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!

Satyamev Jayate...

So, Sunday mornings… What do they remind us of?

Sleeping late into the morning

An enormous brunch

Most TV channels (including Cartoon channels) telecasting our age old mythology and epics.

Well folks, wake up! The season of ordinary Sundays is over.

And here comes Aamir Khan in a new avatar to revolutionize our country. So they say.

I know I’m a bit late in catching up on the television program ‘Satyamev Jayate’ in which Aamir Khan has been creating a national sensation for the past two weeks. With innumerable advertisements and promos for the program and a heartwarming theme song for months together the show was sure to create a huge expectation among the masses. The ‘Rang de Basanti’ star is an added value which pulls the people to the show. I wonder how many digits will figure in his salary.

Few months ago, the advertisement was quite mysterious and it definitely made us all wonder, ‘So what’s up with Aamir these days?’

‘I’m sure he’s up to something in ‘Rang De Basanti’ style’ remarked one of my friends who promptly watches all the Ekta Kapoor stuff on TV even if it goes on for decades and added ‘There’s no actor to compete with him’.

This is a statement where I had to disagree. Aamir is a good actor. But just because he does a TV program which portrays social issues, it doesn’t make him the best ever.

‘Satyamev Jayate’ – the title itself is a sensation. The theme song and the promos showcase the star travelling to the nook and corner of the country covering the diversity of our land and culture,  interacting with comman man – ‘aam aadhmi’ (mango people).  At last on May 6,2012 the long wait was over.

The pilot was watched by most youngsters as far as I know. Within minutes, most Facebook walls and tweets were all thumbs up for Aamir. It was a talk show seasoned with high flavors of emotional quotient and it left people crying in front of the idiot box. When three ladies braved to tell their tales on what was inflicted upon them by their husbands and mothers-in-law for bearing a girl child, the audience listened to their pathetic stories with bated breath. Most of them broke down to tears and even Aamir was shown shedding tears.

If ‘female infanticide’ made us weep, the next episode on ‘child abuse’ made us bawl. Again three different people who initially had no courage to fight against the abuser boldly faced the audience led by Aamir to narrate their stories. Most of us have read about all these social concerns but to view it from the victim’s perspective and to live the moment is like a visit to hell. Media is a very powerful tool but I’m not sure whether these programs really reach out to everyone like the way it reached me. The people who speak out in this show are only one in a million who silently suffer in their everyday life. From what I’ve seen so far it’s always a female kid that confronts a million obstacles in the society and almost everyone is aware of that. If that is the case, literacy and employment are two things that a girl can have to protect herself from depending on others. Why doesn’t everyone in this country wake up?

Female infanticide or Child Abuse, the criminals are always in their right minds and make us wonder whether they are born or made. Are they really humans? While they are at their own free will to commit crimes and get away with it, why don’t they come and speak to the world too? It’s really high time that these people are weeded out and made to face reality. Also, it’s not important that we bring out an issue alone, it is mandatory that something has to be done to stop this atrocity. India is a diverse country and things are not going to improve overnight. Also it’s not a single man’s popularity and reach that’s going to change this nation. It’s every one of our responsibility to make our country a safe haven free of social evils. Now Aamir wields a powerful tool in his possession – the media. Hope he does the right thing at the right time for the rightful people.

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi

A light hearted approach towards the world’s totally complicated parameter… love. After the short film in the same title by the same director Balaji Mohan won accolades in the internet ‘YouTube’ world, obviously out of the box thinkers like Siddharth got intrigued by it.

What’s the story all about? It’s a regular tale of a boy meets girl, fall in love, and make the fur fly by fighting each other’s heads off, break up and then patch up. So what is new? The old story gift wrapped in a new perspective gives it a fresh appeal. If you are planning to watch this movie, I would recommend you not to watch the short film before because it might simply spoil the fun of it.  

Arun and Parvathi are students in an engineering college who meet in the college canteen and by chance become friends. As fate would have it, they fall in love too in a short while. After that the movie is a hilarious roller coaster ride. There is no suspense or thrill in the story but it makes sure you enjoy every bit of it because it captures the psychology of the youngsters to whom you can easily relate yourselves too. The scene in which the director makes a mental comparison of male and female thought process is totally funny. What is more lovable about the movie is that the protagonist directly converses with the audience.

Psychology is the driving factor of the movie. Love is not only portrayed among the college goers. The role of the protagonists’ parents is very realistic too. Arun’s parents are very casual and their conversations sound interesting. There is an occasion where Arun returns after a Pondicherry trip with his friends in a pissed off mood when his father asks him how the beach was. He curtly replies ‘Beach maathiri irunthuchu’( It resembled a beach). This is something everyone of us can relate ourselves to.  Parvathi’s parents are in the verge of separation but their love for each other is portrayed in subtle manner and towards the end of the movie it gets beautiful. The emotional outburst that is kindled within the kids when the parents fight is beautifully portrayed in this movie and Amala Paul as the affected kid has essayed her role with perfection. Both Siddharth and Amala Paul score a perfect mark for portraying the lead roles with ease. Not even in a single instance do you feel that something is overdone or underdone.

The movie is targeted at the youngsters but seriously don’t today’s youth have anything useful to do in college. The hero says that he had never faced any real challenge in his life and so he wanted to take up finding his dream girl as a challenge. It sounds a wonderful challenge, doesn’t it? Being an engineering student and keeping up the academic excellence itself is a challenge. Also I don’t know in which college our protagonists are studying because they are found together in the college park or the canteen most of the time and no staff seems to bother them unlike our college professors who have their eyes on us all the time. But for a romantic comedy, we must not seek too much logic.

A good aspect about the movie is that the first meeting of the duo is made realistic and not like some fairy tale. The movie earns a standing ovation for having not allowed the pair of them to dance around trees in some foreign countries for a duet song as soon as they meet. For the first time in the history of tamil cinema the guy who encounters break up doesn’t grow a beard or take drugs or try to get himself killed. Instead the song ‘Parvathi Parvathi..’ sung by Siddharth is a brilliant number.

Surely Siddharth’s marketing skill has played a significant role play behind the movie’s success. The promos and advertisements definitely were very creative that drew the youth audience all the way to the theatres. The newspaper ads looked like comic strips which was an innovative approach. And the ones that watched the movie were not disappointed either. In today’s time scale, the movie definitely wins a good score on a critic’s rating.

           

            Moral of the story is ‘Boys will be boys and girls will be girls no matter how deeply they fall in love’

Bottomline: If you are bored of all the soapy romances, I would highly recommend you to watch this movie and shed tears of laughter for a change.