Billa (2007) Movie Review

It was Chandra Barot's DON with Amitabh Bachchan that set the screens on fire.

Nearly a decade later, Rajnikanth's BILLA stormed the box-office records and entitling him the SuperStar status.

Then came SRK-Farhan Akthar (Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshaya fame) version of the DON but with a slick and thirlling output. This one become part of the highest-grossing films in Bollywood back in 2006.

Now Ajith Kumar comes to "don" Rajni's role as BILLA 2007.

This Vishnuvardhan film (PATTIYAL FAME) is neither good, nor bad. It's plain average. Remaking a classic is one thing [look at RGV's AAG for instance], but making it to fit to the standards of today. In this case: Have mass star do tricks-add in glamour to distract viewers-fill in songs for duration and repeat. If you remember I had an article related towards SearchIndia Rehka's review on this film.

In the end, BILLA 2007 doesn't quite live up to expectations. It ends up giving you an average film. But more on that later (and this doesn't mean that I'm biased towards Bollywood or SRK or a "you must be a ____fan".)

BILLA (Ajith Kumar) is an underworld don who's trade is booming with illegal underground activities. With a team behind his back, BILLA succeeds in becoming the DCP's (Prabhu) and the Malaysian Police's most wanted criminal. Along the way, they encounter Sasha (Nayanthara), who joins Billa's gang to get revenge on Billa himself. A series of circumstances later forces Velu (Ajith in double role) to impersonate Billa and so on.

Let's talk about the pros and cons of this BILLA. For instance, Vishnuvardhan has basically copied scene-by-scene of Farhan's locations from the DON 2006 (the bridge confrontations, several city bazaars, downtown fights, etc.) Also the bulk portions of the film is really really dull.

Another problem with this BILLA is the half-baked characters. C.J and Sasha's roles become utterly useless and in the end become a damsel glamour contest. Also the lack of Arjun Rampal/Pran's character is gone, giving the film some more awkward moments. Added to that, the songs by Yuvan Shankar Raja aren't upto mark. Barring the remix of "My Name Is Billa", the rest of the songs are fast-forward variety and wasted. Anthony's Edits are loose. The highpoint of DON was the ultimate climax whether as here, it's mssing. Seems like Vishnu focussed on Ajith's character and Prabhu's character while getting carried away at the same time.

Ajith as Billa is okay but it's Ajith's Velu who's the best. But the actor needs to take care of his physique as major portions of the film has his pot-bellied ponch showing. Nayanthara and C.J are okay, nothing worth mentioning. Prabhu is highly competent. Rahman is average.

On the whole, BILLA is a so-so film.

Rating: *** (3/5)

[FLASHBACK REVIEW] Chithram (1988)

Recently, I've become an avid fan of Malayalam cinema. Films like Nadodikattu, Udhayananu Thaaram, Varavelpu, Thanmathra, Ramji Rao Speaking, The Tiger were all my personal favorites.

But I have happened to come across this film under a family friend's recommendation. Apparently, it's considered a cult classic in Kerala today thanks to the direction of Priyadarshan and Kerala's Megastar Mohanlal. Also co-starring Renjini, Nedumudi Venu, and Srinivasan, the film is a roller-coaster ride full of humor and sentiments.

Here goes the story: Kalyani (Renjini) lives with his uncle Kymal (Nedumudi Venu). Her father is currently working in the U.S and it's suggested that Kalyani should go to Ooty to get married. However, Kalyani declines as she's in love with someone (Suresh Gopi in Sp. Appearance). Down in Ooty, the villiager (Srinivasan) vows to be head-chief with this marriage but after hearing the news regarding Kalyani's wishes, he approves of her beau.

But things take a turn on the marriage registration day that Kalyani's beau declines to appear and at the same time, her father wants to make amends to her daughter by arriving in person. Stuck in soup, Kymal finds Vishnu (Mohanlal) and offers to pay a sum of 10,000 just to play husband to Kalyani for 15 days. What follows is a cat-mouse tale that leades to a stirring flashback and climax.

CHITHRAM succeeds in almost every aspect of a classic. The subtle comic touch in various scenes (Vishnu's alliances becoming relations, identity crisis, Kymal's excuses, money demands) all were touched upon superbly. The music by Kannur Rajan were nostalgic. The flashback song is one my personal favorites. But CHITHRAM also touches upon emotions as well. Vishnu's flashback is basically the rising action of the film, leading up to the climax. Clitches be damned, the movie was near perfect.

Now for the performances!

