Deepavali Releases 2013

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Arrambam : 'Thala' kept it simple.

Thala and Vishnu are back with a stylish revenge story. It was a real Thala show. Thala doesn't have a jodi or a duet no punch dialogues also doesn't smoke or drink, but he didn't try to be a very good man. He threatens a man by trying to kill his child, I don't think any other mass heroes will attempt this. Even I didn't hear the word "Thala" in the movie. He looks so good in his Salt and Pepper look in every shot. 

Arya as usual doesn't act at all, he is Robert Pattinson of Kollywood. His reactions are the same for every scene. He provides some funny moments in the film as a hacker. Kishore as an inspector really does his role very well, liked his character after Ajith's and he is not wasted. 

Nayantara looks old, Tapsee in a Lailaesque character was irritating. Rana in a cameo does really well and Ajith dance moves looks funny while dancing with him. Rana looks like a Hulk.

Vishnu takes time to settle and picks pace later. I actually didn't like the first half especially the first one hour with some Arya's flashback and love because of irritating Tapsee. Second half was big, but good enough to hold me in my seat. Vishnu why do you love coolers very much, scene after scene Ajith removes and wears again and again. We have already seen all these in Billa itself and you can try some other ways to show Thala's mass. And, if you have removed some of the slow-motion walks movie could have been even shorter.

The dialogues by SuBa are not so powerful, nothing stays in my mind except one or two. I doubt what they are going to do in Shankar's "I". It will be very hard to fill in Sujatha's shoes.

Overall movie starts slow, picks pace and ends well. Our film makers will have enough scams to make a movie about it and we can see the politicians getting punished only in their movies. If this team is planning to make a sequel they can make 2,3,4, etc., since I don't think India without any scams in many years to come.

Rating : 3/5.

AAA : Thu Thu Thu.. Thu Thu Thu..
 

What's bad is going to a mokkai movie on a festival like Deepvali and what's worse is, if it tests your patience with three hours running time, AAA does that. Nothing works in this movie, Rajesh had done a better job with Udhayanithi in OKOK than AAA with Karthi. In his other three movies Santa is the Boss not the heroes, that's what made the movie enjoyable. In this Santa calling Karthi as M.D sir and Karthi trying to Boss Santa is not at all good and I felt even Santa was not able to give his 100% which he usually did, even more, in other Rajesh films.

Hat-trick of bad movies from Karthi, Alexpandian, Saguni and this. AAA gives good competition to Alexpandian for the worst movie of the year. Hope his next movie, Biriyani tastes better.

Rating : 0.5/5. For their effort to create 1980s in the flashback sequence, where Santa was the Boss.

Pandianadu : Winner for Vishal.

Definitely an underdog among this year Deepavali releases and it's a winner. Suseendaran once again with a simple revenge story, but with a racy screenplay, makes Pandianadu exciting and completely different from his last film.

It's always good to see Vishal not hitting ten people at once right from the start of the film, riding Activa. He lets his friend (cameo by Vikranth) fight for him at the start. Ultimately he does that in the climax, but it was somehow believable. He doesn't send everyone flying with a single punch which he usually does. The only movie in which he was not irritating after Sandakozhi.

Lakshi Menon has nothing to do and thank god, it is very hard to see her face more than two seconds. I don't know why she is doing so many films. Bharathi Raja as Vishal's father is one of the main character in the film. He was a good choice by the way, who desperately wants to seek revenge by his own means. Even the Villain was a good choice. He was unbelievable in this character who was seen as a good father in Ethir Neechal.

The second half starts slow with emotional sequences and picks pace. And, there comes a speed breaker in the form of a song. Why can't they just get rid of these songs at the crucial period of the film. Only wish it was avoided.

Pandianadu is a good revenge story mixed with emotions, a clear winner from Suseendaran. Once again Susee proves he is a good and dependable director.

Rating : 3.5/5.0.