As the Enthiran fever grips us one and all… let us remind you why there wonly won Rajni the Superstar!
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Category Archives: Kollywood Diary
What’s wrong Mani sir?
To begin with, let me not review this film.
I know lots of critics, bloggers alike have ripped it apart and maybe told good things alike.
I have heard more negatives about this film than the positives.
“No, don’t watch it!”
“Mani Ratnam got it completely wrong this time”
“What a waste of a movie”
“I can’t imagine a sensible director making such a lousy film”
“Raavanan? A mistake I did watching it!”
“God my 2 KD went down the drain”
And the whining continued… To the extent that I wowed not to watch this flop of movie ever.
But that freak in me told myself to give it a try and so I did.
I guess even after a year’s release of this movie, I would have managed to write this feature since I am hear to show a deaf ear to all those guys who are still out there ripping apart in shreds a gem of this movie into various bits and shreds.
Poor Mani Ratnam!
I guess talent, name, fame comes with a price. Even when he announced this feature… the critique, blogging continued about this venture and and rest as we all know is history. Movie got released and none I know of till date, liked this movie.
This is where I’d like to come in.
I loved this movie. Quite simply. I mean the Tamil version… Raavanan. And I truly consider this work of his art as one of his best works.
From the starting till the finish… I was quite hooked on to the story. I mean yeah, there are loop holes, some glitches here and there… come on…, let’s give this guy his due. Raavanan is not a bad film at all!
The characterizations of Vikram and Aishwarya are spot on giving some amazing and credible performances. The others do matter and don’t mostly. They matter less and mostly don’t matter and hence I’d not really get into that. That’s where I felt Mani Sir could have given little more thought. But then that’s still okay since most of the films these days do not follow the most common sense and why should we just rip Mani Sir for that sake?
The film has a certain coldness to it which I could feel from the beginning to the end. That’s Raavanan’s character and that kind of encapsulates the entire frames of the movie all the time. The dense jungles, the greenery, the wilderness, the rawness are very well captured in the film. There are few other characters who come and go and in my opinion did well for whatever was written from them. Prabhu, Vaiyapuri (As the Eunuch), Priya Mani lent enough support to carry the story forward. The roles of Prithviraj as Ram and Karthik as Hanuman could have been well written and this is where the movie kind of falters (Though not majorly… but could have been well thought of!)
But I am glad for not having seen the film in Hindi.
I am sure it would not be even ten percent worth for what it was in Tamil. And I just cannot see Abhishek Bachchan in the role of Raavan. It reminds me of a school kid striking a pose in a fancy dress competition.
Music of AR Rahman as usual grows on you.
After listening to them umpteen number of times and then when you watch the film you tend to like the songs in the film. Background score too plays an integral part of the film and has been woven very will into the movie.
Camera work by Santosh Sivan/ V. Manikandan deserves a special mention. This movie wouldn’t have been even half of what it is with out its cinematography something which Mani Ratnams films are good at.
Sequences such as Aishwarya’s intro scene on a boat is just too good, The shot where the camera is held under water and both the boats (Aishwarya and Vikram’s) approach each other, Aishwarya jumping off from the cliff, The rotating shot of Vikram on a lake with the kids… requires special attention.
Dialogues are raw and intense at times. Very well written by Suhasini mani Ratnam.
I missed having watched this film on a big screen.
Dear reader, I truly advise you to watch this film on a big screen or maybe a very good copy that you can get hold of.
If you have already seen it I can’t help much in convincing you otherwise but I am thoroughly impressed with the film.
What’s wrong Mani Sir?
How come you make films for people who like Anniyan, Sivaji, Pokkiri, Villu etc?
My rating
***1/2 out of 5
Director: Mani Rathnam
Camera: Santosh Sivan/ V Manikandan
Starring: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Priya Mani
Music: AR Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Dialogues: Suhasini Mani Rathnam
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A time for Tamil cinema…
I have been seriously pampered as a viewer I must say.
For the last few times, whatever movie I have seen latest or slightly old… I literally had lots of awe-inspiring moments.
A very rare thing these days.
And I am beginning to get convinced that Tamil cinema is finally opening its wings and scaling new heights and frontiers in film making.
Maybe it’s too much to think right now…
But then guess what happens when?.
- There is a new director
- All the actors are new (Atleast the main protagonists)
- Same old story told in a very different manner
- Low budget, but no compromise on any front, creatively speaking
- Big directors (Shankar, Sasikumar etc) promoting new talents/ concepts
- Independent film makers risking their everything to make great movies
But look at the kind of films below and decide it for your self. These films are barely a year old and have manage to hold themselves against big budget movies which is an amazing feat.
Naan Kadavul (2009)
I will always remain a Bala fan. Right from his first film Sethu, he proved that he has the ability to capture audiences attention from the word go!
Naan Kadavul is one such movie which will stay with you forever. And viewing a movie like this requires great courage.
I mean this is one movie which is an absolutely no-nonsense film, extremely dark and depicts only the harsh realities without any sugar coating. And imagine turning out amazing performances from two wooden actors such as Aarya and Pooja.!
The Arya-starrer tells the story of a person who is driven away from home by his own father. The boy, who lands up in the sacred town of Kashi, becomes a member of the group of sanyasis who practise eating human corspses that float on the Ganga. It’s then that his father comes seeking him, venturing to take him back home. What all happens then forms the crux of the plot. Arya does the key role, while Pooja plays the other lead.
Trivia: It took director Bala approx 5-6 years to make this classic. Arya was out of job (literally on other projects) for 5 years. He actually had to grow his beard and hair to don the role. It was also noted that there is a scene where Arya does a Shirsasan which is bascially the last position in yoga and only the most experienced can perform it. It took Arya approximately 25 days to get that right with no prior yoga training whatsoever. Now that’s called a passion for cinema both by the director and the actor. Arya literally lived the character during the shooting periods to the extent that many local residents took him to be an actual aghori baba. Pooja was selected much later after the earlier heroines dropped out of the film due to long shooting hours and rigorous make-up schedules. It’s a career-defining role for both Pooja and Arya. All the other characters of this film were slected on location.
Director: Bala
Cast: Arya, pooja
Angadi Theru (2009)
This movie was one roller-coaster ride. The situations, plot, characters, dialogues are so real that you feel you are part of the film. I watched this film only for the director whose earlier film was was ‘Veyyil’ another great film produced by director Shankar.
The story is about Poverty that brings Jothilingam and Marimuthu along with several other boys, from their village in Tirunelveli, to work at one of the textile shops in Chennai. Naive and guileless, they know little about the fate that awaits them. They are a large group of battered youth treated like animals and made to slog from the wee hours of the morning till late into the night, only to lie down huddled in a cramped room with a guard to keep an eye on them till dawn. Often beaten up and bruised by the slave driver of a manager, redemption of nowhere in sight for them
Trivia: Director Vasanthabalan cast Mahesh who’s father is a small time hawker in the interiors of Tamil nadu. The director signed Mahesh spot on when he saw him with his father. Talk about lucky stars! Anjali on the other hand was busy shooting for a film. The director saw her and was so convinced with her that he waited one full year for her to complete her assignments.
Watch the film and you’ll know that it was worth the wait for both the director and the actress.
Director: Vasanthabalan
Cast: Anjali, Mahesh
Pasanga (2009)
This will easily be one of my all time favourite movies.
A movie that I would love to watch with my kids.
What happens when you project kids as the main protagonists where you have a hero, his best friend, a heroine, a villain… but all are kids. This is what pasanga all about. There is no newness in terms of its story but the execution, dialogues will leave you breathless. Pasanga is one film which has all the elements that one would expect in a cinema. Entertainment at its best and with lots of positive messages. The kids in the movie are just too adorable. Kudos to the director in bringing out their best performances. Another worthy mention is the producer Sasikumar who has not only directed an amazing film like Subramaniyapuram but he consciously produces and promotes quality cinema like Pasanga and Nadodigal.
Pasanga Movie is all about children. The story revolves around a 10-year old boy whose ambition changes the objective of the school in which he studies.
Director: Pandiraj
Cast: Vimal, Vega, Sriram, Kishore
Tamil Padam (2009)
A movie about all tamil movies. A serious spoof. And very funny one too!
This is very much what you see in all tamil films today and much what you don’t see that often on Tamil movies.
If you have liked Scary movie spoofs then this movie is an absolute desi version of such kind. I guess there are so many cliches in Tamil cinema that a spoof would just be too perfect! And I don’t think any of our Tamil heroes would ever appreciate such a cinema and that’s what makes this film very funny to the bone. Some of the most stupid moments but thoroughly enjoyable are Shiva’s classical dance piece to impress his girl friend, and rip off of many fight scenes (mainly from Vijay films), court scene and the judge in the climax, and popular dialogues of Kamal and Vijaykanth . The director and dialogue writer CS Amudhan’s laughs are spot on, punctuated by the scripts outrageous glossary of over-the-top depiction of Tamil film stereotypes. Nirav Shah’s camera and Kannan’s music mainly the song O Maha Zeeya.. (Harris Jayaraj & Vijay Antony spoof music) makes it a rip-roaring rocker!
Director: CS Amudhan
Cast: Shiva, Disha Pandey
Peraanmai (2009)
How would you define a movie that has shades of a thriller, political, action, patriotic and very realistic approach to it? I cannot really slot this movie into any specific genre. I remember I literally skipped so many days to watch this film and saw everything istead. First of all the title didn’t excite at all. This was initially of course. Then the Jayam Ravi factor. I thought this actor was all nuts and no big deal about him. A lesser known director, mainly new comers… And lastly it’s got some action sequences by the leading ladies… I mean I thought, Tamil cinema has gone bonkers to show ladies doing some kick ass here and there.
Then the credits began to roll. The first scene happend and then this movie ticked. I think its one of those good action films to roll out from Tamil cinema off late.
Jayam Ravi is the first generation graduate from a tribal family, who works as a forest ranger. His superior Ponvannan often accuses him as he hails from a tribal community. He takes five girls for forest trekking, who came for NCC training from a college. The girls who hate Jayam Ravi plans to get punished by his superior.
Director: SP Jhananathan
Cast: Jeyam Ravi, Ponvannan, Urvashi
Other films that I have watched recently are Eeram and Yavarum Nalam. Both are very well crafted horror/ thrillers. Extremely well executed with some great camera work and amazing concept.
And some more yet to watch and still lying in my to-do-lists… Kalavani, Kalloori, Madarasapattinam, Koripalaiyam, Renigunta, Poo, Subramaniyapuram, Mayandi Kudumbathaar etc
And I am sure to watch them all very soon!
Watching these kind of films is like a breath of fresh air.
Aren’t we tired of the same commercial potboilers of Vijay, Ajith, Rajnikanth and all his me-toos? I don’t have the patience to watch any more the age-old formulaic films driven by these so called superstars.
I guess it’s only these kind of new-age movies which provide a fresh perspective on new and old ideas.
And I guess the time is right for Tamil cinema. That time is now!
I, a proud Tamizhan!
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Penn Singam… A must watch
We have been seeing the promos of Kalaingar’s “Penn Singam” way too many times on his network of channels.
If it is Kalaingar himself who has taken all the pains, passion and the points to draft such a wonderful movie… Then I must say that we have to watch it.
It’s amazing how he found that time to write a story like this amidst all the chaos and mayhem in his political career!
The last attempt he made was “Ooliyin Osai” starring the ultra beautiful Vineeth… Oops sorry… Ultra handsome (Is he?… whatever) and the vivacious and the most deserving pair opposite him i.e Keerthi Chawla (You have to see her other X-rated movies… Watch it!)
Ok coming to Penn… So this is entirely written by the man himself.
If that’s the case, why are they promoting only the item songs of this movie?
The movie has a USP*, value for who has written the story, dialogues etc… Isn’t it?
Then why are they selling a movie purely on it’s item numbers? That too with least known names like Lakshmi Rai and Lawrence…
So with this the USP of the movie is reduced only to its worthless item songs, isn’t it?
I’d not even watch this cheap, vulgar and atrocious song on youtube or any channel even for free.
Penn singam… Really a must watch???
*USP: Unique selling proposition
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Yalla… Surra
Wondering what language is this?
Well it’s colloquial Arabic.
In simple English terms it means.. Come on…Move quick!
Well, that’s what I just felt after watching Ilaiya Thalapathi’s SURA
One hell of a ride… I could easily say that I got motion sickness watching it…
Wanna know why?
The movie as usual opens up with a group of people on a beach looking lost, delirious, out-of-place, why-the-hell-I-am-here? and they all feel safe and fine. It’s chaos, mayhem everywhere and there’s these police, press, media everywhere around the beach searching for this one person who didn’t make it (yet!) to the shores. Everyone is upset (Rather pretending as per what the director told them!) except the police who want to cover this episode and tell the media that everyone reached the shores safe and all’s fine. And then as per the director’s note, they all yell, shout, fret and scream for Sura… (Again very pretentious!)
To that… the sea waves arise (Oh God… not another Tsunami…, I yelled)
Then comes a sea anemone who is literally flying and floating on the sea and poor thing has swam thousands of miles to reach the shore.
There is cheer, clap and laughter everywhere and people start yelling Sura vanthachu! Sura is safe…
One would assume that an average human would be actually lying on the beach, fully unconscious, unaware of what’s happening around…but this creature seems to be made of some other tissues and organs…
He infact rises from the sea in a different attire and reaches the shore in a different attire and starts dancing and singing his signature song for this particular movie.
Wow… what a thought I must admit…
Fast forward… Yalla surra…
The sura guy is apparently a fisherman… but rarely seen throughout the movie even miles near the sea…
Fast forward… Yalla Surra…
He has a weird speaking mother.. who is so nasal all the time… Has no clue what her son is doing… But always supports him for his good deeds… Well did he do anything good in the movie to begin with? Whatever… but she seriously reminds me of my maid who is very nasal too!
Fast forward… Yalla Surra…
The hero’s love interest seems an absolute dumb bimbette (Like all his other heroines).. He falls for her… They sing, dance, prance around the trees…
Fast forward… Yalla Surra…
Suddenly the hero has an Audi A8 black and sexy looking car… Wonder how much money fishermen make these days… Hmmm… could be a good career option, I thought!
This Sura is ready to bust the bad people’s backside and build homes for his fishermen’s community…
Jokes apart, I must say… this movie was really one hell of a ride… Coz I managed to have my breakfast, bath, lunch, nap… errr… nature calls tooo!
All in all, it finished toooo quickly…. and I never felt when the movie started and ended!
It’s definitely a must watch… I would recommend all you guys to watch it… Coz this is the time you can resort to all your daily chores!
Yalla… quick!!!!
Fast forward… Yalla Surra…
See I told you that he has an Audi car!
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