Boss Enkira Baskaran - Ready to laugh

If you haven't seen a comedy film lately, Boss Enkira
Baskaran is a light romantic comedy. Director, M.Rajesh followed the same comedy path as his previous venture, Siva Manasula Sakthi but took some tangent path by filtering any disturbing material. The film starts with the lead role, Baskaran aka Boss (Arya) getting hit in all the aspect so that he earns the pity of the viewers right from the starting. Supporting character, Nalla Thambi played by Santhanam is dominating the screen and he scored well as a comedian and a character role. Kumbakonam was selected as the backdrop for this entire film which is a relief as the recent days movies are going south. Even though Kumbakonam is not very acceptable the other aspects of the film will make you forget that.

The "who cares" life-style of Boss goes on for a while entertaining you until he meets Chandrika (Nayantara) who is a a training lecturer eventually end up as Boss' elder brother's wife's sister. Love at first sight kicks in but Boss faces serious hurdles because of his careless and irresponsible lifestyle. Challenged by his own family he steps out of the house to earn money so that he can get his sister married and get married himself. There comes his buddy Nalathambi for rescue. Loan shark Velpandi lends money with an impossible condition to meet. The duo takes the challenge and tries zillions things to get Velpandi's son and a few others to pass exams through their new venture - tutorial college.


Like all the other heroes Arya boldly ventured this comedy role and scores to an extend with the support of Santhanam. But in the end Santhanam end up dominating the screen more. The scenes when Boss goes to write his arear exams are very entertaining. Boss' family members - brother, sister, mother, sister-in-law acted well to fit in the movie. Nayantara's glamor doesn't fit the backdrop of Kumbakonam but the director again compensates with the other aspects so that you will end up enjoying most of the aspect of the film.

Not so bad music from Yuvan Shankar Raja from whom you will expect a lot more. The director's experiments are bold when he introduces Naan Kadavul fame Rajendran who played the villain role in a supporting comedy role. To compensate the Kumbakonam backdrops director is taking you to Switzerland for the songs. For all those Nayantara's fans this will be the so called last movie you might see in the Tamil according to the grape wine. The second half of the film goes in tangent from the comedy track and  comes back on track during the climax. This movie comes under a typical comic-drama genre which will not fail to entertain you. But don't expect any serious material unlike the team's previous project. Boss Enkira Baskaran is entertaining and light weight romantic comedy that you can definitely watch to pass time.

Angaadi Theru - A Must Watch

If you haven't seen a good feature film in a while then you should watch "Angaadi Theru". I am sure anyone who hailed from Chennai would like to see this film just to see how the director filmed in one of the busiest part of the city, Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar.  This story is around the two main characters of the movie played by Mahesh and Anjali (Katrathu Tamil fame). The story starts with a happy journey and a song. But soon before you relax the heavy subject will strike you. Then most of the story was told as flashback. Due to family situation Jyothi (Mahesh) who is the school topper comes to work in one of the many textile showrooms located in Ranganthan Street, T.Nagar, Chennai. There he meets Kani (Anjali) who was already working on the same showroom due to similar family situation. Teen aged boys and girls with similar family situation comes to work in showrooms or stores like this from their villages with big dreams. The dreams are not only to earn and support their families back-home but also because they are in the big city they are excited.

Love strikes the two main characters and the two supporting characters in the middle of all the difficulties they face in their new job. But soon they find out that their freedom has been taking away and they are in a jail-like atmosphere where love is not practical and more over not welcomed. Jyothi and Kani tries to sacrifice their love after seeing what happened to their friends. But soon reality strikes them and they realize that their love for each other is beyond anything. They both get caught after spending a night alone within the store and get fired. After finding hard to get a job and survive in the same street they managed to stand on their own legs. Tragedy strikes them but the directory ends the movie with a note that nothing will stop your life moving further if you have confidence.

Camera played it's role perfectly in the middle of thousands of characters in the busiest neighborhood of Chennai. The movie portrays the life of workers perfectly. Especially the supervisor role played by A. Venkatesh wins all our hearts when we hate him. Let it be his beat ups or misconducts with ladies he did his part so that his character win our hearts. They say casting is very important for such movies with raw content. Annachi who is the owner of the showroom is a reallife politician who did his part perfectly. Anjali who played Kani is getting good roles which gives her scope to act in most of her movies. Director, Vasantha Balan seeds a deep sorrow in our hearts even though comedy role like Pandi (Marimuthu) is placed in the story. Also during a flashback about their previous love life discussion between Jyothi and Kani which comes with in the main flashback you will find some interesting comedy scenes. Songs are very well written and shot so that they don't distract the main movie but to in fact helps. Actress Sneha takes a role as herself to bring a little bit of texture to the story in the middle of the movie. The main story is raw and disturbing so that you will be left with a heavy heart. I am sure that this is a very good theater material but you will feel the satisfaction of watching a good movie.

ராவணன் - ஒரு புது இதிகாசம்

Raavanan - Another one of those less-typical Mani Rathnam movie. The movie starts with tribals attacking, burning and killing policemen followed by a kidnap and loooooooong chase. The first half of the movie will be a little slow but the second half compensates with its pace. Veeraiya (Vikaram) is a local hero but wanted terrorist/criminal. Dev (Prithviraj) is the police superintendent who is assigned with the task to capture Veeraiya. Veeraiya kidnaps Dev's wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). So Dev goes in to the forest with a task force to find Veeraiya and his wife. The flashback behind all these activities flashes a couple of time in the first half but expanded in the second half. You will remember Veerappan saga during some of the chase sequences. Comedy is not justified well either by Karthik is coming back after a very long break or by Vaiyapuri just comes flashing in only a couple of scene.

During this plot a subtle love triangle emerges which gives a great platform the lead actors to show their best performances. Mani Rathanam gets the best out of everyone through his talent. For namesake the plot was aligned with the epic Ramayanam. Suhasini Maniratnam did the dialogues for this movie. She tried to convey some message deep down through her dialogues but it is not very clear either because of her hesitation or because of the sensor board's furious cuttings. You can relate some scenes to Mani Rathnam's earlier movie Roja. It might make you wonder whether it is sentimental or his deep down taste. Vikram has done excellent justice for the title role and proved his fabulous acting yet another time combined with Mani Ratnam. Even though A.R.Rehman is not winning your hearts much with songs he certainly does with re-recordings. Mani Rathnam struggled a lot of keep Ranjitha's scenes to a very minimal to avoid getting adversely hit by her recent negative popularity. Excellent locations and sets all through the movie. Most of the movie was shot in the tropical rainy forests or alike sets. You can feel that the camera also acted its role and standing out. The cinematography did a major contribution to this movie.

This will be a feast to tamil audience in the following ways:

• Mani Rathnam's movie releasing after 3 long years  
• Another of those Vikram's & Aishwarya's best performance  
• Unseen forest and tribal locations in and around Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharastra etc.
• Excellent cinematography by Santosh Sivam with V. Manikandan  
• Multi-starrer - Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Prithviraj (Mozhi fame), Camera (!), Karthik, Prabhu, Priyamani  
• A.R.Rehman's music composition

Multi-starer is a healthy trend that should come to Tamil film industry. Raavanan is a plot with many subjects twisted together. If you are a hardcore Mani Rathnam fan you might get a little disappointed and might feel that he could have done better. But like all other Mani Rathnam's movies this one is also a theater material which you can watch once for the above listed reasons. கொஞ்சம் ராமாயணம், கொஞ்சம் வீரப்பன், கொஞ்சம் ரோஜா, கொஞ்சம் காதல், கொஞ்சம் வஞ்சம், கொஞ்சம் மழை, கொஞ்சம் ஓட்டம், கொஞ்சம் இசை.... இவை எல்லாம் சேற்று பிசைந்து செய்த படம் ராவணன் !

Singam - A Good Entertainer

Singam - பேர சொன்னாலே சும்மா அதிருதில்ல ! Yes, that's the experience we got when we watched Singam. A crown jewel for Surya as this is his 25th movie. It is a fast moving action movie. There is no extraordinary things in this movie but still this is a typical commercial movie from Hari. Cop role is not new to Surya but he had proved that even if the same actor can show different dimensions for a particular role. I would appreciate Surya's guts to accept this movie even though Anushka will be his pair. Most of the actors are scared to act with Anushka because of her height. Anushka is a leading actress in Telugu and who starred in Rendu with Madhavan and Vettaikaran with Vijay.

Sun Pictures is very prominent to take over movie projects with sizzling actresses like Tamanna, Anushaka etc. Their marketing skills are very notorious in the recent days in the Kodambakkam circle. This is Anushka's second movie with Sun Pictures. Prakash Raj is playing the typical villian role against Surya. The movie goes slow paced raising your expectation in the first half. As it is a commercial movie there is not waiting for Anushka to fell in love with Surya and Surya to love her back. Surya play an ideal policeman role and combats everyone in his department as well as in the villain camp. Surya fights against the villain who kidnaps for ransom.
 
Surya's new style mustache is portraying him as a typical village boy who became a policeman. This is different than his previous city boy turned cop roles. Anushka's scenes were at the right mix to the story and screen play. Many familiar faces like Nasar, Vijaykumar, Ajay Rathnam, Manorama, Radha Ravi, Nizhalgal Ravi are given supporting roles. Even though they are legends they simply did justice for their roles. The second half of the movie pace up to bring you to the sit corner even though this is a typical plot. The director should be given credit for his screen play. Hari decides to stay in the southern area of the state he is very much comfortable with - Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts. Even though many scenes will resemble his previous blockbuster "Sami" you will only realize it for a split second. Vivek is trying hard to make us laugh with his double meaning jokes and succeeds in couple of scenes. Sun TV Metti Oli fame "Bose" played a supporting role and will stay in the back of your memories.


Audio tracks are OK except for a couple of songs like Stole My Heart, Naane Indhiran. With the publicity from Sun TV you are sure to murmur the songs after you hear it for a few times. This is the 3rd movie with Devi Sri Prasad and Surya combination. Devi Sri Prasad is still to learn how to score for an upcoming mass artist. But the rerecording is decent. I watched the movie without reading any reviews. But you will realize that the movie has good reviews from many leading web sites and magazines. In essence Singam is a movie to watch in theaters if you get the opportunity. A right mixture of everything you need to make a movie commercially success.

Mesemerized By Golden Oldies

• Salangai Oli - Om Namachivaya
  
  
  
  
  
• Thambiku Entha Vooru - En Vaazhvile Varum Anbe Vaa
• Manmadha Leelai - Nadham Enum Kovilile
• Ninaithalae Enikkum - Bharathi Kannamma
• Muthu - Oruvan Oruvan Muthalali
• Apporva Rangangal - Athisiya Raagam
• Thillu Mullu - Ragangal 16
• Sagalakala Vallavan - Katta Vandi Katta Vandi
• Thirumalai - Azhagodu Ppthavalae
• Kadhal Oviyam - Sangeetha Jathi Mullai
• Mozhi - Kaatrin Mozhi
• Neengal Ketavai - Adiyae Manam Nilluna
• Nagumo Nayamo - Kanada Song
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Karna - Malarae Mounama
• Arangetra velai - Agaya Venilavae Tharai Methu
• Enakul Oruvan - Megam Kottatum
• Alai Payuthuae - Kadhal Sadugudu
• Naan Paadum Paadal - Padava Un Padalai
• Nanayam - Naan Pogiren Malae Malae
• Punnagai Mannan - Kavithai Kelungal Karuvil
• May Maatham - Kan Vizithu Patkum Pothu
• Mannan - Amma Enrazakatha Uyirillae
• Sigaram - Itho Itho En Pallavi
• Payanangal Mudivathillai - Aatha Athorama Vaariya
• Sivaji - Balaelakka

If you were at the S.P.Bala Subramanian live show on May 23, 2010 at New Jersey you would have had an opportunity to listen to the above songs. The legend himself sang most of the song with other singers like S.P. Shailaja, S.P.B. Charan, Kalpana Ragaveendaran, Sri Krishna. All the golden oldies were mesmerizing to hear. We can hear audio tracks in any quality but nothing can equate the experience of attending a live show where the singers are interacting with the audience. In 2004, I attended a live show with S.P.B and Mano in NJ. After a long gap this is the live event I attended recently. Needless to say about our S.P.B who is a legend and is singing for almost 4 generation of actors now.

Charan coming to the show and singing was a real surprise to all of us. As this was the last program in their 4-5 weeks tour in North America there were some sentimental feelings. Also Charan came to visit his father as he was in the area. He sang "Kadhal Sadugudu", "Balaelakka" and another song. Sri Krishna who is a young Telugu singer was excellent too. He is a telugu reality program fame singer who S.P.B himself was the judge. Previous day the concert was live in Telugu and that day it was all Tamil songs except for that one Kannda number they sung in the middle.

S.P.B sung many 2 liners that I didn't list to fulfill audience requests. They can only sing so much in the given time frame. Also the orchestra might not have prepared for all the songs. But he didn't let down the fans. அது ஒரு இனிய அனுபவம் ...

Eaten by "Sura"

I thought April 29, 2010 will be another one of those ordinary Thursday and I should be thinking was about the upcoming weekend. But something grabbed my attention after my work - "Sura". Yes, the movie "Sura" which is supposed to be the Crown Jewel for Vijay was releasing here in NJ that week. I got an exclusive invitation from Venky, Dhoom FM - Southern Spice fame. Along with Sridhar, who is another Tamil cinema visiri and Ram, Venky's co-host for the radio show also joined us. We all set foot at the Edison Big Cinemas with a lot of expectations.


The movie started with a typical high pitch introduction song. I had a slight idea about the movie subject as our star himself said in an interview that he will fight for the society this time unlike his other movies where he fights for his mother or sister or lover etc. But most of us do not take too much from those interviews. Within a few minutes after the movie started, we realized that for our star this is not going to be a milestone to remember with fond memories. Usual subject of Villain trying to get rich by smashing poor. Our hero realizes that his dream of building houses for all his fellow citizens of the sea shore village is also getting smashed. So he emerges from death to become rich during another high pitch song and to sing some duets with the latest buzz of South Indian Cine Industry - Thamanna. She is transitioning slowly from a cute to a glamor girl.

You will hum the songs if you hear it again after the movie. Many fast moving numbers as Vijay is known for his dance movements. Comedy is not up to the mark. Either Vadivelu was not given enough freedom or his sarakku is depleting. Hero can do some amount of comedy but in a commercial movie the comedian should be give enough freedom to add enough spice from his side.

Some of the notable awkward moments in the movie are:
- Hero decides to accept heroines love even though she gave up her suicide attempt but because her pet dog is committing suicide.
- The director under estimates tamil cinema audience and rewind to show how the villain is tricking another set of bad guys to drink poisoned tea.
- Hero sells smuggled laptops to a buyer after showing a webcam broadcast (?!)

So in essence I felt like I was eaten alive by "Sura" when I came out of the theater. $15, the price per ticket for this movie was tooooo much. Vijay should start listening to stories himself before accepting movies. Also he should think twice before changing the story/screenplay of the movies. Most of the time being a director boy will be helpful. But this time the directory is a new comer so he bended him to show his stereotypical act. Please don't underestimate Tamil audience and keep in mind that for most people world cinema is at grabbing distance .....