ISAI - Kamasutra 2015

Isai - KAMASUTRA 2015

Cast: S.J.Surya as A.K. Shiva, Sathyaraj as Vetriselvan, Sulagna Panigrahi as Jenny, Gibran Osman, Jayaprakash, Thambi Ramaiah, Ganja Karuppu and others
& Crew: Director - S.J. Surya, Music - S.J. Surya, D.O.P - Soundarrajan, Editor - K.M.Riyas
Producers: S.J.Surya, Victor Raj Pandian, S.Subbiah
Distributed by: Annai Mary Madha Creations
Running Time: 190 mins

Let me make one thing very clear when I watch a film I review it as a complete film and not in parts. Secondly as far as possible I avoid comparisons and stick to the premise of each film while reviewing it! Now let me get to this film:

The premise of this film is based on a music director's Vetriselvan (Sathyaraj) absolute hatred towards his student A.K.Shiva (S.J.Surya) owing to his understudy's phenomenal rise and popularity and the mentor losing his market to the sheer genius of his student. Supposedly a take on Illyaraja's downward slide and A.R.Rahman's phenomenal rise! Other than a vague similarity S.J.Surya's comeback film 'ISAI' is really a cheap 'sex' film. Look! 

Yes! The veteran Sathyaraj plays his role of a villain with ease and aplomb.Reminds you of the vintage villain Sathyaraj. In my opinion he should have continued in the same vein and that would have made him an integral part of Indian cinema. But can u ever  think of a 'Kollywood' music director leave alone Illayaraja acting the way Sathyaraj is characterised in this film by the director or for that matter S.J.Surya own characterization. In my opinion never! It simply baffles me how a director could tie himself into such impossible knots. This is solely because of a wafer thin storyline. Since there is very little credible content in this film the director resorts to lust and desire which I would like to simply classify as soft porn or sleaze. Surya goes on  a trip to a hill resort to compose tracks for an album. Here he meets the love of his life a village belle in Jenny (Sulagna Panigrahi) dressed in chiffon and nilex saris and half saris (mainly transparent). A glamourous, fair and sexy village transported from Mumbai to a remote village in the hills of Tamil Nadu. Wow! Now let me highlight some of the scenes and how craftily the director has used her as a sex symbol and at the same time hoodwink the censor board by allowing them to enjoy this brief 'sexapade' . After all poor them how long can they go on watching 'dry' content and cutting 'juicy' sex scenes!
1. The hero sucks at the fingers of the heroine and uses both his hands in a symbolic gesture of fondling her breasts. 
2.The heroine fills her mouth with medicine mixed with honey and both she and S.J.Surya are locked in a open mouthed lip lock. This supposedly symbolizes a tunnel of love! I leave the rest to your imagination. 
3. S.J.Surya asks the heroine to slide her hand down her breast with words of encouragement and even threats asking her to express what she feels beneath her hand  and then quickly corrects himself with the usage of the term 'heart'. All these 'physical' actions of pure lust is broadly termed as pure romance by this director. 
4. At the slightest pretext S.J.Surya keeps fondling the heroine. This kind of content which can only be termed as crass and obscene. You could probably rename this film Kama Sutra 2015. 
The entire drama is a S.J.Surya's constant shift from dream (imagination) to reality. Finally S.J.S finally decides that he has become a mad man (lunatic). Naturally! With this kind of obsession with sex one would probably turn more into a sexual psychopath or a rapist. The absurdity of this whole film culminates when S.J.Surya rushes to his wife to complain about her brother kissing a girl in the car park and smoking pot! The instances conceived by the director to highlight his progress from a sane man to an insane man is totally devoid of logic and totally absurd and unbelievable. This film is a constant switch from dream, imagination and reality and finally the climax reveals it all as one big fat 'dream' to the director and the viewers. 

