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!

Maappillai - Pudhusa Onnum Illai

I don't have much stuff to write about this movie just like this movie also don't have enough stuff. All old stuffs presented in same old fashion.

Dhanush is a director's hero. So I don't have any complaints about his performance. He has given what he is expected to. Theatres were running house full shows.

Vivek's out of form form continues. Looked like he will come back strong after Uthamaputhiran. But it was just a surprise half century between single digit runs innings.

Hansika is another Maida maavu heroine.

Other than hype, I don't find any reason for choosing Manisha Koirala for mother in law role.
 

Music by Manisharma was another negative. Only "Ennoda Raasi" was nice to hear and credits for that song should go to Raaja.

This already being an old story, Director Suraj should have made efforts to have some new interesting scenes.Only in last scene, he showed some difference - villain making fun of himself but by that time people have started leaving theatre.

All theatres were showing house full shows in Bangalore but most of them were disappointed when coming out from theatre.

Ponnar Sankar - Sappa matter'ku sandai

I have not read original novel by Karunanidhi. So I have no comments about that. But by any chance if the movie is very close to the original novel, then I can definitely say that the novel is not worth reading.

Except that Gounder was added to names and the place names were chosen from Kongu district, I couldn't see this movie as an exclusive Kongu district movie. The director should have taken efforts to bring that Kongu flavor.

I have to compare this movie with Pazhassi Raja. In Pazhassi Raja, more than the fight, we also got the Wayanad district feel while seeing that movie. That was missing in Ponnar Sankar.

Prashanth was not bad. There was a huge star cast (Kushbu, Jayaraman, Napolean, Nasser, Vijaykumar, Ponvannan, Rajkiran, Prakash Raj, Prabhu, Sneha, Seetha.....) but almost all of them were under utilized. It was looking like a 'fixed' match where all the star performers were just coming and going without impact.

Dialogue was a major set back. Karunanidhi couldn't get out from his Parasakthi time and at the same time also have to fit current trend. In that process he is just writing some mundane dialogues and all the people who are directing for his story and dialogue have no guts to give this feedback to him.

Music by Isaignani Ilayaraaja.... 6 songs got released. Out of which I was expecting an excellent picturisation of "Kodi kotti koduthaalum".. But that song along with Annanmar Kathai and Thedi vandha devadhai were not included in movie. Malar villile and Kannai Padithen are nice melodies but were located in the manner so that movie got slowed down. I liked seeing Bavani Vaurgiraa... BGM is supposed to have been great but it was dampened completely. In Pazhassi Raaja sound effects were very loud but at the same time BGMs were not dampened.. But in this movie, grand orchestration by Raaja was made to sound simple. Special effects were badly dominating.

Too much of fights in this movie and none of them had a big reason.. This should have been Thiyagarajan's thought.. Paiyana vechu padam edukkanum...Edho Kalaignar kitta kadhaya vaangitton.. avar pera solli financier kitta mothama neraya panatha vaangittom.. egapatta aalungala vechu puzhudhi parakka brammandama fight edutha makkal paappanga...chumma kudhiraya eduthukuttu angayum ingayum oda vitta podhum..

Just got reminded of a Lollu Sabha movie title while seeing this movie.. "Sappa matter'ku sandai" ;)

Kullanari Koottam - Paruppu Saadham

Director Sribalaji has done some homework about Police department, especially about the malpractice in Police selection. But definitely he didn't have enough stuff to take a full fledged movie about it. So he had some filler first half and 2nd half dwelling on the topic of interest.

I don't find fault with that idea. There have been successful movies with a casual 1st half and serious 2nd half. But in all those movies the first half would have been very interesting, especially humor, dialogue etc and it will also have some interesting lead to the 2nd half. But this movie has a mundane 1st half with hardly any good comedy and even the dialogues were very ordinary.

Even the lead to 2nd half, reason of hero attending police selection to marry his lover was lousy. Hero's police selection friends hailing hero's attempt as something great and trying to make audience feel his love didn't work out.


Hero Vishnu suits well for Iyyo Paavam characters. Except for Drohi, I saw his other 3 movies and his role was almost same in all of them. I think it is good for him to get out of that image.

Heroine Remya Nambeesan is good but not great. Acc to me, Saranya Mohan is the standard for Paavadai Dhavani character. Remya has potential to become some one like Devayani.

Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu friends group have appeared in this movie also but they were under-utilized. Other actors were also suiting well but none was impressive.

Music by Selvaganesh definitely needs a mention..Vizhigalile song is one more feather on his hat along with Uyiril edho and Lesa Prakkudhu (Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu)..BGMs were not better than VKK BGMs.

Overall this movie is like Paruppu saadham without salt. Pasikku saapadlam (yes there was a pasi from Tamizh cinema audience because of world cup stopping release of many movies) but rusikku saapda mudiyadhu.... Yes, we don't want full and full masala but there should be at least some amount of salt and pepper :)

Nadunisi Naaigal - Audience Abuse

This is a movie of Gautham Menon who has established himself as one of the finest film makers of Thamizh cinema. So it is taken for granted that the movie will be technically strong and actors would have done well. But it is not enough. For instance, Raavanan was technically strong and the star cast was good but that alone is not enough for people to appreciate a Maniratnam's movie.

Sorry for comparing Mani with Gautham. Kallaala adikkadheenga pa ;)

Let me jump into reviewing the content. I feel that it will be better if I can frame the review as a letter to Gautham Menon. Here goes the letter.

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Hello Gautham,

Just like anyone, I cannot stop comparing Nadunisi Naaigal (NNN) with Sigappu Rojakkal (SR). This movie is not very different from SR except that things are magnified in NNN. In SR, there were some diversions like Sridevi's beauty, Raaja's Ninaivo Oru Paravai/Indha Minminikku and most importantly BGMs which conveyed the effect without affecting us.

But NNN affected me badly. I was suggesting Veera "Modhal la Sameera mudiya cut pannuda".. Enakkulla thoongikittu irukkara ketta mirugatha thatti ezhuppitteenga :)... I would even give credit to you if that is the motive of the movie. The moment you attributed it to child abuse, my immediate reaction was "Adappavi!".

I am not sure if you saw Achamundu Achamundu. Without showing any violence, that movie created great impact and gave awareness about child abuse. You as a responsible director should have created some awareness about child abuse. But you utilised that crime for making a movie!

Fine, if your aim was to make us feel the dark side of child abuse, you could have very well showed father abusing the son in a more elaborate way. We would have at least built up our anger on ppl who abuse children. Definitely it would have not been difficult for you to show those things since you didn't appear to have stopped within limits in rest of your scenes.

Definitely, it was a surprise when we came to know that hero (!) was suffering from split personality problem but we couldn't appreciate the split personality acting since we had a better reference (Anniyan Vikram).

Samar, Veera, Meenakshi Amma, Burnt face, Hair cutting... Overall this movie was not about Child abuse but a sheer abuse of audience.

Manmadhan padathoda copy nu lam makkal comment adikkaraanga. Poyum poyum Simbu padathoda lam compare pannum podhu kattayam neenga asinga padanum.

Looking at the last scene, I think you are having plans to direct sequel. Pls don't do that. Not that I ll not see that movie ;). I shall definitely see that movie and give a subtitle to review as "Gautham Menon abused audience again" :)

Without Regards,
Karthik