ORU OORULA RENDU RAJA MOVIE REVIEW

After the rather lukewarm 'Settai', R.Kannan, a former associate of Mani Ratnam is back with his own script and judging from the cast, he has given more importance to comedy, this time. 'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' has the potential to be a safe bet, especially with D.Imman's music and a good cast, but can R.Kannan nail it after continuous flops ?

What's refreshing with this film is that the hero and heroine alone doesn't hog all the limelight. The script gives equal amount of space, time and importance to all three main leads, which are Vemal, Soori and Priya Anand. For Vemal and Soori, this script does not provide much challenge for their acting capabilities and both of them breezed through their roles. Vemal looks continually the same for most of his films and its Soori who actually shoulders the film, among the two "kings". His dialogue delivery and witty sense of humor, together with a good timing sense provides some laughter, though the comedy tracks are below average. Priya Anand is the refreshing element of the film, and she gets a meatier role than what conventional Tamizh heroines get to do. She's at her glam best thus far in the songs and looks sweet during the remaining. Nassar and Anupama Kumar were cast as the antagonists in which, the former was completely wasted and the latter was a total miscast. Thambi Ramaiah, Singamuthu, Narendhra Khatari, Bala Singh, E.Ramdas, Kalairani, Kamala Krishnasamy, Sasha and etc make up the rest of the cast, with a special appearance from Vishakha Singh, who did an important role.

Costume designing by Chaitanya Rao sufficed the needs of the script, especially when the bulk of the story is set in a single day. Particular importance was given to Priya Anand, who looked gorgeous in the songs. Action choreography by Silva, who also played a minor role in the film, was decent and was more situational, rather than purposeful. His choreography matched the physical attributes of Vemal and Soori. N.Subbu's art direction was neat and the set properties for all the live locations matched the scenario. The rundown godown featuring in the climax scene, was the best of his work. Suriya's editing was crisp and he made sure the film doesn't drag for more than 2 hours plus. Other than that, there's no gimmicks in the editing pattern of Suriya's. Cinematography by P.G Muthiah adds more color to the script and there's plenty of aerial shots, using the helicam, but the necessity of it is a different question. The picturization of songs were particularly good and pleasing to the eyes.

D.Imman adds strength to the film with his musical score. The songs are good and provides some entertainment to us. "Oru Oorula Rendu Raja" is the opening song shot on Vemal and Soori. It has the typical rural locations such as the village streets, paddy fields and etc and we get to see Soori doing some serious dancing for the first time ! "Odum Rayile" was picturized on Vemal and Priya Anand and was entirely shot in a railway station. It has a mixture of situational moments, as well as some dream sequence, but the entire song has the railway station and the train as the main setting. "Sundari Penne" is the best picturized song, which was shot on Priya Anand and Vishakha Singh. The rain soaked atmosphere reminds us of Mani Ratnam's heroine intro songs and Shreya Ghoshal's voice is just so wonderful to listen to ! "Kukkuru Kukkuru", a song sung by actress Lakshmi Menon was shot as a highway song and featured Iniya in a special appearance. The girl dances well and provides little bit of glamour effect of her own and is ably supported by Vemal and Soori. "Mazhakaathe" is a typical dream song shot on Vemal and Priya Anand, in picturesque hill stations. Priya Anand appears in glamorous costumes, probably for the first time in Tamizh films and she is definitely an eye-candy ! D.Imman's background score adds more depth to the emotional scenes and certainly lifts up many moments in the film.

R.Kannan handles the story, screenplay, dialogues and direction for 'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' and he has taken up the issue of noise pollution and the malpractice acts of big manufacturers and how the laborers are victims of circumstances of such acts. The script has been given a road-movie like treatment with plenty of travelling and constant location changes. Though the film was promoted as a comedy film with some social messages in it, the humor quotient is low in substance and its pretty much lukewarm. And some of them are crude in taste, which is not so family & kid friendly ! Soori does make you smile, but those scenes are far and few in between, whereas the social messages were not smoothly infused into the screenplay. The post-climax scenes were jarring and looks forcefully thrust into the story, just to give the film an happy-ending. End of the day, this film is just a basic commercial fare and is primarily targeted at the B & C audiences.

