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

Aranmanai Review

Aranmanai Review – Aranmanai is a Tamil horror comedy released in 2014. The owners of a old palace get together in the palace after many years to sell the palace. But things go awry when they encounter an evil spirit in the palace that kills people.

Off late the genre of comedy horror is becoming popular in Tamil Cinema. Movies like Yaamirukka Bayamey did well in the box office. However Aranmanai fails to capitalize on this as it is caught somewhere between a comedy and a serious horror drama. It neither gives you the chills and the thrills not it makes you laugh. The overload of cast and characters leave very less scope for many of them. Only the three leading ladies and Sundar C has some role to perform in the movie. The movie employs plots that would have worked well in the 80s and 90s. Also the length of the movie is very long and makes you very tired and exhausted. If the director had cut down the length, few characters and stayed away from the clichés of age old formula the movie might have been a decent one.

Overall it seems to be a mash up of Sundar C and Rama Narayanan’s movie that may not work well for the present time.

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Yaan Review

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Yaan Review – is a Tamil action thriller released in 2014. Chandru is happily unemployed and enjoys life. When he meets Sreela he immediately falls in love with her, but is forced to find a job if he has to marry her. The job Chandru takes puts him into a life threatening situation. Will he be able to come out of the situation and marry Sreela is the plot of Yaan.

Well Yaan has good casting, brilliant cinematography, great stunts, decent plot but the thread that connects all these together in the form of screenplay and characterization is missing. It takes more than half the movie for the audience to figure out what the conflict is. And still at the end of the movie I was left wondering if it was love or drug trafficking.  The climax is absolutely ridiculous. Cinematographer turned director Ravi K. Chandran has a lot potential to make some visually stunning movies. If he partners with some good screen writers he would be able to make very good movies. Some of the visual sequences you would love in the movie are the initial fight sequence, the way the hero recreates his encounter with the heroine, the song sequences and the stunt choreography.

Overall if you are seeing sequences from Yaan in isolation it looks good but when put together in a product it would make you yawn. If you are a fan of stunning visuals and stunts watch this at home or else you would not miss much.

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Khoobsurat

Khoobsurat – is a Hindi romance drama released in 2014. A fun loving and spontaneous physiotherapist is invited into a highly disciplined and a highly formal royal family to treat King’s paralyzed legs.

Disney princess stories no matter how many times it has been told is an evergreen success formula. But Khoobsurat has taken the fairy tale and made a below average Bollywood romance drama.  They had tried to adapt the 1980’s Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film for this romance drama.  Kirron Kher plays the role of Sonam’s mother, Manju; if you remember Rekha played the character of Manju a young fun loving girl in the 1980 movie. Were they trying bring in  connect back? The platform for a nice princess story had been set very well, choosing Jaipur as a backdrop is an excellent choice but the screenplay gets derailed in the first 20 minutes of the movie and the writers seem to have run out of ideas and they started to adapt sequences from many Hollywood romance dramas to fill the rest of the movie. The characterizations are weak; they seem to run out of breath very quickly. Sonam Kapoor looks cute and pretty but when it comes to acting her expressions are between A and B.

Quickgun Murugan seems to be a much better outing for Shashanka Gosh compared to this one. You can give this one a skip.

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Anjaan

Anjaan – is a Tamil action drama released in 2014. A Mumbai gangster seeks out revenge against a rival for the murder of his close friend.

By now many of you have read reviews about Anjaan. I had a very low expectation when I went to watch it. The core plot of the movie has some substance for it to become a blockbuster. A gangster’s revenge saga would heavily depend upon screenplay and build-up of characters but the movie totally failed in this department. There is a 20 minute block in the middle of the script which you might find engaging but the rest is so disconnected and far from the plot that it spoils the entire product. Director Lingusamy should start working with new screenwriters for fresh thoughts. He is still sticking to sequences like introducing an innocent guy and later reveals he is a violent guy when he starts bashing up all villains closing the gate. The whole unit seemed to have banked on the charismatic presence of Suriya and never bothered to shape up any other character including the supposedly treacherous villain Manoj Bajpayee who barely gets 3 sequences in the entire movie, he doesn’t look treacherous at all. Samantha who is not significant for the movie plot gets more screen time than Vidyut Jamwal and Manoj Bajpayee. The dialogues writing department has run out of creative ideas and the dialogues in the first half reminded me of those dubbed Hindi soap serials running on TV. Suriya has performed well as Raju Bhai, he looks stylish but as Krishna he is not even half convincing.

Overall this would be a movie Suriya and Lingusamy would have to forget and move on.

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Vadacurry

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Vadacurry – is a Tamil thriller released in 2014. A novice medical representative gets into trouble when he gets a iPhone that had been misplaced by someone else.

The movie had a promising promo but the screenplay and execution is a big letdown. Hardly there are entertaining and engaging parts in the story. The screenplay is a mash up of sequences that are far related to each other. The director has created multiple characters and fails to utilize them in the movie. Like that of his brother, sister in law and their daughter hardly have any role to play. During the establishing sequence these are the characters that are stressed upon. The characters in the establishing phase are different from those in the buildup phase who are different from those in the climax. Overall you can skip this one as this has very little to offer.

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Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal

Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal – is a Tamil romantic comedy released in 2014. Kathir is a staunch devotee of Hanuman and believes in bachelorhood. However things take a turn when he meets Pavithra. He goes head over heels for her only to find that Pavithra already likes someone else. What happens next is the plot of Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal.

A very old formula which has been beaten to death in many movies is used here. The only way you could make it work is by bringing in fresh frames, unique situations and different narration style. Rather than concentrating on this director S.R Prabhakaran has tried sticking to the elements that worked for Udhaynidhi in his previous outing OK OK. Santhanam’s comedy also works only in parts which makes the script more dragging and less enjoyable. Instead if he had concentrated on building the characters and situations as he did with Sundarapandian it might have worked better. Overall the movie is a forgettable one.

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Jilla

Jilla – is a Tamil action drama released in 2013. Don Siva adopts the son of his driver after Sakthi and his father save don’s family in a fight. From then on Sakthi becomes the soul of Siva’s life and naturally evolves as a successor for Siva. Circumstances leads to a point were in Siva and Sakthi has to act against each other. Who wins remains the plot of Jilla.

The star cast has been the highlight of Jilla. Mohanlal and Vijay carry the story on their shoulders. Apart from the star cast there is nothing much left in the movie. The story feels very disconnected in the first half and the majority of the screenplay is written to please the fan following of Vijay and Mohanlal. In the effort of doing that there has not been any effort in building up for the plot. Director R T Neason did have some interesting screenplay at the end but he couldn’t build up the story towards it. You wait for almost 2 hours and 15 minutes before the climax sequence begins which has some interesting moments. You end up feeling so much for so less. Characters played by Kajal Agarwal, Poornima Jayaram seemed to be disconnected from the movie throughout. The menu of this pongal feast had been an interesting one but in the end you end up having below average taste in the main course till a delicious dessert is served in limited quantity. Many people might end up skipping the dessert.

What you would like: The star cast, climax sequence

What you would dislike: Length of the movie, unfitting songs, characters and sequences

Overall, Jilla is yet another forgettable mass masala movie from Vijay.

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Veeram

Veeram – is a Tamil Action Drama released in 2013. Vinayagam is a village don who lives with his five brothers. Together they stand for truce and believe in violence to bring about justice. Vinayagam falls in love with a girl whose father is also a head of a village but believes in non-violence as a mode for seeking justice. How does this conflict resolve, Did Vinayagam marry the girl he loves forms the plot of Veeram.

It is yet another movie that is written banking on the star value of Ajith. Director Siva known for his commercial masala pot boiler has not deviated from his comfort zone. The plot would remind of you of umpteen movies you had already seen in the past. Murattu Kaalai, Vaanathai pola, the recent remake of Murattu Kaalai. There is nothing new in this one either. At one point of time you feel the movie is heading towards the conflict between violence and non-violence to win a war. But it does nothing and has tried to bank on the commercial elements. On the whole Veeram is much of a forgettable affair. You wouldn’t miss much.

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Irandaam Ulagam

Irandaam Ulagam – is a Romance and Fantasy Tamil movie released in 2013.  The story happens in parallel across two planets Earth and an unknown planet. The unknown planet is inhabited by people who are like humans and still ruled by Kings. There is greed, fear, slavery and war spread over the race and there is absence of Love. The divine mother in the race believes a true love would bring in peace and build culture to the race. Meanwhile in Earth a medical student and a mathematician fall in love. At one point of time the two worlds connect and there is an opportunity to establish true love to the extra-terrestrial race. Was true love established, did it bring in order to their world is the rest of the plot.

Have you ever woken from a dream and thought how strange it was? That is the feeling you would get after watching Irandaam Ulagam. It is a never seen story line and canvas for Tamil Cinema. Selvaraghavan should be lauded for thinking of such a story line and putting in efforts to bring it on screen. Where the movie falters is in the screenplay and dialogues. You talk about true, divine love and hear dialogues of what you would hear in movies like 7G Rainbow Colony, Kadhal Kondaen it kind of creates a clichéd product output. He could have completely avoided that for this movie as it did not fit the bill. The movie doesn’t let you engage with it for long as too many things are happening on screen that is ethereal in nature. It is hard to make films of such demanding visual effects and still make it commercially viable for Tamil Cinema. Unfortunately that is harsh reality and our film makers are caught in this dilemma currently. To make this work, pre-production as a discipline should get well established in the industry to pre-plan and prototype good enough output that is convincing to the audience. This movie has done that to a good extent but they have missed out big time on casting, make up and detailing. Till this is got right there will be a disconnect. Overall the movie has taken the same route as what Baba took, its struggle to tell a compelling message to the audience vs trying to force in commercial elements into it. If you are willing to keep the distractions away and able to see the actual message that has been told and appreciate the efforts of a film maker to bring his dream on to the screen then you should definitely watch this once if not you can skip it.

Note: Please read the review completely before taking a call

Can Skip it – unless you are willing look beyond the on screen performances for the deep message in the movie.

 

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Sutta Kadhai

Sutta Kadhai – is a Tamil Slap stick comedy released in 2013.  In a fictitious tribal region Kora Malai the tribal head Ottagam is shot and killed when he is out hunting for birds. The daughter of Ottagam, two new recruits in the police are out to solve the mystery. Were they able to find the killer? is the plot of the movie.

Although the makers have tried to call it a dark comedy it is far from being dark and I would consider this as a slap stick comedy for the review. Director Subbu has struck upon a good concept, backdrop, characters and shots for the movie and where he has failed doing a good job is stitching the sequences together. It does however make you laugh occasionally. The casting for the movie is done well; you see experienced actors and newbies from Chennai Theatre group. The movie starts very well and demands a high degree of attention but after 30 mins into the movie it starts dragging as there are repeated and elaborate sequences. Before the knots are tied for the audience to keep guessing how it would be untied the story starts untying it. What they claimed to be a complex knot proves to be a very weak one.

What you would like: Concept and Characters, Absurdness in the script, Sambasivam comics

What you would dislike: Dragging and repeated sequences, Not so complicated problem, disconnected flow in the screenplay

Overall the movie is a forgettable affair.

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Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam

Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam – a tamil romantic comedy film released in 2013.  Sivanandi is a village head who is known for his violent nature. Among his priceless possession is the rifle presented to his father by the British. The movie starts with police investigating about Sivanandi’s third daughter who is known to be shot by Sivanandi as she eloped from his house along with her boyfriend. Once the news is confirmed police arrests Sivanandi and the movie travels into flashback of incidents that had led to this. Why did he kill his daughter and under what circumstances is the rest of the plot.

Director Ponram comes from the school of Director Rajesh (Boss engira Baskaran and OK OK). The movie has the same flavor of Rajesh’s movie but in a village background. Sathyaraj has a good presence in the movie and has done his character with ease. Siva Karthikeyan and Suri has been successful making audience laugh occasionally. The movie runs with the weight of its title thanks to Vadivel for getting this name in Winner. The plot is very simple and doesn’t warrant a 2.5 hours script. The sequences and situations of village fights, father not approving the love, jobless youth roaming in the village without taking anything seriously are all what you would have seen in previous movies numerous times. The only difference is the climax of the movie. Overall the movie is just an average flair and you cannot take it seriously as its lead characters do not take anything seriously, the movie just remains a forgettable one.

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Thalaivaa

Thalaivaa – is a Tamil action drama starring Vijay. The story is about a youngster Vishwa who takes up the role of a local leader and don saving people living in the slum after learning about his father’s past and his assassination.

Director AL Vijay had a powerful story line inspired from movies like God Father, Nayagan and Sarkar (Hindi) which is tailor made for Vijay’s mass value. However the movie’s screenplay is a big let down and goes all over the place. The crux of the story is about Vishwa’s father his values and how his deeds and eventuality leads Vishwa to become an inspirational leader. However more than 90 minutes of the movie does not deal with this which is a huge distraction. Due to this the impact of the characters and the problem they are fighting for doesn’t stay with the audience throughout. You would feel that it is a combination of many of the Vijay’s earlier movies into one. Ardent Vijay fans would enjoy watching this as it has all the necessary ingredients that is present in all Vijay movies and there are few sequences that are done very well, for all others this would be a forgettable movie.

Can skip it – unless you are a Vijay Fan!