Paruthi Veeran - realism overdone

Somehow, village based movies have never attracted me. I don't have a definite reason, but I couldn't recollect any such movie which I love. Paruthi Veeran looked like coming quite close, but fell apart towards the end. I have liked Ameer's earlier movies which drove me eagerly to this movie. The director has once again made his mark in many ways. The way he has chosen people for every character in the movie is commendable. Each and everyone fit the respective role aptly and makes you feel like living inside the screen.

The movie is a typically realistic village story and every character is completely villagish. Their language and body language are also taken proper care of and the accent is excellent. The realism is so much that it hurts us back towards the end by being coarse and as a normal human you wouldn't want to see some of those scenes. Yuvan's background music is too good to suit the village moods, but disappoints when he has used a similar tone from his recent Thaamirabharani. The maestro has done his bit for his son by voicing a super melody.

Veeran & and his uncle Sevvaazhai fear towards nothing and are even willing to kill anyone who come against them. Going to jail and coming out in bail keeps happening one after the other and they aren't ashamed of it. They have no boundaries in life and lead an absolutely carefree life. Muthazhagu, who has been friends with Veeran since childhood is madly in love with him and is willing to do anything to marry him though Veeran resists and later accepts her love in the second part of the movie. As you would expect, her father is against this citing his character and more importantly caste. The movie moves very fast and in no time you are at the tragic scenes towards the end which are overdone and as I have said earlier, it definitely hurts the viewer.

Karthi does not look like a debutant at all. He is so much at ease in a demanding role, especially in his first movie. Ameer has to be credited for extracting so much out of him who hails from a family which already knows the nuances of performing well on screen. Saravanan, as his uncle, is unexpectedly refreshing after all the dullard in the few movies he has done till date. Karthi & Saravanan have taken care of some comedy as well which makes us laugh well. But, the graamiya songs and the beats are a bore and you want it to stop soon, though it doesn't. Priyamani fits the best for a village girl, being stubborn to her parents as well as to her lover. She has been given good dialogues which reflect a dogged village girl and comes out shining all through.

Overall, it's a good effort from Ameer & co. in breaking the shackles and giving an entertaining movie but for some crudeness later in the movie. When you look at the flow and depiction, it may be unavoidable, but a good film-maker has the responsibility of not hurting the common-man. The tragedy runs in you for a longer time even after the movie.

Sillunu oru shock!

To say the least, I was definitely shocked on seeing the below ad in The Hindu's Metro Plus yesterday.

How could that movie ever run for 100 days? Even if it does, for other reasons, how can a person watch it every day? That public who gave that opinian, is definitely something.

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal - a complete crap

I restrained myself from writing this review yesterday as Surya & Jothika got wedded yesterday and on such an important day of their life, I wasn't willing to give such a bad opinion about their latest movie.

After all the hype, even before the movie's release, I was skeptical about the movie and it exactly turned out the way I had doubted. Some months back, when the shooting of the movie started, there were posters all around with Surya, Jo, Bhoomika. One of the posters which caught my eye had AR Rahman in it - I think sitting with a guitar. I was wondering why so much publicity for a man of such fame and calibre. Only now I realize that they did it because they were sure that he was the hero of the movie as there was nothing more in it. If the songs are removed, the movie itself isn't there. Infact, not all songs are enticing. The movie absolutely has no aim in it - and its a let down with such cast.

Surya (Gautham) & Bhoomika (Ishwarya @ Ishu) love each other while in college and they even marry in the registrar's office, but the very next minute they are separated by her politician-father. Surya is beaten up badly and isn't out of bed for sometime. Meanwhile, we understand that she is moved to some far away place out of Surya's reach. And then, to fulfil his uncle's wish, Surya (a bit reluctantly) marries Jothika (Kundavi) from a village and settles down in Mumbai. The couple get into a very happy life with their daughter, Ishu (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai connection?). Jothika happens to read her husband's old diary and comes to know of the Bhoomika-Surya relation. Without revealing to Surya, for all the love he has on her, decides to give him a day with Bhoomika. Goes around and finds her and invites her home without Surya's knowledge and then leaves both of them together and goes out for a day. A torrid bore gets even worse at this point of time for about 20-25 minutes and then she comes back home to realize that they both spend just an hour together as Surya loves Jothika more these days and there is no place for anyone else in him.

I wonder why AC Durai's name was mentioned as there is absolutely no story whatsoever. And the screenplay and direction have wrecked further havoc. As you would expect, there are scenes and some lyrics relevant to Surya-Jo's real life wedding. Munba Vaa... comes out as a wonderful melody, while Kummi Adi... is a nice country-side mix. Rahman's voice in Newyork Nagaram... is so captivating with some nicish and innovative picturization. Cinematography deserves a good mention definitely for being bright and colorful all through the movie.

One thing that was nice to me was that Surya drives a car that I own, though a different colour.

Wishing an eonian life

Romba sokkaanathu intha jodinnu thaan, antha aathaa thaan serthuputtaa...
That's a lyric from the song Kummi Adi... from the movie Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. Whether it was deliberate or not, it suits the occasion very well today as Surya & Jothika get married for real. I happened to catch a few shots of the marriage on TV and they once again looked made-for-each-other. Generally, girls are made to look horrible with the bridal makeup, but Jothika was sparkling while Surya was smart as usual.
As most of Tamilnadu is doing, I also wish them a very happy & everlasting married life.

An alternate climax

With Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu turning out to be a disappointment, lets rewind a bit as I managed to get this video which shows a different climax for Gautam Menon's Kaakha Kaakha. Though his justification for the original climax sounds good, I would have preferred to leave Maya alive.

Aaru - Review

Surya has tried to do a Vijay in his latest film Aaru. His last effort at that was a flop with Sree. This time, its better than the last time but still needs a lot of tuning. Director Hari is becoming too predictable and you get to see a ratha aaru very often. This time, he has given quite a racy entertainment, but with a few glitches and drags.

Surya doesn't fit in the shoes of a rowdy role yet - probably a few more miles to go. A Sanjay Ramaswamy or Anbuselvan suits him much better. His tone and dialogue delivery isn't good enough for the local slang and he doesn't get that Vijay-like style in uttering those slangs. Aaru would have been a wonderful script for Vijay and his fans, but it is not bound to be a great hit with Surya playing Aarumugam. Surya shines in the stunt sequences and has the physique to fight those gundas and its not looking like a joke.

What is the Censor Board doing for obscene dialogues? There seems to be too many in this movie and its muted only at very few occurences. A few years back there was a huge roar about the usage of vakka** in a Bharathiraja movie, but this time no one seems to talk about the usage of *tha in this movie - does this mean that the public has improved and don't bother about such language or has such language become way of life? If not the censor board, I think the directors and heroes themselves have a responsibility and they shouldn't invest in such lewdness. More irritating when it is mouthed by women, by Ishwarya in this case.

One good thing about the movie is not using Trisha as just a glamour-doll as she has something to do too. Though, she hasn't done complete justice to it is another matter. Its high time she improved her acting skills and dancing - dance isn't just about moving the limbs. But I feel, she looks her best paired with Surya - Mounam Pesiyathey and this one. There is senti mix also to the movie through Malawika Avinash, but with her good looks and her decent acting abilities I think that she's been wasted for such a trivial role.

Devi Sriprasad's tunes are quite hearable but not great hits. Those who like the kuthu songs will like Freeya Vudu... and Soda Bottle... and the picturisation of Dhurogam... is nice, but reminds you of a song from Ghillli.

Overall, the movie isn't as bad as some suggest, but not a great movie too. Good enough to watch it once for the entertainment, but could have abbreviated the violence.