Movie Review - Dasavatharam

The History of Indian Cinema has proved on more than one occasion that a movie, however big the lead actor it has, however stunning his performance is, however superior the technical aspects are, can turn out into a damp squib and fail to impress ,if it lacks a solid content and story or at least a gripping and sensible screenplay. Dasavatharam is yet another occasion.

I don’t want to reveal the story here as I found nothing of its kind in the film.Initially, Kamal speaks promisingly about Chaos theory but the sequences are far from that. Parallel sequences run throughout in the film and clash with each other occasionally, mostly for the sake of it. But the incidents and the consequences are related mainly by the numerous coincidences which get too unappealing and illogical after a certain point. An example is the scene where scientist Kamal pleads with paati Kamal to get back the dangerous vial and the fight where CIA agent joins in. You feel that anytime Kamal could ve easily grabbed the vial from Paati Kamal or the idol from Asin to get back the vial given that Asin knows very well about the disastrous consequences. But things are unnecessarily complicated by childish acts and events leading to a frivolous handling, not only with the massively destructive vial, but also with the screenplay. The terrible thing is that such unappealing events driving the screenplay run throughout the film.


Kamal at his versatile best, stuns all with the remarkable difference he portrays in the 10 characters. Be it body language, make up or dialogue delivery, there is no way one could see a Kamal. In fact, in the most cases of the 10 characters, identification was a tough task. This itself speaks tonnes about the mighty prowess of the actor. The efforts and excertion he has undertaken is clearly evident in every frame of the film. There is no doubt that none other than Kamal can make such a task possible with such perfection.

The 12 th century flashback is a mentionable highlight. Kamal sends off sparks with his electrifying performance along with the strong support from razor sharp dialogues. But I didn’t find any significant link between this part and the rest of the story. Even a deep scrutiny will only find a vague and insignificant link in a couple of scenes. But this relation is no way to the main set of events leading to tsunami. Neither is it linked to the claimed employment of ‘Chaos theory’!! Even if it was supposed to be, it was not strongly conveyed!!

When the present set of events are flagged off with scientist Kamal working on bio weapons, the monkey death and chase of Kamal by Fletcher my expectations raised to that of an 'edge of a seat' entertainer. However after such a promising start, the film failed to hold on to my engrossment due to the absolute lack of (assistance from) script. Kamal seemingly had taken Chaos Theory as a premise and him playing 10 varied roles as a support for taking the liberty of making it a 'no story' affair. In fact it appeared as though the characters were listed before writing the script and sequences decided impromptu at the time of shoot.

Speaking of the characters, Rangarajan Nambi and Balram Naidu are my picks of the film. Balram Naidu excels in his humorously authentic dialogue delivery and mannerisms. As the CIA agent Fletcher who is in pursuit for the vial for mercenary reasons, Kamal sends a chill along your spine and speaks the American accent to perfection. Other characters worth a mention are the dark fellow and the tall Muslim guy in terms of make up and language. The Paati character, expected to be a very hilarious part in the film,disappoints totally and the over done make up only gives a feel of an alien creature! Though Bush character holds least weightage in the film and seems least wanted, the looks at certain angles are surprisingly close to the original. But the dialogues for the same lack sophistication. Japanese Kamal is splendid in looks and action.Awesome is the word!

But for the 12 century sequence, dialogues are another major drawback for the film. The entire set of scenes involving Kamal , Asin and the idol is an example. The supposedly subtle and hilarious dialogues hardly evoke any laughter and turn out into cheap 'Kadi' jokes which get you on your nerves especially in the second half. Even the funniest Balram Naidu, only depends on his body language cum accent, and not the dialogues to arouse any smile. The usual witticism and sensibility of Kamal are missing.

Asin succeeds in causing prolonged irritation and Mallika s role is least warranted in the film. The action scenes have been appreciably dealt in a painstaking manner.

Technically the film is very good with crystal clear camera work by Ravivarman and superb editing. Although special effects work wonders in scenes where more than one Kamals share the camera frame, they fail to be appealing in the Tsunami sequence.

As far as the music goes, Himesh s songs are already on top of the charts. However, the loud rerecording by Devi Sree Prasad falls harsh on the eardrums.

If we ponder about what actually went wrong in the film, we ll find that Kamal had concentrated overly (only) on his 10 roles taking the script for granted. Having taken the pretext of a complicated concept, the films screenplay merely revolves around a chase for the vial and scientist Kamal by a few others while rest of the Kamals are just present for bringing the number to 10. The unintentional meeting of few of them and how their lives are affected by that, have been hastily depicted probably because of the excess number of characters.

It remains hazy as to whether the film’s crux was God or to environment/humanity. In fact it is still not clear whether the movie had a message. However one thing which is very evident is that no concept was used in any part of the film given to the fact that absurd and childish set of sequences can’t be justified in the name of some scientific concept.

To sum it up, Dasavatharam can be watched once for the lone sake of ACTOR Kamal’s unimaginable efforts and matchless performance in the varied roles. However, the film as such fails to impress, leave alone meet the hype, courtesy an aimless script and needlessly complicated sequences....5.5/10

Mind matters - Different theories,same origin

I recently brushed through a magazine titled 'Frozen thoughts' which was lying in my house . Happened to get my eye on it as it was somewhere near the idiot box. It predominantly contained articles and experiences relating to philosophical thoughts, life and value of relationships. I didnt have the patience to read all that as the IPL finals was just half an hour away and my mind was already pre occupied with Doni ,Warne and many others. So I was restlessly flipping through the pages of lengthy paragraphs trying to get a glimpse of just the content,just when my eyes fell on a page full of terse sayings. I thought I ll settle with this and started giving a closer look.

It was a collection of quotes and maxims on meditation,sources including great thinkers and achivers from different epochs. The list ranged from Buddha to Bruce Lee, Richard Gere to Bhagavath Gita . The quotes employed different analogies and examples to portray the typical nature and behaviour of the mind and the meditation led approach to tackle it. The ride through the sayings was an interesting and thought provoking one.

When I was done ,I sat back and thought about what I had just gone through.I was taken aback by the realisation that the essence of all the quotes was one and the same albeit the different choice of words adopted in each. What startled me even more about the common-ness of the sayings was that the sources were completely unrelated in time . This drew me further towards their crux and bouldered my confidence on their verity. This was when I decided to mentally recapitulate the essential points of my just read wonderful quotes and my inferences from the same . Here they go...

The sayings did sound trite when they said that meditation is important for one to prevent thoughts from straying away and that one should sit in a quiet place with eyes closed and try to bring mind to a thoughtless state. However the excellent highlight was its emphasis on the fact that meditation is no activity which is carried out during a particular time. Meditation has to be intgrated in all our activities and after a certain point of time , meditation becomes life and fetches eternal bliss. For example, an activity as simple as sitting or walking becomes meditation if we bring in our full attention and consciousness to it. Meditation is not a state of rest, but a state of complete awareness and concentration on any object,physical or non physical. The endeavor of implementing meditation in our daily lives by pulling together all thoughts is a tought mental process due to the ever swaying nature of the mind. But this hardship and difficulty exists only in the initial stages. Because, once the meditated state is imbibed by the mind, it is ever lasting happiness which is going to prevail. Happiness totally independent of worldly issues. There lies no necessity of going in external pursuit of happiness. This eventually leads to mental peace,calmness and self realisation at a later stage which remains the ultimate aim of all .This is analogous to the case of muddy water where the water becomes clear when the mud settles down. Only thing is that we should remain patient till mud settles down completely . In the meditated state, the power of the mind reaches great scales and can be used to accomplish the most arduous of tasks and the right decision arises automatically and involuntarily in the most dilematic circumstances.

The principle of Karmayoga as emphasised in the Bhagavat Gheetha, postulates that one must focus on his/her duty without thinking about the end result. If one does that, fruitful results follow path eventually. Now lets compare this with the precept of meditation. Focus on our duty or task at hand is the same as centering all our thoughts to the activity we perform. And the undue worry and concern for the results is nothing but letting our thoughts wander away to things which are not in our control . This meandering of thoughts is what the art of meditation tries to put a barrier to. As beautifully claimed in Karmayoga, the unmindfulness about the upshot of a task will purify the mind off needless negative thoughts and will keep disappointment and sorrow out of the mindframe. This stunningly, is all about the eternal, lasting bliss dealt about by the preachers of meditation. As we travel back along the path of the two principles, we realise at a certain point that they converge to a common source and an unifying motive. ..That they are branches having grown from the same tree!!

