Paruthiveeran -- To all whoever wants to feel the nativity...

When Ameer finished his “Mounam Pesiyathey”, he invited two personalities specially for the premiere of the movie. One was Kamalhasan and the other was Maniratnam. I decided to see that movie after reading this. And, Ameer continues the same spirit even today. His latest Paruthiveeran can be claimed as his best till date.

Thr are very few directors who never compromises or compromises a little, like MR, KH, BM, etc. Now, its Ameer’s term. Now-a-days in the m/c world and multiplex fever, one would really dare to take a village subject. Ameer did it well. And, the success is he even made it to be watchable by multiplex audience too. He even touches castism in some scenes(Actually, the theme of the movie is also tat only). The liveliness of the village can be smelled all over the movie. The Madurai Tamil… If my memory is correct, after Virumaandi, this is the movie where colloquial tamil is used for the full length.
Actually speaking, the “Melam”, “Naadhaswaram”, “Karagaattam”, etc remind me of my native’s(Kulasekhara patnam) Dasarah festival. Wonderfully captured!! The way the songs taken was another beauty. Ilaiyaraaja’s haunting voice adds another feather to the song “Ariyaatha vayasu”.(Mind it… IR was paid Rs. 2Lacs to sing tat song, highest ever paid for a singer) That is how a puppy love shud be… very decently captured. The other side “Matured love” also captured in a very beautiul manner, “Iyayo” song.
The script was very straight forward… Then and there thr was flashback scenes, which gave the firm base for Karthik and Priyamani’s love and Priyamani’s father’s non-acceptance for the love. The director carved the character of Karthik with atmost care… One can find it when the small kid was answering to Priyamani father’s question. Since I was born an brought up in village, I can feel it. Thr are such kids always. :-)

Karthik… I really doubt whether he learnt direction or Acting, while he was assisting Maniratnam. ;-) Its awesome man!! What Surya did after Bala shaped him, he did it in the first film itself. And, tat too the “looties” of himself and his uncle(Chittappa). If I say it in Tamil, “Kaalaikkirathukku oru alavey illaama kalaaichirukkaanga”. U cant stop laughing of wat they did after the constable looting the money 4m them. When the police took fotos of the prisoners, Karthik sed “Give pose, they are taking fotos”. J When they lay on the sunlight and explaining to Priyamani why they were lying, etc scenes. And, Priyamani too justified her role. She fits like T as a normal village gal… And, her voice… If she only did the dubbing, that also did the justification. A very apt village gal voice.

Yuvan Shankar Raja and Ramji took the film to a new height, indeed. When I wrote review for Pudhupettai, I praised his music like anything… But, in one another review someone scolded him for not giving music with nativity feel. Yuvan answered him by this movie. You can feel the nativity in every frame. Ramji’s camera work… as expected he used Red tone. But, very different camera angles… That too when he showed the scenes that happened in Redsand. Does the director really wanted to say something? (Only ‘coz of the blood drops, the sand becomes red??)

The only thing I cant digest is its Climax. It doesn’t mean that, the climax is unjustifyable. Even, its a very creative climax also. But… why cant he take it the other way?? After Kutti, this is the 2nd movie which I wanted to see the 2nd time, but cant see, atleast for the climax.

Review of Maniratnam's Guru -- Not only the movie, he himself

Disclaimer: I havent read any reviews till now. Any resemblence to them is purily coincidental. ;-)

Whenever I write a review, I decide to see the movie atleast one more time. Here also its the same case with Guru... But, with slightly different manner. I have to watch a Maniratnam movie atleast twice or thrice before writing a review. And, the remaining times to see the movie are still unknown.

"Dream... as far as you can"... The movie begins with this dialogue which explains the theme of the movie. And it comes to the scene how sharp Gurukandh Desai(Gurunath Desigan) is. When Guru decided to start a business and how he managed to get into the trade may remind us Nayagan. But, the resemblance ends there itself. MR gave a heavy role to Midhun and so he justified it in a well manner. The body language of AB is awesome man. Especially, when he looked Vidhya balan, when both Midhun and Maddy scolded him. Thr Vidhya Balan also acted well. One more thing... When AB was trying hard to act well,, Maddy finished his part perfectly with just a smile or a simple bare look.

Really its a different thing to portray the hero and his opposite party as best friends. Apart from official contend, they strive to maintain a good relationship. Again its typical MR when showing the physically challenged gal's unfulfilled ambitions.("I want to sing and dance without any pain for 3 days") The last 30 - 40 min, it was a gud narration between Guru's scenes and Meenu(Vidhyabalan)'s scenes alternatively.

There are many nuance scenes as usual in all other MR movies. In one scene MR shows all other traders were circularly running around Guru, which depicts he became the hero among them.
Thr are some untold scenes too... The item number is unnecessary, when its seen for the first time. But, just notice the song. Mallika was dancing in a pub. Guru and his friends went thr. Then, after some time, Guru earned money and she came with them in a street car. Again Guru earned lot of money and this time they went in a speed boat. ie: It also explains the growth of Guru.
When he became the father of twins, he told someone to inform his parents that he was coming to his hometown . Then immediately the song "Jodi Jodi"(Ek lo Ek Muft) comes. ie: The song was sung in the hometown. In the last scene of the song only MR shows their parents just for 2 sec.
When Maddy and Vidhya Balan were talking in the press suddenly thr was a power failure, only in their press. Already the newspaper was writing negative against Guru. Here comes the music. ARR will start his "Gurubaai" music thr. He used to play this music whereever Guru becomes the winner. And so, here its obvious who was behind the powercut.
When Guru went to a minister's home to get a (illegal) sign, he told the following dialogue... "Ur uncle gave me a thing which is a heavy one. If I put it down anyone will take." Thats all. He got his signature. He didnt offer money. But, simply he blackmailed the minister with some unknown reason, which might have involved some tape or sth which could cover a bribe or sth.
When the enquiry started, AB asked the chief to speak in the regional language. At first, this seems to be unnecessary. But, Once the enquiry was over, when he justified his doings, he told "I dont even know the meanings of Exile, Customs, etc". The first request helped him to hold a strong stand.

The dialogues are the crucial part in the movie. Few eg:
"When my boss accepts that I am working fine, why shud I work for him? I shall work for me."
When AB told its almost dark in the night, ash replied like "U can see many places in the world with dawn or daylight. Why do u always think of ur place only?"
"If u wanna win Guru, u hav to be Guru. But thr is only one Guru".
"What Mahatma did was also against the then law"
Hats off to AzhagamPerumaal (or Maniratnam!) I think, mostly the dialogues were same in hindi and tamil. I told this with my 'thoda thoda' hindi knowledge only. Unlike Uyire the lip movement was somewhat gud in Guru(Tamil)

For the song Ek Lo Ek Muft, SPB did the justification more than Bappi Lahari, it seems. Anyway, its ARR who too helped the movie to bring one step forward. He (was) underplayed and keeps mum in many places. Anyway, though the tune is gud, the Gurubaai beat reminds me of "Viru Viru maandi Virumaandi" tune by Ilaiyaraaja 4m the movie Virumaandi.

The camera was awsome. Some of the spectacular angles... The steps scene when Guru came to Ash house to see her father. The running train in between Ash and Guru, when Guru didnt have words to speak. The handheld camera while Midhun's car was broken.... etc. The song "Tere bina" was taken in a very gud manner, which is simply enuf to bring the fighting couple together.

The art director Samir Chanda... I didnt see any different art work(positive comment only) except in the Ek Lo song. The swaying model. Apart 4m this, I can understand the difficulties in bringing the old town lively. Samir did the job without any mistake. And, the timeframe is shown using the cars also. First it was old Benz, then some premier padmini like cars... then, condessa. And, the number of cars too. First it was very minimal. Then in the middle MR slightly shows the city traffic. hey... If I forgot to tell abt the tram, God wont forgive me. ;-)

The editor Sreekar Prasad also has done his job well. If the editing doesnt look odd, then only the movie is gud. Never it has overcome the script.

Still I dont get any idea abt importing the empty boxes. I think, MR didnt explain it well. In the end the movie again it reminded me of Nayagan. First I thought the climax was not handled properly. But, later knew tat it was only enquiry commission and not the court. When most of the commisions were eyewash, why not this climax? Anyhow, still I am not fully satisfied. BTW, the ending is another spectacular part of the movie. To enjoy the ending u hav to watch the movie right from the beginning itself. ;-)

Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu -- Ya... Its true!

Man... Really really something is different in this movie. Right 4m the start up... I hav never seen such a opening sequence for Kamal, or even for any other actors. Be it in editing, be it in camera, the movie stands apart. Actually, I didnt concentrate much on camera(Ravivarman) when I saw the movie the first time. Even, I thought the camera was not as gud as Pudhupettai. Still, the view continues. But, seriously talking the camera is awesome in many places. Especially in the intro scenes of Newyork city. The editing(Antony) also... Thou in some places, it reminds KK, its so gud and fast. One more thing is fight sequences. Kamal is aged, so he cant move a lot and fight. The stunt master(stun Siva?) has done a wonderful job, especially in Bostan fight.

This movie can never be compared with Goutham's previous work, Kakka2. KK still be the best in its genre. It deals with the police officer's life, fighting with the known villain. But, here its not the case.

The movie starts with a tagline, "Another episode of a police officer's life". True! The whole story revolves around Kamal(Raagavan) only. His passion abt his work, his love, his investigation, his chasing etc. In every frame, u can find Kamal. For telling the story neatly, thr wont be Kamal in very minimal frames. Thou the story has logical flaws, like... how the killer easily kills everyone, How the killer avails visa easily, etc., the script is gud. Very gud/apt narration.

Some minute details shud be notified... Prakash Raj was a christian in the movie and so a Jesus foto was thr in out of focus in his home. In the song 'Paartha mudhal naalil', thr came a first night sequence. At tat time, Kamal removed all garments 4m Kamalini. After tat, he touches the 'Thaali', she had smiled and noded 'No'. After this, in a long shot, he kissed her for a long time. And so, she was breathing harder. Kamal signals tat he wud give her some air. ;-) The NY police officer told tat they found a license for a gun but the gun was missing. And, it was the one the killer used when he tried to kill Kamal. When Kamal writes the suspects' names in front of a NY police officer, he naturally writes one of the suspect's name in Tamil and erases it and re-writes in English. When the killer talking to his friend, we can find a poster with the word "Hannibal". When one of the killer constantly insisting to kill the police officer, the other one hugs the fellow and consoles. The other fellow immediately becomes cool and u can find it why in the climax. When the killer tries to kill Kamal the killer wud hav kill him in one shot. But, the killer wants Kamal to die slowly. 'coz its the character of the killer. The killer is a serial killer. ie: Usually serial killers will be intelligent and they will follow the same style whenever they kill someone and their intention will be the same for every murder. These things are brilliantly handled in this movie.

Actually, some felt tat the love scenes slows downs the script. Thou' its true, it cant be taken in this way. Even when the film starts, the director tells that this is a story of a police officer. Then, its unavoidable to hav such scenes and its natural tat love scenes cannot be handled tat much faster as action scenes. I shud certainly mention abt the dialogues in those love sequences. They were so gud. I think I wrote it in KK review itself... After Maniratnam, thr is Goutham to take gentle, lovable love scenes.

The only thing in this movie had a -ve impact is Re-recording. Its gud in some places, whereas in some other places it starts irrirating. Harris shud hav stopped his work with songs only. He doesnt know whr to keep mum... Except very few frames, in every frame u can hear some BGM too... this is not a gud MD's job. Julie Ganapathy is somewhat related to this Psycho genre. HJ shud look into that movie to see how a World class BGM shud be. Thou its not possible to give the output like IR, HJ shud try for some extend.

Kamal's acting... Its perfect man... He lives how a police officer shud be. The majestic, gigantic look, patience and speed, always an alertness, etc., proves kamal again. Need myself to say again??

U can see the movie only for Kamal itself. But, surely its one another Goutham's beautifully waiving movie. Even worth watching for 2nd time. ;-)

நான் தமிழுக்கு மாறிட்டேன்...

ஒரு வழியாக வழக்கமாக(குறைந்தது வாரம் ஒருமுறை) ப்லாக்கலாம் என்று முடிவு எடுத்து விட்டேன். ம்... விதி வலியது. அவ்வாறு எழுத ஆங்கிலத்தை விட தமிழ் எளிதாக இருக்கும் என்று நினைத்ததால் தான் இப்படி. அதாவது எனக்கு எழுத கடினமாக இருந்தாலும், படிக்க மற்றவர்களுக்கு சுலபமாக இருக்கும். எனது ஆங்கில புலமை அப்படிப் பட்டதாக்கும். :-)

ம்... ஆங்கிலம் உபயோகித்து உபயோகித்து சில வார்த்தைகளின் தமிழின் சமமான வார்த்தைகள் ஞாபகத்துக்கு வரமாட்டேங்குது. ஆகையால் சில பல ஆங்கில பிரயோகங்கள் இருந்தால் மன்னித்தருளவும். இதை எழுதும் பொழுது எனகே கொஞ்சம் சந்தேகமாக உள்ளது... தமிழ் அழிந்து கொண்டுள்ளதா?? இல்லை என்று தான் சொல்ல தோன்றுகிறது. கால மாற்றத்திற்கேற்ப தாக்கு பிடிக்கும் மொழி தான் தமிழ். இல்லையென்றால், 2000 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு சமஸ்கிருதம் வந்த பொழுதே அழிந்து இருக்க வேண்டும். அல்லது, 400 வருடங்கள் முன்பு ஆங்கிலம் வந்த பொழுதே அழிந்து இருக்க வேண்டும். பிற மொழிகளையும் தன்னுள் வாங்கி தன்னை வளப்படுத்திக் கொள்ளும் மொழி அழிவதற்க்கு வாய்ப்பு இல்லை. ஆங்கிலம் வளர்ந்ததே அப்படி தானே! எனவே ஆங்கில கலப்பு பற்றி அச்சம் கொள்ள தேவை இல்லை.

ஆனால் மொழி வல்லுனர்கள் ஒன்றை கவனத்தில் கொள்ள வேண்டும். எல்லாவற்றையும் தமிழ் படுத்துகிறேன் பேர்வழி என்று அறிவியல் பெயர்களை கூட தமிழ் படுத்துவதை தவிர்க்கலாம். கல்லூரியில் "தனிமம்" என்பதன் ஆங்கில வார்த்தை தெரியாமல் நான் பட்ட கஷ்டம் எனக்கு தான் தெரியும். (இன்னமும் அது தெரியாது என்பது வேறு விஷயம்!)

Pudhupettai - A different gangster movie in its kind

A much expected movie with a tagline "Survival of the fittest". Thr is no feel-gud factor, no sudden turning points, etc... But, still the movie survives a lot. To write a review, its necessary to point out some beautiful things in the movie. But, for this movie, its very hard to pin point one. In his last movie "7G"s review, Vikatan wrote like "Thou' the director has lotta ideas, he shudnt try to implement all of them in just 3 hrs"... The same comment fits here also. A movie with full of ideas. Full of wonderful scenes. Full of unique styles. Full of scenes that have not been seen in any movies. And of course, Full of violence.
When I entered the theatre, I was thinking that I was going to see a different ganster movie. But, Selvaraghavan took the movie as if he lived with them. He shows a person's growth right from his struggle for living, with reality. He shows the other (torture) side of prostitutes, with reality. He shows the politics, with reality.... Altogether it again proved "Realism == Selvaraghavan"
Some of the beautiful dialogues like "Nee ennai'ai uyiroda vittaa, naan unnai uyiroda viduven" adds a special degree to the movie. Yet the dialogue cud be even stronger in some scenes. But, once we consider it as slum ppl's dialogue, we can easily come to a conclusion that we need not expect more. Dhanush and Sneha delivered the fullest. They acted even with their eyes. And, notably, the characterisation of other characters too handled in a perfect fashion. Thou thr r lotta char (that shud be in a ganster movie), nowhere we will get confused. And also, every character fits in our memory perfectly.
Music, Camera and Editing lift the movie to a new platform. Some camera angles looked even better, like some beautiful top-angle shots, showing the scenes with green tinted for some scenes and red tinted for some violent scenes, etc Even when the movie starts, he shows the red tint first then the green tint, which gave me a feeling that "this movie wud become full of violence, as well as some sentimental scenes". (Yes... even the movie handled some sentimental scenes, which were neatly handled, without affecting the flow of the movie)
Music... wow... Yuvan is trying to reach a new peak. Some powerful BGMs! Even he handled some of the scenes better with silence. (When his father is an expert in muting the BGMs, he will surely do'na!!) And of course, for showing a lean person like Dhanush to become a leader of the ganster, its very necessary to play a stylish music, but at the same time, it shudnt be more heroic, else it wud become comedy. Yuvan knows this techniq and implemented this very well in the movie.
Sharp cuts and very small rapid clippings give full credits to the editor, especially in the song "Enga area ulla varaatha". Some scenes looked different, when the images merged into a black screen and came back with the next scene.
The director shows the fear of those persons(gangsters), after they executed all of the plans(like Munich). And, that too with a single dialogue "Bayapaduraiyaa kumar'u??" and a few powerful scenes. Thou' the movie handled with this type of subject, it has a msg also. A gangster's life is as not easy as we think. If anyone wishes to be a gangster, he shudnt worry(or even care) abt his life.
Anyway, its very hard to review this film after single look. I have to see this movie one more time to understand some runaway scenes. After 'Aayitha Ezhuthu', this is the movie which I am going to have a 2nd look. Surely, it deserves.

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Below are some of the comments given by my friends...

** At one point of time, u will probably lose the continuity of the threads, since It has lotta threads. (Of course thr is no confusion. U have to watch it carefully frame by frame.)

** Thou the climax tells the today's truth, it wud teach "Crime doesnt pay"

Thiruttu Payaley -- Movie Review

Actually I think, I stopped writing reviews of movies. But, this movie made me to write atleast to some extend.

First think, there is no hero in this movie. Dont mistake me... I dont mean the script is the real hero, thou' its true. But, literally no hero. Even u might wonder how one took a movie only with villians. But, Susi Ganesan did it well. Even he made us to feel for the hero(like) character in the climax.

For a thriller movie thr exists two approaches. (or, I know only two!!) The movie can be moved like a cricket match. ie: one side can be allowed to play its part. After that the other side can start its own. But, this movie is like a football match. The director made the two teams to play. As soon as one side was nearing the goal post, the other side was trying to escape with great tactics, and that too in a very different manner, that tamil cinema havent seen yet.

Thou' the director said Sonia came with a smiling face, the sadness couldnt be removed from the face. what to do!! Jeevan did a gud job. But, whenever he laughed, I was frightened. ;-)

I still wonder how Bharatwaj came up with a gud music!! But, for me, it gave me a feeling like Susi Ganesan doesnt give importance to Music as much. He usually chooses only some ordinary MDs, not like IR, ARR, etc. Yes... I accept... The re-recording was gud. But, a music should help the movie to take it one step up. Here its not the case. All I can say is, it went along with the movie.

Usually, we cant feel like a song coming, if its a Maniratnam movie. Even in Susi's earlier movies too! But, here the patrons started walking for a 'dhum', once they felt a song wud come. Even, the movie cannot be named as technically very rich. A few new tries are gud, like showing the picture in a wide angle camera(or, whatsoever!!) I couldnt really get why the director used green color tint for some specific scenes. Might be I can, if I see the movie one more time. ;-)

The best thing in the movie is the script. Susi weaved the script with beautiful knots. And, he really showed that "crime doesnt pay", in a small comical and thiriller way. And, even in a single part, I didnt feel like seen the scene already in any other movie. And, Susi carefully avoided the redundancy too. There were no extra dialogues or visuals.

But, the only thing is, the script appears with an international appeal. Our fellows might not be ready to accept this type of creativity, since the movie dealt with the mind fight between the two, not physical. And, there was no the so called 'pure' love. Love scenes appeared only for some moments. And that too came along with the story perfectly.

Anyway, this type of movie should come and should be appreciated. Hats off to Susi!!

Review of Netru Indru Naalai -- A stage show by Maniratnam

It was a gr8 evening. The show, Netru(Sterday) Indru(Today) Naalai(Tomorrow), was perfect in every aspect... Be it on Lighting... Be it on Sets... Be it on Choreogrphy... Everything was perfect.. Except the timing... ;-) As usual, they started by 1hr delay(ie: Indian Time), as against 6:30PM mentioned in the pass.
First they started with Chandralekha(ie: the old one, produced by Gemini pictures), which recieved lotta acclamation on tat time, for its magnificiant settings in 60's itself... Some other songs played in the Netru Section were...
1. Yaaradi Nee Mohini 2. Viswanathan velai vendum 3. Atho andha paravai pol 4. Engey Nimmathi 5. Naan aanai ittal, etc...
For some ot those songs, the stage was decorated in Black & White. It was really very pleasant to see those settings. Wat a work by Sabu Cyril. But, it was clearly seen for normal viewing only... In the screen, the black & white was not presented well.(I hope, it will be clearer while showing it on Vijay on the first week of March)

After this B&W, it was Gemini color. They beautifully recreated the sets for the song, "Viswanathan velai vendum". The costumes were simply gr8. And, the choreography too!! One special for the song "Avalukkenna". They had started the song, as if TMS sang in the movie then the song dance sequences started.
I think, they cud hav fixed the camera in its possition by covering all of the stage. 'coz, the choreography team worked hard to perform each steps in every part of the stage. But, these camera persons were sincerely capturing Shilpa Shetty. ;-) eg: In the previously mentioned song, the sequence was like this... It shows the picturisation of the song in the sets for a movie. So, the cameramen(ie: the dancers, not the real cameramen!!) took the camera and were covering the shots. They ran all over the stage. But, these Vijay TV cameramen shot only few parts of the stage. So, those who see in the TV may miss those nuance things... Anyway, these things are unavoidable in commercial section. :-(
For this Netru section, Sabu Cyril was the back bone. He picked the show to a greatest height with his skills.
Other mentions in the "Netru" section were... Sobhana's dance. Wat a performance man!! Her crew performed for a musical piece and for a piece 4m Mozart. For the first piece, the choreography was bit difficult, since it had lotta instruments in the stage and they had to play in a synchoronized manner with the audio output. I heard tat MR cancelled the show after they planned in Sep 2005, only 'coz of Shobana's unavailablity of dates. Really her performance boost the show to one another level. One another appreciable thing... Prakash Raj... His expressions in the song "Engey Nimmathi" was awsome.
After this Netru, Indru section started with the ever greatest "Ilamai Itho Itho"... As u all know, it was lighting which played the major role in tat song. Some other songs were...
1. Raakkamma Kaiya thattu 2. Annathai Aaduraar 3. Aayiram thamarai mottukkaley 4. Thillaana thillaana 5. Chaiya Chaiya, etc
For this too, settings played a major role. And, the lightings too... A small eg for MR's perfectionism even in small things too... In Annathey aaduraar (4m the movie Aboorva Sagotharargal) song, thr was a poster in the backround. And, it was Malai Kallan, an MGR starrer movie, released in 70s. And, Aboorva sagotharargal was released in the 80's. In Aayiram Tharamai song, they reproduced the song very well. 'coz some of the song sequences were picturised in a river. Sabu Cyril simply did it without any water. I was expecting a much in Chaiya Chaiya song... So, little bit disappointed. The train set was superb. But, they just showed us the engine and danced in front of the engine. hmm.. sth shud be compromised, coz this is not a movie!!
The highlight of the day was Kamal singing "Thenpandi Seemaiyiley"... Wow..he sang with the same feeling, wat he evoked in the movie. Absolute brilliance man!!
Another one was ARR's theme song for Banyan. The song sounds like western. Beautifully orchestrated and the humming was wonderful.
While changing the sets, they started playing some sounds, which made the audience to keep guessing wat song they wud play. (For, Indru section, thr was a mismatch, I think so!!)
Anyway, I didnt really get wat MR wanted to tell abt Naalai(tomorrow) concept...!! It seems the song had some theme, but I cudnt catch the inner beauty... Sorry. Lemme try to find it in the TV.
But, I didnt think tat MR wud opt for some nos like "Appadi podu", "Machan peru madurai", etc... Commercialisation?? But, thank God... He packaged all of those nos in a single sequence, which existed for only 7 or 8 min.
The sad point is... Appriciation 4m ppl... I heard applause, only here and there. It seems, most of the ppl might not hav known the beauty and work behind those sets and lightings to bring the "Sterday, today, tomorrow" feeling. But, they all started dancing for that packaged song. Okay.. wat to do!! Expectation and views differ.
One other thing, the police didnt even care abt those standing in front of others. They cud hav avoided it. Other than this, the security was gud. Anyway, after all the programme was for a gud cause!! So, lets leave it.
Collectively the event was very gud. Once the programme was over, Madhavan and others lifted MR to their shoulders. He deserved it!!