It looks like some of the winners of this year's Filmfare Awards are already known! Let me share my thoughts. First off, this is not information that should be leaked out! This is bad for the function, for the audience and everyone involved. Why would anyone other than the winners and presenters come to the function at all? Just to conceede their defeat?

Autograph has swept the awards for the best director and the best movie. This is not too surprising since this was indeed a wonderful film. Kudos to Cheran on a well deserved Filmfare win!

The best actor is Surya for Perazhagan. I am not too surprised at this, except that Filmfare is known to rate performances by the commercial success of the movie itself. So, Vijay in Ghilli would have been an obvious choice, but I am not complaining. It was a good performance by Surya. It would be useful to know whether Simbu (Manmathan) was ever in the reckoning.

The best actress is Sandhya for Kaadhal. I have not yet seen the movie, so I am not ready to comment on this one. However, I did have a few performances in mind for this award, let me see if Sandhya does surpass these people. Kaadhal was a commercial success, so Filmfare may have gone back to its stand for this award!

The best supporting actor was Madhavan for Ayudha Ezhuthu. I have mixed feelings about this. There were some other candidates that I could have thought of... but anyways..

The best supporting actress was the most shocking! Mallika?? C'mon! The two other ladies in Autograph had much better performances! Mallika's was a divided role, half of it being played by a younger girl and the remaining by herself. Sneha was clearly overlooked and so was Gopika. In other movies, Meera Jasmine in Ayudha Ezhuthu was outstanding, why was she overlooked? Do we see an anti-non tamil actress pattern here?

The best villain, Chellam Prakash Raaj in Ghilli, will be the most remembered performance of the year. The best comedian was a good choice, and a good performance from Vivek in a rather serious movie. The best choreographer, music director (should not have been shared), new comer, Ravikrishna (7/G) were all good choices. Monday, July 11, 2005 at 10:19 AM

Zeher

(Some parts of this review may be rated: R)

I'm not going to waste anyone's time here. In a few words, all I can say is, avoid this movie if you can! For one thing, it is yet another story where Emran Hashmi does a "Desi Jigolo", this time, he is also a policeman! Shamita Shetty has finally gotten a role, but I don't think it would do her pride any good to look back at her role as a "Jigolo's wife", albeit, she will be lauded for her broad-mindedness in taking him back into her life after all that she has herself uncovered as "Chief Investigating Officer".

The plot is an oft-repeated insurance fraud and a murder mystery around it. The Goswami girl is a real eyesore and even though any single guy would enjoy a steamy scene, looking at this girl will make you reach out for the remote to fast forward! The songs have nothing to speak about, if you are listening. If you are fond of Emran Hashmi, you can watch him take off his shirt atleast half a dozen times and Goswami going bare to seduce him. Please... not everyone can play a Bipasha or Mallika. You first need to look at your self in the mirror before stripping off in public screens!

Verdict: Avoid it if possible and go watch Jism or Murder if you haven't or again if you have!
at 10:06 AM

Aaradhana


What's new?

Probably a misnomer for a field, when we are talking about a movie this old! But this movie has shown the love between man and woman, in a way that most others do not. It is subtle, yet very very powerful.

The Sharmila quotient

Sharmila Tagore has done a masterly job in this movie and it is really her role that was pivotal to the success or failure of this movie. The fact that it was officially the first superhit movie, shows you what she has achieved. Her performance captivates you right from the start when she acts like an affectionate perfectionist, who demands the best out of her housekeeper.

In the second stage, she has performed brilliantly as Rajesh Khanna's love interest. Roop Tera Masthana will be an evergreen melody and after you see the movie, you tend to remember Sharmila's moves during the song. "Gunguna Rahe hain bhawarey" is another notable song. Then of course through the tragic events in her life, she does not overact or underperform and gives you the right feeling that her character goes through.

As a mother, comes her best performance, especially in the scene where she is dying to be with her child, but has to put up with the tag of a caretaker (a la Mahabharatha). "Chanda Hai tu" is arguably the best song of this movie, although the casting for the kid could have been better.


If you ever wanted to see the versatality of her acting, this is the movie. She shows you that she can play a character that is 20 years older than she really was during that time as the old woman, trying to spend her remaining days peacefully, but meets with an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Noticeable

Rajesh Khanna's performance in both his roles is outstanding. Needless to say, he executes the romantic sequences, his forte' in an awesome fashion. I somehow always like his spontaneous expressions, which makes me prefer his first role to the second. As a son, he was okay, but it was not fun to watch that one. The song sequence, "Mere Sapno Ki Rani" was really well played and must have been an inspiration to several present day songs like "Chaiyya Chaiyya".

The pace of the movie was uneven in parts. At times it seemed to go slow and at other times it was gallopping fast. But the great start gave this movie, the much required fillip for any movie.

Farida Jalal never seemed to be young in her life ;-) Even in a movie that is so old, she looks elderly.. or is it just me? Her role was mostly a filler.

Verdict

A timeless classic! Wonderful movie from V.Shantaram, who has produced so many good movies. This movie is worth watching, not just because it is a wholesome entertainer with good performances, but to see the subtlety of the directors in those times dealing with some really daring subjects and the gentle melodies from Burman rendered superbly by the playback singers who are all present day legends. Wednesday, July 06, 2005 at 6:40 PM