Weekend movies - Thiruttu Payale & Gangster
Last weekend, I watched 2 movies where the characters of the heroes had negative shades. Both of them fall into the thriller movies genre with some really good & completely unexpected twists & turns.
Thiruttu Payale - The reviews for this movie were mixed, to say the least with someone like Karthik calling it highly entertaining and our own Balaji calling it an OK movie. Like I had said in my Five Star post, I would probably review this movie with a slight bias. Coming from Susi Ganesan after Virumbugiren & Five star, which were some soft movies with love & friendship as their core themes, the crudeness in the character of the hero will jolt you for sure. The movie had so many unexpected twists and turns which will catch you by surprise, no matter how much of the plot you know before watching the movie (like I did). Though the movie ended perfectly, the way it was done could have been much better. The final few happenings in the story were so sudden and fast, that before we realize what is going on, the movie gets over. There appeared to be too much happening in the last 30 mins, with the introduction of the private detective (that is the director himself) and then the abrupt climax.
As far as performances go, as everyone has commented, this has to be Malavika's best performance yet but I personally felt that it still lacked the villainous poise that the character needed at many places. Jeevan was more than adequate. His looks, his voice & his body language all were a perfect fit for the character. Sonia Agarwal was a ‘revelation’ (pun intended) in the swimsuit but she goes back to her 7GRC mode very soon. The less said about Abbas, the better. Looks like Vivek was only paid half of his salary bcos he was outrageously hilarious in the first half (imitating the Sri Lankan Tamil accent) and downright boring in the second half & more importantly, was acting as a speed bump to the pace of the story. Bharadwaj could have definitely done better than what he has delivered in the name of songs. The mind games between Malavika & Jeevan and the way they tried to get the better of each other was captivating, to say the least. There was something that surprised us at just about every scene. But it was in the final few minutes of the movie that I thought the director let the movie meander away with myself screaming at a point 'Kavuthitteengale Senior' (we address our seniors that way in our college). In spite of almost a very commendable effort for most part of the movie, the fact that he lost control of the plot in the final stages is what I will remember from the movie. Nevertheless IMO, 3rd best movie of the year, after Dishyum & Chithiram Pesuthadi.
Gangster - While Thiruttu Payale carried mixed reports, Gangster had only great reviews going around. And I came back from the movie completely satisfied & the movie did live up to all the glowing reviews it has been getting. But at the same time, if not for reading all the reviews that I had read about the movie, I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more. It was like Thiruttu Payale in a sense but the suspense element here is built up, right till the end of the movie and thus will keep you glued to your seat. And the final twist in the story was stunning (the last shot of the movie does remind you the climax of a very famous English movie, though). Most of the film has been shot in Seoul and the locations were just awesome & something different from what we have seen in Hindi movies before. The movie also has a stand-out performance by debutant Kangana. She has really done well, for a first-timer. The one thing I noticed in many Hindi movies is the fact that any CBI/ high ranking investigative officer is always from the South. Recall Mohanlal from Company and this movie has one too. The only thing which stuck out like a sore thumb is the fact that in order to show to us that she is an alcoholic, the director has made her carry a bottle in every single scene. That was the first thing I noticed when they introduced her and soon, it became really irritating. I mean, there are so many other ways in which it can be shown that she is a drunkard.
This movie is already a hit but would have been a monstrous hit if the movie had more recognizable faces instead of a relatively unfamiliar cast which included a debutant as the heroine. Another biggest plus point of the movie is its music by Pritam Chatterjee (though it has to be mentioned at the outset that almost all the songs in the album are direct lifts/ inspired. Source: Itwofs.com). Irrespective of that, 3 of the songs are instantly hummable and I have been listening to them non-stop ever since I saw the movie. This movie is a must-watch. And if you are planning to watch, please do not read reviews with any spoilers. It will kill most of your interest in the movie. Experience speaks....
Thiruttu Payale - The reviews for this movie were mixed, to say the least with someone like Karthik calling it highly entertaining and our own Balaji calling it an OK movie. Like I had said in my Five Star post, I would probably review this movie with a slight bias. Coming from Susi Ganesan after Virumbugiren & Five star, which were some soft movies with love & friendship as their core themes, the crudeness in the character of the hero will jolt you for sure. The movie had so many unexpected twists and turns which will catch you by surprise, no matter how much of the plot you know before watching the movie (like I did). Though the movie ended perfectly, the way it was done could have been much better. The final few happenings in the story were so sudden and fast, that before we realize what is going on, the movie gets over. There appeared to be too much happening in the last 30 mins, with the introduction of the private detective (that is the director himself) and then the abrupt climax.
