Raam


I'd heard the songs of this movie many times over, thanks to Rathish. So, I snatched this movie as soon as I detected it on the shelves of Nilgiris. At the end of watching this movie, my wife and I were totally divided in our opinion and could not agree on a anything but the leading star performances. So I am sure this review may not be universally appreciated :-)

What's New

Don't Miss the Beginning! The first scene is a smashing start to this movie. The scene of mom and son lying dead was an awesome start to this thriller! Ameer has made this a very thrilling experience with great support from the background music. You've gotta watch it in the theater or at night with lights turned down. I was happy to watch it at home since I could avoid some skeptic comments from theater folks, that would bias my mind.

This is one of the few movies where the technical artists behind the scenes have made hay. They have done an outstanding job! The camera work and the locales for the song sequences were both amazing! Even in a totally indoor song, the choreography and camera work were great support to the tunes, making it music to the eyes and ears.

The comedian, Kanja Karuppu, has made an impressive debut as Raam's close friend. Some of his comical sequences in the jail provide a good change from the Vivek or Vadivel genre.

Noticeable

The mother-son sentiment has been shown many times over in Tamil cinema, but in this one, it is different. It is an obsession for the mother. The son is shown as really possessive. This is natural for a young man, who has been brought up with great difficulty by a single mom with virtually no assistance from family or friends. Naturally, his mom is his best friend. Although similar to M.Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi in concept, very different in portrayal.

There has been substantial basis provided for the eccentricity of this lad. He gets involved spiritually from a very young age. Also, since he has no siblings, it is very natural for him to get immersed into whatever he gets involved in. This explains why he does not mix very well with his peers and why he thinks of himself as a messenger of God to remove all evil in this world. Jeeva has done a remarkable and mature job in his role, which is tougher because of the lack of too many dialogues. His eyes convey his expression very well. The funeral scene was brilliantly executed and the action sequences are powerful. On the lighter side, he could have done better in his saami attam and his bhakti paadal singing needs a lot of work. I could identify with his hairstyle better than anyone else can!

Saranya has delivered a very natural performance in this movie. Her throat seems to have deserted her on this one, but it hardly appears as if she is acting. It was very natural and this is the same reason why Shalini succeeded in Alaipayuthey. Saranya, the Nayagan fame, has a pivotal role in this movie and has not let down the director.

Rehman, the actor, makes an impressive comeback as the police inspector. His performance is very natural too. In his interaction with Murali, he shows the right mix of ego as a senior officer and respect for the elderly sub inspector. He also personalizes the enquiry process by saying he would act in a similar fashion, whether it was his own daughter or a total stranger. Also sharing homecooked dinner with an older constable to explain how much he values the job that feeds him, is a good scene.

Gajala has done a fair job in her role behind those glasses. If I were the director, I would advise the actress against wearing glasses. It makes her look old and diminishes the expressions that her eyes could have brought out. Glasses should only be used in situations such as for Rajeswari Singh in DDLJ, or Shamili in Kandukondain, where they are projected as studious girls. The romantic sequences were well done.

The song sequences have done good justice to the great music by Yuvan Shankar. I did not like these songs when I first heard them, but over time, I grew fond of the songs. My favorite in terms of song was BoomBoom, although it adds no significance to the plot. The music and choreography were good. The camera work for this totally indoor song is also pretty good. The last song has the best camera work I have seen in recent times. It has been totally shot in Kodaikkanal and I am inspired enough to explore that hill station better, the next time I get there. There is something in it for Chinmaya too, with his favorite song "Ram Bam Bhole", getting some screen-in-screen time, when Raam switches channels. The picturization of Araariraaro was pretty good and I was disappointed that "Vidikkindra Poyidhu", the most melodious song, was cut short in the movie. The picturization of this song was not on par with the others. For most of it, Gajala just walks on and on with different costumes and same posture (locked hands).


Verdict

This movie is technically brilliant! Director Ameer, always one of those who tries something different, has done a wonderful job. The music is a major boost to this movie and the techies do not let it down, like in so many other tamil movies. He has also interleaved a powerful social message into this Amma sentiment movie and that makes it special. The last half hour or so, would have been somewhat less interesting compared to the rest of the movie, considering that the climax after the suspense is out, was mostly a dragging filler, which takes out the fizz. But until that, it was gripping suspense. We keep comparing Tamil suspense movies to English and conclude that Tamil is no match. I disagree with that statement. It is easier to keep the suspense for the 90 minutes in English movies, but here in Kollywood, you need to keep that suspense for 150 minutes or more, and embedded with song-dance and comedy sequences. Even Speilberg would have a tough time doing that, so Ameer gets my hats off for his effort! Sunday, June 05, 2005 at 11:20 PM

Very nice review. Hope the so-called reviewers of popular websites learn to write reviews that don't contain spoilers. You've covered all the technical aspects of the movie, from the brilliant background score, great camera work, and good song picturizations (especially Boom Boom). But I thought the picturization of Vidigindra Pozhudhu wasn't that bad. You mentioned that there might have been skeptic comments in the theater, but when I saw it, there weren't any. I think the majority of the people enjoyed the movie. But as an unbiased reviewer, you must cut off all outside influences while judging a movie, and I think you are doing a fine job of that going by the fact that the review for this movie was positive even though your wife hated it.
-RATS 12:10 PM