Tamil and Malayalam Cinema in 2008-An Overview

Tamil Cinema in 2008-An Overview :
2008 was a mixed year for Tamil Cinema. On one hand you had movies with relatively lesser known actors and directors getting noticed and on the other hand while some of the bigger stars managed to come up with good movies, the other bigger stars brought out movies which fizzled at the box office. Given below is my personal take on the Tamil movies released in 2008-
Best Movies
1. Subramaniapuram- Directed & produced by Sasikumar, the movie starred Jai & Swati, both relatively unknown stars along with Sasikumar himself. The story had a background of Madurai in the 1980’s & dealt with a group of youngsters caught in a web of violence and deceit. The movie went on to be accepted both by the critics and the masses. Music by James Vasanth was a big asset to the movie.2. Anjathey- This was the 2nd movie directed by Mysskin after his Chitiram Pesudhadi.Starring Narain, Prasanna,Ajmal & Vijayalakshmi, people were surprised to see such a taut action thriller in a completely natural style well showcased by Mysskin. Camerawork by the DOP, Mahesh Muthuswamy as well as music by Mysskin himself also helped the movie.3. Dasavatharam- There has been a lot of debate among the critics and masses regarding the creative merits of the movie. Directed by K.S.Ravikumar & with story and screenplay by Kamal Haasan, there is no doubt that it was a true showcase of the talent of the genius called Kamal Haasan.Co starring Asin, Kamal went on to portray a landmark 10 roles in the movie. Music was by Himesh Reshamiyya.The movie did extremely well at the box office.4. Vaaranam Aayiram- This Gautam Vasudev Menon flick was sincere at heart and had Surya in the two roles of a father and son. Though the pace was a bit leisurely, the brilliant visuals by the DOP, Rathnavel and the music by Harris Jayaraj ensured that the movie captured our attention.5. Saroja- Inspired by ‘Judgement Day’, Venkat Prabhu’s 2nd directorial effort after Chennai 28 was a truly different movie for the tamil audiences. It was a well made thriller set in a race against time framework.
Decent Movies
1. Poo- Brave attempt by Sasi using the heroine as a protagonist. Parvathy’s performance was the highlight of the movie.2. Poi Solla Porom- UTV’s remake of their successful hindi movie- Khosla Ka Ghosla, this one directed by Vijay was a faithful remake.
Major Disappointments
1. Kuselan ( Rajnikanth)2. Kuruvi ( Vijay)3. Bheema ( Vikram)
4. Satyam ( Vishal)5. Aegan ( Ajith- fizzled out after a good opening)
Song of the Year-
Kangal Irundal from Subramaniapuram- a lilting melody by James Vasanth and sung byBelly Raj and Deepa Mariam.
Album of the Year-
Vaaranam Aayiram by Harris Jayaraj – undoubtedly.
Overall a very unpredicatable year for tamil cinema, lets see what’s in store for 2009.
Malayalam Cinema in 2008-An Overview :
2008 was a very average year for Malayalam cinema. The truly artistic movies seemed to be far and few.Hindi, tamil and dubbed telugu releases continued to flood the market in Kerala. Given below is my personal take on the Malayalam movies released in 2008-
Best Movies
Malabar Wedding- It was a small movie with Indrajeet and Gopika in the lead. Based upon a tradition called- ’sorakalyanam’ prevalent among some parts of the Malabar region of Kerala, the debutant director duo,Rajesh- Faisal was able to portray the tale in a very realistic way.Music by Rahulraj was also adequate.Thirakadha- Directed by Renjith and allegedly based upon the romance between Kamal Haasan and Srividya, Thirakadha was a poignant tale of a young director (played well by Prithviraj) trying to make a movie based on the romance between the current superstar and a yesteryear actress. Priyamani was brilliant as the actress. Overall a well appreciated effort.Gulmohar- Directed by Jayaraj,this movie marked the acting debut of director Renjith.As Induchoodan, a former naxalite who looks back at the earlier days of the naxalite movement and then sets forth on an unfinished mission, Renjith was clearly brilliant. Unfortunately the movie was not well received at the box office.Twenty: 20- Yes I am being a bit indulgent here in my choice. But having all the big stars like Mammooty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi,Dileep, Jayaram etc in a single movie and doing justice to them is not a joke. For this reason alone director Joshy and producer Dileep deserve all the applause. ( check out my write up http://passionforcinema.com/twenty-20-%e2%80%93-indias-biggest-movie-ever/#more-9128 for more details)Calcutta News- While this movie is not on the same level as director Blessy’s Kaazcha or Thanmadra, the movie was still reasonably realistic and had some good performances from Dileep and Gopika. It was another take on the flesh trade in Kolkata’s Sonagachi and reminded you of Kamal Haasan’s Mahanadi.Veruthe Oru Bharya- Jayaram made a strong comeback with this surprise hit. He played a typical nagging husband who believes that his wife ( Gopika) should just be happy enough to do whatever he says. One fine day Gopika rebels and leaves home. Though the movie did not have a landmark story, Akku Akbar the director was able to ensure that the movie brought the family audiences back to the theatre.
I am yet to watch some critically acclaimed movies like M.G.Sasi’s Adalayangal ( based on a work of Nandanar ),Akashagopuram (directed by K.P.Kumaran and starring Mohanalal based on Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder) and Thalappavu- (starring Lal & Prithviraj and directed by Madhupal). On the box office front, Mamooty and Mohanalal both had a good year. Apart from Twenty: 20, Mammooty had Rowdram, Annan Thambi and Maya Bazaar doing well while Parunthu was a flop. Mohanlal had Innathe Chintavishayam, Madambi and Kurukshetra doing well while his College Kumaran was a flop. Mohanalal also showed his commitment to smaller and artistic films remains intact as he did films like Mizhikal Saakshi and Pakal Nakshatrangal.The fact remains that the rot in Malayalam Cinema continues to remain and I am sincerely hoping that we see more quality cinema emerging in 2009.

Originally published on PFC.Check it here- http://passionforcinema.com/tamil-and-malayalam-cinema-in-2008-an-overview/ .

Movie Re-distribution- An area of potential

As a sales and marketing professional and as a film lover, film distribution has always been an interesting topic for me. It was a few months ago when I was doing a project on film distribution for an entertainment firm, that I realized the potential of the subject.At the very outset I wish to specify what I mean by movie- redistribution. Here I am referring to the entire gamut of activities that a production/distribution firm involves in with respect to a specific movie after the initial theatrical run of the movie is over.For example once the initial theatrical run of RNBDJ is over, whatever YRF does to keep the movie alive among the movie viewers is what I’m referring to here.

Does the end of the initial theatrical end mean the end for a movie?

Of course not, we all know that there’s satellite T.V viewing, video on demand, DVD release etc. But first of all has theatre been utilized enough? Lets take the example of OLLO, all of us know it was unlucky to get released on 28th November, when Mumbai was still simmering under the fires burning after the assault & attack by the gunmen. Though whoever saw the movie has gone on to praise the movie, the truth is not many got to see it because the movie ( though still playing in some places) didn’t have a great run in most places because the people simply weren’t there to watch movies when OLLO released.

Now I would have expected UTV to negotiate with all the multiplexes and re-release them aided by a fresh round of publicity (T.V, print, FM radio). I am sure that this would have enabled a lot more people to watch it. I think there is still time for UTV to do it.A very interesting example of such a situation is a tamil movie called “Chitiram Pesudhadi” which was released in early 2007. Made by a debutant director Mysskin, the movie starred Narain & Bhavana who were not all that popular yet in tamil cinema. The movie was more or less declared a flop & was taken off from most centres in a week’s time.But that was when Aascar Films- V.Ravichandran saw the movie. He is known to understand the pulse of a moviegoer very well.

Immediately on realizing the potential of the movie, he –bought the rights of the movie from the original producer & re-released the movie. This time he promoted the movie aggressively on the basis of one song- “vaala meenukkum” which ensured that the song and the movie went on to be a big hit. Going back to OLLO, there’s something very interesting that UTV has done. Within 3 weeks of its theatrical release, they have premiered the movie (starting 19th Dec) on Tata Sky, thus enabling a lot many more people to watch the movie.

DVD releases- of late movie makers have realized that it makes sense to have the official DVD release of the movie in as quick a time as possible. So today ideally for a movie which hasn’t done too well at the box office it makes sense to release the DVD immediately after the theatrical run is over and for those which have clicked at the box office, the DVD release shouldn’t ideally be delayed beyond 3 months from the date of release. While this is being adhered to by most of the people concerned, what is concerning is the fact that a lot of D.V.D ( and V.C.D) rights holders like Shemaroo, Eros etc have been pricing most of the new releases on the higher side. When the standards have been raised by Moser Baer & T.Series with “junta class” pricing & thus posing a challenge to the video pirates, is it justified for Eros to release the DVD of a niche movie like No Smoking at Rs.299 (now being sold at Rs.149.50)? Movies like No Smoking and Hulla (awaiting DVD release) are movies which didn’t get much notice at the box office & hence an attractive pricing would only help in reaching out to more audiences.

Making use of digital sound & digital projection

Today with DTS & Dolby Digital sound systems in a lot of good theatres and multiplexes in the country (even in some of the smaller towns) movie watching experience has been heightened to a great effect. With Qube & UFO, digital projection has also been made possible and nowadays new movies are getting released in more and more centres thanks to digital projection. Yes we all know about how Mughal-E-Azam’s re-release in colour was a successful outing at the b.o. But why don’t we actually see more and more classics or movies with potential getting re-released with DTS/Dolby Digital Sound & in digital projection? Opting for digital projection would enable reaching out to many places, saving money & also providing better quality output. I would especially be thrilled to see a Sholay, a Guide, a Jewel Thief etc being released this way. DDLJ celebrates 15 years of its release in end 2010, why can’t they have a re-release (15th anniversary celebration) in DTS and/or Dolby Digital & also with digital projection.Remember when DDLJ was released initially it was released in Dolby SR and not Dolby Digital or DTS.

With DTH, the internet, DVD and re-release in theatres, re-distribution of movies is becoming a very important activity for the movie makers and the distributors. For a change it’s not just the opening friday alone to be looked forward to for a movie. Let’s wait and watch what the future holds for us in terms of movie re-distribution.

Originally published on PFC - check it out - http://passionforcinema.com/movie-re-distribution-an-area-of-potential/

Telugu Cinema in 2008-An Overview

2008 was an interesting year for Telugu Cinema. While some of the hardcore star movies did well and some flopped, a lot of the well made smaller films went on to do be critically acclaimed and also do well at the box office. Given below is my personal take on the Telugu movies released in 2008-

Best Movies

Gamyam- Directed by a debutant, Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi (Krish) the movie evoked a strong response from one and all. A road movie (inspired by Motorcycle Diaries) it had a strong script & excellent performances from Sharwanand, Allari Naresh & Kamalinee Mukherjee.
Ready- This was a perfect family entertainer from Srinu Vaitla and had the right proportion of all the commercial ingredients. The chemistry between Ram and Genelia was just right, Brahmanandam’s comedy rocked and the music by Devi Sri Prasad was an added bonus
Ashta Chemma- Directed by Mohankrishna Indraganti and produced by Ram Mohan, the movie was a tribute to Oscar Wilde (Inspired by The Importance of Being Earnest). While Mohankrishna deserves praise for adapting the story well and bringing in a fresh wave to telugu movies, Ram Mohan deserves praise for backing the movie very well and promoting it in the right manner.Performances by Swati, late Bhargavi. Nani & Srinivas were truly remarkable.
Vinayakudu- Sai Kiran Adivi’s tale of a love story between a fat man and a good looking woman has clicked with both the masses and the critics. Krishnudu and Sonia were earnest in their roles. A great example of how a good product backed by right promotion can do wonders for a movie.
Kotha Bangaru Lokam- Dil Raju continued his successful run with KBL.Srikanth Addala wove a poignant romantic tale of two teenagers which captured the hearts of everyone. Varun Sandesh and Shweta Prasad played their parts very well. Music by Mickey.J.Meyer was certainly a big contributor to the movie’s success.
Avakkai Biriyani- Produced by Shekhar and Chandrasekhar Kammula and directed by Anish Kuruvilla, the movie was a simple tale of romance between a muslim youth and a hindu girl in a small town close to Hyderabad.Performances from Kamal Kamaraju and Bindu Madhavai were commendable.Both the DOP-Shamdat and the music composer – Manikanth Kadri deserve mention for their contribution to the movie

Talking about the big star movies, Pawan Kalayan finally tasted solid success with Jalsa, Balakrishna bounced back after ages with his Pandurangadu and Venkatesh continued his good streak with Chintakayala Ravi. For Nagarjun (Krishna Arjun ) it wasn’t a great year, but he has King ( releasing on 25th Dec) to look forward to. NTR’s Kantri was just about average at the box office. Among the dubbed movies, Kamal Hassan’s Dasavatharam was the sole success and Surya S/O Krishan also managed to get noticed.

Let’s wait and watch out for 2009.

First RNBDJ and now Ghajini

Well this write- up is not a review of RNBDJ or Ghajini for that matter though I’ll be talking about both the movies. Yes I’ve seen both the movies and feel that there is something that binds these two movies together. Well these two movies as such are like chalk & cheese, there’s nothing common between them. What binds them together then is the hero in both the cases- SRK & Aamir respectively. If you are wondering whether I’ve gone crazy, hang on, let me explain. Critics and masses alike have been talking both positive and negative about RNBDJ.

For some the movie is a sweet romance very naturally shown with SRK as Surinder Sahni, carrying the film on his shoulders. For others the movie is just another SRK flick and they are just plain bored. First of all whatever be the final take on the movie, the fact remains that the movie is a big success. True it’s not the best from Aditya Chopra, YRF or even SRK, but SRK as Suri was able to bring in the crowd. Lot of people including me felt what’s wrong with Aditya. Why does this have to be his comeback venture. For all those people who thought so let me tell you Aditya has very smartly executed his plan to perfection.

How else do you explain the complete scripting of the movie to be over in a mere 12 days and the entire filming over in a mere 47 days. There are basically only 3 actors in significant roles, SRK,Anushka & Vinay Pathak. There’s no foreign locale or anything outlandish. So basically the movie is a very low cost venture and will turn out to be much more profitable than some of the other big hits of the year. But in spite of all this is surprising is not people either liking or not liking the movie, it’s a section of people continuing to crib that it’s a routine SRK movie and that he continues to disappoint with the same kind of roles. Look at the recent SRK movies excluding Bhootnath where he had a special appearance- OSO, CDI, Don, KANK,Paheli- I fail to see what’s similar in any of these movies or his roles.

All people have to say is why he doesn’t do a Swades or a CDI. Well every movie just cannot be a CDI or a Swades. Movies like KANK, Pahelo or Don may not be great but it had SRK trying something different in each of these movies. When will people start accepting SRK the way he his & allow him some space. No I am not a blind fan of his & do not say RNBDJ is a great movie. But I feel that he’s trying and not just so much caught up in the routine as people think. I know that Billu Barber and My Name is Khan will go on to re-iterate what I say, looking forward to them.

And now you have Ghajini- a typical masala flick. Is it an outstanding movie? Is it pathbreaking? Does it move you a lot? The answer to all these questions is a big NO. The movie from the very beginning (remember the promos very clearly had Aamir in the now overhyped “Ghajini” hair cut & tattoos on his body) screamed that it was a regular masala movie. But our friends have a problem with the movie again. And why is that?Well because Aamir is Aamir- he does a Lagaan, a RDB, a TZP, why on earth does he have to do a Ghajini?

My question to all these people- haven’t you heard/seen of Fanaa, Mela or a Mann? Cut back to his early days, do you know that along with a QSQT, Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke or a Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin, he did atrocious movies like Daulat Ki Jung, Aatank Hi Aatank, Love Love Love, Tum Mere Ho, etc? Yes in course of time, Aamir has gone on to become a very improved actor, started doing fewer projects, most of them being genuinely different.

But wouldn’t the artist in Aamir also from time to time want to do something more run of the mill and routine to keep him going and entertained. For all those who only see the masala movie in Ghajini- haven’t you realized how Aamir has slogged on his physical appearance for such a “trivial masala movie”? Look at it this way- Ghajini probably was just a relaxation or a diversion for Aamir before he begins work on his next venture- which might be on more familiar ground for all that we know.

It’s a sincere plea from my side to fans, detractors and to everyone at large- watch a RNBDJ or a Ghajini and comment on whether you liked it or not. But please look at the film objectively and not with any pre conceived bias for or against a SRK or an Aamir.These two have been entertaining us for years and would continue to do so, let’s stop being their advisors atleast now.

P.S- This was originally published in PFC.Check it out here-
http://passionforcinema.com/first-rnbdj-and-now-ghajini/ .

Bommalattam- Glimpses of the Master Director- Bharathiraja

After a hiatus of 4 years the master director Bharathiraja (BR from here on) is back with a movie in the thriller genre- Bommalattam. For a very long time BR has been among the popular & critically acclaimed directors in Tamil Cinema. In fact BR’s movies have even been quite noticed by people outside the tamil movie audience also. With his very first movie- “16 Vayathinile” BR gained a lot of attention. The movie was an eye-opener of sorts. It was a story set in a rustic background but had a brilliant script & was technically
well made. Music by Ilayaraja was a big plus & the acting by Kamal Haasan, Sri Devi 7 Rajnikanth is still spoken about with reverence.

From 16 Vayathinile, he went on to direct many more good movies like Sigappu Rojakkal, Alaigal Oivathillai, Man Vasanai, Vedham Pudithu, Mudhal Mariyadhai etc
(just taking a handful of names here). But in the recent times the movies he’s made like Pasumpon, TajMahal, Kangalal Kaidhu Sei etc did not gather much acclaim & many felt probably his time is up. In such a scenario BR is back with Bommalattam.Actually the movie is a bilingual- in tamil & hindi and has been dubbed in telugu too.

While the tamil & telugu versions ( Ranaa) have released this week ( 12th Dec), the hindi version is awaiting release. The movie is all about an eccentric film director, Ranaa played brilliantly by Nana Patekar. Nana is working on his pet project called Cinema & the movie starts with Nana firing the original heroine of his movie as she’s unprofessional. He then makes a replacement & completes the movie. On the day of the
Press conference to introduce the cast of the film, Nana & the heroine of his movie
( Ragini) , the car in which Nana & are traveling meets with an accident and Ragini dies.

Enters Arjun, the CBI officer who is investigating the case. He links two murders which took place during the shooting of the movie with Ragini’s death & thinks Nana is behind all these. Arjun has a personal axe to grind against Nana as his girlfriend Kajal Aggarwal, a poet is a die hard fan of Nana & works with Nana against his wish.

What is the mystery behind the murders & the accident & is Nana guilty is what the movie is then all about. Most of the movie uses flashback mode to communicate the story.While initially the story looks a bit confusing with the editing looking haphazard and the camera ( B.Kannan) moving rather clumsily, you slowly get adjusted to the pace of the movie.The 1st half is average fare and you are kept waiting for the master’s touch. But the way the story culminates with an interesting climax (very different) makes you realize the master’s skill is intact but not visible throughout the movie.

Performances wise Nana is the fulcrum of the movie and has done a splendid job.Ragini is quite good for her part, Arjun in a smaller role does decently while Kajal is o.k.Ranjitha as the nagging wife of Nana is efficient.Vatsal Seth, Manivannan & Vivek are also seen in the movie. The movie at times makes it look autobiographical with Nana literally coming across as BR himself with his mannerisms.You also get an inside view of how shootings happen, true to life situations in the film industry etc.

The music by Himesh Reshamiyya was a major disappointment.After Dasavatharam I expected a lot more from Himesh. Overall a good attempt, go watch it for Nana & the climax. Is it BR at his vintage best? Definitely not. But is it good- certainly yes.
P.S- The latest I hear on BR is that he is doing the main lead along with K.Balachandar (K.B) in a movie to be produced by Shankar’s “S” Pictures.

Vinayakudu- A Quick review

The tastefully done posters and hoardings were screaming for your attention for quite sometime. Both online & on the ground presence was quite considerable. People knew
what to expect from this. And now that it is out- how does one feel about it?
Confused- please don’t be, I’m referring to a feel good telugu movie called
“Vinayakudu” – a love story between a fat guy & a good looking girl.

The plot is very simple enough, Karthik ( Krishnudu in a very natural role), a fat guy, comes to Hyderabad in search of a job & stays with his sister.With the help of his friend, he gets a job with in an ad agency. There he comes across Kalpana (remember Shravs of Happy Days?) & its love at first sight for him (the chaudvin ka chand song is used to good effect in the back ground). Kalpana is quite aggressive and also a bit arrogant whereas Karthik is a simpleton. When her parents go abroad for a short while, Kalpana moves in with a friend, Sandy (Poonam Kaur) who lives in the same building as Karthik and his sister.

Kalpana starts seeing Rajeev a person recommended by her dad, but one fine day things go sour & she decides to break the relationship.In the meanwhile after initially getting irriated with Karthik she slowly starts getting friendly with Karthik.They even start working together on projects.Though Karthik is head over heels in love, he doesn’t know how to say it and the movie ends positively in a slightly unconventional manner. Woven between this plot is also the love story of Altaf & Sandy.

Overall a very cute little love story- the movie is without the statutory comedy seen in telugu movies. Sure some sequences look a bit far fetched & Ankita’s character looks forcefully fit. You are even made to feel at times whether such a character like Karthik can exist in today’s world. But the positives over rule the negatives here. The movie sends some positive signals that alls not over for people who are over weight.

Music by Sam Prasan suits the mood of the movie.Sai Kiran Adivi the director has done a very neat job with this movie. The producer Prem Kumar Patra (also acts as the head of the ad agency) has very smartly tied up with Big Cinemas & thus ensured that the movie makes money and has enough money for the publicity. In film advertising with Subway, Reliance infocom etc is also woven into the narrative.

All in all a movie to make you relax ,feel good and come out of the theatre with a smile on your face. Take a bow Mr.Sai Kiran Adivi & the team- the movie is genuine in its attempt to entertain. Telugu cinema continues to impress with movies like these & Avakai Biriyani in recent times.

Twenty- 20 – India’s biggest ever movie so far???

Well how does one call a movie big? Well it can be due to the budget of the movie or it can depend on the number & names of the stars associated apart from the director etc.
For all those who’ve seen & admired SRK’s act of getting a lot of the bollywood celebs in a song for “ Om Shanti Om” , then let me tell you that Malayalam Cinema has pushed the envelope even further. Some time in 2007 it was decided by AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) that they needed to generate funds for their activities.

Entered Dileep, one of the leading Malayalam actors who suggested that they make a movie with the best of the talent available. Dileep agreed to produce the movie for AMMA & Joshy was roped in as the director. Joshy has been always popular for his racy entertainers like New Delhi, No.20 Madras Mail, Nair Saab, Runway, Lion etc.In terms of acting, almost all the actors being members of AMMA, everyone pledged their services for free.

The condition laid was Dileep was to pay AMMA a sum of Rs.1 crore as the fund raiser & whatever the movie would make (if it did make) over 1 crore as profit, it would go to Dileep.Now for those who are wondering whats the big deal about Rs.1 crore, let me tell you that in Malayalam cinema even the big budgeted movies hardly exceed Rs.5 crore as an overall budget.Hence keeping this in mind this was a good sum of money indeed.Dileep knew he was taking a risk- a calculated risk.

The scripting was entrusted to the dependable duo- Uday Krishna-Sibi K Thomas. And thus the project underwent filming in Dec, 2007.The casting included almost all the well known names of the Malayalam film industry- Mammooty,Mohanlal,Suresh Gopi, Dileep,Jayaram,Mukesh, Prithviraj,Kunjacko Boban, Indrajit,Jayasurya,Bhavana,Gopika, Nayanthara etc & thus began the saga.Of course Joshy knew he had a major task, that of ensuring that the movie has a proper shape and does justice to all the people on board.

Just like any other mega project, this one too faced its own share of hurdles, most of which are mentioned below:-

At the very beginning veteran actor Thilakan, claimed that AMMA was ostracizing him & that was why he was not a part of the movie. This did not hamper the movie at all.
Meera Jasmine started throwing a lot of tantrums & was not adhering to the schedules & finally producer Dileep couldn’t take it any more & replaced her promptly with Bhavana as the heroine opposite him.
Dileep & AMMA wanted to release the movie in a record 120 centres but then
they faced objection from the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation ( KFEF) who
were not in favour of allowing such wide releases. Eventually KFEF also gave in
to the industry sentiment.
When the first publicity stills were released it created a furore in Kerala. Mohanlal fans felt that their hero was sidelined as Mammooty featured in the centre of the poster which had Mamooty flanked by Mohanlal & Suresh Gopi on either side & Jayaram & Dileep on the extreme corners.Lal’s fans even threatened to boycott the film & finally to pacify the fans, there were special posters brought out before the movie released with Lal featured prominently.
The final problem faced was on the day of the release.Exhibitors in places like
Ernakulam & Trivandrum hiked up the rates for the movie.There were protests of boycott, but the very next day the rates were back to normal as per the court order.

The movie was released on 5th November,2008 to a thunderous response.And surprisingly has been accepted by all the film enthusiasts in Kerala. Both Mammooty & Mohanlal fans are happy.Joshy has seen to it that their biggest fear that one superstar would gain more prominence over the other, has not materialised. The film is not only a showcase of the continuing power of both Mammooty & Mohanlal at the box office; it also shows that Suresh Gopi can also hold his own provided the script supports him.

At this point of writing this, the 1st week collections are out. The estimates show that from 120 screens, it has grossed a mind blowing Rs 7.54 crore in the first week.Its a record in Kerala across all lanuages.The distributors share of Rs 3.65 crore is the highest ever for a film in its first week.So a question now for the hindi,tamil & telugu film industries- the 3 big film industries in India- any lessons to be taken from Twenty: 20???

Disclaimer- I am only a lover of cinema & have no connection with Twenty:20 whatsover!!!

( originally published in Passion for Cinema- refer link below)
http://passionforcinema.com/twenty-20-%e2%80%93-indias-biggest-movie-ever/#more-9128

I miss you so much, it hurts!!!

Yes the title of this write-up is inspired by the recent SRK-Saif-Kareena ad for Airtel, but I am not going to be writing anything about the ad here. Often at times either while watching some movie or generally thinking aloud I suddenly realize as to how I miss someone/something so badly. I’m sure at times most of you also must have experienced similar thoughts. So let me share with you some of the things that I really miss a lot about Indian Cinema (mostly Bollywood)

At the very outset let me tell you the list is not exhaustive & I would try to keep updating this list as often possible. For the moment here is a list of what I seem to be missing so far-

The joy of watching movies like the old days. No other distractions- look forward to your weekend movie on Doordarshan & the visits to theatres (of course single screen) with family or otherwise.
I miss the “superstar” movies of Big B. Yes no doubt he is still acting and doing
good movies too. But I still yearn to see the star in him once in a while.The last
glimpse of that was probably in Khakee & Ek Ajnabee

There used to be a time when I used to relish the bollywood countdowns ( songs) which started with Amin Sayani’s Binaca ( later Cibaca) Sangeet Mala on Vividhbharati and then got captured with visuals on Philips Top 10 ( Zee TV) & Superhit Muqabla ( D.D.Metro) . But today it has become overkill and so do miss the earlier days.

The comedian in bollywood is almost a dying role. Right from the past be it an I.S.Johar,Mehmood,Johny Walker, Rajendranath, Asrani, Deven Verma etc to the
Laxmikant Berde & Johny Lever days, there used to be a special place for comedians in hindi cinema.A place that is kind of getting extinct. You either have people like Shakti Kapoor ,Paresh Rawal, Kadar Khan etc who also don the role at times ( and do a good job of it) or the lead actor himself takes on the mantle.

The “ vamp” has vanished.What earlier a Helen, Aruna Irani, Bindu etc used to do
Gracefully, its now been done by the heroines themselves plus a whole host of
“item girls”. Definitely not the same thing!!!

Cheap ticket rates- earlier it used to be hardly an expensive indulgence. But now
Both in multiplexes and (in some) single screens, the ticket rates these days have
Sky rocketed. No, this is not a function of inflation alone.

Evergreen music- does it still get made? All of us know that the music of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s were magical & we keep listening to it actively even now. For that matter I still dig out my cd of soundtracks like an Aashiqui or a QSQT once in a while. But what about the music of these days? Yes there are hits getting generated even today, but will we keep listening them at least a decade from now?

Of course I also miss all those in the industry who made a mark on us & are no more. I will not take names here, as the list is completely exhaustive. Give it a thought my friends, I am sure you might also be missing some of these points right?

I guess its time to say “those were the best days of my life”.

Some recently watched good movies

Well in the last 2-3 months there have been a few good movies & I thought its better I write something on them rather do a formal review of them. To start with I begin with A Wednesday ( well I saw it again last evening & so thats top in my memory)- a movie made by Neeraj Pandey & coming out from the UTV stable.Starring the veterans- Naseeruddin Shah & Anupam Kher in the lead along with Jimmy Shergill, Deepal Shaw etc among the supporting cast, the movie talks about how a " stupid, common man" can wake up & shake the law & order system and tell them that enough is enough.The movie which started off on a slow note at the box office has gone on to be well received by both the critics & at the box office.

Tahaan- by Santosh Sivan is another good hindi movie which I saw incidentally on the same day as I first saw A Wednesday ( both released on the same day-5th Sep).The movie though having shades of resemblance to Majid Majidi's films, shows that in India Santosh is the best to make movies with children at the focus point.It talks about a boy in Kashmir undertaking a journey to get his donkey back.Terrorism makes its presence felt with the scenic beauty of Kashmir in the background.A very good movie but sadly not appreciated by the masses.

Amitabh Bachchan made his english debut with Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear.it had also had Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Shefali Shah ,Jishu Sengupta & Prosenjit.The story was that of an retired theatre actor ( Big B) who is an expert at Shakespeare who is cajoled to do a movie by a director ( Arjun Rampal).The performances were good but the subject was found to be quite slow in its narration & quite offbeat to make any impact at the box office.

Rock On- was spot on.Probably the first movie with rock music as its theme to make such an impact in India, the movie had rocking music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.Farhan Akhtar made an impressive debut both as an actor & as a singer ( though I prefer him more as an actor).The film also had good performances from Arjun Rampal,Luke Kenny,Purab Kohli,Prachi Desai ( debut) & Shahana Goswami.

In tamil I happened to see quite a few decent movies of late.Dhaam Dhoom by the late Jeeva was a decent action entertainer- shot mainly in Russia.It had good performances by Jayam Ravi,Kangna Ranaut,Lakshmi Rai & Jayaram.The story was all about an Indian doctor getting framed for murder in Russia where he's attending a conference & how he goes out to find the truth.Music by Harris Jayaraj also played a role in the movie's success.

Jayam Kondan released on the same day as Dhaam Dhoom & had a slow start at the box office.But with the word of the mouth being good, the movie went on to do quite well overall.Directed by Kannan, a former assistant to Mani Ratnam , it was old wine packaged well in a new bottle.It had ( step) sibling rivalry between Vinay & Lekha Washington as its main theme.Bhavana played the love interest of Vinay.Kannan made sure that the movie also had the necessary ingredients to pull the family audience & it worked.

Saroja was the 2nd movie directed by Venkat Prabhu & was inspired by Judgement Night.It was basically the story of 4 friends off on a road trip from Chennai to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match & what happens when they get lost & stumble upon a group of gangsters.A very refreshing concept for tamil cinema,the comedy by Premji Amaran was a major highlight in the movie.

In malayalam I would say Thirakatha directed by Ranjith & starring Prithvi Raj & Priya Mani as well as Gulmohar directed by Jayaraj and marking the acting debut of Ranjith were two good movies among the recent releases.Thirakatha has Prithvi Raj as a film maker who along with his friends run a coffee shop & also belive in making realistic cinema.Prithvi stumbles upon the story of a relationship between the reigning superstar ( played well by Anoop Menon) and a yesteryear actress ( Priya Mani who is simply brilliant) and wants to make this as his subject for his next movie.When the superstar knows this he tries to prevent this .What happens then is what the story is all about.Rumoured to be the story of Kamal Haasan's relationship with Srividya, the film found favourable response from both critics & masses.

Gulmohar was all about Ranjith playing Induchoodan, a naxalite who is reminiscing about the old days of the movement.When all of a sudden one day an incident makes him take up the cause & restart the movement again.Ranjith made a solid debut as an actor, but unfortunately the movie wasn't really appreciated by the masses.

In telugu the recent movies that I liked are Kotha Bangaru Lokam, Nenu Meeku Telusa,Ashta Chamma.Will write on them later.In english there havent been many- probably only Wall -E & Body of Lies.

Now I would soon start off with my regular reviews starting with movies seen from diwali....

Time to wake up!!!

Well its shameful but I need to admit that I have been quite lazy of late & thats why I've kind of disappeared from here in the last nearly 3 month period.I have had a job change, went to Ladakh for a trek, been travelling a lot for my "training" period in my new job in this intervening period.

Now its time to hit the world wide web & pen down my thoughts once again.I've moved out of one of my favourite cities- Chennai & moved into a much smaller city- Vijayawada.And what do mainly people do in Vijayawada for relaxation? Simple- they watch movies, eat & drink.This is amply illustrated by the number of theatres & bars in town.

I have already been making my customary rounds of the theatres in Vijayawada.Inox (yes Inox is present in :) ) I'm sure will soon become my favourite haunt apart from the other the regular theatres.So now that the honours have been done, let me get back to writing on my favourite subject- cinema.

God Tussi Great Ho- A Quick Review

Well so on one hand you have a writer of prolific comedies- Rumi Jaffrey making his directorial debut, on the other hand you have some of the best talent possible- Amitabh Bachchan,Salman Khan,Priyanka Chopra and for a subject- you have "inspiration" in the form of Bruce Almighty.
So the end result- God Tussi Great Ho must be great right?No you are terribly wrong.

Apart from being a blatant take off from Bruce Almighty ( and Rumi has the guts to say its not inspired) it also has drwan inspiration from movies like Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya.Salman plays a T.V reporter who keeps falling in trouble & blames God for the same.He is in love with his colleague, Priyanka Chopra but as usual does not have the guts to say it.

Sohail Khan an old friend of Priyanka joins the same T.V Channel & now both start vying for the same girl. One fine day when things go completely bad for Salman ( he gets thrown out of his job) he literally shouts at God & now its God's ( Big B) turn to meet up with Salman & find out why he's upset.When Salman says God doesnt understand human psyche & that he could do a better job as God, his wish is granted as Big B makes him God for 10 days.

Well in the 1st 9 days Salman goes about setting right his personal & professional life and finally when he hands over power to Big B after his ways of managing the world, he realises that God's work cannot be done by a human & asks for forgiveness. That's the basic crux of the film's plot. Salman seems to have sleep walked his way as this is a cake walk of a role for him. Big B & Priyanka hardly have much to do, Sohail continues what he left off in Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, Anupam Kher is good.

A whole host of talented actors like Rajpal Yadav, Dalip Tahil, Rajesh Puri etc are all completely wasted. Sajid-Wajid always give their best for Salman's movies ( all of us still remember the songs from Partner) but this time they seem to have been clearly disinterested.Tujhe Aksa beach ghoomaon is the only hummable number ( typical Salman tapori number). On the whole this is one meal which could have gone right but somehow ends up making you feel dissatisfied.

Rating- 1.5/5 ( Movie wouldnt do well at the multiplexes, should do better at single screens of smaller towns especially in North).

India This Week

Well its been an interesting week for me as an Indian so far. For me the week started off with Singh is Kingg's record collections in the opening weekend followed by India's painful loss in the 3rd & final cricket test to Sri Lanka. Then came the moment we were waiting for ages- Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the Olympic Games.The entire nation erupted once again in joy.

I was then witness to a news of a different kind- Aamir Khan actually accepting an award & breaking down. Lot of time to introspect and blog about too from my end.The week is not over yet.Today has seen the release of Sathyam/Salute a biggie in Tamil & Telugu cinema.Telugu cinema also sees Baladoor ( Ravi Teja & Anushka) another biggie releasing today.

Tomorrow is India's 61st Independence Day, a day to be proud of. I plan to try my luck at the annual Landmark quiz tomorrow. We also have two bollywood biggies clashing tomorrow- Yash Raj Films' is back with Bachna Ae Haseeno ( Ranbir,Minisha,Bipasha & Deepika) and Big B,Salman & Priyanka team up for God Tussi Great Ho ( Indianised Bruce Almighty???).

Will be back on all these later.Oh!haan I would also be watching a play by Evam on saturday called The Odd Couple.So here's looking forward to the long weekend & I hope all of you also have the same.

Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Trust Awards-2007

Last evening I attended the 11th annual Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Trust Award function for the best debut director of 2007. The winner was Aamir Khan & the key note speaker this time was Anupam Kher. The other speakers were Vidhu Vinod Chopra, K.Balachandar & Jagjit Singh.

This is an annual award ceremony for the best debut director across the country for the year instituted in honour of the late Gollapudi Srinivas by his family. Gollapudi Srinivas was promising director who died while shooting his first film ,Prema Pusthakam ( telugu). This year's event began with a wonderful ghazal concert by Jagjit Singh & the audience couldnt keep asking for more. Anupam Kher delivered his lecture on Children of the greater God & packed his lecture with a lot of personal anecdotes.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra recalled his early association with Aamir & also expressed his fascination for TZP.But it was K.Balachandar who literally swept the audience away. Though reading from a prepared text ( he even gave a lovely reason for it- saying I am a director, I cannot speak extempore like an actor or a politician) he couldnt hide his childlike admiration for Aamir Khan & TZP. The various adjectives & statements used in praise of Aamir so moved Aamir that he actually broke down listening to the doyen speak.

In fact whe Aamir after accepting his award came forward to speak, he was again overcome by emotion & choked up. Overall a lovely evening including the compere , the lovely Lekha Washington ( but was happening to her speech- saying facilitate instead of felicitate repeatedly, probably she couldnt control her excitement of meeting all these luminaries) & I had a great time. For those who are wondering how come Aamir came down to accept this award ( he normally doesnt accept award functions) well he himself has been a speaker at this event a few years back & people like Ram Madhvani a previous winner ( 2002- Lets Talk) who worked with him in TZP also helped in the same process.

The Hindu Metro Plus Theatre Fest

Friends I just realised I've only been writing on cinema & hardly writing on the plays that I've been watching.This year I did go for The Hindu Metro Plus Theatre Fest which is into the 4th year & managed to watch a couple of plays.

This year's event was held @ the auditorium @ Lady Andal School, Chetpet & I must say the audi was truly befitting a fest like this.The first play I watched was called- The President is Coming ( enacted by Q Theatre Productions,Mumbai and directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur) it was one hilarious play which had the audience in splits.

The story tale was simple- the U.S President is in India for a visit & the U.S.Embassy in Delhi announces that one lucky young Indian achiever would get the chance to meet Mr.Bush & the task of selecting the candidate is given to a P.R agency & 6 achievers are shortlisted.What happens during the final shortlisting is what the play was all about.It was a complete entertainer.After thoroughly enjoying D,T&Q ( Doubles,Triples & Quadraples by Evam) sometime back, this was again a similar exhilirating experience.

The next play that I saw was The Creepers ( Actors Ensemble India Forum,Bangalore). This was a play with just two people in it & it was supposed to be a modern day take on Vikram & Betaal. Though the off beat nature of the play was initially getting appreciated & the humour seemed to be in good abundance, finally it looked very much off key for most of the junta. A bit too experimental I must say!!!

Looking forward to the next edition of the fest & I would attend it if I'm in Chennai.

Singh is Kingg- A Quick Review

Here is the the most anticipated movie of the year so far.Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anees Bazmee & Vipul Shah all these names together are supposed to spell blockbuster. So does the magic work?do you get your money's worth?Well yes & no.

The movie starts off simultaneoulsy by showing you that Lucky Singh ( Sonu Sood) is the dreaded King ( underworld don) in Australia & Happy Singh ( Akshay Kumar) is the village bumpkin in Punjab. Fed up with his antics the villagers trick Akshay & send him off to Australia with the intention of bringing back Sonu to Punjab as they feel insulted by his misdeeds there.

Akshay moves off to Australia with his friend Rangeela ( Om Puri) with a quick detour via Egypt where he falls in love with Katrina Kaif. In Australia, Sonu refuses to return back & Akshay takes refuge with a poor flower seller ( Kiron Kher). In a strange turn of events ( quite funny) Akshay is forced to step in as the new King in place of Sonu.

Till here its all fine & Anees could have taken the movie to great heights .But what happens next is a ghisa-pita romantic twist- with Katrina turning out to be Kiron Kher's daughter who comes along with her boyfriend in tow ( Ranvir Sheorey looking lost). Though the entire Singh gang ( Javed Jaffrey, Manoj Pahwa, Neha Dhupia, Yashapal Sharma,Sudhanshu Pandey,Kamal Chopra) try to enliven the proceedigs, it still falls short of really keeping you engrossed.

Surprisingly Pritam is not in great form- in fact even the much hyped song with Snoop Doogy Dogg is hardly great.But the title song has style written all over it. Overall the movie would take an excellent start at the box office making it a big success for Akshay & Co. Its Akshay who makes the movie watchable as he's in great form, both as the village bumpkin & as King. Katrina has less screen time - but the songs remind you that the chemistry between the lead pair is brilliant.

Most of the support cast are really good in their roles especially Om Puri, Javed Jaffrey & Sonu Sood.So for those who watch it with a lot of expectations- you may be disappointed. Hence watch it if you liked movies like Welcome, but then again dont expect anything great from the movie & you might still think its paisa vasool.

Rating- 2.5/5 ( 0.5 additional for the excellent marketing and of course for Akshay who rocks)

Mummy-3 ( Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)- A Quick Review

Well the"original"Mummy series returns with the 3rd instalment.This time the action shifts base to China from Egypt. And we see the O'Connell's leading retired and boring lives in the English countryside. This time Rachel Weisz is replaced by Mario Bello ( Evelyn O'Connell) & they even have a grown up son ( Luke Ford) who initially gets more footage than the rest.

Luke playing Alex O'Connell has inherited the adventurous spirit from his parents & in fact discovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor ( Jet Li) which is supposed to be the biggest discovery after the tomb of Tuttankhamen.The Dragon Emperor was supposedly embalmed along with his entire army by a witch ( Michelle Yeoh) and now when he is kept in a museum in Shanghai, all of a sudden you see the pace increasing.

The O'Connells reach Shnghai,carrying "The eye of shangria" with them and in the meanwhile Alex is attacked by the daughter of the witch ( Elizabeth Leong). There's also a group of renegade soldiers who want the Dragon Emperor to brought back in life as they believe in him.In the middle of all this bedlam, theDragon Emperor is resurrected and he sets off to Shangrila to reach the lake of immortality.

His ultimate goal is to reach his old abode & bring back his army back to life. Then begins an adventurous journey with the O'Connels on the one hand with the two witches & the Dragon Emperor with the renegades on the other hand.For those who loved the 1st two parts of the series, this would slightly disappoint you.Nevertheless its worth a watch for the thrills in the 2nd half. But its a pity that Jet Li is severly underutilised.

Rating- 2.5/5

Ullasanga Utsahanga- A Quick Review ( Telugu)

Karunakaran the director movies like Tholli Prema, Balu ABCDEFG, Happy etc is back with a subject that he is good- romantic musical entertainer & he does succed to a large extent of entertaining people. The movie introduces Snehal Ullal ( Aish lookalike who did movies like Lucky-No time for love & Aryan in hindi) in telugu along with another debutante,Yasho Sagar.

Well Sneha is the daughter of a rich man in a small town with a bad step mother. In school her best friend is a boy named Balaji with whom she spends most of her time.After her father's death her step mother makes life hell for her ( thankfully the director does not elaborate on all this) and to make things worse, Balaji leaves the place along with his father. Now they still remain connected by writing letters.

When she comes of age, Sneha's step mother tries to get her married off & so she runs away to Hyderabad where she stays with her friend. Enters our hero Yasho who is a typical mohalle ka chokra who runs around with his group of friends whiling away their time. When Yasho sees Sneha its love at first sight & then he tries everything to attract her attention.

He even rescues her from the henchmen sent by her step mother & when he finally proposes, he is shattered when she says she's been in love with her childhood friend,Balaji for ages. Dejected Yasho decides to go to Kolkata for a job.As luck would have it Sneha is on the same train to finally meet Balaji. They then have some adventures on the way before Yasho finally escort's her to Balaji's place in Kolkata. So does Sneha re-unite with Yasho?Thats what the rest of the story is all about.

Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is decent.Both Yasho & Sneha do a decent enough job. Overall the proceedings are breezy and considering that in the recent past only Dasavatharam & Ready have done well at the Box Office, this one should hit the bulls eye definitely.

Rating-2.5/5

Kuselan-A Quick Review ( Tamil)

Uff!finally here is the much touted Rajnikanth's tamil/telugu ( in telugu its called Kathanayakadu) version of Kadha Parayumbol. Well why do I say Rajnikanth's version?Well thats what director P.Vasu is trying to convey through this movie.After actually comitting harakiri with Chandramukhi ( rip off Manichitrathazhu- a modern classic) , he returns here to commit an even bigger crime with Kuselan.

For those who dont know the tale by now, Pasupathy is a poor barber in a village living with his wife Meena & 3 kids. He is a man of principle and due to this is living in hard conditions.His rival is Vadivelu who is street smart.One day life changes for everyone in the village when a film crew arrives for shooting with none other than Rajnikant as part of the cast.Word somehow spreads out that Pasupathy is an old friend of Rajni & so all of a sudden people start getting close to him with the hope of being able to reach out to Rajni.

When Pasupathy fails to reach out to Rajni, people start ridiculing him.Thats when the best part of the movie i.e the climax arrives. Delivering the key note address at the local school's function, Rajni speaks emotionally about his long lost friend & later there is a happy ending.The positives of the movie are only Pasupathy & the climax. Rajni in an extended special appearance gets to do some regular stuff, but this time most people would only remember him for the climax.

Comedy by Vadivelu, M.S.Bhasker, Livingston etc appears crude.There are a lot of people like Nayanthara ( P.Vasu focusing purely on her anatomy), Mamta Mohan Das,Vijayakumar, Nasser,Prabhu etc who have all been wasted. Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is nothing praiseworthy. All in all its worth a watch for only those who havent watched the original.And for those who are going based on the hype the movie has generated on account of Rajnikant- you are in for a disappointment.

Rating-2/5

Aaj Ki Tazaa Khabar-Singh is Kingg is here

Well finally the biggie- Singh is Kingg is releasing tomorrow.In an unprecedented move, there are paid previews of the movie in most major multiplexes across the bigger cities & of course I am there to watch it at Sathyam Cinemas-Chennai tonite. Here's hoping Akshay Kumar delivers big time & we end up getting entertained quite well.
Will post my review of the movie tomorrow.

Madambi- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Well after Innathe Chintha Vishayam (INC) and now Madambi, Mohanlal can slowly relax as he's broken the long spell of flops. But its now time to introspect & come up with novel themes. Madambi directed by B.Unnikrishnan does not really have anything new to say. Mohanlal plays a strict money lender who is only passionate about money.

His mother( K.P.A.C.Lalitha) and younger brother ( Ajmal) feel that he does not care for them. Earlier in his childhood his father ( Saikumar) disappears one day under the strain of huge debts and after being insulted. Lalettan's companions are Jagathy ( lawyer), Innocent ( Karyogam President) and Suraj Venjaranmoodu ( sells foreign cosmetics to women).

Mohanlal's rival is Sriraman another money lender who had cheated his father & taken over the property when young. Now Sriraman's sons especially Siddique are against Mohanlal. Things take a turn when Ajmal falls in love with Sriraman's daughter ( Mallika Kapoor). Now they instigate Ajmal against Lal & it then becomes a family saga.Of course in between you also have Kavya Madhavan playing a bank manager setting up operations in the village.

How Lal ettan goes about managing the show is what the rest of the movie is all about.The movie is similar to earlier efforts like Balettan,Vesham etc but what keeps it going is Lal ettan.He is cool and composed and makes his fans happy. Ajmal does a decent job, Kavya and Mallika have nothing much to do.Music by M.Jayachandran suits the film.Overall an average fare.

Rating- 2.5/5

Subramaniapuram- A Quick Review ( Tamil)

Director Sasikumar's maiden outing ( he has assisted Ameer and Bala earlier) shows that good movies need not have to hit you in the eye with lavish sets, foreign locales and big stars. Ultimately people would appreciate quality cinema and Subramaniapuram is certainly quality cinema. This is a brilliant tale of a group of 5 friends of whom 3 of them get embroiled in a tale of blood & gore from which there is not looking back.

Right from faithfully depicting a suburb of Madurai in the 1980's, to the performances of the actors everything is in sync with the script. There are a group of 5 friends including Jai ( of Chennai 28 fame - a vijay lookalike), director Sasikumar himself & Ganja Karuppu.They are basically vagabonds who do petty jobs for the brother of the ex-councillor of the area ( Samudrakani).

Jai is in love with Swathi, the sister of their "boss". Their love is mainly conveyed by coy expressions and cute smiles that they have for each other. The ex-councillor has a political rival and when he again loses an assembly seat for their party, he is completely dejected.Then his brother Samudrakani instigates the 3 ( Jai,Sasikumar,Ganja Karuppu) to kill the rival candidate.

After this their lives completely take a U-turn especially after they realise they were just being used as pawns in the political game of their patrons. Now begins a tale of revenge amidst a a journey of blood and gore. Be careful -some of the scenes would just shock you. So gripping is the tale that at times you would ignore the lethargic pace. Performances of the lead cast is truly amazing.Sasikumar and Ganja Karuppu both do full justice while Jai is already getting a lot of notice.

But does he also have to speak like Vijay? Music by James Vasanth ( yes the T.V anchor) is simply alluring and suits the need of the film. Even Swathi impresses a lot with her eyes. Sasikumar if this is just a sample of whats in store from you, then you've truly arrived in Kollywood.

Rating-3.5/5

The Dark Knight- A Quick Review

Well well well the Batman series finally comes of age. If Batman Begins made you feel that finally you got to see Batman the right way, you will get more than your money's worth with The Dark Knight.There has been a lot of hype for this movie- Heath Ledger as Joker ( in probably one of his last ever movies as he's no more) , return of Christian Bale as Batman and people like Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman to boot- so now that the movie has released , whats the verdict?

Well its loud & clear - this one is a delight for both the masses and the critics.The movie picks up a year or so after Batman Begins ends.Bruce Wayne has now shifted to a penthouse as the Wayne Mansion was razed down earlier. Batman continues to aid the police especially in liasion with Lt.Gordon ( Gary Oldman) , but hey there's a new hero for Gotham City- the D.A- Harvey Dent ( Aaron Eckhart) who is trying to clean up the city.

While Dent is going strongly in his mission to rid Gotham City of crime, enters the Joker who tries to take over the city. Dent is also now romancing Rachel ( Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes) , Bruce Wayne's love interest. Now Batman begins to feel that he needs to step over and make way for a new hero- Dent. But as luck would have it the Joker's entry changes the complete scenario.

I would not want to divulge the plot further for those who haven't seen it.Yes but I must admit that in a movie where Heath ledger is simply mindblowing and where the other villain two- face gets a meaty role, Christian Bale shines as Batman. I think the entire BG score of the movie suits the mood.As for the gadgets- watch out for the Batmobile and especially the Batpod- vroom!!!

All in all , a lovely piece of work. Mr.Christopher Nolan, take a bow. I'm gonna watch the movie again for sure.

Rating- 4/5

Wanted- A Quick Review

Welcome to the world of realistic fantasy- did I confuse you?Well but how else do I describe a roller coaster tale of action thrown amidst contemprary fantasy?This one can best be described as Transporter meets Matrix kind of movie. Based on a graphic novel, this one has James Mcavoy playing a bored accountant by day who hates his job and is considered as a loser.

One fine day his life turns topsy turvy as he gets attacked by an assasin and a diva ( Angelina Jolie) saves him ( ???). Now our hero is told that his father belonged to a age old ( 1000 yrs old) cult of assasins called The Fraternity & that the man who attacked was a rebel member of the fraternity who had killed his father.

Though initially he refuses to buy the story, he soon changes his mind & then decides to join the fraternity and avenge his father's death. Morgan Freeman playing the head of the cult and Angelina Jolie set him on an intensive training regimen before he is finally "ready". How the story unfolds from then on is told in a lightning fast fashion.

The pace always seems right & you keep asking for more even as the movie comes to a close.You never know this might just trigger of a new series of movies. I surely would love to see it.The action scenes are all powerful & imaginatively shot.The actors do their parts well & overall its a paisa vasool entertainer.Go for it.

Rating- 3.5/5

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na- A Quick Review

Ok the wait for the next young mushy flick is finally over. A big salute to Abbas Tyrewala the director & to Aamir Khan and Mansoor Khan the producers for coming up with this sweet little tale which breezes its way into your heart.

While there's nothing too new about the plot ( especially if you have seen movies like Tujhe Meri Kasam which was a remake of the malayalam movie Niram) but what is commendable is the simple but straight approach taken by the director in presenting it to us. Imran Khan ( debutant & nephew of Aamir & Mansoor) and Genelia are bum-chums.Everybody including parents & friends think they are the ideal couple.

So whats the problem?Well its just that they both dont know they are in love & just think they are the best of friends.So much so that they decide that they must get hitched to someone else and so in walks Manjari who impresses Aamir & Genelia gets engaged to Ayan Khan. Its post these events that they actually realise that they are in love.

The climax maybe a typical bollywood style- airport one but the events preceding it are definitely new. Of the cast Imran makes a confident debut & Genelia finally gets her due in Bollywood- way to go!All the debutants playing friends of the lead cast do a neat job. Rathna Pathak Shah as Imran's mom is first rate and Naseerudin Shah excels in a swashbucling cameo.The Khan brothers ( Arbaaz-Sohail) are irritating in the beginning but when you realise their importance in the story, you cant help smiling at the ingenuity of Abbas Tyrewala.

Music by A.R.Rehman is true to the film's requirement & I must end by saying- Aamir, Mansoor & Abbas- please take a bow.Its nice to feel younger again while watching JTYJN.

Rating- 3.5/5

Forthcoming Bollywood Releases

This friday ( 18th July) shoudl see 2 interesting films releasing- RGV's Contract which is another look at the underworld from the master & Kismat Konnection- the Shahid Kapur, Vidya Balan movie under Aziz Mirza's direction.While Contract might be a good film, the publicity is not that great.After Sarkar Raj, RGV could do well with another good result at the box office. Kismat Konnection has been having good publicity, the promos look interesting & its a short wait to know if this could be another Jab We Met in the making - thus giving us a new couple to talk about.

The last friday of July ( 25th) sees 3 varied movies lined up- Apoorva Lakhia's Mission Istanbul ( Zayed Khan,Vivek Oberoi, Sunil Shetty, Shriya Saran), Govinda's multi starrer -Money Hai to Honey Hai ( Hansika, Celina, Esha, Upen Patel, Aftab) & the Ranvir Sheorey-Mallika Sherawat starrer-Ugli aur Pagli.

Well I'll be back with some more info on all these movies.One thing's for sure I hope I'm gonna love watching all of them ( or atleast most of them ) :)

Forthcoming/Pending Reviews & baaki sab!!!

Well coming up are reviews of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Subramaniapuram ( Tamil), Ready ( Telugu), Hancock & Kungfu Panda.Well these are the movies I've seen of late & which I am yet to review over here. Promise to post them in the next couple of days.

Also will be putting up my thoughts on the current's year's biggie so far- Dasavatharam.So friends do watch out for all these & even more.

Song of the Day

Well in the early hours of this morning ( well I actually went off to sleep only then :) ) I suddenly started humming a lovely romantic song- hum unse mohabbat karke, din raat sanam rote hain.meri neend gayi, mera chain gaya, aur chain se woh sote hain.Yes ladies and gentlemen this song is from the Govinda-Shilpa Shetty starrer-Gambler ( 1995).
The movie though not a box office hit, had excellent music by Anu Malik.Trivia- the movie was lying in the cans for more than a year perhaps due to some financial issues. Who knows if released on time it might even have clicked at the box office.The other memorable songs in the movie include the title song, Meri Marzi, Stop That etc.

Get Smart- A Quick Review

Well well well some surprises are always sweet. Though viewers in the U.S might be famililar with the T.V series- Get Smart and thus know what the movie's gonna be alike, for us in India thats not really the case.So you generally dont expect too much from a movie like this except hoping that there are enough light moments to keep you going.

Well the result will surprise anybody who watches it. This one is a clear spoof on James Bond but told in a tongue & cheek manner. Maxwell Smart ( Steve Carell is in fine form) is a top notch analyst with CONTROL , a U.S top secret service agency. He is yearning to become a field agent to get into action & even top scores in the written test but The Chief does not want to let him go as he feels he cannot get a better replacement.

In one deadly move KAOS ( the nemesis of CONTROL) gets control over the database of CONTROL and thus the life's of all agents are in trouble. Thats when reluctantly the chief sends Agent 99 ( a spunky Anne Hathaway) along with Max on the mission. How they go about doing their task criss crossing through Russia, back in action in the U.S and all the while sharing a wonderful chemistry is what the rest of the movie is all about.

In a inspired moment of casting, there are good appearances by stars like Dwayne "The Rock"Johnson and Dalip Singh a.ka. The Great Khali. Overall its clean entertainment and worth the money spent in the multiplex.Go for it.

Rating-3.5/5

Whats Kuselan/Kathanayakudu/Kadha Parayumbol all about?

Ok this is in response to a query from my friend- Jayanto.Heard of the tale in Lord Krishna's life about his friendship with his poor friend Sudhama ( in South India Sudhama is also called Kuselan)?Well Srinivasan has brilliantly adapted this episode into an excellent film plot.Here in Kadha Parayumbol- Srinivasan plays a poor barber ( Balan) who is married and has two kids.He is nearly in a state of poverty and doesnt have money to upgrade his place of work unlike his competitor.Srinivasan also tells his wife and kids about stories of himself and his friend who is now a superstar in Malayalam films ( Mammooty).

One fine day Mammooty comes to Srinivasan's village for a film shooting.Word somehow spreads that Srinivasan is Mammooty's friend and suddenly everybody has a new found respect for him as they want to use his help to get close to Mammooty. But Srinivasan refuses to meet Mammooty as he feels that his friend may not recognise him after so long & must not feel that he has come to him for any favour.

The best part of the movie is the climax shot in the school- where Mammooty pours his heart out while Srinivasan is completely shocked to hear his friend speak about him.The movie works on all counts-
1. Acting- Srinivasan is brilliant & Mammooty though in a cameo steals the thunder at the end
2. Cast & characters- Superb is what I have to say. Be it the Parallel colleg lecturer- Mukesh
( who co-produces the movie with Srinivasan) , Meena as Balan's wife, Jagadish as the rival barber etc all are good.
3. Music- by M.Jayachandran suits the film completely
I have already spoken about the story.Now its Rajnikanth doing the superstar role in Tamil & Telugu,SRK in Hindi and Ganesh doing it in Kannada. As for the barber's role its played by Pasupathy in tamil, Jgapathi Babu in telugu,Irfan Khan & Ramesh Arvind in kannada.

Lets wait and watch whether these versions also carry the same magic.

The Incredible Hulk- A Quick Review

After a rather disastrous attempt by Ang Lee in 2003, the latest version of Hulk sees Edward Norton in place of Eric Bana and is directed by Louis Letterier ( Transporter). Heck Edward Norton even gets credited as the script writer.
For the sake of those who have no clue about the Hulk, the opening credits show you what was essential the tale behind the origin of Hulk.This is shown in a characteristic style & then the movie starts off by showing Bruce Banner ( Hulk's alter ego) bottling cola in far away Brazil who during free time is trying to master techniques to control anger.

But very soon his place of existence is known to the General who wants to bring him in. His aim is to dissect Hulk & use the knowledge and material to build an army of super heroe's. Therein there's an interesting chase sequence & the story shifts base to the U.S.A. Bruce takes the help of his old flame (Liv Tyler) who's the daughter of the General.

From there its a constant manhunt with Hulk appearing at strategic times. Oh! and in classic comic book style you have a super villian- the abomination pitted against Hulk. The climax fight between the two is well captured. Overall a nice superhero movie- can be watched once.

Rating-2.5/5

Song of the Day

Well today as I was wondering what to write about, out of the blue I started humming" ek chanchal shok haseena, mere sapnon me aayi, mujhe ek jhalak dikhalake woh, mere dil ka chain churaye." Well this was a mellifluous romantic number from the 1990 Salman Khan-Nagma starrer-Baaghi. Tuned by Anand Milind to the lyrics of Sameer, Abhijeet was completely in control of the song. The movie marked the debut of Nagma & was Salman's next release after his mega hit- Maine Pyar Kiya.Incidentally Baaghi too went on to be a hit though not in the ranks of Maine Pyar Kiya.

Kadha Parayumbol- the most happening malayalm movie ever?

Well Srinivasan & Mukesh must be in cloud 9 with Kadha Parayumbol their maiden production as a team striking gold big time.Also getting into limelight is Srinivasan's story & screenplay for the sheer simplicity of the tale set amidst a sea of emotions. As everyone knows Rajnikanth is doing the tamil & telugu bilingual version of the movie ( Kuselan/Kathanayakudu) and incidentally the audio launch of Kuselan took place today. We also know that SRK-Priyadarshan combo is remaking the same in hindi as Billo Barber.Now comes the latest news- Golden Star (G) Ganesh & Ramesh Arvind are joining hands for the Kannanda version. The next venture from Srinivasan I'm sure will now be keenly awaited :)

Song of the day

I know I am guilty of not contributing regularly for this topic ( in fact its only my 2nd ever post) but let me try to make a habit of the same. To bhaiyon aur behnon aaj ka vishesh gaana hai-"sambhala hai maine, bahut apne dilko, zubaan pe tera phir bhi naam aa raha hai". Well this one's from the 1994 movie- Naaraz.Directed by Mahesh Bhatt and picturised on the lovely Sonali Bhendre and Atul Agnihotri ( probably the biggest hit song in his career as an actor) , it had music by Anu Malik.It was one of the most romantic tracks of the early 1990's. Infact even today the movie is only remembered for this song.

21- A Quick Review

Here come's a clean campus flick but with a difference. The tale is not really one of campus life, but about high stakes in las Vegas. Are you confused , then read on. Jim Sturgess plays a brilliant student at MIT who gets admission into Harvard Medical School, but is finding it difficult to manage to pay the tution fee there.

Thats when one of his professors ( good portrayal by Kevin Spacey) comes in. Seeing the hero to be good with numbers the prof, asks him to join his gang of super brainy students who have a habit of hitting the casino's at Las Vegas during the weekends , using their intelligence to count the cards & winning big time.

Though Jim is reluctant at first, he soon gives in & gets sucked into the labyrinth. Kate Bosworth who is part of the group soon becomes his love interest. At one point of time , the stakes start getting higher & Jim is unable to turn back. Also on their heels is Laurence Fishburne who helps the casino management's to track such sharp heada like them who try to beat the system.

So what happens next? Does Jim get caught & does he go to Harvard?Well all in all a decent movie which is worth a watch and will not make you feel you've wasted your time.

Rating-3/5

Mere Baap Pehle Aap- A Quick Review

Ok at the very outset let me reveal that Priyan has remade the malayalam movie - Ishtam ( directed by Sibi Malayalil, starring Dileep-Navya Nair) as Mere Baap Pehle Aap. There's hardly any deviation from the original script. Its all about a son trying to bring happiness in the life of his father by getting him married to his old flame.

Akshaye Khanna plays the son & Paresh Rawal the father. Om Puri plays the friend of Paresh Rawal who is constantly looking to getting married. Whenever the two friends set out in the pursuit of some lady for Om Puri, they get into trouble with the police -Archana Puran Singh does well as the cop with the Haryanvi accent. And Akshaye generally comes to the rescue of his dad.

One day a mysterious girl ( Genelia) starts calling up Akshaye & says she's his old friend. She keeps irritating him & finally its revealed that she was his junior in college. They become friends & Genelia even gets attached to Paresh Rawal. She stays with her guardian ( parents are in the U.S) played a bored looking Shobhana.

Once during a wedding when Paresh Rawal & Shobhana come face to face both Akshaye & Genelia realise something's wrong as they start behaving differently especially Paresh Rawal.They soon find out that they used to love each other long ago but couldnt get married. That is when both Akshaye & Genelia decide to get them both married & also in the process fall in love themselves.

Its a hppy ending of course. Musically ( Vidyasagar) its one of the worst movies from Priyadarshan. Acting honours go to Paresh Rawal & to some extent Genelia.Akshaye is decent but not great. For those who havent seen the malayalam original , its not a bad watch.

Rating- 2/5 ( reduced 0.5 for a bad soundtrack)

De-Taali - A Quick Review

E.Niwas tries his hand at comedy once again with De-Taali. Its a tale of 3 friends who have grown up together- Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab & Ayesha Takia.They are the picture perfect group of friends who do almost everything together. Riteish plays a fun loving guy, Aftab keeps falling in love & getting out of it ever so often & Ayesha plays the balancing act.

During one such incidence Riteish mentions to Ayesha that she would make the ideal girl for Aftab. This sets her thinking & she actually falls in love with Aftab. Unfortunately he falls in love very seriously with Rimi Sen. Riteish & Ayesha try hard to break the pair.They are all the more vindicated when they realise Rimi is a gold digger.

But there's a problem, Aftab is smitten by Rimi & believes her blindly.What happens next?Do Aftab & Ayesha finally unite?This is what the rest of the movie is all about. The movie had a great publicity & Vishal-Shekar's music has added to the decent hype created. Unfortunately the movie doesnt really deliver to the expectations. Riteish is good as usual. Aftab looks lost as ever, Ayesha is decent , but surprisingly its Rimi Sen who emerges the scene stealer & appears quite natural.

Rating-2/5

Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic- A Quick Review

Yash Raj Films is back with one of their favourite directors,Kunal Kohli ( this is his fourth film with Yash Raj after Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Hum Tum & Fanaa).This time Kunal Kohli also is co-producer & comes up with a sugar coated candyfloss movie aimed at the kids and family crowd.So does it do the trick for Yash Raj who have been having a tough time at the box office of late?

Well the answer is yes & no. Yes its not a bad movie, there are genuine moments in the movie where you smile, but then the whole tale is very predictable & therein lies the fault.The script ( a bit of Mary Poppins, a bit of Sound of Music, a bit of Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke ) does not keep you gripped to the script.Its very laidback & does not throw any surprises at all.

Saif Khan plays a rich brat with a tough past and Amisha Patel ( now known as Ameesha eeks!) is his girlfriend.In a freak road accident he hits a car and the couple sitting in it die. The court orders Saif to bring up the couple's 4 children as their legal guardian. The trouble is he hates the kids & the kids in turn hate him.

When the kids pray to God to help them, God ( played by a charming Rishi Kapoor) sends his favourite fairy,Rani Mukherjee to bring Saif & the kids closer. Rani literally comes riding a bicycle along a rainbow & straight into their house as their nanny. Of course by now you must have guessed what happens after this right? There in lies the problem for the movie. Pritam is not in form this time. The kids have all done quite well especially the kid playing Iqbal - the sardar. Saif & Rani are strictly ok. Amisha sizzles in the lazy lamhe song.

Overall a ok movie, go for it if you have nothing to do this weekend.

Rating- 2/5

Innathe Chintha Vishayam- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Sathyan Anthikkad and his favourite heroine-Meera Jasmine join hands with Mohanlal to bring you Innathe chintha vishayam. Remember Rasathantram- where the trio had worked as a dream team, a movie which resurrected Lal ettan’s image after a few failed attempts? Well to be frank, the movie couldnt have come at a better time, as Lal ettan has been having a spate of flops
( Ali Bhai, Paradesi, RGV Ki Aag, Flash & College Kumaran) recently and so this movie was to be a turnaround for him.
The story is centered around 3 couples, all the 3 wives ( Sukanya, Mohini& Muthumani) being friends from collge days. All the 3 couples are going through stress in their marriage. Mukesh a dentist has a roving eye which gets him into
trouble with his wife, Sukanya. Mohini's husband, Vijayraghvan leaves his Gulf job to stay back at home as he is extra possessive about his wife. Muthumani's a qualified lawyer who lives in a joint family with her husband, Ashokan. Ashokan
does not want her to practice law.
All the three couples start living seperately. Though Sukanya stays in their house,
Mukesh moves out & sells his house off. Thus enters Lal ettan as the person who buys the house. He is a garment exporter who wants to use the house as his office. Initially he faces resistance from Sukanya and her friends who do not allow him to take possession of the house. Thats when Lal ettan realises that all the 3 women are staying away from their husbands.
Now Lal ettan plays the good samaritan and gets friendly with all the 3 women and goes about trying to salvage their married lives. He is helped in this journey by Meera Jasmine who joins his firm as a Fashion Designer. How Lal ettan goes about doing the task is what the rest of the film is all about. The first half of the movie is quite light hearted and moves breezily. But the second half has cliced moments and is unusually slow.
Mohan Lal is quite adequate and Meera too does a good job. Innocent and Mammookoya are also ok. All the 3 couples portray their parts well. Music by Ilayaraja is average. Overall the movie is a decent watch, but certainly not in the league of Sathyan Anthikkad's recent movies like Achuvinta Amma, Rasathantram or Vinodayathra.
Rating- 2.5/5

Krazzy 4 – A Quick Review

Filmkraft is back with their next movie and this time Rakesh Roshan hands over the directorial reins to Jaideep Sen. So is Krazzy 4 a comedy caper or a social comedy? Well to say the least, it’s a big bore inflicted on the paying public by Jaideep Sen in his debut.

Heavily influenced by the Hollywood movie- The Dream Team, Krazzy 4 is all about 4 individuals- Arshad Warsi, Irffan Khan, Rajpal Yadav & Suresh Menon who are all inmates of a mental asylum.

While Arshad Warsi is very short tempered ( he even beats up his girl friend’s dad for smoking in front of him!!!), Irffan Khan is a doctor with a penchant for cleanliness, Rajpal Yadav thinks he’s a freedom fighter from the 1940’s & Suresh Menon is always silent. Juhi Chawla plays the doctor treating them & one day decides to take them all to Mumbai to witness the India-England One Day Cricket Match to help them learn team skills!!!

That’s when Juhi Chawla gets kidnapped & then these 4 steps into action. Saying anything more than this about the plot is a waste of time. Yes Rakhi’s item number is intact & yeah you do have the “item boys”-SRK &Hrithik doing their acts. In fact if not for these item numbers the movie would have been a stinker.
The nail on the coffin- the picture ending with a to be continued message.Please spare us!!!

Rating- 1.5/5

U Me Aur Hum- A Quick Review

Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut comes as a pleasant surprise while watching it. Surprise because after TZP expectations on him to deliver were high, and he has managed to make viewers glued to their seats in spite of making what could be classified as a-“nothing new subject”. Talking about the subject, Ajay has been inspired by 50 First Dates & the Notebook to a great extent, but still manages to leave his mark.

Ajay plays a psychiatrist who is on a cruise trip with his friends- Sumeet Raghavan and Divya Dutta play a doctor couple, constantly fighting for everything, while Karan Khanna & Isha Sharvani play the couple in love who are still unmarried. On this cruise Ajay sets his eyes on Kajol, a waitress and falls head over heels in love with her.

Obviously she doesn’t accept him at first & he then goes through her diary to impress her by doing things she likes. Though she starts liking him, she leaves him when she realizes the truth. A few months later, to the surprise of the friends, Ajay invites them home to make them attend their wedding (different approach taken rather than being melodramatic here).

When things start looking good, there come’s the bad news- Kajol is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The rest of the story is all about how the couple copes up with the same and the emotional journey they go through. Music by Vishal Shekhar is not heavy but still just average. As a director Ajay has made a decent debut, yes there are flaws, the movie does slow a bit at times, but it’s still earnest. Ajay the actor is good & Kajol is definitely naturally good. Divya Dutta does very well. Not much scope for the others though.

Rating- 3/5

Race- A Quick Review

Abbas-Mustan are back with Race, a trademark movie from their stable with good looking actors, foreign locales, some hit music and a lot of twists and turns. At the very outset let me tell you that this is a better movie when compared to the last 2 outings from the director duo ( 36 China Town and Naqaab) but is still nowhere in the league of their better movies like Baazigar, Humraaz etc.

Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna are brothers who live in South Africa. They have a stud farm and take active part in horse racing. While Saif is the one managing the business and is shrewd at work, Akshaye is an alcoholic who has nothing to do with work. Saif has a secretary (Katrina Kaif) who has a crush on him while he himself is interested in a model friend of his- Bipasha.

When Akshaye meets Bipasha in a party, he is blown over and tells his brother that if he gets married to Bipasha, he would quit drinking and settle down. So Saif sacrifices his love for his brother and gets them married. But Akshaye continues to drink and Bipasha gets really upset with this. Feeling lonely and by co-incidence she gets into an affair with Saif.

When Akshaye finds out all hell breaks loose. What happens next? Why do Anil Kapoor the cop and his secretary Sameera Reddy come into the picture? Well I won’t reveal more- but there are lots of plots and sub plots to keep you guessing. At times the number of twists even gets on to your head. Performance wise none of the actors have had to really exert themselves. All they had to do was look good.

Though the music by Pritam is catchy, on screen most of the songs appear forced and the picturisation is also rather bad. Go for it with no great expectations and you may not be disappointed. And yeah its already been declared a big hit.

Rating- 2/5 ( Actually its a toss between 2 & 2.5 and I settled for the former :) )

Calcutta News - A Quick Review

After 3 critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies- Kazcha, Thanmathra and Palunku- Blessy this time comes out with a slightly more urban theme- Calcutta News. This time Blessy bases his story in Kolkata/Calcutta where the protagonist- Ajith Thomas played very well by a Dileep in a new get up plays a TV cameraman for a local TV channel.

Dileep lives with his family in Calcutta and is the son of a late football player. One day he comes across a malayali couple in a tram but the husband does not want to acknowledge that he is a malayali. The next day Dileep is shocked to find that the husband ( Indrajith) is no more and sets about trying to locate the wife- Meera Jasmine in a splendid portrayal.

After he locates Meera, Dileep realizes that Indrajith was actually trying to sell her off to a buyer in Sonagachi- Calcutta’s red light area. In a brawl in a bar he gets killed by a big agent out there ( Kathal Krishnamoorthy). Realising that this was no ordinary incident and that a lot of women were affected by this illegal trade, Dileep along with his team (including Vimala Raman in a slightly insignificant role) try to uncover the truth.

That’s when the sex racket people kidnap Meera and then its left to Dileep to do a dual mission- find Meera as well as expose the racket. How he goes about doing it is told in a convincing yet chilling manner in the surroundings of Sonagachi. Both Dileep and Meera are very good in their roles. Innocent and Bindu Panicker do a decent job. Vimala Raman is ok but doesn’t get much scope. Indrajith in a short role impresses.

Music by Debajyothi Mishra is pleasing to the ear. Even the camera work by S.Kumar needs mention. The major drawback of the movie is that you get a feeling you’ve seen something similar when you think of movies like Kamalahasan’s Mahanadi.

Overall Blessy has made sure that he continues to be known for different cinema.

Rating- 3/5

Roudram- A Quick Review

Ok here’s for some trivia- this movie has Mammooty playing a cop for the 26th time and its penned and directed by Renji Panickar who as most of us know has a penchant for political and action oriented movies. So whats Roudram all about?

Its all about a honest cop ( Mammooty) who’s an ACP but a non IPS officer constantly on the wrong side of the politicians and some senior officers. Yes he has support in the form of a couple of seniors- Rajan.P.Dev and Lalu Alex. The CM ( Janardhanan) entrusts Mammooty’s superiors with the murder investigation of a drug peddler.

This is when things get going. Investigations by Mammooty reveal the hand of a lot of influential people like Vijayaraghavan , his foster son played by Sai Kumar and even the CM’s son. How Mammooty aka “nari” as called by the police force goes about nailing the criminals is what the rest of the story is all about.

Of course there are a lot of current political happenings inspiring the script and Mammooty shows that when it comes to donning the police uniform there cannot be anyone better. The supporting cast – Rajan.P.Dev, Sai Kumar, Lalu Alex, Janradhanan, Vijayaragahavan etc are all good. There is no scope for romance or comedy in the plot and so there’s no relief giving moment in the story.

It’s an out and out Mammooty movie- watch it for old time’s sake.

Rating- 2.5/5 ( 0.5 extra for Mammooty’s sizzling screen presence)

Jodha Akbar- A Quick Review

Ok I know its too late to be reviewing Jodha Akbar in the true sense. Nevertheless I will still like to write my take on the movie. Frankly speaking I was quite skeptical about the project initially but it was when I saw it I realized that the hype was nearly worth it. To make a historical and to make a success out of it is no mean task & hence I do appreciate Ashutosh Gowarikar’s work.

The tale is basically about how the young secular Mughal Emperor Akbar played by Hrithik ends up marrying Jodha Bai played by Aishwarya Rai, a Rajput princess purely as a strategic decision and how eventually both of them actually fall in love. It also chronicles the treachery played by family members themselves, has some wars, a lot of conspiracy and some reasonably good music all thrown in.

Performance wise I would say the Hrithik-Aish combination works big time. They have done a lot of justice to their roles. Supporting cast- Sonu Sood, Ila Arun, Khulbushan Kharbanda, Poonam Sinha etc are all decent. Music by A.R.Rehman is not of the commercial variety- but very soothing. Khwaja mere khwaja and Kehne ko jashn-e-bahara are the pick of the lot.

Costumes by Neeta Lulla are really amazing and fit the mood and time of the period. Though its definitely a lengthy movie, basically for the casting, costumes and A.R.Rehman’s music its worth a watch.

Rating- 3.5/5

Cycle- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Johny Antony ( C.I.D.Moosa, Turupu Gulan) is back with Cycle- now officially known as the first Malayalam hit of 2008. It stars a virtual youth brigade – Vineeth Srinivasan ( the singer son of actor/director/writer-Srinivasan), Vinu ( who debuted in Nivedyam), Sandhya and Bhama ( debut).

The story revolves around a shopping mall. While Vineeth works as a teller in the finance company belonging to Jagathy, Vinu works as a salesman in a consumer durable showroom. Just like the two guys working in the shopping mall, Bhama works for a travel agency also in the same mall. Sandhya is the daughter of Jagathy. While Sandhya is in love with Vinu (who is not interested and laments the fact that he couldn’t succeed as a cricketer), Vineeth is interested in Bhama, but she doesn’t show interest.

Vineeth and Vinu befriend Bhama’s brother and celebrate New Year’s Eve with him. That night Bhama’s brother gets picked up by the police on a false charge and the cop asks for a huge sum of money to release him. Perplexed they hit upon an idea of stealing from Jagathy’s safe vault in the office. Vineeth and Vinu make a plan and do the heist the same New Year’s night.




Of course to add to the sentiment factor it is shown that both Vineeth and Vinu are from poor families with a lot of aspirations (gulf job and cricket respectively) and Bhama’s father Murali is now bedridden as he was once cheated by a taxi driver in Mumbai ( Jagathy) who ran away with all his money making him a pauper.

Of course Jagathy with his brother in laws- Cochin Hanifa, Risabhava etc get behind the two of them eventually & then it’s a roller coaster ride. James Albert with the script supports Johny Antony and they manage to save the movie. Vineeth is fine but seems to imitate his dad a lot. Vinu is good. The heroines do not have much to do. As usual Jagathy is very good.

Music by Mejo Joseph is average and overall the film seems to have clicked with the youth who want a change from the usual superstar films.

Rating- 2.5/5

Jalsa- A Quick Review (Telugu)

Andarikke namaskaram ( Namaskar to everyone)- the best news for Ugadi for all Pawan Kalyan fans is that he’s back with Jalsa. And its Trivikram who’s done what looked nearly impossible. Yes you might want to argue that Annavaram his last release was an average grosser but then you are not talking of an average actor, you are talking about someone big right?

Jalsa is the story of Sanjay Sahu ( Pawan Kalyan) & you see him initially either happily drunk or receiving numerous degrees from Osmania University. Pawan then is in love with Kamalinee Mukherjee (insignificant role) but her father- a cop played by Prakash Raj, refuses to toe the line & gets her married off to someone else.

One night Pawan rescues 2 college girls (Ileana & Parvati Melton) from a ruffian and predictably both of them fall in love with Pawan. But Parvati loses and its Ileana who snags Pawan. She even moves into his house (shared by a bunch of other guys including Ali) as a paying guest.

Parallely one sees the villain- Mukesh Rishi who is a big factionalist leader doing things typically a telugu film villain does. The twist in the tale comes when it turns out Ileana is the sister of Kamalinee Mukherjee and later it is revelaed that Pawan is a reformed naxalite. In one of the naxalite operations in the past, he comes in contact with a cop-Prakash Raj (very good sequence) and they get friendly.

Of course Prakash Raj does not want his second daughter also to get married to Pawan & fixes up her wedding unknowingly with Mukhesh Rishi’s son. Mukesh Rishi on the other hand is on the hot pursuit of Pawan due to some old rivalry.

What happens next and how Pawan handles the show is what the rest of the movie is all about. Pawan Kalyan seems to have hit it right this time and credit goes to Trivikram for the same. The drunken scenes at home with Ileana and Brahmanandam almost remind you of his Kushi days. Ileana plays the dumb bimbette fairly well. Parvati &Kamalinee have nothing much to do. Prakash Raj is wasted to some extent and Mukesh Rishi is as usual. Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil and Dharmavarapu are decent in comedy.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad is decent ( rocking the charts right now) and overall it’s a time pass flick.

Rating- 2.5/5

Mulla- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Lal Jose if back with Dileep in Mulla. While it’s definitely better than the dud- Rasigan from the same combo, it’s no where near the hit films from the combo like Chandran udikinnadikkil, Meesha Madhavan & Chandupottu. This is a very dark tale set somewhere in Palakkad district near the T.N border.

Most of the movie is shot on a train & in a basti near the railway track. The movie goes back & forth from present to past. Meera Nandan (making an impressive debut) is back from jail is heading home by train. On the way she remembers the past- Dileep is Mulla, an orphan who is named Mulla (Jasmine) after his mother- a prostitute who used to wear mulla poo.

Dileep is the right hand man of a local don who rules the basti ( Biju Menon) & is a rough and tough guy. Meera’s father runs a press and one day dies in an accident. So Meera starts working in a bakery.

She travels daily to work by train & usually encounters Dileep on the train, fighting with someone or the other. On one such day Dileep sees a babay left behind on the train & hands it to Meera. Due to pressure from home Meera hands the baby back to Dileep who then tries to raise it himself.

But then Meera has fallen in love with the baby & hence keeps visiting Dileep’s place to visit the baby.Slowly they fall in love with each other and Biju Menon and the others too support them. But the villain here is the local cop-Saiju Kurup, who is Meera’s father’s step brother.

He tries to separate the two of them. That’s when Biju Menon gets killed by the cop as it was he who had Biju Menon kill Meera’s father ( fears that Biju would expose him).While Dileep comes to know the truth, he confronts Saiju in a bloody climax.

Overall the film’s story appears forcibly dark and looks more like a tamil movie. Dileep hardly has any dialogues and tries to only look tough. Meera Nandan is a revelation, Saiju Kurup is good & Salim Kumar’s comedy is ok. Music by Vidya Sagar is average.

Overall considering it’s a Lal Jose-Dileep movie, it’s a disappointment.

Rating-2/5

Yaradi Nee Mohini-A Quick Review

Jawahar- a one time assistant to Selvaraghavan makes his directorial debut with Yaradi Nee Mohini starring Dhanush & Nayanthara.Its a faithful adaptation of his mentor's telugu hit- Adavari Mataluku Ardhale Verule ( Venkatesh & Trisha).The plot goes like this- Dhanush plays a jobless carefree youth dependent on his schoolteacher dad played brilliantly by the late Raguvaran.One fine day he catches a glimpse of Nayanthara, a project manager in a I.T firm (?) & its love at first sight for Dhanush.

With some effort Dhanush manages to get a job as a trainee developer in Nayan’s company & one day during a visit to Australia, he proposes to her. That’s when he is shocked to know that she is about to get married soon. Unable to bear his son’s suffering Raghuvaran comes to meet Nayan & convince her. But she insults him & in a freak manner ends up slapping him. Unable to bear the insult, Raghuvaran dies of a cardiac arrest.

Karthik Kumar- Dhanush’s friend is about to get married & insists that Dhanush accompany him to his village. Dhanush is further dismayed on knowing that the girl is friend is marrying is none other than Nayan. How does Karthik’s family react to Dhanush? How does Nayan face Dhanush & what finally happens is what the 2nd half is all about.

While the 1st half is urbane & chic, the 2nd half is rural & family based. Quite a lot of sequences would bring smiles/tears on your face especially for those who have seen the telugu original. Performance wise Dhanush is very natural & he rocks. Nayan does justice to a well made role & Raghuvaran is simply outstanding. Karthik Kumar has no much scope. Karunas is as usual & K.Vishwanath is good.

Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is good & overall it’s a feel good film for the family. Looks like Dhanush has his next hit after Polladhavan.

Rating- 3/5