Leelai was started way back in 2008 and was completed nearly two years later, but it took another additional two years to be released. Movies which took a long time to release from the time of its completed stage, usually falter because of the out-dating factor. Issues, events and even lifestyles change dramatically within a short period of time and considering that Leelai was made four years ago, it is a risky affair for the producer to finally release it and to expect a warm welcome from the audience. Also, the fate of technicians and artistes behind the film, will be decided in if this is their debut venture. In this case, the lead artistes and director, all are debutantes. Also, music director Satish Chakravarthy would have made his debut here as well, if at all his "Kanimozhi" was not released earlier. A urban-based film, it promises to be a light-hearted film with ample of romance of good music.
Debuting hero, Shiv Pandit a male model and actor in Bollywood is refreshing and looks debonair. He plays his role with confidence and charm and he doesn't slip at any given moments. He projected the character very well and maintained a cool and calm composure throughout the film. Even in scenes requiring him to be angry, he didn't step out of his character's personality and enacted his scenes diligently. Debuting heroine Manasi Parekh was equally impressive and she wins the hearts of the audience with her lovely smile and sweet, pretty face. She emotes very well and her expressions were light-hearted, fitting for the theme and mood of the film. With more opportunities, a girl to stay in the industry. Kudos to both the leading artistes, for getting their lip synchronization perfectly done and that too without knowing the language. Santhanam, the man of the moment was not up to the mark. His jokes and one liners fall flats in many places and only evokes laughter with one or two sequences. Out-dated jokes from him, perhaps. Suhasini did her role as a friend to the hero, very well. Others like Vibha, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Maya Krishnan, Sindhu, Rajan and etc filled into the screenplay was just nice. Nothing great, nothing bad.
Gayathri, the costume designer should be appreciated for her chic,suave and classy costumes for the lead pairs. They mirrored the exact nature of the IT-based folks and also made both the lead pair to look good. S.Saravanan's editing was neat, and Edward's art direction was simple. His works had touch of class and modern look, especially with the interiors of the lead pair's house and also hostel room and etc. Brindha, Tarun Kumar and Nagendra Prasad's choreography was just plain simple. R.Velraj's cinematography is a big plus for the film. Though it was captured nearly four years ago, the shots looked very cool and breezy. His usage of soft, natural lights added extra points for the light-hearted feel of the film. His song picturizations was noteworthy. Also, he captured the class and urban feel of the posh and cool IT-firms based in Chennai. A neat and classy work from him! Satish Chakravarthy, who was suppose to make his debut here, came out with lilting and sweet tunes. "Oru Kili" is the pick of the lot and it was well picturized at the Devi Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. Also the lead pair's costumes, especially Manasi's sarees was beautiful. "Jillendru Oru Kalavaram" was the first song to get popular among the audience and it was shot in a simple manner, with breezy camera work by R.Velraj. Soft motifs such as white was generally used for this song. "Ponmalai" was colorful thanks to Edward's prop sets and the choice of location by the crew. Finally "Unnai Partha Pinbu", a pathos song was done in usual montage sequence format. Satish's background score was chirpy and hip but there are clear instances where it sounds pretty obvious the score was inspired from his mentor, A.R Rahman's songs. Yet, overall a decent work from him.
Andrew Louis's script is a very simple, straight-forward and light-hearted script, so there's no unnecessary twists and turns and and complicated situations. The dialogues too are light in manner and Andrew should be appreciated for penning dialogues in Tamizh with mild sprinkles of English, here and there. He has avoided the usual cinematic cliches such as fights, introduction songs and sentiments which is a welcome relief for audience. Though the story was straight forward, there are some a few gaps and holes when it comes to logic points. The loopholes are a bit obvious but then the charm and sweetness of the lead pair holds our attention pretty much, we tend to overlook the mistakes. The climax was a bit predictable but nonetheless, a decent one for the film.
Leelai, is a light-hearted and breezy film which overcame the worries of the outdatedness factor. More is expected of the lead pair in the coming future, especially of Manasi. A decent, sincere, simple and sweet film.
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Debuting hero, Shiv Pandit a male model and actor in Bollywood is refreshing and looks debonair. He plays his role with confidence and charm and he doesn't slip at any given moments. He projected the character very well and maintained a cool and calm composure throughout the film. Even in scenes requiring him to be angry, he didn't step out of his character's personality and enacted his scenes diligently. Debuting heroine Manasi Parekh was equally impressive and she wins the hearts of the audience with her lovely smile and sweet, pretty face. She emotes very well and her expressions were light-hearted, fitting for the theme and mood of the film. With more opportunities, a girl to stay in the industry. Kudos to both the leading artistes, for getting their lip synchronization perfectly done and that too without knowing the language. Santhanam, the man of the moment was not up to the mark. His jokes and one liners fall flats in many places and only evokes laughter with one or two sequences. Out-dated jokes from him, perhaps. Suhasini did her role as a friend to the hero, very well. Others like Vibha, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Maya Krishnan, Sindhu, Rajan and etc filled into the screenplay was just nice. Nothing great, nothing bad.
Gayathri, the costume designer should be appreciated for her chic,suave and classy costumes for the lead pairs. They mirrored the exact nature of the IT-based folks and also made both the lead pair to look good. S.Saravanan's editing was neat, and Edward's art direction was simple. His works had touch of class and modern look, especially with the interiors of the lead pair's house and also hostel room and etc. Brindha, Tarun Kumar and Nagendra Prasad's choreography was just plain simple. R.Velraj's cinematography is a big plus for the film. Though it was captured nearly four years ago, the shots looked very cool and breezy. His usage of soft, natural lights added extra points for the light-hearted feel of the film. His song picturizations was noteworthy. Also, he captured the class and urban feel of the posh and cool IT-firms based in Chennai. A neat and classy work from him! Satish Chakravarthy, who was suppose to make his debut here, came out with lilting and sweet tunes. "Oru Kili" is the pick of the lot and it was well picturized at the Devi Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. Also the lead pair's costumes, especially Manasi's sarees was beautiful. "Jillendru Oru Kalavaram" was the first song to get popular among the audience and it was shot in a simple manner, with breezy camera work by R.Velraj. Soft motifs such as white was generally used for this song. "Ponmalai" was colorful thanks to Edward's prop sets and the choice of location by the crew. Finally "Unnai Partha Pinbu", a pathos song was done in usual montage sequence format. Satish's background score was chirpy and hip but there are clear instances where it sounds pretty obvious the score was inspired from his mentor, A.R Rahman's songs. Yet, overall a decent work from him.
Andrew Louis's script is a very simple, straight-forward and light-hearted script, so there's no unnecessary twists and turns and and complicated situations. The dialogues too are light in manner and Andrew should be appreciated for penning dialogues in Tamizh with mild sprinkles of English, here and there. He has avoided the usual cinematic cliches such as fights, introduction songs and sentiments which is a welcome relief for audience. Though the story was straight forward, there are some a few gaps and holes when it comes to logic points. The loopholes are a bit obvious but then the charm and sweetness of the lead pair holds our attention pretty much, we tend to overlook the mistakes. The climax was a bit predictable but nonetheless, a decent one for the film.
Leelai, is a light-hearted and breezy film which overcame the worries of the outdatedness factor. More is expected of the lead pair in the coming future, especially of Manasi. A decent, sincere, simple and sweet film.
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
agreeable.. :-)
ReplyDelete