Aadukalam Film Review

Some films just provide entertainment, some will keep you at the edge of your seats & some will linger in your mind for hours with performances that affect you for days, scenes that you wish you could watch over and over again & music that you can keep humming. Aadukalam does it all. The swashbuckling combo of Vetrimaaran & Dhanush are back together after their much acclaimed dark horse POLLATHAVAN to give us a gutsy, brilliant & realistic film in AADUKALAM.

Aadukalam is a simple story of Pride, Jealously & Ego woven brilliantly together in a realistic way by some brilliant performances. The film starts with a brief on Rooster fights & their emergence & history. And in a typically Vetrimaaran way, we go into a flashback where Pettaikaaran(Jayabalan) is a king of his trade in rooster fights. He is worshiped & helped by Karuppu(Dhanush), who does nothing but this for work and loves an Anglo Indian Irene(Tapsee) & financed by Dorai(Kishore). His foe Ratnasamy(Naren), a police officer whose family is into the tradition of rooster fights tries desperately to win a rooster fight against Pettaikaran but has never succeeded all these years. In one final attempt to win before his ageing mothers death and please her, he imports Bangalorean roosters during a fight which causes a flutter in the Pettaikaran camp. An altercation between Pettaikaaran & Karuppu leads Karuppu to field his Rooster in the ring against Pettaikaran's wish. This makes Pettaikaran angry and he goes to the point of announcing publicly through the mike that he dismembers Karuppu from his group. But, Karuppu's rooster wins the tournament and he becomes the talk of the town.

This incident creates envy & jealousy in Pettaikaaran who feels that he has been robbed of respect because of Karuppu's fluke victory and he cleverly plots the downfall of karuppu by being together with him. What happens when Karuppu comes to know of the betrayal? What happens to his love? forms the climax of the film.

Dhanush as Karuppu, has worked really hard to make his character believable and surely Aadukalam belongs to him. After Selvaraghavan, Dhanush clearly seems at ease with Vetrimaaran who has tapped his full potential in this role. This role is tailor made for Dhanush and is his forte and he comes out trumps. Jayabalan revels as Pettaikaaran. Kishore as Dorai is an added asset. Tapsee as Irene, has nothing much to do and she does not take much care in whatever she does in the film too. The character who comes as Dhanush's friend & Naren as Ratnasamy attains special mention.

The film is shot brilliantly with mood lighting to portray the rawness of Madurai. The comedy in the film is woven with the screenplay and is very engaging & entertaining. The songs are well places and are along with the flow of the film which is an added plus. GV Prakash Kumar has once again proved he belongs to the big league with the songs which are chart busters. But, the BGM of the film is plainly disappointing. The trumpet background score very much gives you a hangover of Pollathavan.

Every good thing does have its flaws, the movie is rollicking in the first half wit an edge of the seat rooster fight that is shot brilliantly. The second half drags towards the climax with some fights filmed in Vetrimaaranesque manner, but the film ends as it should, realistically!!!

Aadukalam is definitely worth your money just for the brilliant performances in the film. Kudos to Vetrimaaran for once again breaking away from clichés of Tamil Cinema and coming up with a fresh attempt at realistic cinema.

Aadukalam-Battle Won!!!

Siruthai Fim Review

Karthi seems to be having a dream run in Kollywood. He is like a batsman in in prime form smashing all deliveries to boundary. As long as you are not ready to complain that 'Siruithai' lacks logic, the film would work big time, as it is an out and out commercial fare.

Having started his career convincingly being part of off-beat movies like 'Paruthuiveeran' and 'Aayirathil Oruvan', the sibling of actor Suriya is right here at a groove proving that he too is not far behind his elder brother, tasting success doing mass masala ventures.

Adding to his list of entertainers is 'Siruthai'. Fast and furious from the word go, the movie comes with a sole purpose to provide entertainment and with no pretensions achieves the purpose.

As if not happy scoring a ton in his earlier ventures, Karthi goes to score a double hundred here. Yes, the actor manages to pull it off convincingly donning a dual role in the film for the first time - that of a callous local youth and a tough cop.

Though a remake of Telugu hit 'Vikramarkudu', director Siva has taken Karthi's abilities in his stride to make some suitable changes in the Tamil script, that helps the movie cross the chequered flag with much ease and gusto. Be it the dialogues, comedy, action or romance, 'Siruthai' manages to sustain all interest - it is like a pot where you put your hand everytime you get a fortune.

Rocket Raja (Karthi) is a small time thief who is talented enough to steal anything he comes across. In the company of Kaatupoochi (Santhanam), he enjoys life to its extent and even falls for the charm of a beautiful girl (Tamannah).

However, his life changes forever when a small girl comes to Raja calling him dad. As Raja finds out the girl's past, a flashback reveals that she is the daughter of an honest cop Rathanavel Pandian (Karthi), who is a nightmare to baddies.

However, Pandian is now is on the run because his enemies are behind him and his daughter. Eventually, the villains find the whereabouts of Pandian and finishes him off.

So steps in Rocket Raja (with the help of Pandian’s colleagues who are behind the girl reaching him) into his shoes and finishes the unfinished work of Pandian. He also takes care of his daughter. A roller-coaster ride of fun, joy, camaraderie and romance is what 'Siruthai' is eventually.

Karthi has not merely run through the motion but gives his heart and soul in the characters. Be it a fun-loving Rocket Raja or the angry policeman Rathnavel pandian, Karthi brings both astute on screen. He combines the Anbuselvan of 'Kakkha Kaakha' and the Sakthi of 'Pithamagan', made famous by his brother Suriya. At ease and at his self in dual roles, Karthi spells his charm all through.

Not far behind is Tamannah. The 'Paiyaa' duo of Tamannah and Karthi recreates the same chemistry on screen. Tammanah as bubbly innocent girl spells magic. A complex character made with ease by her. After a brief interval, she gets a role in which she really sparkles.

Add Santhanam for humour, and the end product is breezy and entertaining. As usual the comedian has audience in splits with his one-liners. He combines the grace of veteran Goundamani and presents them in his unique way, scaling success movie after movie. Mega Nair (of 'Thangam' fame) plays a woman police and has a bearing in the script.

Then there is Avinash, Rajiv Kanakala among others who do the job given to them with consummate ease Walking away with honours is Vidyasagar. The man of melody has come up with a cocktail of peppy and soft numbers, while Velraj's cinematography is the talking point of the movie. The action sequences featuring Karthi as cop is major plus for 'Siruthai'

Produced by Studio Green, 'Siruthai' is fit and fine for a good leap. With Karthi trying new vistas not missing out on the entertainment quotient, it is a obvious sweet pongal for masses this Pongal. Action and satisfaction is what 'Siruthai' is.

Raajneethi Film Review

Raajneethi has inspired its theme from the Epic Mahabharatha and its characters resemble the same ....

there re traces of Mani Ratnam's Thalapathy (in many places ) , God Father etc ..... well handled in commercial format

All these years film makers who make movies on these genres take references from Cult Classic Movie GOD FATHER & present in different Format bringing in Underworld, Politics , Power ,Mafia etc ...

coming to the movie ...right from the start it is easy to identify the character (their roles )& compare it with the original epic ....

Ajay Devgan role is similar to Rajini in Thalapathy but here the situation is different ..

Arjun Rampal 's was like Rajiv Gandhi & the sequences which occur in the 2nd half tells us the director has brought in Congress Politics ...

Katrina role can be compared to Sonia Gandhi as after the death of Rajiv Gandhi she took up all the responsibility & stood in election at KA & won many times ...

The Political happenings were all the sum up indian politics ...

To bring in the emotional quotient in the movie Prakash Jha has brought in Mahabharatha where Ajay Devgan resembled Karna & Manoj Bajpai as Duyiyodhana ...

RANBIR WAS SIMPLY BRILLIANT & HE LL GIVE A TOUGH TIME FOR OTHER BIG ACTORS great mannerisms & attitude & good acting all over ..

Nana Patekar was like Lord Krishna through out the movie & climax will reveal more about him ...

After a long time they have taken this movie fully in MP .. Interior North India will feel the MASS & sure to rock in many states ..

Thank god there were no songs & it is fully political drama with predictable masala added to it 1st half was really good & racy & 2nd half slows down with roamance , sentiment etc

Overall , A Engaging Film with a mix of Mahabharath , God Father & Thalapathy ...

Rating : 3.5 / 5 -- Watchable movie for good performances from Multi star cast

Verdict :Super Hit in Metro Cities & Overseas & Blockbuster in Major Big States

A TOTALLY INDIANISED BOLLYWOOD MOVIE

Well Done Prakash Jha & Co ..

Raavan Film Review

After enjoying the modern day Mahabharata two weeks ago, its time for modern day Ramayana and the person who is directing this modern day epic is none other than the Master story-teller Mani Ratnam. Does the ace director show who the real guru is? Well, he almost has.

The story-line is simple, Beera (read Raavan)
 
abducts Ragini (read Sita) wife of Superintendent of Police Dev (read Ram), to avenge the death of his sister Serena (read Shurpanaka). But Beera instead of killing Ragini falls in love with her. The dense forest looks a mission impossible for Dev if not for an over enthusiastic and bubbly forest officer Sanjeevani (read Hanuman). And while Beera is getting attracted to Ragini more and more Dev is getting closer to Beera. Ragini's love for Dev never changes but she also feels sorry for Beera. Will Dev be able to rescue Ragini? Will Raavan avenge the death of his sister? Well, you do know the story don't you? Or do you want to guess?

Taking the story-line from the mythology is not new for Mani and he has come up with quite a beautiful way of presenting it. But where he falters is in the pacing of the script. Can the movie be any different if it was not a non-linear screenplay? Will it be any different if the climax was compelling (not that it was bad), if Mani hasn't taken so many logical liberties? Well, it could have surely made the experience better. The movie starts off fine but the pace drops considerably and until interval the movie goes in a more sluggish manner. Added to that the unnecessary slow motions. The second half picks up pace but the climax might get mixed reactions from the audience. The reason for that is, we don’t know who is right and who is wrong. Is Dev the bad guy? Yes, according to the movie he might have been, but morally he is right. The movie lacked chemistry between Vikram and Aishwarya Rai, their relationship demanded more screen time for the audience to feel the connect. Our heart never went out to Vikram and that might have been the reason the movie doesn't completely pull it off. But there are several brilliant scenes in the movie which does make a trip to the theatres necessary.

Abhishek Bachchan as Beera was good but not great, he lacked the toughness he showed in Yuva. But overall he did manage to carry the movie forward in his able shoulders and his hard work for the role did show. Aishwarya Rai as Ragini was looking gorgeous and acts like a pro. It’s a shame that only a few directors are able to get the actor out of her. Vikram as Dev, looks a tad overweight but as always reliable with his emoting. Govinda as Sanjeevani is good but if only he had smarter and wittier one-liners, the effect would have quadrupled. Priyamani was sensational in a cameo. Nikhil Dwivedi is competent enough for the role of Dev's side-kick (supposedly Lakshman). Ravi Kissan is a revelation as Beera's brother.

Technically Raavan stands out; every frame in the movie is picture perfect. Manikandan and Santosh Sivan have out done themselves. The camera goes in the most unlikely places to make the experience spellbinding. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is good but could have worked more in the first half. Music & Background by Rahman is a treat. Its awesomeness taking the form of chords. Action sequence choreographed by Shyam Kaushal and Peter Hein is mind-blowing but just because they are in the crew sending almost all the characters off the cliff is a little bit over done. Dialogues are well written but nothing sensational about it to quote.

Overall, Raavan is a visual spectacle, a modern day Broadway musical of Ramayana which might get mixed reviews from the audience but take this in, it’s in no means a bad movie. We expect greatness from Mani Ratnam, and maybe the expectation is at fault. But don't miss this in the theatres, for its visual poetry by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan.

Verdict: Raavan- looks great but lacks heart

Kites Film Review

Decade old love story, Awful climax, beautiful camera, good narration, soothing music, Okish Chase sequences, Well pictured love sequences(the on screen chemistry between the lead pair was good enough)...So mixed responses. The final verdict, is the movie worth it ?

YES is my answer(having said that i dint have any premeditated thought or expectations on the movie).

Few brilliant scenes are good enough to make a moderate movie feel good. Even the awful climax had an interesting thing just before end.

I have seen it in many movies(including the latest tamil movie Goa), but conversation between two lovers who had no common language to express their love to each other made the sequences interesting. Mein ullo ke patti hoon and wetting the pants(Mexican dialogue) conversations were good. Its really good to see when we understand what they both say to each other, when they dont understand each other's words...

The first half is racy, and the second half which is supposed to be more racy was dragging a bit. I was afraid if there is going to be cliches of our cinema like friend or well wisher betraying the lead pair. But thankfully no such thing happened till the end.

Narration was so good. It was keeping the suspense element(both in flashback and main course of the movie). Music was good(Zingagi to pal ki is the only song i cud remember though). Leaving the songs, I had a feeling like its not just a bollywood movie and had NEAR hollywood standards. The background music and Camera were surely adorable.

Chasing scene should have been made more racy and logical. No matter what, the movie was engaging and atleast a visual treat for me...

I give 3/5, 1 each for narration, music and cinematography...

Verdict: Watchable

Singam Film Review

Spoiler-alert !!!

Lets get the governing dynamics clear - Saamy + Vettaikkaran = Singam --> Equation 1

If all the Vijay films are turning out to be colossal disasters under the pretext of "No novelty in the storyline and performances", then why pick Vettaikkaran in the above equation ?. Because, it is the most recent Sun Pictures - Vijay combo, I watched on screens.

