Love after (Love failure X 2)...

With all the hype that is going on around us about the movie ‘Raja Rani’, I definitely had to go watch it. And the result – Terrible dissatisfaction. Are people still falling prey to the pretty colorful movies with all the low budget meaningful movies popping around us? Well… It’s not the first time we are watching a movie with lead pair getting married without interest in each other. Ever since the classic Mouna Raagam till the latest Sillunu Oru Kadhal, we have witnessed the same.

 The curtain rises with the quote ‘There is life after love failure. There is love after love failure’ and a really fancy wedding - the protagonists John (Arya) and Regina (Nayanthara) getting married in a pretty looking church. Both recite ‘I do’ without will. Both enter their married life without any involvement. Both hate each other to the core. Due to some sudden turn of events, Regina narrates her love story with a guy called Surya (Jai) who used to work in a call center. After listening to her story John gains respect over Regina but Regina still feels hostile over John. Now is the time for Regina to know John’s love story. And then she begins respecting John. With both the protagonists beginning to understand their counterparts, they start to fall in love yet again. And the rest of the story is quite predictable.

When you actually have a love story to narrate, the love should be felt not only by the lovers but also by the listeners. Since this movie’s theme line is ‘There is love after love failure’, there gotta be a really intense love story which failed. Though the part of John- Keerthana (Nazriya) love story could be considered amusing, the other story Surya –Regina was totally not gripping since there’s no explanation to ‘How did they fall in love?’ A love failure must make the audience cry with the characters of the story. Well… This story doesn’t make you cry. And I seriously wonder ‘What makes a person fall in love? Is it always love at first sight?’ With three love stories slammed into one movie, you don’t actually get time for the main storyline to actually unfurl in a gradual manner.

I don’t really wanna sabotage this movie cuz I don’t say ‘I didn’t enjoy the movie’ since I did. The music is really good. The song ‘Hey baby’ is very interesting. The camera work deserves accolades for capturing the wedding sequence in a beautiful way and also the song videos are cool. Special effects deserve to be mentioned. And the cameo role of Satyaraj is very good. Also certain lines like ‘It doesn’t mean that we should as well leave when our loved ones leave us’ spoken by the characters makes us feel as if we are reading a really good novel.

The scene where the mirror reflects the lead pair’s minds was very creative. And the creativity extends in dressing the pair in black when they fight and in white when they ultimately fall in love. Also this is a modern flick which doesn’t limit the crying part only to the female characters since everyone gets to express their feelings. Also the leading ladies get to slap their man.

With all its flaws and illogical story, the movie is still worth a watch because it’s not often you step across a light hearted romantic story that is portrayed in beautiful colors.

Bottomline: Go watch it for fun!

Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina- This is definitely not a book that can be read over a cup of coffee on a rainy day sitting in the porch. There is much more to the novel other than just the romantic elements. The concept of the novel dances right in front of our eyes and though it is hard for us to take a sip out of it, we need to gulp it down.

‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ Hence begins the book Anna Karenina written by Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy, is definitely a legend since he wrote a massive epic almost a century back which reflects even today’s society like a giant mirror. A classic usually looks elegant like ball room dance, feels good like courtship and looks beautiful like a spring evening. Leo Tolstoy in his book ‘Anna Karenina’ has gone a step further in bringing not only the protagonists’ love but also the agony and passion and the woes which is caused by a love affair.

In this book, the writer portrays a love affair that shook an entire nation. ‘Anna Karenina’ stands apart from other classics as a Russian classic with all the Russian flavors. Anna Karenina is about a married aristocrat woman whose love affair becomes the talk of the country. She enters the novel to make peace between her brother Oblonsky and sister-in-law Dolly after her brother’s affair with a governess of their children. While in St Petersburg, she happens to meet Count Vronsky upon whom Kitty, the younger sister of Dolly has a liking. But ever since the two meet, they fall in love and it leads only to a series of unfortunate events because she had been content with her married life until the moment she meets him.

 Unlike other classics where love and marriage contributes the majority of the book, Anna Karenina crosses the typical boundaries and sets out to explore further into the lives of the people after marriage. The book focuses on the love story between two couples: Levin - Kitty and Anna – Vronsky.

One major thing to be noted is that when adultery is committed by a man, it’s hushed up whereas if it is a woman, it becomes the talk of the society. Vronsky is able to roam about the society normally but it is Anna who suffers the insults of the people. It has been the case since then till this day.

Like the opening line states, this novel is also about families. In this book two different family lives are described: the Levins at the countryside and the Vronskys at the city.

The woes, misery and insecurities of Anna are portrayed very well by Tolstoy that the reader can almost feel her emotions. The book celebrates marriage and mourns death.

To write a short review on this book is really difficult since the essence is better felt only when the book is read. With all due respect to Tolstoy, I would like to say that this book is an epic masterpiece and the author Leo Tolstoy deserves a standing ovation for having given it to the world.

Neethane En Ponvasantham ~ Yet another Love Story~

Love stories are always the same: Boy meets girl. But the ways a story is spun and

narrated does matter a lot. Gautham Menon, with his usual charm has essayed a

graceful movie with a brilliant title ‘Neethane En Ponvasantham’. The theatres

attracted huge crowds in the first week possibly because there is no other biggie

release as of now but also because the promo trailers have kept the youth audience

anticipating the release of the movie for a long time now. One more reason

probably for the wait is the first ever composition by the maestro Ilayaraja for a

Gautham Menon movie.

The opening song is always for the hero of the story, and so is it here. The

song ‘Pudikkala Maamu’ highlighting Santhanam impresses the audience a lot and

sets the spirit high. The story opens with the title ‘A few moments from the love

story of Nithya and Varun’, so the audience can understand what they are gonna

see in a while. Varun (Jiiva) and Nithya (Samantha) are childhood friends in whose

lives misunderstanding plays a significant role. When they meet in Varun’s college

during a cultural fest, love re-blossoms. Things go well until Varun gets into an

IIM. They don’t try a long distance relationship even. Hence occurs a break. What

happens next is the rest of the story.

Prakash (Santhanam) as Varun’s best buddy and Jenny (Vidyulekha) as Nithya’s

friend drive the humor side of the movie with grace. The story is not magical but

very practical. It can be said that Gautham Menon has directed a new generation

love story and has nailed it in his attempt. But the truth is that he could have

done a lot better. Gautham’s movies lately have become something of the same

phenomenon. Three romance movies in a row: I appreciate his guts because

only he can do this and do it right. But it all follows the same storyline that

we are mostly able to predict what happens next. People who expected much

from ‘Neethane En Ponvasantham’ after watching ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’

were terribly disappointed because the flavor missing from the movie is: romance!

Sitting back and reminiscing about the movie, I remember more of fights between

the couple. This movie is good but this necessarily need not have been released

right after Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya.

After the movie credits roll and even after you go home, your mind radio doesn’t

stop playing the music after you watch the movie. Also the movie gives you a

great opportunity to relive a few moments of your life, maybe not everyone. The

movie is targeted mainly towards the youth audience, so no wonder if older people

don’t like it. The movie, though drags in a few areas especially in the second half,

it gives a few moments which create a huge impact and makes our heart a little

heavy. One more appreciable fact about the movie is that, in the second half three

songs come back to back but we don’t feel bored at all since they come along with

the story and the lead pair doesn’t literally travel to some exotic locations to dance.

The character of Nithya is beautifully portrayed and the emotions are expressed

so well by Samantha. The costumes for not only the lead pair but also for all the

major characters are elegant and simple.

Totally, the movie is worth watching once and one branded ‘Gautham Menon’ on

it. The Director has done a commendable job but Gautham Menon is capable of

doing better if he just comes out of his ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’ reverie.

The Grand Finale of the Twilight Saga

The ‘twilight’ saga has been creating a huge sensation among the young adults for the past few years. It had remained a solace to the ‘Harry Potter’ fans too ever since the sequel ended. ‘Team Edward’ and ‘Team Jacob’ has been a new cult for the evergreen mythological vampires vs werewolves in recent times. The major success behind the twilight saga could be attributed to the fact that the story is set in a real place where real people live. Also the narrative is in first person mode by the protagonist Bella Swan and she connects to the reader easily.

The first three movies, though tried to portray the book to its most possible extent, the books always outshone the movies. But there is something unique about the movie ‘Breaking Dawn Part II’. People who have already read the book knew what to expect from the movie but what the movie did in turn was to take the twilight fans into a land of ‘Expect the unexpected’. 

Breaking Dawn Part II retained the original cast and began from where the part I ended. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) wakes up as a vampire and finds herself awesome. Through her vampire husband Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) she comes to know that she had been out for only two days due to transition. Next she encounters her former werewolf boyfriend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who had recently imprinted upon her daughter Renesme. The story turns serious by the unexpected visit of Irina, a friend of the Cullens from Denali coven. She mistakes Renesme to be an immortal child. The creation of an immortal child is against the vampire law and Irina ends up reporting the Volturi about Renesme. But the truth is Renesme is not an immortal child. She is a human child with vampire powers since Bella was still a human when Renesme was born. So, in order to defend the child against the Volturi, the Cullens gather an army of vampires from around the world to prove that Renesme is not an immortal child. The werewolves also join hands for the sake of Jacob.

Almost by the end of the movie, in the climax there is a slight deviation from the book to make the movie slightly interesting. In the actual book version, the Volturi is convinced that the child is not an immortal by the army of vampires. But in the movie, Aro refuses to believe and the encounter grows into a bloody fight where Carlisle and Jasper are murdered by the Volturi. It enrages the Cullens who in turn kill the vampires of the Volturi. The fight ends with Alice killing Jane and Aro being killed by Edward and Bella. The turning point is, none of this happens and it’s just Alice who has shared her vision on the future if Aro doesn’t trust them. Ultimately Aro is convinced that if he fights against the Cullens, he’ll die. So the Volturi leave.

Later Alice has a vision of Edward, Bella, Jacob and Renesme living happily ever after and she smiles which Edward notices too. In the closing scene, Bella and Edward are in the meadow where she allows him to access her thoughts and a series of events from the moment they both met till the current moment  visualized with the background song playing ‘A thousand years’. The lyrics of the song is perfect.

The grand finale is carefully sculpted so as to give importance to each and every character in the movie. Bella’s wardrobe has been changed to indicate her transition from a plain school girl into a flashy vampire. The camera work throughout the movie is amazing and captures things to convey us the power of vampire vision. The movie is stylish, classy and full of humor when compared to the other movies in the sequel. The movie has many instances of humor: the arm wrestling between Bella and Emmett and Bella practicing her shielding power on a retreating Edward. The background music throughout the movie is spell binding and the song ‘A Thousand years’ is absolutely beautiful. The Director Bill Condon has done justice to the final part in this epic saga by sculpting everyone to perfection and glorifying all the characters in the credits.

Bottomline: If it was not for the twist by the end of the movie, there’s nothing to say much! Though the story is let down in some instances, it picks up pace by the end. But the movie is strictly for twi-hard fans and fiction lovers.

English Vinglish

Having never seen a desi film in theatre before, I was confused as to whether risk watching English Vinglish.  Finally I made up my mind and got ready for the first desi movie experience in theatre. And I did not regret it. In the current age of utopian Karan Johar love stories that make no sense and the commercial flicks where a normal hero could perform supernatural stunts, English Vinglish is a new genre of family drama full of fun. And for Sridevi, it’s the right movie to make her comeback.

The storyline is very simple. Sashi (Sridevi) is a home maker who is well known for preparing delicious laddoos. She undertakes bulk orders for festivals and celebrations. Also she manages her household with ease. But her husband Satheesh (Adil Hussain) and her teenage daughter Sapna constantly criticize her since she could not speak English. Sapna feels bad to even introduce her mother to her friends just because her mother could not speak English. When Sapna insults her after the parent teachers meeting, Sridevi’s expressions are brilliant.

The story takes a turn as Sashi is sent to US to help her sister with the preparations for her daughter’s wedding. Sashi enrolls herself in a spoken English class where she meets a bunch of people who struggle through their lives in US just because they don’t know English. The spoken English sessions presided by Sir David are hilarious. Sashi’s classmates include a Tamil Software Engineer, a Pakistani cab driver, a Chinese beautician, a Mexican nanny, an angry African man and a French chef Laurent (Mehdi Nebbou).

With the encouragement from her niece Radha (Priya Anand) who comes to know about her secret English lessons, Sashi begins watching English films and works on her English meticulously. Through her passion towards learning the English language and her culinary skills, Sashi wins the hearts of everyone in her class, especially that of Laurent. His affection for Sashi is very beautifully portrayed. The English final exam and the wedding fall on the same date. Due to a certain turn of events, her appointment to attend the exam falls at stake. Does Sashi manage to take the exam and attend the wedding as well?  Which one does she choose to prove herself: her culinary skills or her English speaking skills?

Well, she does prove herself in both. Radha invites the entire class to the wedding where Sashi proposes a toast for the couple and surprises everyone with her elegant speech. She thanks Laurent for ‘making her feel good about herself’. Finally Sashi makes the people who mocked her eat their own words in a good way. The movie has a totally good feel about it.

It is so colorful and full of life with all the Indian wedding flavors. The movie is set on with a wedding background which provides a very good reason for fun and celebration throughout the movie. All the songs are good on the ears and gets the audience on their feet to dance. It feels as if you have just attended your cousin’s wedding or something when you come out of the theatre.

The screenplay is very interesting and it has a few think for yourself moments. One such example is where Sashi asks her teacher why India is not the India whereas US is called ‘the’ United States. Ajith and Amitabh Bacchan have done guest appearances in Tamil and Hindi respectively. Hats off to Gauri Shinde for having painted a lovely family drama in the name of English Vinglish. The cast is very natural in portraying an ordinary Indian family. The little boy Shivansh Kotia who plays Sagar, the son of Sashi is so bubbly and energetic. Every character in this movie has done a commendable job.

After a really long time I had a sense of happiness throughout the movie and I came out of the theatre with this infectious smile. The movie definitely had its after effects which left me happy for a whole day which of course is a good thing. If you really are a person who wants to live a two hour of desi flavored American wedding with bubbling fun and happiness, go for it! Have fun! 

Urumi

‘Urumi: Padhinaintham Nootrandu Uraivaal’ is a legend made out of a single line from History. It’s a well known fact that the Portuguese were the first colonists to set their foot on the Indian soil led by the ‘tyrant’ Vasco Da Gama. Also we know that they were the first one to leave India as well. But do you know why? The whole world praised Vasco Da Gama as the first man to discover India. But did you know that he was a tyrant and a threat to the Indians. No, definitely not. Most of us thought him to be a good man. This sets the background for this fifteenth century period film.

The movie opens screen with ‘Youtube’ playing a documentary on Vasco Da Gama’s landing in Goa and his fascination for the Indian spice - pepper. Now enter the two happy go lucky men Krishna Das (KD) and Tarzan one of whom (KD) is the heir of an ancestral property which is leased out to a tribal school. The two of them are completely unaware of the history associated with the land. This land is chosen for mining by a multinational company backed by the local MLA and they are ready to pay KD a fat cheque. A local tribal head who lives in the caves kidnaps KD and narrates him the story about the untold heroes.

The history unfolds with Vasco Da Gama enforcing a reign of terror along the Konkan Coast to which all the petty kings along the coast protest. The three warriors Kelu (Prithviraj), his friend Vavvaali (Prabhu Deva) and Arakkal’s Princess Ayesha (Genelia) fight relentlessly against the Portuguese by joining forces with the local village people. They imprison Estavio, the son of Vasco Da Gama and keep him under vigilance in the prison of the kingdom of Sirakkal. The comic track of the movie is driven by the romance between the Sirakkal princess (Nithya Menon) and Vavvaali.

Due to internal treachery, the King of Sirakkal who earlier made Kelu and Vavvaali his commander-in-chief is killed and Estavio escapes with help from the Prince himself. The sudden turn of events result in the outburst of war. Vasco Da Gama seeks revenge and our warriors want to expel the colonists. The pages of history close with the unsung heroes of the Konkan coast who tried to fight away the Portuguese by sacrificing their lives.

The star cast in the movie is interesting with Arya, Vidhya Balan and Nithya Menon playing cameo roles. The camera work for the movie is stunning. The costumes designed by Eka Lakhani are so relevant and the visualization is good.

When asked to tell one negative factor about the movie, a youngster said ‘Well… I have to give it a thought’. This proves the movie to be flawless.

The cinematography in ‘Urumi’ proves that South Indian films have begun to reach higher standards and are setting up new milestones. The songs are really good to the ears and take us to their world itself. The movie’s screen closes with the decision made by KD as to whether he sells his ancestral property or retains it so that the legend of the real heroes of the land are not forgotten. The best part in the movie is about relating the characters in the history with that of the present day characters.

The brutality of the colonists towards the natives is beautifully portrayed. Indians were not only rich in tradition and culture but also in war ethics. But the colonists knew only guns and cannons against our men’s swords.

The actors have done extensive homework for the movie which is obvious with Genelia’s stunts and Prithvi’s biceps.

The scenes with Kelu and Ayesha evoke a sense of tension right from the beginning and are romantic in a special way. The eyes of the lead pair speak volumes without words.

The whole world praises Vasco Da Gama and history speaks highly of him. But no one knew about the real heroes. Santhosh Sivan has proved himself as an amazing Director and Cinematographer.

Bottom line:

This movie is not only for the history enthusiasts but also for the ones who eagerly catch up a good movie.

Aravaan...

As you see the opening sequence, where the entire screen is being filled with an eighteenth century landscape, you can’t help but wonder if you have actually been transported in time and world. Well… That is not all. For a tamil movie representing an earlier time period, the movie ‘Aravaan’ stands apart. Be it the clothes and accessories, the landscape or the people everything is so real and so unique. Director Vasanthabalan has taken ‘the road less traveled by’ and has crafted a wonderful movie based on the tamil novel ‘Kaaval kottam’.

The opening scene itself is a classic. Kombhoothi (Pasupathy) and his gang called ‘kothu’, the legendary thieves from the petty village of Vembur execute a well planned theft from a rich landlord’s house. This literally makes people wonder how elegantly the theft was carried out and this sequence has overtaken any of the modern day technology based movies like the ‘Ocean’s eleven’ saga with all the modern gadgets and all.

 The entire village lives on the income earned by thieving. Situations lead Kombhoothi to meet a hippie called Varipuli (Aadhi), the protagonist. Soon the two go on to become very close friends and they go for ‘kalavu’ (means theft) together. During a very difficult situation, Varipuli keeps his life at stake and saves the life of Kombhoothi from the guardsmen of the village ‘Kottaiyur’.

Later on, one day Varipuli gets beaten up and kidnapped by a gang of men who guard the village of ‘Kottaiyur’. This is when the true identity of Varipuli is revealed. In a flashback sequence rolls the story of how Chinna, the guardsman from the village of Chinnaveeranpatti became Varipuli, the thief.

The movie portrays how in olden days a murder of a stranger was viewed, messenger being sent to several villages to spread word and the brutality of ‘an eye for an eye’ concept without even an investigation. The cameo roles of the king, the queen, a dancer, the perfume vendor and the gypsy are crafted with care so every role shines with perfection and realism. The end of the movie is overwhelming and moves us to tears. And it is so true that ‘Men with authority and money buy their way out of justice’. Also the movie conveys a message that life sentence is a brutality and not a punishment which by the way is very true.

Make up for the artists is amazing. Bharath as the perfume vendor couldn’t be recognized at all. Bharath and Anjali have done a cameo role which marks the turning point of the story. Also the landscape the director has chosen must have taken him a good proportion of time to find out. In the current era, a stretch of land without any mobile phone towers, electric lines and railway lines is not easy to find.  

The traditions and lifestyle of the people are totally portrayed in the song ‘Enna petha oore’. Playback singer Karthik’s debut attempt as music director has been a hit with all songs so light on the listeners.  

With flawless performance, all the artists of this film definitely deserve a standing ovation. And the movie, in its own style expresses a mixture of flavors - joy, sorrow, love, loss and sense of humor and is on its way to become one of the classics. For a period movie, ‘Aravaan’ stands ahead of any other movie released on Tamil screen. It is obvious that the director Vasanthabalan has taken an extra step forward in making a period film and his hard work definitely shows up in the quality of the movie.

Bottomline: For people who would like to know the ‘not so glamorous’ life of the royal blood, it’s a must watch. And for all Tamilians too!