Veteran actress Sripriya makes her debut as a director with this flick, which is a remake of the well-received Malayalam film, '22 Female Kottayam' starring Rima Kallingal and Fahadh Faasil and directed by new-age director Aashiq Abu. A women-centric film, the original created some stir for its boldness in story telling and for its urbane approach. Can Sripriya recreate the same effect with Malini ?
Nithya Menen is a talented actress, but unfortunately she seems to be the wrong pick for this role. She is hardly convincing in this role of Malini's and struggles to shoulder the entire film, which is to be expected since she is the protagonist. Her changeover in the second half is not convincingly portrayed and she lacks the power and vigor to pull off the emotional climax sequence. Newcomer Krish J.Sathaar is equally less convincing as the sweet-talking Casanova and his pairing with Nithya Menen fails to sparkle, which is a crucial element of the script. Naresh is a total letdown, in the role done wonderfully by Prathap Pothen in the original. Naresh is certainly no match for Prathap. The rest of the cast such as the overbearingly loud Kovai Sarala, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vidyullekha Raman, Anjali Rao, Janagi, AC Murali, Mohan V.Ram and etc had miniscule roles and has no effect over the script, pretty much.
Anu Parthasarathy could have done better with Nithya's costumes. Though she looked like a modern city girl, some excitement needed for the role was missing. And it applies for the rest of the cast as well. Prem Navas handled the art direction and his works with the posh bungalow setting and its properties was okay. The hospital set though could have been better propped. Bavan Sreekumar's editing was functional and he has kept the duration of the film crisp. But his scene transition is not smooth and is very abrupt, especially in the first half. Manoj Pillai handles the cinematography and his work sufficed the needs of the script. Better visuals could have done more wonders for the script.
Aravind-Shankar duo handles the music department. Their score is pretty much lukewarm and unexciting. "Vinmeengal" is the opening song of the protagonist and shot alongside her housemates, with montages of them and the hospital surroundings. "Kanneer Thuliye" is a pathos song, also shot with montages involving the lead pair. "Madharthammai" is the final song, which highlights feminism and appears towards the end. A remix version of the song, with music video style format was shot for promotional intentions and is available on Youtube.
First things, first. Its a welcome to see a woman director making her mark in Tamizh cinema. But sadly, Sripriya's direction is a major letdown. The film failed to elevate itself into a thrilling revenge-drama, though the script had potential. Sripriya has made some minor changes to Abhilash Kumar and Shyam Pushkaran's original storyline, but the overall effect of the film is a major minus-point. The first half is a very boring proceeding with lacklustre romance episodes, insipid drama, and irritating comedy sequences. Its a big disappointment that Sripriya has overlooked the most important elements of the script and has put her attention more into the dialogues element alone. Her dialogues are full of anger and feministic views and its sort of pretty obvious that this anger looks to be an extension of the memorable character she played in the 1978-released, C.Rudhraiya classic 'Aval Appadithaan'. The connectivity between the character played by Sripriya and the intensity of the dialogues mouthed by Nithya in the climax, is very apparent. Besides that, Sripriya's handling of the characterizations is weak as well, especially of the protagonists'. All the characters are half-baked and has no depth in the artistes' portrayal. The transformation of Nithya from the a naive, sweet girl to the revenge-seeking hardened woman, was badly presented.
'Malini 22 Palayamkottai' - Climax is the only sequence to check out !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Sundar.C came back to the limelight as a successful director with 'Masala Cafe' after his ill-fated decision of becoming a lead actor. Now he's back with another ensemble young cast in 'Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru' and also with a different city backdrop. Can Sundar.C maintain his grip in the box-office with his enviable track record of churning out hit comedy movies ? 'Masala Cafe' did kick-start, but can he follow suit with TSVK ?
For Siddharth, it would have been a piece of cake enacting the loser role of Kumar. But its interesting to see him do a complete comedy film, which could be the first in his career, thus far. Nevertheless, an easy and comfortable job for him. Hansika Motwani, is not far behind and she too delivers a convincing performance, with apt expressions and neat comedy timing. Not to forget, she looks a million bucks in this film, and is perfect for the role of a quintessential Tamizh audience dream-girl ! The man Santhanam, was just too good as Mokia, and his ever-present, rocking dialogue delivery and comedy timing was there, to deliver the actual USP of the film. We just wonder, how this guy can go on and on, with his antics in nearly all the important films of a calendar year, and yet never fail to evoke laughter ! The biggest asset of the film is the big cast which has RJ Balaji, Ganesh Venkatraman, Devadarshini, Bosskey, Aishwarya Menon, Chitra Letchumanan, Manobala, Nalini, Veena Kumar, Vidyullekha Raman, Sri Ranjini, George and Vichu Vishwanath, who all chipped in with their comic antics, which further enlivened the screenplay. Besides that, there were cameo appearances from Vishal Krishna, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, John Vijay, Karunakaran and Khushboo Sundar, which further spiced up the humor quotient.
Khushboo Sundar takes care of the costume designing, and she has done a wonderful job, especially with the main characters of Siddharth, Hansika, Santhanam and Ganesh, who were looking great ! 'Thalapathy' Dinesh's stunt choreography was functional and sufficed the need of the script. Gururaj's production design was simple, yet neat and his art work for the a song sequence was well handled. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing was smooth but sadly the songs were just unwanted breaks in the film's screenplay. Gopi Amarnath's cinematography was fresh and cool on the eyes, with cool color tone and well picturized song sequences. His lighting is a must-mention, as well.
C.Sathya's musical score was easy on the ears and pleasant to listen to. "Melliya Saaral" is a short song, which was used as the heroine's introductory song, which was shot in a posh office setting. "Azhagendral" is the pick of the lot among all songs, which was well shot in a rural temple setting, which had a celebratory marriage backdrop. Not to forget, Hansika was smashing in the sarees ! "Kozhu Kozhu" was shot on the lead pair in Japan, and had backdrops of harbor, railway stops and city center. "Enna Pesa" had more scenic locations of Japan, with beautiful snowy mountains, and spring-filled blossoming trees of postcard worthy gardens. "Lovekku Yes" is another popular track from the song, which had different and colorful sets by Gururaj and efficient lighting from Gopi Amarnath. "Thiruttu Pasanga" is an end-credits song, which featured nearly all the artistes from the film, dancing on a graphic-filled backdrop, and good editing from the editors.
The winning element of the film, is the screenplay by Sundar.C developed with a team consisting Srinivas Kavinayam, Prabhu Dass, Karunakaran and Nalan Kumarasamy of 'Soodhu Kavvum' fame. The urban setting was well used for the script and Sundar.C never leaves any open space or gap in the screenplay, and the jokes starts to come in thick and fast, scene by scene. The second half plays an even faster tempo, with lesser songs. Sundar.C's directorial skill should be applauded, for he has handled the film expertly, which should be credited to his experience of handling such humor-filled comedy films, in his long career. Besides that, he has used the services of Nalan Kumarasamy once again for the dialogues department, along with Venkat Raghavan, who came up with side-splitting one-liners, especially for Santhanam, who uttered them nonchalantly. A bonus plus-point for the film is the clean and family-friendly jokes, with no double entendres or loud slapstick comedy. Some sequences were well conceptualized, keeping in mind of the contemporary urban audiences' taste and connectedness element.
'Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru' - a clean, jollyfull entertainer. Sundar.C is definitely back in action !
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
'Neethane En Ponvasantham' a beautifully-titled movie, is one of the most expected films of the year, thanks to the expectations which bounds to arise when the director, Gautham Vasudev Menon comes back to his comfort zone, that is love stories. Added to that, the blockbuster hit of the soundtrack, scored none other than the genius, 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja, elevated the film's expectations several notches higher, since the score was one of the best to come out from Raaja sir's stables. With excellent technicians and gorgeous looking casts, this film had all the necessary elements to score at the box-office.
Jiiva has delivered a refreshing and thumping performance as the cool, casual and handsome chap. His dialogue delivery and body language were so precisely, he embodies the character Varun Krishnan, perfectly. The spontaneous reactions and composed expressions, are the highlights of his character, though he was not entirely convincing as a school-boy, looks and physique, wise. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, was simply gorgeous in the film, and she too delivers a fantastic performance as Nithya Vasudevan. Her transition from a teenage 'angel' to a beautiful woman, looks and mentality/behavior wise, was smoothly handled by her. Its an advantage certainly for Samantha to dub in her own voice, which gives an authentic feel to her character. With more such roles, she could hone her acting skills even more, and she is definitely a good performer, in waiting. Jiiva and Samantha, literally lived and breathed as Varun and Nithya. Kudos to both of them. Santhanam was absolutely rib-tickling and smashing in his comedy portions. Though his usual teasing and double entendre dialogues were there, it was presented in a different style, which makes him look fresh. His scenes with debutante Vidyullekha Raman, parodying 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya' was a scream, with 'VTV' Ganesh, making a surprise cameo !! Ravi Raghavendra, Ravi Prakash, Sriranjani, Anupama Kumar, Christine Thambuswamy and etc were very apt for the film, and incorporated mannerisms and body language of typical Gautham Vasudev Menon's film characters.
The core of Gautham's favourite technicians are present in this film as well. First off, M.Ravi's stills, especially for the promotional posters, were beautiful and chic. Nalini Sriram's costume designing was a pleasant to the eyes of the viewers. The lead pair was looking simply ravishing, especially Samantha (Gautham's heroines are always portrayed beautifully). Rajeevan's art work was neat and in-tune with the script. The simple but wonderful sets for the songs, and the props for the plot settings, were very original and appropriate. Anthony was at his best as usual, with no gimmicks and tricks in the editing department. His work in the songs, especially the smooth transition from one scene to the other, was class. The cinematography was catchy, with correct color tones and appropriate angles for the important scenes. The pre-interval, lengthy scene, was shot well, capturing the emotional outbursts and body language of the lead pair. It was nearly impossible to differentiate the works of the three cinematographers who worked in the film but, S.R Kadhir, M.S Prabhu and Om Prakash, all share the credit for a neatly and aesthetically shot film.
'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja comes up with a beautiful and heavenly soundtrack. Most of the songs are gems in their own respective genres, but the instrumentation was fresh from the genius. Gautham Vasudev Menon, utilized Ilaiyaraaja extremely well, and the latter produced a wonderful, wonderful album which was recorded and mastered at the Angel Studios, England for which Anglo-Indian Music Productions was hired, providing singers, an 108-piece orchestra and percussion. "Pudikile Maamu" a half rock-half folk song, is the introductory song, with Santhanam opening it up, humorously. The dance for this song was stylishly choreographed by debutante Sathish Krishnan. There were plenty of cut-shots and it was precisely edited by Anthony, with good camera angles. "Vaanam Mella" is a flashback song, rewinding the past of the lead pair and a different color tone was used for the song, which was stretched for a longer duration. The pick of the lot, the melodious, "Saayndhu Saayndhu" was perfectly composed for the situation. It was placed when the love was proposed by the lead pair to each other by each other. This one too, has plenty of cut-shots and montages and smoothly edited by Anthony and some gorgeous art work by Rajeevan. "Mudhal Murai" is a situational song, showing the agony of the heroine living a lonely life without the romances of the hero. The song used montages and has plenty of close-ups of the heroine, but it sounds too heavy for the flow of the script. "Kaatrai Konjam", another situational song, highlights the travel journey of the hero in meeting the heroine after a gap. Actor Nani makes a smart cameo, in this song. "Ennodu Vaa Vaa", has some good camera movements and highlights the hero trying to woo back the heroine, and is also another situational song. "Pengal Endral" is a high-octane pathos song, showcasing the painful break-up of the lead pair, in montage sequences. "Satru Munbu", the final song, beautifully fits into the script and shows the sorry state of the heroine, fearing for the worst. This song too was stretched for the entire climax, portion. Ilaiyaraaja's background scoring is legendary and needs no specific mention, but here the magical touch was missing, since part of the songs were used sparingly as background score and dialogues taking more prominence, where Ilaiyaraaja, keeps everything else, muted.
Gautham Vasudev Menon has collaborated with Reshma Ghatala, in regards to the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film, and the pair has produced an excellently written script. The script was minutely observed and broken down, casually laid out, has in-depth and detailed dialogues. This is definitely Gautham's most maturely written love story, so far. He has taken off from where he left in 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'. The complexities of the nitty-gritty details of love affair and arguments between the love couple, were explicitly and articulately portrayed. Gautham's success starts from the sketching of his characters. They all look familiar, just like any other individuals next door, but to shape them up in just pure writing, is an extraordinary feat. The lead pair has depth in their characterizations and look realistic, believable, and contemporary, which makes it relatable for any young, urban folks out there. The imperfections, the egoism, the hustle and tussle, the pressure, the disappointments, joy, sorrow, and the powerful, deep love between the lead characters, were just beautifully portrayed. Dialogues are extremely nuanced, and measured, smartly written but are of the heavy-duty category. And also, Gautham smartly makes sure that the names of the lead pair are mentioned constantly throughout the film, which convinces our minds to register those characters as Varun and Nithya, instead of just Jiiva and Samantha. The love portrayed here is more organic and natural since, it has a beginning from childhood and we see it develop through their teens and early adulthood. All these does not stop only with the characters of the lead pair, but also extends to the supporting characters, especially to family members of the hero. However, the pace of the film suffers, especially in the climax, which moves in a leisurely pace, which can test the patience of many viewers.
'Neethane En Ponvasantham' is not just another love story from Gautham, but a complete dissection of the love relationship between a man and a woman, who are filled with imperfections, but are expected to behave favorably towards each other. A definite cult-status worthy film in a decade or two and a classic in the romance genre in Tamizh cinema.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
