ITHU KATHIRVELAN KADHAL MOVIE REVIEW

'Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal' made the right noises for the production value, thanks to the producer and protagonist of the script, Udhayanidhi Stalin. After the super-hit 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi', he is back on the silver-screen with his "other-half" Santhanam, but this time under the baton of S.R Prabhakaran, who delivered the sleeper-hit 'Sundarapandian'. How does this equation fare, especially when you have good artistes and technicians as support ?

Udhayanidhi Stalin shows lots of progress in his acting repertoire. His dancing, emoting, dialogue delivery and the timing, as well confidence is way better than his debut. But, he has plenty of space for more improvements. Especially, when it comes to romance sequences, which brings us to Nayanthara. Being an experienced and able performer, she easily overshadows Udhayanidhi with her acting skills, is more convincing and has better screen presence than the Udhayanidhi. Nonetheless, they look like a good match, but Udhayanidhi has to buck up, if he's to attain more acting credentials ! Santhanam does his regular routine of being the hero's sidekick cum love-guru and as expected, delivers what he can. Not rip-roaring but still amusing enough, especially with his popular one-liners. Sunder Ramu has the only negative role of the film, and has not much of scope to score with his performances. Not to blame him, but his shallow characterization, that is. Chaya Singh makes a very pleasant comeback as a character artiste and the rest of the cast such as Naren, Murugadass, Saranya Ponvannan, Jayaprakash, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Dr. Bharath Reddy, Mayilsamy, Swaminathan, Kala Kalyani and etc, though underused, were befitting of their respective characters.

Rajini Vishal's costumes were chic and elegant, especially for Nayanthara, who looks gorgeous, especially in the chudithars and suits ! Dhilip Subbarayan has been credited for action choreography, but there's nothing substantial nor apparent, except for any functional purposes. Don Bosco's editing is crisp and neat, but he could have definitely handled the first half better, which drags unnecessarily with unimportant scenes. V.Selvakumar's production design was spotless, especially with the props used in the farm house and also of the other real locations. Balasubramaniem does not need foreign locations to showcase his expertise in cinematography, yet he does make use of his opportunities well. His lighting and angles for the indoor locations, especially of the rural farm house, looks pleasant for the eyes. He has tried to project a colorful tone overall for the movie, keeping in mind of 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi's template.

Udhayanidhi's favorite, Harris Jeyaraj scores the music for this film. Though the songs have the stamp of his, its a below-par album actually, and the songs are not really exciting nor fun. "Pallakku Devathai" looks like another rehash of "Venam Machan", but a lesser sprightly version. It serves as Santhanam's introductory song and has a college backdrop with back-up dancers and minimal artwork by V.Selvakumar. "Vizhiyae Vizhiyae" is a soft-number picturized on the lead pair, against the picturesque Swiss mountains. The lush-green landscape looks very cool and pleasant with colorful costumes for the lead pair. Nothing extraordinary with the camerawork but good locations by the unit. "Melae Melae" is a peppy number shot on the lead pair, this time in urbane Spain. Modern architectures acts as the background and Udhayanidhi proves his dancing improvements in this song. The best song of the album, "Anbe Anbe" has plenty of montages shot on the lead pair. Though the picturization was functional, it fails to do justice to the sweet composition of Harris Jeyaraj. The final song, "Sara Sara" is the typical rural-based dance number, shot in green villages and barren fields, with village-based set properties and appropriately dressed back-up dancers. The background score is a letdown, though Harris impresses in one or two occasions.

The makers have insisted during the promotions that they have tried to strike a balance between 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi' and 'Sundarapandian', and precisely that's what the film looks like. Unfortunately, this concoction does not mix up well, thanks to the disconcerting screenplay. The film does not fall properly into neither the rom-com nor the family drama genre, though the latter based sequences, has better writing. There is no cohesion nor a smooth flowing continuity in the screenplay, which creates space for unnecessary gaps. The emotional sequences portrayed has no organic element in it, and looks staged. The screenplay has a very orthodox arrangements, pertaining to the regular Tamizh cinema format of fun-and-frolic in the first half, and seriousness and crisis in the second half. Some sequences are archaic in the handling and some sentimental scenes are as good as the sensibility-degrading mega-serials shown in Tamizh satellite channels. Heck, even the conceptualization bears the same manner ! The characterizations is equally weak as well, with no depth in purpose for changeover of behaviors, which leaves us having no empathy for any characters. S.R Prabhakaran had a good material for a neat commercial entertainer, but his execution fell flat !

'Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal' - An "Inbetweener" attempt of rom-com and family-drama, ends up being insipid !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL 

ALL IN ALL AZHAGU RAJA MOVIE REVIEW

This film had all the ingredients to be a 'killer' comedy flick. A catchy title, the successful combo of 'Comedy Superstar' and M.Rajesh and add in Karthi into the equation. Isn't this suppose to be an exciting combination and that too for a Deepavali season ? M.Rajesh has scored hat-trick of successes but can he and Santhanam utilize their prowess in comedy and score a nearly, unprecedented four strikes in a row ?

Karthi has the charming looks and cute expressions to win over the ladies. He certainly looks handsome and cute in the colorful attires and with his facial expressions. His voice modulation too can be appreciated but he does not seem to be entirely convincing in an out-and-out comedy role. He certainly seems to lack some confidence in certain sequences, but it can be overlooked due to his chemistry with Santhanam. The fabulous entertainer is in fine form, though 'All in All Azhagu Raja' is no where near his best. His myriad of expressions and body language must be appreciated and for pulling it off effervescently, as well. The 80's episode does look over-the-top, but its a good try from Karthi and Santhanam, who have put in personal efforts to mimic Prabhu and Suruli Rajan, respectively. Kajal Aggarwal has put in simple efforts and she's at complete ease in her role. There's conviction in her performance, though there are plenty of room for improvements. Additional plus point is her gorgeous attires and looks in songs. Prabhu does a simple role and looks like the perfect gentleman whereas Naren tries and out-and-out comedy for the first time. The biggest drawback is the wastage of talents such as Saranya Ponvannan, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Nassar, M.S Bhaskar, who are fantastic performers, but was made to do ill-written roles. Radhika Apte was cute in the flashback sequence. Sri Ranjani, Santhana Bharathi, V.S Raghavan, Senthil, Vetrivel Raja and etc make up the rest of the cast.

The technical crew of the film have delivered very decent output, in terms of production value. Priyanka Kochar and Rustam Chauhan's costume designing was very rich and vibrant in colors. Kajal Aggarwal was looking beautiful in half-sarees especially and the pair should be lauded for their work on Santhanam's look and dress code. Not to forget, the 80's episode was well worked as well. Om Prakash's action choreography was unnecessary for this script, though it was well executed. Vivek Harshan could have done a lot, lot better in terms of editing. The film is conspicuously slow paced and drags too much in the second half. Other than that, the 80's episode was well edited and presented, though the 35mm format could have been maintained for it. Jacki's production design was just adequate and perfect. The props used for songs were colorful and lively and the ambiance of small town ambiance has been well maintained throughout the film. Sakthi Saravanan's cinematography was very colorful and bright and its just a pity that the 80's sequence was reverted to stereoscopic format, instead of the originally intended 35mm format. Balasubramaniem also chips in with his contribution and on overall basis, the film's cinematography works were simple, neat and colorful.

S.S Thaman has scored decent numbers for this flick, which has the potential to be chart-busters. "All in All" is the opening introductory song and had few montages of comedy portions involving Karthi, Santhanam and Kota Srinivasa Rao, with apt production design by Jacki, who erected sets resembling jewelry commercial advertisements. "Ore Oru" is a situational bit-song and serves as Kajal's introductory song, and was shot in a wedding hall premise. "Yaarukkum Sollaame" is the pick of the lot and had colorful props by Jacki, resembling Pongal celebrations. Sakthi Saravanan has captured good shots of rural temples and small town ambiance very well. Kajal looked a million-bucks in the traditional half-sarees, she was wearing for this song. "Silu Silu" is another situational extra bit-song, and was shot on Karthi dancing in the streets, shot in the dark, middle of the night atmosphere. "Unnai Paartha Neram" is the visually best made song. Inspired by the "Oh Maane Maane" song from 'Vellai Roja', Karthi and Radhika Apte were made to resemble like Prabhu and Ambika, and the choreography and camera works were all in-tune with the 80's style and format. Good stuff ! "Yamma Yamma" was shot on Karthi and Kajal and had vibrantly colored, simple house-like set works and some sharp editing by Vivek Harshan. The background score too was neatly done, but whether the songs were well utilized or not is a different question all together.

When it comes to M.Rajesh's films, its all about contemporary funny dialogues and a comedy entertainer, pertaining to the tastes of youth audiences. One cannot expect a fully bounded, well-researched script from M.Rajesh, if you are familiar with his previous films. The light-hearted manner of his script was his trump card, though all of his films had very thin plot-line. The same applies to 'All in All Azhaguraja' as well, but this time the output is disappointingly, a big letdown. Santhanam has always been omnipresent throughout the length of his M.Rajesh's previous films', apart from a few scenes. But here, Santhanam only appears sporadically and most of the jokes fell flat. Literally ! There's no excitement or any rip-roaring comedy sequences in this flick, as how it was in 'Siva Manasula Sakthi, 'Boss Engira Baskaran' or 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi'. Although all of them were simple comedy films, they all had some semblance of true emotional content. But its conspicuously absent in 'All in All Azhagu Raja' and whatever we encounter just seems to be too farcical to be taken serious. The ending is the epitome of ludicrousness. Also, there are more silly and unpretentious gags throughout the film, which are pretty much not welcomed. The story appears to be heading no where, and it tests our patience, especially with the draggy second half. Although the 80's episode were well etched out, they hold not much importance to the script. As mentioned earlier, talented artistes have been wasted just like that, which is an unacceptable factor. 

'All in All Azhagu Raja' - The first blip for M.Rajesh and a hat-trick of flops for Karthi. For sure !

Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VARUTHAPADATHA VAALIBAR SANGAM MOVIE REVIEW

The current flavor and poster-boy of Tamizh cinema, and the apple-of-the-eye of the family audiences, Sivakarthikeyan is on a hot-streak after back to back successes. This time he is in his comfort zone of comedy, with a rural backdrop and an equally comical Soori as his aide. Directed by Ponram, a former under-study of youth-centric humor genre master M.Rajesh, 'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam' has been making noise with the right kind of noises, thanks to D.Imman's chartbusting songs, pre-release. Will this be a clean hat-trick for Sivakarthikeyan in 2013 ?

Sivakarthikeyan delivers what best comes to him with finesse and the rural character suits him to a T. His timing is terrific and his dialogue delivery is near flawless. His expressive facial expressions and body language is a major asset to his role, as well. Bringing the best out of him is Soori, who plays the perfect foil for Sivakarthikeyan. With funny counter-dialogues and measured counter-reactions, Soori and Sivakarthikeyan are complementary to each others' characters. The film is basically built upon their gags and antics, and they have understood the demands, perfectly. Job well done, boys ! Sri Divya makes her debut in Tamizh cinema, and this sweet-looking, docile-natured element, fits her image very well. Not to forget, this girl has the right capabilities to actually do decent acting. Has very good potential to deliver better performances in the future, subject to proper scripts. Sathyaraj is a marvel in his role as the heroine's father, especially with the majestic mustache of his. The veteran's look and make-up was well designed, giving more believability to his role. Performance wise, the man just simply rocks with his impeccable comic timing and dialogue deliveries. Bindhu Madhavi plays a short but cute role and the rest of the cast such as Rajendran, 'Kathal' Thandapani, Raja, Gopal, Sri Ranjani, Vinodhini, Swaminathan, Kumaravael, and etc were very apt for their roles.

The film has some good technical outputs, thanks to its young crew. Vasugi Bhaskar's costume designing was on the dot, especially for the lead pair, which looked very natural. She should be commended for her part in Sathyaraj's costumes as well. 'Super' Subbarayan handles some simple action sequences, especially the midnight fighting sequence, shot in a plantation. G.Durairaj's, production design was neat, especially with the props for the village sequences, covering various different backdrops such as wedding, festivals and etc. The design blended well with the actual, natural surroundings of the rural setting. Vivek Harshan's editing was neat and he delivered what was expected from him, though more trimming could have made the film look sleek. Balasubramaniem's cinematography is an asset to the film, as his work blends well with the rural setting. The colorful, yet earthy tone the film carries throughout is a pleasant sight for the eyes. His lighting for the songs, especially gives the frames a rich yet earthy tone.

D.Imman is on fire and he delivers another winning album with 'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam'. The title track, "Varuthapdatha Vaalibar Sangam" which introduced the 'singer' Sivakarthikeyan to us, was shot with good framing and had good village settings as backdrops. "Yennada Yennada" is a cute montage song, shot on Sivakarthikeyan, Sri Divya and Bindhu Madhavi, with a love triangle on the anvil. The best song of the album, "Oodha Color Ribbon" is a foot-tapping song shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Sri Divya, with some song-purpose, conceptualized montages and also in village festival setting. "Kannaale" which is absent from the audio list, is a pleasant bit-song, played during a wedding scene. "Paarkaathe" is a montage song shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Sri Divya, who have finally professed love to each other. "Indha Ponnungale", another chart-buster, was shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Soori and serves as the typical drunkard song, shot in minimal but good lighting by Balasubramaniem. D.Imman also scores well in the background score department, with thumping scores and pleasant tunes. Way to go, D.Imman !

Debutante Ponram, follows his guru's safe template of a humor structure for a whole script, and infuse it with good dialogues. The dialogues, have been taken care of by M.Rajesh himself, and as usual he does not fail to deliver, though they were not the best of punches from him. The storyline is a wafer-thin one, and only the entertainment quotient, keeps the audiences engaged with the film. The screenplay wobbles a little in the end, after an unexpected, but pleasant twist in the climax. Kudos to Ponram for making use of Sivakarthikeyan's image and talents properly, to suit the mood and feel of the script. The gags arrive one-after-the-other and only in the late second half, the mood goes sombre for few moments. There is no any pretext of a great film with this and that. The makers promised a decent, laugh-riot and that is what has been delivered.

'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam' - Clean hat-rick of success for Sivakarthikeyan, indeed !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

KANNA LADDU THINNA AASAIYAA MOVIE REVIEW

One of the eagerly anticipated films, 'Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiyaa' promised loads of fun and humorous moments with Santhanam and most importantly, 'Powerstar' Dr S.Srinivasan making his debut in a properly taken cinema, instead of the poorly executed low-budget films. Armed with nothing but good comedy writers and able technicians, this film is the maiden production venture of Santhanam, who has also roped in veteran Rama Narayanan to co-produce it. It is instead a major coup by Santhanam to rope in 'Powerstar' and certainly looks like a safe bet.

Santhanam, plunges into the lead role after a long time, and though it is his own production, it is commendable of him to give ample space and scope for his fellow 'musketeers' to perform and earn applause. Nevertheless, Santhanam still brings the roof down with his excellent punch lines and humorous antics and facial expressions. The comfort level of acting in his own production, enabled Santhanam to be at ease and he performs to his best. The sequence where he delivers his love letter to the heroine and the aftermath expressions are too hilarious and evokes rip-roaring laughter from the audiences ! However, it is 'Powerstar' Dr.S.Srinivasan, who steals the show with his unpretentious comedic acts. What works for the film is that, 'Powerstar' was allowed to do comedy and he allowed others to make fun of him, which makes the proceedings to have a spoof like-effect. Anyways, it was him who took the most cheers and screams from the fans !! Newcomer Sethu was not bad and debutante Vishakha Singh was expressive and passes the test. The Santhanam-'Powerstar' duo was ably assisted by the rest of the cast such as 'VTV' Ganesh, Kovai Sarala, Sivashankar Master , 'Pattimandram' Raja, Devadharshini and Vanitha Krishna Chandira. The cameo appearances of Gautham Vasudev Menon, Silambarasan, cinematographer Balasubramaniem, and stunt choreographer Silva, adds sheen to the film.

Though it was meant to be a moderately budgeted film, 'Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiyaa' carries notable production values. Karishma Shroff's costume designing was very apt and matched perfectly with the settings and characterizations of each artistes. A.Vanaraj's simple set-work for songs were well done and also for filling up the typical Kumbakonam house and other live locations, with appropriate props. Silva's stunt work was adequate and decent enough for a comedy caper like this film. G.Ramarao's editing was smooth and crisp. Balasubramaniem is a big strength to the film. His cinematography adds a glossy and rich look to the film. His lighting for the night scenes, along with good angle choices, adds to the cheerfulness element of the film. Good job, Balu !! 

Thaman's music was foot-tapping and almost all songs were decently done. The opening "Aasaiye Alaipole" was shot in live locations with adequate props and good lighting work by cinematographer Balasubramaniem. Balu captured the Kumbakonam streets and township effectively, with his camera. "Ye Unnethaan" is a colorful song, with simple but decent set work by A.Vanaraj and again Balu's cinematography, gave the song a glossy look, especially with the lighting. The "Love Letter" song is a situational song, shot within a typical Kumbakonam mansion house and features Santhanam in his rip-roaring element, together with the heroine, Vishakha Singh. "Potti" song is another situational song, which was funny and kept short. The "Birthday" song was shot within temple locations with plenty of props, which matched the birthday celebration theme. The final "Duet Song" appears during the end credits, showcasing a wedding scenario, which again looked glossy thanks to Balu's lighting. Thaman's background score was adequate and carries his trademark synthesized, violin pieces.

K.S Manikandan's directorial debut makes no mistake in stamping its stance and promise of being a 'laughathon' and fun-filled ride. The writers of the film made no bones about it and delivered their promise to great extent. Though the film carries an uncanny resemblance to K.Bhagyaraj's classic 'Indru Poi Naalai Vaa', the film was made keeping today's youngsters and Santhanam and 'Powestar's presence was effectively used. The natural performances of the acting crew adds to the fun quotient of the film and there are plenty of rip-roaring sequences inserted throughout the duration of the film. Also, the excellently written punch dialogues uttered by Santhanam are a scream and the film is replete with them ! Story wise, there is nothing to expect, but no one really gives a damn about the story and tirelessly waits for the next bone-tickling sequence. The second half of the film hit a slow-pace mode but was compensated with the funny antics of the artistes.

'Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiye' delivered what it has promised and not more or less than what was intended to be. A thorough and jolly-good entertainer for the viewers !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

NEERPARAVAI MOVIE REVIEW

After the critically-acclaimed and National Award-winning film, 'Thenmerku Paruvakaatru', Seenu Ramasamy is back with 'Neerparavai', a film portraying the life and times of the fishing folks. Interestingly, this film is produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin, through his Red Giants Films banner, which is a new turn for him, who is used to produce big-budget films, with top notch stars. Collaborating again with Vairamuthu and N.R Raghunandan, and incorporating rock-solid cast, can Seenu Ramasamy, strike it again ?

As mentioned, the film does have a rock-solid casting and all of them have done justice to their roles, be it major or minor. Starting of with the protagonist, Vishnu does very well with his body language and dialogue delivery. Not to forget, the fantastic expressions, which are necessary for non-dialogue portions. With more such good films, the actor in Vishnu can grow into a solid performer. But Sunaina steals the spotlight from him with a restrained and fantastic performance ! The de-glamorized look and her expressive eyes works well for her role and this film has the best performance for her so far, in her career. Well done, Sunaina ! Nandita Das, plays the older version of Sunaina, and also has the more heavy-duty portions, though its bewildering why Seenu has to opt for another actress when Sunaina can handle it well. Deepa Venkat's dubbing for both Sunaina and Nandita was pitch-perfect. Close on the heels were, 'Poo' Ram and Saranya Ponvannan, who excelled in their roles. The casting was perfectly done and each artistes, such as Samuthirakani, Vadivukarasi, Thambi Ramaiah, Azhagam Perumal, Aruldass, 'Black' Paandi, Yogi Devaraj, Imman Annachi, Anupama Kumar, Varsha Ashwati, Nandagi, Seenu Ramasamy himself in a cameo and etc were a perfect choice for their roles !

