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

NAAN MOVIE REVIEW

Vijay Antony made everyone sit up and notice, literally, when the announcement came that he is going to produce a film. But it was a bigger surprise, when he decided to cast himself as the protagonist. Many asked and wondered, why the necessity for him to plunge into production and acting when he is doing successful as a music director. Well, Vijay Antony is a brave man and a little sensible one, when he decided to collaborate with his ex-college mate Sankar, now known as Jeeva Sankar, a former associate of late cinematographer Jeeva. When friends come together, a good outcome is expected, especially when the friends are talented. So, does 'Naan' delivered the promises it made, of being a good film with interesting twists, during the promotions?

The cast is relatively small and simple. Vijay Antony takes the protagonist role, which suits him to T. But the problem is, he needs to improve drastically if he wants to continue acting. He has done an average job, but there was not much variations in expressions and dialogue delivery and most of the time, his performance was very monotonous. There are scenes which gives him good scope to perform, which Vijay Antony fails to capitalize. His look and physique, do match the character etched out, by the director, but you need solid performance, if you want to make a good film and that too, a thriller. Sidharth Venugopal, makes a comeback in this film, after his outing in 'Aanandha Thaandavam'. He is uber cool and composed with his performance. He too, suits the character very well and his presence makes the film to take a little colorful and cheery look. Rupa Manjari takes the best role among the girls in the film. She looks good, fresh and performs smoothly, especially with her dialogue delivery. Anuya Bhagvath and Vibha Natarajan, has nothing much to do, rather than appear in questionable roles. Vijay Victor, Krishnamurthy and others fills up the other characters in the film.

The film carries simple and neat technical work. Editing by Suriya was very neat, especially with the montage sequences in the songs. Vithiesh, the art director has minimal work, but excels in it. The interiors of the house setting is an example, be it the posh bungalow house or even a small cramped, middle-class house. Rajasekar's stunts were very natural, which involves struggles and pushing/shoving. Kudos to him ! Sound designing by R.Janarthanan and Sakthivel should be appreciated as well, especially for the climax scene. Jeeva Sankar takes care of the cinematography, and one look at some scenes, and you are instantly reminded of Jeeva. With bluish color palette and soft-lighting, the film carries a dark and subtle look throughout and nothing was too colorful or blaring, in nature. His well composed camera movements, needs to be appreciated too. Vijay Antony takes care of the music, and as usual, he has delivered some peppy numbers. The pick of the lot will definitely be "Makayala". The club number was well shot and edited with good dance movements by Shobi. The lighting and color tone, created the perfect ambiance for the song. The other three songs, "Ulaginil Miga", "Thappellam", "Dhinam Dhinam" are all montage sequences. The first being shot in juvenile home, showcasing the upbringing of the protagonist. The second song involves about the impersonation moves made by the protagonist and the final song involves about the predicaments of a few characters. His background score too, is pretty good, and follows the mood and flow of the script.

Jeeva Sankar has come up with an interesting and a good idea of an intelligent thriller script, which has some shades of popular Hollywood films such as, 'The Talented Mr.Ripley' and 'Taking Lives'. The story is interesting and suspense factor was really taken care of. Some intelligence is evident in the screenplay by Jeeva Sankar but the biggest drawback, is the loopholes left out unplugged and few questions which goes unanswered, leaving the audience with the question of, "Is there a sequel to this ?", hanging in the balance. As some intelligence is seen in the screenplay, so does some flaws and glitches in the narration. Also, the director has taken the liberty of finishing of few questions, abruptly without letting the script to end organically. A sequel is possible and within the same setting, but it is upon the directors' discretion to come up with one. Along with Neelan K. Sekar, Jeeva Sankar has come up with simple and crisp dialogues, which suits such thriller films.

'Naan' is a bold attempt by Vijay Antony and deserves a pat for backing a good project. But this could have been a much better affair if Vijay Antony had gone for some acting classes before and if Jeeva Sankar has had polished the script, by closing all the holes in it. 'Naan' - not so great, but not so bad, either.


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL