'Attakathi' fame Pa.Ranjith is back with his second venture and its again for K.E Gnanavel Raja's Studio Green. The cartoonist, who was an associate of Venkat Prabhu has chosen North Chennai as his base and the people and conflict surrounding them as his theme. The bone of contention is intriguingly a wall and how people's lives are intertwined due to the wall's importance to this particular society. Its a very important film for Karthi, who needs to make a firm comeback for a series of duds. Did 'Madras' charm us ?
For Karthi, this film is definitely a big sigh of relief, because he has delivered and exceptional performance. It stands right next to his 'Paruthi Veeran' in terms of quality and 'Naan Mahaan Alla' in terms of comparison. He has literally lived and breathed as Kaali and its refreshing to see him gel with the other artistes and doesn't stand out as an exaggerated protagonist. The conveyance of emotions through his facial expressions and eye movements, were brilliant. Fantastic comeback, Karthi ! Mallu girl, Catherine Tresa Alexander, known for her Telugu films, makes her Tamizh debut and she too makes a good impression with an adequate performance, personal appearance and good lip-sync, which makes her character look very belieavable. Kalaiarasan as Anbu, who has an equal amount of space as Karthi's, is simply riveting and terrific in his performance. 'Madras's is definitely a feather in the cap, for this chap. An absolute dynamite ! There's a battalion of theater artistes who were so natural and flawless in their performances, such as Hari, who played the lunatic Johnny, Ritwika as Mary, Rama as Kaali's mother, Vinod as Maari, Nandakumar as Kannan, Ilavarasan, Jaya Rao, Aadhi, Vijesh, Powell and etc. Bang on performance from the entire cast !
K.Selvam's costume designing was very apt and realistic and was in sync with the North Chennai milieu and also to each character's unique identities and personalities. Sound designing by Anthony B.J Ruban must be appreciated for his brilliant work. The action sequences were brilliantly handled and the sequences which had big crowds, were very well designed. Action choreography is handled Anbariv duo, and their stunt sequences were top-notch. Though the violence is heavy, but it was handled very effectively and looked very authentic. The pre-interval chase and fight sequence was so organic, it stuns you at some moments. Great work ! Tha.Ramalingam is in charge of art direction and his minute detailing for the real-life locations were of paramount importance. Being an artist, his work created the right ambiance and maintained the gloomy yet earthy look, throughout the film. The wall paintings are the highlights of the art direction department ! The film works big time, also due to the near-flawless editing by Praveen K.L. The action sequences were very finely edited and the final output was remarkable. He keeps the film's pace even and there's absolutely no jerks in the screenplay. The occasional songs in the second half and some minor action sequences, do slow down the film a little, but such action dramas need such lags, to keep the momentum smooth. Murali.G's cinematography is a major plus point for the film. The urbane mood of North Chennai was brought to the silver-screen so beautifully. The various locations such as Vyasarpadi, Royapuram, Perambur, Jamalia, Sathyamoorthy Nagar and Ram Nagar areas, were very cleverly put together and shown as a single location and the multiple top-angles helped to achieve the purpose. The night effect shots are the highlights of Murali.G's work. The lighting and color tone delivered the pulsating mood, very well.
Santhosh Narayanan continues to excel with each film and with Pa.Ranjith, he has managed to forge a good combo. The musical score itself breathes as another character in the film. The title track "Madras" gives great energy to the screenplay and is the introductory song of all the major characters of the film. The entire lifestyle of the North Chennai people was well captured for this song. "Kaakidha Kappal" is a rather amusing but pathos number, which had unique choreography from Sathish. The song is a sort of heart-break song for the lead protagonist and how it affects his normal life, with plenty of montages shot on Karthi. "Irandhidavaa" features Gana Bala in a cameo appearance and is a situational song, which has a funeral backdrop. The emotional intensity in this song, leaves us a mark on the audience. "Naan Nee" is a melodious love track, which has montages of Karthi and Catherine Tresa Alexander, which had other locations of the Chennai city such as beaches and posh upmarket areas, in its montage sequence. "Aagayam Theepiditha" follows quickly and has montages of Karthi trying to woo back Catherine Tresa Alexander, after a major dispute between them. Santhosh Narayanan's multitude theme tracks such as "Kaali Love Theme" and "Suvar Theme" injects life into the script and serve as great background score. The background score is an experience on its own, and please do give notice for Santhosh Narayanan's excellent work, which had so many dimensions and variations. Hats off, Santhosh !
