Saw this movie for the 3rd time if you add both languages, Hindi and Tamil. A review would be really not befitting the time right now. But it is a tough call on which is better. Let me break it down a little bit.

Abhishek vs Maddy

Abhishek in my mind, emerges as a clear winner! His father would be proud of his performance in this movie. His dialogue delivery was really fantastic. The "laal laal laal" instead of "Kabaddi Kabaddi" was memorable. Maddy has performed decently, but falls short of Abhi. The name, Inba Sekar does not give the same punch as "Lallan Singh". Maddy also downplays the ego that these adi aals have, which Abhi has exemplified in! So, the winner is Abhishek!

Ajay vs Surya

Is this even a comparison? Here, Surya wins hands down! His performance, albeit, not in the same league as his other movies, was very good. His appearance in Kaakha Kaakha was far more superior to this one. Surya has done total justice to this role, but he is not the right guy to be casted as a student leader. Some of his exchanges with Bharathiraaja were really memorable! Ajay was just too old for the role and was clearly uncomfortable playing this role, which has taken him back about 15 years to the days of Phool aur Kaante!

Vivek vs Siddharth

I think Vivek Oberoi will really skin me for putting them on the same column! He has clearly outperformed Sid. The latter was okay for running naked on Mount Rd in Boys, but he surely lacks the maturity required for an actor. His face and voice gives him up on this one. When he is required to act, he simply yells or croaks!

Rani vs Meera

This is a tough one. Both have done very well. But my vote goes to Meera Jasmine. Wonderful performance and very natural. She seemed at ease and has delivered a very mature performance. Her dialogue delivery was also great! She has clearly overshadowed Madhavan by her performance! Rani has done very well, but given the fact that she is far more experienced, relatively, I'll have to give it to Meera!

Esha vs Esha

This will have to be the hindi Esha. She seemed at greater ease with Ajay than with Surya. Maybe she took some tips from her aunt, Madhu, who made her debut with Ajay in Phool aur Kaante.

Kareena vs Trisha

Trisha emerges as a clear winner in this contest. Her oomph factor was much more. Perhaps her performance was amplified by the bad show from Siddharth, that makes you think that she was too much for him. Her eyes seemed sunken and perhaps had to do with what she had to drink in the previous night. Kareena for her standards was pretty conservative. There's not much to talk about since this role was mostly a filler.

Om Puri vs Bharathiraaja

Oh man! I cannot forget the performance of Bharathiraaja in a hurry! He was too good in his role as the corrupt minister. There are two scenes that stand out in my mind. One with Surya in which he tries to convince Surya to go to the US and the other with Madhavan in which he is at first angry with Maddy, but then softens up and identifies with the latter as being similar to his younger self. Om Puri has not performed to his usual calibre.

So in terms of performance, it is Yuva 3 - AE 4

Music: Tie, great job by ARR!
Lyrics: Tough one, I'd have to give it to AE.
Camera & Cinematography: Yuva

The clincher for Yuva is the pace of the movie. It seems to be moving all the time, whereas AE drags a little bit here and there. Also the Howrah bridge over the Hubli is far more impressive than the Chennai Cooum bridge for the site of the most important scene, the meeting of the players! Hats off to Manirathnam for that scene in both these movies. It was well thought through and well executed.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 12:09 PM

Saraswathi Sabatham

Saw this really old "swaami padam" to keep my father in law entertained. But as it turned out, it did keep me hooked on to the TV as well! But hey... not too surprising considering that I am a devout person who does not know much about the epics other than Ramayana or Mahabharatha!

What's New

How can anything be new in such an old movie? But the story itself was new to me, although the topic of the argument was pretty familiar. I had seen it in one of Solomon Paapaiyya's Patti Mandrams on Pongal day (not on television but on The Hindu's tv page!).

Noticeable

I last saw K.R.Vijaya in Chandramukhi and boy o boy, it was shocking to see her in this movie. She was really a babe (sorry for saying that in a Swami pada review)! Some natural acting from Sivaji Ganesan (instead of overacting). His contrast in the roles of Vidyapathi and Naradar were simply a sign of a genius. Nagesh was his natural self. Gemini Ganesan had a subdued role and was by no means equal to Sivaji and K.R.Vijaya. Also, it seems like the trait of "Veeram" was simply glued in to the argument, not much synergy in this. Although this was a long movie, the ending was pretty abrupt and the gods intervened into an interesting fight, but I guess the message had to be conveyed in time, while the audience was still awake. The godesses are projected as pretty childish in this movie!

Verdict

Very interesting movie and worth watching again and again for its meaningful songs and to teach your kids a thing or two about gods.

Monday, May 16, 2005 at 3:39 PM

Kuch Na Kaho

Saw this Abhishek-Ash flick for just two reasons... you guessed it, firstly, I was totally jobless and this was the only DVD that Rathish had which I had not seen!!

What's New?

Nothing much.

Noticeable

Sathish Shah getting strung with the g*y concept. I would not be surprised if I see him in SF one day. Another movie where Arbaaz has no role to play. We're getting used to this. Another movie where Ash had a chance to prove herself, being given a good role, but falls short once again! The kid has done a decent job.

Verdict

Apart from a couple of songs in this substandard SEL album and the child artist's performance, there is not much to take away. This movie seems to be a collage of several movies and the end product is disappointing to say the least. The climax is worthless and the flick is predictable throughout and leaves no room for suspense or joy! Sunday, May 08, 2005 at 8:45 PM

Enn Swaasa Kaatre (ESK)

Saw this movie for perhaps the second time in over 4 years since its release. This movie will go down as one of the most disappointing despite having an excellent soundtrack from ARR.

What's new?

Isha Gopikkar was introduced to the tamil frontbenchers through this movie. She was the new sensation then. After watching her in the "Khallaass" item number in Company, she was flabby and disappointing in this movie.

Noticeable

Arvindswamy, trying to stay in the race desperately tries his proven formula as a software hacker, but fails to deliver. He has put on tons of weight and is unable to carry forth his screen charisma. The romantic scenes are too drawn out and we can't wait for the movie to get back on track. Instead it gets derailed with all the fight sequences and one forgets the motive. Prakash Raaj has tried to save the face of this movie, but even he cannot do anything. Vadivel-Chinni Jayanth's comedy sequence is the winner! They have done a good job in their roles as car mechanics.

Verdict

Miserable movie. Songs are great, but not too well picturized. Dialogues are funny... the funniest being "Kadalargal tarkolaila daan seruvaargal, naanga Kolaila onnu serarom" at 8:25 PM

Ra Ra... RAVING!!!

This will go down in history as the first movie that I've seen before it released in theaters at Chennai! We got to see it in a preview show at IMC6 on Wednesday Apr 13th (few hours before it hit the theaters in India!). I was quite nervous not knowing what to expect from the superstar after a debacle in Baba. I still went with a lot of hope and I was not let down. "Oru dadava daan tavarum... " (a la Padayyappa)!

What's New?

This was a strange movie, with not too many punch lines! A couple of them stood out: "Naan Gundu aana nanna irukkadhu, nee elacha nanna irukkadhu", "doctor daan patientukkaaga kaarthirukkannum, enikkum patient doctor kaaga kaartirukka koodathu", simple yet powerful!

Also, for a change, a song does not introduce the superstar, the first song, "Devu da Devu da" comes when we are well into the first few scenes.

The action sequences that always defy the laws of gravitation and almost any physics you can imagine, are taken to a clearly fictitious height in this movie, which make it very enjoyable and leaves almost nothing to be said. It is along the lines of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or the Matrix (of course not the same quality).

The superstar does not smoke in this movie because of a plastic surgery in his lip region. This does not deter his style, one bit. He shifts to Chewing gum instead! "What a Mannnn" (a la Padayappa)

Perhaps the newest thing about this movie is that it actually is a MOVIE, beyond all the masala that we are used to. It is a great product. The suspense is good, and so is the chill factor! Rajini has done a great job in his role as Saravanan. His role is subdued at times compared to his other movies, but considering that he maybe acting in one movie per year, this may just be the apt transition for him into more character roles in the future, still glowing with his usual charisma! Had he done more roles like his senior role in Padayappa, he would have been an even bigger success!

Noticeable:

Age has certainly not caught up with our superstar. Although the punch in his voice is reduced and in close up shots, you can see that he has grown old... all I can say is "ungalukku vayasey aagaley" (a la Padayappa). He looks a lot younger than he did in Baba.

Jyothika has given arguably, her best performance thus far. If her role in Perazhagan can get her an award, this one surely deserves one more. I expected more from the "Ra Ra" dance, going by dance master Kala's comments, but it was a pretty well sung song in any case. Jo cannot match up with a natural dancer in the original version of this movie, "Manichitratazhu", Shobana, who won a national award for the same role in the original. Vineeth has a decent role, which he has performed well. He has danced very well in the Ra Ra song, doing justice to his bharathanatyam training.

Vadivel's comedy along with Rajini is fantastic, albeit monotonous and centered around one theme. He has turned in a very good performance indeed! The super star as such is known for his fine comic timing. He has not disappointed.

Nayanthara who appears in the middle part of the movie, disappears until the last scene. She is an actress eager to please. She shakes it up a little too much in the song "Konja Neram.. Konja Neram", almost bordering on jerks! She has not turned in a very great performance.

The "Konja neram" song was really well picturized. I cannot think of any one song that has stood out like this since the days of Alaypayuthe and Kandukondain. This one was shot in Turkey and was a nice change. The "Athindom" song was well timed too and as has become a practice, this is one thathuvva song in a superstar movie, like "O O O O kicku yeruthey" or "Ra Ra Ra Rammayya" or "Maya Maya ellam Maya". This was a fresh song with some good lyrics and well sung by the evergreen SPB. Another song that was signature Rajinikanth song was of course: "Devu Da Devu Da", the intro song.

Looks like P.Vasu used a lot of similarities with Padayappa, the last successful superhit from the superstar. Some examples are a short director appearance (in "repeattu", it also had a producer and an uppukku chappani). Also he has used some Mumbai or foreign models in "Annanodu Paatu song", (like in Kicku yeruthey). The other similarity is the superstar's life being put at stake by the vamp like in Padayyappa. There is also the "Sivaji" factor that is common to the two movies. Of course I am reading too much into stuff, given that this is a remake of a Malayalam movie, but you can't miss the pattern :-)

You cannot miss the portrait of Chandramukhi in this movie. That in my mind, stands out. I cannot forget the face in that movie, it will be etched in my heart forever :-0) Really classic. I can think of any king that will give up anything for a beauty like that!

You cannot miss the tribute to Sivaji Ganesan in this movie. I believe it was long overdue and it is a shame that no one else did it other than Sivaji productions themselves. Also notable is the RK films like introductory banner of Sivaji productions.

Unnoticeable

The talented support cast ranging from Prabhu, Nassar, Vijayakumar all the way to K.R.Vijaya have been totally wasted. But you cannot help it, this movie has too many stars already albeit in one man!

Verdict

You have gotta watch this movie, whether you are superstar fan or not, you are bound to be entertained! Like S.J.Suryah says, "People in the theaters do not like to be preached at, these are not people that listen to their parents!, so the best thing to do is to provide them with 2.5 hours of entertainment". This is the difference between Baba and Chandramukhi. If you like art movies, look elsewhere, but if you like some suspense, some horror, some comedy and some fun... watch Chandramukhi. Look at the success it is enjoying here in the United States! Tuesday, May 03, 2005 at 7:22 PM

MusaFIR

Saw this Sanjay Dutt flick, which reminded me of Kaante, the moment I picked it up from Rathish's hands this evening and it did not let me down. The similarity is hard not to notice. Firstly there are Sanjay and Mahesh. Instead of Suneil Shetty, plug in Anil Kapoor and perhaps Aditya Panscholi instead of Lucky Ali and the cast is almost complete. Here is a twist, there is the sexy Sameera in place of software engineer chap.

What's new and Noticeable?

Almost immediately noticeable is, Sameera is appearing in a "role" for a change, rather than an item number. She seems to still have that inertia from those songs though. Her outfits throughout the movie would make Urmila hide behind a beach towel in shame! This is no doubt a guy flick like Dhoom (good that the boss went to sleep early!)

Also noticeable is Aditya Panscholi, begging to get attention, seems to have visited Tirupathi and shaved his hair off, giving him a Jason Kidd appearance to appeal to the desis in New Jersey too.
Well, Sanjay Dutt, who is no doubt the most famous star, for the first time in several years has played a backdrop role in his home production, a la Prakash Raaj in Azhagiya Theeye. He has no doubt made the "don" role, his own!

Mahesh Manjrekar, although the same person from Kaante, has shown great class in playing his role. He is a totally different person from what you saw in Kaante.

The sequence in which Anil hears simultaneous recounts of the same tale from Sameera and Mahesh is well shot and exciting to watch, given that at that point, you cannot incline one way or another. Also worth mentioning is the train sequence near the climax, it was really well shot! The suspense is gripping, and reminds you of an English flick, "The Sting" at times, but the climax is a BIG BIG let down!

Verdict

Great movie from a technical perspective. Really great if you are a single guy (oh what the hell... any guy) watching! Seems to borrow from Dhoom, Kaante and several English flicks and is a good attempt, but really bad climax! Music is not all that catchy, well who listened to the songs anyways! Worth watching once. at 12:44 AM