Irandam Ulagam - Selva's Mugamoodi

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Irandam Ulagam, two different worlds, two different love stories and they meet at some point. Sounds good and exciting, but the film isn't. Selva's dream and ambitious project, which was called Malai Nerathu Mayakkam before with Dhanush and Andrea, starts well with two different stories happening simultaneously in two different worlds. The first half was quite good, even it was lengthy. It has some funny moments in both the worlds. There isn't a concept called love and women are treated as slaves in that world. How they get to know about love is the actual story. Arya from this world teaches what is love to the other world, as if everyone in our world know what is true love and treating women with respect.

At one scene Arya shouts "vedikka parka vantha janagala konjam porumaya irunga" it's like Selva telling this towards the audience.

Anushka was good in both the worlds. She looks lovely, bold and acts well, I won't say it's a great performance. Really looking forward to her Bahubali. On the other side choice of Arya for this role is really bad, I wish Selva could have continued with Dhanush itself. He haven't used all the songs from the album in this movie as well. I was really looking forward to a good visual for some songs like Raakozhi. And, BGM by Anirudh, is not so good. Maybe too early for this kind of movie or he didn't have enough time since he was included in the last minute.

The link between the two worlds is not convincing that particular scene could have been better. I don't know how much of Selva's dreams was converted into screen. Since we have seen Avatar many times, we can't avoid the comparison where we really felt a different world there. It's an other world, so how different it can be. There was a lot of scope in that, sadly Selva didn't explore much in my opinion. And, there also one man who can kill an entire army of people single-handedly.

Selva, IU is really a nice try and a welcome attempt. Just like your Aayirathil Oruvan, which I loved, this too was let down in the second half. It's always good to see a different attempt in Tamil cinema and you are one director who constantly attempts different genres. But an exciting idea alone is not enough, needed a better execution to make a stunning impact in the audience that is where I was disappointed. Expecting a better movie from Selva, after all we know you are capable of giving us a better experience.

Rating 2.5/5.0.

Some Good Movies From God's Own Country

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Thattathin Marayathu (2012) : A love story I loved.

Thattathin Marayathu is a simple, straightforward, neat, romantic, short love story I have seen in a long time. It's that kind of movie where boy meets girl, love at first sight, she tried to woo her, she falls after sometime, then girl's parents oppose, finally they join hands. We have seen this kind of movies many times right, but you will love this one more time.

I saw this movie a week before watching Raanjhanaa. Both the movies start similarly, a small Hindu boy meets a small Muslim girl. This movie's strength is the beautiful songs. It has some eight songs, don't imagine this as any MKT's movie. None of the song is more than four minutes. All melodious and beautiful, even though I didn't get the actual meaning of all the lyrics.

Hero is Nivin, Neram fame and heroine is Isha Talwar, Thillumullu fame. Isha Talwar looks so beautiful behind her Veil, much better performance from her in this movie compared to Thillumullu. No big twists and turns, it's a really feel good romance movie which I liked.

Mumbai Police (2013) :  Absolutely unpredictable thriller.

This movies stars Prithiviraj, Rahman and Jayasurya. It's a two and half hour thriller movie without any song or a heroine. I am sure it's one of the best thriller I have seen in recent times. And, I felt why our Tamil directors not trying something other than comedy. (I saw this movie long before OA release).

It starts with Prithiviraj calling Rahman to tell that he has solved the case he was investigating, but before he could tell the name of the murderer he met with an accident and results in partial memory loss. The case he was investigating is a murder of their friend Jayasurya another police officer. Prithiviraj after his treatment gets back to work and try to solve the case again also trying to find out who he is. The twist at the end of the movie was really good and unexpected.

Prtihiviraj has done a tremendous job. He is police-illa-da-porikki kind of a policemen in that group. Everyone fears and most of his colleagues even hate him because of the way he is. Even though the film is two and half hours it was interesting and never goes away from the plot and the end was unpredictable. A complete contrast to the previous movie and a best movie.

Ustad Hotel (2012) : Visit this hotel once, you won't regret.

Have you heard about Narayanan Krishnan from Madurai. He was awarded CNN-IBN hero of the year 2010. If you are yet to know about him of course you can google, but you can also see this movie. Jayaprakash plays his character. Everyone must know about him.

This movie stars Mamooty's son as hero, Nithya Menon and late Thilagan in pivotal roles. The story revolves around the Thilagan's Ustad Hotel, famous for its Biriyani. Hero was with his father and four sisters in Dubai, his father wants him to help him in his business, he wants to become a cook. After a fight he will come to his grandfather's place and starts helping him in his hotel.

Thilagan, a fantastic actor, I have seen him only in negative characters in Tamil. As Ustad Hotel's owner he was too good. Hero who know how to cook finds the answer of why he should cook after meeting Narayanan Krishnan in Madurai after Thilagan's advice to meet him. After returning, he decides to stay here and continue to make the Ustad Hotel  as one of the famous and profitable Restaturant.

Another different kind of a Malayalam movie. Being a Tamilan it's very sad that none of the directors said anything about Narayanan Krishnan in Tamil movies. This movie has enough humour, a small love story,  a nice script and solid performance.


You can download all these movies from you-know-where and give a try in your free time. Also I heard Annayum Rasoolum is another good Malayalam love story starring Fahad and Andrea. I even started watching it, only after 40 minutes hero starts stalking heroine, they are yet to talk with each other. In first 30 minutes you can see Andrea for two seconds. Every time I start this movie I get a good sleep. I hope I will finish this movie within this year.

Once a Sachinist.. Always a Sachinist..

There are lots and lots of great articles pouring in the internet since Sachin announced his retirement. But, still I cant resist myself from writing something about my hero.

First of all thank you little master to play cricket in my time. I know this day is near, Sachin retiring from cricket, but still it is very hard to believe I will no longer watch him bat live. Cricket will never be the same again. He is playing cricket for 24 years and I am 25 now, I grew up watching Sachin. He is my Hero, Superman, God of cricket. I liked cricket because of Sachin. He gave me so many reasons to smile, so many wonderful moments, so much of happiness. I will no longer feel butterflies in my stomach whenever Sachin is on strike, even while the following the match in Cricinfo.

Some people complain, Sachin plays for records. He doesn't play for records, while playing he makes and breaks some records on it's way. And, one of the stupidest statement to hear about him is, "When Sachin hits a century, India will lose". You can check plenty of statistics, we can see the percentage of winning is always higher than losing. Yeah, he made some centuries and India lost, it's not his mistake. His teammates let him down many times like that Chennai Test against Pakistan or Hyderabad ODI against Aussies. When going gets tough, tough gets going.

And, I like Tendulkar bowling as well. He is the only guy who can bowl everything. Off-Break, Leg-Break, In swinger, Out swinger. He can even defend six runs of the last over and win a cup for his team with his bowling as well. And, who can forget that last ball of the day in Pakistan to bowl Moin Khan between his legs. The most important thing I liked about Sachin is even after 24 years he played with same interest, he gives 100% every time on the field.

I regret not watching him live in ground, playing for India. Damn I missed it. And, I won't get another opportunity now. Only once I saw him on the field during the last  IPL, CSK vs MI at Chepauk. I was very enthusiastic to see the master bat. MI decided to bat first. It was an amazing sight to watch Sachin and Ponting walk together. But in the end it was an anticlimax, Sachin got out on very first ball he faced :(. Disaster for me.

So much of memories, so much of joy, thanks a ton Sachin TONdulkar. I am sure I will watch all those highlights of yours whenever they telecast. Every time I close my eye I can remember those picture perfect Straight Drives. As I read somewhere, it should be renamed as SRT drive. Your SRT drive to bring up the fifty in your 200th test is registered in my mind permanently.

I loved him more than Cricket, more than Team India. You were, you are and you will be the God of cricket forever. Cricket is blessed to have you, Team India is blessed to have you and we all blessed to have you Sachin.

Thank You Sachin.

An unpleasant trip with a happy ending

You take your uncle's favorite bike, go for a trip against his will, return with a maximum damage to his bike, what do you think he will do?

Apache, which looks similar to the one of Karthick's in VTV ;), is my uncle's bike. Once in a while I used to take it and go to office or movie, but not regularly. One day we have decided to go Valparai with my office mates in bike. And, I asked two of my friends near my home to join me. My uncle was reluctant to let me go, but somehow convinced him and got his bike. We started one evening and reached Valpari by night. The temperature was not so cool. But, it was nice riding in hills at night.

What happened next day is the story, we all started to go to Athirapalli falls that day. It was a long ride and the road was as bad as you get. While somewhere in the middle when I missed the sight of the road for a second, my friend sitting at my back shouted to warn me there is a hole in the road. On hearing him I pressed the brake as hard as I could. Next moment we  crash landed, and my other friend who ran into our bike was flying in the air in slow motion. That sight was still in my mind. We three were hurt a little, but the bike looked terrible. After sometime, we had a good laugh and took some photos there of that remarkable incident ;).

That "Historical Event" took place here:)

That night after long ride we reached home, thankfully no one noticed the bike's miserable condition. Next morning my uncle saw the bike and woke me up. He thought I was severely hurt looking at the bike's condition, but I was okay. He asked me what the hell happened and why the bike looks so terrible? I cooked a story, a snake came in the middle (my friend's idea actually) so I applied the brake and we all fell down. He didn't tell me anything.

I thought that was my last ride in Apache and he will never let me touch his bike again. But, this is what he did, next day morning he gave the key to me and asked me to take the bike to service, then he said, "Pay whatever it takes to get that bike into a good condition and keep it with you itself, I will no longer use that". I was really surprised, I thought I will never ride the bike again, but it was my own now. That mishap wasn't my last ride in Apache. It was just the beginning :). And, it's been nearly three years since the Apache became my own. Thank you Mams.

P.S : Now I ride that "Apache" in Chennai also, even my home is near that "VTV" house, but Jessy is not there.

Hey Ram - Who's a Mahatma?

This post is the result of watching the movie once again on a Saturday night until 3:30 am and this is not a review. Hey Ram, released in 2000 is one of Kamal's THE BEST movie.

When it's released I had no idea what this movie is about and didn't even try to watch it. All I heard was it's not a good movie, too slow, no one can understand, boring, etc. Even during it's telecast on TV when my uncle (Kamal's fanatic) was watching I urged him to change the channel and didn't watch. Finally, I saw only the second half of the movie last year in TV, I know it's too late, but late enough to understand the movie I guess. Only now saw the full movie. Better late than never.

By this time most of us would have seen or heard about the storyline. It has a brilliant cast starting from Kamalhasan, SRK, Atul Kulkarni, Nasrudheen Shah, Rani, Vasundra, Valee, etc. have done a tremendous job. And, there is  Ilayaraja with beautiful songs and an excellent BGM. If "Nee partha" song is not in your playlist then you haven't heard a good song in your life. And, if you haven't seen the movie then you are missing something really big. So please help yourself by watching this classic.

I guess if the movie releases today, with SRK in it, who can handle the publicity, who knows even this film could have crossed 100 crores and Kamal would have made enough money to restart his Marudhanayagam. Who cares if it didn't win the oscars when it was our official entry from India, we know this is really the best movie.

If Anbe Sivam says everyone is a God, this film says everyone is a Mahatma. Gandhiji (in Hey Ram) says, if one is not a Mahatma, one is an animal. 

Kamal is really a Mahatma or God or both in his own way, even an animal sometimes. All he says, right from Devarmagan (maybe even before) is  அன்பே சிவம்.. அன்பே மகாத்மா..

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.