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Kollywood Diary

Dear Vijay, Ajith…

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And the other horrible dummies of our very own superstar (Do I need to mention the name?)

This letter is being addressed to all you guys who have done nothing but getting titles left, right and center right from their first film. Ilaiya Thalapathi, Thalai, Little superstar, Puratchi Thalapathi… and the list goes on and on and on…

I just want all you guys to actually stand in front of your mirror and ask “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the real super star amongst us all?”

And please by no means do not expect the mirror to whistle, blow and dance mentioning your name.
You guys are oh-so-mistaken!

Have you guys ever wondered why none of your films raked in enough moolah off late?
Exceptions are there but does the box office openings really justify the stars that you really are?
Don’t you think you guys are just being overrated?
Don’t you think that you have been over acting off late?

I would now like you to ask yourself another question.
“Would you eat the same meal everyday again and again?” in other words “Tell me any two recent films where I have looked or acted differently”
Could you guys please prove any of your recent films which are different from each other? Actually this question is more so aimed at Vijay who only seems to repeat himself over and over again.

I mean it’s so natural, how can one do the same thing over and over again? OK agreed that this is what your so called fans like… But can you atleast try doing better acting? There is something called as rising above the script… I guess none of you have proved it ever. Then blame the director over his direction and all the other departments… except yourself.

I mean look at all your films today… They are so much the same.
All action thrillers.
A strong entry with a philosophical song (I just can’t imagine any film today not having this!)
Good guy beating up the bad guys

I mean fine you guys live in a cliched world… still aren’t you bored with yourself?

Ok another question…

Have you all seen Surya’s Singam recently?
Don’t you guys think that although a very average film with same story line, he did a great job but adding his own style rather than copying any pattern from the likes of you. I think of all the stupid masala flicks that any one of you have given till date (leave alone the brilliant Gilli, I am now surprised at myself that only this title actually comes to my mind…) this is one of the best masala films in the recent times. Surya’s dialogue delivery, action, style, gestures etc have been reason enough to have the theatres run to packed houses. I must say that Surya was spot on as Inspector Duraisingam.
In spite of the promos being average, bad music and not a great cast… This film manages to hold you on only because of Surya alone.

And had anyone of you signed this film, it would have been just another film with a never ending list of me-too movies…

And after 25 great films Surya still doesn’t attach any title to his name unlike all you guys. Don’t you understand what he is trying to tell you guys?

Films and film makers are part of a creative process. A process which gives you the chance and the scope to create something out of nothing and out of the unknown. Something which only the chosen few can do and you guys have that liberty and freedom.

My advise to you all is to use it well and add your own bit so that we all fans can truly enjoy films and you guys can leave a legacy behind.

With the way you guys are doing films, I guess we can only see the list getting bigger but the quality just going down the drain.

And as I write this note to you, I am glad that Surya is one actor who refuses to follow your path, he has moulded himself brilliantly as an actor.

And after Kamal Haasan, if there’s any actor worthy to take his place, it’s none other than Surya.

And please remember one thing, while you guys are busy chasing titles… Surya is busy chasing roles that could define him as an actor!

And you still think you are the best!


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Kanthasamy – A review

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This is a guest post by Mr. S. Varadarajan (Raja as he is fondly called) and he is based in Dubai

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It was an eagerly awaited movie because it features Vikram.

But the question was, whether it will be a commercial masala, or a movie with just a message to reach the audiences. Its finally out and Kudos to the whole team of Kanthaswamy for letting out a fully commercial entertainer.

“People who wipe tears of others are the real god” This is the punch line which the movie delivers.

Bigger companies building townships outside the city for their staffs is more common. Individuals doing it for the development of the people, may be the next big thing. There are handful of instances for the same across the country where an individual helping a village or a society is prevalent. We are yet to see this fever catching up in a major way. Can this movie initiate such a good deed?

Kanthaswamy starts with people writing their wish messages and tying them to a tree of a Murugan temple which they believe will be fulfilled by the God himself. Most of the wishes are of financial nature and they expect them to be solved by the deity in that temple (Kanthaswamy).People find that their wishes are being fulfilled and soon it becomes a rage across the state due to the word of mouth publicity the temple gets. Vikram here plays a modern day Robinhood, who works as a CBI officer and manages to reveal the black money and illegal transactions the rich and the famous, have in the foreign banks.

PPP(Ashsish vidyarthi), the old man, (which initially was played by Late Raghuvaran but his unfortunate demise made the whole team to work again with a new person) is being raided as he had cheated the bank for 1000 crores and CBI gains control of all his unaccounted cash and documents leaving PPP completely scourged. His only daughter Shriya wants revenge against the officer in charge. The tiffs between Vikram and Shriya are presented well and so is the romantic scene in the airplane.

Shriya has always been a glamorous doll in her previous movies and has done will with the sensual scenes as well as a few places where she is supposed to actually act. Her hip movements in the songs looks replicas of Shakira.

Prabhu who leads an investigation for finding out who the actual Kanthaswamy has done his part judiciously and Vadivelu has his own track of comedy which links to the main story line.

The final word says that every rich person should adopt a poor village so that the wealth can be distributed across the country. Not just the saying, the whole team of Kanthaswamy has even adopted two villages in interior Tamil Nadu to show that this can be made possible not just in movies but also in real life.
They had built up new roads and schools for the residents of the village.

I feel with this movie would put the director Susi Ganesan in the league of big directors who can say the thoughts in their mind very clearly that will reach the masses.

The visual effects and the camera work are a treat to look out for in the movie. The cinematographer NK Ekambaram has moved across different angles and flashed his lenses to give a different gloss to the whole movie especially the scenes that were shot in Mexico.

The music by Devi Prasad is already a hit, long before the movie has been released. The songs have been neatly picturised and never do you feel that the songs are being imposed on in the film. They are a treat to watch especially the numbers “Allegro” and “Yen peru Meenakumari”

The sets created by Thotta Tharani are always unique and gorgeous. The hideout of Kanthaswamy and his friends is extremely pleasing.

Apart from all these the real show stealer was Vikram. He rocks. The different characters he has portrayed viz., A masked rooster- super hero, A CBI officer, A sensuous woman who dances to the songs of Aishwarya Rai or the old man who comes for the rescue of the villagers are all with different attitudes and Vikram fits in them to the T.

In toto, the film is worth a watch and it keeps you pinned to your seat. Spending 3 hours and watching Kanthaswamy you will get the value for your ticket.

Not to be missed.

Movie Rating: ***1/2 out of 5
Director: Susi Ganesan
Cast: Vikram, Sriya Saran, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Vadivelu
Music: Devi Sri Prasad

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Ayan-A Review

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Its time filmmakers down South get away from idolizing heroes and treating them as demi-Gods.

 

Debutant director K.V Anand (A cinematographer turned director) does just that.

Right from the entry of the protagonist upto the end, the director does what they should do at their best. Treat all the characters in the film as characters and not an actor outside their skin!

 

Basically a tried and tested formula, filled with some amazing action sequences, crisp story telling and great performances by the lead actor amply supported by the rest of the cast

 

The plot:

Without getting too much into details, the story revolves around an youth (Who happens to be a college student) who provides support to a local goon (Amazingly performed by Prabhu) and how he manages to use his skills to come out of a web of lies, deceit and power is what the story is all about.

 

You won’t find these:

For the first time, or I should say after a very long time, I saw a Tamil movie with no strings attached!

  • Hero’s song entry
  • Hero worshipped as God by his friends and well wishers
  • Punch dialogues
  • Item songs
  • Mother treating his son not as a son but her savior (Blah! Blah! Blah!)
  • A gesture typical to a certain movie (Aka Rajnikant and his allies…) I wonder sometimes, filmmakers must be taking years to get this right rather than the plot
  • Every frame only the hero gets to say the last word…

Now imagine, you find all the above in Rajnikant, Vijay, Ajith, Vishal, Chimpoo, Dhanush (Phew!) and how different are the movies from each other!

 

Ayan, is sans all the above. And how it rises above the script…

 

The stunning locales of Congo, Malaysia are all well captured onto the frame. This shows the skills of the cameraman-turned-director.

 

Treatment:

Every situation/ Frame has been deftly handled by the director:

  • Be it the mother-son relation (Very natural)
  • The relation/ scenes between Prabhu-Surya are just too good
  • The friendship that blooms between Surya-Tamannah’s brother
  • The action scenes, twists and turns in the plot
  • The best scene in the whole movie is the chase sequence in Congo between Surya and the goons. It’s a not to be missed scene. Reminds you of Bourne Ultimatum (Watch it and you will know) Amazing camerawork!

 

Songs/ Background score

Personally, I am huge fan of Harris Jayraj’s music.

He treats his music compositions to a different level. I had great expectations with this Surya starrer. However, beside one or two songs, there nothing much to write about. I guess its one of those Music blocks (akin to writers block!!!!)

However Nenje and Vizhi moodi… bear the typical “HJ” stamp.

 

Performances:

Surya plays Deva Velusamy and rises again and how! He’s proved once again that he can look cool and be serious too! Donning amazing six pack abs and no over the top acting. Very restrained and smart performance. Its really amazing to see an actor who doesn’t resort to silly gimmicks (Including his name which doesn’t have any tags like Illaiya Thalapathi, Puratchi thalapath, Little superstar etc etc etc) The name itself speaks volumes of this amazing star. A very commendable effort is that Surya giving enough screen space to the likes of Prabhu and Chitti babu (Tamannah’s brother)

Watch the entry of Surya and we then realize that this man can do wonders!

 

Prabhu as Arumuga Doss is simply too good! An amazing character artiste.

It’s good to see actors like Prabhu take on the mantle of the older and wiser generation well. As a mentor and smuggler, he’s extremely convincing.

 

The real surprise package is Jagan who makes you sit up with his laugh-aloud moments.

He’s done extremely good performances in scenes which require him to be at his comic best and serious most!

 

Ponvannan, turns in a dignified performance, with sliver of humor.

 

Tamannah doesn’t have much to do in a movie that’s about Surya.

But she acquits herself well in the second half, which requires her to be more than just a fair-skinned bimbette.

Akashdeep looks out of place with his screeching dialogues. But his characterization provides some excuse.

 

You might/ you might not notice

This movie has adapted many scenes from Catch me if you can, Blood diamond, Casino Royale, Bourne Ultimatum etc…

 

Forget the inspired storylines, scenes and situations.

Take a bow to a movie that doesn’t resort to gimmiks, heroism, loudness etc. It gives you what you would normally expect a Tamil movie to be… Entertain and provide reasonable logic!

 

All in all a definitely must watch

 

My rating: ***1/2 (Out of 5*)

Cast/ Credits

Cast: Surya, Prabhu, Tamanna

Director: K.V. Anand

Producer: M. Saravanan, M.S. Guhan, Aruna Guhan, Aparna Guhan

Music: Harris Jayraj

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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