Long Post warning. Ponniyin Selvan - Part 2

My take.

Happy to have got tickets on the 4th day of its release. PS2 has been watched. Here’s the thing. For PS1, all those who had read and loved the book(s) were cautioned not to compare movie and book and they ended up having a great experience watching PS1, for the most part.

With respect to PS2, everyone seems to have forgotten the movie NOT-equal-to book thing and also, I guess there IS a LOT more deviation from the original story. Having not read the books yet, I was in the ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ mode and the experience was pretty close to bliss, I must say. The music was more uplifting in PS2 than PS1 I felt, despite ‘Ponni Nadhi’ being a favourite song of mine. I don’t know if the song ‘Veera Raja Veera’ was meant to cause goosebumps, but it did for me. Tamil blood and all that jazz. 

May I say that Vikram must only act in such films and STOP choosing his own scripts (!)  which have mostly been rather abominable starting with Bheema. What a magnificent performer who’s not acted in good-enough films for too long. It’s such a relief to see him in this one.  He steals every scene he’s in. The other (apart from Actor Karthi)  who is his partner in crime in stealing scenes, is  Aishwarya Rai. I haven’t ever given her too much attention as a performer because like all the kings and princes who are stupefied by her beauty in PS, in real life too, it’s her beauty that distracts. This role as Nandini has GOT to be the biggest feather in her cap as far as I know.

Someone online weirdly suggested that Nayantara could have been Nandini but er…erm, NO! A resounding NO. First of all, Mani Ratnam aka MR, knows better (!) and second of all, let her emote more first. Sure, she’s pretty and has an amazing screen presence, but I’m sorry that no director has brought out her acting skills to the fullest as yet. I believe she has IT but is largely under-utilised as an actor. Keeping a poker or serious face ain’t no proof of great performance. We’ve all played STATUE as kids, eh. (Granted, we lost to giggles and snorts)

Besides, to add to the mind-numbing beauty quotient, the colour of Aishwarya Rai’s eyes enhances the effect. (No, no don’t say contact lens can do it and all). Her countenance in every scene was simply riveting. 

I feel that all the actors have FELT their roles in this one. I bet the coach had a lot to do with it (MR). Not everyone can be a Sivaji Ganesan and wear the role of a king or GOD (!) like their first skin — not even second. Today, most folks need help. Well, they’ve apparently got all the help they need and the costumes are super without being over the top, the sets and scenes are stunning without taking away from performances, and the music has truly uplifted the film with the right crescendos at the right moments. The language is also not overwhelming.

Karthi is just getting better and better as an actor and so is Trisha. Jayaram is always a class act in any role.
Performances 
Music  - ARR Vaazhga!
Story  as a movie. Blissfully ignorant about movie versus book but let me share that there seem to be plenty of miffed Kalki / PS fans out there. But even they must agree that it’s a good film. The producer must be gungho! Great result.
Fight scenes  I dislike violence and gore like yanything, but in a movie like this with a war scene, what to expect if not bloodshed. Even that was tastefully done.

I’ll be watching it again sometime later.
Make of that what you will 

#ps2 #ponniyinselvan #moviereview #personaltake
Images Courtesy: Google / somewhere online 

Rumbumbum Arumbum...AARAMBAM

"Keep it simple."
"Make it simple."
"...Simple."



Ajith's (Thala) punch dialogues started off this way. So, am going to keep it simple. Anyway it's a simple plot. And the movie sequences make simpletons out of us. Saying it's Mumbai and then showing us Chennai for it, hmph. That sort of stuff. The simple plot is that an anti-terrorist/bomb squad team loses its officers due to the slipshod quality of the bullet-proof jacket approved by a top cop and politician plus a media person, who all make a lot of money out of it. A surviving member of the bomb squad team -- i.e. our Thala Ajith brings them the gory glory they deserve. Death by various ways. Off a Dubai skyscraper, off few dozen gunshots, off some big bombs, etc.



My dog's name is Rover and the story's over.



Now for the actors (I love this part).


AJITH KUMAR as AK i.e. Ashok Kumar in this film -- is the seemingly anti-hero who is in fact just a hero. I dunno about his acting skills, which really, I cannot comment on for some non-specific reason. It ain't bad and it ain't heart-stopping. Because acting is not the point with this guy whose head full of grey hair has been the talk of the town. His mere personality and consequent style is THE point. The fact is... that he isn't a supremely wonderful dancer like Vijay or a six pack hard-working, beautiful-eyed guy like Suriya, for example. He's a guy you and I may like or even find hot if we met him somewhere. He's very believable as a not-that-young guy with his 50 shades of grey hair, healthy body complete with a comfortingly cushiony tummy area, good legs (not that I saw them heheh), wide shoulders, fit arms and an extremely awesome gait. Sophisticated-looking and understated acting. And unlike some odd salutes and ridiculous-mock-ridiculous expressions, AJIT KUMAR'S style is made of one-liners which are each time delivered deadpan with an expressionless voice and just the way he wears his sunglasses, which is rather er, knee-weakening. I went prepared to scoff, and came away blushing. Seriously stylish man this. And I don't think he's acting!! When he got on to that Ducati, the audience roared and my pulse raced. If you're female, you'll know what I mean about this self-assured actor. Am afraid he's hot.



NAYANTARA is Maya and her relationship with Ajit in the film is rather up-in-the-air (but he did feel her up a few times, so...you never know how many shades of grey were actually there in their relationship). She is smoking hot. Skin, hair, figure, posture, confidence, acting...everything about her clicks.



The babies Arya & Taapsee -- feel sad for Arya, to club him with airhead Taapsee. But they are a pair with one baby-oh baby routine, silly jokes and overall extra silliness. But I guess, that's her part and Arya's cool as the indignant Fat Boy Slim entangled with AJIT and his comic timing is as good as it always is.



Ajit's Aarambam (The Beginning). I guess it will fly because of this style icon AJIT KUMAR. If he acts in a film, it's his and nobody else's these days. I believe it now. He's the crutch this film AARAMBAM and its makers lean heavily on and for his part, AJIT KUMAR - Thala, takes it in his stride and sweeps on, as he dons his coolers in a highly believable, everyday style.



*Sigh*

Ada Bosse...

"BOSS ENGIRA BASKARAN"(BeB)

Heard it wasn't good. Heard it was a bore. It LOOKED somewhat different (from trailers) and seemed rather casual and funny. So, went for it.

The usual high as I pull into Sathyam cinemas' parking lot. I really appreciate that theatre. They know movie-lovers and have really gone after their hearts.

This film has Arya and Nayantara in the lead, but only after watching it did I realise that it has Arya, Nayantara AND Santhanam (comedian) in the lead! The film begins in a chirpy, simple way...am gathering this is going to be Arya's way of distinguishing himself from the usual stressed-out crowd of filmmakers -- you see, he is also the film's producer with his company 'The Show People'. Good job.

Story:

Carefree guy still pursuing a degree with many an arrear meets lecturer on bus whilst enroute to exam hall to write his arrears...and falls in love. Fate has his older brother marrying lecturer's older sis soon after. When guy wants to marry lecturer, his bhabi/manni/anni says no, get 'useful' first. So guy leaves home and starts business with his best friend. Somehow makes it work...almost. Then, lecturer's Dad gets mad, guy's progress notwithstanding, cos guy's best friend has publicly insulted him (the lecturer's Dad)under the influence of alcohol. How guy gets past his girl's Dad's anger is the end.

Arya, the hero

Usually...Casually in character

Arya is an averagely hot 'guy'. Moderately good body for a hero, pretty good for 'just' a guy, casual, good looks with the rugged, half or un-shaven look suiting him, and an actually-not-strong-enough voice for Tamil cinema. Still, overall, he is attractive in his own way.

In the film, he delivers comfortably as the happy-go-lucky Bhaskaran alias Boss. Boss is casual and funny from the word go. And 'go' is how the film starts. Arya has managed to stay the hero despite giving a heavy role to comedy-actor Santhanam who plays his best friend. Arya also has a knack of casually stepping into his characters I feel (noticed this across films), so this was a treat in spite of his close-to-dumb expressions. They were quite cute actually and so very believable -- guy next door types. His character too seems real and many can identify with his viewpoints like neither appreciating advice nor advisors! 'He is like that only' describes Baskaran's character well.


Nayanthara

Usually...I refer to her as SMUG MUG.

Nayanthara was a nice, fresh face when she first started. Then she became sloppy, flabby whatever. (Who am I to talk, eh;)) Then she ....PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!supposedly had some liposuction thing or whatever and became svelte, and thereafter terribly sought-after. THEN, she acquired what I gleefully refer to as the smug-mug. Annoyingly highly made-up face, a smug smile always in place and so on. Idle thoughts included a temptation to smack the smug mug. Pretty face alright. Hidden behind the mug. So, I was going to see BEB because... I like Arya, looked forward to Santhanam's bits, and IN SPITE of SMUG MUG.
Pleasant surprise.

She has not only acted well, she is nice looking except for some frightening closeups which, frankly, noone over the age of 23 is able to carry off these days. Her quick, hidden smiles and humourous twitching and affectionate looks are very well done. Happy with smug mug, I say.

Santhanam

Modern Day Koundamani, Youngsters' Delight.

Santhanam is simply brilliant. His timing, his dialogue delivery and the on screen rapport between Arya and Santhanam is something to talk about. As two friends, they have made the phrase 'Nannben Da' a part of Tamil cinema's popular-dialogues-in-history list. Loved it.

Music and Dance

It was fine. Suitable. 'Ada Bosse' is cute, the steps are generally funny throughout all songs, and the costumes acceptable...no, good, actually.

The film:

Could have been better TECHNICALLY and scriptically I suppose, but how I laughed. It was a wonderful thing to see a movie so carefree, so upbeat, so conversational and casual. This film had no tension; it aimed to relax, destress and let you guffaw at the Boss' and his friend Nallathambi's antics. The narration was just right. The end could have been better but by then you are in such a great mood, you happily accept that all good things have to come to an end, so who cares how!

I laughed so much I coughed and coughed! Actually felt like giving Arya and Santhanam a big hug in appreciation. *sigh* maybe some day :D

The supporting actors are ALL very good. Noteworthy that.

But this film is just timepass, feel-good, and NOT for those uptight or overly-critical or non-Tamil speaking sorts. It's not for those who look high and low for faults, gab endlessly about scripts, locations, cinematography, costumes yand all. Not for those in pursuit of sophistication. BEB surpasses all that. But you need to KNOW and love Tamil, Tamil cinema and have a sense of humour -- oh, that's very very important, to love this film.

Ah, then, enough said about me, eh? ;)

:D

Naan Mahan Alla

My favourite well-fed hero Karthi(!) takes charge here. The movie begins with some chilling music (great background score from Yuvan Shankar Raja -- Really good.).

Then, the story is about a happy-go-lucky guy who generally takes his family for granted and has a good time in life. He falls in love with some random girl (PYT -- Pretty Young Thing for non-MJ fans;)-- Kajal Agarwal)in a playful way and through games young ones play, gets her to fall for him too.

Some generally cute and entertaining romantic scenes later, the story unfolds that: Karthi's father in the film(seems like a REALLY nice dad to have) is witness to what was to be a a mere girl-running-away from home with boyfriend and boyfriend's gang of friends. The father is a call taxi driver. Thereafter, the gruesome killing of that girl and her boyfriend by his so-called friends leads to Karthi's father being a key witness to the horrible murders, and therefore a hot target for the gang of college-going, drug-abusing youths. Appalling, I tell you. I only saw this flick for Karthi the actor.

It's not a bad film at all except it could have been better taken. Loopholes galore and good guy winning against all odds a tad annoying although in this case, the villains are too villainous for words. Might as well have the hero beating the daylights outta them!

After a planned killing of Karthi's father, Karthi realises what life is all about. The scene and song of his father's funeral is very well taken. Cried my eyes out, thank you, and Karthi acts magnificently in some scenes such as these. His character name: Jeeva bugs me. Why oh why is Kollydamnwood obsessed with names like Jeeva, Raja and so on? Can't they have better names? Tamil cinema and the audiences deserve better. *sniff*

Didn't find the romance scenes toooo great. In fact liked the comedy played between Karthi, his friends and family MUCH more. Very every-day stuff and nice.

Ok, so dad gone, Karthi's eyes are opened and so his arms are flexed. Nice fights. I can't believe I just said that! I usually tune fights out. One dishoom is equal to another. After a long time, we find an interesting fight sequence and captivating turn of events during the final part of the film.

The bad boys got what they deserve which is always, ALWAYS nice to know/see. I choose to take the following morals of this film's story and highlight them:-

1. If you're a girl, don't run away from home with your boyfriend. Possible gang rape, throat slitting and body-cutting makes it so NOT worth it or ANY romance for that matter. No guy is worth it. BELIEVE me. May as well talk/beg/fight it out with your parents who are not likely to resort to murder...oh, honour killing chilling stories aside. (SERIOUSLY weird world this is getting to be!)

2. If you are the boy who is getting his friends' help in taking a girl out of her home, try not to make out with your girlfriend with your friends in the next room. It's disgusting and in this case, tempted them to finish you and your girlfriend off after having their ways with her. SICK.

3. If you are going to kill one person, you are likely to kill more (unless you killed one in self defense in the first place. So, please don't kill anyone!!

4. If you kill or maim others, you are not likely to come to any good end. None of us is immortal. We are all going to die. Why ensure it WILL be badly? Karma type thing.

5. Peer pressure. Stay strong and don't succumb to peer pressure. Today it's that glass of wine or a fad diet*. Tomorrow, it could be anything else.

6. Try not to stay pampered by parents. It makes life all that much more difficult when they go away...and parents, try not to be TOO giving. (This is only meant for such GREAT parents. Not for some of those who really need not have bothered reproducing -- a separate post for you soon, dearies!)

7. Don't talk on the mobile whilst riding your mobike. True, nothing happened to the actors HERE because film shooting environments are safe;), but something may well happen to YOU.

8. Don't forget to observe things and people around you.

Okay okay, I KNOW. This is just a movie. But everyone is so pre-occupied with films and actors' ishtyles all over the place that we may as well decide to learn some lessons outta them. The whole youth scene in this film freaked me out.

I kind of thought this movie would be like Death Wish. Well, maybe it IS about revenge but Death Wish is MUCH better seen from the revenge and lessons-of-life angles.

Karthi carried this film through. Cannot say enough how happy I am that here is an actor / hero who has not succumbed to grazing on carrots and cucumbers in a quest for a concave stomach (read six yucky pack) and puny frame. Keep eating well (The fad diet mention in point no.5 above is for you:D), Karthi. Don't turn metrosexual. Stay man!

Suriya or Surya is 'Singam' (Another animal title!) - Teesutalkie / movie review

I was so excited at the prospect of watching Suriya in Singam. What added the 'so' in that first sentence is that I saw him at the hotel Park around the time he was shooting for this film -- in this 'getup', and he looked oh-so-handsome. My I announce that he has the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen on a man and that I grudge him for keeping his eyes downcast so I couldn't check them out in person when I came to within 3 feet of him at the Park's weird entrance!;)

The film Singam had the usual cliches -- one roaring lion image appearing often enough instead of Suriya's face, etc. Proper MTR masala types. BY branding the masala, I meant good quality!

The comedy scenes were comforting thanks to Vivek. However, one or two scenes seemed more Vadivelu' s style than Vivek's. That kind of humour whereas, I normally associate Vivek's style with a cleverer tone overall.

Prakash Raj as the proverbial villain amazes me with HOW consistent he is in his mannerisms and style of talking. He delivers alright, but is it really so hard to find other actors who could do the trick just for the sake of variety? Just because this guy makes a 'good villain' is hardly enough reason to allow him to repeat himself in EVERY film esp in a negative role.

Anushka, the tall heroine I was SURE (after Vijay's Vettaikaran) would never be paired with shorter actors, is the heroine for Suriya here. Tall and rather big made, she wore revealing outfits (and I mean a little more revealing than 'normal') that earned the film the U/A certification rather than just 'U'.

Now, I have a bone to pick with the censor board about their general approach to censoring, but that's for another post.

Her expressions aren't bad but she does not really suit Suriya although director Hari has done a cool job of make-believe in this area.

Suriya. Well, he is a cool actor who, I do think could have won himself a National award or two for his acting in many a scene over many a film in the past say, 5-6 years...but he hasn't. This actor has some expressions down pat. Like the embarrassed one(THE best in the industry), the disappointed one, the angry one, the sarcastic one and the 'I-am-a-wonderful-son' one. Thing is, as I said, he has simply bee-you-ti-ful eyes, but they are also very expressive. So expressive in fact, that he gives himself away in some scenes like the one when confronted with Prakash Raj whose face comes to within one foot of himself. The guy's eyes smile and it makes you think he has a tough time keeping a straight face.

Alright, alright, you have to be Suriya-crazy to notice these things. Am not QUITE there yet. Who am I kidding, eh?Oh, and the veg puff at Sathyam cinemas this time, was bad.

Now, why on earth did they give Suriya so many gayish, girlie and METROSEXUAL moves in the songs, I want to know. Irritating.

The songs are not great. Between being distracted by Anushka's outlandish-for-tamil-cinema-height and appreciating Suriya's high-energy, the frivolous song scenes pass.

The movie is also not boring, thanks to director Hari who ONLY needs to watch out for repeating himself. The films Saamy and Aaru were wonderful and refreshing albeit masalas. Somehow, Singam is not THAT much so.

I say watch the movie for Suriya. Nothing else is compelling enough in the film.

Sura - Shark or Dolphin...or both?

Yummma! Yupppa! Podhum daa...

With these words, I left the cinema hall after watching Vijay's latest and 50th milestone movie in his film career: SURA. Sura means Shark. I agree. Quite as vicious a film as a shark is said to be.

Vijay's opening in the film came as a Dolphin-like stroke supposedly in the ocean. Didn't know sharks did that! Maybe sura also means dolphin. Ok, I can give them that.

What I cannot give this film & story, is ANY ounce of appreciation. Vijay is a fisherman, it seems. Pooh. Credibility goes downhill from here! Even Vadivelu's comedy was ...stupid. Only one scene was really funny -- the one with Vadivelu and Venniraadai Moorthy, but teh former spoiled it by repeating the funny act 5-6 times in succession!! Really poor.

Vijay. Couldn't he have given some amount of interest to the script he signed for his 50th film?? Disappointing. Boring dialogues but brilliant dancing! That's one thing he always has going for him. Also, he looked healthier in this film than he has in a long time. He just needs another Gillie now and then...and then, he can pull on with more Kuruvis and Vettaikaarans but God forbid he comes out with more Villus & Suras.

Tamannah. Really, the girl's OK. Forced to act like a bimbo but am sure I want to thank her for her correct lip-syncing, which is more than I can say for the villain. Aha. The Villain in Sura I THINK is the hero from the family-drama nice-Tamil-film-hit 'Aha' that released in...I think 1996-1997. Poor guy. Poor lip syncing / dubbing.

The story & presentation is best described as 'thoo-thoo-thuppaaki'. Stupid-O-Stupid.

It seems Ilayadhalapathi (what does it mean?) Vijay's movies have slumped into the following super-boring format:

• Talk of the hero (Vijay), followed by a 'Vijay-opening' scene.


• Song for some made-up victory celebration.


• Some drama usually involving the mother who dotes on son(Vijay) and is the epitome of...home-making / mommying.


• Villain-entry followed by a small triumph from Vijay's side over one of the villain's assistants / small-fry.


• Heroine entry and the weaving of a romance-plot that thins with every film.


• Song: Vijay and heroine. Show-off time for Vijay!


• Some fights, more songs, ill-placed comedy scenes and ...a challenge!


• INTERVAL (habbah!)


• More drama, comedy, fights, songs, fights, fights and fight till the end.


• Vijay wins any fight in the end never mind the number of villains or anything.


• Subham

Sura is best described as a SHARK ATTACK! Stay outta theatres, people. I didn't. That's ONLY because a friend and I like to watch Vijay films even if JUST for the heck of it and not mention that fab vegetable puffs and popcorn (salt AND caramel) at Sathyam cinemas.

Psssst! BURRRP. The film's bad.

Paiyya

Was warned a bit about it.

Finally went to watch it mostly for the hero Karthi. For the ill-informed, Karthi is an erstwhile assistant of Mani Rathnam's and younger bro of Suriya and the younger son of actor Shivakumar. A few-films-old actor who's pretty good at it. The story, if one has to find one in this film, has this disinterested, supposedly-job-hunting guy being pepped up for an interview by his sister and friends. The first few scenes had cliched dialogues -- a kind of banter between friends that didn't quite cut it. Then, the hero catches sight of, and falls hook, line and sinker for the heroine Tamannah somewhere. This girl by the way, does better Tamil lip-syncing than most other Hindi actresses. Somehow, he ends up driving her as a 'driver' from Bangalore to Mumbai whilst being chased by two separate gangs - one's after him and one's after her. A make-believe story that comes nowehere close to being believable. Pure acting for the sake of acting in the film.

First of all, the dubbing. The actors, especially Karthi's sister in the film grates on your Tamizh-loving n Tamizh-speaking nerves with her idiotic rendering of dialogues. Even Milind Soman does a better job.

Milind Soman is one villain. A lean, mean, bloody machine. Nothing more, nothing less. The other villain is some 200+ kilo guy who is overflowing out of a jeep. Speaking of villains, there are too many. WHY would one hero beat up some 30 villains single-handedly every half an hour in the film and still be the last man standing, is beyond me. Especially in today's world of supposedly well-informed and brainy audiences.

Tamannah. Is Ok. Not too glam, not too simple. Not great at acting, but not bad either. Pleasing enough without IN YOUR face beauty like Ash Rai Bachchan or in-your-face villy-face like Shriya.

But the heroine ditching the hero once her job was done ...and him still in love with her after realising it ...(well, the audience realised it, dunno if HE did!) ...and THEN getting royally hit by a steel rod some dozen times...is painfully absurd. Then, he wheels around from half-deaddom and attacks all his attackers! Smooth!

STUPID.

The music was OK, nothing earth shattering, with some surprisingly pleasing steps by the stocky hero. Ahhh. Must dwell on stocky. The guy's not really PLUMP, but quite healthy with the required basic shoulder muscles and leg-lifting, for some good villain-kicking and all. What a refreshing change from the puny souls who are the metrosexual actors of today! Welcome, Karthi. Please don't lose weight!! Some of us like our men healthy and well-fed.

Finally, because the film had to end somewhere, Tamannah hugs Karthi. A *sniff sniff* into handkerchief moment. Those three hundred and fifty bucks I will never see again. Waaah.

Aayirathil Oruvan -- PAYBACK TIME!

This movie was said to be a fantasy adventure among other things like touching upon the ancient, Chola dynasty.

I went to see it because of a) Karthi (an actor who proved himself in his very first film -- the very rustic Paruthiveeran), b) Because of the hype that it is a never-before Tamil film sort of bullshit and c)The plot seemed to revolve around a guy and 2 girls without the obvious idiotic, mushy, love triangle. I would have thought that when a film of Karthi's came out, I would rush to see it but for some extremely smart reason, I was dragging my feet until a friend actually booked the tickets.

This movie does not really deserve a post because:

• The story was not well-relayed if indeed there was one.
• The makers were trying to achieve something beyond normal expectations but took themselves over-seriously and SERIOUSLY sodhappifyd (messed up) things.
• The gore in this film is of such enormity that after a while, it becomes 'normal'.
• There are too many sickening scenes but as in the above point, one becomes numb after a few such. I shall refrain from describing them since they are WAY below my blog's standards. Deepest basement so far ever seen.
• The dubbing is SHOCKING! String desire to smack Reema Sen's mouth. Learn Tamil, idiot!
• The completely unacceptable way of treating women in today's day and age that is met with not enough attitude from the women (otherwise despicted here as overly-sassy)
• The film clearly had a budget and making time it simply did not deserve!
• The movie revealed that the maker is dark -- he has a VERY dark side to him that needs help.
• I not only want my one hundred and twenty rupees back, I want to claim damages for my time. If big theatres show films, there ought to be a standard. This is BAD.
• Many firsts in Tamil Cinema it seems, but most of the firsts should be corrected to 'Firsts and Lasts!'
• Too much boldness and aroused outrage in me. I like my Thamizh Tamil films. Miss them now after this...*sniff*

Then why am I writing about it? Well, where else can I rant?

Besides, lots was dung. Giving logic a miss like nobody's business. I detested that silly cursing and swearing the two women indulged in. Nope, not how I like my Tamil films...er, would not even tolerate it in English films!

The music was quite good. Different and interesting.

Karthi -- My only solace (since am forced to search for one) was his acting never mind the sicko-ness depicted. Why he chose this movie is beyond me. To be honest, there were some parts that came out well, but, in between the beheading, raping, shooting and killing, these were just scenes you watched dumbly with a slight stir of interest for this guy's sake. HMPH.

Andrea -- delivered I suppose. What I don't know.

Reema Sen -- Her acting has improved tremendously no doubt. But her poor lip movements irked big time. SERIOUS ERROR casting her in the role then.

Parthibhan -- yeah, yeah, ok, the guy can act. Could have chosen a better film is all I have to say.

The director Selvaraghavan...needs help. If you have the misfortune of watching this film, you will get it.

The chilling words 'Thodarum' (Will be continued) at the end are still creeping me out.

My words on '3 Idiots'

Guess a lot of people would have watched the film '3 Idiots' by now. Still, I just saw it this morning (yes, a morning show on a Sunday no less, just for Aamir Khan, perhaps) and as usual, would like to throw some opinions around. One of the best things about a blog, by the way.

Three college-going guys played by men in their 30s and 40s! Aamir Khan (40+), Madhavan(maybe 40 + or -) and Sharman Joshi (I suppose 30-35) play the 3 idiots. I guess there are more than 3 idiots involved in this whole cinema experience, eh?;)

Anyway, the movie I read, was based on Chetan Bhagat's book 'Five Point Someone'. I hadn't yet gotten around to seeing the film 10 days ago and so, the moment my foot hit Landmark store's book floor, I pounced on it. After all, a researcher and all that...ahem. (Ok, vetti is the right word!) I enjoyed the book but was prepared, after the tug of war between the 3 Idiots Team and Chetan Bhagat, for the many changes to the book's storyline for the film adaptation. And any way, since when has a movie ever been able to equal a book's power in quite the same way?

Some engineering college with these three idiots and the happenings...are entertaining and interesting. Can even be called an eye-opening o better still, a warning for control-freak parents who may have let their own lives go (or not), and clutch hold of their child's life and career with an alarming grip to the point of strangulation. And if not them, then high-intellect professors who lack compassion and/or an open mind.

Aamir Khan, the actor par excellence, disappoints. Yes, yes, it's lovely to see Aamir on screen as usual and all that good stuff and may I say he wears Tshirts of wonderful hues too! But he has this weird, put-on, 'thiru-thiru' look going, together with some head scratching and shoulder-shrugging that makes you really start to believe he IS an idiot. Slightly demented he looks. Must be a wild attempt for a 40+ guy to pass off for 19.

Er...to be kind, it is not necessary, right?Aamir Khan is Aamir Khan. We don't mind him playing the protagonist in such a wonderful story even is he is being idiotic enough to try and make us accept he is half his age. Fairly small made as such, he looks completely and irrevocably short in this film. Anyway, it was nice to see him hold the fort.

Kareena Kapoor. I cannot bear to say 'Bebo' (Some folks have the 'UGH-est' nicknames.). I admit, I have always been grumpy about her size zero-ness but she acted so well in this film and looks quite wonderful, that I have forgiven her for her 6 miniscule meals and much yoga and other exercises every day.

Madhavan. In some scenes, although his Hindi is quite perfect (and who am I to argue?!), I sort of felt he was speaking in Tamil to someone. Dunno why. But good acting from him as usual and he looks quite nice although without his shirt, he can be allowed to be nothing less than 40 if even that. Take 45... and join a gym quickly I say. Just how far do you think your endearing smile is going to take you? It's already lasted too long. Hmph.

Oh and in this film, you are not going to see girls in skimpy clothes, but guys. Many of them are caught with their pants down (literally and figuratively) in quite a few scenes. You get used to seeing male backsides with various coloured-jetties on them. Big deal, eh?

Sharman Joshi delivers. Nothing more, nothing less. Really good acting all around, really.

Boman Irani suits Hindi films like nothing on earth. He can act up, play it up, play it strict, play it funny and play it lispy as he does here. The lisp on the strict Professor is a nice touch.

Excellent locations and some scenes are truly breathtaking. The dream sequence is thankfully just that even for the actors. The music could truly have been better. Did not haunt or move me one bit although it was not atrocious. Noteworthy is that there is a terrific amount of humour in the film.

The film gives another great message in no uncertain terms lest the audience misses the point: Don't strive for success, strive for excellence...and success will come trotting after. Or that's what I understood!

And then, after al,l it is a Hindi film even if with a great message. So expect the degree of corniness and drama and romance. The lack of fights was nice.

Would recommend you watch it if you haven't already. Thou shalt be entertained and heartened ...in sommme way.

Vijay, The Actor...in...The Hunter -- Vettaikaran HMPH!

Vettaikaran Movie review (Only Vijay)

The first movie I ever saw in my LIFE was Vettaikaran. Fascinated, I was four or five when I watched a stealthy MGR circling a wounded lion in the jungle and somehow, instead of claiming his beast, he removes the thorn sticking out of the animal's paw and relieves the lion of its pain. How KIND! I was a goner...for MGR! He was a true hero in my young eyes. (Things change...okay?)

So, I went to today's Vettaikaran movie starring Vijay ('Ilayathalapathy') with faraway thoughts and 'panging' nostalgia.

But...

V for VERY predictable is V for Vijay.

The movie began ...interestingly not with Vijay beating up somebody, but with a very Telugu-mouthed Telugu actor (You know how 'Telugu or Hindi mouths' speak Tamil on screen right? Bit of a money-purse look on their mouths) shooting some bad guy. This Telugu-mouth is a cop and a wonderful, upright, righteous, aggressive encounter specialist at that.

Vijay's intro in the film was...on a horse. For a moment, I was stunned -- were Devar Films back in action? Then, I thought it must have to do with hunting. Vettaikaran and all that. Kings may have hunted on horses, but this looked ridiculous! Anyway, some silly Vijay fightings and savings-of-the-day later, the hero launched into some predictable song. As usual, nepotism puts me off so when Vijay's son (I think it's his son) joins him on screen for the song, it simply...irks. Sidey touch. But perhaps not for the proud papa or a die-hard Vijay fan. Hmph.

After the song and dance about nothing, hero has usual scoldy parents with some terribly boring family humour and leaves for Chennai to become a policeman no less, and to be like Telugu-Mouth mentioned above. Soon he predictably sees the love of his life and proceeds with some over-acting jollu and associated emotions and expressions.

Anyway, the romance picture in Vijay's movies is all about girls who wear less and dance more. This one -- Anushka (weird name) is from Tollywood (hate these tags), is nice-looking and (read 'BUT') is TALL. Anyway you look at it, Tamil cnema ain't the place for her unless far-fetchedly, Tamil movie viewing moves to taller heroines with much-shorter heroes who save them from various artificial elements. Heck, even in supposedly far-ahead Hollywood this has not happened. So, sigh, but bye-bye Anushka even though we DO appreciate the correct Tamil mouthing of dialogues. Really, we do. It's just that Kamal, Surya, Vikram and company cannot bear to look up to you. Am not being mean, it's true. Besides I LIKE Kamal, Vikram and Suriya. Vijay just about managed cos he is taller than the others.

One new angle here is the girl-friend he has (er, no, not Anushka. Apparently *yuck*, she is his 'angel' *Barf*). Platonic and nice relationship and in fact SHE is the one he saves from the bad guys as a GOOD friend-bordering-on-brother...whatever. (am losing interest in this post already! So YOU are excused)

The songs by Vijay Antony are ...enjoyable. I am very very Tamil, and very very happy-to-be, so that's my excuse for liking the songs. The song 'Karikalai''s female playback singer is great and some 'suuuur', 'burr' and 'gurrr' sounds you hear in another song are in fact abbreviated lyrics! Please leave your brains out of this. The song 'Chinna Thamarai' is indeed nice and interesting, with some rap thrown in most incongruously but ...hmmm, quite interestingly. Besides, Vijay startles you with a strong Michael Jackson flavour in this song and looks strangely suddenly-chubby-faced as well! The badly placed wig distracted.

But this is a Vijay film -- so expect to expect strange things...

Dream sequences galore with the strong possibility that the audience may forget to wake up when it is over.

Then the Avengorama story: quickly (!), is that a wannabe cop with inspiration Telugu Mouth comes to Chennai, gets entangled with bad guys and nearly pays dearly for it. Telugu Mouth is actually a badly shattered and blinded encounter supercop who hates life these days. Then hero manages to gain 1,2,3...up on the villain (oh, VERY nice Tamil speaking by Salim Ghouse btw) and his son Chella played by some new, apparently Telugu actor who btw, I have seen work out in my gym and looks every bit the villain he portrays. Hope that look is on purpose! Back to story, the hero loses his best friend who's killed by Salim Ghouse (certainly due to hero's own carelessness, sorry) and avenges this by killing 'Chella'. Salim Ghouse then avenges this by becoming a minister and Vijay then avenges that by ...some twists and turns and Salim's character ends up with a bullet in his pancreas, no less. The bullet might have got his spleen too!

What is Tamil cinema's obsession to have endearing words either spoken by the villain as a refrain or have an endearment as a name for the villain?GRR. And why does this villain seem to say in challenge to Vijay: 'Waada.........WAAAAA!' when in Tamil, it should be 'Vaada.....Vaaaaa!'

Telugu purse-mouth syndrome.

Note: I have absolutely nothing against Telugus but much against Telugu actors badly-mouthing Tamil dialogues in Tamil films, dammit.

Vettaikaran -- The Hunted look in the audience's eyes was indeed caused by this hunter!

His next film should be titled (yes, yes, the big 50th film *snort*) 'YAVM' -- standing for Yet Another Vijay Movie. But then, I suppose I will be watching it after all. Need to be well out of reach of reality sometimes y'know, with some mindless but indeed good dancing thrown in, some gala songs and much masala in the otherwise bland curd rice.

Oh and the script can be by ANYone by the way, as long as it has a generous amount of nonsense and high levels of corniness.

'Aadhavan' Film -- with Surya

Surya. No matter that I find him really handsome, I was a bit annoyed at the way he acted when I almost bumped into him at a hotel recently. He kept those nice-looking eyes of his downcast (bad habit!) and made a great show of standing aside in a long-suffering stance, as he made way for a few of us ladies to pass him. He was obviously avoiding recognition. HMPH to him. Wear a 'mohamoodi' then next time, I say!

Anyway, the next day, I was booked to go for his latest flick 'Aadhavan'. What irritated me right away along with the opening titles, was the photo of Surya with wife Jyothika and daughter that was flashed on the screen. Please. How much sucking up do they want to do? There are superior actors out there who don't do this kind of thing and this is quite silly. By 'they' I think I mean the producer and director. Apparently, Surya is really hot property despite giving run-of-the-mill storied films (with admittedly good music overall) with a LOT of Surya in them. Thankfully, he is eye candy, so the tolerance is more.

But nobody had better find fault with Kamal Haasan any more for alleged obsession with 'the self'. This guy is going all out on himself.

The movie itself is a weird story with not much originality in it. The hero is seen as a bad guy -- a paid assassin who goes about shooting people with unerring accuracy. Major rifle pandi. Then, he gets to shoot some judge and misses. Supposedly upset at that, he manages to find himself a place in the judge's strangely and inexplicably mazhalai pattaalam household through one number crazy cook there (comedian Vadivelu)... and all this just to assassinate the judge.

The story has many needless twists and turns with the judge turning out to be Surya's father (Surya's name is Aadhavan in the film) and the actual story is that Aadhavn actually turned 'approver' for the police after his botched attempt at the judge and that he knowingly missed his target, etc. And all the time they were trying to fool the audience into believing that Surya was trying to kill the judge, he was actually only trying to protect him. Yes, the police WOULD entrust the significant job of protecting a high-profile judge to a criminal turned good guy (even if they knew he was actually the judge's son).

Actually, vaat a stupheed story I sayyy.

So, as a boy, Aadhavan had run away from home after shooting some police guy. Nice kid. Nice track record. And nice 'heroes' being portrayed in films these days!!! I mean, SHOULD they be showing the hero as a bad guy who runs around shooting people? It's not like Naayagan where the boy is pushed into a corner...this kid is from an affluent family and just went astray. Not a good idea, me thinks.

Anyway, Vadivelu was a riot. Had many big laughs and enjoyed his acting. His timing was superb. His fear and chagrin at Aadhavan's 'ways' is hilarious. He has outdone himself in this film. Only problem: there was too much Vadivelu in Aadhavan ...presumably to make up for the lame story?

Nayantara the heroine, is a super example of uppuku-chappaani in this film. Just a side dish that is not even all that tasty really.

Saroja Devi, yesteryear's over-sweet heroine (although I did like her a lot! Argh.) is also present in this film. Somewhat closer to providing comic relief than anything else. The comic relief business in this film is very high I must say again, as I am sure everyone making the film knew it was simply necessary.

Surya. Yes, he acted alright and is looking slim and good and all that, but overall, I do feel he cuts a sorry figure substance-wise. The scenes where he is hanging upside down from some crane and certain miraculous escapes shown, deliver this film stupid and average-masala stuff. Does this actor really want his career graph slipping into say, Vijay's (Ilayathalapathy!) line of films? Not to really insult Vijay or anything, whose films have their own average-entertainment charm, but just to prove a point!!

Surya's performances in Nanda, Pithamagan and even Vaaranam Aayiram put him on a rung far above this sort of idiotic, insulting-the-audience's intelligence type of film. Quite full of himself he is these days...

There were the last minute appearances from the director and producer of the film. Clearly, they wanted to be a piece of the silly pie they created, but it was so lame! They had nothing to say really, and wasted some five minutes more, by acting stupid.

And why should n't they? The film and story were also stupid, right?

Tribute to Michael Jackson concert

Sunitha Sarathy the singer, is an old friend of mine. We go way back. KG days in school. As we grew older, in our teens, we would sing together and won many competitions mostly because she sang wonderfully whilst not overpowering the rest and our band had instrumentalists, which was quite rare for girls' schools to have. Her solos even then, clinched the prize for us am sure. Later, she pursued singing and has a truly gifted voice -- sings very very well. Am not convinced that she has got all the accolades her singing deserves, but that's another matter.

When I heard that she was singing in a tribute to MJ concert, I was quite kicked. As it is, i consider myself a major MJ 'appreciator' and now this. So, I paid a thousand bucks to attend this concert, with the proceeds going towards a cause. I knew there were others as well: Shankar Mahadevan, Benny Dayal, Blaaze, and so many others, but the main attractions for me were Sunitha, Shankar and Blaaze.

As we walked in to take our places on Wesley Grounds, my friend remarked: "You know, MJ has not yet been buried so if these guys don't sing well, he will get up and come and slap their faces!". Hmmm. Something to think about.;)

At the concert, I found out just how tough it was to have even dared to do a tribute to a performer like MJ. Clearly we are grossly challenged in the dancing department, but it was a shock that we were challenged in the singing department too. Honestly, not because she is my old friend or anything, but Sunitha Sarathy saved the day! She can sing and her passion for MJ was evident in her body language too. Other saviours were Blaaze, Timmy and Naresh Iyer. Anu was not bad either.

The rest of the female singers other than Anu were like some hotel/nightclub singers. RJ Suchi as Radio jockey and playback singer Suchitra is better known as, sang Beat It and it was ...nothing to get excited about. She should have just sung it in her bathroom and been done with it. Oh and the actress Andrea who sang did not do wonders, but no blunders either. There was just not enough MJ in her singing, that's all.

Other singers were 'pitchy' too. Benny Dayal was soooo insipid in his rendering of MJ songs, it was an outrage. Why sing when your heart is not in it? Especially when it is NOT a free show? Nee maduraikkey poidu pa.

The others like Kavitha, Suvi, Roshni, etc. whilst not particularly pitchy, gave very hotel-like and nightclubby performances. Ok for an evening out with nothing to do but drinks and eats. Not Ok for a tribute concert, dearies.

Naresh Iyer was good. Did justice to the songs he sang and is a sincere singer. Sincere to the music. We need that. Haricharan also seemed sincere but sadly, a bit pitchy. Was most enthu and anyday, i can forgive an enthu singer who makes a few mistakes when compared with a know-it-all who ...just does not cut it.

Shankar Mahadevan: The great attraction and wonderful singer. Came on stage, raised expectations to the sky and sang 'aaaaaaaaaa' for a MJ number (did not recognise it but assume MJ number) Indian ishtyle, which was nice but not nice enough. Tribute to MJ, remember? And then, he introduced his son to the audience and got HIM to sing the song. Ummm, hallo? Pulikku pirandhadhu poonai aagumaa and so on is so NOT impressive when you try to shove the poonai down our throats. You, Shankar, made a mark on your merit. Allow your son to appreciate that. Don't hoist him onto your golden platform, cos we do not appreciate it. Let him sing his way up and not ride uppu mootai on your back. Capiche?On top of that, there was a nephew of his also around. Puh-lease.

Blaaze I quite enjoyed. He is cool and the chorus of his own composition as a tribute that went "one: I like Michael, two: you like michael, three: WE like michael" was slightly childish but at least something refreshing. Plus the rap style and 'yo'yo' business was quite perfect.

Then there was a powerful performer called Timmy who was very good. Not GREAT for MJ style, but otherwise great. Thank you, sire for being there. One of the saviours of the tribute.

A young girl sang a childhood number of Michael's and she too fitted the bill. Forget her name.

Blink and you'll miss him was Karthik. Frankly, the nightclubby singers quite put me to sleep that I had to rouse myself for the better numbers with difficulty. Why then did I stay for the entire show? Oh, because it was tribute to MJ and not about these various singers with only 4 out of a dozen worth a 'watch and listen' that night.

At the end, predictably, we had 'Heal the World' and 'We are the World'. Both were fine because we, the audience, sang along.;)

The music was produced by Pravin Mani and whilst it was a good effort, it was not good enough. The dancers should have practiced better and if a singer was not cutting it, he or she should have been cut out. Please, people! When are you going to give credit ONLY where it is due? Why does everything have to be diluted by pleasing this bozo and that? There was one dancer who stood out with a cool moonwalk to his credit. Very smooth. MJ would have been proud. Another good thing was they had a screen as the backdrop that had many an MJ still. That was cool and a great respite from much of the singing!

At the end, I have to say that MJ is inimitable and thankfully, we have the many videos and music recordings to listen to that will finally be the real tribute this golden performer deserves.

Immortal music and performances.

Now, you other so-called MJ fans-cum-pseudo singers out there, just BEAT IT!

The Film: Kandaswamy...hmph. REALLY.

After the review at www.blogeswari.blogspot.com, a wonderful read, you would think I would have nothing to say on this film. But I have to vent. Had I not been warned about the film, I would have been dumbstruck to see one of my most favourite actors -- Vikram, acting in this film with its sheer lack of substance or whatever it takes for a film to be at least 60% watchable. But I had been warned and still crept into the theatre at 9 am on a Sunday (great feat for Teesu. Only other time that saw such an effort was for a Harry Potter film), armed with a chilli cheese toast for breakfast!! Free tickets they were -- please note.

And so it began.

My immediate reaction to Vikram's get up as a rooster was (I hope it was a rooster!) ...why? It just struck me as a weird bird to choose for a superhero getup. Or is there something I am missing? Anyway, after a point Vikram's prancing and rooster-like postures and behaviour were indeed good enough even for the most critical eye.

Then came his super-CBI officer getup. I just wanted to launch myself out of my seat to wipe that smug smile off his face! Did n't know one had to have a smug mug to come across as a sharp guy. I mean even Kamal Hasan had smug looks only whilst romancing his heroines and that, in a man's Kollywood world (HMPH) is normal. C'mon Chiyaan Vikram, greater things are expected from you.

And then there was this woman-getup of Vikram's where he is to entice some jokers and then whack the daylights out of them. So, when I saw Vikram in a white jill jill saree trying to act all coy and seductive, I was shocked. Taken aback. And not in a good way. Vikram on screen is a man -- all man. A man's man. A woman's man. You get the picture. His innate manliness is a great part of his charm. Dressed as a woman, he looks frightening. True, his body language was superb as were his expressions and moves. But his body and face are so very SQUARELY in the male zone that you do shake your head and say 'tsk tsk, NOTHING like Kamal' who even in Avvai Shanmughi as a woman in her late fifties, could pass off for ultra feminine and bashful-o-bashful. Kamal has the advantage of a certain softness in his big expressive eyes. Yes, the eyes might have done poor Vikram in as well as his overly developed upper body -- sideways that is. Big biceps and enviable shoulders et al.

For this absolute STAR from films like Sethu, Dhool, Pithamagan and Anniyan to have acted in this mostly rubbish film is like a slap in the face. Please! Choose a better basket for your eggs next time. (heh heh, no pun intended. After all roosters don't lay eggs...I know that!)

Shriya. Oh dear. Shame shame, puppy shame! Now, now, NO cattiness here at all -- am highly OK to say Simran was sexy or Jyothika was cute or even Trisha is appealing, but Shriya's face just reminds me of MN Rajam's. No insult to the latter though. Villi-ish face and just because of her body, she gets these meaty roles? Kollywood needs to to grow up.

Shriya seriously needs to try wearing clothes and see if they suit her. I mean what else does she have going for her? Certainly not acting and CERTAINLY not dialogue delivery even in mere lip sync. DISGUSTING.

The film, such as it was, was disjointed. I actually felt sleepy somewhere in between which is truly a first for me. Why do the scenes shot in Mexico have to be yellowish? Why did the songs have to be so blah? (save one or two?) Why does Vikram have to overdo expressions like macho-pride-smugo so? Very disappointing. I can only think that this is a phase for this hardworking actor to have gone through and that he should be clear of the dark tunnel now!

After Anniyan, really...Bheema was a chappai matter but all was forgiven -- aftr all you cannot deliver a super duper hit EVERY time, but now this? REALLY.

Oh and Chiyaan Vikram must have really been talking through that feathered hat of his to have said that this movie is one for kids, etc. Which parent in his or her right mind would want their kid(s) to watch this unnecessarily sleazy flick replete with a drug-addicted, sex-addicted villain running rampant on screen? Huh?

REALLY.

Ok, stop rant Teesu! Idhuvum kadandhu poyaaachu. (This too has already passed)

Filmy talk -- 'Naan Kadavul'

"Aham Brahmasmi" is the protagonist's refrain in the film 'Naan Kadavul'. Don't ask me what that means exactly, but I think it means 'I am God' because that's what Naan Kadavul means!

I am sure I cannot elucidate as I should about this film because I am not very knowledgeable on the subject involved. But since this is my blog, I am going to say it like it feels to me.;)

The film is not particularly enjoyable because it revolves around beggars and a sect of sanyasis or sadhus (is there a difference?) called agoris, who are apparently equipped with superior knowledge and insight, as they seem to know how to differentiate the evil from the good with the naked eye. i.e. just by looking at the person. They also believe they have the power to eliminate the evil person. They also believe that they can help a much-suffered soul to attain moksha -- and free him from this life and all future births if they deem fit.

The part of the film that focusses on the agoris is most interesting. The part of the film that focusses on beggar rings, the heartless monsters who run them and the beggars themselves, takes you from depression to anxiety to fear to hatred to repulsion and then to feeling very very sorry for the pathetic victims -- the beggars, that is. The humour that the director (Bala) brings out from the general characters of the film as opposed to usual, 'designated comedians' is commendable and somewhat incongruous (because the beggars seem to enjoy a wonderful sense of humour), but utterly believable.

Then comes a revelation -- the actress Pooja. Honestly, I thought she was only fit to run around trees like a mindless glam girl. But in this film where she plays a blind and most pathetic beggar, she has done very very well. Damn near steals the show. I just hope she dubbed for herself. This is something that always bugs me about many of the Tamil heroines. Anyway, she is no 'heroine' in this film. Just a blind girl to whom a viewer's heart can not only go out to, but in the process, get as battered and broken as the character does! Sigh.

It also had many scenes that say 'accept the disabled into your picture'...as we should. As we had better, rather!

Then comes my favourite -- Arya. This guy is 'wow'. He has always been a good actor(in the few films he has acted in), but in this film, he really gets into the groove and plays his role to the hilt. He has readied his physical appearance for the role and manages many scenes with aplomb in spite of wearing the barest minimum clothing. This takes him nowhere near a pin up boy or anything (!!) because this is simply not that type of film and I am sure there are hardly any other actors who would dare to bare as he does. Male or female, we are not in the garden of Eden & so, this attempt to shed clothes and extra weight, grow hair and maintain it as unkempt, etc. etc. is commendable as it lends a great deal of crediblity to the role. And the scenes where he stands on his head are simply mindblowing. Serious admiration in progress...

This is not a film for those who love sweeping 'unpleasantries' under the carpet or for those who prefer to stay away from films that contain no romance or flowery scenes, show of riches and unnecessary fights. It is also not for people who cannot stand violence or bloodshed.

This is a film for those who appreciate Bala with all his obsession for depression and gloom (!) because he is a director who I think has substance, etches superb characters however sad or pathetic, and executes a neat film with apt music. Ilayarajai scores as usual. Maestro na maestro dhaan.

That said, there were (I am sure) many scenes missing from this film. Seems to have been cut like nobody's business. I believe it was said to have some 'cannabalism' involved as well. Ugh. But did n't get to see it. It was gory enough anyway!

Still, it would have been more interesting to see the full version and find out all that Bala had to say. (Yikes)

Oh and the comedy scenes involving Shivaji-MGR immitating side-actors was really one of the few 'enjoyable' portions of the film.

I don't however think I would want to see it again and again. The pathetic scenes remain fresh in the mind, you see...

Every (slum)dog has its day.

Kuppamnaai Latshaadhipathi

'Slumdog Millionaire' -- that's what I said above in Tamil. Worth a post so here I am.

WARNING! LONG POST AHEAD!

Went for a night show with my usual 'kick' of anticipation, being a movie buff and all that. Did n't even want my usual popcorn right in the beginning. The experience began with angry tears -- mine. It's just that I stood in line to get a bottle of water and when my turn came, the twit behind the counter coolly attended another oaf instead of me, who extended his hand with cash (same as I did)...and the twit did the same with the NEXT guy too. I was outraged and asked the twit whether he knew what a queue was...and should he as the guy behind the counter not be the one to acknowledge a queue...??No answer is what I got. 'GRR' was followed by angry tears which I did NOT shed. Blinked them away.

Enough already with the rant, get on with the movie experience, Teesu. Got it.

The movie is about a boy from the slums of Mumbai -- rather, it is about 2 little boys and a little girl from the slums. The boys are brothers and the older one's name is Salim while the younger one is Jamal and the girl is Lathika (in the film). By a twist of fate (Mumbai riots), the three kids are orphaned and end up together because Jamal takes 'specially' to Lathika. They are conned into ending up in a sort of begging ring by a rogue, and face a dubious future there with a strong likelihood of some terrible atrocities and eventually flee from there just in the nick of time. However, Lathika does not make it with the boys and while Jamal is broken hearted about it, Salim's main interest is always shown as his little bro and not Lathika. Well, the rest of the story is about how Jamal can never forget or give up on Lathika and I suppose she loved him too although in a defeatist kind of way! Jamal gets himself onto a Q&A game show based on the popular 'Who wants to be a millionaire / Kaun banega Crorepati' show, again, all for love. (I used to watch the show here years before, just to soak in Amitabh Bachchan's charm:).

In this film, the show's smug, taunting host is Anil Kapoor while Irfan Khan plays the inspector who questions Jamal on his astonishing knowledge that made him answer all the questions, putting him in a position to become a millionaire overnight.

The film is good, no doubt. The characters seem pretty real as do the situations they find themselves in. I suppose British directors have got a penchant for starkness. Still, this film is not overly stark. The actors are brilliant right from the little children to the young men and women they become. And by actors, I mean to include Anil Kapoor (MAN, that guy is trim and does not seem to know the meaning of the verb 'age'!), Irfan Khan (plays an Indian cop to the hilt), the 3 protagonists, etc. But the thing is, we Indians have seen so much more from Anil Kapoor that this role is like 'jujubee' (trivial) for him/us. Naturally, he played the part well. Irfan Khan on the other hand is damn good usually, and in this, he seems to have underplayed it a bit which is brilliant I suppose, considering that the Indian cop generally speaking, is used to seeing the worst of life, and then some! Therefore, he goes from agitated to angry, to rude, to calm, to shrewd and observing, to being understanding, borders on compassionate and finally, to believing. Very nicely done.

AR Rahman. I may get booed for saying this, but we Indians already knew he is a fabulous composer / music director. The rest of the world is just catching on. To me, that's what this noise about Golden Globes and Oscars means. C'mon... how many marvellous creations of ARR's have we enjoyed? In this film sure, the songs are good, but nothing that steps out to be outstanding in the LONG list of great songs he has composed. Still, if it is the first for an Indian at the Oscars / Golden Globes, it IS great, but it is also true that India has not been appreciated enough for all that she has. Now's her time, eh? I would say that India has merely got a platform at the 'elite-global' level with Slumdog Millionaire, to show off the 'tip of the iceberg'. This of course, I mean in a positive way.

Some have criticised the film for portraying India 'slummily'. I beg to differ. Easy for us commonfolk leading cushy lives to be miffed that the poor side of our country has been 'shown up' on an international scale. But, the film shows how even people from the slums have a code they live life by, which I believe is sometimes far superior to us with the well cushioned butts -- literally and figuratively!;) ... Salim's love for his younger brother, Jamal's love for Lathika, the TV host's contempt and condescending tone (slightly overdone I thought), the police inspector lending Jamal a fairly fair ear, the really good acting by the villains, all these deserve a mention.

I like dogs but not slums, for obvious reasons. I strongly object to demeaning a person by calling him a slumdog. But I suppose, it can happen. The chilling scene where the beggar ring rogues prepare to blind a little boy and proceed with the ghastly act left me feeling deeply disturbed, horrified and terribly depressed, even if it is just a movie. I suppose we all know this happens in real life but we are so far removed from it that we are lulled into a happy and comfortable zone.

This film pokes you in the ribs and makes you feel the pain of a 'slum dog'. And then, it also tends towards fairly happy endings. So, watch it. We are going to win some never-before awards, so you have to watch it!

Cheers! Jai Ho and Jai Hind;).

Late action, late reaction...to Vaaranam Aayiram

I wanted to watch this film from MUCH before it was released over two months ago. Anyway, I saw it yesterday. I am still unclear about what Vaaranam Aayiram means (strength of a 1000 elephants?) or its real relevance to the film and its characters. I only know that an extremely corny dialogue right at the end by Simran (plays an older heroine/woman's role) had some silly reference to this phrase 'Vaaranam Aayiram'.

Suriya the actor, is one reason I wanted to watch this film. The director Gautham Menon is another. The latter has made some very good films although they did have disturbing scenes / concepts in them. Still, he can really make an actor look good and believable -- even better than good, really utilise him or her!

So, the film begins with a sickly, older Suriya. Now, his make up was much much better than Kamal's in Dasavathaaram in any of the avathaarams. (Feel bad saying ths considering I am quite a Kamal fan). Well, anyway, a fact is a fact. Simran in an older role was good until the last few scenes. Konjam sad her acting and dialogue delivery then. Why has she STILL not learned to move her lips the Thamizh way?!!

Then it moves to romance -- Gautham Menon always excels in portraying these 'moments'. Same in this film too.

The main theme however, is about father and son with emphasis on the way the son (also Suriya) looks up to the father. While this is a very nice and unique theme in Tamil cinema, the number of "Daddy-Daddy"s in the film ought to have been reduced by half at the very least. I mean, I am all for the Daddy syndrome but even I found this irritating -- then imagine other less-Daddy-obsessed folks!!

Apparently, this film has been inspired by the director and his father (now late). Hmmmm. Not sure how meaningful that is in Kollywood.

Some scenes were ridiculously long...

Suriya has given a mind blowing performance and is terribly endearing and convincing as a school boy, as a man in love and as an army officer (dashing is the only way to describe him). The father Suriya is fine but nowhere close to the son Suriya.

Sameera Reddy the second (young) heroine is not bad in the acting department for her first film. Acts Ok enough, but I feel there is something wrong with her fitting into a South Indian heroine-image. Maybe her jawline?! She is a girl whom, if you knew in person you would say "woo-hoo, HOT" but on screen...something's not right.

The second heroine Divya Spandana or something, is just about OK and sometimes irrittating although her acting was not very bad. (Am sure it is because people cannot act badly in gautham Menon's films!!) Second best. Frankly, nobody seemed to be able to match up to Suriya in this movie! Not even his older version.

Some call it soppy, others say it's like a documentary. Me, I think if you like Suriya, you are going to have to watch this and enjoy it!

Oh and the music by Harris Jeyraj is wonderful.

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Even if you don't like the piano or Richard Clayderman, do listen to this piece. Else, you can just look it up on google or youtube. Soul stirring composition. But don't listen to it if you are in the mood for 'Appadi Podu' Dappaan Koothu numbers or Western pop/hip hop/heavy metal. That would be an insult to this great composer. The best mood for it would be unhurried or with at leat a willingness to close your eyes for two minutes.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ChmPkwWMV0w&feature=related

Me, I can drop whatever I am doing to listen to this gorgeous piece.

Dostana

Ok, so many people know that this Bollywood film is about two guys pretending to be gay in order to share a beautiful apartment in Miami with a beautiful gal. John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan with Priyanka Chopra. Sounds like a winning love triangle. Then in comes the droll faced Bobby Deol (seriously, huccome he is the still-hot Dharmendra's son?) -- supposedly straight and suave.

Most of the film makes fun of gays and their supposed body language and behaviours. I can't say I care too much really, about making so much fun of the gay community. But it has to be said that the very hot and happening John Abraham and truly attractive Abhishek Bachchan have 'gaily' done a good job of it. They are funny and do look good together! Abhishek has been clever by not taking off his shirt as John Abraham in this film was wont to doing. Why compete 'out of area'?;) There are many slapstick moments and in true Bollywood style, many unbelievable moments too. If you really have time to spare and don't mind watching a time pass movie that is essentially a spoof on homosexual men, you can watch this.

There are some quite-funny moments in the film though what irritated and disturbed me was the behaviour of the crowd watching the film at Sathyam cinemas. They laughed at so many unfunny things and it was shocking to note the number of young guys (teenagers) who were watching this film and laughing raucously. Something about it really bothered me. There were moments during the film when, as I was watching it in all seriousness, there would be laughter erupting further along the hall and I was like 'What THE?"

Personally, I felt the guys and Priyanka did a good job with the acting while Bobby Dobby Deol disappointed big time. There were simply too many silly moments in the film and happy as usual was I that I had 2 cartons of popcorn -- one salted and one caramel, to munch through this no-brainer.

Having gone ten minutes late (that is what you get for waiting for 'thozhis'), I missed the 'item number' with Shilpa Shetty. All things considered, I have no issues about that.

BUT, it was sweet to see real, platonic, 'buddy-buddy' man-woman friendship-love in Dostana. That was perhaps the best part.

Fashion

I am no expert on fashion. In fact, am so far from it that I am closer to the times of ...the garden of Eden! Ahem. Leetle beet exaggeration.

Anyway, since I know not so much about fashion (except a bit about the glamour dolls that are models and how they have to be ultra thin by not eating enough, gay designers, party scenes, etc.), I went for the film 'fashion' with a bunch of ladies whose common interests are aerobics and watching movies. A Hindi film and a Madhur Bhandarkar film, it stars Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and some fairly cute / nice guys whose names I am not even going to pretend I know

The movie takes its time. Maybe the whole tone of the film is in keeping with the subject -- fashion, except that it is not so much about fashion as about models, but I'm sure the title FASHION sounds more glamourous than the word MODELS (Hmmm....says something, huh?). It's not boring if you have enough time to kill and are not the 'fidgety' types. The girls really acted well.

There are some puns on the fashion scene too like some 'Muahs' (kisses in the air) as is probably true of the Mumbai fashion scene. Drugs, 'mathlabi' relationships, real friendships, which by the way, are portrayed heartwarmingly...perhaps a little too heart warming. I seriously wonder if these kinds of friendships are true today especially in this industry. I am a great fan of the relationship that is friendship and so, I did believe it.

'Fashion' is about a girl (Priyanka Chopra), who goes to Mumbai to become a supermodel and has the looks, so carries it off and lands herself some plum roles with much of her charm being her innocence and the stars in her eyes. This charm bit is MY understanding! Once she reaches the top, she falls prey to the very things everybody is supposedly afraid of getting into. How she picks herself up is cool to watch. Kangana Ranaut plays another supermodel who too goes completely beserk at the top, but founders.

Their paths become entwined at some point and the story is actually very simple, but the performances all around are good, really.

Still, is it worth watching? Well, only if you are not looking for action -- and by action, I mean fights, songs, major romances etc.

I liked it.

Oh and the gay guys as portrayed in this film are really adorable. What a waste, I say! Actually almost all the male characters in 'Fashion' come across as wonderful people.

WHAT a wonderful world that would be!!;)

Aegan (Tamil film)

I don't think this film even deserves a review leave alone a detailed one.

What is the word for the opposite of substance?
That word would describe this film.

Of course if you like Ajit (the hero) you can manage to enjoy the film and even find him cute. For me, not only has he grown (nice little paunch and all), he has grown on me. I am not an Ajit fan though I do like to keep tabs on him!!

Liked him in this and it was quite interesting to see him attempt comedy of sorts. But then I had DECIDED to sit through the film even before I booked the tickets knowing well enough that it was not really worth watching.

Otherwise, I guess the director (Raju Sundaram I think) or whoever else in charge forgot that we moviegoers have brains. (Or, perhaps HE does not have any?) And the heroine Nayantara wears a bikini top for a blouse and she is a COLLEGE PROFESSOR??? Teaching the students whilst wearing that skimpy piece of underwear masquerading as a blouse? A Sigmund Freud moment, I think. They (director)could have allowed her to wear normal blouses to college and reserved the bikini ones for the dream sequences. (Hrrrumph)

Forgettable music. Think Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Most irritating of late is (especially in the film Seval which I noticed from a clip on TV) bad dubbing. The heroine especially is not Tamil, does not know Tamil and does not even lip synch properly. ARGH. drives me crazy. Slipshod for Rs. 120/-!

Coming back to Aegan, this film was more like a bad Hindi film than a bad Tamil one! By that I mean the silly comedy, ridiculous logic, etc. Besides, I seriously think that the days of the larger-than-life hero are numbered.

Thank God the popcorn was outstanding!