Kadal

Curiously, as I started my car from the parking lot of the multiplex after watching the movie, the audio system started playing "Pachai Nirame" song, as if reminding us that its the same man who has directed Alaipaayuthe & Kadal!! Just can't believe it!! Clearly Mani Ratnam seems to have lost his "Midas" touch!! Rajiv Menon's camera makes the visuals stunning!! What a comeback for Arvindswamy!! Gautam Kartik can dance, fight and emote well!! Thulasi Nair will have to wait for a couple of years, shed those extra kilos and the childish look on her face before signing the next movie!! Overall, Mani Ratnam's poor form seems to be continuing, which isn't a good news!!

- Originally posted on Facebook on 3rd February 2013

Biryani

My first job involved a bit of travelling. I was a regular visitor to Hyderabad then and hence it is no surprise that the word “Biryani” evokes in me the taste and aroma of the famous Hyderabadi Biryani, especially the one that is sold at “Paradise”! True to the name, whenever I had “Paradise Biryani”, I felt I was in a paradise!! It was with this feeling that I booked tickets for “Biryani”, the film.

The film has the Venkat Prabhu stamp all over it. The movie begins with a high octane chase and a flash back. It then slips into the usual Venkat Prabhu mould of booze parties, women and Premgi Amaren’s witty one-liners. You slowly get a feeling that the movie is losing its pace. But, credit to the director that he manages to keep your interest intact! A few scenes might mildly remind you of the Hollywood blockbuster “Hangover”. But, thanks to some unexpected twists and turns, you soon forget about it and suddenly realize that you are in the middle of a very interesting plot! The movie picks up pace post-interval and finishes with yet another Venkat Prabhu style ending!

Karthi is an apt choice of this role and has done his part well. He seems to have finally ended his “flop” spell! Nasser was unnecessary for this film. His role didn’t demand anything special and anyone could have done it! Uma Riyaz’s performance will be remembered for a long time. A slimmer Hansika doesn’t have much to do except to add glamour. If you expected something big or different from Yuvan’s 100th film, you will be disappointed! Except for a song that was rendered by four music directors, Iman, GV Prakash, Vijay Antony & Thaman, this film has nothing different or new to offer on the music front!

Just like “Paradise Biryani”, Venkat Prabhu has the spices and other ingredients in the right proportion. Though I knew how “Paradise Biryani” tasted like, I couldn’t resist myself from tasting it every time I visited Hyderabad. Same is the case with Venkat Prabhu’s Biryani. Though I knew his style of film making, I couldn’t resist myself from booking a ticket for this movie. But, unlike Goa, I don’t regret making a booking for this movie! Go and enjoy this murder mystery if you like Venkat Prabhu’s style of film making. Else, you can always watch it on TV after a few months!!

Raanjhanaa

It was the kind of Sunday that I’ve not had for a long time now! I didn’t have anything to do, except for this Ashes test match, the election results and analysis and of course, the India vs South Africa ODI to be followed. And yes, I cancelled this weekend’s FB detox anticipating a “busy” Sunday. I didn’t have a Plan-B for this Sunday as such.

Suddenly, sometime in the afternoon, out of nowhere, I started going through the channel guide of my DTH service provider and my eyes lit up the moment I saw the Hindi flick “Raanjhanaa” was scheduled for a 2 PM screening on one the HD movie channels. The idea of watching a movie on a HD channel, with close to no ad breaks combined with the fact that this was one movie that had good reviews allured me. Dhanush in particular was appreciated by one and all for his performance in this move. So, I decided to dump the election news and the India vs. South Africa ODI for a couple of hours and switched to “Raanjhanaa”, and I’m glad I did!

From the streets of Varanasi to the JNU campus of Delhi, the director superbly captures the milieu on screen, while keeping you engrossed with a reasonably good screenplay. It was refreshing to see an equally important role for the female lead of the movie and Sonam Kapoor doesn’t disappoint in this one. AR Rahman’s BGM was brilliant in certain scenes, especially the one on the banks of the Ganges where he has employed violins a la Illayaraja!

As said in my many previous FB posts/comments, post-Aadukalam, I’ve become a fan of Dhanush. This movie once again proves me why! This guy has some serious talent and he is impressive in each and every frame. He appears as a school boy, as a diehard romeo head over in heels with the heroine and also as a political activist. He is simply brilliant in each of these roles!

A few years ago, if you had told me that I will forsake watching a cricket match and election analysis on TV to watch a Dhanush movie, I would have probably scoffed at you. But, today, I did it without a second thought and I am glad I did it!

Watch Raanjhanaa if you still haven’t. I’m sure you will love it!

Irandaam Ulagam

Thankfully, this Selvaraghavan movie doesn’t have the typical hero suffering from Schizophrenia or any other mental disorder. In this movie, he has experimented with concepts of metaphysics and the existence of a parallel universe/world. In fact, the movie opens with a couple of quotes of Albert Einstein which talks about the existence of other life forms and the existence of the same “us” in other planets/galaxies! Come to think of it, haven’t we heard our elders say that there will be 7 people resembling us in this world? May be, the world they meant included this universe and other parallel universes also!

Coming back to Irandaam Ulagam now, the movie has two parallel love stories, one taking place on earth and the other in a distant planet, with Arya and Anushka playing the lead roles in both of them. The movie lacks pace and the story doesn’t keep you interested either. But, towards the intermission, there is an unexpected twist and you take the break anticipating a very interesting second half. I earnestly hoped Selvaraghavan won’t disappoint me. But, the second half doesn’t deliver either! The only thing that kept me awake in the movie was the comments passed by a group of youngsters, who in all probability were fresh-grad techies working in Gurgaon! They just didn’t stop and had everyone in the auditorium in splits with their one-liners!

Arya definitely is a poor choice for the lead role, at least for the love story that takes place on the earth. He just doesn’t enliven the screen. Anushka though, has played her part well. Ramji’s camera has captured scenic Georgia beautifully. But, the special effects (read graphics) showing some weird creatures in the distant planet disappoint big time. They obviously tried to mimic Avatar and haven’t succeeded. Since the movie had the theme of two love stories taking place in two different planets, the director has tried two music directors, Harris Jayaraj for the songs and Anirudh for the background score, and they both disappoint.

At the end of the movie, there was a mock standing ovation by the audience and that sums it up!!