Seeman has condemned that Malayalam film Rama Ravanan. The movie’s special screening for media persons took place in Chennai recently. The protest against Rama Ravanan began when it was known that the movie deals with the Tamil-Eelam conflict. Apparently, the film shows Tamilians in poor light while Sri Lankans and Buddhism were praised.
According to a press note from director Seeman, the film is based on improper facts. Seeman had warned that Rama Ravanan should not be screened in Tamil Nadu failing which there would be protests all round the world where it will be screened.
Showing posts with label tamil cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tamil cinema. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Genelia rocking in all 4 languages
Actress Genelia Dsouza has done films in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada - no big deal, did you say? She's delivered hits in all four languages - not bad! In one single year, she informs us - wow!
Ever since Genelia D'Souza, who celebrated her birthday Aug 5 took her first steps in Bollywood with "Tujhe Meri Kasam" and down south with director Shankar's "Boys", there's been no looking back for her.
"I delivered super hits in all four languages - 'Satya' (Kannada), 'Santosh Subramaniyam' (Tamil), 'Ready' (Telugu) and 'Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Naa' (Hindi). I guess I'm the only heroine who delivered four superhits in four languages in one year," she said.
The actress has another reason to be happy.
"I'm the heroine in all the three languages of 'Bommarillu'. The Telugu film was made in Tamil as 'Santosh Subramaniyam' and in Hindi as 'It's My Life'," she said.
Asked about which language she prefers, the actress replied: "I enjoy doing films in all languages. Script is the first factor I look into. I don't mind doing a five-minute role if it's worth it. Secondly I should have a comfort level with the director/producer I work with. Language is never the criterion for me."
Quiz her about how she keeps fit, Genelia says: "I am basically an athlete. I was a state level runner and I played for the national football team. Hence, I am fit. I don't stay away from any kind of food. I love biryani, even if it's oily."
On her much talked about affair with Riteish Deshmukh, she said: "No, I've always maintained that he is a good friend. The press wrote what they wanted to but that hasn't affected our friendship. Besides, I am single."
Monday, March 29, 2010
Angadi Theru Film Review
Angadi Theru audience can never have a negative mindset as Vasantha Balan gave a stunner called 'Veyyil', a few years back under Shankar's banner. Now with international recognition with various awards that Veyyil fetched him, he doesn't need the banner anymore. With expectation comes responsibility and the responsibility was held perfect by Vasantha Balan who has portrayed the Angadi Theru. Often, when you give a decent movie, you tend to see shades of the same movie in your upcoming movies as well. But Vasantha Balan stands as an exception in the street of Angadies. I am sure there is tremendous homework behind this attempt. It's not an easy task to portray the inner life of the sales guys working in famous all-in-one shops that too located in the busy bee of Chennai.
The movie is about the life of people working in a Angadi Street (Street that has got only shops). It doesn't focus only on the lead pair but also describes how people live a life managing a business in this street. There are many brilliant scenes to describe both shades of people. The platform shopkeepers, the individual sellers, the cruel supervisors, the physically challenged people and also the policemen who safeguards the public from cheaters and thieves.
The movie would have been a zombie if importance is not give to the casting. Vasantha Balan scores high here. We saw his casting brilliance in Veyyil, especially the flashback episode of choosing the child artists. I am not at all surprised to see the same brilliance in Angadi Theru. If I had to pick someone who was mega brilliant, it would go to the director A. Venkatesh. I was shocked to his stunning performance. The character that he played, the ruggedness that he had and of course the look made it to say that the casting of his character can never be replicated by anybody else. I in fact felt, instead of directing horrible commercial movies, he can do such meaningful character roles. The other significant factor about other cast involved in the movie is that they resembled as if the real sales guys were asked to act. Only odd feel about the cast that I felt was the character Kani played by Anjali. Her glamy look doesn't make her an apt character to play a salesgirl role. But still, she did role to perfection. Also, the typical 'Annatchi kadai' slag was maintained fantastically throughout the movie. One can notice the slang on how it differs when rendered at different emotion.
Paandi, the KKK fame needs some special mention for his humor in the movie. In general, we often see the screen presence occupied by the lead pair of a movie. But here, we could see that more than two cast shares the screen presence throughout the movie. Paandi, in this movie is not meant for filling the comedian role alone. He shares some significant screen space in many scenes. Along with Paandi, there are other casts like Shophie Mary, other supervisor, the Great Annatchi and many others who have done a neat job.
Vasantha Balan has also taken a dig at many real life incidents or rather accidents and cleverly connected to his child, the screenplay. None can forget the accident that caused the life of the platform livers when a lorry overrun on the platform resulting in many lives. Also, another accident in the improper level crossing. He has used these real accidents into the screenplay apt and certainly not to create tragedy like how we had seen in several movies in the past. He has also taken a dig at Saravana Stores describing how cruel they are with poor illiterate people from village and how rude they are to these people. He has also concentrated on describing how people come to a different city to earn for their family, which is entirely dependant on the person for bread and butter. There are quite a few scenes where Vasantha Balan has literally made the audience to move with the screenplay and fantastic dialogues by Jayamohan. When a dwarf worries that his kid was born resembling him with crippled legs and hands, his wife was very much happy with the way the kid was born resembling him. Asked why, she replied, none can question her on her chastity as they live in the streets and moreover her husband is a dwarf. This specific scene took the audience off their seat and got accolades.
Who can take an open challenge to go and shoot with your mobile camera in the Ranganathan Street? I bet, you will immediately delete the video from your mobile on seeing the quality of capture. Imagine the shoot, which took place in the same street with no sets. Normally, when you shoot in public, it will attract the crowd, but you are in a street where you can see 4 people per square meter. These are more than enough challenges for the debutant Richard. Be it the busy Ranganathan Street or the clean drought village, the debutant scores significantly high and claim due credits for his phenomenal work behind the camera.
Music and the background score for the movie did not let the momentum of the movie to go down. In this aspect, both Vijay Antony, who has also handled the background score and G V Prakash has done a decent job with neat songs and rhythmic clear BGM.
Vasantha Balan scripts each and every frame brilliantly. The continuity has been maintained very well with Sreekar Prasad doing a crisp work with his scissors. Vasantha Balan gave valid justification and also did not over bore the audience with too much emotion or too much humor. He is just 3 movies old director and he has got the ability to maintain the pace and calculate the pulse of the audience. You get to see a lot of beggars who can bring soft corner as soon as you see them. But Vasantha Balan did not bring the emotion in just showing them but also used them along with the screenplay to bring in emotion. Overall, the product is a very neat and genuine attempt and a welcome movie for the Tamil Cinema Audience.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Politics In Tamil Cinema
Since the time that Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi and Bharat Ratna M.G. Ramachandran used their movies to propagate their ideals to the masses, Tamil films have always had a intertwined relationship with the politics in Tamil Nadu.
While there has been no dearth of actors in politics and politicians in movies in Tamizh Nadu, there have been very few movies dealing with Politics in Tamizh Movies. Here is a look at few of them (not exhaustive or based on any merit - just a few of the recent ones):
Iruvar - This is, in my opinion, one of the best bio-pics made in Tamizh Cinema. Mani Ratnam does an amazing job in picking two characters best known in Tamizh Arasiyal (politics) - that of MGR and Karunanidhi and has based his movie on their lives. (To be politically correct, lets just say they were based). The best thing that Mani Ratnam did was to avoid showing one of them as the villain or a negative character. Anandan's intentions behind politics (To eradicate poverty) and Tamizhselvan's Dravidian philosophy are shown countermanding from the first scene in which Anandan and TamizhSelvan meet. The weakness and insecurity that both these giants of TN Politics go through in the movie are brilliantly portrayed by Mohan Lal who plays Anandhan and Prakash Raj who plays Tamizhselvan. The scene where Anandan comes out on the terrace of Tamizhchelvan's house and sees the crowd is a perfect scene of movie making basics, and of course A.R. Rahman's awe-inspiring BGM. For many Tamizh Cinema fans who complain that Rahman does not do justice to BGMs, please see his works with Mani and you shall know the man's genius. The others in the cast, too, perform amply within the scope - with the pick of them being Gauthami and Rajesh.
Ayitha Ezhuthu - A populist story, Mani Ratnam deals with college politics and how rowdyism has come to play a ever present role in politics. This movie literally revealed two actors to Tamizh Cinema, who have gone places after this movie. First is the best performer in this movie, R. Madhavan, who playing Inbasekar, completely overwhelms you. He is not playing a likeable character - and being recognized as Alaipaayudhey Madhavan, it must have been difficult for him to convince the audience as a out and out moral-less and unscrupulous character. The real victory for Mani and of course, Madhavan is that by the end of the movie, you really hated Inbasekar, which was an accomplishment of sorts, for the public image of Madhavan at that point of time was that of a chocolate boy. The second winner in this movie was Surya - who played a populist, slightly-left student politician, Michael Vasanth. Surya, who had matured through Nandha, grown through Kaakha Kaakha, arrived through Ayitha Ezhuthu. It is interesting to note that R. Madhavan has scaled new heights in Indian cinema with varied and versatile roles in Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots, while Surya is now a frontline actor who, has carefully balanced mindless masala movies like Aaru and noteworthy, versatile movies like Vaaranam Aayiram. Inspired from Amerros Perros, Mani Ratnam crafted a screenplay wherein a shooting incident is the central spot of meeting for the the three characters in the movie. This movie though, was not one amongst Mani's best efforts and the third track involving Siddarth was not as well developed as one expects in a Mani movie. The other revelation in this movie was Bharathi Raja, who plays the corrupt minister, Selvanayagam who brings such realism to his character that it sometimes hurts! This was the first album where Rahman went all out with an international feel - Dol Dol, Hey Goodbye Nanba and Yakkai Thiri being new sounds for the Tamizh ears. And incidentally, Yakkai Thiri was one of those few songs in Tamizh music that does not have any verbs in it. (Trivia time?!)
Makkal-aatchchi - R.K. Selvamani's masterpiece tells about a the tale of Mamootty, who gets involved in politics purely by chance and rises to the position of a Chief Minister of a state. This movie put in solid scenes what people were till then assuming about the rich and powerful in politics then - that they had little to no ethics, no morals and would go to any lengths for money and power. The movie starts off well and the first half is as good as any other movie in Tamizh Cinema. The second half has lots of twists (some of them unneeded) and at the end of the movie you do not know whether you can believe what our leaders say in the media. Mamootty as expected, takes the honors in the acting department while the movie also boasts of some sharp editing work. The music, as can be expected of non-Ilayaraja or non-Rahman movies of those times is hardly note-worthy.
Mudhalvan - Shankar's take on current affairs and politics, this movie creates a fantasy genre in political movies. Originally supposed to have been scripted for none other than the Superstar Rajni Kanth, this movie, surprisingly has Arjun Sarja in the lead and ends up being one of Arjun's best works - apart from Gentleman and Ayudha Poojai. The movie has a very identifiable cause - that politicians are more concerned about their vote-bank and so resort to caste politics and of course Shankar's pet theme - Corruption. The screenplay is one of the best in TC - there is almost no sag in the story till the end. And the lines by Sujatha were brilliant, especially the interview scene between Pughazendhi (Arjun) and Aranganathan (Raghuvaran). The only complaint with this movie was the romantic angle, played by Manisha Koirala who pretty much comes only for duets. Coming to duets, this movie again has A.R. Rahman at the helm and he churns out delightful numbers and some terrific BGMs too - especially for the scenes when Arjun is the CM for a day.
Bharath Bandh - This was a movie I had seen when I was really young and I suspect is a Telugu dubbed movie. This movie again, is based on Political intrigue and as suggested by its title is based around a bandh organized by some politicians for their personal gains. This movie, though, not great in terms of acting or cast (the lone saviour being the national award winning actress, Archana), shows you a sample of how politicians make self centered and short sighted decisions, purely based on their and their kin's well being with little or no regard for the public who voted them to power. The movie also features some gruesome killings and violence.
The interesting thing has been that though the perceived ills of politics - namely, caste/religion based politics, pseudo-secularism, corruption, coercion and rowdyism have been graphically represented in movies like the ones listed above and many others, it is pitiable that nothing has changed. It is really disappointing to see even well educated people getting involved in caste wars and tax evasion issues, even as recently as yesterday!!
While there has been no dearth of actors in politics and politicians in movies in Tamizh Nadu, there have been very few movies dealing with Politics in Tamizh Movies. Here is a look at few of them (not exhaustive or based on any merit - just a few of the recent ones):
Iruvar - This is, in my opinion, one of the best bio-pics made in Tamizh Cinema. Mani Ratnam does an amazing job in picking two characters best known in Tamizh Arasiyal (politics) - that of MGR and Karunanidhi and has based his movie on their lives. (To be politically correct, lets just say they were based). The best thing that Mani Ratnam did was to avoid showing one of them as the villain or a negative character. Anandan's intentions behind politics (To eradicate poverty) and Tamizhselvan's Dravidian philosophy are shown countermanding from the first scene in which Anandan and TamizhSelvan meet. The weakness and insecurity that both these giants of TN Politics go through in the movie are brilliantly portrayed by Mohan Lal who plays Anandhan and Prakash Raj who plays Tamizhselvan. The scene where Anandan comes out on the terrace of Tamizhchelvan's house and sees the crowd is a perfect scene of movie making basics, and of course A.R. Rahman's awe-inspiring BGM. For many Tamizh Cinema fans who complain that Rahman does not do justice to BGMs, please see his works with Mani and you shall know the man's genius. The others in the cast, too, perform amply within the scope - with the pick of them being Gauthami and Rajesh.
Ayitha Ezhuthu - A populist story, Mani Ratnam deals with college politics and how rowdyism has come to play a ever present role in politics. This movie literally revealed two actors to Tamizh Cinema, who have gone places after this movie. First is the best performer in this movie, R. Madhavan, who playing Inbasekar, completely overwhelms you. He is not playing a likeable character - and being recognized as Alaipaayudhey Madhavan, it must have been difficult for him to convince the audience as a out and out moral-less and unscrupulous character. The real victory for Mani and of course, Madhavan is that by the end of the movie, you really hated Inbasekar, which was an accomplishment of sorts, for the public image of Madhavan at that point of time was that of a chocolate boy. The second winner in this movie was Surya - who played a populist, slightly-left student politician, Michael Vasanth. Surya, who had matured through Nandha, grown through Kaakha Kaakha, arrived through Ayitha Ezhuthu. It is interesting to note that R. Madhavan has scaled new heights in Indian cinema with varied and versatile roles in Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots, while Surya is now a frontline actor who, has carefully balanced mindless masala movies like Aaru and noteworthy, versatile movies like Vaaranam Aayiram. Inspired from Amerros Perros, Mani Ratnam crafted a screenplay wherein a shooting incident is the central spot of meeting for the the three characters in the movie. This movie though, was not one amongst Mani's best efforts and the third track involving Siddarth was not as well developed as one expects in a Mani movie. The other revelation in this movie was Bharathi Raja, who plays the corrupt minister, Selvanayagam who brings such realism to his character that it sometimes hurts! This was the first album where Rahman went all out with an international feel - Dol Dol, Hey Goodbye Nanba and Yakkai Thiri being new sounds for the Tamizh ears. And incidentally, Yakkai Thiri was one of those few songs in Tamizh music that does not have any verbs in it. (Trivia time?!)
Makkal-aatchchi - R.K. Selvamani's masterpiece tells about a the tale of Mamootty, who gets involved in politics purely by chance and rises to the position of a Chief Minister of a state. This movie put in solid scenes what people were till then assuming about the rich and powerful in politics then - that they had little to no ethics, no morals and would go to any lengths for money and power. The movie starts off well and the first half is as good as any other movie in Tamizh Cinema. The second half has lots of twists (some of them unneeded) and at the end of the movie you do not know whether you can believe what our leaders say in the media. Mamootty as expected, takes the honors in the acting department while the movie also boasts of some sharp editing work. The music, as can be expected of non-Ilayaraja or non-Rahman movies of those times is hardly note-worthy.
Mudhalvan - Shankar's take on current affairs and politics, this movie creates a fantasy genre in political movies. Originally supposed to have been scripted for none other than the Superstar Rajni Kanth, this movie, surprisingly has Arjun Sarja in the lead and ends up being one of Arjun's best works - apart from Gentleman and Ayudha Poojai. The movie has a very identifiable cause - that politicians are more concerned about their vote-bank and so resort to caste politics and of course Shankar's pet theme - Corruption. The screenplay is one of the best in TC - there is almost no sag in the story till the end. And the lines by Sujatha were brilliant, especially the interview scene between Pughazendhi (Arjun) and Aranganathan (Raghuvaran). The only complaint with this movie was the romantic angle, played by Manisha Koirala who pretty much comes only for duets. Coming to duets, this movie again has A.R. Rahman at the helm and he churns out delightful numbers and some terrific BGMs too - especially for the scenes when Arjun is the CM for a day.
Bharath Bandh - This was a movie I had seen when I was really young and I suspect is a Telugu dubbed movie. This movie again, is based on Political intrigue and as suggested by its title is based around a bandh organized by some politicians for their personal gains. This movie, though, not great in terms of acting or cast (the lone saviour being the national award winning actress, Archana), shows you a sample of how politicians make self centered and short sighted decisions, purely based on their and their kin's well being with little or no regard for the public who voted them to power. The movie also features some gruesome killings and violence.
The interesting thing has been that though the perceived ills of politics - namely, caste/religion based politics, pseudo-secularism, corruption, coercion and rowdyism have been graphically represented in movies like the ones listed above and many others, it is pitiable that nothing has changed. It is really disappointing to see even well educated people getting involved in caste wars and tax evasion issues, even as recently as yesterday!!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tamil Padam Film Review
I am not going to evaluate this movie analysing it's Camera composition, Sound Recording, Editing excellence and the likes. Keep aside the sacred rules of Cinema and hop onto it ... But, I think it is reasonable on my part to expect an engaging screenplay, even though it brands itself a Mockumentary feature. The Only reasonable benchmark against which the movie can be accessed should be, Vijay TV's weekly feature "Lollu Sabha". But, honestly speaking, the movie fared much below-par, the standards of a spoofy mockumentary and presents a much boring endeavor altogether.
If you look at the rolls of Tamil Cinema, if this movie is the curtain-riser of this so-called genre "Mockumentary", the answer would be "Yes". A few of the Satyaraj flicks (like Englishkaaran and Mahanadigan), Venkat Prabhu's cocktails and the most recent "Quickgun Murugan" etc have a pinch of this genre, but not as wholesome as Tamil Padam. The movie's stills and trailor only heightened up our expectations and we were all set for an absolute rib tickler. Being aware of the fact that the movie is going to pick up pieces from various tamil films, the only expectation from my side was, "How will the screenplay be adjusted to fit in all those pieces of a jigsaw puzzle ?". Ahh !! And, the result, I should say, was miserable.
The characters - I understand that the movie is a parody and that the characters are caricatures, but you need not be caricaturously caricaturesque. I don't ask for touchy characters but for logical & hilarious ones. The cast of Manobala, M.S.Bhaskar, Vennira Aadai and Paravai Muniyamma - the oldie-foursome with all their college-dude characterisations and machi-conversations just torture you to the highest possible extent. I was frequently glancing at my watch for the movie to get over and the second half was an extreme prick and I should say, a lot (if not all) of Lollu Sabha episodes were better than this movie. The problem, I think, was with the length. The movie runs for close-to 2:15 hours and you only rush out of the theatres as it has got over.
Complaints apart, the film has it's hilarious moments, Thalapathy-Mammooty and the Mani ratnam style one word conversations, "Ippaadalai Paadikondiruppavar ungal Siva", Mouna Raagam-Karthik, Lady Don Sornam and her rape attempts, becoming a millionaire in half a song, A English song - etc were good. Mirchi Shiva just fits in the role and he is becoming more of a type-cast, these days ... His performance was good anyways. The film parodies various tamil masala regulars like Introduction song, punch dialogues, village panchayats etc but definitely loses out in keeping you engaged, the whole slot. The heroine was a regular face and a more regular role - Nothing great.
The film tries to score on the shock value, by parodying tamil cinema to an all new, non-existent low stature. But, even then, it doesn't seem to work all fine. The film looked more like an unfinished product, with hanging scene sequences and absolutely out-of-nowhere plot incidents. I still feel that the movie would have kicked-off with the script in its infancy and the product, instead of being a polished outcome, was crude and looked like patches pasted together.
I am supremely confident that, with however lighter vein, you are in, you wouldn't be able to avoid those distressed disturbances & uneasiness, at some point or the other, with the movie. Considering the fact that you have the entire 80 year old tamil cinema history at your disposal, the film could have been more interesting. A bit of more homework on the director's part would have resulted in a better-fit pieces on this jigsaw board.
Miserable and Missable.
If you look at the rolls of Tamil Cinema, if this movie is the curtain-riser of this so-called genre "Mockumentary", the answer would be "Yes". A few of the Satyaraj flicks (like Englishkaaran and Mahanadigan), Venkat Prabhu's cocktails and the most recent "Quickgun Murugan" etc have a pinch of this genre, but not as wholesome as Tamil Padam. The movie's stills and trailor only heightened up our expectations and we were all set for an absolute rib tickler. Being aware of the fact that the movie is going to pick up pieces from various tamil films, the only expectation from my side was, "How will the screenplay be adjusted to fit in all those pieces of a jigsaw puzzle ?". Ahh !! And, the result, I should say, was miserable.
The characters - I understand that the movie is a parody and that the characters are caricatures, but you need not be caricaturously caricaturesque. I don't ask for touchy characters but for logical & hilarious ones. The cast of Manobala, M.S.Bhaskar, Vennira Aadai and Paravai Muniyamma - the oldie-foursome with all their college-dude characterisations and machi-conversations just torture you to the highest possible extent. I was frequently glancing at my watch for the movie to get over and the second half was an extreme prick and I should say, a lot (if not all) of Lollu Sabha episodes were better than this movie. The problem, I think, was with the length. The movie runs for close-to 2:15 hours and you only rush out of the theatres as it has got over.
Complaints apart, the film has it's hilarious moments, Thalapathy-Mammooty and the Mani ratnam style one word conversations, "Ippaadalai Paadikondiruppavar ungal Siva", Mouna Raagam-Karthik, Lady Don Sornam and her rape attempts, becoming a millionaire in half a song, A English song - etc were good. Mirchi Shiva just fits in the role and he is becoming more of a type-cast, these days ... His performance was good anyways. The film parodies various tamil masala regulars like Introduction song, punch dialogues, village panchayats etc but definitely loses out in keeping you engaged, the whole slot. The heroine was a regular face and a more regular role - Nothing great.
The film tries to score on the shock value, by parodying tamil cinema to an all new, non-existent low stature. But, even then, it doesn't seem to work all fine. The film looked more like an unfinished product, with hanging scene sequences and absolutely out-of-nowhere plot incidents. I still feel that the movie would have kicked-off with the script in its infancy and the product, instead of being a polished outcome, was crude and looked like patches pasted together.
