Showing posts with label Bala Saravanan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bala Saravanan. Show all posts

THIRUDAN POLICE MOVIE REVIEW

'Attakathi' fame Dinesh, who had a decent outing with 'Cuckoo' has taken up a lead role with some commercial elements for the first time. 'Thirudan Police' is touted to be a melodramatic comedy fare, with some serious moments in between. Co-produced by S.P.B Charan, can debutante Caarthick Raju come up with a decent feel-good entertainer ?

Dinesh has chosen an apt script for him, where he can showcase his acting histrionics and at the same time, try his hand at comedy. He is convincing as the loafer turned constable, but at some places, he looks quite stiff and rigid. He must certainly improve his dancing capabilities and be more natural in the songs, as his uncomfortness romancing the heroine, is quite obvious. Iyshwarya Rajesh has nothing to offer here and only appears for some romance portions and song sequences. Muthuraman as the main antagonist was okay but its Rajendran and John Vijay who steals the thunder with their comedic acts. The pair complemented each other well and brought out the better comic timing from each other. The climax scene was hilarious ! Upcoming comedian Bala Saravanan is a riot with his dialogue deliveries and voice modulation. His natural demeanor works as a charm for him and sooner or later, he is sure to reach new heights ! Veteran Rajesh sparkles in his short role as a strict constable father and the others like Naren, Nitin Sathya, Krishnamoorthy, Renuka, Uma Iyer, Rajendranath, Vaiyapuri and etc make up the rest of the cast, with a very dignified special appearance from the legendary S.P Balasubrahmanyam.

Sruthi Kannath's costume designing sufficed the needs of the script and most of her work would have been on the heroine since the hero and the other main characters appear in police constable outfits, most of the time. Dhilip Subbarayan's action choreography was very realistic and apt and the highlight would be the jail lock-up fight scene involving Dinesh, Rajendran and John Vijay. The colony chase and the ensuing fight sequence, during the beginning of the movie. Art direction is by Jacki and the set properties for the police station set and also for the police housing colony was very realistic. The difference in class between a superior and a lower-level police officer was well showcased through the projection of their houses. Praveen K.L's editing was clean as usual and the fight sequences were very well edited. Siddharth's cinematography is functional and there's nothing really outstanding with his work, except for the fast movements through the housing colony, involving a fight sequence between Nitin Sathya and Dinesh.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's musical score is way below average for his standards and its pretty much run of the mill, stuff. "Moodu Panikkul" is a duet shot on Dinesh and Iyshwarya Rajesh in the highlands of the lush, green Kodaikanal. The panoramic views are the usual stuff, we are accustomed to. "Dheivame" is a situational bit song, which was shot on Rajesh and is also used during the end credits, and highlights the love of a father. "Ennodu Vaa" is a party dance number and featured Vijay Sethupathi and Aruldass in cameo appearances. Rajendran and John Vijay amuses with their lady get-ups for this song ! "Pesadhe" is the pick of the lot and melody number and has montages of Dinesh and Iyshwarya Rajesh, which was mostly shot in the housing colony area. Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score was just functional and nothing more than that.

Caarthick Raju's story is nothing new and the revenge element is as old as the hills. But the lighthearted treatment of the script is a bit refreshing and the melodramatic moments were kept bare minimum, apart from a fiery verbose speech by Naren. The song placements looked forced and disturbs the flow of the screenplay. Also, there plot development could be more organic and less jarring. The script highlights the pitiful and poor lives of the lower-level police constables and their daily miseries. Their lifestyle and struggle were well captured and how their higher officials make use of them, were explicitly shown. Caarthick Raju has infused the comedy element well into the script but at times, it makes us to ponder on how are we suppose to treat certain scenes, as either being serious or as light-hearted moments. The dialogues are a big plus to the film, especially for the comedy portions, and in particular for Bala Saravanan, who mouthed it perfectly. The end credits, which has photographs of all the technicians with their respective fathers, is an ode to fatherhood and was a nice touch. A film without lofty ambitions, 'Thirudan Police' is meets its expectations, though there are rooms for improvements.

'Thirudan Police' - Funny hide-and-seek !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

NERUNGI VA MUTHAMIDATHE MOVIE REVIEW

After the sensitive and decent debut in 'Aarohanam', Lakshmy Ramakrishnan is back again in the director's seat with her second venture. Curiously titled, 'Nerungi Va Muthamidathe' is a road movie, with a multiple-person narrative based screenplay. Consisting of a fresh cast, with some old-timers and a young technical crew, can Lakshmy Ramakrishnan outdo her debut and deliver a clean film ?

Debutante Shabeer comes out clean with his first film and looks convincing. He can work out to improve his screen presence and his expressions, nevertheless he looks like a promising actor, waiting for his big moment. Piaa Bajpai makes her return to Tamizh cinema and though she appears more often than the other artistes in the film, she has a very limited role and her character doesn't have screen timing and space. She's okay, but she could do more. Kannada actress Sruthi Hariharan makes her Tamizh debut, and in a very small role with very limited screen timing, she comes unscathed. Hoping to see more of her in Tamizh cinema ! There's a big list of veteran Tamizh cinema character artistes and there's the likes of A.L Azhagappan, Viji Chandrasekhar, Y.Gee Mahendra, Thambi Ramaiah, 'Thalaivasal' Vijay, Ambika, Shyam Sagar, Gautam Kurup, Bala Saravanan, producer A.V Anoop, Ramakrishnan, Kavithalaya Krishnan and etc. Bala Saravanan and Thambi Ramaiah gave the film's lighter moments and A.L Azhagappan alongside Gautam Kurup and a cameo by Lakshmy Ramakrishnan herself, don the antagonist roles. The experienced folks nailed their characters and delivered no-nonsense performances.

Sai Naresh handles the costume designing department and his work fits the bill and all the characters looked their roles. Its refreshing to see Viji Chandrasekhar's character donning stylish wears, especially if you consider how Tamizh cinema has portrayed widows. 'Mirattal' Selva's action choreography was functional and looked very realistic and kudos to the director for incorporating stunts only when it is needed. Art direction is taken care by Raja A.S and G.Kumar, and the duo have executed their roles very well. The vegetable factory, the interiors of the protagonist's town home, Viji Chandrasekhar's posh bungalow, everything looked realistic and was aptly propped. Sabu Joseph V.J's editing work has no gimmicks, functional and sufficed the needs of the script. Cinematography is handled by Vinod Bharathi.A and its very evocative, with vivid visuals and purposeful camera-movements. The dry and hot Trichy/Karaikal outskirts were effectively used and portrayed through his lenses and adds more color to the script.

Music is by the Madley Blues team, consisting of Prashanth Techno and Harish Venkat. Music is a big strength to the film and the Madley Blues team has delivered a very refreshing score and goes along with the screenplay very well. The songs are situational and fits the mood of the scenes well. "Hey Sutrum Boomi" focuses on Piaa Bajpai and a group of youngsters having an outing, with montages of them having fun in a beach house atmosphere. "Kaligaalam" is a situational song, sung by Shankar Mahadevan and has its focus on the main leads, especially on Sruthi Hariharan's character's journey. "Yaar" has montages of Viji Chandrasekhar and Piaa Bajpai and focuses on their troubled mother-daughter relationship. "Yaarum Paakama" starts of with Viji Chandrasekhar performing as a lead singer of an pop/rock band and it continues till the end credits, finishes rolling. The background score by the Madley Blues team, is very refreshing, cool and is very apt for the script. It gives a different color to the story and accompanies along as an additional character itself. Good work, guys !

Lakshmy Ramakrishnan has gone for a different subject and moved away from the feminism based scripts. A road movie, can be tiring and boring for some people, due to the slow nature of the screenplay but with 'Nerungi Va Muthamidathe', she has kept us guessing till the end, which holds our attention, very well. The multiple-person narrative, doesn't give away any suspense elements early and kudos to Lakshmy for coming up with a clean screenplay with no hiccups in the narration. What keeps us hooked is the interesting small twists and turns, which comes one after another during the climax. But, the zing and zest was missing from the narration, which could have made it more engrossing. Also, the ending looks contrived, which she could have avoided. Lakshmy Ramakrishnan has done her homework and the detailing in the plot setting is laudable. Her choice of issues discussed is very pertinent, relevant and topical and being a women herself, the way she handled the issue of violence against women, was very subtle. But some of the issues needed more explanation and many questions and issues are left unanswered or unexplained. Her characterizations were not bad, but they need more depth, which many characters lacked. A better dialogue writer could have given stronger content but Lakshmy's work was commendable. End of it, what works for 'Nerungi Va Muthamidathe' is the sincerity and honest work done by Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, and may this be a stepping stone for even better works from her.

'Nerungi Va Muthamidathe' - Lakshmy is showing improvement as an film maker !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL