Vijay Sethupathi is back immediately after his 'Rummy' with 'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum', the debut venture of S.U Arun Kumar of 'Naalaiya Iyakkunar' fame. Made as a YouTube short film originally, the debutante director has developed it into a full-length feature film, which narrates man's affection with his first vehicle. The short film gained lots of recognition, but can S.U Arun Kumar replicate the same success on a bigger scale, with the same material ?
Vijay Sethupathi, naturally blends into the script and has delivered an earnest performance. He definitely reminds us of 'Super Star' Rajinikanth's image in the 80's period. Vijay makes use of the right scenes, which he can score and score, he did ! He's just too comfortable as Murugesan, the lovable driver chap. Also, he shares a fantastic chemistry with Jayaprakash, which is evident in some of the second half sequences. Iyshwarya Rajesh pairs up with Vijay Sethupathi once again, and if she goes on to choose the right scripts, she's definitely a talent to watch out for. Iyshwarya is breathe of fresh air indeed, among the glut of nonnative actresses. Balasaravanan rocks as Peedai, and he seems to be a natural talent in comedy. His timing and expressions are just perfect enough for the scenes, and he does not over-do his lines, even by an iota ! The next big thing comedy artiste ? Hope so ! The film definitely belongs to the lovely senior pair of Jayaprakash and veteran Thulasi. The cute relationship of an old couple, was so beautifully enacted by both artistes, its definitely not an exaggeration to say that, they must have lived their roles ! Portrayal of mature romance is too few in Tamizh cinema, but this undoubtedly stays as one of the best, so far. Neelima Rani, Mahadevan and etc make up the rest of the cast with decent cameos by 'Attakathi' Dinesh and Sneha.
Moithen handles the costume designing and he has done a nice work, especially with the main lead characters, who resembled their social status and demographic class. Also, it has to pertain to the era of the early 90's, which Moithen did not fail to realize. C.S Balachandar's production design was very apt for the script, because of the nativity the script demanded. The props of a rural village head's home, were the highlights which shows the good background work done by the art director, in correlation with the late 80's and early 90's era. Sreekar Prasad, scores brownie points for his editing pattern, which holds our attention of the characters. But the editor should have dealt with the unnecessarily over-stretched running time, which further slows down the already, slow pace of the screenplay. For a multiple National Award winning editor, his vast experience could have come in handy. Debutante cinematographer Gokul Benoy makes a very promising entry with 'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum'. The way he presented the lovely Fiat Premier Padmini, as a character itself, speaks volume of his talent. Also, the interior shots and the meticulously handled, lighting and top-angle shots used for those shots, were just class !
Music is handled by another debutante, a very young Justin Prabhakaran. His compositions are full of melodies, and he definitely has a good future in Tamizh cinema ! "Enga Ooru Vandi" was sung by kids and has plenty of montages and has the Padmini as the main protagonist and her relationship with the villagers. Gokul Benoy's lens captures the barren landscape, very beautifully. "Pesuren Pesuren" is one of the most well conceived song picturization in recent times. It was shot on Vijay Sethupathi and Iyshwarya, with a funeral backdrop. The setting is of somber mood, we can feel the joy and love of Vijay Sethupathi, captured well by Gokul with plenty of close-ups. "Kadhal Vandhucho" is another song shot on this young pair and has a few montages, with good camera movements. The pick of the lot is definitely, "Unakaaga Poranthene" shot on Jayaprakash and Thulasi. The lovely song had even lovelier montages showing the beautiful relationship between the senior couple. Most of the shots were taken indoors, yet Gokul's camera work does not evoke any repetition. A similar track, "Enakaaga Poranthiye" features as a bit song and was shot on Vijay Sethupathi and Iyshwarya. "Aaraaro" is a pathos song, which highlights the separation of the vehicle from the family. Though Justin did a great work with the songs, he could still improve with the background score. Though melodious, some portions could have had a more mellow touch to it. He's obviously inspired by Raja sir, and he sure can learn a lot from the maestro's rerecording as well.
