Movie Review – Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom

Like the title I watched this film from the middle. I had watched the most famous “ppah…” scene a numerous times and one more scene where Vijay Sethupathi wants to loo. This time I watched the movie from the marriage scene and I couldn’t resist watching it till the climax. And thanks to that I couldn’t sleep that day afternoon and watched the remaining part of the movie. In spite of having watched the climax of the movie, the remaining movie was still very engaging. Man what an actor this guy is. Like the 40,000 scene in Soodhu Kavvum this movie too has a scene where he acts like he’s forgotten his friend Bugs. He finishes the scene by saying ‘Yaar kitta,’ yes truly, yaar kitta…

This guy has a great logic and clever understanding of the script. In none of his films he over occupies the scene space. There would always be enough number of scenes for the others to evolve as well but at the end of the movie it would end up as Vijay Sethupathi’s movie. Some guy he is. Once he gets admitted in hospital see how long he doesn’t appear in the screen. But credit should be given to the other three guys as well who were equally brilliant in their expressions as well as acting. And the scene where one of the friends call the other two guys and waits for them to come in bike, climb the stairs and talk to him is one of the fabulous scenes in the movie.

The opening song of the film, in fact the only song tells us the story of the film then it’s only a single line, short term memory loss. The opening song is the one like Michael Madana Kamarajan’s title track telling the whole story but not as good a song like that one. Then comes the cricket part, it was so brilliantly shot. Every reaction was genuine. Even better than Chennai 28. See how the two who fight mercilessly in the cricket ground go by the same bike everywhere. Anyone who’ve played gully cricket would have a friend like that.

As Vijay Sethupathi said the way he says ‘Vittaena…’ initially was not good as he says in interviews now. He gave a brilliant explanation for that saying that he really has to feel like leaving the catch every single time. He was honest enough to accept that he didn’t act well for the initial few days. This humility he has it within. Again and again I’m stressing his intelligence because I’ve never seen someone which such clarity in my life time.

The way the movie was made as serious comedy is a thing to be applauded. It’s only we who laugh the whole tone of the movie is serious, here and there we could hear a funny music and laugh but the laughter comes at the most unexpected time. In fact I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh when Vijay Sethupathi says ‘Ppahh…’ or feel for the girl who for no reason of her was humiliated.

It’s true that no one could have acted like this guy who kept on saying the same dialogue in the same way as always. As Bugs says ‘sathiyamae ipdi yaralayum nadikellam mudiyathu da…’

Movie Review – Gravity

Gravity was never in my list. Sci fi for one never gets into my list, add to it it’s a 3D. It’s so tough to understand and I’m not willing to understand too. And 3D makes me sick; I’ve not liked any other film than Avatar. After Avatar everything looks like just a technical gimmick. But knowing that this film is by Alfonso Cuaron and I had an extra day holiday with nothing to do I ended up in theatres for Gravity. Sathyam wasn’t its usual self that day. It was relatively empty with tickets to be got so easily. You never expect that kind of crowd on a holiday in the city’s best multiplex.

Gravity was to the point right from the first scene. It transports you to space right from scene one. We see (we don’t exactly see his whole face) Clooney going around the space craft in his usual charming self with only the lead technical expert unhappy over something. There is one more guy with them in space and enjoying himself. Seeing them so happy up above the world so high was joyous. I wanted to be in space. The site of earth from there was brilliant. But the happiness as we all know is short lived.

There is a Russian spacecraft nearby which has gone down and debris from it is going to knock them down any time. They get a command to shut down which makes Clooney take command. He gets wholly serious and commands all the members of the team showing who really the boss out there is. Then its Bullocks show all the way from there, even though Clooney comes for a certain scene and gets maximum applause.

I’m a big big fan of his Children of Men. It’s one of the best action/thriller ever made and also has one of the best chase sequences. Here too technically (to my knowledge) it was brilliant. The funny thing about the movie is not only the characters but the camera too doesn’t comply with the gravity. They keep on moving and give you a feeling as if you are really in space. The characters come out of the most unexpected part of the frame.

There were parts where I was genuinely afraid. Space and 3D seems to be a good combo. It gives you the wholesome effect. The only thing that filmmakers have to do now is go to space in reality and shoot pictures. But this movie felt as if he had really gone to the moon.

It was funny when a guy sitting behind asked the fellow sitting next to him whether the movie has been really shot in space. He replied in negative. The one who answered didn’t look like a knowledgeable fellow and had a girly mannerism to him. But he understood what he have to. He said one can’t survive in space without the helmet and Clooney’s coming back to the space ship was a dream. He was content. Lesson learnt. You can’t judge people by their looks.

Like every movie of Cuaron this too had a lot of motif and allegory to it. The one I could get was the comparison of Bullock with that of growing fetus. If you compare the movie that way you’d love the film. Once Clooney goes out of sight she locks herself into one of the pods in fetus position with wires hanging around her. She gets a lot of doubts whether she can survive or not. She gets the much needed motivation from someone and finally blows out of the bubble and lands home baby stepping herself towards life.

Credit could be given to have this subtle underlying theme throughout the film but this doesn’t mean that the film should be appreciated wholly for this one theme. I felt this film wouldn’t have worked without 3D and on the other hand this film doesn’t need to have worked on 3D too. So you never know it’s a two sided coin but it fell on the side that I hadn’t called for.

Movie Review – Before Midnight

I don’t think I’ve ever been crazy about any film other than Before Sunrise. When it was almost 12 on a Friday night and my eyes were burning the thought of watching Before Midnight right at midnight on the start of a long weekend crossed my mind and my eyes instantaneously lit up. My previous wish was to watch a night show of this movie and take a walk after midnight but sadly that couldn’t happen as the movie won’t release here.

The first shot was disappointing. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) was with a young kid, his son. I was taken aback when I came to know that they’ve grown up and would have kids eventually. I couldn’t accept the fact that they grow old. And I couldn’t accept other that there was someone other than Jesse and Celine (Julie Delpy) occupying the frame. I’m so possessive of them.  I don’t want any element of the universe disturbing them.

Of the three movies the second one had the best opening. A writer signing books and the lady who is his inspiration looking through the doors. It was ideal. Everyone who had lost his love would want to hug with this situation of showing himself (more than her) being successful and kicking. It was a different story here. Ethan is divorced and has just sent his son to London for schooling. His present wife Celine is with a twins of their own. They start in a car and start conversing, what we want them to do in the movie. For some strange reason I didn’t like them married. I so wanted them to be in love. With the initial conversations I could find out that their love has gone done. With age it happens yes, at least the way of expressing but I couldn’t bear them to fall apart. I couldn’t accept them having difference of opinion.

Irony of the movie is that the best conversation happens when a group of people have lunch together. Though the conversation was brilliant I again would have loved them two to have the best conversation in the movie and not the others.  Finally after the dinner they walk alone. This time for some strange reason I felt they were jumping topics a bit too quickly. Trying to talk as much before the midnight. It was not the case in the previous two movies. And when Celine tells, “isn’t it strange that we are here walking and talking” I didn’t get the nostalgia because I had already got them when the camera started to move along with them when they were walking. My point is she shouldn’t have said what she said. We should have thought it rather.

One more thing I found this time was Celine being a bit impractical or it may be way too practical too. I could sympathize more with Jesse. I thought he was the one who was genuinely trying to keep the relationship in tact whereas Celine was busy trying to poke at whatever Jesse says. May be he being writer could be more rational. I could associate with him. I could see that he was controlling the temper when Celine says that he thinks he’s rational because he’s a writer. I’ve come across these situations. His reactions were exactly the same as mine. He was angry but he goes out to console. How many times it has happened with me. For some strange reason I don’t feel like a fool then. This in spite of knowing that the conversation ended in the specific way not because of me. Genuine reactions they were.

I was expecting too much from this film. I guess I won’t like Before Sunrise if I watch it again now. I’d like to watch Before Sunrise anytime and all the time but I won’t watch. That’s reserved for some special moment. I’m also afraid that I’d hate at least one bit of the movie. I wasn’t much fond of even sunset. May be I’m not matured. May be I don’t want to. May be I don’t want them too. I’m a sucker for good love stories after Sunrise. It was ideal. I never thought I’d go out and tell everyone that my forte is love story. Thanks to Karan Johar and likes for making me hate to say this. But this guy Linklater comes from nowhere and makes me feel that love is the best thing that can happen to one.

Ideally I should have grown along with the movie. I envy the lucky few who did. If that had been the case may be I’d have liked the entire series of movies equally or maybe I wouldn’t have liked them at all. I watched these three movies in two years gap. The first one is close to my heart because it was the first and I never expected any film to like that. After watching the film that was the first time I said that this is how I wanted to make films. It was the same case with Midnight’s Children where I said this is how I want to write the book.

I don’t know whether the movie series should continue. I’m feeling more and more detached from the movie and I don’t want them to fight with each other, whatever may be the case. If its love its Romeo and Juliet for all but for me its Jesse and Celine.

P.S: After a gap of 4-5 years I thought I should overcome my ego and use subtitles so that I don’t miss even a single dialogue from the movie but I went against it and watched it without the subtitles and I didn’t miss even  a single dialogue. It’s not that my proficiency being the only reason behind this. I feel as if they are talking for me.

Book Review – 50 Shades Trilogy

Sex sells! And that’s about it. Dubbed as ‘Mummy Porn’ by some agency, ‘t was right to a certain extent. One of my friend commented about the book saying that these things won’t appeal for us but only for old people. I can’t comment on that but except for the glamour there wasn’t anything towards the end. What I thought would have great amount of sexual tension which the great film makers like Paul Thomas Anderson and Bernardo Bertolucci use it very judiciously, didn’t have any tension that was hyped for.

This book was more like a female fantasy where everyone looks beautiful in one way or other. One writer had mentioned before that in films we could easily differentiate between porn films and films which use sex as just a tool but in writing it’s very tough to differentiate. But this book has escaped the soft porn or ‘Mummy Porn’ status that it has been actually dubbed off. The book had a definite story, even though it’s minimal and used sex as only a tool. In fact there isn’t nothing much even in the sex part which we already don’t know.

Of the three books the one which appealed me most is the second one. The first one was interesting because I was reading pulp after a long time but the second book had some real tension and we could see E. L. James evolving as a writer. The best scene should be the one where Grey kneels down to show that he’d like to be even the submissive to get Ana back. That scene has great ingredient to be made into an awesome one. One more part I liked is when the Grey family share an inside joke according to Anastasia. We don’t get the explanation till the end. It’s good because we know what Anastasia knows. Other than that I couldn’t see much which I could appreciate. The last book was the dullest one with a highly guessable climax.

When making it into a feature film obviously you can’t make it as explicitly as the book. That is going to take away the meaning from the film. I don’t have even a bone in my body looking forward to see the movie but let’s see how it fares.

Movie Review – Ninaithale Inikkum

It was my dream to watch this movie in theatres. Because the movies rights was with Raj TV, I haven’t watched any part of the film except for the scene where Rajni hears the voice in tape in the wrong side first and then turns to the correct side. It had trademark KB’s touch to it. I was unaware of many facts and also was rather wrong about certain facts. I thought the music was by Ilayaraja and was raving the serpents music in ‘Engeyum Eppodhum’ for a long time. I don’t know why my conscience couldn’t register that the song was by MSV in spite of hearing the opening of the remix song. And I wasn’t aware that this movie was written by Sujatha. KB is one of the rare directors who use other writers. Other directors think that writing too forms there quintessential part. After knowing that the screenplay and dialogues was by Sujatha I couldn’t guess whether those unique touches were because of Sujatha or K Balachander.

To appreciate the restored print this movie should have been watched in Sathyam main screen along with my family. My mom reportedly watched this movie 5 times at that time and was saying that she still doesn’t remember the story. Now I know why. But sadly this movie didn’t get a release like Karnan. But I anyhow wanted to watch this. After my Spiti experience I was afraid to go alone anywhere so I was almost on verge of missing it. Thanks to my friend, a Rajni fan who said he’d accompany me to theatre. We decided it’d be Baby Albert. The theatre was very bad and the crowd was very rude. I’ve never complained about the crowd anytime in my life before, in fact I like watching movies like that with a noisy crowd but this time it was not the case. There were a group of hooligans called Rajni fans entered the theatre and didn’t let me hear a single dialogue of his and was bad mouthing Kamal throughout the movie. That too just after me saying to my friend, “There isn’t much enmity between Kamal and Rajni fans isn’t it”

I was more interested to watch this movie because of Rajni’s character. Rajni plays a loser. Yes, can you believe it? When was the last time you’ve seen Rajni play a loser. Or is there any time for that matter. Kamal is as perfect as he is. Though the main story revolves around Kamal, when it comes to screen space there isn’t much difference. KB has been clear in dividing the screen space between these two legends. But if Kamal had seen the movie in the theatre I saw he’d have been heartbroken because back in those days he’d have got cheered and how life has changed in the span of 30 odd years. Funny world!

The heroines’ part, Jaya Pradha as well as the multiple heroines whom Rajni falls for was quite unstable. If you think back you won’t know how the movie concluded. And when Jaya Pradha dies in the end you won’t even know whether you are supposed to feel sad or relived. She was quite irritating as well as annoying. I was feeling sorry for Kamal who was falling for her again and again. And in the end when Kamal cries even the Rajni fans who were mocking him throughout clapped for him. That’s acting!

I shouldn’t say that I was completely irritated by Rajni fans. I loved their show too. Especially the lone member who was shouting Super Star time and again throughout the course of the movie. This movie would have been greater than this if the other two stars were replaced by one Telugu and Malayalam superstar. Well too much of ask isn’t it.

Reviewing about the movie without the talking about the songs would make the review incomplete. Such fabulous songs! 12 songs in all and all were super hit. You feel like you’re hearing songs every now and then but there is also a story which runs for 141 minutes which keeps you engaged rather than being a dumb musical where story seems to be interrupting artificially like how songs interrupt rest of the films. Like how the movie had the legends of acting the songs had legends who were at the peak singing for the stars. See the dimension SPB brings to the songs and see how he modifies for Kamal and Rajni. All songs of Kamal have similar voice but Namma Ooru Sinkar by MSV is totally different. I wasn’t convinced that it was SPB who sang this song until I confirmed in Wiki.

If not for the theatre this movie experience would have been even more fabulous. Hope I get to watch 16 Vayathinilae in good theatre at least.

Movie Review – The Lincoln Lawyer

When the hero is in black suit in a flashy car and you like him instantly, a commercial movie’s intention is well satisfied. That was exactly my reaction when I saw The Lincoln Lawyer. I liked Matthew McConaughey instantly. Not only that I’m currently reading 50 Shades trilogy. I thought he’d suit the lead role of Mr. Grey perfectly. You see all these permutations and combinations lead to 1 very few times. That’s why I keep on saying that a movie’s impact severely depends not on the timing of the release but the time we watch the film and the mood we’re in.

It was Friday night I watched this movie and naturally I was on a high. I was missing on Hollywood stuffs for quite some time and this was not the movie that was in my list. As my DVD player was down I had no other go but to watch this movie. I somehow knew that this movie is going to good and it proved to be right.  The cast was brilliant in the movie and the way they were casted. Nothing new but they looked perfect for the roles they were put in. William H. Macy as Mickey’s (Matthew McConaughey) friend Frank Levin was as awesome as always. And the most interesting character was Mickey’s driver Jack (Laurence Mason) who knows what music exactly to put for the situation. Funny ain’t it.

The movie has a rather tight plot to go by. Matthew McConaughey plays a no nonsense lawyer Mickey Haller who helps local goons for money. He’s quite successful in what he does and that’s when he lands into his dream case of saving a play boy millionaire. But he doesn’t know that he’s being forced into it by the Louis (Ryan Phillippe) so that he couldn’t let out details about him. How he gets to deal with the situation forms the story.

There is not a single dull moment in the movie. It races throughout with ease. In the courtroom the way he hides is tension by grinding his teeth was a treat to watch. Louis looks menacing in the few scenes he comes. Though he doesn’t look menacing his attitude surely his. The family disintegration and the way the ex husband and wife share relationship too were shown in a beautiful way. This movie pretty much has everything to be satisfied with. Wouldn’t go down as an epic film but definitely a taut pop corn thriller.

Movie Review – Raja Rani

I’m not sure whether I’d have watched this movie if not for a friend’s family treat. Other than watching just for free of cost I actually did enjoy the promos of Raja Rani in Vijay TV. But that was a reason too for thinking whether it was a wise choice to watch movie. Owing to time constraint I had to pick and choose films nowadays. Arya is a charismatic guy when it comes to giving interviews, add to it there was Nayanthara who was stunning after a long time, the director was a youngster. The only one missed in all those interviews was cutie pie Nazria. Not sure why they haven’t included here. They could have attracted lot more viewers like me. One more thing other than the glamour I liked about the cast was the clarity of thoughts the director had. He didn’t look to be just another director. He was wise enough to tell about the story but not about the suspense.

Coming to the movie, I wasn’t really in a steady state to criticize it. The movie had a decent story attached to it as said by the director and reasonably well executed. But thanks to face book there were little hints about things to expect. One had said that it’s a mix of every love story and other had said about Nazriya being super cute and twist in climax. So it wasn’t tough to find out what the climax will be, the suspense in Nazriya’s role or rather the love epic’s of yesteryears effect. In spite of all this the film worked to a certain fundamental level. That’s because the film didn’t have any flaws.

It was a surface level film alright and that’s where the comedians get to score and needless to say Santhanam was fabulous and songs played a huge part in making the film success. G. V. Prakash is one good music director who could give you a decent output for entertainers like this. You can’t expect a fabulous output like Gangs of Wasseypur with this movie but what he has done, he has done well. The song ‘Ai papa’ especially was very good. It could work very well if someone had to perform for an unplugged show. This guy has something in his voice too. His rendition is pure and soothing to hear. He sings the songs with a smile and that reflects on screen.

There isn’t much to look out for in the Nayanthara version of the story. It was like an extension of Engeyum Eppothum. But the pretty lady who played Nayanthara’s friend was a treat to watch. She was equally good looking in Neethanae En Ponvasantham too. She does justice to the petty friend role that she gets. In fact looks prettier than Nayanthara. Jai doesn’t do anything much to impress. Sathyaraj too was a disappointment playing a loving father. Everything was overdone. That’s why the film becomes a surface level one.

Here in Arya’s story the plot was as silly as the first one but Nazriya was a treat to watch. Add to it there was Santhanam. He was as witty as he could. This movie would go down as one of his finest performances. He just takes the movie through to the climax. There was an article title ‘comedy dada’ in a Tamil magazine a few weeks back. He stays true to the title. Nazriya as of now looks good as she’s doing what she does best. Being chirpy and all but the point is how long can she be doing the same. I hope she doesn’t get stuck in this mode like how Anushka got stuck in her bubbly mode after Band Baja Baraat.

The director struck gold with the characters he has used and cast for it. Even the story is a wee bit on the downside the characters take it forward because of some neat performances by the cast. All the love stories work and there is beautiful chemistry in each one of these. The director being a youngster could understand the young people’s vibe and being the assistant director of Shankar he has done well with all the commercial aspects. It’s a winner on cards; there is no doubt in that but beyond that will it stay in the memory? That’s the question. The answer is pretty much evident but that doesn’t seem to be a thing that the director would have worried about. Atlee being a youngster gets the sympathy of every youngster watching the film.

Movie Review – Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum

I asked ticket for the ticket of Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum at Sathyam counter. The guy asked said to his peer, “Aattukkutti ticket onnu…”

The film comes to the point right from the first scene right from scene one. There is a trade mark weird top angle shot by Mysskin right at the first scene. I haven’t watched Mysskin films much. The only film that I properly watched of his is Nandalala which was a pathetic remake of Japanese film Kikujiro. So except for few camera angles I wasn’t impressed by Mysskin much. Even for this film I was told by my friend that it is awesome otherwise I would have easily missed it. When my friend and I were talking about this film he told that Mysskin had to stick posters himself for the film as there was no publicity. Again I’m not sure how much of this is true. One more reason that stoked my curiosity for watching this film is Ilayaraaja. When I type Ilayaraaja I remember how Sun Music’s Yaaz Sudhakar pronounces his name, “Nadhakala Jothi Ilayaraaja…”

Right after the titles we get to see one of the two bad scenes in the movie. I thought this movie was going to be pure art. But this scene spoiled some artistry of it. A group of people involve in various activities seeing a dead man lying on the road. Yes, this might happen in public but to I’d have loved to see the expressions rather than mere words. Once Chandru (Sri) operates The Wolf (Mysskin) the film has a smooth flow till the cemetery long shot scene. It was almost flawless till that moment keeping everyone, I mean literally everyone in theatre hooked to it. It’s a rarity that people in front row seats too were appreciating minute nuances and people from back row were hooting for the mass scenes. See, there isn’t much difference. There is never a good student, bad student but only a good teacher, bad teacher.

I misunderstood Mysskin to SPB Charan from the blink and miss posters which I saw on the way even though Charan is not this fat now. Mysskin has acted really well in this film compared to Nandalala. I could understand his agony. It’s hard to try and convince a top actor to do this role. Vikram would have been ideal for this role but we all know he would have never acted in one such small film. On the other hand Sri was terrific. I haven’t watched Vazhakku Enn 18/9 but I guess he’d have outperformed that film here. It’s also good to see that the one who helps the needful is not a poor guy but from a reasonably well worthy family.

What Yuvan did to Aaranya Kaandam, Ilayaraja has done to Onaayum Aatukkuttiyum in fact better it. Throughout the film the music was defining. Such master class music it was, perfectly suiting the situation. Needless to say background music too was fascinating. In fact Ilayaraaja’s name comes with the heading ‘munnaniyil isai.’ Not only that there are lots in credits that could be discussed. Later! Talking about the background music there is a scene were Chandru hits The Wolf and symphony goes up and down and stops abruptly when The Wolf faints and again gets up the music starts from the point where it stopped.

The whole five minute sequence was superbly shot. Chandru (the goat) and the police, the innocent ones sit under the light with full brightness, Edward’s (Mysskin) family member sit under partial lighting, one who’s innocence is not completely intact and The Wolf who stands in complete darkness signifying he’s the one who’s totally corrupt. Metaphors like these lift the film one notch up.

When everything was in place, there comes the long shot of Mysskin telling the flashback which could have been avoided for two reasons. He wasn’t very good in acting out that long shot and the mystery could have remained as such. Then Chandru turning heroic and going behind The Wolf was pretty normal for any Tamil thriller movie. Even the lone CBI officer whom the police fail to understands is a character taken straight out of a thriller book.

The movie ends in an expected way. No surprise in that but I can’t think of any other ending and I can’t think the director would have intended to end it in any different way too. But having said that the end credits was a treat to watch where the each of the characters are given specific names of animals in forest. As most of their names are unknown and my literary knowledge in Tamil is less I couldn’t correlate the characters name with that of the living beings in forest. I’m watching a lot of Tamil films and loving every one of it. It sure is a golden era in Tamil cinema.

Well… about the first line, you know what it is…

Movie Review – Chinatown

Jack Nicholson is one guy who would make us sit up and watch his movie even if we are at our laziest best. I’ve been missing on Hollywood films for quite some time and I was shocked by the news that Jack Nicholson had decided to quit acting. And the reason for his decision was even more shocking. He said that he was forgetting his lines. Think of someone who said, “When you decide to be something, you can be it. That’s what they don’t tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I’m saying to you is this: when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?” forgetting his lines. Thus obviously I was devastated. The only good thing to have happened out of this situation is that it made me watch Chinatown ahead of rest of the movies in the list.

I got to watch Jack Nicholson first up on screen and he blew me away as usual with his nonchalance in the initial few minutes itself. It made a great start to the movie. The first fifteen minutes was engaging and gave me fond memories of the start of my movie watching career. Those days with back to back Hitchcock movies were such pleasure. Technicolor, grey suits, loud makeup’s. It was a treat. But the mode broke off within few minutes. A series of events happened and lost track of the story. Even the screenplay became a lull after some time. I loved the way Nicholson notes the time every time he has to asses a situation. One clever trick it was.

Faye Dunaway was equally amazing as Evelyn Cross Mulwray. Not exactly a femme fatale but plays her part perfectly. It’d take a real courage to play one such character on screen during those days. Like any other Hitchcockian heroine she too was charmingly misleading. Most of the time she confuses us whether she wants to seduce JJ (Jack Nicholson) or really has interest on him.

Though the screenplay was a bit clichéd during in the middle of the movie the cross on his nose of Nicholson was highlight. It makes us laugh as well as makes us uncomfortable when he tries to remove the plaster. It works both as a pun as well as a sympathetic tool letting us know that he’s not master of the universe. I’m not sure whether this inspired Mr. Kamal Hassan to have that plaster on his head for Viswaroopam.

There were a lot of dues ex machina employed throughout the film. We don’t get what we see. We are surprised because we genuinely don’t know how things happened. And just when I thought that it’d going to be a normal detective movie paying tribute to yesteryear noirs. There comes a revelation and a totally unexpected climax. Of everything happened the climax was the most unexpected one. It goes right to the top of the lists of climaxes I like. I haven’t exactly made a list though.

Movie Review – Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumarara

This guy Vijay Sethupathi never ceases to amaze me. Proudly I can now say that I’m his fan. He’s making me give respect to him as much as I do for Mr. Kamal Hassan. Not only is he an actor but an artist who has thorough knowledge in every aspect of film making. And see how matured he is. When quizzing him about the hardships he has faced to come to the industry he never once says about the struggle but attributes the initial years for learning purposes. When he is so willing to learn how can he fail? And that’s why he is so good as choosing scripts. He not only works for the bounded scripts but reads scripts from directors who make short film and gives his opinion, makes changes with director’s ascent and not to glamorize his role. At the end of the day he’s Sumar Moonji Kumaru.

Now he’s a star and makes us yearn for a good few minutes before he shows his face. It worked for this film. It shouldn’t be a barrier for him in future films because he should surprise us and not get into the hero mould. Vijay Sethupathi plays Sumar Moonji Kumar who’s in love with the girl opposite to his housing board lower middle class flat. His favorite past time is boozing. In short he’s nothing but a loafer whose only work is to get hold of the girl Aruna.

Then there is Bala (Ashwin Kakamanu). A handsome looking marketing executive who hates his job. So needless to say I love this guy. One more thing he attributes to his unsuccessfulness is his girl friend Renu (Swathi). Swathi doesn’t exhibit the charm that she did in Subramaniapuram. They don’t have much to do except for a song and few romantic sequences. Ashwin initially struggles to get hold of the character but somehow moulds into one after a few minutes. His friends in fact are better than him when it comes to character. But the idea is to have someone who is in stark contrast to Sumar Moonji Kumar. So here’s a super good looking guy. But in the film the one who scores is Sumar Moonji Kumar. Vijay Sethupathi just doesn’t let anyone become awesome than him.

There are a string of characters whom you see with their names initially. It helps us to remember their names. The traffic signal scene is a good one. The Naan Kadavul Rajendran story is slightly disappointing one of the lot of intertwined stories. But the LMAO moment comes in this part of the story. Remember the Aaromalae… scene. The theatre burst out laughing. Only their part seemed to stifling a bit too much to be humorous.

The story is brilliantly written, equally brilliant is the screenplay and editing. When Kumar is busy telling how Kumuda is made happy by him it directly cuts to Bala’s story and then comes back here without giving us a hint. The language between the two leads are very much in contrast. In fact Bala’s part is well written than Kumar. Kumar’s part has a lot of scope for witty dialogues and Karki scores big time. I’m not sure whether the entire dialogue part was handled by Karki. But Bala’s part where a lot of banking jargons were used must have been written for sure by Karki. You don’t see this much depth in the part of the story where less bankable actors are there. It’s a welcome change.

Idharkuthanae Asaipattai Balakumara. See how brilliant the title is as well as how misleading it is. The initial posters were of Vijay Sethupathi in uncanny situations holding a number of Oscars and doing stuffs which we don’t associate with him, at least for the title. And right away you know it’s a sarcastic title. And it’s how it plays in the movie. It’s a sarcastic title but in what way. It’s not a story about Balakumar. It’s about Bala and Kumar and the third person pointing his finger at him and asking Idharkuthanae Asaipattai Balakumara. The whole situation happens because of their drinking habit.

The film doesn’t exactly try to give out a message but it could be taken in that way too. That’s the speciality. If Bala had not made an attempt to catch the last beer which was about to fall in TASMAC, if the husband had not sat for a full in TASMAC, if the murder hadn’t happened and if the always drinking Kumar had got drunk then the whole situation would have been different. And that badge which is in his shirt winks at us at last. It’s a beautiful way to say a message. It’s like how teacher makes even a boring lesson look good with her skills. Add to it the movie releases on October 2^nd Gandhi Jayanthi when there is a ban for liquor throughout the country. It was an irony when Soodhu Kavvum released on workers day. This guys is either blessed or super talented to get even the timing of the release perfectly.

Throughout the film Kumar plays second fiddle. He doesn’t have much to do. Is a loser as always but he takes us everyone by surprise towards the climax. Makes us whistle and hoot for every single action of his during the climax. And shows everyone who’s the real hero.

To have watched this film with my family in Sathyam is not a good idea I guess. It’s more of a guy movie but would be enjoyed for the storytelling. Even the songs were judiciously placed and had a hint of humor in it. The director makes us yearn for the super famous prayer song which comes at the fag end of the film but in such a perfect situation. It feels really good to see awesome situations for songs.

I’d really like to meet this guy and talk whole heartedly and in fact even would like to make a film with him. If wishes may come true…