ARANMANAI MOVIE REVIEW

Sundar.C, known for his slap-stick and sit-com based movies, is back with another offering but this time its in tune with the current flavor of horror comedy genre. Packed with the usual commercial 'masala' elements such as dance, comedy and action, can Sundar.C pull of another hit with a huge cast and a significantly higher budgeted, 'Aranmanai' ? Will the mix of horror and comedy be in a right proportion ?

Coming to the huge cast list, almost every frame in the film has more than 2 artistes involved and its a constant riot. But its an out-and-out female-centric film and the main lead roles are played by Hansika Motwani and Andrea Jeremiah. Hansika Motwani's second half show was decent enough for this film. She's surprisingly convincing as a village belle and looks bubbly and pleasing. Her screen presence is good as she keeps our attention well. Her lip-sync is getting better but still there's plenty of room to improve. Andrea Jeremiah fits the sensuous role perfectly, and her voice is an added advantage to her character, especially in the transformation scenes. Its definitely a good performance from her, but she somehow her character doesn't sink in to the proceedings easily. Sundar.C plays himself the most important male role and is functional in that role. Santhanam keeps us in splits, though not all of his one-liners were chuckle worthy. The big cast of the film includes Vinay Rai, Raai Laxmi, Kovai Sarala, Manobala, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Saravanan, Chitra Letchumanan, Santhana Bharathi, Swaminathan, Nithin Sathya, Aarthi, Ganesh, Akila, 'Kadhal' Dhandapani, Meera Krishnan, Alwa Vasu, Yogi Babu, Soundar, Gowtham, Raj Kapoor and etc. Though most of them were all over the screenplay, their relevance and importance to the script is a big question mark.

The film's technical aspects needs special mention, for their inputs. Vasuki Bhaskar's costume designing for the female leads are noteworthy, and all character's costumes blends in well with their respective characterizations. The film is loaded with VFX and computer graphics and the teams from Prasad EFX Group and Sinthu Graphics, deserves special mention. The final climax scene is completely ruled by the VFX, especially with the river water sequence and the solar eclipse effects. The color tone gave the climax a perfect look and its a visual treat indeed. Kudos to them ! Action choreography by 'Thalapathy' Dinesh was over-the-top, especially for the climax sequence, although Sundar.C's introductory fight scene was decent. Art director Gururaj deserves appreciation for his splendid work ! The whole film is based on the huge palace set which was erected and its completely filled with apt set properties. The set-work brought out the look needed for the film and aptly complemented the horror element of the script. Also, his work for the other village festival and etc sequences were rich in detailing. A feather in the cap for Gururaj ! Editing by N.B Srikanth was okay but he could have trimmed the length of the film, which runs unnecessarily long. U.K Senthil Kumar, a veteran and firm favourite of Sundar.C is the cinematographer for this film and his work was functional, but the climax sequence stood out, especially for the scenes involving the river. 

The songs of the film is scored by Bharathwaj and frankly speaking, the songs were just pretty boring and lukewarm. "Kaththi Parvakaari" is the opening song for Vinay Rai and Andrea Jeremiah. Its like a mini-road song, which has all the rural hot-spots in it. The lush greenery and colorful art work by Gururaj, especially with the colorful village festival like set properties, deserves mention. "Petromax Lightu" is a typical dance song, involving Santhanam, Nithin Sathya, Sundar.C, Vinay Rai, Andrea Jeremiah and Raai Laxmi. The indoor scenes were well captured and the song's idea stems from the song "Maama Nee Vaama", which featured in Sundar'C's classic slap-stick comedy, 'Ullathai Alli Thaa'. "Sonnathu" is a female melody shot on Hansika Motwani and Vinay Rai and also had all the typical village locations such as paddy fields, water dam and rural homes as its backdrop. "Unnaiye" is a situational song, which sounds like a typical Rama Narayanan 'Amman' film songs and has a huge Hindu festival as its backdrop. The splendor and richness of the event was well captured on camera and also incorporated plenty of VFX in it. There are cameo appearances from singers Manicka Vinayagam, Dr.Sirkazhi G.Sivachidambaram and Sivashankar Master. The background score is handled by Karthik Raja and his work was functional and fits the horror based sequences, well. 

