Weekend movies - Pachaikkili Muthucharam and Dhoom 2

Pachaikkili Muthucharam- 4 and counting. 4 is the number of movies that Gautham Menon has provided us as a director and IMO he is yet to produce one completely convincing movie. Obviously, Kaakka kaakka was the one that even came close to be convincing in all the aspects while all the others, including PMC, are half-baked movies at best. He is this wannabe Mani Rathnam and wannabe Bala all rolled into one but unfortunately is none of them. The problem with watching a remade movie after having already watched the original and that too for a suspense movie like this, is that you know what to expect and hence the twist in the story does not bring any surprise to you. So, when I read about Gautham's own new twist, I was really looking forward to it. But as it turned out, the final twist is what makes the movie go one step down from being good to 'not bad'. One more time, Harris Jeyaraj proves that without him, Gautham Menon would find the going very tough. Though he does not remotely provide anything in terms of variety, it is amazing how his songs are instantly catchy and melodious. That is a special talent and I guess Harris Jeyaraj is perfecting the art. But his skills in composing tunes does not translate into the background score department which was pretty ordinary. It could have been a lot better in many scenes. Sarath Kumar is one actor whom I have always thought had decent acting skills whose talent the Tamil film directors did not really fully utilize. So, I was kind of expecting a knock-out performance from him since he was an ideal fit for this character. But somehow, his performance was just OK. May be, I expected more out of him. Jyothika as always overacts and turns in a mediocre performance. I have never been a big fan of her and this movie does nothing to change my opinion. The combination of nose ring and kaajal in her face made the task of watching her up-close a not-so-comfortable experience. What’s up with all the close-up shots throughout the movie? If the 4 lead characters had been good performers, this would have been a good idea. But when you have someone like Andrea who is making her debut and for whom acting is still clearly No-Entry zone, Gautham could have done otherwise. I read in some reviews where they had appreciated the subdued response of Andrea when Sarath reveals the truth to her. But I think otherwise as that she simply didn't know how to react and may be Gautham just let it the way like that, after having tried his best. Milind Soman was the one who impressed me the most but even with him, since his dialogues & mannerisms reminded me so much of the villain characters from GM's earlier movies, started to get on my nerves. More than all these drawbacks, the first thing that stuck like a sore thumb throughout the movie were the dialogues. It is really high time that Gautham finds himself a good dialog writer. Gautham has this affinity towards using dialogues Tamil cinema has hitherto unseen like 'making love' but when Sarath Kumar utters it, it just does not gel. And what's up with Jyothika referring to her husband as en kanavar. I just can't understand how a working woman in Chennai is referring to her husband as kanavar. In fact, the first time she mentions about him, she uses the word husband but from then on, it became kanavar. Wonder why? The theater just went into bouts of laughter whenever stupid dialogues came on the screen. After their scuffle with the auto drivers, when Jyothika asks Sarath Kumar Enakkagava?, there was a muted and controlled laughter. But when she does that again some time later asking him Idhuvum enakkaagavaa?, there was a laugh riot in the theater. Even after watching PMC, I still feel that Gautham Menon has the wherewithal to give us far better movies than his last 2 efforts. Lets see if he provides us better fare with Vaaranam Aayiram.

Dhoom 2 - Hrithik. There is not a single actor in Bollywood who can match him in all-round talent. He acts so well that you can almost feel the sincerity in his performance. He outdoes his peers by miles when it comes to dancing. The first few steps he does when he is introduced in this movie are simply out-of-the-world. I had written a few weeks back how I think our Tamil heroes have caught up with their Bollywood counterparts when it comes to dancing. But here is one Bollywood actor whom we can't even get near. He is just too good. From Kaho naa pyaar hai to Dhoom 2, the one thing he has been very consistent in is his dancing. I am no big Aishwarya fan. It is a known fact that she can't act (may be except in Mani Rathnam movies) and that fact is only confirmed in this movie. She is so pathetic that she can't even kiss passionately (but this might be bcos of the presence of Abhishek in the sets :)). Her efforts to look sexy end up being funny. She was a total misfit in this movie. On the other hand, we have Bipasha Basu who is absolutely gorgeous and is so sexy. Ash can never be sexy like Bipasha and hence can stop trying to be like her. The heists in the movie are not only ridiculous but also completely unbelievable. It is OK to ape Hollywood movies but then there is some semblance of credibility in similar scenes in Hollywood movies but it is completely absent in Dhoom and that is what watching each theft unfold before you such a boring routine. You know somehow Hrithik is going to escape and the way he is going to get that done will be unbelievable. The film just meanders on with one sluggish & boring theft after another and comes to a highly predictable end, something we have seen in umpteen other cop chasing thief movies. Like everyone has said, watch it for Hrithik. Abject bad and listless movie, nevertheless.