It's the 25th film for Dhanush and the star really needs a hit in Tamizh because his 'Mariyaan' was an average affair whereas 'Naiyaandi' was just one of his worst film's to date. Produced under his own home banner Wunderbar Films, this is the directorial debut for cinematographer R.Velraj and the music is already a blockbuster hit, coming from none other than Anirudh Ravichander. With everything hitting the right notes, can Dhanush pull off a hit with his silver jubilee 'Velaiilla Pattadhari' ?
Being the titular character, Dhanush carries the whole film on his shoulder and he is nearly there in every frame ! Its and out-and-out Dhanush film and he has simply rocked as Raguvaran. You can differentiate his performance between the first and the second half. In the first half, it's all about the actor in Dhanush. The subtle nuances, the impeccable comic timing, the camaraderie with his co-artistes and all the song and dance were just a perfect concoction for him to perform his acting histrionics. The second half was all about atypical Tamizh cinema 'masala' hero, where our underdog rises to the occasion and Dhanush flexes his star prowess by pulling off punch dialogues effervescently. The climax fight sequence was tailor-made for him to brandish his 6-pack and machismo & swag mannerisms.'VIP' is just a bang-on for Dhanush, who was a pleasure with his screen presence ! Amala Paul, plays the cutesy and sweet girl-next-door and looks equally sweet and charming. Savitha's dubbing enhanced the role's nature and Amala's post-marriage release seems to be a good mark in her acting career ! Saranya Ponvannan and P.Samuthirakani were brilliant as the middle-class parents and the chemistry they share between themselves, was beautiful to watch. Debutante Amitash was a little letdown as the antagonist, but you can't blame him much when the hero opposing him is a terrific actor. Vivek brings some laughter in the second half with his dialogues and voice modulation. 'Cell' Murugan, Surabhi, M.J Shriram, Hrishikesh, Vignesh Sivan and etc were good additions to the film as character artistes.
Nagu and Pallavi Singh takes care of the costume department and Pallavi scores in her work for the lovely attires of Amala Paul, who looked simple yet sweet and presentable throughout the film. Action choreography is done by a debutante Hari Dinesh and his choreography style for the film, matched the body language of Dhanush, which shows that he has done his homework, pretty well. The climax fight was well choreographed and it really upped the ante, especially with the trademark flying kick from Dhanush ! R.K Vijay Murugan's art direction was brilliant, especially with the interior works for the protagonist's middle-class home. The set properties were just so apt, it naturally blended and looked very realistic, and the camp-like house on the rooftop balcony was a sweetly executed ! Editing is by another debutante M.V Rajesh Kumar and his work deserves appreciation because the film does not have any draggy moments and it was precisely edited, with only the necessary scenes being kept. The songs could be a spoilsport for some, but in such commercial films, they are a must ! R.Velraj's cinematography complemented the film's script and though there are no outstanding framing from him, the necessity was not there due to the script's simplistic story-line. Yet, there are some beautiful night effect shots and also some rain shots, which R.Velraj really seems to be a specialist in !
The film would have lost half the luster, if it wasn't for Anirudh Ravichander's musical score. The songs were just a treat for the fans and each one of them are chart-busters ! "What a Karvad" was shot entirely on the empty streets and the lighting for the night effect shot was neatly done. Lots of top angle shots were used for this song. "Hey Inge Paaru" is a bit song, which has montages of Dhanush and Amala Paul bonding. "Sunrise Theme" appears sporadically in the film and features predominantly during the birthday party sequence. "Udhungada Sangu" follows immediately and was fully shot on the rooftop balcony, on Dhanush and Hrishikesh with some dancers. The beautiful melody "Amma Amma" sung by Dhanush and the legendary S.Janaki, comes right after the interval and is a fit situational song, with montages of Dhanush and Saranya Ponvannan. "Po Indru Neeyaaga" is another short song shot on the lead pair, but this time it has more intimate and romantic montages, in which a couple of them were beautifully shot in the rain. The titular track, "Vellaiila Pattadhari" was also used as a situational song, which highlights the underdog tag powerfully and was fully shot on Dhanush on construction sites. Finally, the "Smiling with the Pain" theme track appears sporadically in the second half. Anirudh rocks with the background score and the lilting string section portion is fast becoming a trademark of Anirudh !
'Velaiilla Pattadhari' is written and directed by cinematographer R.Velraj and his script managed to strike a perfect balance of commercial 'masala' elements, together with realistic story telling and with a powerful social message. As mentioned earlier, the first half was a very entertaining and breezy episode, with all the light-hearted moments, the songs, the blossoming romance, the comedic episodes and etc. It was almost reminiscent of a Selvaraghavan-type of presentation, minus the crude and in-your-face sort of dialogues and scenes ! The second half was all 'masala' with hero vs villain antics, the powerful punch-dialogues, the stirring emotional scenes, the addition of extra comedians and a dose of relevant and contemporary social message. R.Velraj just nailed it and together with a perfect team of artistes and technicians, the end product was simply a pure commercial film, which one can consider as a perfect, relaxing entertainment. Though the commercial elements are cliched, R.Velraj's writing was very organic and the screenplay has a neat flow to it. Also, the dialogues are very contemporary and colloquial and even the social message scenes were not preachy. The romance track was not overdone and some sequences were very sweet and endearing, especially the birthday party episode. 'Vellaiilla Pattadhari' seems to be a quintessential representation of the perfect 'masala' entertainer !
'Vellaiilla Pattadhari' - A bang on D25, Team V.I.P !
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
P.Samuthirakani is back as director after 'Porali' which was released 3 years back. Known for his powerful dialogues and social messages, he has collaborated with a team of stars beyond his usual circles for 'Nimirnthu Nil'. 'Jayam' Ravi who's last was the poorly received 'Aadhi Baghawan' badly needs a hit to sustain his stature in Tamizh cinema. Produced by Vaasan Visual Ventures, can P.Samuthirakani and 'Jayam' Ravi strike a clean success ?
'Jayam' Ravi, who donned double roles in his last flick, ironically does the same with 'Nimirnthu Nil' as well. Though the roles are lesser challenging and brooding than the one's in 'Aadhi Bhagawan', but still 'Jayam' Ravi makes the most of his opportunities and came out with a decent performance. As Aravindan Sivasamy, Ravi sort of impersonated the naive and rule-abiding "Rules" Ramanujam of 'Anniyan'. The shocked reaction which he occasionally displays, is a little overboard, though. His dialogue delivery, especially after the changeover shown in the film, packs a few punch. There were more variations in his expressions, especially in the second half, delivered convincingly. Whereas as Narasimha Reddy, we get to see a more flamboyant and joyous Ravi, and he shows his prowess in handling various languages at ease. Amala Paul, looking very cute and petite, has a very limited and substantial role, but fits her role well and aptly dubbed by Raveena Ravi. Soori gets to be more than a comedian here yet kudos to him for his well-timed dialogues and voice modulation. Vijay TV fame, C.Gopinath plays a very important role and he impresses in his sequences. There's an overabundance of casting crew in this film, from the likes of Anil Murali, Nassar, Prof.Gnanasambandham, Namo Narayana, Chitra Lakshmanan, Thambi Ramaiah, Subbu Panchu, Badava Gopi, 'Munnar' Ramesh, Gnanavel, G.Marimuthu, Dhilepan, K.K.P Gobalakrishnan, Kanthasamy, V.K Vijayakumar, Sriranjini, Rithika, Latha Rao, debutante Ragini Dwivedi from the Kannada cine industry and etc who made their marks. Also, we had Sarath Kumar making a 20 minute cameo appearance. We also have M.Sasikumar giving a voice-over in a scene !
Costume designing by Priya Manikandan and Karishma Sharoff was good, especially with 'Jayam' Ravi's looks for both characters and also for the homely, contemporary costumes for Amala Paul, which made her look beautiful. Jacki's art direction sufficed the needs of the script. His works behind the properties of the protagonist's post apartment, the police station set, the secret hideout offices, the television station setup and etc are commendable works from Jacki. A.L Ramesh's editing was passable, though he could have trimmed the second half and also a little of the first half and his cuts could have been smooth. 'Stun' Siva's action choreography was "over" over-the-top, especially with the Bangalore highway sequence. Farcical, at its best ! M.Sukumar and M.Jeevan handles the cinematography department, and they have done a decent job, especially with the combination sequences of both the double characters played by 'Jayam' Ravi. The lighting for the indoor sequences were natural though the highway action sequence, could have been handled better. Especially, with the VFX's teams tacky final output.
G.V Prakash Kumar scores for P.Samuthirakani's film for the first time and to put it frankly, the songs have turned out to be quite average for their standards. "Kadhal Nergaiyil" is a slow melody and shot with montage on the lead pair, with some cute and funny moments featuring in the song, especially with the contradicting characteristics of the lead pair. "Gita Verses" is a situational song, with some sequences interspersing in between the song. Though it fits the situation well, the score tends out to be too loud at certain places. The pick of the album, "Negizhiyinil" was shot in the beautiful locations of Athirapally waterfalls and the Bekal Fort. The cinematographer has handled some interesting angles and camera movements for this song, with apt framing for some shots. "Rajadhi Raja" is the opening song of 'Jayam' Ravi's second character and also featured Ragini Dwivedi in a glam makeover. The song looked like a typical village or rural celebratory song, with plenty of village props and colorfully attired dancers. "Don't Worry" featured 'Jayam' Ravi with the host of character artistes appearing in the song, which had a party-like atmosphere to it and also 'Gaana' Bala's cameo appearance. The background score by G.V Prakash Kumar and additional outputs from C.Himesh Babu, sufficed the mood of the script, though its not the best of works from him.
As always as it is with P.Samuthirakani's films, 'Nimirnthu Nil' too has plenty of social issues tackled with a few messages delivered in atypical Samuthirakani dialogues. But the problem is, it gets way too preachy in this script, especially in the second half, which lessens the entertainment value. Also, we get a sense of déjà vu because of the similarity in the vigilante-style story, which is synonymous with Shankar films and bears a resemblance to a host of other popular flicks such as A.R Murugadoss's 'Ramana' and Saravanan Subbiah's 'Citizen'. Besides that, the element of logic taking a backseat, in a very pretentious manner, is a turn-off for sure, especially when you consider the factor of the film coming from P.Samuthirakani's stable. Nevertheless, the social issues and messages delivered in the film is thought-provoking, aided by some power-packed dialogues, albeit with an overdose of melodrama. But its unfathomable to digest the fact that Samuthirakani, has succumbed to the pressures of thrusting needless commercial elements into his script. What could and should have been an gripping encounter such as 'Nadodigal', peters out into an average product. Its about time for P.Samuthirakani to realize that powerful dialogues and social messages, blended along with a mass "masala" concoction alone, will not guarantee a great end-product !
'Nimirnthu Nil' - With a meekly written screenplay, that's quite an arduous task to do !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
The coming together of the two Vijays of Tamizh cinema, 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay and director A.L Vijay, has piqued the interests of Tamizh cinema followers. The intriguing combination, brings two, distinctively different people of styles and cinema, into a single film. The former, for his 'mass' masala entertainer, whereas the latter for his sensitive and slow-moving style of film-making. With a good production crew and a big star cast and top-class technicians, did 'Thalaivaa' really strike a fine balancing-act, en-route to winning the prospective thumbs-up from the general audience?
Its a waste of time, writing and eulogizing the dancing and comedy prowess of Vijay as a star. He has done it plenty of times in his 20 years of cinematic life as a leading hero. Its the actor and performer in him which we would really want to watch on the silver screen and in 'Thalaivaa', our wishes are granted, in commensurate proportions, in terms of space and scope. The first half is the usual act of the charming, lovable and sweet-natured persona, with the perfect comic-timing, smooth dance movements, and cute romantic approaches. The second half is a total transformation all-together, where its dark, gritty and has a serious undertaking in his acting approach. It is quiet refreshing to see him enact a role, which was a fairly well-written one. Though we have seen him in roles which oozes authoritarianism and style, plenty of times, in 'Thalaivaa' he strikes a fine-balancing of doing a fair bit of acting, yet at the same time pull of his distinctive style and entertainer act, with panache. His action and dancing sequences were neatly done, as well. Kudos to A.L Vijay for presenting a refreshing and energized Vijay to us !
Veteran, Sathyaraj was brilliant in his short screen-time. His powerful, yet pensive mood suits him very aptly, and for an actor of his stature, it would have been a piece of cake ! Amala Paul pulls of a decent job with her limited role and enhanced the credibility of the character's natural persona by dubbing in her own voice, fluently. Santhanam, as usual pulls of his witty one-liners, with the perfect timing and evokes laughter from us. Its amazing to see this guy pull it off in each and every film he is involved ! The antagonist, Abhimanyu Singh should have done better in his role as his portrayal lacks the intensity, the character demanded. A powerful star cast in Rajiv Pillai, Ragini Nandwani, Nassar, Udhay, Ponvannan, Y.Gee Mahendran, Suresh, Manobala, Subbu Panchu, Kishore, Ravi Prakash and guest roles from Rekha and Sam Anderson, gives the film a solid base, in terms of performances. Good casting from A.L Vijay !
Deepali Noor and Pallavi Singh's costume designing was in sync with the mood change-overs of the film. The lead pair looked very presentable and charming in their stylish costumes, and extra brownie points for the special change-over for Vijay in the second half. 'Stunt' Silva's action choreography was very believable and stylishly done, especially the night fight sequence. Very realistically and subtly handled by Silva. R.K Naguraj's production design, gave the film a very rich and clean look. His props and set work for the second half as well as the cool interiors for the first half, based in Australia was artistically handled and followed a particular color-tone in the change-overs. Anthony's editing is flawless, though the length of the film is rather questionable. The major strength of the film besides the casting is the cinematography and Nirav Shah proves his a wizard once again. Nirav has captured the beauty of Sydney and also the raw and rustic nature of the other side of Mumbai, perfectly ! His color-tones usage for the respective halves in the film, blends well with the mood of the screenplay. His top-angle and tight close-up techniques were well used. Another top-notch work from Nirav !
G.V Prakash usually reserves some of his best for A.L Vijay and he continues it here as well. There is a bit song like a hum, which goes "Thaalealo" in some important sequences in the film. "Tamizh Pasanga" was shot in Sydney and is a good platform for Vijay to prove his good dancing skills. The set-up was well done for the song, and Sydney's mild weather and clean rive-side environment were well used, as well as able aid from the group dancers. "Sol Sol" was only used as a short bit-song when Vijay casts his eyes on Amala Paul for the first time. "Yaar Indha Saalai" is a sweet song shot in montages, with the splendor and beauty of Sydney in the evening, captured very aesthetically by Nirav. The song has some additional great lines from Santhanam mixed together with the montages. "The Ecstasy of Dance" was the best picturized track in the film. The mellow lighting and the warehouse set, blends surreally with the tune and kudos to Amala Paul for keeping in pace with Vijay for this short soundtrack, with her dance movements. "Thalapathy" is a sort of coming-age song, eulogizing the heroism and savior-nature of the hero, and has good props and detailing and few scenes thrown into the song duration to spice up mood. "Vaangana" is a cute, dance number and was colorfully set-up by R.K Naguraj, with intricate props . G.V Prakash also features in a surprising cameo role in this song. The background score is better in the second half, and G.V Prakash is showing marked improvements from film to film.
A.L Vijay, as mentioned earlier, is someone who churns slow and melodramatic films, with some sort of astuteness. He has experimented this time by imbibing his style into an action story, atypical of Vijay's choice. The experiment is unique and interesting but the doesn't keep us glued to our seats as the film languorously takes it's time to unravel. The first half, though light-hearted, does not serve any strong pertinence to the overall script and theme line of the story. But some shocking turn of events in the late first-half suddenly jolts us out of slumber and again catches our attention for a while. There is nothing new or daringly creative in terms of storyline and script as A.L Vijay has been heavily inspired from particular films done by Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma, and has also rehashed some of Vijay's earlier films' story-lines ! But what might work for some section of audience, is the treatment and presentation of A.L Vijay, who handles his characters and scrip quite well. His directorial skills is of no question. Only the ability of in-depth and strong script-writing which is a cause of concern. Dialogues are particularly "old-fashioned" and the climax is not so engaging, though it has been well executed and shot by Nirav.
'Thalaivaa' - A decent watch with very less logic-defying "masala" elements, though it is an average commercial entertainer. A fairly higher rating, just for the production values.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Atharvaa Murali makes a comeback with this wonderfully titled film, after the demise of his wonderful father, actor Murali. "Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal" has been marketed as a trendy, urbane and slick thriller with good music and cinematography. Debutant Elred Kumar who helms the director's chair is surprisingly the producer behind RS Infotainment, and its a rarity to see a producer turning into a director. Added to that, Amala Paul has been glamorized up for this film and the chemistry between the leading pair is the selling point of the film.
Atharvaa as the troubled IT employee made his mark as a decent debutant in "Baana Kaathadi" continues his fine form in this film as well. He dances well and shows good agility in stunt sequences, and showed more improvement from his first film. With the guidance of more prolific directors, this guy has very good potential to be a powerful performer. Kudos to him for carrying this whole film on his shoulders, though its only his second outing. Amala Paul was cool and breezy throughout the film and so far, this has been her most glamorous outing yet in Tamizh cinema with trendy and chic costumes, a straight contrast to her "Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi" looks. Besides that, it was a change with Chinmayi doing the dubbing for her this time, which actually suits the character which she plays. With two releases at the same time, she is the current hot babe of Tamizh cinema. Jayaprakash was cool and trendy as usual, with this flawless dialogue delivery and voice modulations. Nassar was decent as usual in an limited role and Anupama Kumar and Yashika did what was expected from them. The biggest disappointment though was Santhanam. His comedy track was totally unnecessary to the screenplay and most of his jokes didn't really take off well.
