Friday, June 03, 2005

To Critic or not to critic


My ratings of some of the new movies I have seen. Please note, these rambling are entirely my personal opinion only.

CHANDRAMUKHI



every single person i have met is comparing this movie to the original "manichitrathaal". i beg to differ. manichitrathaal was a masterpiece in its own sense. it gave shobana a national award. but, its a malayalam movie. it was made in mallu style. it will NEVER have the characteristics of a tamil movie. the same applies to vice versa. (yes, i have seen the original also).

lets face it guys. you cannot run a movie (although with rare exceptions) without commericalism here. when u r putting a person who has considerable "magnetic" influence on the people watching his every move, u cant allow him to go down the drain for two consecutive movies. so, he has obviously taken to the safe route of a remaking a highly successful story.

i would say the movie's story line has been adapted from manichitrathaal. that wud make it a bit better, i suppose. Now, considering the movie for what its worth, it has been well done. or shall i say exceptionally done for a rajni movie. no punch dialogues. no flying cigarettes. no mother sentiments. no sister sentiments. the introductory fight was a bit too much. i cudnt understand how, after a person who gets kicked in the stomach can rotate on air at a single place and fall at the same place. the first half movies at the pace set by vadivelu and co. Rajni's repertoire for comedy is utilised well. The real movie starts (as in the original also), only near the interval.

After that, the movie gives chills when seen for the first time. The background has been so well done to enhance the effects. I trust the director has a proper reason for introducing the vestigeal SFX snake into the movie. Otherwise, jyothika has done a good job. Her climax scene portrayal received pretty good applauses. Her already round eyes being boosted with special focus lamps for the added effect. Music has been a high plus point for this movie. It sure has done its part to fill the producers' pockets

Even a low-rated storyline for rajni wud fetch him 50 days. I trust this may give better budgetry planning for him and the producers.

To end, Chandramukhi has powered its way to the people's pockets.





MUMBAI EXPRESS



A kidnapping plan gone haywire. - That is the crux of the movie.

The rest is the screenplay and kamal's dialogue. He has done a commendable job in trying to bring the crazy's feel to the movie, although not to the level of the master. The first half moves at a hectic pace generously splattered with comic relief. Pasupathy has done a wonderful job as a comedian-villain. Then, the movie starts slowing down a bit with sentiments.

The end happened so fast that it seemed the director somehow wanted to wrap things up and pack up urgently. Full marks to pasupathy, vayiapuri ramesh aravind. Kamal is his usual self, with lovely timings for comedy.

One thing I felt from the movie is that it did not stand in my mind the moment i left the theatre. there was nothing that made us talk about it. Maybe this has led to the not-so-successful run of the movie.

To conclude, mumbai express was a train with a one eyed driver and no guard.




SACHEIN





This has been my personal favorite. The movie had a "feel good" feeling about it. Vijay has done an excellent job here. Unlike Ajit in Ji, Vijay looks every bit like a college student. Portrayal of characters are a plus point here. The director has taken care that both the attitude of the hero and the heroine are not faltered anywhere throughout the movie. If you like vadivel's comedy, this movie will give a five-star rated treat. Genelia has done a good job of being a proud and egoist beautiful college girl. Devi Sriprasad's music as just put those remaining points for a well choreographed movie, though the last song was just a filler.

I heard Bipasha Basu was paid a 7 digit figure to act in this movie. I believe it was not worth that much money. The only low part of the movie are the so-called 'hot' scenes between vijay and bipasha basu. It all seems a bit toooo much when bb says that all that was to make a point to the heroine. One surprising thing in the movie is that the ooty "mist" seems to follow wherever vijay moves and the whole place always seems to be flooded with 'misty' effect.

I trust that this movie will be big let down to all those who expect "i will live ONLY for you" and "without you, i will die" kind of love power.

In all, sachien has played a good innings. whether this will help the "sachien" team win is upto the audiences.





ARINTHUM ARIYAMALUM





Another good story and a better screenplay. A Youthful movie, with the ever impressing prakash raj. He has done more than enough justice as an actor.

Yuvan Shankar Raja has made such an effect that on the day of the movie when I went, 95% of the people who had come were below 30. I was let down a bit when the video for the songs were not as enthralling as the audio. Maybe I set myself a pretty high expectation level for them.

A pretty fast paced and well choreographed screenplay and impressive performance from all artistesm, especially the son "kutty" of prakash raj is commendable.

The movie starts in a village and moves to the southern metropolitan when the young boy gets admission to a college in chennai. He encounters the "power" of prakash raj and his son "kutty". Fate brings a twist in that the young boy is a family member and then what happens is the rest of the story. You can see all that is not expected from such a storyline. A villain who can terrorise AND make the audience laugh, with a thoroughly enjoyable screenplay makes this a movie worth going to.

Again, a disclaimer. This movie will be a big letdown for those who expect a sentimental showdown to the movie. The director has taken a different view to express the separated father - son relationship.

Kudos to all the members. Arinthum Ariyamalum - An all round entertainer.




Now, where are those critics hiding... ??? where are ur comments?.....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

helooo joe,

kalakals. as usual. keep the good work up.