KADHALIL SODHAPUVADHU EPPADI MOVIE REVIEW

"Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi", a 10-minutes short film made by Balaji Mohan was a huge hit on social networking sites once it went viral, has now been made into an 2-hour feature film by the same man. It brings back Siddarth into Tamizh cinema after his last release, the lame "180-Rules Kidaiyaathu". What made the short film go viral, was the relevant theme of love failures among college going youths but making it into a feature film is a different ball game and with the aid of Nirav Shah and Siddarth as producers, Balaji Mohan is sure one lucky, chap.

What makes the film appealing is the perfect, youthful casting. Siddarth as the college kid who always fumbles in love was very apt and thanks to his young looks and suitable pitiable face, was the perfect choice. Since he has experience in his side, he manipulates his emotions well and also his voice modulation, especially in scenes which he has to render his dialogues facing only the camera. Natural and flair, job well done by Siddarth. Amala Paul, was neat and decent and was very much natural as the middle class college kid. A big strength to her character is Deepa Venkat's dubbing as the voice of her character, which was near perfect. Added to that, her sweet looks complemented Parvathi, her character. Besides that all the additional characters were very much natural, from Suresh, Ravi Raghavendar, Sriranjani and etc. A special mention must be made of the actors playing friends of Siddarth, retained from the short-film. They were very good with their portrayal and do manage to bring down the roof with their antics. Especially the chubby guy. He was a scream with his comedy timing and dialogue delivery. Hope to see more of him.

Technically, the film carries good work by the crew. Ramya Ananthi's costumes were very lively and apt. Her costumes for both the lead pairs were colorful and complemented their good looks and it was pleasing to the eyes of the audiences. T.S Suresh's editing was neat and crisp keeping the duration of the film to just above 2 hours and A.R Mohan's art direction, especially the interiors of the lead characters' homes and campus classrooms were well done. But the biggest asset to the film is Nirav Shah's fresh cinematography. The angles, movements in song picturizations all were big boost to the film keeping the frames breezy and fresh, throughout.S.Thaman's music was in-tune with the mood of the film, being lighthearted and fun. "Parvathi Parvathi" and "Aanantha Jaladhosham" were well choreographed by Chinna Prakash and Gayathri Raguram, especially in the opening bits. Both songs were quirky and fun with pleasing cinematography. "Azhaipaaya Azhaipaaya" and "Thavarugal" were done in montages and followed the mood of the script. Well written by Madhan Karky.

Balaji Mohan's initial success with the short film was the quirky and fun manner in the way he handled the script, but he managed it very well in converting it into a feature film. He retained most of the scenes incorporated in the short film. Though it can be appealing to first time watchers, film buffs who are aware of the short film, may find it less interesting to see the same scenes once again, with the same camera angles, gimmicks and even the names of the characters as well! That could have been avoided. But that doesn't stop one from enjoying the film. Its a fresh take on the goof ups committed by youths in their love lives and Balaji's dialogues are additional strength to the film, especially when it comes to one-liners. His depiction of how men and women vary in particular situations were spot on, especially the coffee house scene, where the lead characters were shown thinking in diametrically opposite ways! Also it is nice to see a film without negative characters which is a rarity nowadays in Tamizh cinema. There is a subtle message woven into the script but Balaji takes his own sweet time to present it which can make certain audience anxious to see some serious story telling in the script. Not only the lead characters were contemporary in their approaches, but even the sub-characters, too were very urbane and cool, which helps the film from not being jolted unnecessarily.

"Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi" is a very aptly titled, well made time-pass film, keeping in mind the current issues involving youths in love, aided with well written script/dialogues and also some with decent technical output. Hope Balaji Mohan's work will be an inspiration for more small time short-film directors to come up with even better scripts and feature films.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

DHONI MOVIE REVIEW

Dhoni is the second directorial venture of veteran Prakash Raj, but the first in Tamizh. As with the case of his first film, this time too he has made a movie based on a story of another director, that is Mahesh Manjrekar which was made into a Marathi film titled "Shikshanachya Aaicha Gho". The movie evoked curiosity once Ilaiyaraaja was confirmed as the music director. The music album garnered acclaim for the live-recording method used by Raja sir after so many years. Considering that Prakash Raj is a no-nonsense actor and who promotes good movies through his production units Duet Movies and Silent Movies, Dhoni is expected to be a movie with good and decent quality.

Though the movie was promoted as tackling issues of father-son relationship, the whole movie is centered on Prakash Raj. He is the soul of the movie and he has delivered and honest and heartwarming performance. Being a veteran, he knows where to deliver all the subtle and sensitive emotions and he has pulled of the role of the caring middle-class father, Subbu very, very well. It is a good diversion for Prakash Raj who's usually called in to do the lame antagonist roles. He stands out in most of the scenes but the television show and breaking the bat episodes are the stand outs. Akash Puri, who is debuting through this film, carries out his role quite decently, though it was obvious he's not too comfortable with the language as the dubbing artiste's voice was not in sync with his dialogue delivery in a number of scenes. Radhika Apte leaves a mark with her sweet personality. A host of experienced artistes features in this film and all of them delivered natural performances. Be it Nasser, Brahmanandam, Chaams, Tejasri, 'Thalaivasal' Vijay, Thanikala Barani, Singamuthu, Murali Sharma, Balaji, and etc. Brahmanandam was a scream in his small role and as usual fantastic with his facial expressions. Kudos to the cast.

Technically the film carries quality output. First of all Isaignani Ilaiyaraja's music was a treat to all fans of his music. The songs were a throwback to his heydays and all of them were picturized in montage sequences. Special mention must be given for the "Vaangum Panathukkum" number which had a special cameo appearance of Prabhu Deva throughout the song and cutely choreographed by Dinesh. Raja sir's re-recording was subtle and was underplayed. Art direction by K.Kathirr was commendable, especially the registrar office sets and the house of the protagonist. Kishore T.E's editing was flawless and S.S Vasu's costumes were natural. KV Guhan's cinematography captured the ambiance of middle class life very well and helps the viewers to relate to the emotions of the characters, especially when the camera moves along with the characters.

Mahesh Manjrekar's story is not something revolutionary as the issue of education has been tackled few times in Indian cinema with "Taare Zameen Par", "3 Idiots" and it's recent remake "Nanban" all highlighted the issue of education being a burden, rather than a joy for kids, nowadays. Screenplay by Prakash Raj and T.J Gnanavel was OK but certain sequences could have been avoided as it was a little cinematic and over-the-top. But it is only a minor issue, as overall the script was well written with subtle humors, emotional turbulence and the trappings of middle-class life were all wonderfully presented which is the USP of the script, as it is something every audience can relate and empathize with. Besides that, another major strength of the film is the dialogues by T.J Gnanavel. They are emotional and soft in nature, yet sharp with in reality. Job very well done by T.J Gnanavel. Prakash Raj has balanced his work as the director and protagonist very well, with good selection of artistes and extracting good work from all of them and at the same time, delivering a fantastic performance.

Hope Prakash Raj continues this wonderful journey as a director and churn out more meaningful cinema like this. Dhoni is a well made film, with a soft-natured screenplay yet manages to deliver a thumping message to all.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

MARINA MOVIE REVIEW

Director Pandiraj whose last, "Vamsam" was a decent entertainer is back to his forte, that is children's genre. His much acclaimed "Pasanga" is still fondly remembered for the sweet screenplay and the message it delivered. With Marina, he has a different canvass to handle, that is the livelihood of child workers, toiling daily in the second-longest beach in the world. With kids in the fray the movie is expected to throw off some decent moments and also some worthy laughs since it's the launch vehicle for popular TV host Siva Karthikeyan. Did Pandiraj retain the same magic in "Marina" as well?

Though the film was marketed with Siva Karthikeyan and Oviya as the lead pair, in actual truth they are just a part of the film and the story revolves around child actor 'Pakoda' Pandian and his traverse in surviving in the beaches of Marina. Besides him, the film has a glut of child actors and each one of them have been realistic to the core and the projections of their characteristics helps to retain the natural feel and look of the actors. Besides that, there are a host of sub-characters like the horseman, Sundararajan as the old beggar, Arumugham as the performer and his daughter, Jithan Mohan as the postman and etc who actually help the kids' characters to be well established. Siva Karthikeyan, Oviya and Gautham Purushoth were average and it must have been a cakewalk for all of them. Siva Karthikeyan's character was not well etched out as well and he misses his comedy timing most of the time, which actually steals away the funny moments. Jayaprakash and Senthikumari had decent roles and played out their part well. On the whole, it was a decent performance from all the artistes.

The technical department has a decent work as well with cinematographer Vijay surprising us with couple of well composed shots, especially the placement of cameras in the horse, running and cycle race competitions. Besides that, the long aerial shot used just before the interval was very well executed. Vijay manages to capture the look and feel of Marina beach which is very essential for the script. Athiappan Siva's editing and Crawford's art direction was neat and simple. Newcomer Girishh.G's music was mild but the "Vanakkam Chennai" song stands out for the breezy tune. His re-recording impresses in bits and pieces.

The answer for the earlier question is, Pandiraj did not succeed to retain the same magic he had in "Pasanga" for "Marina". The whole movie has a documentary feel to it and many scenes did not connect with each other in an engaging manner, which lets the script down and makes it a boring viewing experience for the viewers. Though the film has a very decent message to convey, the slow and uninspiring screenplay fails to deliver the message in a thumping manner. Dialogues are creative though, with cute touches like Gautham's interesting sayings on love, the kids frank speeches during the interview episode and also was touching especially for Sundararajan's episode. Also there are some funny moments in the film involving Siva Karthikeyan, like his 'budget calculations', his 'revenge' method on Oviya and the 'surprise gift' all subtle humors. Pandiraj did a decent job with characterizations.

Overall, a movie with decent message and story but then poor screenplay and script.

Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

VETTAI MOVIE REVIEW

Linguswamy is back with another commercial cocktail with two cool dudes and two gorgeous gals as the lead characters. Lingu is known for his fast, swift and hard-hitting action screenplay which is coated with good technical aspects and wonderful songs. The coming back of Madhavan with Lingu is much awaited as their last film "Run" was a huge hit in those days and can be considered a cult classic for action films. Here they anticipation is further pulled upwards with the inclusion of Arya as well and Lingu's last, "Paiyaa" was a big hit. Are there chances for Linguswamy manage to pull of back-to-back hits, as the trailer of "Vettai" was promising?

One positive aspect of the film is the strong characterization of the lead artistes roles. First of all, Madhavan must be applauded for accepting a role which portrays him as a coward and that too with a upcoming hot star with him! He got his comic timing checked in, with cute expressions and his trademark smile as well. Besides that, he carried the changeover from the first half to the second half very well, and there were no hesitations on his side. Its good to see him play lighthearted roles in multi-starrers once again, but he has to keep his weight and physique in check. He is not really in shape and it actually contradicts the energy and vigor projected by him for his character in the second half. Other than that, he is good as usual. The real scene stealer is Arya. Though the trailer projected him as a loud and noisy character, in actual fact its the opposite in the film. He plays a chilled-out, relaxed and cool dude. He has very good screen presence and his action hero image helps him to convincingly play the role. He too, scores in comedy portions with subtle and restrained dialogue delivery. Sameera Reddy has a good role to play as the bold, brave, talkative, fiery but dumb girl. Her lip sync was not bad which needed her to utter long dialogues in fast manner and Chinmayi's dubbing for her worked well again. Amala Paul was cute and lovely in her limited scenes as Arya's pair and Savitha's dubbing for her complements her looks. Ashutosh Rana was good as well and had good screen presence and expressions, especially during close-up shots, though he struggled a bit with the dialogue delivery which was little bit out of sync with 'Thalaivasal' Vijay's dubbing for him. Nasser was a scream in few scenes which he appears once in a while and his dialogue delivery with fantastic comedy timing proves the veteran is a class actor. Sreejith Ravi was fine with Akash giving him the voice in dubbing. Thambi Ramaiah too delivers in comedy sequences with his funny dialogues and his clean delivery of it. Raju Sundaram and Linguswamy too makes surprising cameo appearances in the film.

One major asset of "Vettai" is cinematographer Nirav Shah. He had a fun time shooting this film and it was evident with the brilliant shots displayed in the film. His low angles and close-ups gives the right mood and feel for the film, especially during the tense sequences. The lighting done in the warehouse fight sequence was very well done, and the fight sequence shot in the rain, was class as well. Through this film, Nirav proves that he can cope very well with any sort of scripts and the bright color tones used, like red, orange, yellow and brown throughout the film really complements the script very well. Anthony's razor cuts keeps momentum of the film very well and the first fight sequence was very well edited. Rajeevan's props were very lifelike and all the interiors of the house, police station, warehouse and etc were natural and also went along with the script. Deepali Noor's costumes were very much apt for each character (Madhavan's conservative dressing, Arya's stylish and soft colored dressing and the heroines half-sarees) and it really complements the attitude of each character very well. Besides that, special kudos to her for Amala Paul's costumes in the "Kattipidi" song. Stunts are the real highlights of Linguswamy's films and this time he has opted for stunt director Silva. The action scenes are very well choreographed and composed which gives the adrenalin-pumping feel, though it is a mildly out of logic. Logic is of course something which is not bothered of when it comes to 'masala' commercials.

"Paiyaa" was musically a huge, huge hit and expectations were sky high once again for the trio of Linguswamy, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Na.Muthukumar. Sadly the expectations were not met as the songs were not as good as their previous film. "Dham Dham" was touted to be something on the line of "Theradi Veedhiyil" song from "Run" but sadly it was way behind that chart-busting song. The picturization was cool with slow motions used at good length and many half-saree clad girls were used to bring back the feel of "Theradi Veedhiyil". "Damma Damma" is a celebratory song picturized on all four lead artistes. It was well shot inside the old Karaikudi houses, which gives it a beautiful old-school feel. "Kattipdi Enna" was picturized among swanky new buildings and Nirav's cool color tone gives the song a different feel from the other one's in the film. The low angles and camera movement was creative. "Pappappa" is just another fast-numbered folk song and was picturized in a regular way with dancers dressed in fanciful costumes. Besides that, Amala Paul gets to show her glamorous side through this song. "Thaiya Thakka" was shot on both Sameera and Amala clad in half-sarees throughout, with wonderful rural landscape used in the background. Yuvan's background score too was not up to the mark, with the loud trumpet noises used throughout, bringing in a deja-vu feel.

Linguswamy's script are always taut, racy, pulsating and simple in manner but what adds additional strength is Brinda Sarathy's dialogues. Brinda's words are simple and stylish at the same time, which enhances the action mood of the script very well. Though the script has a very thin story-line, Linguswamy manages to keep the attention of audiences with interesting knots in the screenplay for instance the kidnapping scene and the child rescue scene. Also, he incorporates cute and humorous scenes which are light in manner. Example is the 'Thank You' scene which evokes laughter from all. Not to forget some good action scenes, Arya's encounter with the villains during a blood donation camp scene and Madhavan's "shutter" scene was racy and engaging. The film threads on the same line as Linguswamy's previous Vishal starrer "Sandaikozhi" with traditional Karaikudi houses, many shots taken in bright day time, the earthy and warm color tone throughout and a simple storyline. Although having simple story-lines is a welcomed move, the ending should not be too simple, as it was a little abrupt with this film and during post-ending credits, we are shown several scenes which should have been incorporated earlier to have a smoother ending.

In conclusion, "Vettai" is a simple, neat and lighthearted commercial action film which is a good time-pass film, especially during the festive holiday periods.


Ratings: 3/5 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

MOVIES THAT MADE A MARK IN 2011 & THE REASONS

7AM ARIVU
- Suriya's dedication and hard work
- AR Murugadoss' basic plot and thread of the script
- Grandeur in terms of making and script elements
- Ravi K.Chandran's cinematography and Rajeevan's artwork
- Tamizh sentiments and issues being discussed.
- Anthony's editing (climax fight sequences)
- Peter Hein's stunt choreography

AADUKALAM
- Vetrimaaran's gripping script and making
- Dhanush's National Award winning performance
- G.V Prakash's foot-tapping songs
- Performance of other artistes (Jayabalan & Kishore)
- Velraj's cinematography and lighting (especially in rooster fight sequences)
- National Award winning neat and perfect editing by Kishore.Te
- National Award winning choreography by Dinesh Kumar ("Othe Sollale" song)

AARANYA KAANDAM
- Thiagarajan Kumararaja's pathbreaking script and movie making (in Neo-Noir genre)
- Hard-hitting dialogues and narrative format with beautiful framing of scenes
- Performance of artistes (Jackie Shroff, Sampath, Ravi Krishna, Yasmin Ponnappa, Somasundaram & Master Vasanth)
- Cinematography of PS Vinod (fight sequences)
- Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score
- Stunt choreography of Dhilip Subbarayan
- Praveen K.L and N.B Srikanth's editing (fight sequences)

AZHAGARSAMIYIN KUDHIRAI
- Suseendran's simple and sweet script and casting
- Baskar Shakthi's story and dialogues
- Ilaiyaraja's background score
- Humorous and simple comedy portions

DEIVATHIRUMAGAL
- Vikram's one-of-career best performance
- Baby Sarah's heart-stealing appearance and performance
- Performance of other artistes (Anushka, Amala Paul, Santhanam, Nassar, MS Bhaskar, Y Gee Mahendran, and etc)
- AL Vijay's sweet and heart-breaking script
- Santhanam's comedy sequences
- GV Prakash's melodious songs and background score
- Nirav Shah's crystal clear cinematography
- Anthony's editing (overall of the film)

ENGEYUM EPPODHUM
- Saravanan's simple and straight-forward script
- Characterization of artistes
- The thumping take-away message
- Performance of lead artistes (Jai, Sharwanand, Anjali & Ananya)
- Sathya's simple and sweet songs
- Velraj's cinematography (angles and detailing)
- Audiography by Krishnamoorthy

KAAVALAN
- Siddique's light-hearted and bittersweet script
- Vijay's subtle and effective performance (reminiscent of his beginning years)
- Vidyasagar's hummable tunes
- Vadivelu's comedy sequences

KANCHANA
- Raghava Lawrence's script (combination of horror and comedy)
- Performance of Sarath Kumar as a transexual person
- Comedy sequences (Kovai Sarala, Sriman & Devadarshini)
- Thaman's songs

KO
- Entertaining, logical and racy script by KV Anand and Suresh-Bala duo
- Performance of lead artistes (Jiiva, Ajmal, Karthika & Piaa Bajpai)
- Chart-busting melodious songs from Harris Jeyaraj
- Richard M.Nathan's landscape-style cinematography and usage of Phantom Flex (climax fight sequence)
- Peter Hein's stunt choreography
- Kiran's realistic art direction

MANKATHA
- Ajith.. Ajith.. Ajith... (Charisma & screen-presence)
- Venkat Prabhu's twist-and-turns filled script
- Catchy and cheeky dialogues
- Multiple number of star artistes
- Foot-tapping numbers from Yuvan Shankar Raja and decent background score
- Shakthi Saravanan's stylish cinematography and color tone
- Praveen K.L and N.B Srikanth's editing

MAYAKKAM ENNA
- Selvaraghavan's dark, intriguing and emotional script and screenplay
- Contemporary dialogues and hard-hitting sequences
- Powerful and knock-out performance of lead artistes (Dhanush & Richa Gangopadhyay)
- GV Prakash's chart-busting songs and wondeful background score
- Photography-style cinematograpy of Ramji
- Crisp editing by Kola Bhaskar

MOUNA GURU
- Santhakumar's thrilling and intelligent script
- Simple and straigh-forward dialogues
- Characterizations of artistes
- Performance of artistes (Arulnidhi, John Vijay, Uma Riyaz Khan & etc)
- Thaman's simple and catchy songs and effective background score

MURAN
- Raajan Madhav's thrilling script
- Neat and crisp dialogues
- Characterization of lead artistes
- Performance of lead artistes (Cheran & Prasanna)
- Padmesh's cinematography (highway sequences)

OSTHE
- Dharani's perfect commercial mass masala script
- Bharathan's dialogues
- Silambarasan's screen presence and performance
- Santhanam's rocking comedy sequences and dialogues
- Thaman's chart-busting and foot tapping songs
- S.Gopinath's perfect cinematograhpy

PAYANAM
- Radha Mohan's neat and thrilling script (infusion of comedy in serious sequences)
- Gnanavel's hard-hitting dialogues
- Performance of all artistes
- Kadhir's realistic art direction
- Guhan's effective cinematography and lighting

SIRUTHAI
- Siva's masala script
- Karthi's convincing and contrasting double-act performance
- Santhanam's rip-roaring comedy sequences
- Tamannah's glamourous scenes

VAAGAI SOODA VAA
- Sargunam's neat, thoughtful and detailed script
- Performance of artistes (Vimal, Iniya, Bhagyaraj, Thambi Ramaiah, Kumaravel & etc)
- Immense detailing in art direction by Cheenu
- Fresh tunes and wonderful background score by Gibran
- Om Prakash's cinematography and color-tone usage

VAANAM
- Krish's anthology-style script
- Though-provoking dialogues of Gnanagiri
- Performance of lead artistes (Silambarasan, Bharath, Anushka, Prakash Raj & Saranya Ponvannan)
- Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score
- Neerav Shah and Gnanasekharan's effective cinematography and angles

VELAYUDHAM
- M.Raja's commercial and sentimental masala script
- Vijay's mass appeal
- Heroines' attractive appeal (Beautiful Genelia D' Souza & glamorous Hansika Motwani)
- Santhanam's comedy sequences
- Vijay Anthony's foot-tapping songs
- Priyan's effective cinematography
- Milan's colourful and elaborate artworks (song sequences)

YUDHAM SEI
- Mysskin's gripping and thrilling screenplay
- Strong and in-depth characterizations of artistes
- Subtle and powerful performance of artistes (Cheran, Y Gee Mahendran, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan & Jayaprakash)
- Sathya's cinematography (camera movements and tight angles)
- K's haunting background score


Noteworthy Films:
180-RULES KIDAIYATHU
- Middle class setting
- Lovely casting (Siddarth, Nithya Menon, Priya Anand, Mouli & Geetha)
- Beautiful music by Sharreth
- Wonderful cinematography by Balasubramaneim

AVAN IVAN
- Vishal's stunning performance
- A different rural- world setting
- Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score

KULLANARI KOOTTAM
- Light-hearted script by Sri Balaji
- Good music by Selvaganesh
- Decent comedy scenes

MAIDHANAM
- Realistic plot and script setting by Sakthivel
- Intriguing screenplay with good twists
- Natural cinematography by Vijay

ROWTHIRAM
- Jiiva's characterization
- Shanmugasundaram's brilliant cinematography (fight sequences)
- Anal Arasu's fantastic stunt choreography

UCHITHANAI MUKHARNTHAAL
- Pugazhendi Thangaraj's story
- Good casting (Neenika, Sathyaraj, Seeman, Sangeetha & etc)

MOUNA GURU MOVIE REVIEW

Mouna Guru, was a making progress silently with Arulnidhi as the protagonist. The "Vamsam" star was in need of a hit because of the poor outing of his previous commercial "Udhayan". Backed by his home production, this movie is directed by newcomer Santhakumar and has some good technicians behind the camera. As not much expectations were placed on this movie, the same factor has worked out for the success of it, by emerging as the dark horse/silent winner in the box office trade, thanks to the neat work done by the crew.

Arulnidhi shows potential once again here as his performance was quite good and his dialogue delivery was in sync with the character he portrayed. If he works out more on his expressions and body language, he has a very good future in Tamizh cinema. Heroine Iniya has nothing much to do here, other than be the love interest of the hero, but it's not the 'sake-of-having-one' kind of a role. All the other character artistes like Krishnamoorthy, Madhu, K.Balakrishnan, Sujatha and etc did their roles well but the real scene stealers were John Vijay as the corrupted police officer and Uma Riyaz Khan as a pregnant investigative officer. Both were fantastic with their subtle expressions and body language and this movie will stand as one of their best ever roles in their entire career. Mouna Guru is one of the rare films which has its entire cast dishing out decent and non-overboard acting.

The film has some decent technical works. Thaman's music is a plus for this film with "Yenna Idhu" and "Anamika" songs being the best of the lot. His background work is very much commendable and one of his better works and nearly as on par with his best "Eeram". The usage of silence in the climax scenes worked very well in enhancing the thrilling effect. Dhilip Subbarayan's stunts were very natural and minimally used, making it more realistic to watch. A.A Devaraj's production work and Mahesh Muthuswamy's camera work was very effective and well done. Raja Mohammed could have trimmed some portions of to speed up the screenplay, especially in the first half.

The real hero of this movie is the director Santhakumar. One of the best aspects of the film is the usage of characters. Nearly all characters had a role in moving the screenplay forward and even the antagonists were well used and not as just 'punching-bag' for the protagonist. In-fact there is not even a single scene showing heroism and each character has its own shades and color which makes it more believable. It is difficult in Tamizh cinema for directors to come up with decent enough thriller which can hold the attention of audiences till the very end, without compromising few factors. The events starts to unfold one by one and each scene were well executed with no nonsense approach. The unpredictable small twists and turns holds the interest of the audiences. Some might find the screenplay to be little slow in the first half, but it's just an minor issue.

Mouna Guru is a decently well made thriller which never fails to get the appreciation of viewers. Hoping to see more classy and better work from director Santhakumar.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

RAAJAPAATTAI MOVIE REVIEW

Two winning personalities coming together creates lots of expectations and excitement. Suseendran, fresh from his critically well-received "Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai" and 'Chiyaan' Vikram, after the heart-warming performance in "Deivathirumagal" join hands for "Raajapaattai". From the very beginning itself, the production team has made it very clear that it would be an out-and-out commercial movie on par with Vikram's earlier hits like "Dhool" and "Saamy". Besides that, the film comprises of good technicians and it was supposed to be a cracking film from the crew. Alas, the end product was of poor quality and far from what the audiences wanted to see.

There's no doubt that Vikram is a brilliant actor, and also it is not wrong to choose a commercial film to sustain the pedigree in the cinema market, but it should be a film with enough flavor to cater to the mass image of the hero. Here Vikram does carry the whole movie on his 'very broad' shoulder, but what is the point of carrying a burden which has no worth? 'Chiyaan' has a very limited role here and the much hyped 17 different get-ups were just small time cinema gimmicks, though he was brilliant as usual for carrying different body language for each get-ups, especially in the "Villadhi Villain" song and in a few scenes in the second half. Vikram looks too 'matured' for the funky, cool colors and it does not suit him very well. Deeksha Seth, makes her debut in Tamizh cinema here and as usual she has nothing much to do other than to look pretty in songs. Legendary director K.Vishwanath as the old grandpa was very adorable and cute with his fantastic timing and expressions but too bad his role too was limited to the first half. The rest of the cast including Pradeep Rawat, Avinash, Sana, Thambi Ramaiah & Mayilsamy was pretty much ordinary and only the stunt actor Aruldass evokes laughter once in a while.

Harikesh and Shobana Kailasam should be applauded for the costumes department as their work was very neat and the hero-heroine pair looked wonderful in the "Paniyepani Poove" song and also with Vikram's funky costumes, though whether it suits him or not is a secondary issue, but it suited the character of 'Anal' Murugan very well. Meanwhile, stunts by 'Anal' Arasu was a bit over-the-top in certain shots but the fight sequences taken in the rain and in the market street was very well coordinated. The technician who has contributed the most is definitely the art director Rajeevan. The whole movie were shot on sets and each set was very natural be it the housing colony, the street market, the film sets, everything was done very neatly. Class work from him, as usual. Mu.Kasivishwanathan did a decent job in the editing department by keeping the film very short and not draggy with unnecessary scenes. Madhie's cinematography was pretty much ordinary this time, but the fight sequences in the rain and in the market street were well captured with clever positioning of camera angles. Yuvan Shankar Raja's song was quite average this time with only 2 songs hummable, which are "Podipaiyan Polave" and "Paniyepani Poove" being the best of the lot. "Podipaiyan Polave" was done with montages and in choreography in colorful and simple sets, erected by Rajeevan in the beach. "Villathi Villain" was picturized in a pretty lame manner with Saloni Aswani making a special appearance in the song. The only bright spark was the various get-ups of Vikram who pretty much fitted into everyone of it! "Paniyepani Poove" was picturized in a rather simple and elegant manner in autumn-filled locations. The much publicized "Laddu Laddu" song featuring 2 hot gals, Shriya Saran and Reemma Sen fails to attract attention as it was placed in the ending credits, which by the time many audiences would have left the cinema hall. Yuvan's background score was pretty decent and neat with the opening rap-bit sung by Emcee Jesz sounding attractive and energetic.

The main drawback of the film is the poor screenplay of Suseendran. Though the story, written by co-director Seenu is a much relevant issue of today, Suseendran's screenplay was very lame and dull. It didn't create any impact, didn't generate any zing and didn't keep the audiences hooked to the screen, even though the film was only running for little more than 2 hours! All the jokes and comedy portions fell flat except for a couple of scenes, thanks to the cute and K.Vishwanath and the poor 'henchman' Aruldass. There confrontation scenes between the protagonist and the antagonists too was very lifeless and looks amateurish with no excitement generated to keep the audiences on their edge of the seats. The only saving grace is the no-nonsense dialogues by writer Baskar Shakthi where a couple of them were real hard 'punches'.

"Raajapaattai" was a total disappointment from a talented crew, which left many audiences thinking was the movie meant to be taken as a serious film or a spoof of some sorts. Vikram promised a pucca mass masala commercial but end of the day, the audiences were treated to a very bland and tasteless product.


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

OSTHE MOVIE REVIEW

Silambarasan is back once again this year with the much talked about Osthe. The movie was much awaited by fans of commercial cinema since it is the remake of Salman Khan's huge hit "Dabangg" and also the return of director Dharani who has given smashing hits before with "Dhill", "Dhool" and "Gilli". Added to that, the songs of the film is a big hit and Richa Gangopadhyay is having her second release in Tamizh cinema within two weeks. Besides that, there is Santhanam who always keeps some of his best work for his 'mentor' Silambarasan. So did "Osthe" live up to "Dabangg"?

As the whole film depends on his character, Silambarasan has lived up to the role of 'Osthe' Velan and he oozes arrogance and style to give color to that character. As expected from a commercial cinema hero, he displays all emotions well and does comedy, utter punch dialogues, shows good flexibility in stunt sequences and not to forget, his whacky dance movements in song sequences. Besides that, he scores in scenes which needs heavy emotions and he played it very well with subtle body language and facial expressions. Silambarasan is making improvements from film-to-film. Some fans might not be able to accept Silambarasan in a larger-than-life role but he has enjoyed doing this role and it is evident in the film. Sonu Sood is an ample villain and he is dashing and brooding and gives good competition to Silambarasan, though he is far more taller and heavily built compared to the protagonist. Richa Gangopadhyay, who made a terrific debut in "Mayakkam Enna", is reduced to just songs and some glamorous shots which is normally expected of in a 'masala' movie, though Chinmayee's voice was suitable for her. "Jithan" Ramesh has found his proper second innings in Tamizh cinema with a neat portrayal. The rest of the supporting cast such as Revathy, Nasser, "Nizhalgal" Ravi, Saranya Mohan, "VTV" Ganesh, Azhagam Perumal, Vijayakumar and the "Osthe Velan" Force, comprising Mayilsamy, Vaiyapuri, Thambi Ramaiah were perfect and did their portions very well. One man who kept the audiences attention all the time was Santhanam. He was absolutely funny and humorous with his one-liners and great timing. The act he does in the "Neduvaali" song is the, pinnacle! Santhanam is on a high!!

The film has a decent technical department. Vidhyaa B.Reddy and S.Rajendran's costumes were apt for the roles and Richa's was particularly glamorous. Stunts were done decently in some portions, whereas in certain others, they were over the top. Since there are three directors associated with stunts, Kanal Kannan, Ram Laxman and Silva it is hard to distinguish who, did which. Kalyan and Robert delivered the necessary must-have's of Silambarasan's whacky and zany moves in song sequences. Maniraj's sets are very naturally built except for some sets which looks like 'newly' erected, especially with the heroine's house set. Though the artwork was neat, it is quite debatable to see how close the sets came in portraying the Thirunelveli district. S.Gopinath is class above the rest when it comes to commercial mass masala and his work elevates the mood of the film, especially the confrontation scenes and in the railway track sequences. Not to forget the pre-climax scenes. He is a big asset to Dharani. Veteran V.T Vijayan's work is clean and neat. The biggest strength of the film is the music by Thaman. All the songs are foot-tapping and entertaining, which is the ultimate need of mass movies. "Osthe Mamey" was typical of hero's introductory song and it was cool to see Dharani making a cameo as well. "Unnale Unnale" was done in a montage style with dance and sequences thrown in as well and the scenes in the temple were well shot. "Neduvaali" was done in a spacious set and was a complete entertainer with the dance sequences. "Pondatti" song was decent and cute and was mostly shot in Dubai and the opening few seconds in the early morning dew was pleasant to see in screen with the light purple tinge in the backdrop. The much talked about "Kalasala" was a letdown though. It had 2 big advantage in the form of rocking music with superb rendition by Vijaya.T.Rajender and LR.Eshwari and also the hot Mallika Sherawat as the item girl. Yet the song failed to live up to expectations, video clip wise and is not a match to the original "Munni Badnam" number in "Dabangg".

The strength of mass masala commercials is the screenplay and Dharani has a solid track record before this. "Osthe" too was well written and had fast screenplay, keeping the audiences attention and even when we were expecting a slight slump in the screenplay, either a song or Santhanam comes in handy to keep the audiences entertained. Dharani has very cleverly made the necessary changes to make the script apt and suitable for Tamizh audiences and having his assistant Bharathan as a the dialogue writer, he has added more plus points to the film. Bharathan's dialogues especially the one mouthed by Azhagam Perumal about politics/politicians were very well written.

The film is strictly for those who like and do not mind watching mass masala commercial films and in addition, do not mind seeing Silambarasan in a larger-than-life type of role which usually fits the Fab 4 (Vijay, Vikram, Ajith & Suriya) of Tamizh cinema. If it wasn't for some over-the-top scenes, this film is a near-perfect mass masala commercial film.


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

PORALI MOVIE REVIEW

Sasikumar and Samuthirakani are back again with Porali this time. Their last work "Eesan" was a success critically wise but failed to set the cash-registers, ringing. Due to poor release timing, they're movie faltered. This time they are once again offering another hard-hitting film but it's Samuthirakani's turn to do the direction. His "Nadodigal" was a super hit and was much appreciated by all section of fans and much is expected from this film.

Starting with the cast, the soul of the film is the protagonist, Sasikumar and he has done a good job. Nothing outside of his regular acting as he had replicated the same mannerisms, dialogue delivery style and body language as he did in "Nadodigal" but with less fire, due to the characterization. His plus is his look and the beard and it complements the intelligent/smart persona of his character very well and the whole film is carried by him. The changeover from rural to city background was smooth, though there are some questions which can be raised with the transition. Allari Naresh was fine and the scenes which required the tough emotions, were neatly done though his mannerisms were similar to what Bharani did in "Nadodigal". Heroines Swathi and Niveditha has not much to do and only the former has more screen space as Sasikumar's pair. Nevertheless, they were well used but the surprise package is the appearance of Vasudhara in a very short role in the second half. Her's was a meaty role which demanded some physical struggle but it was a short-lived one. Job, well done. There are a plethora of extras in the film like Jayaprakash, 'Ganja' Karuppu, 'Parotta' Suri, 'Badawa' Gopi, Prof.Gnanasambandhan, Namo Narayanan and etc. The comedy portions in the first half was neatly done and evokes a few genuine laughter, thanks to the fine timing by 'Ganja' Karuppu and in the second half it's 'Parotta' Suri's turn to entertain the audience with his dialogue delivery.

On the technical front, the movie is quite simple. S.R Kadhir is brilliant as usual with his wide angles, top angles and angles from tight spots which he squeezes into the frame. His brilliance is evident in the scenes captured in the small housing colony. Nice work, all the time. Keep it up, Kadhir! Sundar C.Babu's music is disappointing this time with non of the songs really catchy and only the background score was done well, thanks to his effort of recording it in the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. A.L Ramesh should have done a better job with Samuthirakani as the screenplay was sloppy. R.K Naguraj's props and sets in the barren land was well done. Dhilip Subbarayan's stunts were tad a bit disappointing this time as some stunts were not neatly executed. Technical wise, the film had average work except for SR Kadhir's contributions.

Samuthirakani, who always comes up with fiery screenplay with full of enthusiasm and angst at times, misses the plot this time. His screenplay was very sloppy, as mentioned earlier and there was no coherence in the flow of the story with various flashbacks of different timeline. The movie started off very well, with all the necessary grip and anticipation but slowly rolled out to be a moderate product. His dialogues though were intelligently written with doses of angst, pain, emotions and sarcasm and even cheeky, by making reference to their previous film and personal opinions as well. The first half had the right portions of suspense, comedy and emotions but the second half was slow and confusing. Besides that, a few proceedings or events in the film are questionable which seems to be out of logic or should be said as out unjustified. The scenes depicting the patients in the mental asylum looks a bit disturbing and it might not be fathomable for a few.

In the end, the movie turned out to be a below average film and it's disappointing to see it coming from a very talented team of film-makers. Samuthirakani had a very good message and theme to play with, but his screenplay was a big letdown and some issues were not properly looked into.


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL