Monday, 9 September 2013
kICk ass 2 movie review
Critic's Rating: 3.5/5
Cast: Jim Carrey, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Donald Faison
Direction: Jeff Wadlow
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes
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Story: Can
anyone become a superhero? It certainly seems so! Here, Kick-Ass teams
up with other vigilantes to form the crime-fighting Justice Forever
clan.
Review: Jeff Wadlow's follow-up to Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass (2010) attempts to penetrate deeper into the contrast between the wish-fulfillment of ordinary peopleliving out their fantasy versus living a 'regular' life. You have an almost surreal situation where ordinary folks wearing clown-like (pyjamas included) costumes dish out the kind of gore that looks quite nasty.
High-schooler Dave (Taylor-Johnson, alter-ego Kick-Ass) tries to convince Mindy (Chloe, playing Hit Girl) to train him. But she has her own issues -an over-protective dad, an identity crisis and fellow students who try to erode her self-esteem. Dave (often parodying Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker) is turned down by her. Not to be outdone, he finds himself a new team comprising Colonel Stars and Stripes (Carrey), Night Bitch (Lindy Booth), Dr. Gravity (Faison), Ass Kicker (Augustus Prew) and Battle Guy (Clark Duke).
The bad guy, Chris (Mintz-Plasse) blames Kick-Ass for his father's death, emerges in a new avatar called The Mother f**ker (the costume being his dead mom's S&M outfit and sex toys), recruits a bunch of 'heavy hitters' and seeks revenge. In one violent sequence, the ripped Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) feels the rage and shreds a bunch of cops using a powered lawnmower. Another involves Hit Girl paying cheeky homage to Kill Bill Vol 1's Yakuza battle scene.
Politically incorrect dialogues aside, Kick-Ass 2 is actually quite a fun ride. Beneath the deliberately ridiculous costumes and mock-serious dialogues lies a sea of brutality and gore gleefully topped off with the kind of language that would make a sailor blush. But violence aside, there's also the message about the real hero being the person behind the costume and not the accoutrements. Moretz gives a strong performance. All said and done, this movie definitely kicks ass.
Note: You may not like this film if you are put off by spoof flicks containing a lot of violence, bad language and sex jokes.
Review: Jeff Wadlow's follow-up to Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass (2010) attempts to penetrate deeper into the contrast between the wish-fulfillment of ordinary peopleliving out their fantasy versus living a 'regular' life. You have an almost surreal situation where ordinary folks wearing clown-like (pyjamas included) costumes dish out the kind of gore that looks quite nasty.
High-schooler Dave (Taylor-Johnson, alter-ego Kick-Ass) tries to convince Mindy (Chloe, playing Hit Girl) to train him. But she has her own issues -an over-protective dad, an identity crisis and fellow students who try to erode her self-esteem. Dave (often parodying Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker) is turned down by her. Not to be outdone, he finds himself a new team comprising Colonel Stars and Stripes (Carrey), Night Bitch (Lindy Booth), Dr. Gravity (Faison), Ass Kicker (Augustus Prew) and Battle Guy (Clark Duke).
The bad guy, Chris (Mintz-Plasse) blames Kick-Ass for his father's death, emerges in a new avatar called The Mother f**ker (the costume being his dead mom's S&M outfit and sex toys), recruits a bunch of 'heavy hitters' and seeks revenge. In one violent sequence, the ripped Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) feels the rage and shreds a bunch of cops using a powered lawnmower. Another involves Hit Girl paying cheeky homage to Kill Bill Vol 1's Yakuza battle scene.
Politically incorrect dialogues aside, Kick-Ass 2 is actually quite a fun ride. Beneath the deliberately ridiculous costumes and mock-serious dialogues lies a sea of brutality and gore gleefully topped off with the kind of language that would make a sailor blush. But violence aside, there's also the message about the real hero being the person behind the costume and not the accoutrements. Moretz gives a strong performance. All said and done, this movie definitely kicks ass.
Note: You may not like this film if you are put off by spoof flicks containing a lot of violence, bad language and sex jokes.
Thanga meengal movie rating
Synopsis: Kalyani
(Ram), a school dropout with a non-paying job, is obsessively
affectionate towards his nine-year-old daughter Chellamma (Sadhana), who
lives in a world of her own. But the realities of everyday life
separate them. Can the bond between father and daughter withstand the
tests of fate and bring them together again?
