Tag Archives: Tamil

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

Asuran Review

Asuran Review – Asuran is a Tamil crime thriller released in 2019. When powerful landlords in the village, try to overpower the poor farmers to take over the land, the family of Sivasami doesn’t budge and the following events turn into an endless revenge saga between families.

I always wish that Indian directors make movies on already written material than trying to create material on their own every time. Director Vetrimaaran has taken a step if followed by other fellow directors in this country could change the landscape of Indian Cinema in a positive way. Kudos to him for making a movie based on a novel Vekkai by Poomani. This makes the content very rich, characterization very deep-rooted and overall movie a very engaging one.

I haven’t read the novel so I may not be able to comment on how much true to the book the movie has been. My analysis is mostly on the structure of the movie. The structure of the screenplay is much akin to the structure of the cult classic commercial movie Baasha. Due to the rural treatment and the message in the movie, it also resembles Devar Magan in many ways. An innocent protagonist, who doesn’t raise voice against atrocities has a dark past in which he is akin to a menacing Villain, the secret breaks right at the interval block and then dwells into the past to establish the gory side of the protagonist, coming back to the present to close the proceedings. While many directors have tried to emulate the success of these movies have miserably failed, Vetrimaaran banked on the content which eventually created a successful product.

I was very intrigued by the fact of the choice of the name Asuran. In Hindu mythology, the Asuras were always looked down upon by the Devas and were constantly at war between each other. Devas also made peace with Asuras whenever they needed some work to be done with them like in the case of churning the ocean to create Amruth. In the movie too, the landlord keeps a good pact with Dhanush till he is preparing liquor that helps his business grow. It is only later he realizes where his real place is and things change. Even the scenes involving the insult of the upper cast before women, the insult he takes for her laughing and the way he avenges for it are all in correlation to the Deva and Asura wars. In that way, it is a befitting the title.

The characters are sketched well. Although Dhanush becomes of prime importance in the second half, other characters still have a convincing life cycle. It is nice to see Pasupathi and Prakash Raj on screen after a while. The choice of Manu Warrier to play Dhanush wife as well is a great choice. She has a lot more scope in the first half of the movie.

The locations in which the movie is shot adds a more convincing tone to the whole narration. In particular, the forest sequences are taken very well. The background score is the soul of the movie and GV Prakash has done a phenomenal job in scoring the BGM.

High Points – Strong content, Interval Block, background score, depth of characters, visuals of the forest sequence, action blocks, raw treatment

Low Points – Too much violence might not appeal to everyone.

Overall Asuran is a very well made commercial crime thriller. It has all the ingredients that would keep you glued to the chair until the end and leave you with a powerful message. It is now available in Amazon Prime.

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

Theeran Adhigaram Ondru Review

Theeran Adhigaram Ondru Review – Theeran Adhigaram Ondru is a Tamil crime thriller released in 2017. The movie is based on a true story where a cop and his team has to solve the mystery of people getting attacked and killed at their home for jewels and money.

Director H Vinoth comes up with yet another compelling tale after his Sathuranga Vettai.  I loved Sathuranga Vettai very much for its dialogues and screenplay. So naturally, I had expectations around Theeran.  Vinoth did not disappoint at all. It is a very racy thriller right from the word go. Karthi has essayed the character of Theeran very well and is a strong backbone for the movie. Bose Venkat has ably supported him throughout the movie. Vinoth has cleverly mixed some of the commercial elements into the movie without much adulterating the compelling tale. Abhimanyu Singh as Oma has performed very well as the villain. The scenes involving him certainly send some shivers down the spine.

The amount of research done by Vinoth is evidently visible. Right from the police training scene to the history animation he has given much attention to the details. The love portion involving Rakul Preet Singh and Karthi is interesting too and blends in well with the theme of the story. Wish our commercial film directors do this instead of bolting on romance and comedy scenes to the movie.

High Points: A well-researched plot, engaging screenplay, location selection, performances of Karthi and Abhimanyu Singh.

Low Points: There are certain scenes made over dramatic in the second half which seem to be touching the border of going overboard. But these scenes do not become a huge distraction.

Overall Theeran is a well researched and an engaging cop thriller based on true events. Vinoth has yet again struck with an engaging drama that keeps the audience entertained with some power-packed performances.

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Drama, Genre, Short Films

Mazhalai Inidhu Short Film Review

Mazhalai Inidhu Short Film Review – Mazhalai Inidhu is a Tamil short film released in 2016. The short film explores the space between the importance to career and personal family life.

In the fast paced moving world with nuclear families and both couples working the time they get to spend with the child gets minimized. In case of high flying jobs, the child often gets lonely and longing for the time with the parents. Mazhalai Inidhu short film does an honest take on the problem.

High Points

The plot for the script is very common and connectable one. It also addresses the real world problems in a family. Kudos to the team for choosing it. They have also included the plot devices of showing two extreme characters of one being career oriented and the other willing to lead a balanced life at work. This helps in painting two contrasting picture. The climax of the film is very effective in driving home the message. Meesha Goshal has done the character with ease and is very convincing on the screen. Be it conducting team meetings, chasing down the kid to get ready or breaking down she has done it well.  The background score blends well with the theme of the movie. Also, the team has used many different locations for the shoot.

Low Points

When it comes to a nuclear family the burden should be equally shared between husband and wife. However, the plot hasn’t given importance to that. The length of the short film for its message is a bit too long. It would have been more effective to have it under 20 minutes.

Overall Mazhalai Inidhu is a very good attempt by director Gopinath and team. The team has a good potential for making more such intriguing dramas. Kudos to the team and all the best for their future endeavors.

You can watch the short film here

https://www.shortfundly.com/video/29281/ 

 

 

Action, Genre, Thriller

Udhayam NH4

Udhayam NH4 – Out and out action thriller movies are bit scarce in Tamil Cinema. Udhayam NH4 is one such action thriller. The new comer Manimaran should be appreciated for taking up an action thriller subject for his first movie. The movie starts with Prabhu played by Siddarth abducting politician’s daughter Rithika played by Ashrita Shetty. There is a deadline for saving Rithika in the next 12 hours. A successful encounter specialist Inspector Manoj menon played by Kay Kay Menon is out to get Rithika back to her father. The rest of the movie is all about if he succeeds in his mission, why has Prabhu abducted Rithika? The answers are known as the movie unfolds.

The chase sequences and events have been well thought. As the movie revolves around 3 states the director has used the local languages with caption in Tamil and also lot of work has gone in getting the proper slang in the accent of the actors when they talk different languages. However the director hasn’t spent much time one other aspects in building up a strong motive, the characterization of the characters other than Prabhu which leaves the movie a forgettable one. If you are in mood for a different subject in Tamil Cinema you might not feel bad for watching this. Udhayam NH4 promises to give a enjoyable ride… it is indeed one if you ignore the occasional pot holes.

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

Kumki

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Kumki –  In villages adjacent to forest areas the threat of wild elephants are a growing concern. During the harvest season they rampage the fields for food causing the whole year of hard work by the farmers go in vain. In order to circumvent such issues they hire trained elephants which are called  “Kumki elephants” to guard the crops and chase the wild elephant away. The movie revolves around the story of one such village wanting to protect their people and crops from a dreadful wild elephant. They are in search of a mahout and a trained Kumki elephant. In a scheme of things the protagonist Bomman who owns a pet elephant ends up taking his elephant to do the job. However his elephant is domesticated and has no skill what so ever to guard the village against the wild elephant. Bomman falls in love with the daughter of the village head and decides to extend his stay there. Life is happy till the wild elephant comes into the village and starts attacking… What happens is the rest of the plot.

The plot is unique and new. Prabhu Solomon should be appreciated for taking up such a plot and to make a movie. The way the incidents build up to the climax is very well done. The biggest positive of the movie is the cinematography. They have captured the beautiful forests of Shimoga and Kerala very well. However the movie falls just short of what could have been a fairy tale in the climax. Not many audience would have been happy with how the director had ended it… But still you could watch it for the excellent plot, beautiful locations and its visuals.

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Classic, Comedy, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies

Thillu Mullu

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Thillu Mullu – With the remake of Thillu Mullu to be released in two weeks I thought of writing the review on the original. The original is a 1981 Tamil comedy film which was a remake of Golmaal in Hindi. The plot is about a playful youngster who enacts as a straight forward young man with strong ideology, ambition and family values to impress his boss. However things take a turn when he bunks work on the pretext of a medical emergency to watch a football match and his boss sees him at the stadium. Now to escape from losing his job and his good will he tells his boss that he has a look alike twin brother who is actually a playful youngster and the only difference between him and his brother is his brother does not sport a mustache while he has. The rest of the movie is about how hard he struggles to maintain this lie with his boss.

This is the first full length comedy movie of Rajinikant. Director Balachandar had got the best of out him in this movie. Rajinikant was able to showcase his versatility in acting. The movie itself is a laugh riot right from the beginning till end with some hilarious dialogues written by Visu. You can watch this movie any number of times and still laugh to your heart’s content. If you haven’t watched it, then you should pick a DVD and watch this.

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

David (Tamil)

David (Tamil) – The movie begins with two people by the same name David at different time periods trying to take a step that would lead to destruction of life, friendship and relationship. The only difference is the time period, each of the incident is 11 years apart but the same date. The movie rewinds back in each of their life to take us through the incidents that had lead them to do this and what is the ultimate decision they take. Jiva and Vikram have done their roles as David very well. The story of Vikram seem to be very weak as a plot and the director has struggled to build up the incidents that would make the audience connect while the story of Jiva is quiet engaging. At the end of the movie it leaves you with a incomplete feeling. The completeness is in the Hindi version where there is 3rd David whose story is much earlier to these two. If you are keen in this movie then I would recommend you to watch the Hindi Version. You can read the review here

Can Skip it

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

Enthiran

Endhiran – Kudos to Shankar and Rajini to do a script which did not rally around Rajini’s mass value, out and out Shankar movie with a different concept, larger than life incidents, dramatic sequences, a great entertainer. only short coming was the length of the movie, Shankar had tried reinforcing several things to prepare the audience to the sci fi concept. Otherwise its a rising sun of Indian cinema!

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