Two years after the huge blockbuster success of 'Thuppakki', 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is back once again with A.R Murugadoss in another 'deadly' titled film. 'Kaththi' has been making all the right and wrong noises, thanks to the hype around the subject, Anirudh's "Selfie Pulla" and also for the alleged involvement of the Sri Lankan government with the producing company, Lyca Productions (and co-produced by Ayngaran International). After a tense and critical stage of protests and political interventions, 'Kaththi' hits the theaters for the festive season. Can this duo strike another bull's-eye ?
'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's dabbling with double role subjects have not gone down well previously, but with 'Kaththi', he is fantastic as both Kathiresan alias Kaththi and Jeevanandam. The former holds the most amount of screen timing and 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay plays to the gallery with his swashbuckling body language and a charismatic screen presence. This character does all the action, comedy, dance and its an out-and-out "mass" 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay show for his die-hard fans ! Whereas, as Jeevanandam 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay brings out the serious performer in him, in a character which is docile, meek, naive yet resilient and apathetic. Its a throwback to his 'Kannukul Nilavu', 'Thulladha Manamum Thullum' & 'Nilaave Vaa' days. Its refreshing to see him in this sort of a role devoid all his regular antics and hope he does more in the future ! Samantha Ruth Prabhu is there only as an eye-candy and she did what can be expected out of her poorly written role, by being cute and pretty and show those emoticon-style expressions. Popular Bollywood artiste, Neil Nitin Mukesh dons the main antagonist and though his demeanor and look was suave and stylish, the character lacks intensity and never really rile us up, as how a terrifying villain should. But kudos to Neil Nitin Mukesh for dubbing in his own voice and getting the lip-sync almost perfect, in an language totally alien to him ! Sathish plays 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's side-kick and provides one or two laughs. Tota Roy Chowdhury, R.Ravi, Rupesh Gupta, writer Veera Santhanam, Sreerag Nambiar, Seetha and others fill up the rest of the cast, with A.R Murugadoss himself appearing in an cameo appearance.
'Kaththi' has a lavish budget and technically the film looks rich and vibrant with various shades of color tones and landscapes. Costume designing by Deepali Noor and S.Rajendran was very apt, and the lead pair looked lovely in the film and songs, with 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay being very casual and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, in some gorgeous outfits. Veteran Sreekar Prasad takes care of the editing department, and his work complements the narrative style adopted by A.R Murugadoss. The action sequences were brilliantly presented and brings out the pumping feel needed for those sequences to stand out. Editing was 'Kaththi' indeed ! The film's lavish budget was well spent on the art department and art director 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja has done a fabulous job. The film has plenty of set works, such as a jail set, godown set, old folks home, an entire dried up village set, and plenty of set properties for real locations such as the Chennai airport sequence, and all of them looked very realistic and fitting for the script. A very neatly designed and executed film ! Action choreographer 'Anl' Arasu's work was brilliant in this film, and it could be one of his best works, till date. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's body language and mannerisms fitted the choreography perfectly and his screen presence upped the ante. The action scene involving the coins, was very unique, cheeky, creative yet powerful and explosive. Don't miss it ! The film attained a great look thanks to George C.William's eye-catching cinematography work. He seems to share a great chemistry and wavelength with A.R Murugadoss and its pretty obvious for us to see, The camera movements, angles and lighting techniques were top-notch works and some of the calculated works, paid off big time when it added more zing and vibrant energy to the scenes.
Teenage sensation Anirudh Ravichander is on fire and his songs were very catchy and peppy, alas the positioning of the songs in the film, was just awful ! "Pakkam Vanthu" was shot on 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay in the swanky new portions of Chennai International Airport and also at its runway. The additional set properties by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja added more authentic look for the song, which also had plenty of group dancers, adorning airport/flight themed costumes. "Aathi" has fantastic VFX visuals from Prasad EFX and the various color tones used, added more glossy factor to the song. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay and Samantha Ruth Prabhu's costumes matched the song's setting, so does the simple props by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja and some light-hearted montages were interspersed with the original visuals. The chart-buster, "Selfie Pulla" was shot on the lead pair, in a simple set work, replicating a western city square. The usage of psychedelic colors such as blue, pink and purple shades for the lighting and tone, gives a radiant but stylish look for the song ala Bollywood style. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay dances like a dream and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, tries her best to match him, alongside the group dancers. "Nee Yaar" sung by the legendary K.J Yesudass, is used as a situational bit-song, during the end of the film. "Kaththi Theme - The Sword of Enemy" and "Bad Eyes" theme tracks are used throughout the film, at the appropriate places and the Anirudh Ravichander's background adds more strength to the film's narration and pushes the impact of the sequences by several notches higher. 'Kaththi' is definitely, a feather in the cap for Anirudh Ravichander !
A.R Murugadoss continues the 'Thuppakki' feel and mood with 'Kaththi' as well, but there's plenty of 'Ramana' coating in it. This time, A.R Murugadoss has opted for a more serious social issue and he presents to us the domino/cascading effect of capitalist economy and corporatism in the current Indian scenario. He takes a lashing swipe at the bigwigs of corporate Indian conglomerates and how they capitalize and exploit the pitiable and downtrodden state of an average Indian, especially with the farmers. The film has some fiery, sucker punch dialogues, which was mouthed passionately and aggressively by 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay, especially in the pre-climax sequence. Also, A.R Murugadoss hits at the news-hungry, 'salivating' media people, who only cares about target rating points for their respective channels and more circulation for the print media. Though all these are pertinent issues which should be discussed, the message does get quite preachy as the film progress. Nevertheless, A.R Murugadoss has tried to balance it with some high-octane "masala" elements such as cleverly written scenes and impactful action scenes. But the love track deserves zero-rating, for its ill-conceived scenes and redundant dialogues. But 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's fans might not complain much for their star's exceptional comic timing and expressions. There are some loopholes in the storyline, some logical lapse in the script, and exaggeration of the emotional quotient, but these are ought to be overlooked, if you are to enjoy a great "masala" action film. The staging of some sequences fell flat, which could have been dealt better and the transition of 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's characters should have been smoother and organic, with a proper delineation of both characters he portrayed. But whatever it is, A.R Murugadoss has definitely struck a chord with the audience once again, and 'Kaththi' seems to be another glowing addition to his CV.
'Kaththi' - Sharply 'Kaththi', indeed !
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Thirrupathi Brothers has finally released their biggie of the season, and its none other than the very, very highly anticipated Suriya-N.Lingusamy project, 'Anjaan' ! Both Suriya and N.Lingusamy is back after personal highs with the 'Singam II's success for the former, whereas the latter enjoyed his run of success in distributing some medium-budget films. In collaborating with UTV Motion Pictures, which released it in record number of cinemas, the project has created a huge anticipation among fans of Suriya across the globe. Can they hit the bull's eye and rake in the moolah ?
For the powerhouse performer in Suriya, 'Anjaan' seems to be a pedestrian affair for his caliber. The stylish makeover, makes him look fantabulous on screen, and he has good screen presence, throughout the film. He carries the entire film on his shoulders and its an out-and-out Suriya flick, indeed. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is at her most glamorous avatar thus far in Tamizh cinema and that's about it. Nothing more, nothing less for a quintessential Tamizh cinema heroine ! The buff and manly Vidyut Jamwal has a role of equal importance as with Suriya's but the dubbing and light-hearted manner of his character leaves no impact on screen. But still kudos to this guy, for pulling off his elaborate stunt sequence all by himself ! The most unforgivable inclusion in the casting is of Manoj Bajpai's, as the antagonist. Its a sheer waste of talent for casting him in this poorly-written role, which is a disgrace to the brilliant performer's acting histrionics ! Soori and Brahmanandam (obviously as an attraction for the Telugu folks !) are there for the unwanted comedy portions and the others in the cast were Dalip Tahil, Murali Sharma, Asif Basra, Joe Malloori, Chetan Hansraj, Manobala, Sanjana Singh and etc and most of them looked so out of place, due to the bad lip-syncing and dubbing !
Deepali Noor, one of the most sought after costume designer of the industry, takes care of the costume designing in 'Anjaan'. Her warm and dark colored attires for Suriya, gives him a smashing makeover and it suits this specific hair/facial hair style, used for this film. Samantha looked gorgeous, be it in the conservative attires or even the skimpy clothes, worn for the songs. Better handling and focus could be given for Vidyut Jamwal, whom lacked style and Manoj, who looked unnecessarily too colorful. The action choreography is handled by Silva and his work needs special mention. The action blocks looked fantastic, yet powerful and realistic at the same time. Suriya's aptitude in pulling of such action blocks, adds more zing to the sequences and Vidyut Jamwal too has his own action block, in the second half. Excellent work by Silva ! Hot-shot editor, Anthony's cuts were brilliant as usual, and there's a very good smooth transition between each shots, but he should have definitely trimmed a bulk of unwanted scenes, due to the excessive running time of nearly 3 hours ! Rajeevan handles the art department and his work have the film a rich and glossy look, especially with the bar and hotel sequences and the set properties for the song sequences. Ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan ASC, ISC rocks with the Red Dragon Camera, fitted with 'Angenieux Lens'. His cinematography work and the bright yellow and warm color ambiance, adds more sheen and glossiness to the film. His angle placements, framing and camera movements for the action sequences, are the real highlights of the film, especially for the pre-interval stunt scene !
Yuvan Shankar Raja has delivered chart-busters, with his previous N.Lingusamy collaborations. But with 'Anjaan' the songs are just pretty passable and sounds ordinary, without the touch of magic and charm in them. "Bang Bang Bang !" is the opening introductory-sort of song for Suriya's mobster role. There are plenty of action montages interspersed in this song, which had a rich in color, upmarket bar setup, done by Rajeevan. Also, do check out the song for the special appearance of the hot Swedish-Iranian model/actress/choreographer Maryam Zakaria ! "Kaadhal Aasai" is a love song, shot on the lead pair, with plenty of montages and some dialogues, beautifully framed by Santosh Sivan, though the Sufi-styled song did not suit the proceeding. "Oru Kan Jaadai" is a fast number shot on the lead pair, and has the popular Miramar beach in Goa, as its backdrop. Fans of Samantha, don't miss out this song ! The pick of the album, is the peppy dance number, "Ek Do Theen", sung by Suriya himself. The song was shot in the picturesque location of Morjim, Goa. The cinematography and dance choreography complemented the feel and nature of the song's mood. "Sirippu En" is an item number and the final song of the film. Bollywood actress Chitrangada Singh, dons the item girl role and the lighting of Santosh gives the song the right mood, though the final output lacked the oomph factor. Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score was a letdown in many places and some of the film's signature hook-lines sounds insipid and unintentionally funny. Least expected from Yuvan Shankar Raja !
Let's get straight to the point. 'Anjaan' is possible the worst product to come from N.Lingusamy's directorial stable ! Its not because he is a bad filmmaker, but he has set high standards for how a contemporary commercial/'masala' Tamizh film should be and its time he has a retrospective view of his own past films, to amend his mistakes. The film is so lifeless, dull, uninspiring and has gaping loopholes, with no attempt in coming up with an organic development of emotional contents ! Brinda Sarathi's dialogues may sound powerful, but it all fell flat, due to the below average staging and execution of the sequences by N.Lingusamy. Giving a stylish makeover for the lead protagonist and having a maverick cinematographer will not hold the audience's attention for much longer than 15 minutes. What's inexcusable is the languorous approach with the screenplay, which takes its own sweet time in unraveling and delivering the guns. How is it possible for N.Lingusamy to overlook such fundamental aspects, especially when his previous films such as 'Run' and 'Sandakozhi', had brilliantly fast-paced screenplays, with the right amount of 'masala' elements ? Because of this, even the atypical, N.Lingusamy's trademark surprises and twists in the plot, which always ooze wonderful zing and power, goes kaput ! There's no character delineation in the film, which leaves us with half-baked characters and as mentioned earlier, its totally unforgivable, especially when you have talented artistes such as Suriya, Manoj Bajpai, Samantha and etc as your cast ! Like it or not, Suriya & N.Lingusamy has 'Anjaan' as a very ugly mark in their repertoire of films. D-I-S-A-P-P-O-I-N-T-M-E-N-T ! Big time !
'Anjaan' - Reportedly, Suriya & N.Lingusamy have discarded 3-4 scripts before zeroing on this. Now, that sounds scarily worrying !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
