Director S.M Vasanth, known for his critically acclaimed hits such as 'Keladi Kanmani', 'Aasai', 'Nearukku Ner' and etc is back after a long 6 years absence, with 'Satham Podathey' being his last release. A unique compilation of artistes, S.M Vasanth tried to weave three different story-lines, based on three couples, from three different landscape backdrops. How did all three story-lines merge or complement each other, is what we are looking for. So, is it worth a shot ?
Veteran Arjun, looks very fresh and shines in the role of a swimming coach. His body language and composed dialogue deliveries, are indicators of his vast experience. One sincerely hopes, that Arjun continues to choose such films henceforth and stop continuing mindless action 'masala' scripts. Cheran breezed through his role but is not entirely convincing as a foreign-returned. Also, its Cheran who has the lesser number of screen time among the heroes. Vemal, struggles as a smooth-talking charmer and its clearly evident that he is finding it hard to shake off the rural/town guy image, for which he is known for. Muktha Bhanu had the best of the female roles, and kudos to her for stealing the show, with her nuanced performance. Debutante Lasini is not bad, but has a long way to go, as her expressions were still not so organic and natural. The other debutante, Surveen Chawla tries her best to fit into the role of Arjun's student cum lover, but she misses her mark. The rest of the cast such as Thambi Ramaiah, Appukutty, Sathyan, Naren, John Vijay, Ravi Raghavendar, Shanthi Williams, Bosskey, Sivakumar, Chandramohan, Rajan and etc were functional.
The technical department of the film, dished out just above average works, except for the soundtracks. Sathya N.J's costume designing was apt, as each characters looked their part, but Vemal's look could have been altered for the better. Magi's art direction was neat, as most of the scenes were canned in real locations and the props matched the backdrops, showcased in the respective story-lines. The editing was handled by S.N Fazil and S.M Vasanth together, and probably both minds did not gel well during the cutting process. The film looked very choppy, with loose hangings and non-cohesion in the transition from one scene to the other. Bhojan K.Dinesh's cinematography work was very good and he captures the mood of each the three distinctive backdrops of hillside, coastline and city landscapes, very well. But the framing and close-ups could have been better.
S.M Vasanth's films always had fantastic soundtracks, and 'Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal' is no exception either. This film is probably one of Yuvan Shankar Raja's best works in recent times, and nearly all the songs were fantastically scored and well mastered. Brilliant work, Yuvan ! But sadly, the song picturization quality was not up to the standards of the soundtrack. "Kaadhal Endhan Kaadhal" is a haunting, yet peppy number which comes during the opening credit sequence, with the backdrop of the Kovai sea and also appears in a montage sequence during the Cheran-Bhanu episode. "Unakkaagave Uyir" is an experimental dub-step type song, and was picturized on the Vemal-Lasini pair, also in montages. Lasini was shot beautifully by Bhojan, with good framing sense. "Padapadakkudhu" also appears during the Vemal-Lasini episode, but was shot on Robert and Blaaze making cameo appearances as 'Sanjay Ramasamy' and 'Sivaji The Boss' wannabes. The song had simple set work of light bulbs and dim-lighting for the backdrop. "Aaha Kaadhal" is a montage song, shot on Bhanu falling for Cheran and was mostly shot along the coastal lines of Kovai. "Mazhai Mazhai" was shot on Arjun and Surveen, who was in scanty sarees. The song was lacks any imagination and was shot in and around Binny Mills. "Stop The Paattu" was shot on a food court premise of a business complex and had Ritvik Varun, the son of S.M Vasanth, making a cameo. Ritvik does dance well, but is too camera conscious and looks uncomfortable in performing in front of the camera. The background score is handled by Tubby-Parik and is average, though most of the soundtrack is inspired from the songs. Not up to the expertise of Yuvan, but it was still functional.
S.M Vasanth should be appreciated for coming up with decent and believable characters and dilemmas faced by the characters. But what leaves a lot to be desired, was a proper screenplay ! Shankar Raman and S.M Vasanth's joint screenplay-writing was very badly structured and there's no proper connectivity between each story-lines. The pace was very lackadaisical in nature and the film moves in a very tepid manner. Though the songs were good, they were ill-fitting for the screenplay and as said before, poorly picturized. The message is something laudable, but falls flat and the writing is lethargic. Dialogues were pretty archaic, if you take into the current standards and tastes of the younger lot, but there were some sparkles, here and there. But still, kudos to S.M Vasanth for not thrusting unnecessary double entendres and glamor into the screenplay.
'Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal' - definitely not on par with S.M Vasanth's earlier films. And definitely not the cup of tea of the present youngsters !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
'Chennaiyil Oru Naal', if the official remake of the critically acclaimed Malayalam film, 'Traffic', which actually piqued the interest of 'Ulaga Nayagan' Dr. Kamal Haasan, who wanted to remake it himself. Though course of nature diverted it from him, the script did come to Tamizh, and has been produced by Raadhika Sarathkumar, in collaboration with Listin Stephen. With a noble message, in the form of organ donation, how did the film fare ?
Whom to start with, in regards to the cast ? Especially when you have a stellar cast list, wherein one can find tons of experiences !! The main roles were all played by exceptional actors. Sarathkumar as the smart police commissioner, Cheran as the redemption-seeking constable, Prakash Raj as the narcissistic film star, Prasanna as the guilt-driven surgeon, Raadhika as the frustrated by supportive wife and mother, Parvathi Menon as the heartbroken girlfriend, Jayaprakash and Lakshmy Ramakrishnan as the grieving parents, each and every one of them were strong in terms of performance. Adding more strength to the film, the rest of the cast such as Iniya, Sachin, Mithun, Aishwarya Devan, Mallika, Manobala, Santhana Bharathi, Subbu Panchu, Vijayakumar, Bala Singh, Raju Krishnamoorthy 'Kitty', Udhayakumar, Devan, R.J Dheena, Akshara, Vaishali and Gabriella Charlton were equally good, in their assigned roles. Also, we have Suriya making a cameo appearance towards the climax and also during the end credits, giving his thoughts on the issue of organ donation. Its a rarity in Tamizh cinema, to have such an ensemble cast in a single film, and that too with very good acting ! Kudos to the team!
Selvam's costume designing and Muthukrishnan's make-up was very much apt for the cast, who all looked the role they were carrying. Perhaps, the make-up could have been handled more diligently, for some characters, in order to have a proper continuity. 'Miracle' Michael's action choreography was more of vehicle handling, and it was not bad. Vinesh Banglan's art direction was simple and efficient. Be it the hospital setting, the interiors of the different styles of houses, shown (be it posh apartments, bungalows or middle-class flats), the hi-tech police chamber and etc. All the backdrops looked perfect and spotless. Job, well done ! Mahesh Narayanan's editing work was interesting, and adds strength to the film, especially when the script has multi-narration and characters, with several timelines. The necessary fast-cuts, adds to the excitement and tension the script, creates. Shehnad Jalal's cinematography was good, especially for the super-fact chasing sequences, and also for his interesting angles, especially when it involves several characters in one scene or sequence. Mejo Joseph's music score was average, though. "Un Thozhil" is the introductory song for Sachin and Parvathi Menon, who play a couple-in-love. The song was picturized with typical dance and montage sequences interspersed and was shot in multi-location such as highways, harbor, malls and etc. "Mannil Ulla Manithan" has montages of all the main characters, living their daily life. Mahesh's smooth editing for the song, is commendable. "Yen Yen Yen", comes at the climax, which has a race-against-time theme and plenty of rapid cut-shots. It was picturized on Cheran, Prasanna and Mithun on their mission to deliver the donated heart, in a dense housing colony. The background score, was too melodramatic and loud in certain sequences, which devalues the intended impact of some sequences.
