Weekend movies - Unnaale Unnale & Chennai 600028
Unnaale Unnale - I was having a discussion with couple of my friends at the local Indian store. It was the time when Unnaale Unnaale had just been released and there were some positive reviews for the movie (but they were from websites which never give negative reviews for any movie). I was like "I do not have much hope on Jeeva. His first 2 movies were good at best but nothing spectacular" and they were like "Ullam Kaetkkume was a hit, even after lying in the cans for close to 2 years. That shows the stuff he has and the trailer for U2 is very promising, needless to say about the songs". But finally, we agreed to disagree and concluded that we will meet again after we all have seen the movie. Though the supposed meeting hasn't taken place yet, I am eagerly looking forward to it, just to say "I told you so".
Man, what a crapfest this movie turned out to be. This has to be the dumbest, silliest and most ridiculous movie that I have seen recently. Even movies like Chennai Kaadhal & Deepavali (movies that I hated to the hilt) did not pretend to dwell in detail about relationships. This one while asking itself to be taken seriously in terms of how the relationship called love between 2 people needs to be handled, Jeeva makes a complete joke of himself.
Vinay thinks he can be an actor just bcos he looks good and is tall. Raju Sundaram thinks he can be a comedian just bcos he thinks he speaks Tamil in a funny way. Jeeva thinks that he can make a movie just bcos he has a producer to fund the movie, Harris Jeyaraj to compose some awesome songs and he got permission to shoot in Australia.
Raju Sundaram is one irritating character (it was partly bcos of him that I so disliked Jeans) and I sincerely feel he should be added to the list of folks who should be banned from appearing on screen. Perarasu, Pradeep Rawat, TR - that is one awful list and it is high time we add Raju Sundaram to that list. Many people might dislike different aspects in the movies. Some might not like the romance, some might not like the way the songs were picturized, some might not like Sada. But if there is one thing that everyone would dislike in the movie, it should be the comedy track. Simply disgusting. I really don't know how Jeeva even thought that these supposedly funny scenes would invoke laughter among the public. And there is one scene in the 2nd half that is simply puke-worthy.
If there is one thing in the movie that I would appreciate Jeeva for, it would be the fact that he did not commit the ultimate harakiri of including a fight sequence in the movie. Better movies with better directors have fallen to that temptation but thankfully, Jeeva saves us from that. Cinematographers who take up direction are like wicketkeeper-batsmen that Indian cricket has produced. If we ask ourselves the question, have we ever produced a wicket-keeper batsman who could be included in the team, based on his batting skills alone? the answer would be NO. The ilk of these cinematographers-cum-directors are something similar to that. Jeeva will never be a great director, same would be the case with folks like K.V.Anand, Vijay Milton, Rajeev Menon, P.C.Sriram, Thangar Bachan. They are masters of their field - cinematography but when it comes to direction, they end up being awfully short on quality.
Short advice to Jeeva - Get back to what you do best. And even if you venture into directing a movie, please stay away from dealing with something as intricate as a relationship between a guy and a girl. You stink at it and stop torturing us. Easily my worst movie of the year.
Chennai 600028 - Wow...what a movie. Just blew me away. This was one movie which I did not have high hopes on bcos I kind of had a gut instinct that, in trying to come up with a movie catering to the youth, these guys will just spoil it or at best, come up with a half-baked movie (after all, even the veteran Shankar faltered with Boys). But the movie turned out to be one where I loved everything about the movie. (But I will have to say that I was not entirely surprised bcos I watched the movie after reading reviews from 2 trust-worthy people - Balaji and Zero)
Seriously, I have not enjoyed any movie as much as I did Chennai 600028 in the last few years. The movie oozes of freshness & realism all along and the entertainment value the movie provides is just unparalleled. Be it the awesome songs or the timing jokes or the serious scenes or the cricket matches or Premji's seshtaigal, I simply loved everything. The comedy that has been interwoven into the screenplay is easily the highlight of the movie. One sample is this haikoo that Aravind comes up with for his lover:
Marathula irukkudhu kaai
Thoonga theva paai
Nee mattum OK sonnaa
Indha Karthi unkaaladi naai
I was literally ROTFL on after seeing him utter this and also after it was revealed whom he was talking to. The conversations and arattais that the guys have among themselves are just so natural. Like when the Rockers teammates call Raghu to come for a match and he refuses, the guy on the phone says to his friends "Sema gaandula irukkaan machi". That is something that you will see in every other conversation among our guys. Other thing that is so easy to miss bcos of the fact that the film is so realistic is the costumes for the guys. Every single guy in the movie comes in dresses that we, as normal guys, wear in our day to day life. I am sure they did not even have a costume designer for the movie and Venkat Prabhu just asked the guys to come to shooting in their own dresses :)
There were so many little things that I loved about the movie - Raghu's friends addressing his mother as amma (that is something which many of us do but has never been shown in movies), Premgi refusing to hand the bat over after getting out hit-wicket & fighting with his friends, when a guy tries to erect the stumps up by hitting the top of the stump with the body of the bat, another guy comes and stops him by showing the correct way to do it - hitting it with the handle of the bat, using the Pothi vacha malliga mottu song in the most hilarious of ways, The list is just so endless. Venkat Prabhu just keeps the screenplay so simple and uncomplicated. And that is the biggest plus of the movie. There is a track where 2 friends get into a fight bcos one guy is in love with the other guy's sister but Venkat Prabhu makes sure that that track does not take up so much time and right when it is solved, we are ready to face the climax of the movie. Same with the track where one of the guys is stabbed. We do not have the usual cinematic finish where the stabbed guy is shown coming out of his hospital bed and playing in the crucial match.
A post about Chennai 600028 would be incomplete without a mention of Premgi Amaran and the unforgettable climax. If we had not known that Vadivelu is a comedian, I am not sure if we would laugh at merely looking at him. But Premji Amaran is in a different league altogether. The mere sight of him (and needless to say, his antics) is sure to evoke uncontrollable laughter in you. And then that sweet climax - just makes you want more and brings a smile to your lips, days after you are done watching the movie.
Background score by Premji Amaran was such a plus. You can literally feel the effect of the BGM in raising the impact of each and every scene. If I were to add something about the songs, then it would be that some songs which I did not like that much when the album was released, gelled oh-so-perfectly with the flow of the movie. For example, when the audio was released, Yuvan's singing in the Natpukkulle song was such a big minus but while seeing it with the movie, it did not really stand out. Even the Jalsa Pannungadaa song was neatly picturized and the song exactly fit in to the mood of the scene. Something I liked in the 2 dance numbers in the movie - Jalsa Pannungada and Saroja Saamaan Nikaalo – was that unlike other directors who try their best to make sure that the choreography is spot on, here Venkat Prabhu makes sure that the fun factor is not missing in their dance steps. In other words, he has avoided the typical dance formation (in the way the dancers stand, all in perfectly drawn rows & columns) we see in all choreographed songs. But the dance steps are so much enjoyable.
The movie is not without its shortcomings. An unnecessary song and fight sequence towards the end of the 2nd half are something which when removed could have made me call this movie PERFECT. Though I did not feel that the Ennannamo pannudhu song was unnecessary, I thought that if the mood of the song had been changed to something other than a sensuous number, it would not have stuck out like a sore thumb, as it does now. The cricket scenes could have been shot definitely better and more gripping. For example, after each ball is bowled, the whole team is shown as converging at the middle of the field to egg the bowler on. I know it is very trivial and something that can be (and should be) overlooked. But I am still mentioning it here bcos when you like a movie to the extent to which I liked Chennai 600028, you want it to be perfect in every possible way and that is the reason for this silly rant.
When it was time for me to return the DVD back to the Indian store, I really did not want to part with it :) Watched it couple of more of times before returning the DVD. This one will definitely go into my DVD collection. My verdict will be - Not just 'Go, watch it' but 'Go, Own it' :)
Man, what a crapfest this movie turned out to be. This has to be the dumbest, silliest and most ridiculous movie that I have seen recently. Even movies like Chennai Kaadhal & Deepavali (movies that I hated to the hilt) did not pretend to dwell in detail about relationships. This one while asking itself to be taken seriously in terms of how the relationship called love between 2 people needs to be handled, Jeeva makes a complete joke of himself.
Vinay thinks he can be an actor just bcos he looks good and is tall. Raju Sundaram thinks he can be a comedian just bcos he thinks he speaks Tamil in a funny way. Jeeva thinks that he can make a movie just bcos he has a producer to fund the movie, Harris Jeyaraj to compose some awesome songs and he got permission to shoot in Australia.
Raju Sundaram is one irritating character (it was partly bcos of him that I so disliked Jeans) and I sincerely feel he should be added to the list of folks who should be banned from appearing on screen. Perarasu, Pradeep Rawat, TR - that is one awful list and it is high time we add Raju Sundaram to that list. Many people might dislike different aspects in the movies. Some might not like the romance, some might not like the way the songs were picturized, some might not like Sada. But if there is one thing that everyone would dislike in the movie, it should be the comedy track. Simply disgusting. I really don't know how Jeeva even thought that these supposedly funny scenes would invoke laughter among the public. And there is one scene in the 2nd half that is simply puke-worthy.
If there is one thing in the movie that I would appreciate Jeeva for, it would be the fact that he did not commit the ultimate harakiri of including a fight sequence in the movie. Better movies with better directors have fallen to that temptation but thankfully, Jeeva saves us from that. Cinematographers who take up direction are like wicketkeeper-batsmen that Indian cricket has produced. If we ask ourselves the question, have we ever produced a wicket-keeper batsman who could be included in the team, based on his batting skills alone? the answer would be NO. The ilk of these cinematographers-cum-directors are something similar to that. Jeeva will never be a great director, same would be the case with folks like K.V.Anand, Vijay Milton, Rajeev Menon, P.C.Sriram, Thangar Bachan. They are masters of their field - cinematography but when it comes to direction, they end up being awfully short on quality.
Short advice to Jeeva - Get back to what you do best. And even if you venture into directing a movie, please stay away from dealing with something as intricate as a relationship between a guy and a girl. You stink at it and stop torturing us. Easily my worst movie of the year.
Chennai 600028 - Wow...what a movie. Just blew me away. This was one movie which I did not have high hopes on bcos I kind of had a gut instinct that, in trying to come up with a movie catering to the youth, these guys will just spoil it or at best, come up with a half-baked movie (after all, even the veteran Shankar faltered with Boys). But the movie turned out to be one where I loved everything about the movie. (But I will have to say that I was not entirely surprised bcos I watched the movie after reading reviews from 2 trust-worthy people - Balaji and Zero)
Seriously, I have not enjoyed any movie as much as I did Chennai 600028 in the last few years. The movie oozes of freshness & realism all along and the entertainment value the movie provides is just unparalleled. Be it the awesome songs or the timing jokes or the serious scenes or the cricket matches or Premji's seshtaigal, I simply loved everything. The comedy that has been interwoven into the screenplay is easily the highlight of the movie. One sample is this haikoo that Aravind comes up with for his lover:
Marathula irukkudhu kaai
Thoonga theva paai
Nee mattum OK sonnaa
Indha Karthi unkaaladi naai
I was literally ROTFL on after seeing him utter this and also after it was revealed whom he was talking to. The conversations and arattais that the guys have among themselves are just so natural. Like when the Rockers teammates call Raghu to come for a match and he refuses, the guy on the phone says to his friends "Sema gaandula irukkaan machi". That is something that you will see in every other conversation among our guys. Other thing that is so easy to miss bcos of the fact that the film is so realistic is the costumes for the guys. Every single guy in the movie comes in dresses that we, as normal guys, wear in our day to day life. I am sure they did not even have a costume designer for the movie and Venkat Prabhu just asked the guys to come to shooting in their own dresses :)
There were so many little things that I loved about the movie - Raghu's friends addressing his mother as amma (that is something which many of us do but has never been shown in movies), Premgi refusing to hand the bat over after getting out hit-wicket & fighting with his friends, when a guy tries to erect the stumps up by hitting the top of the stump with the body of the bat, another guy comes and stops him by showing the correct way to do it - hitting it with the handle of the bat, using the Pothi vacha malliga mottu song in the most hilarious of ways, The list is just so endless. Venkat Prabhu just keeps the screenplay so simple and uncomplicated. And that is the biggest plus of the movie. There is a track where 2 friends get into a fight bcos one guy is in love with the other guy's sister but Venkat Prabhu makes sure that that track does not take up so much time and right when it is solved, we are ready to face the climax of the movie. Same with the track where one of the guys is stabbed. We do not have the usual cinematic finish where the stabbed guy is shown coming out of his hospital bed and playing in the crucial match.
A post about Chennai 600028 would be incomplete without a mention of Premgi Amaran and the unforgettable climax. If we had not known that Vadivelu is a comedian, I am not sure if we would laugh at merely looking at him. But Premji Amaran is in a different league altogether. The mere sight of him (and needless to say, his antics) is sure to evoke uncontrollable laughter in you. And then that sweet climax - just makes you want more and brings a smile to your lips, days after you are done watching the movie.
Background score by Premji Amaran was such a plus. You can literally feel the effect of the BGM in raising the impact of each and every scene. If I were to add something about the songs, then it would be that some songs which I did not like that much when the album was released, gelled oh-so-perfectly with the flow of the movie. For example, when the audio was released, Yuvan's singing in the Natpukkulle song was such a big minus but while seeing it with the movie, it did not really stand out. Even the Jalsa Pannungadaa song was neatly picturized and the song exactly fit in to the mood of the scene. Something I liked in the 2 dance numbers in the movie - Jalsa Pannungada and Saroja Saamaan Nikaalo – was that unlike other directors who try their best to make sure that the choreography is spot on, here Venkat Prabhu makes sure that the fun factor is not missing in their dance steps. In other words, he has avoided the typical dance formation (in the way the dancers stand, all in perfectly drawn rows & columns) we see in all choreographed songs. But the dance steps are so much enjoyable.
The movie is not without its shortcomings. An unnecessary song and fight sequence towards the end of the 2nd half are something which when removed could have made me call this movie PERFECT. Though I did not feel that the Ennannamo pannudhu song was unnecessary, I thought that if the mood of the song had been changed to something other than a sensuous number, it would not have stuck out like a sore thumb, as it does now. The cricket scenes could have been shot definitely better and more gripping. For example, after each ball is bowled, the whole team is shown as converging at the middle of the field to egg the bowler on. I know it is very trivial and something that can be (and should be) overlooked. But I am still mentioning it here bcos when you like a movie to the extent to which I liked Chennai 600028, you want it to be perfect in every possible way and that is the reason for this silly rant.
When it was time for me to return the DVD back to the Indian store, I really did not want to part with it :) Watched it couple of more of times before returning the DVD. This one will definitely go into my DVD collection. My verdict will be - Not just 'Go, watch it' but 'Go, Own it' :)
Labels: Movie Reviews, Weekend Movies
posted by Filbert at 3:50 PM
16 Comments:
Filby,
I was quite apprehensive about this movie initially (maybe bcos of the overhype by indiaglitz) but this movie turned out to be a cracker. Never got bored for even a single moment (That itself is a big accomplishment). You have to see this film in a chennai theatre (I'm sure the fun will be more).
I guess you forgot to mention about the tamil commentary. It was simply bringing the hall down.
Ex: 3 overil 43 run-gal. eppadithan intha kaattu kudumbatthai samaalikka pogiraargalo, theriyavillai.
Never thought Venkat Prabhu could make a film like this.
Same here, Senthil. We all knew that Indiaglitz was this movie's online partner but they did not have to go to such ridiculous extremes to promote the movie, which as you rightly said, was a reason to be apprehensive about the movie. But Venkat Prabhu just surprised us all.
Somehow, I missed listening to the commentary part well enough to comment about it. I thought it got lost (to me) among other excitement during the match scenes.
2 movies invoking such opposite reactions in 1 weekend! interesting :) now i'm curious... best movie of the yr so far? 'paruthi veeran' or 'chennai 28'??
I really wanted to touch upon both your thoughts. 2 different movies that brought out completely opposite reactions from me.
About the best movie of the year - I am tempted to place Chennai 600028 along with Paruthiveeran but then finally decided against it :) So, Paruthiveeran still remains my best movie of the year!!
Greaaaaaaaaaat movie, I didn't expect this much level from Venkat Prabhu, kudos to him.
Exactly Sanjeevi. To come up with this kind of a completely enjoyable movie on his debut attempt, Venkat Prabhu deserves all the praise he is getting. I still can't stop laughing when I think about some scenes from the movie (for example this dialog, Please-da legside-la podaatha-da...offside-la maintain pannu-da)
i really liked Raghu's intro , the one in whch he lands in the new locality and the BG and everythin was excellent
Same here, James. Loved the way the thanni kudams were flying and the water in a big vessel starts springing like a fountain. The fact that Raghu looks so much like Vijay also kind of helped, in that all Vijay films now-a-days have stupid intro scenes like that.
Hi filbert
Unnale Unnale was not that bad a movie....May be such small emotions are not recognised by many.
Theriyala Anon, I just could not sit through the movie. The scene in the 2nd half where everyone discusses about relationships at a house party was the most ridiculous scene I have ever seen. Only redemption were the songs but they too were mostly pathetically picturized.
unnale unnale was more of a copy...with bits and pieces from different movies like ther is one scene that is picked up from dil chahata hai...expected more from the movie after seeing the trailers....kind of got bored later...chennai 28 was definitely the best i believe you can see the movie 10 times and still not get bored...and the songs are super great
You are right, Anon. Though there were many scenes from other movies, the DCH scene stood out clearly bcos of its unparalleled popularity. Jeeva should be dumb enough to think that he can copy a scene form DCH and get away with it. It was like Deva copying the Titanic theme for Priyamudan :)
About Chennai 600028 - exactly my thoughts. You will never get bored or tired of watching the movie.One for the ages...
Chennai 600028....yyyyenna kodumaida ithu :-)
Chinna thirutham Anon, Yenna kodumai Sir idhu :) The effect of this dialog would have been better if I had watched in theater. Good movies like this don't make it to theaters here and instead movies like Unnale Unnaale get screened here.
i have watched Chennai 28 thrice now and each time i forget everything else and just sink in the movie :)
if u have heard the commentary part.. an eg,someone will hit a six and the commentary will be like "mullai periyaarai vida periya aaru" :)
when jr.amaran actually catches a ball (well in a no-ball) , commentary will be "avar pandhai pidikka villai , pandhu thaan avarai pidithathu :)"
and then he walks to the umpire and says "naan catch pidichi paathurkiya?"... "enna kodumai sir ithu"
"yaaro" song is a good one too..
guess itz one of the nice movies that u can watch anytime in the likes of pancha thanthiram and MMK.Rajan etc (can't go near crazy mohan but still in those lists of 'watch-any-time' movies )
what say?
Same here Arun. I really can not recall the last time I enjoyed a movie this much in the last few years. So much enjoyable and more importantly, like you said, a movie that I would place it on par with Panchathanthiram and MMKR.
About that commentary - I actually did not take note of all the commentary when I saw the movie for the first time, bcos I was more involved in the actual scene. But over the next few times I saw it, I began concentrating on the commentary and I simply loved every single one of them.
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