Anegan - Album Review

Anegan album opens with the song, “Thanga Maari Oodhari”, a peppy number with some catchy lyrics in typical Madras slang (Calling it “Chennai slang” doesn’t give it the desired effect. As they say, Chennai is a city, Madras is an emotion!). The voice and rendition of “Marana Gaana” Viji & the rhythm of the thappattai makes sure that this song will soon be a chart topper!!

“Roja Kadale” that follows has the stamp of Harris Jayaraj written all over. This fast and zippy romantic number crooned by Shankar Mahadevan & Sunidhi Chauhan is the other hit song of this album. However, the very average lyrics penned by Vairamuthu in this song will shock/surprise you!!

To borrow a cricket parlance, Vairamuthu finds some kind “form” in the next song, “Aathadi Aathadi”, rendered by Bhavatharani & Tippu. The way this song sounds (especially the beginning) will definitely remind you of the song “Innum Koncha Neram” (Maryan). Though the overall paths both these songs traverse are similar, this song will differentiate itself for the usage of “Harrish” (pronounced Harry-ish) towards the end of the song!! For the uninitiated, “Harrish” is the set of incomprehensible phrases/words, not part of any language, that you regularly get to hear in Harris Jayaraj songs (remember “O Maha Zeeya” song in “Kakka Kakka”?). I was familiarized about “Harrish” by siger Mahathi in one of the interviews!!

“YOLO (You Only Live Once)” that follows, can at the best be described as a song that reminds you of many jingles (especially Kingfisher beer) with some rap thrown in-between!! Sung by a bunch of youngsters, this song has been penned by CS Amudhan, director of the first Tamil spoof, “Tamizh Padam”. A not-so-impressive song, but it might just catch the imagination of GenX!

Another mediocre song, “Thodu Vaanam” makes you wonder why such great talents like Vairamuthu, Hariharan and Shaktishree Gopalan were wasted. The only good portion of this song is the electric guitar interlude midway through the song.

The album’s last song, “Deivangal Ingae”, rendered by Sriram Parthasarathi is another forgettable song. From the feel of it, looks like it will only be used as a background score somewhere in the movie.

The first thing that came to my mind when I came to know that the audio of “Anegan” had been released was the song “Adiye Kolluthe”. Sometime last week, as I started my car in the morning to drive to work, the audio system started playing “Adiye Kolluthe” (Vaaranam Aayiram). It was such a pleasure listening to that song early in the morning, with the nip in the autumn air adding to the effect. The whole experience of listening to that song that day had such an indelible impact in my mind! “Anegan” comes nowhere near making such an impact. Except for a couple of songs, this album is disappointing! How I wish Harris Jayaraj was also an “Anegan”, many men (skills) inside one man!!

(Originally published in Facebook on 11th November 2014)

Kaththi

A popular beverage company, that also owns a popular snack brand, has been running a campaign the past few days, urging people to go home (visit their hometowns) and celebrate Diwali with their loved ones. Having celebrated the last couple of Diwalis with my entire family in Gurgaon, and missing them this year, I’ll be lying if I said this campaign didn’t affect me. Though I didn’t visit Chennai exactly this Diwali, watching Kaththi at a multiplex in Gurgaon, gave me a feeling of having visited Chennai!! Never before have I seen such whistles & claps for any Tamil hero, even Rajnikanth, in Gurgaon! Forget the hero; the response from the crowd was amazing when the name of the music director, Anirudh, appeared on the screen!! The heroine Samantha and the director, AR Murugadoss (who appears in a single scene) were also given rousing receptions by the audience!! Overall, the full house audiences in the multiplex made me feel as if I was watching the movie in Chennai!!

The movie’s storyline is about the much clichéd Doppelgangers (one a crook and another, a good Samaritan) swapping places. The movie opens with an interesting chase, and then just meanders along aimlessly, before getting you interested a good 15-20 minutes later. The movie’s plot will definitely remind you of the Vikram-starrer “Dhool”. Though the screenplay is reasonably brisk, it lacks sufficient twists and turns to stop you from comparing this film with “Dhool”. It is here that you feel a bit let down by the director Murugadoss! But, credit to him for having picturized the songs quite well, though they look completely out of place and hinder the pace of the movie! It looks as if a couple of brilliant music videos have been forcibly incorporated into the movie at inappropriate scenes!!

The heroine Samantha doesn’t have much work to do, except to dance with Vijay in the songs. Even the villain, played by Neil Nitin Mukesh, hasn’t been characterized strongly, like say, Vidyut Jamwal’s role in “Thuppaki”.

Special mention to an action sequence involving coins!!  has been conceived and executed brilliantly!!  Vijay fans are going to lap it up!!

Coming back to “Thuppaki”, it was a completely Murugadoss film that had Vijay in the lead role. But “Kaththi” is a Vijay film directed by Murugadoss!! Don’t miss if you are a Vijay fan. Else, you can wait for the television premiere!!

(Originially published in Facebook on 24th October 2014)

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!!