Arangetram (1973) - My thoughts

 Talking about a movie that released way back in 1973, and 30 years later, I still think this is one of the best movies offered by Tamil Cinema. The sheer depth in  categorization and bold theme chosen by the director are the major reasons why this movie stands out in comparison to other scripts that have been offered ever since. K Balachander is one of the pillars of the industry who offered variety of scripts and showed the courage to portray strong female protagonists. To sculpt such characters, one needs to fall in love with them, and KB must have been deeply in love with Lalita (actress prameela), to have etched out a masterpiece. 

I happen to see a video, where the blogger mentioned this movie as one his all time favorites and this provoked me to revisit this movie and observe the sheer intent to make the audience think and decide for themselves (deciding for yourself is a topic we never like to think about).

The first thing that struck me was the title, and how there are tacit mentions sprayed throughout this 150 minute masterpiece. How the friend is consoled by telling that till you reach the stage, you will be nervous and once you start your Arangetram you would never know that you were once nervous (Arangetram medai erum varail thaan kashtam). One of KB's favorite topics is maintaining the balance between authenticity of a ritual and the repercussions of modernization; How Ramu Sasthri feels humiliated and squirms at the way society is performing the acts unauthentically. The social messages that are tacitly touched upon by KB just leaves me spellbound; be it flesh trade and how male escapes scot-free, family planning or societal impressions on a call-girl. 

There are various scenes where you can find KB's stamp on his characters, Kamal's opportunism, Lalitha's histrionics due to frustration towards men or be is the usual, not-a-brahmin-do-gooder. This movie, tends to push you towards thinking about the outlook of a middle class indian family and the parochial view on a woman we once lived with. 

Portraying Lalitha as an intelligent, subversive young woman is a master-stroke and makes you sit up and take notice of the emotional intelligence she possesses. This is a movie, that i think helped Tamil cinema hold its head high and commercial success only encourages you to choose scripts such as these. 

It is tough to imagine the 70s and 80s without KB and makes me uncomfortable thinking of the movies that might have ruled in his absence. We would have had KR Vijaya as the obedient daughter-in-law and preached to house wives how to follow the 26423498 rules to keep you husband happy and not question him. I am proud to have seen KB's movies and still salute him for the sheer intent in making movies with unusual characterization. Characters in the movie make-or-break the experience and KB had that spot on. 

To other people who might have not watched this, I highly recommend it to understand the quality of cinema then, and how surprisingly we never found another KB ( there might be a mani, shankar or Bala), though Bhagyaraj was pretty close in terms of characterization.

 (You can find the movie here)http://www.einthusan.com/movies/watch.php?lang=tamil&id=351

Review again!

I have been catching up with some movies lately. I seem to have come back to the normal path of watching (more) movies, but i know i still haven't come anywhere close to what i should or capable of !
Enough of some appraisal-type-talk. Lets get straight in !

Vinnathaandi Varuvaya - Cant help but start from this movie. Just watched it yesterday and cant get it out of my head. The movie is especially a great gift for a tamil audience that has given up (read embraced ) on the cliche ridden pseudo-creativity in its recent films.. The movie has a breezy feel to it. There is of course something usual with all Gautam movies, and that is Love at first sight. But on second thought you feel it better be this way, as they dont waste time getting into the plot.
Frame within a frame has always interested all of us, and this uses similar technique to keeps us glued. The lead pair was refreshing. Simbu for once impressed me. Trisha never fails to though ;)
They look fresh. Somehow looks like this movie is gonna make to head to the screen once again.
Now the thing that sets apart this love story from the rest are... the shades of grey with the lead characters.Trisha's character portrays that so damn well, and the commitment fear that is an integral part of any relations.  - Kudos portraying the characters this way instead of unakkaga-uyire-kuduppaen yaaaaaaaaawn style.

Goa - Venkat prabhu, who gave us Chennai-28 and Saroja somehow failed to give the same punch with this one. I looked at him as the next gen director who gives you loads of entertainment in an unconventional way. Here there is lot kalaaichal and no plot. The star of the previous movies, Premji is hackneyed and you canguess what his mannerism would be. Jai's english is kick-ass though. Yuvan seems to be diluting his work. Worth a single watch but nowhere close to the other venkat's flicks.

Tamil Padam - Awesome is the word. Tamil cinemas patents one of the maximum cliches. Nothing and noone has been spared. It is no lollu sabha and somehow keeps you engaged.
From the family song to the undercover police, rags to riches within a song, intro song etc the director takes care he does not spare you from falling off your seats. But a cliche that tamil padam also conformed to is the "Bambai" heroine.
I cant but not mention the scenes where the hero learn bharatnatyam in a day (Kaadhalan) and the tetra pack on "Kallippal"

Kutty - Mudiyala, valikkudu

Aayirathil Oruvan - What better movie to finish off this blog than AO. Ok here is a director who gives us what he would like to see as a movie. Agreed he doesnt do things subtlely. But this man seems to be one of the most creative script writers in the recent times. He seems to have taken us thru his trailblazing path. If most of the above movies were pure entertainers, this has loads of content. The issue is we have to realize that more the content, it begins to eat into the success. There is something similar with AO that way. He tries to package all the contents into one movie. I certainly loved the movie and have no complains. But if i would want him to gimme more movies like this one, then commercial viability is a must for his movies. This is when trimming parts of the movie helps.
But AO seriously is more of an experience than a movie

Movies I caught up lately.

Wasn't in a mood to give individual reviews. So felt like putting it all together !

Wake Up Sid ! -  Nice watch. Given a chance would watch it again. Finally we see on screen, something that is an issue to the urban youth. Not very tough to associate with a few characters. An indication that the Indian Cinema wants you to sit back and take notice.

3 Idiots - You can hear enough and more things in the media about the infringement of copyrights. But as a moviegoer who pays the 200 bucks (well yeah i went on a weekend) this is a darling. Feels good to enjoy a movie thoroughly in the theatre. The last time this happened to me was for Saroja !


Anne Hall - A movie recomended by a TV new reporter. It is supposed to be the 70s classic. So quite similar to India, if a movie is interesting we do get rehashes later. So i have seen far too many rehashes and then the original failed to leave a punch.


500 days of Summer - Its about a guy's 500 days with a gal named Summer. It is a very average movie and even brushes with Bad on occasions. But being in a flight often doesn't give a plethora of options and you gotta stick with the ones that are available. Strict MISS


Ugly Truth - Katherine Heigl is cute and Gerard Butler is a live wire. Movie is run of the mill romantic comedy where the opposite poles attract. But a nice watch anyhow. Kept me engaged.


Thoranai - Shriya is smashing. A strict NO again.


Eeram - Slick thriller. Shankar needs a pat on the back to have the balls to produce a movie with supernatural elements, in the era of people with the dude-its-the-computer-generation.


Pasanga - Post Anjali I would recommend this movie to go back to your childhood though its got a rustic feel to it. Very nice 

Nadodigal - Rocks is the only word though you wouldn't understand why the movie was heading nowhere till the climax pops up. Cant believe a megaserial-director worked on this movie. Why was he hibernating there ??? 

Phoenix - The movies i caught up lately

Why the hell is it called phoenix.. If you follow my blog(I think you are as rare as the dino ;) ) then the previous post was in July last yr.

I think i have run out of topics (Neah, i keep coming up with new ones)
The only explanation can be I am plain LAZY ;)

So i thought i would just share my thoughts the movies that i was able to catch up with offlate(last couple of months)

Dark knight : Kick Ass. Missing more movies, Heath

Knocked up : Katherine Heigl is cute. Little hatke from
all the hollywood romantic comedy i have wathched.Good watch

Pi : Balls to it. If you watch movies to not think too much, please dont
try watchin this one. My subjects in Engg were far more easy to u'stand
If you have watched it and u'stood it please mail me or inform me i shal
call you.

American Beauty: Nice watch. Good to see over 40 men drool at gals(makes me feel all
isnt over as yet)..Doesnt Mena Suvari (daughter's friend) remind you
Emma Watson (Hermoine of Harry Potter fame)

Good luck chuck: Grose at times. Ok ok types. Jessica ALba saved the day. Chuck
reminds me of one of my friends ;)

Harold and Kumar go: Total porikki padam. Felt damn good to see Neil Patrick Harris
to the white castle (How i met your mother fame)

The others : One of the few spooky thrillers that had me glued till the last scene.
The climax being good is one of the best traits of this movie.

Before sunrise: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy made a damn cute couple. Movie that
revolves around just 2 central characters. Very poetic. Though most
of my friends hate it (Gokul i shall give u company on this.)

Ghajini Hindi : Please watch a subtle and realistic portrayal of Sanjay by Surya

100 girls : Same old Teen gimmick love story

Wednesday : Makes you sit back and applaud the director. Naseeruddin shah's portrayal
of the common man was so immaculate. Yeh dil maange more for such quality
movies.

Aamir : One more masterpiece. I like this more than the Wednesday though it was
pretty close.Explores the morality of a terrorist. Makes to applaud the
writer for such a good experience

Before sunset : Sequel to Before sunrise. The lead pair's youth gone, romance gone &
your patience goes for a toss too. Somehow the sequel isnt as good
as the first one(how many movies have faltered this way)

The break up: Usual romantic comedy barring the climax.

13B : You have a spooky thriller barring the Tantrics and Mantrics (Unlike Arundathi
which also i wathed ;))It is an urban thriller and to my knowledge pretty original, though reminds you of RING for its involvement of the TV : )


BTW i saw these movies post VILLU, so dont expect me to write what i thought about VILLU :P

Wow its thalaivar's book on the front stands on landmark . One of their best sellers make it to that stand. It was not an impulsive decision to buy it, wanted to own it since i got to know that there is one such book on rajini.
Feels great to own it and even better when u read through the whole book grasping every inch in a single day.
But the height of ego boost happens when u spot mistakes in the book;)

On the book i liked the way it was narrated. Felt like a movie.Kind of alternating between 3 phases in rajini's life , his childhood, entry to movies and finally his present life. These moods alternate and keeps to tight to the seat. Believe me its the only other book i finished this fast other than Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (excuse me if u took it as a comparison between them , just shows my interest in knowing more about THALAIVAR)

The best part of the book lies where the author hasnt godified Rajni. Shows him just like another guy brought up in a way child would be in his circumstances.She seems to have followed rajni thru his growth in maturity.

Think its a good bet to own

Kaalai

Looks like i am not the only person to have watched Kaalai

Ladies Coupe(the book) review

Ladies Coupe is a compartment in a train that is reserved exclusively for women. This compartment is safe, quiet and preferred by women who are either traveling alone (or traveling without a man). However, Akhila, the protagonist chooses to travel in a ladies coupe to discover herself.
Akhila is a 45-year-old single woman who belongs to a
conservative Brahmin family. She enjoys eating eggs, doesn’t do her prayers, makes love to a man who is much younger than her and gets upset when she sees the signboard at the ticket counter which says ‘Ladies, handicapped and senior citizens’.
he title in itself is very interesting to begin with. It’s in this compartment that five women of different age and family background come together and weave their own world. As the story develops, the Coupe turns into a place where five women share some of their life’s most private moments– about their childhood, their husbands, their sons and their lovers.
In each of the stories, it is clearly seen that all the five women have been victimised by the male-dominated society and each of these women have struggled, at some point, in their life to establish their own identity. Some failed, some succeeded and some managed to stay ‘afloat’.

‘Afloat’ – that is my favourite chapter in this book. I have never disclosed the plot or the story in my previous review and I don’t intend to do it now. However, I would like to mention that the simplicity of this chapter is what caught my attention. The narrator challenges herself to break the monotony of her life and assert her identity again. She succeeds and stays afloat.

The main character Akhila gets to peep into the lives of these women who also become companions in her journey. Like they say: It’s the journey and not the destination that matters. I am not sure if Akhila found the answers to all the questions that have haunted her for so long. But I am sure that by making an effort to find her answers, Akhila found a lot more than what she was searching for.

Any body can relate to this story. If you are a girl, live in India, fall in the age group that the society considers “eligible for marriage” and your resume is frequently circulated among relatives, shaadi.com and a family pandit – you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

The book is humorous, witty, serious, light hearted and thought provoking – all at the same time and I would suggest it to any body who wants to read a simple and well-written masterpiece.

bommarillu(telugu)

if u follow telugu movies closelt u r bound to come out of the theatre wiping ur face from bloodstains . Thats the minimum gurantee that u get when u haev 4 fights and 6 songs and lot of punch dialogues.
This movie comes as a repreive and u can actually come out fresher than u went in. The basis of the story is an over protective father and a wanna be independent son is really a bold attempt. I think the movies that revolve around relationships and human emotions are well appreciated when u can associate urself with any one of the characters.
i ll go ahead with the pluses and minuses

PLUS

The lead cast . I would go ahead with a contest of which is the role that Prakash raj doesnt play to perfection . Sid fits the bill

Genilia unusually looks average and has acted well ( she usually is the opposite)

The screenplay and teh characterisation are the backbone to the movie

MINUS

The love track and the blossoming of love b/n the lead cast cud have been better .

My recommendation is watch the movie

vettayadu vilayadu (review)

I will try my best not to be a spoil sport , by spilling the beans over the story and the suspense .
I will as usual come straight to the pluses and minuses and the feel of the movie

PLUSES
Kamal , jyothika and the rest of the crew ( most of them though) .
Music ( songs and the background score)
Raviverma s camera nd the locales he s been successful to capture , and make the city stay in
our eyes.
Gautham's treatment and the editing that gives a totally different feel of the movie ..

MINUSES

The villain though portrayed in a manner close to that of kakka kakka , doesnt impress u as
much. Its a role hat jevan has left a deep impression and needs a better effort to redo the
magic.
The second half drags for some time , b4 kamal and jo 's life takes a diff turn.



Overall the movie is worth ur money but leaves u wanting for more from the director who gave us the "kakka kakka"
U can't help but go in with sky high expectations when u see the ppl involved behind the script.

Kabhi Alvidha Na Kehna (review)

I would prefer to get straight to the topic cuz i wouldnt like to spoil anyone's party( if u could call it that ) . Well the script seems to be more mature in terms of content. And the problem (or advantage ) with movies made on human relationships is that, it will be accepted when u have people who can associate with them . So the movie seems to be just aiming at the urban audience.

The movie seems to be almost right except the overemphasis about a particular situation now and then . It s a nice movie if u r the type who doesnt demand a movie with the script racing away . Its quite medium paced with a neat flavour .

+ 's

Grandeur of the movie ( thats bound to b there when the johars and the chopras are producing it)
Cinematography
Music ( esp the bgm , seems to haunt u the way dil chahta hai did)
Performance of the lead artisites( baby b seems to carry the movie!)

- 'S

drags a bit
u feel u have seen the treatment before
climax


This is all i can say about the movie w/o revealing most of the script .
the plus and the minus will make u enjoy the plus and overlook the minus cuz u ll expect it to be worse but it wont

Cadbury's "BOURNVILLE"

This blog , dont worry will be short :D

I just happened to come across this chocolate by chance and thought it was worth a tr y atleast cuz it came form the house that provided us with the max quality chocolates and i have no glitches to say they have maintained the standard . In a land where there are not so many dark chocolates cuz we love milk chocolates , this had to be a brave move .

Taste: This dark chocolate bar was broken lengthwise into six sections. Each piece had the Cadbury signature logo on top. It was fairly thick, and it took some minor force to break the sections apart. The chocolate was bittersweet and pretty good, if you're in the mood for some dark chocolate.

Aroma: Typical dark chocolate smell.

MY VERDICT : Being not so particular about food this has been one of my boldest moves to say , go ahead and taste it. it s worth ur money

KODAK C340(Great camera sans battery life )

Rating of this Product: Recommendation of this Product: Yes Picture Quality: Ease of Use: Value for Money: Shutter Speed: Battery life: Pros: worth the money Cons: drains teh battery

I bought it for around 12 k . Got a 256 Mb card free along with it .
I have been very satisfied with this camera , and a good option for camera in this range.
U have to choose teh dealer u r gonna buy from as additional costs for accessories and battery or may be the memory card can be avoided.

PROS
1) Great picture clarity
2) Good shutter speed
3) audio playback strong in videos
4) Good red eye reduction via camera
5) lot of options to shoot during various situations like beach , sports etc that sets the modes regarding pixel quality etc all by itself
6) Good kodak sofware that hass average no of alteration modes

CONS
2) Bad battery back up . This applies when u r using the standard duracell type batteries . BUt when u ue the NiMH batteries as recommended by KODAK , it lasts 100 fotographs . U get low cost batteries in gray market and that is worth the money . but never use teh standad eveready or duracell batteries . It last for less than 10 fotografs
3) Video quality is not good .

Purchase Price (INR):

12000

WONDER LA

For a person who didnt like the theme parks to one who wants to go there within a week's time , its wuite a huge turn around.It could have been the low quality if theme parks that i had been earlier that may have turned me off. I have abstained from visiting the ones that have sprang up offlate. But this place (Wonderla) thats about 28 km drive from b lore, is the one that turned my opinions on these theme parks . Its got a wide gamut of dry( scray) ones and the water (enjoyable ) ones.

These just take responsibilty that the child within u peeps out . The hygiene in the park is something that needs to be lauded for. For a place thats full of water and foot marks they have invested quite a few people ro maintain its neatness. I personally enjoyed the water games and refrained from those scray twists and turns that are engineered magnificently. I'd prefer to keep the blog short cuz its more fun to be than to read .But for first timers , there is 1 thing i'd recommend .Other than the rides , dont miss the cine magic and the Bird's eye giant wheel . The cine magic seems to be simulated to perfection that gives u a 1st hand experience of a bumpy ride and then teh giant wheel is sth thats better experienced than said .

At last i think this trip was a wonderful equaliser , in terms of real life nervous ppl seemed to possess more courage whereas the alleged brave ones seemed to chicken out ( as i did )

PUDUPETTAI

If u have heard all the bad reviews on puduppettai and u were searching for the 1 good review , u have followed the right link . This is nt an effort to buck up a losing movie cuz its collected more than invested and isnt a loss in any propotion , its just what i feel abt the movie and a person who is ready to provide u realistic movies at the cost of his image .
Yeah i mean selvaraghavan . He has totally broken the tamizh cinema "sampradhayam " to give u a realistic portrayal , rather an insight into a gangster's life . I wont be givin u a summary of what the story or the plot is like , cuz i think its a journey thru a person's life . Just when i thought that i'll start giving just the pluses and the minuses of a movie , i feel like giving more on his movie .

Now all the compalints about the movie can be , why will person do like this ?
how can a person be so ruthless?
What makes him do this ?
where does this rage come from?

People who havent liked the movie always find it tough to relate themselves to this character and find a lot of such unanswered questions . But the foremost thing u need to do is know that he is a gangster and u r not . So u obviously won't be able to associate urself with him. With this in mind , if u step into the theatre u r bound to enjoy the visual treat .

here is a link who asks so many questions http://www.cinesouth.com/scopes/reviews/new/pudupettai.shtml .
But please u need to know what happens to their life b4 we shoot out these kinda questions . U know that prostitutes an subject to inhumane treatment and this has been in media . It just makes me wonder how can a famous website be so naive .

Now to the + and the +

PLUS

1) Arvind krishna's offbeat cinematography . He just rox with never seen b4 kinda visuals. He
Single handedly gives ur ticket's worth .Be it wide lens shots or teh dawn and dusk shots ,
excels
2) Yuvan shankar raja is a major factor y ppl thronged to theatres cuz his music was a sensation
much b4 the movie released .
3) Selva's bold narration and characterisation.
4) Dhanush's performance .


MINUS

1) Length of the 2nd half
2) Climax that glorified the villian

But to me i feel that this is the 1st movie where the gangster is treated as a gangster and not a godfather who helps the poor outta trouble . The life span of a gangster is 10 yrs at the max and this accentuates the same.
I have to applaud selva for his bold script and realistic portrayal . He jas it in him to turn the tables of tamizh cinema

bangaram review

With the title slide of the movie boasting of names like Dharani , Pawan Kalyan ,
Sri Surya movies (A.M.Rathnam) , Vidyasagar , V.T.Vijayan and if the first half an hour of the movie was anything to go by this movie should have been the biggest blockbuster for some time now. But as the movie progresses , you'll realise that all the above touted factors have worked their way out to make the movie as cliche and "let down" as possible .

The movie revolves around the never-told-before(pun intended) theme of factionism. The movie starts of impressively with pawan kalyan aka Bangaram organising a dare devil interview with the assam terrorist outfit , but the movie loses its fizz gradually . The plot in a nutshell is about how bangaram tries hard to unite the separeted lovers ( i hate this words being phrased this way ) .
Bangaram circumstansially ends up in Karnaul , where factionism is on a high. The characterisation of the factionist groups is portrayed , like you would feel they would soon develop a software to keep track of the in depth details of the alleged "martyrs" in the bloody duels.

I wont reveal any other information about the story ( obvious that i dont wanna think more as wat the story could have been ) . A.M.Rathnam would have imagined that the subject of factionism would have enough impetus for the crowds to throng , but looks like it ll be the opposite ( i wouldnt like to commit myself to this cuz i cant trust the taste of Andhra ) .
This one of the very few examples , where a movie isnt very great but u still dont feel the length ( its we ll over 3 hrs) .

PLUS

Well i had to be a hell a lot optimistic to be pointing the pluses of the movies .
I could point out 4 good pluses in the movie .
Pawan Kalyan ::: Vidyasagar ::: The child artiste ( the heroine's sis)::: Camera work (Gopinath)

Pawan has the X factor in him that will still make u go and watch him in the big screen . You would feel what i say is true when u witness the crowd enthusiasm even after a hatrick of flops .His stunts that are his trade mark and his natural self in terms of comedy and acting seldom lets him down and even here he somehow manages to be the silver lining in this movie .
Vidyasagar with his peppy tracks sporadically wakes the audience up( well this is left to ur discretion , depending on what ur taste is ) .
For me the biggest find would be the girl who comes as the heroine's sister . From minute expressions to emotions , she seeems to outshine most in the movie . Accolades to the girlie .
Gopinath's camera tries hard to keep u glued to the screen

MINUS

Well i wont speak in detail and bore you guys off . I will just mention it .
To me the biggest letdown is dharani ( director) , having displayed his prowess in over 3 movies , this movie just negates them all . Screenplay is banal and nothing new, except for a scene here and there .
The villains and the henchmen of the opposing groups seem to have deafening effect on the audience.
The climax and the whole concept of swapping the bride is puke level .



The comedy is nt great or bad . Serves no purpose either . Looks like we need a break from factionism and try to delve on subjects that are a little different. Atleast i have had enough of chest thumping , thigh slapping and reiterating the "poguru and pourusham of a rayalseema manushi"
The movie seems very likely to lose out to POKIRI that realeased a week earlier , and seems to have enough reason for a movie goer to shower repeated visits .

P.S Looks like vijay has selected the wrong movie to remake again .

Gangster(review)

When you are totally bugged on a sunday afternoon and you are left with no other option but a movie, If u are quail whether you would get tickets on a sunday , no apprehensions , u'll definitely get . But 9 outta 10 of u wud have felt it was better to stay home than risk urself on this .

Not disparaging the movie any more ( what else am i left with ) , the movie has its good moments but somehow the pace of the movie militates its good story . Now the plot is about a girl Simran , the lady love of the international gangster is enebriated every other day and aakash (emraan hashmi) provies her the moral support , and the shoulder she needs , and then the relation takes predictable twists and ends on an unexpected note ( i know anurag basu , the director wud do the narration better , cuz he's a professional ) .

The pluses first ( you ll know i am a very optimistic person after you watched and read this ).
You d say that the role of ganster daya ( shiny ahuja ) stands out . This guy has a very few lines and yet stands out with his expressions. Next emraan wont let fans like me down and he impeccably knows y i venture to watch his movies . He has a few torrid kisses and may very soon at this rate earn the distinction of the "most played ground ( his lips) ".Well the most important plus is that u r in for a surprise if u'd expect gunshots in a movie called Gangster (kinda misnomer), cuz its a love triangle . And a couple of songs are good.

Well that was all i could take solace of in this movie.

Well now for the minuses( i'd better make the list short, i dont wanna bore others u c ) . The heroine despite the decent performance here and there , is totally unphotogenic . She ( or her dubbing artiste ) screams more often than keeps silence. The screenplay is kinda cliche with betrayal of the lover . Emraan Haashmi never seems to find a girl of his own .She either is married or has a boyfriend . The pace of the movie(biggest drawback ) and rerecording form hurdles to the movement of the movie.

With all said and done i wud recommend u guys to venture out if u have loads of time hanging on u or have no other commendable job to do , cuz its definitely not worth managing time and postponing schedules

Chittiram Pesudhadi -- About the violence of love ?

With less than a handful of technicians u know , and a shoe-string budget, all u could expect was a low profile love story that has a very low probabilty of enticing your taste buds .

But bang!!! director mishkin takes your heart for a ride on a few occassions . He just gives you the movie that is least hyped about and this believe it or not works for the movie . The movie goes at a good speed but keeps a low profile throughout except on a couple of occassions , where the screenplay peaks and so do you inevitably. The director had immense guts to break free from the usual image oriented movies that come out every alternate day and even break the shackles when it comes to parent sentiment .

I am not gonna be a spoilsport to spill the beans over to narrate the story . I want most of u to go throught the roller coster ride that i went through last night ( after watching the movie ) .

Now to sum up the artists who infuenced me hard that i wouldnt think twice to revere them . I wont be relentless to mention the director after the lead , cuz they say that the director is the captain of the ship and this ship has coasted safely and impressively too . He has in him the adept mind that is inexorable to a narrator . He makes the audience dance to his tunes. Then the lead pair narain ( aka sunil in malayalam ) and bhavana ( malayali too ) . They seem to have a good head on shoulders to carry this script neatly ( this is nothing new as we have seen that people from Kerala seem to have the natural talent that makes them get noticed wherever they go) . Narain and bhavana epitomise their respective characters , and makes you feel that they are THE best choice . The music director Sundar C Babu , proves his mettle with a duet and in-tune-with-movie kinda rerecording.Then its the camera work by Mahesh , who gives the whole movie the feel required and the picturisation of the duet is worth a mention.

The climax as to reveal the real narain was simply breathtaking . The movie ends though in a cliche format that kollywood has perfected over the years .

With all this with a good script and narration Chittiram Pesudhadi is a undoubted winner , but the crowds throng the theatres for the one and only song( topping any countdown ) by GANA ULAGANATHAN , without a reference to whom i cant write a review. He is the only reason the crowds thronged in and but Mishkin has taken ample care to see that people dont get just that .

Devathai Kandaen

My cable TV just aired this movie today afternoon. I generally avoid watching dhanush movies after "sullan" which explored new potentials in me in terms of patience .Well sitting through sullan , i would still consider one of my most relished accomplishments. I even purportedly obviated this movie( though i had seen the 100 days poster in Udhayam theatre) when it was put on Sun TV , cuz i knew it would again one of those let downs that dhanush is known to give offlate.

But believe me , i was surprised as i continued to sit back watching the entire movie.I some how like the essence of the movie and the plot per se. The story in a nutshell , Babu an orphan who goes around selling tea , and a college gal Uma fall in love due to circumstantial twists. But she moves ahead in life to realise that this wont be possible to go ahead with the relation , and opts to marry an NRI. Dejected Babu files a suit against her and finally when she gets to know of what actually Babu means to her she decides to marry him , but he refuses and gives a set of reasons for it.

Now i ll start with the elements that made me like the movie . I basically liked the characterisation in the movie . I wouldnt have been able to accept the concept if Babu wasnt an orphan and the dialogue where he says that its like being taken from an orphan and into a relation and then being dropped back to an orphan again , is the most painful journey. Dhanush to me emoted awell and fits in the role that looks tailor-made for him . Looks like a normal guy u would see on the streets selling tea.
The film has its own share of glitches , that is to be taken(sportively) as a part and parcel of today's commercial movies . I was irritated with the scene wheren he is drunk and tries to suicide during the valentine's day party.It was a neat movie which had its roots in human sentiments and tries to delineate why you should consider all options before you jump to a conclusion.Even Uma's character reflects today's youth who jump to decisions and then rue over it . It has good dialogues and over all i feel this film which is watchable once if u are able to put urself in the protagonist's shoes .
Not to forget the comedy in the first half in the form of 4 ppl chasing and knitting plans to woo the girl is rib tickling .


Why i liked the movie so , much even i dont know . My be the dialogues that stand apart from the usual punch dialogues that i am daily fed with . I even liked a couple of songs .From the azhagey bramhanidam , to ungappa pathalum bayam

P.S I dont write reviews cuz i watch movies by heart dont try to ask a lot questions. I go through the motions of the movie and enjoy it .

"Karthik"

If u were one of those guys who were kinda perturbed about what would happen to music directors who have great tunes but won't have a singer as versatile as S.P.B (S.P.Balasubramanium) in the future , can have a breather. This guy from chennnai seems all prepared to take over from SPB left and deservedly so.Yeah, this may be hard to believe. You may even say that i have decided a little too early , but not after u have listened to his voice taking songs of diverse backgrounds going straight to ur brain, signalling u to close ur eyes.
He was introduced by ARR in STAR ( a prashanth starrer) where he sounded no diffferent from recent crop of young singers . But shot to immediate stardom when he sang for the Superstar's BABA (again composed by ARR).

Now when u find most of the singers drenched in the showers of the past fame and losing their future projects , u saw karthik being prudent enough not to commit this , and sang for all leading heroes and got another dimension to his talent when he worked under ilayaraja for Azhagi and that song that drove home the point to the critics that he is an entity in tamil music who was gonna stay , and not the ephemeral blip .

Now about the various facets to his voice , he excels in almost any song he's been entrusted with.Be it bringing the roof down or soft melodies. Just take the song in Azhagi ( melody that wud remain in hearts forever) or the fast paced Gf song in Boys. From Hindustani in anarkali(kangalal kaidhu sei ) to the carnatic or even the dappanguthu(in Run with theradi veethiyil) .( and i ve been off my heels for his voice in "oru malai" in gajini and "kangal kalangida" in oru kalluriyin kadhai). He also can modify his voice at ease , an area where SPB excelled . And the pivotal aspect of his singing is his impeccable pronunciation of the language be it tamil , telugu, hindi, or kannada.

And most of all i feel his voice has the life that is the quintessential factor for a singer to stay in ur hearts even after he is not there . An artist stays within us when he isnt with us in the form of his art . Well if karthik could only add a few varieties of songs to his basket , i feel there is not stopping this young kid as he is all ready to take the country by storm with his voice .