It's not a Priyadarshan film without the caliber of Mohanlal. Simply put: Brilliant. He makes us laugh when we want to laugh, he makes us cry when we want to cry. Give the guy a padma bhushan already! Renjini is competent. Nedumudi Venu as the Advocate uncle is excellent. Srinivasan brings down the house with his tounge-in-cheek humor.

CHITHRAM is highly recommended for those who want to enjoy cinema. Go for it.

Rating: ****.5 (4.5/5)

[Kolly Talk] Why Dhanush won't suit Venky's role?

Already his latest diwali release, Pollathavan won rave reviews and appreciation all over Tamil Nadu and the film's still going strong without any oppositions.

But now, everyone's talking about Dhanush's next release. Yes, I'm talking about him and Nayantara starring in "YARADI NEE MOHINI." A remake of his brother's first telugu blockbuster, "AADAVARI MATALAKU ARADHALU VERULE" with stars of Venkatesh, Trisha, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Tamil actor Srikanth (or Sriram as he's known in Andhra) and others. Recently, original DVDs of the film were out (with subtitles) and I got a chance to take a sneak peak of the telugu original for myself. Thought I would get a chance to see what to expect for the Tamil original (provided they don't change anything to "suit the images of tamil audience.") [SPOILER'S BELOW F.Y.I !]

The movie has shades of DDLJ but not entirely. First of all, Venky's character isn't a skirt chaser like SRK was. The movie isn't relatively close to it. The THEME of the movie is DDLJ but not ENTIRELY. Just wanted to clear up on that.

Now for the highlights of the film:

Kota and Venkatesh: Kota plays the stern father whom he and Ganesh (Venky's character) have a hate relationship, but care for each other in the end. Ganesh is an unemployed youth who fails at job interviews and lives on his father's money. Things take a turn when Venky gets the job and Venky pleads his father to retire so that he'll care for everything. The execution in this scene was fabulous. It's got the traditional Selva raghavan stamp all over it (read: 7G Rainbow's Ravi Krishna-father bond.)

One of the biggest highlights of the film is this
Venky's job searching
Venky's job interview at Trisha's company

Now no more spoiling of the film. Go get the DVD!

Now you might ask: why the fuss over dhanush. Well after watching the film, there is no doubt that Venky's character won't suit the kuchi Dhanush and here's why. Dhanush is in no form of a Software engineer. He doesn't even look convincing enough (as seen in Pollathavan and his earlier movies.) Venky did a superb job doing such a role and it wasn't so easy. I also can't see Nayantara as a serious Project manager. Trisha did a great job as that and I was floored by her training torture with Venky in the first half of the movie. I REALLY don't see her doing that role with aplomb.

But Yuvan's music was superb. I have loved the telugu songs and I demand he doesn't pull a "Mani Sharma Tamil Pokkiri (read: Pokkiri Pongal over Jagadame)" Retain all of them for the tamil music lovers please!

That's it for today. Expect a Billa 2007 review later this weekend.

Jodha Akbar Music Review (2008)

A year isn't a year without a biggie, even in terms of Music Soundtracks. Last January it was Mani Ratnam's GURU that stormed the music markets of India. It was songs like "Barso Re", "Tere Bina" and the foot-tapping "Mayya." Then he went down south to make things not sound cool with Sivaji and ATM. Atrocious soundtracks those were, he bounces back with the expected Jodha Akbar. That's right Joginder Tuteja, go get your ears checked because I find this album one of the best of the new year. Only difference is that the film's releasing in less than a month (Feb 15th) and with a late arrival (thanks to some certain distributors), it will now soon become latest. This Ashutosh "Lagaan/Swades" Gowarekar (pardon my spelling) - Aishwarya Rai-Hrithik Roshan starrer is bound to be lapped up for Rahman's music.

Enough of my ranting, let's get on with the songs.

Azeem-O-Shashenshah [Rating: 4/5]

Pros: The background music of the drums, making it like you're experiencing the ancient times of the Jodha-Akbar era. Also, it's more or less the teaser trailer's music.

Cons: May or May not be the "pick" of the album.


In Lamhon Ki Daamann Mein [Rating: 5]

Pros: Sonu and Madhursree's singing. The strings, what's more you can ask for. Rahman is genius for romance numbers.

Cons: You have to be a masala fanatic to not like this number. Also, you may not be a fan of Madhursree's singing.


Jashn-e-Baharaa [Rating:4/5 ]

Pros: Great singing by Javed Ali, lyrics, and a bonus, Instrumental!

Cons: People may think of it as a close-copy of "Tere Bina" from GURU?


Khwaja Mere Khwaja [Rating:3.5/5 ]

Pros: Rahman's taking the mike.

Cons: Enjoy it because the qawwali number won't feature in the movie,sounds too much "In Lamhon", Slow number.


Mann Mohana [Rating:5 ]

Pros: Goshal number.

Cons: Sounds a lot like an Ilaiyaraja number remastered.


After listening to all the songs, I have more confirmation that Rahman saves his "BEST" (read: BEST) for the North than the South. Go get it for "In Lamhon!"

Rating: ****

Pollathavan Movie Review (2007)

Dhanush has come a long way in films. His acclaimed films like KADHAL KONDEIN, THULLAVATHO ILLAMAI, & THIRUDA THIRUDI. Like Hrithik Rosham, he too had his share of flops.

But hold on. POLLATHAVAN is truely a comeback film for him. For one, it's slickly made, and the narration is fast-paced. Debutant Director Vetrimaan should be applauded for his efforts.

The Story is taken from Italian short film "The Bicycle Thief".Kumar (Dhanush) lives in the slums of North Chennai along with father (Malayalam Actor Murali) and others. One day, his father gives him a sum of money in order to get a good job and a paying salary to keep the family alive. Kumar invests it on the Pulsar bike. At the same time he's madly in love with Hema (Divya). A couple of sequences later, his bike gets stolen and the story goes has he goes around town frantically getting his bike back and all.

Dhanush has done excellent and his body language is superb especially in the climax fight. Diya has improved and stands well. Santhanam, Karunas and Murali are apt. Daniel Balaji repeats his act from VETTAIYAADU VILAYAADU.

Music by G.V Prakash is average. The remix of ENGEYYUM EPPODAM is okay but it will take a while for listeners to abolish the MSV classic. His background score is great though. Technics of the film are excellent. The downside of the film has to be some songs and the "Madras bashai".

POLLATHAVAN should not be missed for it's racy narration.

Rating: ***

[FLASHBACK REVIEW] Rehnna hai tere dil mein (2001)

Remember Madhavan's debut days? The struggling period that most newcomers often go through before having a "turning point". Abhishek Bachchan had it with REFUGEE but he turned over with Mani Ratnam's YUVA. Hrithik Roshan had it good with KNPH but he got sour with a festival of flops [FIZA, MISSION KASHMIR, YAADEIN, LAKSHAYA] but bounced back with K3G to an extent and KOI MILL GAYA.

Aside from that, this is one of the most underrated movies of all times. In a time where masalas, action thrillers rule the roost (down south mostly) a film like this got underlooked at. Probably because of this release coiciciding with SRK Asoka and Sunny Deol's INDIAN (not the Shankar tamil remake, that was dubbed in hindi as HINDUSTANI.) Both of them flopped along with this, but GAUTHAM MENON [KAKKA KAKKA, VETTAIYAADU VILAYAADU, PACHAIKILLI MUTHUCHARAM] didn't back off.

In fact the way Menon's presented his story is superb. A remake of his Tamil debut film MINNALE [co-starring Reema Sen], Gautham had made significant changes to this one with in the end becomes a better product than the remake itself.

Madhav "Maddy" Shastri is a typical goonda who known to be girl allergic and have a fearsome quarrel with those who go against him. His rival Samraj "Sam" [Saif Ali Khan] is the typical college hero, topper in classes and a girls magnet. Fate changes one day when both of them cross each other lines therefore leaving their last fight in the air until fate crosses paths again.
Cue 3 years later and we have Maddy as a Software Engineer instructor, who's more clean slate but also falls for Reena [Diya Mirza]. However, after knowing about her marriage to a person called "Rajeev", Maddy impersonates as Rajeev from America, who then entices Reena until a sequence of events follows, leading to the ultimate climax.

First and formost, the music deserves full brownie points. Harris Jayaraj has retained 3 of the songs from the Tamil original but has composed "Kehnna Hai" newly for this film exclusively. Camera by Varma is excellent. Edits by Antony is great. Course the post-intervals could've been trimmed a bit.

Madhavan as Maddy is the highlight of the film. Be it his flair for comedy, love, or anger scenes, he's simply competent. Diya Mirza impresses but dialogue delivery could be improved. Saif's done a great job and it shows alot better than Abbas did in the original.

REHNNA HAI TERE DIL MEIN is worth a watch. Go for it!

Rating: ***.5

Azhagiya Tamil Magan Movie Review (2007)

Sruthilayam DVD were officially released last month. I managed to get a copy of this much hyped "Vijay" film. After "Pokkiri", I had lost complete faith in him. The guy has no acting talent and he jumps around like a "korungu"(monkey). They say he's the next Rajinikanth but I highly doubt that. Rajini these days is trying to keep up with the youngsters (Surya, Vikram, Ajith) but the recent Sivaji proved that he looks like a joker doing that[read:Oru Koodal Sunlight, Athiradee.]

Back to ATM, the film is basically a mish-mash of the 70-80s films. After watching Vel last week, I think Vel had a better output than this film.

Guru (Vijay) is a athlete who has the power of ESP. He forsees events that yet to happen. Followed by the MGR style of Kaadhal-Kedal managatti episodes, the heroine (Shriya) introduces the daddy (Ashish Vidyarthi) who gives the go-ahead with the marriage. However, ESP proves Vijay that he will kill his beau at a temple. Events force him to forget her and shift to Mumbai. That's when Prasad (Also, Vijay) makes his step into his "kahani".

The concept of ESP is the backbone of the film however,the director Bharathan failed to explain further. How and why he has it they don't even bother to explain. Another problem is the music by A.R Rahman. I can easily conclude that his Hindi albums easily outrival this and Sivaji clearly. The nail in the coffin has to be "Ponmagal Vandhaal". It's an insult to the Parasakthi's [Sivaji Ganesan] film's orignal composition. This film can go along with Sivaji has one of the biggest blunders of Tamil Cinema of 2007. When films like Mozhi and ParuthiVeeran can be appreciated, why create the same trash over and over again?

If you ask me, the kathai is a blantant rip-off of Vaali only with Vijay-isms [The bobbling body language, mannerisms, the ameteur Rajni like dialogues.] The heroines suck. Period. Santhanam needs to get back to Lollu Sabha if he ever wants to make it big. Stop play the hero's sidekick.

On the whole. ATM is a pale masala. Avoid at all costs.

Rating: *

[FLASHBACK REVIEW] Dil Hi Dil Mein (2000)

As of this writing, it's been a week at the dub/remake central on Zee TV's Matinee shows. This week (12/31) featured "Dil Hi Dil Mein." Directed by Kathir, the cast comprises of Kunal, Sonali Bendre, Nasser, Jhonny Lever, Chinni Jayanth, and Anupam Kher.

The film starts out with protagonist, Raja [Kunal] who hails from a poor family, comes to Mumbai to do his MBA course at the Ramchandra University. Along the way, he gets into an Cyber-Cafe (Note: Film was released during the introduction of the internet-age) where he chats up with Roja. A couple of songs and whatnots later, the story takes a twist filled with tearjerkers, paariwaar and whatnot.

While the songs rendered by Maestro Mozart A.R Rahman are absolutely brilliant [Ae Nazaneen Suno Na, Chand Aaya Hai and Dola Dola are my favories] the dubbing is really poor. For about the first 30 minutes into the movie, the actors are synched well in Hindi while the majority of the film is dubbed.

Apparently there are 2 causes to blame. Kathir and the Hindi distributors. Kathir for instance had actor Kunal in Leonardo di Caprio hairstyle talk in badly dubbed dialogues while the "synched" dialogues had his "Jack" hair gone. The dubbed portions are courtesy of Tamil hit,"Kaadhalar Dhinam." In fact, you can expect this much for the upcoming Dubbed "Sivaji" hitting the North states pretty soon.

Back to DHDM, the actors who actually speak hindi are Anupam Kher, Jhonny Lever, Kunal (Non-Titanic, "Jack" hair) and Nasser (ONLY IN SAWAR GAYEE SONG). The rest of them, Chinni Jayanth, Sonali, Nasser are dubbed. That aside, the story took a steady start but got plunged into the pit of contrivance. Yet, Kathir had good intentions. For instance, no masala fights, just commericial songs. Oh and the dubbed tracks from the Tamil original were reshot in Hindi (except in instances in the beginning of "Roja Roja" where Kunal's dubbed line "Mere Roja" doesn't match the tamil lyrics.)

Acting wise, Nasser is the highlight of the show. Be it his noble intentions of admitting Kathir to the college or his poor-house background. Kunal gets it right, but the tear-jearker stuff didn't get me as misty as TAARE ZAMEEN PAR did. Also, his body language is irritating and repetitive.[read: his walking style.] Sonali sleptwalk through her role. Chinni Jayanth is apt while Johnny Lever tickles your funny bones to an extent. Anupam Kher is excellent. The camera and visuals are excellent.

On the Whole, DIL HI DIL MEIN has it shares of "dubbed" flaws, yet it's finders is often limited.

Rating: ***