Movie Review – Paava Kadhaigal

A hard-hitting anthology which relies on actors for creating the impact

It’s quite clear from the title as to what to expect from an anthology like ‘Paava Kadhaigal’. Except for Vignesh Sivan, the other directors have some affinity towards violence. Vetrimaran, quite obviously, Sudha, in may be a classical manner and Gautam, in a stylish way. With Gautam stating that he’s wanting to do an anthology with a number of directors, this looked like the right time and things seem to have worked for them. The OTT movies are still in a rebellious phase and directors want to make movies which they can’t showcase in theatres. May be when it settles and directors think about giving the best product outside the rebellious nature, it may grow up to be better. No complaints against violence, in fact I’m a fan of it, but to showcase something just because it looks to be an easier forum is not agreeable.

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Thangam

The opening animation was quite interesting, showing the way of life of women. I thought it’s specific to ‘Thangam’ but it gets repeated for all the shorts. I felt it’d be one such story initially but it turned out to be quite a different one. Sathaar (Kalidas Jayaram) steals the show right from scene one. In fact, the first shot of him is the best shot of entire movie. Throughout the first film, he easily brings a certain warmth in his character. I only wished that his part existed longer. Shanthnu Bhagyaraj too looks like a better actor now, there is some positive change in him which is happy to see. Otherwise, it’s a mundane love story which was made in a hard-hitting way. Wish it dealt with the emotions of Sathaar rather than societal impact. So, in the end it was predictable and Sathaar dying was unacceptable. Just because you use a cuss word it doesn’t become a great ending.

Love Panna Uttranum

Probably the only director who looked out of place in the list. Not a big fan of him and his style of humor but this short was a relief from others. Anjali looked ravishing. I’m already a big fan of her but recently, after watching Peranbu, my fondness for her grew further. It’s the same here too. She was prolific and insanely hot too. It was nice to see an actress from south ready to take up bold roles. A type of role reserved only for the Apte’s and Koechlin’s. Anyways Koechlin was also there but she was as clueless in the film as how she was in Aadhilakshmi’s (Anjali) house. Again, it’s the sidekick Jaffer Sadiq who scores better than others. The climax pun was too cheesy to digest, except for Kalki’s swear. May be a lorry crashing them and Jaffer smiling would have been a more impactful end shot.

Vaanmagal

Probably the weakest story of all. Gautam as an actor is nice but not in his own film where he has to be the lead. He couldn’t handle such a powerful role. Simran, who reminded of ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ in her get up, too, couldn’t provide much impact with her role because the writing was such. The dialogues were corny and filmmaking was literal. There is nothing much actors could do. The story too was a regulation one. When Simran was getting ready for the trailer shot with that dialogue about ‘women’s pride’, I hated the film for such negativity but when it doesn’t happen, I hated it even more. More so because it was added in trailer to make an impact. That’s just cheap way of making film. At least the other directors should have insisted and not included the scene just for shock value.

Oor Iravu

The newspaper cutting in ‘Vaanmagal’ showed the amount of respect GVM has on Vetrimaran. But I wish it could have been shown in a different way, may be just the wordings, it would have been more interesting. Anyways, thankfully, the film doesn’t play the climax trick like ‘Vaanmagal’ where the heroine gets saved. Sai Pallavi and Prakash Raj were terrific, the last ten minutes was gut wrenching, something like the flashback action sequence of ‘Asuran’. He’s really good at writing impactful scenes and almost not in a cheap manner too. Something which the series aims but may be because of the ‘Sairat’ impact, nothing comes to that level. Also, the final animation spoilt the impact. I was praying for the film to end just like that but it didn’t’.

My rating would be.

Vaanmagal < Oor Iravu < Love Panna Uttranum < Thangam

Movie Review – Athiran

You’d need therapy post watching the movie

Like I promised here is the second unknown (by me) Fahadh Faasil film which I mentioned when I wrote about ‘Varathan’. Even the name rhymes similar to it. With this I also exhaust the Hotstar watches for the year. So, it’s a lot more nostalgic than what I expected. Plus, this film didn’t have subtitles. It’s not a big deal anyways. The movie is plot driven, so even if you completely don’t understand the language you can still get the story. But being a Malayalam movie, it was fairly understandable too.

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The movie happens in 1972, for reason unknown, not sure why a period setting was selected but what should have added charm to the movie actually acts as a hindrance. It was fairly shot indoors with no real scope to explore the outside world of 70s so its quite a safe bet but the mansion, costumes, make up and even people don’t look like they belong to 70s. Everything looks superficial and cheaply made. May be the director would have thought it’s a clever idea when he chose just an indoor space to showcase 70s but even that doesn’t feel like it.

On top of it, the movie starts in 1967, where we witness a number of dead bodies strewn around a house. With time we get to know that it’s Nadakkal Kovilakatthu Karthika Thirunaal Nithya Lakshmi or simply Nithya (Sai Pallavi). Actually, the twist is quite evident, I got it at the very beginning that it wouldn’t be something which Nithya would have done. I even got who would have done the killings and what’s really happening in Mental asylum. Anyways that’s alright but at least the making could have been interesting. Being a film with period settings is fine but it looked like a film of 70s with old age twists.

May be the filmmaker wanted to use the traditional method so Dr. Mooledatthu Kannan Nair (Fahadh Faasil) coming out of a secret room without the key and falling into the water were all made to look visibly fake. Some interesting technique to mask it would have been nicer, even though making it without giving a clue would have been a total disaster.

Sai Pallavi was a wrong choice for the movie. May be the director, Vivek wanted to break the image of her in the movie and she too wanted the same but it totally doesn’t work. Her charm is her weapon but here she has none. It’s evident that she has tried to be sane and doesn’t want to overdo things but frankly, for some scenes she looks clueless. Fahadh Faasil too doesn’t have much scope to act. Maybe he’d have chosen the movie for climax but it was such a bore.

Somewhere I read the movie to be an adaptation of ‘Shutter Island’ and I was hating myself for knowing the fact because not only would it spoil the suspense but it’s also one of my favorite movies. Even though I was relieved in the end that it’s not a remake of it but was irritated beyond words that the original end was disappointing. Anyways, for the fact, the film is a cultural remake of the movie Stoneshearst Asylum, which I’ve no idea what it is.

The main problem of the film is it tries to project itself as a psychological thriller but has all the horror elements in it which makes it look superficial. It’s not intelligent enough to set the right mood for a psychological thriller. Take for example, a ‘Shutter Island’ which was not even rated among Scorsese’s best works. Yet, the mood setup in the film is terrific. It makes us feels as if we are hallucinating. That’s how one should be making a psychological thriller and not like ‘Athiran’.

Movie Review – NGK

Same old mistake

Why does Selvaraghavan do the same mistake again and again. He builds up a great story, some great moments, then make all his characters a typical Selvaraghavan caricature, end product is a mixed bag of effed up characters not knowing what they’re trying to do. I wonder whether do the characters themselves know what they are doing. Bala was one director who followed the trajectory and ever since his idea has been cracked, his films were disaster. Mysskin is slowly leaning into the category and Selvaraghavan doesn’t seem to be much far aback. Thanks to all the controversies, many movies of his don’t get materialized, otherwise, I guess he’d have been up there competing with Bala.

NGK’s first shot was bad, Suriya was given a typical hero introduction but the scene from there to the point where we see Selvaraghavan’s name was epic. A typical Selva movie. Why doesn’t he make movies like this? It was rhetoric, yet fun filled, an environment which only Selva can create. An environment where his fans could boast how good he is, an environment where the others would detest it as vulgar. The way he goes one step above the traditional romance but one step below the lust of a masala movie is epic. Wish he creates tense scenes like that in a romantic movie. It’s one of the factors which made ‘Yaaradi Nee Mohini work big time because it’s his movie in Telugu.

It’s a brilliant film for Surya. In fact, a dream film. If movies like ‘Ayan’ and ‘24’ are tailor made for him. Movies like ‘Pithamagan’ and ‘NGK’ are the ones which make him a better character. Even ‘Nandha’ is below that because he can easily do a ‘Nandha’, which is close to his real self. Even if he may not be morose like that of his character in the film, he’s at least quiet like that. But in ‘Pithamagan’ he was totally opposite to his self. Unfortunately, he had to compete with Vikram, but look at it as a seperate character, it’s his best work. ‘NGK’ should have been like that. It starts on a positive note. His mom says, “elarukum edhulayavathu paithiyam, ivanuku naatu mela paithiyam”. (everyone is mad about something, but he’s mad about the country) He is a do gooder in his place and quite contrary to other heroes he is a known face who does good as well as incurs the wrath of parents of kids who had left their white colored jobs to do agriculture. That was an interesting prospect. Except for one bad shot of him with MGR in the background. That was too obvious a reference. Anyways we don’t get to see much of it, that phase gets over quite quickly. Guess Selva was more interested in the political aspect of the film.

He gets into politics as an aid to MLA Pandiyan (Ilavarasu). By far the best character in the movie. Bala should take a cue from it. He wants to create a character like this but ends up creating ‘Highness’ instead. Also what an actor Ilavarasu is. One of the most underrated, someone whose name doesn’t pop up as much as it should, when one talks about character artists. Can you imagine it’s the same person who acted as saloon owner in ‘Chennai 28’? Pandiyan makes him do all kind of dirty works with special insistence on cleaning the bathroom, which Kumaran (Suriya) gets hinged to.

The problem starts here. Suriya’s transformation from good to bad looks like a caricature. He overdoes a lot of scenes. It’s a typical mass hero performance which is done to get applause from audience. It’s an opposite of Kokki Kumaru in ideology, who would do anything to survive, whereas NGK would do anything for the country. But when a lean and fragile Kumar hits a gang of men, it’s more believable than a man of muscle, Kumaran fighting the goons. Both the bathroom fight and the climax fight were big yawners. No matter what Suriya does, it still feels like he’s a nice chap.

Coming back to the opening scene, the romance between Kumaran and Geetha Kumari (Sai Pallavi) in front of his mother, looks lovely, even if its uncomfortable. It’s not something which you usually see in a mainstream cinema. That’s why Selvaraghavan is special. But it fizzles out so easily. Except for that one scene where Geetha Kumari says, “po da kanna” there isn’t anything else which she does which is appealing. She becomes a typical Selvaraghavan character in the second half when she starts doubting her husband. So much so that, the way she utters her dialogues, it feels like we are seeing Sonia Agarwal in the disguise of Sai Pallavi. The same with Suriya but the point blank face which Dhanush keeps couldn’t be done by Suriya. Selvaraghavan always ends up wanting actors with whom he’s comfortable with.

Vanathi doubting on Kumaran is actually a good angle where the viewers are not sure whether there was any intimacy between Vanathi (Rakul Preet Singh) and him. That surprise is enticing. It should have been left as such instead of a distressed Kumaran citing that his family has become his casualty on account of him entering the politics.

There were too many make believe sequences in the second half, especially the action sequences. Wonder what was the idea of the maker. If he had at least wanted to make a proper action movie, then it’s understandable but when trying to make something out of the box and resorting to plain old violence with market fights and bathroom battles, it’s annoying. Above all, one question which continues to linger in my mind. What’s such a big deal in the title NGK. Throughout the review I was thinking where I could cite Suriya as NGK but I only ended up typing Kumaran. For me Kumaran doesn’t transform at all into NGK. And the legendary status given to just a name like NGK (may be on the lines of MGR) is nothing but blasphemy.

Movie Review – Kali

Rage sans reason

Thanks to the Sai Pallavi fan in me and the status message of her dancing in red saree, I was intrigued to watch the movie. Also heard reasonably good reviews from few. If it had been overwhelmingly good reviews, I wouldn’t have had expectations. I’d have thought it to be just another commercial pot boiler. But because not everyone was in favor of the movie but none hated it too, I gave this a serious thought. I guess that’s where the mistake was made.

The movie begins with an action piece where a food joint is being ransacked by goons and the title appears. Post that the story of DQ and Sai Pallavi begins. By this time, we totally forget about the first incident. Their track begins with Sai Pallavi walking out in tears. No marks for surprise, it’s due to DQs rage. Now this too cuts and we go back to see his story.

We see Siddhu (Dulquer Salman) growing up to be a kid who is ferocious and short tempered. The growing up sequences are highly illogical heroic scenes. Especially in the college fight, there is no lead as to why it happens, what happens next. There is one guy coming up running to him, he fights and a big group circles them and the guy who approaches him for fight finally gets to beat who chases him, thanks to Siddhu. We don’t know who they are, what problem, in which college it happens, whether they’re outsiders in Siddhu’s college or vice Versa. Then appears Anjali (Sai Pallavi), again out of the blue. We don’t know whether she’s a student, lecturer or anything. The cuts are blind with no information whatsoever.

They get married without their parents’ consent. I thought that’s where the movie would get interesting. They’ll show the turmoil between the couple. What anger does to relationship. A story on the lines of ‘Separation’. Of course, I was not mad to think that ‘Kali’ would be of ‘Separation’ level but I’d have been happy if the film had focused on their relationship. But instead of that, there was a guy hitting him, his superior hitting on him, insurance agent smiling at him and a kid increasing volume. All these seemed petty. In fact, I felt the anger justified for most of it. There was no tension for any scene or hatred towards Siddhu for behaving so. Even the car driving scene was fun, I couldn’t feel bad for Anjali.

Post those little antics and some ‘aunty’ques, we get back to scene one where Anjali walks away crying from house. The single best scene of the movie is when the smoker gets up shocked when Anjali gives a scary reaction. Post that its only one incident which takes place entirely in the second half.

Siddhu drives and tells he’d drop Anjali to airport or something but rather drives a looooong way. After a good chase sequence, they end up in a road side motel (the same where the first fight happened). That was a horrible little twist. I thought it’d get over in few minutes but unluckily for me, it happened in the entire second half. The tension was nice but the intention was cheap. It would have been a good short film but making a full-length feature film with just this one meek concept was not something to be proud of.

Few cat and mouse game happen between the couple and the people in motel, I saw a lot of inspiration from ‘Duel’. Guess the director is a fan of that movie. Because the whole thought process was focused on those scenes. Post that it was again bland, Siddhu gets few advices on how to behave and then there is Dulquer in ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ (Tamil dubbing) fashion jumping in the air.

As soon as the Dulquer lowers the car window, I was humming ‘Kannu chuvakkanu pallu kadikkanu’. That’s the impact that small little scene from ‘Premam’ gave during the climax.