V.Moorthy's costumes were fitting for each character, especially for the changeover of Vishnu from a wastrel to an hardworking chap. 'Super' Subbarayan's stunt choreography was well choreographed, and the props usage such as boats, oars, nets and even the fishes were handled well ! It is indeed nice to see him choreographing decent and not over-the-top kind of fight sequences. V.Selvakumar's art direction was functional, especially for the props in settings such as sea shore houses, the small church and other small venues. M.Kasivishwanathan's editing is flawless and smooth, eventhough the pacing is a little slow. His work in the song sequences, were good. The biggest asset of 'Neerparavai' is the cinematography by Balasubramaniem. His shots and frames are beautiful and pleasing to the eyes, be it the sandy beaches, or the rural homes. His handling of angles and color saturation setting were splendid, especially in the songs and in the beach fight sequence. 'Neerparavai' is definitely a milestone in Balasubramaniem's career.

N.R Radhunandan's music complements the script as well, with perfect tunes and soothing instrumentations. The male version of "Para Para" song is a sheer delight for the eyes, with beautiful framing and color tones used by Balasubramaniem. The sunset beach, the rain drops, everything works out very well for the song. "Ratha Kanneer" is a situational song, highlighting the struggle of the protagonist in getting out from alcohol addiction and was picturized him struggling in the rehab centre. "Yaar Veettu" is another situational song, in flashback mode, picturing the introduction of the protagonist as a child and his upbringing. Some beautiful shots of the sea features in this song. "Meenukku" is a romantic song picturized on the lead pair and has very bright lighting, thanks to the scorching sun. The song has some good framing from Balu. "Devan Magale" is another romantic song, with intimate montage sequences featuring the lead pair which purportedly has Vishnu giving '100 kisses' to Sunaina ! The female version of "Para Para" song is a situational song as well, capturing the agony of the heroine, not knowing the fate of the protagonist who is missing, and also used just before the end credits, picturized on Nandita and the sea. N.R Raghunandan's background score is just as pleasant as the songs as well. Looks like Seenu Ramasamy, N.R Raghunandan and Vairamuthu has forged a solid partnership !

Seenu Ramasamy's script is not as powerful and emotionally stimulating as his previous 'Thenmerku Paravukaatru' but what makes us engaged with 'Neerparavai' is the characters, which are portrayed in the film. The characters look very real and non-cinematic in any manner and variety of complexities they show throughout the film, holds our attention well. Seenu's narration is a little slow paced and the plot line is quite thin, but it does not affect the film since the rhythm pattern of the film, is maintained consistently, throughout. Important questions and social issues are brought up in a very neat manner, without being overbearing and the comedy portions are weaved smoothly in the screenplay. Dialogues, jointly written with popular writer Jayamohan, are brilliantly penned. Another element Seenu should be appreciated for is the designing of characters which are not portrayed in 'black or white' format, keeping us from being judgmental towards the characters. 

Kudos to Seenu for coming out with a matured and articulative film ! Though it might not be as emotional as 'Thenmerku Paruvakaatru', 'Neerparavai' is still a pleasant watch of emotional human dramas and pertinent issues.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ORU KAL ORU KANNADI MOVIE REVIEW

'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi', was eagerly anticipated solely for a single reason  - the combination of Rajesh and Santhanam. They've rocked in their previous two hits 'Siva Manasula Sakthi' and 'Boss Engira Baskaran'. Both films' comedy tracks have eventually become cult classics and the expectations on this combo to repeat it again in this film, was big. Also it is the entry ticket of popular producer and distributor Udhayanidhi Stalin as a hero into Tamizh cinema, which is an interesting aspect as we don't get to see producers turning into heroes. The expectations soared high when a short teaser trailer was released, which was amusing and humorous to the core. Added to that, Rajesh is teaming up with Harris Jeyaraj this time instead of Yuvan Shankar Raja who gave him chart-busting tracks 'Siva Manasula Sakthi' and 'Boss Engira Baskaran'. Is this a hat-trick for the Rajesh-Santhanam duo?

Udhayanidhi Stalin who makes his debut here, has chosen very wisely. He chose a script which was easy going and a good starter for his acting career. As expected from debutantes, he did have his flaws here and there, with ordinary dance moves and some expressions not being performed to the fullest, but still he did a decent job. His appearance on screen was pleasant and neat. His emoting skills are decent but certainly he should do much better in his upcoming films. His innocent, yet naughty personality was apt for the role and he should be patted for making a decent entry into Tamizh cinema. Hansika Motwani is a perfect choice for the heroine's role and kudos to both Udhayanidhi and Rajesh for choosing her. As Meera, she was looking lovely and her expressions, her body language, her comedy timing, and the lip-sync for Savitha's dubbing, everything was near-perfect. No mistakes, no over-acting and no letdowns. Job very well done! Saranya Ponvannan shows her histrionics in comedy and its a welcome relief to see her in comedy roles, a throwback to her "Veettuku Veedu Looty" television serial-days. The scene where she goes comes back to home only to realise that her loved ones' were looking for her was a joy to watch. A lovely and beautiful veteran, she is. The others in the cast like Azhagam Perumal, Sayaji Shinde, Uma Padhmanabhan, Swaminathan and delivered what was expected from their minor roles. Sneha, Arya and Andrea made cool and refreshing cameo appearances. But the whole movie belongs to one man and its none other than Santhanam. A total SCREAM and a ROCKING performance from him!!! As usual, he is at his best with his witty one liners and the movie is replete with it. His expressions, dubbing and dialogue delivery, everything was oozing in comedy and he deserves to be called the current King of Comedy in Tamizh cinema. Many scenes are testimony to this but the highlights are the in-flight sequence, the attempt to save the hero from committing suicide, and also the "Adiye Kolluthey" scenes. Santhanam carries the film on his shoulder and he has proved that he is indeed a very, very bankable star in his own rights.

The technical department in the film carries simple and neat work. Stunt choreographer Rajasekar basically has nothing to do other than the one small chasing scene and art director Jacki's work was limited due to many real locations being used throughout the film. Jacki's work of the interiors of the hero and heroine's homes was simple. Nalini Sriram's casual costume for Udhayanidhi made him look very presentable on screen which is vital for his boy-next-door role and Priya Manikandan's costumes for Hansika was very chic and credit goes to her for making Hansika look lovely on the screen. Vivek Harshan's editing was neat but he could have trimmed some portions as the movie was a little long, stretching to nearly 3 hours. Balasubramaniem's cinematography was very breezy and cool and it was a commendable job by him to shoot in live locations with popular artistes and also for showing Hansika beautifully on screen. Harris Jeyaraj is the other asset to the film. His song reflected the mood of the script which is being simple and breezy. "Azhage Azhage" was pictured in the deserts and harsh lands of Jordan and it involves simple choreography and cinematography. Hansika's costumes was eye-catching. Following the same trend is the "Akila Akila" song which was also shot in Jordan but in urban atmosphere. "Adada Adada" was done in montage style and it was the best-placed song in the film and mostly shot in real locations such as streets and malls. "Venam Machan" is the most favourite track of the masses and it has been a long time since Harris came out with a foot-tapping dance number. For the first time, Santhanam appears and dances throughout the song along with Udhayanidhi and it has simple and catchy choreography by Dinesh. Another typical catchy number of Harris is the "Kadhal Oru Butterfly" number. It has a mixture of montage plus choreographed sequence with the latter part having the choreographer Dinesh himself dancing to the tunes. Once again simple and catchy moves from him.


