PISAASU MOVIE REVIEW

After the critically-acclaimed dark and morbid ' Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum', director Mysskin is back and intriguingly, he has chose horror as his next genre. Being an atheist and joining hands with fellow hard-hitting director Bala as the producer, it definitely piques the interest of Tamizh audience. Produced under Bala's B Studios, can Mysskin pull of another brilliant piece of work ?

Naga, an assistant director of Bala, makes his debut as an actor and he excels in his role. The hard work he put in, for learning the violin-playing techniques, paid of well. Though his characterization reminds us of Prasanna's character from 'Anjaathey', Naga commands a good screen presence and hope he chooses proper scripts which can elevate his status in Tamizh industry. Debutante actress Prayaga Martin, looks angelic as herself, but unfortunately she's the purported "pisaasu" of the film and is seen only in her make-up. Kudos for the arduous and grueling task she had to go through. Hope this charming lass becomes a household name in Tamizh cinema. Radha Ravi's performance was an absolute screamer and the veteran literally stole the show, in those emotional scenes ! Hope we get to see more of such performances from this ace character artiste. Harish Uthaman, Kani Kusruti, Kalyani Natarajan, Arnold, John, Om Selva, Bala and etc make up for the rest of the cast and they ably supported the main leads.

On the technical front, 'Pisaasu' is definitely top-notch and Mysskin has extracted wonderful work from his technicians. The action scene choreographed by Mysskin himself with additional output from Tony Leung Siu-hung, was brilliantly staged and beautifully picturized. It's very realistic and raw, but relevant to the nature of the scene. Gopinath's editing was in tandem with Mysskin's style of story presentation. The film's pace and flow was very apt for Mysskin's style and the duration of the film was kept in check. The sharp cuts for the sequences involving the ghost, made the trick, in spooking or freaking us out at the most unexpected of times. Art direction is handled by Jayashree Lakshminarayanan, and the all important protagonist's apartment setup was aesthetically done. The plenty of space in the apartment complemented Mysskin's wide-angle type scenes. Cinematography by Ravi Roy was excellent, especially with all the wide-angle shots, low-angle shots, long shots, slow-motion technique, static camera and the usage of GoPro camera, were very creatively used and re-establishes Mysskin's own style of scene presentation. The lighting was very well taken care, and its important for such scripts, especially when you involve the horror element. The way some scenes were framed, asked for our undivided attention ! Equally impressive was Arrol Corelli's background score. The solo song, "Nadhi Pogum" sung by Uthra Unnikrishnan, was shot on the protagonist, who plays a pathos piece on his violin, and surrounded by beggars and physically-challenged. The subway shots were very well framed and the song catches our attention, with its sad mood. Arrol Corelli's background score is heavy in violin-based re-recording and it serves like an ode to 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja. The heavy tone delivers the right mood and apt depth for the emotional sequences, as well as for the hair-raising moments. Certainly a talent to look out for !

What makes Mysskin's 'Pisaasu' stand out from the regular horror films, is the innovative story-line and the emotional hook, which is the surprise package. Mysskin's compelling presentation, his visual sense, the gripping scene development, everything screams brand "MYSSKIN". The various camera angles associated with his films like the wide-angle, low-angle, static camera, frozen shots and in 'Pisaasu', the usage of GoPro camera, worked out tremendously well for the film. The element of colors as the point of focus, too was very obvious with 'Pisaasu'. Even comedy was very well handled in the film, and its great to watch how Mysskin intertwined humor and scare factor into a single scene, in his own style. The only potential low-point of the film, would be the weak emotional bonding in the "romance" portion. There is no affirmative scene which establishes the importance or reason for the love to be present in the first place. 'Pisaasu' proves that Mysskin has grown into or developed into an extraordinary filmmaker, with his own stamp of film-making style (scene visualization and thematic elements), if you compare it with his earlier films. This uncompromising way of scripting and presenting a film, deserves a big round of applause.

'Pisaasu' - Simple, yet terrifyingly scripted and executed.


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

LINGAA MOVIE REVIEW

Creating one of the biggest buzz of the year, 'Lingaa' was eagerly expected by each and every die-hard fans of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, because it has been 4 long years, since his last live action film, 'Endhiran'. Besides that, he is making a comeback under the baton of K.S Ravikumar, who gave two of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth's biggest blockbusters, 'Muthu' and 'Padayappa'. This combo has tried to resuscitate their pairing with 'Lingaa' after the 'Jaggubhai' and 'Rana' got dropped for various reasons. The name 'Superstar' Rajinikanth itself is enough to generate enormous buzz and expectations. Can 'Lingaa' satiate the hunger of his millions of fans ?

'Superstar' Rajinikanth is an eternal style icon and the man proves that age is no barrier for his dashing presence and energetic performance. He holds your entire attention when he is on the screen and the matinee idol looks great in his stylish costumes, although the make-up was a little tacky. The period portion featuring the star as Prince cum Collector cum civil engineer Raja Lingeshwaran is an absolute treat for the audience, because this is the 'Superstar' Rajinikanth everyone wishes to see. You get all the machismo factor and the occasional philosophical lines, which, catches your attention instantaneously, especially when he mouths it nonchalantly. Anushka Shetty's role has some bearing on the script, and nothing much more. She definitely has to take care of her weight, though ! Bollywood A-lister, Sonakshi Sinha makes her Tamizh debut and her pan-Indian looks, makes her fit for her role as a common woman of the 1930's era. Chinmayi's dubbing for her works out in her favor but her character has minimal weightage on the script. Santhanam, brings in his usual fantastic comic-timing and his dialogues are a scream in certain places. Jagapati Babu as the antagonist, was unfortunately wasted and his characterization was poorly written. The rest of the star cast includes veteran director K.Viswanath, Karunakaran, Balaji, Dev Gill, Brahmanandam, Radha Ravi, Vijayakumar, 'Nizhalgal' Ravi, R.Sundarrajan, Manobala, 'Crane' Manohar, Anu Mohan, Falk Columbo, William Orendorff and etc.

'Lingaa' is technically rich with superior production design and grandeur attached to it. Nikhaar Dhawan's costume designing was simple, yet stylish and colorful. 'Superstar' Rajinikanth's lightweight costumes, enabled him to showcase his usual speed, yet at the same very colorful and stylish. Sonakshi Sinha's looks were well maintained for the talkie portions and she looks graceful in the song, as well. Action choreography is handled by T.Ramesh and Lee Whittaker. The action scene involving 'Superstar' Rajinikanth as Raja Lingeshwaran, on top of the train was brilliantly choreographed and superbly staged. But what happened in the climax hot-air balloon scene is a complete shocker, and 'Superstar' Rajinikanth's larger-than-life quotient was simply overblown ! Production design by Sabu Cyril and the art direction by his assistant A.Amaran deserves great round of applause for their arduous task of creating a huge, dam-like set, which must look like in an  under-construction stage, in a record-breaking short time ! Its nearly equivalent to a Shankar-type set work, and the 1930's period looks was very aptly captured. The various set work for the songs, too deserves mention, although most of them reminds of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth's 'Sivaji - The Boss'. Samjith MHD's editing could have been much better, especially with the continuity and flow of the screenplay in the second half. The excessive duration of the film, is also a minus point from the editing perspective. VFX, supervised by P.C Sanath, is a big disappointment, especially in the climax portion, and it looks very tacky. To blame it on the production cost or on less availability of time, can only be decided by the makers !  The film wouldn't have looked this good on screen, if not for R.Rathnavelu's cinematography. His top-angle shots for the Linganamakki Dam, situated in the Shimoga district of Karnatae, were real treat to the eyes. The color correction for the period look, shot in Mysore and other districts of Karnataka, was top-notch. The usage of Red Dragon 6K camera and the Phantom Flex 4K for the train action sequence, deserves a round of applause. The lighting for the train-fight scene, is a must see !

Musical score by A.R Rahman, is hugely disappointing because none of his songs, stands out impressively and all of them are just temporary listens. The imperative S.P Balasubrahmanyam opening song, "Oh Nanba" was shot in dazzling urban locations of Macau and also in the luxurious Ferrari World, located in Abu Dhabi. 'Superstar' Rajinikanth was given space to dance, backed up by hundreds of foreign dancers. "Mona Gasolina" brings us the energetic Mano as the voice of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth and the energy was equally matched by our 'Superstar' Rajinikanth. The song shot on 'Superstar' Rajinikanth and Anushka had various dreamy sequences such as the pirates theme, cowboy theme and futuristic space-ship theme as backdrop and each sets were well designed by Sabu Cyril and A.Amaran. "En Mannavane" is the duet shot on 'Superstar' Rajinikanth and Sonakshi Sinha and it has the typical Bollywood color and flavor to it, be it the costumes of the lead artistes or even the colorful and beautiful set, put up for the song. The lighting for the song looks amazing, and brings out the richness and splendor of the set. "Indiane Vaa" is a situational song featuring 'Superstar' Rajinikanth and most of the cast, depicting the construction of the dam, shot near the Jog Falls and the Linganamakki Dam, looks majestic and involves most of the star cast. The follow-up pathos song, "Unmai Orunaal" has montages of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth facing a crisis and appears immediately after the previous song. A.R Rahman's background score is impressive only in a few places and it proves that the ace musician needs ample of time, to deliver quality music.

The story of 'Lingaa' was written by Ponkumaran and is loosely based on Colonel John Pennycuick CSI, a British Army engineer and civil servant, who undertook the construction of Mullaiperiyar Dam. K.S Ravikumar takes charge of the screenplay, dialogues and direction. Apart from the philosophical dialogues uttered by the senior 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, K.S Ravikumar fails in the other two components. The screenplay has poor flow and continuity and has no spunk or zing in it. 'Muthu' and 'Padayappa' worked tremendously well, due to the right placing of comedy, action and emotional scenes, but more importantly it had strong emotional thread and a powerful antagonist, respectively. But none of them is present in 'Lingaa' and the film fails to rise above its flaws, even with the presence of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth. The writing looks very much 1980's material and is no-way in tune with current trend. The whole script lacked proper writing and its astonishing to note that K.S Ravikumar had a team of screenplay & script-writers to fine tune this script ! What were the makers thinking when they came out with that ridiculous action scene in the climax, can only be explained by the makers themselves. Its perplexing to note that K.S Ravikumar can take the audience for granted, especially when the film involves 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, who can easily get the best of artistes and technicians for his films. Why not come out with a decent script and a racy screenplay, and execute it properly ? 

'Lingaa' - 'Superstar' Rajinikanth to the rescue !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

AADAMA JAICHOMADA MOVIE REVIEW

The title 'Aadama Jaichomada' is inspiration of the hit-song from the album, 'Mankatha'. Ironically, the film's theme is revolved around the match fixing scam associated with the highly successful Indian Premier League cricket tournament. Though the film's content might suggest something of a B/C Grade film, but the content could surprise you and might be of good entertainment value for your time and money, spent. With an eclectic mix of upcoming artistes, can Badri pull it off, after the horrendous remake of 'Thillu Mullu' ?

The film has no particular lead protagonist nor antagonist and its nice to see that all main characters have nearly equal amount of space and importance to the script. Leading the pack of artistes is Karunakaran, who is on the roll with another decent and spot on performance. Karunakaran impresses us with his unique dialogue delivery and facial expressions. His comic timing is just near perfect and pulls off most of the jokes, effortlessly. However, he should improve his romance and dancing portions, if he is to pursue lead roles in the future. Bobby Simhaa, has a big makeover from the 'Jigarthanda' looks and plays the role of a cop, for the first time. The pretentious, over-ambitious and unintelligent cop role suits him to a T, He has the ample scenes to showcase his acting histrionics and doesn't let us down. Heroine Vijayalakshmi has done an adequate job and gets her diction and dialogues right. The other artistes such as Balaji Venugopal, K.S Ravikumar, Radha Ravi, Naren, Chetan, Gautham, Chitra Letchumanan, Abhishek and etc have delivered wacky performances in a very nonchalant way, especially with K.S Ravikumar and Naren. Its a jolly-good casting, indeed !

Action choreography is handled by Hari Dinesh, and since the film is purely a comedy, the action sequences are not meant to be taken serious too. The actions are over-the-top, but it is meant to be like that, in order to maintain the comical element of the screenplay. The usage of ropes in such obvious manner, could have been avoided though. Art director Gururaj's work lends a big helping hand for the film's production quality. Almost many sequences in the film have a set based scenario or plenty of props. Be it the interiors of the homes, the songs, police station set, control room and etc, every avenue is properly done and the set properties matched the ambiance very well. Kudos to Gururaj ! K.J Venkatramanan's editing is slick and he keeps the duration of the film short and has done managed the cuts for the wild-goose chase scenes, quite well. A little bit of pace in the first half, would have done more good for the film. Dwarakanath's cinematography suits the film's script and budget very well. His works for the chasing scenes are noteworthy and the lighting sense in some scenes, brought out the right effect, which added more credence to the comedy quotient of the script. 

Sean Roldan's music works fine for the film and some of the songs are appealing even if you are to listen to it as standalone soundtracks. "Thanniyile" is montage song shot on Karunakaran and Vijayalakshmi. There are plenty of funny touches here and there's such as the dancing angels ala Bharathiraja-style. The posh bathroom set for this song deserves mention ! "Odura Nari" is a situational song and is shot on Karunakaran who is chased by Naren and his motley crew of henchmen. "Naalellam" is a folk dance number, shot on Karunakaran and Vijayalakshmi, with colorful set work, based on an Rajasthani theme. "One Day" is another situation song, shot in a nightclub/pub scene, and has good lighting effects, with the additional eye-candy in the form of an sexy Caucasian dancer. The editing for the song complements the way the song was shot. "Nalla Kettuko" appears during the end-credits and features all the main leads in an 70's retro style look, with brightly colored simple set work and some patch ups of computer graphics. Sean Roldan's background score is unique and this young composer is very fast making progress and stamping his own mark but he should be cautious in not repeating his works.

Story and screenplay, developed by the director Badri, alongside with T.Senthilkumaran has touches of dark humor or black comedy. The film's thematic contents are definitely not children-friendly but the gags are indeed humorous. Some real life issues and moments are parodied unabashedly and what helps the film is the quirky mix of idiosyncratic characters and their own bizarre scenarios or situations. Be it the foolish theater owner who produces a film deemed failure, a heroine who has some sort of a yearning for a personal bathroom, a police officer who is seen as a complete joker and a philandering but helpful bookie and etc, these sort of standalone weird characters, have their lives intertwined somehow, ensuring the sparks doesn't fail to fly. Helping Badri's screenplay is the colloquially funny dialogues, written by actor Shiva. The dialogues by Shiva keeps the film lively and can be considered the backbone of the script. What hampers the film though, are the needless songs, especially the duets ! 'The film is a breezy entertainer and a perfect light-hearted black comedy.

'Aadama Jaichomada' - An effortless winner, indeed !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

TENALIRAMAN MOVIE REVIEW

Ace comedian, 'Vaigai Puyal' Vadivelu is back to the silver screen after laying low for quite sometime. The ace veteran has been sorely missed, especially for his gibberish dialogues and slapstick comedies, which are quite popular on private comedy channels. AGS Entertainment has produced 'Tenaliraman', which is directed by Yuvaraj Dhayalan, who previously did the Sadagoppan Ramesh starrer, 'Potta Potti'. Is this a worthwhile project for a Vadivelu comeback ?

The whole film is about Vadivelu and he has donned double-roles in his comeback. He delivers as usual, and the actor has still not lost his terrific sense of timing, when it comes to dialogue deliveries, voice modulation and also with his expressions. As the legendary titular folk hero, the court-jester Tenaliraman, Vadivelu keeps a very measured dialogue delivery sense, a firm body language and cool expressions. Whereas, as the supposedly purported Krishnadevaraya, Vadivelu adapts a more loose body language and brings out his usual antics, especially in the late second half. Though some portions remind us of his 'Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi', Vadivelu was still able to bring a marked difference to his character in this film. As for the female lead, Meenakshi Dixit did what she could afford to do, and the statuesque damsel, was okay and had apt dubbing provided by Deepa Venkat. There's, literally an army of cinema artistes involved in this film, playing minor character roles such as, Radha Ravi, G.M Kumar, Manobala, Shanmugaraj, Bala Singh, Joe Malloori, Krishnamoorthy, Namo Narayana, Shakthivel, Chella Durai, Santhana Barathi, Rajesh, Bose Venkat, 'Besant' Ravi, Mansoor Ali Khan, Madhumitha, Devadarshini, King Kong and etc and they were adequate with their performances. 

Technically, the film has some superior works, if you are to consider this as a small budget film. VFX done by White Lottus Mediaaworks Pvt Ltd, was pretty good especially with the long-shots of the kingdom's palace setting and also with the snowy landscapes, portraying China. The film has plenty of CGI-generated shots and the works are exemplary. Make-up by T.V Nehru and costume designing by R.Murugan was very appropriate and colorful, and brought out the colorful nature of the characters involved, especially those which are associated with the monarchical background. Its not an overstatement to say that, M.Prabakaran is the biggest asset to the film crew, when it comes to the technical side. The entire film has been shot in elaborate sets, ranging from palace durbars and courts, private dining and chambers of the royals, the city streets, the Chinese element filled setup, the temple setting, rural villages and many more. Each set was tastefully done on a limited budget, for which M.Prabakaran deserves applause. Raja Mohammed's editing was efficient, with no abrupt cuts, but the second half could have been trimmed, especially with some redundant sequences, which does not add any valuable moments to the film. Ramnath Shetty handles the cinematography department, and his camera movements and angles, made good use of the artificial sets, erected for the film. He manages to bring out the classic feel and look to the film, especially with the palace sequences. 

D.Imman, who is currently on his best phase of his musical career, surprisingly disappoints us with below average songs. "Hey Vaayaadi" is the first song featuring Vadivelu and Meenakshi Dixit, at loggerheads with a dance number. The song was shot on an artificial set, resembling a street setup, filled with small stalls. "Aan Azhagu" is a female solo-song, also shot on the lead pair, with the heroine in an inebriated mood, falling for he Tenaliraman. The song was shot on lavishly colored palace sets, resembling glamorous private chambers, and Meenakshi Dixit pleases us with her dance movements. "Rampaapa" was shot on both characters played by Vadivelu and comes at a crucial episode of Tenaliraman making his return to the kingdom. The song had plenty of extras as dancers and was shot in a palace court-like setup. "Nenje Nenje" is a mild pathos song, in late second half, which had the King Vadivelu in disguise as a commoner, which used the night effect shots. D.Imman makes up for his disappointment, with some good background score, which gives resembles a retro-like feel. Some of the scores, especially for the serious sequences, stand out amongst all.

Yuvaraj Dhayalan, should be credited for bringing back Vadivelu to the screens. What's strikingly apparent in the film's script is the creative inputs of the director. Taking a legendary folk hero's short stories and weaving them together with contemporary social issues and causes, is a praiseworthy attempt. The issue which we get to notice in the film is the matter of foreign direct investments and the hazards it can cause to locals, in spite of the promises made by the foreign affiliates. Yuvaraj does highlight the wrongdoings of present politicians and makes a good amount of satire out of them, through his characters. Aided by the articulate yet simple dialogues of veteran writer Aroor Das, the director was able to present his take on those social issues. But the director gets a little serious in the second half, and the script lightly nods into a melodramatic and sober path and this is where the trouble starts. This film is suppose to be a great comeback for Vadivelu. Bearing him in mind, there's only one thing we are bound to expect, and that's some great and funny comedic antics from him. We don't get to see any outrageous funny moments, the quintessential buffoonery of Vadivelu, nor any side-splitting 'punch dialogues'. So, for those who were seeking atypical Vadivelu comedy, this film is a disappointment. The second half has quite a number of redundant sequences which drags the film and there's not enough exciting or wacky elements to keep us engaged.

'Tenaliraman' - We still miss the full-form wisecracking Vadivelu, indeed !

Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

SINGAM II MOVIE REVIEW

Sequels are a pretty pain-in-the-ass for most director, as there will be the omnipresent expectations and heavy pressure, due to the success of the first installment. What more when it has one of the most important artiste of the film industry as its protagonist. Director Hari has taken the daring plunge in coming up with a sequel to his 2010 blockbuster, 'Singam' starring the smashing Suriya in the titular role. The first installment did end up with a promise of a sequel, and finally Hari has indeed delivered one. Will this be a springboard for Suriya to regain his place in the blockbuster arena after two under-performed films in '7am Arivu' and 'Maattrraan' ?

With the majestic and awe-inspiring larger-than-life persona and screen presence, Suriya shoulders the weight of the entire script on his well-built shoulders. His passion and dedication in living the role of Duraisingam, is evident with his strong and powerful emotions, dialogue delivery and expressions, especially with his eyes ! The actor handled the pressure with relative ease and he performs even meaner and power-packed. His cinematic role as a police officer, brings great stature and respect to the khaki uniform he donned. A raw and powerful, inspiration perhaps ! Suriya has proved big time, that he is capable of handling commercial, 'masala' protagonist roles with conviction and the necessary oomph factor. Way to go, Suriya ! There is a long, long list of ensemble cast, atypical of Hari's films. International artiste, Danny Sapani plays the main antagonist role and aided by veteran Rahman and Mukesh Rishi. Danny's role was projected off well initially, but peters out towards the end. Rahman and Mukesh, play the quintessential commercial cinema villains, to 'perfection' ! Anushka and Hansika Motwani charms in their respective sequences, though the latter has a more meatier role here. Vivek, who rocked as 'Erimalai' in the preceding film, has a limited screen timing, but still delivers the goods. The current 'Comedy Superstar' Santhanam, never fails to rock and he continues his fine form here as well with some side-splitting comedy portions, especially when he does a Suriya and Kamal Haasan in the film ! Radha Ravi, Nassar, Rajendran, Mansoor Ali Khan, Manorama, Vijayakumar and etc, etc, etc, performed their roles to a T, in limited and inconsequential roles.

Sai and Perumal Selvam's costume designing was apt for a commercial pot-boiler like this, especially for the lead pair in the songs, and for the rest of the character artistes, as well. 'Rocky' Rajesh and Anal Arasu's stunt choreography was well suited for such loud and larger-than-life films, which is a little low in terms of logic and common sense. Suriya performs with great energy and vigor, which actually helps us to overlook the flaws of the choreography. Editing by V.T Vijayan and T.S Jay, was efficient and neat, though the second half was a little prolonged, except for the abrupt ending ! K.Kathir has done a brilliant work with his production design. Most the sets looked perfect, especially the small town jails and lock-ups, interiors of the character's homes or the colorful but simple sets for the song sequences. Job, well done ! Priyan has tried some roving camera tricks here and his camera doesn't seem to rest at all ! However,there are no fantastic or outstanding visuals from him and his works were mostly functional, except for some action sequences.

Devi Sri Prasad, who has been retained for the sequel, has performed badly with his scores and almost all the songs are below average, for current standards. "Vaale Vaale" is the opening song, shot in a boat and around the port of Tuticorin, with a special appearance from a rather flabby-looking Anjali. The song also has some minor shots, featuring the vigilante work of the protagonist. "Puriyavillai" is a montage song for Hansika Motwani, who develops a crush for the masculine protagonist. "Singam Dance" is a peppy club song, shot on Suriya and Anushka and has colorful blue-themed sets by Kathir and good lighting from the cinematographer. "Kannukkulle" also follows the same style, with a more simpler sets. "Achamillai" and "Vidhai Pole" are situational songs, praising the histrionics of the protagonist, shot in montages. The background score is unimpressive, with loud and familiar sounds most of the time !

Director Hari's successful films, have one thing in common. A racy screenplay. From the word go, Hari did not stop for a single moment, and has scripted a screenplay which is full of power-packed action sequences, which were very convincingly played out by Suriya. What differs between 'Singam' and this sequel, is the lower importance given to the other commercial elements of a 'masala' film. Sentiments, romance, and comedy portions were evenly proportioned in the first half, but the sequel highlighted more and more of the brain and brawn of Duraisingam, rather than the other elements in/surrounding him. The antagonists roles, especially of Danny's was ill-written and lacks the necessary counter-effect to the heroics of the hero. Though the duration of the film, especially the second half is a little draggy, Hari keeps his scenes, tight and short, which gives us the impression of a speedy story telling. Some continuity factors were not properly ironed out, and raises a few questions pertaining to logic. The ending was handled in a very abrupt and rushed manner, it spoils the good-ride one was enjoying all the while !

'Singam II' - A near-perfect 'masala' concoction. A thoroughly enjoyable film, but strictly for commercial enthusiasts. A powerful and kingly show from Suriya !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

SATTAM ORU IRUTTARAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Sattam Oru Iruttarai' finds itself a new coat of paint, through a remake by the grand niece of the original's director. Sneha Britto, a 19-year old grand niece of S.A Chandrasekhar and niece of 'Ilaiyathalapathy' Vijay remakes the cult hit, which was released some 3 decades back. Backed by her parents as the producers and her grandfather as the creative head, Sneha Britto, makes some changes to the script for the suitability towards the current context, factor.

Thaman Kumar, a relative newcomer, replaces the Vijayakanth, and sadly, he is not match for the latter. Thaman is no where near the fiery and spirited performance of Vijayakanth in the original, which cemented his place among Tamizh cinema elite and elevated the film to a cult status. Thaman struggles in nearly every department and he has a hell lot to do, if he wants to stick to acting and surviving in this cut-throat cine-field. Reemma Sen, has a substantial character to play, but there's nothing special to discuss about the performance. It looks like, she felt uninterested half-way through acting in the film. Piaa Bajpai and Bindhu Madhavi has nothing much to offer, other than to be the eye-candies of the film. The rest of the cast such as Radha Ravi, Suresh, Sampath Ram, Krishnamoorthy, 'Erode' Mahesh, 'Tiger Garden' Thanga Durai, Adams and etc has even less substantial roles, and it puzzles the audience, especially on the necessity for a large number of unimportant characters. S.A Chandrasekhar, tries to impress in his late cameo, though.

The technical department's contribution to the film, was just functional. Art direction by A.Vanaraj, was okay, especially with the interiors of the sets, such as houses and police stations. M.R Rejeesh's editing was sloppy, especially in the first half, which had bumpy narration. 'Billa' Jagan's stunt choreography was adequate, especially the climax fight sequence. C.J Rajkumar's cinematography work was passable, with good choices of techniques but nothing noteworthy. Vijay Antony's music was poor and not catchy at all, which is a big disappointment for the audience, especially when the movie is faring badly. "Nimirndhi Nil" was shot with Thaman and Bindhu, performing a stage act, along with dancers on a laser-lit setting. "Adam Eval", also shot on the same pair, was picturized in Bangkok, with those scenic Buddhist monasteries, beaches and parks. "Thirumba Thirumba" and "Uyirin Uyire", both were shot on Thanam and Piaa this time, and had montages sequences, showing the love moments of the couple, going around Hong Kong. The final track, "Poochandi" is a typical folk song, with heavy beats and features the all there lead artistes, Thaman, Piaa and Bindhu dancing along with the back-up dancers in the park, with blandly-colored but skimpy costumes for the heroines. The background score too was too out-dated and boring. Not enough motivation, Vijay ?

The handling of the script was very amateurish. Though S.A Chandrasekhar puts in his effort as the creative head, it was not enough to save this film. Sadly, the original is still miles ahead better in terms of cinematic value !! There's no logic in the screenplay, the direction is poor, the acting is amateurish, the characterizations were awful, and sadly, there's no narration at all. The only scene, which makes us to take a look, is the end, where S.A Chandrasekhar, points out his opinion on the current state of law and order in India. The handling of the police episodes, is a disgrace to the actual officers, where police where made to look like idiots ! The original had the melodrama as its USP, together with good music and performance, but here its all about the glossiness and no conviction from the director. R.Ruban's dialogues too were, not up to the mark, as well.

Its not wrong to be ambitious, but Sneha Britto should not plunge into direction at the expense of her parents' financial support, and the backing of her successful grand father and uncle, in the cinema industry. It will be better for her to learn the nuances of direction first, before deciding to direct a film. Sorry my lady, though truths hurt, a truth is still a truth ! 'Sattam Oru Iruttarai' is poor. Very poor !!


Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VAANAM MOVIE REVIEW

Vaanam, kicked off the actual multi-starers spree in Tamizh cinema. Expectations were big since it involved talented artistes coming together in one film and also for the script as this film is the remake of the critically acclaimed Telugu film Vedam, directed by the same director Krish. Besides that this movie has another added expectations thanks to the controversy of Simbhu walking out of Ko and proceeded to do this film and everyone wanted to know whether Simbhu made the right choice or not. This film follows the multi-story narration where 5 separate tracks converge into one situation in the climax. This sort of narration mode is very popular in the international scene where successful films like Babel and Crash has proved it. In Indian cinema Mani Ratnam used it in Aayitha Ezhuthu/Yuva and even in a recent Malayalam film Traffic.

Each track has it's own story, characters and issues involved. First up is Bharath as the aspiring rock star. It's refreshing to see Bharath in a good role but as per storyline we don't get to see him really living the role of a rock song artist. His stunt scenes in the highway and the risks he has taken to execute it such as running down from the hill and breaking the glass panel of an oncoming car should be applauded. He was presented in a clean and youthful look but his costumes could have been better to be in tune of a rock-song artiste. Vega complemented him well as his partner and her looks and costumes were near perfect.

Prakash Raj as a devout Muslim was too good. The veteran has once again proved why he is a sought after character artiste. His expressions and voice modulation when showing his anger and getting hit by the shocking reality was really brilliant especially in the scene where he gets slapped by Ravi Prakash. Sonia Aggarwal had a neat performance although her role had very less scope in the film. Ravi Prakash as a racist policeman who in the end realises his mistakes, delivered a good performance as well. Jayaprakash had a very small but powerful role and he was in his best elements.

Saranya Ponvannan as the helpless mother who has to rescue her son from the clutches of loan-shark, was brilliant as usual. Her expressions, voice modulation, body language, everything was very natural and she has proved once again that she's an actress of substance. The old actor who played her father-in-law character was also very natural and simple.

Anushka did a role which finally justified her glamour. As Saroja, the commercial sex worker she has excelled in a once in lifetime role and her body language was very apt for that role. As a girl with big aspirations, her best scene was her encounters with Radha Ravi in the police station and it was good to see her role not being depicted in a vulgar manner. Veteran Radha Ravi appeared for one scene but yet stamped his mark with his voice modulations being the highlight. The eunuch character was very well portrayed and Brahmanandam's cameo was an added attraction to the movie.

Silambarasan, has delivered a knock out performance as Cable Raja and it's good to see him following up a fantastic performance after Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. If analyzed throughout the movie, the last 45 minutes was his best and Silambarasan was simply superb by handling the emotional scenes very sensitively and with high level of maturity. It takes a big effort for anyone to act out those scenes and he has done it really well. The only complaints one would say is the unnecessary heroic build up given to him, be it in the title credits or even in his introduction scene. Santhanam and Ganesh were perfect complements to Silambarasan and the trio rocked in the comic department with fantastic timing and it was a relief Santhanam had his own usual punches but sans any vulgarity, this time and Ganesh was at his best as well. Jasmine, the newcomer was apt for the rich girl role and it's good to hear her dub in her own voice.

Neerav Shah and Gnanasekharan did a fine job with the cinematography department and the angles of the camera was good but the best part of it is the lighting and mood/tone selected for each separate story tracks which really brought out the feel of the film. Some of the best shots are the salt field in Tuticorin and the rain scenes involving Prakash Raj. Rembon, the art director created apt sets for the film be it the whorehouse or the streets created for the final dance sequence. Yuvan Shankar Raja's music was a little disappointing as Vaanam cant be said as one of his best tracks although the Yevandi Unnai Pethan song had fantastic sound engineering work with well shot video song and Na Muthukumar's lyrics for the title track was brilliant though songs were unnecessary speed breakers of the film. Yuvan made up for the disappointing album with an excellent background score. The film's biggest asset is the dialogue write Gnanagiri who wrote simple, straightforward and thought provoking dialogues. Kudos to him for coming up with such gems and that too for the important scenes of the film. Krish has penned a neat story with strong messages but the script had space for improvements especially for the first half but still he should be appreciated for not coming up with a nonsensical masala film.

Vaanam manages to get the recognition as a good film though it had room for improvements and the director should have stuck to his original Telugu film, when it comes to depicting the ending of 2 major characters of the film. Overall, a decent and different film for the average viewers.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL