Abbayitho Ammayi Songs - நேற்று இல்லை நாளை இல்லை எப்பவும் நீ ராஜா

Abbayatho Ammayi - I have no idea about the hero or heroine or the director or even the meaning of this title. Only thing I know is it has Raja sir’s music. I know it's too much to write about the songs which you don't even understand, but still it's Raja sir’s songs. I really really loved this album so thought I would share about it.

Kanulu Kalanu Piliche - The first song I heard in this album and liked it the very moment. Haricharan and Chinmayi’s voice are so pleasant and has maestro's stamp all over this. Even though the language is so distant, but the song felt very close to me. It may be because of the tune or the singers. It's my pick of this album. Couldn't stop hearing this song and I really wish I understand the lyrics.

Reena Macareena - Wow, a very modern un-illayarajaish song, spirited singing from Piyush Kapur makes you tap your feet with the beat of this song. 

Edhuru Choosthunna - Another wonderful melody in this album. The song starts with some guitar and followed by violin. A typical Raja song sung by Vibhavari, As usual the orchestration in the interludes and preludes reminds vintage Ilayaraja.

Maatallo Cheppaleni - Karthik have sung this or breezes through this pleasant song. Enna voice da. He can even make gibberish sound wonderful and here he got another fantastic song in Raja sir music. Magic written all over.

Tholi Paruvam - Another wonderful duet after Kanula Kalanu with bit more pace in this song. Once again Raja sir's magic work with the strings of violins. Another pick of the album. And, both the singers really rocked it.

Okkasari O Vayyari - Rap portion in a Raja sir's song. This is really surprising, I wonder whether I have heard rap portions in Raja sir’s songs before and it is too good as well. And, the rap portions sound like Blazee, if I am correct.

Saradale - In Rudramadevi, three singers have sung a wonderful Andhapuramlo here four singers in this fun song and fantastic collaboration resulting another exiting song in this album.

Title songs - Short and slightly underwhelming compared to other songs, both versions are almost similar except for the singers here.

My favourites - Kanulu Kalanu Piliche, Tholi Paruvam, Maatallo Cheppaleni, Endhuru Choosthunna, Saradale. But, couldn't ignore Reena and Okkasari as well. Totally this album have become my favourite, now waiting for the movie. I hope they release with subtitles.

A fantastic romantic album post Neethane En Ponvasantham, even better then Megha from the veteran. I wish they have made this a bilingual so that the songs could have been released in Tamil as well. Isaignani Ilayaraja and his melodies works wonders even if it's in a language which I doesn't understand. Now eagerly waiting for  Raja sir's 1000th movie Tharai Thapattai.

As the caption of this film says, let's (hear the songs and) fall in love.

Deepavali 2015 - Class Thoongavanam and Mass Vedalam

This Deepavali we saw two big releases one from Kamalhasan, a classy Thoongavanam and another one from Ajith, a mass (don't ask me the meaning) Vedalam. Both are vastly different genre from each other.

Thoongavanam - Kamal's third movie this year, the more he ages, the faster he works. Thoongavanam was completed in double quick time. It's based on a French thriller, Sleepless Night, directed by one of his assistant Rajesh and screenplay by Kamal himself. I resisted my temptation to watch the original to witness in Tamil first.

Thoongavanam is a no nonsense movie with a tight and gripping screenplay. No song, unnecessary comedy, heroism build up scenes, etc. It's mostly a hide-and-seek game between, Kamal, Kishore and Trisha, Prakash Raj and Sampath. Even though more than 90% of the movie happens inside a same location, movie never gets boring. Some of the comedy lines were blend in neatly.

Kamal as usual at his best as a cop and a father who's trying to save his son. All other actors like Sampath, Kishore and Prakash Raj have performed up-to their potential. But, the real surprise is Trisha and her character. Really loved her as a cop and a fight scene with Kamal. Asha Shareth character didn't offer anything to the movie.

Sanu Vargese's choreography was a delight and especially during the fight sequences inside the kitchen. Once again, Kamal's regular Ghibran delivers his yet another best work. He gets it right for every scene to sustain the suspense and tension.

So, Thoongavanam just delivers what it promises from it trailers, nothing more and nothing less. It definitely met my expectation, but I secretly hoped it will exceed it since it's a Kamal movie.

Thoongavanam - 3.5/5.0. For not exceeding my expectation solely because it's Kamal movie.

Vedalam - Yet another movie from Ajith with director Siva, I cannot believe how's this happening. I can understand Veeram, where Ajith tried to do a village role, but a second movie with the same director was really a surprise and now there's talk that they will be joining hands again, god no.

Vedalam offers nothing new in terms of story, it's age old sister-sentiment-revenge-story, where hero finds an international Mafia and beats the shit out of them single-handedly. And, we don't even have to think about logic.

Ajith as a taxi driver looks good, but didn't like his don look, he looked really bulky. The flashback slowed down the movie. We know what's going to happen and too many fight sequences as well. And, I don't even get it why he's nicknamed as Vedalam. Thambi Ramaiah's last conversation with Ajith before he dies was the only good sequence in that flashback.

The fight choreography was good even though it was as usual over the top. I couldn't comment on comedy and Shruthi's character since I missed a whole 40 mins in the beginning. So, I didn't get to see the good guy transforming into a bad guy since I missed the most part of a good guy. Lakshmi Menon does a good job who's really the female lead in this movie. Anirudh's BGM were really loud for most of the places and the songs were underwhelming, except Aaluma Doluma.

So Vedalam is yet another commercial movie solely aimed to play for the gallery and Thala fans in particular. The festival season and Thala veriyans in the theatre made it a worthy experience. Everyone celebrated each and every move of Thala. But I really wish Ajith to work with some other directors for at least three or four movies before he does another one with Siva.

Vedalam - 2.5/5.0. Nothing new, but the experience of watching this movie with Thala veriyans in the theatre was electrifying.