Review: Ram managed to create a cult following for himself with his very first film, Kattradhu Tamizh. His follow-up, Thanga Meenkal, is in many ways a mirror image of the director's flawed but fascinating debut film. Like Prabhakar in that film, Kalyani, this film's lead character, wants to live in his own world and so struggles to cope up the realities of everyday life. He is a school dropout, having married his classmate Vadivu even before finishing school, and does a menial job (silverware polisher) that doesn't even guarantee him a regular income (he hasn't got the salary for the past six months). He is a constant embarrassment to his parents, under whose roof he is forced to live with Vadivu and his Chellamma, despite the slights hurled by his father (Poo Ram), a retired teacher, and the unconcealed contempt of his mother (Rohini).
But as long as he is near Chellamma, who looks up to him for everything, all these do not matter. She is clearly a dyslexic child, although none of the teachers in her 'prestigious' private school realize it. So, she is labelled W, for not being able to rightly differentiate between the alphabets W and M, and branded a dimwit. And, here again, there are parallels to Kattradhu Tamizh. Just as Anandhi's life seemed better when Prabhakar was around, all is well in Chellamma's world when she is with her father. To these women, the men in their lives are a crutch and vice versa, and these characters feed off the fantasies of each other, creating a world for themselves where ideal — and not money — is the driving force. Sadly, it is money, particularly the lack of it that brings their worlds crashing down. Prabhakar's Tamil degree was an impediment to his success in the other film; here, it is Kalyani's obsessive affection towards Chellamma and his desire to be with his daughter at all times, at the cost of personal progress that very much separates them. Even the decision that these characters arrive at towards the end to preserve their make-believe worlds feels similar.
Thanga Meenkal shares many of Kattradhu Tamizh's film's strengths and flaws. It is a well-intentioned effort, strikingly shot, and held together by persuasive performances. At the same time, it is also relentlessly grim and bludgeons you into submitting to the point of view of the filmmaker, and by the time it ends, makes you believe you have personally gone through the ordeals of the film's characters. But, thankfully, it doesn't have the intense — and incredibly misplaced — anger that scorched through the latter, to leave you feeling miserable in the end. In its place, there is a welcome amount of poetry and grey, and a little bit of warmth, which shows a filmmaker evolving, trying to polish off his rough edges.
Take the scene where Kalyani goes to the house of Evita, who Chellamma mentions as her favourite teacher. When the door is opened, it is by Evita's husband (Arul Dass), who seems a gruff person. He is suspicious (after all, it is well into the night) but calls out for his wife. When we first see Evita, she is teary-eyed, and we immediately think that somehow it is her husband who is the cause for her tears. He hands her the phone as Kalyani wants Evita to speak to his daughter, but puts it on loudspeaker. Evita speaks and Chellamma's words inject some joy into her mysteriously dreary world. Later, Ram cuts to show her husband wondering at Kalyani's love for his daughter, and, in that moment, makes you realize he might not be a bad person after all. We might never know the reason for Evita's tears, but this person might not be behind it.
There are also other scenes that show Ram maturing as a filmmaker. In a throwaway shot during a song in the latter part of the film, we see Kalyani's mother and wife sharing a happy moment, which makes you refine your opinion on his mother, who constantly faults her daughter-in-law and even removes her granddaughter's photo before her own daughter's return from Australia. The bond between Kalyani and Vadivu is also never spelt out. The love that forced them to get married even before passing out of school might have been buried under the harsh reality of their family life but the embers have managed to stay hot, fanning a fire every now and then.
But such moments of restraint get overwhelmed at times by full-scale melodrama. When Kalyani leaves the house, the sky bursts open, he has to beg to a teacher to forgive Chellamma, he gets beaten up when he tries to find the whereabouts of the 'rainmaker', which would help him buy the 'Vodafone Dog' that his daughter wants, and finally, he is forced to literally climb mountains (and in a single day!) to make his daughter's wish come true.
While its feel-good moments involving the drama in Kalyani's family are mostly genuine, the film feels a little false whenever Ram turns this relationship drama into a propaganda vehicle on the pros and cons of our educational system. The school scenes are the film's weakest ones, and Stella, the teacher who is forever harsh on Chellamma, seems to belong in the world of last year's Sattai, a preachy film if there was one. And, the ultimate denouement that it is uncaring teachers who are responsible for Chellamma's problems comes across as finger-pointing rather than provocative.
Review: Ram managed to create a cult following for himself with his very first film, Kattradhu Tamizh. His follow-up, Thanga Meenkal, is in many ways a mirror image of the director's flawed but fascinating debut film. Like Prabhakar in that film, Kalyani, this film's lead character, wants to live in his own world and so struggles to cope up the realities of everyday life. He is a school dropout, having married his classmate Vadivu even before finishing school, and does a menial job (silverware polisher) that doesn't even guarantee him a regular income (he hasn't got the salary for the past six months). He is a constant embarrassment to his parents, under whose roof he is forced to live with Vadivu and his Chellamma, despite the slights hurled by his father (Poo Ram), a retired teacher, and the unconcealed contempt of his mother (Rohini).
But as long as he is near Chellamma, who looks up to him for everything, all these do not matter. She is clearly a dyslexic child, although none of the teachers in her 'prestigious' private school realize it. So, she is labelled W, for not being able to rightly differentiate between the alphabets W and M, and branded a dimwit. And, here again, there are parallels to Kattradhu Tamizh. Just as Anandhi's life seemed better when Prabhakar was around, all is well in Chellamma's world when she is with her father. To these women, the men in their lives are a crutch and vice versa, and these characters feed off the fantasies of each other, creating a world for themselves where ideal — and not money — is the driving force. Sadly, it is money, particularly the lack of it that brings their worlds crashing down. Prabhakar's Tamil degree was an impediment to his success in the other film; here, it is Kalyani's obsessive affection towards Chellamma and his desire to be with his daughter at all times, at the cost of personal progress that very much separates them. Even the decision that these characters arrive at towards the end to preserve their make-believe worlds feels similar.
Thanga Meenkal shares many of Kattradhu Tamizh's film's strengths and flaws. It is a well-intentioned effort, strikingly shot, and held together by persuasive performances. At the same time, it is also relentlessly grim and bludgeons you into submitting to the point of view of the filmmaker, and by the time it ends, makes you believe you have personally gone through the ordeals of the film's characters. But, thankfully, it doesn't have the intense — and incredibly misplaced — anger that scorched through the latter, to leave you feeling miserable in the end. In its place, there is a welcome amount of poetry and grey, and a little bit of warmth, which shows a filmmaker evolving, trying to polish off his rough edges.
Take the scene where Kalyani goes to the house of Evita, who Chellamma mentions as her favourite teacher. When the door is opened, it is by Evita's husband (Arul Dass), who seems a gruff person. He is suspicious (after all, it is well into the night) but calls out for his wife. When we first see Evita, she is teary-eyed, and we immediately think that somehow it is her husband who is the cause for her tears. He hands her the phone as Kalyani wants Evita to speak to his daughter, but puts it on loudspeaker. Evita speaks and Chellamma's words inject some joy into her mysteriously dreary world. Later, Ram cuts to show her husband wondering at Kalyani's love for his daughter, and, in that moment, makes you realize he might not be a bad person after all. We might never know the reason for Evita's tears, but this person might not be behind it.
There are also other scenes that show Ram maturing as a filmmaker. In a throwaway shot during a song in the latter part of the film, we see Kalyani's mother and wife sharing a happy moment, which makes you refine your opinion on his mother, who constantly faults her daughter-in-law and even removes her granddaughter's photo before her own daughter's return from Australia. The bond between Kalyani and Vadivu is also never spelt out. The love that forced them to get married even before passing out of school might have been buried under the harsh reality of their family life but the embers have managed to stay hot, fanning a fire every now and then.
But such moments of restraint get overwhelmed at times by full-scale melodrama. When Kalyani leaves the house, the sky bursts open, he has to beg to a teacher to forgive Chellamma, he gets beaten up when he tries to find the whereabouts of the 'rainmaker', which would help him buy the 'Vodafone Dog' that his daughter wants, and finally, he is forced to literally climb mountains (and in a single day!) to make his daughter's wish come true.
While its feel-good moments involving the drama in Kalyani's family are mostly genuine, the film feels a little false whenever Ram turns this relationship drama into a propaganda vehicle on the pros and cons of our educational system. The school scenes are the film's weakest ones, and Stella, the teacher who is forever harsh on Chellamma, seems to belong in the world of last year's Sattai, a preachy film if there was one. And, the ultimate denouement that it is uncaring teachers who are responsible for Chellamma's problems comes across as finger-pointing rather than provocative.
Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu movie rating
Critic's Rating: 3/5
Cast: Bharath, Mirthika, Erica Fernandes, Santhanam
Direction: Sasi
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 25 minutes
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Synopsis:
Arvind (Bharath) wakes up from his accident with the memory of his dead
girlfriend Liyana (Mrithika). But why is everyone, including his
brother Gopal (Santhanam) and psychiatrist Anand Murthy, claiming that
she is just a figment of his imagination? And, how is the number 555 the key to his past?
Review: Sasi, who has so far made soft films like Sollamale and Poo, tries his hand at a commercial thriller with action, suspense, and of course, the inevitable romance. While the director's intent in giving us a fresh and different commercial film is evident, sadly, he doesn't manage to sidestep the genre's pitfalls.
Take for instance the story (by Aravind and Suresh). It sets up the intrigue very well — a young man finds everyone telling him that he is imagining things. It is, in this aspect, a thematic cousin of Samar, which too was about a man who is confused by what is real and what is not. However, the chinks become evident when the mystery is revealed. The antagonist juvenile behaviour belies the intelligence that we expect his character to have, considering the manner in which he has toyed with the hero till then. Worse, this character's motivations, while plausible, are not at all convincing and the fact that it is played by yet another import from the north (with atrocious lip sync) only adds to the ludicrousness of the role.
Then, there are the songs which pop up out of the blue only to bring the story to a halt, despite the attempts to make them different. In fact, when the Ezhavu song breaks out in the middle of a chase, you only want to go 'Enna ezhavu da idhu?' Even the elaborate action sequences in the latter half soon become tiring and preposterous. Arvind is terribly beaten up, tied with barbed wire, hung upside down and even electrocuted, but still manages to be fit enough to hit the bad guys black and blue. Sasi seems to have been under the wrong impression that going 'commercial' means forgoing realism. It is only because of Bharath, who deserves an 'A' for the effort that he has put into the role, that we even indulgently bear these scenes.
The romantic track between Liyana and Arvind, however, is one of the elements the movie has going for it. Despite the functional performances by Bharath and Mirthika, the way it is constructed — Liya thinks that Arvind has some ESP-like power, while he's actually pulling a fast one — brings a smile to your face. If this track had failed, the entire film would have fallen hard and flat, but Sasi shows that when it comes to romance, he is very much a proven hand.
Review: Sasi, who has so far made soft films like Sollamale and Poo, tries his hand at a commercial thriller with action, suspense, and of course, the inevitable romance. While the director's intent in giving us a fresh and different commercial film is evident, sadly, he doesn't manage to sidestep the genre's pitfalls.
Take for instance the story (by Aravind and Suresh). It sets up the intrigue very well — a young man finds everyone telling him that he is imagining things. It is, in this aspect, a thematic cousin of Samar, which too was about a man who is confused by what is real and what is not. However, the chinks become evident when the mystery is revealed. The antagonist juvenile behaviour belies the intelligence that we expect his character to have, considering the manner in which he has toyed with the hero till then. Worse, this character's motivations, while plausible, are not at all convincing and the fact that it is played by yet another import from the north (with atrocious lip sync) only adds to the ludicrousness of the role.
Then, there are the songs which pop up out of the blue only to bring the story to a halt, despite the attempts to make them different. In fact, when the Ezhavu song breaks out in the middle of a chase, you only want to go 'Enna ezhavu da idhu?' Even the elaborate action sequences in the latter half soon become tiring and preposterous. Arvind is terribly beaten up, tied with barbed wire, hung upside down and even electrocuted, but still manages to be fit enough to hit the bad guys black and blue. Sasi seems to have been under the wrong impression that going 'commercial' means forgoing realism. It is only because of Bharath, who deserves an 'A' for the effort that he has put into the role, that we even indulgently bear these scenes.
The romantic track between Liyana and Arvind, however, is one of the elements the movie has going for it. Despite the functional performances by Bharath and Mirthika, the way it is constructed — Liya thinks that Arvind has some ESP-like power, while he's actually pulling a fast one — brings a smile to your face. If this track had failed, the entire film would have fallen hard and flat, but Sasi shows that when it comes to romance, he is very much a proven hand.
Dalam movie review
A still from the movie Dalam
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Critic's Rating: 3.5/5
Cast: Naveen Chandra, Piaa Bajpai, Kishore, Nasser, Abhimanyu Singh, Harshvardhan
Direction: Jeevan Reddy
Duration: 2 hours 29 minutes
Avg Readers Rating: 3..5/5
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Story: Twenty
disillusioned naxal cadres headed by Sathru (Kishore) and Abhi (Naveen)
surrender to the police hoping to start afresh. But they get arm
twisted to form a criminal gang that executes criminals the cops can't
lay their hands on. A wicked politician, JK (Nassar) uses them as pawns
to settle his political scores. But the gang soon finds itself in hot
water when a trigger happy encounter specialist, Ladda (Abhimanyu) comes
after them forcing them to run back into the jungles.
Movie Review: It's pretty obvious from the movie that the debutante filmmaker has no worthwhile understanding of the naxalite movement, and is even less informed about the behavioral patterns of the young men that make up the naxal cadres. In any case when did lack of lack of well rounded understanding over subject matter ever deter our filmmakers from going ahead and making movies regardless?
Thankfully, this movie isn't about naxalism. It is just another lame duck love story that uses the backdrop of naxals much the same way an interior decorator would use different properties to spruce up a living space. However the good ones (interior designers is) choose properties that compliment the overall theme of the design they have in mind.
Unfortunately this film lacks that level of integrity in its design. The naxal element in the movie purely serves a decorative purpose, perhaps which is why we see them behave much the same way riffraff gangster characters gangster characters behave in RGV's - the director is a protege (read as ex-assistant director) of RGV - crime thrillers set in the backdrop of Mumbai underworld. There must be something seriously wrong when characters in one movie remind you of characters from movies made over a decade ago.
The plot tools are just as dated. The radicals come in all sizes - there is a fat guy (Krishnudu), a wafer thin guy (Dhanraj), a nerd, a drunk (Thagubothu Ramesh) a guy who breaks into a speech at the drop of the hat and some with dreadlocks as well, who provide comic relief with their antics in the first half. Thagubothu Ramesh takes the cake playing a guy who addresses himself as Yadav all the time.
The love story begins when Abhi takes Shruti (Piaa) hostage as bait to force her absconding dad (a broker) out of hiding. Then two gang members get killed by a rather eccentric encounter specialist, Ladda, who is out to execute them. Cornered, Abhi and co retaliate with a grenade attack which Ladda survives. Shoot at sight orders are issued and the gang disappear into the forests to escape the heat and from then on it's a predictable drag. The performances are adequate. Naveen and Kishore have a natural screen presence which the filmmaker uses to good effect. Piaa has too little screen time to merit an analysis. The cinematography is easily the best part of the movie and is largely responsible for making it look a lot better than it actually is.
Note: Thagubothu Ramesh's antics and some nifty cinematography are the most watchable parts of the movie, so it will help if you go to the movie hall with lowered expectations.
Movie Review: It's pretty obvious from the movie that the debutante filmmaker has no worthwhile understanding of the naxalite movement, and is even less informed about the behavioral patterns of the young men that make up the naxal cadres. In any case when did lack of lack of well rounded understanding over subject matter ever deter our filmmakers from going ahead and making movies regardless?
Thankfully, this movie isn't about naxalism. It is just another lame duck love story that uses the backdrop of naxals much the same way an interior decorator would use different properties to spruce up a living space. However the good ones (interior designers is) choose properties that compliment the overall theme of the design they have in mind.
Unfortunately this film lacks that level of integrity in its design. The naxal element in the movie purely serves a decorative purpose, perhaps which is why we see them behave much the same way riffraff gangster characters gangster characters behave in RGV's - the director is a protege (read as ex-assistant director) of RGV - crime thrillers set in the backdrop of Mumbai underworld. There must be something seriously wrong when characters in one movie remind you of characters from movies made over a decade ago.
The plot tools are just as dated. The radicals come in all sizes - there is a fat guy (Krishnudu), a wafer thin guy (Dhanraj), a nerd, a drunk (Thagubothu Ramesh) a guy who breaks into a speech at the drop of the hat and some with dreadlocks as well, who provide comic relief with their antics in the first half. Thagubothu Ramesh takes the cake playing a guy who addresses himself as Yadav all the time.
The love story begins when Abhi takes Shruti (Piaa) hostage as bait to force her absconding dad (a broker) out of hiding. Then two gang members get killed by a rather eccentric encounter specialist, Ladda, who is out to execute them. Cornered, Abhi and co retaliate with a grenade attack which Ladda survives. Shoot at sight orders are issued and the gang disappear into the forests to escape the heat and from then on it's a predictable drag. The performances are adequate. Naveen and Kishore have a natural screen presence which the filmmaker uses to good effect. Piaa has too little screen time to merit an analysis. The cinematography is easily the best part of the movie and is largely responsible for making it look a lot better than it actually is.
Note: Thagubothu Ramesh's antics and some nifty cinematography are the most watchable parts of the movie, so it will help if you go to the movie hall with lowered expectations.
Zanjeer Movie review
Critic's Rating: 3/5
Cast: Ram Charan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra
Direction: Apoorva Lakhia
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 17 minutes
Avg Readers Rating: 3/5
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Story: An upright cop sees himself transferred innumerable times in five years. Will he succumb to the pressures of the administration or will he make his voice heard above the din?
Review: Apoorva Lakhia's Zanjeer has many similarities to its four-decade old namesake Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer (1973) that breathed fire and brimstone. The original film earned Amitabh Bachchan the epithet 'angry young man' and made him world-famous. The 2013 action thriller brings Andhra icon Chiranjeevi's son, Ram Charan (also an Andhra superstar) to Bollywood. It retains the key plot points and the main characters are rechristened Vijay (Ram Charan), Mala ( Priyanka Chopra), Sher Khan (Sanjay Dutt), Teja (Prakash Raj) and Mona (Mahie Gill) just like the original.
Yet, this film should be judged as a stand-alone offering because attempts to compare the two versions will find the current one falling short, especially in the dialogue and music departments. Nostalgia happens when some original dialogue like 'Yeh police station hai, tere baap ka ghar nahi' and 'Sher Khan beimaani ka dhanda bhi imaandari se karta hai' are uttered.
To reprise the plot, Zanjeer is the story of an idealistic cop, Vijay Khanna, wanting to bring criminals to the book. Set in Andhra Pradesh, the initial part sets the stage for how dons and ministers have more clout with and within the administration, than an honest policeman. As a result, Vijay is transferred 17 times within AP. In his 18th assignment in Mumbai, this Assistant Commissioner of Police takes on an oil mafia don, Teja (Prakash Raj).
Teja fails to strike fear, playing something between Al Capone (Untouchables) and a buffoon. Anyway, whistleblowers are set on fire and uninhibited killings happen on Mumbai streets, making it seem as if the entire khaki force (except Vijay) is asleep. The climax, shot against the backdrop of a Moharram procession, is interesting.
Ram Charan, as the brooding policeman, excels in action. His dark eyes with long lashes adeptly convey anger. Sanjay Dutt is competent and lovable. Priyanka looks smashing but is overzealous in the American Born Desi Gujarati Girl act. Mahie Gill as the gangster's girl Mona is raunchy.
Shuddh Desi Romance
Critic's Rating:
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Vaani Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
Direction: Maneesh Sharma
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Duration: 2 hours 21 minutes
Avg Readers Rating:
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Story: One loverboy and two lovely ladies. Live-in, walk out, make-up, makeout. In turns. Not necessarily in that order. Confused about love and marriage, they follow their heart (at times) and all that lies in between (pun!).
Review: So there, Bollywood breaks the stereotype. It steps out from behind the bloomin' trees in tulip fields and comfortably 'shacks-up' with the times. Here 'smooch-at-first-sight' happens in a bus-full with baaratis. Coffee dates are sipped in bed (Happy Endings? Huh!). Commitment is not the criteria. Marriage is not on the cards. And sexual compatibility is high priority. Yes, welcome to a modern day shuddh romance in desiland. Plenty 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang', tucked in with some emotion and drama too.
Raghu-(Sushant)-the-Romeo is a tourist guide in Jaipur, who also doubles up as rental baraati for Goyal (Rishi), a shaadi planner. He meets the rebellious Gayatri (Parineeti) and feels a "tezwala" attraction towards her. They waste no time in moving in, and making out. Soon, they're love-addicts, but commitment-phobic. The third character in this threesome (don't expect any of that) is Tara (Vaani), who was supposed to wed Raghu, until he fled on his wedding day. She makes a re-entry for revenge, but ends up with a complicated status, really.
Parineeti is a phataka, firing dialogues (smoking up too) and living it up. She makes the character her own, complementing Sushant with a casualness that's commendable. Newbie Vaani is impressive, pretty and commands a good screen-presence. Rishi Kapoor, blows you away yet again with his incredible histrionics.
Maneesh Sharma's 'SDR' has a 'Band Bajaa Baraat' blend, but the essence lies in the conversational chemistry between the characters, some beautifully captured moments and slice-of-life scenes. He doesn't play safe, which is good, but the second half seems repetitive. The concept is engaging, but the plot is little shudd, little desi and quite confused.
RajaRani – Music Review
RajaRani – Music Review, & My take/analysis on what the film can offer!
The teaser was unveiled sometime in May, and boy, yes we were all taken aback after seeing the novelty in the idea. We were expecting some very normal “love-failure” dialogue/song/tune to be presented as first look and teaser. But what we got was, a wonderful tagline saying “There is *love* after love failure”, and then 30 seconds of pure creativity, with GVP’s magical “Hey Baby” number playing in the background. The mental conflict between a husband and wife was depicted in a completely different way! We were already impressed by it, big time. The next thing that I loved was the logo and simplistic feel to the posters... Gave a beautiful feel to product! Expectations shot up with more posters being revealed, that had wonderful collages of all the characters. The designs have been done by Gopi Prasannaa, quite a renowned guy in his field of work. He was also behind making the posters of cult film "Aaranya Kaandam"!
What made my expectations shoot up high, was the interview on Star Vijay that featured Arya, GVP and Atlee! The clarity of thoughts in Atlee's talk made me realise that this young lad isn't just another luck-by-chance director coming into the industry. He has worked hard, under Shankar sir! He was also behind the popular "Yuvvh" music video in Malayalam. Hoping for a quality product that will be remembered forever in our hearts!
As for the music, I feel that it is GVP's best in recent times, after "Paradesi". The album is one wholesome package! "Hey Baby" is one of the highlights... It starts of as a very ordinary husky voice number, and reaches zenith with Gaana Bala's portion!! Totally enjoyable! "Angnyaade" by Shaktisree is beautiful. Just beautiful! May not be a "Nenjukulle", but definitely a winner in its own way. "Chillena" is my favourite of this album. What a song! Gives a mesmerising feel throughout the 5 minutes that it lasts. It does sound like a familiar tune, but still everything is original until you get the true source/origin "Unnale" and "Imaye Imaye" are completely intriguing... the visuals will be something to watch out for! The singing, the tune, interludes all give a pathos feel as well as the catchy rhythm for these two songs to be a success! "Oday Oday" is a typical Yuvan-ish song, with a purely enjoyable tune! I bet it will be picturized with Arya! "A Love for Life" sounds like an extension to "Imaye", and drags quite a bit. Not a very memorable theme like "Ecstasy of Dance" in Thalaivaa, but just another one which might work with visuals!
As a whole, I would rate the album 3.75 out of a total of 5!
The film has a stellar cast... Arya, Nayanthara, Jai, Nazriya, Santhanam, Sathyaraj, Mano Bala!! The trailer promised some matured acting from Jai and Arya, and pure fun from Santhanam's Thalaivar tribute get-up! "Raja Rani" could also end up as the perfect breezy romantic entertainer that is yet to come to our cinema! A roller-coaster ride laced with comedy, fights, tragedy, love failure, and love... Hollywood has seen it, Bollywood has this kind of film every month, and now it is our turn. Of course, the acting is going to be rock solid indeed!
Just wanted to talk about the film, because it has caught my attention everytime there is an announcement regarding it. Hope this article shoots your expectations high too Do not forget to leave your feedback in the comments section!
The teaser was unveiled sometime in May, and boy, yes we were all taken aback after seeing the novelty in the idea. We were expecting some very normal “love-failure” dialogue/song/tune to be presented as first look and teaser. But what we got was, a wonderful tagline saying “There is *love* after love failure”, and then 30 seconds of pure creativity, with GVP’s magical “Hey Baby” number playing in the background. The mental conflict between a husband and wife was depicted in a completely different way! We were already impressed by it, big time. The next thing that I loved was the logo and simplistic feel to the posters... Gave a beautiful feel to product! Expectations shot up with more posters being revealed, that had wonderful collages of all the characters. The designs have been done by Gopi Prasannaa, quite a renowned guy in his field of work. He was also behind making the posters of cult film "Aaranya Kaandam"!
What made my expectations shoot up high, was the interview on Star Vijay that featured Arya, GVP and Atlee! The clarity of thoughts in Atlee's talk made me realise that this young lad isn't just another luck-by-chance director coming into the industry. He has worked hard, under Shankar sir! He was also behind the popular "Yuvvh" music video in Malayalam. Hoping for a quality product that will be remembered forever in our hearts!
As for the music, I feel that it is GVP's best in recent times, after "Paradesi". The album is one wholesome package! "Hey Baby" is one of the highlights... It starts of as a very ordinary husky voice number, and reaches zenith with Gaana Bala's portion!! Totally enjoyable! "Angnyaade" by Shaktisree is beautiful. Just beautiful! May not be a "Nenjukulle", but definitely a winner in its own way. "Chillena" is my favourite of this album. What a song! Gives a mesmerising feel throughout the 5 minutes that it lasts. It does sound like a familiar tune, but still everything is original until you get the true source/origin "Unnale" and "Imaye Imaye" are completely intriguing... the visuals will be something to watch out for! The singing, the tune, interludes all give a pathos feel as well as the catchy rhythm for these two songs to be a success! "Oday Oday" is a typical Yuvan-ish song, with a purely enjoyable tune! I bet it will be picturized with Arya! "A Love for Life" sounds like an extension to "Imaye", and drags quite a bit. Not a very memorable theme like "Ecstasy of Dance" in Thalaivaa, but just another one which might work with visuals!
As a whole, I would rate the album 3.75 out of a total of 5!
The film has a stellar cast... Arya, Nayanthara, Jai, Nazriya, Santhanam, Sathyaraj, Mano Bala!! The trailer promised some matured acting from Jai and Arya, and pure fun from Santhanam's Thalaivar tribute get-up! "Raja Rani" could also end up as the perfect breezy romantic entertainer that is yet to come to our cinema! A roller-coaster ride laced with comedy, fights, tragedy, love failure, and love... Hollywood has seen it, Bollywood has this kind of film every month, and now it is our turn. Of course, the acting is going to be rock solid indeed!
Just wanted to talk about the film, because it has caught my attention everytime there is an announcement regarding it. Hope this article shoots your expectations high too Do not forget to leave your feedback in the comments section!
Satyagraha - 3.5/5 - Movie Review
Everything was in place. The best crop of actors, the best technical team. But still, Satyagraha as a whole could not manage to be right there alongside Raajneeti. But does this mean it is a bad film? NO! Why? Read on to know more...
If you ask me if Satyagraha is based on Anna Hazare's movement, I will have to reply with a loud "YES", even though each and every person connected to the film has denied that. There are just too many coincidences for me to call this film a work of fiction. You will realise when you watch it for yourself...
First things first - the initial dialogues are layered, and have deep meanings. You get a sense that you are in for a roller coaster ride! And then comes Bachchan ji.. His screen presence, acting and dialogue delivery is second to none in Bollywood. The way he stutters, shivers in emotional scenes is just mesmerising! Just when we are admiring his performance, we have an item song, which has unfortunately become an inevitable element in Bollywood film-making. The song that cropped up from absolutely nowhere, was kept to establish Ajay Devgn's rich-brat character. But that could have been done just by showing him drinking in a bar. One shot, less cost, no waste of screen time too. But now there is no use of crying over spoilt milk. Hindi film-makers do not seem to be realising their mistake even if we have pointed it out in every review!
Regarding the acting, I need not point out everyone! Arjun Rampal was totally energetic, Amrita Rao was adequate, Ajay Devgn needless to say, was inspiring again, though this role looked like an extension to the one of Mani Ratnam's Michael in "Yuva". For me, Manoj Bajpayee stole the show, right from his entry till end! EPIC one liners and actions, that deserved claps! But I felt that Kareena's character, her dialogues and mannerisms were totally artificial and did not suit her at all. She was much better in "Talaash". I have no idea why her performances differ for every film. Could be the director's fault too, but here all the others are literally perfect! So Kareena is the person to be blamed for not giving consistent performances. The junior artistes and secondary supporting cast were amateur.
The background score was downright uninteresting. Nothing new, and the songs were big speed breakers too. The unwanted songs could have been shot as montages instead of making the lead actors sing for us! "Janta Rocks" songs will leave you with a bitter taste indeed!
The editing and cinematography were really very good! Perfect for the film, no complaints at all. The screenplay was fluctuating throughout, and slowed down a lot in the second half, mainly due to the songs and melodrama.
The film did not offer suspense/thrill/surprise anywhere. There was simply no scope for these elements in the story. Few scenes were cliched too. Yet, it will engage you, mainly due to the inspiring dialogues, monologues, the dark and dirty political games, and finally the acting! This is an inspiring tale that portrays the naked truth of our corrupt society. A noble effort, worth watching!
Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam - VVS - VPVS - Movie Review - 2.75/5
The film kicks off with its hysterics right from frame 1! You will not have a problem even if you bring your brain to watch this one It leaves a smile on your face at many places. The comedy, the one-liners, the reactions, mannerisms of the Soori-SivaKarthikeyan combo make this one a rock-steady entertainer. The songs make for a very good listen too, with some pulsating choreography! The cinematography has got to be the most colourful of 2013.
Sathyaraj stands as a strong pillar throughout the film, his screen presence second to none regarding veteran old heroes who do character roles now. Every dialogue of his has that tinge of "nakkal", the reason our audience love him! His 4 side-kicks are a bit of stereotype again, but still bring in the necessary laughs. Soori does not appear to be imitating Vadivelu. He has his own style of timing and he has also got the flair for bringing in the laughs at regular intervals. SK is at his best again, playing to only his strengths. The other man who has defined the rating for the film is Director Rajesh, and his dialogues! Few EPIC ones crop up from nowhere!
But still, why a low rating when there are so many positive points? The all-important screenplay fluctuates and lingers here and there... this makes VVS a lazy watch indeed. Doesn't matter in having such a film every 4 months. But it got highly repetitive this year! KLTA, KBKR, Desingu Raja, Pattathu Yaanai, all were mediocre to say the least. They more or less fall in the same category of "time pass comedy"! Seriously, they have become even b-o-r-i-n-g as the time has passed. But still, VVS is the better of the lot, and you will not regret a watch.
The sensitive topic of honour-killings has been used in such a simple and light-hearted way without hurting anybody's feelings Kudos to the director for executing the issue very well.
That is all I have to talk about this film, nothing much in it!
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Wednesday, 4 September 2013
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