Ananthapurathu Veedu - That's the spirit

Naga. The man behind many thrillers in small screen, has recreated the magic on big screen with 'Ananthapurathu Veedu'. At a time when films are made in a grand budget with actors hopping from one country to another to dance for songs and huge sets were erected where the hero bashes goons, Naga has rendered a tale that is woven inside an old house.

Director Shankar's ‘S Pictures’ has produced the film, which again is away from clichéd commercials keeping the reputation of the production house intact. The movie may sound like a scary one, but is a jolly fun ride for it talks about value, relationships and sacrifice within a family.

With just a handful of characters, Naga has penned a script that is engaging in most parts. But the lacunae are it goes lengthy towards the latter part with needless several portions, which fail to garner the attention of the audience.

Bala (Nandaa), comes to his ancestral village Ananthapuram with his wife Revathy (Chaya Singh) and four-year-old kid Anandh (Aryan). Bala's parents had an unnatural death killed in an accident.

Many unexplained incidents happen in the house which frightens the family. The little one feels the unnatural occurrence in the house first. Meanwhile there is a twist to the tale. The reason for Bala and his family taking refuge in the ancestral home is revealed.

Eventually the unnatural activities are nothing but that of spirits of Bala's parents who shower love and affection on the trio. Eventually they sort out all troubles for Bala and all ends well.

Naga has chosen an apt star cast who deliver what is required for the movie. Nandaa, who played a baddie in his last ('Eeram'), has played a doting husband and a caring father. Chaya Singh as his claustrophobic wife fits the role well. Watch out for young Master Aryan, who is right there impressing one and all. The rest of the cast including Kalairani as servant maid, Krishna and Ganesh Babu are adequate.

The movie has just a couple of songs by Ramesh Krishna. His background score compliments the good work of Arunmani Pazhani on camera.

Though the length is a problem in the movie, it can be overlooked for Naga's sincere approach to render a horror flick in a stylish manner without frightening the masses. All said, Naga deserves credit for giving a clean entertainer.

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Madrasapattinam Movie Review

Young filmmaker Vijay, who has stepped out of filmmaker Priyadharshan’s school, has made his mentor proud. If ‘Siraichalai’ was considered a master pierce from Priyan, his protégé has proved with ‘Madrasapattinam’ that he is equally skilled.

The movie is set in the 1940s when the Britishers were about to leave the Indian soil. The crux of the film is about an innocent and valorous Tamil youth falling in love with the daughter of the English Governor.

The troubles and turmoil that their romance face and what transpired between the young White girl and the Tamil youth on the day of Indian independence have been dealt clearly and crisply with a touch of political background, laced with patriotism.

Though shades of ‘Titanic’ could not be avoided in this period film, it is a sincere and a worthy attempt with the whole cast contributing their might, ably supported by sound technical brilliance behind the screen.

The Madras then has been craftily recreated by art director Selva Kumar. The dhobikhana, the waterways at Buckingham canal, which were used for ferrying, the Central Station and its platforms, trams and the royal Government houses of the British era have been erected close to perfection.

What more, the lens of Nirav Shah has been at its best capturing them well on screen. The lights and shades, the colour tone and the difference in flashback and contemporary on screen hog all limelight thanks to the cinematographer. His work is one of the assets of the film.

Manohar Verma’s stunts are pulsating and racy. Especially the chase at the Central Station is astounding. Antony’s editing as usual peps up the proceedings, though he could have trimmed a little in the second half. However his scissors seems to have woked with a purpose.

But the scene-stealer is young G V Prakash Kumar. He has come up trumps with the songs that reflect the time. What more, the background score is apt for the movie. At places, he reminds one of maestro Ilayaraja. He has shown a lot of promise and ‘Madrasapattinam’ is sure to take him places. The sorrow of a woman missing her lover has been brought out well by Prakash’s background score.

The movie begins more like Titanic as an old English woman (Emy Jackson) almost at her death bed in London, wants to come down to Chennai in search of a young man Parithi (Arya) whom she last saw on 15 August, 1947.

Almost 60 years from then, she is clueless as she has just a picture of Parithi, which was taken then. The search begins. There are scenes where she recalls her past. It is revealed that Parithi was a valorous dhobi in ‘Madrasapattinam’. He revolts against the British officials for they plan to construct a golf course in their dhobikhana.

Comes Emi, daughter of Madras Presidency Governor, and she develops an affinity towards Parithi. She is friendly and helpful. Sequence of events leaves romance blossoming between them. Parithi calls her affectionately as Duraiamma.

Even as they face trouble from the angry White officials, comes 15 August 1947 which brings freedom to India. Duraiamma is now forced to go back to England. Parithi runs from pillar to post and fights to hold his sweetheart’s hands. But he couldn’t achieve his mission. Cut to present, Duraiamma is back in search of Parithi. Did she realise her mission forms the climax.

Arya excels in his role. He fits the role to T. Be it an angry youth voicing against the Whites or a romantic youngster running around to save his beloved, he is right there giving his best. Emy Jackson walks away with aplomb. Her spontaneous expressions are the highlight. For a foreigner to give right emotions in a Tamil film is no easy task. But she does the impossible with ease.

Cochin Haneefa’s one-liners are rib-tickling. The rest of the cast including Nasser, Balasingh, M S Baskar, Balaji, Kishore and Jeeva are adequate. English man Jack James as a greedy British cop is an apt choice.

Vijay has shown immense maturity in taking up such a difficult theme and working it out well with right entertaining and engrossing elements. His nose for minute details is worth mentioning. His adept screenplay and catchy screenplay work out right magic.

Produced by Kalpathy Brothers’ AGS Entertainment and presented by Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Gaint Movies, ‘Madrasapattinam’ is a movie to cherish for movie-buffs. Away from the madding crowd of commercial clichés, it is a film that would send positive vibes among those who love meaningful films.

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Raavanan Movie Review

Mani Ratnam returns to spread magic (or a blunder, as this review progresses) with his ‘Raavanan’ after a splendid show in the form of ‘Guru’. Well lets be positive to some extent now, his team is world class, with Santosh Sivan behind the lens, Srikar Prasad on the editor’s table and A R Rahman handling the music and besides that the stellar star cast! The movie looked like a bouquet of flowers but only the fragrance seemed to fade!  

'Raavanan' is cinematic brilliance. Watch the movie without expectations and watch it for what it has to offer rather than searching for what you want! It is a celluloid adaptation of ‘Ramayana’ written by sage Valmiki (and interestingly, no name is displayed for ‘the story’ when the titles are showed.) with modern publicity techniques that will attract the audience. Let’s get to the analysis part and wrap this review up as soon as possible, because the movie is just above 2 hours. And about wrapping it soon, anyone among the audience will tell you to get out of the hall as soon as possible once the movie is over!  

Mani Ratnam, the master of creating art on celluloid has possibly over worked to not reach the hype! He is class apart no doubt but his class on screen is visible only in parts. He has delicately portrayed bits and pieces of modern day Ramayana. Well nothing offending here but Ramayana is a story that is imbibed in to our lives from childhood, seems like this movie was shot to associate every scene with the happenings in the holy epic.  

Characterisation and Performances

Suhasini Maniratnam pens the dialogues of the movie. Her dialogues are intelligent, credible and most importantly, conveying information. Characters and their strengths are informed through these wonderful dialogues. The homework seems to have been done well. Mani Ratnam has sketched his characters amazingly. Every character has a purpose and every actor behind the character has been rightly cast. . Leave alone the fact he was inspired from Ramayana but here in this, the Raavanan is the hero. The title role is played by Vikram (like you didn’t know). He is Veera alias Veeraiah. A tribal leader who’s fighting for their rights. He is strong, genuine and loyal to his tribe. Even other characteristics of his are mentioned through an enquiry scene where the police talk to the tribals to find out what kind of a person this Veera is. Vikram’s performance is simply electric. 

The next in line is Prithvi Raj, who’s the dynamic Superintendent of Police. He is oozing with confidence as an actor and his chemistry with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is good enough on screen. He makes it quite obvious as being the Rama in this story. So you know the strings attached.  

