YAAMIRUKKA BAYAMEY MOVIE REVIEW

RS Infotainments' Elred Kumar's next production, 'Yaamirukka Bayamey' is a medium-budget venture with lesser known stars. Directed by debutante Deekay, a former associate of K.V Anand, this flick is touted to be a horror comedy, which is a genre rarely exploited in Tamizh cinema. We have our fair share of comedies and horror films, but this hybrid genre, is a rarity. Is this flick, worth of our time and money ?

Actor Kreshna, makes use of his opportunity, well. The expressive demeanor of his character was brought out well by him and he shares good rapport with the other cast members. He might need to work out in bettering his screen presence, as well as his dialogue delivery and voice modulation, which could have given his character, a better dimension. Rupa Manjari, looks cute and performs adequately and makes a good pairing with Kreshna. Karunakaran, is the actual scene-stealer, who keeps us glued to the film. His presence and comic timing, with apt dialogue delivery, evoke the chuckles from us. To put it bluntly, the film would have lost its appeal, if its not for his presence. Oviya, has upped the ante in glamour appeal, and shows no inhibitions in looking sexy. But her character has the lesser amount of screen timing and importance, among the main leads. Mayilsamy, scores in his portion with his usual excellent comic timing. Aadhav Kannadhasan makes a cameo appearance whereas, Anaswara Kumar has a role of importance, with limited screen timing. The rest such as Nalinikanth, Bose Venkat, Namo Narayana, Sona, Devipriya, 'Mahanadhi' Shankar, Balaji Mohan, Rayil Ravi, Yogi Babu, Daniel and etc sufficed the needs of the script.

The film has good production values, which gives the film an appealing look and feel. VFX for the horror segments were handled by Lorven Studios, and they have done a pretty decent job, especially in the climax, involving the main lead characters. Veena Shankaralingam designs the costumes for the lead characters, and the heroines have been particularly given lots of focus, with their dressing. Lalitha Rajamanickam's special make-up, complements the VFX usage of the film. Action choreography has been handled by Dhilip Subbarayan and his works are functional, as there are not important action sequences in the script. Art designing is handled by Senthil Raghavan, and his work gives the film a very alluring look. The mansion setup and its rooms were well designed, which has an elegant yet spooky feel to it, especially when you have dark colors, taking centre-stage. Sreekar Prasad's tight editing ensures that the film is well packaged, and his work in the climax portion, delivers the right output needed to ensure the scary element, is rightly presented. Cinematography by Rammy, is cool and appealing, especially with the cool climate of Nainital well utilized, in terms of lighting. His work is of paramount importance, especially in the climax portions, and his camera movements, delivers the necessary effect. 

Music by S.N Prasad is passable, especially with the songs. "Yemathukaaran" is the opening song and has all four main leads in the picturization. Nainital's hill tops and the other locations are the main premises, as well as the all important, mansion. "Adaikalam" is the introductory song of Mayilsamy, and has a simple and colorful setup by Senthil Raghavan, with Mayilsamy being accompanied by attractive lasses. The satire on fake faith healers is obvious in the song, which is more of like a bit-song. "Vellai Pandhu" is the pick of the lot and was picturized on Aadhav Kannadhasan and Anaswara Kumar, who looked pretty in her yellow saree. The romantic song has good color tone and camera movements, which complemented the romantic feel of 'under-the-moonlight' feel, as well as some picturesque snow capped mountains and beautiful lakes of Nainital. "Ennamo Edho" appears when the end-credits roll. The background score was quite average and passes muster. A better re-recording would have done wonders to the film.

