ONBADHULA GURU MOVIE REVIEW

P.T Selvakumar, the manager of 'Ilaiyathalapathy' Vijay for nearly 30 years, turns director with 'Onbadhula Guru'. With an interesting ensemble cast of youngsters, P.T Selvakumar promised a good comedy film, which will make us forget our worries, and enjoy the comedy, unabashedly. Did he deliver, as he promised ? Did the years of experience, being a manager of a very popular star, help Selva in his tryst ?

We were reminded that the movie is about 4 Idiots, but then it should have been captioned as 4+1 Idiots. Vinay Rai, makes his mini-comeback in this film, and he has more of the screen space among all the 'Idiots'. He tries his best to deliver his dialogues well and maintain a good timing in his comedy. Though far from being perfect, he is passable and with more experience, he can improve his acting capabilities. Sathyan's dialogue delivery was good, as he is always funny with his voice modulation and not far behind him was Chaams, though he had limited screen timing. Arvind Akash, was okay and the additional 'Idiot', Premji makes his presence felt by mocking Tamizh cinema heroes and Tamizh cinema's landmark films and scenes from those films. Lakshmi Rai, makes an entry late into the second half, and was adequate, though it must be noted that she is a little out of shape. The film has a host of artistes doing minor roles such as Manobala, Manthra, Sona Heiden, Geetha Singh, Karthika Shetty, Roopa Shree, Yogi Devaraj, Chitra Lakshmanan and etc. All of them were sincere to their roles, though whether did it leave any impact, is a different question all together. Besides them, we do have 'Powerstar' Dr S.Srinivasan and director K.S Ravikumar, doing cameo roles !

The technical department's job were ordinary and nothing to rave about. N.J Sathya's costumes were too colorful and loud. R.Janaa's art work was simple, especially for the outdoor sequences, though his detailing could have been much better. Silva's one stunt sequence choreography was sufficient enough for the scene. P. Sai Suresh's editing and P.Chelladurai's cinematography were just okay. Music director, K's songs are not even hum-worthy, and is immediately forgettable. "Alayaadhe Summa" is the song which is played during the opening credits and has 'Powerstar' Dr S.Srinivasan doing his funny dancing jigs. He is accompanied by Sathyan and Arvind Akash, and the song is shot mostly in the outdoors, such as parks. "Theera Theera" was picturized in a college setting, and has plenty of merry and dancers, regularly associated with such type of songs. "Vaa Machi" is a song which pokes fun at marriage and the tune is eerily similar to K's previous "Bar Anthem" in 'Mugamoodi'. The picturization is not much different from the earlier mentioned, two songs. "Maidha Maidhaanam" is a club song, which has Lakshmi Rai shaking her legs. It has some creative editing, but with minimal impact. The song had cheesy lighting, and costumes of the artistes, should have been better.

First things, first. Mr. P.T Selvakumar, what genre does your film belong to ? Is it a regular comedy movie, or is it an out-and-out spoof movie ? We have no clue on what were Selva's intentions, and all we can see is just an onslaught of spoof scenes, from the start, till the end ! A majority of the film's scenes were irrelevant and has no purpose. Tamizh cinema stars were made fun of repeatedly and apparently, Suriya was the most targeted, conspicuously. As the spoofing goes on tirelessly, the audience starts to get tired fast and lose interest in the proceedings. What's even more pathetic ? Most of the jokes or spoofs, fall flat and fails to evoke even, the slightest of chuckles, barring one or two, here and there. And the credits can go to the co-dialogue writer M.Ashok Kumar. What's really shameful, are the crude and crass jokes made out of women, which is unacceptable at all ! There is no connectivity between the scenes and a coherent screenplay, as well. Slapstick comedy is a tricky tread, and one can only pull it off, if there's an excellent writing and an equally excellent casting. 'Onbadhula Guru' fails badly, in pulling off such an attempt.

'Onbadhula Guru' - Its even more shocking to see the film ending with a note that there's a sequel to it, with 'Powerstar' as the main lead ! P.T Selvakumar, should seriously consider not going ahead with a sequel, unless it changes hands, to another director !


Ratings: 1.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

AAROHANAM MOVIE REVIEW

A proven versatile actress of substance and a hot-favorite among directors to play strong female leads in their movies, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, forays into direction for the very first time, without any apprenticeship under any directors, other than some tutelage experience with some of the directors that she has worked with. And in her very first film itself, she has taken the difficult subject of bipolar disorder. Moreover, its a comeback of sort for Viji Chandrasekhar, a capable and proven actress who has been missing in action for some time.

Viji Chandrasekhar shines brightly with a very good performance and the way she uses her eyes is a highlight, which adds more believability to her bipolar disorder-affected character. Her voice modulation and expressions were perfect and she is the pivot of the film, where the entire story unfolds through her experiences. The very difficult task of enacting mood-swings were done very comfortably by Viji. Job well done ! Director Marimuthu comes out with a restrained performance as well, and so too Jai Queheni. Veeresh looks a little uncomfortable on screen, though. Rajie Vijay Sarathy fits well into the role of an unmarried successful women entrepreneur but her performance was not convincing, though her looks reminds us of Lakshmy and ironically Lakshmy was the one who dubbed for her. Uma Padmanabhan looks casual and befitting. Sampath Raj makes a cool late entry, meanwhile Jayaprakash and Krishnan makes up for some funny moments, though their roles do not contribute to the film in anyways !

Though the film was shot on a low-scale budget, the film carries clean work in the technical department. Sruthi R's costume designing was apt, especially when it comes to the differentiation between the different class of people portrayed in the film. M.Gita Gurappa's audiography was in sync and gives a natural feel to the film. Dhilip Subbarayan coordinates some risky stunts well. Prem's art direction was spot on, especially for the interiors of the poor household of the lead character and the middle class lifestye and not to forget the club set. Kishore T.E's editing was smooth and flawless and keeps the film as short as possible. N.Shanmugasundaram's cinematography was good, with lots of close-ups, tight angles, and natural lighting. Music director K, does a brilliant job in the music department. "Indha Vaan" is a situational song with scenes and montages establishing the character of Viji who is suffering from bipolar disorder. "Dhisai Ariyaadhu" is another short song which also has some montages, reminiscing the sacrifices of the lead character for her children. "Thappaattam" was catchy and well shot in a club setting in the luxurious Le Meridien hotel. The lighting was apt and some catchy dance movements were choreographed. The background score too was in sync with the mood and feel of the script, enhancing the writing of the director. Good work, K !

Lakshmy Ramakrishnan's intentions of highlighting a serious psychiatric disorder among the lower-class people, which most of the time goes unnoticed, is noble and laudable  The script is short and crisp but the screenplay lags good space and might test the patience of the viewers. Lakshmy should be appreciated for portraying the pressing issue of bipolar disorder in a very subtle and nuanced way, rather than going for a overtly-emotional and crude manner. But the narration of the script suffers a lot due to the imperfections in handling the direction department. There are a lot of English dialogues, which does not fit in well if you would want to establish a take-away message for all social strata of life. The message is not delivered smoothly and convincingly, though audiences will somehow figure out the travails and difficulties faced by such psychologically affected patients. Also, its baffling to see why Lakshmy decided to incorporate some characters into the script, which are of no use to the story. In spite of these mistakes, its laudable that Lakshmy has handled the script in a sensitive manner, especially in delivering the take-away message in a subtle manner, rather than being preachy. And also for portraying human emotionals in an realistic manner. 

'Aarohanam' is a good try by Lakshmy but in order to be a successful director, she needs to honer her skills in writing. Short-films would be a great medium to practise since the film was indeed done in a short-film style rather than a motion picture.


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MUGAMOODI MOVIE REVIEW

After false alarms such as 'Kandhaswamy' and 'Velayudham', finally we have an authentic super hero film made in Tamizh cinema, keeping in mind of the Indian sensibilities and milieu. An ambitious project from Mysskin, this UTV backed film was supposedly meant for Suriya who had to pull out from this project and finally Jiiva stepped into the project and became Tamizh cinema's first super hero. "With great powers, comes great responsibilities". The responsibility is even greater for the director who is going to direct the super hero who has those great responsibilities. Did Mysskin live up to the expectations because he has a very good proven track record and considered to be one of the intense and detailed film director in Tamizh cinema, among the current young and established directors.

Coming to the performance, Jiiva has really done well for the role. Though he has been trained in martial arts before, he took this role seriously and the pain of undergoing intense training was evident in the performance while executing the complex martial arts moves. His dialogue delivery too was very appropriate and facial expressions were spot on. With more serious films under the baton of experienced and talented directors, he will definitely be one among the best of actors in Tamizh cinema. Another flawless acting from Jiiva ! Its been sometime since we saw Narain in the silver screen, and its commendable for him to step out of the conventional roles and do a negative character or precisely the villain. He has given his best, did what Mysskin told him to do so and has worked really well to buff up his physique and also to undergo months of martial arts training. His looks too was very intimidating but his performance in the second half was very questionable. Probably, Mysskin should answer why he asked Narain to perform as such. Pooja Hegde, a second runner-up winner of Miss Universe India 2010, makes her debut through this film. She looks pretty but lesser make up should make her look better. Acting wise, she was just okay. Nassar plays a an important role as the police officer who is on the hunt and he was in his usual best. Flawless and perfect ! Selvaah, makes his appearance as the master of Jiiva, and he has a beautiful role to perform. Kudos to him as well for taking the pains to train for this role. His emotional expressions were subtle, yet strong. The rest of the cast such as Girish Karnad, Naren, Anupama Kumar, Murugados, Sivaraj, Amalados, Darshan and etc does what was taught to them by Mysskin.