Rajesh's script is a very pretty thin one, which is the same as his previous films, where the story and logic are not to be searched for, but what makes the film enjoyable is the feel good, light-hearted screenplay along with the fantastic comedy portions. 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi' shares certain similarities with his previous films such as the drinking sessions, comedic mother of hero, friendly banters and repartee and also Santhanam. Yet, Rajesh still manages to keep us engaged with the film, thanks to his witty dialogues and the chemistry he shares with Santhanam. He does brings in the twists and knots at the right time which gets us hooked on to the screenplay. Though the romance portion didn't really work out well and the angst of Azhagam Perumal's character towards Saranya's character was not well etched out and convincing, it still doesn't matter much as the logic and sensitivities are not bothered here. Enjoyment and fun was expected and that is what was delivered.

Is it okay for us to say Rajesh and Santhanam scored a hat-trick? Its not only okay, but OKOK! A movie to be watched with your best buddies around you.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

180 - RULES KIDAIYAATHU MOVIE REVIEW

Siddharth after a very long gap of 7 years has returned to the Tamizh cinema movie scene with this film. Accompanied by 2 lovely ladies and a good technical team as the crew, this film evoked curios response from the teasers which showed impressive visuals and when the audio was launched, even more people were interested in the movie with the songs being received well. With such good responses, the expectations on the film was fairly good. Alas, the movie did not live up to all the expectations it has created.

Beginning with the cast, Siddharth has delivered a very matured performance, thanks to all the experiences he has garnered over the years of doing several Telugu and Hindi films. He did a good job in all emotions, be it romance, or panic-stricken, anguish and guilty-ridden reactions and etc.. He holds the attention of the audiences with his charm and presence throughout the film. Nithya Menen manages to keep up with Siddarth in her portions and she did it effortlessly. Her best sequences would be the ciname hall scene. Priya Anand did a decent job as well and she had the more serious and meaty role of the 2 heroines. Though there are room for improvements, she acted well and dubbed well too. Sricharan, Mouli, Geetha and the rest of the small cast did what was expected from them but Mouli was the most impressive, pulling out witty and funny dialogues in most of his scenes.

The two USPs' of the film are the cinematography and music. Director of Photography, Balasubramaniem did a fantastic work in handling the cinematography for the film. Using RED ONE camera throughout, the film was sparkling in all frames and kudos to him for capturing the subtle beauty of Kasi, Chennai and San Fransisco with extra emphasis on lighting. Definitely the talking point for cinematography in this film will be the opening song, "Rules Kidaiyathu" which has been shot using the Phantom Flex all over and the output is simply stunning with all the slow-mo actions, beautifully captured. Besides that, the "Sandhikaadha" song has been picturized well too. Credits must be given to 2 other technicians for the good-look factor of the film and they are G.Balaji for the processing of the digital images and internationally reputed colorist Kevin Shaw for giving the film a international class quality in terms of coloring. Meanwhile, music by Sharreth is very different and experimental but soothing to the ears. Pick of the lot will definitely be the "Nee Korinaal" number followed by "Santhikkatha" and "Thuru Thuru". Though his songs were very nice and melodious, the background score was a bit of a letdown where unnecessary loud music was thrown in. Art director V.Selva Kumar's interior of the houses was lifelike. Costume designer Komal Shahani and make-up artist Bhanu's works are very well noticeable in the form of the lovely and beautiful looking heroines.

Story and screenplay by Jayendra and the Suresh-Bala duo was dissappointing. Probably the saying "too many cooks, spoil the broth" can be used for this factor. Although they had a story to tell, the screenplay was very rickety and doesn't go in a flow. Besides that, there are some loopholes and questions which went unanswered in the film. Dialogues wise, the film has a few pretty good lines, especially in the opening scene when Siddarth says to a small boy "Naanum Manovaa irukka aasaipaduren" and the one-liners of Mouli.

Overall, the movie had a good opening but by the end of the film, viewers tend to feel dissappointed as there was no punch in the film even when the director had story and a good message to say. Also it is best to avoid presenting scenes shot in one particular country and then passing it off as another. In this all the hospital and airport scenes were done in Malaysia but showcased as happening US in the film. Viewers nowadays cant be fooled by such gimmicks anymore.

Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL