Reviews

Though the story was going to be a fight against corruption, this movie had some proper content in the form of scientific inventions instead of just preaching messages throughout. Though there were places which presented the cliché revolutionary feel, the way the director had used inventions and discoveries to combat the existing Indian education system was appreciable as a good level of research was put into it. I wouldn't recommend it a must watch movie, but is definitely a more than decent movie which you can give a try.

Though the story doesn't move too much up until then interval block, the first half is very much enjoyable with Karthi's humorous mannerisms. The internal block presents a couple of twists which sets the tone for the second half, which is a mix of emotions and twists and is very much engaging. The performances of Karthi, Jyothika and Sathyaraj form the main pillars of the movie along with the brother-sister emotions and the well-executed screenplay. Definitely a worth watch in theatre.

Any film needs to have a central plot/story which would essentially form the one-liner for the film. With Kaappaan having quite a few plots like organic farming, India-Pakistan military wars, the director himself seemed confused on what the main story was. Eventually he tries to focus on all of them and they end up as half baked verbal preaches with clichéd dialogues, showing how average the writing has been.

The screenplay is even worse with a lot of scenes appearing disjoint with each other and not flowing smoothly over time. Without any great twists, after a point we all just wait for the movie to end (the sarcastic applause from the audience at the end testimony to this).

There were a few positives in the movie too. Despite bad characterisations, the performances were decent enough. The amount of research KV Anand has put into locusts and organic farming is commendable (wish he'd put in the same for the story too). Also the first half had a few adult jokes which were very much enjoyable. But in the end he wasn't able to make a quality product with all this.

On the whole, this movie would be a big disappointment if you want to witness a good action thriller.

You know you're going to be in for a serious movie experience when the director of Mounaguru is at it again. Without any commercial compromises, Magamuni was no different than expected. It mainly revolves around 2 different Arya's (Maha and Muniraj) who have their own lifestyles and problems. Because of their similar looks, each of them get dragged into the other's problems and what happens forms the rest of the story.

The biggest positive in the movie was the performances from the lead characters, especially Arya. The way he differentiated both characters and added life to them was exemplary. One wishes Arya selects more good roles like this in future.

The slow paced screenplay is definitely not a negative in my opinion but it also won't work for everyone. Despite that, this movie is definitely worthy of a watch because of the great performances, dialogues and BGM.

The story revolves around SJ Suryah, whose life becomes a living hell when he starts to face rat problems in his house but at the same time, doesn't want to kill it either. How he manages to solve this situation forms the rest of the story.

The film works well mainly due to the humour content and due to the performances , especially from SJ Suryah. Though the second half is a bit predictable and melodramatic, this is definitely a nice feel good movie due to its slightly different story and execution along with a heartwarming climax.

If you've not seen Pink and if you're looking for a good courtroom drama, you'll definitely end up liking Nerkonda Paarvai. This is a script that relies more on performances and that is one of the biggest strengths in this movie (Ajith, Shraddha Srinath and her friends, Rangaraj Pandey). After his recent commercial outings, it was really refreshing to see Ajith in a more character oriented script. Nevertheless, there was a 10-15 mins portion that would satisfy his fans/admirers.

If you've seen Pink, then this movie wouldn't have any extra impact on you because not much has been changed from the original, which is sometimes a good thing. If you've seen Pink but don't want any extra elements added because of the hero, you might end up liking the original version a bit more than this. But you'll like this movie nevertheless.

The biggest problem with Kadaram Kondan was the content was only worth 30-45 mins of screen time at max, with most of it coming in the second half. With this level of content, Rajesh M Selva would have had better chances with a short film. This wafer thin storyline led to the following negative aspects:

1. A big chunk of the movie comprised of stunts, fights, Vikram's style and slow motion shots and the romance track between Abi Hassan and Akshara Hassan. 2. Since the main story had to be told in the second half, the first half had many dragged out scenes which really didn't add too much value to the eventual story. 3. With Vikram being one of the central characters around whom the story revolves in the second half, there wasn't enough depth in his characterisation.

There were a few positives in the movie too like the visuals (Thaarame Thaarame song visuals in particular), Ghibran's BGM, Vikram's screen presence. But without a proper story, none of these can save a movie.

If you want to catch Vikram on screen, MAYBE you can give this a shot. Else, it's worthy to give this a miss and wait for its release in any of the digital platforms.

The movie is a very engaging edge-of-the seat thriller that doesn't waste any time whatsoever. Right from the first scene we are taken into the story and the pace doesn't lag at any point in the 2-hr long experience. The film is laced with twists throughout and the final twist was the icing on the cake. One thing to keep in mind while watching this movie is that you need to be focused on the screen throughout to keep up with the pace of the movie, else you're going to lose it. There are no songs at all in between to slow things down.

While everyone was expecting a lot from Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee, Amrita Singh as Rani Kaur was a surprise package at least to me and she delivered a strong performance through her character which had multiple facets to it. Amitabh and Taapsee too were excellent in their roles, especially the former who has proven yet again as to why he is a legend.

Overall, a must watch for all cinema lovers, especially crime thriller lovers and surely worth the money. The claps at the end from each and everyone in the theatre sums it up.

What can you expect from this documentary series? You would get to know each and every aspect that happens behind the scenes in a cricket team, which otherwise we don't get to know. We get to see the amount of work and research that goes into the auctions when the teams devise their strategies. We see the work ethic of the players and coaches during training sessions, how they manage and improve the players, especially youngsters. We witness the cultural, regional and linguistic differences within a team and how the management takes care of those issues. We also see how injuries have a big role in team selection and how the coaches balance the players' workloads, particularly for the important ones during injuries. Plus, we also see mini stories for each cricketer's journey in the sport from their childhood, explained by the stars themselves.

There were 2 things that impressed me the most with this series: 1. I got to see how things work behind the scenes and they paid a lot of attention to showing that with lesser amount of match highlights which people would have already seen. 2. It was a very genuinely documented journey of the team and not a tribute which heaped praise on one of the most successful IPL teams. In fact, 2018 was a below average year by their standards and all the reactions and emotions were genuinely captured, positive and negative. I really liked the positive ending where the team accepted their failures and decided to come back stronger as a unit the following year.

Overall, this is a series that should be given a watch by anyone who wishes to know and understand what happens within a cricket team, irrespective of whether you're a fan of MI or not.

When the first trailer of this movie came out a year back, I had made up my mind then itself that I was going to catch this film in theatre in the first weekend. This was one of those movies you can surely expect to be good just by looking at its trailer. The director of the film, Magizh Thirumeni had churned out good thrillers like Thadayara Thakka and Meghamann and I have really admired his way of making thrillers. Arun Vijay had been someone who also really impressed me with his script selections, like Kuttram 23. Now after watching this movie, I can safely say that I'm very much satisfied with what I've witnessed on screen. Kudos to Magizh and his team for such a good movie.

The story revolves around 2 Arun Vijays (Ezhil and Kavin). There is a murder that happens and Arun Vijay is shown to have done the murder and the police investigate the crime. But which Arun Vijay did the crime and why is what the police have to figure out and that forms the rest of the story. The story was well written and the screenplay taut at most places, with twists almost throughout the second half. The only places where it lags are the first 30 mins, which is used to introduce and establish the main characters and the 15-20 mins flashback portions in the second half.

The performances are a big positive in the movie, especially that of Arun Vijay. He has delivered strong performances in both his roles and his distinguishing between his characters is a big strength in the movie. His reach is increasing with every movie and I'm really for the progress he is making now. The BGM from debutant Arun Raj was a big plus as it really added to the suspense in many places. Make sure you catch the end credits of the film, which show the real-life incidents this movie was based on.

On the whole, this is another one of those thrillers which Tamil Cinema can be proud of in recent times after Ratchasan, Kuttram 23, etc. This would be a treat for anyone who enjoys good cinema, especially for thriller movie lovers. Surely worth your money and really becoming a fan of Magizh Thirumeni and Arun Vijay now.

After Thupparivaalan, Vishal is back with another good thriller movie with Irumbu Thirai, which focuses on cyber crime and data hacking. Firstly, kudos to the debut director Mithran for taking up such a script which requires a lot of background research and impeccable attention to detail. And he has executed it really well. The best part about the movie is that he hasn't compromised to any commercial aspects like duet songs and unnecessary romance portions.

Vishal has given a decent performance as the military officer whose life takes a turn suddenly. Samantha, fortunately, has a decent role on offer and she scores well there. Arjun really proves to be an effective and intelligent villain, which was almost the backbone of this script as the movie revolves mainly around him. The other supporting cast comprising of Delhi Ganesh, Robo Shankar were really good too, especially the latter with his comic dialogues which were a comic relief.

Amidst the technicalities, I personally loved the music and the BGM by Yuvan. The theme music for Arjun was quite stylish. All the scenes were portrayed very intelligently and the best explanations were quite apt too. One sort of drawback I felt in this film was the stunts. I felt that they sort of pulled down the weight a little bit when the movie was being carried forward in a very intelligent manner.

Overall, this is a movie that might been scare some of the audience with the scenes in the film and especially the way we are very vulnerable in this digital era. A very apt and relevant movie for this time and it is really informative. Must be given a shot in theatres.

Not often that I write about Hindi movies, but I certainly had to write about Parmanu - the story of Pokhran. Such a good movie that was. It basically depicted the secret nuclear operation carried out by the Indian Army under the guidance of Dr. Abdul Kalam in 1998, which is considered one of the best secret operations carried out by a country. It brought immense pride to me as an Indian while watching that movie, just to see the way the operation was carried out.

It was refreshing to see John Abraham in such a good role where he didn't have to flaunt his biceps or six pack, etc. Really liked his portrayal of the character of Ashwat Raina. Another eye catcher to me was Boman Irani, as I'm catching him on screen after a while now. His role of a top government official was enhanced with his experience as an actor. There were a few other pivotal characters who were effective enough on screen.

The best thing apart from the performances to me were the fact that this was a movie devoid of illogical stunt sequences, item or party songs and other unwanted commercial aspects. It stayed pure to its intention and to me, this is the type of Bollywood I personally want to see. This was quite informative in many ways and there might be quite a few like me who wouldn't have heard a lot about this mission until now.

After coming out of the theatre, I felt proud as an Indian that such a challenging operation was carried out with such braveness and to extreme perfection under the leadership of Dr. Kalam himself. While we criticise many aspects of our country, I think this movie would be a good way to appreciate such incidents and also India's growth as a nation since then. A must watch in theatre for every Indian.

Jai Hind.

This is another one of those movies which I wanted to catch up just for the lead hero - Jayam Ravi. This movie uses a good subject of tribal livelihood as its backdrop.

The story revolves around Jara (Jayam Ravi), a member of a tribe based in Andaman. He lands up in Chennai through Kavya (Sayeesha), a cold-hearted businesswoman. When the Andaman police manage to get him back to Andaman, Jara finds out that his whole tribe have been displaced from their home as the property was required for some industrial project and that the tribal community is under hiding somewhere nearby. Does Jara manage to reunite with his group and retain their livelihood or not forms the rest of the story.

The displacement of tribals from their livelihoods, leading to their population decrease is the core subject of this movie, which has to be appreciated. The end credits scenes indicate that scenario very well and the attempt is sincere from director Vijay. Another good message conveyed by Vijay is the extent to which humans have become materialistic and thereby, living an inhuman life.

The same cannot be said for the execution though. There isn't too much focus on the tribals' lives and their struggles, barring about 30 mins in the 2nd half. The other portions involved the heroine to a large extent. The last 30 minutes were an absolute drag. The climax, in particular, was below average to say the least. Instead of going a bit more in depth into the life and struggles of tribals, the story was diluted with a lot of commercial elements like romance portions and duet songs.

One of the biggest positives in Vanamagan is Jayam Ravi. Man, this guy is a terrific actor and he's proved it here too. The challenge in this role was that there are hardly any dialogues for him and all the emoting had to be done through his eyes. He has aced in all aspects and is completely convincing as a tribal person. The scene where Jara, getting back to his forest home, expresses his happiness is a sure standout.

Sayeesha's character's importance is shown only towards the end and till then she's shown as the usual Tamil Cinema heroine, who's used for song and romance portions. She has done a decent job with the emoting and lip sync. Her dance is fantastic though. Prakash Raj neither has a challenging nor important role and he just aces through the character. Thambi Ramaiah entertains at few places with his timing.

Coming to the musical aspect in Harris Jeyaraj's 50th movie, certain songs are praiseworthy both in terms of music and picturisation. The visuals for Silu Silu song is the pick of the lot for me as it shows the lifestyle of the tribals in the most natural manner. Yamma Hey Azhagamma impresses with its choreography and the lead chemistry, but its placement is questionable. The Pachai Uduthiya number during the last half and hour was an absolute waste. The BGM, to me, wasn't at Harris' level, barring a couple of tunes like the Silu Silu BGM. The CGI was also patchy at most places.

Overall, Vanamagan is a movie that had a lot of potential but was ruined to a good extent in the execution department. But if you're bored, then this film can be given a shot just once just for the stellar performance of Jayam Ravi.

After a year of release, I finally managed to catch this movie, just for Jayam Ravi and Aravind Swamy.

Bogan is a movie which mainly revolves around 2 people - ACP Vikram (Jayam Ravi), a honest police officer and Aditya/Bogan (Aravind Swamy), a womaniser and Hedonist. Aditya uses a special technique to loot money and become a millionaire and Vikram takes it upon himself to find this criminal and solve the case. This leads to the usual Hero Vs Villain face off and what transpires in the end forms the story of Bogan.

The story sounds pretty routine, being a good Vs bad story and the director has looked to make a typical commercial movie - with into song and fight, romance portions, 2 love songs, a second half fully focused on the hero Vs villain duel. But what works for Bogan is the interesting subject that forms the base of the story. Especially, the second half is made watchable just because of this theme.

Jayam Ravi and Aravind Swamy have given great performances and this is a major plus for the movie as the movie revolved around them. Their roles are challenging in the way that they would have to perform as more than one character and both of them have come up trumps on that. Hansika is the usual commercial heroine who doesn't have any role in the movie, except for the few minutes in the climax.

The first half an hour doesn't move too much, with the songs and unnecessary romance portions. But post senthoora song, the movie picks up big time and the way director Lakshman has built up the premise till the interval is brilliant. Post interval, it does maintain a decent pace but not as much as the end of the first half and the climax is questionable to say the least. But with the recent trend of Tamil cinema, that was expected.

Another positive for the movie is Imman's BGM. The songs are okayish but the BGM is racy and classy. The score for Aravind Swamy is magnificent. The Senthoora BGM during the romance scenes is also worth a listen. But a slight problem arises when the same music is repeated till the end.

With a subject/theme that is new to Tamil cinema, the fact that the director chose to restrict himself to the commercial genre is slightly baffling to me. The movie has its own share of logical flaws too.

On the whole, Bogan is a normal commercial movie that has its own share of drawbacks. But what makes it worth watching once is the new subject (to Tamil cinema atleast) and the performances of the lead cast.