UN SAMAYALARAIYIL MOVIE REVIEW

Prakash Raj is back in Tamizh cinema, and its his second directorial venture in Tamizh. A trilingual project, 'Un Samayalaraiyil' is an official remake of the 2011 Aashiq Abu directed super-hit Malayalam film 'Salt N' Pepper', which had Lal, Shweta Menon and etc in the lead. Backed by 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's music, and some good co-artistes, can Prakash Raj deliver an endearing and emotional rendition, of a script which has love and food as its theme ?

Prakash Raj is in his elements playing, a singleton 40-plus archaeologist and does a neat job. His reactions and expressions are repetitive and predictive, but that's due to the large number of films he has done, over the years in roles of similar stature. Sneha, creates a decent impression with her acting prowess. She has dubbed herself for her role and the character, suits her pretty much. Newcomers, Tejus of Telugu descent and Samyuktha Hornad of Karnataka origins, passes muster with their performances. There seems to be some serious issue with lip sync, thanks to the multiple number of shots done, for three separate languages. The rest of the cast such as Oorvashi, Aishwarya, Thambi Ramaiah, Elango Kumaravel and have done what is required from them, though no one leaves a very distinct mark, in the film.

S.S Vasu's costume designing complements the artistes' characters. Prakash Raj and Aiswarya's khaki based clothing, reflecting their archaeological backgrounds and Sneha and co, sporting a pretty, contemporary Indian wardrobe. Art direction plays a big role, especially for the amount of props used to decorate the home of the protagonist. K.Kadhirr has given plenty of attention to detail for the works on Prakash Raj's character's home, which is filled with unique antiques and not to forget, the elaborate cooking utensils. Editing is taken care of by a newcomer JO.NI Harsha. The editing work was simple and pedestrian, but it fits the flow of the screenplay. Nothing gimmicky with the effects, but the necessary output was there. Preetha's cinematography works just makes us salivate on all those delicious food and snacks, so tastefully shot and projected on the silver screen ! Its hard not to feel hungry after watching the shots of film, and if you have doubts on it, do watch the elaborate sequence, on the making of Joan's Rainbow cake ! Preetha's lighting and color tone usage, gives the film a warm and fuzzy atmosphere, which complements the mood of the film.

'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's score has its own specialty but the songs are average, considering the extreme standards he has set for himself. The pick of the lot, "Indha Porappudhan" is a Qawali song on food, which has plenty of cut-shots on some of the famous food and snacks of Tamil Nadu. Be ready to salivate, while watching the video clip which has the opening credits as well ! "Eeramai Eeramai" is a montage song, shot on Prakash Raj and Sneha, developing their relationship through phone calls. "Therintho Theriyamalo" was shot primarily on Tejus and Samyuktha Hornad. There were some montages, shot mostly in up-market areas such as malls and cineplex, interspersed with lovely shots of the pair, in a deep woods, with autumn like scenario. The bright splash of orange sunlight effect, adds beauty to the song. Also, a rain set was also built for the song, with minimal props, which Preetha has dealt well, especially with the lighting. The final song, "Kaatru Veliyil" is a situational song, which highlights the separation between Prakash Raj and Sneha, which has montages on them. 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's background score sounds brilliant in some sequences, and goes silent in most. Raaja sir could have filled them up with beautiful bytes. 

Modifiying the original story and screenplay, which was written by Shyam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair, Prakash Raj's screenplay was very direct and linear, apart from a minor flashback. Viji and T.J Gnanavel duo takes care of the dialogues portion, and though most of them are dull and pedestrian in nature, there are one or two odd gems and a couple of quirky, funny dialogues. The real problem with the film, happens to be Prakash Raj's direction. The film heavily lacks the emotional connectedness with the audience. There are no character development, nor any explanation on how the main lead pair came to love food. Audiences are not able to root for any of the pair's love emotions, because of the lack of depth in narration and everything is passed off in the songs, to convey the plot development. The film fails to establish itself in a genre and dilly-dallies between light comedy and emotional drama. Also, there's an absolutely unnecessary sub-plot involving an elderly Tribal man, which is a waste of time ! And something hard to digest in the story, is the fact that the younger pair, who were cruelly selfish in jeopardizing the older pair's true love and affection for each other, for their own self-interest, walk away freely with no whatsoever of guiltiness, after they are busted ! 

'Un Samayalaraiyil' - Soulless cooking in a confused kitchen !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ATTAKATHI MOVIE REVIEW

This film initially made news for the unique posters created by the makers. The curiosity increased several folds once critically acclaimed directors such as Vetrimaran, Thiagaraja Kumararaja, Chimbudevan, Venkat Prabhu and Pandiraj endorsed it. Directed by Pa.Ranjith, a former associate of Venkat Prabhu, Studio Green purchased the distributing rights and through good promotional activities, 'Attakathi' received the right attention it wanted. The promo trailers and songs captured the imagination of the youth audience and promised something casual but different.

Half the battle of winning the approval of the audience and critics is won, if you have the perfect casting and Pa.Ranjith scores very well in this department. Most of the cast are newcomers and obviously the film belongs to the protagonist Dinesh, who has done a remarkable job. Having a theater background and experience acting in small roles in films such as 'Aadukalam' and 'Mouna Guru', Dinesh has done really well considering the fact that he is not accustomed to the lifestyle of the character he played, yet performed very naturally. His transition from a higher secondary school boy, to 'Route Thala' was well captured and depicted. His dialogue delivery too was very well done. Kudos to him ! There are many girls in the film and it takes some time to understand who is the actual heroine. Nandhitha who eventually dons the heroine's role looks very homely and cute, especially in her school uniform attire. Besides, her we have Sofia, Shalini and Aishwarya, who did what was required for their role. The rest of the cast has no known artistes, and this makes the film look very fresh and natural.

The film carries very good technical work. First and foremost, R.S Raja, should be appreciated for the stills which were the attention-grabber, pre-release. Dilip Subbarayan has choreographed very natural fight sequences. The body language of those performing the stunts were casual and realistic, with the kicks and punches, captured well with the camera. Most of the stunt scenes takes place in the latter half, once the hero has positioned himself as 'Route Thala'. Ramalingam, the art director has done a simple yet effective work in the art department. The setting is quite tricky because, the plot revolves around the beginning of the 21st century and centered around a semi-rural, semi-urban surroundings. Though actual locations helped a lot in projecting the correct setting, his props such as posters and household items were realistic touch. Leo John Paul would have had a tough time in the editing department, because the whole movie is a light-hearted one and filled with humorous scenes. So the editing, needs to be carefully done in order to avoid tedious and slow pace. His work in the songs was good. Cinematography was natural and earthy, thanks to P.K Varma's natural lighting and with the assistance of RED Pro 5.0, his camerawork was solid, especially in night sequences and the late evenings, where he captures the soft and warm, earthy dew moments.

A major highlight and USP of the film is the music by Santhosh Narayanan. In tune with the mood of the film, the songs too were light-hearted and mastered crystal clearly by Leon Zervos, a multiple Grammy and BAFTA awards winning sound engineer. The pick of the lot from the Blues-genre songs was "Aasai Oar Pulveli". A warm and breezy song, it was shot with montages and wonderful lighting, capturing lovely evening moments of the lead pair in colleges and their surroundings. "Aadi Pona Aavani", a song which got popular due to its singer 'Gaana' Bala is the other best one from the album. Picturized mostly inside the bus, the lead artist performed and emoted very well for the song, making it look very natural and lively. "Adi Yen Gana Mayil" is a pathos song, shot humorously at a real funeral house, which involves funny dancing by the protagonist. "Podi Vecha" is also shot with montages and involves lots of chasing and fights, which highlights the rise of the protagonist as a 'Route Thala'. "Nadukadalule" is another funny and quirky song, shot at night which was picturized having the protagonist singing, and surrounded by his friends and family. The lighting was very apt for the song and captured the mood perfectly. "Vazhi Parthirunthen" is a situational song, which comes with the flow of the song, showing the pain of the protagonist waiting anxiously for his girl. Santhosh has done quite well in the background score too but he must avoid inserting music during dialogue portions as well, cause it is a unnecessarily deviates our attention.

Pa.Ranjith has crafted a simple and natural film, which does not deal with any serious issues. He has captured the life and times of the youths who are from the semi-rural, semi-urban area very well and depicted what were their activities and mentality, which will be an eye-opener for those who are not accustomed to those areas where the people belong to the lower-middle class category. The film has plenty of light-hearted, humorous scenes laced with casual and natural dialogues. The film slows down in pace in the second half and a minor turn-off for those who would want to watch serious cinema is that, the film has no solid story to tell ! We are just taken into a journey of the protagonist, who keeps on falling in love even after failures over failures. The climax has a small shock for the viewers, which takes us back a little. Having a background in drawing comics, Pa.Ranjith was able to visualize his scenes properly and at the same time, keeping them crisp and short. Besides that, he has done the role of the narrator of the plot as well.

In short, 'Attakathi' is recommended for those who would want to watch something ligh-hearted but at the same time, fresh and natural. The sweet and charming moments in the film will compensate for the lack of a serious story and the slow paced second half. Thumbs up for the first-timers !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL