The creator of the now cult-classic, path-breaking, trend-setting 'Subramaniapuram' M.Sasikumar plays "the creator" in Bramman, in a metaphorical sense. M.Sasikumar, who is on a stroll of acting and producing, has done a film for an outside production, this time under the baton of debutante Socrates, a former associate of Kamal Haasan. The trailer and promotions very evidently showcased this film as on out-and-out commercial entertainer. How entertaining was this 'Bramman' ?
Sasikumar, who is synonymous with rural-based films, goes for a changeover here with a city-based lead character. He has tried to adapt himself into the quintessential Tamizh cinema male leads, by wearing designer clothes, executing over-the-top action sequences and of course romancing his heroine in beautiful foreign locations. Basically, there's nothing to talk about in regards to his performance. The same can be applied to Lavanya Tripathi, a former Miss Uttarakhand who has done two Telugu films and making her bow in Tamizh. She's comfortable in her role, but she's not convincing with her acting performance and basically appears for the sake of having a heroine for songs and romance portions. Santhanam provides the laughter in the first half, and though his one-liners are good, they do not invoke much laughter. Soori takes the helm in the second half, and as usual delivers what is expected. Naveen Chandra has an important role, but lacks the screen presence to solidify his position in the film. The rest of the cast such as Malavika Menon, Lateef Omar, Jayaprakash, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Chams, Prof.Gnanasambandhan, Surekha, Ajay Rathnam and etc sufficed the needs of the script, whereas there were cameo roles done by Jai, Vaibhav and Madhu Shalini.
Sathya N.J's costume work was spot on, especially for M.Sasikumar, who goes for a changeover here. The modern outfits looks apt for him and so does the Lavanya Tripathi, who looked chic. Silva's action choreography was average and a little over-the-top, though the intention of choreographing it in such a manner, can only be known to him and the director. R.K Umesh has handle the art direction and his works sufficed the needs of the script. The props used for the old, dilapidated theaters and the celebratory-like atmosphere all had believability factors. Nice work ! Raja Mohammed's editing was neat and crisp, though the first half could have been better-handled, especially when it is loaded with plenty of unwanted scenes. Cinematography has been handled by Jomon T.John and Faizal Ali, with additional photography by Satish Kurup. The framing, lighting and angles, all had an average-stamp throughout the film. A pedestrian outcome, in short.
Devi Sri Prasad's tunes has his mark all over, and its pretty average, this time too. "Voda Voda" is a situational song, used as a background score during the opening first few scenes. It had a small cycle chase and some light action choreography work done by Silva. "Vaanathil" has M.Sasikumar doing the dance number, aided by back-up dancers, after experiencing love for the very first time. The song had plenty of props, resembling a typical city street-setup, which had realistic work done by R.K Umesh. "Un Kannai Penne" is the first shot on the lead pair, in foreign locations. The Swiss Alps, becomes the backdrop yet again, with greeny pastures and snowy mountains as the main landscapes. The best tune from the lot is, "En Uyirin Uyiraaga" which was shot in Venice, Italy on the lead pair. The song mostly covered the city landscape, with the backing of a couple of dancers. "Vaada Vaada" had Padmapriya doing an item number, and though its a welcome to see her doing glamorous dance sequences, the song was poorly shot, with dull picturization. Background score by Devi Sri Prasad, is passable.
The most alarming aspect of Socrates' handling of the screenplay, is the non-present element of any serious issue or focal point, in bringing forward the story. Each issue which we encounter seems to peter out in the following scenes, and we had to wait till the entry of Naveen Chandra, to actually have any sort of attention on the story. The first half is just aimless and clueless, with comedy and romance sequences being belted out, alongside unnecessary speed-breakers, in the form of songs. The second half has a decent output, especially when Socrates highlights the lesser-talked about issues in Tamizh cinema and its film productions. The characterizations are weak, very weak in fact and no one has any sort of strong impact with their screen presence, except for Jayaprakash. What's very obvious with film is that, the commercial elements are simply thrust into the film, for the sake of having them, instead of incorporating them into the script, organically. End of the day, we can realize that Socrates had an interesting idea, which could have been developed into a nice commercial film, but the screenplay goes haywire and the direction is equally poor.