The very realization of the convergence was overwhelming and produced goosebumps on me. It was a state of gratification ..but I very well knew that this was negligible when compared to the immense perpetual joy which can be derived out of practising them.

But the time I had recovered from this feeling, the Chennai Super Kings had lost their first wicket..joy was lost and tension resumed...

Movie Review (??) - Simma ..Narasimma

After watching Narasimma ,Panchathanthiram appeared less funny and Avvai shanmugi made me yawn.

Gaptain at his best in this film.be it body language or dialogue delivery or stunts ..he is at his comical best with his rib tickling punch dialogues like..LETS START THE MIZZION and INDA NARASIMMA VA THOTTA GARRANT(CURRENT) KKE SAKKU (SHOCK ) ADIKKUM... rendered in gaptains own stylisss manner.

Whether it is instructing his dogs with mike while earphones attached to their ears or flying in the air romancing the heroine (with a bomb blast as a backdrop) in a serious scene...it is ultimate caamedy. Thalais body language(especially smile), mannerisms and dance movements in songs bear his typical elegance.

Raguvaran describes captain in one scene in unimaginable ways..examples galore..HE IS THE 6 TH ELEMENT OF NATURE...HE IS THE 4 TH HIDING SINGAM IN ASHOKA CHAKRAM ...HE HAS MORE POWER THAN ANY NUCLEAR BOMB....I was on the ground at the end of the first dialogue itself...

The movie has scenes in all parts of the country sans Tamil Nadu.But gaptain speaks nothing but TAMI ZH(L) throughout..In a particular scene our karuppu singam turns over a muslim terrorist into a new leaf by giving stats for 5 mins .

The last 15 mins reach unimaginable heights of kaamedy when every baakistan theeviravaadi is dressed up in a different coloured costume. It appeared more like a fancy dress competition and our dear gaptain shoots all of them in a style which resembles more of taking aarathi( makes circles with his hands!!!)

I cannot finish without mentioning abt the way gaptain unfolds the trick plotted by the terrorist in a video with snow clad mountains as the background..He presses ENTER. .the background changes into a desert(OMG)!!!He also makes all Bagistan terrorists speak in tamill and only tamil even if he is absent in those scenes. Hats off gaptainn!!!

A must watch if u r a TRUE gaptain fannn...ensoyyy!!! :)

Statutory warning- You may end up in a severe stomach ache...careful

Music Review - Thiruda Thiruda

The best album of rahman according to me. No song can be categorised under any predefined genre .The first and last music of its kind and a very underrated album.

My review ,however rave ,cannot give the DUE credit for the music. I dare to say,no review can.

Konjam nilavu...Anupama should ve been the find of the season then.Her aggresive and passion filled rendering accompanied with the erratic voice modulation in this stylish number ought to have fetched her a national award. Superbly catchy interludes especially after the Pallavi .The male chorus and the female one at the finishing stage only add to the splendour and elan.

Veerabandi kotayile is an apt exemplification of revolutionising music. Be it the drums, violin or key board interludes, each charms in its own captivating way. Rahman makes the perfect choice of voices in an energetic Mano and mellifluous Chitra who form a contrasting duo.The song slows down from an initially heavy fast folkish western music to a balled kind of orchestration which then gets back unpredictably to its high energy self. This element of surprise at several points along the song and the manner in which the music easily transits at these bear testimony to the brilliance of its creator. The bass violin orchestration in the middle of the song and the flute bit which follows reinforce the same.

Putham pudu boomi...It starts off like a slow melody with a pleasant solo piano note .Then the unexpected happens when chorus orchestration begins at full swing and when the piano joins hands, the song gets out of the world . No words to describe how efforlessly the singers,especially Mano reached such high pitches . The violin interlude after the anupallavi produces goosebumps. If there could be an adjective to describe this track, it would be ETHEREAL.

Rasathi...My feeling of awe for the album rose to its peak after listening to this unbelievable number. A record making piece through which Rahman proved to his nit picking critics( who constantly complained of his excess dependency on technology), that he is still a genius without instruments. I can bet on my claim that the song would nt hav sounded this great with instrumentation. It has the male singer (late Shahul Hameed) singing in a melancholic tone and chorus part providing the bass effect full time and an occasional humming by the female chorus interlude which enhance the gloomy mood of the song .The uniqueness in Shahuls voice does magic...Unimaginable number..

Thee Thee...Fast beats with the accompaniment of bass guitar and powerful rendering of jathis marks the first 50 secs of this sensual number.Immediately the song turns into a soothing melody with minimal instrumentation . This sequence continues throughout the song and like Veerabandi Kotayile , its flow is seldom obstructed.Though the singers voice is fresh, she sounds so wispy that lyrics become imperceptible.

kannum kannum...High energy number with superb guitar interludes and heavy beats . The guitar inerlude after the pallavi is brilliant..So is the female chorus humming after the anu pallavi...Rocking track.

This is the level best I could describe in words, about the album.However, this will not constitute even half of the mesmerised experience I undergo every time I listen to the tracks. Such is the incredible and undescribable nature of the sounds.

Rahman might have given bigger chartbusters prior to and post Thiruda Thiruda.. But this album outshines all of them with its unprecedented instrumentation and to be more general,top notch music ...A very stingy 9.5/10...

Movie Review - Bommarillu

There have been umpteen films with humour or family sentiments showcased at full length . However, it is only films which genuinely potray the beauty of relationships blended with fun and humour throughout , that win the hearts of all and turn out to be successful entertainers.Bomarillu is one such...

This film deals with a very interesting problem in a father son relationship.Its about a father who cares so much for his son that he ends up becoming unaware of the latter s real interests.A problem prevailing in most households.But surprisingly never been dealt about in a film...Hats off to the director for that.

The characterisation in general is neat and clear and gets into our minds quickly. Siddarth fits like a glove into the character of a young aspiring fellow who suppresses his interests for the sake of his dads happiness. Be it the scenes where he pretends to whole heartedly agree to his dad or those where he experiences tuf time with Genelia at his house, he shines .Top class performance in the climax scene.

Mentioning abt Prakash Raj and his solid performance has become a routine.

Coming to the biggest asset to the film...Hasini..err...Genelia... :)

She brings energy and life into her character which is ever –bubbling, cheerful, innocent and cherubic. Courtesy all this, the fun factor never fades out at any point in the film. Pure fun it is...which adds to the beauty of the film. Genelia makes fullest use of the splendid characterization and uses the expressive eyes to her advantage whether it is botching up the plans of siddarth or expressing love when he gets wild with her.

Rib ticklers r aplenty .Scene where siddarth finds out that the girl chosen for him is akin to him in nature during engagement… Scene where Siddarths would-be father inlaw gets himself involved in Genelia s infantile riddle and tries to get the participation of the embarrased prakash raj into it…are examples..

Cinematography is tasteful and music is in sync with the feel of the film..

But however the film runs the risk of not impressing an overly sober section of audience who might have had tuf time with Hasini s childish mannerisms and behaviour which go overboard sometimes….But the success of the film clearly indicates that such form the minority.

A very neatly made film with a genuine message combined with pure and unadulterated fun throughout....7.5/10

PS-Watch out for the cute and interesting climax… :)

Music Review - Dasavatharam

An album with a good variety of songs.It may not be a great work,but a couple of peppy numbers are sure to top the charts soon.

Oh O Sanam (female version) with its foot tapping beats is the pick of the album..kamal has taken this 'not so great' composition to the higher plane and has enhanced every bit of it..This song impresses u in the very first listening..The interesting aspect of the song is that its not a typical bangra .

Kallai Mattum attempts earnestly to give a feel of a different era(supposedly 12 th century )...The chorus part and orchestration have lent their support for the same...Though it may not be a masterpiece composition wise, it is to a certain extent successfull in giving the intended feel... Hariharan as usual excels..a special mention for the superb lyrics..

Ulaganayagane..Another interesting number... the song starts off like a dance floor one..suddenly in the middle its energy get s little down and the tune turns into a narration....the lyricist might hav intended to write an anthem for kamal fans....but the lines cross their limits to potray kamal as if he is the saviour of the earth...

Mukunda is an ok song which gives a heard before feel...Oh O sanam himesh version is his usual nasal irritating version which sounds the same as aashiquie mein teri...tamil total damage

:(

Ka karupanukum is another foot tapping song with interesting lyrics and instrumentation....On the whole, dasavatharam album may not be innovative music..but the songs r interesting enuf to find a place in ur play list..... 6/10

Movie Review - Velli Thirai

Went in to see the movie with lots of expectations from the Mozhi team.Ended up walking out disappointed.The pacy, interestingly made first half aroused my interest in the movie.But the sluggishness and numerous illogical sequences in the second half followed by a highly unrealistic and unappealing end shattered my expectations totally.

The story would ve been absolutely unaffected by the absence of the heroine. Does the inclusion in any way enhance proceedings or lighten the grave mood of the main storyline? The answer is a big NO...It makes things worse and adds to the deceleration of the screenplay.

The director seemingly had wanted to portray an aspiring story writer realising his dream of wielding the megaphone... But the way of portrayal is pathetic.. Pritvi wanting to direct prakash raj knowing his arrogant nature is totally unacceptable (though he tried to justify it stupidly in the film)...The climax sequence is rubbish and highly improbable...This makes the attemptedly realistic movie neither appealing nor inspiring.

Songs non contextually placed is not something new to tamil cinema...The same thing happens here.. Had the songs been pleasing to the ears , it would ve been so much better.. Instead they try ur patience (especially the slow number at the end which comes at the least wanted time )

Prakash Raj is expectedly the saving grace of the movie...The histrionic skills of the actor are needless to say.. His sole presence lits up the proceedings..The consise as well as witty dialogues r another strong point of the film..

On the whole, a disappointing movie from a potential team and script :( ...4.5/10

Movie Review - Yaradi Nee Mohini

Contrasting two halves of a movie!!First half being realistic to a certain extent , subtle in emotions and with minimal exaggeration of happenings. Second half is anything but all the above said things!
I dont think a brahmin family would ve been so orthodox even 20 yrs back, leave slone now!
Danush as usual proves that he can effectively perform and display myriad emotions by underplaying. Nayanthara proves that she has simply thrived on hype and serves to be a zero in acting and not great in looks too.Raguvaran has done a wonderful job and has given himself a fitting farewell through his role in this movie.

The father son relationship and its transformation were superbly shown.Especially the entire set of sequences prior to and following raguvaran s death bring tears to ur eyes.

Yuvans music is nothing compared to the results of his previous associations with Selvaragavan. 'Engeyo ' song is an exception inspite of the not-so Tamil sounding horrible prununciation of Udit.

Irritation grows as u sit through the second half due to absolute lack of realism and logic. Amongst these sequences of exaggeration, one thing which was enjoyable and served as a relief was the humourous romantic scenes btw Danush and Nayan s sister.To be honest, the girl playing nayan s sister is much better looking and has done given a good performance marked my sponteinity.

It is comedy ,however,which sustains one s interest in the movie even during a totally ridiculous and trying second half..The saree shop scene is one example...

YNM is a movie not worth watching in theatre even if u are a person who cares least abt logic .This is because the movie succeeds in getting on your nerves even if u belong the least elite part of the audience .Of course, u can enjoy the humourous scenes which can be very well done at home with a VCD of the movie ....4/10

Movie Review - Anjathey

A well made film with strong support from good performances and novel screenplay.Its basically abt how favouritism can change the lives of people.. The changes in the lives of the hero and his friend in either ways have been masterly portrayed throughout the film.. The realism and the authenticity showcased to the maximum extent in every scene is a commendable highlight...The cooperation of all the departments(music, cinematography) and their loyalty to the script works wonders..

There are quite a few scenes which will take long to forget...The scene where the hero listens to his friend 's voice when the latter speaks to the police over phone , scene where the kidnapped girl is left on the road with a shawl over her and of course the touching though predictable climax..However the movie gets too lengthy in the second half and the director leisurely unties the knots...

A sensible relief of a film at a time when the film industry was getting plagued by nonsensical trash....6.5/10