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12-18-2009, 02:13 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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SS Super Thaaram
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Vettaikkaran Review: Dino's Take (Kerala Cafe, APKGK, IB late reviews included)!!!
Theatre: CBE Senthil
Showtime: FDFS Status: Housefull (some of the guys were sitting on others' laps, tho most of the time they were up n dancing  !!!)Have not missed a Vijay FDFS for the past few years I've been here in Coimbatore, partly coz am a Vijay admirer n partly due to one of my close friends who is an ardent Vijay fan n a fan club member here. So, when the release date was announced, I was promptly asked to keep aside all my engagements on the day n reach the theatre. Vettaikkaran by debutante director Babusivam tells the story of Ravi alias Police Ravi who wants to be a police officer though he has failed to clear Plus Two exams four times. The inspiration for Ravi is the Chennai Encounter Specialist Devaraj IPS whom he idolizes more than anyone. So, finally he clears the exams n heads off to Chennai for higher studies. With his aim clearly in mind, he goes to meet his idol at his house only to see the house locked n hear that Devaraj has moved to Delhi on some transfer. Nevertheless, our hero attends College in daytime n drives an auto after college hours to earn money for his studies himself. By quirk of fate, he comes in the way of "Chella" a goon whos terrorising the city n his father Vedanayagam who has business concerns ranging from Shopping complexes to chit funds to restaurants. They try to finish the hero as he crosses their path..With his dreams shattered of becoming an IPS officer, Ravi has an accidental meeting with Devaraj IPS, his erstwhile idol, who is maintaining a low profile life in the outskirts of Chennai. The story turns out that Devaraj's family was vanquished by Vedanayagam n Devaraj loses his eyesight in the fight. Realizing that the need of the hour is not a policemen in this world of animals, Ravi spells out his mantra "nee ellaam mirugam...unna adakka police aanaa pathaadhu...vettai vettai vettaikkaran thaan venam!" n then he hunts down the villains one by one. In between, there is a heroine, yes, who the hero meets during his train journey to Chennai. Seems straight out of an 80s movie?!!! yep, the storyline is predictable, afterall, that is the case in most Vijay films, so thats not a surprise, but what makes Vettaikkaran work to an extent is BabuSivam's treatment. It passes off as a breezy entertainer in the first half, but half an hour into the second half, its all-out action! The point of transformation with the above dialogues and the sequences following that are pulsating n Vijay comes into his own with some smartly written dialogues n a cool cat n mouse game, but after a few scenes, its just action, action, n more action. As a result, a film that could have been better if it was played as a smart cat n mouse game between the hero n villain just peters out to a predictable climax, n I was left with the similar feeling when i watched the Ajit starrer 'Dheena' by Murugadoss years back. Vijay is as usual the livewire of the film, tho surprisingly subdued in the first half, the second half he comes into his own. Anushka is voluptuous n makes for a fresh pairing, but has nothing to do except the songs. Sayaji Shinde is the usual overacting comic-cum-villain police officer. Salim Ghouse makes a return to tamil screen after a long time as Vedanayagam n hes gud. The actor who did his son's role luks a real terror! As for Vijay's son, Sanjay's cameo in the intro song, lets safely say hes his father's son, a smashing dancer now itself n has copied his father's walking style to perfection!!! It provided for a fabulous reactions in the theater when the father-son duo appeared on screen. Songs are average to poor, with Chinna Thaamarai being the pick....The title song is just smashing on screen....Action is top class, as usual in a Vijay film...the first fight comes after 1 hour, surprisingly for a Vijay film, but that is the best action sequence of the movie n worth the wait for the fans in the theatre!!! All in all, with Sun Pictures backing it, this might be the film where Vijay's string of flops may end, as it is, though no great shakes as a film, a watchable one at that which his last few releases were not! I might be wrong in my prediction, though! DINO'S TAKE: A typical tamil masala entertainer, Vijay style!!!! P.S.: I do not usually like rating films on points, but mmade diggy modinte maintenance aavashyangalkkaayi cheyyunnu...3/5...athil oru 0.5 vijay fan enna nilayil addunnu...ellarum kshemi~! Last edited by DINODAZZLIN; 12-18-2009 at 02:23 PM. Reason: ratings |
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12-18-2009, 02:14 PM
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#2 (permalink) |
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SS Super Thaaram
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 5,684
Rep Power: 1178 |
KERALA CAFE (in the order of my preference)
Bridge: Take a bow, Mr. Anwar Rasheed n Mr. R. Unni!!! Performances too, beyond jus' words!!! Island Express: A one of a kind, maverick prodigy is here in Malayalam!!Eagerly waiting for Shankar Ramakrishnan's full-length feature!!! Makal: Revathy is back at wot she does best, tug @ ur heartstrings!!! Happy Journey: Anjali Menon, another strong woman director makes a mark with this dark comedy, a rare genre in Malayalam backed superbly by Jagathy Sreekumar n' Nithya!!! Aviraamam: Placing this in my top 5, ahead of Puramkaazchakal coz of the nice family touches that Unnikrishnan brings in the first few scenes, some of the dialogues seemed straight out of our life, especially my wife's penchant for setting alarms n then claiming it didnt ring had us nagging each other playfully in the theater, n the end dialogue by Shwetha Menon, "but..i dont want to miss u!" still lingers... Puramkaazhchakal: Had the potential to b the best among the lot, but lal jose instead of focusing more on Mammootty's character n its inner feelings in a better way, focuses more on Sreenivasan's past n gets involved in his favorite indulgence, lush green visuals!!! Not a bad habit when one is doing a full-length feature, but when its a 10-minute short film, it lukz futile! I went thru a similar journey a few years back, n believe me, it felt lyk the longest journey I had for a short distance, so just felt if it focused a bit more on that character's inner thoughts, it wud've been better. Here, the sole intention seemed like to build up towards a striking climax. Not that its bad, but cud've been better! Lalitham Hiranmayam: Quite liked this Shaji film tho its an age-old theme, a different one from the director's usual stuff, but another one of the short films that cud've been better!!! Off Season: A U-turn in terms of genre for Syamaprasad, but tho it started off hilariously, just tapers out with a whimper!!! Suraj's presence makes it watchable!!! Nostalgia: Average direction, poor script development, n average acting by the main protagonists make this an average fare...definitely not the start we were looking for, after going to the theater with humongous expectations after reading various reviews of Kerala Cafe!!! Mrithyunjayam: The one short film that stands out like a sore thumb amongst all the 10! Read in many reviews that Shanu has done a gud job, but honestly I felt he did those light scenes well in his debut film too, tho it tuk me sometime to figure out here that its him!!! Rima, man, shes a looker!!! Some casual dialogues between Meera Nandan n Anoop Menon were well written tho! To sum it up, this collection of short films by Ranjith n Friends left me with a heavy heart when I came out of the theater, felt lyk screaming my lungs out to relieve the tension, some of the films got me that involved!!! Most of the films still haunt me n some characters like the granma n the kid of Bridge along with the cute kitten, Mammootty's character in Puramkaazhchakal, the bro-sis duo in Makal, Siddique, etc., still flashed in my mind @ various times in my day to day life, n made me head to the theater for a second time in 3 days...My preferences changed a bit on the second time watch, but of the top 3 choices of mine, i've no second thoughts, Bridge, Island Express, n Makal!!! Thanks again Ranjith!!! This collection of films have haunted me the most this year and will be one of my most cherished dvds, n ranks second in my best list after Bhramaram for 2009...(havent watched Loud Speaker/Pazhassi yet). AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHAANI What happens when an erstwhile successful director tries to recycle one of his cult films to retain his lost charm at the BO minus the superstars, entertaining script, and enjoyable music? The result is a product that is neither here nor there, n thats wot Raj Santoshi has achieved by making APKGK! It's ok to be smitten by one's own cult classic Andaaz Apna Apna, but Raj Santoshi gets obsessed so much so that he places similar dialogues, a villain with a wacky name and actions, and over the top situations, but he forgets the simple fact that times have changed. Most of the jokes do not work, the villain angle seems forced, songs are insipid, and the whole product luks out of place in today's times!!! Ranbir n Katrina r the sole reasons that one manages to sit thru this film, and to give credit there r some cute n funny sequences n dialogues but never enuff for the audience to take this film seriously, not that it was the intention of the makers to b a serious one! Take a break, Mr. Santoshi! KANDEN KAADHALAI A superb remake of a superb Hindi film....!!! Thumbs up Mr. R Kannan for mainly, not spoiling the name of the original by making an equally lovable sequel...if only the songs were as gud and the male lead's performance as gud as his hindi counterpart...but these are minor glitches in an otherwise well-made remake!!! Santhaanam, take a bow, undoubtedly the best comedy performance of the year in tamil!!! INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino, the quirky genius is back with his new film n how!!! I had heard great things about this film but when i sat down to watch it, I did not expect I would be so surprised!!! The film surpassed all my expectations n without doubt, ranks as one of my favorite films of alltime!!! While the whacky Tarantino touch is evident in many a scene, I was amazed at the restraint shown by the master here in storytelling, bravo!!! Performancewise, tho, Brad Pitt was rocking, Christoph Waltz, what a performance...hats off!!! It ranks right on top of my tarantino fav list, just after Reservoir Dogs, n am gonna watch it many a time on dvd!!! MNIK TRAILOR One of the best trailors i've seen in recent times, the MNIK trailors have me waiting eagerly for its release, surprisingly, n I'ven't felt so for a SRK film for years!!! Kajol lukz old, yes, but her acting bones cant b doubted...SRK, I think, is on the way to giving his best performance of his career, n KJO for a change, seems to have attempted a really different film this time!!! If the trailor is something to go by, we film lovers r onto something huge I feel!!! Till now, my most expected bollywood release was 3I, but once the trailors n promos for both r out, I am looking forward to MNIK more...maybe I'l catch an SRK FDFS after almost a decade!!! Last edited by DINODAZZLIN; 12-18-2009 at 02:45 PM. |
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12-18-2009, 02:18 PM
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#5 (permalink) |
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SS Super Thaaram
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YFinu essay and review ezhuthan time illatha Dino vijay padathinu FDFS enitt oru 5-6 padathinde review orumichu...
naya vanchakan 
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12-18-2009, 02:24 PM
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#10 (permalink) | |
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SS Super Thaaram
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