Starting off with Samuthirakani's voice-over, Bobby and Sanjay's hyperlink script, which has multi-narration, multi-character and multi-timeline, was brilliantly written. The screenplay unravels slowly but steadily and picks up plenty of pace in the second half, especially with the unpredictable twists and turns, during intense moments ! They have struck a nice balance of emotional quotient and thrilling moments in the film. But the overtly done, frenzied, mad-rush climax with a heavy and fast song playing in the back, only gives a 'filmy' effect, rather than a class act, which could have been avoided. The emotional quotient of the film, could have easily warranted highly-charged dialogues, Ajayan Bala must be appreciated for penning simple dialogues. But there are scenes which could have been accentuated by intellectual dialogues, which would have given more depth to the screenplay. Besides that, there is an uncanny dose of Malayalam flavor in the writing, which should have been altered, to suit Tamizh nativity. Shaheed Kader has earnestly tried his best to be sincere to the original Malayalam script, and kudos to him for lucid vision in the execution of the script. Applaudable work from the writers but there are continuity mistakes in the film, which the director, should have taken note off.
'Chennaiyil Oru Naal' could have been a classic and classy film, if it was handled by more experienced and talented crew. A potential unforgettable great film, becomes "just" a good film. But still, congratulations for the brilliant effort of the cast and crew.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
A movie long in the making, Muran was the talk of the town once UTV Motion Pictures came into the fray, deciding upon watching the film. Cheran and Prasanna make up a interesting pair of male leads as both are distinctively different from each other in style and school of film making. One common thing between both of them is that, they need a hit badly to salvage their careers, especially Prasanna to survive in the industry. The director in Cheran has taken some sort of sabbatical as he has been acting out in more movies after his last directed film, "Pokkisham" was a dud in the box office. Debutant Rajan Madhav, a former assistant of Mysskin has promised a decent thriller and judging from the trailers, it was indeed promising. How did the movie fare?
The two male leads are the pivots which the story centers on. Cheran has delivered a neat and excellent performance. He delivered marvelous performance in his last "Yuddham Sei" and he continues with this film as well. As the musician who is trying to get a decent break, who underplays his emotions and yet delivered what was expected of his character. The scenes where he is challenged by Prasanna and the 'torment' he goes through in the second half are proof to his acting credentials. Kudos to him. The real scene stealer however is Prasanna, who has rocked as Arjun, the spoilt brat son of a multimillionaire. It's reminiscent of hi "Anjaathey" days but with some more style, flair and smart dialogue delivery. The real achievement is the manner in how he projected the character. Tamizh cinema tends to stereotype the "psychologically-affected" characters with disturbing mentality, rough body language and violence filled behavior, but here Prasanna, was a more believable and casual in his manner and approach, which is a welcomed change. Bravo to him for adding another dimension to his acting career. Among the heroines, Haripriya has more screen presence. Nikitha and Suma Bhattacharya are adequate for their roles, but the dubbing for Suma's character was odd and out-of sync in certain shots. Jayaprakash, Prathap Pothen, Neelima Rani and others slip in and out of the screen play, making up for the other character roles.
Technically, the film has some decent work. Saajan Madhav, the brother of the director handles the music and his background score was decent. Among the songs, the "Etho Ithuvarai" number is hummable. Padmesh handled the cinematography department well, with the highway sequences being the highlight. Arun Durairaj kept the film short without being stretched but he could have trimmed some scenes in the first half to speed-en up the pace. JPK Prem's art direction was in-tune with the film but he could have chosen more variety of color tones to prep up the screen as after a certain period of time, the proceedings look dull as the same colors are used over again. Rajasekar's stunt was simple and reflected realism. The fight sequences looked more of like a physical struggle between individuals in a fight, rather than actual stunts scenes, which actually gives the film more realistic look.
It is difficult to assess Rajan's actual story conceiving talent as this film is a local adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Stranger on a Train". He does have some intelligent writing skills and the dialogues exchanged between Cheran and Prasanna during the highway sequences are proof to it. The way he composes certain shots are similar to the style of his mentor Mysskin. The first half is a little slow but the second half picks up the pace, with the addition of a sudden twist in the middle of the second half.
Muran is a decent thriller with some wonderful and composed acting from the two male which is worth a watch.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
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