The much awaited movie directed by S.Shankar, who gave us hit movies since the early 90s [Gentlemen, Kadhalan, Indian, Muthalvan, Nayak, Boys and Anniyan]. With a mammoth star cast like Superstar Rajni Kanth, Vivek and telugu heroine, Shriya Saran, you would expect the producers [AVM Saravanan, M.S Guhan] to give the audience a winner or rather another "Chandramukhi" [Currently celebrating it's 804 day and whatnot.]
Unfortunately, Sivaji is purely for the masala goers. There's no story or plot that's "Shankar" that is rather told in an interesting way like his last Blockbuster, "Anniyan". When you rope in a star who's identity is known to his fans by his mannerisims, you then conclude that the story itself took a backseat and instead, Shankar whipped up something from the archives which in the end, ended up becoming a Varalaaru, or rather a poorly-told masala. Heck, even Chandramukhi [which I disliked] was probably a latter better of Rajni film than this one.
The story: Sivaji is an NRI, who returns from the states to open up a hospital and whatnot. With a comic sidekick, [Vivek], they encounter financers, including the villian [Telugu star, Suman]. Along the way, he falls form tamizhselvi [Shriya] who intially doesn't fall for the hero but later marries him despite the astrologic predictions of his death. The rest of the film deals with him acquiring black money and turning it into white money and the usual "bad guys finish last" formula.
Let's talk about what worked and what didn't work. The story dervives from several films, A.R Murgadoss's STALIN, K.V Anand's KANA KANDEIN, Shankar's own GENTLEMAN, INDIAN, MUTHALVAN, Shahrukh's ONE 2 KA FOUR, and K.S Ravikumar's PADIYAPPA. You would think that after delays of releasing the film and keeping the film's premise under secrecy would've paid off right? To say that Anniyan did the copying from Gentleman, Indian and Muthalvan is an understatement. Anniyan was unique in screenplay because it was about society's reform. Sivaji's just rehashing the done-to-death plot in a cliched fashion. Same goes for the revenge theme.
Another problem with Sivaji was the amateurish treatment. Namely the following:
I) The romance between Tamizhselvi and Sivaji
II) The emphasizing of the Jadagam of Sivaji's presumed future
III) The stunt scene at the movie theater.
IV) The songs improper placement.
V) While Vivek's in form again after a long time, he tended to get irritating later on. Some of his unwanted jokes could've been cut.
VI) Shriya's costumes. Ironically enough, Sivaji wants a tamizh like bride that's all normal and dresses normally, yet the songs seem to show a different side...
VII) The "bald" treatment.
VIII) Rajni's parents.
Some of the sequences work well:
I)Some Rajni references in a comical style was a good tribute to the star.
II)MMS Sivaji receives in jail.
III)The mimicry scene. Bringing in Mayilsamy, Chinni Jayanth and Dhamu was a nice touch.
IV) Suman's scenes.
Technically, Sivaji is brilliant. Camera by K.V Anand is superb. The graphics team deserves accolades for the overally look. The editing though [Anthony], could've been a bit more tighter. Art by Thotta Tharani gives a methaphoric design to the film. Choreography by Lawerance and Prabhu Deva could use some more work.
Music by A.R Rahman disappoints. Barring Sahara and Baleilakka, the rest of the numbers pass muster. The background score is a tad better than the soundtrack itself.
Rajni isn't an Morgan Freeman or Amrish Puri, but he just does what he does best that's about it. Shriya Saran is wasted and gets limited scope. Moreover, she needs a crash-course in acting. Suman excells and is a revelation. Vivek is in form again but his comic-timing is unwanted in some places. Manivannan and the supporting cast make their prescence felt. Nayantara [sp. appearance in Baleilakka] needs to lose the flab.
Overall, Sivaji is gloss and glitter minus the screenplay. Commerically and from a fan's perspective, the film will prosper because it's a Rajni film.
Rating: **1/2
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Movie Review - Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2007)
It's a rare treat these days to get such different themes of movies instead of the same old "dishoom-dishoom" or the typical "Yash Chopra triangle or rather repeated Switz locales". That statement best describes Saket Choudhary's debut film "Pyaar ke side effects". With a cast comprising Art hero, Rahul Bose and "Mayya Mayya" Malika Sherawat, and more, the film boasts of good performances better than the nightmare that was "Bheja Fry".
We are introduced to a couple [Bose and Sherawat], who question each other's comittment to marriage. It's when Bose starts to go haywire and come up with a paniking like answer in order to pay attention to the cricket match than his own girlfriend. Bose then narrates to us his flashback to a wedding where Trisha is getting married (duh). Bose himself is an RJ for that same wedding and decides to take a break from all the rapping and whatnot. But when he leaves the wedding, he finds that the bride too escaped from her wedding as she didn't feel ready for comittment. Years later, Bose itnroduces us to his friends, his wise sister, brother-in-law, roommate who can't get a date and Trisha's evil friend (ala Dracula). The rest of the film deals with what a typical American romantic comedy goes with.
While the lead actors were great, the plot was resemblent to some videshi movies seen countless number of times. But the scripting and plot is different and suited for a desi audience at least in my humble opinion. The only con I had with the film is that second fiddle heroine (baby doll or something), she was god damn awful. Her lips and wooden face was unbearable to watch.
Otherwise, have a ball and watch the film. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: ***
We are introduced to a couple [Bose and Sherawat], who question each other's comittment to marriage. It's when Bose starts to go haywire and come up with a paniking like answer in order to pay attention to the cricket match than his own girlfriend. Bose then narrates to us his flashback to a wedding where Trisha is getting married (duh). Bose himself is an RJ for that same wedding and decides to take a break from all the rapping and whatnot. But when he leaves the wedding, he finds that the bride too escaped from her wedding as she didn't feel ready for comittment. Years later, Bose itnroduces us to his friends, his wise sister, brother-in-law, roommate who can't get a date and Trisha's evil friend (ala Dracula). The rest of the film deals with what a typical American romantic comedy goes with.
While the lead actors were great, the plot was resemblent to some videshi movies seen countless number of times. But the scripting and plot is different and suited for a desi audience at least in my humble opinion. The only con I had with the film is that second fiddle heroine (baby doll or something), she was god damn awful. Her lips and wooden face was unbearable to watch.
Otherwise, have a ball and watch the film. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: ***
Movie Review - Bheja Fry (2007)
Summer's finally here (well for those in the US at least.) With great pleasure, I took the time to rent out some of the films released earlier this year and I got a chance to view them. One of the few is the flop-turned-hit, "Bheja Fry." Naturally, you wonder what's the film got to do with cooking or better yet the cooking item itself? Well for starters, the film has no relation to the eatery nor it has to do with cooking. It's in fact a comedy. Not a Priyadarshan type comedy but infact a simple comedy that lasts nearly 95 minutes.
The story goes like this: Ranjeet Thadlani [Rajat Kapoor] is a music exec who wants to launch new singers. At the same time, he has some on and off martial problems with his wife [Sarika]. He hears off a devoted and talented singer by the name of Bharat Bhushan [Vinay Pathak] and invites him over for dinner. That same day, Sarika leaves him in the dust and Ranjeet stresses every might of bringing her back to his arms. By going through frustrating moments with the obnoxious Bharat, his rivals come friends [Milind Soman and newcomer Bhaivaravi respectively] and of course, the income tax officer, [Ranveer Shorey].
The plot and characterization starts off well but by the time the lead female leaves, the moments with Pathak and Kapoor respectively increased the comical moments and his tension, but in other parts of the film, you tend to feel tired and frustrated by Pathak that you end up sympathizing with Ranjeet himself! At other times, the humor feels forced and the end product isn't very funny, it's unfunny.
Music isn't really much to say aside from 2 songs [One played in the movie, the other in the credits]. Acting wise, Pathak excells, Kapoor gels, but Sarika flops. Soman and the others past muster.
Overall, the film's a strong timepass. Watch with no frustration.
Rating: **1/2
The story goes like this: Ranjeet Thadlani [Rajat Kapoor] is a music exec who wants to launch new singers. At the same time, he has some on and off martial problems with his wife [Sarika]. He hears off a devoted and talented singer by the name of Bharat Bhushan [Vinay Pathak] and invites him over for dinner. That same day, Sarika leaves him in the dust and Ranjeet stresses every might of bringing her back to his arms. By going through frustrating moments with the obnoxious Bharat, his rivals come friends [Milind Soman and newcomer Bhaivaravi respectively] and of course, the income tax officer, [Ranveer Shorey].
The plot and characterization starts off well but by the time the lead female leaves, the moments with Pathak and Kapoor respectively increased the comical moments and his tension, but in other parts of the film, you tend to feel tired and frustrated by Pathak that you end up sympathizing with Ranjeet himself! At other times, the humor feels forced and the end product isn't very funny, it's unfunny.
Music isn't really much to say aside from 2 songs [One played in the movie, the other in the credits]. Acting wise, Pathak excells, Kapoor gels, but Sarika flops. Soman and the others past muster.
Overall, the film's a strong timepass. Watch with no frustration.
Rating: **1/2
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Movie Review - Mayakannadi [TAMIL] (2007)
Right from Autograph and Thavamai Thavamairandu you expect Director/Actor Cheran to come up with a winner this time. To an extent, Cheran does suceed the viewer but he looses their patience in the 2nd half. Bottom line - Back to rural you go Cheran.
We are introduced to Kumar (Cheran) and Maheshwari (Navya Nair) as hair stylists. Both of them are friends turned lovers trying to come up in Society. One day, Kumar overhears a scheme to becoming rich and he gets Maheshwari to quit their jobs and follow that scheme. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out. The real purpose in life is to get everything that every wealthy person can own. Cheran gets another idea by trying out to be an actor for Tamil Cinema. That also doesn't work out. The rest of the story unfolds such as parents health, money problems and love matter.
Cheran's given his best performance. Watch out for the well-executed scenes such as his acting profile and his scenes with Navya. Navya does okay but she needs to lose some weight. Radha Ravi is adequate. Guest stars, Shwetha Konnur (Malavika), Sarath Kumar, and Arya make their presence felt.
Music by Ilaya Raja strikes a chord in your mind while his Background score (Instrumental of Oyele Yenga...) lingers forever in your heart.
On the whole, Mayakannadi is a average flick that might reflect on your lives but not as much as the Director's past flicks [AUTOGRAPH, THAVAMAI THAVAMAIRANDU].
Rating: ***
We are introduced to Kumar (Cheran) and Maheshwari (Navya Nair) as hair stylists. Both of them are friends turned lovers trying to come up in Society. One day, Kumar overhears a scheme to becoming rich and he gets Maheshwari to quit their jobs and follow that scheme. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out. The real purpose in life is to get everything that every wealthy person can own. Cheran gets another idea by trying out to be an actor for Tamil Cinema. That also doesn't work out. The rest of the story unfolds such as parents health, money problems and love matter.
Cheran's given his best performance. Watch out for the well-executed scenes such as his acting profile and his scenes with Navya. Navya does okay but she needs to lose some weight. Radha Ravi is adequate. Guest stars, Shwetha Konnur (Malavika), Sarath Kumar, and Arya make their presence felt.
Music by Ilaya Raja strikes a chord in your mind while his Background score (Instrumental of Oyele Yenga...) lingers forever in your heart.
On the whole, Mayakannadi is a average flick that might reflect on your lives but not as much as the Director's past flicks [AUTOGRAPH, THAVAMAI THAVAMAIRANDU].
Rating: ***
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Music Review - Sivaji the Boss (TAMIL) (2007)
Gentleman [The Gentleman], Kaadhalan [Humse Hai Muqabala], Indian [Hindustani], Mudhalvan [Nayak - the real hero], Boys, and Anniyan [Aparichit: The Stranger]. What do these films have in common? Director Shankar and Madras Mozart: A.R Rahman [Anniyan's the exceptional work of Harris Jeyaraj.] With a blockbuster hit maker in his resume, he lifts up the people's expectations with his magnus opus entitled, Sivaji the Boss. Starring none other than Superstar Rajnikanth and Telugu heroine, Shriya Saran, it's produced by AVM. Saravanan of the famous AVM Productions. Now you wonder how I took the so-called music of Sivaji?
Let's be frank here, Rahman doesn't give us hits like Chikku Bukku, Pettai Rap, Uravasi, Telephone Manipol, Shakalakka Baby, Saiyaan, or Sa Re Ga Me. Heck, it's a pale comparison to Shankar's superhit album by popular Kollywood MD, Harris Jayaraj who churned hits like Remo and Kannum Kannum Nokia. In fact, it's no Roja or Bombay either.
To sum things up, Rahman doesn't quite gives us the stuff we all loved and hummed to in the 90s. It's purely a rap album filled with maybe 1 or 2 hummables. Better luck next time Rahman saab.
Athiradee kicks off with singers Sayonara and the mozart himself. Honestly, you have to have supersonic hearing to understand lyricist Vaali's words. It's unbelievable that it's a Rahman composition and yet, he's stumbled upon the likes of America's favorite music genre among the teens. It's more or less a pass muster.
Rahman does make up entirely with Baleilakka sung by none other by SPB, Rajni's lucky mascot. Unfortunately, Rahman borrows heavily from Vidyasagar's Devuda from Rajni's mega-blockbuster, Chandramukhi. The female voice doesn't have depth and fails to impress me. Moving on....
Sahana is probably one of the decent tracks in this album. The only downside, it's rendered by nasal nepali, Udit Narayan. Known for his infamous tamil diction, he does that infamously well here but "Tere Bina - Guru", Chinmayee, makes up for Udit's horrible diction. Probably of the better bgm so far. Maybe a tribute to Kuluwalilee from Muthu?
Vaaji... by Hariharan and Madhusree is a average track. Hari, who's ranked as one of ARR's protege's, fails to keep up with Mozart's beats. Madhu tries as hard to be the south Alka Yagnik but she's got a shrieky kind of voice which makes the track unbearable.
Sahara is probably the BETTER version of the song in comparison to Udit's style. Why? Vijay Yesudas makes a perfect lead male singer in TAMIL WITH SUPERB DICTION and his voice will tell you the shades of Dr. Yesudas. Gomathishree does well in her debut as well. For a very short track, one wonders whether Yesudas got gypped for the dictionkiller that is Udit.
Style and The Boss are nothing by noise. Ignoring the barely understandable wordings and annoying rap music, it's a skipworthy no doubt.
Say what you want ARR-Rajni apologists, Rahman fails to impress me with his comeback in tamil. Even his Sillendu oru Kadhal was beautiful in comparison to this atrocious album. Perhaps next time, we could get some of your Roja stuff or better yet, GURU? Please? Shankar should've stayed with HJ for music and have ARR for BGM.
Rating: *1/2
Let's be frank here, Rahman doesn't give us hits like Chikku Bukku, Pettai Rap, Uravasi, Telephone Manipol, Shakalakka Baby, Saiyaan, or Sa Re Ga Me. Heck, it's a pale comparison to Shankar's superhit album by popular Kollywood MD, Harris Jayaraj who churned hits like Remo and Kannum Kannum Nokia. In fact, it's no Roja or Bombay either.
To sum things up, Rahman doesn't quite gives us the stuff we all loved and hummed to in the 90s. It's purely a rap album filled with maybe 1 or 2 hummables. Better luck next time Rahman saab.
Athiradee kicks off with singers Sayonara and the mozart himself. Honestly, you have to have supersonic hearing to understand lyricist Vaali's words. It's unbelievable that it's a Rahman composition and yet, he's stumbled upon the likes of America's favorite music genre among the teens. It's more or less a pass muster.
Rahman does make up entirely with Baleilakka sung by none other by SPB, Rajni's lucky mascot. Unfortunately, Rahman borrows heavily from Vidyasagar's Devuda from Rajni's mega-blockbuster, Chandramukhi. The female voice doesn't have depth and fails to impress me. Moving on....
Sahana is probably one of the decent tracks in this album. The only downside, it's rendered by nasal nepali, Udit Narayan. Known for his infamous tamil diction, he does that infamously well here but "Tere Bina - Guru", Chinmayee, makes up for Udit's horrible diction. Probably of the better bgm so far. Maybe a tribute to Kuluwalilee from Muthu?
Vaaji... by Hariharan and Madhusree is a average track. Hari, who's ranked as one of ARR's protege's, fails to keep up with Mozart's beats. Madhu tries as hard to be the south Alka Yagnik but she's got a shrieky kind of voice which makes the track unbearable.
Sahara is probably the BETTER version of the song in comparison to Udit's style. Why? Vijay Yesudas makes a perfect lead male singer in TAMIL WITH SUPERB DICTION and his voice will tell you the shades of Dr. Yesudas. Gomathishree does well in her debut as well. For a very short track, one wonders whether Yesudas got gypped for the dictionkiller that is Udit.
Style and The Boss are nothing by noise. Ignoring the barely understandable wordings and annoying rap music, it's a skipworthy no doubt.
Say what you want ARR-Rajni apologists, Rahman fails to impress me with his comeback in tamil. Even his Sillendu oru Kadhal was beautiful in comparison to this atrocious album. Perhaps next time, we could get some of your Roja stuff or better yet, GURU? Please? Shankar should've stayed with HJ for music and have ARR for BGM.
Rating: *1/2
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Movie Review: Ta Ra Rum Pum (HINDI) (2007)
Flop after flop after flop. Post Mani Ratnam's GURU, seems that the film industry is going through a terrible phase. Granted, movies like Honeymoon Travels and the latest Bheja Fry seems to be average hits this season. Seems that the year that was 2006 could not be repeated. So now it all comes down to this: Sid Anand (assist director of Kunal "Fanaa" Kohli) who's debut "Salaam Namaste (2005) earned a name in the industry. But does he repeat the same success this time with TA RA RUM PUM? To an extent, but they're are some flaws....
Meet Ranveer Singh (Saif Ali) a New Yorker who has a raging passion for race cars. As a NYker, he tries to win over the sponsors with his passions and stuff, but they don't seem to buy his dreams. Until a Gujju man called Harry (Eggactly's Javed Jaffri) sees his talent in action and offers him his dreams come true. Dubbed by the name "RV", he makes a name in the career. At the same time, he falls for Radhika (Rani) whom he fondly calls her, "Shona", Bengali for sweet. Fast foward two song sequences later, and we get the see RV's mindless money spending in wedding stuff, house, cars, etc which he fondly replies, "it's a loan, an installment."Whatever, we get it! Oh and the kids, adorable! Regarding the money matter, the family goes bankrupt and are forced to live in a Bronx type neighborhood, ala DesiYork. The family encounters robbery, starvation, desperate times for money, health and so on.
While the child artists did justice to their roles, Saif and Rani were the best. Give his fathering character or his moneybags character, he simply rocks. Rani as a mother does a decent job, but it's Javed Jaffri who steals the show. If "eggactly" was the phase in SN, TRRP brings his "Mera # Girlfriend said...." Hilarious jokes and at the same time, serious.
Visual-Shekhar give some good tunes, but 2 of them stand out. "Hey Shona" and "Saiyaan." The rest pass muster. The writing point is good, but sometimes, the whole rag-riches storyline is old as hills. But the dialogues make up for it.
So is the film worth watching? Only if you like the artists. Otherwise, watch for timepass.
Rating ***1/2
Meet Ranveer Singh (Saif Ali) a New Yorker who has a raging passion for race cars. As a NYker, he tries to win over the sponsors with his passions and stuff, but they don't seem to buy his dreams. Until a Gujju man called Harry (Eggactly's Javed Jaffri) sees his talent in action and offers him his dreams come true. Dubbed by the name "RV", he makes a name in the career. At the same time, he falls for Radhika (Rani) whom he fondly calls her, "Shona", Bengali for sweet. Fast foward two song sequences later, and we get the see RV's mindless money spending in wedding stuff, house, cars, etc which he fondly replies, "it's a loan, an installment."Whatever, we get it! Oh and the kids, adorable! Regarding the money matter, the family goes bankrupt and are forced to live in a Bronx type neighborhood, ala DesiYork. The family encounters robbery, starvation, desperate times for money, health and so on.
While the child artists did justice to their roles, Saif and Rani were the best. Give his fathering character or his moneybags character, he simply rocks. Rani as a mother does a decent job, but it's Javed Jaffri who steals the show. If "eggactly" was the phase in SN, TRRP brings his "Mera # Girlfriend said...." Hilarious jokes and at the same time, serious.
Visual-Shekhar give some good tunes, but 2 of them stand out. "Hey Shona" and "Saiyaan." The rest pass muster. The writing point is good, but sometimes, the whole rag-riches storyline is old as hills. But the dialogues make up for it.
So is the film worth watching? Only if you like the artists. Otherwise, watch for timepass.
Rating ***1/2
Movie Review - Unnale Unnale (TAMIL) (2007)
After churning hits like 12B and Ullam Ketkume, cameraman-turned-director Jeeva's latest film deals with relationships. While it's a dead-beaten subject one wonders whether Jeeva succeeds this time. The answer is yes. Jeeva succeeds to a large extent primarly because of the script and it's gripping narration. Ten minutes into the movie and you're a sucker for the film from start to finish. Another plus point is music director Harris Jeyaraj. Chartbusters such as "June Pona" and "Mudhal Naal" are hum addicting. But let's get to the plot shall we?
Karthik (Newcomer Bangalore model, Vinay) is a software engineer, who gets an opportunity to work in Austrailia for a long term project. As he travels to Australia, he encounters his old lover, Jhansi (Anniyan's Sada), whom the two had a fall out in the past year or so. The flashback explains their first meeting at a temple festival along with Karthik's friends (Raju Sundram and Sanath) She gets a liking to Karthik as they meet often, but due to Karthik's habit of flirting with other girls, Jhansi starts to feel jealous or rather obsessive with him and scolds Karthik to the maximum. The result was nothing but a seperation of their relationship. Back to Austrailia, Karthik, encounters the bubbly Deepika (Sarkar's Tanisha Mukherjee, Kajol's sister) who tries to reunite the estranged lovers but in the process falls in love with Karthik as well. The rest unfolds as any other story goes BUT WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF CLIMAX *hint hint
As far as performances go, Karthik stands tall for a debut. Tanisha, who's last hindi film Neal N'Nikki was a bomb at B.O, regains her stardom with this film. Obviously dubbed, but definetly a hightlight. Ditto goes for Sadha, who steals the show completely with the Preity Zinta of KHNH look. Raju Sundram and Sanath provide you some best laughs in the movie (Watch out for the conversation with his lover, makes you fall down laughing.)
As I said before, HJ derserves kudos for the music as well as Jeeva's camera work. Give Unnale Unnale a watch, a real movie treat!
Rating ****
Karthik (Newcomer Bangalore model, Vinay) is a software engineer, who gets an opportunity to work in Austrailia for a long term project. As he travels to Australia, he encounters his old lover, Jhansi (Anniyan's Sada), whom the two had a fall out in the past year or so. The flashback explains their first meeting at a temple festival along with Karthik's friends (Raju Sundram and Sanath) She gets a liking to Karthik as they meet often, but due to Karthik's habit of flirting with other girls, Jhansi starts to feel jealous or rather obsessive with him and scolds Karthik to the maximum. The result was nothing but a seperation of their relationship. Back to Austrailia, Karthik, encounters the bubbly Deepika (Sarkar's Tanisha Mukherjee, Kajol's sister) who tries to reunite the estranged lovers but in the process falls in love with Karthik as well. The rest unfolds as any other story goes BUT WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF CLIMAX *hint hint
As far as performances go, Karthik stands tall for a debut. Tanisha, who's last hindi film Neal N'Nikki was a bomb at B.O, regains her stardom with this film. Obviously dubbed, but definetly a hightlight. Ditto goes for Sadha, who steals the show completely with the Preity Zinta of KHNH look. Raju Sundram and Sanath provide you some best laughs in the movie (Watch out for the conversation with his lover, makes you fall down laughing.)
As I said before, HJ derserves kudos for the music as well as Jeeva's camera work. Give Unnale Unnale a watch, a real movie treat!
Rating ****
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