Veppam - Tasty but non-crispy Chips

With the kind of expectation Joshua Sridhar had created with his songs (esp Mazhai Varum Ariguri) and Photon Kathas banner (we may mock at Gautham but his name is definitely a value add at least with respect to expectations) this movie had good basement for a hit.

But director Anjana didn't build an aesthetic building on that basement. She had just built something mundane. When it comes to Chennai gangster stories there are many benchmarks. After seeing movies like Aaranya Kaandam which was cool and at the same time high-class presentation of gangsters, Veppam was just looking ordinary.

Though there weren't any spectacular shots (which in my humble opinion is not mandatory. Camera shouldn't disturb the screenplay), it was the pleasing visuals which helped the movie get going. Good work by Cinematographer Om Prakash.

Naani has an inspiring look. He is young but at the same time doesn't have childish personality like Santhanu (S/O Bhagyaraj) or Adharva (S/O Murali). Nothing to tell about his acting skills since he didn't have scope to showcase that in this movie.

Karthik Kumar has done a decent support role again. But it is not his career-breaking role though his role had all the needed importance. His death in the movie doesn't create much impact.

Nithya Menon is another homely (and bubbly) arrival to Thamizh cinema. Her role in both 180 and this movie is quite good. If she don't take the wrong decision of doing glamor roles, she has opportunity to get good roles

Bindhu Madhavi was looking like a real call girl. Sorry to say that but that's how I felt. This itself might be an appreciation for her acting in this movie.

Amma ji role is supposed to be serious like Sorna akka (Dhool) but it didn't create any impact. Jothi character was good and so was the Bai character (though he appears in only couple of scenes). It would have not been a bad choice to have swapped Bai and Amma ji's characters.

Balaji (brother) character (done by Muthukumar) was given too much hype since the plot started but he had a low profile right from beginning to end. Gautham Menon's voice for him was not a good choice. Gautham has a unique voice and it didn't blend with actor Muthukumar's acting.

I think it was the brother character which the director didn't handle properly. If she has brought in intelligence through that character, the movie would have been another crispy gangster movie like AK. Just because she was convinced with some casual screenplay, even the taste she had added became non-significant. Even though tasty, who will prefer eating non-crispy chips?

Potta Potti - Cricket movie in a different ground

Well if we look for logic or extreme humor in this movie, then we will definitely won't like it. I am a person who expects either of those. So I didn't like the movie..[Theatre'la thoonginavangala pathi naan inga ezhudha poradhilla :)]

Lagaan's cricket had a strong purpose. Chennai 600028's cricket had complete fun. In this movie Director Yuvaraj has tried to have both but didn't succeed in both..

Reg fun... Humor wasn't that great... First half had probably 10% good humor and 90% mokkai.. But it was the same 'Kodaivannan' who bored in 1st half secures claps from us in climax..

The person who did the role of 'avatar'  has done a good work...

Reg purpose.. It looks like the message about hills being exploded was forced into the movie. It suddenly cropped up in 2nd half... Anyways, it was a nice message..

Sadagopan Ramesh has done a decent job. His natural nakkal way of speaking has helped.. Heroine Harini looks pretty ordinary in some scenes and good in other scenes.. Overall an 'OK OK' choice of heroine..Villains are 'as usual'...

I really appreciate the camera work esp the cricket match scenes.. While the other game related movies had some cinematic shots, here I felt it natural.. Those dusty grounds, typical running between the wickets.. Good work!

One more thing to be mentioned is that the music of the movie was not irritating though it wasn't great.. Thanks to the music director Arul Dev for not giving a disturbing music..

Kanchana (Muni-2): Exclusive for 'C' center

Scary night scene with ghost showing trailer .. Sun rise... Actors shouting in the name of comedy.... One Kuthu song with 'tough looking' dance steps...Again scary night.. Again Sun rise.... After this cycle goes on for few times, a flash-back behind ghost attack and final climax fight...Run of the mill horror masala movie..When all in the family were speaking Coimbatore slang Thamizh, how come only Devadarshini was speaking (fake) Brahmin slang? Where is the logic?

I can simply write few lines like above about a movie like Kanchana, tear the performances into pieces and throw it into bin rejecting it as a worst movie.. But all those are not going to impact this kind of movie's collection even by 1%.

This movie is not targeted for bloggers/readers/geeks/freakers blah blah blah..Whistle, laugh busters, maha kuthu dance...All from Gandhi class :) I was surprised when I saw the crowd in theatre (FYI, not in multiplex. I saw in a local theatre). People who saw Show X were not able to get out as there was animated crowd waiting near gate to see Show (X+1). I just couldn't believe.. Now tell me, will my review create a negative impact anyway?

So let me try to write about this movie by digging out the 'C' center spectator inside me. Raghavendra Lawrence knows the exact pulse of his target audience.. As an actor, dancer and director he has delivered a full meals.. Sema kattu katravanga kattalam :)

Lakshmi Rai was used as a glamor doll and she danced as much as she can in the kuthu song in which she appears. 100% bonus for the thozhilaali who turned up to theatre after working hard for the whole day :)

Kovai Sarala, Sriman and Devadarshini with their kudutha kaasukku mela nadikkara reactions and loud voice have made target audience laugh. Mission accomplished :)

Thaman is known for stylish music. All the songs in this movie are rhythm numbers (Marana Kuthu).. Some people were dancing and most others were just trying to be seated.. All wanted to dance, shout, clap and whistle...So if we look it optimistically, it is a new face for Thaman!

Surprise package for this movie is Sarath Kumar... He is the real mass behind this movie.. Good to see an actor like him who is very careful about his image act in this kind of role...

Something which has to be really appreciated is the responsibility of showing good side of Transsexual people. May be Lawrence would have thought that he has to create an awareness about trans-sexuality to 'not so educated' people (indirectly C center). I am not trying to say that educated people know well about this issue and they approach this as a natural happening... Most of the educated people will not change even when it reaches them through mass media whereas those uneducated people will at least consider it with their inherent innocence.. "amam pa.. avan soldradhula gnyaayam irukku la?"

I would like to end the review with only one question to Lawrence.. Why did you make it only for C center? If you had tried, this movie might have been catered to a broader spectrum. Yes this movie might give a quick ROI but what will happen to your long-term image? Please try to consider this in your proposed Muni-3

Deivathirumagal - Reaches deep inside our heart

Disclaimer: I have not seen 'I am Sam'

The last soft movie I remember which was appreciated by anyone and everyone was Mozhi. I would say that Deivathirumagal is at least 5 times better than Mozhi and that's the reason we have been seeing sky high praises from everyone who saw the movie.

Each thing we cross in our life will have a limit related to the depth it can reach within us. Music is something which can go to any depth. I never knew that a movie also can touch such depths. But this movie has given impulses sitting deep inside our heart.

Vikram and Baby Sarah.. Can I even write 1% about their performance in words? Definitely not. When they say "Krishna Vandhaachu" and "Nila Vandhaachu" in this movie, namma manasu engeyo poiduchu :). They stole our heart. To put it simple, National award is reserved for both of them. Anyways, we have already reserved a place in our heart for their performances in this movie.

Anushkha is not very beautiful and neither it is needed for her role in this movie. She has given a satisfactory performance. I felt that Amala Paul is looking better than Anushkha. Even swapping of their roles might have not been a bad idea.

Nassar's role was not extraordinary compared to his earlier roles. Actually it is the portion in which he comes most (between interval and final court scene) which was not so great and also lacking in logic. What to do? Vikram and that baby devil [:)] have given such a performance that all others just appear very ordinary.

Santhanam played a low profile, of course sticking to his own style. He was good. The entire cast was impressive. Not even a single bad performance.

Nirav Shah's camera was brilliant as usual. Avalanche was beautifully brought in screen.

GV Prakash has given a good album once again. "Pa Pa" and "Kadha Solla" are signs of his maturity. He has started giving what is exactly needed for the movie. Vizhigalil Oru Vaanavil in Saindhavi's chocolate voice is every one's hum now. Aarariro song, its violin version as BGM, Life is Beautiful theme... GVP is an important factor for this movie's success.

How can we forget the man behind this master-piece? Yes it is director Vijay. As I said for Vikram and Sarah, praising Vijay's work by words would not be a good idea. Every time we got goosebumps,every time we were about to cry..can those emotions be replaced by words? I salute you Vijay. It should not be a difficult task for Vijay to take Part II from where he left. What would be difficult is to give the same feel with audience expectations which would have gone himalayan high. I believe Vijay can do it again!

Avan Ivan - Not a Bala's cup of tea

Bala is a specialist in showing gray areas of our society. He showed such characters in such a realistic way and that is why is considered as one of the greatest film maker of Thamizh cinema. He is also good in having some short humor sequences in movie.

But when it comes to full-time comedy, Bala is way behind state of the art. Whatever he has projected as laugh buster was looking just normal. In that process, there were lot of un-realsitic scenes, especially the scenes were all policemen where shown as buffoons. Endha oorla irukkeenga Bala?

Bala had good scope to show more about stealing and selling cows for slaughtering. But he stopped at a very abstract level. Overall, this movie is a major let down by Bala. 

Vishal has put in lot of efforts. It was a different role and also had good amount of scope for action.  I won't wonder if he is awarded national award for this role. Aarya's role was his 'as usual' one. It was a decent job!

The boy who accompanies Arya throughout the movie did a promising work. I have observed that in good amount of recent movies, al these 'small boy' characters are adding lot of valueto movie.

So called heroines Janani Iyer and Madhu Shalini had nothing much to do. Janani's role was made something similar to Laila's role in Pithamagan. Good thing is Janani didn't shout like Laila ;)

Yuvan's songs were good though it was a disappointment that 'Oru Malaiyoram' was not part of the movie. BGMs were also decent.

G.M. Kumar is the real hero of movie. Bala has decided to have some softness in this movie and it is 'Highness' role of G.M. Kumar and his interaction with Aarya and Vishal which made Bala achieve the desired softness. Such a soft character's hard-to-accept end is where there was Bala's touch. I almost cried in his final scenes.

It is only some 20 mins of movie which met bala's standard. Rest all were below average compared to his other movies. Bala should either concetrate more on his humor presentation or leave the idea of taking full-time comedy movies. Let him take his usual 3 years and give us just classic movies!

Aaranya Kaandam - Ulladhu Ullapadi

Pudupettai show-cased the story of an ordinary slum youngster who becomes No.1 rowdy by suppressing all his opponents. This movie is about how circumstances makes a Tier-2 rowdy becomes No.1 rowdy in 1 day. Mysskin has already attempted to show Chennai gangster groups as real as possible and this movie has shown it in a even more detailed and realistic manner. All these comparisons were drawn just for the sake of it. Otherwise, this movie has loads of novelty.

Yes, the movie is slow but that's how it has to be to show as many minute details as possible of different characters. Be it the dialogue delivery or the dialogue themselves, it doesn't seem to have been written for a cinema. It is as if real people have spoken whatever they thought in their mind in their own way. So realistic! Director Thiagarajan Kumararaja has lot of fire in him and I am sure that he will give lot more wonderful movies to Thamizh audience.

I don't know why director has chosen Jackie Shroff for the so called lead role. Of course, he has done a wonderful job and gave a different flavor, but a Thamizh face would have been even more effective is what I feel. Another perfect work by Sampath Raj. Ravikrishna's face and voice restricts him from becoming a full fledged hero. But the same face and voice has placed him perfectly in this movie.

Yasmin Ponnappa is looking good and also has good amount of importance in this movie. I think she has given her own voice; if that is so, her Thamizh diction is very poor. The director should have either had some one else dubbing for her or he should have at least indicated somewhere in the movie that her character was imported from some other state.

Somasundaram's performance was class! It is very clear from his expressive acting that he comes from theatre. Roles of Gajendran and Gajapathy were scary. Who is the best among all the actors? Of course it is Master Vasanth. He steals the show! All the actors have forgotten that they are facing camera. Wonderful casting!

Cinematography by P.S.Vinod is amazing. I was not very much impressed by those slow motion shots since there are many people like him who have mastered it. Those Chennai streets and subways were brought out exactly on screen and it was that which impressed me a lot.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is proving his caliber in all varieties of music. Good that there are no songs but they should have released the BGMs. Man, there are at least 5 brilliant musical clips which go into list of great BGMs of Thamizh cinema. The background score is unconventional too. Mild guitar and piano for animated climax fight was tested very few times (again by Yuvan only) and he has done that more in this movie. Great work Yuvan!

This movie is strictly for adults. I was surprised that the movie is in current form after 52 cuts by censor.  I couldn't imagine how the original version would have been. Free flow of profanity. I had a revision of all foul words ;)

Finally I appreciate producer SP Charan for taking this movie but I am afraid if this movie will not become a commercial hit though it deserves. I will tell you what. If the same movie was taken in Bollywood, they would have promoted it like anything and cinemas will be running house-full shows. Unfortunately, I was seated in a 10% full theatre :(

Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai - Back from Theni

I am not an avid reader (not even an occasional reader). After reading short stories in Tamizh-2 book during school I very rarely read short stories which comes in Dinamani Kadhir on Sundays. But most of them have created some impact in me.

While taking a movie from a novel has difficulties in compressing the complete stuff in a 2:30 hrs movie with the same feel, it is equally (or even more) difficult to make a movie from a short story. There won't be much of story and the film maker should be so creative to improvise on the story and also give the same feel which we get out of reading a short story.

Suseendran has almost succeeded in that conversion. He was able to take us to the place where all those characters were living and make us feel their emotions, life style etc. Short humor in serious scenes was good idea.  But overall, I would say the humor content was not enough. This movie (especially 1st half) had good scope for humor which was not utilized completely. At the same time director compensates for that with so many goosebumps scenes in 2nd half.

Appukutty has given everything possible for this movie. What a dedication man! The scene were he will be beaten by villagers is height of dedication. I think he would have really got hit while taking those scenes. Hats off!

Saranya Mohan is an angel! Though she made her presence felt, her fans like me are little disappointed because she comes in very less number of scenes. Unna laam naal muzhukka paakalam ma ;)

Prabhakaran has done a good job of a rustic village youngster. Advaita as his pair has also done a pretty decent job. She may not be as beautiful as Saranya Mohan but still she looks good.


Other than director, if there 2 people who gave life to this movie, they are none other than cinematographer Theni Eashwar and Isaignani Ilayaraja. Both being natives of Theni definitely has reason for this great output from them in this movie.


Theni Eashwar has set standards for showing Theni. There couldn't be anything better. He made us walk in those narrow streets and muddy hill tracks. I was wondering why Balu Mahendra was praising him so much during audio release function. But the movie explains for that. What a way of showing place and people!

Ilayaraaja is no doubt the greatest composer. "Song *FOR* movie" is something which young music directors are yet to learn from him. Be it the Thiruvizha song or Kuthikkira Kuthikkira Kuthirakutti, see how they blend with the movie. No one feels that they are separate songs. It goes with the flow. And BGM.. Raaja is always Raaja of background score. His oboe usage, guitar warming in title and some part of movies, grand orchestration when Saranya Mohan runs after Appukutty, Silence followed by horror music when Appukutty is beaten by villagers were all awesome and godly!

I don't know if Suseendran has atheistic inclinations or the story itself has it. I understand the justification behind making fun of all the mooda nambikkaigal but I also felt they were over-emphasized and there was too much of preaching . But when it comes to showing characters, he has done it as natural as possible. We definitely get a feel of seeing a Mahendran movie!

In recent releases, after Nandalala, this movie can definitely go into classics category!

Vaanam - An emotional movie after long time

Different characters and all of them merging at the end is kind of new to Thamizh cinema. Director Krish has rightly mixed emotion and action. Nicely conceived theme and well executed.

For the first time, I liked the acting of Simbu :) May be I liked it because he didn't speak much (Avan azhuthi azhuthi pesardha ketta enakku pathikittu varum). His face expressions in hospital scenes are too good. TR a kalaaikkardhu, konjam self mocking, climax shock.. Overall a different Simbu..I also appreciate him for acting in different kind of movies like VTV and Vaanam. But his love is lousy as usual ;). Panathukkaga dhana andha ponna love pandran, apram enna dhideer nu en love true nu oru touching dialogue?

Bharath is stiff as usual. "Who am I Who am I Who am I"  nu guitar strings a lam kadichu thuppiduvan poldrukke :P.....Neither his rough selfishness nor his change as a good human created any impact. So his character along with Vega (nee sobikanna irundha podhe nalla irundhaye ma) and co didn't make movie interesting, rather it slowed it down. His philosophical dialogues didn't make us think but made everyone in theatre laugh.

It is a typical prostitute role by Anushkha. Yes, she has done a good job and of course, she is hot ;) But I don't like the way some portions from Vedham (original Telugu version of this movie) were kept as such. Enna, Anushkha madam? Thamizh rasigargalukkaaga adhayellam thiruppi nadikka maattengalo?

Santhanam is ultimate as usual. Laugh buster in each and every frame he came. Man, you rock!

Prakash Raj, Sonia Agarwal and co were iyyo pavam characters. Prakash Raj konjam over-acting dhan. Paavam. Evlo adichaalum thaangittu indha padathula nallavaraave irukkaru ;)

Saranya and especially that Thaatha were ultimate. If I call this movie as emotional it is because of the acting of Simbu and that Thaatha. Chanceless acting thaatha (Meanwhile what is his name?).

Music by Yuvan: Except for "Vaanam" song all other songs belong to headache category. But his BGM is good, especially the hospital scenes involving Simbu and Saranya.


Though some emotions were over dosage and some actions were not gripping, Simbu's performance and Santhanam's comedy crackers make this a must-watch movie. Finally we leave the theatre with a heavy heart and that itself makes this movie unique.

Ko - Go for it

Following Ayan, Ko is another good entertainer from Director KV Anand. I have to definitely appreciate the theme. Though the core is not very new, the way it is presented is very new. If KV Anand keeps directing movies like this, he would be definitely called a founder of a new genre of movies - Stylish Masala. But I should also mention that the same theme would have been at least 10 times better if it had been taken by Shankar or Maniratnam. Anyways, good going Anand!

As most feel, a hero with a better personality than Jeeva could have suited well for this movie. But definitely a hero with too much of image might have also screwed the movie. In that way, Jeeva is a good choice since he has done exactly what is needed. I am personally happy for Jeeva since so far he was either doing a full and full masala movie or under-rated classic movie like Katradhu Thamizh. This had the right mixture. All the best Jeeva!

I felt that Ajmal was kind of stiff in most of his scenes. But he made me forget that small minus during last scenes where he was very comfortable in that cunning+casual expressions and dialogue delivery.

Karthika Nair is not a bad choice but she didn't add any value to the movie; just that she didn't do any damage. But I could not think of any other heroine too in this role. If you feels some one else would have suited well, please post it as comment :)

Piaa Bajpai stole my heart once again ;) If you need some one with modern look, don't think of any other option; just go for Piaa. She has got good opportunity (though short) for acting in this movie and she has created necessary impact.

Not a typical Prakash Raj with lengthy and emotional dialogues. He comes in few scenes and has done a decent job. Kotta Srinivasa rao was as usual good with his animated acting :)

KV Anand himself being a cinematographer has extracted the best from Richard M. Nathan, cinematographer of this movie. While song locations themselves were beautiful, camera work showed them more beautiful.

Music by Harris Jayaraj is definitely commendable. Whether we call his tunes as recycled or reused or anything, they are appealing and only that matters for a commercial cinema. Even BGMs were not bad. But placement of Gala Gala was not necessary and placement of Venpaniye was too too much. "Anga appo dhan oru ezhavu vizhundhurukku. Edhukku da duet?" ;)

Overall KO is not one of the greatest movies of Thamizh cinema or a movie full of reality. It is a well-exhibited stylish masala movie. Please see it in large screens and enjoy!