I am supremely confident that, with however lighter vein, you are in, you wouldn't be able to avoid those distressed disturbances & uneasiness, at some point or the other, with the movie. Considering the fact that you have the entire 80 year old tamil cinema history at your disposal, the film could have been more interesting. A bit of more homework on the director's part would have resulted in a better-fit pieces on this jigsaw board.
Miserable and Missable.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Flashback
Year 2009, the year where again wasn't a very prominent year for Tamil Cinema. We have had big surprises in both forms. Most anticipated movies failing to satisfy the audience and we had a few dark horses as well. We also had a few stars to whom year 2009 was in deed a boon and likewise the other side shares a major space too.
So to the statistics, Tamil Cinema had seen approximately 103 movies this year, just marginal difference from the last year where we had close to 117 movies. This time we had around 8 movies officially considered as remakes from other language and of course there are a bunch of unofficial remakes as well. Out of the 8 movies, a special mention should go to 'Unnai Pol Oruvan' which was remade into tamil from the usual remake principle.
Sasikumar, the director turned producer turned actor had two of his products this year and both of them got a great response from the audience as well as the critics. His production venture 'Pasanga' satisfied many and also earned accolades. 'Nadodigal', a tale about friendship, directed by Samuthira Kani also tasted success at the box office with it's racy screenplay and a polite and clean acting by all the cast. It's very clear that this man has rose in a swift and become very popular in a short span.
Tamanna will anticipate every year to be a 2009 when she wakes up every morning. She had 4 movies released this year and out of which 3 were bagged by Sun Pictures and 1 turned out to be a block buster and other 2 were considered as hits. She has also got good list of movies in the pipeline with the next one 'Payya' pairing opposite to Karthi. Hope she continues to do the same in the years to come.
Coming to Music, it was Vijay Antony who’s started with his peppy numbers to attract the listeners. He started with 'A Aa E Ee' and closed the year with another chart buster 'Vettaikaran'. Not to forget Sun Pictures who played a vital role in the field of marketting in media and in radio stations. But still, the music director earns full credit for his foot tapping numbers. Yuvan Shankar Raja also had 5 movies which released this year and turned out to be a good chartbuster. His Sarvam and Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum songs literally occupied the hello tunes.
Now comes the master who literally rules the 2009. Yes, it's Sun Pictures. They were able to turn every movie released this year at least a hit. And they also have the year's biggest block buster 'Ayan'. But, they must also focus on a few quality movies which are desperately trying hard to get released because of various distribution reasons. If they start doing that, they can even promote those movies in the best way than any other distributor.
Official bombers
Every year, every site brings you the most anticipated movies in this year. 2009 is no exception we have had many expected movies from big stars and directors. Well, as usual, unfortunately, most of the movies failed to even just meet the expectation. It all started with the opener of the innings with Vijay's Villu. Coming from the expectation Vijay-Prabhu Deva combo, it was trashed even by the actor's fans. Good night watchmen innings by Vadivelu and glimpse skin show by Nayan were just the condolence factor for the movie.
Sarvam, by Vishnu vardhan, carried the expectation from the block buster 'Billa' failed to even cross 25 days. Again, some good show by the camera man Nirav Shah and pleasant music by Yuvan which had left the movie songs to become a chartbuster and it was Nirav who had a good name with the critics for this fabulous photography especially the night shoot sequences in the movie. It also had Chakkravarthy who added more expectation, but eventually, it was all the script and the screenplay which the audience expects than the stars or the directors.
Cheran's Pokkisham was another bomber which had quite a reasonable expectation. The lengthy biography literally tested the patience of the audience. Repetitive scenes and dialogues added pain to the agony. Thought a few critics appreciated the movie, it’s still a loss for Nemichand Jabak.
Immediately following Pokkisham was 'Kanthasamy'. Perhaps, the most anticipated movie of the year I can call. Critics just ripped the movie to the maximum they can. Once again Kalaipuli Dhanu failed to witness profit with his yet another big budget movies. Susi ganesan, thinks he can become Shankar in his third movie like how Shankar become. This movie had nothing great except for some skin shows and songs.
Aadhavan, KSR-Surya combo is yet another bomber where Surya carried intense expectation from Ayan and also KSR who need no explanation for the anticipation he creates. The hype created for the 10 year role bombed again and KSR must seriously consider the fact that story is again a key element in movie making and he shouldn't depend on Ramesh Kanna. Vadivelu is again a life saver in this movie with his spontaneous comedy has just saved the movie to cross the bridge.
Worthy Numbers
Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, had all new faces and with the notable Villian Kishore doing a decent role of a coach was really a worthy watch exception to the artificial climax where the director unnecessarily planted a tragedy. Not many movies with having a subject as a sport has been seen in Tamil Cinema. The director has utilized the script in a proper way and mixed it with the native feel of village and given us a worthy product.
Naan Kadavul, 4th product from the macho man, Bala. Easily the best movie released in this year, though failed in the box office, it just swept every critics. This is also probably most anticipated movie this year, last year and the previous year as well as it was made for nearly 3 years because of various issues. I wish this movie and the cast and crew gets reasonable accolades for the fantafabulous performances.
Yaavarum Nalam, a long time no see from the actor Madhavan and a long time no see from the Horror genre to Tamil Cinema. Directed by Vikram Kumar, this horror flick tasted success in both forms. The film dominated the box office as well as it was acclaimed critically. This movie also differentiated itself from the usual in-the-name-of horror flicks where we saw gory horrifying blood shed faces in the name of ghost. Yaavarum Nalam is certainly one of the better products this year.
Delayed 'Kanchivaram' from Priya Darshan, story about a weaver during the freedom struggle. The movie has already fetched a National Award for Prakashraj for his fantastic performance. The movie which was censored years back finally hit the screens of Tamil Nadu this year.
Pasanga, from the school of Sasikumar, the director's assistant Pandiraj proved a different class. With just pasanga as the cast, he just molded the movie perfectly to win the satisfaction amongst the audience. Sasikumar should be given a special mention for producing as well as encouraging such aspiring talents.
Eeram, from the production house of S Pictures, comes another talent in the name of Arivazhagan. Yet another horror genre though it had loop holes, it was still made very well. The concept for the product, Water, was efficiently used by the director with incorporating nuances and symbolism.
Unnai Pol Oruvan, the brilliant remake of 'A Wednesday'. Hardly have we seen a movie which runs for just 2 hours and it's very hard to see a movie without any songs in the current era. But the master who has done Ph.D was brave enough to give a fantastic remake also bringing in the ace actor Mohan Lal. UPO was certainly a standard movie that could possible be an inspiring movie for aspiring movie makers.
Peraanmai, the diwali cracker, has managed to blossom very well dealing with a patriotic script. SP Jananathan, yet again proved to be a class director with casting Jayam Ravi in an unusual role from his stereotyped character.
Hollywood Rulers
Titanic and Jurassic Park wave has just arrived in the form of 2012 and Avatar. Quite surprisingly these movies shattered all other regional movies not just in Tamil Cinema, but it just swept other movies to the corner in all the regions it got released in their regional dubbed version earning gross quite more than the big star movies.
So, let's hope the next year to be a better year than 2009 and we also have a few most anticipated movies eagerly waiting to hit the silver screens in the year 2010.
So to the statistics, Tamil Cinema had seen approximately 103 movies this year, just marginal difference from the last year where we had close to 117 movies. This time we had around 8 movies officially considered as remakes from other language and of course there are a bunch of unofficial remakes as well. Out of the 8 movies, a special mention should go to 'Unnai Pol Oruvan' which was remade into tamil from the usual remake principle.
Sasikumar, the director turned producer turned actor had two of his products this year and both of them got a great response from the audience as well as the critics. His production venture 'Pasanga' satisfied many and also earned accolades. 'Nadodigal', a tale about friendship, directed by Samuthira Kani also tasted success at the box office with it's racy screenplay and a polite and clean acting by all the cast. It's very clear that this man has rose in a swift and become very popular in a short span.
Tamanna will anticipate every year to be a 2009 when she wakes up every morning. She had 4 movies released this year and out of which 3 were bagged by Sun Pictures and 1 turned out to be a block buster and other 2 were considered as hits. She has also got good list of movies in the pipeline with the next one 'Payya' pairing opposite to Karthi. Hope she continues to do the same in the years to come.
Coming to Music, it was Vijay Antony who’s started with his peppy numbers to attract the listeners. He started with 'A Aa E Ee' and closed the year with another chart buster 'Vettaikaran'. Not to forget Sun Pictures who played a vital role in the field of marketting in media and in radio stations. But still, the music director earns full credit for his foot tapping numbers. Yuvan Shankar Raja also had 5 movies which released this year and turned out to be a good chartbuster. His Sarvam and Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum songs literally occupied the hello tunes.
Now comes the master who literally rules the 2009. Yes, it's Sun Pictures. They were able to turn every movie released this year at least a hit. And they also have the year's biggest block buster 'Ayan'. But, they must also focus on a few quality movies which are desperately trying hard to get released because of various distribution reasons. If they start doing that, they can even promote those movies in the best way than any other distributor.
Official bombers
Every year, every site brings you the most anticipated movies in this year. 2009 is no exception we have had many expected movies from big stars and directors. Well, as usual, unfortunately, most of the movies failed to even just meet the expectation. It all started with the opener of the innings with Vijay's Villu. Coming from the expectation Vijay-Prabhu Deva combo, it was trashed even by the actor's fans. Good night watchmen innings by Vadivelu and glimpse skin show by Nayan were just the condolence factor for the movie.
Sarvam, by Vishnu vardhan, carried the expectation from the block buster 'Billa' failed to even cross 25 days. Again, some good show by the camera man Nirav Shah and pleasant music by Yuvan which had left the movie songs to become a chartbuster and it was Nirav who had a good name with the critics for this fabulous photography especially the night shoot sequences in the movie. It also had Chakkravarthy who added more expectation, but eventually, it was all the script and the screenplay which the audience expects than the stars or the directors.
Cheran's Pokkisham was another bomber which had quite a reasonable expectation. The lengthy biography literally tested the patience of the audience. Repetitive scenes and dialogues added pain to the agony. Thought a few critics appreciated the movie, it’s still a loss for Nemichand Jabak.
Immediately following Pokkisham was 'Kanthasamy'. Perhaps, the most anticipated movie of the year I can call. Critics just ripped the movie to the maximum they can. Once again Kalaipuli Dhanu failed to witness profit with his yet another big budget movies. Susi ganesan, thinks he can become Shankar in his third movie like how Shankar become. This movie had nothing great except for some skin shows and songs.
Aadhavan, KSR-Surya combo is yet another bomber where Surya carried intense expectation from Ayan and also KSR who need no explanation for the anticipation he creates. The hype created for the 10 year role bombed again and KSR must seriously consider the fact that story is again a key element in movie making and he shouldn't depend on Ramesh Kanna. Vadivelu is again a life saver in this movie with his spontaneous comedy has just saved the movie to cross the bridge.
Worthy Numbers
Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, had all new faces and with the notable Villian Kishore doing a decent role of a coach was really a worthy watch exception to the artificial climax where the director unnecessarily planted a tragedy. Not many movies with having a subject as a sport has been seen in Tamil Cinema. The director has utilized the script in a proper way and mixed it with the native feel of village and given us a worthy product.
Naan Kadavul, 4th product from the macho man, Bala. Easily the best movie released in this year, though failed in the box office, it just swept every critics. This is also probably most anticipated movie this year, last year and the previous year as well as it was made for nearly 3 years because of various issues. I wish this movie and the cast and crew gets reasonable accolades for the fantafabulous performances.
Yaavarum Nalam, a long time no see from the actor Madhavan and a long time no see from the Horror genre to Tamil Cinema. Directed by Vikram Kumar, this horror flick tasted success in both forms. The film dominated the box office as well as it was acclaimed critically. This movie also differentiated itself from the usual in-the-name-of horror flicks where we saw gory horrifying blood shed faces in the name of ghost. Yaavarum Nalam is certainly one of the better products this year.
Delayed 'Kanchivaram' from Priya Darshan, story about a weaver during the freedom struggle. The movie has already fetched a National Award for Prakashraj for his fantastic performance. The movie which was censored years back finally hit the screens of Tamil Nadu this year.
Pasanga, from the school of Sasikumar, the director's assistant Pandiraj proved a different class. With just pasanga as the cast, he just molded the movie perfectly to win the satisfaction amongst the audience. Sasikumar should be given a special mention for producing as well as encouraging such aspiring talents.
Eeram, from the production house of S Pictures, comes another talent in the name of Arivazhagan. Yet another horror genre though it had loop holes, it was still made very well. The concept for the product, Water, was efficiently used by the director with incorporating nuances and symbolism.
Unnai Pol Oruvan, the brilliant remake of 'A Wednesday'. Hardly have we seen a movie which runs for just 2 hours and it's very hard to see a movie without any songs in the current era. But the master who has done Ph.D was brave enough to give a fantastic remake also bringing in the ace actor Mohan Lal. UPO was certainly a standard movie that could possible be an inspiring movie for aspiring movie makers.
Peraanmai, the diwali cracker, has managed to blossom very well dealing with a patriotic script. SP Jananathan, yet again proved to be a class director with casting Jayam Ravi in an unusual role from his stereotyped character.
Hollywood Rulers
Titanic and Jurassic Park wave has just arrived in the form of 2012 and Avatar. Quite surprisingly these movies shattered all other regional movies not just in Tamil Cinema, but it just swept other movies to the corner in all the regions it got released in their regional dubbed version earning gross quite more than the big star movies.
So, let's hope the next year to be a better year than 2009 and we also have a few most anticipated movies eagerly waiting to hit the silver screens in the year 2010.
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