Unnai Pol Oruvan - movie review with lots of 'S'

Hmm.. where i am to start with..?? This movie which i have been at Sathyam with some of the friends is definitely not for the stereotyped. From the intial reviews i read this movie was termed as something for the cerebral sect. Hmm.. i donno if i could count me on that ;)... but this was the resultant of what i saw.. Short, Sharp and Superb...

Short - The story "A common man's retaliation to the terrorism he witnesses" and movie which are short.
Sharp - The dialogues and the characters.
Superb - The dialogues, Mohanlal, Mohanlal-Lakshmi Confrontation, Kamal - hmm.. i like it in that order - just like one of the dialogues in the movie ;)

With two of the Stalwarts of cinema, the movie is definitely a cut above. But not to leave behind the rest of the crew who complete this package to its perfection. Ganesh Venkatram, Bharath and Prem play the tough cops and fit their role to the 'T'. If u think that's too much of machismo.. well there's Lakshmi as the chief secretary and Anuja Iyer as the reporter who have rendered a powerful performance.

Ironically, though the predicament of the terrorists was predictable the way the screenplay rides keeps you spellbound. Mind that u have a sharp ear and sharper vision as the movie demands a lot of both. In terms of acting, be it Mohanlal's temperament or Lakshmi's temperance, or the IIT guy's histrionics, excellence is something which is achieved handsdown. Definitely Mohanlal scores the most in this regard. (ippol nyanum Lallettan-de Fan aayee ;)). You couldn't leave behind even a single character who comes in the frame shot in this 'red one' camera. Of course the 'dappa' photographer of 'Salangai Oli' Chakri Toleti has now been graduated to a much sensible Director.


But despite all these characters, it is the "Dialogues" which steal the limelight. The dialogue writer deserves most of the success of this movie. The dialogues which are aesthetic (esp. the last argument of Kamal) and awesome do make a lot of sense. The humour is deft and relieves you from the otherwise serious movie. Shruthi's music ..well wait.. more appropriately BGM is adequate and OST played before the titles does exemplifies her talent.




Hmm.. well but "Does this 'so-termed' Common-man's take could be understood by all the 'aam admi'..?? Infact i was pestering my friend for the meaning of the hindi words.. I don't think the jargons 'ethical hacking, routing etc.' could be deciphered by the Common Man. Also didn't i fell a little uneasy with the pace of the movie.. Well that leaves me thinking :))))..

Rajeev Menon..

Hmm.. i knew only a little of him until i read the interview on Saturday's "The Hindu".. I had always wondered as why this person who is good looking didn't try his had in acting but decided to remain behind the screens... (May be it's 'mindscreen' just like his company ;))..



There it was mentioned that this talented Cinematographer was offered the role of Arjun in Manirathnam's Roja which he turned down.. The best part of the interview which i liked the most was this excerpt..

There's always a struggle between applause and art, being good in what you are doing and feeling good about what you are doing. The applause gets louder and finally it becomes so loud that you can't hear yourself. Suddenly one day, you'll realise that the audience is gone. Then who is there to listen ? Only one person will always be there to listen. That's yourself. This is the truth about filmmaking. I would like to write that kind of cinema

I was very much impressed by those lines. Infact it's the truth about any work, be it art or film-making ..

Me and 'Namma' Chennai

My small town breeding left me brooding
About this place which is my current dwelling;
To my regret, my very first job brought me here
Never did I anticipate to have lived 3+ years here;
The 'fear of failure' was the pinnacle of reasons for this demand,
As in my previous two visits I’ve lost contests here which I reprimand
With apprehensions in their superlative I found here, a rented place,
Juggling between shared autos and buses, everyday resembles a race;
I do witness people elder & younger than me joining this chase
Of course, I'm attempting my best to maintain an optimum pace.
Akin to the new set of crowd and the SEZ's cropping on every year;
The city spans it's horizons, increasing 'living costs' which I fear
I share my birthday with this city on August 22;
Often i find myself here in a situation 'catch 22'
When i speak tamil with my native tongue.. Oh that shows off!!
I'm an easy prey for the autowallahs, thereoff..
Numerous are the restaurants and hang outs,
But quite hard to find "Authentic Taste's" whereabouts.
fine.. err.. !! Well this city also has another phase,
Which are it's diversity, history & heritage which adds to its grace;
Now that i have lived and learn a little to live in this capital City,
I could claim it's 'Namma Chennai'. Isn't in it's odd ways pretty ??

Ninaithaley Inikkum - Movie review

fine.. here goes my review.. As usual i was late to the movie by 10 minutes this time.. Though it was my 'inquisitiveness' the primal urge to see this movie i can't leave behind comfort.. though i started early today and boarded an ordinary bus I later changed to another MTC AC bus which started 20 minutes later.. And so i entered the movie hall only after the end of "Nanbaney Partha.." song..

Remakes galore!! well .. that being the recent trend in Tamil cinema.. NI is one such movie but it's not a 'frame-by-frame' remake but a 'commercial fare' where certain scenes and the base storyline had been copied from the Malayalam superhit "Classmates".. The story is about a college reunion which happens after 8 years wherein which a demised student in remembered and one of the old student (Obviously the hero) is found strangled, the reasons for which drifts the movie to the "good old college" days and certain twists are revealed at the climax.. Hmm.. that's the story line quite close to the original.. Did the screenplay ride on this story?? Hmm.. That question couldn't have a definitive answer..

The movie is like a deck of cards in the first half and second half quite renders the story. As you flip thro' a deck of cards you find a spade, clubs, heart.. likewise the first half has a song, fight , comedy all placed one after other. Infact they are in no cogent order. Siva(Prithviraj), Sakthi(Sakthi), Karthik(Karthik), Lollu Saba 'Jeeva' and host of other actors form the college crew. Groupism and cat fights between the Arch rivals Siva and Karthik often happen while both fall for the same girl Meera (Priya Mani). Sakthi happens to a pacifier and common friend of both. It is a typical "celluloid" college so it has all ingredients already found in many movies set in a college. As it's celluloid college it's far from reality. Infact the first half is quite buoyant from the base storyline.

While the second half of the movie is quite fine and at times sticks close to the original. As for actor Prithviraj this movie has projected him as a commercial hero. He dances with swift moves and does the omnipotent fights shedding down the "soft" hero image he donned in tamil. He is the one who has more screen space. Unfortunately on the acting front he doesn't have much scope. Priyamani hardly emotes. The chemistry between the lead pair too poor. The spark and the subtle of the original is missing :(

Though the original movie didn't have an exclusive duet, this movie despite duets lacks the romance which was potrayed much elegantly in the original. Sakthi being his second film has improved a very little but has a looooooooooong way to make it. Karthik does his part with elan but unfortunately his part is small. Bhagayaraj, with his voice seems comical even in serious dialogues. The person who needs a special mention is the Anuja Iyer who plays the girl "Shali". Infact, she was the person i liked the most among all the actors in this movie. Ms. Iyer does perform excellently.. She is the 'better of the lot'.

Vijay Antony comes with his usual fast - beat numbers but "Azhagai Pookuthey.." is worthy melody which makes you hum along. The director Kumaravelan could have avoided the deliberate commercial additions and concentrated more on the base storyline.

Well to sum up.. Ninaithale Inikkum "may be inikkalam" original movieyoda ninaivugal illamal irudhal ""That roughly translates to "Watchable once if you haven't seen the original"

Some pitfalls:

*Buoyant first half

*Lack of the subtle romance and nostalgia of the original

*Priyamani and her hardly emoting acting

*Commercial projection of Prithviraj

*Unsolicited songs - Sexy lady and en peru ..

A lot of carelessness... The college is 'National Arts College' but the library is engineering college's :P..