JILLA MOVIE REVIEW

'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay coming back to do his 6th film for 'Super Good Films' is quite a news, because it was this production house which produced most of his selected, few hits at the beginning stages of his career. Throw in one of the finest actors India ever produced, Mohanlal into the frame and the the expectations just ballooned sky-high. R.T Neason's 'Jilla' made all the noises for its commercial entertainment value. Did the director justify the presence of two larger-than-life heroes ?

As for Vijay, there's literally nothing new, when it comes to differentiating 'Jilla' from his previous flicks. He has firmly cemented himself in his comfort zone, and he had a gala time enacting the lead role of this film. Dance, comic timing, punch-dialogues, action sequence performance, a couple of sentimental scenes and that's about it. The man's definitely going to pull it off with aplomb, when he is doing it for the umpteenth time. Mohanlal comes out with a very dignified performance, befitting his age and repertoire. Even his facial muscles, can pull of the toughest of scenes ! A true legend, but sadly this movie does nothing much to accentuate that statement. Kajal Aggarwal looked pretty. Sufficed the need of the script. Soori dons the role of the main comedian for the first time in a big-hero flick and he comes out clean, though there's nothing much of scope for him. A battalion of character artistes are there in the film such as Mahat Raghavendra, Niveda Thomas, Sampath Raj, Pradeep Rawat, R.K, Thambi Ramaiah, 'Black' Pandi, Ravi Mariya, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Gautam Kurup, Vidyullekha Raman, Madhumitha, Jayabalan and etc, where most of them have been thrust with inconsequential roles and making a presence, for no apparent reasons.

Komal Shahani and S.Rajendran have done neat work with their costume designing, especially for Vijay and Mohanlal. Could have been better for Kajal's, though. The stunt department of the film, must have worked over-time, plenty of times for this film, with so many action blocks ! Silva's action choreography was very apt for Vijay's body language and one can say Silva had a big role in further elevating Vijay's heroism aspect. The first, the one in the middle (right before interval) and the climax fight sequences, were the best among the lot. Rajeevan's production design was rich and its quite obvious that no expense was spared, in terms of production, with so many props and set-work, especially for the songs. Editor Don Max, must have gone on snooze mode while editing, because the nearly 3 hour duration, has no single justification at all ! To be frank, the first one hour was just a total waste of time (and Money !). Ganesh Rajavelu's cinematography complemented the need of the script. Kudos for him for presenting Vijay and Mohanlal, in the right angles and frames, which gives their characters, the larger-than-life look and feel. Action sequences, are the highlights of Ganesh's work. 

D.Imman continues his fine form, with some nice tracks in the film. The "Jilla Theme" track is present throughout the film, in important scenes. "Paattu Onnu" is the opening song which featured both Vijay and Mohanlal together, in a grand village festival kind of atmosphere, which was looked rich and mass ! The bonhomie shared between the two male leads, was cute. "Verasa Pogayile" was shot on a purpose-built set of streets, with colorful Tamil Nadu traditional folk dancers and their respective, elaborate costumes. The entire song was shot in a slow-motion effect, in tune with the song's feel. "Jingunamani" is an item song, which featured Scarlett Mellish Wilson in a special appearance. The set work by Rajeevan imbibed the mood of the song well, and Ganesh's lighting is a highlight. The pick of the lot from the album, "Kandaangi" sung by Shreya Goshal and Vijay himself, was shot on the lead pair, in the cool climates of Osaka and Kobe. The beautiful temple backdrop and colorful landscape is a treat for fans of such visuals. "Yeppa Mama" is the last song, which is atypical of commercial films, with back-up dancers, colorful sets and crazy dance movements. D.Imman is slowly becoming an acute composer, when it comes to background scoring, and he has proved his mettle with 'Jilla' as well.

R.T Neason, who previously directed the low-budget 2007 film 'Muruga', has the sole intention of making a mass, 'masala' film with two high-profile male actors. There's clearly no intention of writing a decent and engaging screenplay (apart from the climax), proper characterizations for the artistes, continuity and logic sense in the script. The writing is just simply farcical, and he has placed his bet only on Vijay & Mohanlal's pairing, coupled with some twists in the story-line. But apart from that, 'Jilla' is just a over-the-top film and its certainly a few steps backwards, when it comes to improving Tamizh cinema's quality. Most of the comedy sequences fell flat, completely and looks silly to the core ! The sole purpose of projecting Vijay as a mass, action star was the only thing R.T Neason has and could achieve with such a below-average script. 

'Jilla' - Watch it if you don't mind adjusting your sensibilities and tastes for good cinema. The rating below is purely for the R.B Choudhary's production values and for the combo of Vijay & Mohanlal. 


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

THALAIVAA MOVIE REVIEW

 The coming together of the two Vijays of Tamizh cinema, 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay and director A.L Vijay, has piqued the interests of Tamizh cinema followers. The intriguing combination, brings two, distinctively different people of styles and cinema, into a single film. The former, for his 'mass' masala entertainer, whereas the latter for his sensitive and slow-moving style of film-making. With a good production crew and a big star cast and top-class technicians, did 'Thalaivaa' really strike a fine balancing-act, en-route to winning the prospective thumbs-up from the general audience?

Its a waste of time, writing and eulogizing the dancing and comedy prowess of Vijay as a star. He has done it plenty of times in his 20 years of cinematic life as a leading hero. Its the actor and performer in him which we would really want to watch on the silver screen and in 'Thalaivaa', our wishes are granted, in commensurate proportions, in terms of space and scope. The first half is the usual act of the charming, lovable and sweet-natured persona, with the perfect comic-timing, smooth dance movements, and cute romantic approaches. The second half is a total transformation all-together, where its dark, gritty and has a serious undertaking in his acting approach. It is quiet refreshing to see him enact a role, which was a fairly well-written one. Though we have seen him in roles which oozes authoritarianism and style, plenty of times, in 'Thalaivaa' he strikes a fine-balancing of doing a fair bit of acting, yet at the same time pull of his distinctive style and entertainer act, with panache. His action and dancing sequences were neatly done, as well. Kudos to A.L Vijay for presenting a refreshing and energized Vijay to us ! 

Veteran, Sathyaraj was brilliant in his short screen-time. His powerful, yet pensive mood suits him very aptly, and for an actor of his stature, it would have been a piece of cake ! Amala Paul pulls of a decent job with her limited role and enhanced the credibility of the character's natural persona by dubbing in her own voice, fluently. Santhanam, as usual pulls of his witty one-liners, with the perfect timing and evokes laughter from us. Its amazing to see this guy pull it off in each and every film he is involved ! The antagonist, Abhimanyu Singh should have done better in his role as his portrayal lacks the intensity, the character demanded. A powerful star cast in Rajiv Pillai, Ragini Nandwani, Nassar, Udhay, Ponvannan, Y.Gee Mahendran, Suresh, Manobala, Subbu Panchu, Kishore, Ravi Prakash and guest roles from Rekha and Sam Anderson, gives the film a solid base, in terms of performances. Good casting from A.L Vijay !

Deepali Noor and Pallavi Singh's costume designing was in sync with the mood change-overs of the film. The lead pair looked very presentable and charming in their stylish costumes, and extra brownie points for the special change-over for Vijay in the second half. 'Stunt' Silva's action choreography was very believable and stylishly done, especially the night fight sequence. Very realistically and subtly handled by Silva. R.K Naguraj's production design, gave the film a very rich and clean look. His props and set work for the second half as well as the cool interiors for the first half, based in Australia was artistically handled and followed a particular color-tone in the change-overs. Anthony's editing is flawless, though the length of the film is rather questionable. The major strength of the film besides the casting is the cinematography and Nirav Shah proves his a wizard once again. Nirav has captured the beauty of Sydney and also the raw and rustic nature of the other side of Mumbai, perfectly ! His color-tones usage for the respective halves in the film, blends well with the mood of the screenplay. His top-angle and tight close-up techniques were well used. Another top-notch work from Nirav !

G.V Prakash usually reserves some of his best for A.L Vijay and he continues it here as well. There is a bit song like a hum, which goes "Thaalealo" in some important sequences in  the film. "Tamizh Pasanga" was shot in Sydney and is a good platform for Vijay to prove his good dancing skills. The set-up was well done for the song, and Sydney's mild weather and clean rive-side environment were well used, as well as able aid from the group dancers. "Sol Sol" was only used as a short bit-song when Vijay casts his eyes on Amala Paul for the first time. "Yaar Indha Saalai" is a sweet song shot in montages, with the splendor and beauty of Sydney in the evening, captured very aesthetically by Nirav. The song has some additional great lines from Santhanam mixed together with the montages. "The Ecstasy of Dance" was the best picturized track in the film. The mellow lighting and the warehouse set, blends surreally with the tune and kudos to Amala Paul for keeping in pace with Vijay for this short soundtrack, with her dance movements. "Thalapathy" is a sort of coming-age song, eulogizing the heroism and savior-nature of the hero, and has good props and detailing and few scenes thrown into the song duration to spice up mood. "Vaangana" is a cute, dance number and was colorfully set-up by R.K Naguraj, with intricate props . G.V Prakash also features in a surprising cameo role in this song. The background score is better in the second half, and G.V Prakash is showing marked improvements from film to film.

A.L Vijay, as mentioned earlier, is someone who churns slow and melodramatic films, with some sort of astuteness. He has experimented this time by imbibing his style into an action story, atypical of Vijay's choice. The experiment is unique and interesting but the doesn't keep us glued to our seats as the film languorously takes it's time to unravel. The first half, though light-hearted, does not serve any strong pertinence to the overall script and theme line of the story. But some shocking turn of events in the late first-half suddenly jolts us out of slumber and again catches our attention for a while. There is nothing new or daringly creative in terms of storyline and script as A.L Vijay has been heavily inspired from particular films done by Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma, and has also rehashed some of Vijay's earlier films' story-lines ! But what might work for some section of audience, is the treatment and presentation of A.L Vijay, who handles his characters and scrip quite well. His directorial skills is of no question. Only the ability of in-depth and strong script-writing which is a cause of concern. Dialogues are particularly "old-fashioned" and the climax is not so engaging, though it has been well executed and shot by Nirav.

'Thalaivaa' - A decent watch with very less logic-defying "masala" elements, though it is an average commercial entertainer. A fairly higher rating, just for the production values.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

KEDI BILLA KILLADI RANGA MOVIE REVIEW

Director Pandiraj, who debuted with the charming 'Pasanga', has dabbled in different attempts before, such as 'Vamsam' and 'Marina'. All three films were different from each other, but he has realized that his forte is comedy, and that's a safe bet in current circumstances, at the box office. With two upcoming small budget, safe-bets in Vemal and Sivakarthikeyan, Pandiraj has promised a clean film with a good dosage of comedy. Did he succeed ?

Vemal was flawless in his role, as it is his comfort zone, playing middle-class, youngster. He certainly has improved very much, in dialogue delivery and voice modulation. He looks more confident in dance and emotional scenes as well. Neat job ! Sivakarthikeyan was exploited of his terrific comedy timing and good mimicry skills. It is second nature to him in delivering 'killer-blow' punch dialogues, since he was a versatile television presenter before. His dancing capabilities are not bad, either. More good films, and this top-notch entertainer, will find huge success in Tamizh cinema ! Bindu Madhavi, plays a good foil as Vemal's pair. She gets to play a "different" Tamizh heroine, contradicting the norms of such backdrop-based films. She gets to bash the hero, for a change and plays the more assertive one, rather than the hero ! Whereas, Regina Cassandra is a breathe of fresh air, and this girl is good in what she does. With her experiences of doing Telugu films beforehand, her expressions and performance have an unbidden nature to it, a far cry from her 'Kanda Naal Mudhal' days ! If she dubs in her own voice, it would do wonders for her. Soori was havoc in the film, with his exceptional dialogue delivery and comedy timing ! He was at complete ease in his role, and delivers the dialogues at the right note, ensuring the comedy hits on the right moment ! This film will be one of his best in his repertoire. The rest of the supporting cast such as 'Delhi' Ganesh, Sujatha, Gopal, Muthuraman, Manoj Kumar and etc were apt for the roles they played.

K.Natraj's costume designing and G.Vijayakumar's make-up sense, was very much in tune with the script. They ensured the lead folks, looked their roles, without being too flashy. Especially for the heroines, as both girls were looking as the simple and sweet girl-next-door. Rajeevan's art direction was spotless, in terms of quality. He created authentic market and bar settings for the songs and the props for the election sequences, were very authentic and immaculate. Athiyappan Siva's editing was smooth, but he could have done a little trimming in the first half, as there are couple of standalone, unwarranted sequences. Rajashekar's stunt work was over-the-top, but it was in dictation of the script and scene. Vijay's cinematography complements the backdrop of the film's setting, and he captures the native look and feel of Tiruchi quite well, with the RED Pro 5.0. His poised handling of the camera movement, adds strength to the scenes, especially those which were shot indoors.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's tunes were simple and neat for 'Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga'. The peppy "Oru Porambokku" sung by him, together with Silambarasan, was picturized on the triumvirate of Vemal, Sivakarthikeyan, Soori and as well as with the other friend character. The song is about the negativeness of drinking and ironically, it was shot showing the characters enjoying drinking and dancing for the apparent "one, final time". Rajeevan's set work, especially the brightly-lit street set-up was very authentic. Vijay's framing sense was apt as well. "Konjum Kili" was shot on the Vemal and Bindu. It was shot in real locations, such as temples, streets and markets. The color tone of the song was suitable and he captured the facial expressions of the artistes, quite well. "Suda Suda" was shot on Sivakarthikeyan and Regina, and has plenty of montages, edited into the song. It too was shot on plenty of real locations such as railway station, market, streets, railway tracks and etc. "Ulladha Naan" has the backdrop of a campaign election, and was shot on the main leads, in their council election campaign. The props and set-up by Rajeevan was top-notch. "Deivangal Ellame" is a situational song, with montages of the difficult moments in the lead heroes' lives. The background score was good as usual, with some typical melodious hook-lines, used sparingly. 

Judging from what Pandiraj has done, its quite evident that he has put his bets on comedy. His clarity in it is laudable, and kudos to him for coming up with a neat and family-friendly film, with plenty of fun-filled moments. The strength of Pandiraj, is his witty dialogues. Starting off with Samuthirakani's voice-over, Pandiraj has packed the first half, with gags over gags. The dialogues were very cleverly written, and shines with good creativity. Pandiraj (he does appear in the film along with the editor Athiyappan and dance choreographer Dinesh, before the credits) has come up with novel, but funny sequences throughout the film, and has extracted the correct level of performance from his artistes. His antithetical situations and dialogues reminds us of Pandiyarajan's movies of the 80's and 90's, unmistakably. But, the script takes a sharp diversion in the climax, and out of a sudden, you get to see some melodramatic moments and sentimental dialogues. And that's when we realize Pandiraj's notion of wrapping his intended message, with loads of comedic gags. Also, its a little bizarre to notice his heroines mellowing to the charms of the heroes out of the blue, in the second half, whereas they were in resistance, throughout the first half ! Apart from this minor blips, the film was presented neatly and packaged properly, with the correct dosage of comedy, romance, songs and sentiments, without going too preachy nor draggy.

'Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga' is levity-filled fun film, which is good for unwinding on a stressful day.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

THUPPAAKKI MOVIE REVIEW

An eagerly awaited film, especially by the fans of 'Ilaiyathalapathy' Vijay, 'Thuppaakki' ticks all the boxes of a potential box-office hit must-haves. A big hero, a big director, a legendary cinematographer, decent music director, good action, drama, comedy, songs and etc. Every ingredient is there, so did 'Thuppaakki' fire on all cylinders ? Pretty much, yes !!

The film obviously belongs to the hero, Vijay. He oozes confidence and style throughout the film. He carries the film for most period of the screenplay duration. His experience in dancing and fighting skills are very well written and watched, so there's no need of more elaboration on it. Its the actual acting performance which must be scrutinized and Vijay comes out unscathed. There is nothing to complain about his performance. He had a field day throughout this project and it must have been a walk-in-the-park for him. His comfortableness with Hindi and English gives his character more realistic touch and ingenuity  Vidyut Jamwal, plays a perfect foil to Vijay's lead role and he was menacing in his role. Brooding, full of machismo and debonair looks, Vidyut underplayed his character, which elevates the intensity and tension of the battle between the protagonist and him. Kudos to him ! Kajal Aggarwal though has nothing to perform and was there just as an eye-candy during comedy and song sequences. Though Ragini Sri's dubbing matched the tomboyish character which Kajal Aggarwal played, sadly it did not fit for her image and looks awkward. Sathyan makes a commendable presence throughout the film, and he too underplayed his character, which was heartening. Jayaram, was a scream, especially in the coffee-house sequence, and was a pleasant comedy relief. The rest of cast such as Manobala, Zakir Hussain, Anupama Kumar, Deepthi Nambiar were adequate with Meenakshi and Akshara Gowda making cameo appearances. 

A.S Lakshmi Narayanan's sound recording was apt and neat, especially during the encounter sequences. Kamal Shahani and S.Rajendran's costume designing was simple yet stylish for Vijay and also pretty for Kajal. Sunil Babu's art designing was adequate and apt for the movie with minimal touches, especially for the song sequences and props for some sequences involving the antagonist, which made things look natural and realistic. Kecha Khamphakdee of the Jaika Stunt team, has choreographed some stunning action sequences, especially in the warehouse, during the kidnapping sequence though, the climax fight sequence could have been better. Sreekar Prasad's editing was a big boost for the film, because it kept the pace of the film from not slowing down and his fast-cuts for the action sequences were flawless. India's most popular and celebrated cinematographer Santosh Sivan delivers his flawless work as well and this time, his work is more gritty and captures the raw and urbanized mood of Mumbai very well. Die-hard fans of Santosh might be disappointed because of the lack of scenes, which has his trademark establishment-shots. Overall, it was a flawless work indeed from Santosh Sivan. The usage of ARRI camera lends more authenticity to the look and feel of the film and it must have been a proud issue for A.R Murugadoss to have his film as the first to bear Santosh Sivan's name with the honorary ASC-status. 

Harris Jeyaraj's numbers were hummable and listen-worthy, though nothing was excellent or extraordinary. The opening song "Kutti Puli Koottam" was a refreshing one, for a Vijay film. It has some of Santosh Sivan's trademark misty shots, captured in lush, green fields and at a riverbed, with military men having fun, fooling around and dancing with the protagonist. "Antartica" is a peppy song, shot within a stadium and gym complex surrounding, with the hero trying to woo the heroine, who is an active sportsperson. "Alaikka" is a typical dance number which captures Vijay's wonderful dancing skills. The lighting and set properties were grand, yet looked simple and perfect with gold-themed set work. The chart-buster song, "Google Google" was shot in a Bangkok club, with dazzling lighting and funky dance movements with Santosh Sivan and A.R Murugadoss making cameo appearances. "Vennilave" was shot in Geneva around snow-capped mountains and green fields. Interestingly this song was shot by Natraj, the popular Bollywood cinematographer and has his trademark Bollywood-style glossy cinematography. "Poi Varavaa" is the situational finale song, depicting the leaving of military men to their camps after their holidays, which was shot in the railway station, capturing the poignant moments of the military men and their family members. The theme track, "Jagdish on Mission" plays throughout the film, which sizzles during the crucial moments. Harris's background score was better compared to his recent releases and he has tried some unique scores, keeping the Mumbai milieu in mind. 

A.R Murugadoss, did what he can do best - to come up with a racy and taut screenplay, with some interesting action sequences. The highlight of it was the encounter scene of 12 sleeper cell members, which was brilliantly conceived and shot. The cat-and-mouse chase between the protagonist and antagonist, keeps the audiences hooked to the film. The film was packaged very well and works out big time due to the engrossing screenplay which has some sensibilities in it. Though the majority of the script was well conceived and executed, some minor blips are here and there, with plenty of questions going unanswered and the director taking some liberty by infusing typical commercial dramatic elements or sequences into the screenplay, adhering to elevate and propagate the mass image of lead hero Vijay. Additional brownie points to the director for some intelligent dialogues here and there and for not overdoing the commercial formula of Tamizh cinema. After an unfavoured reception for '7am Arivu', A.R Murugadoss has bounced back strongly, with a tautly written script, which is his specialty and reminds us of his previous works such as 'Dheena' and 'Ghajini', which were all good commercial films. 

'Thuppaakki' is a sure-shot winner for the makers and an engrossing entertainer for the audiences. Party time for Vijay and A.R Murugadoss !

Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

NANBAN MOVIE REVIEW

Nanban, is a much awaited film by all circles for a few reasons. First, its the coming together of Vijay and director S.Shankar for a film. Second, its the remake of 3 Idiots which is one of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema history and considered a classic. Third, its a multi-starrer film and the final reason is for having the top technicians of the industry involved in this film. Many film enthusiasts were eager to catch this film in theaters to see how the remake was done and that too by S.Shankar, who is handling a remake subject for the first time in his career. Did the movie live up to its original or falter in the heavy expectations?

The best aspect of Nanban is the near-perfect casting. Vijay as Panchavan Parivendhan, was a throwback to his earlier cinema career. His commitment to the character is unquestionable and he delivers exactly what was expected of him. He didn't imitate what Aamir Khan did in the original and kept his own style of dialogue delivery and expressions. Its been ages since he did such a role of the quiet, charming guy who can win hearts with his mellow and restrained performance. Srikanth is a revelation and this movie is a proof that he has indeed matured into a fine actor. As the narrator of the plot, his dialogue delivery and dubbing was essential in capturing the attention of the audiences, and he did it neatly without copying any mannerisms of R.Madhavan. Besides that, he scored in the emotional scene which takes place between his character and the father. Jiiva shows his great acting capabilities with very good comedy timing and dialogue delivery and also for scoring in emotional scenes. He pulled it off with ease and his confidence in enacting the roll is obvious throughout the film and is on par as Sharman Joshi. Veteran Sathyaraj had a once-in-a-lifetime kind of role here as the dictatorial and ruthless principal shows that experience does matter in pulling of great roles. Its a welcome relief to see him not to imitate the fantastic Boman Irani but could have avoided following the same type of dialogue delivery style as Boman's and incorporated his own style, which could have given a new dimension to that character. Sathyan delivered a comical role very well and his interpretation of the character was different from Omi Vaidya as his was more loud and full of expressions. The best of his was definitely the speech giving scene, which was a scream! All the other male artistes like Manobala, SJ Suryah, Vijay Vasanth, Shanmugasundaram, Indrans, Ajay Rathnam and etc were apt for their roles. As for the female roles, its wonderful to see Ileana D'Cruz back in Tamizh cinema after 6 long years! The experience of appearing in multiple Telugu films is evident in her confident manner of acting and she got her pronunciations nearly perfect with the dubbing of Andrea Jeremiah for her. Not only performance, she does sizzle in song sequences as well. Anuya Bhagat was neat as the pregnant sister of Ileana and Deepa Venkat's dubbing for her was very much in sync.

Technically the film is rich with top class technicians involved. Pritam and Resul Pookutty's audiography was creative with various sound sequences used, especially in songs and climax portions. Kunal, Deepali Noor and Sai's costumes were colorful especially for Ileana in the "Asku Laska" & "Irukaana" numbers, though they could have experimented more with Vijay's costumes and look, which was rather plain and simple compared to the stylish and cute Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots. Anthony's editing was fine, though he could have trimmed few minutes of certain sequences to shorten the duration of the film and his work in "Asku Laska" song was high in quality. T.Muthuraj's art work was apt as all the props used in the film was natural especially for the university sequences and also for the detailing done in the house interiors of each character was very good. Besides that, its applaudable to erect detailed sets in a very small area for the "Irukaana" number. Manoj Paramahamsa once again proves why he is one of the best in the industry among cinematographers. His shots were a pleasant sight for the eyes especially in the "En Friend eh Pola" and "Asku Laska" numbers and also for the soft, natural lighting he used in the university sequences. Besides that Gemini Industries & Imaging's work done on the uncompressed 4k real-time on Quantel Pablo DI (Digital Intermediate) system gives the film a fantastic picture clarity with 4K digital resolution.

Harris Jeyaraj's music was melodious all through and there were no racy numbers in the album with the whole album complementing the mood and feel of the film. "En Friend Pola" number was picturized in montages with a road-concept as similar to the opening song in 3 Idiots. The picturesque hill stations were wonderfully captured by Manoj with long shots and post-card style frames. "Heartiley Battery" number is the equivalent of the extremely popular "Aal Izz Well" number of 3 Idiots. Though its less peppy and energetic as the original song, it still enthuses mild energy and was well picturized with good choreography by Shobi and cute ideas such as the 'Vadai' element and etc with the whole song taking place in cool university surroundings. "Asku Laska" had a cute sequences in between where the camera panned from the production crew and straight into the song which was a surprise for the viewers. The top angle and close up shots in the song helped the song look rich, especially in the glass set. "Nalla Nanban" is a situational song which was shot with montages which had a mishmash of cute and emotional scenes. "Irukaana" is a song dedicated to the svelte physique of Ileana and is a typical S.Shankar film song with elaborate and intricate and colorful set works which also has dozens of dancers. The camerawork is commendable as it involves a tight space and Manoj has captured the splendor and grandeur of the set work for this song, well. Besides that, the choreography of Farah Khan was catchy, too. "Endhan Kann Munnae" is the pathos song which was picturized on the sadness of Vijay Vasanth's character. It had good lighting work to show the night effect feel. Though Harris' work was neat in the songs department, his background score could have been much better as the re-recording was too melodious which gives a sentimental feel for certain scenes which could have been avoided. The usage of silence in certain scenes would have elevated the feel and intensity of those scenes.

For film enthusiasts, this movie might be a little disappointment because it was just a scene-by-scene remake and there were not much differences in the screenplay of the original 3 Idiots written by Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, which was based on Chetan Bhagat's novel "Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT". As a grand filmmaker himself, S.Shankar could have tried to infuse new and fresh elements into the film instead of remaking all scenes one by one but he can be excused since the original screenplay and script is a classic and it can be very risky to experiment with. Dialogues by S.Shankar and Madhan Karky was fantastic and very quirky and intelligent but at the same time, heart-warming. The speech dialogue spoken by Sathyan was absolutely hilarious and kudos to both Shankar and Karky for giving extra intuitive attention for comedy portions as well. The whole film carries breeziness, intelligence and emotions all into the right proportions which is a winning factor for the film crew.

Nanban did live up to its original and the remake was done in a very neat and proper manner with no mistakes or blunder made. Whether the original was much better, or the remake is a finer product, is something which should be left to each individuals as it is a matter of personal preferences. Final verdict: Nanban - All is Well, indeed.


Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VELAYUDHAM MOVIE REVIEW

'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is back to his forte, that is mass masala commercial cinema. Nothing surprising about that but the surprise factor here is the director of the film M.Raja who had only done films with his brother 'Jeyam' Ravi as the lead hero in Tamizh so far. There was no hiding that this film is a pucca commercial movie from all sides involved in the film and nothing novel was expected nor promised by the film crew. The only additional attraction is that, this is Vijay's highest budgeted film.

Vijay who's last was the decent off-track 'Kaavalan' is back to what he does best. He has a wonderful screen presence and a bundle of energy and joy. He excels in all departments with laid-back dialogue delivery, cute comical expressions, angst and fire in stunt sequences and flawless dancing skills in the songs. Good to see him experiment with different hairstyles in the "Maayam Seidhaayo" number. All his usual acts, checked. Genelia D' Souza and Hansika Motwani are two dolls used in this film and the former has the meatier role. Not to say Hansika has lesser screen presence, but Genelia's role has more importance to the script and Hansika just being an additional attraction. Genelia as a journalist was decent though her dubbing was out of sync at certain times. She was gorgeous in her simple and sweet wardrobe. Hansika's role as a bubbly village girl was a little bit odd but she has good timing and expressions, thanks to her experience as an child artist. Santhanam was very humorous with the not-so-loud and simple comedy tracks. It was not among his best but it certainly raises laughter, especially with his terrific comedy timing and besides that, some comedy portions were done by Suri and Paandi. Saranya Mohan was cute and homely and she too did what was expected. As usual there are many character artistes in this film as how it was with M.Raja's previous film. MS Bhaskar, Pandiarajan, Manivannan, Sayaji Shinde, 'Parotta' Suri, 'Black' Paandi, 'Kadhal' Thandapaani, Singamuthu, Vyapuri, Raaghav, Abhimanyu Singh, Vincent Asokan, Ilavarasu, 'Crane' Manohar and etc,etc all were part of this film and each of them had a couple of scenes between themselves.

Technically the film has some decent work. VT Vijayan's editing was flawless and he made sure the film had all its "ingredients" checked and at the same time, there was no unnecessary dragging in the film. Priyan's cinematography captured the action sequences well, especially the harbor fight and the climax fight and not to forget the train 'battle' scenes involving a helicopter as well. Stunts were choreographed well and in a simple manner and credits should go to both 'Stunt' Silva and 'Anal' Arasu and Silva's work in the harbor fight sequence was the best. Milan's sets were cool and trendy, especially with the songs. The usage of colorful and intricate sets, elevates the joyous mood of the songs and film. Vijay Anthony is a big asset to the film as his music contribution has helped the film to reach audiences faster. All the songs in the film are good numbers and will remain in the charts for quite some time and his background score too was not bad, either. "Chillax" and "Maayam Seidhayo" had wonderful sets, especially the former one. "Molachu Moonu" stands out as the pick of the lot in the film and will certainly be one of Vijay Anthony's best songs ever. It was well picturized by having all 3 lead characters, in the lush,green and cool Kashmir. "Sonna Puriyadhu" is the grandest song ever shot on Vijay and the director should be appreciated for maintaining a colourful and grand scenario throughout the song with hundreds of dancers and set work. "Rathathin Rathame" was in-tune with the story and delivered the necessary sentiments required for the film. The director and costume designer could have come up with a more novel and original idea for the costumes of the 'super-hero' alter-ego of Vijay. The costume was copied from the popular gaming series "Assassin's Creed".

This film can be labelled as M.Raja's most commercial film ever. The script is meant as a tribute and was developed based on the one-liner of the Telugu film "Azad" which was developed by him and his late-friend Thirupathysamy who directed "Azad". The Telugu film was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's "Main Azaad Hoon" which in-turn was inspired by an old Hollywood film, "Meet John Doe". M.Raja made sure that all the necessary elements were not left out in order to project Vijay as, not only a mass hero but as a super-hero as well. There was no dull moments in the film and the pace of the movie was kept stable throughout. The placement of the songs were smooth,the comedy portions were not boring, the sentiments were not too cliched and the intended message was delivered appropriately. The train fight sequence was a bit over-the-top considering they have used the services of veteran Hollywood stunts coordinator Tom Delmar. Surprisingly there were no punch dialogues in the film used by the protagonist. Vijay meanwhile reiterates his real life political stand in a certain scene. What makes us a little surprised is that, after a lengthy high-octane action scene, we are usually accustomed to assuming the film is about to end but here M.Raja continues the screenplay and reserves the most sentimental scene for us and builds up a emotion-filled climax for the protagonist who finally, delivers a motivational message for the audiences.

Vijay has a another commercial entertainer and a sure shot winner, at-least for his fans and M.Raja has used all the elements required and made available to him, in a very effective manner. There is nothing new story wise as the concept and theme is as old as the hills and Vijay himself had done it in his previous films. What works in this case is that, there were no false promises made and what was delivered, is what was expected of originally, from the director and the lead artist.


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

KAAVALAN MOVIE REVIEW

After facing numerous problems and hurdles, Vijay finally managed to release his eagerly awaited Kaavalan at one of his most crucial moments in his career. He's facing a crisis with back to back super flops considering that he's a super star. He has teamed up with Siddique after the super success of Friends and remaking a Malayalam film which was originally written keeping Vijay in mind. To be honest, Vijay must be thanked for giving a clean movie with no ridiculous stunts, over the top heroism, lame punch dialogues, crass villains but delivering a cool, sweet and cute movie which shows that Vijay is just not a star but also an actor.

Watching Vijay performing in mellow and cute love scenes is a big relief for the normal audience considering all the rubbish he threw out for the past few years. This movie is a throw back to the 90's era where Vijay was popular at the time for being a ladies man with soft and cute mannerisms. It's seriously nice to see him enact emotional scenes with aplomb and at the same time holding the audiences' attention with his screen presence. His transformation as a stiff and strict bodyguard with a touch of humor to the soft and love-struck guy was smooth and touching. The scene in the park where he was about to meet his 'lover' was truly touching and sweet where he portrayed the emotions of tense and calmness at the same time was a truly subtle acting from him. It shows the years of experience he has in the film industry. Added to that his dressing sense was pretty good in this film with most of his costumes looked contemporary and neat which presented him as a smart looking guy. Not to forget his emotional acting in the climax and as well his famous comedy timing, Vijay gave a very good performance as an actor this time. Asin is back after a small gap and she just sleep walked through her role. It took a few moments for her to deliver her histrionics as an actress of substance although in certain scenes she looked bad with the make up and the chemistry between she and Vijay is missing this time. Vadivelu was a riot in certain scenes especially with his 1 liners like "Private Number/Parvathy Nambiar" and the "Paavam Avare Confuse Aayittaru" dialogues being the best and the best scene would be the one where he gets bashed up in the womens hostel and how he complaints it to the others was an absolute laughter. Other than tat comedy scenes were pretty lame. Other cast members did their role as it was needed.

Technically the film doesn't deliver anything big. Stunts by Siva complemented well with Vijay's fighting style and it wasn't over the top. NK Ekhambaram's camera was just nice with the last fight scene being the highlight of his work. Vidyasagar gave a couple of hummable tunes like Step It Up and the Yaaradhu songs but should have done better with the BGM as it was too melodramatic at times. Song picturizations were not impressive though except for the starting part of the Pattam Puchi song involving the graphic works.. Siddique should have tweaked the first half of the film as until the interval, the movie doesn't show of anything promising and where it is heading to. Although the ending was touchy and sweet it could have been changed to something more realistic as it would have been more poignant.

Overall, Kaavalan is a decent film from Vijay after a very long time and it was just nice to see him do some real acting and deviating from his usual masala action movies. A cute, sweet film with a touching end is what Kaavalan is all about. It's not a great film but the same time not a bad one either. Only disappointment is the decision of Vijay opting out of 3 Idiots remake which would have helped him sustain the good momentum given by Kaavalan on his path to redemption. Hope more directors approach Vijay with simple and realistic scripts to help him show his histrionics as an actor.

Rating: 2.5/5 STARS

BY: TAMIL