As far as performances go, as everyone has commented, this has to be Malavika's best performance yet but I personally felt that it still lacked the villainous poise that the character needed at many places. Jeevan was more than adequate. His looks, his voice & his body language all were a perfect fit for the character. Sonia Agarwal was a ‘revelation’ (pun intended) in the swimsuit but she goes back to her 7GRC mode very soon. The less said about Abbas, the better. Looks like Vivek was only paid half of his salary bcos he was outrageously hilarious in the first half (imitating the Sri Lankan Tamil accent) and downright boring in the second half & more importantly, was acting as a speed bump to the pace of the story. Bharadwaj could have definitely done better than what he has delivered in the name of songs. The mind games between Malavika & Jeevan and the way they tried to get the better of each other was captivating, to say the least. There was something that surprised us at just about every scene. But it was in the final few minutes of the movie that I thought the director let the movie meander away with myself screaming at a point 'Kavuthitteengale Senior' (we address our seniors that way in our college). In spite of almost a very commendable effort for most part of the movie, the fact that he lost control of the plot in the final stages is what I will remember from the movie. Nevertheless IMO, 3rd best movie of the year, after Dishyum & Chithiram Pesuthadi.
Gangster - While Thiruttu Payale carried mixed reports, Gangster had only great reviews going around. And I came back from the movie completely satisfied & the movie did live up to all the glowing reviews it has been getting. But at the same time, if not for reading all the reviews that I had read about the movie, I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more. It was like Thiruttu Payale in a sense but the suspense element here is built up, right till the end of the movie and thus will keep you glued to your seat. And the final twist in the story was stunning (the last shot of the movie does remind you the climax of a very famous English movie, though). Most of the film has been shot in Seoul and the locations were just awesome & something different from what we have seen in Hindi movies before. The movie also has a stand-out performance by debutant Kangana. She has really done well, for a first-timer. The one thing I noticed in many Hindi movies is the fact that any CBI/ high ranking investigative officer is always from the South. Recall Mohanlal from Company and this movie has one too. The only thing which stuck out like a sore thumb is the fact that in order to show to us that she is an alcoholic, the director has made her carry a bottle in every single scene. That was the first thing I noticed when they introduced her and soon, it became really irritating. I mean, there are so many other ways in which it can be shown that she is a drunkard.
This movie is already a hit but would have been a monstrous hit if the movie had more recognizable faces instead of a relatively unfamiliar cast which included a debutant as the heroine. Another biggest plus point of the movie is its music by Pritam Chatterjee (though it has to be mentioned at the outset that almost all the songs in the album are direct lifts/ inspired. Source: Itwofs.com). Irrespective of that, 3 of the songs are instantly hummable and I have been listening to them non-stop ever since I saw the movie. This movie is a must-watch. And if you are planning to watch, please do not read reviews with any spoilers. It will kill most of your interest in the movie. Experience speaks....
posted by Filbert at 3:36 PM
7 Comments:
Its good to see the film becoming a hit. About Malavika - she was good for the most part. But there were some scenes where she floundered bcos of which I just had to stop myself from saying that this was one of the superb performances of recent times.
i think 'thiruttu payale' is one of those movies where my opinion is different from most others'(7G was another). i liked only the last half hour of the film and was bored by all the unnecessary items before that... and didn't think malavika's performance came even close to being called a great performance...
True Balaji, for I liked everything about the movie except the last 30 mins :) About Malavika, that is precisely what I said - her best performance yet but not completely satisfactory, by any means.
hi,
Thiruttu payalae is thousand times better than any vijay, ajith movies. I am extremely happy that it is doing good buisness. It is very clear that Susi has tried to make the movie commercially hit. He partly succeeded in treading the middle path laid by his mentor maniratnam. It is one of those rare movies in which all the characters plays a villain at some point of the film. As everyone said, i was little disappointed with the abrupt ending. Screenplay was good but could have been much better without Vivek's unnecessary comedy. And baradwaj has given his best background score for the movie though the songs are ordinary.
Filbert, I dont think Jeevan acted weel as you said. He can do more better than what he executed in TP. In Chiththiram Pesuthadi also, if hero is somebody who will do better than Narain, the film may be more good to see
Yeah Suresh, Thiruttu Payale is far better than movie like Paramasivan. Felt the same about Vivek's comedy - boring & dragged in the second half. I didnt notice the background effort of Bharadwaj. But coming from you, I will take it to be good :)
I thought Jeevan fit the role perfectly. Even the fact that he didnt 'act' well at many places, suited the character well. But I too felt the same about Narain, without whom CP would have been a much more enjoyable movie.
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