screen - that was what was lagging behind and made the screenplay look numb and dumb. For instance the character of the undercover hit-man ‘Bob Biswas’ in Kahaani was a smartly etched out role and the character’s backdrop was well established and thus it brought out the eerie feel whenever he was shown on screen, but here a character with a similar look has been roped, but he was never even given a chance to express himself and all he managed to do was to join his hands and pull the trigger the next second - disappointing! Another big flaw was in the casting department - Nayantara, as we all know would make for a really good femme fatale especially in a stylish plot (Billa / Aarambam), but here the femme fatale aspect is more to do with the character’s actions than with the appearance. In fact the appearance needed was more on the ‘woman-next-door’ side which was lacking in Nayantara. The biggest blunder of all was to cast Pasupathy as the CBI deputy, a role that had a terrifying screen presence from Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the original. Pasupathy struggled to pull off the gimmicks with his false attitude and broken English accent. Half the time we end up laughing for what the scene shouldn't be. Vaibhav as the innocuous SI was apt for the role.

Apart from all these juggleries there were songs that tried to infuse in a sense of thrill that was no where in the script, cinematography was bland and the narrative was painfully naive and lacked nativity.

The movie can be avoided without a second thought and can be taken as a ‘lessons learned’ for aspiring script writers as to what not to do while remaking an already successful movie. An experienced campaigner like director Shekhar Kammula coming up with such a stale storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.

Rating: 1.5 / 5

Verdict: Avoidable!