'Oru Oorula Rendu Raja' - Two kings, one queen and the audience ends up as the Jokers !


Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

IRUMBU KUTHIRAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Irumbhu Kuthirai' is the comeback film for Atharvaa Murali, after the critically acclaimed 'Paradesi'. Directed by debutante Yuvaraj Bose, a former associate of Arivazhagan, the film's USP is the script being based on motorcycle race backdrop and super-bikes. Produced on a generous budget by AGS Entertainment, can Yuvaraj race into Tamizh cinema as another young prodigy ?

After the hard struggle and excruciating pain in 'Paradesi', Atharvaa Murali dons a conventional hero role and it looks like he has been working out on his physique. He looks better and has improved his dialogue delivery and timing but his character lacks the zing and energy needed. Unfortunately, this film lets him down, on acting performance aspect. Priya Anand, looks gorgeous and is the regular Tamizh cinema heroine (friend turned damsel-in-distress turned lover !). The lead pair looks compatible on screen, but their chemistry fails to sizzle. Johnny Tri Nguyen is a surprise casting and fits the role of a really mean baddie, but somehow his character becomes unintentionally funny (especially with the Tamizh dialogues !). Among the character artistes, its Devadarshini who's role as the protagonist's mother, is an interesting choice. We are seeing some serious performances from her, and hope she continues to showcase her acting skills. The rest of the cast includes Raai Laxmi & Jagan (both looking out-of-sync with the film), Manobala, Mayilsamy, Joe Malloori, Anupama Kumar, Swaminathan, Sachu and Joshna. Alisha Abdullah (India's first female national racing champion & only female biker racer) has a cameo, which the needs of it can only be comprehended by the director.

Thanks to AGS Entertainment, the films has rich production values and slick technical outputs. Muruganandam takes care of the costume designing and Priya was given the most attention, as she was simply cute and lovely in he simple and casual clothing. He could have worked it out better for Raai Laxmi and Jagan, who looked completely weird and unflattering. Art direction is by Sakthee Venkatraj.M and though most of the film was shot outdoors, the set work and properties for the homes of the lead pair, the bike sales gallery and the warehouse like set-up for the pre-climax fight sequence, looks good. Action choreography is by 'Kanal' Kannan and he has made good use of Johnny Tri Nguyen's martial arts skill. Though the execution was okay, the choreography did not really match Atharvaa's personality and it was a little over-the-top, especially with the ropes. William Ong, takes care of the bike action sequences, and being an expert in it, there are no complaints with his work. T.S Suresh must be commended for the crisp running time of the film and for his work in the action scenes, but the film has a very jarring pace and the continuity takes severe beating due to this. Cinematography is by R.B Gurudhev and Gopi Amarnath and both of them have given good visuals, be it Pondicherry or the Italian countryside and Venice city. They have tried to match the visuals of Italy with Pondicherry and they have managed to work it out in bits and pieces, though the cover up is pretty obvious.

G.V Prakash Kumar's music is decent but the songs fail to create any impact due to the bad timing and placement in the screenplay. "Hello Brother" is the introductory song of Raai Laxmi and was shot in a bar like set-up, which incorporated plenty of color lighting. "Ange Ippo Enna" is a melody between the lead pair and has many cut-shots of the lead pair, texting each other in which grand and majestic buildings in Venice becomes a backdrop for this song. "Alai Paayum" is almost a similarly shot song, but this time it's a dance number and has more coastal and cliff side locations in the song, which was also shot in Italy. "Penne Penne" is a pathos song, shot on the lead pair and has Pondicherry's colonial and colorful buildings as its backdrop, with many cut-shots, in it too. "Pondicherry" was visually the best shot song, which is an item number featuring the tall, dusky and hot Akshara Gowda. Johnny Tri Nguyen and Alisha Abdullah makes appearance in the song as well, which had a ringside like set-work and good lighting, which complemented the song very well. G.V Prakash Kumar's background score, especially for the climax race sequence is adept. His signature scores for the love portions, are highlights of the background score, too !

A Tamizh film on superbike racing is certainly a refreshing and unique idea, but ideas alone will not make films, watchable. Yuvaraj Bose's plot for the script is so simple, which an adolescent teenager can come up with ! His screenplay lets you down terribly and the film lacks the great energy needed, especially since its about super-bikes. As said earlier, the placement of songs irks us even more and the unwarranted comedy and sentimental portions are a big bore. The love portions lack the sizzle needed and is pretty ordinary. But Yuvaraj's sequence setting doesn't go overboard and he comes up with casual scenes, pertaining to the characters' dilemmas and stature. But for such scenes to hold up on its own, you need strong and interesting dialogues, which Narsim fails to deliver. The dialogues are just pretty much conventional and sufficed the needs of the script. Yuvaraj does spring a surprise, in late second half, but its way too late to save the film and the audience's attention. Instead of tweaking the script and closing down the gaping loopholes in the screenplay, Yuvaraj succumbs to the contemporary Tamizh cinema pressure and fills his film with unwanted elements. Weak characterization further dampens the mood of the film and by the end of the film, you wouldn't have felt like you have watched a film !

'Irumbu Kuthirai - Instead of galloping, it stuttered !


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ARIMA NAMBI MOVIE REVIEW

Kalaippuli S.Thanu, known for his lavish expenses for his productions, is back after the huge success of 'Thuppaki'. This time, its the protege of his 'Thuppaki' director A.R Murugadoss, called Anand Shankar. The youngster has assembled a good team and has cast the fast emerging Vikram Prabhu and the current favorite of youth, Priya Anand. With a good production unit and a good technical crew behind him, can Anand Shankar replicate the success of his mentor for the same producer ?

Vikram Prabhu is getting good with each film of his and in 'Arima Nambi', he pulls of the action hero image, quite comfortably. His lanky physique, with a good screen presence helps him to nail the character quite well. The actor has been working on his looks and dance movements as well, and it seems to be paying off well ! Priya Anand has a very fashionable and upscale look to her character. She fits the bill and is the pivot around which the script revolves. She gets it right in the performance department as well, with an acute and mature acting. J.D Chakravarthy makes a deadly entry as the surprise antagonist of the film, and though the intense actor keeps our attention, the character somehow fizzes out to be an average villain we get to see in most Tamizh films. Arjunan, Yog Japee, Aruldass and etc have taken up some important character roles and there are cameo appearances from Lekha Washington and M.S Bhaskar, with the latter coming up with a terrific performance !

Costume designing is handled by Chaitanya Rao, Komal Shahani and Perumal Selvam, and their work was very good, complementing the look and design of the film. Since the film projected an upmarket feel, the lead artistes' costumes were trendy and stylish. One of the film's biggest asset is the action choreographer Dhilip Subbarayan. His action sequences were superbly staged and executed, especially the one before the climax. Though the action sequences were brilliantly executed, its quite obvious that the choreography is an imitation and has been inspired from the Bourne series, starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass. Even the henchmen depicted, has the same hairstyle and body language ! T.Muthuraj's art direction was superb, especially with the detailing he has given to the posh apartment, hotel room, and office premises shown in the film. The properties bear a chic and stylish look throughout and adds more glossiness to the film. Editor Bhuvan Srinivasan's cuts are worth mentioning, especially for the action sequences, but he could have definitely trimmed the film's duration, especially for the lagging second half. Ace cinematographer R.D Rajasekhar proves once again, why he is known as a specialist cameraman for action scripts ! The visuals are superb and he has rightly captured the upmarket ambiance very well, especially for the song picturizations. His lighting for the night shots are fantastic as well and his work definitely helped the film achieve its intended look and feel.

Popular percussionist 'Drums' Sivamani makes his debut as a music director in this film. His music blends well with the script, though they are not chart-busters. "Yaaro Yaaraval" was shot in a Hard Rock Cafe ambiance, with excellent lighting and camera movements, within a limited space. The song has a MTV-music video like feel to it, and Vikram Prabhu shows his comfortableness in handling dance and song, as well. "Naanum Unnil" is a belly dance number, featuring svelte dancers in glamorous costumes. It was intended to look like a music-video shoot and R.D Rajasekhar's lighting comes handy, in giving the song the right mood. "Idhayam Un Idhayam" is a romantic duet, and was shot in the exotic and heavenly location of Erawan Falls, situated in the Erawan National Park of Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. The beautiful blue waterfall is a visual treat for the eyes, and R.D Rajasekhar has tried his best in delivering the scenic location from all sorts of interesting angles. Background score by Sivamani gelled well with the scenes and complemented the feel of the script. A decent debut for Sivamani !

Anand Shankar, a protege of A.R Murugadoss, has diligently followed in the footsteps of his mentor. His clever scripting for the first half keeps us glued to our seats, due to the onslaught of action sequences and the guessing game going on. Anand Shankar, keeps it simple with no irritating comedy portions, unwanted romance sequences nor heavy build ups for his protagonist. He maintains the tense mood for most of the film, and has inserted the action sequences at the right moment. His detailing work is excellent, especially with the clues, suspense element and also for his research homework on gadgetry and current world scenarios. There are one or two surprises thrown in the script, which keeps us enthralled. The first half was very well crafted and executed. But the second half takes a little beating, where Anand Shankar has taken the quintessential Tamizh cinema liberties, by infusing some 'masala' elements into the film. The second half drags unnecessarily and all logic took backseat, especially in the climax, where J.D Chakravarthy's antagonist role turns the whole police department into his private henchmen and our protagonist is as good as a trained secret service officer ! There are plenty of small loopholes and loose ends in the script and the director gives away the all-important crucial story of the script quite early and it also lacks some finesse in its writing. But Anand Shankar can be appreciated for his directorial skills and his handling of scenes, as well as good characterization works.

'Arima Nambi' - A trustworthy commercial film !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VANAKKAM CHENNAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Vanakkam Chennai' has been making the right noise since its inception and its noise increased by a few decibels  thanks to the super-hit soundtrack from the young starlet Anirudh Ravichander. A directorial debut by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and the project being bankrolled by her husband, its pretty much her comfort zone and its rather a safe-bet in penning a rom-com script. The music was really good, but how does the movie fare ? A dream debut for Kiruthiga ?

Shiva, one should say, has chosen a script which offers more serious sequences and acting capabilities for him. Though there are plenty of sequences, which enabled him to showcase his trademark comic timing and dialogue delivery with a "poker-face" reactions, the script did offer him more than that, and he has managed to dish out a decent performance indeed. Credits to Kiruthiga for adapting Shiva's style and incorporating into this rom-com, perfectly ! Expecting more from Shiva after this and hoping for more refreshing roles from him. Priya Anand proved that she's more than a pretty face and the damsel nailed it with a fine performance. The excelled in the second half and in the climax sequences. She's pretty much comfortable in her role as an NRI and has tried perfecting her English accent. Her pleasant screen presence and good dialogue delivery in her own voice, are added plus points for her. An apt choice for the role, indeed ! Santhanam, is at his comfort zone and has done it for the umpteenth time. His wisecracks are funny, though its getting repetitive. Rahul Ravindran makes a good entry in the second half, but sadly his character does not leave much impression. Oorvashi, Manobala, 'Black' Paandi, Aarthi, Swaminathan, 'Nizhalgal' Ravi, Misha Ghoshal, Renuka, C.Rajkumar and etc were apt for their roles and there are some noteworthy cameo appearances from Sangeetha, Nassar and producer Udhayanidhi Stalin himself !