Sathyaraj and Ganja Karuppu combination is the only high point in this film. The scenes involving the two are totally hilarious with faultless comic timing. Other than this the viewers are taken for a ride with loud performances by S.J.Surya &
Thambi Ramya followed by ameture perfomamces by the rest. (Though they are classified as 'actors')

The heroine's performance is acceptable after all her role in the film is mostly reduced to skin showing, kissing and crass lovemaking. Thambi Ramaiah in the role of a priest (even though he once again is portrayed as an actor) has more or less been reduced to a christian priest playing the role of a glorified pimp! The young boy around 14 to 15 years old is introduced to live soft porn by the director. Which in my opinion is appalling. Even in the film 'Graduate' a college going boy is the lead character. Here S.J.Surya has bettered all records in using sleaze and lust to entertain the viewers. 

Climax: A damp squib! The directors feeble attempts to justify the lack of logic in this film is totally unacceptable.

The only plus points in the film are the locations , cinematography and editing, though the film requires a 45 minute cut.

Bottom line: The censor board has totally failed to play it's part in this film. In fact the present board of late seem to have developed a penchant for sex, sleaze and derogation of women. They seem to be enjoying passing films with pure adult content! It is a disgrace to this august body which is supposed to monitor offensive and demeaning content. In my opinion they have totally failed in their duty here and have exposed their own weakness for such content!

Finally a quote: "The beauty of a woman and romance reduced to  slut and sleaze!"

My Rating- 

1.5/5 plus .5 for Sathyaraj's performance. 

Total - 2/5

Until Next Time

Director Haricharan

31/1/2015

PK - KPK (Kandippaga ParkKalaam)

PK – ‘My Favorite Martian’

Aamir Khan? No! It’s Christopher Lloyd from the movie - My favorite Martian (1999)

Ambitious television reporter Tim O'Hara (Jeff Daniels) stumbles upon a Martian (Christopher Lloyd) whose spaceship has accidentally crashed on Earth. Thinking this is his ticket to a Pulitzer Prize, Tim makes plans to expose the Martian, who, posing as Tim's Uncle Martin, takes human form and has plans of his own. In fact, all of Tim's efforts to divulge the truth are systematically thwarted by the resourceful alien, who ultimately recruits Tim to help him repair his ship for a return to Mars.

Cast: Aamir Khan – PK, Anushka Sharma – Jagat Janani, Sanjay Dutt- Bhairon Singh, Boman Irani- Cherry Bajwa, Saurabh Dhukla – Tapasvi Maharaj, Sushanth Singh Rajput as Sarfraz Yusuf, Parikshit Sahani as Jaggu’s father and many others.

& Crew: Director-Rajkumar Hirani, Music: Shatanu Moitra, Ajay-Atul, Ankit Tiwari, and Ram Sampath

PK an alien (Aamir Khan) from a distant planet is dropped on earth by a space ship to study earthlings. He loses an amulet (stolen by a petty thief) which is necessary for his return to his home planet. In his desperate quest to retrieve the magical amulet he meets Bhairon Singh (Sanjay Dutt) who becomes a faithful friend. I wonder!) and guides him to search for it in New Delhi.  On reaching Delhi and a few somewhat humorous situations decides only ‘God’ can help him recover his stolen property. I say somewhat humorous because a few of the situations conceived were rather childish and a few rather repetitive (the lovemaking in the car). PK becomes frustrated and finally a confused alien who questions the methodologies used by Godmen, priests etc to guide the path of devotees to the almighty. So far so good! The very novelty of the packaging of the plot keeping in mind the ‘Godmen’ devotee present day situation should be applauded! The usage of the ‘wrong’ number simile was novel and catchy and sticks but the ‘right’ number being - Hinduism is probably one of the very few if not the only religion which does not subscribe to an agent to establish contact with God but encourages a one on one direct conduit to the almighty was somehow in my opinion not rightly emphasized in the premise or the screen play.

The story then goes on to its next gear when PK meets a reporter Jagat Janani (Anushka Sharma) who fits her role to the tee. (Except for her mouth I really wish she hadn’t puckered it up) Anyways AS has a flash back as in while studying in Belgium she falls for Sarfraz Yusuf a Pakistani student also working part-time in the Pakistani embassy (how very convenient for the director). Here is my other problem why a Pakistani youth a simple Moslem boy from Lucknow would have been more than adequate. The Sania – Shoaib touch was really not required. Moreover in the final analysis Anushka’s parent’s characterization gets a raw deal. In the sense they are shown as blind followers of a money making god man whereas Sarfraz’s family are completely blanked out! The situation scenes using the cat in the basket twice though predictable well thought of. The uncensored love between Janani and Sarfraz well captured. The chemistry between the two worked. The blind believes and rituals which exist in our society worked though a little more thought would have helped. Like tonsure, thread ceremony, invoking gods into devotees etc would have helped but there again it is easier said than done in this country. The distribution of wanted ‘god’ posters the black & white situation (sari, wedding gown & burka) were absolutely hilarious! Spending time in the jail after urinating in public brings a smile.

What irked me most was PK’s stilted gait and wide open eyes all the time. Of course some ardent fans of Aamir will probably silence me by saying ‘Shaddup Yaar! He looks cute…..! But I still say it looked downright silly and stupid. The ‘Nanga’ Aamir is probably more a gimmick if nothing else. What was the terrorist train bombing scene far! It rather left me baffled! Finally coming to the cinematic climax well! Rajkumar Hirani had very little leeway and had to finish the film leaving Aamir’s image unscathed and the fair maiden happily married ever after!

The book sale at the end a nice touch though I wish PK had walked to Janani and extended a book for her autograph! Leaving her and the viewers open mouthed!

Acting: It is Aamir Khan all the way but Anushka has definitely matched him point for point! Sanjay has essayed a decent performance and so has Sushanth (Sarfraz). Boman Irani and Saurabh Dhukla essayed their parts with ease.

Music: The songs were quite pleasing and retro. Reminded one of songs in films like Can Can and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang etc

D.O.P: Good work. In sync with director’s premise.

Edit: Well cut.

Bottom-line: PK is definitely OK! But could have been better with a little more effort!

Quote: A good director and an actor should be in sync to make at least a decent film if not a great film!

My Rating: 3/5

Until Next Time,

Director Haricharan

15/1/2015

'I' is not for 'U'

'I' IS NOT FOR 'U'!

Cast: 'Chiyaan' Vikram - Limgesan. Amy Jackson - Diya, Suresh Gopi - Dr, Santhanam - Gym Babu, Ramkumar Ganesan & Others

Crew: Music: A.R.Rahman, D.O.P: P.C.Sriram, Edit: Anthony

Producers: Viswanathan Ravichandran & D.Ramesh Babu

Running Time: 189 mins

'I' is not meant for an 'U'niversal audience - It is primarily a film which will immensely please 'Chiyaan' Vikram's fans & those who love watching fairy tales made for adults! Look! Just because Shankar supposedly always does something different every time & Vikram is a talented, hard working actor the discerning viewer should not be subjected to a 3 hour 9 min rehash of  'Anniyan' which drags on and on testing our patience beyond tolerable limits. The film is all about the protagonist Lingesan (Vikram) who is a body builder from the slums of Chennai whose sole ambition is to win the Mr.Madras and subsequently Mr.India crown. Shanker's fairy tale starts of as a revenge saga (eye for an eye) in this case bubble for a bubble! & then moves on to an insipid, bland romantic saga with Diya (Amy Jackson) with Noorjahan (Amy Jackson) building a Taj mahal for Lingesan! A climax which simply fails on all fronts. Shankar manages to sneak in the usual quota of baddies (villains) in this case 5 (Ramkumar Ganesan & Co)  in all. The latter 4 start of us serious contenders and finally reduced to buffoons by the end of the film. The main baddie's(Mr. X let me atleast try to keep some interest going)intentions are revealed in the early part of the first half itself as the director turns into a turncoat (spoiler) in his own film! The director has also added a comedy track in Gym Babu (Santhanam) with a 'Kosuru' (bit) in Powerstar! Santhanam does bring some respite with his comedy but once again in bits and pieces. Vulgarity and double meaning dialogues has been used extensively to garner laughs! So what has Shankar done different in I! In my opinion precious little. Profuse usage of prosthetic make up to transform Vikram iuto a hunchback who by the way is a medical marvel as he is so agile that he even takes on one of the baddies on top of a running train. He runs, leaps, jumps and doses stunts which would make Jackie Chan jump with joy! Fairy tale picture post card song and dance sequences. Amy jackson stripped almost bare literally to her 'nipples'! I really wonder whether the censor members went to sleep while watching these scenes or were they consumed by sheer joy and excitement while watching these scenes! Well whatever director Shankar has exploited Amy Jackson's talent on all fronts! We also have a Beauty and the Beast song sequence with Vikram growling and roaring as he chases Amy all over as the fairies lift Amy and fly around. Boy! Real fairy tale stuff that Hans Christian Andersen would have loved to watch! Or would he have? Finally we have the 'I' virus probably Shankar's invention. A virus when injected makes you look like a hairless, hunch back with a body filled with bubbles and blisters. Wow! A request to Shankar not to reveal the 'I' formula to Jihadis and terrorists!They will have a field day with the 'I'. Luckily in this film Shankar has used it only on the baddies. So we are all spared as of now from the spread of 'I'! Hope all the theatres have been insulated from this virus spreading while watching this film! 

Shankar also has a few out of the world stunts lined up for the viewers 1. Mini cycle fights on roof tops in China 2. Vikram breaks all weight lifting records by lifting two baddies (instead of the usual weights) as he swings it around knocking dozens of baddies who foolishly come in the way! 3. Aerial fight scenes which will make circus trapeze artists stare in awe. 4. Moving train fight scene - Hunchback vs a Baddie. 

For colour and extravagant usage of Aascar Ravichandran's (producer) money - 1. Contract with a paint company to paint and repaint villages, cities and even countries if needed. 2. Computer graphics should be used to make Amy Jackson into a female transformer robot (After all the 'Enthiran' hangover still exists) and finally off to China to show the viewers the grandeur of a valley of red flowers and serene lakes! This footage could always be used by China tourism or the National geographic channel.

Finally the climax - The Beauty & the Beast dance away into the sunset!

Acting: Vikram all the way! The rest also ran! Though with all the make up Vikram could hardly express and his dubbing sounded like a rehash of Ambi in Anniyan.

Amy Jackson: In this film more a model less an actor.

Ramkumar Ganesan: A far cry to Malaya except for the looks! Shankar makes as a fool of this actor in this film.

Music: Sorry! Not the vintage A.R.Rahman we normally expect!

D.O.P.: Great work! Though the content turns out to be the spoiler!

Edit: Good work. Though should be cut by another 45 mins to make the film watchable.

Bottomline: Weak story line, Content, dialogues! The director has used this film to say that he can simply match or do what Hollywood does! but he has botched badly and this attitude does not augur well for Tamil cinema!

Quote: 'I' is not for 'U' !

My Rating: 2.5/5 minus .5 for wasting an opportunity. Total 2/5

Until Next Time,

Director Haricharan

15/1/2015

Hi Everyone! Firstly Wish U all a very happy and contented 2015 and ever after! Though belated! I am just back from a trip to the London and Houston hence the brief lack of activity through my blog! Have to catch up with a number of films especially PK! Anyways tried to catch 'Linga' in the U.S but the film was too fast and out of the theater's in the U.S that I couldn't watch it! Anyways my first blog on my return is not a film review but my nightmarish experience flying British Airways! So do read on and respond with ur coments. Will soon be back with my reviews! Thanx for ur patience and support! 
Rgds,
hC
8TH Jan 2015

British Airways - A Nightmare ‘Experience’ & the ‘DREWS’!

Not that my start on the 9^th of Dec was any better as my wife and I checked in to board the BA flight to London and thereon to Houston after a brief stopover in London. Here and now started our first experience with the first BA ‘Indian’ staff whom hereinafter I shall term as ‘DREWS’ ‘Desi’ racists employed by whites . The ‘DREW’ in question requested my wife to pass the mandatory and ‘infamous’ frame (size) test as he suspected it was too large to be termed as a cabin baggage. My wife’s ‘polycarbonate’ carryon was indeed oversized owing to the spinner wheels and handle! The ‘DREW’ with a broad smile of having caught the ‘terrorist’ bag ran to the check in counter and whispered rather loudly that this bag should not be allowed as cabin luggage. The poor girl at the counter remorsefully looked at us and explained that the carryon luggage was rather large and we will have to check it in by paying Rs14000/-! The ‘DREW’ was overjoyed!  Our continued pleas yielded no results and finally we went to one of those ‘infamously’ expensive luggage shops at the terminal and ended buying a bag which would pass the BA frame test for an exorbitant sum of nearly 5000/- Indian rupees. Here again both my wife’s and a number of my credit/debit cards had to be repeatedly tried owing to an obsolete card swiping machine. Anyway why does BA care? The ‘DREW’ had just saved BA from possible doom by making us pay! DREW’S  are a special breed of ‘Indian’ employees whose sole purpose in life is to serve their white employers by being rude, discriminatory and abrasive to all fellow countrymen who are primarily Indian passengers. Believe me! They derive great pleasure in doing this every day and all over the world! Why? Simple! Just to prove their unconditional loyalty to their white employers. Though in all probabilities the ‘whites’ are having great fun and entertainment at the expense of these ‘DREWS’. Anyway after 1 hour of agony as we had to transfer all content to the new bag, recall our driver to take back the ‘failed’ frame test bag etc. Believe me if I had had the proper tools I would have willingly broken the wheels and handle and taken the original bag in! BA should think on lines of leaving a tool box next to the luggage ‘guillotine’ frame! Once on board we were served with a special ‘lacto ovo’ meal (which in my opinion was a big mistake on our part to have ordered in the first place). BA does take things too literally and probably in their overzealousness to please the customer fully this meal was one ‘eggy’ plate filled with bland food and insipid spinach! Overall BA food is definitely below international standards. Anyways let bygones be bygones! After spending a few pleasant though chilly days in London with my daughter who is doing her masters in the U.K we boarded another BA flight and reached Houston! This part of the journey was rather uneventful by BA standards! Let me also add that both my other daughters have also completed their masters in the U.K and we have a handful of lovely British friends!

Let me now get to the most harrowing part or to put in proper perspective – ‘A nightmare BA experience’! My wife and I boarded the BA flight 35 on Dec 30 from Houston after a 40 min delay. We ended up reaching London Heathrow late. We were further stuck inside the plane for nearly 30 min or so due to a shortage of ground transportation to take us to terminal 5 to catch our flight to Chennai. At the terminal we still had about 30 min to catch our flight if only the BA staff inside the aircraft or the ground staff had guided us properly! But BA does not care a damn! While waiting inside the aircraft the two rather aged but experienced airhostesses with I pad in hand had no clue whatsoever about the departure status of our flight to Chennai. They somehow had info on most other connecting flights and were advising other passengers on the modus operandi after they finally got out of the aircraft but alas we two poor ‘Indians’ going to Chennai was left high and dry! With a few cursory words of solace ringing in our ears that the ground staff will take care of us we alighted from the aircraft. But after a long trek tired and exhausted. Mind you my wife was severely impaired by back pain owing to her recent back bone fracture and yours truly also happens to be a chronic asthma patient. We both are also past our mid fifties!  We even avoided using the rest room in fear of missing our connecting flight to Chennai! Anyways we finally reached the terminal and found that not one of the few available BA crew (small name tags) had any idea of how to handle our situation except being curtly shooed on to next BA staff and finally when we reached the ‘home’ security gate we were dismayed to see a long queue standing ahead of us. We by now were desperate as we hardly had 20 mins to reach our gate to board our flight to Chennai. We looked around and to our utter bad luck spotted another BA ground staff this time a girl ‘DREW’! We explained our situation as calmly as possible and requested that our security clearance be speeded up. And what was her reaction! ‘Pl don’t shout! We are only trying to help you! ‘Believe me! My wife and I had very little energy to even explain our ordeal leave alone shout! Then the ‘DREW’ continued her rude tirade ‘Show me your boarding passes. Stunned to silence we meekly hand over our boarding pass and she hardly glanced at it and put it mildly retorts ‘Why didn’t you come` to me earlier? As if to say - ‘Were you guys sleeping all along! Don’t you know that all of us ‘DREWS’ are waiting eagerly to help you usher you to your aircraft! To put it in typical 'desi' term “Kya aap loag Jakh Maar rahe thei kya!” (The ‘DREW’ in this case looked like a North Indian 2^nd generation ‘desi’ showing off to the whole world her superiority over her poor native Indian countrymen. Wow! Really impressive performance! I am sure BA would have promoted her by the time we reached Chennai! The she looks at the computer and brusquely informs us ‘Look nothing can be done now. (Points to the reservation counters) Go there they will ‘try’ to help you’ She then glares at us by now open mouthed ‘minions’ as if to say are u still here! I have already dismissed you! Pl get out of my sight! Tired and totally disgusted with BA ‘DREWS’ callous and bloody irresponsible attitude we trudged our way to the reservation counter. Here we at last found a friendly BA ground staff in Ms Kalsum Khan who must have frankly been appalled and puzzled by the way we were being treated by our own brethren and tried her best to get us to Chennai asap! Finally we decided that the best option was to take the next day’s flight to Chennai. This meant that we had to stay overnight in London! With no warm clothing or even a fresh set of clothes or even toiletries as they were filled with a few fragile gifts to friends and these days even toothpaste tubes, and after shave and razors not being allowed in carryon’s. (More so as our Chennai ‘DREW’ had effectively off loaded our slightly bigger carry on in Chennai!)  We literally dragged ourselves to the bus terminal to catch a shuttle to our hotel (Courtesy BA).

My wife was literally freezing to death in the cold while waiting at the bus stop! As I had mentioned earlier she was also suffering from severe back pain! BA could care less! It is now a case of survival of the fittest at Heathrow! Even HOBO’S are treated with more concern and dignity! But BA cares a damn! All they care for is the ‘colour’ of your currency! No wonder their passenger traffic has fallen. Their planes are rattle traps literally falling apart! (In fact their luggage compartments seldom remain shut throughout the journey. The TV sets swings downward and you have to hold them manually in place to be entertained). Their food pathetic! Even the Salvation Army provides better food!

And beware! At the ‘Sheraton’ the receptionist treats all ‘Indian’ BA delayed passengers as rejects! You are better off paying with hard cash than with the BA voucher dole outs!  We were so tired and overslept but when we went down and requested for lunch they simply said the lunch vouchers were no longer valid as the time to serve lunch had elapsed! Our request- At least s sandwich please! The reply – Yes! But you have to pay for it! Once again tired and now hungry we barely made it to our room which is in the furthermost corner of the hotel. Obviously reserved exclusively for BA rejects! We finally came down again at 5pm (as informed) to stake our claim for dinner but were asked to wait for half hour when finally a scowling DREW (‘desi’ girl) ushered us to a table. At this point the restaurant manger (By the way the restaurant manger is another Indian ‘DREW’) loudly commented to the scowling waitress fellow ‘DREW’ that we should not be served food over 18 pounds as that happens to be BA’s food quota to all and sundry discards like us who have the mis’fortune’ of missing BA flights! Finally do not ever watch listed movies in the room as you will be charged another 10 pounds per movie. After a harrowing night as both me and my wife could not sleep after all the trauma and physical pain we had been subjected to thus woke up at 6.30am to once again catch a bus to Heathrow standing in the freezing -2degree cold my wife without any warm clothing. Finally after getting our 10 pound breakfast coupons once again from Ms.  Kalsum Khan who at this time manning one of the counters at Zone E we made our way to the cafeteria and then on to our gate to board our flight! Though the flight was flying empty with hardly 90 passengers BA and even then it never occurred to BA to bump us to a higher class which is what any decent airline would have done considering what we had to put up with because of BA! Sir, I have over the years travelled world over and flown Lufthansa, Air-India, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Qatar, Sri Lankan Airlines Jet Airways and for that matter even BA to name a few but have never experienced this kind of derogatory and offensive treatment from at any point in time!

Footnote: Sangeetha the airhostess from Chennai and Mark the flight purser of BA were the only other BA staff who made our return flight bearable and pleasant. If not this article would have been more scathing and filled with profanity! 

Moral of the story: Never fly British Airways! If you still dare to do so pack your own food, carry a bag that will pass the frame test! And most importantly of all never ever approach a ‘DREW’ for help! And don’t worry you can easily spot them! 1. They are Desi’s 2. They will smile and be courteous to whites but 3. Will scowl and be offensive to all brown skinned fellow Indians – These are the true ‘Indian’ racists of free INDIA! Jai Hind!

Until Next Time

Director Haricharan

3/1/2015