Angadi Theru Movie Review- Where Dreams Get Sold

Not all people who come down to Chennai from the smaller towns & villages of Tamil Nadu end up making the journey to become the next superstar or C.M. For a lot of people the metro city represents the land of opportunities to them. One such place in the city which plays host to the endless stream of migrants from the ‘districts’ is the bustling Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar where everything is organized yet completely incomprehensible for the regular people, who just view it as a major shopping destination.
The street plays host to a number of multistoried buildings which act as “one stop shop” malls by selling a host of products across categories. The street also plays host to a lot many smaller retail outlets and some independent “roadside” businessmen. The “one stop shop” malls/superstore follow the typical South T.N business model where the entrepreneur/owner (called annachi ) runs the store with the help of staff picked up mainly from the smaller towns & villages. The owner takes care of the boarding and lodging of the employees and they work together as a cohesive unit. In my FMCG and retail days I have seen so many such stores in Chennai and elsewhere, following the same model.
On my visits to these stores at times I have wondered if there’s anything more than what meets the eyes or is there a story behind the story. But then the game stopped there as I never went beyond thinking slightly on these lines and never even organized my thoughts on the same. Now wait a minute why am I going on & on about all this, isn’t this supposed to be a movie review? Of course it is and you will find out shortly why I have been saying all this. Vasantha Balan the director of the acclaimed Tamil film ‘Veyyil’ is back again with ‘Angadi Theru’ (market street, AT from hereon), which is again refreshingly fresh and a realistic film at heart.
AT is all about life in a “one stop shop” in Ranganathan Street, T.Nagar. On regular intervals they keep recruiting youngsters ( male & female ) from the ‘districts’ and during one such recruitment drive , the hero Jothilingam ( debutant Mahesh ) and his friend Marimuthu ( ‘Black’ Pandi ) join the store. Jothilingam had to take up the job after his father’s untimely death which cuts short his plans to study further.The boys are made to soon realize that life there is not going to be easy. Right from the long working hours to the cramped living arrangement and the unhygienic staff ‘mess’ ( dining area ), everything is a testimony to the fact that they are almost like bonded labour over there.
After some feelings of distrust between them, Jothilingam and Kani (Anjali of Katradhu Tamizh) slowly start liking each other, even as they work alongside each other. But life is not going to be easy at all as they also have to contend with the floor supervisor ‘Karungali’ ( director A.Venkatesh ) who is a terror to all the junior employees. The journey further for Mari and Kani puts them through so many situations that gives us so much more insight into life in the market street i.e AT.
What one needs to understand and prepare one self for is the fact that AT is not about a fairy tale romance of a young couple but a harsh realistic portrayal of a certain section of society, a society we are exposed to but yet remain ignorant of. AT tells you that there is a story behind every single person around us. Not only is the movie a fairly well made take on how the “system” of a “one stop shop” in Ranganathan Street works, it also tells you about the lives of so many other people living/working in the street. So there are a number of other characters all of interesting dimensions who come our way through this film.
Now when I look back at the movie it is very clear that Vasantha Balan has tried something very interesting in this movie. In fact in the first 15 minutes or so of the film itself one can get to know in brief how the movie will turn out to be- but for that one has to look out sharply, very sharply. In terms of the casting one can easily say that the actors fit into their characters completely, thus elevating the film. Mahesh makes a reasonably good debut but the actual honours go to Anjali and ‘Black’ Pandi. Anjali had put in a good performance earlier in Katradhu Tamizh and now with AT she signals that she certainly has the potential to pull of roles of substance.
In a rather serious tale like this if there is any mild relief in between , then the sole reason for this is ‘Black’ Pandi as he provides some genuine light moments without resorting to buffoonery of any sorts. Director A.Venkatesh also leaves a strong impression with his role. The music of the movie (Vijay Antony & G.V.Prakash Kumar) works in sync with the pace with the film. ‘Aval appadi onrum’ is one of my favorite soulful songs in recent times.The sound design provided by Tapas Nayak ( Bheja Fry, Paa, Puthiya Mugam etc) lends a nice spark to the sharp BGM ( Vijay Antony ).
One of the pillars behind the movie’s output is the cinematography by Richard Maria Nathan (a former assistant to K.V.Anand) whose innovative use of hidden cameras actually brings to life the elements of Ranganathan Street fairly well.Also praiseworthy is the art work by G.K & Muthuraj and the editing by Sreekar Prasad is effective. Jeyamohan’s dialogues also help in lifting the narration considerably.
Long after you finish seeing the movie, you still carry so many images behind with you. For those in Chennai, visiting Ranganathan Street will be a different experience after you watch this film. All said and done the next time you see someone selling cotton ear buds or hand kerchiefs in the local trains or streets in a Mumbai or Chennai or anywhere else, please remember there could be a story behind that person too.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yky9npo

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa Movie Review: Love is in the air again

How does it feel when you see a girl and instantly lose your heart to her?How does it feel when all you do is think about the girl and not care for anything else?How does it feel when all you want is to be with that girl and nothing else?How does it feel when you stop thinking with your mind completely?How does it feel when you automatically become a poet, a romantic one at that?
If the answer to all these questions is a very positive feeling then of course you are in/have been in love. Haven’t we all been in love sometime or the other? And don’t we keep thinking about our first love at some time or the other? Love is an emotion that knows no boundaries, it follows its own course and love keeps us going too even in times of stress. So why am I going on and on about love, especially with Valentine’s Day already 2 weeks behind us?Well the reason is Gautham Vasudev Menon’s latest movie – Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (Will you cross the skies for me? VTV from hereon), one of the most anticipated Tamil movies in recent times. And why not with A.R.Rehman back to form in Tamil after a long gap and fresh from his Grammy wins, the music has been very well received.
Also Gautham has gone back to pure romance after a long time (back to his Minnale/ Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein days) and with the lead pair of Silambarasan ( Simbu from hereon ) and Trisha looking good in the initial promos, the movie certainly was well awaited. Well the wait is over and the movie is here. So does Gautham manage to weave the tale convincingly? Does Simbu manage to shed his usual mannerisms and style and go for a change of image? Do Simbu and Trisha share a good chemistry? Is there more to the movie than just ARR’s music? Well for answers to all these and more, read on.
At the very first outset let me make it clear that VTV is a very simple romantic tale which is not out of the world or anything that’s not seen or heard before. Now don’t jump to any conclusion yet. I have always felt that making a love story is not an easy task. After all people know what to expect and the comparisons are one too many and creating an impact is not that easy at all. Here is where the treatment to the story becomes very important. Also what’s very vital is the fact that while watching the movie the audience must connect to the lead pair, they must feel the romance. If these two things are taken care of the job is done to a fair extent.
VTV is the story of Karthik ( Simbu ), a recently passed out engineering graduate whose parents ( Kitty a.k.a Raja Krishnamoorthy and Uma Padmanabhan ) have typical expectations from him. But Karthik on the other hand wants to become a filmmaker. With the help of a cinematographer, Ganesh (one of the actual producers of VTV) he manages to become an AD to K.S.Ravikumar. One fine day Karthik sees Jessie (Trisha) and falls head over in heels in love with her. Both the families stay in the same building ( Simbu’s family being tenants in Jessie’s place ) and slowly Karthik goes out of his way trying to keep on looking at Jessie all the time. Jessie is an I.T professional and belongs to a Malayalee Christian family. Finally Karthik conveys his love for her and that’s when Jessie says that thingswill never work out between them as her father ( Babu Antony ) would never agree.
When Jessie goes to her hometown Alleppey in Kerala for a vacation, Simbu along with his mentor Ganesh follows suit and finally Jessie also starts acknowledging her feelings for Karthik. But when her family gets an inkling of this they quickly arrange her wedding with someone else, leaving Karthik shattered. What follows is a strong emotional play between the lead players. It’s as much Jessie’s tale as it is Karthik’s from hereon and I’m certainly not going to break the heart of anyone by mentioning further about the plot. So as I’ve mentioned earlier it’s a fairly simple romantic tale but then the treatment sets it apart and elevates the film considerably.
Simbu and Trisha share solid chemistry and its apparent in most of the scenes. The dialogues are very casual and contemporary. It’s a revelation to see Simbu in a completely restrained and controlled character in VTV unlike his loud, larger than life roles otherwise. Trisha has literally lived out Jessie’s character and she completely packs a punch. Right from the look she maintains, to the way she speaks and carries herself, everything appeals. A big kudos to Nalini Sriram for Trisha’s costumes. Manoj Paramahamsa who made his debut as DOP with the acclaimed film Eeram, leaves his mark once again over here.

Simbu & Trisha sharing a magic momentThe outdoors – be it Chennai, ECR, Kerala, Goa, Malta or New York all come alive in various hues and even the indoors are interestingly captured. What can I say about A.R.Rehman’s music apart from admitting that he rocks with both the songs and the BGM. In a lot of areas in the film, the music simply complements the mood of the situation. By now the songs have caught on in a big way and I think they have been captured well on screen too. On the flip side I would say that the pace drops considerably in the 2nd half. But just when you start feeling slightly restless, there comes the climax that leaves you asking for more.
It’s a very interesting culmination to a romance that Gautham has managed to project. It’s a pity that the Telugu version ‘Ye Maaye Chesaave’ is following a rather straight forward conclusion to suit the Telugu audience. While I’m not sure how the majority would respond to the ending of the movie, for me this works and comes out as pretty impressive. As mentioned earlier, in a romantic film, the audience needs to connect to the lead pair and if that happens the job is done to a large extent. That way I’d say I could completely connect to Karthik and Jessie’s tale and that is Gautham’s victory if you truly ask me.
“The love in your heartwasn’t put there to stayOh love isn’t love till you give it away”

- Reba Mcentire
Love is in the air once again. And VTV summarizes that beautifully.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y4euhtw

Leader – Tries hard, a bit too hard

It’s no secret that politics along with cricket and movies always occupies pride of place among Indians in terms of topics to discuss and identify with. Though the political scenario in India hasn’t really changed much of late, we see a lot many more youth getting into the political fray these days across parties and some of them are already making a mark in the political scenario, be it in a regional or National level. I’m sure all these thoughts as well as a lot of interesting developments in the political scenario of A.P must have weighed on the mind of noted filmmaker Sekhar Kammula as he started conceptualizing Leader, the debut movie of Rana Daggubati who comes from one of the most well known families in the Telugu film industry (with names like D.Ramanaidu, Suresh Babu and Venkatesh in the family, it really cant get bigger right? ).
Talking about the debut I can surely say that with a director like Sekhar Kammula, a veteran production house like AVM Productions, a well known production/distribution house doing the distribution ( Geeta Arts ), Rana couldn’t have asked for a better debut. But one also needs to note that this also makes it even tougher for Rana to deliver as the expectation levels are pretty high. So how successful has Sekhar been in making a transition from his style of filmmaking into making a political drama? Has Rana succeeded in making a confident debut? Well read on friends for all this and more.
The movie begins with Arjun Prasad ( Rana ), a PhD scholar in the U.S rushing down to Hyderabad as his father, the C.M of A.P ( Suman ) is injured in a car bomb blast. When his father dies, the family elder- Peddayana ( Kota Srinivasa Rao ) wants someone else from the family to occupy the C.M’s position, a throwback to the dynasty regime that is followed in a lot of cases across the country. The frontrunner for the throne turns out to be Arjun’s cousin, Dhananjay ( Subbaraju ) who has a tainted record. Now keeping his father’s last wish in mind as well as his mother’s (Suhasini) advice, Arjun decides to become the C.M and an interesting power play begins.
Right away Arjun realizes that corruption in the system is rampant and nearly everybody has been affected including his late father. So Arjun decides to clean the system in his own way. And while doing so he realizes that delivering what people want is not easy and the journey is fairly risky. Hence Arjun decides to use some of the tricks of the system itself in order to meet his objective. How Arjun goes about in his journey and how he transforms not just into a C.M or a politician but a leader like his mother describes once is what the rest of the story is all about.

The uber cool CM with his aides
While the movie has a fairly engaging first half, it falters a bit in the 2nd half. Sekhar allows the tale to meander a bit as there is a lot of time spent on the romance angle (not very impressive) and also the power struggle in between. Thankfully the dialogues are straight on and sound real rather than the usual over the top style that one usually gets to see in such films. There are lots of moments which remind you of films like Mudhalvan/Nayak, Yuva /Ayutha Ezhuthu etc but then in a genre like this similarities are not very surprising. But credit goes to Sekhar for following his own path and not really modeling the film on any other influence per se.
The movie is very topical and highlights a lot of incidents that the audience would instantly connect to. While some people may find the climax and the way the movie culminates to be a bit too hard to digest, I have a confession to make over here. While watching the movie initially even I was a bit bewildered but now on hindsight I think the usage of the “ Maa Telugu Talliki “ song to showcase the flow of events in a montage was pretty good and tends to be different from the unnecessary drama that otherwise would have been the way to unfold the events.
The movie is a very good showcase for Rana and he has certainly handled the challenge very well. Rana has great screen presence and his dialogue delivery is fairly impressive as well. Leader works reasonably due to Sekhar’s vision and Rana’s performance. The supporting cast is pretty efficient and they add their contribution to the film. It’s a pleasure to see Kota once again as a wily manipulator and Subbaraju as Rana’s opponent is quite credible. Suhasini does her role with ease and others like Harshavardhan, Rao Ramesh, Tanikella Bharani, Ahuti Prasad all are quite effective as well.

Rana and Richa GangopadhyayAnd except for the Udaya Bhanu item song its good that Sekhar hasn’t tried to please the masses in a major way by going for the usual comedy brigade, unnecessary fights etc. Though the movie looks a bit too idealistic and far fetched at places, it still retains some moments of realism. Coming to the heroines both Richa Gangopadhyay and Priya Anand do what is expected of them, but sadly they don’t have much to contribute in terms of the actual flow of things. Micky J.Meyer’s music is effective though the songs aren’t probably in the same league as some of his previous outings. But of course the genre of the movie is different and he has worked with that in mind. While a lot of the proceedings are unique to A.P, the movie certainly would work anywhere else as well.
Overall the movie doesn’t come out as a masterpiece but then at least what’s praise worthy is that Sekhar has stuck to his thoughts and come out with an attempt to bring out something contemporary and topical. And Rana certainly needs to be appreciated for believing in Sekhar and the team of Leader. As a debut movie for him it works reasonably well. It’s better than a lot of the regular movies that are being dished out in Telugu these days. So go for it with an open mind and certainly come out thinking that there’s a lot that can be done by us. At least Leader makes us think and probably that’s where Shekar succeeds.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yyj4z6e

Tamizh Padam & Goa- Heralding a new trend in Tamil Cinema?

Last Friday (29th Jan) saw the release of 5 Tamil movies of which 2 of them stood out from the rest. The 2 films I’m referring to are Tamizh Padam and Goa, both of which had raised the curiosity levels of the audience, prior to the release. While Tamizh Padam’s promos had created a lot of buzz as it aimed to be the 1st ever full length spoof movie in Tamil Cinema,Goa was the 3rd movie from Venkat Prabhu whose previous movies like Chennai-600028 and Saroja had a successful acceptance among the audience.Having watched both the movies in a gap of just a few hours I clearly felt entertained and also realized that these movies were certainly refreshing in their own way. I would never slot them as great cinema but as movies which were clear in their objective and deliver reasonably keeping the objective in mind.
Spoiler Alert
Tamizh Padam-
Our request to the audience
1.Please don’t laugh too long for the jokes. You’ll miss the next one.2.Please don’t watch the movie more than 10 times. Allow othersa chance to get a ticket.3. Shiva does not offer Bharatha Natyam classes.Please don’t keep calling him in this regard.4. Please don’t try to imitate Shiva to become rich at breakneck speed.5. Please don’t keep calling the director for the film’s story. We would tell you if we knew it
Ok if you are wondering what’s wrong with me, let me tell you that these lines are the exact reproduction of an ad for the movie Tamizh Padam. Now you’ll understand how serious the makers were in making a spoof on Tamil movies with this movie. As a spoof movie rightly should be, this one again has a plot that is begging for your attention otherwise you are likely to miss one too many elements easily. The movie begins in a village called Cinemapatti where the nattamai (the village chieftain played by Ponnambalam) gives a strange verdict that all male children born in the village must be immediately disposed off. The reason- well otherwise they would go on to migrate to Chennai, get into films and later become the C.M of the state.So you find a boy ( the future hero ) being born and the father asks his mother/midwife (Paravai Muniyamma) to kill the baby. The lady tries to use kalli paal ( cactus milk which here comes in a branded tetra pack ) and that’s when the baby requests his grandmother not to kill him but to rather leave him in a dust-bin or even better, in a goods train which will take him to Chennai so that he can grow up to be a superstar. The grandmother decides to take the baby to Chennai herself and brings up the child. A few years later one day in Chennai, a group of thugs are seen to be harassing some poor people and the hero who is now a 10 year old boy rushes to his grandmother and tells her that he wants to help the downtrodden but wants to know when he will grow up for being able to do the same.
In return she asks him to ride a bicycle and as the wheel spins, the boy grows up and becomes the messiah of the poor and downtrodden, Shiva (RJ Shiva). In true superhero fashion Shiva bashes up the thugs, there is a mandatory intro song which follows and then we see Shiva quickly becoming popular. Shiva is seen usually hanging with his friends, Siddharth ( Manobala ), Nakul ( M.S.Bhaskar ) and Bharath ( Venniradai Murthy ) who are all college students , a take on middle aged comedians continuing to act as college students in Tamil movies.
Of course Shiva falls in love with a rich girl Priya (Disha Pandey) and the romance follows the pattern seen in so many movies like Mouna Ragam, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Run, Mozhi, Kadhalan etc. Of course the trouble comes in the form of the father of the heroine who refuses the alliance as Shiva is poor. But Shiva is made of sterner stuff and all in the time span required for a song, does so many things and becomes a rich man overnight. This is of course a throwback to Rajnikant movies like Annamalai and Padayappa. And while all this happens one sees Shiva silently killing a series of baddies in hilarious fashion, all of whom work for ‘D’.
Now we get to see that Shiva is actually an undercover cop (a la Pokiri) and is trying to nab D. While vacationing in Pondichery with Priya, they are attacked and Priya is kidnapped. So how does Shiva rescue Priya, tackle ‘D’ and also re-unite with his parents is what the rest of the movie is all about. The climax is a great example of how the movie never attempts to be taken seriously and is a laugh riot all the way. In fact the references to other films is done in a very imaginative manner and without really hurting any individual. Nirav Shah’s camera work is top notch and captures the ‘superhero’ in the ‘required angles’. Kannan’s music suits the movie very well and director C.S Amudhan deserves all credit for coming up with such a brilliant concept and credit to producer Dayanidhi Alagiri for backing this movie. Of course this movie works mainly due to Shiva who is brilliant as the superhero. His dead pan expressions and dialogue delivery keeps the audience in splits. A refreshing film that deserves wide patronage indeed.
Goa
The movie starts in Pannayapuram where 3 youngsters- Ramarajan (Vaibhav), Vinayagam ( Jai ) and Samikannu ( Premji Amaran ) are seen to be whiling away their time carelessly and growing tired of their antics, the village panchayat orders that they shouldn’t be together anymore. The 3 of them decide to run away to Madurai for a week and end up meeting Vinayagam’s friend who is now married to a foreigner (whom he befriended in Goa) and is about to leave for London. Seeing this, the trio decide that they would also go to Goa and try their luck in getting hitched to a foreigner and going abroad.To make matters worse Samikannu had innocently brought with him the village temple’s jewels and this makes the trio all the more serious about going to Goa and escaping the wrath of the villagers. While in Goa the trio come across Jack (Arvind Akash in a 6 pack avatar ), a hotelier. Jack and his partner Danny (Sampath)- who are in a relationship, provide shelter to the trio and even help them in getting a makeover done.
Roshni ( Piaa) a singer in the hotel there starts liking Vinayagam while Samikannu is lucky to meet Jessica (Melanie), the foreigner he had fallen for in Madurai. Ramarajan in the meanwhile gets acquainted with Suhasini (Sneha) a rich casino owner and later on even gets married to her. But now his life is akin to hell as he realizes how tough it is to be living with Suhasini. Do Samikannu and Vinayagam get lucky in love? Does Ramarajan get out of the mess and what happens to Jack and Danny is what the rest of the tale is all about. The film has a lot of hilarious moments like Premji doing a spoof on Vijay’s ‘puli urumudhu’ sequence ( Vettaikaran ) or the Kangal Irandal track used on Premji and Melanie.
In fact it is such moments which work for the movie. There’s even a reference to Dasavatharam in the form of an actor portraying multiple roles in this movie. Venkat Prabhu should be appreciated for portraying a gay couple in a convincing manner without making caricatures of the people involved. While Jai and Vaibhav are decent, Premji impresses but its Arvind Akash and Sampath (especially) who steal the thunder. For Sampath who is usally seen in loud baddie roles, this is a complete change of image indeed. Yuvan Shankar Raja strangely disappoints with a dull soundtrack. Apart from the soundtrack the length of the movie is another big concern. For a fun filled entertainer, this movie stretches one’s patience in the 2nd half. And it’s very clear that the script was probably improvised on location going by the leisurely way things unfold.
Some Points To Ponder
A week after the two movies have released its very clear that these movies at least stand different from the standard Tamil movie. Finally we have learnt to laugh at our own super heroes and their films, some of them being iconic as well. Though Goa is not being as widely accepted as Tamizh Padam, the spoofs in the movie and the way the gay relationship is portrayed will be enough to make the movie remain in public memory. Tamizh Padam on the other hand is fast on the way to emerge a trendsetter and that’s reflected by the way in which the audience and trade is responding to the movie. Whether the so called super hero mass movie style of movie making in Tamil Cinema will witness any change or not cannot be said so soon. But what is clear is that the audience is now certainly more receptive to things which bring in a fresh perspective and for that these two movies (especially Tamizh Padam) certainly score high. It takes guts to break all norms and come up with something refreshing and acceptable as well.Hoping to see more such refreshing movies in the rest of the year.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y6afrt7

Pyaar Impossible- Accepting this is Impossible

Sometimes when it comes to movies one tends to have intuitions about how the movie would turn out to be even when the project has just about started. As the project progresses and when you get more updates; your intuitions either get reinforced or else they tend to be in doubt. Of course finally when the movie comes out and you get to watch it, you tend to check whether you have been right all along. Quite often if the intuition has been strongly positive or negative it tends to be validated and comes out true. And sometimes when it’s proved wrong you do admit your surprise in getting outsmarted. Pyaar Impossible (PI from hereon) is one such movie where right from the start I had certain intuitions about how the movie would be and I wanted to watch it and confirm for myself whether I would be right.
Ok before I get to the plot here are some of the intuitions that I had right from the time I first heard about PI –
1.That the writing would be pretty archaic, the plot would really be a mish-mash of so many other romantic movies.2.That try as much as he can but Uday Chopra would fail to carry out the geek’s role that he plays in PI.3.That the movie would be shot abroad (like lot many other YRF movies) and this would again be just for the sake of convenience.4.That the music would be reasonably trendy5.That Jugal Hansraj’s direction wouldn’t be anything to rave about.
Ok let me finally talk about PI now. PI begins with a typical campus setting in the U.S (Ankert University,California ) where Abhay Sharma ( Uday of course ) plays the geek and Alisha ( Priyanka of course ) plays the college hottie. Abhay loves Alisha silently while poor Alisha is totally oblivious of Abhay’s existence. Abhay even gets a chance to save her from drowning once but even then the circumstances are not in his favor and he remains unknown to her. One fine day Alisha leaves the campus and Abhay has nothing else to do apart from living in her memory.
Ok 7 years later we see Abhay now ( still the geek ) who has just finally got a breakthrough with a revolutionary Operating Software ( OS ) and thus wants to be an entrepreneur like his dad. Then in one of the first silly episodes in the movie we see Abhay getting duped by a potential investor, Varun (Dino Morea) who steals his OS and in turn tries to make use of it by selling it off. So now determined to get back his OS and prove his worth, Abhay moves to Singapore in search of Varun. That’s when Abhay sees Alisha who is the Head of P.R & Marketing in the same firm with whom Varun is now about to close his deal.
Abhay realizes that Alisha is now a single mother of a 6 year old girl and by a turn of events finds himself becoming a “nanny” to Alisha’s daughter. So how does Abhay go about getting his OS back and winning his love is what the rest of the story is all about. The movie abounds in clichés galore and not once do you find yourself truly connecting to the proceedings. PI is certainly is not the worst movie seen in recent times (there are many other contenders for that) but it is nevertheless a very silly film indeed. The writing (Uday Chopra) is so lazy that many a times you tend to laugh at the proceedings because things seem to be so silly. Be it the way Uday goes about handling his OS, the way it gets stolen, and of course most importantly the pre-climax and the climax.
The 6 year old daughter of Priyanka decides to play cupid and help Uday. She even suggests one day that she will stay over at a friends place so that they both can actually spend some time together. And the next day she even asks Uday- “tell me what happened last night, give me the gossip”. There are many more such moments in the film. Priyanka is always seen wearing micro mini skirts and shorts, even in office. I wonder which organization in the world is so liberal. And for someone who is the Head of P.R and Marketing in an I.T company, Priyanka is shown as someone who has zero idea of computers and yet is allowed access to the central server room of the organization also
The music by Salim-Sulaiman is fairly easy on the ears and would be heard as long as the movie is still having its theatrical run.Once again we have a movie based abroad for no real rhyme or reason. Oh! And quite a few scenes in the movie also give you a feeling of deja vu as you think of so many other movies. On the performance front though Uday makes a sincere attempt he still falls short of convincing in the role of the geek. And though Priyanka looks hot in the movie she certainly comes across as a fairly silly girl who tends to get hyper while speaking. Dino Morea is hardly given any dialogues to speak (thankfully) and so doesn’t really have to try hard.
So would YRF decide to stop making attempts to revive Uday’s career with movies like this once in 4 years? (Neil n Nikki came out some 4 years ago) or would they only relegate him as part of multi star cast projects like Dhoom series?Well that remains to be seen after this.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yyetqtr

Ividam Swargamanu- A Movie for the Festive Season

Traditionally the end of December is festive season in Kerala with Christmas and the New Year celebrations happening with gusto across the state. So this is also considered as a good time to release movies and this time one of the movies that has reached out to the audience is Ividam Swargamanu ( It’s heaven here – IS from hereon ), directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by James Albert. Mohanlal ends the year 2009 with a fairly engaging film in IS. What is it that first strikes the mind when we think of Kerala? It won’t be wrong to say that for the majority of us the thoughts could be something related to Kerala’s lovely natural beauty, for after all isn’t Kerala referred to as God’s own country? So it’s not surprising that the tourism industry flourishes so well in Kerala.
Speaking about Kerala’s natural beauty and the tourism industry it’s also important to note that the threat of land mafia is looming large in Kerala where people who are forever trying to make a fast buck in the name of tourism are trying to capture land (mainly agricultural) from people by various means. For those who are wondering why I’m mentioning all this, the connect would be very evident soon as I write more in detail about the movie now. IS talks about Mathews (Mohanlal) who is a new age farmer having a large farm and dairy named after his father, Jeremias . It was always the ambition of Mathews to have such a farm and he loves the land as much as his parents ( Thilakan and Kaviyoor Ponnamma). As a new age farmer Mathews adopts organic farming and even uses windmills to generate electricity.
The farm is the cynosure of all eyes and soon invites the attention of a lot of people. Their peaceful existence comes under threat when a real estate developer Aluva Chandy (Lalu Alex) expresses his desire to buy the farm from Mathews. Mathews refuses to part with the farm as that’s their heaven while Aluva Chandy decides to use all the tricks of the trade to fulfill his desire. From then begins an interesting game of wits between Mathews and Aluva Chandy. What is interesting about the movie is the way the story unfolds. Right from the very beginning one can see a lot of realism in the proceedings. Though there are a lot of characters there is no special attention bestowed to character buildup. Rather the characters tend to flow with the narrative.

The leading ladies- Lakshmi Gopalswamy,Priyanka Nair and Lakshmi Rai with Lal ettan
In the beginning the easy going pace of the narrative can even be a bit distracting but this is something to be overlooked. The best part of the movie is the climax which is quite funny without venturing into slapstick territory. Mohanlal is at his restrained best throughout the movie and those who are expecting to see some larger than life stuff from him will end up disappointed. It’s nice to see Thilakan finally acting with Mammootty and Mohanlal once again these days after a gap of a few years. Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Sukumari perform their elderly roles without much fuss. What’s interesting is the line up of other actors in the supporting roles. I would be committing a major sin if I fail to acknowledge Lalu Alex’s contribution to the movie. As Aluva Chandy,Lalu Alex is extremely convincing as the bad guy but with a comic streak. Also seen in a reasonably good role is Shankar the yesteryear star as Sudheer, friend of Mathews. I was reminded of films like Manjil Virinja Pookal, Sukhamo Devi, Poochakkoru Mookuthi and many more where Mohanlal and Shanker acted as a combination.
There are 3 leading ladies here and all of them have reasonable screen time. Lakshmi Gopalswamy plays Maria, a Manager in a Govt.bank, Lakshmi Rai plays Advocate Sunita and Priyanka Nair plays a T.V reporter, Betsy. The pick of the lot is certainly Priyanka Nair who plays adequate foil to Mohanlal whenever they are on screen together. Priyanka who first shot to fame with Vasantha Balan’s acclaimed Tamil film,Veyyil ( paired with Pasupathi ) is fast becoming popular with some unconventional roles in films like Bhoomi Malayalam and Vilapangalkappuram. What’s also commendable is the fact that the movie is devoid of the usual set of comedians (read Suraj Venjaramoodu, Salim Kumar, Harisree Asokan etc) and the comedy element doesn’t appear forced here. Jagathy Sreekumar leaves his mark playing a fairly interesting character called Bhuvanachandran (saying anything about his character will spoil the fun). Manian Pillai Raju in a cameo is very good and will win the heart of the audience in the climax.

Mohanlal- Sreenivasan, the evergreen comboAfter Udhanayanu Tharam Rosshan Andrrews once again brings back the magical combination of Mohanlal and Sreenivan in IS. While this time Sreenivasan has only a cameo, nevertheless as Prabalan he brings in the surprise element in the film wonderfully.There is no scope for any song in the movie and Rosshan Andrrews has not tried any sort of gimmicks over here. Overall this is nowhere close to a path breaking movie but then the movie was never intended to be one. It was targeted as a family entertainer for the festive season and in this respect it certainly works reasonably.

Originally posted in PFC-check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y4jro5f

Paleri Manikyam- Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha – This is what Malayalam Cinema needs!!!

Sometimes the unexpected can really turn out to be a pleasant surprise. I have always believed in the same and keep experiencing something like this once in a while purely by default. Now recently I’ve again had the fortitude of having one such experience and that was while watching Paleri Manikyam- Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha ( Paleri Manikyam- A Midnight Murder Story, from hereon referred to as PM ). PM is a deeply moving story of someone in search of truth. One night in a village called Paleri in North Kerala (Malabar region) in the year 1957 certain incidents shattered the peace of the village and forever changed the lives of so many people living there.
That night saw the murder/death of two people- Manikyam and Bhramadattan. Manikyam was recently married to Pokkan, a dumb witted son of Cheeru- the village prostitute and Bhramadattan was a young namboothiri. Different theories abound for the deaths/murders and the police are called in to investigate. That was also the time when the 1st Communist Government in Kerala was to assume charge. So the local Communist Party members also were keenly following the case proceedings. It was being mentioned that the party helped in ensuring support to certain people suspected of foul play, the prime person being Ahmed Haji. So the investigation comes to an end after a few people are arrested and later let off due to lack of evidence.
On the same night when Paleri was shaken up by these events, a boy was born in the same village. The boy grew up listening to the tales of that shocking night and about Manikyam in particular. The boy is now Haridas a private detective and he along with Sarayu, a criminologist are now in Paleri as Haridas is now on a mission to finally put the stories to rest and find out the truth behind the events of that fateful night. With most of the people connected with the events being dead one is not clear as to the actual intentions of Haridas, but that gets cleared as the story progresses.
I go back to the first line of this post as I had mentioned the unexpected can turn out to be a pleasant surprise sometimes. To start with the movie is based on a novel of the same name by T.P Rajeevan and I have never read the same till now. I was aware that the novel and the film dealt with the first ever registered case of sexual harassment in the state. I did not really know what to expect and thus imposing faith in Mammootty and Renjith the director, I set forth to watch the movie and experience the magic in motion for myself.
This is probably one of the best personal movies that one can see. By calling it a personal movie I’m referring to the way the director enables us to move along with Haridas and experience the proceedings for ourselves. While Mammootty as Ahmed Haji is the one who will probably gain the maximum accolades (well deserved too), Mammootty as Haridas is very much essential to the plot as well as he plays the narrator for most part of the movie very effectively. Manoj Pillai’s camera lights up the natural locations so admirably that one cannot but help being wonderstruck.

Haridas and Sarayu investigating
Many a times in the early part of the movie while Haridas is taking us through Paleri and introducing characters and events to us I could distinctively feel that I was watching a play on stage. This was something I found to be very different and refreshing. For me the best part of the movie was the sequence where Haridas is narrating and you see him in the middle of the scene while to both his left and right you find a traditional boat laden with people (in the river ). But there’s a difference between both the boats, while one shows Manikyam coming home with Pokkan after the wedding, the other shows the dead body of Manikyam being taken for post mortem by the police.
Such a brilliant encapsulation of time and moments in a single frame has to be seen to be actually believed. Sharreth and Bijibal also deserve mention for their musical score which is very apt for the movie. The movie has very few well known actors (mainly Mammootty, Shweta Menon, Sreenivasan and Siddique) and most of the other actors are drawn from T.V and theatre. What is commendable is that Renjith had actually organized a talent hunt camp for the same which had more than 500 participants. It was this camp which helped Renjith choose people like Musthafa (younger Keshavan), Sreejith (Pokkan), Vijayan Nair (Velayudhan) etc who are all very effective. Both Srinivasan and Siddique as true veterans lend justice to their roles.
Shweta Menon as Cheeru balances oomph and helplessness effectively and Gowri Munjal is decent as Sarayu. As the central pivot ( Manikyam ) the debutant Mythili couldn’t have asked for a better start to her career. How do I write about this film without saying anything about Mammootty? Well after starting the year disastrously with duds like Love in Singapore, Ee Pattanathil Bootham and Daddy Cool, he has bounced back tremendously with Loud Speaker,Pazhassi Raja, Kerala Cafe ( Puram Kazhchakal ) and now PM. Whether its as Ahmed Haji,Haridas or Khalid Ahmed,Mammootty is simply superb.In fact while watching him as Ahmed Haji the cruel landlord with a weakness for women I couldn’t but help thinking of Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Vidheyan where Mammootty was wonderfully effective as Bhaskara Pattelar, an exploitative landlord.

Renjith ( with camera ) - the master director & storytellerThose who go to watch the movie expecting it to be a racy murder mystery would be disappointed. This is something much more than that. It stands tall as a social commentary. Even as you have certain doubts as to the way Haridas and Sarayu are shown sharing an infidel bond and also the way they are shown with their mannerisms(Haridas is mostly seen with his Jim Beam and Sarayu is forever smoking) as the story progresses one even is able to get the connection to all this with the main plot.Saying anything more would only spoil the experience while watching the movie and hence I wouldn’t want to elaborate further.
A story that is very much relevant even today, this is what Malayalam Cinema needs and I hope we get to see many more movies such as this one in the coming years.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here -http://tinyurl.com/y3wzx27

Avatar and My Journey through 3D Cinema

As the whole world is now all set to sway to the Avatar magic, I just felt its time that I revisited my journey through 3D cinema over the years. To begin with I would like to stress upon the fact here that this is not supposed to be an elaborate analysis of 3D cinema. For that you can have a look over here. This is a simple personal tale of how I look at Avatar and 3D cinema.
The year was 1984, I was not even 10 years old then but the movie bug had already bit me very hard by then. I used to look forward to the monthly movie or two that we would watch in the theatre and the weekly movies on D.D were very much relished irrespective of the language or genre of the movie. At that time a Malayalam movie called My Dear Kuttichathan (MDK from here on ) got released,which was also later on dubbed into Tamil ( by the same name ) and Hindi ( Chota Chetan ). Produced by Navodaya Appachan and directed by Jijo Punnoose based on the script by Reghunath Paleri, this was a movie meant for kids but which reached out to all segments of audience.
It was simple tale of a few children who come across as a ‘kuttichathan’ (a little genie) and befriend him. Thus begins an adventure ride for the kids which includes a face off with an evil sorcerer. Ilayaraja’s soothing music (Aalipazham Perukaam is such a lovely number) and Ashok Kumar’s cinematography also helped the movie tremendously. I still remember salivating over the visuals of the kids eating ice-creams & the other antics all of which got so well captured on 3D. More than a decade later, in 1997 the movie even got re-released in Hindi with some added elements which included a portion with Urmila Matondkar.
After watching My Dear Kuttichathan I was hooked to 3D like the rest of the country. I remember coaxing my parents to buy me 3D comics and was very upset that we couldn’t have a Binatone 3D T.V at home . Around the same time I also got to watch 2 more 3D films in theatre- Magnificent Bodyguards (MB from here on) and Shiva Ka Insaaf. While MB was the first 3D movie to be made in Hong Kong (1978), Shiva Ka Insaaf was probably the first true blue 3D movie to be made in Hindi. I remember watching MB sometime in 1985/86 and how I was completely mesmerized by the action sequences which looked incredible in 3D.
MB is the story of Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) who gets hired to escort a sick person to a doctor. The journey is treacherous as they have to pass through areas infested by criminals. Chung later finds out that the sick man is actually the leader of the criminals and he is actually on his way to reclaim his leadership position from an impostor. Chung also finds out that the truth behind his father’s murder from and then it soon becomes an exciting action adventure all the way. A few years later I even saw a 2D version of the same movie this time under a totally new title which I somehow do not recollect now.
Shiva Ka Insaaf was the typical Hindi potboiler of the 80’s. A small boy is the witness to the murders of his parents. And then the boy is brought up by friends of his father who train him in fighting and combat. The boy is now rechristened as Shiva and he now becomes the messiah of the people and wants to eradicate all evil and hunt down the killers of his parents. Jackie Shroff was reasonably impressive as the caped crusader. I was even hoping that the makers would try to make this an India superhero franchise, but alas that did not happen.
Though 3D emerged with a lot of fanfare, the spirit also kind of died down rapidly after some of these above mentioned movies. People even began to feel that this was just another passing fad & that this was never supposed to be a threat to conventional 2D cinema. In India especially this was felt so even more for sure. So for a long long time there was absolutely no action in this front. Till IMAX (Image Maximum) Theatres came to India and changed things once again for all of us.
Beginning with IMAX specific films like Deep Sea, Space Station etc which were in 3D, one then finally got to conventional films which then started getting showcased in 3D in the IMAX theatres like The Polar Express and Beowulf. I even went on to watch movies like Superman Returns and Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix in IMAX theatres just because the movies were partially in 3D. By this time we were well into the mid 2000’s and slowly the interest in 3D cinema started getting revived world wide and this time even India was prepared.
So with the release of Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 2008 the scenario completely changed. By then select theatres and multiplexes across India started investing in 3D projection and enabling the movies to get screened in 3D wherever possible. So one began to see a lot of movies releasing in 3D like Monsters Vs Aliens, Bolt, Ice Age- 3, Up, Cloudy with Meat Balls etc. But even while all these movies got released in 2008 & 2009 there were only a handful of 3D compliant screens in India. For example the whole of South India had only 2 screens- Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai and Prasads Imax in Hyderabad being the only privileged ones.
But one film silently has already taken things to the next level and that is none other than Avatar. While the movie was originally planned for a summer 2009 release, it was then pushed back to Dec 18th to enable more screens worldwide to install 3D projectors. That slowly began to set things in motion. On 28th August 2009 in a very unique case of movie marketing there were special previews held across the world where the select crowd got to see a 15 minute footage of the movie in 3D and the excitement only got all the more pronounced. And so more screens across India started getting ready to embrace Avatar in 3D and now the cities joining the race included places like Coimbatore, Madurai, Amritsar, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc.
The Avatar Experience
16th Dec, 2009- I was among the excited set of people who were all set to watch the premiere show of Avatar. After the first few minutes of the usual nittigritties like getting used to the 3D spectacles and allowing the movie to settle in, I sat mesmerized. What I saw on screen in front of me was so visually stunning that I was once again the same school kid who once saw MDK. It’s an open fact that the use of technology in cinema has reached a new height with Avatar.
I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s tryst with Avatar by talking about the plot and certain other mandatory stuff but instead will tell you a bit more about what I felt about the movie. It certainly is visually stunning and very impressive. While there is certainly a decent enough plot, it’s not something all that complicated as its made out to be. At the core lies a simple love story which is backed by great action and some stunning imagery all around. James Cameron has now raised the benchmark so high for the others and for himself that it would be interesting to see whats in store for the coming years.
Sam Worthington continues his good form from Terminator Salvation and will surely make it to the top league with Avatar. That’s good news indeed for his next biggie- Clash of the Titans. Also leaving a good mark on screen is Sigourney Weaver. More than 24 hours after I watched the movie, “I see you” is still buzzing in my ears. Go for it with all earnestness and enjoy the experience. Do watch it in 3D for that’s what would give you the ultimate experience.
I feel with Avatar my association with 3D cinema has just taken a whole new course. I’m looking forward to the way the journey shapes up ahead.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y6ahzay

Kerala Cafe- Do Step In Here for a While

After a fairly satisfying Pazhassi Raja the next Malayalam movie that I was looking forward to was Kerala Cafe for a variety of reasons. For one the movie is an anthology of short films made by 10 different directors with separate cast and crew. The cast comprises of most of the well known names in Malayalam cinema and also has a fair number of younger actors as well. Also the directors are all part of the current new generation of filmmakers who have already made waves with their movies or have recently embarked on their cinematic journey. Holding all the strings together is Renjith, the man referred to as the “chief architect” behind this project.
The movie basically is about 10 different short films, all of which have one common connection- “Kerala Cafe “, a railway cafeteria in one of the busy railway stations in Kerala. All the stories in some way or the other are connected to the café & finally they are bound together in the café itself in a very unassuming manner. So let me begin my journey of revisiting Kerala Café-
1.Nostalgia- Directed by M.Padmakumar, this short film is the first one in the series and it talks about a character (Dileep) who is an NRI in Dubai and is typically facing a conflict of thoughts. While in Dubai he is shown in a nostalgic mood while catching up with friends and talking about Kerala. But when he visits Kerala with his wife (Navya Nair) and kids his real sense of reasoning takes over. It is clear that he is there only to make money and doesn’t care for family or friends either. This is certainly not a great start to the movie primarily because there’s nothing too novel about the plot of this short film. Not a bad attempt but not something that certainly calls for your attention.
2.Island Express- Directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan, this one probably has the most number of characters and also the most number of stars (Prithviraj, Jaysurya, Rahman etc). Based on the gruesome Perumon Train tragedy of 1988, this one starts as a very hazy, disjointed and confusing film. But slowly as the missing links get filled you realize that there is certainly a charm to the whole short film. I liked the last scene in particular which was shot on a bridge.
3.Lalitham Hiranmayam- Directed by Shaji Kailash, this one talks about a man (Suresh Gopi) who is torn between his wife ( Jyothirmayi ) and his mistress ( Dhanya Mary Varghese ). Though the topic of infidelity is handled reasonably well, the sequence of events as they unfold and also the characterization makes it look very ordinary.
4.Mrityunjayam- Directed by Uday Ananthan, this one stands out from the rest of the short films – not because it’s the best of them all. But because it’s a horror film and doesn’t really fit into the construct of the anthology. Its all about a so called haunted house that’s under the care of a Tirumeni (who else but Thilakan) and one day a T.V crew arrives there headed by Fahadh Fasil to check out the place. It’s a kind of misfit in the movie- probably intended just to show some variety.
5.Happy Journey- Directed by Anjali Menon, this one certainly draws our attention due to the simple plot that’s well told and for the brilliance of Jagathy Sreekumar. Jagathy plays a middle aged insurance surveyor with a lecherous eye. During a bus journey from Ernakulam to Calicut he comes across an attractive young girl (Nithya Menon ) who frightens him by revealing that she’s a terrorist with a bomb on board the bus. With the suspense enhancing the interest levels, this one is a pleasure to watch.
6.Aviraamam- Directed by B.Unnikrishnan, this one talks about the effects of recession on a happy family. Siddique is an I.T entrepreneur and one day sends off his wife ( Shweta Menon ) and children for a vacation to his in- laws place. He doesn’t want to go with them since he knows that he’s very badly caught in a debt trap and can’t figure out a way to get away from it and so decides to do the inevitable. It’s a fairly ordinary story but thankfully the performances from both Siddique and Shweta elevate the proceedings considerably.
7.Off-season- Directed by Shyamaprasad, this one is the only light hearted story among the entire anthology. Suraj Venjaramood plays a tourist guide in Kovalam who one day meets a couple from Portugal. Thinking that this is his big ticket he showers attention on them only to know that they are penniless themselves . This short film helps in kind of bringing up some funny moments in an otherwise serious anthology of short films here.
8.Magal- Directed by Revathy is a serious social commentary on issues like poverty, adoption and prostitution all in a single short film. While most part of the film remains quite average the ending more than compensates, making it quite a heart touching short film.
9.Bridges- Directed by Anwar Rasheed, this is probably the best among the entire lot. It starts off as something hardly impressive- a boy in Fort Cochin has sneaked in a kitten at home which his father disapproves off. On the other hand there is a poor family somewhere in the rural hinterland not far away from Cochin. Here the husband and wife ( Salim Kumar and Kalpana ) keep squabbling over Salim’s old mother ( Shantha Devi ) who is almost blind and difficult to look after. Some stunning visuals by Suresh Rajan ( DOP ), brilliant performances and a very well executed closing shot makes this a treat to watch.
10.Puram Kazchakal- Directed by Lal Jose this is about a bus journey where Sreenivasan the narrator is traveling from Valparai to Chalakudy and in between there’s a mysterious man (Mammootty) who boards the bus and is perennially impatient and so is ridiculed by the others on board. While the narrator was busy lost in his thoughts about the girl whom he had lost, he is rudely shaken up when the reason behind Mammootty’s irritating behaviour unfolds in a brilliant manner. This one does great justice to the presence of powerhouses of talent like Mammootty and Sreenivasan.
The movie works overall to a reasonably extent not just because quite a few of the short films are indeed redeeming and well shot. Of course these short films, the cast and crew do help in the overall process, but there are a few other redeeming features seen in this project. To start with the entire team has believed in the concept of coming up with an interesting anthology of short films and they have managed to come up with something that meets the objective reasonably well.
It has also allowed some of the directors to experiment and do something away from what they have been doing conventionally. Like Anwar Rasheed who has made a mark by making blockbusters like Rajamanikam, Chota Mumbai and Annan Thampi has made something completely refreshing with his short film (Bridges) over here. Shaji Kailash is known again to make large than life movies like Commissioner, Narasimham, The King etc and this time he has chosen to make an emotional family subject. Shyama Prasad who is well known for his unusually different choice of subjects for his movies has tried his hand at making a very light hearted feel good short film over here.
The project has also allowed directors to focus on issues close to their heart (Revathy- Magal) or think out of the box (Shankar Ramakrishnan- Island Express). Also the movie has brought in a balance of both experienced artistes and those who are fairly new. As an experiment the movie certainly does put in a reasonably commendable show. It’s nice to see the work of so many talented actors and technicians being brought together on a common platform like this. I wish that there are more such attempts made in Malayalam Cinema. For those who are going to cry hoarse by asking why are we celebrating even some small attempts to make something decent- I just have this to say- Kerala Cafe is in no way a modern classic, but certainly an interesting experiment. And such experiments definitely need all the encouragement.
And of course before I conclude I would certainly like to congratulate Renjith in particular for conceiving the entire project and bringing on board the entire team to showcase Kerala Cafe in front of us.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yg8qq7d

IIT-Madras all set to rock this Summer with Imaging Cinema

” My Advice to Young Filmmakers is This : Dont Follow Trends.Start Them!”

Frank Capra

Generally Chennai isn’t a place one would look forward to visiting in the month of May as the summer heat takes its toll on the city. But this time in the month of May, things are about to change as all roads will load to Chennai and IIT-Madras in particular.After playing host to the “Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop” ( presented by Kamal Haasan ) last May, the prestigious institution ( organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences – IIT Madras) now is all set to host a workshop “ Imaging Cinema : Emerging Trends in Filmmaking” from 6th to 10th May,2010. The workshop aims to explore recent trends in the areas of filmmaking, touching aspects like Direction/Story telling, Digital filmmaking, Interactive Video, Editing and Cinematography.
The participants of the workshop would be exposed to live interactive sessions, conducted by experts in the areas of direction, screenwriting, cinematography and editing from India and Canada. The experts handling the sessions include well known names like R.Balki, Alphonse Roy, Saurabh Shukla, Sreekar Prasad (Editor), Fowzia Fathima(Cinematographer), Nasser, Satish Kasetty, Abhishek Chaubey, Dibakar Banerjee, Santosh Sivan and Michael Filimowicz (Canadian expert in Digital photography & Interactive Video). The workshop will be chaired by renowned director, S.M.Vasanth. Talks are also on with a few more well known personalities to come on board to grace the workshop.The last date for receipt of applications is the 5th of April,2010.
There are a total of 200 seats open to those who are passionate about cinema, independent filmmakers, students and professionals in the area of media and filmmaking. Members representing NGO’s involved in using films as a medium to bring about social change are also encouraged to apply.20 seats have been earmarked for them with full fee waiver.
Applications are available online at the Workshop’s official website-http://www.imagingcinema.com/Also for further details one can contact : Dr.Aysha Iqbal ( Organiser )@ essaarester@gmail.com or Cell : 9444766000/9551783161
So Chennai indeed is now where the scene of action is going to be, as Imaging Cinema is coming up soon, very soon.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y48mjav

What's up this friday?

Coming up this week is Gautam Menon's much awaited Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya in Tamil and its Telugu version- Ye Maaye Chesaavo.While the Tamil version stars Simbu and Trisha in the lead, the Telugu version stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha.It's supposed to be based on Gautam's own life story to an extent.The music by ARR is the main highlight of this movie and the songs like 'Hosanna', ' Omana Penne', ' Aaromale' etc are all chartbusters.

In Hindi we have the clash between Leena Yadav's second movie- Teen Patti and Vijay Lalwani's Karthik Calling Karthik.Teen Patti is being looked upto mainly for the pairing of Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley.It also has R.Madhavan, Vaibhav Talwar etc.Karthik Calling Karthik has Faran Akhtar and Deepika Padukone and has an interesting premise.
Lets see how these movies turn out.

In the meanwhile in Tamil only Tamizh Padam is doing well while Leader in Telugu seems to have done decently so far.MNIK is doing well in the weekends and thanks to the bumper opening it should be a safe movie overall.