Movie Review – Rocky (2021)

Love thy violence

In what looks like a marriage between ‘Old Boy’ and ‘Super Deluxe’, this looks like a first proper film in the gore genre for Tamil cinema. Something which ‘Boys’ did to Adult film genre in Tamil cinema. The director, Arun Matheshwaran seems to have a strong liking towards violence and it wasn’t used just as a showbiz tool but as a world which he has created. Even though parts of it would definitely remind you of Korean films, it doesn’t come out as a film where the violence gives you a sadistic high but a definitive scare. May be because it’s the first film where this amount of gore had a native flavor to it.

The posters of the film was done brilliantly with all the characters together, Rocky (Vasanth Ravi), Manimaran (Bharathiraja) and co. It gave a Thevar Magan feel with Bharathiraja sitting in front and Rocky standing behind him with a number of associates. It felt like one whole gang who were fighting together against someone but on watching the film we realize it’s the complete opposite. May be the poster was done so intentionally to give a shock or done with the idea of the past of them. Even without the hidden meanings it was brilliant but after we get to know the story, it only becomes better.

As soon as the movie starts we get to know that it has a world of its own, just like ‘Super Deluxe’. The timelines are quite confusing because the film doesn’t take a traditional angle where the hero ages physically. Going by the angle that Manimaran’s son (Rishikanth) killed Rocky’s mother Malli (Rohini) and Rocky avenged him for that and spends time in jail, there was hardly any change physically of Rocky. It’s a kind of film that a question for that shouldn’t be raised. Just like how someone comes out of blue to try to kill Rocky’s Niece Malli (Anisha). Films like these give confidence to young directors to create whatever they like, without the need to stick by the tradition.

But even in a film which tries to be its own, why do you have to have songs. Especially the song when Rocky meets his sister Amudha (Raveena Ravi) spoils both the sequence before it and post it. It was a beautiful long shot to her room and back to road, giving a chill but thanks to the song we get to breathe a sigh of relief, post that we see Amudha dying in front of Rocky. The song could have easily been avoided to have the emotions swinging from tension to sweetness to horror but guess the director wanted to use the song as a tool for sweetness, which only led to relaxation. In fact it was the only point of relaxation in an otherwise solid tense movie.

Quite contrary to other Hitman movies, this film doesn’t feature bulked up people as goons but rather fragile ones actually. The horror is in their action and not looks. Especially Manimaran’s introduction scene where he explains how he was successful in fishery business was lit. Because till then Thanraj (Ashraf Mallisery) looks comic in his act of going front and back in a road roller but only when it looks like a threat we get to know what a horrific villain he was.

It could have been a terrific climax after all the blood and gore, but Lokesh Kanagaraj single handedly has spoilt the entire generation’s expectations by giving a definition an overdose of gun action in Kaithi. That’s why every other film which has similar climax looks meek. But thankfully, an actor with an otherwise average voice modulation, delivers one hell of a punch in the climax, which gives enough climax to watch the film till end with the glee, “Maman thangai magalaana, Mangai unakaaga, Ulagai vilai pesuvaar”

Movie Review – Sita Ramam

A super soupy love story

Few movies are made as Pan India films, few movies become Pan India films. ‘Sita Ramam’ falls in the second category. No matter in which language one had watched it would have become their own film. This proves that grandeur and action are all secondary in front of emotions. Thanks to the online presence and social media, this movie has become a sleeper hit and got the love of everyone, especially women. Because the way it was made and how people were able to connect were one of the driving factors of it being liked.

The first few minutes of the film felt sudden and disturbing. I had read earlier that it was banned in UAE for some reason. So I was expecting the worst but the tone of the movie changes once the love story starts. One of the main things that works for a love story is good looking actors and a beautiful setup. It has both. In fact the settings were so beautiful that it could be framed. The patriotic angle goes in the background and their story comes in front.

Mrunal Thakur has become a household name after that movie. Everyone loves her now, not only for the looks but for her character as well. May be for the latter more than former, just like how Sameera Reddy was liked by everyone post ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ Hopefully she doesn’t become a one film wonder like her. By the end of the movie she becomes a household name and as a character she’d be forever etched in the memory. That’s the advantage of having a sad ending. The characters would have the power to last longer than usual. Plus her costumes were superbly done. But above all there is no real reason why people would like someone. She has become a crush of all for some or the other reason. Personally though I didn’t find her really appealing and worth the hype.

Dulquer Salman on the other hand was perfect for the role. The character looked tailor made for him. He was in fact more likeable than Mrunal Thakur for me. Rashmika is a treasure, isn’t she. For all the drama outside the screen, she has such great screen presence and as soon as one calls the shots she becomes the character. Her sincerity is so appealing, especially when you know her persona outside the film.

As much as everyone loved the movie, the problem of the movie too was same. It was carefully made in such a way that it shouldn’t be hated. After a point it becomes an overdose of lovey doviness. Wish the director had explored the characters a little more and not constantly think of only pleasing the audience. It was one of the movie where we know that we’d get sad at the end of the movie, but we would feel happy for the experience. In a way it was sadistic too that we are okay to be manipulated in such a way.

No matter what’s the case, the success of the movie had to be attributed to the sincerity because no matter in what language one is watching, it feels their own and most of the people who had known the language had dubbed the film. Not once was my focus on finding faulty lip syncs. Plus the poetry and song lyrics were really apt. That shows how much effort would have gone through the movie to keep it just like original. For example there is a scene where Noor Jahan (Mrunal Thakur) hears a breaking news, she’s in the upper floor and camera is below and the lyrics from an already appeared song goes like, “tharai irangi vandha…” which means the moon coming down to earth. How apt! It’s scenes like this which transcends boundaries and makes one like the movie not only for the emotion but for the making as well. Because at the end of the day, that’s what cinema is all about. On the other hand the Noor Jahan revelation scene made me burst out laughing, thanks to ‘Kaathala Kaathala’, if you know what I mean.

May be this might not go down as an everlasting movie like a ‘Premam’ or ‘VTV’ but definitely not a passing cloud as well. It’s the film of the moment and it’s better to enjoy when its trending, rather than analyzing why it couldn’t be a trendsetter.

Movie Review – Mahaan

A pulverizing anti message film

For a Vikram film, which was preposterously titled ‘Mahaan’, this happened to be a quickie. With the first single of the movie too not creating much hype and falling under regular troupe of Santhosh Narayanan’s latest outings, it looked like it was going to be the same old story of any Vikram movie but the real attention started with the teasers and trailers where the film felt appealing. But the puzzle solved itself only after watching the movie. In fact the whole setup was to make audience think of something else and come up with something wholly different.

There is a short, not so appealing flashback at the start with three kids involving in a game of cards. It happens so quick that we don’t get a grasp of it. One of the kid Gandhi Mahaan, ends up to be the forty year old Vikram in the next scene, who has to abide by the rules his family, society has framed/set for him. It was a pleasure to watch Vikram do such a subtle under performance in the beginning but it doesn’t last long as he gets a free license for a day. His wife Nachi (an amazing Simran) and his kid Dadabhai Naoroji leave him because of the incident. From that point to interval it was just a pleasure watching Vikram on screen. Time and again he shows what an actor he is. He is a straight out Hollywood material who could match up with the likes of Al Pacino and De Niro in a Scorsese gangster flick.

The three friends unite together at most interesting points. In fact any character who appears for a scene, reunites at superb juncture. Sathya (Bobby Simha) at gambling, Gnanam (Vettai Muthukumar) when they plan to get a seemingly impossible license for their drink and Manikkam (Ramachandran) at his lone birthday party. In fact its Manikkam’s words which makes a seemingly innocent Gandhi turn into Mahaan. Isn’t it just apt that Gandhi thinks of only Manikkam during his birthday? And the chemistry between all of them with Vikram was fabulous. None looked like lesser known actors. It was great to see so much comfort level on screen.

It was good to see Karthik Subbaraj trying to come out of comfort zone. He could have easily done a normal gangster movie with Vikram and could have gotten away with it as a runaway hit but the path he takes in second half and establishes a lead actor without questioning his morality was brilliant. Pro Gandhian, Pro Alcohol or pro or anti of anything is not easy to establish. But he does it with élan. The scene where Dada (Dhruv) refuses to drink alcohol was such a lively scene. It could have been easily laughed at. If it had been laughed at, the film would have been a failure. Only because the emotions of it could be understood, it makes for a compelling watch.

Karthik had tried to do something different with ‘Iraivi’ and ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ but couldn’t. With ‘Iraivi’ it got too personal and self-righteous and with ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ it got too hollywoodish, so much so that it looked plasticky. But with Mahaan he held his ground even though he had not aced it. There were few brilliant scenes where the emotions were stripped off, like, every time Vikram thinks of family, it doesn’t happen for more than a couple of seconds, he laughs it off with his peers dismissing that his past life was nothing but crap. (Something like Ranbir brushing of Deepika rejecting her proposal in ‘Tamasha’ but that was not as subtle as ‘Mahaan’) Karthik could have easily made those scenes a cry fest and made us empathize with Vikram. But he doesn’t, and that’s the beauty. In one of the scenes he so effortlessly dismisses his wife Nachi from his life. He says something like, “avala epovo thooki potachu, payana than maraka mudila”. It’s so cruel a scene which I’m afraid whether other actors would have done it but it happens so effortlessly in the movie.

Climax is where the entire villainess of Gandhi comes to fore. It was a treat to watch Vikram in full flow. Like my friend commented, Vikram gave an audition for ‘Marudhanayagam’ with his ‘Hey Ram’ caricature. Dhruv who was trying so hard to match with Vikram in the face off scenes had to succumb completely in the climax. In fact he obeying his dad in film felt more real than the remaining scenes. Gandhi calling him a puppy in the call to Gnanam was probably the cruelest scene of the movie. May be the people who couldn’t connect with the movie citing that they couldn’t understand the emotions were actually the ones who couldn’t digest the fact that the lead needn’t always have to be a morally correct person.

The length of the film felt justified. May be it could have explored more about Dada and the flashback sequences. The actors, especially the trio of Vikram, Bobby Simha and Vettai Muthukumar were terrific. Even Sananth as Rocky was brilliant. In fact everyone were, except for Dhruv. May be it’s a miscasting. He was not bad, in fact a lot better than I expected but he was forced with a herculean task to match up with Vikram. Karthik or may be Vikram wanted the character to be macho and tried to add a lot of cool factors like Vikram’s previous mannerisms and dialogues but it was a total put off. May be a cop who hardly talks and generally broody in nature would have appealed more.

Overall it was a superb movie with Vikram and it was like showing the next generation what he’s capable of. People who are newly discovering him (thanks to a series of flops) would have been wondering why was he not in limelight all through the years.