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

That's a 7/7 match between your comparisons and my choices. Though the Tamil lyrics were better for most songs, I thought the Hindi lyrics were perfect for the scene where Ajay Devgan pushes aside Om Puri and walks into the Parliament (Hut Jaa Hut Jaa Re). By the way you forgot to mention how much better Karthik Kumar had done in Yuva compared to the guy who played the same role in AE :)
-RATS 2:07 AM  

Yeah.. I did forget some of the support cast. I thought the person who played Siddharth's brother was more natural in AE than in Yuva. So also the IAS officer who played Siddharth's dad in AE was better than his counterpart in Hindi. Not to forget, Sweta's sister, Sruti was better than her hindi counterpart :-) 9:00 AM