UDHAYAM NH4 ("IT'S HIGHWAY...FOR THE AUDIENCE")

April 19, 2013

Cast: Siddarth, Ashrita Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Kishore.

Director: Manimaran.

Being directed by Vettri Maaran’s associate with the script written by Vettri Maaran himself, Udhayam NH4 comes from a juicy crew with a pretty good cast.

Rithika (Ashrita Shetty), the daughter of a politician, who studies in a college in Bangalore falls for her classmate Prabhu (Siddharth). After a dramatic turn of events she is forced to elope with Prabhu. Kay Kay menon who is an encounter specialist is asked to bring back Rithika to her father before she turns 18 the next day.

The film starts off with a glibly shot encounter scene and you would start getting doubts if your decision to come for the movie was right after all! Very soon you would be sure as hell that it was one of the most stupid decisions that you have ever taken in your life!

The screenplay written with the intention of being clever never really goes beyond the elementary level! The hero very easily keeps fooling the police and what more, even the cops look happy enough to play fools. Next it’s time for the audience to become fools when the hero and the cops start taking turns to fool each other! For instance, the hero leaves his cell phone in a dust bin to prevent the police from tracking him. Once he starts moving he sends a message from his friend’s mobile and ends up getting caught.

To make it so wonderfully sweet, the heroine who gets caught by Kay Kay Menon after a struggle all of a sudden starts telling her romantic story to him and the ruthless encounter specialist suddenly becomes an avid listener. By this time all you want to do is run out of the theatre screaming for help.

Coming to the dialogues department, it is really unfortunate to see such silly and cheesy dialogues coming from someone like Vettri Maaran. Barring one or two, the supporting actors and the heroine with weird accents (as a lot of them are not Tamilians in real life as well as in the film) and the last thing they could do being act, make your life miserable. To make it worse the dubbing and lip sync are a disaster!!

Manimaran has a long way to go as far as direction is concerned. His inability to extract performances from his cast is too apparent, even from actors as fine as Kay Kay Menon! The shabbily written and shot scenes between the lead pair have a fair chance of reminding you of the disastrous Twilight Saga chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

The songs are nice and a few scenes are humorous but it’s highly doubtful if you would remember any of those by the time the ordeal comes to an end.

Iam giving a 1/5 for Udhayam NH4. If the director tells you it’s either his way or the highway, you would be better off taking the highway even in this summer heat!!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

GAURAVAM ("NOTHING TO BE PROUD ABOUT")

April 19, 2013

Cast: Allu Sirish, Yami Gautam, Prakash Raj.

Director: Radha Mohan.

When you talk about honour killings to a filmgoer it’s natural if the raw, intense “Mississippi Burning” and it’s equally good Indian version “Aakrosh” come to his mind. But does Gauravam belong to the same league? Not at all!

Set in T. Vennur (a village in Tamilnadu), Gauravam talks about the story of Allu Sirish who comes in search of his classmate Shanmugam ( from a lower caste family) who is believed to have eloped with his girlfriend (from an upper caste family). Prakashraj plays the role of the girlfriend’s father. Nobody in the village, including Prakashraj and Shanmugam’s father, knows about the couple’s whereabouts. Allu Sirish and his friend, along with the help of Lawyer Yaazhini (Yami Gautam), the daughter of a local Communist leader, set out to find Shanmugam and his girlfriend.

If you have already watched “Mississippi Burning” or “Aakrosh” you right away understand the plot, but even otherwise it would not take the average viewer long to figure it out, courtesy the lazy, lacklustre and naive screenplay by Radhamohan. The screenplay is so amateurish that you would not find even a single tense scene in the movie! There is no scope for jokes in a movie of this genre and the bad ones forced into the screenplay are made worse by Allu Sirish who is stone faced most of the time.

The cast consists of a couple of Radhamohan regulars who do a good job. But it’s the actors who have played the role of Shanmugam’s father and his girlfriend’s sister-in-law, though very limited in screenspace, who outshine the rest of the cast. Sadly there are no characters like that of Gene Hackman and Willen Dafoe (in Mississippi Burning) or Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal(in Aakrosh), fiery enough to give you the thrills!Even the antagonists never looking menacing or dangerous.

An amusing yet confusing thing about Radhamohan is his tryst with Punjabis. Yes, you have a Punjabi in this movie as well who plays Allu Sirish’s friend!

The cinematography is so inconsistent that you would wonder if there were two Directors of Photography working. When some scenes are nothing short of visual beauty others look like cheap camera print.

Most of the events that look to good to be true unfold at regular intervals as if they were programmed. Certain scenes are so naively thought about and executed that you will burst out into laughter at the silliness. Towards the end there are a few “so called” discoveries and twists that fall flat on the face! With a lot of gratuitous characters and scenes Gauravam feels longer than it’s runtime of 2 hrs 16 minutes.

Iam giving a 2/5 for Gauravam. It’s clear that Radhamohan has stepped onto a genre that he has no clue about!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                     -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                  -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                     -           Great.

4.5 and above              -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

OBLIVION ("BOREDOM ON SCREEN")

April 12, 2013

Cast: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough.

Director: Joseph Kosinski.

With Oblivion being Tom Cruise’s only release for 2013 all the fans who geared up for an action adventure would get not quite the same.

Set in 2077, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a drone repairman on the war destroyed earth. He is stationed in a tower along with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) and does a daily patrol of the area under his jurisdiction. When they are almost ready to get back to home base an explosion nearby leads to the discovery of Julia (Olga Kurylenko) who has been sleeping(scientifically induced) for 60 years. Harper starts realising all is not well and what appears to be the truth is far from it rather.

We know from Tron Legacy that Kosinski has an eye for the visuals and an ear for quality BGM and it’s no different here. You are treated to some wonderful landscape and graphically created buildings and machines. Though the BGM would surely remind you of the great Hans Zimmer the corresponding scenes lack the intent, grace and feel to do any justice to the great piece of music. 

The plot is too straightforward and trite and along with a dull, dragging screenplay you would most likely be left twitching and stretching in your seats.The supposed inner turmoil that Harper is going through is lazily written and directed which makes the whole experience a boring affair. The action scenes come in at times but they do not really offer any adrenaline rush.

Coming to performances Tom Cruise has done what he always does; full justice to the role! But it’s sad that he was wasted because of a lacklustre script. Morgan Freeman must be in need of some money I guess as nothing else explains him taking up this role having around 10 minutes of screen space with no substance at all!!

Oblivion is a cruelty to the fans who waited for a long time to see Tom Cruise in action.

Iam giving a 2/5 for Oblivion. It’s better to stay home watching an old Tom Cruise movie on TV.

IMDB Rating

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (" ACTION WEEKEND")

April 5, 2013

Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart.

Director: Antoine Fuqua.

After a series of flops Gerard Butler has teamed up with the Training Day Director Antoine Fuqua for Olympus has fallen.

Mike Banning(Gerard Butler) gets discharged from the position of the Security Chief for the President (Aaron Eckhart) after he fails to save the President’s wife from an accident. After 18 months the White House is taken down by the North Koreans and it’s upto Mike to save the day while Speaker Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is the acting President.

Whether it is a conscious decision or not, Olympus has fallen gives more importance to action than the plot. The taking of the White House (especially by the aerial route) might look too easy to be true but the whole sequence has been shot perfectly with skilfully choreographed action scenes.

The authorities who are calling the shots along with the acting President  are portrayed as a bunch of naive persons easily falling into the traps set by the North Koreans. You would especially notice this when the US Airforce helicopters are shot down by the North Koreans using “Hydra”, about which no mention was made during the taking down of the White House. But if you are an action junkie I do not really think you are going to really mind that.

Gerard Butler looks fully in his element giving a confident and believable performance as Mike Banning. Aaron Eckhart in his limited role as President does a good job. Morgan Freeman does not really have any role.

The firing, bombs, air combat and fist fights are sure to delight those who go in looking for action, and these are perfectly placed at regular intervals in the crisp screenplay of 2 hrs making it the perfect action flick for the weekend.

Iam giving a 3/5 for Olympus has fallen. Get ready for some really good action.

IMDB Rating

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

KEDI BILLA KILLADI RANGA(“KEDI DULL AH KILLADI BORE AH”)

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Vimal, Bindu Madhavi, Regina, Suri.

Director: Pandiraj.

After a promising start with Pasanga we saw a decline in the quality of content in Marina. Now that has gone down further with Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga.

First of all there is no relevance to the characters and the film name except that both the characters are Rajinikanth fans and were born when their mothers were watching those films on tv!

Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga is “formula film” with a few songs, romance, (so called) comedy scenes, and (horrible) sentiments. But the sad part is that the film does not even live upto the standards of a normal “formula film”.

Murugan(Sivakarthikeyan) and Kesavan (Vimal) are best friends who are jobless. They want to get into politics. Paappa(Regina) and Mithra(Bindhu) play their love interests respectively. Suri who is a “veettode maappilai” is always there for Murugan and Kesavan.

The plot is so silly and amateurish. Both the heroes keep going behind the heroines without much use in the first half. After the interval all of a sudden the heroines develop interest for the heroes, it does not end there, even the parents are ok with it. What more can one ask for! Sivakarthikeyan along with Vimal (after being wronged by the local MLA) manages to contest the election with the little money he gets from Regina and her dad. The list of such instances and the superficial characterisation of almost the entire cast are disappointing to say the least. If you are still inside the theatre during climax you would understand why the words “sentimental scenes” have taken a negative meaning.

Though some scenes are genuinely funny most of the time you are just indifferent. The film looks much longer than it’s runtime of 148 minutes and if you are real fan of comedy films the only reason you would sit through would be the air conditioner inside the theatre. The film just keeps drifting pointlessly on and on and on and comes to an abrupt end!

Iam giving a 2.25/5 for Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga. It’s time for Pandiraj to take a serious look at what he is doing if he wants to maintain the name he has earned.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                     -           Great.

4.5 and above              -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

CHENNAIYIL ORU NAAL ("A GOOD DAY IN CHENNAI")

Cast: Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Radhika, Cheran, Prasanna.

Director: Shaheed Khader.

Chennaiyil Oru Naal is the remake of the Super Hit Malayalam movie Traffic which was directed by Rajesh Pillai, inspired by true events that happened in Chennai some years earlier.

It is a casting coup of sorts with a lot of prominent faces from the Tamil Industry like Sarathkumar, Cheran, Prakash Raj, Prasanna, Radhika, Vijayakumar, Jayaprakash, Lakshmi, Mallika, Ineya,....it’s a big list! But the refreshing and good thing about Chennaiyil Oru Naal is that it cannot be termed as the film starring any of the above actors. Chennaiyil Oru Naal is a film where the screenplay is the hero, heroine and the villain. All the above actors and the rest of the cast just support the screenplay by acting out their parts.

The original screenplay written by Bobby-Sanjay has been retained. But even the dialogues(though written by Ajayan Bala) are almost the same as in Malayalam. The fabulous multi – layered screenplay which must be the first of it’s kind for the Tamil audience is sure to be appreciated.

Though not on par with Rajesh Pillai, director Shaheed Khadar has done a fairly good job in trying to retain the essence of Traffic and most of the time he actually succeeds in it. But having watched the original, it’s a bit hard to overlook the fact that the masala element creeps in at some scenes.

Coming to performances it’s a job well done by most of the cast except for a few scenes involving Prasanna, the newcomers and the junior artists. When certain scenes involving Prakash Raj are really funny, others involving Lakshmi, Jayaprakash and Radhika are touching.

But what really works for the film is the portrayal of wide ranging characters having different dreams about their lives with conviction without causing any deceleration of the tempo.

Iam giving a 3.25/5 for Chennaiyil Oru Naal. Get ready for a mixture of wide ranging emotions along with some thrill.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

GI JOE RETALIATION ("RETALIATION IS ON YOU!")

Cast: The Rock, Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis.

Director: John M Chu.

After making us wait for so long the Joes are back; this time with an extra member in particular, Roadblock (The Rock).

The Cobra Commander and Destro are locked up in a “high security” prison. Zartan is trying to bring them out (impersonating the President) with the help of Storm Shadow and Firefly. Snake eyes is trying to bring Storm Shadow back to the blind master for punishment. After a dramatic turn of events it’s upto Roadblock along with Lady Jaye, Flint, Snake eyes and General Joe Colton( Bruce Willis) to prevent the Cobras from executing their master plan.

Talking about the Cobras’ “master plan”, the thing that the film lacks is a master script, it does not have a script at all rather; nothing atleast that you can call a script. Things keep happening, bullets keep getting fired, bombs explode and you sit there wondering if it’s a movie or a montage of action sequences taken from you tube.

Logic goes for a toss considering the free run that the GI Joes and the Cobras have across the globe. May be the scriptwriters forgot that the only people safeguarding the American citizens are not just the Joes, there are a few departments called the police, the military etc. There are a lot of such instances all the way through. Everything just happens!

Channing Tatum is in the movie just for the sake of it and nothing more and I have no idea why The Rock and Bruce Willis signed up for this project that was not going to be beneficial for them performance wise or otherwise. The last thing that you can look for in the film is feel; it’s more like a bunch of robots fighting against each other.

The only saving face element in the film is the nice visual effects along with a few action scenes but it’s highly doubtful if that is going to satisfy even the GI Joe fans.

Iam giving a 2/5 for GI Joe Retaliation. Take a nap after the movie starts, wake up towards the end and still you can figure out the plot.

IMDB Rating - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583421/?ref_=sr_1

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

      

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

AMEN ("NANDANAM VERSION 2.0?")

Cast: Fahad Fazil, Indrajith, Swathi.

Director: Lijo Jose Pellissery.

When you go in for a Lijo Jose Pellissery film you expect something different and different is exactly what you get, well, to an extent.

A good film generally catches your attention in the first ten minutes. Though that does not happen in the case of Amen, you know there is something different about the whole thing.

Solomon(Fahad) is the son of a famous clarinet player who wants to follow the footsteps of his father and play for the Church band. Soshanna(Swathi) who hails from a wealthy family is his love interest. Vincent Vattoli(Indrajith) comes as the Father of the Village Church when the whole scene changes.

Right from the beautiful title song you know that you are in for some nice numbers and Prashanth Pillai does not disappoint except for one or two songs. The songs fit very well into the wonderful screenplay by P.S Rafeeque. Most part of the first half you would be laughing your butts off mainly because of the screenplay ably supported by some nice dialogues. The single shot song sequence and the Vattoli song would delight you with their humor and creativity.

The 2^nd half is where the screenplay falters a bit dragging the film at times presenting a few clichés. It is doubtful if the final scenes involving the music competition would be enjoyed by the commoner as the tunes of the clarinet is not something very familiar to him. This truly tarnishes the excellence built up in the first half. But then with an unexpected twist in the final scene(a different version of Nandanam) the director shows why he has earned the name that he has.

Fahad, Swathi and Indrajith have given really good performances but even the other actors in the film amuse you equally well. This is one of the best roles of Swathi till date. It’s such a delight to watch her in Amen; in her scenes with Fahad and otherwise.

The stand out features of Amen apart from it’s screenplay are undoubtedly the beautiful frames, with an amazing sense of lighting(especially the indoor scenes and those in the dark), of Abinandan Ramanujam and the excellent direction of Lijo. With a better second half it would had a fair chance of getting into the top league.

Iam giving a 3 to 3.25/5 for Amen. Get ready for a visually amazing divine comedy with some beautiful romance.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.

                                                                    

RED WINE ("PASSABLE WINE")

Cast: Mohanlal, Fahad Fazil, Asif Ali.

Director: Salam Bapu.

Salam Bappu makes his directorial debut with Red Wine after being in the industry for almost 11 years.

Red Wine deals with a murder case that makes three people; Anoop, the Local Committee Secretary of the Communist Party in Wayanad (Fahad Fazil), Ramesan, a goonda turned sales executive(Asif Ali) and Ratheesh Vasudevan, Assistant Commissioner of Police(Mohanlal); cross each other’s paths.

The first thing I would like to tell is that Red Wine is NOT a Mohanlal movie, the central character here is Fahad and he is brilliant in his role as the young communist. The director has done a good job in showing Communism in a different light through Fahad. It would not be surprising if the young guns of the Communist Party in Kerala start idolising him. But do not go in expecting to see a fiery communist because as said already this one is different.

You would not find the plot that interesting or thrilling but the screenplay should be mentioned in particular for the commendable job. It cuts into the three lives(timelines rather) very frequently with no confusion whatsoever. Ranjan Abraham’s experienced editing amplifies the effect. The connecting point from one scene to the next is very smooth which shows the clarity of the writer and the director.

Another appreciable element in the screenplay is the chemistry between Asif Ali and his wife. Even if both of them have very limited screen space the scenes involving both of them are adorable. The girl who plays Asif’s wife is simply brilliant!! This is not to suggest it’s flawless though. It’s a tad lengthy and there is a barrage of characters , mainly to up the suspense factor, which is a letdown.

Beginner’s blues is quite evident in the direction department but that may be overlooked considering the earnest efforts.

Cinematography is ok but the colouring in several places is very substandard, BGM being no different. The final song in the film is very good to hear and rich in meaning as well.

Overall it’s an almost satisfying watch if you go in without expecting much.

Iam giving a 2.5/5 for Red Wine. You can watch it once.

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25                      -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

3 to 3.25                      -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4 to 4.25                      -           Great.

4.5 and above               -           Extraordinary.