AMARA KAAVIYAM MOVIE REVIEW

Love - the only theme which our Tamizh cinema directors will never get bored of dwelling in. And what a beautiful title, especially when the film is set in the 1980s' era ! 'Amara Kaaviyam' has been making the right noise, due to it being actor Arya's film, under his own production of The Show People. Jeeva Sankar of 'Naan' fame directs this second film of his career and feature's Arya's brother, Sathya in the lead role, alongside Malayalam heroine Miya George, who makes her Tamizh debut. With M.Ghibran's critically well-received musical score, can this flick attain 'immortality status, in the annal of Tamizh cinema ?

Sathya, who's debut 'Kadhal 2 Kalyanam' is still yet to see the daylights, makes a good impression and has shown improvement in regards to performance. He looks confident, has a good screen presence and composure in dialogue deliveries. He performs well in the action sequences too and with better directors and script, he can definitely become a talent to watch out for. Debutante Miya George, looks super confident, thanks to her experience in doing Malayalam films. She has what it takes to be a very good actress and has a very sweet and pleasing screen presence. Her next choices of film roles, can dictate her place in Tamizh cinema. Wishing these two youngsters a great career ! The rest of the cast such as Ananth Nag, Thambi Ramaiah, Arul Jothi, Vaidyanathan, Elizabeth, Rindhu Ravi, Sudeepa and etc were apt choices for their realistic and earthbound performances. 

The film has very good production values and quality technical outputs from the technical crew. V.Sai's costume designing was apt, and is in adherence of the social, geographical and time period elements of Ooty and Kodaikanal areas. Om Prakash's action choreography suits Sathya's physical built and the fight sequences were realistically shot and executed. The second half fight sequence, shot in slow-motion is a highlight of it. V.Selvakumar's art direction is a big plus for the film's production values. The set properties, be it from vehicles, to furniture, household items and even grocery items were well set up and established the 1980's era, perfectly. Kudos to him ! Editing by Suriya, complements the pace and narrative style of the director and all the cuts are very smooth and doesn't create any jarring effect. Jeeva Sankar handles the cinematography himself, and the cameraman in him has excelled to the core ! Visuals played an important role in the film and it carries the movie forward. The beautiful locations of Ooty and Kodaikanal were magnificently captured by Jeeva Sankar and the watercolor like tone gives the film a misty/dreamy and almost ethereal look, throughout the film. Jeeva Sankar definitely keeps up the reputation as an assistant of the late Jeeva.

Its definitely not an overstatement, if one says that M.Ghibran's musical score is the soul of the film. His songs complemented the script's style and all songs are appropriately placed in the screenplay. The peppy "Saridhaana" is the introductory song of all the main leads and has more montages of Sathya, in establishing his role as a school-going teenager. "Edhedho Ennam" is the first melody shot on the lead pair and has plenty of montages, with some of them having beautiful landscapes, as backdrops of the song. The hill station effect was very well brought out, especially. "Deva Devadhai" is a rather intimate melody and was shot indoors completely and has plenty of reaction shots from the lead pair, which was well cut by Suriya. The haunting melody, "Mounam Pesum" sung by the legendary K.S Chitra, also has montages of the lead pair, temporarily staying away from each other, due to a decision taken by themselves. Though the song has an interestingly tricky situation as its backbone, the love feel was very well conveyed. "Thaagam Theere" is a pathos song, and has montages of the lead pair living separate lives, away from each other. M.Ghibran's background score certainly upraises the mood and impact of the scenes and some portions will definitely strike a chord with the audience, for the soothing background score from him. Another feather in the cap for M.Ghibran !

This film will definitely remind us of the classic 1980's film 'Panneer Pushpangal', directed by Santhana Bharathi and P.Vasu, (not to forget the beautiful songs by 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja) due to the geographical aspect of an Ooty hill station location and the theme of high school romance. Juvenile love story is a tricky element to tackle, a wrong approach of the theme, will end up with the filmmakers sending out a wrong message. Jeeva Sankar, handled his subject decently and has come up with good characterization for all the artistes, but the intensity of an infatuation turned love feeling, among the young teenagers is just missing in 'Amara Kaaviyam'. Jeeva Sankar tries to sink in the love mood and feel of it, with slow-motion reaction shots and a very langoriously paced screenplay. But the dramatic moments are often brushed off so casually and almost, most of the scenes are underplayed. Though its applaudable, that the characters are portrayed realistically, not every single individual is going to be very practical in their approach to the issues and dilemmas, affecting them. Also, the non-linear approach with the story-telling doesn't really make sense, especially when you give away the end of the climax, right at the interval point. There are some minor loopholes in the film's screenplay and though the climax portion is touted to based on an real life incident, which took place in Tanjore, it does send a wrong message and the almost glorification of such juvenile act of love, is totally unjustified. Nevertheless, the film is an decent attempt and hope it becomes a good platform for those involved, to enhance their careers in Tamizh cinema.

'Amara Kaaviyam' ? - Nah, not really. No way, it'll be one !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

SAIVAM MOVIE REVIEW

Director A.L Vijay had a horrendous time with his last release 'Thalaivaa', is back in action but with a small budget film, produced under his own home banner, Think Big Studios and A.L Alagappan. 'Saivam' is intrinsically weaved around the message of vegetarianism and its conveyed through a lovely theme of familial bonding. Can A.L Vijay strike gold this time after continuous debacles with big budgeted, top heroes' films ?

What works for 'Saivam' is the ensemble of fresh faces in the casting, which was a terrific move from A.L Vijay. The casting is so perfect, and though a couple of them come from the small screen, they do not bring their theatricalities to the big screen, and have adapted well to A.L Vijay's insightful characterizations. Veteran Nassar leads the way as the patriarch of the Karaikudi-based family, and it has been a while we have seen this fantastic actor donning a elegant yet majestic role. Aiding him is the heartbeat of the film, the ever charming and lovely Baby Sara Arjun of 'Deiva Thirumagal' fame. She has a beautiful screen presence with her angelic face and shows more maturity in her performance. Besides them, a plethora of artistes such as Kausal, Ravi, Rajalakshmi, Kalyani Natarajan, Suresh, Lakshmanan Ganesh, Vidhya, Shakti, Suchitra, Luthfudeen Baashaa (impressive debut from the younger son of Nassar), Rahul, Twaraa Desai, Ray Paul, George Mariyan, Malathi, Vittal, Savithri, Shanmugarajan, Rahil Singhi and etc, added more authenticity to the story and its setting. 

Pallavi Singh handles the costume designing and she has done a commendable job, especially with her background checking of the Chettinadu folks and their wardrobe. Also, she gets it right with characters depicted coming from city. Action choreography is done by Manohar Verma and his work befits the need the script and the situations present in the screenplay. Art direction is by V.Selvakumar, a regular in A.L Vijay films, and he has managed to bring to life, the Chettinadu people and their Karaikudi lifestyle, precisely in the film. The minute detailing work such as the various props (baskets and etc) pertaining to people of that community alone, deserves special mention. Editing is by Anthony and his there are no gimmicks with his cut. Every shot is crisp and neat but at the same time, perfectly complemented A.L Vijay's story presentation. The film would not have been as good as it is, if not for the works of Nirav Shah. His cinematography is just top-class, and the most commendable shots of his, are the interior shots, especially for the night sequences. Also, his framing and camera movements captured and elegance and old-world charm of the Karaikudi town so well, it just transports us to that cute town, in an effortless manner !

G.V Prakash Kumar's music is very refreshing and this film is one of his best in recent times. "Moments of Life" is the theme track and plays during the opening credits. "Ore Oru Ooril" depicts the relationship between grandpa Nassar and his granddaughter Sara, within their own lifestyle, with many montages. The pick of the lot, "Azhagu" sung by Uthara Unnikrishnan, is charming song and is shot on the entire family. It has fantastic lighting work by Nirav Shah, which gives us a resplendent feel and look to the song, which was shot in a Chettinadu home. "Kokkara Kozhi" is a situational song, which comes at a very pivotal moment, right before the climax. G.V Prakash Kumar's background score complemented the script very, very well and his separate score for the respective characters' different episodes, should be commended. 

What works for the film is the genuineness and sincerity in A.L Vijay's writing, together with the good understanding and portrayal of the Chettinadu people and their lifestyle. Everything is narrated in an subtle manner and there's nothing pretentious in the presentation. The film is full of feel-good sequences, and though most of them are gems, there are one or two, which goes a little melodramatic. Emotions are beautifully handled in the film, and A.L Vijay's scene composition brings out the effect, even more beautifully. Dialogues are very crisp yet powerful in their own way. A.L Vijay deserves a pat for portraying the dramas and issues faced by the large family and how each one of them differs from the other in thoughts and views. Strong characterizations added more finesse to the script, which keeps us engaged, though the plot is very simple. A.L Vijay's advocacy of vegetarianism is evident in the climax, but the reasoning falls flat and the changeover of the characters in the end, looks forced and artificial. The movie might not click well with some audience, due to the absence of the 'commercial elements' but there are plenty of good humor, very smartly woven into the script by A.L Vijay. Nevertheless, 'Saivam' is still a very beautifully crafted light-entertainer, with heartwarming performances from the cast.

'Saivam' - A.L Vijay's best written & crafted film, thus far !


Ratings: 3/5 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

BILLA 2 MOVIE REVIEW

Billa 2 - The most expected film of 2012, not only because of Ajith Kumar but also for the character that he played. Thanks to the excellent marketing and promotional activities, the hype and expectations grew many fold. The trailers and teasers were a class apart from the other films, and the standard was expected to set the bar of commercial cinema several levels higher. A gigantic opening is ensured since it has Ajith but will it satisfy the audiences' expectations completely?

The film has a different set of artistes performing and making their debut in Tamizh cinema. First and foremost, the heart and pivot of the film Ajith is a magnet. He just pulls the attention of the audiences, even if he just walks or appears in a scene. His mannerism and appearance were stylish to the core. His usage of his eyes to convey emotions is a strength to his character. Of course, not to be missed is his daring stunt sequences, especially the fight in the helicopter. The charismatic and gorgeous actor, could have reduced his weight to look younger since this is a prequel, so that it is in tune with the first installment. Two leading ladies, Parvathy Omanakuttan and Bruna Abdalah make their debut here. Sorry to say, they don't have anything to offer except to showcase the rocking body, especially the latter. No dialogues, no scenes to emote. (Not their fault, though). Sudhanshu Pandey and Vidyut Jamwal make their debut as the antagonists. Sudhanshu prepared well for his role to look older than his age (kudos to him for dubbing himself) and Vidyut performed his deadly stunt scenes perfectly. But they too have nothing much to contribute or to make an impression. The rest of the cast, Yog Japee, Manoj K.Jayan, Rahman, Ilavarasu, Sriman, Sricharan, Rohit Khurana, Dinesh Lamba, Daniel Kaleb, E.Karthik, Janaki Sabesh, Sarath Mandava, 'Theepatti' Ganes and etc did what was expected from them. We get to also see some hot girls such as Meenakshi Dixit, Gabriela Bertante and Nicole Amy Madell appearing in the songs.

This film has very high technical work and they should be individually appreciated and for their wonderful work. Nithya and Rafi's costume designing was stylish, in order to make the lead artistes to look good and the style was not too contemporary keeping in mind, the period the script is set in. Choreograph by Raju Sundaram, Aadil Shaikh & Fareeda and Ahmed Khan was okay, and only "Madurai Ponnu" had good dance movements. The VFX work under the supervision of Madhu Sudhanan by Reliance Media Works, Tata Elxsi and Future works was okay as well but the sequence where a car was shot and burst into flames, had bad quality in graphics. Stephen Gomes' sound effects was brilliant, especially the action sequences where gun shots, machetes, bomb blasts and etc were recorded realistically. The highlight of the action sequences is the stunt. They were very well choreographed and neatly executed. German based Stefan Richter, Kecha Khamphakdee's Jaika Stunt team and K.Rajasekhar are the stunt choreographers and their stunts were in sync throughout the film and apt with the characters that they choreographed for. V.Selvakumar's production crew did well with the sets, be it the whore house, gun factory, small restaurant, club house and etc. The props used, especially cell phones, cars and weaponry were specifically designed keeping in mind with the older period since this is a prequel. Suresh Urs's editing could have been better by making the film look racier with the screenplay as it lags, though it runs for just above 2 hours. Cinematographer R.D Rajasekar has done an awesome job with the RED EPIC Camera. Every shot has good detailing and the camera gives the film a very glossy look, with right correction in the color tones. The sequences shot in Georgia was beautiful and R.D once again proves why he is the man to can action sequences. A search is always visible and that makes the action sequences look better. Definitely it will be one of his best work in his career.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's music especially the background score is good but there's nothing much of variation from the previous installment of 'Billa' and some portions reminds one of Hans Zimmer's score in 'The Dark Knight'. Songs are average though but the picturization was even more average though the RED EPIC camera was used. "Madurai Ponnu" was the best picturized with good lighting and art work with earthy colors and top of that hot girls as dancers with Meenakshi Dixit leading the troupe. "Idhayam" is a mellifluous song and one of the best compositions from Yuvan. It was picturized on Parvathy running in slow-motion along the beach with intercepts of her scenes prior to the song. "Gangster" song had Yuvan making his cameo but it was reduced to a mere credits song with intercepts of blooper scenes. "Yedho Mayakkam" the best dance number had awesome girls like Nicole Amy Madell and Gabriela Bertante with Ajith, Sudhanshu and Bruna as well but the concept was poorly etched out and was boring to watch. The color tone and lighting was good, though. "Unakkulle Mirugam" was shot with many scenes of Ajith showing his rise to the status of a don but it was infused with graphics, resembling graphic novel style used by Guy Ritchie in his 'RocknRolla' film. Though its an interesting idea, but it was totally unnecessary and an awkward thing to do. The "Billa 2 Theme Music" is a fantastic score from Yuvan and will be remembered for its haunting mood.

There is saying which goes like this, "Too many cooks spoil the broth" This film had the story written by Chakri Toleti, Eric Felberg (creative consultant) and Sarath Mandava (assistant director) and the screenplay was written by the same trio with an additional member in another assistant, Mohammed Jaffer. So did they "spoil the broth" indeed? Actually no. They did not even cook a broth!! What these four individuals can do, is to take the script of Oliver Stone's 'Scarface' and simplify or 'Indianize' it. Except for Ajith and Yog Japee, and Ilavarasu, the rest of them, all looked like caricatures. There's no strength in the characters and most of them are shallow. The film has no spark or zing or charisma and contains plenty of loopholes and unnecessary graphic violence. They should have realized that the film has grown from just a mere attraction of Ajith, to the intriguing factor of David Billa. Being a prequel, this film should have addressed how David Billa became the dreaded mafia of the underworld. Instead, we were just shown snippets of some photographs and the process of few dozens of shootings and man-slaughterings by Billa to raise his stake. There's no connectivity between the audience and the characters and no one understands why Billa is the kind of a person he is, which is what the main aim of a prequel should be! Instead we only get to see gun shots, bomb blasts, people dying and hot gals prancing around. The sad fact is that, the movie did not even evoke 5% of satisfaction which you get by watching the trailers. If there is any relief for the fans, it is the brilliant dialogues of Era.Murukan with the assistance of Mohammed Jaffer. The film is replete with stunning dialogues for Ajith and when he utters them, the effect manifolds. 

Conclusion: Billa 2 - HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.......


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL