ARANMANAI MOVIE REVIEW

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.

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

ENDRENDRUM PUNNAGAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Endrendrum Punnagai' has been making the right noise, thanks to the multiple number of stars playing the lead roles and for a glossy output, credits to the classy technicians. Harris Jayaraj's bubblegum pop music was received warmly as well. I.Ahmed, the television writer who previously wielded the megaphone for 'Vaamanan', is back in the helm as creator and director of this urbane flick. Will 'Endrendrum Punnagai' leave us with smiles as the moniker suggest ?

Jiiva, unsurprisingly has the best written role in the film. His characterization has some considerable depth in it, and Jiiva seized the opportunity to polish his acting credentials. He proves that he is an actor of great capability and shines in some of the crucial, emotional moments of the script. His dancing is improving a lot and he shares great chemistry with his fellow artistes. Vinay has a walk-in-the-park sort of a role, and he pulls it off, effervescently. He shows his confidence in humor sequences as well and forms a good partnership with the fellow male leads. Santhanam, was a scream in the film with his spotless dialogue deliveries and spot-on comedy timing. His counter dialogues are the real sucker punch and the man is back with a bang, after some lackluster performances in a slew of recent releases. Check out the drunk act he does, late in the second half ! Trisha, delivers a neat performance and the her soft-spoken character suits to a T. And she is still a looker, even after a decade as heroine in Tamizh cinema ! But why the usage of Chinmayi to dub for Trisha, when the heroine herself can speak well ?Andrea Jeremiah, carries her role as a diva quite well and proves herself to be quite a charmer, in some sequences. She only gets a few moments in the film, but still never fails to leave her mark. Nassar proves that experience counts when it comes to acting, and the veteran is definitely the icing on the cake. The rest of the cast such as Jagan, Abhinay, T.M Karthik, Varsha Ashwathi, Swaminathan, Thanuja, Sriranjini, Sanjana Sarathi, Narayan, V.Balaji and etc were adequate enough for their peripheral roles.

The costume designers, Chaitanya Rao and Nikhila Sukumar must be praised for their fantastic work in their department. All of the artistes were looking very attractive and radiant, with their chic and elegant costumes, projecting a very urbane and fashionable set of people. Production design by Milan is top notch, with classy set work, especially with the interiors of the posh bungalow houses shown in the film, as well as the contemporary office set-up. His props of the outdoor sequences were in tact, as well. A class act ! Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B ensures that the editing is smooth and flawless, and there are no jerky transitions from one sequence to another, at all. The duration of the film though, could have been shorter because 155 minutes of running time is not a necessity for such a script. Cinematographer Madhie must be congratulated for his brilliant work with his camera. The film gets a rich and glossy look, due to his lighting and postcard-like framing, especially in the second half, which has beautiful locations, shot in Switzerland and France. He definitely made up for the high cost of the film, with good cinematography works !

Harris Jayaraj has scored tunes, which gives us a sense of deja-vu. Nonetheless, his fans will still lap it up, for the feel-good music, with simple and catchy arrangements. "Yealae Yealae" is the song played in the opening credits, and was shot on the trio of male leads. The collage of photographs was well edited by Praveen and Srikanth, which interspersed with the montages shown in the song, highlighting the friendship of the triumvirate. "Ennathe Solle" was shot in a club-like set-up, which was well erected by Milan, and Madhie's lighting gave the song a glossy look, which was shot on the male leads. "Othayile" is a situational song, with plenty of montages and slick camera movements by Madhie. "Kadal Naan Thaan" was shot on Jiiva and Andrea, which had beautiful Swiss Alps as its backdrop, and also some cool chopper shots and not to forget, the sensual shots, with water backdrop. "Ennai Saaithale" is a bit song, used as a situational song in the second half and was shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with beautiful snow landscape as the backdrop. "Vaan Engum" is the pick of the lot, shot on Jiiva and Trisha, with Swiss cities as the backdrop. Harris Jayaraj's background score, complements the script's flavor and style and also supports the emotional sequences very effectively. 

I.Ahmed's clever formula of elements such as good-looking artistes, great locations, beautiful images, peppy songs, high production quality, has amalgamated well into a feel-good film. The script has two important driving factors, which are bromance and romance, and each one of them presides the two halves of the film, respectively. The majority portions of the screenplay are light-hearted and is just plain, simple fun. The director smartly manipulates his artistes by allowing them to soak themselves up in their respective characters, and gives them plenty of space to establish their roles. As mentioned earlier, each half gives more importance to only of the previously mentioned factors, at a time, and that can be a little turn-off for some viewers. Such a structure gives an inorganic flow to the proceedings of the script, and might bore some of the viewers, especially in the second half. The bromance portion can look a little silly, and also not really family-friendly in nature, especially with some adult jokes, strewn here and there. The romance factor works out decently, but lacks does not leave a very strong mark, due to inter-cuts of humor sequences and a dragging screenplay. I.Ahmed infuses a good message for those in denial, when it comes to relationship issues, and he must be appreciated for not being too preachy in his handling. A crisper and organic screenplay would have done more good for the film.

'Endrendrum Punnagai' - A feel-good, candy-floss romance & bromance film !


Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

ONBADHULA GURU MOVIE REVIEW

P.T Selvakumar, the manager of 'Ilaiyathalapathy' Vijay for nearly 30 years, turns director with 'Onbadhula Guru'. With an interesting ensemble cast of youngsters, P.T Selvakumar promised a good comedy film, which will make us forget our worries, and enjoy the comedy, unabashedly. Did he deliver, as he promised ? Did the years of experience, being a manager of a very popular star, help Selva in his tryst ?

We were reminded that the movie is about 4 Idiots, but then it should have been captioned as 4+1 Idiots. Vinay Rai, makes his mini-comeback in this film, and he has more of the screen space among all the 'Idiots'. He tries his best to deliver his dialogues well and maintain a good timing in his comedy. Though far from being perfect, he is passable and with more experience, he can improve his acting capabilities. Sathyan's dialogue delivery was good, as he is always funny with his voice modulation and not far behind him was Chaams, though he had limited screen timing. Arvind Akash, was okay and the additional 'Idiot', Premji makes his presence felt by mocking Tamizh cinema heroes and Tamizh cinema's landmark films and scenes from those films. Lakshmi Rai, makes an entry late into the second half, and was adequate, though it must be noted that she is a little out of shape. The film has a host of artistes doing minor roles such as Manobala, Manthra, Sona Heiden, Geetha Singh, Karthika Shetty, Roopa Shree, Yogi Devaraj, Chitra Lakshmanan and etc. All of them were sincere to their roles, though whether did it leave any impact, is a different question all together. Besides them, we do have 'Powerstar' Dr S.Srinivasan and director K.S Ravikumar, doing cameo roles !

The technical department's job were ordinary and nothing to rave about. N.J Sathya's costumes were too colorful and loud. R.Janaa's art work was simple, especially for the outdoor sequences, though his detailing could have been much better. Silva's one stunt sequence choreography was sufficient enough for the scene. P. Sai Suresh's editing and P.Chelladurai's cinematography were just okay. Music director, K's songs are not even hum-worthy, and is immediately forgettable. "Alayaadhe Summa" is the song which is played during the opening credits and has 'Powerstar' Dr S.Srinivasan doing his funny dancing jigs. He is accompanied by Sathyan and Arvind Akash, and the song is shot mostly in the outdoors, such as parks. "Theera Theera" was picturized in a college setting, and has plenty of merry and dancers, regularly associated with such type of songs. "Vaa Machi" is a song which pokes fun at marriage and the tune is eerily similar to K's previous "Bar Anthem" in 'Mugamoodi'. The picturization is not much different from the earlier mentioned, two songs. "Maidha Maidhaanam" is a club song, which has Lakshmi Rai shaking her legs. It has some creative editing, but with minimal impact. The song had cheesy lighting, and costumes of the artistes, should have been better.

First things, first. Mr. P.T Selvakumar, what genre does your film belong to ? Is it a regular comedy movie, or is it an out-and-out spoof movie ? We have no clue on what were Selva's intentions, and all we can see is just an onslaught of spoof scenes, from the start, till the end ! A majority of the film's scenes were irrelevant and has no purpose. Tamizh cinema stars were made fun of repeatedly and apparently, Suriya was the most targeted, conspicuously. As the spoofing goes on tirelessly, the audience starts to get tired fast and lose interest in the proceedings. What's even more pathetic ? Most of the jokes or spoofs, fall flat and fails to evoke even, the slightest of chuckles, barring one or two, here and there. And the credits can go to the co-dialogue writer M.Ashok Kumar. What's really shameful, are the crude and crass jokes made out of women, which is unacceptable at all ! There is no connectivity between the scenes and a coherent screenplay, as well. Slapstick comedy is a tricky tread, and one can only pull it off, if there's an excellent writing and an equally excellent casting. 'Onbadhula Guru' fails badly, in pulling off such an attempt.

'Onbadhula Guru' - Its even more shocking to see the film ending with a note that there's a sequel to it, with 'Powerstar' as the main lead ! P.T Selvakumar, should seriously consider not going ahead with a sequel, unless it changes hands, to another director !


Ratings: 1.25/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MIRATTAL MOVIE REVIEW

'Mirattal' is the comeback vehicle of actor Vinay Rai after 3 years of absence in Tamizh cinema. This film is a remake of a hit Telugu film titled 'Dhee'. As it is the flavor of the season to have Santhanam, in its cast, this film too has him playing the sidekick to the hero.

Vinay Rai looks at ease, pulling off the character of Babloo and plays comedy quite well too. But he has to improve his dancing skills a lot, if he wants to make it out as commercial artiste. Sharmila Mandre, a Kannada actress makes her debut in this film. Her expressions and emotions are pathetic and seriously needs to go for acting lessons, if she intends to make a living as a performing artiste. Prabhu breezes through his role and Pradeep Rawat as the antagonist was loud and his character looks silly. Santhanam was the best asset and only asset of the film. He is simply funny with his dialogue delivery and fantastic one-liners. The film is full of such witty one-liners, which keeps you entertained for sometime. Accompanying him in the comedy portions are 'Ganja' Karuppu, Pandiarajan and Mansoor Ali Khan. Besides them, Rishi, Uma Padhmanaban, Yuvarani and Bosskey dons small roles in the film.

The film carries very average technical standard. Vivek Harsha's editing work was just normal, as in to compile a set of scenes into a film. E.I Mayan's art work was average too, with sloppy work in the birthday sets. D.Kannan's camera work has nothing to shout about apart from few scenic locations shot in England covering areas such as Richmond, Windsor, Bath, Surrey, Oxfordshire and around the University of East London. Praveen Mani's songs were boring too. "Radio Radio" a typical 'kuthu' number was shot in England around housing complex areas and "Kalla Paarvai" was shot with castle and greenery backdrop. "Mugamoodi" was shot with a birthday celebration background, involving the other cast members.

Director Madhesh's film has a script which is as old as the hills and nothing novel about it. Also the presentation was pretty lame and only Santhanam was helping the audiences to not fall sick. The only saving grace act from the director is to include Santhanam in the film and to pen funny one-liners for him. The story has plenty of flaws in script wise and the supposedly 'thrilling' climax was just lame.


'Mirattal' is just a one-time watch and that too for the comedy portions only.


Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL