Thavamai Thavamirundu
Thanks to Cheran,.....let me tell it upfront.....It was and is a scintillating experience to watch this movie and write about it as well. If Autograph was any indication of Cheran maturing...this is proof that he is one of the best movie makers in the business in Tamil Nadu....or better known as Kollywood......more because he does films that he loves doing....and gets critical acclaim for his movies...plus gets the return in terms of the success of the movie with the masses....this last one is the most elusive, missing link for almost all directors...which Cheran seems to be making with a child's ease...atleast in his last two movies.....both have been declared as commercial successes now...
Onto the movie.....real good selection for the storyline....not delved into such detail..in movies..prior to this. And I read in a magazine that Cheran, briefed Rajkiran the story and said, if and only if you are ready to don the hero's role would I be interested in making this film, else would take up some other storyline for a film. Such was the trust that the director had in Muthiah's character, for which he firmly believed, only Rajkiran would do justice.
Yes, you guessed it right...Rajkiran is delightful, refreshing and picture perfect for the role...all at once...it is so natural for him to do this role....he can rest assured that he had donned a life-time role for the better. It would take a political imbroglio or a geographical bias to stop him from getting the national award for his role in TT.
Getting down to the hero of the film, the storyline and the deft handling of the story with apt screenplay and direction, one cannot stop admiring the director for his skill. The best part is that.. the director has not succumbed to the guile of making a screenplay out of the story line, rather he has allowed the story to take center-stage and made the screenplay an ally for the story, which is rather unusual in the grist of the mill stuff, prevalent at present which mainly harps on fast screenplay. He has never cared to bring in startling twists at interval time, another one just before the climax or any stuff of that sort, which is the bane of modern day film makers.
Each character in the film does exactly what it has been created for.......not doing an inch extra...that's where the movie scores. Be it Sathyapriya as the courteous daughter-in-law or Saranya as the caring, understanding house wive, Cheran as the repenting son, or Senthil as the elder son, wow..the characters have not been created, rather just picked out straight from any tamil family you can choose. This is not a surprise considering what Cheran says about his subjects.....” I dont create stories...I search for stories from our tamilian life styles”...Hatz offff to Cheran for his bold foray with such subjects......
One more interesting filmi stuff I saw in the movie....If I am right, is the first for any tamil film. It goes like this:
We are used to seeing flash-back narrations in BLACK-AND-WHITE, while the current narration in COLOUR, just to make the needed difference for the viewer. This movie made this difference with a difference..yes..you are reading it right. BLACK-AND-WHITE scenes are those which are not very happy even though they happen at present, while scenes in COLOUR are those, which you can associate with bright moments in the movie...which I thought was new, very relevant and worth mentioning... Good work...TT team.. !!!
Gosh,....It looks like more of a Cheran's appraisal than the review of the movie Thavamai Thavamirundhu... That must be telling you in summary about the movie...It is an out-and-out a cheran show.... Fantastic....!!!!
Ghazini / Ghajini
Surya has matured as an actor, versatility is his forte and is setting standards that one can expect safely from him movie after movie....Technical gloss and Surya are the main armoury for this Ghajini...:-)
Being a die-hard Shankar fan, I was pretty sure, that Tamil Cinema or for that matter Indian cinema will take its own sweet time to reach or match the technical brilliance on display in any Shankar film...and u know what, I had to eat my words..for the better of Tamil Cinema, for once I was proud...because here is a movie which is very good advertisement for Tamil Cinema. It was out and out technical extravaganza on display for close to 60 minutes, split over 2 halves in the start and the end of the movie.
Yeah...and according to me that was it.....nothing more extravagant about the movie...Believe me....the excitement that is setup with the introduction of the indisposed surya....had it been matched in entirety or at half of it....the movie would have gone far beyond diwali date, coz the movie will have to pay the casualty for the delayed release...as it has already eaten too much into the diwali deadline...and the producers of the movie..will have to pay for it...dearly...because the movie does not have the killer punch of Ramanaa..or the purpose of Kaaka Kaaka....
The main drab part of the movie...is the flashback of the Hero...that extends beyond the bar, a tad too far...spilling over three separate narrations which is quite irritating for the eye and the mind..because there is nothing special in the flash back....except for Surya's looks..
--which are stunning...he is getting smarter by the day....and is getting there for the tag that his father once held as his forte...young and sweet at heart--
Asin is looking the damsel she needs to be...nayantara..disappoints with her emoting....unwanted skin show is not expected out of this movie...which is devoid of any serious comedy...so the song sequences are just fillers for such a strong storyline...and the movie could as well go without atleast 3 of the five songs...If you ask me....
and yes..coming to the other credits holders...the music..Harris Jeyaraj..I am seriously at dismay with the kind of re-recording he has been dishing out movie..after movie....too loud...and unnecessary for the scenes..I felt exactly the same with Thotti Jaya, as well. So I felt a sense of distaste here. Songs..one felt a sense of belonging only for the melodies...just two in number..:-)
The video-editing is absolutely great...and visually grand...good work...the climax fight sequence is one very good example for this..plus the song sequences., Locations are equally grand to fit Sanjay Ramaswami's attitude....mood..and costume in the songs.
The other characters in the movie..not many in number...though played their part..Riyaz Khan did well in whatever he got...a raw deal in the meaty role I would say...Pradeep Rawat..the usual Villain..the only difference being double the villainy...hahaha....
The biggest credit to the movie..inspite of all these snides...is that the story line, though quite complex has been dealt with aplomb in the screenplay and reality never taking a beating. Surya..I would say has done his role exceedingly well...full marks to him....but one felt he was under utilized if we take Nanda and Kakka Kakka as standards....
Overall, happy with the movie...but...not satisfied..rest assured that this movie will surely treat the audiences until Diwali...thats for sure...
Ah ... Aah...[Anbe..Aruyire..]
A unique name...to begin with and a unique subject as well for a base. Appreciable if I could say in a solitary word. But there is a lot more for a successful film and maybe...just maybe for the first time in 4 movies has SJ Suryah faltered in his quest. This could be attributed to the umpteen number of problems that have befallen him after his last venture NEW.
Anyways on to the main course...the movie starts off with Suryah giving a short intro and what to expect in the movie...fast becoming his opening style...infact very relevant to this one...more so because of the new way of story narrating technique that has been given form...he clearly spells out what the audience have to bear in mind.
It all starts off with the petty fights between the happy lovers.:-)...looks cliched..but thats the way it is...each deeply in love for the other..caring for each other...this slowly starts to become possessive in Suryah's case..mainly because of the restaurant business that she partner's with a friend's brother..that they split in a bit of madness from both Nila and Suryah. It is Interval...and u have already had 3 of the 6 songs...
Come back after a break and it is all blue...:-)...yeah..the feelings that one have for each other...have been given form, shape and dress..blue at that..you cant complain because you have been mentally prepared by the director saying.."people who roam around in blue costume in the second half are not literal humans..but their inner-self and the feelings of that person". So the inner-self of the lead pair happily roam around the split couple..and try to woo their dreams of uniting the couple...and succeeding at the end..which in any case should happen..;-)....because the inner-self characters are imaginary..the director has taken liberties at will and crossed bars at places...and made it completely hilarious at places..certainly enjoyable...
One should admit that songs from AR Rahman are certainly a big..big PLUS..for the movie...because the picturization leaves a lot to be desired...I really dont understand why half of the songs have been shot completely with graphics...which in this case is certainly a fall-out...as the graphics used are stale...and begin to irritate the eye..I thought....just because the audio has become popular..people would bear these songs..I believe...Suryah...you haven't scored here...
The handicap of the movie I should say..are Suryah's HANDY skills...they stick out...and are sick...one gets irritated again here...I really did...too much of hand movement distracted the scenes ..I felt....could have controlled a chunk of it...for...the fortune of the movie is at a balance now...
On the outlook from a viewer's perspective...though the movie sparkles with the story handling....suryah's directorial touch and the songs from ARR..a handful of the sequences are loaded with double meaning..unwanted diagloues which definitely makes faces go askew...the movie lacks the freshness NEW had....looks pointless at places..
Ah..Ahh.. is Average..but..still..enjoyable..:-)
Salaam Namaste
Let me tell you at the outset..this one is for the lovable rascals of today..so contemporary it is in its theme..that It would take some time for the elderly crowd to come to terms with the concept of Salaam Namaste
Realistic are the characters and cool is the outlook of the director that you never feel like watching a movie...but you are led to believe that this happens for a friend of yours in Australia..or United States..
Living-together is new for India, but will fast catchup here in Mother India as well, going by the pattern and craze for westernization...this will soon become the next hep thing...courtesy Salaam Namaste...as far as most of the public goes...this would be their first exposure to this concept...
But one should admit, the treatment has been decent and dignity personified..not just rosy and passionate. The current crop of hindi movies have been passionate...all about passion..bold but senseless at times... anyways that's not the case here..
Nik..aka Nikil Arora..is a chef-cum-architect, Ambar is a RJ-cum-Doctor in the making, as usual as the script goes, they are always at locker-horns...they have completely different perspectives of life, marriage, kids..but get attracted to each other at a point of time and decide to make a logical and rational decision to stay together and get to understand each other rather than calling themselves lovers...run around trees and do the also-rans stuff...good for them...;-) then comes the usuals and one fine morning, ambar is pregnant, and wants the baby much to the chagrin of nik, who is against this...and there begins a china wall...which grows bigger..all the way...through a script which makes sure that it grows stronger and stronger until the last few scenes...Nothing much to crave about as such in the story after the rift..but there is a lot to crave about in the realism and freshness of the treatment.
The climax comedy, I would say was unwarranted..the comedy pun intended there...was out of place, that could have been avoided..safely and still the movie would have been pleasant as it has been...
Little caemos as well, are not ruled out in this movie...Javed Jaffrey...wow...it was throughly enjoyable..harshad warsi's remarks... and abishek bachhan as the doctor...are all great...
->Saif Ali Khan as nik..is “cool as a cucumber” in NS Sidhu's very own terms..fits exactly..with his looks, fashion statements, accent..perfect..you could say...
->Preity Zinta as Ambar is intellectual and emotional all at once..good sketch of a character and given a pretty shape by preity..good work.
-> The locales in australia..are stupendous and absoultely eye-catchy..fantastic..the choice of houses..would make any indian crave for such houses here..:-)
Over all – a feel-good movie..with its share of emotions, rationales and sluggish parts..though the theme is slightly out of place, the movie will surely catch up riding on its stars..very good rendition from the lead stars...I would say...
Iqbal
Parallel cinema - anything that is away from the run of the mill should be parallel cinema...if this is your definition for the term...then you will fit the audience criteria...this one is certainly for you..to gladden your senses...I certainly am an avid parallel cinema fan of Bollywood...the rahul boses, nagesh kukunoors are my likings...and this IQBAL did nothing to weaken my opinion....
One movie which is so refreshing in this masala world....three cheers to kukunoor...for this brave effort..one should not call this brave..because that is what Nagesh kukunoor is known for..his clan of movies...
The characterization is strong, powerful and stays in your senses....even long after the movie..which is definitely the greatest plus for the movie....ever actor fits snugly to their character...the small girl..and naseeruddin shah to be precise apart from shreyas talpade.......he is a real find....he emoted quite brilliantly and well enough for everybody to relate with him. The victory for the character being, nobody would sympathize with Iqbal but would enjoy his character, had Iqbal been slightly remorse..the central theme of the movie would have taken a beating...
Credit definitely to the director for the cheerful narration of the struggle of the young man against all adversities...the first half especially the naseeruddin shah sequences...are seriously hilarious yet meaningful and relevant to the central theme of the movie..
Naseerudin Shah is not at all surprising in this role....he is absolutely great as MOHIT..the former Ranji Cricketer...I enjoyed every minute of his on-screen presence and charisma.....
Everybody...every character is neatly etched out as lines in a ruled notebook, no incongruity...that was one thing very evident right through the movie.....mostly to the credit of the movie....girish karnad, Iqbal’s father, the other boy kamal, every body displayed just the needed emotions for their roles....
Climax...that arrived without too much hype or hoopla...and stayed at that same vein and we were at the end of the movie....which was actually enjoyable.... I would say this is much better and real-to-life narration of a cricket story.....than Lagaan, which was more fantasy oriented...playing cricket with physically disabled in a normal game....was like asking too much from them.....anyways..no snide intended at lagaan, just a perspective in comparison to Iqbal....
Overall, glad at heart..at the end of the movie...would certainly vouch for this movie..among my friends....which is the best way you can popularize a movie...my opinion...:-)
Oru Naal Oru Kanavu
I really expected stuff of a different kind from this versatile technician Fazil. How many stellar movies we have seen from him in Tamil itself, leave alone his malayalam movies...... I should say I am completely shocked, at dismay after having watched this 2.5 hour school drama. Frankly, this should compete only with school plays....still can’t comprehend or come to terms with how Fazil could come up with such a slip-shoddy tale-telling......
To begin with, you get to see srikanth as a youthful, enthusiastic guy...little did he know that he was over-doing what was expected out of him....he has been good when he is subdued like his role in Manasellam....these kind of roles somehow don’t suit him well, he should be careful and choosy about such roles....his characterization lacks clarity, he being skillful in all jobs under the sun... somehow doesn’t gel with the plot....the characters in his workplace...stick out and never fit the story line as one is used to in Fazil’s movies....nevertheless, there are couple of scenes which evoke a grin or two in the audience...
Characterization is the weak link all through the movie..infact a big hole in the ship....and particularly the faces that render the characters on screen are pathetic..to say the least....particularly when srikanth is so affectionate towards his sisters and family, you expect the characters and their portrayal to be powerful on screen, but they never stir a bit of emotion, save his mother’s character.....This is primarily because of a host of malayalam faces on screen, which seriously sticks apart from the whole tale....
My first after thought on the movie was that fazil must have been in kind of a real hurry to get this movie out of his box..and never cared about a thing except the music....the only saving grace and inspiring thought about the movie.... Music would be the only thing that can take this movie any far....Il(s)ayaRaja is as usual his genius self. The song “Kaartil Varum Geeetham” is a lilting number that would linger in our ears for years...seriously some soul stirring stuff from Raja....I am yet to recover from his Thirvaasagam and here he has dished out another gem from his stable....except for a couple of needless songs...all the others are good...and of Raja’s standard....
Over all Disappointment..to the core....at the exit point from the theatre...visible in the faces of the people who payed for this lack lusture and listless serving from Fazil......where is the fazil we have known....sir..?????
Anniyan......culled from my other blog...posted on Jun 20,2005
Howdy,
First things first..... Overall a roller coaster ride for the Tamil Movie Goer. Shankar should be definitely credited for this masterpiece.
The movie had built-up so much of hype due to many a reason..some not so comfortable.....
a) Boys had brought in a lot of reputation damage for Shankar.
b) Shankar, splitting up with ARRahman and teaming with Harris Jeyaraj....for the first time in his 10+ years of cinema....
c) A huge gap of 2 years for Shankar..filled with expectations.
d) Teaming with Vikram, who had become a top grosser product by the time the movie was made....expectations were literally sky-high for this supposedly Social entertainer...
e) Adding to all these were the initial promos, showing Vikram in various make-overs....each one, exiciting...
Every Tamil movie buff waited for this one to arrive...and it finally arrived on the scene on 17th June 2005....
The movie starts off with the "I Hate Disorder", Rules Ramanujam....that 3 word sentence really summed up the character's sketch...nothing more would have been needed. I would say, I really enjoyed the first hour more so, because I was able to relate to his idealogy though I would be grossly against the ideology, if I say I am able to follow all of his ideas..;-)....but nevertheless, a forthright stickler to principles...a very good make-over to match his ideology...I would say.. each of his experience could have happened to any of us in our day-to-day life...so realistic were they, that I got completely engrossed into the plot and started to sympathise for Ambi...
Each of his experience, leading him to the www.anniyan.com website was interesting stuff. One definite applause should be for the they were able to visualize the search technology through graphics, it could have easily been a straight serach result display, but hatz off to sujataha and Shankar for visualizing the web search, which is definitely new to the general public. The interesting and skillfull use of Special effects and graphics are the high points of the movie, which really adds to the fizz of the movie....and lights up the viewer's mind with Joy... Appreciable work.
What should one comment of Vikram- the Real Life Saga..now turning into a perfect story line for a new movie...;-)...or an epic should I say....One is left wondering how much of vikram we would have seen if he were given the right break 15 years back..???? anyways...on to the maincourse.... he was simply stunning. Be it looks, dialogue delivery, facial expressions, the homework he has done for each of the roles...his screen persona....wowwww....I am getting excited....
He gets acrosss as a clear stickler to rules..in Ambi's role...much to the chagrin of one and all..including his lady love, Sada...aka..nandhini....
He is absolutely kewl...in REMO...the Ramp walk model...dudes..have u ever seen a more handsome tamil hero, who hits your heart straight with that One song sequence, Kaadhal Yaanai.....I would say that role fitted him just like the fairytale story's charcters.....so kewl was his outlook , that you almost mistoook him for an american dude....;-)
Anniyan...the Society Saviour...this character though having clear traces of SENAPATI, the old man, you would get to the seat edges with each of his encounters....such was the excitement generated.... It is clearly evident why, Vikram did not accept any other movie offer until Anniyan was completed...So much is the intensity involved in each role, that you would do injustice to these roles, if given step-motherly treatment....Think of the number of heroes who would do this.....not even a handful.....:-)
The story and screenplay....looks like shankar decidedly took a clear subject and carved it as a winner all through... One cannot withhold the skillful and deft handling of the storyline, esp.. the screenplay..logical reasoning for each turning point....Shankar has learnt his basics right...I should say... The Garuda Puranam as the guiding factor is a good feature addition for the strong social message that the film tries to convey.... Each endeavor and encounter of Anniyan are meaningful and would have happened to most of us... The MPD...has been given clear and lucid treatment which wasn't the case with many earlier tamil movies....perfectly logical and reasonable, that I felt that even I and you would have these personlities within ourselves....what say????
SONGS....I hope by now this article is getting too predictable....but cant help it....:-)...The songs 5 in number have elevated song sequences to an all time new high, which would be unreachable by any indian cinema for quite some time, simply beacause of the fact that, nobody else puts in so much of effort into songs...which Shankar does painstakingly and I belive he loves that...... Each having a theme, and not being thrust into the movie are definite plusses....
Kumari.....visually stunning,
Ayyangaaru veetu ..... artistically beautifulll.....
Kaadhal Yaanai ...... All about Yana Gupta and Vikram...the song seems to have run through in jiffy...so fast and peppy...
Kannum Kannum Nokia ..... Wow....can Sada look more better ever...???? Terrific locations from Kuala Lampur Airport.....
Randakka Randakka .... A true folklore....feel....They have painted government roads and bridges for this sequence...shows how far people can go for their passion towards their cinema....:-)
Sujatha...I am wondering if he reallly deserves the age he is ...??? He is so young and refreshing in his dialogues that people who dont know Sujatha...the writer...will be pleasantly surprised to meet the original sujatha....I loved so many clinchers and snippets nicely interspersed with the other wise heavily loded subject.... the "mooku oootai mathiri veedu" ....the "nee oru nasai" ... " I hate Disorder"....the sarcastic Vivek's interludes....so many and so little space to write...I have really started to await movies with Sujatha's expertise...
It is not true that Like Poles REPEL.......... Like minded people like Shankar, Sujatha and Vikram will always jel and when in unison can give you something like Anniyan....thats the talent levels KollyWood can boast of...
One can say, only Shankar could have given such a once-in-life-time role for Vikram.... and
only Vikram could have given this refreshingly new and stellar performance for Shankar's brainchild ANNIYAN...
So its an out and out SHANKAR and VIKRAM COMBINE...which has taken a vow to give true and high quality entertainment and have done the STAND-AND-DELIVER to perfection.....
Thaanks to everyone..who have bared with my opinion so far....quite long ...in fact.....
now its time for you to head straight to the theatres..to watch this action flick....if you haven't seen it yet.....
or go on and see the movie a second time, if you have already seen this epic from Shankar like me......which is what I am gonna do this weekend....again...;-)
Bye,
Rajesh
The formal Inauguration of review korner
This is a formal kick start of my urge to start a blog for my movie reviews....always wanted the world to see the movies through my eyes...:-)....Do excuse me, if I comment only on English and Tamil movies, as they are the ones that interest me most, hindi movies.......far and few inbetween, can't also be discounted...so keep watching ..movies...only on Silver Screen....;-)
