Coming Soon - Pokkiri, Aalwaar, Paruthi Veeran

The last few festival days have been rather lacklustre on the cinema side with my personal, pre-release expectations being high for a maximum of two films. But this Pongal seems to be an exciting one for movielovers. It is starting off 2007 with a bang with 3 movies releasing with high expectations and even a couple of the remaining ones providing atleast a few reasons to look forward to them.

Expectations are high for Pokkiri for quite a few reasons. It is a remake of a film that turned out to be the biggest hit of Telugu cinema and since the tastes of Telugu viewers are pretty close to our tastes, the movie has a good chance of entertaining us too. It is also Prabhu Deva's first Tamil film as director. The dancer/actor proved in Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana that he is a director with an eye for nice visuals and the ability to craft an engaging entertainer and both those should come in handy for his behind-the-screen debut in Tamil. Ofcourse, things are quite different for him now since his last film(Pournami) flopped and unlike NN, Pokkiri is a masala film with a big star. So we just have to hope that he can switch genres successfully.

Its been a year since we had a Vijay film since Aadhi released last Pongal. Since the long break was attributed to his re-examining his script choices after the dismal failure of Aadhi, we can expect that Pokkiri has shaped up to his satisfaction. The actor has had a long history of successful Telugu remakes with his biggest hits like Priyamaanavale and Gilli being Telugu imports (then again, Aadhi was a remake of a Telugu hit too!) and will be hoping for another hit. But however the film turns out, with Vijay's dance skills and Prabhu Deva's choreography, we can atleast be sure that the dance sequences will rock. He is paired with Asin once again after Sivakasi, which was a hit, and hopefully, they can repeat their success.

On the other hand, Aalwaar has only 1 reason for us to look forward to it - Ajith. The actor loudly claimed that he was making a comeback to Tamil cinema in 2006 and now those words ring very true. His comeback vehicle Paramasivan(which was released alongwith Aadhi) was only an average hit and his follow-up Tirupathi, was a flop. However his Diwali release, the long-delayed Varalaaru, is now the biggest hit of his career and his performance, especially as the effeminate dancer, has been appreciated all-around. Based on the stills, he looks good in Aalwaar and seems to have finally hit the right spot between the flabby look in Ji and the sickly, haggard look in Paramasivan. He is once again being paired with Asin, his heroine in Varalaaru, and hopefully, the pair is lucky this time around too.

Unlike the above 2 films, Paruthi Veeran's expectations are based on the name of its director Ameer. The director first caught our attention with Mounam Pesiyadhe and then gave us the very different - but still successful - Raam. Paruthi Veeran is his next film after almost 2 years. The film introduces Karthi, Surya's younger brother, as hero and his heroine is Priyamani, the talented actress who has so far not had a good break in Tamil cinema.

As far as soundtracks go, there is no contest and Paruthi Veeran is the clear winner. Ameer and Yuvan proved they had a good rapport in Raam and they have worked well again here. Ariyaadha Vayasu... and Ayyayyo..., are wonderful numbers with great tunes, wonderful lyrics and perfect singing. The folk songs don't stand too well on their own but should work much better on screen. Both Pokkiri and Aalwar albums are very average(when was the last time Vijay or Ajith had a truly blockbuster soundtrack?!) with a variety of songs but barely a couple making an impact. In Pokkiri, Aadungadaa... is a typical Vijay introduction number but has a lot of energy, especially in the Pokkiri Pongal... bits. En Chella Peru Apple... and Dolu Dolu... offer good opportunities for dancing while the Vasantha Mullai... remix sounds like fun. Aalwaar offers a very surprising classical, devotional number in Pallaandu... but other than that, provides the usual mix of duets (Anbulla Kaadhali..., Solli Tharavaa...), a duppanguthu number (Mayile Mayile...), etc.

Hari's Thamirabharani is also hitting screens this Pongal. While the director has disappointed after strong starts in Thamizh and Samy, he can't be completely written off. Vishal too finally had a flop in Sivappadhigaaram after a string of hits and so will be looking for the film to be a hit. Hari is introducing Bhanu, who has been called a Nayanthara look-alike but based on the stills I've seen so far, I see absolutely no similarity. And then there's Guru, Manirathnam's Hindi film that is also being dubbed in Tamil. A Manirathnam film in any language is always something to look forward to but I'll probably be watching the Hindi version and not the Tamil dubbing.

So who will be the winner this Pongal? Will it be a Pokkiri Pongal? Will Aalwaar rule the BO? Will Paruthi Veeran be victorious? Or will dark horse Thamirabharani overflow at the cash registers? Lets wait and see...