Kabali by Pa. Ranjith (Review)

******Spoiler Alert******

Story: A story with Malaysian backdrop. Touches a lot on realism in the life of Malaysian gangsters and struggle faced by local Indians. Public engagement, love and action. A very simple yet different for superstar film.

Cast: Superstar Rajinkanth as Kabali. A very subtle yet gives massive presence here and there. It's been a while since we saw less dialogues more actions factor in him. Glad that Ranjith made that happen. Superb performance by Superstar. Really one of the best in his career. Radhika Apte as Kumudhavali. Limited presence yet impactful. Her performance during the reunion scene was mindblowing. Dhansika as Yogi. A badass woman. Her makeover was good. John Vijay played Amir. A great companion of Kabali. Well played. Attakathi Dinesh, comical as well as badass here and there. Kalaiarasan the turning point of the film. And antagonist Winston Chao, I would prefer a Malaysian Chinese play that role. And Kishore was just another Indian villain. Supporting characters played by Rosyam Nor, Riythvika, Naseer and many others.

Screenplay: Now how many will actually make homework on nativity and portray it in well manner. Ranjith did it. The Tamil language spoken in the film were well written with native Malaysian accent. Words like ponne;very, kaadi;car, sadaiyan;chinese and many more were used to resemble the characters in the film as Malaysian. Terms like "nandu kathai" is one rare input in the film. And Ranjith portrayed how the gangsterism in Malaysia works in a very realistic manner. For instance, the number for each gang, the special handshakes, the logos and funeral rituals and parades. Hats off man. There were buffer here and there but still it was engaging. One of the best intro scene for Thalaivar of course. And the action sequences were realistic. The climax fight scene is the best. This is not usual Superstar film. Please don't expect it to be another Padayapa or Sivaji whereby he becomes rich in one song. But the plot travels with one man's emotion.

Music: Composed by Santosh Narayanan. Thanks a lot for the BGM. Definitely a winner in the film.

Plus Point: Screenplay, Casts, BGM

Minus Point: Draggy at some points

Verdict: A classy entertainer from Superstar after Thalapathy. Less commercial values and more artistic.

Kaaka Muttai by M.Manikandan (Review)

Story: A photo-realistic movie with slum backdrop . Very engaging narration. The story had different spectrum of characters and perception of life each with their own life goal. The pattern of the plot was smooth, not complicated and very sweet to watch. Good family value, humour, and messages. Child-centric story in-line with pasanga and thanga meengal. A true masterpiece.

Cast: Ramesh and Vignesh played the lead role. Super adorable and soothing. well performed. Very realistic and they deserve the national award. Iyshwarya Rajesh as their mother. The typical slum mother image but very convincing with speech and dialogue deliverance. Very well performed young mother character. Babu Anthony played grey role, an almost antagonist. Not much of scope to perform yet he did well for his character. Supporting characters played by Ramesh Thilak, Yogi Babu and many others. Not many casts in this film since it was centralized on main few characters.

Screenplay: It's not easy to bring out the right emotion from a child artist. But the director succeeded. The scenes had good continuity and no exaggeration. Dialogues were raw, how it should be for a slum community. The good things about the movie, the director were more engaged in bringing out the performance of the actors rather than masala factors. He justifies the relevance of the scene for each transitions. Not lengthy just nice. A movie to be watched with family.

Music: Composed by G.V.Prakaash. Nice and soothing. But didn't play that much of a role in the movie

Plus Point: Story, Screenplay, Cast and Acting

Minus Point: Very minimal cliche

Verdict: Tip top family entertainer.

Masss Engira Masilamani by Venkat Prabhu (Review)

                                       

*******Spoiler Alert*******

Story: A horror comedy story with elements of commercialism. A mixture of Ghost whisperer and Kanchana. Lack of originality and some cliched narration. Yet loved the way how it relates to humanity, family and revolution. Especially how ghost haunting and exorcism shown from a con-man perspective.

Cast: Suriya as Mass and Shakti. Very well played. One reason why you should watch this movie is Suriya. Excellent performance. Awesome dialogue deliverance especially as eelam tamilan. Expression priceless. Nayanthara as Manini, Hero's lady love. Touch and go character. But her presence was pleasant. Pranitha as second lead lady. Also minor role but strong one. Turning point of the movie. Premji as Jet Li. Well he is the same venkat prabhu product. This movie can be said a multistarrer too. Parthipan made a great cameo role. And Samuthirakanni as never seen before role named RK. And of course all the ghost characters which should not be revealed due to spoiler effect. Everyone had an important role in the movie.

Screenplay: The thing about Venkat Prabhu is he would not have strong story but definitely a great screenplay. The presence of ghost was shown in different dimension. The twists in his movies were great except one which is the main one was cliched. Loved the scenes on family value and humanity portrayed in the movie. Comedy as usual VP's cup of tea. He did awesome. The first half was rushing and couldnt see much of it but during second half, it gets better and more engaging. Well camera work was inconsistent but not that obvious. Of course you cant expect that much of a logic in horror comedy movies. Song sequence were great but first 3 songs were near to each other. Some action sequence was great and some were overdone. A great masala treat it is.

Music: Composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Superb music and BGM

Plus Point: Screenplay, Cast, Suriya's acting, Comedy

Minus Point: Lack of originality in story, draggy at one point.

Verdict: An enjoyable masala movie. 

Oh Kadhal Kanmani by Mani Ratnam (Review)

Story: A contemporary love story with heavy Mani's touch. Again a trend setting movie. A great way to distinguish perception of current generation and olden days love. A very creative way to show the importance of Marriage. Each and every characters were well developed. The narration was simple and impactful. A little bit of Mani Ratnam stereotype here and there but that's what special about it. Good Romance, Drama and Comedy.

Cast: Dulquer Salman played Aadi. A very happy-go-lucky character. A mixture of Arjun(Ayitha Ezhuthu) & Kathik(Alaipayuthey) character. Very well played. Charming and expressive. He managed to show how a common guy react to most circumstances. He is the next big thing in Mollywood and Kollywood. Nithye Menen as Tara. Very cute and bubbly character. One of the best acting I've seen after so long. Why I say so, because with a mild expression she managed to portray so many reactions to circumstances. She flirts without flirting, she loves without loving, she cares without caring and the best part is the climax sequence whereby she bursts without she realizing. So realistic. You cant see her flirting in the introductory scene but she does in a way that how a common girl does without showing it. Prakaash Raj as Ganapathy Uncle. An interesting old man character. A bit old school but loving. Of course well played. No doubt in that. Leela Samson as Bavani aunty. She was an angel. She is one important driving factor of the movie. I cant imagine the movie without that character. There were a few supporting characters played by Ramya Subramaniam and others.

Screenplay: The team didn't get old at all. Eventhough it was nostalgic to watch the lense work but P.C Sreeram sir nailed it by creating the perfect shades for the perfect mood. The beauty of the movie is the screenplay. The scenes were so soothing be it songs or romance. The scenes were well planned whereby the transition will keep you waiting for the next scene. But there were couple of scenes kind of touch and go. But yet it was immaterial. Bavani aunty scenes were so sweet and lovely. Rahman's music added flavour to the movie. The movie had good mixture of colours throughout the journey. First half was a fairy tale love and then gets realistic in second half. At the end of the day it's about why marriage is important and Mani sir managed to deliver it perfectly. You'll be in OK Kanmani fever for a few days after watching the movie.

Music: Composed by A.R.Rahman, Chart buster.

Plus Point: Story, Screenplay, Cast, Music and Cinematography

Minus Point: Small buffers in sequences.

Verdict: Love story of the era. Watch it and fall in love again.

Komban by M.Muthaiah (Review)

Story: A rural subject in lines with Paruthi Veeran, Kizhakku Chemaiyile and Pasumpon. A story centered on the protagonist, a typical village brave-heart. A lot of family value instilled. But too many cliche.Felt like watching 90's Napoleon movie. Full of village violence, romance, family drama and comedy here and there. An outskirt fight for injustice with a very good message on family value and respect.

Cast: Karthi played Kombaiyapandian@Komban. A very rough and tough village character similar to his Paruthi Veeran character. But the difference was this character is more concern on village justice. Well played since it is not something new for him. He carried out the character very well. Lakshmi Menon played Pazhani, Karthi's lady love. Her presence was pleasant. A sweet village girl and lovely daughter. Had an important role for the flow of the movie. Rajkiran as Muthaiya, he was the man of the match. His performance was superb. He manage to carry out a lot of scene with impact. He played a caring father as well as bad ass man. A lot of supporting characters played by Kovai Sarala, Thambi Ramaiyah, Karunas and others.

Screenplay: The movie had good intro and flow for first half, but it starts getting draggy in second half. It's just that the subject was kind of old school relating to many of 90's village based movies like Seevalaperi Pandi. The scenes involving Rajkiran and Karthi was soothing to watch, but the climax spoiled it. Loved the dialogues. The analogies and accents in the movie was realistic. Fight scenes were average and exaggerated at many scenes. But too many unnecessary fight scenes.

Music: Composed by G.V. Prakaash, was just average. Not his best work

Plus Point: The acting, moral message and dialogues

Minus Point: Draggy first half, lack of originality and unnecessary fight scenes

Verdict: Can be watched once

Valiyavan by M.Saravan (Review)

Story: A commercial entertainer with element of romance, family drama and action. A mixture of a few movie stories together as one. Pleasant and inspiring. The narration is based on flashback mode. Lack of originality but still it is slightly different for a commercial movie. Mild inconsistencies in the story, butiIt will grip audience to their sit to know what's next. A very good message instilled during climax.

Cast: Jai as Vinod, he plays a marketing manager for a mall. First half was not much of a performance, just his usual self. But second half is impressive, he transforms into a hunk. Body language was quite good to show as a street boxer. Different from his usual comical films. Andrea played the lead lady Subiksha. Pretty and bold. had ample of scope to perform. He good look was the main attention I suppose. Aaron Chaudary as Ashwin the antagonist. Played an International Boxer. His character was just a stereotype of an arrogant international sports hero. A few supporting character played by Azhagam Perumal, Anupama Kumar, Bala Saravanan and many more.

Screenplay: The movie first half was draggy but second half gets racy. Enjoyed the second half a lot since it shows more realistic practice of boxing. Way better than Maan Karate climax. First half was sweet but lengthy. Camera work was good for certain scenes especially angles for intro scenes, but songs was overloaded. If only Tamil cinema reduces the sing sequence in a movie. But BGM was awesome. The stunt choreography worth appreciated. 

Music: Composed by D.Imman. Not best of his work but BGM worked well.

Plus Point: Screenplay, Narration, Stunt Choreography and Jai's transformation.

Minus Point: Draggy first half, lack of originality and song sequences.

Verdict: A movie worth watching to chill yourself.

Enakkul Oruvan by Prasad Ramar (Review)

Story: A remake of Lucia. Exact same story in different language. A very powerful concept with parallel narration. A little bit of science fiction and emotion. Beautiful message which should be instilled by everyone. The twist is simply superb and great way to wrap it up.

Cast: Siddarth as Vignesh. He plays the role of superstar and also a torch man at cinema. Well played, there was a good benchmark between the 2 characters. Being that his 25th film he really made his mark well. Deepa Sanidhi as Divya. She played as a newcomer heroine and a pizza shop waitress. Since she was new there were a few inconsistency in her lip sync. But she gave an average performance for a newcomer. Aadukalam Naren as Durai. He played owner of a cinema and Vignesh's manager in parallel world. I really find him a good supporting artist. He always creates signature with his characters. There were a few supporting characters played John Vijay, Ajay Ratnam and many others

Screenplay: The movie has a different screenplay and editing. Many people will say that it was copied from Memento but not actually. Memento had reverse narration but this was parallel. Excellently done. Thanks to the original version as well. The scenes were very well planned, not much of wastage. It had a good transition. Song clips were simple and nice. Overall, great meal from a newcomer.

Music: Composed by Santosh Narayanan. He nailed it. A man with different sense of music. Every song worth enjoying

Plus Point: Story, Screenplay, Acting and Music

Minus Point: Slight inconsistencies. But nothing much

Verdict: A great meal for film lovers after Jigarthanda. Enjoy it.