It is good to see that a young chap such as S.U Arun Kumar has the ability to handle the subject of a mature couple's love for each other, in a splendid manner. Also, he must be appreciated for scripting a subject which has no antagonist or any characters with negative shadows. S.U Arun Kumar handles the intricacies of relationship very well and he definitely extracts the best from his artistes, with his clear vision. The humor quotient is not forced and grows organically, along with the screenplay. Besides that, its nice to see that S.U Arun Kumar is a lover of old-fashion, which has its own poetic charm and essence, which was evident in the way he staged some sequences. But the film is not without its pitfalls. The depth of the film's script, is definitely very shallow and it is an arduous task to turn a 10-minute video into a full-length feature film. Added to that, the film has a slow narration and though it works well for the script, it might bore some audiences, who are lovers of fast screenplay. Also, S.U Arun Kumar could have avoided inserting unnecessary melodramatic and sentimental scenes, which looks forced and acts as mere speed-breakers. A more concise screenplay, would have done more good than harm to the film. But despite all these minor drawbacks, 'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum' is a welcome relief for us and has a feel-good, lovey-dovey element throughout the film.
'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum' - Charmingly and sweetly, old-fashioned.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
After the infamous failure of 'Mugamoodi', Mysskin has resorted himself to another thriller, a comfort zone of his. With the backing of his personal favorite 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja, Mysskin's latest thriller takes place in a single dead-night of Chennai. He himself has donned the all important role and the other significant character is portrayed by Sri of 'Vazhakku En 18/9' fame. Will his newly launched, Lone Wolf Production's maiden film, reap the success and put Mysskin back in the spotlight ?
Mysskin perfectly delivered what was necessary for the character of a hit-man Unsurprisingly, as the creator of the character, he will be the best to understand and catch the nuances and intense emotions of the character. Mysskin cleverly uses his strengths as an actor and delivered the goods. The graveyard scene is definitely the most-talked about scene of his. Sri, delivers a compelling and truthful performance. Ably guided by Mysskin, the young lad has taken this opportunity for good and showed his capability as an maturing performer. Very impressive development from his 'Vazhakku En 18/9' days ! The whole film primarily rests on these two characters, as dictated by the title. The rest of the cast, such as Adithya Menon, Bharat, writer Shaji, Ravi Venkatraman, Shaokat, Mona, Chaitanya, Angel Glady, Neelima, Ram, Sriram, Gajaraj, Ragulan and etc were very adequate. Shaji, especially was impressive among the lot.
Jaishankar and Shankar's costume designing was very apt for the characters and also added the extra detailing for the grim and dark look of the film. Sathish Kumar's production design sufficed the needs of the script. The props were very intricately presented and nothing looked overdone. A very complementary work for the script. Gopinath's editing suited Mysskin's style of story presentation and the pacing. But the second half could be trimmer, as the pace drops and lagging effect, starts to kick-in. Tapas Nayak's sound designing plays an important role as well, especially for such thrillers. He perfectly balances the silence and minute sound detailing needed for the respective sequences, in the film. 'Billa' Jagan's action choreography suited Mysskin's personality and also of the character's. Cinematographer 'Junior' Renga, does a brilliant job with his lens. His framing sense and the dead-night shots of eerily silent places, perfectly projected the mood of the script. The wide-angles and long-shots are all typical hallmarks of Mysskin's films and Renga, has perfectly understood Mysskin's wants and needs. The real hero of the film is definitely, 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja for he is the one who brings out the soul of the film, with his background score. With no songs featured in the film, Raja sir's brilliance in background score, is definitely in full force and galore ! The legendary music composer, understood perfectly where to maintain silence and where to fill up the spaces with his majestic music, and when ever the music starts playing, it heightens the mood of the sequences, very aptly. Hail, the Maestro !
'Onaayum Aattukuttiyum's strength lies in the suspense built and sustained by Mysskin till the climax of the screenplay. The director has his grip over the audience with his arresting presentation and plays his cards, well. He keeps all the suspense elements close and slowly unravels it one by one, and till then its just a puzzling, guessing game for the viewers. The twists and turns are shown very subtly and does not disturb the eerie feel of the screenplay nor jolt the viewers, out of shock. Scenes are very intelligently constructed and executed, with Renga shooting them, in a striking manner. The no-nonsense approach needs to be appreciated since Mysskin has not made any sort of compromises to suit the commercial tastes of the 'masala'-loving fans. The characterizations of most artistes, has the stamp of Mysskin all over, and for those who are uninitiated, please do watch Mysskin's previous , to further understand what it means by 'Mysskin characters'. Humor is present here and there and its very mildly infused into the plot. To put it bluntly, this film is definitely the best from Mysskin's stable, thus far.