'Bramman' - What happened to the creator of 'Subramaniapuram' ?
Ratings: 2/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Siva Karthikeyan, the television superstar has donned the the mantle of a proper protagonist role for the first time in this S.Ezhil directed film. Hot on the heels of a successful run in 'Marina' and a welcomed acclaim from the masses for his performance in '3', 'Manam Kothi Paravai' will be his proper launch pad into the league of Tamizh cinema protagonists. S.Ezhil is back from a sabbatical, after doing the mediocre 'Deepavali' with 'Jeyam' Ravi and Bhavana way back in 2007. Trumpeting to be a feel-good comedy film, this venture is targeted at the family audience and with a big cast of comedy artistes, it promises to be a nice time-pass film.
Siva Karthikeyan, makes a decent performance in the film and he is known for his superb comedy sense and timing but in this film, it was less exploited as the director wanted his protagonist to have shades of seriousness to the role as well. Hence we can see Siva Karthikeyan doing emotional scenes, and he underplays it well. If Siva is to reap more success as an actor, he has to try out different roles, though this type of boy-next-door kind of roles suits him to the T. Debutant heroine Aathmiya has to improve her expressions and body language if she wants to survive in this heavily competitive world, though she was suitable for the homely, coy girl role and looks like Meera Jasmine. The film has a big cast like Naren, Ilavarasu, Ravi Maria, Sampathram, Jay Kumaar and etc who did their roles as it was expected from them, the comedy roles carried by Soori, Kishore and led by Singampuli keeps our attention. Singampuli was at his usual form with his funny one-liners and his expressive dialogue delivery with a peculiar diction. Adding more fun to this trio is the introduction of Srinath and Chams as well as 'Venniraadai' Moorthy in the latter stages of the film, which brings more funny moments. The episodes after the marriage breakdown are the highlight scenes.
Technical wise, this film carries very average work. Logu's stunt was for a particular scene which doesn't involve excessive punches and kicks which was adequate for the scene. Sivaraj's artwork was kept simple with the interiors of the small town homes, and office premises being the highlight but he could have done better with the set work of the riot scenes. Costumes by Sai Siva was appropriate but Gopi Krishna could have dealt a little better with his editing. Sooraj Nallusami's cinematography was kept simple and no gimmicks were used. D.Imman, who is still basking in the success of 'Mynaa' has given decent songs in this film. "Jal Jal Oosai" shot in the backdrops of a riot and the travel was ok but the choreography could have been better. "Po Po Po", a typical pathos song was shot in a typical manner, with the protagonist sulking in lonely places. "Dang Dang" tries to replicate the big success of "Jingu Chikka" from 'Mynaa' but its not as peppy as the latter. The dance choreography by Dhina on the backdrop of a construction site was lively involving the other artistes as well. "Yenna Solla" is a romantic number shot in the plush, green hill-stations with very minimal choreography and finally "Ooraana Oorukku" shot with many dancers is the song for the frontbenchers with fast dancing and a sizeable crowd.
S.Ezhil who has given decent and sensitive hits in the past like 'Thullatha Manamum Thullum' and 'Poovellam Un Vaasam' wants to cash in on the popularity of Siva Karthikeyan, decided to come up with a film laced with comedy scenes mostly with a couple of necessary sentimental scenes. What makes the audience a little unsettle is the unpredictable arrangement of scenes and the plot. When one thinks that the next scene should be a serious one, the director turns it into comedy and vice versa. Though comedy keeps the audiences entertained, the overall mood and story of the film is important and comedy alone is not going to be sufficient unless the film is an out-and-out comedy flick. S.Ezhil should have concentrated more in perfecting the screenplay. This is because he wanted to give a right balance of good comedy and heart warming sentimental scenes but both elements did not gel together which makes 'Manam Kothi Paravai', a bumpy ride. Also the way the film ends, reminds us of the love movies made in the 1990's and especially 'Kadhalukku Mariyadhai' comes to the fore.
'Manam Kothi Paravai' does entertain us in some sequences but the overall presentation of the screenplay could have been much better. Siva Karthikeyan makes a decent mark but he needs better films if he intends to really make it out as a hero in Tamizh cinema.
Ratings: 2/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