'Mugamoodi' has the best of resources with UTV backing it and certainly Mysskin extracted what can be extracted from them. For the costume of 'Mugamoodi' the super hero, it was designed by one called Gaebriella Wilkins, a costume designer for distinguished production units such as Disneyland Hong Kong and Cirque Du Soleil. She has done a good job with the mask especially, considering the fact, the costume was made out of five materials only. Besides her, Amritha Ram the costume designer has done a decent job with the usual clothing of the characters. The costumes of Jiiva and Pooja Hegde for the songs were simple, yet elegant. And not to forget, the costume for the antagonist, Narain.  Radhika, has done well with the choreography section, incorporating some of Mysskin's quirky dance moves. Tapas Nayak, has done good work with the sound designing, especially for the chasing scenes and the night sequences and not to forget, the action sequences. Balasubramaniam, has done a decent job with the art work, especially the hospital set and the room of the Girish Karnad, with all the gadgetry and also the bar setup as well. Gaugin, could have done better with the editing because the second half was quite slow and many scenes which was required, was deleted by him. Cinematography by Sathya was good, with the regular wide-angle shots and lengthy shots, which are a must for a Mysskin film. The night effect shots were well done too, with apt lighting, capturing the moods very well. The highlight of the movie is definitely the stunt choreography and hats off to Tony Leung Siu-hung, an acclaimed expert in Wing Chun - a close-combat form popularized by the legendary Bruce Lee. Tony has had sparring moments with the legend himself, and ironically Wing Chun was developed by Ip Man, the master of Bruce Lee, of whom a feature film was made of, and Tony was the stunts choreographer for that film ! He has trained the artistes very well and with the additional support of 'Action' Prakash, each stunt sequences were unique, realistic and powerful. One of the best action sequences to come out in Tamizh cinema !

Music by K was really good. There are only three songs in the film and it starts off with the "Bar Anthem", a typical Mysskin film song with foot-tapping beats and dance movements, this song was shot in a simple bar setup and had good lighting by Sathya. The pick of the album, "Vaaya Moodi Summa Iruda" was shot in Switzerland, in lush and beautiful scenic locales. The lead pair looked lovely and had soft and fresh color tone throughout the song and "Maayavi" too was shot there in night sequences with the protagonist being the 'Mugamoodi' and the heroine, yearning for him. Though the songs were well shot, its a head-scratching question of why the need for a foreign-location song. The theme music was riveting by K but he could have avoided the techno beats, which are awkward for a dark themed film such as this but his string section composition was brilliant. A real talent to look out for.

Mysskin starts off the movie very well with a suspenseful scene, and the Marvel-type comic book title card was cute, but all that is just secondary when it comes to the overall film. The first half of the film was good, with necessary introductions of the characters and the establishment of the super hero character. But the second half was slow and and quite amusing for the intensity built up in the first half. A couple of scenes were executed well, but the editing choice of Mysskin was not good and he should have worked with his editor in retaining the true essence of his script. In order to establish a super hero, you need to have a real, good, super villain. Narain was good, but his character suffers due to poor handling by Mysskin and by the end of the film, Narain looks like a comical villain with laughable and very fake mannerisms and dialogue delivery. With such a bad villain, your favoritism for the super hero will suffer big time, and it suffered indeed. The birth of 'Mugamoodi' was too simple and conflict goes kaput. The film was imbalanced as Mysskin tried to please all sections of audiences and his action failed big time. The film gets caught in between being dark/serious and simple/appealing. When one finishes watching it, he or she would feel disappointed because Mysskin has done brilliant works before in 'Anjaathey' and 'Yuddham Sei' and this time, its too simple, light and comical and is not hard-hitting as what he wants it to be. This could have been done purposely to attract the children, but Mysskin should know that its very, very difficult to please all of the people, at the same time and he should have used it for some other script, rather than for this. And the other main mistake by him is to etch a rather caricature-style villain who looks like a mean and menacing one, but spews silly and funny dialogues in the end.

'Mugamoodi' is good and not so good, at the same time. Its good, for being a proper super hero film within the Tamizh sensibilities and for its superior technical works. Its not so good because Mysskin's script lacks the raciness and excitement and we have watched better works from him, in the form of his own earlier films. Low intensity, low excitement, slow presentation, 'Mugamoodi' could and should have been better than this.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL