Monday, 18 January 2016

Pongal 2015 - Rajinimurugan shows Gethu

This Pongal saw four new releases with each and every movie carrying its own expectation and its own genre.

Rajinimurugan - Nambi Vaanga Santhosama Ponga, wasn't a lie.



After a long delay, Rajinimurugan has hit the screens this Pongal. SiKa back with his VVS team, which was a huge hit, has again come up with another movie on a similar line with some few added elements.

The story is nothing new, SiKa stalks his "Murai Ponnu" till she says yes and then make his father accept him after a misunderstanding between the two families. Just to make the ball rolling Samuthrakani character was added or else this would have  been ended as a remake of VVS itself.

This one works as well as VVS. It was good to see SiKa and Soori chemistry works well. It's been a while since people laughed for Soori's comedy in theater and this film is an exception. SiKa's really improving in his acting skills and he really impresses in few scenes. Rajkiran does his part well as SiKa's grandfather and Samutharakani scores well as a villain. And, Keerthy Suresh looks prettier than Idhu Enna Mayam, but the Madurai slang didn't suit her very well.

Imman once again comes up with his stock and simple tunes which works really well give the context of the movie. Balasubramaniam's cinematography made sure the film looks colorful.

Rajinimurugan offers nothing new every scene is to woo the audience and Ponram have played it safe by knowing their strengths, but it works big time thanks to SiKa. He doesn't want to make any scene serious so he made sure he finishes it with a comedy at the end of any serious scene.

My Rating 3.5/5.0. For entertaining.

Kathakali - A little more practice needed for this kind of a dance Pandiraj.



Here we go, another Vishal movie within a short span of time and another Pandiraj film within a  few weeks after his Pasanga 2.

The first half was mostly boring with very few laughs here and there and Vishal as an American return doesn't work at all. It was as good as Vimal playing an IITian. And, the dialogues were very worst, they keep repeating the dialogues at least twice within a scene. Pandiraj has written the second half first and decides to just fill the first half with some mandatory opening song, romance, duet I guess.

The story is, villain gets murdered and everyone thinks it was Vishal or his brother, so he is out there to prove he is innocent.  So, the film picks up in the second half. And, kudos to Pandiraj for keeping the running length to two hours and also avoiding songs in the second half (total film has just two songs). And, second half was really engaging which makes this film a decent thriller than Payum Puli.

Vishal is on his league in the second half, with enough mass moments that Selfie scene was one example. Catherine Teresa looks pretty, but she didn't have much job to do here especially in the second half, those scenes were fit in the trailer itself. The Policeman as a Villain is a good casting. And, Hiphop Thamizha's BGM towards the end was perfect for the film.

So overall Kathakali was a decent thriller, but again this film looked like hurried, didn't do much work on the script.

My Rating - 3.0/5.0. For its running length, second half and for keeping just two songs.

Gethu - Only in the name.



So Udhay decides enough is enough with stalking Nayantara, Hansika with help of Santhanam and decides to get into action mode here.

The movie's starts with Vikranth getting an assignment to kill one Scientist and he does some elaborate plan. Somehow, Udhay and his father Satyaraj gets involved in the middle of this mess and as usual the hero beats villain at the end.

The first half again was nothing here, the songs placement are the worst I have seen in recent times. For example, the ThilluMullu song comes out of nowhere and we must believe it was Amy's dream song, but the lyrics was Udhay "kenjyfying" the lady to love him. I think the lyricist decides the situation must be Udhay stalking the heroine as usual and written the whole song.

Udhay still needs a lot of improvement to convince himself as an action hero. Vikranth was good, but a slow motion for every scene with Harris's BGM was really overdone. Even though the film runs less than two hours it has some three to four songs, which means nearly 15 minutes are filled here, which was really a lazy writing from the director.

The director knows to present the visual very pleasing, the whole movie happens in Kumizhi which was an excellent location and the only positive thing in the movie.

The one liner of this movie is good, but the director fails to make it into an engaging thriller. But, kudos to Udhay for trying something new rather than stalk-a-girl-with-santhanam-till-she-says-yes kind of movie.

My Rating - 2.5 / 5.0. For excellent visuals.

Thaarai Thappatai - Why Bala why?



I was really afraid to go to a Bala movie because of the violence and a depressing ending. But, anyhow couldn't avoid seeing his movie as well. So I have prepared myself for the worst, but this was even more than what I have imagined. I really couldn't take it at all.

We are introduced to one of a talented artist in a village in Thanjavur who doesn't compensate his art for current commercialization, Sasikumar's father. Then, to Sasikumar's troupe they travel to Andaman to give a performance. As usual tragedy starts from there itself, and it also shows us Varalakshmi's love towards his "Mama" Sasikumar. But, Varalakshmi's mom wants her to get married to a different guy with a fixed income and Sasikumar also convinces her. Varalakshmi gets married to this guy and whatever you think going to happen, happens in the second half.

Why does the Sasikumar keeps hitting Varalakshmi and also other girls as well. The violence shown against Varalakshmi in the second half was really too brutal. And, the Villain R K Suresh was really a maniac, only Bala can find someone like this. I don't think I learned much about the dying are Karakattam, which was my expectation when the movie started.

It was one hell of  a performance from Varalakshmi as Sooravali. And, Illaiyaraja in his 1000th film (ammov), returns to his home ground, folk, and hits every ball out of the park with ease. It was his excellent BGM and songs that I liked in this movie.

I know what to expect from a Bala movie, but this was really overboard even to his standard I felt. It was really a torturous experience in theaters.

My Rating - 0.5 / 5.0. For torturing myself getting into this.

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

My Awards - 2015

Based on the movies I have seen: List Here



Best Film Tamil - Kakka Muttai

Best Film Hindi - Talvar

Best Film Malayalam - Premam

Best Director - Manikandan (Kakka Muttai), Has to be best film's director.

Best Actor Male - Vikram (I)

Best Actor Female - Ishwarya (Kakka Muttai)
                                  Nayantara (Naanum Rowdy Than, Maya)

Best Comedians -  Robo Shankar (Maari)
                               Karuna (Indru Netru Naalai)

Best Villain - Aravind Samy (Thani Oruvan)

Best Supporting Actor Male - Satyaraj (Isai, Baahubali)
                                                  M. S. Bhaskar (Uttama Villain)

Best Supporting Actor Female - Ramya Krishnan (Baahubali)

Best Albums - Ghibran's Uttama Villain
                        Anirudh's Naanum Rowdy Than

Best Music Director - Ghibran (Uttama Villain / Papanasam )

Best BGM - Ghibran (Uttama Villain)
                     Thani Oruvan (Hiphop Thamizha)

Best Dialogues -  SuBa (Thani Oruvan)

Best Male Playback Singer - Benny Dayal (Unakenna Venum Sollu, Yennai Arindhal)
                                                Sid Sriram (Ennodu Nee Irunthal, I), hated when the album released
                                                Sean Roldan (Kannana Kanne, Naanum Rowdy Than)

Best Female Playback Singers - Sashaa Tirupati (Naane Varugiren, OK Kanmai)
                                                      Neeti Mohan (Neeyum Naanum, Naanum Rowdy Than)
                                                      Sakthisree (Vaaya Veera, Kanchana 2)

Best Lyricist - Thamarai (Neeyum Naanum, Naanum Rowdy Than / Unakenna Venum Sollu, Yennai                           Arindhal)
                        Kamal (Uttama Villain)

Best Screenplay Writers - Mohan Raja (Thani Oruvan)

Best Cinematographer - George C Williams (Naanum Rowdy Than)
                                         P C Sriram (OK Kanmani)

Best Editor -  Leo John Paul (Indru Netru Naalai)

Best Stunt Director -  (Thoongavanam) Yaar nu teriala ;)

Best Art Director - Sabu Cyril (Baahubali)

Best Choreographer - Baba Bhaskar (Dangamari, Anegan)

Song of the Year :  Iraniyan Nadagam (Uttama Villain

Best Song on Screen - Kadhale Kadhale (Indru Netru Naalai)

Best Debut Actor Male - Chinna Kakka Muttai (Kakka Muttai)

Best Debut Actors Female - Amyra Dastur (Anegan)
                                               Radhika Prasidha (Kutram Kadithal)  

Best Debut Director - Ravi Kumar (Indru Netru Naalai)

Best Debut Composer - Hiphop Thamiza (Aambala)

Underrated Movie of the Year - Kirumi

Worst Movie of the Year - Puli

Disappointed Movie of the Year - I

Worst Music Album of the Year - Puli

Disappointed Music Album of the Year - Vedalam

Overrated Movies of the Year - Darling, Komban

My Awards 2014, 2013

Friday, 1 January 2016

Top Movies 2015 (Tamil / English / Hindi / Malayalam / Telugu)

Last year it was nearly 90 times to big screens and this year it was 111 times. My most favorite movie of this year is "Premam", seen it six times in big screens and n times in my phone and laptop. And, it is still running in Chennai. Most liked movie in Tamil are KakkaMuttai, Thani Oruvan, in Hindi Massan and Talvar. MadMax and Inside Out in English




Best Movies: I liked the most
  1. KaakaMuttai - The best movie of this year directed by Manikandan. Both the Chinna Kakka Muttai and Periya Kakka Muttai rocked the show. Kudos to the director for not making this film preachy.
  2. Thani Oruvan - Most surprising and unanimously loved movie of this year. Surprising because it was directed by Mohan Raja. First time with an original script proved what he is capable. Elevated by SuBa's dialogues and Aravind Samy's performance as Sidharth Abhimanyu.
  3. Baahubali - Most ambitious and expensive movie of this year and SSR nailed it. The war sequences in the second half was enough to justify its hype. Looking forward to its sequel.
  4. Indru Netru Naalai - A brilliantly made sci-fi movie in Tamil using the time travel concept which easy accepted by the audience without confusing them much. A very good debut by the director and actor Vishnu continues to choose his script wisely.
  5. Rajathanthiram - A very well made heist thriller without losing its focus which also has enough share of comedy. Another good movie by a debut director this year.
  6. Kutram Kadithal - Excellent attempt by the director on a social issue. Kudos to his for the way he used the Bhrathiar song "Chinnachiru Kiliye" in the movie to tell most of the story.
  7. Naanum Rowdy Than - A refreshing rom-com from Vignesh Shivan and team. It ticked every box acting, music, cinematography. Nayantara was excellent so is Vj Sethupathi, Parthipan and everyone else.
  8. Anegan - KV Anand and Dhanush joined hands for this experimental flick which talks about re-incarnation and as usual Dhanush showed  his variety in three different characters and equally supported by Amyra.
  9. Yennai Arindhaal - It may be looked like a cocktail of this director's previous movies, but it was very refreshing to see Ajith in this role as a cop and as a father.
  10. Maya - A horror film which really looked like a horror film after a long time in Tamil cinema. Excellent cinematography, screenplay and music.

Not Bad
  • Papanasam
  • Kirumi
  • Thoongavanam
  • Uttama Villain
  • O Kadhal Kanmani
  • I
  • Demonte Colony
  • Pasanga 2
  • Eetti
  • Isai
  • Tamilukku En Ondrai Aluthavum
  • Maari
  • Masss
  • Uppu Karuvadu
  • JK
  • Orange Mittai
  • Payum Puli
  • CSK
  • 36 Vayathinile
  • Enakkul Oruvan
  • Naalu Policum Nalla iruntha Oorum
  • KakkiSattai
  • Vedhalam
  • India Pakistan
  • Inimey Ippadithan
  • Chandi Veeran
  • Yagavarayinum Naa Kakka
  • Darling
  • Komban
  • Vai Raja Vai
  • Purampokku
  • Aambala
  • Thangamagan
  • Vaalu
  • VSOP
  • TIN
Worst: Mudiala
  • Thannila Kandam - Worst movie of this year for me.
  • Valiyavan
  • Puli
  • Sakalakalavallavan
  • Eli
  • Ithu Enna Mayam
  • Rudramadevi
  • Yatchan
  • 10EK
  • Nannbenda
  • Romeo Juliet
  • Kanchana 2

Good Movies in English


















  1. Mad Max: Fury Road
  2. Inside Out
  3. The Imitation Game
  4. The Walk
  5. Bridge of Spies
  6. The Man From UNCLE
  7. Ant-Man
  8. Avengers 2
  9. Ex Machina
  10. The Martian
Average to Worst
  1. MI5
  2. Fast & Furious 7
  3. Star Wars
  4. Jurassic World
  5. American Sniper
  6. Birdman
  7. Black Mass
  8. Terminator
  9. Tak3n
  10. Pixels
  11. San Andreas
  12. Hitman Agent 47

Good Movies in Malayalam



  1. Premam - My most favorite movie of this year.
  2. Oru Vadakkan Selfie
  3. Charlie
  4. Ennu Ninde Moideen
  5. Mili
  6. Fireman
  7. 100 Days of Love
  8. Nee-Na
  9. Ivide
  10. Ennum Eppozhum
  11. Bhaskar the Rascal
  12. Kunjiramayanam - Average
  13. Madhura Naranga - Average
  14. Chandrettan Evidiye - Very Average

Good Movies in Hindi



  1. Talvar
  2. Masaan
  3. Bajrangi Bhaaijaan
  4. Baby
  5. Piku
  6. Titli
  7. Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
  8. Shamitabh
  9. Badlapur
  10. NH10
  11. Dum Lage Ke Kaisa
  12. Tanu Weds Manu Returns
  13. Dil Dhadakane Do - Average
  14. Dilwale - Bad

Telugu





















  1. Yevade Subramanyam - Very Good
  2. Bhale Bhale Megadivoy - Very Good
  3. Kanche - Good
  4. Srimanthudu - Average
  5. Son of Satyamurthy - Average
  6. Brucelee - Bad