ENNAMO NADAKKUDHU - Onnumei Puriyalei Indha Padathulei!

ENNAMO NADAKKUDHU– Onnume Puriyale Indha Paduthulei!

Cast:- Vijay Vasanth as Vijay, Mahima Nambiar as Madhu, Prabhu as Parthipan, Rahman as Burma, Thambi Ramaiah as  Lawyer, Saranya Ponvanna as Vijay’s Mother and Sukanya as Bank Manager

& Crew: - S/S/Direction – Rajapandi, D.O.P – A.Venkatesh, Music – Premgi Amaren, Edit – Praveen K.L/N.B.Srikanth

Produced by: - Vinoth Kumar, Studio – Triple V. Records

Track list: - 1.Aagayam Vizhigiradhe - Premgi Amaran 2. Meesa Kokku - Vijay Yesudas, Saindhavi, Saranya Ponvannan 3. Money Money - Ranjith, Premgi Amaran 4.Orakkanna - Haricharan 5. Vaa Idhu Nethiyadi - Mano, L. R. Eswari

The story, backdrop and setting (Screen play), the film dramatically opens (Hollywood style) with an Omni van screeching to a halt in a deserted ware house (probably Binny Mills compound) and 4 to 5 “Adiyaals” drag and hurl the hero Vijay a poster contractor by profession out of the van and demand the return of “PORULL”. A new terminology used for money in an effort to confuse the viewer. How clever! Our poor hero is unable to deliver the "Porull". Angered by this (I have lost count of the number of times this scene has been visualized in Tamil cinema) they thrash the Mickey out of him. The refreshing change being our hapless hero does not retaliate at all and meekly takes all the blows un-hero like. The next scene brings the usual ‘masala’ factor to the fore. The local politician cum don Rahman and his sidekick Thambi Ramaiah christened “lawyer” get a call from the “Adiyal “about the critical “unconscious” condition of the badly mauled and battered hero. To extract the location of “Porull” he is admitted in a hospital. Burma visits the hospital and asks his “stupid” Adiyal and an even dumber lawyer sidekick to effect a body search Vijay and wonder of wonder discovers the photograph of a mysterious girl Madhoo. Burma and his cronies are shocked as they were led to believe that Vijay was an orphan. So the mystery girl may be his sister, mother wife, friend or even the lover! Have u guessed? Anyways even if you have not! Don’t worry! The director will reveal it in the flashback mode. Flashback: - Vijay is a poor fatherless kid who is wild and keeps abusing beating, thrashing and even kicking his mother at the slightest provocation. I am sure a lot of critics will praise this director for very natural portrayal of the son physically abusing his mother repeatedly but he is pardoned by the mother as he always atones for his sins by buying her chicken/mutton biryani in a drunken state after his daily visits to TASMAC. Why not? Even the censors have graciously allowed repeated scenes of such abuse. This scene once again predicts the oncoming tragedy to the mother. Once again for the 100^th time as the hero is chasing a few thugs on one of the busy Chennai streets literally “bumps” into the love of his life Madhoo (a nurse & a mother less lass). Don’t worry the mother of the hero and father of the heroine don’t fall in love. In fact they don’t even meet. Give the director some credit for sensibility. From the thugs the hero’s attention turns on the heroine and he now starts his relentless pursuit of the heroine. Now the director orchestrates a number of immature incidents using the usual mobile phone mix up trick etc and off course the heroine is not interested in the hero’s overtures. Finally the director effect’s the greatest Tamil cinema emotion finale. The hero saves the heroines father from certain death from a “mild” heart attack and what happens next the reluctant heroine immediately oozes with love for the hero and the exotic song and dance sequences begin! Now the director gets back to the hero meeting the lawyer side kick at TASMAC who along with Burma are planning to ease out the “old drunkard” of a courier of “PORULL” who has somehow become an irritant to the whole operation of laundering cash. In the meantime Madoo’s  and her father are plagued by the usual money lender who had lent money to fund Madoo’s higher education in Canada but the both of them are cheated of the money by an unscrupulous agent. To save Madoo’s modesty Vijay agrees to take the job of a courier under Burma and the lawyer in exchange of a service charge of 5lakhs to clear Madoo’s debt but all this is not so simple as the director decides to add more complications and confusion after all the viewer has paid hard earned money to watch this film. While carrying “PORULL” Vijay is hoodwinked by a mysterious gang posing as policemen and loses the money and earns the wrath of Burma and ends up in hospital. While the old courier who is supposedly been dealt with is actually rescued by a man with a limp and a cane. Now that the director has more or less brought you to the edge of your seats or even otherwise we can move on to the second half.

The 2^nd Half Flashback 2:- Prabhu (Parthipan) is a boxer who is made up to look like a younger version. If you’re dense enough to accept this it’s fine with me. Coming back to FB 2 Prabhu has an ongoing rivalry with another boxer Vincent Ashokan once again made up to look young and we once again are forced to accept him as a young Casius Clay in spite of his receding hairline. Vincent Ashokan has political ambitions but Prabhu’s ambitions are noble he just wants to win and get the trophy from “Puratchi Thalivar” M.G.R. How nice! Vincent tries to fix the boxing match by bribing Prabhu through his sidekick Burma (a young Rahman as it’s a FB). Does this remind of “Maan Karate” & “Vallinam”? So what the director could care less after all we are all dopes (including yours truly). Burma takes the money and double crosses Vincent. So what does Vincent do? He cripples Prabhu and what does Burma do? Surprise! Surprise! Deals with Vincent! I am sure by now you are immensely pleased with the number of twists so far but the director has some more in store for you. Prabhu I am sure you have realized by now is the one who has committed the heist and relieved the hero of the “PORULL”. So the director decides to wake up the hero back to consciousness. The hero and his dear friend (I am sorry I forgot to mention his friend) decide to rescue his lady love Madoo who is of course in the hands of Burma. Vijay and his friend using a tracking app in a lost mobile (director’s invention) pursues a woman (she suddenly crops up conveniently) tracks Vincent and Prabhu and using several tricks hidden up his sleeve which only a hero can! Using his innate gift of the gab he craftily maneuvers Prabhu,Vincent,Lawyer, Adiyals & of course the viewers too, to a under construction mall site to effect the trade cash for Madhoo! The bags of cash is full of waste paper! Isn't this simply brilliant?

& the Climax after a series of exasperating and confusing car chases (because at one point of time we don’t know who is driving which car or which occupant is in which car) and several bizarre shoot outs with bullets and blanks the hero and his love Madhoo escape unscathed. I will not divulge the final twist and the bag of tricks used by the hero to outwit a band of nitwits and dumb villains.

Acting: - Vijay Vasanth as Vijay, He definitely suits the role of the character he portrays in this film and that is where the suitability ends. There are hundreds of such actors who debut in Tamil cinema and fade away as one film wonders. The director simply has not been able to use his looks and extract the desired performance though in parts this actor has managed to perform. Another actor in the Sivakarthikeyan mould

Mahima Nambiar as Madhu, Again the next door girl look who could have been used better if only more thought had been put into her character by the director.

Prabhu as Parthipan, this role must have been a walk in the park for him. In spite of his age and girth he can still shake a leg. Prabhu as an actor tries really hard to play the part of a young boxer in the flashback scene but alas the director goofed badly and should have thought of a different scenario for the flash back.

Rahman as Burma He looks really dapper in spite of his age. He has essayed a decent performance though the director has tried his best to make a fool of this decent and good looking actor.

Thambi Ramaiah as Lawyer a different role indeed but no great difference in his performance

Saranya Ponvannan as Vijay’s Mother This actor will probably receive an award (if ever there was one) very soon as the pining, dumb witted mother forever trying to find a suitable bride for the most number of Tamil hero’s.

Sukanya as Bank Manager has aged gracefully and definitely a few more years left to give to cinema but I hope she is used for performance oriented roles unlike this one.

The rest they also ran because they were probably paid to perform and nothing more.

Camera: - A.Venkatesh The camera work was riddled with jerky movements. I really wonder why!

Music: - Premji Amaren The first track stood out. His music had shades of the maestro Illyaraja.

Edit: - Praveen K.L & N.B Srikanth has done an effective job especially the fight scenes and car chases keeps of lag and added to the speed of the screen play.

Art: - Standard fare.

Choreo: - Reminded one of the late director Jeeva’s films.

Stunts: - Standard fare.

The one’s that “Nadandhadhu”: - The premise of lending out bank’s call money and earning interest. 2. The hate & love relationship between Vijay and his mother 3. The first scene showed promise 4. Sukanya has aged well. 4. The song showing Vijay riding a cycle in mid air while in love

The one’s that “Nadakadhadhu”:- 1. Love at first sight scenario (for the 100^th time) 2. Saranya Ponavanan’s characterization: - Pining away to get her son a suitable bride. Again a stale repeat for the 100^th time 3. The entire first half stretched to establish almost nothing 4. Amateurish, melodramatic acting by the hero 5. The heroine totally wasted in this film 6. Too many villains running all over the place like headless chicken 7. The unimaginative flash back (Prabhu & Vincent Ashokan look like washed out boxers made up for their last desperate fight) 8. M.G.R being used as a decoy in the flash back a desperate effort to win over viewers 9. The jerky camera work 10. The confusing car chases and ridiculous gun fights 10. Burma’s Malayalam accent 11. Scenes are too predictable from Sarnaya’s death to Prabhu’s entry 12. A rather juvenile and unbelievable twist effected at the climax and lastly 13. Ridiculous punching bag fight scenes

Finally to sum it all up, a quote:-"Kill me now. The avalanche of cliches just won't quit." – Peter Travers

Bottom Line:-Art/Experimental/ Action/Romance/Horror/Thriller/Adventure or simply MASALA! - A film should only be made to entertain!

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

27/04/2014

Vayaai Moodi Paseavum - Either way this film doesn't work!

NAME –VAAYAI MOODI PESAVUM – Either way this film doesn’t work!

Cast :-Dulquer Salman as Arvind, Nazriya Nazim as Anjana, Madhoo as Vidhya, Arjunan as Sathish, Kali Venkat as Palani, John Vijay as Ravi, Ramesh Thilak as Ganesh & Vinu Chakravarthy as Adhikesavan among others.

& Crew:- S/S/Direction – Balaji Mohan, Produced By – S.Sashikanth/Varun Manian, D.O.P.- Soundarrajan, Music – Sean Roldan, Edit – Abhinav Sunder Nayak, Studio – Y NOT Studios/Radiance Media

Direction, story & Screenplay: -

Track list: - 1) shut up! Vaaya Moodai Pesadhei – Singers – Sean Rolden, Lyrics-Balaji Mohan 2) Kadhal Ara Onnu Vizundhuchu – Singers-Sean Rolden, Shakthisree Gopaln, Lyrics – Muthamil, 3) Mr.Fix-it Theme – Instumental – Singers – Chennai Stringers 4) Poddhum Nee Ini Varundhadhe – Singers – Haricharan, Chennai Strings, Muthamil 5) Udaigiren Udaigiran – Singers – Alap Raju, The Madras Quartet, Lyrics –Madhan Karky 6) Beedhiya Kelappa – Jazz Theme-Instrumental-Singers- Maarten Visser,Parveen Sparsh 7) The Sound of Silence – Dubstep Symphony, Singers – Chennai Strings 8) Maatraparvai – The Song Bird of Change , Singers – Praveen Kalyani, The Madras Quartet, Lyrics- Madhan Karky

Total duration of songs: - mins.

The story, backdrop and setting (Screen play), this film can at best be termed as an experimental film to be shown to media students but at the end of it they may quit the course! It is a film which will test the intelligent quotient of all cinema viewers and more particularly the entertainment factor which is omnipresent in the majority of Tamil movie population. On the flip side no violence, no fights, no item numbers, duets etc but probably that was what was needed to pep up this silent story.Come on I am allowed to crack a joke from time to time especially after watching a film like this one. The film is made up of 2 parts. The first half showcases the importance of speech aka talking. The second half is the silent part which highlights the improper use of our talking ability and its aftermath. Unfortunately owing to such amateurish and in dept handling of the movie by its director it ends up silencing all your senses of appreciation.

The 1^st half opens up with our radio jockey Balaji ( this actor is the permanent RJ of Tamil cinema)  on a visit to “Pani Malai” (all our directors these days love such fantasy name calling) to do a radio show  ends up losing his voice due to a mysterious viral infection called “Dumb Flu”! You think this is funny! Wait till you hear the rest of the story the director has in store for you! The director then jumps to the hero (Dulquar) who is a fix-it ( an adhesive not Dr.Fixit) salesman running all around the hill station and by using his “honest to god” gift of the gab selling large boxes of these adhesives. I wonder what people in hill stations end up doing with large quantities of adhesive tubes! It is now the turn of our director to jump cut to the heroine (Najriya) a doctor by profession who lives in a classy wooden bungalow (Camp David style) owned by her affluent dad (Profession unknown probably the owner of the adhesive company? If you get to find out pl let me know.) Najriya also resents her step mom (Madhoo) and puts up with her biological son who is anyway just a dumb kid! I am sorry that’s a bit too harsh more like the dyslexic kid? (Tare Zameen Par). Look I really don’t know so I will term him as a slow learner! Then we cut to Prime time news anchored by none other than the director Balaji Mohan in flesh and blood. Supposed to be a satire on Arnav Goswami! Every 10 mins or so the director shows his mug and gives you a boring and not so funny update on what’s happening “Pani Malai!” He talks about the mysterious Dumb Flu, the ongoing battle between the TASMAC gang (My fantasy name calling) and a film hero John Vijay whose screen name is “nuclear star” (Power Star). Why? Simple! The film happens to offend the sentiments of a few drunkards (Satire on Viswaroopam/Inam incidents) plus we have the usual corrupt dumb ass politician who makes a fool of himself in front of a TV audience. Next the director jumps to the romantic involvement of the heroine with a jerk who has nothing better to do than to dictate the way she should dress and what “colour” of contact lens she should wear etc. Off course you don’t need an analytical brain to guess the obvious but if you are as dumb as all that please wait till the climax! From time to time we come back to the hero who continues his aimless wandering all over Pani Malai selling adhesives but wait he also visits an orphanage (Yup! for once you've guessed right) and helps all the affected orphans by giving monetary donations though the god mother of the orphanage very mildly chides him for spending his meager earnings in this manner. One more character who is the comic in this film is the hero’s fat lovesick friend (a straight lift from the director’s previous film K.S.Y). Finally all the talking comes to an end when the dumb flu spreads like a wild fire all over Pani Malai and the “director” is unable to find an antidote decides that in the second half no one in Pani Mali should talk!

The second half is the torturous silent part. Here the film reminds you of the film “Silent Movie” with the Background score from the film “Artiste”! The director literally freaks out in making it the dumb charade half probably a first of its kind in Tamil cinema. Here the director in an attempt to make the viewers speechless ends up making them dumb! He answers all the questions he posed in the first half. ANSWERS:- 1) The Hero discovers his true love 2) The heroine discovers that she is in love with a jerk 3) Madhoo re discovers the writer in her 4) Abishek (Madhoo’s hubby) re discovers Madhoo 5) Madhoo’s biological son discovers a new talent which will help him surpass his dumbness 6) John Vijay and the TASMAC group reconcile and become “boozom” pals and how they do it you should see to believe as the screenplay will finally seal all your openings once and for all! 7) Godmother gets back her orphanage 8) Vinu Chakravarthy the  uncompromising owner of the orphanage  gets back his long last son owing to the heroic efforts of the hero and his fat friend! 9) The fat friend discovers true love. All this and many more happens in this half as the director makes an ass out of the viewer and reveals the dumbest of dumb climax seen in recent times. I truly apologize for using the term fat I did it because I hate it when a film maker makes fun of size/colour and/or disability of any sort to create unnecessary humour.

& the Climax, Come on! It is so predictable! No one can be that dumb!

Acting: - Dulquer Salman as Arvind, I really don’t understand why all our first time hero’s pick such scripts to debut. Especially with a dad like “Mammootty” behind you who is such a talented actor and a legend by his own right. Is it because they lack the ability to visualize a narration or is it only because the director has a previous hit under his belt. Whatever the reason may be this young actor will have to wait for his next to exhibit his talent.

Nazriya Nazim as Anjana, She hardly has any space to perform in this film. The spectacles to contact switch and the kameez to sari switch and hugging the mother were the only emotional parts she played in this film

Madhoo as Vidhya, What a come down for this very pretty and talented actor from the days of Roja! I simply can’t believe that she even chose this script. By the way why has she lost so much weight? She looks anorexic.

The rest Arjunan as Sathish, Kali Venkat as Planai, John Vijay as Ravi, Ramesh Thilak as Ganesh,Vinu Chakravarthy as Adhikesavan,

Camera: - Soundar Rajan his work was the best part of this film. His lighting/visuals ands camera angles showed great promise.

Music: - Sean Roldan has used a western theme throughout the film. I wonder why? Is there some logic or premise behind this! I would love to know. In fact in the second half the silence was marred by the BG score in most places. The tracks are a bore!

Art: - Was fairly good especially the interiors.

Choreo: - Who?

Stunts: - Who?

Edit: - Abhinav Sundar Nayak his editing was adequate but once again a half hour cut may have helped but on second thought I really don’t think it would have mattered when the screenplay is such a letdown.

A word about the producers: - This is a classic example of a producer/s trying to experiment too much in an effort to make a different film by cramming all in one go and finally ending up losing the basic simplicity of the premise, straightforward narration and screenplay.

Finally to sum it all up, a quote: “Silence is of great value. Some things are better left unsaid – like about this FILM!”

Left right & Centre: - I have started dreading Friday releases!

Bottom Line: - It was truly deathly silence as the viewers left the theater!

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

25 /04/2014

NATIONAL AWARDS - Regional Cinema (Tamil) - The Force of 1+ 6!

National Awards (Regional Films) – The Force of 1+ 6!

Do the regional films selected for a National award truly reflect the consensus of the Indian film technicians and the viewers or is it a mere farcical exercise conducted year after year by the Government of India? Can a regional film by selected by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry aided by a 6 member jury be conferred with the National Award? Is this the biggest scam meted out by the government of India to the thousands of regional film makers and hundreds and thousands of passionate Indian cinema viewers spread all over the world? Let me highlight below a few points to explain my position on this issue:- 1. the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting  is the sole body involved in the selection process for national film awards. 2. In the first place how are they qualified to select the jury? 3.What is the basis on which one is selected to serve as a jury member? 4.What about the conflict of interest involved for example can a person serving as a jury member have worked with the producer/director/actor/technician of the film selected for an award under any category? None of the above posed questions have satisfactory answers. This truly reflects the apathy & nepotism behind the procedures being followed by the I&B ministry in selecting films for the nation’s highest honor. It also reflects poorly on our media who have not taken up cudgels strongly enough to pressurize the ministry to take immediate steps to make the selection process broad based and transparent.

A few suggestions I can think of:- To start with the I&B ministry should definitely involve the thousands of film technicians/distributors/theater owners/film critics and above all the Indian viewers in the selection process. This will be the first step in restoring credibility to the present system adapted for the selection of films by the ministry for awarding National Awards. The jury selection should be transparent. The members selected to serve as jury members should be screened and selected from all the recognized associations of the film industry along with a few from the general cinema viewers from various professions and critics too. The selected films should be screened to all the jury members and they should be asked to vote their selection by secret ballot before the final list of films is compiled.

Bottom Line: - 1970 TO 2013 (44 years) the national award for regional films was conferred to Tamil films 41 times (3 years no awards were given).  17 times it was awarded to films directed by the same director. Hardly 4 to 5 films were high grosser's or commercial hits. 1 ministry and 6 jury members have the honor of picking 1 winner out of over 250 films produced each year grossing revenue of  well over 7.7 billion INR (1990 figures*) Tamil film industry. WOW! UNBELIEVABLE but TRUE!

* If anyone knows the latest figures please send me the details.

NATIONAL AWARDS

The Directorate of Film Festivals invites nominations for the awards sometime in January. Feature and Non-Feature Films certified by Central Board of Film Certification are eligible for the film awards. For the Feature and Non-Feature Films sections, films in any Indian language, shot on 16 mm/35 mm formats, a wider film gauge or a digital format, and released in cinemas, on video or digital formats for home viewing are eligible. Films are required to be certified as a feature film, a featurette or a Documentary/Newsreel/Non-Fiction by the Central Board of Film Certification.

For the Feature Film section, six committees are formed based on the different geographic regions in India. The two-tier evaluation process included a central committee and five regional committees. The central committee is headed by one eminent personality from the film industry. It also comprises of the heads of each regional committee and five other jury members. At regional level, each committee consists of one chief and four members. The chief and one non-chief member of each regional committee are selected from outside that geographic region.

Broad set of the rules:-

1.     The Film Federation of India shall have the right to nominate films for the award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

2.     Regional Juries – One Panel for each language.

3.     Each regional jury is headed by a chairperson and one member (both of whom are selected from outside the region) & three other members from within the region.

4.     Each regional jury will recommend 30% (approx) of the films.

5.     Regional jury has the power to recommend the awards for which a particular film should be considered.

6.     It is mandatory for the jury to view each film in its entirety before arriving at a decision.

7.     Regional Juries would preview films in Delhi.

I have also listed below a list of Tamil films (2009 -2013) which will highlight some of the contradictions in the film selection. I have also followed it by a brief on the selection criteria adapted by the Oscars & Cannes film awards committee as reference points:-

2009 National Award: - Pasanga –Pandiraj

Classified as high Grosser’s:- Top 3 Aayan/Naadodigal/Padikathavan Highest Grosser’s in UK/Malta-Villu /Kanthaswamy/Aadhavan- Malaysia – Aadhavan/Vettaikaran/Kanthaswamy –

2010  National Award:- Thenmerku Paruvakaatru -Seenu Ramasamy

Classified as high Grosser’s :- Enthiran/Singam/Raavanan/Boss Engira Bhaskaran/Vinnathandi Varuvaayaa - UK Box off – Enthiran/Singam/Raavanan

2011 National Award:-  Vaagai Sooda Vaa- A Sarkunam

Classified as high Grosser’s- Mankatha/Kanchana/Siruthai/Ko/Aadukalam

2012 National Award:- Vazakku Enn 18/9 -Balji Sakthivel

Classified as High Grosser’s:-Naan Ee/Billa II /Kumki/Thuppakki/Pizza

2013 National Award: - Thanga Meengal –Ram

Classified as Hits – Ethir Neechal/Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru/Soodhu Kavvum-Classified as high grosser’s:-Singam II/Arrambam/Thalaivaa Highest Grossers in UK/Malta-Vishwaroopam/Thalaivaa /Aarambam- Malaysia – Singam II/Aarambam/Thalaiva

The OSCAR “RACE”

The Nominations to the Oscars starts around November. Film distributors/Studios/Publicists try hard to get the academy’s 6000-odd members of to view their respective films by sending DVD’s and free cinema screenings.

The Academy’s members are split into 15 ‘branches’, or professions within the film industry - from actors to makeup artists. These members vote for nominees within their own category, directors for directors, cinematographers for cinematographers. Nominees for the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, however, are voted for by committees of mixed branches. Every member is allowed to vote for the Best Picture nominee.

Votes are sent to Price water house & Coopers to be counted and verified securely, and then the nominees who come out on top are announced a few days later in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Downside:-The process has mainly been criticized by some of the film industry for the ruthless campaigning that takes place from November.

CANNES

Each year, more than 300 members of the creative communications industries are invited to Cannes Lions to serve on the juries. They consider and award all the work that is entered into the Festival. To make sure that each piece of work is evaluated in an independent manner, the Festival follows a rigorous jury selection procedure. The Festival’s global network of representatives is the first step in this process. These local representatives send in their nominations for each jury place from their country. How many jury places a country gets is determined by the success of that country in winning Lions in the previous years, cross-referenced against the number of entries made by that country. All judges must be award-winning and representative of countries that are entering Cannes Lions.

Once these nominations are all in, Cannes Lions selects the judges, ensuring that each jury contains an even balance of members from around the world, from each gender and from a representative spread of agencies – independents and from networks.

Please respond with your thoughts on this subject. It will help.

Until next time,

hC

23/04/2014

AN IDIOT ABROAD - Worth a Watch!

AN IDIOT ABROAD!

(2010 -2012)

Karl Pilkington/Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant among others.

Catch this TV series. Nominated for- 5 awards.

Brit Karl Pilkington  has led a sheltered life all his life. Has never done any traveling which is probably typically British. As such, his friends, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant  decide to send Karl to various parts of the world to experience unfamiliar cultures and hope that Karl's life is enriched by these travels though Ricky feels this experiment is the most expensive gag for his own pleasure that he could have ever conceived. 

Have fun!

hC

TenaliRaman - Aiyo! Rama!

TENALIRAMAN – AIYO! RAMA!

Cast: - Vadivelu – TenaliRaman/Maamannan, Meenakshi Dixit-Princess Maadhulai, Radha Ravi, Manobala, G.M.Kumar, Bala Singh, Santhana Bharathi, Shanmuggarajan, Joe Malloori, Kingkong, Namo Narayana, Besant Nagar Ravi, Baby Neha

& Crew: - S/S/D – Yuvaraj Dhayalan, Music-D.Imman, D.O.P.-Ramnath Shetty, Edit - Producers- Kalpathi S.Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh, Kalpathi S.Suresh

Direction, story & Screenplay: - This film will make history undoubtedly as the comeback “waterloo” of sorts for Vadivelu who can be termed as a wonderful native comedian in the history of Tamil cinema. In this double whammy Vadivelu plays the part of the king (38 wives & 52 children each destined to rule the kingdom for a week. Simple!  52 WEEKS = 1 YEAR. Did that amuse you! Really! Then you must be as much as an idiot as the king). He also dons the hat of TenaliRaman (He looks like a hostage with a gun constantly being held to his head). It is indeed very sad that the premise of this film is a total annihilation of the very word “comedy”.  It is supposedly a spoof of the legendary “Tenali Ramakrishna” who once upon a time ruled the royal court of emperor Krishna Deva Raya as a court jester/poet! It is really a wonder that the director managed to humour the producers while narrating the story! Or were they fast asleep and dreamt of a different story!  The film opens with the nine gems of the emperor meeting the Chinese in China ( CG Version straight out an old comic book, the one with snow falling etc normally depicted in a UNICEF Christmas greeting card). Eight out of the nine are hatching a plan to sell their boss (Indian King) and their kingdom to the evil Chinese and one turns out to be the “good sheep” and is summarily dealt with by a woman “ninja” warrior  who looks more like a masseur from the north east. The first half starts with an introduction to Tenali Raman and how he fixes the local thugs by making them dig a well in search of temple treasure. Correlation - ASI recent attempts to dig for treasure.  Tenali again tricks the thugs by “stung by the bees trick”.  Both these comical incidents will make small children wince in disgust! Then Tenali rides away in the sunset and reaches the “Vikada Kingdom”. Here again we are treated to a series of three to four juvenile stories straight out of an Amar Chitra Katha/Ambulimama comic book. Story 1) The guard is cleverly tricked by Tenali and gets whip lashed by the king. Story 2) The elephant gets into a small earthen pot. Story 3) Tenali tricks the king and escapes certain death. I am sure that by now you would have all guessed that all the above incidents are orchestrated by the jealous courtesans of the court. Amidst all these stupid attempts by the director to evoke laughter, of course he cares two hoots of all your sighs & cries to make him end this humiliation to comedy so continues in his relentless pursuit to be crowned the comedy killjoy King of 2014! To make matters worse he even manages to introduce princess “Madulai” (Meenakshi Dikshit) another one of these pretty lasses imported from the north of India this time to adorn the “Vijayangar” court of Krishnadevaraya! And lo and behold she falls for our “Vengai Puyal” Vadivelu! After a few songs etc the courtesans under acute Chinese pressure (few more masseurs from Sikkim/Nepal) the dense and stupid courtesans finally manage to oust and banish Tenali Raman out of Vijayanagar. But not to be outdone (love is totally blind in this case) Madulai manages to convince her father of the greatness of Tenali and gets him back so that she could sing and dance a few more duets with him.

2^nd Half: - The king finally (to our horror) discovers that he should live among his subjects for 10 whole days to see their actual plight. Tenali (who initially starts as a member of a gang of rebels/revolutionists’ in a bid to overthrow the stupid king subsequently becomes an admirer of the king/the future son in law too) supports him in this brainless mission. Here on the king becomes a dumb ass and struts around town which is now totally controlled by Chinese businessmen (few more imports from Assam/Nepal/Sikkim etc). Surprise! Surprise! No one recognizes him with his pulled down mustache (Tenali’s brainwave to disguise the king). He therefore now able to "freely" mingle among his subjects and a) meets a “blind less” blind man, b) a dwarf who doubles as a street dancer, c) hops on one foot as his footwear is stolen by thugs d) he is forced to pull a cart owned by an obese cart man who looks like a sumo wrestler and e) even drinks "stinking KUZHU” from a girl who looks like an actor from a TV serial (She really is). Are you laughing your guts out! Please take a breath and listen i have more, the director has thrown in even a tribe of cannibals as added bonus to entertain you until you kill yourself from "crying!" Finally the emperor thanks Tenali Raman, who by now has become a de-facto king and a preacher (Trying to outsmart Vivek & oppose Walmart). The king then becomes a teeny-weeny bit smarter than he is made out to be and motivates his subjects with the help of a few dolls to outsmart the Chinese and the villainous courtesans and …….. 

& the Climax: - I leave it to your imagination after you stop laughing and watch the final nail being hammered into the coffin and seal the fate of  “comedy”  for one final time in this “tragedy” of a film!

Acting: - Vadivelu as the King & TenaliRaman one feels very sad to see this versatile self made actor who has essayed some amazing performances in his long and chequered career in Tamil cinema. This role is a very pale shadow of even the film 23 aam Pulikesi. In fact the character he has played is so alien to his style that it takes away any seriousness from the role. Vadivelu has made one and all laugh at his sense of timing and jokes but in this film, the jokes on him. As Tenali Raman, he seems so hesitant and dazed that one wonders whether he is now affected by some kind of acting amnesia. He is a pale shadow of the original Vaigai Puyal; the Puyal has dissipated and no longer has the strength to create the havoc it ones did to the viewers of Tamil cinema. The director of this film is guilty of almost bringing to an end this actor’s long stint as an able comedian.

Meenakshi Dikshit as “Maduali” WOW! Is pretty, WOW! Has a great figure, WOW! Has a fair complexion but OW! As far as her performance is concerned I wouldn't blame her much as the director has used her as a dressed up bimbo and nothing more! But come on guys give her a break. All said and done the hero looks like her DAD!

The rest Radha Ravi and the nine gems along with scores of famous faces & names simply come and go in drama costumes. It reminds one of the film Longest Day when hundreds of Hollywood actors appeared as an ode to the allies victory on the beaches of Normandy. At least there it had some purpose and meaning but in this film. It looked like a mythological drama being enacted on the lawns of the Vidhan Soudha! Am I making sense? No I am not and I blame my present mental condition entirely on this film!

Camera: - One shot of the pigeon using CG graphics is the only scene in the film worth mentioning.

Music: - My dear friend BOSSKEY immediately spotted the following: - Song 1- a lift from the song “Thirudathey papa Thirudathe”. Song 2 - a lift from the song “naan Sirithaal Deeapvali” film Nayagan. Song 3 - lift from the song “Ovaa oru Pookalumey” Film Autograph. BG score the less said the better.

Art: - Straight out of a Drama set.

Choreo: - Standard stuff

Stunts: - The entire film was a stunt to fool you to believe that it is a comedy flick!

Edit: - The editor should have cut off about 120 mins of the film.

The one’s that made you laugh: - NOTHING!

The one’s that downed you in tears: - EVERYTHING!

Finally to sum it all up, a quote: “Take your children to watch this film. If they can last the full duration of this film rest assured they will never again ask you to take you to watch an “Adults Only film!”

Left right & Centre: - This is my ODE to my dear friends “NGS*- Padi Kuzhu” who have assembled there for the last 25 years 24*7, 365 days without whom I would have never discovered the wonderful world of comedy! Today I had the proud privilege of watching this film with most of them and I give below their comments which I value immensely!

Prasad: - “Manaa! Veliye Pogaatheergal! Ungalai Kondru Viduvaargal!

Sridhar: - “Tenali Rama! Naan indha theatre aai vittu udane sellavillayel Ennaiye naan kuthi kondruviduven”

Gopal: - Vadivelu has been the comedy for many a film but in this comedy film there is no place for Vadivelu!

Balu: - (observing a few ambulances whizzing past after seeing the film) “I think all of them are being rushed to the hospital after watching Tenali Raman”!

*NGS –Between 8 to 10 you can meet them all on the steps of Naradha Gana Sabha, Chennai even today!

Bottom Line: - HUMOUR HUMILIATED!

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

16/04/2014

Congrats! Sabu - Hard work paid off!

Hi Guys, I am really happy to convey my "Heartiest Congratulations" to editor Sabu Joseph for bagging this year's national award  for the best editor for his work in the Tamil film "Vallinam". I am personally even more happy & pleased as he worked in my television bio-pic "Chandra" and more recently on my request helped edit my daughter's short film. Let's wish him well and hope he wins many more such accolades and make Tamil cinema proud in the years to come! hCThis was my comment while reviewing Vallinam - "The editor’s contribution further reduced slack and boredom."

OCULUS - A Cracked Mirror!

OCULUS- “Mirror,Mirror on the Wall Who is the SCARIEST of them All!”

Cast:- Karen Gillan as Kaylie, Brenton Thwaites as Tim Russel, Annalise as Young Kaylie, Garrett Ryan as Young Tim, Katee Sackhoff as Marie Russell & Rory Cochrane as Alan Russell and not too many.

& Crew:- Director – Mike Flanagan, Screenplay- Jeff Howard, Music-The Newton Brothers, D.O.P – Michael Fimoonan, Producer- Marc D.Evans, Edit- Mike Flanagan, Art – Elizabeth Boller among others

Production Companies:- Intrepid Pictures - Crush, The Hitcher, The Raven/Blumhouse Productions – Insidious Chapter 2/3, Paranormal Activity/ WWE Studios – See No Evil, Knucklehead, And The Call

Similar Productions: - Mama/Paranormal Activity/ Evil Dead/House at the end of the Street/ The Collection etc

The Premise:-  A woman tries to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

The story, backdrop and setting (Screen play) the whole premise of this film is based on the fact that the spirit(s) inside the mirror makes you see things which turn out to be mere illusions. Ultimately totally confused one becomes crazy in not being able to distinguish between the real and unreal and therefore that he or she unwittingly performs such in despicable acts of violence, self torture and even murder. This film in my opinion is a B-Grade ghost story. Hollywood these days is churning out such dime a dozen stereotypes one after the other like a factory assembly line that one finds it almost impossible to any longer sit through such insipid crap for 2 hours. The film is devoid of any sort of credible content and totally relies on the editing (the director is also the editor) and graphics & related gimmicks. There are 6 characters Oh! Sorry! How could I overlook the main lead in this film the “bloody” MIRROR! It all starts within the mirror and ends there. A bizarre and non horrific premise a concoction of sorts from films like the 6^th sense, paranormal activity Conjuring & even exorcist. Quite simply this horror movie completely failed in all its attempts to scare the living daylights out of me!

& the Climax is the culmination of 2 stories interwoven story of the flashback and the present of two young kids Kaylie & Tim.  The climax of the first story is revealed in the beginning and the climax of the 2^nd story is revealed at the very end!

Acting: - Karen Gillian as Kayille has essayed a decent performance alternating between putting up a steely façade of a no nonsense girl and still disturbed by her tryst with the past and the killing of her parents. She has the looks, the talent and a pronounced American accent which is an added asset in Hollywood.

Brendon Thwaites  as Tim is adequate for the role he was chosen for though very melodramatic in the climax.

Garrett Ryan as Young Tim is more convincing than the older Tim. He has displayed the emotions of a scared and confused kid quite well.

Annalise as Young Kaylie  has not only matched Karen’s performance but at times even excelled.

Rory Cochrane as Alan Russell is adequate in fact he has very little to do except for his “Nail biting” (pardon the pun) scenes. It appears that he played a role in the film ARGO.  Hope someone can identify the character he played quite honestly I don’t remember!  

Katee Sackhoff as Marie Russell –an epitaph-silently drunk in the beginning chained like a dog in the middle and killed like an animal in the end!

The rest: - Mirror! Mirror! On the wall was anybody else really there?

Camera:- It is the standard fare normally associated with horror films these days. The dim lighting, the slow panning of the camera combined with accelerated shots, crane & top angle shots etc. One or two shots like the ones before the mirror stood out.

Music: - Nothing out of the ordinary. Honestly In future such films should probably start using stock music it would probably save the producer some money!

Art : -  Nothing note worthy  except probably the exterior and ambience inside the house.

Edit: - This is the best part of the film. Very cleverly edited indeed if not this film would have shattered the ‘mirror’ completely. The director who has doubled as the editor has used his bag of tricks well. For example the shots of the kids running down or up the stairs interwoven with the adult version of the siblings coming out of the corner etc. The connection between the two stories is very nicely showcased by this editor which is praiseworthy.

The one’s that reflected: - 1) The Editing 2) A few half scary scenes though sadly most of them a repeat. 3) Camera Work in parts 4) Acting of Karen, Annalise & Garrett.

The one’s that cracked: - 1) The whole “Mirror Mirror on the Wall premise”. 2) Copycat scenes from umpteen horror films of the past.

Finally to sum it all up, a quote: “Yes unlike the usual horror films there is hardly any blood, no nudity, no profanity, no sex and no gore but there is no HORROR too!”

Bottom Line: - BOO! With the two O’s missing!

My Rating:- 2/5

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

 14 /04/2014

FOYLE'S WAR & HOUSE MD - 2 Shows Worth a Watch!

Foyle’s War & House MD Shows worth watching !

FOYLE’S WAR

Starring: - Michael Kitchen as Christopher Foyle, Honeysuckle Weeks as Samantha Stewart & Anthony Howell as Paul Miner among others.

 As World War II rages around the world, a police inspector fights his own war on the home-front in investigating murder, robbery, and espionage on the south coast of England.

8 Seasons/Won 1 Award/2 Nominations.

HOUSE MD

Starring:-  Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman, Dr. Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson, Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase, Dr. Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron & Lisa Edelstein as Dr.Lisa Cuddy among others.

An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way using his crack team of doctors and his wits.

8 Seasons/Won 2 Golden Globes/44 Wins/106 Nominations 

Naan Sigappu Manithan - Narcolepsy put to sleep!

NAAN SIGAPPU MANITHAN – Narcolepsy put to sleep!

Cast:-Vishal  as Indran, LakshmiMenon, Iniya, Saranya Ponvannan, Jayaprakash, Sunder Ramu, Jagan, Pyramid Natarajan, V.I.S.Jayapalan, Madhan & Others/

& Crew: - S/S/Direction - Thiru, Music - G.V.Prakash Kumar, D.O.P-Richard M.Nathan, Edit-Anthony L.Ruben ,Producers-Vishal/Ronnie Screwvala/Siddharth Roy Kapoor, Studio - UTV Motion Pictures/Vishal Film Factory,Distributed  by Vendhar Movies/Running time-149 mins

Track list:-1. "Yelelo"-Singers- G.V.Prakash Kumar, Megha, Chorus, 2. "Lovely Ladies"- Singers-Gana Bala, Vijay Prakash, Megha, Aryan Dinesh, G. V. Prakash Kumar,3. "Penne Oh Penne"- Singers-Vandana Srinivasan, Al-Rufiya , 4."Idhayam Unnai Theduthe"- Singers- G.V.Prakash Kumar, Saindhavi, 5. "Aadu Machi (Remix of Lovely Ladies)"- Singers-DJ Vijay Chawla, 6. "A Restless Soul"- Theme   

The story, backdrop and setting (Screen play) Why would someone take a film based on a relatively unknown medical condition “Narcolepsy”! A subject which is more suited for a 30 min or 60 mins informative documentary even with some real life examples. Look, even if you ultimately dare to make it a film you would end up making a hash of it like this one! “Naan Sigappu Manithan” moves from Narcolepsy to rape to infidelity and finally even to blackmail! Do not even for a moment think I am exaggerating. The film starts with the visuals of a moving train with four “Adiyaal” looking guys drinking in the sly. A policeman demands that they should get off at the next station and “even” refuses to accept a bribe to let them go. For this honest act the leader of the gang smashes the cop’s head against a telegraphic pole by sticking his head out of the speeding train! Then the visual jumps to Vishal (Indiran) who suffers from the medical condition of Narcolepsy from his child hood. He is doted upon by his mother Saranya Ponvanan (a teacher) who is hyper anxious to find a suitable girl for her “ladla” boy Vishal! This poor lady is being typecast in this role on a daily basis that she probably has even started living this role in real life. Coming back to our story Vishal has two friends Sundar Raman & Jagan (the comedy quotient) who are also his soul mates. Other than them Vishal has  a simple to do list of 10 points highlighting simple day to day activities which he is unable to perform due to this sleep disorder. One of these is falling in love! Vishal’s mom and friends have hope and the faith that he is cut out for greatness. How does he achieve this? For a start by volunteering to stand in as a living specimen to a class of medical students for which he gets paid a whopping 50k! This magically spurs our hero on to earn money online by highlighting the symptoms of Narcolepsy. I really don’t know how, but he somehow starts earning big bucks and even asks his mom to resign her teacher’s job and take a well earned rest. Then yes! You have guessed right, he and Lakshmi Menon fall in love after she refuses the hand of an arranged marriage suitor and yes, you’re right once again she is a rich girl! and….yes, come on, how did you guess that Jayapraksh is her father! Boy! You guys are either becoming very clever or watching too many Tamil movies. Lakshmi and Vishal are deeply in love much to Saranya’s joy but the villain of the piece J.P, puts a spanner in their works by refusing to allow them to get married. This time it is not because of caste, creed, color or even money but because sleepy head Vishal cannot consummate the marriage and give J.P a “Varisu” to carry the family tree! Isn’t this a new idea to Tamil cinema? Read on, this director has many such ideas! Then Lakshmi and Vishal discover the magic cure - “Water”! Am I not being clear? Vishal & Lakshmi make it out under water and she conceives! Eureka! The magic cure for Narcolepsy is underwater sex! Now that the decks are cleared we can all relax…but no wait, there is the first twist to the story. One rainy day Lakshmi is driving while Vishal is sleeping in the car and she gets brutally vandalized and raped by 4 men. Vishal does shed a tear though, to his credit, even when asleep. After all, the director has clearly stated elsewhere that a Narcolepsy patient’s brain is fully functional even during deep sleep. We will believe his hypothesis and proceed. Now who are these four men? I am sure you have guessed right the four “Adiyals” in the speeding train! Remember? Even if you don’t I will move on to the 2^nd half.

Vishal is filled with remorse and guilt, that due to Narcolepsy, his girl Lakshmi is not only in coma has now lost the baby too. Now J.P. and Co are very upset and throw Vishal out. What does Vishal do? He revisits the place of the rape incident and gets it all back by reconstructing the whole crime by self imagery. He then decides to seek revenge by hunting down the 4 rapists and killing them. He also discovers a pair of earphones is another miracle cure for Narcolepsy as it shuts all other external sounds which could put him to sleep. His friends help him secure an illegal gun and packet of Ganja (The packet of Ganja remains unexplained till the very end). By using amazing deductive prowess (which will put Hercule poiroit to shame) he tracks one of the four to a mechanic shed by listening to a ring tone by pulling out his earphones for a few minutes. He then chases him down to a building which is under construction. How convenient no witnesses! But someone else (Spoiler. So will not reveal lest you decide to watch this great thriller)  outsmarts Vishal and kills the first "Adiyal" but in the bargain Sundar Raman gets stabbed. Please don’t ask me stupid questions like how he got there. G.P.R.S maybe! Then it is flashback time Sunder Raman’s wife (Iniya) is caught being unfaithful by Vishal. And then Sunder Raman is back mailing someone else. The "Adiyals" are all threatening Sundar Raman. But amidst all this confusion Sunder Raman helps Vishal find all the killers who are assembled in one place to kill them both. Got it so far good! We will now proceed to the climax…..

& the Climax is a bloody fight where the colour of blood ( Sigappu) is running all over and once again the miracle cure “Water” saves Vishal and all the viewers after a bloody ordeal of 2 hours and 41mins.

Acting: - Vishal as Indran has done his very best in underplaying/overplaying and has tried to laugh, cry, and do everything the director wanted him to do but the one thing he should have done was not to choose this script. Which he did not.

Lakshmi Menon  May have been floored by the script narration, else there is nothing in this story which can show case her acting talent. When she watches the film she will understand why.    

The rest:- I really don’t have anything much to say! I feel sorry that a subject like Narcolepsy has been stretched to accommodate all these talented actors to convey null!

Camera:- The D.O.P. has done a fairly good job. His lighting and camera angles were adequate.

Music: - Songs have no place in this film. They should all be removed forthwith and the B.G. Score in places was totally out of place. Once again the sound of silence would have served the premise of this film better.

Art : - What has this dept got to do with this film?

Choreo:- Less said the better.

Stunts:- Average and nothing more!

Edit: - Should immediately trim about 1 hour to save this film and the viewer from sheer boredom.

The ones that were AWAKE!: - The first 45 mins can be tolerated as it did not deviate from the basic premise of this film

The ones that SLEPT!:- 1) The rest of the 2 hours had no bearing or connection with the premise. 2) Vishal the protagonist was missing from screen for almost half of the second half.

Finally to sum it all up, a quote: “The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign... After the screening was over and the lights went up, I observed a couple of my colleagues in deep and earnest conversation, trying to resolve twists in the plot. They were applying more thought to the movie than the makers did.”

Left right & Centre: - 3 walkouts during the climax!

Bottom Line: - Whatever one may say this film is a classic example of stretching a relatively unknown subject like “NARCOLEPSY” beyond tolerable limits!

Until next time,    

Director Haricharan

Chennai

11/04/2014