Review: Kaththi (2014)

Well, Let me get my thoughts straight on target. I'm a bit disappointed. It might sound weird coming from me, who people know as an ardent Vijay fan but yes, I'm not going to lie.

Kaththi is all about conveying a powerful social message. Let's just put it that if all of Murugadoss's brain cells were on "the same page", then the script and therefore the final output would have been totally different. Somewhere, something went wavering and the final result is somewhat of a let down albeit not totally.

There are some very strong and emotional sequences which make you ponder and even stop a trickle of tear from your eye from people noticing but they are very few. The message lies there bang on target in those scenes. The whole build up to that was somehow, in my opinion, not treated very well. The performances of Vijay(s), Satish and the oldie gang were brilliant, way more than anyone would have expected but, there is always a but...

Kaththi can be heavily boasted to be one of Vijay's best performances till date for years to come. The way he emotes in specific sequences would clearly shut a lot of his critics but certain dance movements, certain expressions could land directly to the meme pages.

Yes, Kaththi has Vijay in dual roles, and of course, the difference between the 2 characters is simple, one has a clean shave and other has a stubble. Can't expect more from him either.

Samantha, herself has agreed through her twitter handle, that she's finally given a commercial hit and needs to concentrate on good roles. I definitely agree to it. Most of the scenes in Kaththi shows Samantha as a mere mannequin with the same expression.

The villain, Neil Nitin Mukesh, who I thought dubbed his own voice from the trailer let me down. He definitely hasn't dubbed for himself. The other villain, I don't even know the name goes missing all of a sudden.

To me, if at all there should be one person who carried the movie throughout and made it watchable, would be, Not Vijay...Not Murugadoss. Yes, Anirudh. Whatte wow of a BGM! Take a Bow, Anirudh! Although, most of the BGMs sounded like inspirations but their tactical use and giving them a new "ring to it" make it amazing.

After all this, you would want to know if you could watch the movie or not. I'm coming to that....

Yes, Kaththi is definitely a must watch movie. If you do have the patience to sit through some illogical and unnecessary scenes coupled with some screenplay slips, you have an amazing ending in store. At the end of the movie, you tend to forget all the bullshit in the starting and applaud and emote yourself. I do agree that movies can't be bang on target. They do need build ups but strong ones not as weak as Kaththi. 

Kudos to Murugadoss in bringing to light a disturbing yet unsolved currently existing situation. Some of his ideas are really great.

Watch it and enjoy it. It is a very different Vijay movie, trust me. No intro song, no intro fight, no typical Vijay songs either. I was really surprised and heaved a sigh of relief when "Paalam" song was not part of the movie. If that was added, it would have led to further disappointment.

After reading through all this, you would be keen in knowing my final verdict...

Rating: 3/5

Kaththi - Definitely some more sharpening required!

P.S. You would totally disagree with my final rating after all the initial build up but all the points go to Anirudh, Vijay and the message, respectively!

Review: Jigarthanda (2014)

"Why this title for such a movie?" - You'll keep thinking throughout the movie until the climax and then you experience something which the namesake drink will not give you.

Karthik Subbaraj, a director who made Pizza and having immense experience from making short films, you would expect his next to be similar and probably fail but "Jigarthanda" could be easily called the better film because it not only entertains "the eccentric movie watcher" but also every other person in the theatre.

Lots of comedy and wit in dialogue, with scenes evolving straight out of the satirical mind, Jigarthanda is a complete film. It is long but it doesn't bore you a minute.

Siddharth has played one of his tamil career's best characters till date and he does so in style. Karunakaran, the budding comedian, I can't call him that, has given us his best yet again.

The movie is new, the screenplay is creative (not innovative) and the music is out of the world. Another feather in the cap for Santhosh Narayanan. More than actors, he is one guy who chooses his films very carefully as each of them strikes gold and wins hearts.

All in all, Jigarthanda is one awesome movie. Some may call it a Tarantino styled flick - the director accepts that and gives us a movie which follows a typical Tarantino screenplay but has put in his mind and heart into a story which is sure to entertain all.

Rating: 3.5/5

Jigarthanda: Better than the drink!

Review: Velai Illa Pattathari (2014)

The trailer of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" shows us earth some time in the future and says "We did not run out of engineers..We ran out of food". You might be wondering why I'm quoting that dialogue in this post. Actually, that had something to do with Velai Illa Pattathai (VIP). There are so many engineers that India creates every year and a major chunk of them do not have a job. VIP rests and builds on this premise.

While VIP's major portion is of commercial nature, there is this small portion where the director has subtly put a thought provoking social message.The protagonist says that we have so many engineering colleges and yet very few end up with paid jobs, leave high paying jobs. Most of the people study something in their college and go work in some other totally irrelevant field.

The first half of Dhanush's 25th film is full of comedy and drama brilliantly carried out by Dhanush. We can see him singing in more than one song. Good part is that most of the songs get over in the first half and go with the flow of the movie. The second half on the other hand is full of action and revenge and a game of cat and mouse. I wouldn't call it a letdown but there was nothing much to appreciate about.

Anirudh's songs and score was just too brilliant and we can see a big man in the making. Cinematography was too good, the way certain slow motion scenes are captured are just amazing. The dialogues are witty and funny. It also marks the comeback of Vivek as a part-time comedian. His presence is felt. Amala is as beautiful as ever. Saranya's pulls out another emotional and strong character in the story. Director Samuthirakani (after his Nimirnthu Nil debacle) has played his part well.

All in all, Dhanush's 25th is a winner and certain to entertain you. Watch it as soon as possible and I promise a treat is awaiting you.

Rating: 2.5/5

VIP: Very Interesting Picture! 

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Dawn of the planet of the apes is a fitting sequel to "Rise of the planet of the apes" which released 3 years back. There is a very small chunk of movies whose sequels have been made better and also have performed better. Dawn.. is most likely to fall into that chunk. I mean how often do you see directors/writers screw up sequels (primary reason for screw ups is the awesomeness of the prequel itself).

So what is so nice about this movie?

Dawn... is Hollywood's example to show the world the advancement in movie making technology. Seeing a one minute sequence of 100 apes together wow us but just imagine how much work goes into making each one of them real, showing expression on their face. Each frame of Dawn.. consists of such imagery.

It is just not technology. There is emotion, there is drama and there is a lot of intelligence. You laugh and you cry with them. The advancement is story writing too has reached an all new level. 

Watch Dawn... to experience one of the coolest movies YTD and for the months to come.

Rating: 3.5/5

Dawn of the planet of the apes: Super cool!

Review: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Watching a movie alone is something which has become very common nowadays. I used to be called "crazy" back then when I was doing it very frequently. Today, I wanted to do that again but this time I traveled almost 20kms (one way) to watch this movie in IMAX. And was it worth it? Yes, every paisa!

Edge of Tomorrow is a video game with a story only that you're asked to watch how the game is to be completed. 

For people who've watched Groundhog day, you would have got to know what this movie is based on right from the trailer. For those who don't know about that movie and for those who haven't watched the movie, the director sets takes some time to make you understand what's happening.

Want to keep this post very very short so here it is:

Edge of Tomorrow is brilliant, adrenaline pumping and has good elements of humor. This one line will make you feel that I've watched an Indian commercial movie but no! Tom Cruise plays a brilliant character and shows us why he's still in the business. Emily Blunt plays this stylish and suave soldier and does so in her own way. Surprisingly and thankfully there wasn't much of romance or love, there was more of an emotional bonding showed in a very good way.

Watch Edge of Tomorrow (don't know why that name was chosen) for all the adrenaline rush and some intelligent action with a racy narrative and good eye for detail.

Edge of Darkness: Awesome!

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Kochadaiyaan (2014)

Watching Kochadaiyaan was an experience. Not the movie, the way I reached the theatre. Zooming past peak Bangalore traffic is a thrill in itself and more so if you want to watch a Rajini movie. If a Rajini movie is to be watched in Bangalore, it has to be in Urvashi Theatre and nowhere else. What an electrifying atmosphere. Even people watching the IPL final in the stadium would make so much noise. That's the experience I'm talking about,.

I'm sure that by now most of the reviews would have come out. Or people would be negligent towards reading any for spoilers sake. Anyways, I don't give out the story/plot in my reviews.

I so wished Kochadaiyaan was shot real-time. I'm damn sure it would have turned out to be one amazing movie. More so if a person like Shankar would have directed it.

But you've got to give it to the whole team for trying out something new. Bringing motion capture to Tamil cinema is indeed a welcome effort. But again, so much time and so much money was spent. Was it worth it? Simply put, No!

The animation is so below par that you feel that you're watching cartoon network. But (a lot of "buts" used till now), the very presence of Thalaivar (read. Rajini) is enough to keep you awake. What amazing rendering of dialogues! (far better rendering than the VFX technology used in the movie) His voice is so awesome that it gives you goosebumps. Kudos to the sound engineer for keeping Rajini's voice in tact.

It's a 2 hour movie and all the 7 songs get featured in it. Just imagine. "Medhuvaagathaan" was the only worthy motion capture song in the movie. Some of them could have played in the background instead of computer generated "Robots" dancing.

Overall, the Superstar and the background music from ARR save the day and make "Kochadaiyaan" a watchable fare. If not for them it would have been a disaster. The VFX was never in place. Either the detailing was too good that made you feel there was animation within animation or the background seemed like a picture making you feel like a 1st grade kid. No consistency in the work and the editing could have been improved a lot. The lip sync was never in sync, especially in the song. But (the last one), you can always watch it for the SUPERSTAR!

Rating: 2/5

Kochadaiyaan - An expected "EPIC" fail!

Review: Queen (2014)

Well, I know I'm late. This movie released 2 weeks back. I got to watch it just now and to put it simply, I loved it. 

Queen is another journey which invited me and it amazed me as to how maturely and differently people can think when they make cinema. Cinema was all about entertainment years back, now it still is but people expect more from it. They want to get attached to it and want to feel moved by it. Queen is such a movie. It entertains you, it pains you when it makes you step into the protagonist's shoes and let you think about living it. 

Having expectations is not always a great thing, furthermore having expectations about specific people could lead problems your way. Kangana is one such person whom you'd expect to not "act" but she lets you down for you thought and makes you go "Wow" at her after the movie. Such incredible performance, she's pulled off a very tough role. I mean, how can one act so innocent and yet be so genuine.

Hats off to the director and writer Vikas Bahl. With editing support from Anurag Kashyap, this movie lures you to think and makes you happy with the way it progresses and concludes. Amit Trivedi's music is as captivating as ever. Doesn't let you down at all.

Watch the movie and live it. Queen is definitely something which you shouldn't miss.

Rating: 3.5/5

Queen: Celebrate her womanhood!

Review: Highway (2014)

If you came out of highway and said this movie has a lot of flaws, then you'd be dumb. Not because there aren't any, only because the movie hasn't hit the right side of your head!

Highway is a journey you'd never want to end. You are so immersed in it that you totally hate the projector when the movie is about to end. It carries you in this wonderful path that makes you feel like the protagonist. 

Alia's performance in "Student of the year" left her hopeless in acting but she strikes hard in Highway, so hard that it touches your heart and rebounds leaving you awestruck. One of the performance she'll be remembered in the future. Her co-star Randeep Hooda comes back with a totally different role from where we saw him in Bombay Talkies. Alia wins hands down over anybody in the movie, acting wise.

Highway is a technically brilliant movie. With music from AR Rahman and sound engineering by Resul Pookutty, these two make sure that live sounds of the environment are captured and brought to our ears to make us feel as part of the movie itself. Cinematography is brilliant.

You might find Highway boring (if you like movies like R..Rajkumar and Gunday - just 2 random examples), but my respect is high for Imtiaz Ali for making this dark yet cheerful film which touched my heart and brought out tears. Hats off!

Rating: 3.5/5

Highway: Why did it have to end....

Review: Veeram & Jilla (2014)

The only reason why the title of this post and the images are in that order is that I watched these movies in the same order and not because the first one is better than the second. (Giving it away right here!)

People say these actors and their films shouldn't be compared. I say they should. Why? Not because there was an image on facebook which showed "Veeram and Jilla" similarities (of which of course most of them were not true). It is because both these movies fall in the same genre. Which one? - "Films made purely for monetary purposes"

I know its harsh. I really don't know what made Ajith choose a script like Veeram especially after a series of movies which were more modern and Vijay choose Jilla especially after a series of "right decisions". (Wait for it - I haven't said which is better)

People often have this misconception that if a person likes an actor, his/her viewing angle of the "so-called" opponent is biased. I don't feel so. I'm a Vijay fan forever and I don't hate Ajith. In fact, I don't see them as competition too because I know what each of them is capable of. 

So, starting with Veeram, Ajith chose to do an out and out commercial film which I personally feel is one big mistake. The film's first half rides high and purely because of Santhanam. If it wasn't for him, Ajith's screen presence would not have created this big an impact. The second half is "supposedly" racy but to me I felt like I was watching a telugu flick. There was not one bit of proof for it to have come from a Tamilian's stable. The music director constantly proved my previous line. His background music throughout the movie was lifted directly from his telugu movie scores. In fact, each of his songs in this movie were utter non-sense. If we were to talk about the movie's major negatives, Mr. DSP will be right at the top.

Next comes the editing department - very sloppy indeed. Basically the entire technical department has failed the movie. It looks like the budget was very less - Ajith seems to change his clothes only during the songs to show more of his dancing belly. Overall, I'd give Veeram a miss. The fans term Veeram as the clear winner over Jilla. I don't seem to understand why. Veeram's second half gave me a bad headache. One of my friends (who doesn't favor any side) slept off during some important scene. Such is the treatment.

Jilla, on the other side, clearly is a lot better than what Veeram is. The technical team is the main strength of the movie unlike Veeram. The BGM, editing, stunts and camera work are far far better. (Note the point that I'm only making a comparison here, I'm not terming Jilla to be some world class movie). 30 mins in to the movie and I was like "What the hell! What is wrong with these guys?" and then the story takes shape. (Note: the genres are same but Jilla has a better story. Again, I use the word better). Vijay has done a decent job in all departments - be it action, comedy, singing, dancing. He always carries the movie along with him. Even though his movies have been pretty similar in the past, his performance has always stood out. There is no mainstream comedian required when Vijay is there. He just needs an upcoming sidekick like Soori to help him. Soori has done an awesome job. Mohan Lal's screen presence is bulky because that is how he looks. He speaks tamil in his usual mallu accent and has done a fairly nice job. The star cast is pretty huge. Lots of great artists used in small small places. Good job Neason (Yeah, that's the spelling). Only if the movie was short and the songs were cut, this would have been a great entertainer.

So, here is the bottom line - Jilla is original, Veeram is not! 

Ajith fans might term Veeram the winner.

Vijay fans might think Jilla is 100 times better than Veeram.

Neutral folks will say Jilla is slightly better than Veeram.

Me as a Vijay fan says - "Jilla is good. Veeram is not within comparable range. Basically, I mean Veeram is bad!"

Me as a critic says - Both movies are crap! It is all a conspiracy. It has all happened in the behind to make such bad movies and to win equally.

Jilla's plot had some twists and was engaging, Veeram's plot was blank!

Veeram's director, "Siruthai" Siva has a lot of Tollywood influence. His first movie was a remake. Jilla's director Neason is original and with Jilla he remains original. Although he tries to work in the same genre, the plot was different, the treatment was different. Watch it to believe it!

Both movies are made from the same base formula. Veeram is the answer paper to a TN State Board exam and Jilla is for CBSE!

Rating:

Veeram - 1.5/5 | Jilla - 2.5/5

My Pick for you: Jilla it is...

P.S. There has been a lot of negative reviews flowing in for Jilla. I think that could be one reason which will work in favour of Jilla.

Review: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 for US, 2014 in India)

Martin Scorcese's The Wolf of Wall Street is a witty and a very "open" take on the life of Jordan Belfort. You can google him up and read up on who he is or probably watch this movie and understand how he shook the US stock market.

Leonardo DiCaprio easily plays out another character with finesse. Amazing portrayal and brilliant acting. 

Jonah Hill accompanies him as his close aide and he doesn't fail either. He too shows the same integrity in playing out his character.

What might work against the movie is its boldness and total narcotic abuse. However, the movie doesn't show it in the positive way, it all ends and leads to a perfect ending of a biography of a man who took his life as a joke.

The print that came to India had a lot of cuts and censored footage but still churned out to be ~3 hours and not a single moment went boring.

Watch the movie for a brilliant piece of art. Trust me this is not one of Scorcese's usuals. Its different!

Rating: 3.5/5

The Wolf of Wall Streets: Testosterone's howling abuse!