Debutante Dharanidharan's intriguingly titled, 'Burma' is a neo-noir crime-thriller, based on car seizing activity and what sort of implications one can have, if he chooses to dabble with risks. With proven artistes such as National Award-winning Atul Kulkarni and Sampath Raj, 'Burma' teases us with some interesting tidbits in its teasers and trailers ? Is it another interesting new-age Tamizh cinema from a debutante ?
Michael Thangadurai of Vijay TV comes up with a decent performance and its certainly way much better than his debut, 'Nalanum Nandhiniyum'. The rugged look and body language fits his role well and the young lad makes his mark, unscathed. Reshmi Menon though, has the atypical Tamizh cinema heroine role, of being the bubbly-natured, moral-support kind of partner for the protagonist. Karthike Sabesh, steals the show with his natural acting and is so apt as the short-of-smartness, a*rsehole aide, who puts his buddy in the spot, during the most of unwarranted times ! Excellent comic timing and subtle expressions from Karthik Sabesh. Kudos to him ! Sampath Raj and Atul Kulkarni came up trumps, as the swag car-seizing veteran and a powerful and intimidating boss, respectively. They bring lots of flavors in their acting and they definitely deserve their share of appreciation. The rest of the cast such as Madhu Raghuram, Sharath Kumar, Deepak Paramesh, Tarun, Kani Kusruti, Diana Vishalini, Deena, CM Bala, Mahendran and etc plays an eclectic mix of characters, very neatly.
The film is a good package of technical outputs, which is sync with the mood and needs of the script. Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar's sound designing deserves special mention, especially for the various types of car sounds, for each different cars and also for the minute detailing in many sequences, which adds more depth for the scenes. Director Dharanidharan has handled the costume designing as well, and each character has been delineated very well, in terms of costumes and it shows the amount of timing spent by the director in sketching each characters. Mahesh's action choreography sufficed the needs of the script, especially with the car chases. Sivaraj's art direction is elaborate in detailing, especially with the set properties. The cluttered car sheds, ramshackle cottage, make-shift homes and etc were perfectly done and it gels well with the script's necessities. Half the story-telling is done, with the art work itself ! Vivek Harshan's editing is crisp and spot on, but still more trimming could have helped the screenplay's smooth flow. Yuva's cinematography adds the zing to the script, with his unique and innovative angles and framing sense. The weird top-angle shots and slow-motion shots, together with right color tones, adds vibrancy to the film. With better scripts, this young chap can explore more of his talents !
Sudharshan M.Kumar's musical score is in sync with the mood of the film but the songs placement slackens the film's pace. "Vaddi" is the opening title song and serves as a character introductory song, with a pop-culture like colorful template. "En Moochu" is duet song and is mostly shot on the lead pair of Michael Thangadurai and Reshmi Menon. The song is full of montages of the pair, being love-struck. "Jungle in the City" is a bit song, used as a situational song, which was shot as a chase scene between Michael Thangadurai and Sampath Raj. "Kalavu Pona" is a situational pathos song, which was shot on Michael Thangadurai and has few montages in it. "Run for Money Dude" is a dance number, which had props such as flashy cars and colorful lighting as its backdrop. Sampath Raj is predominantly featured in this song. Sudharshan M.Kumar has made use some of his theme music pieces such as "Seizing Mania", Counting D Cars", and "Kings of Garage" as background scores and they perfectly complement the shot compositions of the director and cinematographer.
What strikes you obviously with 'Burma' is Dharanidharan's detailing in his writing. The film is full of style, swag, attitude and wry comedy. The neo-noir theme fits the story pretty well, and Dharanidharan's inspiration seems to lie in Western style of film-making. His sense of story-telling is astute and he implements his ideas with unique cuts in the editing department, which adds more quirkiness to the screenplay. The organic manner of story development is a welcome relief, and each scenes is carefully put together, so that there are no jarring moments. Unfortunately, the first half lacks some conviction, especially with the romance tracks and the second half loses steam, as it heads towards the climax. But Dharanidharan somehow makes up for it, with the character designing and the detailing he pours into each character and how he sets the ambiance around the characters, so that the right effect is brought out from the artistes. The dialogues written by Dharanidharan is another added plus point for the film, in which the sarcasm quotient is high. The director deserves appreciation for his antithesis handling of the climax and the final scenes, which has a unique twist and an open-ending.
'Burma' - Attention-seizing !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Long in the making and after quite an delay, newbie Venkatesan.R's debut, 'Nalanum Nandhiniyum' has officially released. A former associate of Venkat Prabhu, Venkatesan.R's story is a countryside-based family entertainer, with the hero and heroine being the central theme. Can Venkatesan.R, make Venkat Prabhu proud ?
Playing protagonist is debutante Michael Thangadurai of Vijay TV's 'Jodi No.1' reality dance program fame. Since dance is his forte, he doesn't seem to have any problem performing in songs, but when it comes to acting, he is no where near being good enough to hold the attention of the audience. He lacks the screen presence and does not show much variations in his emoting, especially in emotionally charged scenes. Meanwhile, Nandita has done a good job with her role and looks completely at ease in performing. She suits the role to a T, and shows good promise. The film has a host of character artistes such as Jayaprakash, Azhagam Perumal, Renuka, Soundara Rajan, Soori, Chaams, Madhumitha, Rinson Simon, Janaki, Rekha Suresh and etc, who have limited screen timing, with roles of unimportance.
Costume designing is by Sivakumar and Santhosh Kumar, and their work was apt for the necessity of the script. The costume designers have kept in mind of the characters, sociological background and comes up with a clean work. B.Thyagarajan's action choreography is functional and Gopi Anand's art direction, sufficed the needs of the script. His properties for the middle-class home setting and also for the rural background, was good. I.J Alen's editing was simple and plain but not flawless. The cuts for the flashback was jerky and could have been much better. Nizar Shafi's cinematography is pretty much functional, but his lighting gave the film a better look, throughout the entire duration.
Musical score is done by newbie Ashwath Naganathan and shows some promise. But the unnecessary number of bit songs in the film, kills the magic of the original full-length songs. "Sivagangai Cheemai" is an introductory song for the characters of the film, and has montages of all the character artistes involved. "Gummunu Varuguthu" is a typical village festival dance number and has good lighting work by Nizar and Michael shows his prowess and comfort in dance, with this folk number. "Thoongama" is a pathos song, shot on the lead pair and presented in montages, which has some good scenic views of Erode. "Vaadagai Koodu" is a duet song, shot on the lead pair and has a middle-class home as its setting and once again Nizar's framing gives the song a good picturization. "Kodi Neeyadi" is situational bit song, and "Sala Sala" is the final song of the film which depicted a film shooting process, throughout. Ashwath's background score is not bad, but he should avoid inserting bit songs, which impedes the flow of the screenplay.
Director Venkatesan.R's intention of delivering a neat and clean family film, deserves appreciation, but his execution falls flat, especially with the screenplay. The film's dramatic moments and episodes are all too cliched for contemporary Tamizh cinema, though they are not overtly melodramatic. It somewhat reminds us of the Tamizh serials being aired in Tamizh satellite channels. There are too many characters in the film, and most of them are not given proper importance nor any good scenes to act, especially when you have top notch artistes like Jayaprakash, Azhagam Perumal and Renuka. The director's film scenes fail to invoke any sympathy nor empathy from the audience, and the plot too doesn't keep us glued to our seats, due to the predictable nature of it.
'Nalanum Nandhiniyum' - Good attempt but too old-fashioned for contemporary standards.
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