Debutante Deekay, has experimented with the horror comedy genre, as mentioned earlier. He divided those two quotients evenly, with the first half having more funny moments, whereas all the thrills and spooks come blaring in the second half. The horror element was better handled, and though the spook gags were just the conventional effects which one often come across in Hollywood films, it did deliver the right effects. Deekay preserved the suspense element, till the late second half, which keeps us guessing on the suspicious circumstances unfolding in the film. The script has a wafer-thin story line, and though the horror element was well presented, the writing aspect takes a backseat, with no thorough explanation nor story which would have kept us engrossed with the film. The script leaves us with a couple of unanswered questions being overlooked, which open up loopholes in the story-line. The comedy element too, did not work out as a rip-roaring episode, neither. Couple of jokes fell flat, whereas some just did not deliver the necessary goods. As mentioned earlier, without the presence of Karunakaran, it would have been a damp squib. Also, some gags tend to side a more adult content, in its writing and presentation. The basic plot and idea of the script, is lifted from the 1998 South Korean horror comedy, 'The Quiet Family', directed by Kim Ji-woon, which Deekay has apparently simplified and made it more suitable for Tamizh sensibilities.

'Yaamirukke Bayamey' - A little funny, a little creepy !


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

PULIVAAL MOVIE REVIEW

'Pulivaal' started making noise once the promotions kicked-in, and features a double-hero subject as its story. Vemal and Prasanna team up in a film produced by R.Radikaa Sarathkumar and Listin Stephen. G.Marimuthu, who previously did Prasanna's 'Kannum Kannum' makes a comeback as a director. The trailer promised a hodgepodge of elements such as comedy and thriller and etc. Was it worth our time ?

The two male leads play diametrically opposing characters, where Vemal is from the lower-class society, whereas Prasanna belongs to the rich and suave section. As for Vemal, its the umpteenth time he's playing such a character, so there's nothing much extraordinary with his performance. He did what he was expected to do and what he can do. But the changeover from a naive chap to a manipulating impostor is less convincing. Prasanna, scores in his role with a decent performance, especially from the sequences building up to the climax, onward. He's pretty much confident with his role, probably due to his experience, enacting something similar to what he did in 'Muran'. Among the three female leads, its Oviya who has the most impact upon the script. She has upped her ante in the glamour quotient but rarely passes muster in the performance department, though she tried her best to be confident enough in difficult sequences, such as the intimate scenes. Ananya, plays Vemal's pair and is adequate for her role and has her fair share of screen presence. Iniya, plays a less substantial role. Soori and Thambi Ramaiah's comedy portions evoke some chuckles in the beginning, but the humor starts to get tedious as the movie proceeds further, especially with Soori's SMS jokes. Prem Kumar, Swarnamalya and etc dons the peripheral characters needed here and there.

Perumal Selvam has done a neat work with the costumes department, though better work could have been focused on Oviya, since she has glamour quotient in her character. G.C Ananthan's production design sufficed the need of the script, especially with the swanky and posh bungalow of Prasanna's character, along with the office scenarios. Rajasekhar, takes care of the action choreography, and the final climax fight sequence, had very natural and realistic touch in the choreography. The tight angles of the toilet cubicles setting, has been well exploited. Kishore T.E handles the editing department, and his work was just average with his techniques. He could have trimmed the first half to some good extent, due to the excessively unwanted comedy and romance tracks. Bhojan K.Dinesh's cinematography is pretty ordinary as well, and the climax fight was the best shot scene. Better lighting in the some sequences could have elevated the mood of the scenes, further.

N.R Raghunanthan's songs are hummable but acts as mere speed breakers in the film, unfortunately. "Netrum Party" appears as a situational bit song, shot on Prasanna and Prem, in a nightclub setting. "Neelangaraiyil" was shot on Vemal and Ananya and had quite a few locations such as the Athirapally waterfalls, beaches, temples and etc, aided with minimalist props done by G.C Ananthan. "Kichu Kichu" was shot on Prasanna and Oviya, with the usual backup dancers, with some ancient temple setting, as its backdrop. "Naadu Naadu" is a situational song, which appears just before the climax and was shot on Prasanna, with montages of several supermarkets. "Vaazhkai Unnai" appears right during the end credits. The background score is scored by Gopi Sundar and he has utilized N.R Raghunanthan's tunes as the basis of his score. He has tried his best to elevate the intensity of the climax sequence, with his music.

