Category Archives: Tamil Movies

Tamil Movie Reviews

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Rudhramadevi Review

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Rudhramadevi Review – Rudhramadevi is a historical film released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi in 2015. The movie is based on the life of the warrior queen Rudhramadevi who ruled the Kakatiya dynasty during the 13th century.

First of all kudos to the film crew for taking up a historical subject on woman warrior and bringing it to the silver screen. The magnanimous Baahubali had raised the expectations of film audience so high that anything less than that does not appeal anymore. Rudhramadevi also falls as a prey for this.

In the effort of making a visual grandeur in a limited budget, the filmmakers have lost the viewing pleasure. The visual effects look very amateurish compared to the standards we see today. The only thing that keeps your interest going is the story itself. The story has inspirational parts to it and some good war stories. However, the scriptwriters have failed to capitalize on this one and tailor to the movie format. In the end, it ends up looking like a TV show.

Anushka’s performance is a big strength to the movie. She has literally transformed himself as she plays the warrior. The only other character that had turned out well is Gona Ganna Reddy played by Allu Arjun.  Rana Daggupati’s character is weakly portrayed. The climax war sequence is the weakest part of the movie. In the effort of making it visually spectacular they have lost preparing the audience for it. Most of the times you are confused about who is fighting whom. In the end, it looks too easy to defeat the villain.

High Points: Anushka’s performance, Gona Ganna Reddy’s characterization and Allu Arjun’s performance, The story of a warrior queen.

Low Points: Ambiguous war sequence in the climax, Amateurish visual effects, Lack of character build up for other characters.

Overall Rudhramadevi ends up being a tale better made for the small screen than for the big screen audience.

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Action, Drama, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Wait for DVD/TV

Vedalam Review

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Vedalam Review – Vedalam is a Tamil action drama released in 2015. Ganesh comes to Calcutta with his sister to give her admission into a prestigious art institute. He leads a simple life and is a pleasant company to many. But there is untold dark side to him, not known to others.

The hero is so good and straight forward person you suspect something is going to break. Something breaks and exposes a contrasting personality within him. Now you try to justify the contrasting badass personality by giving a purpose to it and then you want to see the hero win. This is a tried and tested formula for many commercial movies. Baasha being the one which started it all. Then we had seen many movies which were wannabe Baasha’s. Vedalam is one to be added to the list that is entirely banking upon Ajith’s stardom.

The movie has some interesting sequences in parts and it is enjoyable during those sequences. But then the movie falls into the trap of lack of direction, with some cliched emotional drama coming rescue making it an average affair. Ajith’s screen presence is a big strength for the movie. The initial sequences in Kolkatta are enjoyable. The most enjoyable portion of the movie is the character of Vedalam which appears in the flashback. Ajith has changed his body language and dialogue delivery which has worked out well. Lakshmi Menon has a significant role in the movie. Shruthi Hassan just adds in glamour quotient and  just becomes the reason for Ajith revealing the flashback.

High Points: Ajith’s screen presence, The characterization of Vedalam, Comedy sequences

Low Points: High voltage emotional drama which looks cliched. The entire climax sequence looks too easy for Ajith compared to the introduction the Villain had.

Overall Vedalam suffers from the common phenomenon of all the mass entertainers of falling into ordinary cliches. This movie is still watchable for Ajith’s performance. Unless you are a hardcore Ajith fan you might enjoy watching this when played on TV.

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Action, Crime, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller, Worth a Watch

Thoongaa Vanam Review

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Thoongaa Vanam Review – Thoongaa Vanam is a Tamil action crime thriller released in 2015. This is an official remake of French movie Nuit Blanche. CK Diwakar an officer in Narcotics Control Bureau along with his colleague steal drugs from a smuggling gang to make some quick money. The boss of the smuggling gang kidnaps Diwakar’s son and demands him to return the stolen drug.

Kamal Hassan demands a greater deal of maturity from the viewers for he had taken a script and stuck to the core theme of the script. He hasn’t taken any time to explain what NCB is. Hasn’t wasted time in introduction scene, songs and comedy track. The movie gets on track right from the first frame which opens on a hazy windshield with the evergreen Chandrababu song “சிரிப்பு வருது சிரிப்பு வருது…” playing in the radio. Even the character background of Kamal is revealed only later in dialogues during his first interaction with Prakash Raj. Kudos to Kamal, Director Rajesh M Selva and team for taking a script and staying in the perimeter of its true essence.

The next biggest strength of the movie is its cast. Prakash Raj, Trisha, Sampath Raj, Yugi Sedhu and Kishore all of them fit their roles very well. Kamal has performed his role at ease. The chemistry between him and his son reminds us of Uttama Villain. The trademark Kamal’s humor sprinkled in the dialogues in many places of the movie.

High Points: A different attempt in Tamil Cinema breaking some of the commercial formula, casting, action sequences.

Low Points: The original script itself has been witnessed in many crime thrillers and it lacks pace in the first half.

Overall Thoongavanam is a much-needed break for Tamil Cinema. It doesn’t aspire to be a milestone in Indian Cinema but a sincere attempt to give a good cinema to the audience.

Worth a Watch

 

Comedy, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Worth a Watch

Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Review

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Naanum Rowdy Dhaan Review – Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a Tamil comedy film released in 2015. Pandian, son of a police inspector aspires to be a Rowdy. He falls for a hearing impaired girl Kadambari who seeks vengeance with a real rowdy for killing her mother. Will Pandian be able to help her and become a real rowdy is the story of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.

“நானும் ரௌடி தான் (Naanum Rowdy Dhaan)” is one of the famous dialogues from Vadivelu which is already established with Tamil movie audience. Director Vignesh Sivan has chosen this as the title for his movie which  is very apt for the character of Pandian.  As you would expect from the movie, the story doesn’t get a bit serious at any point in time. Right from the first shot till the last the entire narration is handled nonchalantly. Parthiban is a big strength for the movie and his performance stands out compared to the others. The second notable performance is the dialogues of RJ Balaji. Apart from this the performance of Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara are not up to the mark in comparison to what they are capable of. In particular, I was a bit disappointed by Vijay Sethupathi’s performance. He seems to be disconnected from his character in many places.

George William’s cinematography is a big plus for the movie. He has captured the beauty of Pondicherry very well.  Apart from this everything else in the movie is just above average to keep the audience engaged. Editing and continuity lag in many places cause an unpleasant effect.

High Points: The plot of the movie is entertaining, Cinematography of George, Parthiban’s performance

Low Points: Patchy continuity in many places, average performance of Vijay Sethupathy and Nayantara

Despite the flaws, this is still an engaging entertainer that you can watch without much thinking.

Worth a Watch

 

Action, Can Skip it, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

10 Endrathukulla Review

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10 Endrathukulla Review – 10 Endrathukulla is a Tamil action thriller released in 2015. A skillful car thief gets involved in the kidnapping of a woman without his knowledge. How he comes through the situation is the plot of 10 Endrathukulla.

Director Vijay Milton had aspirations of creating a racy movie with some high voltage action sequences. He has achieved the output he had expected but missed the story by a mile. The situations are very disconnected, this has been mainly due to the fact that the screenplay has been designed to maintain suspense till the end. This has not been successful as the movie does not connect with the audience at all as they fail to connect with the purpose of the protagonist.

Vikram’s performance could not save the engaging factor of the movie. There are enough heroes who are dependent on mass intro sequences, this is not needed for Vikram as he has extraordinary acting skills and dedication that would woo the audience. There is no strong villain in the movie, there are three of them who try to leave the responsibility to the other and in the end it is so fragmented. Retaining the suspense to the very end has caused the screenplay to slow down to a great extent and in many places they have used cliched double meaning dialogues to push it further. Samantha has some solid role to play during the last twenty minutes in the movie which she has done well.

High Points: The stunt sequences have been choreographed very well. There is nothing much  apart from this in the movie.

Low Points: The screenplay is predominantly not engaging. Absence of a strong villain.

Overall 10 Endrathukulla is like a sweet cherry fruit dipped in a spicy sambar. Cherry might be delicious but doesn’t go well with the combination. So is the brilliant action sequences built on a below average storyline.

Can Skip it

Genre, New Wave, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Worth a Watch

Masala Padam Review

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Masala Padam Review – Masala Padam is a Tamil new wave cinema released in 2015.  A conflict between online bloggers and a commercial masala film producer results in a challenge wherein the bloggers have to come up with a commercial film script without the cliches in six months and the producer would produce it. To come up with a script they decide to follow three different persons in real life to create their incidents.

First and foremost this is not a spoof movie which it seemed to be due to the casting and some of the promos. Rather it is about making a masala movie.

The movie is a new wave cinema and is abstract for a common viewer. It deals with the core question if making a masala movie necessary to woo the audience. There are a lot of technical references to script writing and the social media. This may not have connected with many folks. I thoroughly enjoyed the buildup portion of the movie and the core conflict. However post the midway the movie’s purpose shifts from script writing to the lives of three people.  This is where it lost the plot.

If the script writers for the movie have given more emphasis on movie making itself, it would have been a great movie.

High Points: The plot and core conflict, The scene in which the TV reporter asks a common man if he has seen any reality movie and he refers to the Baasha sums it all, Bobby Simha and Shiva’s performance, there are no unwanted song or dance in the movie.

Low Points: Casting and promotion could have been better for instance for the rom-com hero they could have had a cast who was as popular as Shiva and Bobby Simha, The shifting of core conflict from script writing post the midpoint caused a disconnect.

The movie is well made despite its flaws and definitely would interest you if you are interested in movie making. If you are not interested in movie making then this may not engage you so much. I am giving this a watchable rating for the plot.

Worth a Watch

Fantasy, Genre, Historic, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Wait for DVD/TV

Puli Review

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Puli Review – Puli is a Tamil fantasy adventure movie released in 2015. Many years ago a superior race known as Vedhalam had won wars over the human race in India and ruled them. The atrocities of their general  in the kingdom caused misery to people’s life. Circumstances lead an adopted son of a village chief to take on the might of the Vedhalam race.

There has been enough negative trolling on Puli review on the social media. This increased my curiosity to watch Puli and understand why it could have gone so bad. This review is my take on Puli and an unbiased opinion.

Director Chimbu Deven had treated us with periodic movie Imsai Arasan 23 am Pulikesi. He has now experimented with periodic fantasy movie. Post the era of Vittalacharya there has not been any successful attempt in Tamil Cinema on any fantasy adventure. Even if it had been it has not become wildly successful. Most of the Tamil filmmakers stayed out of this genre for quite some time. The financial budget and relevance of such stories in the modern era should have been the fear.

Vijay and Chimbu Deven should be lauded for going beyond the usual mass masala movie to create a fantasy adventure. It is definitely a welcome change to Tamil Cinema. However where the movie has gone bad is in the script writing department. The plot was in place which has similarities to 1948 classic Vedhala Ulagam starring T.R Mahalingam directed by A.V Meiyappan, Pa. Neelakantan and M.V Raman. Many of the trollers in social media may not have been aware of such a movie which was a mass entertainer of its time and beats many of the fantasy movie stories that are out there in the west.

In the movie Puli the writers have fallen prey to push mass masala film elements which seem out of place. The dual between Sudeep and Viay is one of the important portions of the movie. Sudeep says,  “Intha kottaikke Thalapathy naan thaan” and Vijay replies “Intha kottaikkuthane…” looks very cliched and out of place for the movie. The film is filled with such cliches throughout including the dance numbers that doesn’t fit the genre of the movie barring one song which happens in the Kingdom.

The first half of the movie is long and boring. I felt why did I come for this movie. The scenes were too disconnected, the artists eye line match was out of place in many occasions. This is sure to test your patience and by the time the interval block comes it would have disconnected the audience from the movie. The second half of the movie which seems to be the actual story which the director wanted to convey is sure to engage you in a much better fashion. Thanks to the characterisation of Sudeep and Sridevi who help in making the movie watchable. If someone walked into the movie hall just for the second half they might be wondering why people are upset about the movie. Shruthi Haasan and Hansika are just used for glamor quotient. The songs are more jarring to the years than being pleasant.

The big plus for the movie is the production design by T. Muthuraj. He has aesthetically created some of the sets which looks grand and help you connect to the movie. Also, the VFX department has worked hard to add more grandeur to Muthuraj’s set.

High Points: A fantasy adventure genre for Tamil Cinema, Sridevi’s performance, Muthuraj’s production design, Mannavane Mannavane song choreography, Talking birds, frog, Lilliputs would entice kids.

Low Points: Screenplay is a big let down, Cliched mass elements in the movie, Songs and choreography, Title of the movie doesn’t fit in well, There should have been much more creativity in differentiating Vedhalam race and human race, Long and boring first half.

In 2002 Rajinikanth tried a different genre in Baba and it failed when it released in theaters, but later the home audiences enjoyed watching the movie on their TV sets once it was edited and all expectations died down. Vijay’s Puli is one such movie. When it comes on TV hopefully with some of the cliches edited the home audience would like it.

Overall Puli is a wannabe fantasy adventure movie that works in parts in the second half. A better script writing would have helped it to appeal to the audience. Still it is not as bad a movie as it is being trolled about, it could be watched when played on TV.

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Action, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller, Worth a Watch

Thani Oruvan Review

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Thani Oruvan Review – Thani Oruvan is a Tamil action thriller movie released in 2015. Mithran an IPS officer wants to take on organized crime that happens in the society by tracing the links of unrelated petty crimes reported on a daily basis to an organized crime source. But at the source is a fearsome villain Siddharth Abhimanyu who is invincible. Will Mithran be successful in this challenge is the plot of Thani Oruvan.

Director M.Raja has given a very racy thriller that is entertaining for most of the parts. After a long time this is a good break for Jayam Ravi. The script has been developed with the sole intention of giving a compelling thriller. They have failed to establish the core conflict very well. The reason why Mithran is so passionate about revealing the organized crime is not established very well as that is the core of the movie. The strength of the movie is Arvind Swamy. He has essayed the character of a fearsome, intelligent and unapologetic badass guy very well. The clashes between Jayam Ravi and Arvind Swamy are done well.

It was so pleasing to see that there was no bar song, unnecessary comedy track. Hope other filmmakers take clue from this and start concentrating on the strength of the screenplay rather than giving into the temptation of masala formula.

High Points: A very engaging script, Arvind Swamy’s performance and the character of Siddharth Abhimanyu, No unnecessary bar sequences and comedy tracks

Low Points: The length of the movie is bit long for the plot reducing this would have made it more racy, There should have been more effort to create the core conflict very well which would have made this more impactful. There are few loopholes in the plot, which do not get highlighted due to the raciness of the script.

Overall Thani Oruvan is definitely a very engaging thriller that needs to be watched in the theaters.

Worth a Watch

Action, Comedy, Drama, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Wait for DVD/TV

Maari Review

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Maari Review – Maari is a Tamil commercial comedy drama released in 2015. Maari is a local goon who lives by collecting money from the locals. His passion is pigeon race and an undisputed winner. Things change when sub-inspector Arjun takes charge in that area.

The movie is an out and out commercial drama that is just made to woo the first day fanfare. Director Balaji Mohan has a very good talent in creating comical situations but when it comes to action sequences it is not turning out to be effective. The story and the conflict were very weakly portrayed and some of the twists were very subtle and took a much predictable route. The build up for the hero for overdone to please the fanfare.

Dhanush has tried his best to do justice to the role and his performance is the one that lifts the movie on occasions apart from the comedy scenes. Robo Shankar playing the comedian is a refreshing change. The production quality of the movie is overall good. Particularly a lot of effort has gone into give it an aesthetic appeal. The music score was a different one from Anirudh. However it gets jarring after a while. Vijay Yesudas does well only in parts. His range of expressions is minimum to portray a wicked Villain. Kajal Agarwal is used as a eye candy for the visuals.

High Points: Comedy, Production quality, Costumes, Performance of Dhanush, Robo Shankar’s comedy

Low Points: Absence of core conflict, overdoing of build up scenes, Many characters are present in the movie but seldom used.

Overall Maari’s story is not a compelling one to be told and seen. If you love Masala movies and an ardent fan of Dhanush performance you can give it a try. If not you can watch it when it is played on TV.

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Drama, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller

Papanasam Review

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Papanasam Review – Papanasam is a Tamil thriller drama released in 2015. This is remake of Malayalam movie Drishyam. The movie revolves around the middle class family of Suyambulingam, his wife and their two daughters. They lead a typical life that has both happy as well as challenging moments around petty things. Overnight they go through a situation that threatens to change their lives forever. What was the situation and did they manage to overcome it is the plot of Papanasam.

Director Jeethu Joseph and Kamal Hassan should be appreciated for remaking the movie in Tamil. Many a times the remakes of a super hit falls into the trap of making it bigger and dramatic thereby loosing the essence of the movie. Papanasam does not fall into the trap and maintains the essence of the story and also adapting it very well to the nativity of Tamil Nadu very well. Kamal’s performance is outstanding and is on par with Mohanlal’s performance in Drishyam. He has performed the role with such ease. The scene, in which he boasts about himself to his wife, creates pun intended statements in the teashop, breaks down at the key moment his performance shines.

There are few changes done to the screenplay as compared to the original still they don’t spoil the story. Kalabavan Mani has performed his role very well as a ruthless inspector. Gouthami has come onto the screen after so many years, it is definitely refreshing to watch her on screen. You might have heard people refer to Japanese movie Suspect X to be similar to this one, but both are very different movies.

High Points: Screenplay of the movie, Kamal Hassan’s performance, Essence of the original maintained, very appealing story line

Low Points: Not much to say as low points although the length of the movie could have been kept within 2.5 hours.

Overall Papanasam is a very well made thriller. Even if you have watched Drishyam it is still entertaining to see this one as well.

Must Watch

PS: SPOILER AHEAD – On a funny note I wonder why the police didn’t catch the fact that the family couldn’t have watched Anjaan on August 2nd as it released only on August 15th 🙂

Can Skip it, Comedy, Genre, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga Review

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Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga Review – Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (VSOP) is a Tamil slapstick comedy drama released in 2015. Vasu and Saravanan are close friends but as women enter their life as their love interest and wife they should forgo their friendship to please them.

“Not again Director Rajesh”. That’s what I wanted to tell the director once I was 20 minutes into the movie. He has used this theme very consistently in many of his previous movies.

You can now try to narrate what would happen.

The friends would now start drinking more often and crack jokes about women….

Then?

They would try some foolish technique to fix the issues……

Then?

Not sure… think the drunken jokes and foolish attempts would make a good movie.

Rajesh has fallen into the trap here. He has an amazing sense of humor, which was well represented in Boss Engira Baskaran. But in all of his other movies this has started to nose-dive.

The cast for the movie is a big plus and would attract the audience but with a weak plot banking on only male chauvinistic jokes would appeal only to a certain segment of the audience. The script is so weak that at many dull situations Arya tells Santhanam “Ethavathu pannu machi…” They have also used the technique of characters in the movie mocking at a joke attempt to make the audience laugh which has worked in few instances. The other big disappointment is the songs. Not the tune per say but the choreography is of very low production quality and seems out of rhythm.

High Points: Very few high points, the casting of the movie is a strong point, few comedy scenes would make you laugh out loud, Costume design is good.

Low Points: Weak screenplay, poor choreography, repeated story plots and a weak conflict

Overall VSOP is a lackluster effort only banking on slapstick comedy that would work for a niche segment of audience.

Can Skip it

Action, Drama, Fantasy, Genre, Hindi Movies, Historic, Must Watch, Other Languages, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

Baahubali – The Beginning Review

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Baahubali – The Beginning Review – Baahubali – The Beginning is a Telugu is a historical fiction movie released in 2015. The film is the first of a two part series. Shivdu is found on the riverside and is raised by a small tribe family; he always wants to climb the big mountain near the village against the wish of his mother. He is able to do it when he grows up; this leads him to his roots from where had come from.

5 tablespoons of Mahabharat, one tablespoon of Ramayan and one tablespoon of masala ingredients from high packed action movies mixed well together. The dish that comes out of the above ingredients is what is Baahubali in a nutshell. Although it is made of the ingredients that we have tasted before, the dish is well prepared and fulfills our appetite like a grand feast. Director SS Rajamouli has dreamt big and kudos to him and his team to bring such a visual grandeur to the silver screen. The breath taking visuals, a native story, stunning fight choreography, powerful characterization all these make Baahubali a very compelling watch. The movie stays true to its promotion and what it had promised to offer; a historical fantasy story painted on an expensive canvas. Every frame has visual grandeur in it, right from the formidable falls to the large battlefield. Many of the characters and situations resemble many of the Indian mythology stories you would have heard but putting them in this combination is interesting. Prabhas, Anushka, Sathyaraj, Nassar, Ramyakrishnan, Rana Daggupati, Tamanna all of them have performed very well. Peter Hein’s stunt choreography is one of the highlights of the movie.

High Points: The narration, visual effects and characterization of Baahubali, Bhallala Deva, Kattappa and Sivagami shine in this first installment. The interval block for the movie was really powerful and is the high point in the movie for me.

Low Points: There are definitely some low points. There is very less differentiation between Shivdu and Baahubali. You don’t feel they are two different characters. There have been some sequences to please the fanfare on the opening day of the movie, which could have been avoided. The background score for such a visually stunning film was a bit let down for me.

Overall Baahubali is a visual treat, though it is a story you would have heard a million times still it is very interesting when SS Rajamouli narrates it. This one is a milestone in Indian Cinema and a Must watch for all Indian movie lovers.

Must Watch