Mayakkam Enna

The first time I watched this movie, it felt like there was definitely something missing, despite the 'outside the norm' storyline. Atleast, it was different from the usual storylines at that time. I guess I was not expecting that, when I watched it back then. It felt choppy at times and not at all like a complete product, to say the least. Now, after watching it tonight, I was so impressed that I wanted to start writing on my blog again after half a decade!

The same parts where it was choppy before felt like editing masterpieces and directorial touches now. Or is it just the difference between watching a movie being sober and drunk? It's up to you to figure out if it was the first time or the second time that I was drunk. The premise itself is something that you don't see in a regular Tamil movie, even the romance part of it was handled very differently. Besides the extraordinary acting by the lead pair, there are notable performances by almost everyone, even the unintentional villain. The one scene where the heroine cleans up the floor of the bloody remains of her miscarriage is reminiscent to the Moondram Pirai scene where Kamalhassan takes away the national award from Sri Devi in the climax scene. Coming from a hardcore Kamalhassan fan, that's almost like getting an Oscar award. After the first half, the movie takes a U-turn and gets even more serious. Still, it doesn't slow down and keeps you interested until the last scene. That's where most of our Tamil movies fail miserably. When the movie ended, I wanted to clap my hands in appreciation. Is there a better compliment for a movie than that?

Sarvam

Apparently, I don't learn from my mistakes! As shocking as that may sound (or not), it's very true. I read the movie reviews online and fall for them time and again. Sarvam proves that past achievements don't count when it comes to making movies. You just have to be at your creative best to churn out good movies every time. I went to watch this movie in a theater instead of opting to download it online only because it was directed by someone who had given decent movies like Arindhum Ariyaamalum and Pattiyal. 

I was just beginning to like the way the titles were being shown and that's where it ended. Right after the titles, we see a song with a Michael Jackson-ish video with the hero generally singing about enjoying life, in Ilaiyaraja's voice. When the song ends, there is no connection at all to the next scene. What, they don't even care to show it as a dream song these days? 

This movie was advertised as a romatic thriller. There was a little bit of the romantic part, but the thriller part was completely missing. May be that was it! Just because there is a guy with a beard, repeating the same dialogues with a serious face, are we supposed to feel like we are watching a thriller? The only good thing that I could say about this movie is the songs. It's not even worth watching this movie online. What a waste of $11! 

Duplicity

The story was very confusing for the first 15 minutes or so or atleast I felt that way. Actually, I think it was the beer! I was at one of the very few theaters where they serve beer. Nothing could be better than this combination of the two things that I love the most – Movies and Beer. May be you greater mortals won’t have the same problem. If I remember right, this is one of the movies that belong to the fun category, without worrying about the logic, after a long time, since Ocean’s 11. Yes, Duplicity belongs to the category of Heist/Spy flicks, except that it’s not money or jewelry that they are trying to steal. But, there is a major difference here compared to the other movies of the same kind, which will leave you wanting more at the end. You should watch it to know it.

I liked Clive Owen’s acting when I first saw him in Derailed though the movie wasn’t as good. Here he seems to be repeatedly fooled by Julia Roberts, only to find out that it’s not him who is being fooled, but it’s us, the viewers. One second he is the victim and the next moment he takes control with ease. I am still wondering if he would have made a better and a much cooler James Bond than the very serious Daniel Craig. And then there is the inimitable Julia Roberts with her trademark laugh. Assuming this is not a remake of some older hollywood movie or a foriegn language movie or an adaptation of a comic book, it's an original Hollywood movie that I thoroughly enjoyed after a very long time. 

Super-hyped Millionaire

Seriously, 8 Oscars for this movie? Clearly shows how the Oscar selection committee gets it wrong time and again. I haven't seen any of the other movies that were nominated in the Best Motion Picture category, but I don't have to be psychic to know that there was surely a much better movie that deserved the award. The best part of the movie was the last 5 minutes, when they manage to make you sit up and think if he is going to answer that last question or not. 

And to think that some celebrities in India made such a big deal out of this movie by making smart-ass comments describing how the movie shows India in a bad light, it's just hilarious. Mr.Bachchan, you have to know when to shut your mouth. If someone sees a duet that you have done with heroines running around a tree and says that Indians are silly and stupid, would you have stopped doing that? We don't do that in real life, do we? It's all about the money dude! You have made enough, now let others do the same. 

Though I am glad A.R.Rahman won two Oscars - for something that he himself accepted was not his best work - I don't understand what qualifies a song to get nominated in the best song category. Does it have to be part of a famous movie? Hopefully from now, more of our music gets recognized globally! If there was one category that this movie deserved an award in, it's the editing. It takes a lot of effort to make sense with a non-linear screenplay. Kudos on that! 

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu

After watching Subramaniapuram, I was craving more movies with a village backdrop. If it's combined with a sports theme, nothing could be sweeter than that! The main theme of the movie is Kabadi and there is a love story on the side to go with it.

It's about a local Kabadi team in a small village overcoming all odds and making it big against some professional teams in a major tournament (yes, it's not an unusal story these days). They are mocked for not winning any games and for wasting time in the name of Kabadi without doing anything useful. The team members range from a couple of bachelors to a newly married man and a tea-shop owner, whose mother in law keeps cursing him for nothing. Then, there is the hero, a very ordinary unknown face, who is just the substitue player of the team at the beginning. 

There are no unnecessary characters in the movie in the name of comedy or villain-ism(?!)- everyone has a purpose, from the bus driver to the rival team members. Speaking of comedy, everyone does their own bit to tickle our funny bone, in a genuine way. Watch out for the parotta eating challenge - it's comedy at its subtle best! Of course, the Kabadi matches don't match the intensity of the Cricket matches of Lagaan or Chennai-600028 for that matter. The climax left me very unsatisfied! I guess the director wanted to shock the audience and he sure did it, but I felt it was totally unnecessary. Overall it was a fine movie with loads and loads of nativity and a sensible screenplay, which seems to be missing in most movies these days! Vijay and Ajith need to watch this movie atleast a 100 times to learn...NO, they should just stop acting, because they will never learn!

A Wednesday

If there was ever a movie that defines the phrase 'Short and Sweet', this should be it. No beating around the bush in the name of character development, no crappy duets, no fight/song to introduce the hero, no punch dialogues, nothing that you see in most of the Tamil movies these days. Hits the spot right from the beginning and keeps up the intensity throughout the movie. Both the lead actors, Anupham Kher and Nasseerudhin Shah, fit their parts to a T. When I first heard that they were doing the lead roles, I was a little apprehensive about it, but then they proved beyond any doubt that they can bring in aggression from nowhere, no matter how old they are. As mush as I hate to admit it, Hindi movies are proving to be something far better than Tamil movies.
Now, here comes the best part! Apparently, Kanalhassan has bought the remake rights to this movie and plans to make this in Tamil with Mammooty/Mohanlal. If anone can do justice to this story, it's definitely Kamalhassan. I do not have an iota of doubt that this remake - if it ever happens - will be light years ahead of the original. But, you know what? I'd rather have Nasser doing the Police Commisssioner and Kamalhassan do the role of the terrorist, which would be a complete reversal of what they did in Kuruthipunal. Wouldn't that be something?

Vaaranam Aayiram

What could have been a really nice, heartwarming movie about a father-son relationship has been spoilt because of the smart-ass attitude of the director. What he and most of the Tamil movie directors need to realize is that if you can’t pack a powerful punch of emotions in 2 hours, you can never do it in 3 or 4 hours. It’s like how the Indian team used to claim that having 7 batsmen was going to win them matches, when they made Dravid the scapegoat/wicketkeeper! If you can’t do it with 6 batsmen, then forget it. Bad analogies aside, this movie is the best example of how the second half should not drag. Gowtham did it with Vettaiyaadu Velaiyaadu too.
The first half took me back several years, in fact more than a decade, reminding me of my relationship with my dad. I still remember when my dad took me aside (and away from my mom) and told me “I know you are going around with that girl, but don’t overdo it”. There were a also a lot of funny moments between Surya and Sameera Reddy, the girl he is madly in love with. More than the movie, the people who were sitting behind me were making me laugh out loud. When Sameera Reddy finally accepts that she has fallen in love with Surya, with the Golden Gate bridge as the backdrop, Surya immediately picks up a bunch of very small flowers from the grass and gives it to her. The girl sitting behind me tells her husband, “Paaru, avan evalo romantic-a poo eduthu kudukkaraan, neeyum irukkiye, enakku molaga bajji eduthutu vandhu kuduthe!” Before I could stop laughing, the husband goes, “Beach le bajji dhaane di kedaikkum, adhukku naan enna panradhu?” I felt like I was sitting in Abhirami theater for sometime there! Coming back to the screen that was in front of me, Gowtham definitely knows how to handle the little things between the lead pair without making it look cheesy. I can give him that.
During the second half, I don’t know about the other people in the theater, but my eyes were watering up for sure. WAIT! Before you make any judgments on my sensitivity levels, let me make it perfectly clear that I had tears in my eyes because I was all sleepy and I kept yawning non-stop. If you want to show a man’s journey through his successes and failures in life, you don’t necessarily have to take up half of our lives. Even one of the best movies of the last century, Forrest Gump, which coincidentally (!) deals with a man’s life journey, was only 2 hours and 22 minutes long.
Overall, the movie was good when it took us through the 70’s and the 80’s, started to slow down during the 90’s and finally limped it’s way to the end credits after 2000. Oh yeah, there's also the pathetic attempt at justifying the title at the end, by making Simran explain the meaning of Vaaranam Aayiram!

Burn After Watching

Subramaniapuram:
This must be the sleeper hit of this year. A simple story, lot of attention to details and a linear screenplay with lots of nativity are the highlights of this movie. The 4 (or 5) protagonists hide very well into their characters (and their beards) and amaze us with some casual acting. The story is not original by any means – unemployed youth being exploited by the local politician for his personal benefits – but the treatment given to it is original, with the early 80’s Madurai as the backdrop and a love story as the sidetrack, which would have looked completely stupid in any other movie. The director has made the job of making it look like the 80’s easier by confining the screenplay to a few streets, a couple of ambassador cars and a scooter. As I was trying to find the face behind the beards, two of them seemed very familiar. One was that comedian Ganja Karuppu who always has a beard. As I was pulling the rest of my hair out trying to figure out the other familiar face, it struck me halfway through the movie that he was that same guy from Chennai-600028, the one who moves from Royapuram and joins the rival team. I had no idea that he could pull a Chandrasekhar with so much ease. Yes, that’s who he reminded me of, the way he smiles whenever he sees his girlfriend, with his head shaking a little, he looked like a clone of the yesteryear hero Chandrasekhar. May be that’s what the director wanted from him. The music too was reminiscent of the 80's reminding me of some of Ilaiyaraja's best BGMs. If you get a chance to watch this movie, don't forget to burn yourself a copy.

Phoonk:
I don't know why I make the mistake of watching a Ram Gopal Varma movie again and again. I guess I don't learn my lessons that easily. Phoonk was advertised as the scariest horror movie ever and I even read somewhere that RGV announced he'd give Rs.5 Lakhs to anyone who dares to watch this movie alone. Of course, it came with strong recommendations from my friend Vaibhavi, who is my horror movie partner. Well, RGV has managed to make a stinker of a movie once again. The movie did not have a single genuinely scary moment. I have never felt so guilty about wasting almost 3 hours of my life. I don't know what else to say about this stupid movie other than RGV should do us all a huge favor and stop making movies anymore. If you happen to make the same mistake, do not forget to burn the dvd, literally!

Ninaithale Inikkum.

Bell bottom, thongu meesai and step cutting. That's Kamalhassan in Ninaithale inikkum. If you thought that was funny, then add Rajinikanth, sporting a french beard, as the guitarist with a compulsive stealing habit and you have the deadliest comedy combo. Can you even imagine Rajini calling Kamal "rascal" and "thalaivare" among the numerous "va da"s and "po da"s today? The movie can be easily classified as belonging to the MUSICAL genre, but it's a mix of comedy, drama, and of course musical. To even think of a musical band like this based in Madras/Chennai sends chills down the spine. Rajini clearly plays second fiddle to Kamal throughout the movie, but you can clearly see Rajini stealing the show in many scenes with his comic timing and the ability to take over Kamal in the form of a solo song. Kamal should have seen it coming. No wonder Rajini is always the unanimous No.1 and Kamal will always be the deserving challenger to the No.1 spot. Jayaprada was so cute with a boy-cut hairstyle, reminding me of my ex. The "Engeyum Eppothum" song is much better than the remix, without the jarring beats and the unwanted lines replacing that best part of the song. I think this is the best tamil movie to watch when you are drunk (or not). FUN is the only word to define this movie. I hope they don't remake this evergreen movie and spoil it.

Rajini - THE REAL BOSS

I wouldn't be doing justice to this blog if I didn't write about Sivaji. I have loved many Rajinikanth movies in the past like Baasha and Padaiyappa just for his style, despite being an ardent fan of Kamalhassan. If not for anything else, I knew I could watch Sivaji for Rajini's style. I haven't seen this much hype for any other movie as long as I can remember. As I settled down in a seat in the fourth row, this guy who had driven down from Wyoming to watch this movie, thrust a handful of shredded paper into my hand to throw on the screen when Rajini appears. I thought, YEAH RIGHT, like I am going to do this! But when Rajinikanth turned his face towards the screen, I just did it (Mannichidu thalaiva!). What can I say, I was in the moment!!!
The movie was all Rajini, right from the title card to the ending credits. He looked atleast 10 years younger and refreshingly handsome with his new look. The first half was funny with Rajini's antics to get the girl, combined with Vivek's one-liners and his usual ways of mimicking other actors. Both of them even manage to do a Vadivelu, all in good spirits, I hope. My favorite was of course when Rajini says after taking a dip in a tub full of Multani Matti, "Ippo paaru, poi kazhuvittu chumma Kamalahaasan maadhiri varen". The way Vivek makes fun of all the younger heroes trying to emulate Rajini is a bullseye shot not only for the Simbus and Dhanushs, but also for the Vijays and the Ajiths. Rajinikanth's style is just unbeatable in this movie too. Yesteryear tamil actor Suman has been pulled back from the telugu land to play the villain. He has done a neat job in the age of loud villains with long hair. Shreya as the heroine has played her part to perfection both as the homely girl and the glamor girl.
The second half got serious as expected with Rajini getting rich with just one rupee and using all the money to do good deeds. Well, atleast he didn't do it in a single song like his other movies. Rajini as the Mottai Boss was too stylish (obviously). The songs were actually pretty impressive on the screen. The art direction was amazing. Imagine this: A whole bunch of fat men with Rajini's face drawn on their pot bellies! Creativity at its ridiculous best!!! Overall it was pure fun, if you leave the logic in the parking lot. Once again Rajinikanth has managed to show that he is the real boss when it comes to Tamil Cinema, no matter how many younger actors lurk around calling themseleves the next Superstar. And please Mr.Director, stop extrapolating things at the end of the movie and showing that India had become a super power in 2020 without any corruption whatsoever. It's not only impractical but also impossible, atleast the corruption part, whether you do it sincerely, to make yourself feel good or to impress the audience.