Before dwelling on G.Marimuthu's direction, it is to be noted that 'Pulivaal' is a direct remake of Sameer Thahir's 2011 Malayalam film, 'Chaappa Kurish' starring Vineeth Sreenivasan and Fahadh Faasil. Though Sameer has been credited for the story, the original Malayalam film raised some controversies in reference to the originality of the script. Some of the scripts elements has been lifted from the 2003 Hollywood film, '21 Grams' starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro, which was written by Guillermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The trailer of 'Chaappa Kurish' was almost a direct copy of '21 Grams'. Meanwhile, the script has a striking resemblance to the 2009 Korean crime thriller 'Handphone', written by Kim Mi-hyeon and directed by Kim Han-min. Coming to G.Marimuthu's handling of the film, there are quite a few flaws. The director has failed to properly establish the two male leads, which ultimately led to the audience failing to root for, neither of them. We don't sympathize nor empathize with the male leads. The story wanders into no-man's land for the most of the first half and has too much of unnecessary scenes. As mentioned earlier, the director failed to convincingly portray the changeover of characters and the driving force behind such a changeover. What could have been an intense script, turned out to be a damp squib, due to the poor direction.

'Pulivaal' - Below average due to poor handling of the script.


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MADHA YAANAI KOOTTAM MOVIE REVIEW

G.V Prakash Kumar, experiencing a high-point in his career, has ventured into production and its a film for newcomers ! Directed by debutante Vikram Sugumaran, a former assistant of Balu Mahendra and the fellow dialogue writer for Vetrimaaran in 'Aadukalam', 'Madha Yaanai Koottam' has its roots in Theni and is based on the "Seimurai" rituals and proceedings. Will Vikram live it up to his guru's expectations ?

Debutante hero Kathir, handled his role quite effectively. His dialogue delivery is quite measured and composed. His ability to handle action sequences are not bad, though he can deliver better performances. Definitely a good and raw prospect, who can be sculpted into a fine actor. Just watch out from being stereotyped ! Oviya, pretty much has nothing to do, to be frank. Her character is inconsequential to the script and narration and is there in the film for purely commercial reasons, alone. She sticks out like a sore-thumb, due to her odd character placement. The antagonist Vela Ramamoorthy looks menacing and majestic with his body language and dialogue delivery. Veteran Viji Chandrasekhar, delivers a very intense and nuanced performance, and she pulled it off effervescently, thanks to her talent and experience. The supporting cast such as Murugan, Ammu, P.Gopalakrishnan, Virumaandi, Anju, Theni Mahalakshmi and etc were good and befitting of the characters they enacted.

Gopi Prasanna, has handled the designing aspect quite well, and presented the rustic and gritty look, needed for the script. Kishore T.E's editing is crisp and neat and his editing style, fits the mood and presentation manner of the director's script. The action sequences, especially were slickly edited. 'Rock' Prabhu's action choreography is fantastic, and pumping with emotions and raw nature to it. The stunts have been realistically choreographed and any cinematic artificiality has been avoided at all cost. The final output is brilliant and he deserves applauds for his choreography. Well done, Prabhu ! Ragul Dharuman's cinematography is impressive, especially with his framing and camera angles. The color tone, gives the film a very raw, rustic and gritty look, which really resembled the nature of the script. And he must be congratulated for the maximum usage of natural lights, which gives a beautiful, natural look & feel for the script. 

N.R Raghunanthan's soundtracks fits the need of the script, very well. "Unnai Vanangaathu" is a situational song, featuring local street artistes delivering a sketch-like narration of the characters of the script. Ragul's natural lighting is a highlight of the song and the funeral scenario had fantastic detailing ! "Kana Kondakaari" is shot on the lead pair and had plenty of montages of the hero falling for the heroine, with plenty of indoor-shots. "Kombu Oothi" is another situational track, projecting a glitzy and grand rural wedding, with plenty of good detailing and camera angles. "Mukkaluthu" is used as a background song, capturing the funeral procession of a main character of the film, which also had very good detailing. "Enga Pore" is a pathos song, shot on the protagonist, who is on the run. The song had plenty of good landscape as backdrops and Ragul has captured the rustic beauty of Kerala, very well. "Yaro Yaro" was shot on the lead pair and had plenty of montages as well, shot against the backwaters of Kerala. N.R Raghunanthan's background score is even better than the songs and the score is pretty much complementary and is in-tune with the mood of the script.