One can actually enter a bet to find six differences between "Vettaikkaran" and "Singam" - and can come up with points like, Aspiring police officer - Established police officer, the anti-social activity committed by the villains of the scripts etc. Anushka and Sun Pictures will contribute to the similarities list.

Well, the substantiation for Equation 1 needs to be presented. Now, have a look at the following template (for the first half of the movie only) and just match with how many ever movies you want. Saamy, Arul, Vettaikaran, Singam are some notorious titles which will readily sit-into it with some minor tweaks.

Villain's introduction - during and before title cards

Hero's introduction - Fight and opening song compulsory

Comedian's introduction (Association of the comedian with either the hero or the heroine)

Heroine's introduction (naughty, sportive, beauty)

Villain's family (the whole TN will know how bad the villain is, but the villain's wife is still not aware of it - the only job she seems to have is to serve breakfast for him)

Comedy scene 1

Heroine's family (the heroine is the darling of the 10-odd people in her family, she is offered all freedom but to choose her guy)

The villain is a bad guy - Instance 1 (committing some horrendous murders)

Hero's family (one more serial-family - this is optional)

The hero is an epitome of goodness - Instance 1

Villain's younger brother is a cheap rogue - womaniser, most of the times (turned on by the worker-maid or some shopping mall chic)

Hero-heroine look at each other, sometime some place (But, the heroine still haven't reserved some real-estate in her heart for him)

Comedy Scene 2

The villain is a bad guy - Instance 2 (So many crimes in the Indian penal code - Pick one here)

Hero catches a sight of the above (Trembling shoulders and boiling blood, he is not involving himself into the mess and stays away as he is not directly impacted by the "The villain is a bad guy - Instance 2" )

Villain's younger brother commits a heinous crime (related to his innate womaniser instinct or some acts of rowdism)

The hero unknowingly bumps into the Villain's brother and thrashes him (and 20-odd "office room boys") aside.

Heroine, fortunately gets a glimpse of the above - fall in love

Duet 1 in foreign locales.

Hero - villain main encounter - No punch dialogues here. The hero shows his intentions to shy-away from the mess but the villain is not letting him to do so.

Comedy Scene 3

Romance followed by Duet 2

Hero-Villain Head-on collision followed by the challenge - Punch dialogue guaranteed.

Freeze the frame as the hero concluded the punch - Spin the letters of I-N-T-E-R-M-I-S-S-I-O-N and deposit it on screen.

Hari - what more can be expected of the Master-Masala-Maker who invariably - will pick up a town/city, have a powerful villain dictating the story, eyecandy heroine reserved for the duets and a mean "meanwhile" style screenplay interspersed with comedy pieces. Hari has started maintaining a police-template also, I believe and "Singam" is the latest output of the template. Dialogues - "I ll make you run out of Tamilnadu", "Chivalry, courage, intelligence of the Tamilnadu Police" - Yappa !!! Enough of it man ... starting from Sethupathi IPS, many police officers have uttered these stuff out.

What is this "meanwhile" stuff, anyways ? - Pick the first 40 minutes of any masala movie - the hero, villain, heroine and comedian will be doing things on their own with zero correlation coefficient. The villain is doing some anti-social activity - "meanwhile" the heroine is playing around merrily in her home - "meanwhile" the hero is doing some good deed to the society - "meanwhile" the buffoon is doing something somewhere. Scenes follow one by one, like the above ... Don't dare to call this "screenplay" ever. Kamal Haasan, who has been conducting screenplay workshops should do one for these guys and inculcate some sense of screen writing in them.

When the first half was shot, well in lines with the above template, "Saamy" came to the rescue in the second half, in terms of screenplay. The hero - Romancing while in duty at check-posts, leading the ruffians to a lonely place to clobber them, losing some of his kins in the last 20 minutes, smartly follows the villain as he escapes to Andhra, delivers the final monologue message to the villain - are you not reminded of "Saamy" ?.

Surya - His 25th film this is. While I am very much happy with his resume thus far (starting out as a shy-ridden, seemingly resourceless and a naive youngster, whose only credential then was that - he was the son of the veteran actor Sivakumar), I am not full-of-praise for his 25th film. But, there were enough films in his kitty which will speak of his value as a performer to the present day tamil cinema. With his penchant for performances and an undeniable panache, Surya seems to be the only actor whom you can bank upon in look for good cinema. Way to go Surya and if he is inclined more to be a "hero" like his contemporaries (like in "Singam"), he is disappointing many in our camp.

Coming to Surya's performance in "Singam" - He just exhibits an animated, arrogant, powerful, adrenalin-ridden police officer, pulverising the jumbo-looking "office room boys" (like "Vettaikkaran" Vijay) in a few strokes. While speaking to his adversaries, Surya stands with his legs-apart ("stable equilibrium", probably) and shouts-aloud the dialogues (a bit irritating and monotonous mannerism, it becomes). He is soft-spoken only to Anushka and his family-people. There's a remarkable improvement in his dancing abilities as well, no doubts. The fight sequences should be loads-of-work for the film editor - so many shots - Juggernaut-like Surya thrashing the baddies, exploding tata-sumos, flying rowdies, slashing glass pieces - so much to cover and add to that a racy speed with which the sequence is enacted.

Though one can be easily critical of Surya's performance in the movie, owing only to the monotone of a masala movie, you can only admire his crackerly-attitude in whatever he does on screen. His body language evokes an unconditional strictness (of a police officer) through-out and his fit 'n' trim physique add a special punch for the role, he enacts. Now, on a comparative note, there is a substantial difference in the character displayed by Anbuchelvan (Kaakha Kaakha) and Durai Singam (Singam). The former sounds more driven by intuitions & smartness and the latter by emotions & raw physical abilities (yeah, there is a lot of cognitive smartness as a police officer, exhibited by Durai Singam also). Anbuchelvan is a calm-n-composed urbane police officer whereas Durai Singam articulates pages of punches in high pitches. Gautham Menon and Hari !!!

Anushka Shetty - Has she got some meat in the script to chew upon ?

This is a masala/mass/entertainer

This is a hero-centric Hari film

This is from Sun Pictures

She is reserved for songs, precisely. Especially, in the second half, where the hero's itinerary is really filled up with appointments-with-villains, Anushka should have tried keeping herself busy with her dance master and the wardrobe-expert for the upcoming duet sequences (Hari has already sent her lines in several SMSes). Her cleavage-friendly attires in the songs successfully received many a "oohs" and claps from the audience. And yeah, she is tall and gorgeous.

And, I wanted to mention this - There's this atrocious sequence which would lead Surya (Durai Sngam) to nick-name the heroine "Puli" in line with "Singam", which Hari also uses to get them introduced to each other - absolute lack of creativity, I felt.

Prakash Raj - looks aged - made up for the role, probably. Nothing special here - he has tossed up tons of performances like this, on us. For the umpteenth time, he is the Big Dada of the city with the police and politicians under his belt - owns many Tata sumos and elephantine "office room" boys. Loses out finally to Durai Singam, the untouchable tough cop.

Support Cast - It looks like, there has been an ordinance in effect at the Tamilnadu Film Artistes Association that atleast two from the following set {Vijaya Kumar, Radha Ravi, Manorama, Nizhalgal Ravi, Nasser}, should be a part of the support cast in any big budget production. Hari, so graciously includes the entire band here. No offence meant on the extremely talented artistes above, but we have got so much used to these guys' body language, dialogue delivery and mode of emotions that nothing new is in store for us. Support cast, on the other hand, is only horribly typecasted, thus trashing the real "potential" in these wonderful actors. They, like countless other occasions, deliver a cliched but balanced performance. we should feel sorry for talented thespians like Nasser, Girish Karnad who were always picked for petty malefactor roles. On a welcome note, our cinema these days, is actually getting progressive in sorting out the support artistes from the "society".

Vivek - should consult a good doctor - His "Mokkais" are turning pathetic. The concept of "Sirippu Police" has been tested by time but the comedy track just sucks here. Same old "Injury between legs" man !! ... When Murali and Vadivelu pole-vaulted and Vadivelu hurt his "%^&*" (for the first time, I believe), it was moderately funny with his facial expressions. Enough of it, Vivek tries to sound funny calling it by different names - Mani, Sombu, bulb - Not funny any more.

Songs were actually a let down. But, Sun pictures can make Dindukkal Sarathy's songs popular. Sun Music will take care of the rest. This has been in light for some time now - tamil pronunciations by North Indian singers - Shaan sings "Oru Vaarthai MoLiyaale" - Unbearable. "En Idhayam" was shot well in some ravishing foreign locales. And, according to Sun pictures rules, there was a real kuthu number 20 minutes before the close of the movie - Surya did a almost-Vijay here, dancing really well.

I have this feeling that we turn a bit hypocritical when it comes to Surya and very much hypercritical to Vijay. Of course, Surya has proved his capability as a performer many a times before while the latter has never done so. Surya should, in future, choose his scripts judiciously to not to fall into "that" category.

Singam - Tamed circus lion performing routine stuff.

Kola Kolaya Mundhirika film review

It is indeed a pity that a genius like Crazy Mohan is so under utilized in our industry, especially when we keep churning out disaster after disaster in the name of crappy masala entertainers. If we leave out his ventures with Kamal Hassan, it can be either a case of not able to use him to potential or it can either be a case where you don’t have the actors or team to do justice to his writing. The latest outing “ Kola Kolaya Mundhrika” somehow tries to almost strike a balance and make full utilization of him.

KKM is an out and out crazy ride. You have a Motif ( lost diamonds..some twenty years back.. hidden in a antique chair ( you have 4 similar chairs though diamond is in only one)) + petty thieves after it + comical villain with insanely dumb side kicks + outrageously silly police officer who is after them for a completely different purpose+ ..+..+…the list goes on :).

Its like bread and butter for Crazy Mohan or should I say Pongal Vadai with Filter coffee !! His word play is at its best and provides us several hilarious stretches. Be it the initial sequences at the Punjabi wedding or the instance where they talk about the “Mullu” that leads Luv dada’s death. Writing is at its wittiest best. These are just instances and there are many more and like any of his previous movies, am sure to find some 10 more jokes on a repeated viewing. With him the jokes keep increasing :).

On the flip side, like some of his previous movies here and there he does touches the borderlines of stage drama at times. You also have a completely ridiculous climax chase sequence which was pretty amateur to my liking. These are a few nitpickings here and there, nothing more. But the biggest let down are the songs which had no impact of what so ever.

The actors do a competent job. Karthik Kumar who looks like he is struggling a bit with his comic timing grows on you as the movie progress where Shikha who makes her debut is at completely ease. MS Bhaskar provides with some of the best moments in the movie while Jayaram pulls of his Closseau act competently. You have loads of other actors and veterans ranging from Radha Ravi to Anand Raj who all does justice to their roles. To top it all you have a cameo from the M(oh)an himself !!

Watch it if you like hilarious zany comedies. Watch it for its laugh out loud moments. Watch it for Crazy Mohan!! Do I have to say more :)

Kanagavel Kaaka Film

Karan tries to tread a different path in director Kavin Bala’s debut Kanagavel Kaakka. It is not a completely different theme as such, but the premises make it somewhat distinct to other films that we have seen that border on the same theme.

Kanagavel Kaakka takes a look at the judiciary of our country; how easy it is to find loopholes in the law and escape punishment. So, what is the solution to this? That someone has to take it upon himself to deliver the right judgment when the court of law is not able to do so. How he sets flawed judgments right is the story of Kanagavel Kaakka.

Karan plays the unassuming and ordinary peon in court, the guy who stands behind the judge practically playing no part in the whole process of the trial, just being there as a mute spectator. But, he is not the kind of peon that everyone thinks he is. He is in fact a lawyer who was forced by fate to take up the garb of a peon. The reasons for that are told; Karan’s father was a judge and naturally had to take a few tough decisions in his career and delivered judgments that irked a few bad men. He had to pay the price for it through his family and Karan who was witness to all the arson decides to be a source of support to his father than erecting a career of his own.

Now, as a peon standing behind the judge he is able to see right through the fake witnesses and hollow arguments of the other lawyers in court (because of his education as a lawyer). And, when a criminal walked off free he chased them down and delivered justice of his own kind. How long does he continue doing this, does the law wake up or does his struggle end up as a minor movement that never had any impact at all?

Kanagavel Kaakka does attract with its theme - that of one man against the system, which we never go tired of. But, there is a feeling that a director could have brought in a bit more suspense and intelligence to the proceedings. Right from the word go, there is no sense of excitement or whodunit in the movie. It is pretty plain and predictable in spite of the theme’s potential to be suspenseful as well as exciting. The other factor missing sorely from Kanagavel Kaakka is the intelligence. For all his law degree and shrewd eye to detect the criminal, Karan does not seem to plot his acts well enough. All the acts of punishments that he delivers seem too simple and straightforward. Depicting a little bit of planning and in depth thought behind this would have added more credibility to the movie. But, Kanagavel Kakka does impress basically because it has got a theme of universal appeal. Only, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Karan has played a role that is quite apart from the ones he has been seen in over the recent past. There is a sense of restraint and underplay which is good and suits the character well. Others in the cast live up to their experience like Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Sampath and Raj Kapoor. Haripriya as the heroine hasn’t got much to do except in the songs.

Technically, there is nothing much in the movie that garners attention. All departments are just adequate. Music by Vijay Anthony is passable, but not catchy and there seems to be one song too many for a film of this kind.

Kanagavel Kaakka has got an interesting subject. But, lack of suspense and intelligence in the proceedings are major drawbacks. A tighter and more focused screenplay was definitely called for.

Verdict: Legal drama: lots of loopholes!

My Sassy Girl Film Review

Love- There is both joy and pain in it, because that's exactly how the life is. There are so many different ways of expressing your love without saying 'I love you’. What if a film carries this with no pointless nail on sex, kiss and yet it turns out to be one of the most 'romantic' cinematic experience? My Sassy Girl (in Korean Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo) is the perfect mix of comedy, drama, romance and some of the best storytelling I've ever seen. This movie is so beautiful; has the most well defined characters you'll ever see on films that are true to how they really are. The situations are so interesting and absorbing that you tend to forget that you are being influenced by all the over-romanticizing.

I saw this movie with absolutely zero expectations; was almost asleep and watched it at a friend's place to pass the time. The uncut version of the film lasts 137 minutes (2 hours and 17 minutes), quite long for a romantic comedy. But it was so craftily written that one would not notice time ticking by. At no point in the movie does annoy, and that's a hard task indeed. There are little hints (Which at first may seem meaningless) thrown in the story which will come back to play a major part in the film later on. You can come back to it again and again and you'll always notice something new and this made me to watch it again and again.

The story begins when Kyun Woo, an immature but eccentric 25 year-old college student who doesn't have a clear direction in life meets the bizarre, drunken girl on a train platform late at night. Hilarity guarantees in the following scenes, how she becomes his girl friend, who has the faces of caring, psychopath and weird, seizing chances to slap him and humiliate him. The film has three parts- first half, second half and Overtime. The first half showcases the bizarre attitude of the girl to which the boy succumbs and does everything for her, setting up pure comedy and witty, hilarious sequences. The second half of the film explains the girl's bizarre attitude and unfolds all the drama behind the girl's comedic behavior in the first half. A very cleverly written script turns the laughing audience into a crying one in a short span of time. The odd sequences in first half are linked as the second half unfolds with pure melodrama. But the 'overtime' part brilliantly concludes all the comedy and drama that spread-out in the preceding two parts. The heart-warming ending (which I will not reveal, for I recommend that people watch it) left me laughing in tears.

The entire movie focuses on just two people, 'Kyun Woo' (Cha Tae Hyun) and Jeon Ji Hyun (Her name isn't even mentioned during the entire film, so we call her ‘The Girl’). The stars did a very good job of keeping up 'very' good chemistry. The guy who plays Kyun Woo has the most wonderful facial expressions. Since we see everything from Kyun-Woo’s point of view, his emotions varies from shambling, shy, pitiable and adorable for scenes when required. The girl just cracks me up with incredible expressions. Her enigmatic charm and acting (she laughs, threatens Kyun-Woo and cries in same scene) makes the film very appealing. Some of her expressions are just priceless; sometimes she needn’t say anything, her expressions speak for what we ought to know.

The exciting moments in the film were a surprise action scene, a blind date that bowls you in splits at the end, squash ball that always hits hero’s face, hero giving 10 rules to date to her new boyfriend. The cinematography of the film was outstanding, for it captured every scene perfectly, also showcasing the good-looking milieu of Korea. The soundtrack very much added to the emotion of the film's most significant sequences. I like the piano piece very much when Kyun Woo gives her a rose as she plays. Though the movie moves at a smooth pace, Jae-young Kwak's screenplay and direction, added with smart dialogues are incredible, keeps us occupied.

I'm sure some would avoid this film simply because it's Korean - but that's where you'd make a mistake. This one was certainly worth watching. Absolutely entertaining but maintaining a touching side to it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, no matter who you are. I guarantee it. Please avoid the poisoned lift of this film under same title in Hollywood (2008) and Bollywood version of Ugly Aur Pagli starring Mallika Sherawat.

Nokia N900 Review

Today, Nokia stands at a fascinating fork in the road. Let's consider the facts: first, and most unavoidably, the company is the largest manufacturer of cellphones in the world by a truly sobering margin. At every end of the spectrum, in every market segment, Nokia is successfully pushing phones -- from the highest of the high-end (see Vertu) to the lowest of the low (the ubiquitous 1100 series, which as far as we can tell, remains the best selling phone in history). The kind of stark dominance Nokia has built over its competition certainly isn't toppled overnight, but what might be the company's biggest asset has turned out to be its biggest problem, too: S60. In the past eight years, Nokia's bread-and-butter smartphone platform has gone from a pioneer, to a staple, to an industry senior citizen while upstarts like Google and Apple (along with a born-again Palm) have come from practically zero to hijack much of the vast mindshare Espoo once enjoyed.

Of course, mindshare doesn't pay the bills, but in a business dominated by fickle consumerism perhaps more than any other, mindshare foreshadows market share -- it's a leading indicator. Put simply, there are too many bright minds with brilliant ideas trying to get a piece of the wireless pie for even a goliath like Nokia to rest on its laurels for years on end. Yet, until just very recently, it seemed content to do just that, slipping out incremental tweaks to S60 on refined hardware while half-heartedly throwing a bone to the "the future is touch!" crowd by introducing S60 5th Edition alongside forgettable devices like the 5800 XpressMusic and N97. A victim of its own success, the company that had helped define the modern smartphone seemed either unwilling or unable to redefine it.

Not all is lost, though. As S60 has continued to pay the bills and produce modern, lustworthy devices like the E71 and E72, the open, Linux-based Maemo project has quietly been incubating in the company's labs for over four years. What began as a geeky science experiment (a "hobby" in Steve Jobs parlance) on the Nokia 770 tablet back in 2005 matured through several iterations -- even producing the first broadly-available WiMAX MID -- until it finally made the inevitable leap into smartphone territory late last year with the announcement of the N900. On the surface, a migration to Maemo seems to make sense for Nokia's long-term smartphone strategy; after all, it's years younger than S60 and its ancestry, it's visually attractive in all the ways S60 is not, and it was built with an open philosophy from the ground up, fostering a geeky, close-knit community of hackers and devs from day one. Thing is, Nokia's been absolutely emphatic with us -- Maemo's intended for handheld computers (read: MIDs) with voice capability, while S60 continues to be the choice for purebred smartphones.

So, back to that fork in the road we'd mentioned. In one direction lies that current strategy Nokia is trumpeting -- continue to refine S60 through future Symbian revisions (with the help of the Symbian Foundation) and keep pumping out pure-profit smartphones in the low to midrange while sprinkling the upper end of the market with a Maemo device here and there. In the long term, though, running two platforms threatens to dilute Nokia's resources, cloud its focus, and confuse consumers, which leads us to the other direction in the fork: break clean from Symbian, develop Maemo into a refined, powerhouse smartphone platform, and push it throughout the range.

Our goal here is to test the N900, of course, but fundamentally, that's the question we tried to keep in the backs of our minds for this review: could Maemo ultimately become the platform of Nokia's future? Let's dig in.

The Informant

Of course nothing, with Whiteacare was what it seemed. Calling himself 0014, because he’s twice as smart as 007, Whiteacare soon became the informant from hell.

Soderbergh tells Whiteacare’s story in elegant, minimalist frames. The film never engages you emotionally.

But it provokes a laughter that catches in your throat because the sub-text is so cynical and sad.

The Informant is propelled Scott Z. Burns’ screenplay, which includes a long-running monologue by Whiteacare, on items as varied as used girl panties on sale in Japan and polar bears. But its biggest strength is Damon’s performance.

The A-list star, wearing a ridiculous hair-piece and 30 pounds overweight, transforms himself into a brilliant character actor.

He is ferociously funny and yet, always, tragic. The Informant isn’t a Soderbergh classic. But there is enough juice and fun here to make it a worthy watch. I recommend that you catch it.

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Angadi Theru Film Review

Spoilers ahead !!!

Social commentaries are that breed of cinema which will invariably evoke a spectrum of emotions with the audience. You get a glimpse of various unseen facets of the very same society in which you live ... The social and economic strata, the struggle for the daily bread, the society's hard-heartedness towards its own subjects etc. This Vasantha Balan film is a powerful entry into this genre, which very successfully arouses this feeling of how-privileged-one-section-of-the-society-is, which I wish to establish as one of the measures to access the films of this genre.

On a retrospective note, recently we had "Naan Kadavul" which screened us the horrendous lives of temple-side beggars and the Agoris. "Vaalmiki" was one decent attempt that tried to portray the lives of pick-pocket thieves. "Polladhavan" featured absolute detailing with respect to the underworld of the bike pickers. Madhur Bhandarkar's Bollywood attempts, though they always gave a glamourised account, are worthy of a mention here. I just remembered a relatively unknown tamil film, Prathap Pothen's "Meendum Oru Kathal Kathai" which was well ahead of its times in its honest picturisation of a mental asylum. "Angadi Theru" just stands tall as a social black-commentary with no commercial concessions. The film picturises the lives of the sales-guys & gals in one of the many all-in-one shopping kiosks at T.Nagar's Ranganathan street. The film neither glamourises their lives nor is exploitative in its experiment.

The film's main plot - sales-guys & gals in a Saravana stores-like shopping complex, the places they live and dine, the relationships they share amongst each other, their supervisor, the proprietor of the store etc.The lives of these sales personnel are shrewdly oriented towards only one goal - work and work only, for fifteen hours a day. In the process, they are forced to lose their self-esteem and are ill-treated like bond-slaves. The supervisors even barge-in on their personal spaces and try to chop-off their love interests. The film employs various other sub-plots depicting the street-side platform businesses. In short, it brings up the T.Nagar's commercial street live and buzzing.

The movie's technical brilliance is something which you will never be able to appreciate at the first viewing. The film has such an engaging screenplay, that you aren't allowed to digress away from the story. You can't notice any flaws with the cinematography, editing or the Music as you will be very busy following the details depicted on the screen and a triggered-screenplay. The scenes are impact oriented and consequential - You are simply occupied with the emotions that engulf you with every scene that is exhibited. Jeyamohan's dialogues are spiky and they deserve a special appreciation.

The film's protagonist Mahesh wields a blank face through-out and is not so efficient in communicating both vehemence and excitement - gets the pass-mark as a fresher. If there has to be a find-of-the-movie, it is undoubtedly the heroine Anjali. Anjali just delivers such a matured performance in only her second movie. We saw her as Anandhi in "Katradhu Tamil" and was acclaimed the "Best Debutant of the year" in Vijay Awards that year. She is just awesome as a salesgirl here and her face sharply relays the emotions what-so-ever. She looked very much subtle in her performance and scores way ahead of the glam-chics we have these days. Way to go Anjali !!!

The support cast including - the "Kana Kaanum Kalangal" guy & the bunch of sales people, A.Venkatesh as the supervisor, the platform salespeople - everybody just deliver their roles to perfection. The character of the sales supervisor Karungaali, played by A.Venkatesh needs a special mention here. He just reminded me of the role played by Thandavan in "Naan Kadavul". This character by A.Venkatesh is a personification of cunningness, wickedness, villainy and rascality etc. You hate him so much big-time and thus he succeeds in his role. Casting has been awesomely good and Vasanthabalan's confidence with the first-timers pays off well. This is becoming more of a good sign with our cinema these days - The casting is mostly fresh and if the story demands a touch-of-nativity, the directors never bother to pick people from the society rather than from the industry.

Many scenes in the movie just sweep you off with an overwhelming shock value. I feel that they are not intended as cheap exploitative gimmicks to jolt your conscience and emotional setup but are genuine in portraying the sick lives of a strata in this society. You just sit there paralysed by the impact, a few scenes depicted, create in you. And, I always had this compassionate empathy towards the salespeople in garment stores ... They just go on and on showing you stuff, till you decide that you are gonna buy something. So, whenever I spend a reasonable time browsing through garments in a store, I always have this habit of picking up something, atleast to satisfy the zeal, the salesperson exhibited to me. And, here on, this empathy is gonna be on a rise.

This is Vasanthabalan's third venture after Album and Veyyil. Album was very silent and never created a small creek at the box office. Veyyil,deeply autobiographical and intensely personal gave him the much needed success and went on to the Cannes Film festival (though it premiered in the non-competitive section). I always have a great deal of respect for "Personal filmmakers". Veyyil was a dark personal tragedy and we can see the remains of "Veyyil" in "Angadi Theru" too. The flashback sequence shown here is very interesting and genuine, as he deals with relationships.

Film-making, in terms of Andrei Tarkovsky is, "Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema".

This piece is brilliant ... Go watch it !!!

Aval peyar thamizharasi review

Story Analysis:

Jai(jothi murugan) lives with his grand father right from his child hood. At the age of 10, he meets a gal in thol pavai program(a kind of rural entertainment which happens for 10 days in villages).As usual childhood love blossoms between them. As the result, jai forces his grand father to provide accommodation for the entire thol pavai team, so that his lady-love will stay in the same village and study with him in the same school.Years roll on, but as soon the school gets over. The gal scores good marks and she wishes to continue her studies in Maharashtra.

All of a sudden jai feel lonely and don't wish his lady love to go away from him. As the result, he forces the gal and have a sexual inter-course with her, so that she will be with him forever. But things get changed after that incident.Lot of problem arises , so the gal goes to Maharashtra and stay in her relations house. Our hero faces lot of problems. Jai starts his journey to find his lady love, for 8 years he goes around many places. The climax is all about how he meets her? whether they both join together?

Cast and Crew Analysis:

Jai played the lead role and his acting was good, in most of the places he underplayed to show the importance of the gal's character, since the entire movie is based on tamil arasi. Nandagi played the female lead, though it's her first movie, she performed very well. Music by vijay antony was ok, thank god he didn't try any kind of naaka mukka stuff in this village based story. Cinematography by P.G muthai was good. Comedy track played by kanja karupu provided some laughter in this serious movie.

General Analysis:

I don't know what director had in his mind when directing the movie, its not either art kind of movie, nor a commercial movie. They tried out to take an art movie, but they failed badly. Lack of story and dead slow screen play spoiled the movie as a whole. There was lot of traces from movies like paruthi veeran, poo, katurathu tamil etc.,, Each and every scene didn't have any kind of originality.

The total duration of the movie was just 2 hours 7 minutes, but when seeing it, 2 hours 7 minutes movie looked like 20 years mega serial, such a slow movement between the scenes in both first half and second half. Hats off to the director for coming up with a fresh theme, but didn't manage to deliver it in a proper way.

Expected No Of Days Of Successful Run:20 Days

My Verdict: Below Average

Bottom Line: Aval Peyar Tamilarasi,,, peryil mattum than tamil arasi ..

My Ratings:2/5

Thanks Maa Film Review

Sensible, Recommended, For Movie Buffs - One of the Best.

I recommend this movie to each and every reader who is mature enough to understand the burning issues around child abandonment.

Municipality (the main lead of movie -national award winner child-Patel) has acted really nice. Story opens with a group of children(all of them abandoned again) from slum. They are used to doing small-time robberies. Soda ( One more good actor -child) leads their gang, and motivate all to go for such activities. Municipality is good at heart. But, he is grepped by police for pocket picking. At the same night, he attempts to ran away from there. Meanwhile he sees a lady put(read abandon) her new born(2days old) baby outside the home and speed away in a taxi. He prevents the baby from being attacked by a dog and takes it with him and decides that he would find the mother and hand the baby to her. Now story moves on as a journey of this small baby and Municipality in pursuit of its mother. The emotions are described very well by Irfan Kamal (director). Municipality names baby as Krish and does everything to take care of the baby crossing the dark sides of Mumbai,protecting the baby at each stage. The journey shows the hard realities of our society, reflects in each and every scene of the movie. Does Municipality find the baby's mother or does he retain the baby like any other abandonded little kid? Watch the movie to understand some spine-chilling realities of the society we live in. Acting and cinematography adds an extra charm to the motion film.

The movie was made before Slumdog millionaire, so please discount any influence from the Brit movie.. And I feel this movie is far better in presentation. Yes, it is purely Indian, with no Brit flavors.

I felt bad when only 7 folks were in the cinema hall for such a good piece of creativity. Though this film is not an entertainer it is very nicely handled and presented. It definitely is engaging and does not give you the feel of a 'regular-award-winning-art-movie'. If you are mature enough and you like movies apart from the regular ones, you will sure appreciate it.

From me, this movie rates at 4 out of 5.

DID YOU KNOW: IN INDIA 270 children ARE LEFT (just with in 1-7days of born), EVERYDAY. Go and see this fact.

Cinematography - 4/5 Acting - 4/5 Screenplay (story telling) - 4/5 Music - 3/5 Direction - 4/5 Overall -4/5

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya Review

Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya is an intriguing tale about Karthik, a mechanical engineer / "wannabe" film-maker who falls in love with Jessi who hails from an orthodox Christian family. GM has pumped in a lot of effort and writing into the making of the movie , paying attention to minute details ... But, does his hard-work reap him the dividents that he deserves ???

The movie starts in an interesting fashion and the proceedings nosedive into the plot without much hiccups . ( with umpteen number of repetitive frames (and scenes), over-exposed lighting at certain places , Silenced dialogues - inspiration from Mani Ratnam's style of film-making is undeniable )

After a brief introduction of the lead pair , the proceedings give way to a romantic relationship between 'Karthik' - A simple , practical , go-lucky guy and a very complex female 'Jessy' . Their romantic encounters , the role fate plays in their lives and the complications that arise due to the confused nature of the character "Jessy" forms the rest of the story .

The characterization of the confused lady Jessy ( Thrisha is horribly miscast here ) is perhaps the biggest USP of the movie , the whole film revolves around her parents , her relatives , her marriage , her actions and her decisions . Even though , we ve seen heroine-oriented love stories before , VTV stands out as it offers something unique - None of the earlier movies in Tamil Cinema tried to explore the deep emotions of a confused & a complex mind of a woman ( not abnormal ) beyond one certain level , VTV scores a point in that aspect . Its very hard to erase Jessy out of your mind ( atleast i find it difficult to :P) - I have met a Jessy a lot of times in my life but i am not able to recall who it was :P- She is my neighbour ,my sister , my classmate , my friend , my online friend , my chat buddy etc etc . For me , Jessy is just EVERYWHERE .. Wherever i see a girl - I see a Jessy

As the movie progresses , we get to see a lot of fine touches and attention to minuscule detail ( A GautamMenon trademark ) When jessy gets up from the diner-table , her parents express their displeasure and the scene was well portrayed - even without any dialogues !! The movie does not posses any scene that is used as a "Filler". If GM wants a character to say a word - he justifies the usage of the word later on. Ex: Karthik asking for Joseph's( jessy's dad ) height was used later on , and Jessy expressing her family's repulsive nature towards Cinema and movies is later on used in the diner-table conversation between Ganesh and Jessy's uncle in Kerala . Such stuff are nothing fantabulous as they do not affect the grueling pace of the movie ...still , Such fine aspects elevate the feel of the movie and enhances the cinematic experience ( we ve seen such fine stuff in earlier GM movies already ).

Pace is definitely a point of concern with VTV , it falters very badly halfway into the 1st half , and later on picks up during the interval-block . The second half moves at a very grueling pace except for a very few places which holds the viewer's interest . I do agree that it is totally unfair to expect a racy narration from a soft romantic movie - But on the other hand, film-makers must not make movies that serve as unintentional lullabies for the audience ( VTV's 2nd half is one such lullaby btw :P ) The second half would have been better off without some unnecessary 20 minutes ( NOTE : those 20 minutes were not fillers - they had a relevance with the plot , but they were elements that induces sleep in large doses :P - removing/editing them will definitely act as a +ve factor that will favor the BO result of the movie )

Instead of positives and negatives - i will segregate the important aspects of the film as :::: a) good b) bad c)Could have been better :::

The GOOD :

1) The character - Jessy

2) The movie has a lot of "CLUTCH-THE-ARMS-OF-YOUR-PARTNER" kinda scenes ... esp the scene where Karthik describes about Jessy in the penultimate portion of the movie - was awesommmmmme - Love overflowed via the theatre screen :P

3) Minute attention to details

The BAD :

1) Trisha's acting was absolutely horrible , She fails to emote in most of the movies and her pathetic acting is a big let down to many important scenes . Jessy's characterisation is one of the best i ve seen in recent times - Trisha has successfully made a mess out of that role with her terrible performance (:x)

2) Irresistably slow 2nd half - that sends the viewers into a state of half-sleep . I was squirming in my seats after 20 minutes into the interval

3) Mannipaya and Aaromale were mindblowing numbers - But they did not go well along with the mood of the movie , I personally felt the placement of those songs looked rather too forced - and it disrupts the flow of the movie

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER :

1) ARR disappoints with the BGM . It was just good in parts . The rock BGM that was used in the scenes involving the Coffee shop was absolutely horrible and the main theme song " Vinnaithandi Varuvaya" never suited the feel of the movie

2) Manoj Paramahamsa - a fantastic cinematographer who stormed the industry with a technical masterpiece Eeram fails to live upto the standards set by himself with his earlier movie . The frames were brilliant , the locations were exotic and the movie on the whole was extremely glossy , yet it failed to live upto my expectations . ( it was gud not great :P )

With a director of GM's calibre on his side ( who is known for churning out hyper-stylish movies) , Manoj must have taken extra care to do a better work in the camera department , but sadly the output is inferior to that of his earlier work - Eeram

3) Simbu's performance was quite decent , but its nothing great either. I can easily think of better choices for the role of Karthik.

He imitated surya in a lot of places and it looked quite funny on screen. Inspite of having an ace director to guide him , Simbu's version of Karthik is not convincing at all ! ( he does deserve a pat on his back for his pucca image make-over though ;) )

To sum it up - VTV ends up sumwhere between Average and Good. Its a perfect example for a movie that falls in the " Love it / Hate it" categorie. A lot of portions remind you incidents that takes place in your real life , yet the movie feels artificial and completely misses the "MAGIC" . If u manage to ignore the horrible pace of the 2nd half , u may end up liking the movie ;)

ISHQIYA FILM REVIEW

I was confused to pick between Rann and Ishqiya but gave priority to the later coz of my belief in Vishal Bhardwaj and Nasiruddin Shah. Still I was expecting it to be an ‘just above average’ movie.

Nowadays you don’t need to watch a whole movie to know what the movie is about and what happens. You go and watch the movie only to know how it happens. Take MNIK, its two weeks from release n u know the story line and whats gonna happen in the movie. You may(im not) go to watch how its gonna happen.

With Ishqiya, the best thing they have done is that the promos never let you guess a thing on the storyline. I had felt the same about Kaminey.. Many important scenes never came on television but they did show some scenes which is not in the original movie. Watching Ishqiya songs and promos, I sometimes felt it was a movie inspired from a not so famous Malayalam flick “kannezhuthi pottum thottu”. But its not and I’m not gonna write what it is.

It may not be a perfect and superb movie but it’s interesting and entertaining. It has got some points where you wonder what direction it’s gonna turn. The UP-Bihari hindi is tough to understand but is nice. And the funnier part is here in around Delhi, most people come to watch this kind of movie to hear nice ‘gaali’ from the screen. The use of those ** words may be to attract these audience but it’s a reality, those words are so common and if the movie is about common people, it gives the real life touch to the characters.

The casting done is so nicely, makes you feel each character perfectly made for him/her. Vidya balan came up with yet another good performance. Arshad warsi is so funny and lively where Naseeruddin shah did a good performance for a role which didn’t ask for much of his talents and experience. Some other actors (I don’t know their names) like Shah’s brother-in-law and Vidya Balan’s Husband were other small but important charaters.

Another best thing about the movie is that you get to see something fresh.A different movie for people like us bored of watching goose bump movies based in NY and London. It shows a different part of India. Like Omkara, the locations are so close to original.

The music is very good, especially ‘dil to bacha hai ji’. The lines are so awesomely written to go with the ‘aam’ characters.

The movie may be about the common people or about the not so known areas in north India, but the film is not for them. That’s the fact. Here most doesn’t even know if a movie named Ishqiya is coming or has released. The movie is purely aimed at multiplex crowd. And with the number of multiplexes increasing we may get to see movies like this coming again.

Rann Film Review

What makes RGV take a social subject but make a movie that doesn't glorify the problem as much as a filmmaker like Madhur Bandarkar would, is probably why he doesnt end up getting an award(should I have said a National Award? ). But one must say this has always been the 'RGV treatment' or the style of presenting movies with his own touch of fiction. A solid reason why his movies are still in great business even if they are not the cult kinds .

Rann, probably one of the most anticipated movie to begin with for this year, is this one serious story of what media and mediamen are capable of. A tale that talks of how media can change the dynamics of a country, how greed of a few men can influence people through a strong medium called television channel and its sensationalism.

The movie talks nothing that we do not know of, it depicts exactly what happens inside the studios of all our famous television channels. It portrays the antics by media moguls to create news(than to report news) and to create sensationalism to increase their TRPs which in turn increases their ad revenues. Where Rann scores is that it does not show the warfare between media competitors rather its the battle between the judicious and malicious use of media. Salutations to RGV for not making this storyline as a surreal docu-drama, rather garnishing it with his own style of commercialism.

Vijay Harshwardhan Malik played by Amitabh Bachan is a very righteous person who thinks media is the third eye of the common man and it should bring out all the truth he needs to see. He has been running and heading his television channel India 24*7. His son Jai Malik, played by Sudeep joins him in business after returning from the US. Jai has his unconventional ways of running business, which Vijay is hesitant of but would like to give a try to keep his son's thoughts running.

In such a step, Jai is shackled in problems of competition. He ends up in the vicious circle of his brother in law(Rajat Kapoor) and a bad politician Mohan Pandey(Paresh Rawal). Mohan in the pretext of helping Jai, seeks to use India 24*7 to strengthen his political career. Jai, in greed to be among the top media guy plays a part in the plans of Mohan Pandey.

Rann has its own doses of cliches too. The underdog hero becoming the savior of the nation at the end, the final power-packed emotional outburst of Vijay Malik and so on.

With respect to the performances, I must say Sudeep topped it all. The gray character Jai Malik played by him is probably the most memorable performance of the movie. He has always been one of those good picks from the Kannada industry who has a lot of mettle for acting. RGV has definitely made a good choice in Sudeep for the character of Jai Malik, the over ambitious media tycoon who has his own dose of nervousness and vagaries as a character. Amitabh Bachan might have had a cake walk in this role. After seeing him as Auro in Paa, I felt this must have been something that he would have done even when asleep. Nevertheless, its his charisma that carried out the Vijay Malik's character with the dignity it deserved. Vijay Deshmukh as the young and honest journalist and Monish Bhel as the opponent to Jai Malik's business were other credible roles. There was not much of women power in the movie, Suchitra Krishnamoorty, Gul Panang and Neetu Chandra just did their roles perfectly and couldnt have been better.

I would credit the writings by Rohit as very powerful ones in the script. Some of the dialogs were so well placed and had right messages going out. It just created that impact the scene wanted to carry and full marks to Rohit and RGV for ensuring this. Not much to talk on the music, it really could have been better.

RGV's choice of the tone and Amit Roy's frames were just perfect to complement it. RGV knows the mood of the movies he makes, if he had the dark tone in Sarkar or the eerie ones in his scary movies, he got the right tone of a studio look in this movie. Great job by Amit Roy too on that. A clean production execution with not much of sets, locations or artists just complimented to the movie's crispness.

Rann is not the movie that you would want to watch to keep your mood on a upbeat. Its probably not that Saturday night fun movie but it sure is the one that you would want to catch up when you have those occasional serious thoughts running in your mind about the society around you.

If not a must watch movie right away, it sure is a perfect one when you want a serious one, with that 'RGV touch'. :)