Since Elred Kumar himself has produced this film, it is obvious that he has spent lavishly and its evident through the fantastic output of the film. The DI work by Gemini Labs was well done in 6K and shows very good picture quality. Kiran's art direction was trendy with the posh apartment and office of IT suites, all depicted in a very stylish and contemporary style. But not only that, the artwork in village sequences too were very natural and minimal. Antony L.Ruben's editing was neat, but he could have trimmed the film a bit and made the screenplay racier with the arrangements of scenes. Rajasekar's stunts incorporated some new style of fighting techniques like Parkour and Beacon but he could have avoided the use of the ropes as some stunt shots look fake. Deepali Noor's costumes made the characters look chic, casual and trendy, especially for Amala Paul who comes in various designer dresses throughout the film. The biggest asset to the film though, is cinematographer Shakthi. His framing and visuals were fantastic with such cool and breezy shots, giving the whole film a very calm feeling. The usage of blue tone nearly throughout the film, maintains the cool and aesthetic feel. This man, has a great future in cinema and will be one to lookout for. Kudos to Shakthi!
GV Prakash's music was cool and trendy as well. "Mazhai Pozhiyum" was well captured in the Grand Canyons and follows a road travel theme throughout. One of the rare occasions, where cinematographer Shakthi adopts a different tone color in the film where the whole song was given a warm feeling, with light orange tinge. "O Sunandha" was done in montages and follows the lead pair throughout Bengaluru with well placed angles in camera. "Oru Murai" is the best of the lot and though the picturization was hyped up as it was done in the world's largest gift shop, Bonanza Shop in the Las Vegas strip, it didn't really live up to the hype it generated. But it was still well shot, with cool choreography by Brindha and shot in music video style. Not to forget, the wonderful lyrics of Thamarai. "Sokku Podi" is the usual set-song and the sets were done keeping in mind with the cool-blue theme of the film and Prasanna's choreography was decent. "Yaar Aval Yaaro" was also done in a music video style with untried Gothic theme and the graphic works by Pixon was decent. "Kangal Neeyae" is another flashback montage song, aesthetically shot and also incorporates a warmer color tone. The disappointing fact is that, the songs are a drawback to the film as it slows down the screenplay and was more of a roadblock in the story. GV Prakash should avoid lifting tracks from other sources as one piece of his BGM work was directly inspired from Zack Hemsey's "Mind Heist" track which was incidentally used as the music piece in the initially trailer of the mind-bending Christopher Nolan's classic "Inception"! His other haunting piece which comes throughout the film, was well scored though.
The problem with Elred Kumar's film is that, it has a weak script though the basic storyline is an interesting one. Though the film was made to look like a classy one, once in a while it incorporates unnecessary commercial aspects like comedies, flashbacks, sentiments and etc. Initially, the film was touted to be a romantic thriller but then the romance quotient was not properly emphasized leaving the audience with only the thrills to savor. The script does have its good moments, especially with the scenes just before interval, which really keeps the audience guessing of what is happening. But the thrill and momentum was not sustained at all, and sadly few questions went unanswered and loopholes were evident here and there in the screen which cannot be excused and as mentioned earlier, songs were just pure roadblocks. A couple of dialogues were crisp and witty but they are far in between in the screenplay. A few different perceptions where thrown into the screenplay which looks forced.
Elred Kumar titled the film spot on beautifully, enhanced the film with good technicians and was lavish in spending but let us down with a loophole-filled script.
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
"Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi", a 10-minutes short film made by Balaji Mohan was a huge hit on social networking sites once it went viral, has now been made into an 2-hour feature film by the same man. It brings back Siddarth into Tamizh cinema after his last release, the lame "180-Rules Kidaiyaathu". What made the short film go viral, was the relevant theme of love failures among college going youths but making it into a feature film is a different ball game and with the aid of Nirav Shah and Siddarth as producers, Balaji Mohan is sure one lucky, chap.
What makes the film appealing is the perfect, youthful casting. Siddarth as the college kid who always fumbles in love was very apt and thanks to his young looks and suitable pitiable face, was the perfect choice. Since he has experience in his side, he manipulates his emotions well and also his voice modulation, especially in scenes which he has to render his dialogues facing only the camera. Natural and flair, job well done by Siddarth. Amala Paul, was neat and decent and was very much natural as the middle class college kid. A big strength to her character is Deepa Venkat's dubbing as the voice of her character, which was near perfect. Added to that, her sweet looks complemented Parvathi, her character. Besides that all the additional characters were very much natural, from Suresh, Ravi Raghavendar, Sriranjani and etc. A special mention must be made of the actors playing friends of Siddarth, retained from the short-film. They were very good with their portrayal and do manage to bring down the roof with their antics. Especially the chubby guy. He was a scream with his comedy timing and dialogue delivery. Hope to see more of him.
Technically, the film carries good work by the crew. Ramya Ananthi's costumes were very lively and apt. Her costumes for both the lead pairs were colorful and complemented their good looks and it was pleasing to the eyes of the audiences. T.S Suresh's editing was neat and crisp keeping the duration of the film to just above 2 hours and A.R Mohan's art direction, especially the interiors of the lead characters' homes and campus classrooms were well done. But the biggest asset to the film is Nirav Shah's fresh cinematography. The angles, movements in song picturizations all were big boost to the film keeping the frames breezy and fresh, throughout.S.Thaman's music was in-tune with the mood of the film, being lighthearted and fun. "Parvathi Parvathi" and "Aanantha Jaladhosham" were well choreographed by Chinna Prakash and Gayathri Raguram, especially in the opening bits. Both songs were quirky and fun with pleasing cinematography. "Azhaipaaya Azhaipaaya" and "Thavarugal" were done in montages and followed the mood of the script. Well written by Madhan Karky.
Balaji Mohan's initial success with the short film was the quirky and fun manner in the way he handled the script, but he managed it very well in converting it into a feature film. He retained most of the scenes incorporated in the short film. Though it can be appealing to first time watchers, film buffs who are aware of the short film, may find it less interesting to see the same scenes once again, with the same camera angles, gimmicks and even the names of the characters as well! That could have been avoided. But that doesn't stop one from enjoying the film. Its a fresh take on the goof ups committed by youths in their love lives and Balaji's dialogues are additional strength to the film, especially when it comes to one-liners. His depiction of how men and women vary in particular situations were spot on, especially the coffee house scene, where the lead characters were shown thinking in diametrically opposite ways! Also it is nice to see a film without negative characters which is a rarity nowadays in Tamizh cinema. There is a subtle message woven into the script but Balaji takes his own sweet time to present it which can make certain audience anxious to see some serious story telling in the script. Not only the lead characters were contemporary in their approaches, but even the sub-characters, too were very urbane and cool, which helps the film from not being jolted unnecessarily.
"Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi" is a very aptly titled, well made time-pass film, keeping in mind the current issues involving youths in love, aided with well written script/dialogues and also some with decent technical output. Hope Balaji Mohan's work will be an inspiration for more small time short-film directors to come up with even better scripts and feature films.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Linguswamy is back with another commercial cocktail with two cool dudes and two gorgeous gals as the lead characters. Lingu is known for his fast, swift and hard-hitting action screenplay which is coated with good technical aspects and wonderful songs. The coming back of Madhavan with Lingu is much awaited as their last film "Run" was a huge hit in those days and can be considered a cult classic for action films. Here they anticipation is further pulled upwards with the inclusion of Arya as well and Lingu's last, "Paiyaa" was a big hit. Are there chances for Linguswamy manage to pull of back-to-back hits, as the trailer of "Vettai" was promising?
One positive aspect of the film is the strong characterization of the lead artistes roles. First of all, Madhavan must be applauded for accepting a role which portrays him as a coward and that too with a upcoming hot star with him! He got his comic timing checked in, with cute expressions and his trademark smile as well. Besides that, he carried the changeover from the first half to the second half very well, and there were no hesitations on his side. Its good to see him play lighthearted roles in multi-starrers once again, but he has to keep his weight and physique in check. He is not really in shape and it actually contradicts the energy and vigor projected by him for his character in the second half. Other than that, he is good as usual. The real scene stealer is Arya. Though the trailer projected him as a loud and noisy character, in actual fact its the opposite in the film. He plays a chilled-out, relaxed and cool dude. He has very good screen presence and his action hero image helps him to convincingly play the role. He too, scores in comedy portions with subtle and restrained dialogue delivery. Sameera Reddy has a good role to play as the bold, brave, talkative, fiery but dumb girl. Her lip sync was not bad which needed her to utter long dialogues in fast manner and Chinmayi's dubbing for her worked well again. Amala Paul was cute and lovely in her limited scenes as Arya's pair and Savitha's dubbing for her complements her looks. Ashutosh Rana was good as well and had good screen presence and expressions, especially during close-up shots, though he struggled a bit with the dialogue delivery which was little bit out of sync with 'Thalaivasal' Vijay's dubbing for him. Nasser was a scream in few scenes which he appears once in a while and his dialogue delivery with fantastic comedy timing proves the veteran is a class actor. Sreejith Ravi was fine with Akash giving him the voice in dubbing. Thambi Ramaiah too delivers in comedy sequences with his funny dialogues and his clean delivery of it. Raju Sundaram and Linguswamy too makes surprising cameo appearances in the film.
One major asset of "Vettai" is cinematographer Nirav Shah. He had a fun time shooting this film and it was evident with the brilliant shots displayed in the film. His low angles and close-ups gives the right mood and feel for the film, especially during the tense sequences. The lighting done in the warehouse fight sequence was very well done, and the fight sequence shot in the rain, was class as well. Through this film, Nirav proves that he can cope very well with any sort of scripts and the bright color tones used, like red, orange, yellow and brown throughout the film really complements the script very well. Anthony's razor cuts keeps momentum of the film very well and the first fight sequence was very well edited. Rajeevan's props were very lifelike and all the interiors of the house, police station, warehouse and etc were natural and also went along with the script. Deepali Noor's costumes were very much apt for each character (Madhavan's conservative dressing, Arya's stylish and soft colored dressing and the heroines half-sarees) and it really complements the attitude of each character very well. Besides that, special kudos to her for Amala Paul's costumes in the "Kattipidi" song. Stunts are the real highlights of Linguswamy's films and this time he has opted for stunt director Silva. The action scenes are very well choreographed and composed which gives the adrenalin-pumping feel, though it is a mildly out of logic. Logic is of course something which is not bothered of when it comes to 'masala' commercials.
"Paiyaa" was musically a huge, huge hit and expectations were sky high once again for the trio of Linguswamy, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Na.Muthukumar. Sadly the expectations were not met as the songs were not as good as their previous film. "Dham Dham" was touted to be something on the line of "Theradi Veedhiyil" song from "Run" but sadly it was way behind that chart-busting song. The picturization was cool with slow motions used at good length and many half-saree clad girls were used to bring back the feel of "Theradi Veedhiyil". "Damma Damma" is a celebratory song picturized on all four lead artistes. It was well shot inside the old Karaikudi houses, which gives it a beautiful old-school feel. "Kattipdi Enna" was picturized among swanky new buildings and Nirav's cool color tone gives the song a different feel from the other one's in the film. The low angles and camera movement was creative. "Pappappa" is just another fast-numbered folk song and was picturized in a regular way with dancers dressed in fanciful costumes. Besides that, Amala Paul gets to show her glamorous side through this song. "Thaiya Thakka" was shot on both Sameera and Amala clad in half-sarees throughout, with wonderful rural landscape used in the background. Yuvan's background score too was not up to the mark, with the loud trumpet noises used throughout, bringing in a deja-vu feel.
Linguswamy's script are always taut, racy, pulsating and simple in manner but what adds additional strength is Brinda Sarathy's dialogues. Brinda's words are simple and stylish at the same time, which enhances the action mood of the script very well. Though the script has a very thin story-line, Linguswamy manages to keep the attention of audiences with interesting knots in the screenplay for instance the kidnapping scene and the child rescue scene. Also, he incorporates cute and humorous scenes which are light in manner. Example is the 'Thank You' scene which evokes laughter from all. Not to forget some good action scenes, Arya's encounter with the villains during a blood donation camp scene and Madhavan's "shutter" scene was racy and engaging. The film threads on the same line as Linguswamy's previous Vishal starrer "Sandaikozhi" with traditional Karaikudi houses, many shots taken in bright day time, the earthy and warm color tone throughout and a simple storyline. Although having simple story-lines is a welcomed move, the ending should not be too simple, as it was a little abrupt with this film and during post-ending credits, we are shown several scenes which should have been incorporated earlier to have a smoother ending.
In conclusion, "Vettai" is a simple, neat and lighthearted commercial action film which is a good time-pass film, especially during the festive holiday periods.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Deiva Thirumagal or if we choose to stick to the original title which was Deiva Thirumagan, was creating lots of buzz and expectations among fans of Cheeyan Dr.Vikram and the general audience as well, thanks to the teaser of Vikram inviting people to the theaters. Once the film, went into the hands of UTV, the media was bombarded with lots of videos, trailers, interviews, stills and etc which created a big hype over this film. Besides that, this is the next offering of director AL Vijay who's last was the super hit and much acclaimed Madrasapattinam. Do both AL Vijay and Vikram live up to the expectations?? It's a thumping yes and they did it with heartfelt honesty.
Dr Cheeyan Vikram, has done a fantabulous job. There are no words to describe his talents as an actor and after a long time, Vikram has delivered a knockout performance and certainly this film will be in the ranks as one of his best performances on screen. The seasoned actor has delivered in all aspects, be it emoting, voice modulation and body language. He has literally lived as the character Krishna, and it must be extremely taxing for him, mentally especially to prepare for this role and to pull it of easily. Although, he garners the viewers' sympathies throughout the film, the court room scene and the following ending sequence was the best and his reactions and emotions conveyed through his eyes, was totally heartbreaking. Simply superb from him. Cheeyan, you ROCK !!
Anushka as the struggling advocate Anuradha should be applauded as well for coming up with a very composed performance. Certainly this one was her best performance in her entire career so far, apart from Arundhathi. Besides that it's a welcome relief to see her in a well etched, homely role, which is more of liker her actual persona rather than the glamdoll, glamorous role she's used to doing. Amala Paul continues her decent run with a matured performance and if she continues this form, she will mold into a very good actress. Nassar as the cunning and feared lawyer, is impressive and very much apt for that role and it must have been a cake walk for the veteran performer. Santhanam, is on a hot streak and though he has lesser scope as a comedian compared to his other movies, he doesn't fail to evoke laughter in every scene which he appears. He has improved himself with better modulations and expressions and his best scene is the "Tea-Coffee" scenes. Totally hilarious. AL Vijay has the same behaviour as director Hari by having lots of co-artistes in the film. All of them such as MS Bhaskar, Sachin Khedekar, Y Gee Mahendran, Krishna Kumar, Surekha, "Black" Paandi, Karthik Kumar, Madurai George, MR Kishore, Priya, Master Amresh, NL Srinivasan did their roles decently and effectively.
But out of all this big group of performers, the actual scene stealer is the little girl "Baby" Sarah, a top child model from Mumbai who did the popular Boyfriend-Girlfriend ad for McDonalds. She's such a cute little thing and conquers the hearts of all the viewers as the daughter of Vikram in the film. It's a very matured performance actually from a girl who is known for being very expressive and outspoken and she has left a deep impact among audiences just like how Shamili did in the classic Mani Ratnam film "Anjali".
AL Vijay gets the best of technicians in this film and the first to be mentioned is the music composer GV Prakash. This combinations is turning out to be one of the best in Tamizh cinema and GV Prakash's music goes hand in hand with the entire script. All his songs are good and soothing to hear, be it "Aariro", "Vizhigalil", "Kadhai Solla Poren" which was beautifully written by Na Muthukumar and not to forget his theme track "Life is Beautiful". His background score also complements well in the film and it does manage to pull the heartstrings of audiences in certain places. Definitely one of his best work. Nirav Shah's camera is another major asset for this film. His camera movements in the opening sequences and the angles he chooses to capture the emotions of the artistes, really elevates the mood of the film and he showed his skill as an ace cinematographer in the picturization of the "Vizhigalil" song. Santhanam's sets, especially the chocolate factory and in the interiors of Krishna's house are very realistic and simple. Anthony as usual was decent in the editing department, though he could have done little better in the first half. Deepali Noor's costumes was perfect for the entire cast and she really made all three girls, Anushka, Amala and Sarah to look beautiful in the film.
AL Vijay did say that he was got the inspiration for Krishna's character by observing people he know off in real life besides films such as I Am Sam and Rain Man. Judging by the storyline, it looks like not only the characterization of Sean Penn in the film I Am Sam was his inspiration but the whole basic storyline of that film, is an inspiration as well. AL Vijay has taken the basic thread of that Hollywood film and tweaked/fine-tuned it and presented his own version of that storyline. He handled the script and the characters very maturely and presented it as a very honest and sincere film. His dialogues are one of the highlights and the movie has many good one's. There are nothing much to complain apart from the slow moving first half.
Deiva Thirumagal has certainly lived up to expectations it created and leaves a deep impact in the hearts and minds of the audiences and it's no surprise to see or hear people having tears in their eyes once the film was over. An emotional, sensitive and honest film.
Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
