ISHTTAM MOVIE REVIEW

Vimal and Santhanam who have recently enjoyed success in the form of Sundar.C's 'Kalakalappu' is back with their next offering as a pair in this film. 'Ishttam' is a remake of the moderate urban-hit Telegu film 'Yemaindi Ee Vela'. Debutant Prem Nizar takes his bow as a director and he is backed by the current hot-shot music director Thaman. Also its a project Vimal was looking forward to as it was supposedly be the film which will change his 'village' image.

Vimal, for the first time, has donned a urban boy role which was a good change over for him. But sadly that was the aspect which is the biggest sore point of the film. He did not fit the role at all. Being projected as one in a IT-based industry, certain mannerisms are expected and Vimal missed them. His English pronunciation was bad, making him totally unconvincing as a spoilt city-brat. Nisha Aggarwal, the younger sister of Kajal Aggarwal makes her debut here and she too disappoints with her performance. She is glamorous but her expressions were plastic-like and emotionless and her lip sync was out of out of place, as well. The lead pair had no chemistry between them and both were uncomfortable in pulling off intimate scenes convincingly. Santhanam, the current King of Comedy, tries to evoke some laughter but most of his one-liners were pretty average. Being repetitive in making crude jokes on women and beer, will not do any favor for him anymore. Anoop Kumar, Parvathi Nirban, Pragathi, Yuvarani and the others make up the cast and dished out what was expected from them.

Technical wise this film has average works. Sai Suresh kept the work simple but the continuity of the screenplay was a little wobbly. Mohanjee C.H makes his debut as an art director. His work is kept pretty much simple as well with ordinary daily-life settings used mainly. The interiors of the lead pair's house as well as the girls hostel room are the examples. Camera work was nothing to talk about except for Shekhar V.Joseph's foreign locales but that too is not an uncommon thing in Tamizh cinema these days. The only technician who shone was Thaman. His songs were peppy and had various styles. The pick of the lot are the "Dhinakku Dhina" and "Oru Megham" numbers. Both were shot in typical foreign locations amongst old buildings, snow-capped mountains, green hill-stations and city centers. "Yenmele Indru" was shot indoors involving intimate moments between the lead pair and finally "Aaruyire" was a typical pathos song shot in montage sequences.

The story is by Sampath Nandi and it revolves around the mentality of the current youngsters and how rash are their decision-making skills, especially when it comes to life partner. Dealing with the issue of pre-marital sex needs conviction and Prem Nizar loses out on that element. His screenplay was very average and it gets sentimental and preachy towards the end. The scene which was the turning point in the script was averagely executed, leaving no mark or effect on the audience.

'Ishttam' is a poorly done film, with weak script and poor screenplay which makes it a dull affair.


Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL