Coming Soon - Diwali Releases

When 2007 started, the year appeared to be a Tamil movie buff’s dream with movies by all the big stars and many other high-profile movies slated for release. But as the year winds down, many of those biggies have been moved to 2008. This Diwali’s fare seems like a mini-version of the same story. Initially packed with many high-profile releases (Dasaavadhaaram, Bheema, Billa were all, at some point, mentioned as Diwali releases), the final line-up has just 5 movies, only 2 of which can be termed high-profile.

Leading the pack is Vijay’s Azhagiya Thamizh Magan. Vijay, coming off a hit, Shriya, fresh off Sivaji’s mega-success and A.R.Rehman, scoring the music for only his 2nd Tamil film this year, are understandably the main reasons for its high profile. But beyond this exciting combination, not much is known about the film. This is probably the Vijay film with the least information known about it in recent times. With his last 2 movies Pokkiri and Aadhi being remakes, we knew exactly what the movies offered. But very little is known about ATM and even the rumors about Vijay playing a dual role for the first time in his career, are not confirmed. With Vijay in the lead, we can be pretty sure it is going to be formulaic, hero-driven, mass masala entertainer but as his last few films have shown, even that kind of a film can be handled in different ways with varying degrees of success. So its upto debutant director Bharathan, who has previously worked as an assistant to Dharani, to make this ATM churn out cash.

To no one’s surprise, Rahman has delivered a soundtrack that is topping the charts. Like Sivaji’s album, this one too is quite eclectic and has the potential to satisfy both Vijay fans and Rahman fans. Ellaa Pugazhum… caught my fancy right away with its rhythmic beats(sounding a bit like the beats of Raakku Muthu Raakku…). Rahman’s unique voice has this ability to suit any song and then grow on us and that’s the case here too. The Pon Magal Vandhaal… remix is the best of recent remixes. Valaiyaapatti… is a fast, fun folk song while Nee Marilyn Monroe… is a peppy, Rahman-ish number benefiting from Benny’s accented singing.

Second on the list is Surya’s Vel but it is definitely the Surya film I’ve been least excited about in a while. Not that the movie doesn’t offer any reasons to be excited about it on paper. It is Surya’s first film since last year’s flop, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. It is being directed by Hari who has films like Thamizh and Saamy on his resume. It reunites Surya with Asin for the first time since their perfect pairing in Ghajini. And its music is scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja. But my main reason for the lack of excitement is Hari. Though he started strong with the 2 aforementioned films, his films since then have had familiar stories and an overdose of violence. More importantly for this post, his previous work with Surya gave us the vulgar, violent Aaru, his worst film. Vel’s trailer looks depressingly familiar with Surya going around with an aruvaal and there’s barely any noise about the soundtrack either.

3 other films round out the fare for this Diwali.
- Pollaadhavan stars Dhanush and Ramya. The film’s name, the same as one of Rajnikanth’s old hits, has given it good recognizability but the trailer points to it being raw and gritty. Music by G.V.Prakash has become quite popular too with the Engeyum Eppodhum... remix taking the top spot. The slow and melodious Minnalgal Koothaadum... is my personal favorite though.

- Machakkaaran, with Jeevan in the lead, is supposed to be a masala entertainer. Jeevan has been pretty lucky so far with his films like Thiruttu Payale and Naan Avanillai becoming BO hits. Music is by Yuvan but I haven’t heard many good things about this soundtrack either.

- Kannaamoochi Yenadaa is the only film targeting multiplex audiences. Directed by Priya, who was behind the cute Kanda Naal Mudhal, it has the rather curious teaming of Satyaraj and Prithviraj, along with Sandhya and Radhika. Music for this one is also by Yuvan but surprisingly, considering his fantastic soundtrack for Kanda Naal Mudhal, the soundtrack hasn’t made much news.

Now its time wait and watch. In less than a week, we’ll know which of these films create fireworks and which of them fizzle out.