Balaji's Thots

Moving Out

2009-08-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

As I moved slowly but surely towards the 15 Meg limit in the free Geocities account for bbreviews, I have been deliberating for a while about moving the reviews to a separate website. Yahoo! announcing that they will be closing Geocities in October forced my hand and I decided that it was time to finally make the move. And as long as I was doing that, I figured that I might as well begin to host this blog too at my own site.

www.bbthots.com is now up and running and the new address for the movie reviews website is www.bbthots.com/reviews. Further updates to both the blog and movie reviews will happen only in those places.

Neither bbreviews nor this blog started on any special days and so, wanting to start atleast the new site on a day that had some significance, I had hoped to launch the site yesterday, Aug 15 (and announce it with something suitably situational like freedom from geocities, blogger, etc.!) That was not to be and so it is being started on another unremarkable date, Aug 16. Another plan to launch bbthots.com with something big like the Kandhasamy review was also dashed by the decision to postpone the film's release to Aug 21. So it has turned to be a rather low-key launch.

Thanks for visiting and hope to see you over there...

Modhi Vilaiyaadu

2009-08-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Most of director Saran's early hits like Kaadhal Mannan and Amarkkalam were romances while his biggest hit Gemini was a masala film about a rowdy. Not having had a hit since 2004's Attagaasam, he has tried both the themes(romance in Idhaya Thirudan and a rowdy 's life in Vattaaram) he is once again trying his hand at romance with Modhi Vilaiyaadu. His experienced handling keeps the film moving but the weak and implausible plot lets him down.

Rajan Vasudev(Kalabhavan Mani), the head of OPM company, is both ruthless and unpopular as he gobbles up smaller companies and mistreats his own employees with disdain. His son Uday(Vinay) is living it up and enjoying his dad's wealth as he spends time with his housemate Madan(Yuvan) and other friends. L.R.Easwari(Kajal Agarwal), an aspiring singer in a band, inadvertently causes Uday to be in an accident and unable to pay back the damage to his car, she agrees to be his maid. Uday and Easwari develop a liking for each other but Madan too begins to fall for Easwari.

The setting for the romance between Vinay and Kajal is completely contrived and unbelievable but once it is put in motion and we look past the shaky start, it is quite interesting since it is rather unique. Their falling for each other is portrayed naturally without any big emotional leaps or sentimental showdowns and that keeps it lighthearted and cute though the tactics used(being outwardly mean to each other, inciting jealousy) are familiar. Saran's visual touches, like frequently picturizing the lead pair's imaginary scenarios or occasionally showing us the money counter, also do their part in making the proceedings appealing.

Saran's best films had characters with interesting shades of gray grapple with confusing dilemmas. The characters in Modhi Vilaiyaadu are in clear black and white. But with three of those characters on the white side, Saran appears to be setting the pieces in place for a love triangle. But the film catches us by surprise by switching tracks completely. The twist that happens here is standard-issue Saran but is brought in smoothly enough to inject some excitement into the story.

The way Vijay strikes back at Kalabhavan Mani is interesting but handled in a rather simplistic manner. The logistics of his plan are mind-boggling and the lack of believability keeps us from cheering him on wholeheartedly as his plan unfolds. Saran also elects to present Kalabhavan's Mani's predicament in a humorous fashion and so we are unable to take things seriously. Nevertheless, the way Mani gets his payback from the very people he insulted, even if presented in an amateurish fashion, is nice.

Vinay carries himself well and is casual in front of the camera but his voice and accent are terrible distractions. Kajal looks pretty and plays her character with the right attitude so that she is likeable and not irritating. Kalabhavan Mani brings in a humorous touch to his portrayal as always. While that helps in the earlier portions by adding some zing to his acerbic comments, it dilutes the effectiveness of the later portions. Yuvan doesn't make much of an impression while Santhanam is his usual wisecracking self. The songs are good enough to keep us from fast-forwarding them but lack the special something that would've made them stand out. Ottrai Vaarthaiyil... is the pick of the numbers. Hariharan and Leslie, along with Deva, show up onscreen to render the title song.

The Golden (Jubilee) Child

2009-08-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

The cinema industry is a notoriously unforgiving industry. Whether one is an actor, actress, director or any one of the innumerable people involved in the movie-making process, one is only as good as one's last success. Or maybe the last few successes. We've seen people reach great heights only to crash and burn soon after and the same people who pushed them up don't hesitate to pull them down. Examples are numerous as we've seen so many stars go from being ubiquitous to vanishing into oblivion in a very short span of time.

Longevity in such an industry is achieved by only a few and so surviving for 50 years in the industry is no mean feat. And when one does so at or near the top of the field without bothering about one's image, while constantly experimenting with one's roles, taking huge risks and striving to deliver good cinema, it is truly a phenomenal achievement that deserves huge accolades.

That is why the lack of recognition of Kamalhassan completing 50 years in cinema comes as a surprise. Sure there are the mentions - accompanied by eulogies - in the popular websites and e-zines, random top 10 lists, list of achievements etc. But there are no celebratory gestures from the film industry or the Government. I haven't seen any statements from the other actors; I haven't read about any felicitation functions organized by the Nadigar Sangam; and I haven't heard about the Government doing anything special to mark the occasion.

Then again, Kamal is not someone who needs something like that since his films, from Kalathoor Kannamma to Dasavathaaram, speak for themselves. So today, on the 50th anniversary of his entry into cinema, I'll just hope there are many more years and films left in him and look forward to Unnaippol Oruvan with the same excitement with which I look forward to all his films.

Oscar Winner

2009-08-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

The theme for this week in Karthik's school is 'Hollywood'. They kicked it off yesterday with a cute photo-op where Karthik got to be a star and an Oscar winner.

Achamundu Achamundu

2009-08-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Tamil filmmakers in the US seem to think that only thrills sell. So after Meiporul, we now get another thriller Achamundu Achamundu, which is also directed by a first-time director from the US and is fully set in that country. It has a less ambitious story and its director seems more comfortable handling drama than thrills but the far better production values result in a more satisfying film overall.

Senthil(Prasanna) and Malini(Sneha), along with their 10-year-old daughter, have just moved into a new house in New Jersey. While Senthil works at an IT firm, Malini is a housewife and has also enrolled in some computer classes to deal with her boredom. The couple hire a painter Robertson(John Shea) to paint their basement but he has an evil side that directly impacts the couple's life.

Arun paints a nice, plausible picture of the life of a Tamil couple in the US. The quick friendship from a chance encounter in a grocery store, the lament of a friend's parent at a birthday party - vignettes like this ring true and make the film realistic. And on a smaller level, the conversations between Prasanna and Sneha(about her feeling lonely) and the disagreements they have(like over their daughter sleeping in her own room) are over uniquely American issues. There is enough time spent on them, allowing them to become nicely fleshed-out characters rather than being treated as building blocks for the thriller portions.

But the problem is that it is easy to guess from the beginning - from the film's name itself or when we see the name painted in bold, bright red brushstrokes during the opening credits - that this is a thriller. So the relaxed look at the life led by Prasanna and Sneha works only until the film takes a turn into thriller territory, which happens when we learn the truth about Shea. But even after that point, the film doesn't develop the urgency and tension that are requisite for a thriller. It continues to show us the life of Prasanna and Sneha and we get glimpses of the kind of person Shea is but the intersection of the two, which is clearly what the film is moving towards, doesn't happen for a long time.

Shea's motives and acts here are more sinister than terrorizing, kidnap or even murder. So while all the violence does occur offscreen, some of the otherwise ordinary acts, like admiring a photo or playing a harmless game, do take on a different, creepy tone and get under our skin. And some of his overt acts, like the time he spends in his target's bedroom, do get downright disturbing. A wolf in sheep's clothing is always scarier than a wolf in plain sight and with his pleasant, likeable exterior and dark, perverted mind, Shea is exactly that.

The climax, when it does come, is a bit contrived since Shea changes his MO in a rather unbelievable manner. His unguarded behavior is in contrast to his quiet, unobserved acts until then and seems like something brought in to wrap things up easily. It is also too low-key to both justify the long, slow build-up and overlook the contrivance. The proceedings lack the drama associated with the final moments of a thriller but then again, for that very reason, they also seem more realistic.

Prasanna looks the part and turns in a measured, mature performance. Same goes for Sneha though its less of a surprise in her case. The two exhibit a nice, casual chemistry that helps the realism. Shea is convincing as the bad guy with a smile that changes from sincere to creepy as the movie proceeds. There are only a couple of songs and Kannil Dhaagam... is instantly appealing.

Luck

2009-08-09T23:09:00.001-07:00

Gaining publicity for being Kamal's daughter Shruti's debut more than anything else, Luck is another in the line of Hindi movies(like Dus, Dhoom, etc.) that try to cover up their silly plot with slick filmmaking. Sanjay Dutt plays a man who organizes an annual human betting game where winning means staying alive at the end and one's luck decides if one is a winner. He gets together people proven to be inordinately lucky and this year, its Imran Khan(who needs the money to get an illegal visa to go to the US), Shruti Hassan, Mithun Chakraborthy(an armyman who needs the money for his wife's operation), Ravi Kissen(a serial killer who is now free because the rope broke when he being hanged!), Chitrashi Rawat(a camel racer in Pakistan) and a bunch of anonymous foreigners. After the obligatory character exposition showing what led the protagonists to this game, the movie proceeds to the contests. These are the film's highpoints. There is not much suspense about who will still be living at the end but the combination of quick editing and the high-energy background score make the sequences interesting. But the movie inexplicably abandons this concept of a 'competition based on luck' and pits Imran, Mithun and Shruti against the rest of the gang in the ridiculous climax. With random gunfire, exploding trucks and people outrunning huge fireballs, it is both silly and pointless. The film then tops it off with a 'medical miracle' which probably came out of the same medical dictionary used by Kamal as reference for the cancer-curing bullet in Dasaavathaaram! Imran struggles as action hero and looks a lot less natural compared to his performance in JNYJN. Shruti looks great but has quite a long way to go to match her dad even in his first few movies.

Luck starts off in an interesting fashion but has us cursing our luck by the time it ends.

Aayirathil Oruvan Audio

2009-08-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

Composer's Mix... is totally groovy with both the Tamil and English lines sung well and flowing perfectly with the song's tune. The Oh Eesaa... parts are particularly exhilarating with Karthik singing them with the right amount of intensity, invoking an image of people swaying and singing the lines with a kind of religious fervor. Maalai Neram... is a simple, no-frills song with low, unobtrusive guitar riffs. Andrea's voice sounds a little too deep and lacks the silkenness the song deserves but she is able to carry off the higher pitches decently. Dhanush sounds surprisingly good in the slow but catchy Un Mela Aasadhaan.... This is the tune Yuvan composed before splitting with Selvaraghavan and then used as Adadaa Vaa... in Sarvam but the different orchestration and lyrics hide the fact well enough. The lyrics, with words like Raasa/Rosa and Paappa/Thaappa, sound a bit old-fashioned but work well with the tune. Thaai Thindra Manne... is all Vairamuthu and Vijay Yesudas. While the former's lyrics brilliantly bring out the decline of a kingdom, the latter sings it with the requisite anguish. Among the two versions of the song, The Cholan Ecstacy mixes it with some upbeat Telugu parts while the Classical version sticks to pathos throughout. Pemmaane... is another pathos number, this time about people driven out of their homeland, sung with intensity by Bombay Jayasree. Indha Paadhai... is a slow but addictive number that grows on us. The lines(like Azhuvadhum Sirippadhum Un Velai; Nadappavai Nadakkattum Avan Leelai) are simple but kinda profound and G.V.Prakash sings them in a casual, carefree way that fits the tone perfectly. The King Arrives... and The Celebration of Life... are both instrumental pieces. The former starts slow but soon gets the regal touches the title implies while the latter has some catchy bits and reminds us of Billa's theme music at one point.

After some good-but-not-great albums like Veyyil and Aanandha Thaandavam, G.V.Prakash gets his first really high-profile project with Selvaraghavan's Aayirathil Oruvan. He has risen to the occasion admirably, showing maturity beyond his years. Eclectic and exciting, it definitively catapults him from the level of 'promising music directors' to the league of 'music directors who have delivered on their promise'.

4 New Reviews

2009-08-03T23:29:00.001-07:00

Reviews for Kulir 100 Degree, Gnaabagangal, Indhira Vizha and Vaamanan are now online @ bbreviews.

Vaamanan

2009-07-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Vaamanan gained some notoriety when its hero Jai, promoted to solo hero status after acting in multi-hero films like Chennai 600028 and Subramanyapuram, singled it out as the only one, out of the 3 or 4 he was acting in, that had a chance of becoming a hit. But the film doesn't seem deserving of such confidence on Jai's part. A thriller that tackles the familiar theme of an innocent man caught up in situations beyond his control, it does have smarts and suspense but the uneven pace and the lack of originality come in the way of it being a total success.

Anbuchezhian(Sampath), a politician, kills a competitor for the CM's post but unknown to him, the deed iscaptured on tape, which is now in the hands of an ad-film director Vinodh. When he comes to know of the tape, Anbu is desperate to get it back and goes after Vinodh and his friend Pooja(Lakshmi Rai), a model. Meanwhile Anand(Jai) arrives in Chennai with dreams of becoming an actor and stays with his friend Chandru(Santhanam), a cameraman at a news channel. Anand falls for Divya(Priya) and begins to woo her. He also becomes friends with John(Rahman), who as it turns out, breaks into people's homes for fun.

Vaamanan starts off looking a lot like the recent Muthirai as a political assasination is captured on tape and it becomes obvious that the innocent hero is somehow going to become caught up in the consequences. But unlike Muthirai, it has more on its agenda. While its main storyline is the same, it beefs it up with some additional tracks, giving us the impression that it has a lot more going on.

With Sampath's search for the tape, Jai's mentor/student relationship with Rahman, Jai's romance and the activities of the gang from Bihar, there is so much going on that it sometimes feels like the director has bitten off more than he can chew. Coincidences seem to be the director's primary weapon to move the tracks forward and so a high tolerance for suspension of disbelief is required to buy into the proceedings. The switches between the tracks are also quite abrupt and though we know that they will eventually be connected, none of the tracks earn our involvement because of this.

It is tough to believe but the movie lets its pace lag even with so many things going on. With comedy and romance taking centerstage and the storylines in the tracks not moving forward much, the film slows down considerably in the middle. It comes back to life once Jai's troubles increase. There is a nice surprise and the individual tracks finally show signs of coming together.

While some of the film's earlier plot developments had made us doubt if the director had been inspired by Enemy of the State, the climax clears our doubts as the film resorts to the same MO as the Hollywood blockbuster to allow Jai to extricate himself from the predicament he is stuck in. So, while it is a smart - even if convenient - resolution brought about by an intelligent screenplay, the fact that it is copied takes most of the shine off.

Jai looks a lot like Vijay (something that he seems determined to exploit, like at his audition for a producer) but sounds a lot like Simbhu, which makes for an odd mix. This is the first time that the spotlight is squarely on him and he understandably seems a little rough around the edges. Priya does a neat job though her character comes off looking somewhat flaky in the second half. Lakshmi Rai makes a grand entrance, walking out of the ocean in a bikini, but isn't required to do much after that. Urvasi is hilarious as Priya's naive mom and her cooking audition sequence with Santhanam is really funny. Yuvan's soundtrack has been utilized in a predictable fashion with Edho Seigiraal... taking the top spot. Too many visual flourishes damage Lucky Star... but that trend is not followed for the other numbers.

4 New Reviews

2009-07-24T20:32:00.001-07:00

Reviews for Maasilaamani, Manjal Veyyil, Muthirai and Nadodigal are now online @ bbreviews.

Maami-yaar?

2009-07-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

The remake train is chugging along merrily and the latest news on the remake front is that Dhanush is going to star in the remake of Rajni's MaappiLLai. I think its too early to remake MaappiLLai since the original still works fine and there are no obvious aspects of it that would benefit from an update. If anything, the confrontations between the son-in-law and mother-in-law will not work as well as they did because of the lack of political overtones that the original film had because of the Rajni-JJ feud. But that aside, it is a gimmicky move with a lot of publicity potential as Rajni's maappiLLai is going to star in the remake of Rajni's MaappiLLai!

One of the fun things in such high-profile remakes is to try and see who among the current lot would fill in for the roles. With Dhanush fixed as the hero, the two other key roles would obviously be those of his wife and his mother-in-law. The heroine's role is generic enough to ensure that any of our current crop of actresses will fit the bill. None of them is ofcourse going to match Amala, who was at her prettiest and sweetest in the film. But its not going to matter whether its Trisha, Nayan, Shriya or Tamannah who falls in love with Dhanush and then moves to the sidelines, making an appearance for the duets, as Dhanush clashes with her mom. The heroine's role was actually pretty flaky as she switched sides between her hubby and her mom with alarming frequency but when has that ever stopped our actresses from taking on a heroine's role in a popular hero's movie.

That leaves the mother-in-law's character. Srividya absolutely nailed it in the original as she recognized the movie for what it was and played the role perfectly. She was just a little over-the-top for the film was first and foremost, an entertainer. At the same time, she was not so out there that the film turned into camp and was serious enough to make the confrontations between her and Rajni sparkle.

The actress for the MIL role has to be played by an actress who is from the previous generation but is still popular and will lend the project some buzz when included in it. MaxDaVinci, on Twitter, had 3 interesting suggestions in Ramya Krishnan, Vijayashanti and Kushboo. Ramya is an obvious choice but her role here will seem just a bit too much like Padaiyappa's Neelambari. Vijayashanti too has played the role of the shrew(coincidentally, also with Rajni, in Mannan) and will be perfect for that side of the character but I'm not so sure she can bring the comic touch that Srividya brought to her portrayal. That leaves Kushboo and I think she would be a good fit. She can definitely play the haughty MIL role with the right mix of sternness and light-heartedness. But my first choice for role would have to be Nadhiya. Inspite of a few questionable choices, she still has an aura of exclusivity and will bring some buzz to the film. She has shown us that she can do strict well and can easily add the dash of comedy that the role needs.

Well, whoever he's gonna go up against, Dhanush has some pretty big shoes to fill having selected this film. I mean, can one imagine Dhanush - or anyone else, for that matter - making this scene work?

Yosemite Hike

2009-07-20T21:22:00.001-07:00

Most of the times I've gone to Yosemite, its been as a tour guide with a first-time visitor. So I always did one of the two popular routes in the park - Wawona Road + Glacier Point Road or Tioga Road, which cuts across the park - to hit the must-see attractions like Bridalveil Falls, Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Glacier Point, etc. Its been a long-time wish to visit the roads - and attractions - less travelled in the park and on Saturday, I finally got the chance to do that as we made a day trip with the wife's cousin's family.

This weekend was a free - as in, no entrance fee - weekend at Yosemite and the usually crowded park was even more crowded. Parking lots were overflowing and parked cars lined the roadsides close to all the popular spots. Our target was the hike to Vernal Falls but after trying in vain to find a parking space in Curry Village(the closest point to the trailhead), we gave up and the frustration was so hight that we actually decided to head back home. The silver lining was that this made us stop at one of the numerous places alongside Merced River to let the kids cool down and wade in the water. Aside from being fun for the kids, the spot offered a cool view of Bridalveil Falls across the river.

The stop cooled us down a bit and we decided to try our luck once again and so headed back to Curry Village. This time we did find a spot and the day looking better already, we took the shuttle to the trailhead. A beautiful view of the river greeted us right at the start of the trail.

We got the feel of a real hike right at the beginning of the walk as we spotted a rattlesnake coiled up at the base of a tree.

The first part of the hike, which is 0.8 miles long, took us to a footbridge that gave us a view of Vernal Falls in the distance. The trail was at an incline for the most part and so quite strenuous, especially for the kids. The reward though was a pretty sight with the waterfall itself and the creek from it flowing over the rocks.

The womenfolk and the kids headed back from the bridge while Sundar and I pressed on towards the falls. The views ofcourse got progressively better as we walked the trail and were amazing as we got real close to the base of the falls.

The trail got steeper and we had to climb steps. The mist spraying from the waterfall was strong enough to form puddles and make the steps real slippery. But it was a great feeling watching the water thundering down the wall while the mist sprayed on us. The rainbow forming at the base as the water washed over the rocks was just icing on the cake. I'd earned the ire of the rest of the gang for several things that day but those moments made it all worth it :)

Satisfied, we headed back instead of going all the way to the top of the falls. From the parking lot we drove to Glacier Point to try and catch the sunset. We missed it by a few minutes but the colors in the sky were still a nice consolation.

On this trip, I sampled a small part of Yosemite that I hadn't seen before. But its only whetted my appetite to see more of its beauty...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

In the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a key entry. The first three books introduced us to the characters while the fourth and fifth books were more set-up as they laid the building blocks for what was coming. It was the sixth book that upped the ante and kickstarted the climax as Harry finally learned how to vanquish Voldemort and began to prepare himself for it. The film, which expertly mixes romance, drama and action(though not in equal proportions) manages to convey this key aspect and is another solid entry in the series.

Considering the length of the book, it is understandable that some segments have been excised for the movie. Still, the choice of things that have been left out is somewhat surprising. Some interesting twists have been altogether removed while other sequences have been replaced with somewhat weaker ones.

The film's trajectory remains the same as in the other films. The portions that deal with the social side of the lives of Harry, Ron and Hermione translate better to screen. The actors have grown with their roles and our familiarity with them works in the movie's favor. Ron's snarky comments and Hermione's know-it-all responses are rather muted but they do make us smile several times. Most of these smiles come from their romantic feelings and entanglements as they have trouble expressing themselves, do so rather tentatively and experience pangs of jealousy. But we also feel for them when they realize that their feelings aren't reciprocated.

The dramatic parts are weaker compared to the book but its no fault of the actors or the screenplay though. Partly because we know what's coming and partly because there's no time for what's happening to sink in, these portions don't evoke the kind of exhilarated reaction the book did. This happens whether the developments are surprising(as when Harry finds out about the Horcrux) or emotional(as the happenings at the end). The action sequences again don't have this problem and the short Quidditch trials session and the sequence in the cave are superbly picturized.

The book left us waiting breathlessly to see how it all ends. The movie allows us to relive the book and has once again made us wait in anticipation to see the end. That makes it an unqualified success.

Nadodigal

2009-07-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sasikumar sure appears to be the golden boy of Tamil cinema right now. After literally exploding onto the scene (as director) with the raw and powerful Subramanyapuram and then producing the refreshingly fun Pasanga, he has moved to other side of the camera, taking up acting duties in Nadodigal (the film is directed by Samudhirakani, who acted in Subramanyapuram). An ode to friendship, the film walks the line between realism and melodrama but does end up on the right side of that line overall.

Karunakaran(Sasikumar), Chandran(Vijay) and Pandi(Bharani) are thick friends, each having his own ambition and dream in life. Karunakaran, a B.A. (History) graduate, is trying for a government job since that's the condition his uncle has laid out for Karuna to wed his uncle's daughter(Ananya). Chandran's dream is to run a computer institute while Pandi is trying hard to go abroad. Karuna's friend Saravanan shows up and when Karuna and his 2 friends learn of his love affair, they decide to help him.

In the opening scene, Sasikumar, who is trying to join the police force, visually sizes up the height of the potential competitor standing before him in the line. This is humorous and tells us what joke is. But he then proceeds to point out the height disadvantage explicitly with his hand to stress the fact. He repeats the same - convey the situation with his eyes and then make it obvious with his hand - once he moves back to stand behind someone shorter than him. This sequence highlights the fact that subtlety is not one of director Samudhirakani's strengths. He is a director who likes to spell things out to make sure everyone gets the point. But this actually has the opposite effect, diluting the impact. This happens several times throughout the movie and is the biggest reason for the film not having the same impact as Subramanyapuram.

While the movie's focus is on friendship, it doesn't aim to pursue it at the expense of everything else. The fact that all 3 protagonists have a goal in life ensures that we aren't subjected to another movie where the heroes while away their time smoking, singing and dancing, with their only goal being to show how strong their friendship is. And though Sasikumar's family is familiar, with a frustrated dad and a supportive mom, other characters, like Vijay's dad or Bharani's dad, have individuality and aren't submerged under the shadows of the three heroes.

The sequence where Sasikumar and friends snatch Saravanan's lover is a bravura sequence with enough suspense and tension to make a thriller proud. More importantly, the actions of the three friends here illustrate the importance they give to friendship. Very few words are spoken during the time but the intensity with which they perform their tasks works much better than words ever could have, to show us their desire to give their friend what he wants and see him happy.

Melodrama takes over as we see the friends suffer the repercussions of their act. While the first consequences they suffer because of their act really jolt us, things get repetitive after that. There is that aforementioned need to really drive the point home, only in this case its the emotional state of the protagonists rather than a joke. But the result is the same. The initial impact wears off and the sympathy the threesome earned gets quite thin by the time their troubles end.

While the film's core point about friendship does come through, its message becomes a bit jumbled towards the end as it appears to say that friends have a say in the outcome of their selfless acts. But Samudhirakani manages to convey even this in an interesting and acceptable manner and rounds off the film on a humorous note.

Sasikumar has had enough experience in Subramanyapuram to play the devoted friend and fits the role well. He isn't very expressive but has good screen presence. Vijay is mostly serious while Bharani gets a few laughs as the guy looking for love at every chance. Ananya initially overacts terribly with expressions that would make even Jyothika inexpressive but makes an impression once things get serious. Neha looks pretty but doesn't have much to do.Sundar. C. Babu's songs sound good and Sambo Siva Sambo... is perfect in the background during the kidnapping sequence.

Yellowstone Trip

2009-07-09T21:15:00.001-07:00

Being a lover of nature, national parks have always been among my favorite travel destinations. Naturally, Yellowstone National Park, the first and the biggest national park in the US, had been atop my travel list for quite some time now. Last week, I could finally take it off the list as we made a 5-day trip to the park. Though fate conspired against us to make us spend much less time in the park than originally planned, we did get a taste of everything the park offered.

We flew into Salt Lake City and spent the next day around there. After viewing the Salt Lake for which the city is named, we went to Antelope Island, which is one of the lake's islands. It offered a good view of the lake itself but little else. A lone bison and a couple of antelopes were the only wildlife we spotted and the most interesting part of the trip was a ranch, established in 1833, that offered a peek into the lifestyle during those times. From there we drove to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Filled with a number of dinosaur sculptures(accompanied by sounds from speakers hidden around the park) and having a dinosaur dig area, a play area and a sand box where kids can dig for precious stones, the kids had a real blast in there.

The next day we spent in Grand Teton National Park, which is directly to the south of Yellowstone. The Teton mountain range is the main attraction here and the snow-capped, jagged peaks rising majestically beyond the vast grasslands provided a beautiful view throughout the drive. Inside the park, we took a short ferry ride across Jenny Lake and then hiked about half a mile to the very pretty Hidden Falls.

It was only the next morning that we actually entered Yellowstone Park. What's remarkable about Yellowstone is the diversity that one encounters as one drives through the park. While the vast, green meadows, the pretty lakes, the wildlife and the waterfalls are all present in many national parks, the geothermal areas add something unique to the mix here. The areas with concentrated geothermal features present an amazing sight with the wonderfully colored pools, the hot springs, the mudpots and the geysers. These usually have wooden walkways to take one around the area and offer close-up views of the pools. Apart from these, there are geysers and hotsprings scattered alongside the road at many places.

So the next two days were spent inside Yellowstone itself, driving to the most popular attractions. We visited West Thumb Geyser Basin and Black Sand Basin to see the geothermal features; we saw one eruption of the Old Faithful geyser; we walked around the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces; we took a walk across the Fishing Bridge to see Yellowstone Lake; and we saw Tower Falls and the Upper and Lower Falls. Apart from the colorful pools and barrenly beautiful landscapes in the geothermal basins, the view from the brink of Lower Falls as the water thunders down below us was truly awe-inspiring.

Some photos from the trip can be seen here.

Halftime 2009

2009-07-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

If we were to pick one word to define Tamil cinema in the 1st half of 2009, it would have to be 'variety'. That's a word we've long yearned to see applied to Tamil cinema and one that our cinema was in dire need of. A quick glance at the roster of films released so far this year illustrates that we've been lucky to get films in genres rarely tackled before. We've had a horror film(Yaavarum Nalam), children's films about children(Pasanga, Pattaalam), a sports film(VeNNilA Kabaddi Kuzhu), a psychological thriller(MeiporuL) and a character-based drama(TN-07-AL-4777). I don't think we've seen films spanning so many genres usually alien to Tamil cinema in such a short span of time for a while now. There was also the very unique Naan KadavuL but then again, Bala's movies have always been in a genre of their own!.

The more heartening aspect about the abundance of variety is that these films were not throwaway, half-hearted efforts where the directors were simply testing the waters. Films like Yaavarum Nalam, VeNNilA Kabaddi Kuzhu and Pasanga were made by directors who knew what they were getting into and were confident about their work. And it showed. And though MeiporuL and TN-07-AL-4777 were not quite in the same league, they were impressive for the fact that the directors displayed the same confidence in their subject and did not resort to compromises in the name of comedy tracks or unnecessary fights under the pretext of making the films more acceptable.

Not all films waded through such uncharted territory though and there were a few, again in different genres, that took us back atleast a couple of decades. Vikraman's Mariyaadhai was hopelessly behind the times and just felt silly while Sarathkumar's 1977, inspite of the ambitious canvas, was more amateurish than films made in the year referred to in the title. Maayaandi Kudumbathaar told an age-old story of enmity between two families while ManjaL Veyyil proved that a romance also could be old-fashioned, reminding us of the tearjerkers of the 80s with its obvious twist, cartoonish villain and sentiment-laden climax.

Our old friend, the masala film, was still alive and kicking at the end of June though. While Villu's failure dealt an early blow to the genre, Padikkaadhavan's decent showing made up for it somewhat. But it was Ayan that really resurrected it. Serving up its masala with smarts and style, it fixed the bad name the genre had accumulated lately. Ofcourse, films like PerumAL, Thee and Rajadhi Raja were there to show why the genre earned its bad name in the first place. Newtonin Moondraam Vidhi was a familiar revenge saga but was surprisingly engaging though it was headlined by S.J.Suryah.

Romance has had a rather weak year so far and has taken a backseat to other aspects even in supposedly romantic movies. While Sarvam, which brought fate into the mix, emphasized style over substance, Guru En Aalu, a romantic comedy, gave priority to silly comedy over romance. Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum tried to elevate a regular romance with realism while Aanandha Thaandavam, with its weak characterization, almost made one glad Sujatha wasn't around to see what his acclaimed novel had been turned into.

Though it were the smaller, unheralded movies that triumphed in the first half, its obviously the big-budget, star- and/or director-driven movies - Aayirathil Oruvan, Kandhasamy, Unnaippol Oruvan, Vettaikkaaran, Adhavan - that once again loom large as we look ahead to the rest of the year. But whether the movies that come out are big or small, lets hope, as always, that the second half is even better than the first...

Michael Madana Kamarajan

2009-06-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

One of the most enduring themes in Tamil cinema is that of twins being separated at birth and reuniting later in life. So its no wonder that every hero, from MGR(Enga Veettu Pillai) to Surya(Vel), has appeared in atleast one movie built on that plot point. Kamalhaasan proved that all it took was one big tweak to make this oldest of plots seem brand new and fresh. And he did this not once but twice. In Aboorva Sagodharargal, he made one of the brothers a midget to deliver a very unique, comedic, revenge saga. And in Michael Madana Kamarajan, he makes the brothers quadruplets and aided by a terrific screenplay and a hilarious script, gives us one of Tamil cinema's smartest and funniest comedies.

The 90s was when Kamal was known to alternate between 'heavy' and 'light' movies as he switched between serious, dramatic efforts like Guna and Mahanadhi and light, more box-office-friendly fare like Singaravelan and Kalaignan. With its familiar, masala-ish premise, cinematic situations and comic overtones, MMKR would probably fall in the 'light' category. That said, Kamal is probably the only actor for whom a film where he plays four roles and which features such a complex and clever plot would classify as a 'light' film!

The prologue, in the form of a song that is played during the opening credits, tells us about the birth and separation of the quadruplets. Born to a rich man and a poor woman, the babies faced death as the rich man's younger brother saw them as stumbling blocks on his way to his brother's riches and ordered them killed. But the killer, whose heart melted after seeing one of the babies, adopted one and abandoned the others. Michael(Kamal), who grew up with the assassin, is now a petty criminal; Madan(Kamal), unknowingly abandoned in his father's car, is pursuing higher studies abroad; Kameswaran(Kamal), abandoned in front of a temple and adopted by a priest, is a cook; and Raju(Kamal), abandoned in front of an orphanage, is now a fireman. Once Madan returns home, a chain of events is set off that brings the four brothers together.

Movies featuring the premise of brothers separated at birth usually bring the brothers together only after they meet. Until they become aware of each other, they lead separate lives untouched by the other. But MMKR links the lives of the four brothers right from the beginning. Though they each lead their lives blissfully unaware of the existence of the other three, their paths cross several times. In the best example of this, Michael crashes the car that causes a fire that brings Raju to the scene, who then offers a moneylender the fish that is thrown on Kameswaran. But there are several shorter instances where their lives intersect. Like when the thugs following Madan end up following Kameswaran instead or the sword thrown away by Madan is used by Raju to fight off the bad guys(who are attacking him thinking that he is Madan!). All this can be seen as fate gradually bringing them closer together or simply as building blocks in a very smart screenplay.

The fun in movies like this increases once the look-alikes switch places. Laughs are evoked from both the attempts of the protagonists to adapt to their new surroundings without raising suspicion as well as the problems arising from those around them treating them in wrong ways. With four look-alikes, the fun during these portions is quadrupled in MMKR. The screenplay is constructed like a chess game in this segment as Michael, Kameswaran and Raju, all looking like Madan, move around in Madan's house. As they wrongly identify each other or are mistaken for someone else by others, we alternate between laughing at the proceedings and admiring the screenplay. Kameswaran's protestations of ignorance with Kushboo and Manorama/Rubini are hilarious, as are Nagesh's attempts to keep things quiet.

Things are complicated and chaotic as everybody congregates in Madan's house but the chaos seems to be controlled. From the time that S.N.Lakshmi begins to engage in fisticuffs, things get a little out of hand. Slapstick and physical comedy gains the upper hand and this continues all the way to the climax in the house on the cliff. It is still possible to admire the tricks employed to switch seamlessly between the roles played by Kamals but the admiration is not accompanied by laughs. The seesawing of the house goes on a bit too long as the situations feel repetitive.

Kamal always seems to bring the best out of 'Crazy' Mohan and the writer's comic genius is in full flow here. Kamal's 3 other roles have their moments(Michael saying kodukkara dheivam kooraiyai pichitu dhaan kodukkum after crashing his car through a garage's roof, Raju referring to the grain of rice with a painting as a kalai arisi) but its Kameswaran who gets the lion's share of the jokes. Every single scene with him is a laugh riot, whether he's arguing with his dad, preparing for his first night with Urvasi or trying to keep a fawning Kushboo at arm's length. The combination of the Malayali accent and the clever wordplays(the way the word meen seems ubiquitous after a fish is dropped in the sambar, the cook/kugraamam linkage, the misunderstandings of Thiruppu, etc.), make Kameswaran's sequences consistently witty and quite unforgettable.

One only has to see MMKR to understand how the make-up actually robbed Kamal of the opportunity to use his talent in distinguishing between the roles in Dasaavathaaram. Make-up is probably what he relies on the least here as he employs his voice, expressions and body language to create 4 completely different characters. Kameswaran's innocence, Raju's naievete, Madan's sophistication and Michael's toughness are all conveyed in pitch-perfect fashion through a combination of the aforementioned. This is really evident during the climax as they all look alike but their actions tell us who they are. And the attention to detail, like the way Raju always adjusts his glasses showing us that he is not used to them, is amazing. Most of the others are usually reacting to Kamal but Urvasi takes the top spot, perfectly in sync with Kamal. Nagesh once again manages to evoke laughs inspite of playing a slimy, not-very-likeable character. Kushboo is sweetness personified while Rubini isn't exactly memorable.

Ilaiyaraja matches the fun with a collection of light-hearted tunes. Sundari Neeyum... is a wonderful melody and Kamal brings his accent to his singing also. Rambambam... is a fast, fun number picturized in an energetic, colorful manner. Per Vechaalum... is an average tune but is enjoyable more for the humor, cleverness and choreography. It is choreographed very nicely with the actions of the participants matching the tune and the part where Raju and Kameswaran switch places shows that the director's thinking cap was not off even during the song sequences.

Route 1 Day Trip

2009-06-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Since I first drove along Route 1 to Hearst Castle, the drive, along with the stops on the way, has become one of my favorite activities/destinations. So when the cousins' family and we were debating about where to go on Sunday, Route 1 was an easy choice (Oakland Zoo, Yosemite, San Francisco were all options but not for long). In order to keep the trip a bit relaxed, we picked three places in the northern side of Big Sur. Though all three were places we've visited before, they were just as exciting and fun as they were the first time around.

As always, the drive was dreamy with gorgeous views of the sparkling blue ocean and the waves crashing against the rocks. Naturally, there were quite a few spontaneous stops at turn-offs to drink in the view. As for the planned stops, we stopped at Point Lobos State Reserve first. Our itinerary inside the park was identical to what we did the last time. We first walked down to China Cove, a small but pretty beach surrounded by rocks and natural caves; and then we took the path that loops around Bird Rock, a rock outcropping serving as a resting place for a large number of birds(and a few seals too). After lunch, we went to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park after a quick stop at the scenic Bixby Bridge. There we walked the small trail to Big Sur River, where the kids spent some time wading in the water and playing among the rocks. From there we went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and walked the short hike - which goes through a tunnel under Route 1 - for a view of the beautiful McWay Falls, which falls down to the beach. The original plan was to stop at a beach for the sunset but the one beach we stopped at was too windy and the sun was supposed to set only at 8.29, which was a bit too late for Sunday night. So we headed back home.

A few photos from the trip can be seen here.

Up

2009-06-21T23:46:00.001-07:00

The consistency that Pixar has displayed in the quality of their movies is nothing short of amazing. Starting with Toy Story, they've raised the bar, either in the story or in the animation or sometimes, both, with each new film. Up keeps their track record intact. With fully-fleshed out characters, a simple but mature story and fantastic animation, the film is another winner from the Pixar stable.

Aside from the fact that it is a cartoon, there is very little in Up that could make us categorize it as a children's film. From its protagonist(Frederickson, a 78-year-old man) to its story(bonding between the old, lonely man and a young kid, Russell) to the emotions it explores, it is a rather mature film. There are also very few physical, slapstick jokes and no talking animals. There's no doubt that kids will be entertained by the bright colors and the interesting action sequences but calling Up a kids' film will be a disservice to Pixar's high aspirations.

The emotions evoked by the sequence that details Frederickson's life with Ellie rivals those evoked by any live-action film. As the two meet, fall in love, get married and grow old together, they become the kind of 3-dimensional characters that most movies strive to create but never succeed. And Up achieves this in the span of 15 minutes! The sequence also explains why Frederickson has become the cranky old man he is. Up creates the perfect foil for Frederickson in Russell. Exuberant and compassionate, he is really funny too. And this is important because his character is what makes Frederickson's transformation believable.

The film's middle segment almost looks like Pixar wants to make it up to the kids for ignoring them so far. With talking dogs(though these are technically dogs with electronic collars), a colorful bird, a nasty villain and a couple of high-energy action sequences, the emotional quotient during these portions is not much. But it is likely that it is this segment that will have the kids most excited.

Considering that Up is a Pixar film, the top-notch quality of the animation is a given but it is still impossible not be awed by what unfolds on screen. The multitude of expressions on the characters' faces, the bright but natural colors of the things around them, the detailed rendering of the surroundings - all these are impeccable and impressive as always. But its the smaller things, like a character's faint reflection seen in a window or the scattered rainbow formed in the mist at the base of a rainbow, which stand as testimony to the attention paid to details, that really take our breath away.

Thoranai

2009-06-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Debutant director Saba Iyappan obviously belongs to the breed of directors who think that simply throwing together elements like action, romance, sentiments and comedy is all that is required to deliver a successful masala film. He does exactly that in Thoranai, banking on those elements to make up for the wafer-thin story. Unfortunately, none of those individual elements drum up any excitement, and so his approach, which admittedly has worked before, only results in a dull, ineffective film.

In order to comfort his distraught mother(Geetha), Murugan(Vishal) sets off to Chennai to find his longlost elder brother Ganesan, who ran off after a particularly harsh punishment from his mother. It doesn't take long for Murugan to get a taste of the rowdyism in Chennai, as he is caught in the middle of the turf war between the two most powerful dadas Tamizharasu (Prakashraj) and Guru (Kishore). Meanwhile Murugan falls for Indu (Shriya) but ends up rubbing her the wrong way every time.

Thoranai is stuck with a really flimsy story and desperately tries to stretch it out to two and a half hours. This is particularly evident in the first half, before Vishal actually finds his brother. Having decided to make Vishal identify his brother only at the intermission point but unable to find ways to make the search itself interesting, the director makes him romance Shriya and goof around with Santhanam instead. But neither of the two holds our attention since the romance is listless and neither cute nor funny and Santhanam's shtick alternates between being repetitive (like his comments related to movies) and mean-spirited(like his comments about Paravai Muniyamma and others). The only thing they succeed in doing is lessening our emotional involvement in the film by making Vishal's search seem half-hearted and unconvincing.

Like Laadam, Thoranai starts off by placing Vishal between two men who are sworn enemies. As Prakashraj and Kishore both threaten Vishal by asking him to do things that conflict with each other, the film gives him the opportunity to play both of them and makes us wonder how he is going to do it. The stakes are also raised once his brother is thrown into the mix. But the story doesn't play out as expected and that turns out to be both good and bad. While the subsequent development provides the film's lone moment of surprise, it decreases the potential in the story by essentially taking one of the key players out of the equation. So, from a three-way competition, the film turns into another generic 'ordinary man vs powerful dada' tale and we've had quite a few of those.

As Vishal goes up against Prakashraj and comes up with different plans to pull him down, the film reminds us of films like Dhool, particularly when one of the plans uses the same basic idea as one of Vikram's plans. But Vishal's plans here are lacklustre and insipid and Prakashraj ends up looking like a simpleton considering his responses to those plans. Prakashraj's plan to pin Vishal down is, on the other hand, too complicated and doomed for failure from the word 'go'. The climax banks on a string of coincidences and contrivances and is neither convincing nor exciting.

Vishal seems to be gunning for the slot of poor man's Vijay, considering how much he copies his style, especially in the lighter scenes. From his expressions to his dialog delivery(including the halting and stammering way he mouths some lines), he reminds us of the Ilaya Thalapathy a bit too much. As always, he seems most at home during the fight sequences, though they don't seem to have been choreographed as well as in his other movies so far. Shriya is stuck in a cliched role and exists solely to be romanced by Vishal since we learn little else about her. Prakashraj breezes through another bad guy role while Kishore essentially plays a less clever version of the dada from Pollaadhavan. Mani Sharma's songs have a strong Telugu hint as always. Pelican Paravaigal... is picturized energetically while Vaa Chellam... features some nice locations.

Muthirai Audio

2009-06-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Azhagaana Neeyum...'s start reminds us of the tune of the stanzas in Aan Paavam's Kaadhal Mayakkam... but the similarity ends soon enough, leaving us with a soft, pleasant duet. Naresh Iyer and Manjari Phadnis are an unusual pairing but his stressed pronunciation and her smooth voice suit the song perfectly. July Maadhathil... is like a Harris Jayaraj number - instantly likeable with a catchy tune and simple orchestration. Considering the film comes off as an urban thriller, the folksy Nenjukkulle... comes as a little surprise. The Mangalyam Thandhunaanenaa... bits add a little bit of difference but the rather short song is otherwise very ordinary. The Night is Still Young... is a youthful, groovy number that makes us instantly conjure up images of DJs and strobe lights in our minds. The stronger orchestration, heavier beats and slightly faster pace make the remix even better. Neha Bhasin sounds fabulous, whether she's singing or simply humming, in Om Shanti Om.... The song has good tempo throughout and the Om Shanti Om... refrain is smooth and catchy. Its remix doesn't sound much different though. Uyire Uyire... is a regular romantic number. Javed Ali kills Tamil a bit but then seems to sound better once Madhumita starts singing.

Yuvan has become quite prolific these days, churning out atleast one album a month. Muthirai is another in what has become his trademark these days - a good album overall with more hits than misses but without any numbers that could've elevated it to a 'must-listen' category.

2 New Reviews

2009-06-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

Reviews for MeiporuL and Rajadhi Raja are now online @ bbreviews.

Ask and Ye Shall Recieve!

2009-06-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

I guess someone up there read my previous post :) How else does one explain Jo's photos showing up the same day I lamented about how long its been since we've had a glimpse of her?!

Jo, still looking every inch the pretty and cute heroine we bid goodbye to after Mozhi, made an appearance after a really long time at the 2008 Vijay Univercell awards. Hubby Surya won the best actor award for Vaaranam Aayiram and Jo was on hand for that. While he dedicated the award to her and his parents, she said that she considers herself the luckiest girl in the world. This couple sure is made for each other...

Where's Jo?

2009-06-14T23:49:00.001-07:00

Above are photos of Surya at two recent functions - Jayam Ravi's wedding reception and the 30th anniversary celebrations of Sri Sivakumar Educational and Charitable Trust, which was founded by his dad in 1979. He didn't take Jo along for either of those :( Just made me realize how long its been awhile since we had a glimpse of her!

Pokkisham Audio

2009-06-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Four of the songs in the album have the same basic tune but there are enough variations to make all of them quite enjoyable. The pick of the four is Azhagu Mugam... with its rhythmic, train-like beats and philosophical lyrics. Prasanna's subtle voice inflections in this would make even SPB proud. Prasanna also has solo turns in Kanavu Silasimaiyam..., which has some nice humming in the interludes and Siru Punnagai...., which has some romantic overtones. Mahati joins him for Ulagam Ninaivil Illai... and adds some spice with her heavy voice. Mozhi Illaamale..., a pathos number, is soulfully rendered by Madhu Balakrishnan, who manages to really convey heartache during the high pitch sections of the song. Ranjani sings the similarly-tuned Varum Vazhiyengume... with more melody and less intensity. Nila Nee Vaanam... is a beautiful, melodious number sung beautifully by Vijay Yesudas and Chinmayi. Anjal Petti..., sung energetically by Karthik, manages to convey a rather joyous mood with its upbeat tune and lyrics. The same also holds true for Oh Oh Oh Theerndhadhe..., though it is rather short. Aaj Monee Bole... alternates a typical Bengali-styled number and a much slower, pathos Tamil number but neither stands out.

Sabesh-Murali, who get a bad rap because of their association with Deva, completely surprise us with a melody lover's dream album for Pokkisham. The songs sound a little simple and old-fashioned but amidst the loud music and unintelligible lyrics that characterize most albums today, this soundtrack is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Vaamanan Audio

2009-06-10T23:46:00.001-07:00

Edho Seigiraai... is a nice, standard-issue Yuvan duet with a catchy start and some high-pitch lines in the middle. The interludes that repeat the starting rhythm are appealing and Javed Ali doesn't massacre the lyrics too much. Enge Povadhu... is a pathos number whose style was popular during Ilaiyaraja's times but then seemed to go out of fashion. Looks like its making a comeback under Raja's son! Vijay Yesudas sounds a lot like his illustious father and impresses because of the sparse orchestration. Iravai Pidithu... is almost definitely an item number - probably in a club setting - with new singer Preethi's husky voice, the lyrics that praise materialism and the rap interludes. Preethi has a strong voice and her accent for the English lines sounds natural. Lucky Star... is youthful and catchy. If nothing else, it could give Jai a title ready if Vaamanan becomes a hit! Oru Devadhai... is a slow, captivating number. Roopkumar Rathod hits the high notes flawlessly but his poor diction is definitely an irritant.

The Vaamanan soundtrack earns the same kind of comments that other recent Yuvan albums have earned - a good collection of songs that catch on easily but none of them really make the jump from 'good' to 'great'.

My New Blu-ray Player

2009-06-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Ever since the hi-def DVD format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray was resolved in favor of the latter, I've been shopping around for a Blu-ray DVD player. Finally bought the Samsung BD-P3600 and after using it for a couple of weeks, I'd say I'm totally satisfied.

The player looks minimalistically sleek and cool. Unlike a traditional DVD player, its front is completely smooth and clean and the playback buttons, which are touch-sensitive, have been moved to the top of the player. Blu-ray discs load up at speeds comparable to the loading speed on regular DVD players. The picture is ofcourse noticeably sharper on Blu-ray and watching a movie is now even more of a pleasure. Even regular DVDs look better than they did on my earlier upconverting DVD player.

The improved picture quality is a given for any Blu-ray player but it was the goodies on the BD-P3600 that helped make my decision easier. First, it supports Netflix streaming. Setting up Netflix was a breeze with movies added to the Instant Queue(on the computer) being available for watching immediately. Netflix has a pretty good collection now and the movies can be paused, FFed, etc. Second, the player supports file sharing for photos, MP3s and video. So I can connect to my desktop to flip through photo slideshows, watch movies, etc. No more hooking up the laptop to the TV for this. And the biggest advantage for me is that the above can be done wirelessly since the player comes with a USB Wi-Fi dongle. With the router at the opposite end of the house from the DVD player, the wireless connection isn't the strongest. The Netflix streaming quality, for instance, was only half of what was possible. Still, the movie started in just a few seconds, was eminently watchable quality-wise and played without any interruptions.

Now for two quibbles. While connecting to a computer is easy, the player doesn't save the settings. This means the IP address, folder name, user name and password must all be entered manually each time the file sharing feature is used. With an onscreen keyboard, this is not a fun task. Also, the player has a limited set of codecs and so recognizes only some AVIs. AVIs created with unsupported codecs and other video formats(like MP4s or DVD files) are not playable. I'm just hoping that these, especially the first, will be fixed with a future firmware update.

If you are shopping for a Blu-ray player and you are a Netflix member, this one's a no-brainer. If your answer is "No" to either of those, what are you waiting for? :)

3 New Reviews

2009-06-07T22:09:00.000-07:00

Reviews for Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum, Newtonin Moondraam Vidhi and Pasanga are now online @ bbreviews.

Happy Birthday Karthik!

2009-06-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Seems like just now that we brought him back from the hospital. And the li'l guy turns 4 today! Time sure is flying :)

Touchy Touchy

2009-06-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

When it comes to Tamil cinema, very few things surprise me any more. But one news item that made my jaw literally drop was this one about director Shakti Chidambaram suing Suhasini. Its not like Tamil cinema hasn't been involved in legal wranglings before. Allegations of vulgarity, plagiarism and hurt sentiments have all sent our movie folks to the court. But its the reason behind the case that makes this one stand out. Shakti is suing Suhasini because she gave his movie a bad review!

This is not the first time we are hearing about people associated with a movie getting upset over criticism of their movie. Bala, for instance, refused to meet Bharadwaj Rangan because another reviewer at his newspaper didn't rate Naan KadavuL very highly. It wasn't too long ago that Amitabh Bachan had some very harsh words for Khalid Mohammad after the critic lambasted Bhoothnath. And in Hollywood, director Vincent Gallo engaged in a long war of words with Roger Ebert after the latter's review of The Brown Bunny. But those were all just person-to-person fights. This is probably the first time in the world that a director is resorting to legal means to strike back at a reviewer.

Its not difficult to understand why directors are so upset when their movies get a bad rap. Their movie is their baby, their creation, the fruit of their labor. They work on it for months - sometimes years - and its natural that they get attached to it. So they see an attack on the movie as a personal attack and get upset.

But directors also need to understand that they are producing a commodity. They are creating something for public consumption and need to be ready to take what comes with that. It might be a work of art for them but in the end, its just another product. And just as everyone who uses a product feels differently about it, everyone who watches the movie is likely to have a different opinion about it. And the directors have to be mature enough to accept the good and the bad.