Vikram Sugumaran has done a great job with his detailing of the rituals and occasions of the rural folks of Theni. He manages to transport us into their world, very effectively and that is something which many directors, be it new or even the experienced, fail to do so ! He should be applauded for getting good output from his cast and technical crew as well and has a good understanding of his exact wants and needs. But the plot is quite straightforward and has not much twists and turns, except for the climax, which is a little dampener. This is due to the proliferation of such rural-based, violently action-oriented dramas in Tamizh cinema, in recent times. The intensity of the action and drama is quite high at times, which does not give much space for the characters to register well with the audience, in terms of emotional connectedness. Dialogues were very well written, and resonated the plot milieu and characterizations of the artistes. Vikram is certainly a good prospect, and with better script and screenplay writing, this talent is bound to go higher in Tamizh cinema.

'Madha Yaanai Koottam' - A very well made first-attempt from the makers. More improvement and a bigger success, is definitely on the way !


Ratings: 2.75/5 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

SILLUNU ORU SANDHIPPU MOVIE REVIEW

'Sillunu Oru Sandhippu' from debutante Ravi Lallin explores, the topical theme of love among teenagers and how ones' life progresses after the all the puppy, lovey-dovey moments. Ravi Lallin has packed the film with various opinions on love and marriage-hood. With a young but small cast, can Ravi Lallin deliver a convincing and entertaining film, that too in the popular genre of love and romance, with a rather poetic title?

Vimal, a favorite among Tamizh cinema directors for rural and semi-rural based roles, makes an attempt to change that image with a cool, foreign-return character. His attempt, sadly goes in vain, due to his struggle in imbibing the body language and dialogue delivery senses of a typical city-slicker, and that too, someone who comes after spending a lengthy time in the United States ! Its very evident that he is very uncomfortable in such roles and its even more appalling to see him play a teenage-school student ! What was Ravi Lallin thinking ? There are two heroines in the film, and they are Dipa Shah and Oviyaa, respectively. The former takes the bigger piece of the cake, in terms of screen presence. She was adequate for her role, but her character was poorly written and lacks depth and originality. Oviya, has an extended-cameo type of role, and appears once in a while. The rest of the cast such as Manobala, Charu Haasan, Ashwin Raja, Velmurugan and etc had nothing much to do, and most of them lack substance in their performances. But the blame should fall on the director for writing such poorly-etched characters.

The technical work in the film was just average and there's nothing much to shout about. P.Ganesan did a decent work in the costume department, making the characters look good on screen. Dhilip Subbarayan's action choreography was not bad and he must be commended for choreographing it, in a manner which suits Vimal's style and mannerisms. R.D Vijay's art direction was minimal but suffice, especially for the props used as house decors and for the class room setting. Suraj Kaviq's editing was just plain ordinary. Rajesh Yadav and Aaro's cinematography was simple. The shots of Ooty were pleasant to the eyes and the color tone used throughout the film, was suitable for the script. S.M Faizal's songs were just below average. Since Ooty served as the backdrop of script, all the songs were picturized in the cool Ooty region. "Adi Aathi" the only hummable number was picturized on Vimal and Oviya, in montage sequences, depicting their developing relationship during their teenage days. The song appears another time, during the latter part of the film, and is again shot on the same pair, but with more dialogue portions and some unnecessary picturization done in Malaysia. "Bussey Bussey", was literally shot with the bus being used as the backdrop, with the addition of glamorously-clad item girls. "Min Miniaye" is a montage song with some dance choreography in between, and was shot on Vimal and Dipa Shah, this time. "Yaayum Yaayum" is a situational-cum-dream song, shot on Vimal and Dipa Shah, with the heroine being subjected to some glamorous portions.

Ravi Lallin's script was very amateurish and shoddily written. The characters lack depth and originality, as mentioned earlier, and its unbelievable to watch Dipa Shah perform a heroine character so rooted in Tamizh culture, which is such an out-dated idea ! Also, boos to Ravi Lallin for the inclusion of crass and distasteful comedy portions, which borders vulgarity, where female characters are shown in unnecessary angles, for no apparent reasons ! The director had some messages which he wanted to convey, but it was done so, in a very preachy manner, which was too boring and lame ! The screenplay lacks cohesiveness and some of the sequences stick out like a sore thumb and did not gel with the overall storyline. As said earlier, the characters look too caricaturish and none of the artistes had a decent role to play !

'Sillunu Oru Kadhal' is a poor product, with nothing new and fresh to offer.
 

Ratings: 1.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

KALAKALAPPU @ MASALA CAFE MOVIE REVIEW

"Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe" is the film which brings us back the Sundar.C which everyone recognized. A director with fantastic comedy sense. Some of his films are cult classics for slapstick comedies such as "Murai Maaman", "Mettukudi", "Ullathai Allithaa" and etc. Even commercial films of his have fantastic comedy sidetracks and "Ullam Kollai Poguthey", "Winner", "Rendu" being the examples. Since he took a sabbatical from directing and venturing into acting, the director in Sundar.C was sorely missed. This film did bring up hopes, with Sundar.C directing for the 25th time and that too with Shiva and Santhanam in the cast, the expectations were high.

Usually Sundar.C has his films centered on a few characters and the comedic situations will be based on them. But in this movie, though you have two heroes and two heroines, there's a host of artistes and all of them plays fantastic comedy roles. Starting off with the lead heroes. Vimal as usual was casual and comfortable in his role. The soft-nature and naive character suits him very well. Meanwhile Shiva was a scream throughout the film, especially in the first half. His one-liners were fantastically delivered by him and the movie is replete with them. Lines like "Kathirikka Knife & Katrina Kaif", as well as "Aduthan figurekku aasaipaduranukku ellam, thannode figure sappeya thaan mattum" are exemplary of the hilarious lines in the movie. Anjali as the health inspector was apt for her role and she was good with her comedy lines and showed her glamorous side in songs. Oviya delivered what was expected from her as well, and she too upped her glamor quotient in songs, but her comedy timing was not up to the mark. Santhanam, the current King of Comedy makes an entrance in the second half as a comedic villain and the second half belongs to him. He raises the bar even further with his one-liners and the second half chasing scene, involving him, Vimal and Manobala was a laugh riot. Ilavarasu, John Vijay, Subbu Panchu, V.S Raghavan and etc, everyone did their roles very well and each of them had something to contribute, comedy wise.

The film was made on a moderate budget, so the technical aspect of the film was just average but still good enough. Rajendran's costumes was apt for each and every artistes, making them look perfect for the characters that they played. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing was good as usual, but they could have trimmed a little in the second half. The comic-book style pauses was well done. 'Thalapathy' Dinesh's stunts were funny and a little over-the-top, which was necessary for this genre of film. Gururaj's artwork was decent. The "Masala Cafe", before and after revamp, both was well done by him. U.K Senthil Kumar, a regular of Sundar.C's films has done a neat job, especially in capturing the mood of the small, beautiful town of Kumbakonam. The mansions, temple ponds and street views were pretty sights. The interiors of the cafeteria could have been done a little better. Music director, Vijay Ebenezer has come out with simple and sweet songs. The pick of the lot will definitely be "Thirumbi Paarthu" picturized on Vimal and Oviya in the green fields. Simple artwork and choreography was enough for that song, which looks nice on screen. "Unnai Patri" picturized around mansions and houses of the film plot, but still proved enough to hold our attention with the proceedings happening in the screen. "Mokka Manusha" was done within a tight area, that is around the cafeteria set and it involved lots of dancers in a small, congested area, which could have been done a little better. The opening song "Masala Cafe" and "Angelina" has montage sequences and some of them did have the necessary comedic elements to it. "Ivalunga Imsai" was picturized on the four lead artistes of the film. Both ladies were pretty glamorous in it and the lighting work and set work matched very well.

Sundar.C has scripted the film with full of slapstick comedy scenes. Flaws and illogical sequences are aplenty in the film, but that's overlooked for the fun factor Sundar.C promises. The basic plot of the film was taken from a German film titled "Soul Kitchen" but Sundar.C has aptly modified the story and added sequences apt for the Tamizh audience which actually brings the roof down with the silliness and humorous manner in which the scenes were done. Definitely Sundar.C's biggest asset is his dialogue writer, Badri. His dialogues were a scream and nearly each scene had its own one-liners and they were aptly written for the characters which mouthed those lines. Sundar.C should be appreciated for his choice of artistes for each roles. The choices were very well made, even for the small characters which comes in one or two scenes. 


Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe is just a silly, plain and enjoyable fun ride for all viewers. Logic, common sense, rationality and seriousness are not to be associated with the script but that's not a complain because the film doesn't need those factors. Sundar.C is back to what he is best at and thoroughly fulfilled the expectations of the film.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MARINA MOVIE REVIEW

Director Pandiraj whose last, "Vamsam" was a decent entertainer is back to his forte, that is children's genre. His much acclaimed "Pasanga" is still fondly remembered for the sweet screenplay and the message it delivered. With Marina, he has a different canvass to handle, that is the livelihood of child workers, toiling daily in the second-longest beach in the world. With kids in the fray the movie is expected to throw off some decent moments and also some worthy laughs since it's the launch vehicle for popular TV host Siva Karthikeyan. Did Pandiraj retain the same magic in "Marina" as well?

Though the film was marketed with Siva Karthikeyan and Oviya as the lead pair, in actual truth they are just a part of the film and the story revolves around child actor 'Pakoda' Pandian and his traverse in surviving in the beaches of Marina. Besides him, the film has a glut of child actors and each one of them have been realistic to the core and the projections of their characteristics helps to retain the natural feel and look of the actors. Besides that, there are a host of sub-characters like the horseman, Sundararajan as the old beggar, Arumugham as the performer and his daughter, Jithan Mohan as the postman and etc who actually help the kids' characters to be well established. Siva Karthikeyan, Oviya and Gautham Purushoth were average and it must have been a cakewalk for all of them. Siva Karthikeyan's character was not well etched out as well and he misses his comedy timing most of the time, which actually steals away the funny moments. Jayaprakash and Senthikumari had decent roles and played out their part well. On the whole, it was a decent performance from all the artistes.

The technical department has a decent work as well with cinematographer Vijay surprising us with couple of well composed shots, especially the placement of cameras in the horse, running and cycle race competitions. Besides that, the long aerial shot used just before the interval was very well executed. Vijay manages to capture the look and feel of Marina beach which is very essential for the script. Athiappan Siva's editing and Crawford's art direction was neat and simple. Newcomer Girishh.G's music was mild but the "Vanakkam Chennai" song stands out for the breezy tune. His re-recording impresses in bits and pieces.

The answer for the earlier question is, Pandiraj did not succeed to retain the same magic he had in "Pasanga" for "Marina". The whole movie has a documentary feel to it and many scenes did not connect with each other in an engaging manner, which lets the script down and makes it a boring viewing experience for the viewers. Though the film has a very decent message to convey, the slow and uninspiring screenplay fails to deliver the message in a thumping manner. Dialogues are creative though, with cute touches like Gautham's interesting sayings on love, the kids frank speeches during the interview episode and also was touching especially for Sundararajan's episode. Also there are some funny moments in the film involving Siva Karthikeyan, like his 'budget calculations', his 'revenge' method on Oviya and the 'surprise gift' all subtle humors. Pandiraj did a decent job with characterizations.

Overall, a movie with decent message and story but then poor screenplay and script.

Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL