Nee Thaane En Pon Vasantham - Movie Review

It is said that the most complex thing to explain and make others understand is the relationship between a man and a woman. Gautham Vasudev Menon yet again takes this idea of portraying this complexity staged out in 3 phases in his inimitable style with the master composer. A complete tribute to Ilayaraja.

A story of 2 simple individuals, Varun (Jiiva) and Nithya (Samantha) who are childhood friends, as kids grow up in the same apartment community. They grow up, live, share, argue, relinquish on each other in different phases of their life knitted tightly by Raja's music.

Gautham kicks off the movie with capturing brilliant moments in the form of inter college cultural where the classic "Nee thaane En Pon Vansantham" from Ninaivellam  Nithya is performed and brings goosebumps instantly for its sheer musical brilliance despite of Gautham's flat singing.

The lively moments during the school days, be it school tuition center or the conversation on their separation during holidays, are extremely nostalgic and is sure to enthrall even if you are not directly involved in such experience. Vanam Mella song is brilliantly used to portray the puppy love. Had it not been sung by Raja himself, I thought it would have been an all time classic on screen as well. Nevertheless, it is still very good for its sheer musical brilliance. The song also surprising has a third interlude that is not in the original song to transform the school days to "then-present" college times. 

The lack of audacity during their school days to express themselves freely is compensated during their college days. This phase had the best part to me, be it the proposal in rain, Sainthu Sainthu song and the way it is picturised, their lunch at a crowded hotel, the moments in his terrace, their separation to end it all, and everything is incredible till we are shown those memories in a flash during the climax to realize it.

Their inexplicable attraction, towards each other unites them every time they break up unable to resist their egoistic terms, slowly reduces when Varun goes to IIM and their ego graduates to next level which leads to an emotional climax. 

Jiiva and Samantha are outstanding in every phase and shot in a sensitive intense drama with only handful of characters. Jiiva, the more established actor of the two, plays the complex portrayal of Varun so easily that one would not even realize and it is not a surprise for me to see Jiiva portraying this role with ease for an actor of his caliber. The same will probably apply to Nani in Telugu version as he is a fine actor as well. However, I was totally surprised by Samantha who comes up with a brilliant performance by a female lead for a while. Her transformation from a gawky teenager to an adult unable to overcome her ego, failing to express herself, facing a daunting darkness of losing Varun completely from her life in the climax, is simply outstanding. Samantha also dubbed with her own voice in Tamil and did a great job. Perfect lead casting. Santhanam is a scream as usual but do not have a major presence in an otherwise intense narration. 

I never loved Satru Munbu more till I watched the film and its intense climax. The pain and agony that Samantha has to portray was unbelievably captured by Raja in his song even before the movie is shot. It is only going to become a reference material for everyone from director to the actor to get inspired. What a song...Take a bow master.

I really liked the way the movie is shot and stayed true to its content without exploring extravagant locations focussing only on the human emotions. Kudos to cinematographers MS Prabhu and Om Prakash.

This movie is simply an ode to Ilayaraja and the fan boy in Gautham glorified Raja's music in a way where no one did for a long time. The movie is propelled and narrated through music and the songs could not have been placed appropriately than this and becomes a perfect example of how the story and music should blend. 

Katrai Konjam, Muthal Murai, Yennodu Va Va are all brilliantly shot. The songs are used as background score in many places and Raja underlines the necessary scenes with brilliant score. Shot in a pace to accommodate enough pauses to increase the intensity of the narration, Raja goes classic way of providing more silent shots and fills with beautiful music only at the impact points. Music is the quintessential part of the film and in fact it is no understatement to say it is a perfect tribute to the Maestro. Thank you Gautham Vasudev Menon.

Verdict - 3.75/5. Barring few negatives like any other good attempt, Goutham Vasudev Menon has delivered a classic along with the Maestro and good lead actors. Must watch !!!

Kadal - Music Review

The expectations on the music of every Mani Ratnam movie is sky high.Thanks to Ilayaraja for setting that standard even during his initial days. Rahman simply carried that to next level since Roja and never looked back till Ravanan and Kadal is no different.

Sithirai Nila is a lulabby rendered by Vijay Yesudoss is a nostalgic trip to ARR's "Azhagu Nilave from Pavithra, Kangalil from Uzhavan" days during when he used to experiment cool synth tones with simple soulful melodies. Vairamuthu's lyrics is at its imaginative best and for some reason reserves his best for Mani Ratnam these days. 

Moongil Thottam is cracking melody sung by Abhay Jodhpurkar and Harini. If at all Ilayaraja and ARR work together, the music probably will sound just like this song. The melody is very Ilayaraja'sque especially patterns like overlap singing with ARR orchestration. Overlapping singing to the lines in the end of the song "Moongil Thottam, Mooligai Vaasam, Neranja Mounam, Nee paadum geetham !!! Pournamni iravu, panivizhum kaadu, othayadi patha, unkooda podi nadai" is mesmerising. Vairamuthu's lyrics again is again its scintillating best. Abhay, after his outing with ARR in Godfather's Kannada remake, croons this song beautifully. Harini, once a highly successful associate of ARR, features in his album after a long time. This totally addictive song and the superb choice of singers makes it the best song of the album to me. MAGIC is one word !!!

Nenjukulle is the face of Kadal's music till now and gone viral soon after it is performed in MTV. Shakthishree Gopalan is a true find. Brilliant tone and character of her voice adds a fresh flavor to this cleverly tuned/orchestrated melody set to Vairamuthu's highly imaginative poem/lyrics. This beautiful humble melody is orchestrated with superb strings backed by beautiful guitars for a simple foot tapping rhythm. Simple is sweet.

Adiye sung by Indie pop singer Sid Sriram is innovative in its orchestration to a simple christian song. This typical Rahman fusion was sung brilliantly in the lines of Aromale is penned by Madhan Karky who carries his father's legacy pretty well. Karky is the most sought out lyricist in Tamil cinema today for his innovative usage of words which ranges from science to literature. After making debut in Shankar's movie, his association with Mani is only going to grow his confidence to the next level. Cracking song !!!

Anbin Vasale sung by well Haricharan along with Chennai choir. This christian devotional song's impact heavily relied on the choir and was packaged well. This Song reminds portions of his Kadam Kadam and Azadi from "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero" is probably a situational one to fit the movie. 

Magudi starts off with ever green percussion Thavil, which featured predominantly in Rahman's music during his initial days, slowly transforms into a trance song.This short song sung by Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam is likely going to be used as a story telling song.

Eley Keechan sung by the master himself, a total surprise in the package for its ultra modern-techno innovative orchestration, captures the joy of Thoothukudi fishermen. A "John Denver blended with local folk" style is adapted to brand the singing of fishermen and brilliantly sung by AR Rahman. Karky has again excelled in lines even though the lines are domindated heavily by the music. The lines "Ema seela namma kadalamma alli tharra, aama seela ava vala veesi sirikura" are repeated in between the song is super catchy and a typical Rahman punch. A fun song that fits and exceeds the expectations for its freshness that brings along is sure to rock the charts for a while.

Verdict - A fresh, innovative, trend setting and experimenting album from Rahman which any typical Mani Ratnam - AR Rahman combination would promise, glorified with brilliant choice of singers, is all set to rule the charts for a long time. My favorites are Moongil Thottam, Nenjukulle, Eley Keechan, Adiye, Sithira Nila, Anbin Vasale and Magudi exactly in that order. Yes, I love this entire album !!!

Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal - Music Review

Film maker Vasanth joins with Yuvan for the third time to produce probably one of Yuvan's best. Vasanth's good music sense always had reflected in his movies with litling melodies regardless of the collaboration with Raja, Rahman, Deva or Yuvan. Keladi Kanmani and Rythm were 2 outstanding albums I liked out of all with no surprises as it was composed by Raja and Rahman respectively.

Aaha Kadhal Konji beautifully sung by Nandini Erikar is an instant classic set with strong carnatic flavor is a typical Vasanth style of song. Rock drums, guitar chords backing all throughout for a beautifully set tune, strong Indian filmi strings and carnatic violins....Yuvan goes highly innovative. Clearly the best song of the album to me.

Kadhal Enthan Kadhal is sung by Neha Bhasin who regularly features in Yuvan albums has some brilliant and innovative Naadhaswaram  interludes. A classic example of how interludes and orchestration take a decent melody to the next level.

Mazhai Mazhai is sung by current hit pair Karthick and Swetha is easily one of the best songs of the album to me. A clean romantic duet with nice rich vocals, beautiful melody especially the charanam and brilliant orchestration.

Padapadakuthu Maname sung by Krish and Blaaze is Yuvan's forte to mix his melodies with rap and comes up beautifully as a package. The song goes one notch up with semi singing melody, a hip hop template and at times with irregular pattern of orchestration all together that shines.

Unakaagave Uyir Vaazhgiren sung by Yuvan himself is a typical Yuvan's romantic cry and sure to be a rage. I still think he should use better singers instead of him even though he did a decent job here.

Stop the Paatu sung by Ramesh Vinayagam is a surprise in the package and sure to hit the audience with its attractive folkish tune and highly catchy orchestration. Ramesh is a unique singer and does a good job.

All the songs are written by Na.Muthukumar and has some innovative lyrics. On the whole, A clean and innovative album which was missing off late from Yuvan is sure to enthrall the fans. Vasanth with his poetic way of story telling and innovative picturization is sure to take the songs to next level.

Thuppakki - Movie Review

Poove Unakaaga, Kathalukku Mariyathai, Love Today, Priyamudan, Nilaave Vaa, Thullatha Manamum Thullum, Kushi, Friends etc. were some of the movies that had Vijay played simple characters which also made him favorite among the youth and I had a liking too until he hit a road block, where he started making larger than life characters, after a string of remade failures. He was made fun of his larger than life poor characters deservingly and even he realized its time to shift gears to change the same. Nanban, Thuppakki, Yohan (before it was dropped) were such desperate efforts. His collaboration with AR Murugadoss is always going to be a calculative risk where the latter is well known for his poetic/stylish presentation of the heroism and the director doesn't disappoint.

Thuppakki is an out and out AR Murugadoss film that fitted Vijay to the Tee. The entire movie happens during Vijay's 40 day vacation from Indian Army and that bolsters the credibility of the scenes and script. Although it is no classic, the scenes are very crisply shot and well thought out. Vijay probably needs to do atleast 5 such movies to make the audience(not his fans ofcourse) to stop being ridiculed of his antics despite genuine efforts. Vijay has performed well and I always believed he is a good actor but just that his choice of scripts did not adorn his acting skills well. 

Heaping laurels on Vijay's  dancing skills and Santosh Sivan's Photography will be very cliched and that is definitely taken for granted. The highlight of the movie is the plot(Sleeper cells) and the intelligent play. However, I thought the romance track, despite being enjoyable in patches, reduced the intensity of the script. Sathyan was good. Jayaram's role is cliched. Well, so this movie is completely driven on Vijay; and Vidyut to some extent. Vijay carries it brilliantly and is a treat for his fans for sure. 

Can Music directors think different for scoring music to project the evilness of a villain?. Harris still uses ARR format sounds that he used during Roja, Kadhalan times. Poor work there! Harris has been very mediocre in his recent flicks. However, unfortunately it is better than many regular masala stuff.

Thuppakki has already been declared a blockbuster and Vijay is surely in his top period at the box office with back to back hits since 2 years and Thuppakki will only be the icing on the top and no doubts will be a best grosser of South Indian Cinema in the recent times. I hope this success deviates him from mindless masala hoping his next project with AL Vijay and "potential" movies with Ameer Sultan and KV Anand tries the same. Bagging the 2 biggest hits under his belt this year, Vijay is clearly a winner at the box office of Tamil Cinema in the year 2012. 

Verdict - 3.5/5; Murugadoss didn't disappoint but I still thought Thuppakki should have been a "Brilliant film" instead of "Good film". This pan Indian script is sure to click in Hindi as well; A true Diwali 1000 wala. 

Talaash - Music Review

Amir continuous to team up with Ram Sampath after "Delhi Belly" and "Satyameva Jeyathe" TV Series. This young guy has lot of potential with a strong sense for classical melody and his 5 sound tracks in Talaash simply reinstates that again -

Muskaanein Jhooti Hai is a stealer of the album sung superbly by Suman Shekar. Song sets the tone for movie and the humming in the song dangerously reminds MSV's Partha Nyabagam Ilayo(Tamil). This slow Jazz sure to attract!

Jee Le Zara, sung by Composer Vishal Dadlani, easily could have been a rock song in another Youth romantic movie but has been underplayed with controlled orchestration and made to sound like a longing song expressing the pain.

Jiya Lage Re is one of the best songs of the album boasts a beautiful melody and sung beautifully by Ram's wife Sona Mohaptra and Ravindra Upadhyay. Fusion of Indian classical and western beats highlights the song and sounds similar to Bhare Naine from Ra One.

Hona Hai Kya sung by the composer Ram Sampath himself does a good job and probably underlines the genre(mystery/unknown) of the film with lot of techno instruments tries to take you to a trans state but reminds lot of RD Burman's Music. Nevertheless, well tried !

Lakh Duniya Kahe is another song sung by Ram Sampath and does a decent job. A soft and soothing lullaby orchestrated in standard Richard Marx Style.

All the five tracks suits the genre of the movie and nothing fancy was tried. Ram Sampath definitely delivered what is needed for the movie in a very artistic way!

Mattrraan - Movie Review

Surya has given many memorable performances in the past and even his last outing 7'am Arivu had some brilliant moments on his portrayal as Bodhi Dharman. This time he chooses another challenging role of playing conjoined twins in a KV Anand script who has so far delivered only blockbusters sure created lot of expectations. Expectation meter in a way defines the commercial success of the movie. The problem comes when the expectations are not met, a movie despite being not bad will be thrashed. Surya faced the problem with 7'Am Arivu and i guess he has to face this time around as well.  

Duo writers Suba(SUresh-BAlakrishnan) are probably the hot shot writers in Tamil Cinema currently working with Shankar and Vishnuvardhan did contribute their part in Mattrraan but i guess as a team with KV Anand fails to create the impact. The story line is innovative and fictitious but the big let down is the screenplay and the narration. Conjoined Twins, Genetic Engineering, Children Health Drink in India meets Russian Olympics connection, all are very innovative concepts but it was not laid out well as a perfect story and whatever they have laid is mostly narrated in 80's style of Indian Cinema with current technology. 

Surya is full of energy and clearly differentiates the 2 characters very well that we almost forget that they are enacted by the same actor. His comedy sense is commendable and is at home while performing. Kudos! Kajal Agarwal is adequate and does her only role well.  

There were many trash movies/scenes that were lifted by the master composers like Raja. Mattrraan has too many lagging scenes but the sad part is the background score instead of elevating it lets the down the scene even more. Poor Background Music! Even though the songs might sound decent, they are extremely monotonous if you follow Harris Jeyaraj closely. It is high time he gets innovative. KV Anand also plays a major role in music who i think he has a very poor taste in music and his movies don't have a flavor in music. Music is a big let down. 

The movie loses its steam completely in the second portion of Russian episode and it never recovers from there on and KV Anand takes audience for granted with illogical and dragging scenes. Unfortunately it is more than 30 mins after its loses its steam and having that corrected with a stronger emotional story between the conjoined twins along with good background score would have made this movie a very good one.

Verdict - 3/5 Mattraran promises a lot of brilliance, a movie that could have easily become the year's blockbuster turns out to be an average dud mainly due to the story/screenplay. KV Anand fails in scripting/screenplay for the first time after delivering three straight good movies despite having a good content and an actor who could pull it off. 

Aadhi Baghavan - Music Review

Yuvan joins with ace director Ameer Sultan for the fifth time. All their previous movies had some of Yuvan's best and this time is no different. Paruthiveeran should have probably been Yuvan's biggest challenge in satisfying Ameer of all of his movies and he did a decent job. Adhi Baghavan is Yuvan's forte - Action flick with stylish melodies and foot taping numbers.  Oru Thuli Vishamaai sung by Sharib and Shreya Goshal is an awesome track starts with a ghazal style aalaap backed up by strings setting up the song nicely transitioning to hip hop beats followed up with intense tabla beats. He used it all. Boasting very innovative orchestration and surely going to be a chart buster. Sharib, sounds like a bit of Haricharan and Javed Ali, did a great job along with magical Shreya. Kaatriley Nadanthene sung by Udit Narayan and Swetha Pandit for the lyrics penned by Arivumathi is one of the best of Yuvan in the recent past. Soothing strings elevates this melody to next level and some how Ameer gets his work done. I would have still preferred a singer who can pronounce Tamil better than Udit to do some justice to Arivumathi's lyrics. Eisalamey Eisalam is a typical Yuvan number which reminds of songs like Kodaana Kodi from Saroja. Manasi Scott does full justice to the song. Yaavum Poithaana is another lovely melody sung beautifully by Madhushree. Even though it reminds some Yuvan songs, innovative orchestration will make this song an enjoyable one. Madhushree has to definitely concentrate on her Tamil diction. Bhagavan Rap is a full fledge rap sung by The Prophecy is probably first time in Tamil is sure to rock the dance floors. Yuvan usually freaks out in this genre and sure to catch the attention of the audience even though I am personally not a big fan. The surprise package of the album is Agadam Bagadam a full Hindi song sung by Mohit Chauhan probably going to show the mafia operations.  An innovative album by Yuvan after Avan Ivan which is exactly what is expected out of him.

Chittagong - Music Review

SEL finally opens their account for the year 2012. The music is very native and raw focuses heavily on lilting melodies. Thanks to the genre of the movie. In every SEL album the first thing i look for is the song sung by Shankar Mahadevan and this time is no different. Shankar sizzles in the lovely Bolo Na tune heavily based on Indian classical and clearly the best song of the album. Beautiful sitar, lovely usage of Piano and soft beats impresses heavily. Bechayen Sapne sung mainly by Abhijeet Sawant and Mahalakshmi Iyer is a typical bengali folk song beautifully stamped with SEL brand and at times dangerously sounds Rahmanish. A soothing folk melody with Sax interludes makes the song unique and stands out. Jeeney Ki Wajah sung by group of singers probably portrays the mood and the genre of the film. An inspirational song similar to the lines of ARR's Azaadi from Bose. SEL always had huge inspiration from ARR and this song is no different. However terrific sitar/veena interludes elevates the mood of the song briliantly. Ishaan is another inspirational song sung by multiple singers in chorus. Orchestration stand out with awesome strings and beats and i always think the genre of this kind is a huge challenge for any composer and sure will be a composers delight. There are four instrumental tracks which are probably used as background score and they are very fresh and apt. Do not overlook them.  The highlight of the album is the focus on a theme and it has a superb color to the music which is very native and original other than the interludes and brilliant usage of some traditional instruments like Sitar. Clearly SEL's best music after a long time. 

Jab Tak Hain Jaan - Music Review

After seeing the teasers of JTHJ, i wondered how Rahman would have got inspired to come up with another album to satisfy everyone. I had very low expectations to this album mainly because of the protoganist and its genre. Challa was released as a promo song with video and it didnt disprove my belief. Rahman have this rare gift of not only identifying the talent but also using them in appropriate situation. Rabbi Shergill's singing probably didnt suit well for SRK initially but stands out well as a song. Heer is clearly the best song of album to me. Lovely melody backed up with beatiuful strings and soulful singing by Harshdeep Kaur. This song has it all. Saans starts perfectly with violins and typical Rahman flute was leading to an unconventional ARR song but finally he had to settle between his stamp and Yash Chopra. Nice duet by Shreya and Mohit Chauhan. One of the best songs of the album. The Charanam was used for sad version(Reprise). Jiya Re again starts brilliantly with a classical tune backed up guitars which is going to be more of a heroine fun/intro song? Watch out for interludes. Neeti Mohan's rendition is okay but could have been a lot better. It will grow on you for sure. Jab Tak Hain Jaan - How can the album be complete without a title song and that too in a SRK's romantic movie. Nothing special in this song except the drama and definitely ARR is not needed for this. Ishq Sava is a regular dance number and definitely not in ARR standards. Shilpa Rao's rendition is apt and catchy. Ishq Dance instrumental is very un-Rahman but theatrical. Instrumentation in the JTHJ -The Poem is very good which will probably be a Shahrukh Show with his romantic antics :)

Verdict - Over all JTHJ is not in usual ARR standards but fits well for SRK and Yash Chopra. My favourite picks - Heer, Saans, Challa and Jiya Re exactly in that order.

English Vinglish - A Tribute to Women

There are two aspects that i felt very striking in English Vinglish - Genre and its subtle social message. 

The genre of this movie is an uncomplicated story of a home maker. It is a simple story of a mother/wife with no nonsense writing and that i think was very encouraging mainly because it will eventually inspire many other film makers to create story lines that are traditionally not meant for movie making. Very few directors in India accomplish that kind of movies who think outside of love, comedy, action and crime stories. These kind of movies do not need highly paid stars and can be accomplished with relatively low budget and yet be convincing. I genuinely wish more and more such stories are made into movies especially the ones that deals with human emotions which alone can remain in the hearts of people and yet be global.

Even though the crux of the movie is about a home maker's English skills, language was taken only as a medium to convey that a woman in the family is no lesser to a man despite being a breadwinner. Even though it is conveyed not so strongly, I think it was implicit enough to the male society about the expectations of a wife/mother. For this reason alone, the movie is a must watch. It is also a tribute to motherhood. I also hope people realize that  English is just a language and not knowledge. 

Watching Sreedevi on screen after a long time was exciting. There is no surprise to see her performing well. However it is like serving a small cup of pop corn to an elephant. Such are her proven credentials. Commendable job by Gauri Shinde for her writing which alone makes this movie interesting as there are no extra gimmicks to support. 

Verdict - 3.5 English Vinglish is a feel good movie that entertains without any lag despite having an uncomplicated linear screenplay. A must watch especially for men !!!!

Barfi! - A Celluloid Poetry

Movies set in the backdrop of hill stations always entice me regardless of the plot, director, case, crew etc. Barfi! kicks off in Darjeeling with cool green visuals backed up by soothing music. I have always had a special liking to the movies that spoke more through visuals and Anurag Basu tried just that and at times I felt it was almost he forced the protagonist to play dumb and deaf to achieve that successfully. Movie starts off in a period where it has to convey the past in 2 stages. The first one portrays the romance between Ranbir Kapoor(WAAOH he is a scream!!!!) and Ileana beautifully and the second one portrays the relationship between Ranbir and Priyanka. Of course there is a future which leads to the climax. It is a very interesting narrating style and a good attempt by Anurag Basu even though he struggled at times to connect seamlessly. 

Ranbir Kapoor, clearly the best actor in Hindi cinema of his generation, shoulders the movie at ease and what a performance by this young actor. Ileana was apt and pretty.  Priyanka, i thought was going to be the weak link but, didn't disappoint !!!! 

Anurag Basu, other than Ranbir, relied heavily on Ravi Varman(Cinematography) and Pritam(Music). This is probably the best of Ravi Varman to beat his work in Cheran's Autograph and Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vettaiyaadu Vilayadu(both the movies had Kerala to play with) and likewise, this is easily the best work of Pritam till date despite of holding accusations of plagiarism. In Barfi!, he scores big time in the background score and elevates the movie tremendously especially in the first half comic scenes. However, the score for dramatic/emotional portions should have been more haunting. Songs are apt and good but i feel the album is short of an haunting melody. Nevertheless, I'd take this any day when compared to his usual junkie style.  

The movie was narrated beautifully in a lovely pace with no rush which is THE appropriate way to capture this kind of screenplay artistically and this to me is a terrific pace without fast cuttings, unneccesary bomb blastings, multiple images of the walking hero in slow motion(and hero face changing to lion for a sec), flying jeeps, punch dialogues ..you know it all!!!! Just for that, Great Job Anurag Basu!

While i liked the pace of the movie, i felt many scenes did not had that depth to justify the pace. A slow narration can either go straight into the hearts or to the irritating brains. That separates the classics apart. Also, the genre of the movie is such that the incidents and intentions should have been conveyed implicitly rather than dramatically. Anyone could understand Priyanka was an isolated kid and always laughed at by the society and still the director explains that in a scene (Kids mock her singing and her  "don't laugh at me" cry in a party). However a good example of an implicit scene and the one i liked the most was when director conveys Priyanka's joy (and her isolation perhaps!) when she was around the baul tradition folk dancers(Similar to kathakali?) before she completely got used to Ranbir. Priyanka's character was the golden egg and i thought the director did not fully capitalize it.

As the movie progressed, I don't know for some reason, i started drawing parallels between Moondram Pirai(Sadma) and Barfi ....may be because - both the movies are set in the hill station; The protagnist embraces and lives with a kiddish woman. But, it will be extremely unfair to say both are similar :). However, I somehow think Barfi! missed a good chunk of what the climax(Sreedevi not recognizing Kamalhassan, pain of Kamal etc.) did to Moondram Pirai .  i.e the agony and pain and the depth in the relationships (for e.g could have capitalized Ranbir's agony of losing Priyanka when she is gone missing, hmm...it was not good enough). The only problem in the movie is the lack of the depth in the relationships and may be it was intentional by the director and wanted to convey the story in a lighter vein. 

Kudos to Anurag Basu and Ranbir Kapoor!

Verdict - 3.75. Barfi! is a celluloid poetry. A refreshing Hindi movie after a very long time in this genre. May be after Black? A big welcome and congratulations to the entire Barfi! team for giving this movie ad mist of all the bull crap that Bollywood has been churning out. Barfi! has its moments, copied scenes, inspired characters but still a very valiant effort. 

Thaandavam - Movie Review

It was alright when UTV boasted about "Deiva Thirumagal" for making a beautiful film and the very reason is the movie was a good one despite the whole idea was copied from "I am Sam" and not give any kind of credit anywhere. Honestly there are only very very few actors in India who could pull it off what Vikram did in Deiva Thirumagal and he alone solaced all the plagiarism associated with it. Anyways, the reason for me to mention about Deiva Thirumagal was that the very same team has joined hands for Thaandavam as well. I have always had my doubts on Director Vijay since he has yet to come up with a convincing original story/screenplay. I believed he has established himself in the industry and he will deliver in Thaandavam with his original script and that made me sit up when this movie was launched. Then the news like "plagiarism accusations from an assistant director", "the producers sending the original DVD from where the movie is copied from" etc. reduced the expectations.

The movie starts off in London with slower narration and i really didn't have problem with the pace of the movie as many mentioned. However, the content and screenplay lets down and far from engaging. It was too late before the movie enters into its best portion(flashback and scenes between Vikram and Anushka) and it always a tough game to bring back the audience. The thrill/suspense factor is missing and the plot it is very predictable. Jagapathi Babu's role is not interesting and he didn't make any difference. Surprisingly even Santhanam couldn't score much and not in his usual best. Amy Jackson looks pretty but doesnt fit well in the movie.There were some good moments but the movie has many flaws and many key scenes were  illogical and unconvincing. Vikram being such a brilliant actor once again let down by his movie selection after Rajapaatai. However, i admire him for his penchant for picking up different genres of movies. Anushka is very good and apt.

Yes movie was well shot mostly and just because the story happens in London didn't make any interesting. The best part of the movie is flashback episode in village especially the romantic scenes between Vikram and Anushka. GV Prakash music is fine. Couple of songs were really good. Despite the flaws, Thaandavam is much better than Raajapattai and Kandasaamy. Anniyan was the last genuine commercial success for Vikram and he joins again with Shankar for "I" and hope it brings commercial success to the fine actor to experiment films of different genres!!!

Verdict - 3/5

Nee Thaane En Pon Vasantham - Vintage Raja

Raja joins hands with the maverick film maker Gautham Vasudev Menon and that has clearly set the stage for show. I don’t want to be partial here but despite Raja has been giving good music constantly, be it Sneha Veedu(Malayalam), Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai(Tamil), Sri Ramarajyam(Telugu), Dhoni(Tamil/Telugu) to name a few - all had some great music, however there was never a collaboration recently with the contemporary film makers who appeal to youth for them to enjoy his classic stuff. Here comes a combination with Gautham who himself is a hard core raja fan and a person who clearly appreciated Raja music even in his other films. Given the expectations Gautham’s films usually create, it was taken for granted to be a musical treat and guess what……the promise has been fulfilled and it is nothing short of magic and music is truly redefined. Yep, it sounds as if Gautham says to Raja….Neethaane En Pon Vasantham!!!!

Beautiful soulful melodies, Rich orchestration, Slides and swirls of Guitars, Amazing string harmonies, Counterpoints, superb live percussion (drums), Trumpets, Horns, Choirs, Jazz, Western Classical…..what not? This album has everything and the genre is defined as “Raja Genre”. All Yo Yo stuff, synth loops ….better get lost and make way for soaking music of 42 minutes.

Pudikale Mame – When the teasers were out, the prelude of this song was played and it was super catchy. I think this song has one of the best guitar pieces of the decade and it will symbolize this movie in a huge way. Suraj Jagan rightly brought the right energy with his rendition. Raja has written the notes so meticulously that every young composer needs to learn that a fun dance number also needs strong music content. Every time I listen it just never ceases to amaze me. However, the song abruptly ends its rock section midway and the folk takes over. Even though it is fine, I wish the rock section continued as it is too good to end. 2 different songs in one. Where does this 70 year old gets this energy from?

Sainthu Sainthu – This is one kind of a song and a new genre. This song is filled with rich melody, pauses, brilliant string pieces. The highlight of the song lies in the charanam where the tune has awesome sustains set in such a way to embellish and highlight the string section. This song has to be experienced and nothing else. Watch out for counter points in the end. I seriously wished someone else other than Yuvan sang this song and the telugu version was comparatively better sung by Shaan. Ramya NSK, grand daughter of the great legend NS Krishnan sang both the versions and did a great job. Very heartening to see such youngsters find a place in Raja music.

Vaanam Mella – Sung by Raja and Bela Shinde. Typical "world famous" ilayaraja melody with rich orchestration. The striking point to me in this song was there is no need for heavy beats to show the aggressiveness but a simple bass violin piece is enough. Even though Raja has sung well, I thought it would be nice if someone else had sung mainly due to his aging voice. However the problem is even best of best singers many times failed to capture the emotion which raja can bring out while he sings. Bele shinde has sung many numbers for Raja. Even though she has a very sweet voice, there is a slight problem in higher range and goes nasal. Nevertheless, the song is a classic and will be an all time favorite for many.

Kaatrai Konjam – Is this is solo or a duet with Saxophone? Karthik gets one of the best songs of the year and is simply brilliant. Raja keeps the tune simple in the pallavi with superb strings backed up by very crisp chords and nice classic drums. Phew, when was the last time did we hear nice live percussions? Totally excited! The charanam takes off brilliant melody in minor scales which is always best for expressing pain and "longingness" with some mindblowing orchestration. One of its kind song with brand Raja all over. I wish more songs of such kind come out from the Maestro.

Pengal Yenraal – A love break up song? Awesome guitar work. Yuvan gets another song and I think it could have been sung by someone else. Yuvan does sound fine with auto tuning on in some of his songs but I don’t think he can sing for a composer like Raja. The song has very unique tune and Raja uses electric/lead guitars very effectively and that too in full fledge. Probably first time? Charanam has the usual magic with lovely tune.

Muthal Murai – A cry from the female lead. Sunidhi Chauhan renders it fantastically, what singing. A brilliant melody with aggressive orchestration. A clear show piece song and possibly a title song for the movie “Nee thane yen Pon Vasantham”. N. Muthukumar excels with his lyrics. Looking forward to see how its picturised.

Yennodu Va Va – Male solo that has an interesting start with trumphet horns. Karthik get one of the catchiest songs of the album. Raja orchestrates this song in 2 different ways. The first half of the song was orchestrated with classic instruments – Strings, guitars, piano etc. the second half is more synthesized. I am not sure if he was trying to demonstrate if the first kind of orchestration was way superior but it sounds brilliant than the second kind. It is always a pleasure to listen to a well orchestrated song.

Satru Munbu – Cracker of the album to me. Not too many female love failure songs are around but despite the situation, the song’s genre is so unique which will take over anything the movie has to offer. This song is like a mini oratoria– Rich Choir, brilliant strings and some good singing by Ramya NSK. I wish these kind of songs are recognized by todays youth who are totally stuck with a chocolate template loop sounds which hardly has any musical value. Brilliant composition!!!!

I honestly think each and every song deserve a write up. Nevertheless, i wanted to share some of my excitement. All these songs were performed live by an orchestra from London and it is a life time experience. A huge thanks to Gautham for his vision and kudos for bringing out the music from the master. Not to be missed!!! 

Yentharo Mahanubaavalu!!!

Being a huge fan of Jazz and fusion, i have always felt Carnatic music can serve as a brilliant platform for fusion and here is a classic example. Yentharo is a superb material for fusion. Have fun listening!!!

Billa 2 - One Man Show

How difficult is to create hype on a movie and meet the expectations? It is easy said and done when its met convincingly and most of the times the fire power behind that effort would go unnoticed and taken for granted. Billa 2 is undoubtedly the most anticipated Tamil film of 2012 and that is only because of one name - Ajith. His huge fan following and some superb teasers/trailers created a hype that is even bigger than his last outing in Mankatha. Tainted as India's first prequel, the makers further boosted the expectations by depicting Ajith as an Lankan refugee. 


While the story unveils the rise of an ordinary refugee to a dreaded gansgter is a no brainer, Ajith perfectly fits the bill and sets up the platform nicely for the show. DASHING is one word to explain Ajith's looks and his screen presence. He simply carries the movie with his charisma and any other actor would have to struggle to match his looks and he has underplayed the role very well. 

Having picked by Kamal Hassan to direct his Unnai Pol Oruvan, Chakri Toleti promised a lot to be an exciting talent. He replaced Vishnuvardhan who could not accommodate dates to direct this flick as Vishnu was commited to complete Pawan Kalyan's Panjaa. He along with an american screenwriter Eric Felberg collaborated to form the story and the fairly engaging first half portraying Ajith's transformation to an established ganster were inspired from Al Pacino's all time classic Scarface. Billa 2 fairly engages audiences for good first half of the movie and loses it steam in the second part. Chakri Toleti has made a huge mess of it and lost a golden opportunity. I dont know what else he could ask for. 


The biggest strength next to Ajith is RD Rajashekar's cinematography which i think was his best after Kakha Kakha. Writer Era Murukan also scores with his apt, powerful and thoughtful punches which enhances Ajith's larger than life character. However, Chakri has inappropriately used them in places. Yuvan's background score is apt and songs are not properly utilized. 

Referring to my original question, this movie surely created a tremendous hype but i am afraid if it had lived up to it and that's where people like Shankar standout. If not for Ajith, the movie would have been a real dud, thanks to his fans and the opening he has. Unfortunately even he could not save the movie on the whole.

Positives -
1. "Thala" Ajith
2. RD Rajashekar's Cinematography.

 Negatives  -
1. Chakri Toleti's direction, story, screenplay, casting, song placement and everything.
2. Ajith's poor selection of director.
3. Heroine??

Verdict - 3/5. A Classic example of how a director can spoil a big star's movie despite having a good team. Chakri truly missed his chance to prove himself. Ajith, who was once known for his selection of directors especially the new comers, has to stop making poor choice of directors after opting out directors like Mani Ratnam, Gautham Menon, Bala etc in the past. 

Eega/Naan Ee

SS Rajamouli  - All the way!!!!

When most of the film makers aspire to cast protognists who boasts huge fan following, here is a director who chose to be different this time and chose a fly to play one despite having a tag of "King of Masala". He surely deserves huge rounds of applause just for trying to break the jinx of "Hero Worshiping" films. Eega/Naan Ee is a pucca commercial entertainer and stands out for its innovative visuals. So a clear statement to all the "punch dialogue", "thigh slapping" heroes - even a fly can do your role so relax!. It is high time we realize that they are just normal actors and not immortal demi-gods. 

While most of us already knew the story and the plot which is not entirely novel, Rajamouli  is still able to hook the audience to the movie for most of the part with his skillful screenplay backed up by some amazing visuals. The movie starts with a random conversation between a father and child where the father is trying to narrate a story about fly and that to me was a brilliant idea in preparing the audience and making a statement about the movie and its genre. So no other logical questions arise. The movie is fun and thoroughly enjoyable. Kudos to Rajamouli who made this crazy idea into reality. He thoroughly excelled in all departments of film making especially his command over narrating the story. His team members also should be equally appreciated for this effort. 

Eega is also a Bi- lingual and released as Naan Ee in Tamil. It is a good attempt for making it as a bilingual by roping in Crazy Mohan which i thought was a brilliant idea to provide nativity to tamil audiences unlike a regular dubbed movie. Santhanam is good as always. However it cannot be compared to a bi lingual like a Yuva or a VTV/YMC. "Naan Ee" does have dubbing and lip sync issues  in few scenes but it can be completely overlooked given the content and visuals. All the other languages(Malayalam and Kannada) will have dubbed version of Eega. This visual treat is sure to entice all the kids and has all the elements to become a blockbuster not only in Telugu but also in other languages including Hindi. However, the romance portions were not up to mark and could have had more emotional quotient and pain. I wish they revisit the first 30 minutes and may be remove the songs; trim a little bit more when they take it to Hindi audiences.

Positives -
1. Incredible visual effects.
2. Rajamouli's screenplay and direction.
3. Senthil's Cinematography.
4. Keeravani's Background Score.
5. Sudeep


Negatives -
1. First 30 minutes.
2. Songs except for the montage song. I thought the songs should have been much better. Infact "No- Songs" is a much better option.

Verdict - 3.75/5 Rajamouli has a clear winner and truly transformed his imagination to silver screen. This movie is sure to have huge impact in Telugu Film Industry. A Must Watch!!!

Meet the Master

My introduction to Ramana Maharishi happened when I was probably 16 years old. Being a huge fan of Indian Music Composer Ilayaraja, i read about Ramana in one of his interviews/speech. His teachings were vaguely understood then. Not that I could able to comprehend everything now, but even with words it was tough. Many said that it is a distilled form of spiritual truth and I had that deep interest in knowing the truth partially to satisfy my ego to possess that understanding. When I read the book written by Paul Brunton's A Search in Secret India, it took me few days to digest and left me in tears many times. A classic in simple terms. To me that was the greatest story of a spiritual hero told and documented despite knowing Ramayana and Mahabharata in parts. I have read many books about Ramana and his close disciples and the way they lived in the Ashram left me stunned. Honestly, I was not sure what I was looking for from Ramana but his interactions with people (hardly does he) inspired me heavily to read more and more and made me to visit his ashram in Thiruvannamalai or Holy Arunachala which is 4 hours drive from Chennai city. His stance on the sadhana or practice remained to the dot regardless of the forms of questions put forth by different kinds of people and he never swayed away from the truth to please them which itself is a huge life lesson. Even if you are a non-believer you simply cannot afford to miss this greatest Rishi lived on planet earth.

I am looking forward to share more in future.

God Bless!!!