Thupakki Movie Review

What happens to a country style recipe when it’s being prepared in a city restaurant (Oh assume that it’s Chennai), hmm.. somewhere the flavor and taste is lost in translation.. Well the same happens when a Mass hero tries to act in an upwardly mobile story… That’s “Thupakki” – a racy (!!) cat and mouse game between the hero and villain but heavily damped by unnecessary songs and romance.

Peter's movie review

Now to the review.. An army person Jagdish(Vijay) comes to Mumbai on his vacation. Very soon he realizes the underlying tension in the city and the sleeper cells causing the same. (Oops !! time again to google out to find the meaning of sleeper cells). Okay.. to save you the labour – Sleeper cells are secret agents not necessarily terrorists who are found amongst common public but execute an attack on instructions from an anonymous leader or terrorist organization. One such attack is traced and nullified by our hero along with his army folks. This kindles the interest of the villain (Vidyut Jamwal) on the hero. The villain comes down to Mumbai to narrow down to the hero. From there on the story is typical hero-villain chase ground. But this base storyline is quite squeezed inside the Mass-Hero’s essentials – viz… intro song, romance sequence, dancing round trees in exotic foreign locales..etc.. Though it’s the usual story, the strategic planning both of the hero and villain and the racy screenplay (albeit the songs) keeps you engrossed.

As for Vijay, he looks sleek and has quite rendered a decent performance. Kajal Agarwal as the hero’s love interest is chic but has nothing to do except to dance her way apart away from the story :).. Vidyut as the villain is the one who could never miss your attention. Extremely suave and well built he fits the character picture perfect. Jayaram, Satyan and few other actors have a little to contribute for their parts. Kudos to Murugadoss(director) to have shown the lives of wounded army men and their contributions despite their physical challenges on a positive light. Infact the movie is being dedicated to our army men (Make sure you stay a little longer to see the title rolls at the end). The cinematography is excellent and never misses out to capture the panoramic frames. Despite all these positives the unnecessary songs play the perfect spoilsport in halting the screenplay every now and then. It’s high time Harris Jeyaraj churns out something good enough :(.

If not for the songs and the frivolous romance the Pistol (Thupakki) could have hit the bulls eye but nevermind it just manages the target ! Go for it !!

Pizza Movie Review

There is a season for everything , may be at times with obvious reasons. Cinema is no big exception.. Didn’t that group of “made of/by/for  madurai”  movies emerge as a genre quite recently ? but there’s one genre which is always  time  tested .. guess what ? suspense thriller  !!.. hmmm.. “Pizza” can be fit into this (oh.. always mind the pun !!).

Peter's Movie Review

Given the fact that it’s a suspense,  I’m in no liberty to discuss the complete story... Save the best to watch on screen.. May be in a DTS theatre (as always the sound is scary than the spectacle itself ). Well.. the hero Michael (Vijay Sethupathy) works in a Pitstop Pizza Restaurant and is in a ‘live-in’ in relationship (!!) with his girl friend Anu (Ramya Nambeshan). Anu’s pregnancy forces them for a hasty marriage quite discreetly. On a fateful night an order for Home delivery comes in to be delivered by Micheal.. What happens to Micheal ? What was the mystery behind that delivered address ? Where’s Anu ? --- hmmm..  the ubiquitous answer  for more questions .. watch them on screen.

The thrill of a suspense -  story  is in holding up the ‘crux’ till the climax, and this movie accomplishes that quite eloquently. The climax definitely warrants a mention here. . The  story takes the centre stage and the performances by all the actors are adequate. Vijay as the extremely scared Micheal and the elegant Ramya as Anu are apt. Thrown in a few comic interludes (quite verbally !! ) to keep you entertained . The background score sets the perfect mood to scare you.. As songs would be dampers to this screenplay they have been avoided and there’s one breezy melody for  the lead pair  to romance a little... The cinematographer has to be lauded to have captured the scenes even with minimum lights esp. the ghost haunting ones.

Well .. if you watch it keenly a very few logical flaws do exist but they are not much evident with the gripping screenplay .. So that’s “Pizza” for you served hot and fresh !! Go  grab your bite !!

Thandavam Movie Review

After quite a while I was there for a movie in a multiplex. Hmm.. a proposed team outing and we did settle for a Tamil movie “ Thandavam” the majority being tamil speaking crowd. Exceptionally!! I was on time for the movie ;) . Did I regret being ? hmm.. let me answer that later.

 With a majority of the cast and crew from the same team as “Deivathirumagal” and enough promotions prior to the release, I did enter the movie hall with some anticipations.

Peter Williams Amalraj's Review

 The movie opened up with a blast !! well quite literally yes !! A bomb blast attack in London and news about victims and a few scenes after , there comes our hero introduction as a Blind person playing on a piano in a church choir. Thrown in a little tableau of a beauty pageant for Miss London to introduce Sarah Vinayagam (Amy Jackson) as a Half brit-Half Indian lass who stumbles upon Kenny Thomas (Vikram) while in a portfolio shoot for her pageant’s social profile. Pop !! Love blossoms !! while on the other hand, a series of murders are committed by Kenny despite being visually challenged. He accomplishes this by his “echolocation”.. (How you wud be google –ing by now )..The police investigation narrows down to Kenny and Sarah herself help the cops after discovering her lover’s sinister side from his mobile phone texts. After a series of chasing game , one of Kenny’s victim escape and Sarah discovers Kenny’s accomplice Geetha (Lakshmi Rai). Guess what ? The ubiquitous flashback is been narrated by Geetha and reveals the true identity of Kenny as ShivaKumar , an IPS intelligence officer from India married to an ophthalmologist Meenakshi Vasudevan (Anuskha Shetty). What brings Shiva to London, what happens to his wife, How is his visit related to the bomb blast ? Who was the master mind behind it ?– Well reserve those questions to watch the rest of the movie. As usual, the IPS officer ‘s true intentions to save his country and world are revealed.. Phew !! That ‘s the age old story of this new movie.

 In terms of performance, Vikram does his usual best. Being the blind protagonist echo-locating his enemies or the suave IPS officer he does all, hands down. Next would be Nasser as the investigating officer ‘VeeraKathi’ though always busy in playing games in his i-pad, with his Ceylon-Tamil accent as a sharp investigating officer. Rest all the actors just appear in a scene or two for their credit. Saranya Ponvannan, MS Baskar, Thambi-Ramiah , etc – have nothing much to do. The telugu actor Jagapathy Babu as Shiva’s friend and Santhanam with his few gags got a little more screen space.

 With lot of acting potential and star performers, what was rendered was a very placid movie with no big impact. Blame it on the screen play with neither of the twist or turns being impressive enough to keep you glued to the seats (Now you might have guessed by answer for the first question). Yup.. it was bit dragging to sit through for the entire while. Music was just adequate. Well on the positive side, the cinematograpy was good. Be it London, Delhi or Tamilnadu, some beautiful locations were elegantly captured. There was no boy behind girl or vice versa romance but a subtle one and a decent movie.

With hero being named "Shiva" in a movie called "Thandavam", there is no 'uthiram' or 'ukkiram'  but an average show. Go for it with no anticipations ! Watchable once !!

My Night Shift

My Night Shift

Whilst others were busy packing by the end of the day,

I was entering my workplace with sleepy eyes at bay

In a few hours from now, I was going to be alone;

The usual chores and calls had the monotonous tone.

Touchwood! The day seems to be pleasant;

No critical mails to make me repent.

The vacant seats were growing in numbers,

My cubicle by now, was devoid of members.

Even the slightest sound of typing a word,

Seems impossible to be left unheard;

Quite frequently, I was glancing at the time,

Dinner time was the most anticipated chime

With frugal choices in the cafeteria, I settled for a light supper

Wondering how Mom’s cooking was always better

Back again to my workplace

Oh that time !! moving at a snail’s pace

Things were quite in order, nothing much to bother

Having finished my work, no waiting further

The moment I was out from the cozy underground parking

Came the chill December winds almost striking

A traffic free road was indeed a pleasure driving

Caught my attention were a few sighting

Nightshift watchmen all wrapped up

Fast asleep not bothering to get up

Street dogs staring at me as I speed my bike

Late night travelers still waiting for their buses with dislike

Atlast I’ve reached my apartment and unlocked the main door

Every nerve of mine craving for sleep.. there I go.. snoor ! snoorr!!

Deivathirumagal Movie Review

It has no bounds,

It is blind,

It is not biased,

And it’s all about caring and sharing.

That’s LOVE..

The universal feeling everyone surrenders to. Comes in here is a story of parental love and care with a little twist. This is a father whose mental maturity is tantamount to that of his five year old daughter. His struggle to raise her all by his hand and the custodian battle over the kid forms the crux of the story. That’s Deivathirumagal – a movie that sans gravity defying fights, scantily clad heroines/item numbers or the usual super hero or romance. This makes it a complete family movie with it’s heart at the right place.

Now to the review. Krishna (Vikram) works in a chocolate factory in a small village near Ooty and suffers from mental development disability. His little daughter Nila (Sara) and his supportive group of developmental disability friends are his life. The chocolate factory owner and the neighbor woman help Krishna to raise Nila in their own capacities after the death of his wife post child birth. Over the years Krishna learns to take better care of his daughter and is in all love for her. Nila comes of age to join school. This is where the school’s new correspondent Shweta (Amala Paul) develops a special bonding for her. On learning that Nila is her own niece, she along with her influential father takes away Nila from Krishna abandoning him in Chennai. After a series of events Krishna ends up in the court premises in search of a lawyer to find his daughter. Though initially apprehensive about his mental ability, later sympathetic on hearing about Krishna ’s past, Anuradha (Anouskha Shetty), a novice lawyer agrees to help him. She and her associate Vinod (Santhanam) takes up Krishna ’s case against a powerful and unreceptive lawyer Bashyam(Nassar). Did Krishna win the custody of his daughter ? Did Shewata and her father realize Krishna ’s unbounded love for Nila ? – watch the movie for those answers. The climax definitely deserves a special mention.

Though the base story is that of “ I am Sam”, the alternations help suit the Indian flavour. Vikram, the actor par excellence once again proves his versatility. Equally and infact prodigious in performance is the little girl “Sara”. As an understanding daughter she is splendid and so natural and spontaneous. Anouskha is shown at better light and not the usual glam-doll type. Her performance is adequate and so is Amala Paul. Santhanam and M.S Baskar add to the comic part and excel in certain serious emotions as well. Nassar is at his best as always. The scenes involving the father-daughter duo move your heart.

The first half of the movie is shot in some scenic locales in Ooty and is visually alluring. The second half is much of a courtroom drama and moves at a slightly better pace than the first half. G.V. Prakash’s music is pleasant and “Vizhigalil Oru ..” is a breezy melody quite beautifully cinematographed in a slow time-sliced fashion. (My fav. Song of the movie J ).

As for the demerits, the slower pace but that’s quite inevitable in such a movie. May be a few actions of Vikram resembles that of a spastic child and not like that of a development disabled

adult. The song between Vikram and Anouskha seems a frivolous add-on.

Despite a few flaws, Kudos to the director Vijay, for having delivered a complete family movie with etched emotions.

Ko - A racy kho- kho..

A monosyllable title- "Ko". May be a cautious step to prevent some naming issues ?? :).. Or an effort to revive the forgotten tamil word "Ko".. I guess it's the latter (some tamil enthusiasts reading ???? ). "Ko" means a king in Tamil. If that was the intention, the director has pulled off a protagonist and made him indeed the King with his screenplay making sure he gets the limelight throughout the story. That's "KO" - an entertaining racy thriller action romance movie .. was that too much of adjectives added ? Of course yes.. the movie has all ingredients to allure all types of viewers.. Hmm.. of course do mind the "omnipotent and super intellectual" hero which Tamil cinema could never be void off :)




Ok.. to the review.. Ashwin (Jeeva) is a photo journalist whose camera never fails to shoot the perfect picture out of anything. He has an acumen of completing his assignments with panache (obviously the hero type). Romancing him are two girls namely Renu(Karthika) and Saro (Pia Bajpai) who happen to be journalists in the same tamil daily "Thina Angal" as the hero. No time wasted in any love triangles. Instead a racy story unfolds with the hero and his journo crew closely following political scenario just in time before elections. The ruling party leader Yogi(Prakash Raj) and the opposition leader(Kotta Srinivasa Rao) both have a row with Ashwin for exposing them. Comes in a youngster Politician Vasanthan (Ajmal) who is anxious to bring in a change in the system. With a strong backup from Ashwin's 'Thina Angal', Vasanthan's "Siragugal" party wins the election eventually making him the CM who's sinister means are later identified by Ashwin in the climax. (oh save that part for watching the rest on screen).

It's an out and out "Hero" movie and Jeeva has rendered an excellent performance. He has pulled off the role with elan and proves himself to be a versatile actor with every movie. Next in line would be Ajmal, the handsome lad have landed in a plum role in this one and could count on. As for Karthika, Oh madam.. plz show some variety in emotions. She's much like a puppet and quite artificial. Pia's cameo is adequate. The director has to be lauded for his starcast, since all the actors look apt to the age they play which gives the movie a touch of vivacity. The interludes with current political undertones are very subtle and add to the humor. (The Namitha style election campaign is one such.. machans :) )

The director K.V. Anand, a cinematographer himself has rendered a very colourful pallette on screen. The distinction of colours are evident and enhance the aesthetic rendition. The songs are a visually appealing with Nathan's camera and the Harris Jeyaraj's numbers are already topping the countdowns. The racy screenplay keeps you engrossed and definitely deserve mentions. Some unwanted duets, unpleasant jokes involving a little boy & Pia and the tad impossible heroic acts add to the demerits.

Go for the movie !! It's a complete package for this summer !!

jet ... set .. go.. errr.. KO :)

Show me the meaning of feeling lonely

It's been over a year since i moved all alone to a house of my own. More than knowing about the meaning of feeling lonely I've better experienced it. Though it was a little bitter at first, the solitary peace which my solitude offered me was indeed an experience. hmm... so much like the lyrics of my favourite number.. Feel it as you read.. The meaning of feeling lonely..

Show me the meaning of being lonely
So many words for the broken heart
It's hard to see in a crimson love
So hard to breathe
Walk with me, and maybe
Nights of light so soon become
Wild and free I could feel the sun
Your every wish will be done
They tell me


Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I can't be there where you are
There's something missing in my heart

Life goes on as it never ends
Eyes of stone observe the trends
They never say forever gaze upon me
Guilty roads to an endless love (endless love)
There's no control
Are you with me now?
Your every wish will be done
They tell me



There's nowhere to run
I have no place to go
Surrender my heart, body, and soul
How can it be
You're asking me
To feel the things you never show

You are missing in my heart
Tell me why can't I be there where you are?