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s characterization is simple. She is a loving wife who has been abducted (did we leak the story now?) and her expressions from thereon are simply amazing. She is beautiful on screen (sure is) and has come out with a noticeably extraordinary performance. Only a certain part of the credit goes to her, the rest goes to Mani for getting the best out of her.  

The other supporting characters like Karthik( apparently Hanuman) as a forest officer, Prabhu as Vikram’s older brother, Munna as Vikram’s younger brother and others are impressively handled characters. The director has made sure all the characters receive the deserved importance. Mani Ratnam is the master unarguably; he has made sure the actors have their presence felt on screen.  

At this predicament of the review, Priya Mani as Vikram’s step sister has done a commendable job. Her character as a bold sister to the strong brother is much appreciable. Her performance will definitely be applauded and as she’s playing the same role in the Hindi version, she has made an excellent start in her Bollywood journey. 

Technicalysis

Technically speaking, Editor Srikar Prasad has sharp scissors. The screenplay in the first half, though nothing has been conveyed and is an utter waste of film reels, his editing is near precision. Stunts and bomb work by Peter Heines and Shyam Kaushal deserve appreciation and so is art director Sameer’s work, given the fact that most of the movie was shot in and around water. The tribal village, the police camp, a bridge and a marriage set were simply amazing and he would be one technician to make note of. The fight on the bridge just before the climax is an edge-of-the-seat scene that has been well shot and well directed.

But there is one man who will be applauded for his work (perhaps the only respite in the movie) is Santosh Sivan and his camera work! Mani’s movies always have natural lighting and Santosh has used it to good effect. Green pastures, water falls, rivers, trees, and all that nature can offer in a forest are radiantly shown. Hats off Santosh, you’ve done a splendid job! 

Winding up this section, A R Rahman’s music is classy. His tribal beats merge with the movie’s theme. His rerecording could have been better but nevertheless, a great show! Hard work from cast and crew is evident in the movie, given that the movie was shot under incessant rain, blood sucking leeches etc, but what does it count for? 

The Minuses

The list of minuses is being reduced with a lot of deliberation. Mani Ratnam has pictured beautiful movies in the past. ‘Raavanan’ was termed his magnum opus, etc but sorry it didn’t seem like one. The screenplay was a let down with only few scenes showing his directing supremacy. He has done another ‘Roja’ with only Aishwarya replacing Arvind Swamy and a few minor alterations. The movie was lost somewhere. May be because the first half was a major let down and the second half carried a lot to show (or burden) the audience.  

IndiaGlitz Verdict

‘Raavanan’ is for those who appreciate quality cinema ingredients. Director’s touch, camera, art, etc are prominent yet something is missing. Don’t look for the plot; it is quite obvious (from the trailers). Watch it for Mani Ratnam’s direction expertise, Vikram’s performance, Aishwarya’s beauty and the beautiful locations!  This was branded Mani’s best movie by a few but on second thought, the master’s best is yet to come.

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Maanja Velu - Man with a mission

The success of 'Malai Malai' has propelled the trio Arun Vijay, director A Venkatesh and producers Feather Touch Entertainments to come together for 'Maanja Velu', which is again a commercial mass masala entertainer with enough thrills and spills.

The movie, inspired by Telugu blockbuster 'Lakshyam', is racy from the word go thanks to bubbly Arun Vijay. Giving him good company is yesteryear hero Karthik.

The man who is credited with many hits in 1980s and early 1990s, makes a strong comeback in 'Maanja Velu'. Playing an honest and upright cop, Karthik is impressive not just in stunt sequences but also in comedy.

The whole movie occurs in Tiruchirapallai, where Maanja Velu (Arun Vijay) runs a canteen in the college where he studied. There are a group of people (Santhanam, 'Lollu Sabha' Manohar, Ganja Karuppu and Shakeela) in the canteen bringing the roof down with humour. Anjali (Dhanshika), a student of the college, plays a cat and mouse game with Velu before they both fall in love.

