Sunday, January 15, 2006

Paramasivan


Paramasivan is touted as Ajith's comeback film - the film that proves that he has reinvented himself as an actor all set to reclaim his spot among the top actors in Kodambakkam. His choice of the film clearly shows that he is aiming to reach that objective by taking the masala route. Paramasivan is a completely commercial, risk-free project that contains a little bit of everything - action, romance, comedy and sentiments. One just wishes they had been packaged with more finesse.

When SP Nandakumar(Prakashraj) wishes to eliminate the people behind a horrific bomb blast in Coimbatore, he chooses deathrow inmate Subramanya Siva(Ajith) for the job. A man with no identity is the best bet to get these terrorists, is Nandakumar's theory. So he brings Siva out of prison, erases his past, gives him a brand new identity as Paramasivan and puts him up in his own house in Ooty. Once Siva completes his mission, Nandakumar plans to complete the government's job and kill him. But Siva falling in love with Malar(Laila), who lives in Nandakumar's house, complicates matters. And then there's CBI Officer Nair(Jayaram), who is slowly closing in on Paramasivan.

Paramasivan boasts of an outrageous story, is filled with gaping plot holes and and has serious continuity and logic issues. But it also has the one factor that keeps us from thinking too much about all those things - a good pace. With Ajith's mission, his flashback, the romance, Laila's problems at home, Prakashraj's plans, Jayaram's chase and Vivek's comedy, the film throws so many things at us that we rarely have the time to think too much about the aforementioned things. So when sentiments get in the way, there's an action scene just around the corner to shake things up. And when the action gets a little tiring, Vivek does his thing to make us laugh.

The entire film has a very 70s feel. The revelation of an entire 'control center' inside a room in an ashram, the computer files that reveal everything about the bad guys and the outlandish plans of the bad guys would fit right in in an old MGR or Jaishankar flick. The goings-on are frequently so preposterous and dumbed-down that they give the film a campy feel. But there are times, like when you realize that the role of a CBI officer is primarily being used for comedy, where we wonder if Vasu did it all with his tongue firmly in his cheek. In that respect, Paramasivan is like Attagaasam - a film that is throwback to the goofiness of the old days but knows that it is and is almost proud of it. But I do know one thing. I certainly preferred this 'campiness' to the violence of Aaru or the crudeness of Sivakasi.

But the action sequences definitely don't feel like they belong in a 70s film and are mounted quite impressively. Ajith's chase of a police officer on the busy streets is a real stand-out but all the fights are picturized energetically. But these nice stunts make us look forward to a climax that will top them all but that is not the case. The motorcycle chase is a huge disappointment and is spoiled by some ridiculous graphics.

The film starts with an obvious Anniyan hangover, evident both in Ajith's hairstyle and the location of the first fight. It continues to remind us of Anniyan in many places (like Jayaram's track, with Vivek in tow) but Vasu includes a lot of references to other films, his own Chandramukhi being the most frequent. Among the more notables ones, there is a spoof of Ghajini which isn't as funny as it initially promises but the sequence that includes a scene from Uzhaippaali is quite clever.

I almost don't believe I am saying this but Ajith has lost too much weight. He looks haggard in a few places, especially since he obviously likes to flaunt his new thinned-down body in all those cut-off vests. Laila overdoes the Oh-I-am-so-cute routine with her broken English and famous dimpled smile. The dresses and fast dance steps in Undivil Un... definitely don't suit her petite frame. Prakashraj does his role with a lot of conviction and is one of the reasons the movie doesn't descend into total camp. Jayaram never seems sure if he is supposed to be serious or comical and ends up doing both. Vivek's track has a few weak spots but he can consider it one of his funnier ones among his recent films. Nasser and Seetha have cameos.

Oru Kili... is a nice melodious number, especially because you don't expect it in such a commercial entertainer. Kannan..., which introduces the family Ajith is going to live with, is a number along the lines of Oru Naal Oru Kanavu's Kaatril Varum Geethame..., in both concept and execution. Aasa Dosa..., an item number by Rahasya, is an unnecessary song in an otherwise clean film. The Hara Hara Siva Siva... bit serves as a high-energy background score in some action scenes.

Paramasivan - Pazhaiya Sivan!

33 Comments:

At 4:04 PM, Blogger Aatma said...

Hey Balaji, this is one of the worst movie i have seen in a long time - The movie is way off its time and absolutely no logic.

The way Ajit was trying to get answers from the Samiyar, Last scence with 5 human bombs all dressed in black, going together and our hero incidentally sees them - wow thats called coincidence.

God alone knows what Ajit was thinking when he selected this movie.

So many people left half way and so many others enjoyed making fun of the movie - that was my only entertainment while watching this flick

 
At 7:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Utter flop movie....Ajith fans lost their throat by screaming that Paramasivan is a comeback film.
You know Ajith also started playing politics like other heros. They said first four days are going to be full houses in chennai theatres screening Paramasivan. But in first day itself Vijay fans were allowed to see this movie because of Aadhi's one day delay. I dont know how come theatres had added additional seats for Vijay fans when Ajith fans booked all four days shows. Accept this guys... Ajith lost his fans base to Vikaram and Surya. Everyone says Ajith is having very much confidence. Then how come he choosed this utter flop movie with VASU. It shows that he lost his confidence and want to ride on other's fame. In this case it is P,VASU with his Chandramukhi success.
Ajith should take some time off and re-invent himself and try to select stories which suits him.

 
At 7:44 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

aatma, this was one movie i knew even while writing the review that my views would be different from others' views :) i agree with u that it "is way off its time and has absolutely no logic" but i still enjoyed it. thought it was paced well. the basic story is a cop asking a deathrow inmate to go after terrorists! once i knew that i kinda stopped looking for logic and went with the flow. maybe thats why i enjoyed it :)

 
At 10:26 PM, Blogger pagala'k' said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 10:27 PM, Blogger pagala'k' said...

After watching Paramasivan, I could only think of one question. "Why should it happen to Ajith?"

Saran, Ravikumar, Lingusamy and now P.Vasu. What makes all these talented "commercial directors" usually fresh from delivering a huge hit with a big star, deliver their "creative worst" when it comes to Ajith. I mean what more can a man do, he lost weight. He chucked his racing career. He has put in more than a 100 percent into his performance. Yet, only a miracle (Aadhi being even worse than PS) would save this movie.Sometimes I think its all a huge conspiracy.

Can someone break the Ajith jinx?

 
At 10:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The film was a copy from the Hindi film "Kartoos" which in turn was copied from French film "La Femme Nikita"

 
At 10:36 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

pagalak, both saran and KSR gave hits with ajith didnt they? the next 2 directors for ajith r KSR and perarasu. lets wait & see :)

james, skanda mentioned in another post that 'paramasivan' was remade from 'kartoos'. i didnt talk about it since i havent seen kartoos. but i know 'la femme nikita'(which was remade into 'the professional' in english and a really bad arjun movie in tamil) was about an assassin and his young woman protege. so 'kartoos' couldnt have been copied from that...

 
At 1:47 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually The professional was not a remake, its an original story by Luc Besson. Besson also directed Nikita, which was about a cop who takes in a lawbreaking girl and trains her to become an assasin.

Paramasivan simply changes the assasin from woman to man, and adds Indian masala mix to its screenplay.

Another point to note is that Subhash Ghai's film "Karma" (1986) also had a similar story, about a jailer who seeks and trains three hard criminals to fight the evil and corrupt Dr Dang.

 
At 7:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

P.Vasu and his outdated ideas..what did you expect? I saw a little bit of "Villian" yesterday on Sun TV and had to control myself from puking all over the screen. Time has come to put the likes of KSR, P.Vasu etc. to rest.

 
At 7:19 AM, Blogger Kumari said...

Aiyyo, Appo Thalai-kku idhuvum hit illaya :(
Che, thirumba Vaali parthu manasa thetha vendiyathu thaan.

 
At 7:40 AM, Blogger Me too said...

Is this the same movie that Bala supposedly started with Ajit?

 
At 9:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes. It was titled "Naan Kadavul"

 
At 9:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i was watching parts of mugavari recently...the movie shows ajith working to his strengths and emoting beautifully...i guess it was the success of amarkalam and dheena which made Ajith take the action route instead of sticking to dramas where his acting was appreciated to a small extent by the masses and to a large extent by the critics...guess its the mass numbers that count in the end!

 
At 10:39 AM, Blogger Balaji said...

james, true. i got 'nikita' and 'the professional' confused. but i still feel 'paramasivan' and 'nikita' r a li'l too far apart :)

kumari, exactly what my wife, a huge ajith fan during 'vaali' time, said :)

me too/anon, 'naan kadavul' is going to be directed by bala. this one was initially named 'idi' and had bala's name as the producer. not sure if the producer also changed along with the name.

ram, even 'amarkkalam' worked to his strengths. i think it was 'dheena' that set him down the completely commercial route. and what a disaster it has been, both for him and the viewers!!

 
At 12:17 PM, Blogger Raju said...

Will check your review out after watching the movie, as usual.. :-) (Lucky you.. Grrrr)

 
At 2:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I haven't seen the film yet but by some of the comments it sounds average. Hopefully Ajith will come back from this with a hit again! :)

 
At 9:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

off-topic, finaallly watched kanda naall muthal....n fell in love with the girl who just got married!

 
At 10:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think ajith's voice is too weak for him to pull of action roles. he does not have a gambeeramaana voice thus such roles seem to be lost on him. remember the movie RED? he will constantly be shouting "AADHU" and it sounded highly ridiculous. Amarkalam worked because it potrayed him as a rowdy with so much insecurities. he has definately reinvented himself in terms of his looks but these action roles just have got to go. cos its so sad to him being wasted like that in movies like this.

 
At 11:37 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

anon, thats exactly what i said in my review of 'red' i think.

but it does look like he learned atleast some lessons. 'paramasivan' doesn't have any real punchlines or self-hype lines or digs at vijay. in fact, the credits had him as just ajith and dropped even the 'ultimate star' title. pleasantly surprised me :)

 
At 12:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Folks,

It does looks like Paramasivan is gonna be a hit looking at the first few days and considering "Aadhi" got pretty damning reviews... Even though I didn't like the movie, which isn't saying much (since I haven't liked any movie in the recent past... ;) ), it looks like people do like it... So, it seems like Sivakasi all over again... Just that Ajith's cashing in...

 
At 8:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well Jeyam Ravi and Vikram's voices arent all that masculine as well :-) The fact that Ajith's action movies havent done well might have to partially do with the fact that he has worked with losers and loser scripts throughout. Of course the other reason is Ajith himself and his obese looks. Let him work with the likes of Dharani, Murugadoss, Gautam Menon etc. and we'll see if it doesnt make atleast a small difference.

 
At 10:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

vikram's voice isnt masculine? ???

laila is an annoying albino eyebrowless badly-dubbed 2-expression-having freak and sandhya or abhirami should get all her roles.

i'll watch this movie the right way -- ie in excerpt on a vivek comedy compilation.

jevya

 
At 10:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw the movie on the first day in Bangalore(Sampige Theatre). It was very tough to get a ticket. Ajit's Bangalore fans were in full strength.I was surprised how an actor without a major hit for so many years continues to have so many fans and fan clubs even in Bangalore.They seemed to enjoy the movie especially the racing sequence in th climax. There seemed to be a lot of sympathy for ajit.Yes I agree that there are a lot of loopholes and the logic is weak. But i feel that this movie is better than any of vijay's recent movies including gilli,thirupachi and sivakasi.Personally i hope that this movie becomes a hit.Ajit can't do anything more.If this movie dosent turn out to be a hit it would be better for him to quit acting.

 
At 2:56 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

krishna, i thot 'paramasivan' was better than 'sivakasi'. it had an innocence(for want of a better word) that was kinda endearing. as i said it was like a 70s police movie - silly and goofy but clean :)

vijay, true. need a good director to exploit an actor the right way. and agree with u on 'jayam' ravi. i thot vijay lacked the masculine voice to carry off punchlines and threats with punch but the 2nd half of 'tiruppaachi' changed my mind :)

jevya, wow. i know ppl who dislike laila but not to this extent. i really don't think sandhya or abhirami could've done laila's roles in 'dhill' or 'dheena' with that much cuteness :)

karthik, thanx! i was hoping there'd be atleast 1 other person who felt the same as me about the film :)

 
At 6:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

haha, i admit my hate is a reaction to watching nandha last night, where laila's role was poorly written but she was also totally out of her depth and despoiled the moral seriousness of the movie.

any cuteness sandhya can't exhibit is excessive, :-P, but really laila's screechy cutesiness is neither naturalistic nor entertaining. the fact she is not even pretty just makes it worse.

 
At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

anonymous, laila pretty illiyaa??? what are you saying??? cha cha cha, indha azhagaana ponnungalaa yaaraachu edhaachu sonnaa manasu porukkave maatengudhu!!!

 
At 10:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

avalai parkave kashtamaha irukkirathu. her eyes are tiny, her skin is albino pale, her mouth is a slit. she can't act or dance or speak thamizh dialogues. i don't know why she gets roles. pisas mathiri irukkirathukku etho oru novelty value, i guess.

it amazes me that gorgeous thamaraikann abhirami, who is also a good actress, has not gotten roles.

 
At 10:30 PM, Blogger மு.கார்த்திகேயன் said...

Balaji,
Ajith's father is Rajesh and Seetha..not Nasser

 
At 10:42 PM, Blogger மு.கார்த்திகேயன் said...

I too enjoyed the film PS..esp the climax where Ajith done a excellent job...
When i saw Aathi, I noted one thing that, PS will do good BO..Aathi freaked me when saw the same of Ghilli, Thirupatchi, Sivakasi..How many time I can watch Vijay acting in the same..How can I tolerate..

 
At 11:41 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

karthik, i just mentioned that nasser and seetha have cameos and not that they r ajith's parents. nasser played the ex-cop who talked to prakashraj in the 1st scene.

 
At 8:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

karthikeyen muthurajan we all here know u r a ajith fan .so does u r comments abt carry any credibility???

 
At 1:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since we were all talking about Director Bala going into hibernation, K.S. Ravikumar being a lousy director and Ajith having an even lousier career with twists and turns that are not doing him any favors.. comes this news from Sify.com.

With regards to how Ravikumar fits into this picture, did any of you catch the Godfather trailer on Sun TV's Putham Pudhusu last night?..

If you've been a vehement KSR hater, I guess the trailer won't make much of difference.. but there is a little part of you that leans towards KSR's style (like me!).. you would've been mighty impressed with the trailer and with the eunuch Ajith..

Please write this down somewhere.. this film and Ajeeth in it is going to give Vijay a run for his money this year 2006!.. I'm finally seeing signs of a heated competition coming soon!.. I love it! :-)

 
At 11:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought the Rajini movie was Baasha and not Uzhaippali.

 

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