As for Suhasini, she was just doing her job. A viewer is going to spend time and money at a movie and deserves to know beforehand if it is going to be worth it. Thats why he turns to reviewers and its upto the reviewers to give their honest opinion about the movie. That's what Suhasini did in this case. There is no right or wrong. As long as she was honest about her thoughts on the movie, she did her job. That's what she gets paid for and that's what people trust her for. Shakti just has to understand that. And suing her for that is just plain ridiculous.

So we can only hope that Shakti's case is thrown out for the frivolous case it is. Then again, if he wins the case, maybe we can start suing him for the films he makes :)

Bee Season

2009-06-03T21:21:00.001-07:00

Every time the Spelling Bee comes around, there are a bunch of posts - and ofcourse, associated comments - criticizing the event. They are quite mean-spirited, making fun of the kids and blaming the parents. So I just felt that someone should stand up for them.

The posts disparagingly call the kids geeks and social misfits. The funny thing is that these posts are not written by Olympic medallists or NBA players. They are penned by engineers and other professionals whose 'geekiness', so to speak, led to the academic achievements that helped them enter these professions in the first place. And is keeping them there. So ridiculing the kids in this fashion is plain hypocrisy on their part and a case of the pot calling the kettle black. That said, this post is more about the kids who participate in the Bee and other similar competitions.

The kids are seen as nerds and bookworms who spend their time memorizing the dictionary . Nothing could be further from the truth. These are kids who love the English language. They love reading, learning new words and understanding the way the words actually came about. It should be obvious that it is impossible to memorize all the words in the language. What these kids do is discern patterns in the words presented to them and then make educated, intelligent guesses about the spelling based on the language the word is derived from, the pronunciation, the definition, etc. Doing this in front of a big audience can't be easy and the kids display great poise and confidence when they do so. Belittling what they do as memorization is a colossal insult to their talent and ability.

The kids also don't focus on this at the expense of everything else. Kavya, this year's winner, learns the violin while Ramya, who tied for fifth place, teaches Tamil informally to other kids in her area. They are kids with great personality, a good sense of humor, nice friends and a wide range of ambitions and goals in life. Language is just a passion for them and being passionate about something does not automatically equate or translate to a neglect of everything else in life.

Now on to the parents. They are called pushy and are characterized as hard taskmasters who exhort their kids to do this. I can only assume that the people who see it this way don't have children. So they haven't experienced the thrill one feels on seeing our child do something well and haven't experienced the pride that comes out of our child winning something. It could be anything. When our child likes doing something, we let them do it. And when the child is also good at that, we do what we can to develop the talent. That's natural and that's what these parents are doing. What's so wrong in that?

Let's say the child of one these bloggers displays an affinity for spelling(which is quite possible because of the 'geek' gene they would undoubtedly inherit :). Is he/she going to be dejected, downplay the child's talent, dissuade him/her from honing the talent and getting recognized for it since its geeky and persuade him/her to enter sports? I don't think so for thats exactly what they accuse these parents of. And when they are melted by the pride on their child's face and cheer him/her on as he/she displays her talent, will they realize the errors in their remarks and insults? I sure hope so.

Not everyone shares passions for the same things in life. But that should not stop us from acknowledging and appreciating talent in others, especially kids, whatever area the talent may be in.

Pasanga

2009-06-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

While we've had several films set against the backdrop of college in Tamil cinema, our directors have been unwilling to travel further back in time to explore life in school (the fact that featuring school kids as protagonists effectively rules out the chance to incorporate romance and other masala elements probably has something to do with it). So Pasanga, which deals with the lives of a group of children, truly stands out from the crowd by virtue of its subject matter. With a loveable set of kids giving us an interesting peek into their lives, it is refreshingly fresh and fun fare.

Jeeva(Sriram), along with his two friends Pakkada and Kuttimani, has just moved to 6th grade. Anbukkarasu(Kishore), joins the class after moving from a different school and soon rubs Jeeva the wrong way as he impresses their teacher - who also happens to be Jeeva's dad - and becomes friends with Manonmani, Jeeva's cousin. Meanwhile, Anbukkarasu's uncle(Vimal) and Jeeva's sister(Vega) fall for each other even as the enmity between Anbukkarasu and Jeeva extends to their dads.

The kids in Pasanga definitely make up a fun bunch and the director succeeds in capturing all facets of that age through them. From the games they play(like the popular one where we twist our hand, cross our fingers and then uncross them on our nose) to the emotions they experience(like jealousy at the new guy who is undermining them) to smaller things like their love of movies(not shown directly but inferred from their recreating scenes from movies like Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu), they make us fondly remember scenes from our own childhood.

Pasanga understands that the problems and issues that kids encounter are important for them. So it focuses on them without belittling their experiences. It shows us that the emotions - jealousy, spite, anger, etc.- they experience are the same that adults go through. Its just that the ways these emotions are expressed aresuitably childish. So, when a kid plans to rub honey on his enemy's hair, its the equivalent of an adult throwingacid. And when he wants his friend's older brother to scare the other kid, its the same as an adult hiringa rowdy to rough up an adversary. By doing this i.e. making the kids' world a microcosm of the adults' world, the film makes its protagonist kids well-rounded, genuine characters rather than uninteresting caricatures.

When its kids, supporting characters become even more important since it is they who guide and control the kids' lives. Director Pandiraj understands this and makes the people around the kids - their families and their teachers - fully fleshed-out also. Kishore's parents perfectly bring out a couple unwilling to adjust and make sacrifices inspite of all the years together. So their bitterness bubbles up to the surface given the smallest chance. Sriram's parents don't get enough time to make the same kind of impression but his dad's narration of his married life shows him to be someone who is at peace with the route to deal with his problems. Similarly, the romance between Vimal and Vega is charming and developed in a very believable fashion and the conversations, whether its between the lovers or the lovers and their families are very natural.

But the realism of the movie takes a beating towards the end. The advice and sermonizing is understandable and even acceptable since it is delivered naturally and in a self-deprecating fashion. And a couple of messages are almost a given in a kid's movie. But the artificial attempt at adding some tension feels unnecessary and the climax is straight out of a masala movie as a plot point introduced obviously - but in an undeniably humorous fashion - just a few scenes ago is used in a very cinematic, unbelievable fashion.

Pasanga is a movie about kids but it can't be called a kids movie. There's nothing childish about the technical aspects of the film. The director employs slo-mo shots, fast edits, interesting camera angles(like the POV shot behind a kid's glasses. The camera even shakes as he adjusts is glasses) and eye-catching shots(like the sun shining through a boy's closed fist) to keep the film vibrant and lively. James Vasanth does his part with an energetic background score, especially during the sequences where the kids clash with each other. Kids are bundles of energy, always active and full of life and the same can be said about the movie too.

Child actors are usually camera-conscious kids who try to be cute but come off as overacting and irritating. Not so here. These kids here could put many of our adult actors to shame. Whether its Jeeva's roguishness or Anbukkarasu's sincerity or Pakkata's naievete, the kids' expressions and body language convey their characters perfectly. If we feel that we know these kids intimately by the end of the film, a large portion of the credit goes to these actors. The rest of the cast also fits their roles perfectly. Vega, looking very different from her Saroja persona, is sweet and makes a good pair with Vimal, who is also sweet in a down-to-earth way. The actors playing the kids' parents are also natural. James Vasanth tunes another melodious number in Oru Vetkam Varudhe..., which reminds us of Subramanyapuram's KangaL Irandaal... in both melody and the picturization, with its mix of romance and humor.

Queen Bee 2009

2009-05-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

Kavya Shivshankar from Olathe, Kansas won this year's Scripp's National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C yesterday. The word that won her the title was "Laodicean", which means "lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion". Unlike last year, I didn't watch the full telecast this time but what I saw was enough to once again be amazed by the talent and poise shown by all the kids as they took a crack at the difficult words thrown at them.

As always, the Finals was dominated by desis as they took up 7 of the 11 slots. One of the finalists was Ramya Auroprem, who actually goes to the high school that my Kavya will go to in just a few years. Ramya went up to the 11th round but then misspelled "amarevole" and ended up tying for fifth place.

As for eventual winner Kavya, she must be a firm believer in the old adage "Try, try till you succeed". This was her fourth appearance in the Spelling Bee and she finally won the trophy after finishing 10th, 8th and 4th places in her previous three appearances. She was composed throughout and had her own style, writing the words on her palm and smiling after each round.

Kandhasamy Audio (& Video)

2009-05-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Excuse Me Mr. Kandhasamy... has a tune that's catchy in a conversational way but the lyrics carry the conversational part a bit too far, especially the crass-sounding Poada Poadi... bits. I'm not sure if Idhellaam Dupe... really qualifies as a song. The number of foods, relations, emotions and 'names ending in Samy' that the lyricist comes up with is quite impressive the first couple of times but the little tune there is doesn't hold much interest once that initial curiosity wears off. Kandhasamy..., probably the film's theme song, is fast and intense in a folksy way with its rustic beats and the gruff voice - kinda like Virumaandi's theme song. It could work very well in the background for some buildup scenes. The remix sung by DSP doesn't work quite as well though. Meow Meow... is a slow kuthu song and Priya's voice is well-suited for it. The One Two Three... parts of it remind us of DhooL's Indhadi... quite a bit. Allegra... is a nice dance number with some good beats. Mamo Mamiya... and En Peru Meenakumari... are both conventional tunes but do catch on easily.

The long-in-the-making Kandhasamy has been getting a lot of hype and is being built up as the movie event of the summer. But its soundtrack definitely doesn't match the hype. The tunes are, for the most part, instantly catchy but the complete lack of melody and the bland, crass lyrics pull down the quality of the songs.

Found clips(each last about a minute and a half) of the song sequences on YouTube that give us an idea of the picturization. Nothing to get excited about.

Excuse Me Mr. Kandhasamy... - Some camera tricks and nice locales but they don't dispel the crass feel of the song itself.

Allegra... - Some nice, fast dance steps from Shriya. Looks like one song that validates the movie's supposedly huge budget.

Idhellaam Dupe... - Nothing much here.

Meow Meow... - Nice sets and a seductive Shriya catch the eye. Also gives the only glimpse of the supposed superhero Vikram.

En Peru Meenakumari... - Picturized with the suggestiveness the lyrics indicate. Dance steps seems too risque for a film claiming to be a "film that will appeal to kids"

Mendocino Trip

2009-05-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Mendocino is one of those places which we've always talked about visiting but never have in all these years. Since Spring is supposed to be the best time to visit the small coastal city, we went there over the Memorial Day weekend with the cousins and had a fun, relaxing trip.

After a 4 1/2 hour drive, our first stop was the Van Damme State Park, one of three state parks in the area. We skipped the park itself and instead, drove to Pygmy Forest, a small area north of the park where the unfavorable soil has resulted in the plants in the area remaining stunted. We walked a small trail that took us around the area and it was neat seeing the dwarfed pine trees and the teeny-tiny pine cones on them. From there we drove to the Russian Gulch State Park, which has a beautiful beach with a tall bridge forming the backdrop. The kids had fun playing in the sand, wading in the water and clambering up the rocks. After a short stop at the nearby Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, we drove on to the Glass Beach. This beach has a rather unique history in that it used to be a dumpsite and the waves have, over the years, crushed the bottles and other junk thrown there by the people. As a result, the beach has these colorful, smooth glass pieces mixed among the stones. It was a sort of fun treasure hunt for the kids as they walked around collecting the glass pieces and shells. After a perfectly-timed(though the womenfolk termed it hurried!) dinner, we again hit the beach for a glorious sunset.

The next day, we went to Fort Bragg for a ride on the Skunk Train. It was quite cold but the scenery - with the redwood trees and the creeks and the bushes and shrubs - was gorgeous. It was a fun an experience riding the open carriage with the wind blowing in your face and watching the greenery race by (though 4 hours is a bit too long for a train ride, especially when it goes past lunch time). After a late lunch, we spent a some time walking the new Pudding Creek Trestle, a wooden walkway which allows nice views of the beach, at the 10-Mile Beach a short distance away. Our last stop was to be the Botanical Garden but we missed that since it closed at 5. So we headed home straight away.

A few photos from the trip are here.

5 New Reviews

2009-05-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Reviews for Thee, Aanandha Thaandavam, Guru En Aalu, Mariyaadhai and Sarvam are now online @ bbreviews.

Need and Want

2009-05-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went shopping for Karthik and one of the things we bought for him was a pair of sunglasses (he looks darn smart wearing them but that's a topic for another post :). Kavya, as usual, was quiet through the entire shopping spree, not asking for anything for herself and just playing with her brother and selecting his dresses with enthusiasm. But, when she saw his sunglasses, she finally confessed that she would like a pair too. We walked into another store to get them but couldn't really find the right pair for her and since it was getting late, we ended the shopping trip after promising her that we would buy her a pair real soon.

But with regular life taking over once Monday started, we never had a chance to go to any store again. When the hot weather came up again in conversation between her mom and her, her mom apologized to her for not getting her the sunglasses yet. Kavya replied "Its OK amma. Its not something I need, its just something I want. So its no big deal. There's no hurry." That definitely wasn't the answer I was expecting. While I myself, at times, have a tough time deciding if what I'm thinking of buying is something I need or something I want, I was really surprised that Kavya was so clear about her priorities.

For the most part, Kavya's a typical 7 1/2-year old. She is easily distracted, she fights with her little brother, she gets upset real easily, she gets angry at us and so on. But then she says something so sweet, so mature that it makes me realize that my little girl can be a real grown-up too.

Sarvam

2009-05-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

While Vishnu Vardhan's first three movies(Kurumbu, Arindhum Ariyaamalum and Pattiyal) showed an admirable trend with respect to increase in quality, his next film Billa gave us the first sign that he had begun sacrificing substance at the altar of style, as the film's gorgeous look accompanied a story that was dumbed down and silly. He continues in the same mode for Sarvam, whose rich production values try to prop up a rather frail story. Since the plot is really lightweight and the little that there is is emotional, the film as a whole, feels rather hollow.

Karthik(Arya), an architect, is smitten by Sandhya(Trisha) after their very first meeting. Sandhya rebuffs him initiallybut his sincerity and persistence soon win her over. Meanwhile, Ishwar(J.D.Chakravarthy) is mourning the loss of hiswife and son, who were killed when hit by a car driven by Naushad(Indrajeeth). Refusing to see it as an accident, he begins to harass Naushad and his son Iman(Master Rohan).

Sarvam is essentially about fate. As the lives of its five protagonists criss-cross - sometimes with no effect(as when Arya almost hits Rohan with his car or Trisha runs into Rohan in the hospital) and other times with huge consequences - it shows us how the lives of random people can become intertwined with or without their knowledge. It reminds us of movies like Crash, 21 Grams and our own Aaydha Ezhuthu as we watch the characters, with the knowledge that their lives are going to intersect while they themselves go about their lives blissfully unaware of the fact that each of their actions is having a ripple effect that affects others in unexpected ways.

But as the plot unravels and the links between the characters are established, it is all rather underwhelming and the plot seems too simple considering its lofty ambitions. Vishnu Vardhan tries to make the movie seem like more than what it is with some non-linearity in the chronology, which he achieves by serving up the story one piece at a time and telling the stories of the characters in parallel as their lives proceed. But even these do not make the story arresting enough. In this way, it is the exact opposite of Dasaavathaaram. While both movies illustrate the role destiny plays in the lives of a certain set of people, Kamal's ambitious film crammed in too many characters and a complex plot while Sarvam has too few characters inhabiting a barebones story.

Though the romance between Arya and Trisha is essentially filler(what is important is what happens because of that love), it is what saves the movie from being completely forgettable. Though it kicks off with an all-too-familiar love-at-first-sight scenario, it is charming and funny. Arya exhibits a goofy charm as he woos Trisha and her character arc as she goes from dismissing him to missing him is charted in a believable fashion. How we view Arya's behavior in the latter half of the movie is completely dependent on us buying into the depth of his love and to the extent that we can easily believe in the transformation his character undergoes, it is successful.

Once the links between the characters have been established(through screenplay machinations that remind us of atleast three other Tamil films), the movie turns into one long confrontation between Arya and Chakravarthy. The bonding between Arya and Rohan has a few laughs but for the most part, the proceedings are filled with confrontations and chases. This repetition tests our patience at a few points and when we finally see the dilapidated church - which, as we know from the opening scene, is the scene of the climactic fight - there is a palpable sense of relief that the end is near.

After the rough, grungy look of Naan Kadavul, Arya gets back to the urban look and it sits on him pretty well. He is casual and likeable when wooing Trisha and makes a convincing transformation to the determined man who goes up against Chakravarthy. But dancing is a sore point and he looks completely stiff during the song sequences, particularly Adadaa Vaa.... Trisha once again falls back on her limited set of expressions but it suits her character to a T and so she seems quite radiant. The look of "this is the man of my dreams" that she gives when Arya is describing their dream house is just perfect. Chakravarthy is forced to walk around with the same expression throughout and his supposed intensity never has the required impact. Indrajeeth doesn't have much to do while Master Rohan seems a bit raw initially but gets better as the movie progresses. Thanks to the gorgeous photography(Nirav Shah) and set design, the film looks visually very rich. The cinematography makes everything look good - from the sparse interiors of the hospital to the gorgeous greens of Munnar. The sets and lighting during the final sequences are particularly good. Sila Iravugal..., the best number in Yuvan's soundtrack, is picturized very nicely in terms of both concept and visualization. The same goes for Kaatrukkulle..., one of the more imaginatively picturized duets in recent times. Suttaa Suriyanai... is energetic and colorful though the lyrics don't really suit the situation it occurs in.

Coming Soon - Sarvam

2009-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks without any films that really excited us, this Friday will see a high-profile one hit screens. Directed by Vishnuvardhan and bringing together Arya and Trisha, Sarvam has quite a few things going for it.

While so many directors shine with their debut film only to disappoint with their next - and subsequent - outings, Vishnuvardhan belongs to the select breed of directors who didn't make much of a mark in their first film but then went on to impress us with their other films. His first film Kurumbu hid its core story of friendship and love in a crude and vulgar package and wasn't that different from the other movies released around the same time, that incorporated glamor and vulgarity under the guise of showcasing reality. But his sophomore film Arindhum Ariyaamalum was a pleasant surprise. Its fresh storyline managed to surprise us and Vishnuvardhan smoothly and confidently handled the shift in tone that the twist led to. He again raised the bar with Pattiyal, a stylish yet realistic look at the Chennai underworld. His next film was the remake of Rajni's Billa with Ajith in the lead. Though the dumbing down of the original came as a disappointment, the film had a sense of style that, though it felt overdone, is rarely seen in Tamil cinema.

Apart from the improvement in quality, the other aspect that is obvious from Vishnuvardhan's list of films is his versatility - again, not a quality found in too many Tamil cinema directors. Kurumbu could charitably be called a youthful romantic comedy and then he changed tracks completely. While his next 3 movies all revolved around dadas and rowdies, they were not exactly similar either. While Arindhum Ariyaamalum could be slotted in the action-comedy genre, Pattiyal was stark and uncompromising in its depiction of the seedier side of Chennai and Billa was a stylish update of an yesteryear blockbuster. Sarvam was initially said to be a romantic film but its trailer(atleast the second half) points to it being more than that.

Sarvam must've been a nice break for Arya after the intense and exhausting work in Naan KadavuL. Inspite of being seen as a pin-up boy after his debut, the actor has not been stereotyped and has shown a willingness to take on a variety of roles. Sarvam will see him once again play a loverboy, a role he's obviously well-suited for. Trisha had quite a few blockbusters not too long ago but she's not had a good run lately with both her films in 2008, Abhiyum Naanum and Kuruvi, not faring well. She's apparently doing well in Telugu but will be looking for Sarvam to become a hit to improve her standing in Tamil too. Telugu actor JD Chakravarthy, Malayalam actor Indrajeeth(Prithviraj's brother) and a kid Rohan round out the cast of the film, which is about events in the lives of the characters played by these 5 actors.

Yuvan has shared a good rapport with Vishnuvardhan and has once again delivered one of his better albums in recent times. I wrote about the soundtrack here and my thoughts haven't changed much. Sila Iravugal..., inspite of Yuvan's singing, is still one of my favorites from all recent albums while Adadaa Vaa...(for its catchy flute interludes) and Suttaa Suriyanai...(for its strong beats) are still present on my playlist. Vishnuvardhan has a good eye for picturizing song sequences and the few-second clips of the song sequences seem to reinforce that. The colorful, chaotic setting for Suttaa Suriyanai... and the noir-ish costumes and settings for Adadaa Vaa... look fabulous. They've made me real eager to see how Sila Iravugal... turns out.

After a very lackluster first quarter, Tamil cinema has begun to look up with commercial blockbusters like Ayan and critical favorites like Pasanga. Let's hope Sarvam continues the positive trend this weekend...

The trailer

Mariyaadhai

2009-05-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Versatility isn't exactly director Vikraman's forte. Right from his first film Pudhu Vasantham, he has specialized in feel-good films that embroiled good-hearted characters in simple problems and in the process, elevated a relationship - be it friendship, romance or love - to a lofty pedestal. The simplicity and the feel-good factor helped us overlook other aspects of his films in the past but that got increasingly difficult as each of his films began to feel more ancient than the one before. After a relatively youthful Chennai Kaadhal, he reteams with his Vaanathai Pola hero Vijayakanth in Mariyaadhai. Hopelessly behind the times and completely silly, it only shows us once again that Vikraman is firmly stuck in the past and is either unwilling or unable to come out of it.

Annamalai(Vijayakanth) is not very rich but is well-respected in his village. His friend's daughter Chandra(Meera Jasmine) comes to stay in his house and with her sweet nature, quickly captures the hearts of Annamalai, his wife(Ambika) and their daughter(Ammu). But Annamalai's son Raja(Vijayakanth) is rude to her and Chandra soon learns why.

Vikraman is definitely caught in a time warp. Directors all around him are exploring new genres, tackling fresh themes and telling their stories with style and flair. But Vikraman continues making movies in which girls are asked to sing at their engagement. And do so without protest! Every aspect of Mariyaadhai feels dated. The story is simplistic with no opportunity for any dramatic tension; the screenplay is predictable and completely lacks suspense; the characters are two-dimensional and display no complexity; the script lacks cleverness; and the production values are more befitting a stage play.

While some of the aforementioned characteristics can be seen in Vikraman's earlier, more successful films too, they were obscured by the way he shaped the characters. Mariyaadhai's closest predecessors in terms of characters and storylines would probably be Vaanathai Pola and Suryavamsam. The older characters in those films were strong characters who carried the movie. That's not the case here. Vijayakanth is largely ineffective and does not come across as a strong and powerful man. Two particular instances, where he simply accepts help without any objections whatsoever, really erode his stature in our eyes. The younger(relatively speaking) Vijayakanth doesn't come off much better as he is taken for a ride rather easily.

Vijayakanth's flashback holds the movie's lone surprise. It is presented in a predictably loud fashion but it nevertheless comes as a surprising development. Not that it leads to anything interesting. As Vijayakanth takes revenge on the person who cheated him and Meera Jasmine turns into a jack of all trades as she becomes a teacher to everyone in his family, one isn't sure which of the two story tracks is sillier.

When everything else in the film is old-fashioned, why should the comedy be any different? Ramesh Khanna tries to evoke laughter through some congenial yet stale jokes as he is tricked by Meera Jasmine, chided by Vijayakanth and gets everything from soap water to cow dung thrown at his face. In these days, when someone getting hurt is being equated with comedy, the lack of vulgarity, crudeness and mean-spiritedness in the comedy is welcome but unfortunately, that doesn't automatically translate to humor. The jokes around Ambika's lack of culinary skills aren't all that fresh either but they lead to more laughs, especially in the sequence where the sweet she makes causes a series of unexpected accidents.

For Vijayakanth, the film is a rather strange choice as he is quite subdued throughout. While this is usually welcome, this is one movie where a couple of angry speeches or punch dialogs would've helped raise the energy level. He doesn't even get a rousing entrance, being content with driving in on a tractor. More surprising, considering the proximity of the release date to the elections, is the lack of political hints in the script, barring a throwaway comment about his photo soon being in every house in TN. He looks really fat though and the horrible wig just makes matters worse. Meera Jasmine matches him kilo for kilo while Meena, with no hint of the charm or sweetness she showed in her earlier days, is stuck in a thankless role. Vijay Anthony simply channels S.A.Rajkumar with songs that are slow but not really melodious. The Inbame... remix is a mess and is one of those remixes that increases our respect for the original version.

Aanandha Thaandavam

2009-05-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Aanandha Thaandavam is based on Sujatha's famous novel Pirivom Sandhippom (I guess Cheran's earlier film of that name forced director Gandhi Krishna to come up with a new name but Aanandha Thaandavam doesn't quite have the effect of the original title, which encapsulated the crux of the story in those two words). While I haven't read the book, it is safe to assume, based on Sujatha's other works and the universal praise that the novel received, that it is a wonderful story told wonderfully. That makes Aanandha Thaandavam not just a bad movie but a huge disappointment. Something was definitely lost in translation here.

Raghupathy(Sidharth), who has finished his studies and is jobhunting, falls in love with Madhumita(Tamannah), the daughter of his dad's boss. Madhu likes him too and her parents agree to get them married. But the parents change their minds when Radhakrishnan(Rishi), a rich suitor who lives in the US, asks for Madhu's hand and decide to get her married to him. Shortly after Radhakrishnan and Madhu head back to the US, a dejected Raghu decides to pursue higher studies in New York since "living well is the best revenge". It isn't long before he runs into Madhu once again.

Aanandha Thaandavam is a film that is brought down almost entirely by is characterization. Leading the parade is the lead pair, who probably sounded good on paper but look terribly wrong onscreen. There is nothing wrong with their fundamental characters but the characters are put across in a way that makes them close to despicable. Take Tamannah, for instance. She is supposed to earn our sympathy as a girl who is playful, naieve, meek and has her life controlled by those around her. But she actually comes off as an immature girl who destroys Sidharth's life by cheating him, leading him on and never letting him live in peace. Not that Sidharth is really guilt-free either. We are obviously suppsed to view him as someone who is unable to forget his first love and suffers because of it. But he seems to be someone who is dumb, spineless and completely lacks self-respect.

Sidharth and Tamannah are fundamentally good but suffer because their characters are not translated well to screen. Many of the supporting characters, like Tamannah's parents(with their money-oriented natures) or Rishi(with his ridiculously overdone NRI behavior), are intrinsically dislikeable though. Even Kitty, one of the few characters with a postive character arc, doesn't come off as very likeable with his supposedly-radical thoughts and advice. The end result of this is that the film's first half ends up feeling like the antithesis of a Vikraman film i.e. one in which everybody is bad. So its not a pleasant feeling watching it with no one to root for.

The film introduces a few new characters - and subsequently, relationships - once Raghu lands in the US. They, especially Rukmini, fare better than the others. Rukmini's family is a nice portrait of an NRI family that hasn't lost touch with its roots and the camaraderie among its members is nice. Even Kitty finally shows us that he is a good man. Unfortunately, this doesn't rub off on Tamannah and Sidharth. Tamannah finally gets the chance to earn our sympathy but her choice of actions and timing doesn't exploit it and instead, further earns our irritation. Same goes for Sidharth(to a lesser extent though) too. The fact that he goes when Tamannah calls him, hurting several others in the process, doesn't raise his already-damaged image in our eyes.

Tamannah struggles in a badly-etched character, swaying between seeming innocent and seeming plain mentally imbalanced. Sidharth is alright though he sounds a lot like Ravikrishna. Rukmini, who was in Bharathiraja's Bommalaattam, is likeable and expressive. Rishi overacts with a bad accent and an even worse wig(with a bald patch!) Kitty uses his soft demeanor well, especially in the second half. G.V.Prakash delivers a good album after a couple of lacklustre efforts and Gandhi Krishna shows a nice eye for visuals in picturizing the songs. Pattu Poochi... and Kallil Aadum... are both very catchy and feature some nice locations. Megam Pole... reflects Sidharth's mental state perfectly with Shankar Mahadevan's passionate singing and the dark setting and costumes. Poovinai..., inspite of the ridiculous lead-in, is pleasing while Kanaa Kaangiren... is choreographed well in some nice locations and with eye-catching costumes and props.

Aanandha Thaandavam is a sad dance.

2 Twisty Tales

2009-05-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

With the number of movies I see, I sometimes begin to think that it would be difficult for a movie to really surprise me any more. Considering the genre and the characters, I usually like to make some educated guesses about upcoming plot developments and surprise twists and in the recent past, I have hit the bull's eye with such guesses. Ofcourse, while its nice to see my guesses turn out to be correct, it does make the movie-watching experience rather disappointing. So it was a rather sobering and fun experience to watch not one, but two films that completely surprised me.

Of the two, the drama Nothing But The Truth was the better film as a whole. Inspired by true events, it is about an agonizing dilemma faced by a reporter and the consequences of her decision. Kate Beckinsdale plays the reporter who, based on a reliable source, has revealed that a soccer mom(who also happens to be the mother of her own son's classmate in school) is actually a CIA operative. Pressured by the government(led by a dogged prosecutor, played by Matt Dillon) to reveal her source under threats of being a national security issue, she steadfastly refuses, and is sent to jail.

Like Doubt, the film constantly keeps us thinking as we struggle to take sides on the issue of the reporter making her source known. The scoop destroys Beckinsdale's life as she goes to jail and is on the brink of losing her husband and her son. It has a negative effect on the CIA operative's life too as she is hassled by the press. And ofcourse, there is the national security issue too since the source could potentially be revealing other secrets to much more dangerous persons. All this makes us wonder if Beckinsdale's obstinacy about protecting her source is warranted. At the same time, it is easy to see her side of the story too. Revealing the source would compromise her integrity in her own eyes since she had given her word to the sourse. It would also threaten the very future of honest, daring journalism as the revelation may make other sources unwilling to open up to journalists. Matt Dillon and Alan Alda, as Beckinsdale's lawyer, represent these two sides and do so very convincingly.

While Beckinsdale's source is the heart of the movie, the movie at times makes us wonder if the identity of the source is simply a MacGuffin and whether the movie is essentially about Beckinsdale's conflict. The climax is a wonderful surprise. Like the Sixth Sense revelation, it makes us admire the director's cleverness since it was right in front of our eyes and there were enough clues pointing to it. The climax also provides closure and makes us completely understand one of the sides of the issue.

I read in Ebert's review that Nothing But The Truth was a victim of the economy as it failed to find a distributor and went straight to DVD. But that's the viewer's loss as it is a must-see.

The Uninvited also surprised me inspite of belonging to a genre where a surprise twist is almost a given. A horror thriller, it is about a teenager(Emily Browning) who was admitted to a mental hospital after her mom's death in an accident. On her return, she finds out that her dad is about to wed her mom's nurse(Elizabeth Banks). Some supernatural happenings convince her that the nurse killed her mom but her recent issues ensure that nobody, including her sister and her dad, believe her.

The film is also a remake of an Asian horror film but is more substantial than the other remakes. It has its share of creepy moments and 'Boo' moments but it also offers more in the form of Emily's loneliness and desperate attempts to convince others of the nurse's guilt. The revelations of the identities of the ghosts haunting Emily take the film along somewhat predictable lines and the movie turns into a thriller as Banks goes after Browning and her sister. But the film then pulls the rug out from under us with a terrific twist. The twist doesn't stand up to scrutiny but then again, this is not a genre under which movies are routinely cross-examined or seen for the airtight nature of their scripts. But it does turn everything on its head and totally surprise us.

Iruvar

2009-04-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Considering that Manirathnam has made movies against the backdrop of terrorism(Roja), communal riots(Bombay) and the situation in Sri Lanka(Kannathil Muthamittaal), it might seem a little strange to call a simple double biography, his bravest effort. But considering the subjects whose lives he has chosen to capture on celluloid, terming Iruvar his most courageous film would not be that much of a stretch. A thinly-veiled look at the lives of MGR, Karunanidhi and those around them, it offers a fascinating look at TamilNadu politics during the last few decades by shining the spotlight on the two personalities who dominated - maybe even defined - it during that time period.

MGR's reel equivalent is Anandan(Mohanlal), an actor who, after a long struggle, gets the right break and turns hero. His best friend is Thamizhchelvan(Prakashraj), Karunanidhi's big screen alter-ego, who is instrumental in Anandan's rise to stardom, having written the scripts for his movies. Thamizhchelvan is part of the Dravidian social movement and also becomes an important functionary when the party is formed. Anandan joins the party soon after though his move is viewed with suspicion as a move intended solely to further his filmi ambitions. As their ambitions and aspirations clash, they move apart in public life but remain good friends and their mutual respect and admiration for each other never erodes.

Mohanlal and Prakashraj are a study in contrasts here. While Prakashraj is idealistic and intense, Mohanlal is portrayed as a more simple man. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than during their meeting right after the party has been launched, where the former talks in concrete terms about power, poverty and reservations while all Mohanlal wants is a simplistic, all-encompassing "everybody should be happy". Prakashraj is a man with clear dreams and ambitions and well-laid plans for how to achieve them. Mohanlal, on the other hand, is someone who takes things as they come. His ambitions are short-term and he simply resets them once he gets what he wants. But the most obvious contrast is in the way they they handle what life throws at them. Going by the old adage, one could say that Prakashraj achieves greatness while Mohanlal has greatness thrust upon him. This is encapsulated in the fantastic scene where Prakashraj takes Mohanlal to the roof of his house to see the people who have come to see him. Its Prakashraj who first lifts Mohanlal's hand to wave to them but once the actor understands his own power, he gains a sudden confidence, develops a swagger and begins to play to the gallery effortlessly. This difference - the way Mohanlal is reactive while Prakashraj is proactive - seeps into their personal lives too. Like, for instance, the way they end up with their respective second wives. While Prakashraj seeks out Tabu and asks her to come to him, Mohanlal weds Gauthami when she shows up at his house after running away from her abusive uncle. For the most part, these contrasts are portrayed subtly but there are a few scenes(like their respective first marriages) where they are expressed more forcefully.

The relationship between these two contrasting protagonists is so unique, so complicated that it defies conventional definition. Poles apart with respect to ideologies, they go beyond that to work together professionally and also become close friends. They view each other with suspicion even when they are partners and then became overt enemies in politics. But throughout their lives, they never lose admiration and respect for each other. The film captures all the dimensions of this complex relationship beautifully. From their first meeting in the studio, where they are young and filled with dreams and ambitions, to their last, where they are old and tired, the movie depicts all the nuances of their relationship vividly.

While Mohanlal and Prakashraj are treated as equals, there does seem to be a slightly negative edge to Mohanlal's character(maybe Manirathnam was guided by which of his protagonists was alive and which one was dead when the movie was made?). When Mohanlal asks Prakashraj to write scripts, it is to cheat the viewers to make them accept him as a hero; when he joins Nasser's party, it is to further his movie career; when he deliberately goes late to a meeting, it is to demonstrate his power. These are small things but they do add up. And during all these times, Prakashraj is the more dignified one, standing up for what he believes in, observing Mohanlal silently. As for Aishwarya, there seems to a deliberate effort to make her character seem unreal and divorced from Jayalalitha. Her costumes don't really fit the era, she seems a bit too brash and disrespectful for a budding actress, her political ambitions are barely touched upon(barring one scene where she helps the survivors of an accident) and she gets an abrupt, off-screen end.

Ofcourse, there's no denying that Iruvar's biggest attraction is the fact that it is based on real characters and true events. And the more one is familiar with TamilNadu politics, the better one can savor it. It is fun seeing events we remember reading about or hearing and guessing as to how much of what is onscreen is true. And it is definitely illuminating to watch the lives of the people who ruled TamilNadu politics, see what drove them, view the actual people behind the larger-than-life figures we read about. And the opening message - that proclaims that this is not a true story - notwithstanding, Manirathnam leaves us in no doubt about who his characters are based upon. There's Mohanlal's Malayali accent, which becomes more overt in a private moment with his DGP, when he actually converses in Malayalam; there's Prakashraj's atheist outlook and Dravidian leanings; there's the duo's split over the party's accounts; and there's the shooting that leads to Mohanlal winning the elections. Ofcourse filming the life stories of two revered icons comes with its own pitfalls. The censors have been merciless, resulting many sequences with muted dialogs and abrupt jumps indicating scenes that were cut. Then again, in our society where politicians and actors are deified and any slur on them could result in riots or worse, I guess we should be thankful that atleast what was left made it to the screens.

Tamil cinema has not been kind to politicians. While the treatment might well be deserved, there's no question that the way they are portayed is one-dimensional. The politicians are a corrupt bunch who are present to accept bribes and throw their weight around to exert illegal pressure on cops. There have been a few good ones but they end up at the other end of the spectrum and are saints in a politician's garb. But Iruvar has politicians who are flesh and blood. Scenes we see in any political satire are present here too. We see corruption, politicians switching allegiances at the drop of a hat and loud fights in the assembly. But we also see other sides of the same politicians - sides where they are idealistic, well-meaning and genuinely wish to do good for the people. So, even is one is not familiar with the real-life politicians the characters are based on, the film still works as a realistic political drama.

Mohanlal has a difficult role as he plays a man still revered by millions. Considering that his character arc makes it clear who he is playing, he doesn't have to overstress it and employs MGR's well-known, frequently-imitated movements - the lift of the hand, the distinctive skipping run, the shake of the head - only in the song sequences. The rest of the time, he delivers a lesson on how much can be conveyed with downplayed 'acting'. Whether as the frustrated actor or as the star loved by the people or the politician battling his best friend, he combines his eyes, expressions and body language to play the complicated personality in pitch-perfect fashion. Prakashraj's character doesn't have quite as many nuances but he fits the role perfectly, from the firebrand young politician to the world-weary, more mellow statesman. Aishwarya, in her debut, overdoes the coy, timid bit in her first role(just as she did a few years later in Jeans). She is more at home as the bold, self-assured actress though. Revathi(as Prakashraj's first wife), Tabu(as Prakashraj's second wife) and Gauthami (as Mohanlal's second wife) are underused. Nasser is good as usual in the role of Annadurai while Rajesh has a meaty part as Madhivannan, Nasser's second-in-command who is initially opposed to Mohanlal joining the party but ironically, ends up in his party.

Just as the movie doesn't call itself a true story, the time periods aren't explicitly announced either. But the sets, the props and the costumes recreate the different eras quite flawlessly as film scenes and song sequences are used to mark the transition from historicals to social dramas. Narumugaiye... is a beauty and its Carnatic touch fits the time period it is used in, perfectly. Aayirathil Naan Oruvan..., with its oldish tune and crowd-pleasing lyrics, is probably the song that most touts the fact that Mohanlal's character is based on MGR as he runs and skips and hugs children in quite the same way MGR did in Anbe Vaa's Pudhiya Vaanam.... Kannai Kattikkollaadhe... is one of those energetic, preachy songs loaded with double entendres about the singer's real-life. The jazzy Hello Mr. Edhikatchi... and the simple Vennila Vennila... are instantly catchy. Iruvar would probably count as one of Rahman's best efforts on background score too. The pieces that accompany the key moments in the movie are wonderful and perfectly suit the moods and emotions conveyed onscreen. Santosh Sivan also avoids those visual flourishes that are usually a part of Manirathnam's movies. Barring a few sequences, like the revolving camera over Prakashaj and Tabu, the cinematography is sedate and unobtrusive as befits a docudrama.

Iruvar - atleast the form that made it to screens - may not be perfect or even Manirathnam's finest film. But as a chronicle of one of the most important and influential periods in TamilNadu politics, its place in Tamil cinema history is assured.

Doubt / The Reader / The Wrestler

2009-04-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Finally catching up on 2008's Oscar contenders and winners...

Doubt

Can't think of a better title than Doubt for this film because the film's intention is to keep us in doubt all the way through. At the film's heart is the suspicion that Hauffman, a priest, has behaved improperly with one of the students in his school. While the priest pleads innocence, a nun(Meryl Streep), who has her own axe to grind with the priest, is convinced of the priest's guilt and another nun(Amy Adams) is caught in the crossfire. But unlike most movies, Doubt never lets us in on what really happened. We get hints in the form of past issues, we see the behavior of the principal characters and we hear the opinions of the characters as to what happened. But we never get to know what actually transpired. So, based on who we believe and how we interpret the happenings, we are expected to come to our own conclusions. That is both the film's strength and weakness. While it constantly keeps us thinking and guessing, it feels distant and vague because of the lack of catharsis. Overall though, it works mainly because of the performances and the script. Streep is phenomenal as the strict nun while Hauffman alternately earns our confidence and raises our suspicions with a natural performance. Amy Adams shines as a meek nun who gradually gains the confidence to stand up for what she believes in. Viola Davis has a small role as the boy's mother but her emotional speech to Streep is a scene-stealer.

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The Reader

Exploration of feelings of guilt and redemption is one of Hollywood's favorite themes. The Reader is one more film to tackle the topic and it does so powerfully and touchingly against the backdrop of the Holocaust. Kate Winslet plays a ticket collector on a tram in Germany. After saving a 15-year-old-boy(David Kross) who falls ill in front of her building, she begins to have a passionate affair with him. She disappears from his life one day and when he sees again a few years later, she is on trial for the murder of Jews while working as an SS guard. The Winslet-Kross affair is morally wrong but the questions it raises pale in comparison to those that come up later. The heart of the movie is their meeting a few years later and the film throws up some complex questions as Kross learns about the horrific past of the woman he was in love with. The film's key point comes when Kross realizes something about Winslet that could save her. The way he treats the information tells us about the tough choice he has made while Winslet's admittance tells us that she is seeking redemption more from herself than from the court. Both of them get another chance at redemption at the end and their actions tell us how much they have changed. Winslet was an SS guard and later has an affair with a young boy but still earns our sympathy on the strength of her performance. Her responses in court convey her frame of mind and though they don't humanize her completely, they do help us understand her thought process. Kross is intense and Ralph Fiennes is perfect as the man who has become emotionally barren because of his past.

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The Wrestler

The Wrestler is an emotional, touching story that looks at the sunset years of a man who has made a lot of mistakes and is trying to fix them but not always succeeding. Mickey Rourke plays a professional wrestler who was popular 20 years ago. He is now making money wrestling in exhibition matches but when a heart attack puts a stop to that, he is forced to reassesses his priorities in life. So he tries to reconnect with his daughter and strikes up a friendship with a stripper(Marisa Tomei). The film is a no-frills look at the life of a man who is past his prime and is trying to come to terms with it. It is emotional but never overly melodramatic. Rourke creates a sympathetic figure who was in the limelight but is now alone and lonely and yearns for company. We cheer for him when he appears to be setting things right(like during his stint in the deli counter) and feel sad when things once again derail(he only has himself to blame though). The behind-the-scenes peeks at wrestling are fascinating and confirm some questions we have while surprising us with other revelations of what goes on before and after those matches. Marisa Tomei is good as the stripper who is kinda in the same place as Rourke.

Growing Up

2009-04-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Among recent films, Ayan went into some detail when it came to some nefarious activities(VCD piracy, drug smuggling, drug transport, etc.) going on around us. While admittedly superficial, the behind-the-scenes look did add some realism and excitement to the otherwise cliched endeavors like piracy and smuggling. What really annoyed me though was the general tittering that could be heard from the audience whenever Surya or the other actors talked about anything technical (like, for instance, the chemicals and the reactions they talk about to uncover the drugs smuggled in PiLLaiyAr idols).

This is definitely not the first time I'm hearing this. The same reaction is assured whenever one of our movies brings up anything even remotely technical. Whether its Srikanth talking about water desalination in Kanaa Kanden or even something as simple as Jyothika introducing herself as an M.Tech from IIT in Kaakka Kaakka, it results in an audience reaction that is completely condescending. It could be a lone snigger or a more widespread hoot but it is clearly a patronizing expression that puts down the actors and the movie itself.

I'm not saying that Tamil cinema is beyond reproach when it comes to technical matters. It's not easy watching the way computers are used(misused?) in Tamil cinema and as a software engineer, it wasn't easy to stifle a laugh when Dhanush rolled up his sleeves to start programming with a vengeance in Yaaradi Nee Mohini. I'm just saying that Tamil cinema when it does things right, should be given a chance. In this day and age when so many of us are in similar professions, there is nothing so inherently laughable about our actors portraying college graduates or professionals or scientists or using Google to look up something. After all, we have no difficulty accepting Denise Richards playing a scientist or Keanu Reeves playing a hacker. Why then is it so difficult to accept Jo as an IIT graduate? Or Surya talking about chemical reactions?

Does this attitude come about because we refuse to see the characters our actors portray as separate from the actors themselves? Or is it because our actors try to remain the same whatever the roles they take up? Surprisingly, I've seen this only in the US here, where the majority of the audience is made up of software professionals. Granted I haven't seen an equal number of films back home but the crowd was supportive and cheerful even during all those English phrases and American connections in Vaaranam Aayiram, when I caught it in Abhirami last November. But the same movie here would doubtless result in numerous catcalls and loud comments. While they themselves are professionals living in the US, why are so many viewers unable to accept our actors playing a similar role?

We always hear how Tamil cinema has to grow up. But there are times like these when it looks like its the audience that needs to grow up!

Where in the world is Girija?!

2009-04-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Any talk about Idhayathai Thirudaathey - or its Telugu original Geethanjali - invariably brings up the question "Whatever happened to Girija after that?". Its pretty obvious why. After a dream debut via which she captured the hearts of cinegoers as Geethanjali in that film, she appeared in only 1 movie, the Mohanlal-starrer Vandanam, and then completely vanished off the face of the earth (Google and comments on earlier posts have yielded the information that she also acted in another Telugu movie Hrudayanjali and was the first choice for Aamir Khan's Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and can actually be seen in one of the songs in that movie). There has been no news of her since.

Personally, I can never forget Girija because she gave shape to the first - maybe only? - movie character I ever fell in love with. And that was as much due to her as it was to the way the role was shaped by Manirathnam. I loved her carefree dancing in the rain; I laughed at her mischievous nature as she lured unsuspecting wannabe-lovers to the graveyard; I enjoyed her playfulness as she got Nagarjuna into trouble; I was heartbroken upon learning that her days were numbered; I admired her attitude as she was determined to live the rest of her life to the fullest; I understood her surprise at the realization that she had fallen in love; and I cried when she yearned to extend her life. Her expressions - like the mock dead pose she strikes when Nagarjuna brings her back or the shocked reaction she shows when he proposes to her - are firmly imprinted on my mind to this day. Girija was undoubtedly the biggest reason for Idhayathai Thirudaathey being the movie I watched the most number of times on the big screen.

Thanks to Namita, one of the commentors in the previous post, the question I mentioned in the first paragraph has finally been answered. Turns out Girija has a blog! So we now know that her last name is Shettar, she is a reporter and lives in London (I am a bit peeved though that Idhayathai Thirudaathey doesn't figure in her list of favorite movies on her profile!). Whew! Now I know the meaning of jenma sabalyam :)

Puthaandu VaazhthukkaL

2009-04-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

Along with Pongal and Deepavali, Tamil New Year's day has also been a day looked forward to by movie buffs because it was one of those special days when several movies got released. The most exciting one was probably Tamil New Year's day in 2005 as we had movies from both Rajni(Chandramukhi) and Kamal(Mumbai Xpress) releasing, with Vijay's Sachein bringing up the end. But since then, the day has lost its luster, so to speak, in terms of movie releases. 2006's April 14th wasn't too bad with Ajith's Tirupathi leading the pack. But 2007 gave us the first hint that New Year's day was losing its place as a day favored for releases. Cheran's MaayakkaNNadi was the most high-profile movie to reach theaters that day and the less said about the other releases the better. It was slim pickings again last year with Santosh Subramaniyam being the only notable movie to hit theaters. In fact, producers seemed to be avoiding New Year's day intentionally as high-profile movies like Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Arai En 305-il KadavuL opened just a few weeks before or after New Year's day.

This year April 14 sees no new movies being released for, apparently, the first time in the history of Tamil cinema. I had been hoping that Sarvam would make it but the combination of IPL and the Lok Sabha elections seems to have kept movies away from theaters. Though there's nothing to see, there is something to read though. Reviews of Laadam, TN-07-AL-4777, 1977 and Ayan are online @ bbreviews :)

Wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Its Personal!

2009-04-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Nandita Das' recent movie Firaaq (which I haven't seen) is apparently about the lives of some Muslims affected by the riots in Gujarat. Bharadwaj Rangan's review of the film led to several responses that criticized the one-sided nature of the film and used it as an example of a general bias towards the Muslim community when it comes to the press and even some forms of entertainment. Such responses led to this column where Rangan talks about reviewing films whose themes clash with ideas and beliefs we hold close to our heart.

I agree with most of the things he says there. It is definitely the filmmaker's prerogative to pick the subject matter of the film and decide the viewpoint that he/she wants to present. But Rangan also says that "For the purposes of a review, however, a film is evaluated on simply one criterion, and that’s how well it goes about doing what it set out wanting to do." That is a statement that made me think. Is it really possible for a reviewer to be completely dispassionate about a film? Is it possible to completely disengage oneself emotionally from a film just because we know that we are going to write about it? And if it is possible, does that make the review any less honest?

I've always been the first to admit that my reviews are biased. I've even gone as far as saying that every reviewer is biased and that its precisely the bias that makes a particular reviewer's opinions unique and interesting. And the bias is not just when it comes to favorite actors and actresses. It can be on the subject matter itself, the way it is handled, the director's style, certain aspects of the movie, etc. Bias on a movie's subject matter itself usually arises from the viewer's background, religion, caste and life experiences. This bias is naturally quite strong and that is what makes it difficult to evaluate a movie simply based on how well it achieves its goal.

Its easy to take sides in masala movies where the lines are clearly drawn. The movie itself might be well-made or badly put together but we always know who is good and who is evil and it is pretty obvious who we should root for. But the boundaries are not so clear when it comes to movies handling serious, heavier topics. And that's when personal preferences come into play and affect our opinion of the movie.

The role played by one's own experiences was made clear to me on this very blog a while back. I came down rather heavily on the vulgarity in Boys and said that the sequences where Shankar showed the heroes brushing up against women in public places were infinitely more vulgar than the more explicit scenes in New. My argument was that since the guys in the movie were the heroes and weren't shown as being punished for their acts, this would instigate even more youth to indulge in the same kinds of acts in real life. Some of the commentors who were against my stance brought in a recent post where I ranted against the banning of smoking in movies and said that the two weren't really different since the government's argument was that people were taking up smoking after seeing the actors smoke on screen. I did have some arguments as to how they weren't the same but they weren't really convincing.

But its quite clear why I reacted differently to the depiction of vulgarity and the depiction of smoking. When it came to the boys' behavior, it was something I disliked because I had heard my mom and my cousin sisters complain about the same kind of behavior after their everyday bus journeys. On the other hand, while some of my friend in school and college were smokers, I hadn't really seen anyone taking up smoking just because his favorite actor lit up on screen. So while the reel happenings were similar, my real-life experiences made me have totally different reactions to the two cases.

That's what I mean when I say that a viewer with some personal investment in the subject matter of a film would find it extremely difficult to view the film impersonally. So a Hindu who lost a loved one in the riots would likely have an adverse reaction to Firaaq. Just as a deeply religious man may feel KadavuL is a bad movie. And a Brahmin may find Idhu Namma AaLu to be offensive.

I like watching movies and penning down my thoughts about them. And I do try to remain neutral. But sometimes, it does get personal...

Ayan

2009-04-05T23:48:00.001-07:00

The 80s and 90s were the glory years for the masala movie in Tamil cinema. But with the cliched, crass films from the likes of Vijay, Simbhu and Arjun, the term 'masala film' has understandably become a rather derogatory term these days, referring to films targeted only at the front-benchers. Ayan, the second film by K.V.Anand, who is back in the director's chair after Kanaa Kanden, restores some respect to the genre. It serves up its masala with style and smarts and shows us, especially in the first half, that a good masala film can work for everybody.

Das(Prabhu) smuggles everything from pirated VCDs to diamonds and Deva(Surya) is his right-hand man who does the legwork for their missions. Kamlesh(Akashdeep Saigal) is their main rival. Eyeing a bigger slice of the pie, he is willing to entice Das' longtime customers as well as transport drugs, something that Das refuses to do. Chittibabu(Jagan) is the latest addition to Das' group. Deva and Chitti's sister Yamuna(Tamannah) fall for each other but the subsequent happenings complicate things quite a bit.

Ayan's first half offers further proof that its not what a movie offers but rather how it is presented that is important. The film has all the familiar afflictions of masala movies like poor logic, weak characterization and an unconvincing romance. But its easy to overlook these because the proceedings are just so darn entertaining. The Surya-Tamannaah romance is too quick to earn any emotional investment but their funny first meeting and subsequent sweetness make sure we don't miss the emotional aspect. Similarly, Jagan and Tamannaah don't make a very convincing brother and sister but Jagan's string of comments(like the ones when Tamannaah arrives to buy a cellphone) are so hilarious that its easy to look past that.

Ayan has enough minor twists and plot developments to keep going beyond the initial game of one-upmanship between Prabhu-Surya and Akashdeep. The twists - including the key one - are rather weak but they keep the momentum from flagging too much since they add some new dynamics to existing relationships and introduce some interesting scenarios. The film also offers some interesting behind-the-scenes look at some of the smuggling operations and though they don't feel as meticulous or gritty as the bike stealing operation in Padikkaadhavan, they do add some realism to the proceedings.

But the film begins to slow down soon after. The twists keep coming and the film employs the old adage "It has takes a thief to know a thief" in an interesting manner but it seems to start spinning its wheels. Both the plot points and the way Anand presents them - surprising us first and then rewinding to show us what really happened - are no longer surprising since they start to feel repetitive.

Anand's first film as director, Kanaa Kanden, was an intelligent thriller that relied more on brains than brawn. Brawn takes the upper hand in Ayan, which is a much more overt masala offering than the earlier film, but that doesn't turn out to be such a bad thing since Anand turns out to be equally adept at picturizing action. With quick editing, judicious use of stunt doubles and an athletic Surya, he gives us one of the best foot-chases we've seen in Tamil cinema. A car chase in Malaysia is terrific too. The hand-to-hand fights are energetic and when they are not, the locations(like the spectacular mountains in South Africa) keep us hooked anyway.

Surya has developed the swagger and confidence that comes with stardom(and we know he's a bona fide star when the sight of him in the getups of some of his previous roles makes us wanna cheer). The initial negative shades of his character don't come as much of a surprise but it does irk when he apparently takes a video of an innocent girl being molested(to get her dad to change teams) instead of saving her. Tamannaah looks pretty but has little to do. Jagan is the life of the movie and shows perfect comic timing. He makes almost all his jokes work. Akashdeep is a new face but doesn't bring anything new to his role. PaLa PaLakkura... and Vizhi Moodi... are picturized well with some good laughs as they give us a peek into the lives of Surya and Tamannaah. Thoovum Poomazhai... and Nenje Nenje... are more old-fashioned duets with the locations in the latter being particularly breathtaking.

Coming Soon - Ayan

2009-03-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tamil cinema has recently seen smaller films like Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu succeed and highly-hyped films from big stars fall like nine pins. But the expectation that accompanies a film by a big star will never vanish(which is probably why they became stars in the first place!). When such a film also has a promising director, an up and coming heroine, great music and a reputed production company behind it, the expectations turn much higher. That's the enviable position that Ayan, which is releasing this Friday, is in.

Ayan is Surya's next release after the successful Vaaranam Aayiram. Every new release of the actor once again reminds me of his incredible transformation into a star. The nondescript, plain actor who we saw in movies like Nerukku Ner and Poovellaam Kaettuppaar is definitely a bona fide star now and he has worked hard for it. With his strong acting talent, good looks and much-improved dancing and stunt skills, he has turned into a well-rounded actor who can handle romance, drama, comedy and action with equal ease. From the looks of the trailer and the buzz about the movie, it looks like Ayan will give him the opportunity to once again demonstrate his proficiency in atleast three of those fields and please his fans. He is paired here with Tamanna has so far appeared only in a few movies. But her list of projects tells us that we will be seeing a lot more of her soon. Her last two movies, Kalloori and Padikkaadhavan belonged to vastly different genres and showed us that she could carry off both a strong, author-backed role and a masala film heroine role equally well. Going by the importance awarded to the heroine in K.V.Anand's previous movie, she will probably have a bit of both in Ayan. The film also features Prabhu and Akashdeep Saigal, who is apparently a very popular television actor in North India.

Ayan's director K.V. Anand is only one film old as director but was really well-known as a cinematogapher before that. Apart from winning the National award for his very first film Thenmaavin Kombathu(the Malayalam original of Muthu), he has wielded the camera for many high-profile movies like Kaadhal Desam, Mudhalvan and Chellamae. He turned director with Kanaa Kanden, a nice romantic thriller. With a clever concept, a charming lead couple whom we could root for, a really detestable villain and several effective suspenseful moments, it was an intelligent, entertaining movie. After once again taking up cinematography duties for Sivaji, he now back as director with Ayan. He has said that the film touches upon a theme never before seen in Indian cinema and considering his work in Kanaa Kanden, we can treat his words as more than just the hyperbole every director indulges in before his film's release. He has assembled a top-notch team to assist him. Harris Jayaraj has come up with his usual collection of faintly familiar but undeniably catchy tunes and the action has been choreographed by a team that has worked on Hollywood films.

It is quite rare for a movie to be looked forward to by almost everyone. With an almost universally-liked hero, a familiar but fresh heroine, a cinematographer-turned-director with a good track record and a hit soundtrack, Ayan belongs to that small group. Lets hope that it meets all those expectations and turns into a blockbuster.

Quantum of Solace

2009-03-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

Casino Royale gave James Bond a completely fresh start in quite the same way that Batman Begins restarted the Batman series. It started again at the beginning and in keeping with the times when even superheroes needed to be more complex and angst-ridden, it made Bond more human and hence more realistic compared to the almost superhuman spy we had gotten used to after previous outings. But Quantum of Solace carries things too far. With almost none of those unique trappings we've come to love about Bond, it is barely recognizable as a Bond film and hence, rather disappointing.

QoS begins almost immediately after Casino Royale as Bond takes Mr.White back for questioning. Mr. White soon escapes and Bond takes off after him. While he is primarily driven by revenge, he also learns about a secret organization called Quantum and a man named Dominic Greene, who is artificially creating a drought in Bolivia.

This is a film where Bond never says "Bond, James Bond", he doesn't order his drink "shaken, not stirred" and he utters no puns or one-liners. Q, along with his array of fancy gadgets, is absent as is Moneypenny. The familiar James Bond theme music is muted as we get only slight hints at a few places and the filmmakers have also dispensed with the usual opening shot of Bond shooting at us from the white circle before the circle is covered with blood. So QoS seems to take an almost perverse pleasure in not giving us what we expect from Bond.

Ofcourse, what we do get are other Bond staples like exotic locations and impressive action setpieces. Bond globetrots quite a bit as he pursues Greene and Quantum. The first footchase is spectacular and though none of the other action sequences match up to it, the airplane escape and the boat chase are well-staged. Olga makes a nice Bond girl. She is smart and sexy, has a valid reason for tagging along with Bond and has her own backstory as she is driven by revenge too. Mathieu Amalric, who reminds us of Steve Buscemi, makes a rather weak villain and his actual plan seems more suited to a corporate thriller than a Bond film. Naturally, his final showdown with Bond isn't particularly energetic.

I was one of those who was happy with the new Bond in Casino Royale. But the new direction he seems to be going in is making me wish we had the old Bond back.

Feeling Good!

2009-03-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

When I watch a movie, my own likes, dislikes, preferences and biases affect my opinion - and hence my review - of the movie. Regular readers should be able to identify what these are quite easily. Surprising twists, for instance, rank pretty high on my list of likes while vulgarity, whether blatant or presented under the cover of presenting reality, is a pretty strong reason for me to dislike a movie. Every viewer brings his/her own set of likes/dislikes to the table when watching a movie and this influences his/her interpretation of the movie. Naturally, this could lead to differing opinions about the same movie.

Most reviews of mine have about an equal number of people agreeing and disagreeing with them. Reviews that an overwhelming majority of readers agree with(like the review of Vaaranam Aayiram) or disagree with(like the Aegan review) are rare. But there are certain categories in which the movies consistently evoke a different reaction from me and from other viewers. One of these categories is 'films by Vikraman'(my 3-star rating and review of Vaanathai Pola probably holds the record for leading to the most number of "What were you thinking?!"-type emails) and what leads to the difference in opinion about these movies is what I like to call the 'feel-good factor'.

Unlike aspects like twists and vulgarity, the 'feel-good factor' is not easy to define. A feel-good film is more often than not, a romance or a drama. It is life-affirming or atleast highly positive and looks at the bright side of life. It is predominantly filled with good-hearted characters. While some sadness or disappointments are not out of question, it doesn't dwell on them and offers positive solutions. It offers little or no action or masala and glamor and vulgarity are definite no-nos too. It contains a message and definitely ends on a positive note. Most importantly, it puts a smile on our lips and cheer in our hearts and sends us out of the theater in a better mood than we entered it in. Off the top of my head, some of the feel-good films in recent times would be Raman Thediya Seethai, Mozhi and Parthiban Kanavu.

One of the leading proponents of the genre of feel-good films is director Vikraman. Right from his first film Pudhu Vasandham, he has created films that obeyed all those guidelines I mentioned before. He extolled the virtues of a platonic friendship in Pudhu Vasandham, placed love on a pedestal in Poove Unakkaaga, explored the gentle dynamics of a loving family in Vaanathai Pola, showed us the truth in the adage 'Behind every successful man there is a woman' in Suryavamsam and illustrated the importance of both friendship and love in a man's life in Priyamaana Thozhi. And he did so in clean, soft films.

Vikraman is definitely old-school. His movies have always been a small step up from stage dramas and a sense of style or visual flair is non-existent. Sentiments are quite loud, cliches abound and the movies are quite predictable. Songs are mediocre and the song sequences are plain and unimaginative. But the aforementioned feel-good factor usually overrides these factors for me. That is why I loved Poove Unakkaaga, Suryavamsam and Vaanathai Pola and liked his other movies like Priyaamaana Thozhi more than the average viewer. And that is also why I'm looking forward to his next film Mariyaadhai probably as much as a Vijayakanth fan is!

Punnagai Mannan

2009-03-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

K.Balachander loved to focus on complex relationships and the complications that arose out of them. Whether it was a father-son pair falling in love with a daughter-mother pair or the other woman intruding into a happy family, he loved to pit strong characters against one another and explore the emotional fissures that created because of that. So when he makes a full-length love story like Punnagai Mannan, it should come as no surprise that its not a candyfloss romance that follows the usual Tamil cinema romance template.

When the film opens, Sethu(Kamalhassan) and Nandhini(Rekha) are lovers who are spending their last minutes together before committing suicide. But when they jump together, fate conspires to keep Sethu alive while Nandhini plunges to her death. A devastated Sethu is convinced to not try and kill himself again by his uncle Chaplin Chellappa(Kamalhassan) but turns into a quiet, moody recluse. On the anniversary of Nandhini's death, Sethu runs into Malini(Rekha) at the same spot where Nandhini died and dissuades her from committing suicide. Malini falls for him after this and enrolls in the dance school where Sethu is working as a teacher.

Someone who watches Punnagai Mannan without being familiar with KB's long resume could be forgiven for thinking that KB was his generation's Bala. Inspite of the cheery title referring to a king of smiles, this is a film that has little for us to smile about. It starts and ends with death, both its main romances are doomed, its protagonist comes from a rather dysfunctional family headed by a drunkard, polygamous father, its heroine is a refugee from Sri Lanka and even the one character modeled on one of the most iconic comic characters of all time, has taken on the image to hide his own sad past. The film is not relentlessly downbeat or depressing like one of Bala's films but no one's going to mistake it for a feel-good romance.

But inspite of the sadness in the background, the film can be considered positive since it is essentially about the power of love. Kamal has loved and lost and become dead emotionally but it is again love that resuscitates him. He goes through an entire gamut of emotions during this journey of romantic rebirth - he is devastated by Rekha's death; he blames himself for being alive; he is irritated by Revathi's actions; and he experiences feelings of guilt about abandoning Rekha as he feels the stirrings of love in his heart once again. But eventually, love triumphs over all those feelings.

Tamil cinema has always trumpeted the once-only nature of love(it was spelt out most famously by Vijay in Poove Unakkaaga as he compared love to a flower which once withered, can never bloom again). Death, rather than the reemergence of love, is the choice if love fails. So KB and Kamal walk a dangerous tightrope with the story here and they navigate it without crashing down. The revival of love in Kamal's heart has been portrayed naturally and believably as it appears against his wishes and the way he grapples with his conscience and guilt adds a new dimension to the romance. The sequence where he finally admits his love is exquisitely handled with Kamal's performance and Ilaiyaraja's music bringing out the mood and situation perfectly.

Within a span of five minutes, Kamal and Rekha manage to show us the extent of their love(what is really amazing they do this though we have no idea of who they are and what their backgrounds are). Kamal is at his romantic best in this sequence. Though Kamal and Revathi have a lot more time, their romance doesn't possess the same depth. But the two do make it easy for us to simply accept it. Revathi is sweet but persistent and we can see why she is able to enter Kamal's closed heart. And Kamal's sadness and confusion are easily expressed in his eyes and body language. The understated romance between Kamal(as Chaplin Chellappa) and Srividya is also a similar kind of love since this Kamal too has lost the love of his life. The romance is spelt out late and the two have only a couple of scenes together. But their characters are so endearing and the car ride during which he expresses his love and she accepts it is so sweet that they seem made for each other and make us wonder why we didn't see it coming.

I have found that in order to be effective, a long build-up has to culminate with a positive payoff(like in Kaadhal Koattai) while tragedy has more impact when it is sudden and unexpected(Sethu is a fine example of this). Punnagai Mannan raises the tension with a long build-up but then disappoints by closing things off in tragic fashion. The impact of the happening is greatly diluted because of the way it is presented(KB did the same thing in his last film Poi) and the end almost feels anti-climactic.

While song and dance have been an inseparable part of Tamil cinema since its beginnings, films that could be termed musicals have been rare. Punnagai Mannan is not one considering the traditional definition of one i.e. it doesn't have extravagantly staged numbers; it doesn't replace dialog with song; and it doesn't make its characters sing to one another when talking would have sufficed. But what it does do is treat the music as an integral part of the movie. Probably realizing that, Ilaiyaraja delivered one of his best albums. The songs here are not separate entities that were composed first - following a template such as 1 intro song, 3 duets and 1 pathos number - and then thrust into the narrative at moments where the director thought viewers could most use a bathroom or cigarette break. They are used to convey emotions at times when words just won't do. Its Kamal-Rekha's urgent passion that is on display in the wonderfully melodious Enna Satham..., Revathi's stubbornness that finds an outlet in the fast Kavidhai Kelungal..., her happiness that she has broken through Kamal's barriers that shines through in the cheerful Vaan Megam... and Kamal's jealousy that is expressed in the fun Mamavukku.... These numbers definitely convey those emotions in a much more forceful fashion that dialogs could've done. Music plays an important part right upto the end as Kamal and Revathi, on the car ride after their wedding, sing a medley of all the songs, with the slow ones transformed into more upbeat versions.

3 New Reviews

2009-03-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Reviews for Ennai Theriumaa, Perumal and Yaavarum Nalam are now online @ bbreviews.

The Older Child

2009-03-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a conversation that took place in my house today morning.

Mom: What do you guys want for lunch?
Kavya: Idli
Karthik: Pasta
Mom: I can't make two lunches. Karthik, I'll give you idli.
Karthik(with tears in his eyes and anger in his voice): I WANT pasta!
Mom: Ok. Kavya, can you take pasta today?
Kavya: Ok.

The above exchange, in different forms, has played out several times over the last 3 years or so and is symptomatic of the fact that the older sibling has a rather tough time in a household with more than 1 child.

I've seen in many households that the younger child, simply by virtue of being born later, gets his/her way most of the time. And its no different in ours. Like when Kavya and Karthik play together. Kavya is expected to share her toys and give them up when her brother wants to play with them while her requests for his toys make us advise her on the virtues of sharing and remind her that she's too old for his toys anyway. Or during dinner time. Karthik hates coming second and so we ask Kavya to eat slowly (or act as if she is still eating even though she has finished ) just so he can have the pleasure of finishing first. And then we ask to bear things patiently when he rubs it in her face.

Its easy to see why this happens. At 3 1/2 years, Karthik is still in the phase when even the naughty things he does are cute. Its still cute when he tells on Kavya or throws a tantrum. So most of the things he does are explained away with "he's just a baby". And because he starts crying real easily, he gets first - and sometimes, only - dibs on most things. So even when Kavya shouts at him after he has teased her or snatched her book or crumpled her papers or hit her, our first reaction is to console him and scold her.

The problem is that we tend to forget that Kavya, who is 7 1/2 years old, is a child too. Just because she is an older sister, we expect her to display maturity beyond her years when she is dealing with him. We expect her to be patient, never get angry, pat him on his back when he does something good, ignore his mistakes, not let his taunts get to her, never raise her hand but come and let us know when he hits her... the list is endless. As I've mentioned before, Kavya is a model big sister who loves her brother and enjoys playing with him. She even gets jealous when he plays with his cousin sister and genuinely misses him when he's not around. But as a kid, she does get irritated when he irritates her. And she gets chided for that.

Not that being an older child has no advantages at all. Until the younger one is born, Kavya had our undivided attention while Karthik, from the moment he was born, has had to share us with his sister. But there are undoubtedly more times, like today morning, when I feel that the first-born has it rather tough.

Yaavarum Nalam

2009-03-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Horror has for long been a neglected genre in Tamil cinema, with the few rare entries being marked by unoriginal scripts, poor production values and bad special effects, all of which contributed to a complete lack of genuine scares. Things have gotten a little better recently and 2007's Sivi was a commendable entry with some good scares. But it was still dogged by some of the shortcomings of the earlier horror films. Yaavarum Nalam avoids those shortcomings also. Suspenseful and sensible, it may well be the film that finally bestows legitimacy on the horror genre in Tamil cinema.

Manohar(Madhavan) has just moved into apartment 13B in a highrise along with his family, which consists of his wife(Neetu Chandra), his brother Manoj and his family, and his mom(Saranya). Strange things seem to happen in the house right from the beginning but Mahohar dismisses them as a string of unfortunate coincidences. But he is forced to change his opinion when he notices that a new serial on TV mirrors his own life rather closely.

The movie works mainly because it treads the line between horror flick and thriller very well. While the underlying story may be a horror story, the movie doesn't trumpet itself as a horror movie and avoids resorting to the cheap thrills and scares we usually associate with the genre. There are very few 'Boo' moments or scary images (though opportunities abound for both) and most of the violence is offscreen. In their place, the movie develops atmosphere, a sense of dread and good suspense. So the film differs from other horror movies in that its intent is to tell the story of a man who is scared and not to scare us.

The film incorporates an original, intriguing premise in the way the serial mimics Madhavan's family and life. The other occurrences(the photos, the lift, etc.) that point to everything not being quite right are creepier but they are somewhat routine horror movie material. The life-serial parallel is a very original concept that keeps the screenplay moving while ratcheting up the suspense. As Madhavan, abandoning his beliefs, begins to look to the serial as a prognosticator of upcoming events, the serial basics so familiar to us, like the cliff-hanger episode conclusions, are employed cleverly in the story.

Horror movies, by nature, require some suspension of disbelief. We need to buy into some things and accept certain happenings without questioning their plausibility. This is required of us in the case of Yaavarum Nalam too. We can't, for instance, question how the TV serial characters are able to acquire the sets and other accoutrements needed for the serial. Or why, since they are later shown to be able to communicate with another character, they don't simply communicate with Madhavan instead of setting up the elaborate charade on TV. Such things related to these characters are easy to accept because of their very nature but when it comes to characters who are more grounded in reality, we become more stringent, which is why it feels odd that nobody, other than Madhavan, inspite being avid serial watchers, spots the parallels between the serial and their life.

The movie is in familiar territory when it finally reveals what's behind the strange things happening to Madhavan and the past events and their connection to Madhavan are a staple of horror movies. But it brings the pieces together in a way that resolves loose ends and answers most questions. The identity of the person behind the events is a big surprise inspite of there being only a few characters and the way the clues scattered all along are brought into the picture is very clever. The fact that the TV serial foreshadows upcoming events is used right upto the end to induce suspense and surprise.

Madhavan is sincere and believable as the harried man. His camaraderie with his family feels natural and he is intense as required when driven to get to the bottom of things. The movie pretty much revolves around him and so few others in the cast make an impression. Saranya evokes a few chuckles with her now-familiar dialog delivery. The film follows the trend of recent Hindi movies by picturizing the Sexy Mama... number as a music video and tagging it to the end of the film as the end credits roll. Its a good decision since the song wouldn't have fit anywhere else in the movie. Kaatrile... is aesthetically picturized while Kodaiyin Veyyilil... is just generic and catchy enough be the the serial's title song. P.C.Sreeram creates the claustrophobic atmosphere that the movie deserves and the innovative camera angles(like at the start where we are introduced to all the characters from behind or under everyday appliances) catch our eye.

Thanks Again!

2009-03-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, March 7, was this blog's 4-year anniversary. I definitely didn't think this blog would see its 4th anniversary when I started it. I started blogging simply because everyone else seemed to be doing it and not because I possessed some extraordinary, useful knowledge that I just had to share with the rest of the world. The blog seemed like a natural extension of bbreviews; an opportunity for me to write even more about one of my passions - Tamil cinema. But as I continued to blog, I admit that I began to enjoy the interactivity that the blog offered. I enjoyed the enthusiastic comments, the interesting discussions, the entertaining arguments and the fun trivia that the posts led to. That is the sole reason why the blog has hit the 4-year mark. And its been a lot of fun. So once again, a big 'Thank You' for visiting inspite of the site's staunch policy to focus on the trivial and the frivolous.

I mentioned in the 3-year anniversary post last year that I wasn't so confident about the blog seeing the next anniversary since there was a general lack of excitement about Tamil cinema at that time. But it has made it. And things seem a little better this year at this point in time with the general quality of movies released so far being a tad better and a more exciting roster of upcoming movies, both near-term(Sarvam, Ayan, Kanthasamy, Sultan) and far(Endhiran, Thalaivan Irukkiraan, Asal), to look forward to. So, though I have a couple of things in mind - like for instance, reviewing more older movies - I'll avoid making any predictions about the future contents or the longevity of the blog and simply say that "we'll see how it goes".

Its a Mad Mad Mad March!

2009-03-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

If Sify's release schedule for Tamil films in March is to be believed, fans of Madhavan have a lot to look forward to this month. The actor, after a relatively long break with no release in 2008, is back with a bang with three films slated to hit theaters this month. His lack of interest in confining himself to one genre and doing only 'safe' films is evident from the fact that two of his films are horror films and the other one is a romantic comedy.

First off the blocks is the bilingual Yaavarum Nalam(13B in Hindi) which is releasing tomorrow. While the very fact that it belongs to the horror genre, one of the neglected genres in Tamil cinema, is reason to rejoice, the film has further raised expectations since it is supposed to thrill and chill us without resorting to the usual cliches that one finds in horror films. The film has a pretty good soundtrack from Shankar-Ehsaan-Roy with the Sexy Mama... number being the best of the album. The trailer is also good, with some memorable images and scenes befitting a good horror film.

Second on Sify's list is Guru En Aalu, the remake of the old Shah Rukh Khan-Juhi Chawla hit, Yes Boss. The original was a light, candyfloss romance that forced SRK to choose between love and ambition as he fell for the same girl his boss fell for too. Guru En Aalu stars Mamta Mohandas as the love interest and Abbas as the boss. With direction by Selva, music by Srikanth Deva and the movie being marketed as a comedy, I don't have much hopes about this one and so it is the movie I'm looking forward to the least among the 3.

Finally, there's Naan AvaL Adhu, another horror film. This one was originally supposed to be a remake of the Hindi film Darling, with Fardeen Khan and Isha Deol. Darling tried to be a horror-comedy as Fardeen accidentally killed Isha and then began to be haunted by her unhappy ghost. But the script is supposed to have undergone some changes keeping Madhavan's image in mind. The Tamil version stars Shamita Shetty and Sadha alongside Madhavan and is directed by Kona Venkat, who is making his debut. Just the theme makes this one interesting.

If these 3 movies release as planned, March is definitely gonna be Maddy's month and his fans are gonna be a happy bunch. Let's hope that the box-office results of these movies keeps them smiling for a while.

Ashokavanam/Raavan Pics

2009-03-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

Finally, we get some solid proof on the progress of Manirathnam's ambitious Ashokavanam/Raavan in the form of these photos(more photos here, thanks Raapi) from the shooting of the star-studded film in Calcutta. The focus of the photos in the feature is definitely on Aish but a couple of other faces familiar to us have been captured too in Vikram and Prithviraj(the latter has been captured from a much more visible angle than the former though).

Though the Hindi version is titled Raavan, I kinda assumed that the hero(played by Abishek Bachan/Vikram) in Mani's take on the Ramayana would still be Ram. But the captions for the photos here say that Vikram plays Ram in Hindi and Prithviraj plays the same role in Tamil. Several news reports have said that Vikram and Prithviraj are playing negative roles in the Hindi and Tamil versions respectively. So Ram is the bad guy in these versions spun by Mani? Interesting...

Cinemakshari 3 - Solution

2009-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

Almost all readers who emailed answers did get the movies right and I have responded individually to each of you. But for the sake of closure, here is the solution for Cinemakshari 3 (this edition didn't get any complaints about the difficulty level of the clues. So unless those who thought it was too difficult chose to keep quiet about it, I take it that providing just the years made things quite interesting).

Indru nee NaaLai Naan (1983)

Naan AvaL Adhu (In Production)

Adhey KaNNgaL (1967)

KaNNiraindha KaNavan (1959)

KaNavane KaN Kanda Dheivam (1955)

Dheiva Thaai (1964)

Thaai Veedu (1983)

Veettoda MaappiLLai (2001)

MaappiLLai Vandhaachu (1992)

Vaa Arugil Vaa (1991)

Unfortunately, I can't think of a way of determining a winner for this game. So, hoping that you believe in the old proverb that "participation is the biggest prize", the following is simply the list, in chronological order, of readers who got it all right.

Arunkumar
Priya
Bart
Prin
Boo
Sanjeev
Krithika
VC
Sangeetha
Koushik
Giri
Srivatsan
Aparna

Partial Solution came from:
Arunram (missed 3 since he guessed Dheiva Magan instead of Dheiva Thaai)
Ram

Thanks for playing!

Sarvam Audio

2009-02-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Ilaiyaraja's mature, rough voice isn't exactly the best choice for the youthful Adadaa Vaa... but he does manage to bring some flippancy into his voice and the natural rustic nature of his voice is balanced out by the hipness in the portions sung in English by the female singers. But the highlights of this song are undoubtedly the flute interludes that are totally hypnotic. Sila IravugaL... is an awesome number whose only downside is that it is sung by Yuvan himself. The tune, especially the way each stanza ends with a stretched-out needhaane... and then segues into the first line's needhaane..., is superb and is matched by the orchestration. Suttaa Suriyanai... is an inspirational song and Yuvan falls back to the template he uses for such songs(like Vallavan's Hip Hip Hurray...) with strong, heavy beats. The song has a strong similarity to Megam Karukkudhu... but Yuvan cleverly introduces a line from that song and turns it into a homage. KaatrukkuLLe... is a trademark Yuvan melody that he once again butchers by rendering it himself. His diction and singing are bad throughout but the high-pitch portions actually make us wince. Considering this is said to be a romance, its surprising that SiragugaL... is the only real duet. The number has a slightly old-fashioned feel and reminds us of Boys' Ale Ale.... The Theme Music uses a couple of different styles but isn't really catchy and makes us think the flute interlude in Adadaa Vaa... could've worked just as well.

Yuvan has shared a good rapport with director Vishnuvardhan in the past and he reinforces that again with one of his better albums in recent times though it still falls short of his best efforts.

The 2009 Oscars

2009-02-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

- Hugh Jackman seemed to have realized that he could never match up to the show's previous hosts like Crystal, Stewart, Goldberg, Martin and Letterman when it came to humor. So he cut down on the jokes and turned to song & dance. The first number did give the show a jumpstart since it came as a complete surprise. But the other numbers in the middle of the show were kinda boring. Jackman was onstage for such a short time that he seemed completely redundant though.

- With Jackman's monologues being rather low on jokes(his quip about Oscars going to actors with range was probably the best), it was up to some of the presenters to make us laugh. Jack Black, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg were - quite obviously - the most successful at that.

- The usual format of 2 presenters reading out the nominations was changed for the Supporting Actor/Actress and Best Actor/Actress awards as five previous winners read out the nominations before one of them declared the winner. It made the process a bit longer but it did help all those who were nominated be in the spotlight for a bit longer than usual and that was nice. De Niro's speech nominating Sean Penn was the best and was both funny and classy.

- Can't say the same thing about the award recipients. There were no really memorable, fascinating or witty acceptance speeches and most of the speeches were little more than a shopping list of thank yous. So the few interesting moments - like the whistle from Kate Winslet's dad in the audience or the disappearing-coin magic trick by the winner of the Best Documentary - stood out just by not being run-of-the-mill.

- The special feature this time was a montage of clips from all films belonging to a particular genre. Wasn't particularly interesting.

- It was definitely Slumdog Millionaire's night as it scooped up most of the awards it was nominated for. Our first goosebump moment came as Resul Pookutty collected the Oscar for Sound Mixing for the film. He gave a really good speech(he was the only one to thank his teachers, I think) and though he was understandably excited, he definitely seemed genuine.

- Having been looking forward anxiously to Rahman's live performance, the performance of the nominated scores by the official orchestra came as a disappointment since I took it as a sign that his performance had been cancelled. I soon realized that it was premature but before that came the moment we were all waiting for as ARR's name was announced as winner for Best Score. Calm and composed as always, he made our night with a simple line - Ellappugazhum Iraivanukke!

- He then came on stage to perform both his nominated songs - O Saaya... and Jai Ho.... The rousing and totally exhilarating Jai Ho... left us with little doubt that it would win the Oscar and that came true just a couple of minutes later as he came back onstage to accept the statue for Best Song. It was another short, simple but memorable speech about choosing love over hate and where that had landed him.

- Slumdog Millionaire continues racking up awards, including the two big ones - Best Director for Danny Boyle and Best Picture. It was nice seeing the whole gang up onstage for the latter award and even nicer seeing Anil Kapoor act much more restrained than he did at the Golden Globes!

Jai Ho!

Robot Rajni?

2009-02-18T22:36:00.000-08:00

[Pic from Behindwoods]
New photos - unofficial, no doubt - of Rajni in Endhiran. Looks like Shankar has kept his promise to give thalaivar a never-before-seen look. Wonder if this is the look of Rajni in the robot-gone-bad role...

Cinemakshari - 3

2009-02-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

After an even longer gap than what separated the first and second editions, here's the third edition of the Cinemakshari contest. Your task is to complete the chain of 10 Tamil movie names below. Starting with the second film's name, the first word of each film’s name is some form of the last word of the name of the film above it (so, if a movie’s name ends in kaadhal, the next movie’s name could start with kaadhal, kaadhalan, kaadhali, kaadhale, kaadhalikka, kaadhalukku… you get the idea!). For reference, here are the first(here's the solution) and second editions of the game.

The biggest problem the last 2 times turned out to be the clues. Providing no clues made the game too difficult while the clues I eventually provided led to complaints that they made the game too easy. I'm still trying to figure out how to strike a balance between the two and so, this time, the clues include only the year of the film(in most cases, as per IMdB) for the first round. As before, more clues will be provided if this proves to be too difficult.

Indru ______ ______ ______ (1983)

______ ______ ______ (In production)

______ ______ (1967)

______ ______ (1959)

______ ______ ______ ______ (1955)

______ ______ (1964)

______ ______ (1983)

______ ______ (2001)

______ ______ (1992)

______ ______ ______ (1991)

Solutions can be emailed to bbalaji [@] sbcglobal [dot] net (please restrict comments to comments/questions about the game only). Partial solutions are welcome too.

Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu

2009-02-15T23:12:00.001-08:00

The sports movie, where a team considered the underdog beats all odds to rise to the top, is a staple of several film industries but not our own. Since sports, rather than romance or action, takes centerstage in such movies, it is easy to see why. Chennai 600028 proved that it was possible to make a fun, entertaining Tamil film revolving around a local sport and Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu offers further proof with a sport that is even more local. The well-paced screenplay and interesting characters help turn the familiar story into an engaging entertainer.

Marimuthu(Vishnu) and his six friends are the members of the Vennila kabaddi team in the town of Kanakkanpatti near Pazhani. Though they put their heart and soul into every game, they rarely taste success and naturally, dont have the respect of their family and friends. After tasting defeat even on home ground during the festival, the team sees an ad for a tournament in Madurai and wants to participate in it. Madurai is also where the girl(Saranya Mohan) that Mari met during the festival, hails from.

Having a team sport allows the director to present a diverse group of characters who are both interesting on their own and play well off each other. Each of the players has his own quirks to set him apart so that though they are played by an unknown set of actors, we have no difficulty in telling them apart. And though there are 7 characters to focus on, the director still doesn't lose sight of the supporting characters around them. Through short but effective scenes where they rebuke the players or demonstrate their pride in them, the director ensures that they catch our eye too.

The script mines a lot humor from defeat as it keeps us smiling through the team's low phase. The script knows that the dialect lends itself to humor very well and exploits it with some very funny retorts and remarks. Some of the sequences, like the familiar part of festivals where the guys, blindfolder and armed with only a stick, try to break a pot that is tied up on a string, are laugh-out-loud funny with one funny gag and comment after another but even otherwise, the film never goes for too without making us atleast chuckle. The jokes feel spontaneous and even for longer setpieces, like the bet at the roadside eatery, the punchlines are not always obvious. The humor also helps keep the romance afloat though Vishnu and Saranya rarely speak to each other.

With the titular team starting off on a losing streak, finding an angel in the form of a coach and then eyeing a high-profile tournament, the film follows the story arc of a sports movie quite faithfully. But within that familiar outline, it manages to introduce some minor changes in the way the story proceeds, especially after they make it to Madurai intending to take part in the tournament. Some of these, like the way a couple of previous enmities are resolved, work as they are surprising enough to retain our interest in the proceedings inspite of the predictable story. But others, like the team's path through the tournament, work against our involvement in the movie. So some sequences, like the team's performance after an inspirational speech or their training routine, don't give us the rush they are supposed to in movies like this.

Though kabaddi is a local sport, the movie does show us that it has its own set of problems when it comes to the big league. And since the sport has rather simple rules, it is easy to get involved in the matches shown in the movie as they are picturized with energy. A case in point is the final match. VKK plays with our expectations in the match and this works perfectly only because of our involvement. But it then takes things too far and falters as the epilogue feels unnecessary for the kind of film it has been and so, feels almost distasteful.

The mostly-new cast does an adequate job, conveying their disappointments and hopes naturally. Kishore, who was the villain in Pollaadhavan, has a good screen presence is able to convey what he wants to say with intensity and conviction, inspite of his very strong accent. Saranya Mohan looks a bit more mature than in her recent movies but her performance isn't any different. The songs are melodious and work well in the movie but the background score, especially during the team's ascent, could've used more energy.

Luck By Chance

2009-02-12T21:01:00.000-08:00

Luck By Chance is set in the Hindi film industry. At its center are an actor(Farhan Akhtar) and an actress(Konkona Sen Sharma) trying to make it big. Fate has different paths in store for them and as they traverse those paths, we get to see the workings of the industry itself.

Director Zoya Akhtar paints the film industry in rather harsh colors. Nobody, from a struggling actor to an established superstar, is spared as she lays bare everything that goes on behind the glamor and glitz we see onscreen. And this is not the light-hearted lampooning that went on in films like Om Shanti Om either. Matters like the casting couch, ego clashes, betrayals and affairs are all touched upon and there's no mistaking the kind of place Zoya thinks Bollywood is. But all these are handled in a matter-of-fact way and that saves the movie from resembling a documentary. There is no preaching or moralizing at any point and Zoya just presents things as is, with humor and sentiments going hand-in-hand.

In movies like these - ones that chronicle the rise of an underdog - the protagonist has a squeaky-clean image and we are expected to side with him wholeheartedly. So Farhan's character arc comes as a bit of a surprise as he manipulates (the way he plays Dimple Kapadia is a beauty) and uses those around him. Not that he's a complete bad guy. In fact, barring Konkona, who plays a more straightforward, sympathetic role, everyone in the film has these shades of gray. Like Hrithik, who plays the reigning superstar. The way he leaves a producer in the lurch when a better opportunity opens up and the joy he feels when reading an article that trashes Farhan show us beautifully that even the biggest stars are not free of feelings of insecurity. Such well-etched characters and fascinating snapshots of Bollywood give the film a sense of realism.

The film's end is in line with its tone so far. While it doesn't tie things up neatly or manufacture an artificial, feel-good ending, it doesn't go out of its way to end things in a downbeat fashion either. It brings a certain level of closure but doesn't overdo it.

Siva Manasula Sakthi - Audio

2009-02-11T16:06:00.001-08:00

The orchestration is good but the lackluster tune lets down MGR Illenga..., which sounds like the hero's introduction number that he sings with his friends. The lyrics are interesting at the start as the guys describe themselves as middle-of-the-road types but soon descend into familiar territory as they sing about their actions. Oru Kal... is a great number but one doesn't realize it in the version sung by Yuvan since we are put off by his strained singing (it took me a while to realize that it is Oru Kal and not Varukkal!). Adnan Sami sings the same number in his usual slurred voice but gets the pitch just right. Shankar Mahadevan infuses Oru Adangaappidaari... with his usual energy. The lyrics are a bit funny but the song is rather one-sided (the female singer gets only a couple of lines in each stanza) and so its not as much fun as the similar-themed Erimalai Naane... from Kanda NaaL Mudhal. Oru Paarvaiyil... is criminally short and is over before we can grasp the smooth, fast tune and Ranjith's singing. Thithikkum Theeyai... is youthful and catchy with nice backgrounds and some sensuous bits by Swetha. The slow pace and steady beats make Eppidiyo Maattikkitte... - especially the humming and the interludes - sound real familiar. The liberal use of English in the number doesn't work too well.

It's been a while since Yuvan delivered a truly memorable album and Siva Manasula Sakthi isn't it either. But the three good numbers ensure that it can't be written off.

Romantic Simbhu

2009-02-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

I read a couple of days ago that Simbhu had decided to act only in soft, romantic roles in 2009. Considering that his filmography so far is almost exclusively made up of action movies and his last 2 films, KaaLai and Silambaattam, were hardcore masala flicks that categorically telegraphed his intention to become the next Vijay, that decision came as a pleasant surprise. And it looks like it is a resolution he intends to keep.

Simbhu's next project is Poadaa Poadi, where he is paired up with Varalakshmi, Sarathkumar's daughter. Inspite of that coarse title, it is tipped to be a film about a young, newly-married couple and is to be shot fully in Canada. There is also a lot of buzz the last couple of days about his film ViNNai Thaandi Varuvaayaa, which was apparently advertised with some posters(one of which is seen above and the another recreated a scene from the song VeNNilave VeNNilave..., from which the title is borrowed) that had no information about the rest of the cast or the technical crew. Rumors suggest that the film will be directed by none other than Gautham Menon and will have music by A.R.Rehman. If that is true, it will definitely be an interesting combination since, based on the kind of movies he was doing, I was half-expecting a Perarasu-Srikanth Deva team-up for Simbhu's next movie! Finally, Simbhu's name is also being talked about for the remake of Bachna Ae Haseena, the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer that had him cheat three women and then try to make amends to them.

If I had been asked to name the young Tamil actors who were least likely to do 3 romantic films in a row, Simbhu would've been second on that list(Vijay, ofcourse, would've been first). With this move, he has definitely surprised me and because of that, has earned my grudging admiration.

2008 Tamil Cinema - The Top 10

2009-02-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

10. Raman Thediya Seethai
One of the few mature romances that dealt with the affairs of the heart of older couples, this was a natural, feel-good film about a man's search for his Mrs. Right. Populated with characters that were good but not artificially so and made up of situations that were natural and down-to-earth, we watched the film with a warm feeling in our hearts.

9. Poi Solla Porom
With no big-name stars and none of the items(comedy track, fights and even duets) that are considered an integral part of our cinema, this was a rare film that told its familar David vs Goliath story in a simple and down-to-earth fashion. That helped us overlook its faults - like the simplistic scam and lack of tension - making the little film a big entertainer.

8. Santosh Subramaniyam
Director Raja, 'Jayam' Ravi's brother, once again proved that he had mastered the art of remaking with this retelling of Bommarillu, a film about the relationship between a son and his strict father. With winsome characters, a story that allowed the characters to develop their individualities and good humor that was integrated well into the film, the film worked as well as the original as far as entertainment value goes. And that rarely happens.

7. Vaaranam Aayiram
A heartfelt tribute from Gautham to his father, the film achieved its objective of eulogizing Dad with an ambitious story that illustrated a father's importance by keeping him in the background but showing us the pivotal role he played in his son's life. With an appealing protagonist and well-etched relationships, the film worked well at the macro level but the lack of attention to detail and the incongruous script diluted the movie's emotional impact.

6. Saroja
With 4 everyday guys as heroes, Venkat Prabhu made this a solid, engaging thriller that managed to be both believable and exciting - not an easy combination to achieve. The down-to-earth nature of the guys got us involved while the clever screenplay and visual tricks kept us engaged inspite of the story almost coming to a standstill in the second half.

5. Anjaathey
All of this film's tracks - a policeman's coming-of-age story, a tale about a friendship gone bad, a cops-and-robbers crime thriller, a son finding redemption in his father's eyes, a love story - were handled with a sober, realistic touch by Mysskin, who elevated them by never losing sight of the human side of things. His directorial touches, like a virtuoso scene where he showed only the actors' legs - were ambitious and made the film stand out as a director's movie.

4. Alibaba
Hitchcock's favorite theme of an innocent man being framed and trying to clear his name was at the heart of this underrated but very effective thriller. It had an interesting protagonist, a suspenseful story that didn't abandon logic and a fast-paced screenplay but its biggest asset was the consistently surprising screenplay that successfully combined misdirection and surprise right upto the end.

3. Kanchivaram
Priyadarshan gave us a pleasant surprise with this sensitively-crafted emotional tale that was set among the weaver community in the city of Kanchivaram in 1948. While it showed us the sorry plight of the weavers and nicely chronicled the rise of communism among them, it was essentially about a father's love for his daughter as that towered over everything else.

2. Poo
Director Sasi unfurled a new facet of romance this simple but stirring tale of a woman's dedication and commitment to a man. At its center was a very unique, rather remarkable woman who we understood fully only during the film's last act but many of its supporting characters were also developed well with surprising character arcs. Sasi's directorial skills, visual touches, unexpected comic interludes and character development transformed the simple story into a soft but emotionally strong film.

1. Subramanyapuram
Sasikumar stunned us with this daring, confident debut. While the story was a familiar one of close friends getting caught up in a spiral of violence, the setting(Madurai in the 80s) and the refreshingly natural proceedings made the movie stand out amidst other risk-averse cookie-cutter movies. But what stood out more than anything else was the debutant director's complete lack of compromise as he made the film he wanted to make and in the process, gave us a movie that was rousingly realistic and constantly gripping.

Naan KadavuL

2009-02-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

Naan KadavuL has most of the things we've come to expect in a film by Bala after films like Sethu, Nandha and Pithaamagan - the unique characterization, the spotlight on a section of society seldom seen in films, the dark, depressing tone and the uncompromisingly bleak storyline. But the one aspect that drove those films forward - the strong relationship that existed between the main characters - is missing and that makes the film have less of an impact compared to Bala's earlier efforts.

Rudran(Arya) was left in Kasi as a boy by his dad, after warnings from astrologers that the boy would bring bad luck to their household. The boy has grown up to be an Aghori, a sect of sadhus who believe that they are God and possess the power to halt a dead person's rebirth. He returns to Malaikovil with his dad but continues to live the life of a sadhu, much to the chagrin of his parents. Malaikovil is where the ruthless Thandavan has made a business out of sending disabled beggars to beg outside the temple. The latest unwilling addition to his gang is Hamsavalli(Pooja), a blind singer.

Bala turns his unforgiving camera on begging this time as we get to see how it is carried on as an organized business by people who control the beggars and their income. While its sad enough seeing the disabled beggars ply their trade, we are given a behind-the-scenes look at what happens when they are not out on the streets. And its horrific. Bala unflinchingly trains his camera on the group of physically disabled beggars and its not easy seeing the conditions they live under or the treatment meted out to them by the man who controls them. Proceedings do sometimes veer dangerously close to feeling exploitative but the fact that Bala is simply shining light on things that do happen in the dark recesses of society is always at the back of our minds.

Surprisingly, Bala manages to inject some humor into this depressing scenario too. Life has given these members of society a really raw deal but they make what they can out of it. Their snarky comments and rascally behavior induce laughter and it is impossible not to smile as they gang up and do what they can to have fun when away from the eyes of their owner.

When seen over the whole movie, Arya's character arc does validate the title. Like in all those stories about God, he gets an impressive start in Kasi where we learn about him and his powers, goes to a place where he is most needed, destroys evil and helps those (in different ways and some more than the others) in need. The problem is that he seems to be simply a bystander for the most part once he goes to Malaikovil. He goes on with his life - which consists entirely of smoking ganja and chanting a few slogans - and his path never intersects with that of the beggars. So he is more a supporting player than the central character. In fact, there are times(like his visit to the police station and the court) where he is reduced to playing the role of a comedian, as the interactions of others with him are played mainly for laughs.

Arya's emotional detachment works against the film in the concluding portions since he doesn't develop a connection with anyone. Logically, it does make sense as Aghoris are supposed to be free of emotional roots, as Arya's guru tells him before his trip, and they can see someone for who he really is. But from the point of view of the movie, it disallows the emotional build-up that is so important for the climax to work. So the climax feels rushed and the surge of emotions we usually get when the bad guys get their comeuppance doesn't really happen though the bad guys here are some of the baddest we have seen.

Arya looks the part of the sadhu and has perfected the body language and fiery expressions that go with it. But he doesn't have to do much more than that. A completely deglamorized Pooja inhabits the role of the blind singer very convincingly. She earns our sympathy and is terrific when pleading with Arya in the climax. The actor playing the beggars' owner earns our revulsion with every single act. Ilaiyaraja's background score is suitably solemn in the scenes involving the beggars and powerful when Arya is onscreen. Om Siva Om... is expectedly rousing as it begins and ends the movie while Pichai Paathiram... sounds even more somber considering the scenario. Neither Amma Un Pillai... nor the short clip of Maatha Un Kovilil... find a place in the film.

Victory

2009-02-07T14:38:00.001-08:00

Sports movies fall into 2 categories - a rags-to-riches story where the underdog beats all odds to end up victorious(both Lagaan and Chak De India would belong to this one) or a rags-to-riches-to-rags story where a sportsman becomes successful, allows the success to go to his/her head and faces the consequences. Victory starts off looking like it belongs to the former category but soon reveals itself as an entry in the latter category as a cricketer Vijay(Harman Baweja, back after a disastrous start in Love Story 2050), after languishing in obscurity in Jaisalmer, gets to play for the Ranji Trophy, is selected for the National team, piles up one successful inning after another and is swayed by the fame and money that accompany his success.

The film spends too little time on Harman's rise and this comes in the way of us connecting with the character. His dad's(Anupam Kher) ambitions and disappointments are showcased a lot better. Harman's actions during his career's ups and downs are all completely predictable and the film follows the template of similarly-themed movies to the letter. The cricket scenes are staged well with a few cricketers(like Jayasurya and Brett Lee) making cameos. But Harman's plays are completely unrealistic as he apparently hits only 4s and 6s when playing well and gets out with no runs on the board when out of form. Considering its a feel-good movie, the unnecessarily sentimental epilogue feels distasteful.

3 New Reviews

2009-02-06T17:55:00.001-08:00

Reviews for Kanchivaram, Mahesh Saranya Mattrum Palar and Thenaavattu are now online @ bbreviews.

Coming Soon - Naan KadavuL

2009-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ever since Sethu came out of nowhere to shock us, the release of a film by its director Bala has been looked forward to by Tamil cinema enthusiasts. And he hasn't disappointed us so far. Following up his debut with Nandha and Pithaamagan, he has rightly earned a name for powerful, character-driven films that stood out with their uncompromisingly bleak tone and dark and depressing storylines. 5long years after Pithaamagan, he is back with Naan KadavuL, which is releasing this Friday.

Like other movies of Bala, Naan KadavuL has also been in the news - and not always for the right reasons - from the day it was announced. Ajith was initially supposed to be the hero(there was even a poster featuring Ajith floating around for the movie) but that fell through. With a lot of the shooting taking place in Varanasi, the film encountered several production delays and went over budget. But its problems are finally settled and it is all set to hit the screens. The film is supposedly set among the Aghori sect of sadhus in Varanasi but not much more is known about it - especially since Arya has pooh-poohed the widespread rumors about the film capturing the cannibalistic habits of these sadhus.

Bala's movies so far have been marked by unique, memorable protagonists and powerful supporting characters. It is virtually impossible to forget Sethu, Nandha or Sithan or the intensity that was part of those characters. But what really carried Bala's movies forward were the relationships that these characters shared with those around them. Illustrating the truth in the adage that opposites attract, Bala paired up these characters with others who were completely disimilar to them. This was most apparent in Pithaamagan, where the flamboyant, sweet-talking Sakthivel was the opposite of the silent, almost-animalistic Sithan. But this relationship between mismatched characters has always been there in Bala's movies, whether in the romance between the intense Sethu and the timid Abhitha or in the mentor-protege relationship between the short-tempered Nandha and the composed Periyavar. This makes us wonder who Arya is going to be paired up with in Naan KadavuL.

Bala has never shied away from tragedy. All his movies so far have featured serious storylines and have ended in tragedy. While we can't say that he has never compromised his vision(the dances in Sethu and the unnecessary segment with Simran in Pithaamagan were definitely compromises), his unapologetic handling of dark themes makes him stand out among our directors. Based on his track record, we can expect a similar dark tone in Naan KadavuL too.

Bala has always managed to extract terrific performances from his lead actors. With Vikram, he gave him a new lease of life with Sethu and then extracted a National Award-winning performance from him in Pithamagan while in the latter, he also transformed Surya, who had hither stuck to quiet, serious roles, into a fun, fast-talking swindler. This is good news for Arya, who was quite lucky to land the lead role here. While the actor has shown a willingness to go past his good looks and take on different roles, he has yet to really prove his acting chops and has seemed a little stiff in his roles so far. Pooja has fared better than Arya and has shown promise even in cliched roles so far. The two can't get a better teacher than Bala and we can expect good performances from them.

After scoring music for some stinkers(2 movies he scored music for, ULiyin Osai and Dhanam, in 2008 figured in my Bottom 10 list) Ilaiyaraja finally has a high-profile movie. Naan KadavuL's music is not flashy but it evokes a serious, somber mood that fits the typical atmosphere in Bala's movies. Almost all the songs have a religious touch. Pichai Paathiram... is soulfully sung by Madhu Balakrishnan and is very meaningful, particularly in the second stanza. Amma Un Pillai... is instantly catchy since it uses the tune of the memorable Maatha Un Kovilil.... A few lines from that original also appear in the album. Shreya is superb as usual in Kannil Paarvai... while Ilaiyaraja sings Oru Kaatril..., which employs the same tune. Om Siva Om... is rousing and is the one I'm most looking forward to in the film. While the soundtrack has raised my expectations, I'm also enthused about its background score and am expecting quite a few goosebumps, courtesy Ilaiyaraja.

Bala has defied the popular trend so far with movies made on his terms that still turned out to be critical and commercial successes. Let's hope Naan KadavuL joins this short list.

Kanchivaram

2009-02-03T22:53:00.000-08:00

With a long line of inane comedies in Hindi, Priyadarshan has been virtually unrecognizable as the director who made all those subtle, sensitive comedies in Malayalam a long time ago. But even for those familiar with the director's earlier works, Kanchivaram comes as a complete surprise. Set among the weaver community in the city of Kanchivaram in 1948, it is a sensitively-crafted emotional tale about a father's ordeal to keep a promise he makes to his daughter.

The silk weavers in Kanchivaram are too poor to afford the saris they themselves weave. Vengadam(Prakashraj), a weaver, had proudly proclaimed that he would bring his wife home draped in a silk sari. He was unable to do that but promises his newborn daughter that he would marry her off in a silk sari. He is determined to keep that promise but its not going to be easy.

Kanchivaram - or is it Conjeevoram, as the board on a bus proclaims? - lays bare the sorry plight of weavers in those times. As they are paid a pittance(a weaver is paid Rs. 7 for a saree that is sold for Rs. 800) and are unable to see their own labor of love being worn, it is clear that they are being exploited. And what makes it more powerful is their complete acceptance of their plight. They find happiness in the smallest things and the times when they are the happiest - like when Prakashraj gets a measly bonus or when he and Shreya steal a peek at a woman wearing the saree he wove - is when their plight really touches us.

More than anything, Kanchivaram is about a father's love for his daughter. Prakashraj is an honest, idealistic man who genuinely cares about the plight of the weavers. But he indulges in actions that are wrong and takes steps that are not in the weavers' best interests. We see that every one of these actions is an attempt to make good on a difficult promise he made to his daughter. His love for his daughter towers over everything else and in conveying that love, the movie is less overt but more compelling than movies like Abhiyum Naanum, which dealt with the theme in a more straightforward, obvious fashion.

The story is told in flashback but in segments, as Prakashraj reminisces about his past while being taken home from jail. This technique is a bit overused now but the way some happening(a baby crying, rain falling on the windshield, etc.) in the bus triggers each of Prakashraj's memories feels natural. With this technique, Priyadarshan avoids the story getting a disjoint or incomplete feel since our memories about our past usually bubble up to the surface in a rather disjointed fashion. And the characters on the bus, like the cop fretting over his badge being torn off from his cap, get their few minutes too. But the way Priyadarshan foreshadows upcoming events feels a little overt. For instance, when Prakashraj chides his daughter about misplacing the bottle of rat poison, we know that it is going to play a part later and when it does, its a little disappointing.

After keeping things low-key for most of the movie, Priyadarshan handles the final portions in a slightly heavy-handed manner. He drags a few of the scenes on for more time than needed and that dilutes their impact somewhat.

Prakashraj finally gets a role deserving of his talent. After so many movies where he hammed his way through cliched villain roles and over-the-top sentimental roles, he puts his heart into this role. He plays it softly but is able to bring forth a quiet intensity when needed. Whether its the love he pours on his daughter or the passion he shows when talking about communism, he is excellent. Shreya Reddy looks the part and provides good support to Prakashraj. The rest of the cast does well too with the actor playing Prakashraj's friend catching the eye. M.G.Sreekumar's background score reminds us of a couple of other scores(like from Naayagan) at times but the one song is very melodious and suits both radically different situations it is played in.

Arya's Next

2009-02-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Among the many things I admire about Hollywood is the refusal of their actors to be stuck with a certain image. I've always thought that this was particularly evident in the case of their heroes like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Though universally acknowledged as good-looking studs, they rarely act in romantic comedies that capitalize purely on their looks and are always on the lookout for roles that offer variety.

So far, Arya has shown himself to be in the same mould. Though he quickly earned the tag of heartthrob after movies like Arindhum Ariyaamalum and ULLam Ketkume, he hasn't stuck only to soft, romantic roles that exploit - and build - his pin-up boy image since then. As his role of a rowdy in Pattiyal or the role of the auto driver in Oram Po showed, he hasn't shied away from roles that force him to hide his suave good looks. He's at it again, taking on the role of a long-haired, bearded sadhu in the upcoming Naan KadavuL. And following that, he is back to his original self in Vishnu Vardhan's Sarvam, which is supposed to be a youthful love story.

We only need to think of Arvind Swamy and Abbas to remember what happens to heartthrobs who get stereotyped. Arya seems to be avoiding that route so far and just for that, I hope both these movies click.

RIP - Nagesh

2009-02-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

Tamil cinema's evergreen comedian Nagesh passed away yesterday in Chennai. Arguably Tamil cinema's finest comedian, he was one of the few actors whose demise can be described with the phrase 'the end of an era'.

Nagesh was undoubtedly a gifted comedian. A single move - like the one where he widened his eyes and shrugged his shoulders simultaneously when he was surprised - was enough to make us laugh and his facial expressions, body language and voice came together to reveal incredible comic timing in movie after movie. But 'comedian' would be too tight a slot for him. He was an amazing dancer with some unique, trademark movies and a superb character actor too.

I haven't seen too many films where Nagesh appeared purely as a comedian. Ofcourse I've heard of his hilarious comedy tracks, his perfect comic chemistry with Manorama in numerous movies and his indispensable part even in movies that starred MGR and Sivaji. But I haven't personally seen too many of those movies. But remembering the old adage Oru Paanai Sotrukku Oru Soru Padham, his role in ThiruviLaiyaadal is proof enough of his comic genius. His role as the impoverished poet Tharumi in that film is legendary and it is almost certain that his sequence will figure in any Tamil cinema viewer's list of favorite comedy sequences of all time. The initial mix of disbelief and disdain, the grudging admiration for Sivaji's talent after the questioning, the grief at losing the prize and the subsequent anger at Sivaji were all emotions that Nagesh brought out inimitably and together, they made it one of Tamil cinema's most memorable roles.

I'm more familiar with the movies where he was more than just a comedian. He had the central role in movies like Neerkkumizhi(where he played a terminally ill patient in a hospital), Edhirneechal(where he played an orphan in a large building housing many families) and Server Sundaram(where he played a waiter who went on to become a successful hero) and proved that he could make us cry just as well as he could make us laugh. Not that these directors never tapped his comic prowess. He was hilarious as the husband in one of the three moviestar-obsessed couples in KB's Bama Vijayam and as the aspiring director in Sridhar's Kaadhalikka Neramillai(his narration of a horror story to a scared Balaiah is another of Tamil cinema's unforgettable comedy segments).

If it was KB who gave Nagesh his best roles earlier, it was his student Kamal who gave him his most memorable roles in the last stage of his career. Whether it was playing a villain in a comic vein that went perfectly with the film's tone in Aboorva SagodharargaL, a greedy manager in Michael Madana Kamarajan, a father broken-hearted by his daughter's suicide in Nammavar or a drunk make-up artist in Avvai Shanmugi, Nagesh brought his experience and unique portrayal to every role and made it his own. So it was fitting that he was last seen in Kamal's Dasaavathaaram.

Nagesh may have passed away but the laughs he gave us will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in peace...

The Bodies Left Behind

2009-01-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

Jeffery Deaver's Bodies Left Behind starts off with a home invasion at an isolated vacation house. The couple who own the house are killed but the husband starts off an incomplete 911 call, which brings an off-duty cop Brynn to the scene. Surprised by the bad guys, Brynn runs off into the forest and is soon joined by Michelle, a friend of the couple, who was in the house at the time of the killings.

Most of the story follows Brynn and Michelle as they trek through the forest with the bad guys behind them. The two are as different as oil and water with Brynn being quick-thinking and street-smart and Michelle being rich and spoiled. The chase is initially interesting and tense as the two women begin to bond and try to outwit their enemies. But things get repetitive very soon as the sequence of ' the women trick the men; the men recognize the trap and evade it; the men set their own trap; the women recognize the trap and evade it' happens over and over again. The traps are too complicated and so the fact that one side can think them up and the other side can anticipate them becomes unbelievable after a certain point. Deaver's trademark twist comes a little late in the proceedings. The author has a lot of experience at covering his tracks and setting us up and so the twist does come as a good surprise. The ending after that feels rushed and the sense of closure is not complete.

2008 Tamil Cinema - Top 10 Disappointments

2009-01-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

While the previous post listed the worst movies of the year, most of them arrived with little or no expectations attached to them. So, while watching them was a painful experience and they collectively represented 25 or so hours of my life that I'll never get back, they weren't really disappointments in the true sense of the word. So this list is made up of the biggest disappointments of 2008.

How much I look forward to a movie depends mostly on the actor and the director. The rest of the cast, the music director, the quality of the soundtrack and other factors do play a part but not as much as the actor and the director do. That is what you'll see reflected in this list.

10. Thenaavattu
Jeeva's previous movies like Raam and Kattradhu Thamizh led us to believe that he might have tried to do something different even within the confines of a masala movie but boy, were we in for a nasty surprise! The film gave us ridiculous characters in a predictable storyline and then proceeded to bore the daylights out of us with a fashion show and song sequences set in a community of transgenders.

9. Sathyam
Vishal, with his pumped-up physique, was perfectly suited to play a cop but that was the only thing we got out of this tired cop story. The film's screenplay was a mess with originality, continuity and tonal consistency not very high on the director's list of priorities and after a different start, the storyline became easily predictable. Nayanthara was at her most irritating in her clashes with Vishal and Harris Jayaraj delivered a lukewarm soundtrack for his 25th film.

8. Indhiralogathil Naa. Azhagappan
The quality of Vadivelu's previous appearance as hero and the genre this film belonged to made us look forward to it. With sad results. A rare entry in the socio-fantasy genre, it was stuck between feeding Vadivelu's ego, incorporating his brand of comedy and conveying a message. As a result, it alternated between cheap comedy, artificial sentiments and confusing messages. Azhagappan may have been in heaven but were in cinematic hell!

7. Aegan
The hero's role in the remake of Main Hoon Na seemed perfectly suited for Ajith at this stage of his career but director Raju Sundaram stumbled badly in this film, revealing a complete ignorance of what made the original work so marvelously. Ajith's larger-than-life heroics felt completely out-of-place, the overt comedy segments were irritating and the Hindi film's effective emotional hook was transformed into an unconvincing, last-minute addition.

6. Dasaavathaaram
Kamal appearing in 10 roles made this the biggest and most-hyped release of the year but the film itself was an unsatisfying effort. As an actor, Kamal sparkled with characters that were meticulously researched off-sceen and well realized on it. But almost all the other aspects of the film - the screenplay that ground to a stop in the second half, the cheesy graphics, the overdone make-up that made some of the faces stiff and inexpressive and the irritatingly whiny Asin - were more than a little disappointing.

5. Kuselan
With Rajni opting to do a quickie before the mega-budget Endhiran, this remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Kadha Parayumbol came as a welcome surprise for his fans, who weren't expecting to see him on the big screen in 2008. But P.Vasu spoiled the surprise, butchering the original by shearing off its subtlety and emotions and replacing them with loud sentiments and cheap, crude comedy. Rajni's stand-alone scenes had no impact because of the lack of background and Vadivelu was plain intolerable. The emotional climax was the sole saving grace in the film.

4. Abhiyum Naanum
Considering the loveably realistic characters, the subtle emotions and the understated humor that were part of Mozhi, we were looking forward to a similarly charming tale of love between a father and daughter in this follow-up from Radhamohan. Instead, we got a one-sided relationship where the father got all the attention and the daughter's character remained underdeveloped. The emotions in the film lacked depth and things turned really cinematic once Trisha's fiance was introduced.

3. Arai En 305-il Kadavul
The way director Chimpudevan balanced satire, social commentary and comedy near-perfectly in Imsai Arasan... led us to expect a lot more from this socio-fantasy that was loosely based on Oh God! and Bruce Almighty. But the director's balancing act with comedy and moralizing didn't work nearly as well. The were only a few laughs scattered among the messages and the messages themselves were muddled, leaving us with nothing.

2. Bheema
Lingusamy crafted one of the best masala flicks in recent times in Run and so when he got together with Vikram, who can bring intensity to any role and has been rather choosy with his films, expectations were that the collaboration would lead to fireworks. Sadly, the film was simply another cliched tale about a rowdy and his mentor, with all the usual accompaniments like fights, dances and an item number. The first half was an exhausting, non-stop fight-fest and the surprisingly downbeat end was too little too late.

1. Kuruvi
Dharani was the director with the Midas touch when it came to masala movies with three of the best entries(Dhil, DhooL, Gilli) in that genre in recent times. So his re-teaming with the rest of the Gilli team - Vijay, Trisha, Vidyasagar - was looked forward to. But the film was a huge letdown without any traces of the pace or the excitement that made Gilli so enjoyable. The few good action sequences had ridiculously over-the-top punchlines and the second half reminded us of Thagappansamy, a film which even its hero Prashanth would probably like to forget.

2008 Tamil Cinema - The Bottom 10

2009-01-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here in reverse order - best of the worst to worst of the worst - are my choices for the 10 worst Tamil movies of 2008...

10. Dhanam
Unrealistic characterization and an unbelievable plot erased the anticipation raised by the film's central character - a prostitute. Unable and unwilling to exploit the uniqueness of the character, the film manufactured a conflict through a series of coincidences and some unbelievable behavior on the part of the supporting characters. Predictably, the situation - and its solution - failed to have an impact on us.

9. KaaLai
Simbhu's next entry in his quest to become the next Vijay was DOA with a start that was more confusing than suspenseful. The familiar revenge saga with a cliched flashback had all the elements that go into a masala flick but the action was routine and unexciting, the romance was silly and the song sequences were unimaginative.

8. Seval
Hari joined the brigade of directors resisting Tamil cinema's advancement with this rural tale that was completely regressive and shamelessly manipulative. After a predictable father-son relationship and a passable romance, the film turned into a manipulative, disgusting tearjerker as it made its heroine Poonam endure one humiliation after another.

7. Pazhani
Director Perarasu continued his mission of sending Tamil cinema back to the Stone Age with this entry. A movie that set expectations by starting off with a farewell day in prison, it had everything we've come to expect from Perarasu's movies - regressive sentiments, shoddy technical aspects and a complete absence of logic.

6. ULiyin Osai
While one can overlook few missteps in a period film considering how rare entries in that genre are, this entire film felt like one giant misstep. Poor production values doomed the film right from the start while the stilted acting, horrendous comedy - quite possibly, the worst of the year - and unnecessary fillers, like a dance competition between Manorama and Kovai Sarala, further compounded our misery.

5. Indhiralogathil Naa. Azhagappan
A rare entry in the socio-fantasy genre, this film was so ineptly made that it could make one swear off films in that genre forever. Stuck between feeding Vadivelu's ego, incorporating his brand of comedy and conveying a message, the director made a complete mess of the film as it alternated between cheap comedy, artificial sentiments and confusing messages.

4. Vedha
The funniest emotional movie of the year, the film appeared to be aiming to incorporate every single cliche in Tamil cinema and in that aim, it succeeded admirably. The overload of cliches, poor characterization and silly way in which the sentiments were handled ensured that we were laughing during most of the movie, inspite of its serious theme, downbeat plot developments and lack of comedy.

3. Pandhayam
Director S.A.Chandrasekhar did his son Vijay a favor by not casting him in this film, which made Vijay's other films seem like classics. The preposterous plot, which had Nitin Satya plan Prakashraj's downfall while being inside his group, made Prakashraj look like a dumb villain and so there was no energy or tension in the clashes between him and Nitin Satya.

2. Nenjathai KiLLadhey
Director Agathiyan(of Kaadhal Koattai fame) fashioned two of the most outrageoous characters to ever headline a love story in this film. There wasn't a single believable moment in the interactions between the leads and their handling of the so-called romance was completely silly.

1. Thenaavattu
Jeeva, who seemed to picking some good, offbeat roles recently, dashed our hopes in this terrible masala cocktail. The film gave us ridiculous characters in a predictable storyline and then proceeded to bore the daylights out of us with a fashion show and song sequences set in a community of transgenders.

Chandni Chowk to China

2009-01-27T23:36:00.001-08:00

Chandni Chowk to China feels like an old-fashioned masala movie that has been upgraded for today's audiences. It has ideas like a timid man turning into a hero and twins separated at birth - that were staples of masala movies of the 80s - and throws in exotic locales, grand song sequences and fancy stunt sequences. The film's approach swings between treating the subject in a tongue-in-cheek manner and taking things seriously. The story(about a cook in Chandni Chowk who mistakenly thinks he is the reincarnation of a long-dead Chinese warrior) just cannot be taken seriously and the film works when it realizes this. For instance, the cinematic screenplay turns that involve the twins (Deepika Padukone plays a model and her Chinese twin) and their dad are actually enjoyable and the obvious way the products she hawks in an advertisment eventually turn up in the story, is rather clever. But the movie falls flat whenever it takes itself seriously. This usually happens in the sentimental scenes between Akshay and his dad though the scenes where Akshay is insulted by the villain are guilty of being a bit too downbeat also. That said, the film is also guilty of not knowing when to stop taking itself lightly. Akshay's training scenes after he realizes his true calling and the subsequent fight sequences are nicely done. But the unnecessary comic touches drain away the excitement in those scenes.

2008's Top 10 Song Sequences

2009-01-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Having finally seen all 2008 Tamil films that I intended to see(there are still 2 more reviews to come), I can finally get to those Top 10 lists. Kicking things off in musical fashion, here are the 10 best song sequences in Tamil films in 2008. As the term 'song sequence' indicates, the criteria for this list are the song itself as well as the way it was picturized and presented.

10. Hey Saala... - Aegan
This song packed a lot of the energy that was missing in the rest of the film as it was bright and colorful with a large group of dancers. Ajith danced surprisingly fast considering his slow steps in his last few movies and the lines incorporated enough glorifying lines to please his fans.

9. Vaa Vaa En Devadhaiye... - Abhiyum Naanum
Director Radhamohan perfectly captured the father-daughter relationship in this soft, beautiful song that was made up of vignettes that captured some very cute and beautiful moments between a father and his daughter. The film had Prakashraj reminiscing about his daughter in the film and this song was capable of sending every dad who watched it on a walk down memory lane.

8. Aavaarampoo... - Poo
While all the songs in this album from debutant music director Kumaran were pleasing to the ear, this number has a big impact since it happens at a key point in the film. Picturized with the same slice-of-life nature that marks the rest of the movie, the sequences in the song make us laugh and cry within the span of a few minutes.

7. Kathaazha Kannaale... - Anjaathey
Director Mysskin once again lent respectability to the phrase 'item number' with this dance number. Picturized under soft light and with light steps that appeared to be done naturally rather than choreographed, the number was fun to watch. The song itself was catchy and relatively slow considering that it was a dance number.

6. Palaanadhu... - Kuruvi
In recent films like ATM, Vijay's dance steps became complicated enough for his dances to resemble exercise routines. So it was a pleasure to watch his simple but graceful steps for this number that once again reminded us how good a dancer he is. After a long time, he actually seemed to be having fun dancing. The fast song was perfectly tuned for his dance too.

5. Mukunda Mukunda... - Dasaavathaaram
The smooth, soft number was beautifully sung and picturized in a suitably mellow fashion. We got our first glimpse at Kamal in the guise of Krishnaveni paatti in this song and the best part of the number came when she - very creatively - acted out all the avatars of Vishnu in silhouette.

4. Dosth Bada Dosth... - Saroja
This soundtrack was an example of an album where mediocre songs were elevated by great picturization. The best example was this number, where the graphics made the visuals interesting while the happenings conveyed the sense of fun the friends were having on their road trip.

3. Thozhiyaa En Kaadhaliyaa... - Kaadhalil Vizhundhen
While Naakku Mukka... grabbed the spotlight with its fast pace, this number was actually the best of the album. The lyrics conveyed Nakul's predicament perfectly while the picturization, especially in the second stanza, where the camera revolved around a seated Nakul, captured his emotions very well. Nakul, for his part, performed the number with a lot of intensity and passion.

2. Kanngal Irandaal... - Subramanyapuram
A simple but addictive melody, this number was picturized with the same earthiness that marked the rest of the picture. The light touch of humor was unexpected but somehow added to the effect while watching it.

1. Adiye Kolludhe... - Vaaranam Aayiram
Song picturization hasn't been one of Gautham's strengths but he broke that notion with his picturization of all songs in this film. Right from the exhilarating guitar riff after the "Its a song, Dad. A rock song" start, this number was glossily and stylishly picturized and nicely choreographed. The locales added to the song's sense of class. Surya's steps were uncomplicated and natural and Sameera Reddy was fabulous with some simple but superbly graceful steps.

Ayan Audio

2009-01-22T21:43:00.000-08:00

Vizhi Moodi... is the pick of the album - extremely catchy tune and simple orchestration that doesn't drown out the lyrics. The best parts of the lyrics come right at the beginning(thaniyaai pesidum sandhosham thandhaai penne penne...) and the short mazhaikkiliye... segment and its humming- and later, whistling - are beautiful. Thoovum Poomazhai... has a familiar feel to it but is energetic and catchy nevertheless. The lines that occupy the interlude (neeyum neeyum...), a Harris specialty, add some zest to the song. PaLapaLakkira... starts off like one of Harris' usual folk songs but the fast(but not frenetic) beats make it different and appealing. The slower parts of the song sound a bit old-fashioned. Sayarora's childish voice is Honey Honey...'s main appeal but the song is rather ordinary. The lyrics are silly and the segments that finish off the 2 stanzas(like hello sugavasi...) are the only interesting portions of the song. Nenje Nenje... is a familiar duet instantly recognizable as a Harris number. It reminds us of a couple of numbers from Bheema but Harish Ragavendra and Mahathi make it work very well.

Barring a couple of missteps(Sathyam was one) Harris has been very consistent and reliable. He doesn't disappoint in Ayan and comes out with another winner.

5 New Reviews

2009-01-22T00:21:00.000-08:00

Reviews for Thiruvannamalai, Abhiyum Naanum, Poo, Dindukkal Sarathy and Villu are now online @ bbreviews.

Daddy's Girls

2009-01-21T18:25:00.001-08:00

Unlike their illustrious dads, there 2 pretty women are not competitors. Nevertheless, an interesting photo :)

Poo

2009-01-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

With romance being an integral part of Tamil cinema since its beginning, one could be forgiven for questioning if there were any kinds - or aspects - of romance that were still left untouched on film. But director Sasi, who has showcased different kinds of love in films like Sollaamale, Rojakkoottam and Dishyum, unfurls yet another facet of romance in Poo. A tale of a woman's dedication and commitment to a man, it is simple yet stirring.

As Poo opens, Maari(Parvathy) is happily married to a store owner. On the occasion of a festival, she visits her mother's house in the village she was born and raised in. The visit triggers memories of her uncle Thangarasu(Srikanth), who she grew up wanting to marry.

As we can see above, Poo has a very simple story. But Sasi's directorial skills and penchant for creating powerful characters transform the story into a powerful, memorable movie. With his visual touches(like the way he shows us Parvathy remembering Srikanth's cellphone number), unexpected comic interludes(like the young goat-herd's cellphone incident) and character development(like the teashop owner who ends up playing a key role), Sasi delivers a soft, emotionally strong film.

Poo has a very unique, rather remarkable woman as its protagonist. It is difficult to define exactly what Parvathy feels for Srikanth but it is impossible to not see - or admire - the intensity with which she believes those feelings. Initially she comes across as someone who is naieve, always dreaming and setting herself up for disappointment. But as the film unfolds, it is clear that she is actually someone who knows exactly what she wants and is willing to go to any lengths to make that happen. So, while her character remains the same, our view of it undergoes radical change.

With her frequent declarations about marrying Thangarasu and her anger at anyone who suggests otherwise, the film starts off by making us believe that Parvathy is in love with Srikanth. But as we understand her more, we realize that her feelings cannot be descibed by a simple term like 'love'. When she is unable to even dream of more intimacy than simply holding hands with Srikanth, we see that she is not in love with him. We understand that she is simply in love with the notion of spending the rest of her life with him. And when she sits down to write a letter to Srikanth, the final few lines of the letter exhilaratingly show us what is important to her. That's when we realize that she wants to marry Srikanth not because she would be happy but because she thinks that she would be able to make him happy.

It is not just Parvathy's character that surprises us with the path it traverses. The film is populated with wonderful characters and the way the character arcs of some of them are developed surprises us. For instance, Srikanth's father, with his penaakkaarar tag and self-pride, is a very likeable character and so his transformation, even though it is caused by valid reasons, isn't expected. At the other end of the scale is the lecherous foreman at the fireworks factory. His character is developed as a familiar, cliched villain but the way it ends is a pleasant surprise.

This is one of the movies where narrating the story as a flashback after showing us the present, actually helps. Sure the surprise element is lost since we know that Parvathy is not going to wed Srikanth. But in its place is a curiosity about how a woman who is thinking of her uncle every waking second finally ends up marrying someone else and living happily. This question is always at the back of our minds and keeps us engrossed in the proceedings. And the way the screenplay brings that about is very satisfactory. The decisions taken by all the characters are logical and understandable.

Parvathy is a fantastic find and lives the role of Maari. She is able to convey both the innocence and intensity of her feelings for her man. Her final scream is a perfect outpouring of her feelings at the way things have turned out. Srikanth graciously underplays the role of the village youth. All the other members of the cast fit their roles perfectly with the actor playing Srikanth's father being very natural. Debutant music director Kumaran gives a suitably rustic soundtrack with the slow Aavaarampoo... and the fun Choo Choo Maari... being the top picks of the album.

Trip to Soda Springs

2009-01-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

We made an impulsive(as in, decided after 8pm the previous night) and unprepared(as in, we didn't plan an itinerary, print directions or even pack lunch for the kids) trip to Lake Tahoe on Sunday. We stopped at Soda Springs ski resort, the first resort we hit on I-80. Our initial plan was to stop at the resort for an hour or so and then head down to the lake. But the resort was just so much fun that we ended up spending all our time there.

First we let Kavya and Karthik do what they had come there for - play in the snow.

We then headed to Planet Kids which, as the name indicates, was the area intended for kids. Kavya and Karthik first took a couple of rides on the 2 tube carousels (essentially, carousels with tubes that slid on the snow taking the place of the usual seats).

There were also a couple of large, fenced-in play areas - with a very slight incline - intended for little skiers and snowboarders. So the little ones had their first skiing experiences here and had a blast.

With some roller skating lessons behind her, Kavya took to it quite well and after a few practice runs with me holding her, had many solo runs.

Karthik was rather uncoordinated initially and had trouble walking with the skiis but with some help from the instructors, was able to have a few solo runs too.

Abhiyum Naanum

2009-01-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

It looks like Dad's finally getting his due in Tamil cinema. After years of being forced to watch from the sidelines as Mom was placed on a pedestal, he's finally showing up in movies where he plays a pivotal role. This year we've alreadyhad Santosh Subramaniyam and Vaaranam Aayiram that revolved around dads and their relationships with their offspring and Abhiyum Naanum joins the list. A movie about a father-daughter relationship told from the father's point of view, it is low-key and down-to-earth but its lack of depth is a problem considering the emotional subject.

Talking to a dad Sudhakar(Prithviraj) who has brought his daughter to the park makes Raghuraman(Prakashraj), an estate owner, reminisce about his own relationship with his daughter Abhi(Trisha). Abhi was the apple of his eye and so every small indication that she was growing up came as a rude shock to Raghu. The biggest shock happened when he met Jogi(Ganesh Venkatraman), his prospective son-in-law.

When it comes to the relationship between parents and their offspring, the biggest difference between raising a son and a daughter probably happens at the time of marriage. After raising their daughter with love and affection, the parents are suddenly faced with the prospect of seeing her leave and spending the rest of their lives without her. That's a difficult time and its understandable that Abhiyum Naanum puts most of its focus on that time. It is after Trisha brings Ganesh home that Prakashraj understands that she's no longer daddy's li'l girl and his difficulty at coming to terms with that is captured well. As he turns silent or snaps at Ganesh unnecessarily, we understand exactly what he is going through and his behavior conveys the conflicting emotions he is feeling.

But this focus on one particular part of the relationship seems to be at the expense of the rest of it. The few scenes that showcase Prakashraj's attachment to his daughter when she is really young are nice and cute. But as she grows older, we see very little of the bond that exists between them. With the necessity of compressing a number of years into a couple of hours, the film fast-forwards through many important phases of the father-daughter relationship and as a result, we never see it really blossom.

Its clear that Radhamohan intended Abhiyum Naanum to be a light-hearted, feel-good film but that has translated into a film that has absolutely no dramatic tension or suspense. The few issues that are shown before Trisha's marriage is brought up are minor and resolved quickly. Trisha is quite the model daughter, sailing through school and college with absolutely no conflicts with her parents. And when she falls in love, it is with the perfect man(as the movie proceeds he becomes more perfect than we could've even imagined!). There are no issues or conflicts that reveal more about the characters, forcing us to take sides and become more involved in the film.

Prakashraj's character is well-developed and we get to see all sides of his personality when it comes to his daughter - his love for her, his anxiety about her well-being, his uneasiness at her growing up so fast, etc. But the same cannot be said of Trisha's character. We learn very little about her as a person. Barring one scene where she talks to Prakashraj about his dissatisfaction with Ganesh, we never see her interact with her dad or reciprocate her love for him. The relationship seems rather one-sided and with one half of the core relationship being so poorly developed, the film isn't as emotional as the subject matter deserves.

Like he did in Mozhi and Azhagiye Theeye, Radhamohan infuses the film with a lot of gentle, subtle humor. Almost all of Ishwarya's comebacks to Prakashraj work and Kumaravel has several funny one-liners. But the more obvious attempts, like the whole parent interview segment, dont work quite as well.

Prakashraj looks like he is hamming it up a little bit initially but he is good playing the insecure dad awaiting his daughter's marriage. He conveys a lot of emotions with his expressions and body language during the quiet moments. Considering the subject of the film, it is surprising that Trisha makes even less of an impression than she does in all those hero-centric films. Ishwarya is pitch-perfect as the more level-headed of the two parents and her gravely voice makes her sarcastic comments work very well. Kumaravel brings the right mix of sincerity and humor to his role and makes all his lines, whether they are sentimental or funny, work. Its difficult to see how Ganesh really looks but he fits the role and is quite natural. Considering Vidyasagar's work for Mozhi, his soundtrack here is a disappointment. Vaa Vaa En Devadhaiye... is a nice number and picturized nicely as it tracks a child's growing up but none of the other songs stay in mind.

Villu

2009-01-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

After turning director, Prabhu Deva helmed a couple of love stories in Telugu. But when he moved to Tamil, he changed tracks, opting to direct Vijay in Pokkiri, a remake of the Telugu blockbuster of the same name. The film was a huge success in Tamil too and the duo has joined hands again for Villu. Apart from the actor-director team, the film has a couple of more things in common with Pokkiri, as it has the same villain and is also being released for Pongal. But the similarities end there. Where Pokkiri was a fast-paced action film, Villu is an old-fashioned, amateurish revenge flick. Pokkiri was no classic but next to Villu, it sure looks like one.

After dealing with Raka, one of the kingpins of a network of arms and drug dealers, Pugazh(Vijay) makes his way to a wedding, where he impresses Janavi(Nayanthara), the bride's friend. Turns out his romancing Janavi was only to get to her dad JD(Prakashraj), another important man in the arms and drug network. Pugazh and Janavi travel to Munich to meet JD and Pugazh runs into Shaan, the third key player in the network.

After some initial action, the film settles down as Vijay romances Nayanthara and irritates Vadivelu. The comedy is of the familiar variety and mostly involves Vadivelu getting hurt in a variety of ways as he is electrocuted, scalded, pushed into a well and ridden down a flight of stairs. But many of the gags do work and make us laugh. He is out of the picture once the action moves to Munich but Prabhu Deva, to give the action-heavy second half some relief, brings him back for two scenes. The two sequences - one of which sees him fight a CGI cow in a scene from Kung-Pow Chicken and the other sees him dance to a few recent, popular film songs - are plain intolerable and make us forget the laughs earlier.

The romance is even less of a success than the comedy. Though there are scenes(like the one where Nayanthara shouts at Vijay but an enamored Vijay hears the words coming out of her mouth in a musical fashion) that remind us that Prabhu first honed his directorial skills in a very sweet love story(the Telugu original of Something Something Unakkum Enakkum), the track skirts vulgarity at many moments and consists of cliched elements like Nayanthara hiring goondas to beat up Vijay and Vijay saving the bride from some troublesome relatives who want to stop the wedding.

There is a lot of technology in use once Vijay goes up against the bad guys in Munich. So we get blu-ray discs to store the villain's information(though Sriman and Anandraj, who are obviously not early adopters, still refer to them as CDs) and a hideout with palm print and voice recognition technology (though there seems to be no point to showing us all this security without a heist sequence to show how someone beats it) that somehow leads to a tunnel that's straight out of Resident Evil. We also get a peek into the future with the world's first wireless DVD-reader, which is apparently in Prakashraj's sunglasses as he scans a DVD by just looking at it! A well-staged stunt sequence in a plane that is actually thrilling manages to sneak into the movie but the rest of the proceedings are amateurish and silly.

There are a couple of surprises in the plot but once Vijay's past and mission are revealed (via a flashback that proves that Vijay and Prabhu Deva might have taken the phrase 'one man army' a little too literally), it is clear that all the aforementioned technology simply hides the oldest story in the book. As Vijay's mission nears closure, all the technology and style so far give way to really old-fashioned sentiments. As we are forced to endure spiteful villagers, crying wives, weird punishments and melodramatic surprises, we begin to wonder if the movie has suddenly been hijacked by the likes of P.Vasu, Perarasu and Hari.

Vijay does what's expected of him, dancing and fighting with energy. He's cut down on the finger-swishing and punch dialogs, a welcome change and trades those in for some designer wear and stylish looks. Nayan continues her recent tradition of mistaking innerwear for outerwear but is adequate for the little that is needed from a heroine in a Vijay movie. Prakashraj plays another routine villain. Even the token melodious number in earlier Vijay movies like Kuruvi has been dropped as Devi Sriprasad delivers a soundtrack filled with fast numbers that Vijay can shake a leg too. Jalsa... is the only number that sounds good while Nee Kobappattaal... has some nice lyrics and a somewhat interesting picturization with multiple Vijays on screen. Hey Rama Rama... finds Kushboo shaking a leg with Vijay and Prabhu Deva too making his expected appearance for a beat-filled interlude.

ARR is Golden!

2009-01-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

Next Stop - The Oscars!

3 New Reviews

2009-01-08T23:44:00.001-08:00

Reviews for Bommalaattam, Silambaattam and Panchamirtham are now online @ bbreviews.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Slumdog Millionaire can serve as a textbook example for how a movie should be made from a book. Danny Boyle takes only the basic, very interesting story (the best part of the book) and a few other key ideas from Vikas Swarup's Q & A and then puts his own spin on it. The more unsavory aspects, which would be even more unpalatable on screen, are removed, the violence is toned down, the confusing non-chronological style of the book is dropped and the more over-the-top plot points, like the twists in the climax, are left out. With Boyle's kinetic directorial style and Rahman's fantastic music, the end result is a consistently gripping, entertaining film.

As I mentioned when I wrote about Q & A, the idea of a young man(Jamal) appearing on a quiz show and answering the questions from the knowledge he has gleaned from various happenings in his life, is very innovative. There is suspense when each question is posed and a kind of elation when the segment leads him to the answer - not always in very obvious ways. The individual segments - like the time he acts as a guide at the Taj Mahal - are interesting by themselves but the fact that each of them has a purpose adds another level. Though the questions referencing events his life in a chronological order(unlike in the book) seems a bit convenient, it does help us get a fuller picture of his life and makes it easier to connect with him. The final question brings a smile to our lips though the way it is answered is a bit of a letdown

Though the more unpleasant aspects of the book(like, for instance, the incest) have been dropped, it is still not easy watching some of the difficult turns that Jamal's life takes. But Jamal's undying love for Latika is definitely heart-warming. It is the thread that runs through the movie and connects the segments. As the two meet under vastly different circumstances in different stages of their lives, we keep wishing that each meeting is more everlasting than their last one. They way they find each other for the last time is the result of a very clever narrative and is much more satisfying than their meeting in the book.

Rahman's score is scintillating. Like he did in Rang De Basanti, he surprises us with his choice of music for particular sequences. But once the surprise wears off, the music works beautifully and really enhances the appeal of many sequences (like the one where some kids leads the cops on a merry chase through the bylanes in the slums of Mumbai).

2 Trailers

2009-01-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

Trailers of 2 movies that probably can't be further apart. But both are touted to be January releases and in their own ways, their trailers are pretty impressive.

Naan KadavuL

It's all Arya in this trailer and he does cut an impressive figure as he stands on his head, strides purposefully and bashes someone up. The only problem is that all that doesn't really give us a hint about the story. Based purely on the trailer, this would seem to be Bala's least commercial - and hence most courageous - film yet. Ilaiyaraja's music is powerful and pumps us up though what we're seeing is simply a montage of scenes from the film. Really looking forward to this film.

Villu

Vijay's now-familiar expressions, fights and dance steps are all part of this trailer, pointing to another typical Vijay masala film. But what caught my eye more were the glimpses of the action sequences - the boat chase, the plane and the shot of the helicopter flying over the snow. Its been a while since we saw some good, stylish action sequences in Tamil and those shots have me hoping that Villu gives us some. Then again, I might be pinning too much hope on a film that seems to be making Bharatiyar utter a part-Tamil part-English punch dialog!

Ghajini vs Ghajini

2009-01-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Its never easy reviewing remakes when we've seen the original and the problem is more pronounced when its a pretty close, other-language remake of a Tamil film. So instead of reviewing Aamir Khan's Ghajini, a remake of the Tamil blockbuster of the same name, I thought I'd simply compare the most important aspects of the two films.

Surya vs Aamir Khan
Ghajini's protagonist's role can be divided into 2 parts - the rich, suave businessman and the revenge-obsessed man afflicted with short-term memory loss. I think Surya has Aamir beat in the businessman's role. Surya was perfect in the role and shared great chemistry with Asin while Aamir looks somewhat old and doesn't really possess the same kind of charm. There's this one scene where Sanjay, walking back(in slo-mo) after meeting Kalpana for the first time, turns to look at her as she recounts her made-up romance on the phone, and smiles. Surya's smile was just perfect and conveyed his amusement perfectly while Aamir's smile just didn't work as well. Its these kind of small touches that made Surya the better Sanjay. As far as the part where he is afflicted with STML, Surya seemed to be hamming it up just a teeny bit while Aamir plays it just right. He brings the right mix of intensity and ferocity to the role and his blank looks and expressions convey his confusion very well.

Asin vs Asin
If it ain't broke, don't fix it seems to have been Asin's policy in repeating her role as Kalpana. And it's the right route to follow. Her performance in Tamil made it one of the more memorable heroine roles in recent times and she does it exactly the same way in Hindi. Her smile is just as enchanting, her disposition is just as cheery and the tension on her face when she is hiding from the villains is just as real. There are places where we feel that they simply carved her role out of the Tamil version and dropped it into the Hindi version.

Nayanthara vs Jiah Khan
Ghajini would probably count as Nayanthara's worst movie as she looked bad, fat and overly made up. So anyone would've been an improvement over her. Though Jiah Khan isn't dazzling or a great actress, she scores over Nayan just by not messing things up.

Murugadoss vs Murugadoss
For the most part, Murugadoss makes the Hindi Ghajini a carbon copy of its Tamil counterpart. There are a few minor changes(like Sanjay's first auto ride) and some of the narrative misses are corrected(like Kalpana calling Sanjay when stuck inside her apartment) but for about three-quarters of the films, a strong sense of deja vu is unavoidable for those who have seen the Tamil original. Ofcourse, this means both the positives(the interesting initial portions as we learn how Sanjay deals with his unique condition) and the disappointments(the non-handling of an interesting plot point like the villain destroying all of Sanjay's tattooed notes) are carried over. The last part of the film is where Murugadoss has really made some changes in Hindi. And they work. Eliminating silly plot points like giving the villain a twin and turning down the masala aspect of the climactic fight, he takes the narrative forward in a straightforward but sensible way. It also allows him to recreate an earlier situation, adding an emotional touch to the proceedings.

Harris Jayaraj vs A.R.Rahman
Rahman's songs didn't really stay in my mind but considering that I've heard them only once (during the movie), it would be unfair for me to compare them with the songs from the Tamil film, which I heard maybe a few times everyday when the soundtrack was released. But Rahman's background score is a definite improvement over Harris' cacophony.

The Final Verdict
Thanks to Surya, the Tamil Ghajini scores in the romantic track but the clean-up of the action track makes the Hindi version a wee bit more consistently entertaining overall.

Bommalaattam

2009-01-04T23:09:00.000-08:00

Bharatiraja has been one of the most versatile directors in Tamil cinema, crafting both psychological thrillers like Sigappu Rojakkal and rustic films like 16 Vayadhinile with equal skill. His latest film Bommalaattam is a thriller set against the backdrop of the film industry and considering that his last foray into the thriller genre was the silly and amateurish Kangalaal Kaidhu Sei, it doesn't arrive with much hope. But the experienced director does make amends to a certain extent with Bommalaattam. It is an engaging, suspenseful film though the director's sleight of hand makes the film's conclusion a little disappointing.

Rana(Nana Patekar), an experienced and respected film director with quite a few movies and awards in his kitty, is currently working on a movie titled 'Cinema'. Frustrated by the heroine's demands, he fires her and halts the shooting until he can find a replacement. He finds the heroine of his dreams in Trishna(Rukmini) and completes the film with her. But just before the film's release, Rana and Trishna, while fleeing from the press, get into an accident that kills Trishna and leaves Rana injured. Vikram Varma(Arjun), a CBI officer, is convinced of Rana's guilt in Trishna's death, especially since there have been other questionable incidents in other locations where the film was being shot. And Vikram has a personal axe to grind with Rana too since Vikram's girlfriend Anita(Kajal Agarwal) is a big fan of Rana and is working closely with him.

The film is constructed skilfully, not giving us the full picture too early but never confusing us so much that we lose interest in the proceedings. Things are somewhat frustrating in the beginning as there are huge gaps in the story (as the movie fast-forwards through several events) and there are references to past events that we do know about. But as the gaps get filled in through flashbacks and the story begins to take shape, the suspense and the questions do draw us in. The red herrings(I counted 2) are added judiciously and not too obviously and so they do work in misdirecting us, even if only for a short time.

The film falls prey to the same thing most Tamil thrillers fall prey to - lack of focus. Partly due to the need to pad the running time and partly due to the need to ensure that the film attracts a wider audience, Bharatiraja adds extraneous elements that kill the pace and dilute the intensity requisite for a successful thriller. These elements - like Arjun's romance with a duet thrown in, Vivek's comedy, two other song sequences - are not intolerable or bad per se but interrupt the flow. The good thing is that they come early in the movie when the damage they cause is less.

Successful thrillers lull us into believing something and then surprise us using something that's been right before our eyes all the time. Bommalaattam too has a big surprise up its sleeve but it is brought in out of the blue, giving the viewer no chance of guessing what's coming. So it is a surprising twist alright but it doesn't elicit the pleasant surprise that usually accompanies a good twist. The feeling here is more along the lines of having been cheated - not just because we didn't see the twist coming but because the editing and the choice of actors ensured that we were never ven given the opportunity to see it coming.

With its film-inside-a-film structure, Bommalaattam seems as much an exposition on the orkings of the film industry as it is a thriller. So we get to see the unreasonable demands of actresses, the harsh treatment meted out by the director to the artistes(this is rather surprising considering the rumors that the film director's role was loosely based on Bharatiraja himself), the sorry state of the producer, the rumors accompanying a film shoot, the stress a shoot could put in the personal lives of those involved and the difficulties faced by some of the cast members, both from other team members and from the locals. Though none of this is new, it is still interesting since it is not something we see often. At the same time, since the movie is primarily a thriller, the goings-on don't have as much of an effect as they did in a more focused, emotional movie like Kodambakkam.

Nana Patekar, in his first Tamil film, imbues the director's role with the right mix of confidence and arrogance. His behavior on the sets is pitch-perfect and realistic. Arjun's role is more of an extended cameo though he does pave the way for the film's conclusion. Kajal Agarwal and Rukmini are adequate. Vivek has a few funny lines but is more of a distraction while Manivannan earns our repulsion easily.

Traitor

2009-01-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Traitor can be termed a thinking man's thriller. It doesn't have the shoot-outs, chases and explosions that usually characterize films in that genre but is still an intense and suspenseful film. To begin with, the film effectively plants seeds of doubts about which side its protagonist is on but considering the choice of actor(Don Cheadle) playing him, there aren't really any questions about his loyalties(this is somewhat similar to Kamal's Kalaignan, where the film was quite successful in throwing suspicion on Kamal but we knew he couldn't be the killer). So the film's big twist - which, to the film's credit, isn't showcased as a surprise or shock - is easy to see coming but that doesn't detract from the film's impact. While spy thrillers usually romanticize their heroes, Traitor is effective because it deglamorizes its protagonist. We see the unexpected consequences of his actions and the moral and ethical dilemmas that he has to face because of them. The film also feels balanced since it doesn't portray everybody on the other side as complete bad guys and shows us that there are all kinds - the fanatics, the misguided, brainwashed believers and those with a conscience. It ratchets up the suspense towards the end as the elements of a plan come together. The climax does end the film on a positive note but feels a little too convenient and cinematic compared to the rest of the film. Cheadle is perfect and brings out the torment the character goes through. Guy Pearce plays a no-nonsense cop while Saïd Taghmaoui is solid as one of the terrorists.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:06:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a happy and wonderful 2009...

A busy couple of weeks at work and some bad prints have conspired to create a long backlog of 2008 movies to still watch and/or review. So the retrospectives and Top Ten lists will have to wait till the backlog is cleared.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

2008-12-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is from the same actor-director team that gave us Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and though they also gave us the disappointing Mohabbatein, there was some hope that the duo would recapture atleast some of the magic of their first film. That hope remains for the first half of Rab Ne as the film takes an interesting premise and sets up some intriguing possibilities. But the direction it takes in the second half is a huge disappointment and completely dashes those hopes. And then some.

Rab Ne feels like it is confused about its tone. Shah Rukh's unbelievable transformation and Anushka's inability to figure it out place the film in the realm of fantasy and make us settle down for some fluffy entertainment. But the after-effects of the transformation are handled with a seriousness that belies the film's light-hearted start.

The film starts of with two very likeable characters. Suri is a shy, introverted 'Average Joe' who has a lot of love in his heart but has trouble expressing it (this is superbly showcased in the scene where he wants to weigh down a simple note with a long-stemmed rose but then decides again it and goes with a decidedly unromantic bottle). He understands Taani's troubles and is willing to give her the space and time she needs to connect with him. Taani, for her part, has just lost the life of her dreams and is stuck in a marriage thrust upon her. She understands that Suri loves her and takes small steps(like showing up at the party his friends throw for him) to make him happy but is unable to open up her heart and love him the way he loves her - and the way he wants her to. These are characters we can wish will overcome their problems and live happily ever after.

Its amazing that by the time the movie ends, we have come to actively dislike the same two characters. Suri misleads Taani by transforming into Raj and then pretty much turns into a sadist as he pulls her in two different directions and tortures her as she struggles with her feelings. Taani, for her part, never reveals that she is married until the last moment, spends most of her time with Raj and contemplates eloping. So we never see if Suri and Taani are made for each other and never root for them to be together. Suri's friend, played by Vinay Pathak, ends up being the only sensible character as he voices our doubts and questions and just like us, is exasperated when Suri doesn't choose the logical and obvious path.

For a film that equates love with God, Rab Ne treats the subject with utter disdain. It sounds ridiculous when Suri mentally tortures Taani and then reminds us periodically, with short monologues about his love for her, that he is doing it in the name of love and to make her happy. And after all the doubts and misgivings and mental anguish, Taani's moment of enlightenment about the man she loves comes when she opens her eyes at the Golden Temple and sees who is walking toward her. There are a few scenes - like the hilarious one where Suri has 2 dinners or the one where Taani tends to Suri after he is hurt - that illustrate love but these are hidden under too many scenes of chauvinism, sadism and just plain stupidity.

Shah Rukh subdues his usual mannerisms and is wonderful as Suri. But he makes up for that by hamming it up as Raj and is completely irritating. He just seems too old to be playing the boyish, flamboyant character and gets on our nerves instead of being charming. Anushka is rather plain-looking but fits the role well. Dance Pe Chance... is very catchy and a real dance song. Phir Milenge... doesn't really fit into the movie but is gloriously staged and well-written as it pays homage to some actors from the past with lines made up of their movie names. Haule Haule... and Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai... are melodious numbers.

2 Trips

2008-12-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

The winter holidays were filled with some memorable trips the last 2 years but with work playing spoilsport this year for both the wife and me, the only traveling we did was between our home and our respective offices. But we did manage to keep the travel tradition alive by squeezing in a day trip (more like a half-day trip since we left only after lunch) to the Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz on Christmas.

We first stopped at the Monarch Butterfly Preserve that is part of the park. The preserve has a short walk and a resting area where the butterflies are supposed to rest during the winter months before heading out with the onset of warmer weather in March/April. The park's brochure raised our hopes with eye-catching photos of colorful butterflies hanging in clusters from the trees. But all we saw were a few butterflies flitting around in the air and we spent the rest of the time squinting at clusters up in the trees and arguing about whether they were butterflies or simply dry leaves. We told ourselves that the rain and the wind had driven away the butterflies but one of the other visitors who seemed like a regular did mention that there had been a poor show the last few years.

Then we walked down to the beach to the Natural Bridges, which are essentially rocks jutting out of the ocean. There were supposedly two of these natural structures originally - hence the 's' in Bridges - but one of them collapsed in 1995, leaving the one that is standing now. With the setting sun, the dark clouds and the ocean forming the backdrop, the 'bridge', with the view of the ocean through its hollow center, looked gorgeous though. But we could enjoy the view for only 10 minutes or so since it started raining again, forcing us to run back to our cars.

Yesterday night, we went to Vasona Park for their famous Fantasy of Lights. The entire park was decorated with lights and several animated displays created out of twinkling lights dotted the landscape. We drove through a designated route with the displays on both sides of - and sometimes across - the road. The dinosaurs, a volcano, a ship and a gloriously lighted-up arch were particularly impressive and the cute displays, like a koala swinging on a candy cane and Santa playing basketball, were big hits too. The drive inside the park takes about 20 minutes with about 15 minutes (I've heard could be longer depending on the time) wait time to reach the park's entrance itself.

Happy Holidays...

If Wishes Were Horses...

2008-12-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

Kavya's learning to write longer, more descriptive paragraphs in school now. Before composing the paragraph, she has to first come up with an outline that consists of a 1-line introduction, 3 pairs of double lines where the first line is a new fact and the second line offers more detail about it, and a 1-line closing.

The topic last week was how grown-ups should treat kids and the following is the outline she had written...

How grown ups should treat kids

Let us do anything
Watch TV, play video games all day

Draw on walls
Cover all walls

Give money
$1000 dollars every day

How grown ups should treat kids

Didn't know whether I should be proud of her writing or scared of her wishes :)

Official Endhiran Pics

2008-12-18T23:09:00.001-08:00

Looks like a few photos from Endhiran have been officially released. They look to be from the same song sequence of which a couple of pics were leaked earlier. Nice strategy from Shankar here. Considering the leaked pictures, these official pics don't really give us any new scenes from the film. But by releasing them, it looks like he is not maintaining as much secrecy as before and doesn't want the hype to build to ridiculous levels. Thalaivar looks real young and stylish but then again, what's new?!

Endhiran was also in the news a couple of days back as Sun Pictures took over the film from Ayngharan. Seems like a really big film for a fledgling company to acquire. So far Sun Pictures has produced only Kaadhalil Vizhundhen and Thenaavattu, both small movies. So Endhiran's gonna be a real big step for them. With Karunanidhi's family and Maaran's family burying the hatchet, atleast the television telecast rights won't be fought over!