Subash Chandra Bose (Karthik) is Velu's brother and an honest police officer. Their father is a journalist (Vijayakumar) and theirs is a happy family.

Enters Umapathy (Vagai Chandrasekhar), a dreaded influential man in the city. He adopts all greedy ways to usurp others wealth. Bose is after him.

Meanwhile, Umapathy swindles money from a chit fund firm to the tune of Rs 100 crore which Bose is forced to investigate. Bose finishes off Umapathy's men one after another in encounter. But Umapathy hatches a conspiracy and bumps him off.

Velu keeps the death of Bose a secret and launches a crusade to finish Umapathy. The rest of the film is how Velu takes revenge on the baddie.

Arun Vijay has taken off from where he left in 'Malai Malai'. He is right there delivering his best. Be it comedy, action or romance. Action comes naturally to him. His body language and dialogue delivery deserve a mention.

Dhanshika fulfills the role of a heroine, appearing in skimpy costumes for songs. Vagai Chandrasekhar plays a baddie perhaps for the first time. He menaces evil in his eyes and looks apt choice for the role.

Vijayakumar, Ilavarasu among others form part of the cast. The comedy by Santhanam, Ganja Karuppu and team, specially imitating scenes from films like 'Naadodigal', is a laughathon.

Veteran actor Prabhu does a cameo, which does have a positive impact on screen. But the scene-stealer is Karthik. The veteran has done a commendable job and announced his re-entry with a bang.

Mani Sharma's tunes are pacy and racy while Venkatesh's camera is cool. Another highlight of the film is Kanal Kannan's stunts. A Venkatesh, known for his commercial cocktails, has not disappointed fans this time too. A perfect one for those who love masala flicks.

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Kanagavel Kakka Movie Review

After a few mediocre outings in the recent past, Karan seems to have gone the 'mass route' this time. 'Kanagavel Kaakka', directed by debutant Kavinbala, is a movie with a larger theme seemingly inspired by Shankar kind of movies.

Set out to preach a moral that there needs to be a complete overhaul in the judicial system of the country, the movies manages to sustain all interest thanks to noted writer Pa Ragahvan's dialogues. Crisp and sharp-edged, the dialogues especially towards the climax lighten up the proceedings.

A youth affected by greedy motives of a politician is forced to take arms. He launches a crusade against criminals who use the back door of the legal system to get acquitted. Eventually he takes on the politician. This is what the movie is all about.

Vel (Karan), works as a 'dawali' in a court. He comes across various cases, where the rich and influential guilty men escape from the iron-hands of law through money, influence and power.

In disguise, Vel kills them sending a strong message to everyone who bends the rule of law. In the meantime, a futile attempt by Velu to murder Law Minister Ayyanarappan (Kota Sreenivasa Rao) forces cops to investigate the issue.

A series of murders poses problems to them even as Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajendran (Adhitya Menon) is deputed to nab the criminal. There is a flashback which reveals Vel's motives.

A few years ago, Vel's father Muthu Rathina Sabapathy (Avinash), an honest judge is forced to see his wife and daughter killed by Ayyanarappan. But he escapes the punishment. Vel manages to get the job of 'dawali' and takes revenge on him. Did he achieve his mission forms the climax.

Karan is good as an angry young man. Especially towards the climax, he has come out with his best. Haripriya, a debutant, who falls in love with him, fails to impress. Kota Sreenivasa Rao plays a role that is typical of him, as the menacing villain, he is right there playing what he is known for.

Sampath Raj dons the role of a wicked lawyer. Aditya Menon is tailor-made for the cop's role. The rest of the cast includes Avinash, Sabitha Anand, Rajan and Divyadrashini among others.

Vijay Antony as usual comes up with racy tunes. More than his tunes, his re-recording is impressive. Shaji handles cinematography while Suresh Urs's editing makes the movie crisp.

A lengthy latter half and characters which lack the depth are major drawbacks. But Kavinbala consciously chose to go Shankar's route and manages to render a decent work with good support from Karan and Pa Raghavan.

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