As mentioned earlier, the bone of contention in this story is a single wall, and though it might sound silly and amateurish, the deep, underlying political rivalry behind that wall, is the crux of 'Madras'. The wall politicking creates a cascading effect on the characters, who belongs to the opposite political factions. What's incredible in Pa.Ranjith's script writing and with his directorial execution, is the astuteness of the issue and the attention to detail in presenting the story, in an convincing manner. What looks very simple from the outset, the story reveals the hidden complexities of the events and situations of faced by the people belonging to such areas. Pa.Ranjith's screenplay has the gripping element needed for such high-voltage drama genre and it never veers off into unwanted territories. Pa.Ranjith, keeps it tight and simple and its very evident from the very first scenes, where the director himself would give the introduction of the characters and the theme, with a voice-over. The composition of his shots and how he presents each scene is very unique yet compelling. Friendship, love, hate, anger, betrayal, revenge and all sorts of emotions were well handled by Pa.Ranjith and he infuses each emotions through the various characters, present in the film. His character designing is top-notch and the final message delivered, deserves special mention. 'Madras' is definitely a very, top-class cinema from Pa.Ranjith and it works big time. Take a bow Pa.Ranjith, you have truly arrived !
'Madras' - An eye-opening trip to North Chennai !
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
After the successful 'Thegidi', TCS Studios and C.V Kumar's Thirukumaran Entertainment have joined hands once again for another small/medium budget film, 'Sarabham'. Named after a mythical half-lion & half-bird creature, this film is the debut venture for its director, Arun Mohan, who happens to be the son of popular comedy artiste Anu Mohan. With C.V Kumar's support, can 'Sarabham' be another feather in the cap for Thirukumaran Entertainment ?
Lesser known Tamizh and Telugu actor Naveen Chandra comes up with an above average performance and has mouthed the dialogues properly, which enabled Gautham to dub in perfect lip-sync for him. He can work out more on his expressions, which goes flat at times. With more films, he should work it up and improve his acting credibility. Debutante heroine, the Delhi model Salony Luthra was impressive in some sequences, but falters in the emotionally-charged scenes, which was a necessity due to her unconventional character's various dimensions. Her characterization reminds us of Angelina Jolie's brooding and mysterious Hollywood roles, she donned. Raagini Sree's voice suits Salony, to the tee. She can do better and she has to do better if she's to survive as an actress. Naren, comes clean with a very measured performance, but the actor can definitely deliver more. The whole film is based on these three artistes and the supporting cast such as 'Kadhal' Kannan, 'Boys' Rajan, Shankara Narayanan, Thilak, Sam Anton and etc are just there to fill up the script's needs.
Technically the film is sleek, with some good outputs from the able technicians. Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar's sound designing was a big boost for the film, because of the many background score-less scenes. The climax action sequence, deserves appreciation. Preethi Kanthan's costume designing was apt, especially with Salony Luthra's costumes, which demanded changes in accordance to the changeover of her character. But better designing could have been worked out for Naveen Chandra and Naren. Anbariv's action choreography was minimal, but was effectively and neatly executed, with only the climax scene having a real sense of action. A.Gopi Anand's art direction sufficed the needs of the script and his work with the posh apartment setting of the protagonist's home and the female lead's home, deserves mention. The posh, upmarket feel and look was achieved. Leo John Paul's no-nonsense editing worked well for the script and the duration was kept tight, with the running time going just above 2 hours. Krishnan Vasant's cinematography adds the necessary glossy touch and his work complemented the director's vision, especially with the distinctive camera movements and also for the lighting, which gave the film a fixed mood and look, throughout.
Music is handled by Britto Michael and his scores are just passable since the songs are just situational and goes along the screenplay. "Pudhidhaai Or Iravu" was shot on the lead pair and has montages of them, roaming around Chennai at night. Krishnan Vasant's lighting for the shots was okay, though the clubbing sequence could have been better. "Bodhaiyil Paadhai" was shot on Naveen Chandra and is also full of night shots and montages of the Chennai streets at dead-night. "Neram" sung by Usha Uthup appears during the end credits. Britto Michael's background score worked well for the film, especially with the inclusion of the "Sarabham Theme" track sung by Malaysian artiste Rabbit.Mac, at the right moments (during the 'surprise' moments, to be precise).
Arun Mohan has knitted a tight screenplay revolving around the three important characters alone, which keeps the proceeding from not going out of path. But the screenplay lacks pace and some spunky energy needed for such simple thrillers, especially when you have lesser known artistes, who struggles to hold our attention or have the charismatic appearance. Also, the screenplay gives space to some loopholes in the script and also left some questions being unanswered, especially with the scenes involving the police. What Arun Mohan makes up for the lack of pace, are the shocking twists in the second half. He keeps his cards very close and slowly unravels to us one by one, before jolting us with a big surprise, right after the interval. That surprise element keeps us engaged, but for those audience who likes to simply keep guessing, some might actually predict the correct outcome in the climax. Another novelty of this particular script is the grey nature of all the characters portrayed in the film, which was a little unique. K.Rajaraman's dialogues are above average, but if more attention were given to the dialogues, it would have elevated the impact of some sequences, by a few notches. Nevertheless, this simple thriller is worth checking out, if you have some time to kill.
'Sarabham' - Patience and attention are necessities, if you are ought to enjoy it.
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