The story by Sundar.C reminds us of other Indian horror flicks, such as 'Manichitrathazhu', 'Chandramukhi', 'Yaar', 'Muni', 'Kanchana' and etc. Its not a very novel attempt, but Sundar.C and S.B Ramadoss' screenplay tries to keep us waiting for the outcome and potential twists and turns, though the proceedings were pretty much, predictable. One must admit that though the film may entertain quite a few, there are plenty of obvious loopholes and unanswered questions in the film. The film tries to pick up some speed in the second half, especially one the the surprise is revealed during the interval junction, but is hampered by some dull songs and comedy tracks. Venkat Ragavan and Sundar.C 's dialogues were pretty ordinary too, apart from some efforts in the one-liners for Santhanam. Some visuals might be a turn-off or little disturbing for those who are young aged but other than that, 'Aranmanai' isn't really a scary flick. Sundar.C's direction sufficed the needs of the script, although the Rama Narayanan's 'Amman' film-like climax, was over-the-top. 

'Aranmanai' - Unmajestic and run-of-the-mill kind, bearable horror-comedy !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

INGA ENNA SOLLUDHU MOVIE REVIEW

Basking in the success and popularity of his dialogue in 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa', 'VTV' Ganesh has almost single-handedly "created" this film, right from the production to scripting and acting. The cameos of Silambarasan and Santhanam added more commercial assets to the film, but was this film worth the wait and watch ?

Make no mistakes about it, the whole film is about 'VTV' Ganesh and more importantly, it is only about 'VTV' Ganesh ! He does what can be expected from him but a tiny surprise in the film, is his tackling of a serious role and some emotional sequences. How much impact his acting had on the film, though ? Zero ! And its just insane to think that a very talented actress of Meera Jasmine's caliber was just wasted for no reason at all ! Silambarasan and Santhanam had extended cameo roles in the film. The former played the cool dude role with a touch of arrogance whereas the latter failed in a big way to make any sort of impact on the film ! Besides them Andrea, editor Anthony, art director Rajeevan, singer Ujjaini, Mayilsamy, K.S Ravikumar, R.Pandiarajan and Swarnamalya had meaningless cameos and roles, in the film.

The biggest shock of the film, is the inclusion of some of the best technicians of the industry. Rafiq and Nithya handled the costume department and sufficed the need of the film. Rajeevan's art direction was simple and neat. Nothing extraordinary or significant enough to hold our attention. Anthony has tried his best in making the film racy, but alas, the screenplay is so poor, his editing seems to be non-existent ! Cinematographer R.D Rajashekar has tried his best to score in his department wherever he can, but the insipid direction did not inspire him in anyways and most of his shots are just pretty lukewarm for his high standards.

Dharan Kumar's scores are quite average, to be honest. "Appa Tucker" was shot on 'VTV' Ganesh and Santhanam, in a music video style, with plenty of lighting and a group of sexily-clad dancers. "Avan Ivan" is a bit song of 'VTV' Ganesh working as a bartender in a swanky pub. "Cute Aana" is a montage song shot on 'VTV' Ganesh and Swarnamalya, which was picturized in Singapore. "Kutty Payale" was sung by Silambarasan and was shot on him, 'VTV' Ganesh and Meera Jasmine in London, which had locations of brown color palette. "Shuklam Baratham" is a situational bit song shot on Meera Jasmine. "Pattampoochi" sung by 'VTV' Ganesh himself, was shot on him and is a pathos song. Dharan's background score was a little better than his songs, and if it was to be a better film, his score would have been more appreciated.

'VTV' Ganesh takes the credits for story, screenplay and dialogues whereas Vincent Selva dons the role of director. What Vincent Selva did, is truly a puzzling question because, apparently there seems to be no need of a director for such a script ! It's astonishing to note of 'VTV' Ganesh's bravery to invest money, by producing a film on his own, without even the basic knowledge of scripting and writing ! In the opening credits, he gives a note saying the film is a partial inspiration of his own life, but nothing seems to be interesting at all ! There's no cohesion in screenplay, no synergy among the artistes, there's no continuity in the flow of proceedings, nor any logic/sense in the script ! 

'Inga Enna Solludhu' - Ludicrousness, "movified" !

Ratings: 1.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ENDRENDRUM PUNNAGAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Endrendrum Punnagai' has been making the right noise, thanks to the multiple number of stars playing the lead roles and for a glossy output, credits to the classy technicians. Harris Jayaraj's bubblegum pop music was received warmly as well. I.Ahmed, the television writer who previously wielded the megaphone for 'Vaamanan', is back in the helm as creator and director of this urbane flick. Will 'Endrendrum Punnagai' leave us with smiles as the moniker suggest ?

Jiiva, unsurprisingly has the best written role in the film. His characterization has some considerable depth in it, and Jiiva seized the opportunity to polish his acting credentials. He proves that he is an actor of great capability and shines in some of the crucial, emotional moments of the script. His dancing is improving a lot and he shares great chemistry with his fellow artistes. Vinay has a walk-in-the-park sort of a role, and he pulls it off, effervescently. He shows his confidence in humor sequences as well and forms a good partnership with the fellow male leads. Santhanam, was a scream in the film with his spotless dialogue deliveries and spot-on comedy timing. His counter dialogues are the real sucker punch and the man is back with a bang, after some lackluster performances in a slew of recent releases. Check out the drunk act he does, late in the second half ! Trisha, delivers a neat performance and the her soft-spoken character suits to a T. And she is still a looker, even after a decade as heroine in Tamizh cinema ! But why the usage of Chinmayi to dub for Trisha, when the heroine herself can speak well ?Andrea Jeremiah, carries her role as a diva quite well and proves herself to be quite a charmer, in some sequences. She only gets a few moments in the film, but still never fails to leave her mark. Nassar proves that experience counts when it comes to acting, and the veteran is definitely the icing on the cake. The rest of the cast such as Jagan, Abhinay, T.M Karthik, Varsha Ashwathi, Swaminathan, Thanuja, Sriranjini, Sanjana Sarathi, Narayan, V.Balaji and etc were adequate enough for their peripheral roles.

The costume designers, Chaitanya Rao and Nikhila Sukumar must be praised for their fantastic work in their department. All of the artistes were looking very attractive and radiant, with their chic and elegant costumes, projecting a very urbane and fashionable set of people. Production design by Milan is top notch, with classy set work, especially with the interiors of the posh bungalow houses shown in the film, as well as the contemporary office set-up. His props of the outdoor sequences were in tact, as well. A class act ! Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B ensures that the editing is smooth and flawless, and there are no jerky transitions from one sequence to another, at all. The duration of the film though, could have been shorter because 155 minutes of running time is not a necessity for such a script. Cinematographer Madhie must be congratulated for his brilliant work with his camera. The film gets a rich and glossy look, due to his lighting and postcard-like framing, especially in the second half, which has beautiful locations, shot in Switzerland and France. He definitely made up for the high cost of the film, with good cinematography works !

Harris Jayaraj has scored tunes, which gives us a sense of deja-vu. Nonetheless, his fans will still lap it up, for the feel-good music, with simple and catchy arrangements. "Yealae Yealae" is the song played in the opening credits, and was shot on the trio of male leads. The collage of photographs was well edited by Praveen and Srikanth, which interspersed with the montages shown in the song, highlighting the friendship of the triumvirate. "Ennathe Solle" was shot in a club-like set-up, which was well erected by Milan, and Madhie's lighting gave the song a glossy look, which was shot on the male leads. "Othayile" is a situational song, with plenty of montages and slick camera movements by Madhie. "Kadal Naan Thaan" was shot on Jiiva and Andrea, which had beautiful Swiss Alps as its backdrop, and also some cool chopper shots and not to forget, the sensual shots, with water backdrop. "Ennai Saaithale" is a bit song, used as a situational song in the second half and was shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with beautiful snow landscape as the backdrop. "Vaan Engum" is the pick of the lot, shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with Swiss cities as the backdrop. Harris Jayaraj's background score, complements the script's flavor and style and also supports the emotional sequences very effectively. 

I.Ahmed's clever formula of elements such as good-looking artistes, great locations, beautiful images, peppy songs, high production quality, has amalgamated well into a feel-good film. The script has two important driving factors, which are bromance and romance, and each one of them presides the two halves of the film, respectively. The majority portions of the screenplay are light-hearted and is just plain, simple fun. The director smartly manipulates his artistes by allowing them to soak themselves up in their respective characters, and gives them plenty of space to establish their roles. As mentioned earlier, each half gives more importance to only of the previously mentioned factors, at a time, and that can be a little turn-off for some viewers. Such a structure gives an inorganic flow to the proceedings of the script, and might bore some of the viewers, especially in the second half. The bromance portion can look a little silly, and also not really family-friendly in nature, especially with some adult jokes, strewn here and there. The romance factor works out decently, but lacks does not leave a very strong mark, due to inter-cuts of humor sequences and a dragging screenplay. I.Ahmed infuses a good message for those in denial, when it comes to relationship issues, and he must be appreciated for not being too preachy in his handling. A crisper and organic screenplay would have done more good for the film.

'Endrendrum Punnagai' - A feel-good, candy-floss romance & bromance film !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VISWAROOPAM MOVIE REVIEW

 It has been a very long wait and big hype with continuous controversies (during the period this review was written), Dr.Kamal Haasan's 'Viswaroopam' saw the light of the day (in certain places, only). Touted as 'Ulaga Nayagan's' most ambitious project, with an huge budget invested for the production of this film, 'Viswaroopam' is the next-level commercial entertainer, and that too from the stable of the classy Dr.Kamal Haasan. Aided by expert technicians sourced from around the world, Dr.Kamal has delivered a top-notch film, technical wise and still proves to the world that, he is indeed the man who will be the pioneer in elevating Tamizh cinema to the next level, all the time.

Coming to the performance quotient of the artistes, Dr.Kamal Haasan needs no review to justify his class and perfection in enacting the roles he undertakes. As the effeminate Kathak dancer, Dr.Kamal Haasan was marvelous with his body language and facial expressions, thanks to his dancing background. His dancing skill needs no introduction, and he executes the Kathak dance movements with complete ease and grace. The transformation from the dancer to an action hero was fantastically portrayed and Dr.Kamal looks totally convincing as an action hero as well, at the very ripe age of 58. He proves again and again that he is the 'Ulaga Nayagan' indeed. Rahul Bose, plays an equally important role as the antagonist of the film, and has nearly as much time space as the protagonist. His body language and composure in playing the role of a terrorist leader, was super good and proves that he is one of the best performers in Indian cinema. Pooja Kumar makes a good debut in Tamizh cinema, and looks confident on screen. Abhirami's dubbing work was in sync with Pooja's look and suits the character well. Jaideep Ahlawat, made use of his opportunity quite well. The rest of the cast such as renown director Shekhar Kapur, Andrea Jeremiah, Nassar, Samrat Chakrabarti, Zarina Wahab, Miles Anderson, James Babson were appropriate for their roles but had very little time space in the film. Some of the dubbing work for a few artistes among this list, looked awkward and fake, due to the unfamiliarity with the Tamizh language.

When it comes to the technical front, 'Viswaroopam' is one of the best films made in Tamizh cinema. Every department worked their socks off for this film, and the output is visible on the silver screen. The sound department under the supervision of Anand Krishnamoorthi and Kunal Rajan must be applauded for the extensive and detailed work in the film. The script demands such stunning sound recording and with the Auro 3D effect put to use, the audio effects were brilliant. Gautami Tadimalla's costume designing was very apt for the diversely different scenarios and locations used in the film. Kudos to her, especially for the Afghan episodes. Madhu Sudhanan's VFX supervision was good but it could have been better if more budget was allocated for the visual effects department. Ralis Khan and Gage Hubbard's make-up effects for Kamal Haasan and Rahul Bose and Nassar was top notch. Their make-up gave the characters, realistic and authentic look. The stunt choreography was stunningly done in the film and was handled by experts from various backgrounds and country. The scope is very extensive since it covers war-prone backdrop. Also, Dr. Kamal's solo fight sequence in the warehouse was explosive ! A treat for Dr.Kamal's fans !! Fantastic work by Kecha Khamphakdee of Jaika Stunt team from Thailand, Lee Whittaker, Parvez Feroz and T.Ramesh !! Another important work is of the art department's because thhe film must look authentic in order to be convincing and Dr.Kamal's choice of the apt technicians, was a good decision indeed. Lalgudi N.Ilayaraja and Vietnamese Boontawee 'Tor' Taweepasas handled the production and art department, extremely well. The Afghan war-torn and cave-filled landscape was brought out authentically in Chennai studios. A huge sum of money was invested for the art department, and each penny was put to good use. The props such as guns, machinery, bombs and explosives, everything looked original and believable. Boontawee and Ilayaraja should take a bow, together !! Mahesh Narayanan could have handled the editing department better, especially in the second half. The transition from past to present and vice versa was not smooth and the plenty of cut-shots in the end was sloppy and abrupt. But still, his work in the action sequences, was fantastic. This film would not have been possible, without the huge contribution and dedication of cinematographer Sanu John Varughese. His framing and camera movements for the battle scenes were terrific and he has handled the color tone of each episodes very well. The thrilling car chase scene was well shot, but it could have been even better. Also, his time-slicing/time-freezing technique was executed well. Anyway's 'Viswaroopam' will definitely be a milestone in Sanu John Varughese's career. Well done !!

Music by the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio was adequate. The title track, "Vishwaroopam" was used during Dr.Kamal's first introductory action scene, and it fits in terrifically well for the situation. "Thuppakki Engal" is a lighthearted song picturized in montages, showing the assimilation of Dr.Kamal's character into the Al-Qaeda network and their activities and journeys done and encountered daily. "Anu Vidhaitha" is an emotional song showing the power of destruction and war on the people who resides in the isolated, hilly regions of Afghanistan. "Unnai Kaanadhu" was picturized beautifully on Dr.Kamal's fabulous Kathak dancing skills, which was beautifully choreographed by Pandit Birju Maharaj. The song was shot on Dr.Kamal and his pupils and has the theme of Radha yearning for Krishna's love. The remix version of the title track appears towards the end credits. The background music was very apt, but it lacked the power and arresting-nature, which the movie demands.

Dr.Kamal's film has a global and important message underlying throughout the film. The film is peppered with highly intelligent dialogues, which some of them carrying concealed messages. The screenplay was structured in a non-linear manner, but it lacks a powerful and gripping narration. The action is there to watch, but the intensity was missing. The open-ended climax surprised many, but deters a few from true satisfaction, because of many unanswered questions and gaps left, which could be explored in the sequel. Dr.Kamal's intention has been to merely entertain the audience and he has succeeded in it. But hardcore fans of his might feel disappointed and unsatiated with the film, which leaves them craving for more, in order to come to a conclusion, of being satisfied or not. Many characters have very little space and time in the film, leaving the majority of the film focusing primarily on Dr.Kamal, Rahul and Jaideep's characters. Also, the dubbing work for some of the characters was a out of place. The direction by Dr.Kamal was good. Though the film is not on par with Dr.Kamal's previous directorials such as 'Hey Ram' and 'Virumaandi', it is worth watching for the effort of Dr.Kamal in making intelligent commercial entertainers

'Viswaroopam' - the standards of commercial cinema has been raised once again by Dr.Kamal. An engaging watch for regular cinema-goers. Part 2 is definitely essential for a thoroughly, complete satisfactory feel for the die-hard fans of Dr.Kamal.


Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL