Weekend movies - Deepavali & Paruthiveeran

Deepavali – Horrible and pathetic movie. I really do not understand what Lingusamy saw in this movie that made him produce it. Mr. Lingusamy, if you think you have the knack of Shankar in identifying good scripts, then you have news - You DO NOT. So, please stick to doing what you do best - direct movies. Iron rods, hammers, trailer lorries - wondering what these are. These are the items that Ravi gets hit repeatedly with but guess what? Nothing happens to him. It is ridiculous to see that happening all throughout the movie. Bhavana looks bloated. Whatever happened to the sweet & cute Bhavana we all saw in Veyil, I don’t know. What should I say about Ravi. God has been kind to him in almost aspects and qualities that a hero needs except the 2 crucial ones - acting & voice. I don't know if there is any chance of someone being able to change their voice. If the answer is No to that question, then I guess Ravi will never be able to make it big in Tamil cinema. He might or actually I should say, he will have his handful of female friends who think he is cute but I guess that will be it. I will be happy if I am proven wrong since he is one of my close friends' childhood friend and I really would like to see him come well. Yuvan was the only solace in the movie. I had heard almost every single song in the album so many times that I would have memorized them. It was the songs that I was looking forward to and there was not much disappointment on that front. The way situations were created for the 2 favorite songs - Kaadhal vaithu & Pogaathe - were pretty good and were one of the few bright points in the entire movie. Whenever a song is played in the background instead of the actors actually mouthing the lyrics, I love it and hence I loved the way both those songs were picturized. Background score too was awesome. The only other thing I liked in the movie was how it ended. Instead of resorting to the usual way of showing Bhavana to regain her lost memory, the way it was showed where she trusts him and trusts what he says on seeing whatever he has done for her was something different. Though the way the whole climax scene was implemented was as clumsy as it could get, I still liked the ending. The whole concept of how the entire Royapuram area is under Vijayakumar's control and how everyone in the area comes together whenever something that happens to him is plain ridiculous. The director Ezhil was the one who gave us the forgettable Thullaadha Manamum Thullum and that should have been a pre-cursor to what to expect in this movie. He lives upto the expectations I had on him. I am sure Linguswamy has learnt his lesson.

Paruthiveeran - Watching Paruthiveeran was not like watching a movie at all. It was as though a hidden camera was placed in the houses of real people without their knowledge These were not my comments on watching the movie but it was our Chief minister Karunanidhi's comments after watching the movie and I completely agree with those words. Each and every scene was so authentic that when you finish watching the movie, you feel you have been just transported back from the streets of Madurai & its suburbs. This is the movie that impacted me like no other movie had done since Sethu happened 7 years ago. In fact, when my friend was watching the movie after I had completed it, I could not even ‘listen’ to the climax scene and I went to another room just to stay away from it. But the lootties of Karthik & Saravanan were just so enjoyable that I was able to watch them so many times. I loved every bit of it. The way those guys were talking to each other mouthing all those frequently used bad words, it was all too natural. I guess this movie has become somewhat like Sethu bcos back when Sethu was running to packed houses, people came to watch the movie mainly for the fun-filled first half and many left after the scene where Vikram is beaten to pulp. Similarly in Paruthiveeran again, I can see this happening. One of my friends who saw the movie in India was saying that many in the crowd started leaving right before the heavy scenes were just about to start.

That guy Karthik was absolutely terrific. The way he enjoyed himself and let loose while dancing those kuthu songs were a treat to watch. His nonchalant attitude and his dialogue delivery were all top class and it is hard to believe that someone who is doing his first movie has been able to accomplish that. The only downside, if there was any, is that he reminded so much of his brother in his voice modulation and dialogue delivery. Priyamani was equally good. Some folks were suggesting that she should get a national award for this performance of her. While not taking anything away from her fabulous performance, I just could not convince myself to come to an agreement with that statement. She was great but deserving a national award, No. Her voice was one of the biggest dampeners on her performance. Abhirami in Virumaandi is the benchmark against whom I compare any heroine's performance in the last few years and I will have to say that Priyamani falls way short of that performance by Abhirami. Saravanan, as his chithappa is just awesome. He himself would not have dreamt in his wildest dreams (when he started out as a hero) that he would land roles like these in the twilight years of his career. I loved the way Ganja Karuppu's comedy was seamlessly and neatly woven into the screenplay. Yuvan was terrific again. Ariyaadha vayasu will easily find its way into the Best of Yuvan CD. Maestro as the vocalist for that song was a perfect choice. His background score was awesome throughout the movie and it was in the climax scenes where I thought he could have done a better job. For a climax as heavy as this, we needed something as haunting as the one the Maestro came up with in Sethu. But then it would also be unfair on our part to expect that kind of stuff from Yuvan. One other sore point that I noticed was that in one fight scene, Ameer too falls into the recent trend of stunt men flying around. It is when you see scenes like that in a movie like this, that hurts us most, than if you see it in a movie like Anniyan. Overall, the Best movie I have seen since hmmm...this is where it gets tricky. Veyil, Pudhupettai, Thavamaai Thavam Irundhu are some movies that come to my mind. I would finally settle for Kaadhal. So, there is goes - my best movie since Kaadhal was released in late 2005. "As you sow, so shall you reap" is what we all have known but Ameer seems to say "As you sow, so shall you (& your loved ones) reap" and that is what I think has touched a chord in most of us.