I - Y

I was very much looking forward to this film. I had too much of expectation on this film. I was really excited once I entered the theatre. But, I was really disappointed at the end of the movie.

The positives are as usual Shankar's grand imagination. And, of course the songs, each and every song was spectacular. Mini-ads in Ladio and Aila, exotic locales in Pookale, beast look and art direction in Ennodu and the best was Merasallayiten, Shankar's imagination and perfect execution of objects like tv, bike, mobile, fish turning into Amy was a treat to watch. Also, the fight sequences, some where lengthy though. And, Vikram's dedication and performance is THE BEST. Its evident in every frame and in his each and every look as a body builder, model, koonan shows he is a perfectionist. Cannot imagine any other actor in his shoes. Amy as a model is a beautiful choice though her lip sync could have taken care, also for few other actors as well. Santhanam had the audience in splits for the first one hour.

Weta Workshop has done a tremendous job and only Shankar can bring them to Tamil cinema. Vikram makeup was one of the highlight of the movie.  Also, at the end each and every villain's look as wel it was extraordinary though it doesn't look good. And, I didn't enjoy Santhanam making fun about their looks.

Now the negatives, the movie's running length over  three hours. Very weak villains and a very highly predictable twists. This is where I really felt disappointed, never expected a Shankar's film to be this much predictable and that twist was 'Lingu- Samantha-Anjaan' level. The China portions in the first half was too lengthy at least Santhanam's presence could have made a difference. Also, that transgender trying to seduce Vikram portions were really backfired.

Unanimously everyone accepted that Sujatha is really missed. And, I felt that very strongly. None of the dialogues stayed in my mind. And, with Sujatha the screenplay could have been better.

A romantic thriller or a revenge story single-handedly carried by Vikram's monster performance let down by weak writing. This is not a bad movie, ayyo amma mokkai kind of a movie. But, strictly one time watch which I didn't expect Shankar to make this which made me disappoint.

I - Y Shankar? Not Shankar's I its Vikram's I. Deserves a one time watch in theatre just for Vikram. 

Rating - 3.0/5.0. 

Border Gavaskar Trophy - Goodbye Dhoni, Welcome Virat.

'Superman' Smith

Border-Gavaskar trophy, even though it isn't an Ashes, but it has quite a good followers. It has produced numerous nail-biting tests over the years. This time around it was an emotional series for Australians after Phil Hughes's loss. Kudos to them to bounce back and win the series 2-0.

This series belongs to 'Superman' Smith who not only captained three tests, but also scored over 700 runs with a century in each test. Our bowlers had no clue on how to bowl to him or for any other batsmen including Ryan Harris. And, for India it was our new captain Virat Kohli who was back in form, after a disaster in England. As a captain he did his best in the first test and almost won that match.

We also found a two more solid batsmen other than Virat who can bat overseas 'Well-left' Vijay and Rahane and both of them were consistent in England as well. And, the biggest disappointment is Pujara, who's failing consistently overseas, but we can't replace him with Raina for sure. Dhawan also having trouble overseas who might lose his position to Rahul, who stunned everyone by the way, he played in his debut had a good comeback in his next test and proved justice to his selection with a century.

All the bowlers, Yadav, Aaron, Shami, Bhuvi, gone from bad to worse except Ashwin. Its very disappointing to see them leak runs like a T20 match in tests and their inability to get of the tail quickly is the real pain in the ass, which allows the opposition to get into a good position even after a bad start. Its a better series for Ashwin considering his own standards in his previous overseas tours.

The series result could have been different if only India didn't collapse in the first test after Vijay's wicket. If only Rohit or Virat or Saha played little more sensibly. But, we can take it, at least they didn't surrender under three or four days like their other overseas tests recently. Its also nice to see them go for a victory and then lose rather than surrendering without even trying. And, also in the second test if only they got rid of the tail soon and didn't allow them to get a 100 run lead in the first innings the result could have been different. It could have been 2-0 in our favor.

I thought it's going to be another whitewash, but they avoided it with a draw in the third test which happened to be the last test for Dhoni. Eventhough, I am not a fan of Dhoni, the test batsman, but no one can complain about his captaincy with the kind of bowlers he had. He even took team India to No. 1 in Test which was like a dream now. They are as low as seventh position now. He did his best, now its time of Kohli to rebuild and win some matches overseas.

And, during the fourth tests we all came to know there was nothing wrong with Dhoni, its only our bowlers. The fourth test also had a similar result where India fought it out for another draw and 2-0 doesn't look bad at all after those 4-0.

Positives from this series is Indian have found at least three solid batsmen in Tests, Virat, Vijay and Rahane and also a new test captain. But, unless our bowlers step-up we won't see any different results. This series also saw the end of
our most loved (hated) captain in tests. Goodbye Dhoni, you always gave your best, you will be missed and all the best to Virat, Anushka unaku than.

My Awards - 2014

Best Film Tamil - Jigarthanda

Best Film Hindi - Queen

Best Film Malayalam - Banglore Days
 

Best Director - Karthic Subburaj (Jigarthanda), Has to be best film's director.

Best Actor Male - Bobby Simha (Jigarthanda)

Best Actor Female - Shivada Nair (Nedunchalai)

Best Comedians - Ramadoss (Mundasupatti)

                                    Robo Shankar (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum)
                                    Karuna (Jigarthanda)

Best Villain - Prashant Narayanan (Nedunchalai)

Best Supporting Actor Male - Kalaiyarasam (Madras)

                                                            Thambi Ramaiah (KTVI)

Best Supporting Actor Female - Thulasi (Pannayarum Padminiyum)

Best Albums - Gibran's Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah

                             Santhosh's Cuckoo

Best Music Director - Santhosh Narayanan (Cuckoo / Jigarthanda / Madras)

Best BGM - ARR (Kochadaiiyaan)

                       Santhosn Narayanan (Jigarthanda)

Best Dialogues -  Vinoth (Sathuranga Vettai)

Best Male Playback Singer - Abhay Jodhpurkar (Vinmeen / Padhiye Padhiye)

Best Female Playback Singers - Rita (Kanamma / Rasa Magarasa)

                                                                Palaniammal (Nandooruthu)

Best Lyricist - Yugabharathi (Cuckoo)

Best Screenplay Writers - Maghiz Thirumeni (Maeghaman)

                                                     Parthipan (KTVI)
 

Best Debut Actors Male - Dulquer Salman (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum)

                                                   Santhosh Prathap (KTVI)

Best Debut Actors Female - Shivada Nair (Nedunchalai)

Best Debut Director - Vinoth (Sathuranga Vettai)

Best Debut Composer - Sean Roldan (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum)

Best Cinematographer - Nirav Shan (Kaavia Thalaivan)
 

Best Editor - Leo John Paul (Thegidi)

Best Stunt Director - 'ANL' Arasu (Meaghamann)

Best Choreographer - Lawrence (Live the Moment - KTVI)

Song of the Year : Enthara Enthara (Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah) 

Best Romantic Song on Screen - Ovvondrai Thirudugirai (Jeeva)

Worst Movie of the Year - Anjaan

Worst / Disappointed Album of the Year - Lingaa

Worst Actor of the Year - Vemal

Overrated Movie of the Year - Golisoda

Top Movies 2014 (Tamil / English / Hindi / Malayalam / Telugu)

Too many movies released this year and I have been to the theaters for nearly 90 times, most being 13 times in August and least being four times in Feb. Also, a few movies in laptop as well.

Jigarthanda is the best in Tamil for me. Banglore Days in Malayalam, Queen and PK in Hindi, Interstellar in Hollywood.

Movies I enjoyed:

1. Jigarthanda - Top notch performance and fantastic writing. This is the best movie this year and my favorite as well. Even though the first half and second half were totally different I just enjoyed all the surprises.
2. Madras - Karthi have chosen a script sensibly after some disasters in previous year. Also, Santhosh Narayanan's music, Kalai's acting made this one of the best.
3. Mundasupatti - A comedy set up in a period based on a imaginary village which was quite fun and engaging. Also, excellent find of Ramadoss as Munishkanth.
4. Thegidi - One of the best thrillers this year by a debutant director which kept the audience guessing throughout the movie.
5. Vallinam - Best sports based film to be released in recent years and for a change it was not based on cricket. Kudos to the team for choreographing the basketball game sequences very real.
6. Vaayai Moodi Pesavum - Second flick from Balaji Mohan after his enjoyable KSY. It was a fantasy movie and the second half was a real surprise.
7. Sathuranga Vettai - A good con movie in Tamil, even though I didn't like some of the parts, but it was an excellent debut from Vinoth, especially the dialogues were sharp.
8. KTVI - Parthipen finally arrives with an meta movie as usual he plays well with the words and quite a different attempt which made it very likeable.
9. Pisaasu - Myshkin after OA comes with Pisaasu, only he can make people to love and fell sorry for a 'Pisaasu'.
10. Maegamann - Maghiz Thirumeni's excellent work continues and a very neat thriller and excellent making made this very likeable.
11. Jeeva - Suseentharan shows us about the politics in Tamilnadu Cricket Board with high on romance and Vishnu was a perfect cast.
12. Yaamirukka Bayamey - A horror comedy which was more comedy than horror and it was quite surprising coming from some unknown team which made this flick enjoyable.
13. VIP - Dhanush's runaway hit of the year, excellent mix of mass and class with Anirudh's high voltage music.
14. Kaththi - Vijay and ARM back with a bang, this time on a social issue and convey the message well. Jeevanantham character by Vijay was refreshing to see him try something different.
15. Arima Nambi - Vikram Prabhu's hit continued and this time with another good thriller this year.
16. Saivam - AL Vijay after his Thalaivaa made a very pleasant movie with good star cast and some good music.
17. Naaigal Jaakirathai - A good movie for Sibiraj after sometime, where a dog plays the lead role and another good thriller this year.
18. Kaavia Thalaivan - Kudos to Vasanthabalan and team to bring back the drama period of Tamilnadu and excellent acting from Nasser and Prithviraj.
19. Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavanigalum - Simbudhevan's fantasy movie with an excellent screenplay with some minute details and as usual high on comedy a different attempt and well made.
20. Pannayarum Padminiyum - Another short-film made into a feature film, but some 30 minutes too many for the movie which tells about the bond between Pannayar and his car.

Movies which were good in parts:

1. Naan Sigappu Manithan
2. Golisoda
3. Nedunchalai
4. Kayal
5. Nimirnthu Nil
6. Salim
7. Kochadaiiyaan
8. Maankarate
9. Veeram
10. Lingaa
11. Jilla
12. Sarabham
13. Thirudan Police
14. Vadacurry
15. Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal 
16. OORR
17. Aranmanai

Movies that gave me hard time in theaters:

1. Anjaan
2. Yaan
3. Aintham Thalaimurai Sitha Vaitha Sigamani
4. Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah
5. Vanmam
6. Amara Kaviyam
7. Irumbu Kuthirai
8. Tenaliramam
9. Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham
10. Poojai

Good Movies in English

1. Interstellar
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Night Crawler
4. Gone Girl
5. X-Men - The Days of Future Past
6. Million Dollar Arm
7. The Lego Movie
8. Edge of Tomorrow
9. Fury
10. How to Train Your Dragon-2
11. Transformers : Age of Extinction
12. Lucy
13. Godzilla
14. 300-2
15. American Hustle
16. The Maze Runner
17. Hobit
18. The Amazing Spider Man 2
19. Dawn of the planet of the Apes
20. Horrible Bosses 2
21. Annabelle
22. Sex Tape
23. Into the Storm
24. Mockingjay : Part 1
25. 22 Jump Street

Good Movies in Hindi

1. Queen  (Hin)
2. PK (Hin)
3. Haider (Hin)
4. Highway (Hin) 
5. Filmistaan (Hin)  
6. 2 States (Hin) 
7. Hasee Toh Phasee (Hin)
8. Singham Returns (Hin)
9. Raja Natwarlal (Hin)
10. Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania (Hin) 

Good Movies in Malayalam / Telugu

1. Bangalore Days (Mal)
2. Drishyam  (Mal)
3. Manam (Tel)
4. Ohm Shanthi Oshaana (Mal)
5. 1983 (Mal)
6. Sapthamashree Thaksaraha (Mal)
7. How Old Are You (Mal)
8. 7th Day (Mal)
9. Munnariyippu (Mal)
10. 1 - Nenikkodine (Tel)

Worst Movies among the few I have seen

1. Heropanti (Hin)
2. Aagadu (Tel)
3. City lights (Hin)
4. John Wick (Eng)
5. Action Jackson (Hin)
6. Exodus