'Onaayum Attukuttiyum' - A fantastic comeback from Mysskin ! Dark, brooding and above all, satisfying !
Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
.jpg)
Vijay Vasanth, is trying hard to have his big ticket to stardom with a solo hero role. In this intriguingly titled film, he gets a chance under newbie, Barani Jayapal and has Vibha Natarajan, who did a small role in 'Naan', as his pair. Touted to be a film based on real life events, how did this movie fare?
Vijay Vasanth, has some acting chops as a character artist, but as a lead hero, he is nowhere near the material of being a lead actor. He is too static with his expressions and emotion-displays. The sudden changeover of a demure, quiet boy into an action hero, is unfathomable. A word of advice, to him. Have more practice, before jumping onto the bandwagon ! Vibha Natarajan, has a pretty heavy physical role in this film. One should appreciate her for putting in strenuous efforts for all the physical activities, demanded by the script. Performance wise, she definitely has miles to go. Thambi Ramaiah, dons a small role in the film, and though he is in his elements, he fails to evoke laughter and the comedy track looks too cliched. The kids did a good job. Apart from them, the film has a good number of character artistes, such as Kaarthik, Gnanasambandhan, Neelima Rani, Prabha, Meera Krishnan, Balaji, Swaminathan and etc were sufficient enough for the script. But some of them really need acting classes, if they want to be recognized as actors in the future !
The technical department's work was adequate. A.R Ram's costume designing was not bad, keeping in mind, the various backgrounds the characters come from. 'Miracle' Michael's stunt choreography was decent. The second half fight sequence between the antagonists and an ascetic, was well choreographed. Michael shows some talents and better scripts, can bring even better work from him. M.G Sekar's art direction was neat, especially for the interiors of the old classrooms and school setting, and the contemporary middle-class homes. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing acuteness is visible in the songs and stunt sequences, but its shocking to see National Award-winning editors to commit small, silly mistakes ! Hope more attention could have been given to the editing works ! L.K Vijay captures the fresh greenery of the undisturbed forests. The roving cinematography tries to add some pace to slow and mundane screenplay.
Ganesh Ragavendra's musical score was average. "Oru Poo Pookira" was shot on the lead pair, proposing to each other and has plenty of montages, with beaches, streets and shops as backdrops. The pick of the lot among the songs, was the "Vandhaarai Vaazha" track sung by Silambarasan. The Chennai-trumpeting song was also shot in montages, showcasing the young boys experiencing a day in Chennai. The song was obviously shot in landmark areas such as Spencer's Plaza, Mahabalipuram and the Marina beach as well. "Rathathil Nuraiya" is a situational song, picturized on the young boys on a chase and their journey to juvenile jail. "Manase Thirudiya" was picturized on the lead pair and showcase them getting married and their journey to the hometown, post-marriage. "Irulai Katti" is also a situational song appearing during the climax, shot on the lead pair, being chased by the antagonists, in the thick, green forest. The background score has nothing to shout about.
Barani Jayapal, has utilized a non-linear method for his screenplay. Though that's a clever way of narrating a script, the fault lines in the fundamental element of a film, which is, a solid script ! The purported comedy sequences using the kids, fell flat and fails to to even raise a chuckle from us ! But what's astonishing is the amount of violence thrust into the script and that too portraying kids as archetypal Tamizh cinema antagonists, with cruel and criminal mindsets ! The morale-lesson Barani tries to convey is understandable, but there is no justification nor conviction in portraying those kids, dabbling in such blood-soaked violence. What's worse is the insipid romance portions between Vijay and Vibha, which is lacking in any emotions nor feelings ! The director has failed to extract good performances from his artistes, as well.
'Mathil Mel Poonai' - a miserable film with no sense of continuity nor engagement !
Ratings: 1/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
.jpg)
