ORU OORULA RENDU RAJA MOVIE REVIEW

After the rather lukewarm 'Settai', R.Kannan, a former associate of Mani Ratnam is back with his own script and judging from the cast, he has given more importance to comedy, this time. 'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' has the potential to be a safe bet, especially with D.Imman's music and a good cast, but can R.Kannan nail it after continuous flops ?

What's refreshing with this film is that the hero and heroine alone doesn't hog all the limelight. The script gives equal amount of space, time and importance to all three main leads, which are Vemal, Soori and Priya Anand. For Vemal and Soori, this script does not provide much challenge for their acting capabilities and both of them breezed through their roles. Vemal looks continually the same for most of his films and its Soori who actually shoulders the film, among the two "kings". His dialogue delivery and witty sense of humor, together with a good timing sense provides some laughter, though the comedy tracks are below average. Priya Anand is the refreshing element of the film, and she gets a meatier role than what conventional Tamizh heroines get to do. She's at her glam best thus far in the songs and looks sweet during the remaining. Nassar and Anupama Kumar were cast as the antagonists in which, the former was completely wasted and the latter was a total miscast. Thambi Ramaiah, Singamuthu, Narendhra Khatari, Bala Singh, E.Ramdas, Kalairani, Kamala Krishnasamy, Sasha and etc make up the rest of the cast, with a special appearance from Vishakha Singh, who did an important role.

Costume designing by Chaitanya Rao sufficed the needs of the script, especially when the bulk of the story is set in a single day. Particular importance was given to Priya Anand, who looked gorgeous in the songs. Action choreography by Silva, who also played a minor role in the film, was decent and was more situational, rather than purposeful. His choreography matched the physical attributes of Vemal and Soori. N.Subbu's art direction was neat and the set properties for all the live locations matched the scenario. The rundown godown featuring in the climax scene, was the best of his work. Suriya's editing was crisp and he made sure the film doesn't drag for more than 2 hours plus. Other than that, there's no gimmicks in the editing pattern of Suriya's. Cinematography by P.G Muthiah adds more color to the script and there's plenty of aerial shots, using the helicam, but the necessity of it is a different question. The picturization of songs were particularly good and pleasing to the eyes.

D.Imman adds strength to the film with his musical score. The songs are good and provides some entertainment to us. "Oru Oorula Rendu Raja" is the opening song shot on Vemal and Soori. It has the typical rural locations such as the village streets, paddy fields and etc and we get to see Soori doing some serious dancing for the first time ! "Odum Rayile" was picturized on Vemal and Priya Anand and was entirely shot in a railway station. It has a mixture of situational moments, as well as some dream sequence, but the entire song has the railway station and the train as the main setting. "Sundari Penne" is the best picturized song, which was shot on Priya Anand and Vishakha Singh. The rain soaked atmosphere reminds us of Mani Ratnam's heroine intro songs and Shreya Ghoshal's voice is just so wonderful to listen to ! "Kukkuru Kukkuru", a song sung by actress Lakshmi Menon was shot as a highway song and featured Iniya in a special appearance. The girl dances well and provides little bit of glamour effect of her own and is ably supported by Vemal and Soori. "Mazhakaathe" is a typical dream song shot on Vemal and Priya Anand, in picturesque hill stations. Priya Anand appears in glamorous costumes, probably for the first time in Tamizh films and she is definitely an eye-candy ! D.Imman's background score adds more depth to the emotional scenes and certainly lifts up many moments in the film.

R.Kannan handles the story, screenplay, dialogues and direction for 'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' and he has taken up the issue of noise pollution and the malpractice acts of big manufacturers and how the laborers are victims of circumstances of such acts. The script has been given a road-movie like treatment with plenty of travelling and constant location changes. Though the film was promoted as a comedy film with some social messages in it, the humor quotient is low in substance and its pretty much lukewarm. And some of them are crude in taste, which is not so family & kid friendly ! Soori does make you smile, but those scenes are far and few in between, whereas the social messages were not smoothly infused into the screenplay. The post-climax scenes were jarring and looks forcefully thrust into the story, just to give the film an happy-ending. End of the day, this film is just a basic commercial fare and is primarily targeted at the B & C audiences.

'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' - Two kings, one queen and the audience ends up as the Jokers !


Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

YENNAMO YEDHO MOVIE REVIEW

Gautham Karthik, is back to the silver screen with 'Yennamo Yedho', after the impressive debut in the Mani Ratnam directed, 'Kadal'. With a relatively young and unknown cast, this project should put Gautham's cinematic career path, into his own hands. So, how did 'Yennamo Yedho' turned out ?

Gautham Karthik, definitely has the talents and potential to make it big in the Tamizh film industry. His screen presence is admirable and his energetic demeanor, makes him a charm. His dancing skill is quite good, but he can definitely work out on the expressions and dialogue delivery, which can enhance the dynamics of his character. Rakul Preet Singh, looks pretty and gets most of her lip sync right. She shares a good chemistry with Gautham, but performance wise, she can definitely do way much better. Her expressions and overall performance, do look artificial, at times. Nikesha Patel has not much to do, whereas Prabhu provides some form of lighter moments in the film. Anupama Kumar sufficed the need of the script and the others like Azhagam Perumal, Madan Bob, Manobala, Shakeela, Surekha Rani, Sai Prakash, Manohar, Raja Sankar, Sinitha, Kalpika and etc play inconsequential roles.

Sai and Shiva takes care of the costume department and their work was okay and fulfilled the script's needs. Kumar's art direction was just apt, especially with the wedding scenarios and the interiors of the locations such as posh bungalow homes. I.J Alen's editing was simple and neat, and there were no gimmicks with his approach. Action choreography has been handled by B.Thyagarajan and the initial car sequence was well handled. Besides that, the action is very limited since the film is a romantic comedy. Cinematography is handled by Gopi Jagadeeswaran, and his work has nothing extraordinary about it. The car action sequence was well handled, but other than that, its just average. 

D.Imman has scored some peppy numbers for the film, which will find place among music lovers. The pick of the lot, "Nee Enna Periya" sung by Anirudh Ravichander, was shot on the lead pair, with a roadside dhaaba erected for the song, followed by a farm-house like location with the pool-side being the main designated area. "Mosale Mosale" was shot on the lead pair, and this time the locations are in Thailand, where some portions have been shot on the rooftop of a city skyscraper and the rest canned in a Buddhist temple. "Muttaalai Muttaalai" is another peppy song, sung by D.Imman himself, and had the lead pair dancing to the tunes, in the city of Bangkok, with plaza squares and other urban landscape being the locations. "Shut Up" sung by Shruti Haasan, was shot on Gautham, in a club-like location. The typical colorful lighting, back-up dancers and a quintessential item girl, were all present in the song. "Podhaadha" is a pathos bit song, shot on the misfortunes of the heroine, whereas "Pudhiya Ulagai" has montages of the protagonist's own misfortune. D.Imman's background score was above average, and his melody based scores were the highlights.

Debutante Ravi Thyagarajan wields the megaphone for this film, but the film is a remake of the super-hit Telugu film, 'Ada Modalaindi' which starred Nani and Nithya Menen in the lead roles. The story and screenplay belongs to Nandini Reddy and though the Telugu original turned out to be a hit, the Tamizh version unfortunately fails to deliver. The supposedly breezy rom-com, turns out to be a dull affair. The sequences are not synergistic, which leaves us with loopholes and gaps in the screenplay, in addition to its snail-pace. There is apparently no reasoning nor logic in the continuity of the story and everything seems to happen at the convenience of the director's liking. The direction was below average, especially with the handling of the characters and plot setting. R.K Vidhyadharan's dialogues were below average too, apart from a couple in some comedy portions and scenes pertaining to Anupama Kumar's character. In conclusion, 'Yennamo Yedho' is truly a disappointing product and its pitiful to see a talent of Gautham's calibre, to be featured in such a sub-par feature film.

'Yennamo Yedho' - A truly half-baked attempt !

Ratings: 1.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL 

PONMAALAI POZHUDHU MOVIE REVIEW

'Ponmaalai Pozhudhu' has been in the making for quite sometime. Featuring the debuting Aadhav Kannadhasan, the grandson of the legendary lyricist/writer Kannadhasan, A.C Durai makes his debut as well as a director in this flick. Love seems to be the primary theme here, though the powerful performer, Kishore's participation gives some hope for us, for a different angle as well. How did this flick fare ?

Aadhav Kannadhasan fits the role of the protagonist of this film. He is confident in front of screen and has a good sense of dialogue delivery methods. He seems to be in comfort zone, even with heavy-duty emotional scenes, with tight close-ups, but nevertheless the young lad has plenty of things to look upon and to contemplate improving. Gayathri, looks very realistic and natural as the young and chirpy lass. A perfect lead pair for this particular subject ! Kishore, in his limited role was a scene stealer, with very nuanced and composed performance. His expression and usage of his eyes and body language to bring out the feel and mood of his character, was just a cut above the rest in the cast. Anupama Kumar, had a cool act as Kishore's wife in the film. She just breezes into her role and its about time for Tamizh cinema, to fully utilize her talents. Aruldass, scores in his realistic portrayal as the rude and suspecting father of the heroine while Sri Ranjani was apt for her less-impressively written role. 

Sarala Vijayakumar has worked well in the costume designing, as the characters looked their part, pertaining to their backgrounds and social demography. Silva's stunt choreography was in tune with the need of the script and what the characters can demand. Sanjey Karan's production design was simple and functional. The props for the middle-class homes setting was well done, though the up-market posh bungalow could have been dealt better. Ramsudharsan's editing was sufficed the need of the script, as the length of the film was crisp, though the transition from one sequence to another was jerky. Rajavel Olhiveeran's cinematography was average.

C.Sathya's musical score was neat and sounds pleasant. "Vaarkodhume" was the opening number, which was shot on the hero and his bunch of friends partying in an up-market bungalow. The club setting worked out well for the song, though the detailing could have been better. Rajavel's roving camera movements over the glamorous dancers, were apparent. "Masala Chicks" has few cut-shots and was picturized on the lead pair and dancers, with few backdrops such as the school compound, shopping complexes and the outdoors. "Nee Indri" is a situational song and had montages of the lead pair, picturized going through a separation. "Adikkadi" is the pick of the lot among the songs. Shot on the lead pair, who looked good, the song was picturized in Calcutta, with some of its landmarks utilized. "Iravugalil" also had montages interspersed with song picturization using famous landmarks as backdrop-sets. The background score of the film, was disappointing, as it is too loud and uninspiring.

A.C Durai, handles the universal theme of love for this flick, and his focus of attention is the juvenile gang. The 'puppy love' theme is something which has been handled by some legendary directors, to upcoming newbies, so there's nothing novel about it. What matters is the treatment and execution, which A.C Durai falters. The direction and writing falls completely flat. The minute saving grace would be Kishore's episodes and sequences, where some good lines and points are made. But other than that, the making is very insipid and sort of amateurish, though that might be complementary for the theme. A.C Durai wanders between the love-episodes and the father-son duo relationship and the film suffers, due to this needless wandering between themes. The faulty making does not commensurate with the good intentions of highlighting a sound social message, relevant to parents and teenagers, as well.

'Ponmaalai Pozhudhu' - Insipid and amateurish.


Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MOODAR KOODAM MOVIE REVIEW

Among the onslaught of comedy movies being released week in, week out in Tamizh cinema, 'Moodar Koodam' stands apart for its dark humor/black comedy genre and also incorporating styles, one would associate with the pulp fiction genre. Produced by the maker himself, Naveen, a former protege of Pandiraj and Chimbudevan, the film was released under the banner of Pasanga Productions, which belongs to the former. The promos were promising and promised a quirky but fun element throughout the film. Did 'Moodar Koodam' avoid making us end up as a fool for watching it ?

The main leads are new and Naveen, the producer and director, leads the way for the "Gang of Idiots". He maintains a stoic and brooding persona throughout the film and his dialogue deliveries were sharp and well delivered. His timing was perfect, especially for his counter-dialogues with Sentrayan. As for the latter, he was the second best performer among the lot. His facial reactions and bodily language complemented the actual caricature-like image of his character. The elements helped him to literally, "stand out" among his peers. (No pun intended !) As for Rajaj and Kuberan, the performances were decent and neat enough, but there were lots of room for improvement, in terms of screen presence and timing for dialogue deliveries. The rest of the cast were pretty much in their comfort zone and dished out good performances. Jayaprakash and Anupama Kumar were spotless, though Oviya had a lesser screen timing and impact on the script. Manasa and Rinthiya were a scream with their antics ! Sindhu Reddy, Sabesh, Wingco Prakash, Bobby Tejai, Sathish Swaminathan, Pollachi Manoj, Udhayabanu Maheswaran, Manmohit and etc contributed aptly for the necessity of the script. 

Production designer Prem Navas had little work throughout the film, as the locations were very restricted, and centered only on a house for 70% duration of the film. The props were neatly done, though. Athiyappan Siva's editing was creative, especially with the way he handled all those mini-episodes, each different from the other, with some zany ideas. The length of the film could have trimmed though, since the pacing of the film tests the patience of viewers, after a certain point of time. Tony Chan's cinematography was dark and brooding as well, complementing the mood and theme of the script. Though not impressive collectively, some episodes were definitely shot well, especially with Sentrayan's.

Natarajan Sankaran's musical score was exciting and unique, as he experimented with various types of genres and styles for each characters and episodes. "Velai Vetti" was the opening song, played during the credits, which present the cast and crew akin to a Guy Ritchie's graphic novel, style. "Idhu Nalla Naai" was well edited and shot, and was a fun mini-episode featuring the flashback of the Great Dane, credited in the film. "Oru Oorule" is the flashback of Kuberan and was done in an animation format by Hybrid Studios and Icon Studios. "ABCD Ungappan" meanwhile, was the flashback of Sentrayan and had plenty of montages interspersing with self-shots. "Auto Kumaru" is a bit-song played as a background score for "Auto" Kumar's character introduction. "Achamillai Achamillai" was shot indoors and is played in the background during a mini-boxing episode of the film. "Kannodu" is Rajaj's flashback which was shot in montages and had him and Sindhu Reddy depicted as lovers. "Nila Nila" was a slow-motion bit song, which happens to be Naveen's flashback. The pick of the lot, "Neeyum Bommai" sang by the legendary singer K.J Yesudas for the second time, was the flashback of an all-important doll of the film ! The background score too was interesting and well-scored. Good work, Natarajan !

What sets 'Moodar Koodam' apart from the glut of recent comedy film release, are its intelligent dialogues and a very stylish presentation and sequencing from Naveen. The director in Naveen had loads of ideas and he has tried to implement as much as he can and want in this script, and its pretty obvious that he has been inspired by Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino's style of film-making. Though the ideas give different variations and colors to the script, the line-up of ideas prolongs the length of the film further. Moreover, a good deal of the length covers the episodes played between the host of characters, locked up in a single house, slowly creeps in boredom. The barrage of wacky characters, though amusing was unnecessary and Naveen loses the grip he had on his script. Though the film has dark humor as its theme, the adult content in the gags are bound to be expected by the viewers. The makers could have taken the bold step of not sacrificing these adult contents just for the sake of a "U" certificate. (Or it could be the fault of the Censor Board members, whose narrow-mindedness is legendary). The biggest turn-off for Tamizh film buffs could be the hidden revelation behind the writing of the script. Naveen has ripped off a successful 1999 Korean crime-comedy, 'Attack the Gas Station' and it could have been encouraging to see Naveen at least giving credits to the original makers. But still, Naveen has adapted the script very well with the necessary changes.

Nevertheless, 'Moodar Koodam' is a good attempt in producing different films in Tamizh cinema. Looking more from Naveen, and looking for an original attempt from him !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL