Sundar.C, known for his slap-stick and sit-com based movies, is back with another offering but this time its in tune with the current flavor of horror comedy genre. Packed with the usual commercial 'masala' elements such as dance, comedy and action, can Sundar.C pull of another hit with a huge cast and a significantly higher budgeted, 'Aranmanai' ? Will the mix of horror and comedy be in a right proportion ?
Coming to the huge cast list, almost every frame in the film has more than 2 artistes involved and its a constant riot. But its an out-and-out female-centric film and the main lead roles are played by Hansika Motwani and Andrea Jeremiah. Hansika Motwani's second half show was decent enough for this film. She's surprisingly convincing as a village belle and looks bubbly and pleasing. Her screen presence is good as she keeps our attention well. Her lip-sync is getting better but still there's plenty of room to improve. Andrea Jeremiah fits the sensuous role perfectly, and her voice is an added advantage to her character, especially in the transformation scenes. Its definitely a good performance from her, but she somehow her character doesn't sink in to the proceedings easily. Sundar.C plays himself the most important male role and is functional in that role. Santhanam keeps us in splits, though not all of his one-liners were chuckle worthy. The big cast of the film includes Vinay Rai, Raai Laxmi, Kovai Sarala, Manobala, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Saravanan, Chitra Letchumanan, Santhana Bharathi, Swaminathan, Nithin Sathya, Aarthi, Ganesh, Akila, 'Kadhal' Dhandapani, Meera Krishnan, Alwa Vasu, Yogi Babu, Soundar, Gowtham, Raj Kapoor and etc. Though most of them were all over the screenplay, their relevance and importance to the script is a big question mark.
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The film's technical aspects needs special mention, for their inputs. Vasuki Bhaskar's costume designing for the female leads are noteworthy, and all character's costumes blends in well with their respective characterizations. The film is loaded with VFX and computer graphics and the teams from Prasad EFX Group and Sinthu Graphics, deserves special mention. The final climax scene is completely ruled by the VFX, especially with the river water sequence and the solar eclipse effects. The color tone gave the climax a perfect look and its a visual treat indeed. Kudos to them ! Action choreography by 'Thalapathy' Dinesh was over-the-top, especially for the climax sequence, although Sundar.C's introductory fight scene was decent. Art director Gururaj deserves appreciation for his splendid work ! The whole film is based on the huge palace set which was erected and its completely filled with apt set properties. The set-work brought out the look needed for the film and aptly complemented the horror element of the script. Also, his work for the other village festival and etc sequences were rich in detailing. A feather in the cap for Gururaj ! Editing by N.B Srikanth was okay but he could have trimmed the length of the film, which runs unnecessarily long. U.K Senthil Kumar, a veteran and firm favourite of Sundar.C is the cinematographer for this film and his work was functional, but the climax sequence stood out, especially for the scenes involving the river.
The songs of the film is scored by Bharathwaj and frankly speaking, the songs were just pretty boring and lukewarm. "Kaththi Parvakaari" is the opening song for Vinay Rai and Andrea Jeremiah. Its like a mini-road song, which has all the rural hot-spots in it. The lush greenery and colorful art work by Gururaj, especially with the colorful village festival like set properties, deserves mention. "Petromax Lightu" is a typical dance song, involving Santhanam, Nithin Sathya, Sundar.C, Vinay Rai, Andrea Jeremiah and Raai Laxmi. The indoor scenes were well captured and the song's idea stems from the song "Maama Nee Vaama", which featured in Sundar'C's classic slap-stick comedy, 'Ullathai Alli Thaa'. "Sonnathu" is a female melody shot on Hansika Motwani and Vinay Rai and also had all the typical village locations such as paddy fields, water dam and rural homes as its backdrop. "Unnaiye" is a situational song, which sounds like a typical Rama Narayanan 'Amman' film songs and has a huge Hindu festival as its backdrop. The splendor and richness of the event was well captured on camera and also incorporated plenty of VFX in it. There are cameo appearances from singers Manicka Vinayagam, Dr.Sirkazhi G.Sivachidambaram and Sivashankar Master. The background score is handled by Karthik Raja and his work was functional and fits the horror based sequences, well.
The story by Sundar.C reminds us of other Indian horror flicks, such as 'Manichitrathazhu', 'Chandramukhi', 'Yaar', 'Muni', 'Kanchana' and etc. Its not a very novel attempt, but Sundar.C and S.B Ramadoss' screenplay tries to keep us waiting for the outcome and potential twists and turns, though the proceedings were pretty much, predictable. One must admit that though the film may entertain quite a few, there are plenty of obvious loopholes and unanswered questions in the film. The film tries to pick up some speed in the second half, especially one the the surprise is revealed during the interval junction, but is hampered by some dull songs and comedy tracks. Venkat Ragavan and Sundar.C 's dialogues were pretty ordinary too, apart from some efforts in the one-liners for Santhanam. Some visuals might be a turn-off or little disturbing for those who are young aged but other than that, 'Aranmanai' isn't really a scary flick. Sundar.C's direction sufficed the needs of the script, although the Rama Narayanan's 'Amman' film-like climax, was over-the-top.
'Aranmanai' - Unmajestic and run-of-the-mill kind, bearable horror-comedy !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Vijay Antony, is back to the silver screen once again after, his sleeper-hit debut, 'Naan'. Jointly produced by, his wife Fatima Vijay Antony and others, Vijay Antony borrows his previous character's pseudonym as the titular character for this new flick and has introduced another debutante director, N.V Nirmalkumar, a former associate of Bharathi Raja. Can Vijay Antony reproduce the same success of 'Naan' with 'Salim' ?
In 'Naan', Vijay Antony's subdued character complemented his image and he passes muster comfortably. He carries the same performance in 'Salim' and there's literally not much of difference, be it in voice modulation, facial expression, dialogue delivery and etc. It suits him and he looks a little more comfortable, but it will definitely can't last longer than this. Aksha Pardasany has very minimal scope for acting and there's nothing to shout about, regarding her character. The rest of the cast such as R.N.R Manohar, Swaminathan, Aruldass, Azmath Shariff, Jayachandran, Ramanathan, Jyothi and etc are there to fill up the necessities of the script. Its an out-and-out Vijay Antony show !
The film's technical output is just average and passes muster. 'Billa' Jagan takes care of the action choreography and his work complements the stature of Vijay Antony and his character. The second half packs, all the stunt sequences and the hotel room fight scene is the highlight of them all. Kudos to Vijay Antony for pulling them off efficiently. Vinod Raveendran and Anand Raj is in charge of art direction and they have done a decent job, especially with the set properties for the homes of the characters shown in the film. Also, the continuity for the hotel room sequence should be mentioned, for the realistic look. The editing department is taken care by three editors, who are M.V Rajesh Kumar, Veerasenthil and Selva. The editing was okay, but some cuts were just too obtrusive and lacks coherence. The duration of the film needs severe editing, especially with the slow pace of the first half ! Cinematography by M.C Ganesh Chandra looks decent, especially with the lighting and color tone used, which complemented the mood of the scenes, especially for the second half.
Vijay Antony's musical score was a disappointment. The fizz and groove in 'Naan' is missing here and the songs, are just a hindrance for the screenplay. "Prayer" theme was used as a ringtone sound of the protagonist. "Unnai Kanda" is a melody shot on the lead pair and has a very picturesque location of sea-side and desert. The panoramic camera angles, gave the song a music video feel and the lighting gave the song a very good color. "Avala Nambithaan" is a situational song, with montages of the lead pair and a cameo appearance from Premgi Amaren, in the beginning shots of the song. The base of the song, is lifted from the M.S Viswanathan's 'Ninaithaale Inikkum' classic, "Siva Sambo". "Unnai Kanda" has a reprise version, this time in a sad mood, which serves as a bit song. "Mascara Pottu" is a typical item number, which was well shot by M.C Ganesh Chandra, who gave the song, with above average visuals aided by apt lighting and color tone. "Ulagam Unnai" is a situational song, and comes right before the climax and was shot on Vijay Antony, in a hotel room. The background score resembles 'Naan' background score, wherein Vijay Antony used the same hook-line sounds. It complements the mood of the sequences, but other than that, there's nothing impressive in it.
N.V Nirmalkumar's screenplay has a very simple outlay. First half would be character establishment and second half is where the action takes centre stage. The plan is an easy way to tell a story, but the pace of the screenplay takes severe beating ! The first half is entirely taken to establish the good side of Salim, whereas the second half is all about how Salim meets his breaking point and the retaliation towards the injustice of the society. The second half actually keeps us focused and is more gripping, but the plot has no organic development and everything seems to happen just like that, with no explanation given. The characterization of Salim, which is the utmost important element of the script, is very much unconvincing and it fails to border the reality. The character is very one dimensional in the first half, and as audiences, we too will not root for such a character ! The dialogues too are just very average and it fails to ignite any spark due to average dialogue delivery by Vijay Antony. Quite a few characters appear and disappear for no reasons and the whole film rests on Vijay Antony's shoulders. It looks like the director has taken the basic thread from 'Naan' but has made the titular character be more of like a vigilante, in the second half. The sort of cliffhanger ending suggests us with the possibility of a sequel, but unless someone comes up with a decent script, the idea is of no use !
'Salim' - A less impressive evolutionary sequel to 'Naan' !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Comedy genre is not something new or fresh for Tamizh cinema audience, but infusing fantasy element into it, is a rarity. AGS Entertainment produced, 'Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham', is the debut directorial venture of K.Chandru, who has co-written the script of 'Tamizh Padam' along with C.S Amudhan. With a fresh and experimental combination of next-gen comedy artistes, K.Chandru has attempted to entertain us with comedy, albeit with a clear message. How did this 'modernized vow' of Saraswathi turn out to be?
Jai, after his pleasant performance in 'Raja Rani', had pretty much nothing to do. He was in his utmost comfort zone and has aptly used his shrill voice, for the right moments. Debutante heroine, Niveda Thomas looks sweet and performs well, with good dialogue delivery, which was perfectly dubbed by her dubbing artiste ! Alas, she has an extremely short screen timing, hence the limited acting scope for her. Sathyan and C.Rajkumar of 'Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom' were at ease with their roles, particularly Sathyan, who did a great work with his expressions and body language, especially for a photo-shoot sequence in the first half. The one with the 'meatiest' role is none other than 'VTV' Ganesh, who rocks in some sequences, with his trademark dialogue delivery and antics, especially in the second half. On the other side, Subbu Panchu, Devadarshini and Manobala, donned the roles of religious deities Shiva, Parvathi and Naradar, respectively. They were apt choices for their roles and gave good dialogue deliveries, and Subbu Panchu should be appreciated for his funny expressions and voice modulations. Venkat Prabhu and Sam Anderson make fleeting cameo appearances. The rest of the cast such as R.S Sivaji, Chitra Lakshmanan, Swaminathan, Badava Gopi, Vishal Venkat, Rekha Suresh, Ramya Ramakrishnan and etc were apt for their respective roles.
M.P Vanitha Srinivasan's costume designing was okay, though the shoe-string budget is a little evident, especially with the GOD characters. The conventional real-life characters too, were well presented, in terms of costumes. Dhilip Subbarayan's action choreography sufficed the needs of the script, quite well. M.G Murugan's production design is vital, and he has done a good work with the Mount Kailash abode, with touches of contemporary. An unique idea, indeed and kudos to him, for pulling it off. The private abode of Shiva, is the highlight, with modern art paintings adorning the walls ! T.S Suresh's editing was not flawless, as the film moves at a snail's pace in the second half, and the some sequences dragged the length of the film. The transition from GOD's world to the episodes taking place in Earth, could have been smoother. J.Anand's cinematography was average, apart from the beautiful shots of the island for a song sequence, late second-half.
Music has been handled by newcomer Prem Kumar, and the melodies are worth listening. "Kaathirundhai Anbe" was shot on Jai and Niveda, in montages, with the quirky element of the heroine holding a microphone and singing from it, all the time ! "Saturday Fever" is a clubbing song, and was shot on the gang of four, comprising Jai, C.Rajkumar, Sathyan and 'VTV' Ganesh. The typical color lighting and scantily-dressed Asian girls, are there in the song. "Vaazhkai Oru" is also shot on the four buddies stranded alone in an uninhabited island, with montages of them spending time by doing what they can afford to do. "Nenjankuzhi" is the pick of album, shot on the lead pair, and had some beautiful shots of the island, against the backdrop of dark clouds and blue ocean. R.Kannan, handles the background score and he gives his input with some unique, modern sounds.
The trailer and teasers suggested a touch of 'Hangover', but the director has dismissed the idea, through a dialogue uttered by the protagonist. K.Chandru's script has a good and timely message to the viewers, but the message presentation was corny and ends up being dull. However, K.Chandru should be applauded for his unique ideas (Lord Ganesha on treadmill, Lord Murugan and his Temple Run game on the iPad, Naradhar with a guitar and Lord Shiva with his iMac and etc) along with creative and cheeky dialogues (especially for the 'heavenly' episodes, with the right amount of English and Tamizh mixture, giving those episodes a contemporary feel). The first half was interesting, especially the GOD sequences, which were cutely conceptualized and well executed. The introduction of the human being characters were okay to some extent. But the second half becomes quite tedious with long drawn sequences and K.Chandru tries to cover it up, by spoofing some of the popular Tamizh films. The script is pretty obviously wafer-thin, so K.Chandru should have trimmed the second half, quite considerably. Also, why are Tamizh cinema directors still trying to do cover up with the foreign locations ? Kuala Lumpur has been passed out as Bangkok in this film, and its about time for directors to realize that, its not easy to fool any audience, anymore !
'Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham' - A fantasy comedy, with preachy messages.
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
The current flavor and poster-boy of Tamizh cinema, and the apple-of-the-eye of the family audiences, Sivakarthikeyan is on a hot-streak after back to back successes. This time he is in his comfort zone of comedy, with a rural backdrop and an equally comical Soori as his aide. Directed by Ponram, a former under-study of youth-centric humor genre master M.Rajesh, 'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam' has been making noise with the right kind of noises, thanks to D.Imman's chartbusting songs, pre-release. Will this be a clean hat-trick for Sivakarthikeyan in 2013 ?
Sivakarthikeyan delivers what best comes to him with finesse and the rural character suits him to a T. His timing is terrific and his dialogue delivery is near flawless. His expressive facial expressions and body language is a major asset to his role, as well. Bringing the best out of him is Soori, who plays the perfect foil for Sivakarthikeyan. With funny counter-dialogues and measured counter-reactions, Soori and Sivakarthikeyan are complementary to each others' characters. The film is basically built upon their gags and antics, and they have understood the demands, perfectly. Job well done, boys ! Sri Divya makes her debut in Tamizh cinema, and this sweet-looking, docile-natured element, fits her image very well. Not to forget, this girl has the right capabilities to actually do decent acting. Has very good potential to deliver better performances in the future, subject to proper scripts. Sathyaraj is a marvel in his role as the heroine's father, especially with the majestic mustache of his. The veteran's look and make-up was well designed, giving more believability to his role. Performance wise, the man just simply rocks with his impeccable comic timing and dialogue deliveries. Bindhu Madhavi plays a short but cute role and the rest of the cast such as Rajendran, 'Kathal' Thandapani, Raja, Gopal, Sri Ranjani, Vinodhini, Swaminathan, Kumaravael, and etc were very apt for their roles.
The film has some good technical outputs, thanks to its young crew. Vasugi Bhaskar's costume designing was on the dot, especially for the lead pair, which looked very natural. She should be commended for her part in Sathyaraj's costumes as well. 'Super' Subbarayan handles some simple action sequences, especially the midnight fighting sequence, shot in a plantation. G.Durairaj's, production design was neat, especially with the props for the village sequences, covering various different backdrops such as wedding, festivals and etc. The design blended well with the actual, natural surroundings of the rural setting. Vivek Harshan's editing was neat and he delivered what was expected from him, though more trimming could have made the film look sleek. Balasubramaniem's cinematography is an asset to the film, as his work blends well with the rural setting. The colorful, yet earthy tone the film carries throughout is a pleasant sight for the eyes. His lighting for the songs, especially gives the frames a rich yet earthy tone.
D.Imman is on fire and he delivers another winning album with 'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam'. The title track, "Varuthapdatha Vaalibar Sangam" which introduced the 'singer' Sivakarthikeyan to us, was shot with good framing and had good village settings as backdrops. "Yennada Yennada" is a cute montage song, shot on Sivakarthikeyan, Sri Divya and Bindhu Madhavi, with a love triangle on the anvil. The best song of the album, "Oodha Color Ribbon" is a foot-tapping song shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Sri Divya, with some song-purpose, conceptualized montages and also in village festival setting. "Kannaale" which is absent from the audio list, is a pleasant bit-song, played during a wedding scene. "Paarkaathe" is a montage song shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Sri Divya, who have finally professed love to each other. "Indha Ponnungale", another chart-buster, was shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Soori and serves as the typical drunkard song, shot in minimal but good lighting by Balasubramaniem. D.Imman also scores well in the background score department, with thumping scores and pleasant tunes. Way to go, D.Imman !
Debutante Ponram, follows his guru's safe template of a humor structure for a whole script, and infuse it with good dialogues. The dialogues, have been taken care of by M.Rajesh himself, and as usual he does not fail to deliver, though they were not the best of punches from him. The storyline is a wafer-thin one, and only the entertainment quotient, keeps the audiences engaged with the film. The screenplay wobbles a little in the end, after an unexpected, but pleasant twist in the climax. Kudos to Ponram for making use of Sivakarthikeyan's image and talents properly, to suit the mood and feel of the script. The gags arrive one-after-the-other and only in the late second half, the mood goes sombre for few moments. There is no any pretext of a great film with this and that. The makers promised a decent, laugh-riot and that is what has been delivered.
'Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam' - Clean hat-rick of success for Sivakarthikeyan, indeed !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
From a relatively new team, 'Yaaruda Mahesh' earned some brownie points with the youngster's for its naughty and cheeky trailer. Judging by the adverts, this film clearly indicates that it is strictly only for adults, as it contains plenty of adult jokes. A rarity in Tamizh cinema indeed, but it is worth fulfilling the vacant place of a proper and enjoyable adult film ?
The lead roles are done by relatively newcomers, Sundeep Kishan and Dimple Chopade. Sundeep, who did a role in 'Maranthen Mannithen', just passes muster with his role, of an irresponsible and good-for-nothing sort of hero. As for the heroine, Dimple was just adequate and is another addition to the various new-coming glam dolls of Tamizh cinema. The only person who actually catches your attention throughout the film is Jagan. He carries the film on his shoulders, and his humorous with his funny one-liners, dialogue delivery and body language. He definitely keeps us in splits with his near-perfect timing ! The film has a host of character artistes such as Livingston, Vijay, Srinath, Uma Padhmanabhan, Swaminathan, Singamuthu, Nellai Siva, Venkat Sundar and etc, who were functional.
The film's technical works were adequate as well and have worked well, within the shoe-string budget allocated to them. Sathya N.J's costume designing was spot on, making all the characters to look lively and colorful, which was a necessity for the script, as the characters were suppose to be loud. Vanaraj's art designing was simple but cool. His interiors for the posh bungalow house sets and also the simple bar and street sets were, well brought out. Sathya Narayanan's editing was smooth and crispy, but he should have chopped off many sequences which were inconsequential to the overall script and storyline. Raana's cinematography was adequate as and very much functional, but his work for some of the songs are noteworthy.
Malayalam composer Gopi Sundar, takes care of the music score. His tracks were pretty lukewarm and uninteresting to listen to. "Odum Unakithu" was a loud, item song, featuring Sana Oberoi. The bright lighting and the clean bar set-up was cool on the eyes. "Pudhu Paarvai" was a duet, picturized on the lead pair, romancing in top hillside areas, and Raana's soft color tone, worked well for the song, as his framing and angles were just nice for the song. "Vayadhai Keduthu" is a sensuous situational song, where the lead pair gets into some steamy actions. Dimple Chopade shows no inhibitions in shedding her clothes and the lighting and camera movements, together with efficient editing, was very professionally done. The modern bedroom set work complemented the song's mood, as well. "Yemathitta" was a loud and boring song, shot on Sundeep and Jagan dancing in a bar set-up. Vanaraj's props for the street set, was spot on, with good detailing. "Yaaruda Mahesh" was shot on the lead pair and was done like a music video, with very smooth editing and lighting for the picturization, which had a warehouse like background. The background score was too loud, which should have been toned down.
Written and directed by debutante, R.Madhan Kumar, 'Yaaruda Mahesh' does not live up to the mild expectations it evoked through its trailer. The jokes and gags, which were sexually suggestive in nature, is there but the second half of the film is littered with unnecessary comedy sequences and songs as well ! The film does not get any direction, until late into the second half. Most of the jokes of the character artistes, fall flat except for Jagan's. Unfortunately, his one-liners alone will not be sufficient enough for the audiences to go through this ordeal. The film carries no logic progression in its screenplay and the climax was a big let-down. A well plotted screenplay, with strong story presentation could have done mini-wonders, to the film ! A sincerest advice to the director: Youths do lap up for adult contents but that alone will not fixate them to a film, for its entire duration (unless its a plain, simple porno) !
'Yaaruda Mahesh' - Disappointing adult comedy film.
Ratings: 2/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
