WANTED (2009) Movie Review

Puri Jagannath made Pokiri, first a telugu film starting Mahesh Babu and Illeana that became history back in 2006. A year later, dance master Prabhu Deva remade the film in Tamil by the same name with Vijay and Asin. The differences between both the Telugu and Tamil versions were minimal (save for some censorship differences and the different comedy tracks and casting).

Now we have WANTED. Again directed by Prabhu Deva retaining pretty much the majority of the crew from the tamil version. The likes of VIJAYAN for stunts, and top cameraman, NIRAV SHAH (along with S.SRIRAM). This time we have Salman Khan (after a plateful of previous flops) and Ayesha Takia donning the main roles. Mahesh Manjarekar redoes Mukesh Tiwari's lust cop and Govind Nameo does Napoleon's Honest Raj with a sarcastic remarks.

But the man of the match is clearly the latest National Award winner, Prakash Raj.

Yes you read it right, Prakash Raj. Consider this his comeback

to Hindi cinema after that dud, SHART back in 2003(coincidently done by Puri Jagannath) and since then, he has dubbed himself in Hindi too (Also started in big hit multi-star film, KHAKHEE but didn't dub himself in 2004.)

The presentation and story thankfully is not crudely presented like the Tamil version was and bad casting. We really didn't need Vijay to do a mentalkanth dance and body language style while trying to break the fourth wall as well as slapstick with Vadivelu. That's what really made the Tamil version really crappy as if Vijay ghost directed the film.

By the way, Deva sticks to the ACTUAL TELUGU script for the majority while

retaining the Tamil bits. Brahmanadam's comedy track in Telugu is mostly redone (beggars not included) here while Vadivelu's encounter with the lust cop over the phone is kept. In fact, I could easily call this most entertaining. You see Salman and Mahesh Babu were excellent and suited to the gang role like a glove while Vijay just looked like a joker and clearly the outcome was pure comedy. Watch out for their dialogue delivery. But their commitment punch dialogue still retains overall.

Mani Sharma gave some decent music for the original but because Vijay interviened in Tamil, only Dola Dola and Jagadame (ironically the pick of the telugu version, got short lived as a tamil theme track), and Apple item song were reused while we got crud like Pokkiri pongal, Mambazham naa, and that Vasantha Mullai remix. Here, Salman drags in PARTNER hit duo, Sajid & Wajid Khan to whip out the soundtrack. The songs were better, but weren't great. For a film like this, it's strictly okay. Jalwa, Love Me and Dil Leke were my picks. The Hindi soundtrack did a decent job, if not mindblowing.

Deva has done a decent job and this is strictly for the mass and Salman fans and for those who want to chill. In fact, consider this a blessed remake than that crap Ghajini with Aamir "overrated" Khan. Aamir doesn't know that between building a body that looks awkward on him + the old age shows in his chemistry with Asin = Horrible remake. Surya's original was awesome. Here it's the complete opposite. By opposite, I mean ABOVE THE TAMIL version.

Rating: ***.5

Unnai Pol Oruvan (2009) Movie Review

Statuary Warning: Don't go comparing A WEDNESDAY with this film even if you've seen it, byhearted it,etc. There are many changes in UPO besides nativity to suit to the Tamil audiences. So if your going to bash A WEDNESDAY, well then it's useless. Now onto the review.

First off, I want to thank Mr. KAMAL HAASAN for setting up a new TREND in the industry: A Big-Star film where the script/content is king and didn't need to prove that you need MASS MASALA or cliches to make big star films work. Another big thanks is that after a long time (Given that I've seen his movies through subtitled DVDs) is MOHAN LAL, who has acted excellently after a long time. After his last couple of duds, we finally get to see LAL

the performer again.

No need to discuss the film's story itself as I don't want to give anything away (neither to those who have seen A WEDNESDAY!)

But I must confess that the dialogues (Debutant, Ee.Ra. Murugan for the tamil version) were top notch and made the film even better than wednesday. Watch out for the political satire between LAL and veteran LAKSHMI. There is a smudge of English, but given the common man backdrop, it's reasonable. Hope to see him in future Kamal films because this man has penchant for writing after the late Sujatha.

The other actors, Abhiyum Naanum's GANESH VENKATRAM (Rough cop, Arif Khan), ANUJA IYER (TV Reporter), and a few familiar faces from Kamal's past works (R.S SHIVAJI, duty officer & longtime favorite, SANTHANA BHARATHI as Karamchand)have done well for their limited screentime. Even the music by Haasan's daughter, Shruti K. Haasan is used efficient and doesn't overlap with the dialogues as most cliched Tamil movies have. The title track and Allah Jaane appear with the latter being the pick of the lot.

But one of the biggest highlights of this version was the climax outburst by HAASAN. No way does NASEER ever compare to this scene. Especially a certain dialogue in that scene relates to what happened recently to HAASAN.Very noteworthy!

One last note, big thanks to debut director CHAKRI TOLETI and Camera MANOJ SONI for making this remake top notch.

Unnaipol Oruvan is a must watch, even if you've seen WEDNESDAY, erase it and see it's sheer brilliance added by HAASAN, the cast and crew.

Rating: ****.5

Why Rajinikanth is Mental?

(From Kollywood-today)

Superstar Rajnikanth has been making high waves throughout the World and that’s the magic of his charisma. A great man who is worshipped and respected by many, an entity being an inspiration for zillions in the World regarded as ‘Mental’. How dare do the magazine happen to be so atrocious in commenting on him. Not alone us, here we have one of the leading journalists who earlier worked in Junior Vikatan. Over here, he brings about his working experience and how the scenario has changed today.

Mayavarthan in his blog has printed the following the statements…..

“There were times when I worked there in the magazine of Junior Vikatan when I respected it with all my soul. My insatiable passion for journalism was sprouted over there, since I could learn the best ethics. The officials working there kept it a point that any individual, be it a big tycoon or a small time petty shop owner, none must be hurt with personal intentions. But today, I feel ashamed that the officials have turned unsaturated in their works. I have been observing the magazine for past few days and they have been personally attacking the name of Rajnikanth.

Earlier, one of worst lame named Kavitha had penned an article that carried these lines, “I Think (Rajnikanth) is still mental… Let me request him to keep his holes shut..” It was really a great shock for me to read that article.. Let him be a good or bad person, none has the rights of insulting an individual with such harsh and filthy words. But the girl is so intelligent, since she has stated these lines in English with the entire article in Tamil. Of course, she has thank herself for few wouldn’t have understood it. If she had published the same lines in Tamil, then things would have been different for her.

Immediately after reading this article, I had mailed them stating that they published such kind of stories only hear it from them that I am using abusive words. If so, is it right what they have done?.

In the recent article, Junior Vikatan had a series of questions for Rajnikanth. One among them stated “Rajnikanth have you been steady in any of the statements?” Earlier, you opposed Jayalalitha and then you felicitated her as ‘Dhairya Lakshmi’ (Courageous God). I wanna ask the reporters who penned this question that whether they are sure about they have asked.

Yes, Rajnikanth opposed Jayalalitha for her improper works as a chief minister and then when she made up for it committing good deeds like Rain Harvesting Systems, Banning piracy of Tamil movies and many more, he came up with the statement that its great for a woman to do such bold things alone.

I am asking you people, is it anything wrong what he has said????

Junior Vikatan has lost all its brand making such silly stories and I regret for being a part of the journal….

Another person in his blog has stated that Ananda Vikatan has bee earning revenue using the name of Rajnikanth. It would either singing appraisals of him or by degrading him.

Cho Ramasamy has stated that Rajnikanth has been clear in his statement during his speech. The blunder he committed was that he wrongly used the word ‘Kick’…. He actually meant that those the problem creators must be kicked and not the innocent people over there.

Sathya Narayananan, P.A. to Rajnikanth has stated if they to had to provoke the fans of Rajnikanth against the journal, then things would have been completely different. But Rajni sir doesn’t like it.

If you are more interested to catch up with the exact words put forth by the blog writers, you can check out at the related blogs.

http://www.kollywoodtoday.com/news/why-rajnikanth-is-mental/

Ghajini (2008) Music Review

A.R Rahman is associated with South Indian directors who made their foray into Bollywood. The likes of the great Mani Ratnam debuted with A.R Rahman (though the pair were together in Tamil since "ROJA", they debuted in Bollywood with DIL SE..) Though the film bombed, the music became a cult classic and it's still being played today. The famous style-fantasy of the the South, S.Shankar also debuted with NAYAK (also ARR) but it never made an impact, due to it's cliched factor associated with most South formulaic films.

Now it's 2008, and we got A.R Murgadoss debuting Bollywood with GHAJINI, a remake of his Tamil film that starred Surya, Asin, Nayantara and Pradeep Rawat. Released in 2005 with super-hit music by Harris Jayaraj (lyrics: Na Muthukumar), former associate of ARR, now it's Aamir Khan's turn to see if he tasted success with A.R Rahman along with Khan's favorite, Prasoon Joshi (the duo come again after Blockbuster hit, RANG DE BASANTI).

Unfortunately, the music's below par but let's not get hasty on "slow poison" and "give it time" reasons.

Guzzarish is a soothing number but half way through the song, Sonu Nigam (guest vocals), chips in an "ah" or two and then it hits you. Though Javed Ali got full marks for the song, one wishes that Nigam could've sung this one instead. Even after giving "Mastam Mastam" and "Dil Ka Rishta" from Yuvvraaj, I was merely hoping he would sing it (or rather, ARR compose a Nigam version of the song.) The song is predicted to be the "Suttum Vizhi" of this version and it's pretty slow for the former being a fast beat one. Still, this is a pick of the album.

Behka marks the return of Karthik (who's now a hotshot singer down south) to Bollywood after SAATHIYA's "Chori Pe Chori." Touted as "Oru Maalai", the tune just doesn't gel with the lyrics, to be frank here. It's sounds like one of the rejected songs from JAANE TU YA JAANE NA. The jazzy and hip beat compiled together and to top it off with Shankar-Eshaan-Loy's "ROCK ON!" chorus like chant that you can hear in the end of the song. The main problem is that Joshi tries to shoe horn in the urdu and meaninful lyrics into the song. It's overall an OK track, nothing groundbreaking.

Latoo with Shreya Goshal is "Rahatulla" thanks to the exact arrangements that can be heard here, espcially in the middle of the song. For someone who's used to giving soothing melodies like Ilayaraja's CHEENI KUM" or Vishal-Shekhar's "MAIN AGAR KAHOON", this one doesn't suit her well and I wonder why they didn't get Sunidhi Chauhan to do this song, she's used to it. Heck, the RAB BANA DI JODI song has her doing a disco type wala number. Chauhan would've done well, here with Goshal, it doesn't go well together, like chalk and cheese. Average composition.

Aye Bachchoo sounds like he's taken a page or two out of "ROCK ON!" and several of Music Director, Pritam Chakraboorty's hit albums, majorly, JAB WE MET's "Mauja Mauja". The tune's very 90ish rock and with Suzanne behind the mike (she's done DHOOM 2), nothing special nor there was anything in "X-Machi", basically filler tracks. Nothing great but could be catered for the masses who prefer this.

Kaise Mujhe has Benny Dayal again doing a souful and sad track with Goshal joining in later on. A good listen overall but will the audience have the patience to listen to this sad song. This is obviously the bonus track that Murgadoss had mentioned in Behindwoods.com's interview. From the hearings, it's likely to be Aamir thinking of Asin's "death" and so on. You can tell the arrangements give it a background score-ish material. Slow, but a good hear. Check out it's instrumental too if you enjoyed this track.

Ghajini's Hindi version doesn't create any hype on music. And frankly, after giving good scores like JTYJN, YUVVRAAJ, I would rather prefer the latter albums and enjoy probably Guzzarish, a little Behka, and Kaise Mujhe. As for the rest, nothing groundbreaking, just plain average.

Rating: ***

Gautham slams critics...

And how? Take a gander from the Sify.com/movies/tamil interview...

Some scenes like Surya going to US with his father’s consent to find Sameera seems illogical. Please comment?
It’s my story and my dad did that! He supported me to go and chase my love and let me clarify that in the film, Surya’s dad did not fund his trip to US but after finishing his duties as a son, he takes permission and goes on his own. I wonder why a section of people did not understand that. And I read someone writing that my hero was sent on a tour by his parents instead of treating him for drug addition! Well, let me tell you that my characters are etched from real life people and there have been cases of people getting out of drug addiction due to parental support and love.

When a hero flies 15 feet high in the air and then hits a train in a recent superstar film, people did not say it was illogical. But why are they saying that when my hero goes to US to chase his love, it is illogical??

The answer: Guess who just shot at Dharani's flopbuster, Kuruvi? Witty Dig I should say. Me thinks it has to do with when he intially approached Vijay to do a film together, but after Vijay heard the script, he offered him a "Thirupachi" DVD to watch and copy the sentiments from that into his script! The irony here is that Ajith, who WAS to do a film with Gautham for Sivaji Productions, had sacked him for Dharani instead!

Moral of the story: This is why one is living in ivory towers doing ridiculous films while the other gives good films by acclaimed actors.

One door closes...another one opens?

Sad news to all. Thanks to Pyramid Samira's Kuselan loss, seems that he can't compensate with Kamal Hassan's magnus opus, Marmayogi. So for now, it looks like the project is indeed dropped/shelved. A detailed news from below courtesy of Sify.

I wish Kamal Hassan all the best and that we're all behind him. Also, a belated happy birthday to the versataile actor himself.

It is almost certain that the much talked about Kamal Hassan magnum opus Marmayogi has been dropped. Pyramid Saimira who were to jointly produce it with Rajkamal International, is reported to have pulled out of the project due to lack of finance.

Ever since the colossal failure of Kuselan Pyramid Saimira has been caught in a financial crunch out of which it looks seemingly impossible to come out. Kamal, the perfectionist if he has to make Marmayogi can do it only on a huge canvass and that requires big money, nearly Rs 100 crore.

Now the market buzz is that Kamal is starting a new venture Thalaivan Irukkiraan, for Gemini Films Circuit, who had done 'Vasool Raja MBBS' earlier with the star. Gemini is trying to make the film on a budget of Rs 50 to Rs 60 crore, in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam . An offical announcement is expected shortly once the star cast and technicians are firmed up.

As per the rumours making the rounds it is going to be an action packed adventure film to be shot in US and Switzerland. It will have a galaxy of stars from all Indian languages like Rishi Kapoor, Venkatesh and Mohanlal. The film will have music by A R Rahman and will be written and directed by Kamal Hassan.

Why Kamal is ahead of times....

Below are the 7 key points from his earlier films that actually depicted the future of India. Take a look:
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1) In 1978, his tamil movie “Sivappu Rojakal” got released. He
played the role of a Psychopath killer . One year later, a guy called
Psycho Raman was caught for brutally murdering people

2) In 1988, kamal played the role of a unemployed youth in the movie
“Sathya”. In 89-90’s our country faced lot of problems due to
unemployment.

3) In 1992, his blockbuster movie “Devar Magan” got released. Its a
village based subject. There will be some scenes portraying communal
clashes. Exactly a year later in 1993, there were many communal
clashes in southern districts.

4) We all know in 1996 many people in our country was cheated by
finance companies. Our Kamal Hasan has clearly depicted this in his
movie “mahanadhi” which got released in 1994 itself.

5) In “heyram”(2000), there are some scenes relating to Hindu Muslim
clashes . We all know 2 years later, godhra(Gujarat riots) incident
happened.

6) He used a word called ‘tsunami’ in his movie
“Anbesivam”(2003).The word ‘tsunami’ was not known to many people
before. In 2004, ‘tsunami’ stuck the east coast of our country and
many people lost their lives.

7) In his latest movie ”Vettaiyadu Vilayadu ”(2006) there are two
characters called ila&amudhan who played the roles of psychopath
killers. After 3 months of release of the movie, the noida serial
killing came to light (moninder/sathish)

And to add another point to the seven below

8 )He shows the outbreak of a biological weapon(virus/vial) in Tamil nadu
–Dasavatharam(2008)

?????
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Could we actually witness an outbreak of a biological weapon in the future?