Shilpa Vumitti and Rajini Natraj Vishnu should be appreciated for their fine works in the costume designing, for Priya Anand and Shiva, respectively. Priya, especially looked a million bucks and would 'Vanakkam Chennai' is the best of her films, in showcasing her gracefully. Dhilip Subbarayan's "unique" action choreography was well executed and is a pleasant surprise indeed. Good job from the artiste who did the action sequence ! V.Selvakumar's production design is tastefully done. The plush apartment setting and the sets erected for the songs were rich in colors and detailing, and gives a colorful ambiance to the film, as well as a glossy look, too. T.S Suresh's editing was flawless and neat for the songs, especially but he could have trimmed down the second half a little. Richard M.Nathan's cinematography is a big plus for the film, since its his work which gave the film the rich and pleasant look throughout. He has captured the picturesque beauty of Theni very well, with brilliant framing and also his camera movement for the indoor sequences are very commendable. The space in the sets were well utilized by Richard, and the soothing visuals are the results of his excellent work. 

The actual star of the film, is definitely the hot-shot young music director, Anirudh Ravichander. His songs are a knock-out and absolute chart-topping numbers. "Ailasa Ailasa" is the opening number which had a photography exhibition as its backdrop and some great photographs were included as slides for the song, with some neat camera movements by Richard M.Nathan. "Hey" had plenty of montages and was shot on Shiva and Priya Anand, each of them separately, and showcased their new adventures. The urban sets complemented the mood of the song. "Engadi Porantha" was shot in Binny Mills, which was colored with vibrant colors and designs and had well-dressed back-up dancers, accompanying the lead pair. Some montages are interspersed into this song sequence as well. "Osaka" was beautifully shot by Richard M.Nathan in Theni and had wonderful and pleasing visuals of the rural land, with greenery and dry lands, equally portrayed. Priya Anand looked beautiful in the traditional attires, too ! "Oh Penne" was picturized cleverly with some camera tricks employed by Richard, in creating a puzzling illusion for the audience. The dream-like set work by neatly done by V.Selvakumar and Priya was a stunner in this song ! "Chennai City Gangsta" was showcased during the closing credits and was done like with a music video concept, featuring Anirudh Ravichander himself, alongside his singers, Hard Kaur and 'Hip Hop' Tamizha. Anirudh's background score was also rocking and blended perfectly well with the script. 

'Vanakkam Chennai' is a rom-com to its truest sense. The first half goes breezily with well-placed songs and some light-hearted moments between the lead pair and only the second half of the film, Kiruthiga did employ some emotional quotients of the script. The screenplay unfolds in its own sweet pace, which may test the patience of some audience, but many would not be complaining, since the sequences were enjoyable. Though the lead pair's characters were well written, a few peripheral characters such as Oorvashi and the one who plays Rosy Aunty, were needless and irritating. The climax is a little stretched out, which could have been much tighter. What's pleasant here is that, there are no sour-face inducing sequences nor double meaning dialogues anywhere, and credits to both Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and S.Divyanathan for developing such a screenplay and clean dialogues. Since the people behind the writing of the film are clever women, such an end-product is expectable  . The blossoming-of-love episodes could have handled with more maturity and deft handling, which could have accentuated the feelings the sequences tried to convey. Kiruthiga actually achieves the necessary element of a rom-com, which is the rooting for the lead pair by the audience, and its commendable that she has managed to do it in her debut film. 

'Vanakkam Chennai' - Delivered what it promised and meets the expectations generative of such flicks. 


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ETHIR NEECHAL MOVIE REVIEW

One of the most eagerly spoken about films, is this Dhanush produced 'Ethir Neechal, starring the upcoming hot-shot Sivakarthikeyan and a host of youngsters. Sivakarthikeyan has been notching up the ratings, due to his immense reach, attained during his television days. And the extra USP of having Anirudh as the music director, who dished out chart-busters, once again. It looks like the season of Vetrimaaran's former assistants, coming up with their own directorial ventures, and R.S Durai Senthilkumar joins the fray as well, through 'Ethir Neechal'.

This protagonist role of 'Ethir Neechal' is a tailor-made role for Sivakarthikeyan, who excels in his comic timing. Not just in his dialogue deliveries, but also through facial expressions and body language, which are signs of very good improvement ! He's not bad in the emotional scenes as well, but it was still not good enough to rate his full capability in the acting quotient. Priya Anand breezed through her role as the beautiful girl-next-door teacher. Nandita of 'Attakathi' fame has a more stronger role, but a brief one though, yet she still makes a mark. Satish, as the sidekick of Sivakarthikeyan, was a scream with his in-your-face one-liners and is delight to watch in his combination scenes with Sivakarthikeyan. The next hit-pair ? Most probably ! Jayaprakash and Ravi Prakash, handled their roles very diligently. The rest of the cast such as Suza Kumar, Swaminathan, Manobala, Aarthi, Madan Bob and a cute cameo by 'Attakathi' Dinesh were adequate.

The film carries very neat and crisp technical works from the crew. Anu Parthasarathy's costume designing for Priya Anand was brilliant and Priya was looking gorgeous indeed ! 'Mirattal' Siva's action choreography was functional. G.Durairaj's art direction was very good, as he has maintained high production value, with an obviously low budget. There are plenty of locations in the film such as tailor shop, classrooms, training room, offices and the final marathon sequence, were all well neatly brought out, with the necessary props. G.Durairaj is turning into a  favorite among the medium budget producers ! Kishore T.E's editing was flawless, as he keeps the film crisp and the flow of the screenplay, in check. R.Velraj's cinematography is dripping in quality, with apt camera positioning and framing. His camera movement is slick, the cool ambiance was a fine touch and his lighting for the dimly-lit sequences, were brilliant as usual ! Also, R.Velraj camera angles in tight spaces, worked out well for the necessary scenes.

Anirudh Ravichander's music, as mentioned earlier, was brilliant and peppy. The sort of attention-grabbing genre for the youth. "Nijamellam" has Sivakarthikeyan trying to woo Suza Kumar and has cool picturization from R.Velraj. The narrow alleys, wide beach section, crowded bus interiors, were all shot in montages. "Boomi Ennai" was pictured on Sivakarthikeyan falling for Priya Anand and is a another typical dance number with plenty of locations and crisp editing. "Velicha Poove" was the best shot song, in the postcard-worthy locations of Andaman and Nicobar. The camera movement and angles were very good and accentuated the lovely mood of the song, shot on Sivakarthikeyan and the Priya Anand, who was looking gorgeous to the tilt ! "Local Boys" was a super-fast number shot on a bar atmosphere, with plenty of props. The highlight of the song though was the cameo appearances by Dhanush, the classy Nayanthara and also by Anirudh himself ! The title track of "Ethir Neechal" was shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Nandita and has montages of the protagonist going through intensive training for the penultimate marathon episode. "Un Paarvaiyil" was a situational song shot on Sivakarthikeyan setting his sights on Priya Anand for the first time. Anirudh rocks in the background score department as well, with good touches of rock and melody elements. Being an ardent A.R Rahman fan, the background score does have some moments, which were obvious inspirations from A.R Rahman !

R.S Durai Senthilkumar's script, was very simple and straight-forwardly written. There director plays no hanky-panky in the screenplay. The love scenes were cute and amusing, the comedy portions were humorous, thanks to the witty one-liners and the emotional sequences were just nice and was not overtly melodramatic. The debutante director, has extracted exactly what was needed from his cast and his vision of his script, is full of clarity. A subtle message is woven into the screenplay, without being too preachy and obvious. The only downside of the film is that, it might not satisfy all section of audience, as its low in content. The film is not particularly racy, though its commendable that they have kept the length of the film, short. The transition from comedy to seriousness, from the first to second half, was rather formulaic, but the director can be excused, as he has come up with a neat entertainer.

'Ethir Neechal' - delivered nothing more and nothing less than promised. A clean entertainer !


Ratings: 2.75/5 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