Friday, August 22, 2008

Director - Not found


I like this Mr. X very much. Mr. X is a director. Mr. X has directed only one movie. I’ve been waiting for his next venture. But now information is found about the director’s next movie. Immediately after his first movie, he announced his next movie. Title of his second movie was too good. There have been no updates after that.

The only movie he directed was an excellent movie. When I came out of theatre, I was emotionally stuck. It was like a journey. The camera work, the music, the characters, lead artist's performance were all enthralling. Certain scenes were absolutely mindblowing and very innovative. Meaningful dialogues is another plus.

Despite the positive reviews from critics and audience the movie bombed at the box office. The movie did have some flaws and few ridiculous dialogues. But still the movie was worth watching. I cannot forget certain scenes and dialogues of that movie. Am eagerly waiting for his next movie.

But I feel that he is not given his due. When director Perarasu, recipient of contempt reviews could get numerous offers, why aren’t producers approaching this talented Mr. X?I wish to see news about the next venture of this talent soon. Hope we’ll get it.

I hope you have guessed who Mr. X is. Haven’t you?

He is Mr. Raam, the director of the movie Katradhu Tamizh.

Regards,
Vinith

Friday, August 15, 2008

Subramaniapuram - Movie Review

2008 - A man is being released from a jail, he comes out - CUT - Its raining outside - CUT - He had not even crossed the prison premises, a man comes and kills this bloke. He falls down - CUT - 1980 - Subramaniyapuram - Kanja karuppu walks down the street. The story starts...

Isn't that a fantastic opening scene?

Jai, Sasikumar (Director), Kanja Karuppu and two other are thick friends. The story revolves these three leads with other two being supporting roles. Jai, Sasi and Kanja Karuppu are unemployed youngsters who involve themselves in fights, then paying frequent visits to the Subramaniyapuram police station. They are being helped by Samuthrakani whose elder brother is an ex-Councilor. So there comes a natural bonding between Samuthrakani and these three youngsters. Conucilor is being taken away from the post by a member in the opposite party. This puts Samuthrakani under mental agony. He shares this pain with this trio. Trio decides to kill the opposite party member believing that Samuthrakani will help them come out of jail on bail. Jai and Sasi are imprisoned. But Samuthrakani doesn't take any step to release the duo. They make friendship with another accused in the same jail who helps Jai and Sasi to come out on bail. The act of revenge starts... Thus the racy screen play starts... Swetha, daughter of the the councilor, falls in love with Jai... After an hour and 15 minutes, the story switches back to 2008, the person who was killed in Jail premises is taken to the hospital and is being given treatment... After a minute, the story goes back to 1980 and continues with the rest and comes back to 2008 at the end...



The script may sound run-of-the-mill. But director has presented it with so many twists (which were not at all predictable) which make you bite your nail at times.

All the characters have been portrayed well, especially the handicapped friend of Jai. There is no one in the movie who irritates the audience by overacting. Female lead has very less scope to act, but has done her part well. Jai has done this role with ease. Remarkable perfomance. Director Sasi goes one step further in acting.

Since the story is about the happenings in 1980, the director has been very careful that no mark of latest happenings is seen on the screen. No latest cars, no computers, no latest movie posters are seen in 80's episode of the movie. Hats off to the director.

Music director James has also proven his ability in delivering the best BGM he can for the movie, but falters at times where the re-recording becomes too sonorous. James must avoid this in his future ventures.

The best scene in the movie is, when Jai is being chased by Samuthrakani gang he runs off to escape and finally gets inside a house where a lady and a baby live. The moment the lady sees him inside the house, she scolds him and asks him to go out. Scared Jai falls on her feet and begs her to save his life. Fantastic performance by Jai in this particular scene.

Flawless movies cannot be made. So I tried my best not to find faults. There were few flaws. But I am not going to meintion those here as the stunning climax makes me forget those flaws. Most of the reviews say that too much of violence is a minus point in this movie. But I disagree with that. This kind of movies need violence and rustic screenplay. This is inevitable.

If you watch it in theatre, when someone calls you in the interval to ask your review, you would say "Hmmm... somewhat going... First half is OK". in the mid of the second half you would say "Second half is very racy. Better than first half.". When you come out of theatre you would say "The last 15 minutes elevated the whole movie to a greater level. Just couldn't believe why he did so. Have to watch it again"

Overall, the movie is worth watching many times.

Star rating: 4 stars.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

GVP - Yuvan Coincidence!!!

Another interesting coincidence.

I recently got the OST (not exactly OST. But good collection of BGM) of the movie Manmadhan, music by Yuvan. This collection includes main theme with 13 other BGM music and bit songs. The theme music (Violin orchestration) of the movie Kreedom by young composer GV Prakash, strongly resembles one of the BGM pieces of Manmadhan.

The inspired piece is very small in terms of duration but the similitude is pretty high. Check out this. I really don’t know if this is an intentional act of GVP or again an accidental one.

As a layman, my knowledge about how a Symphony is composed is, first the composer writes musical notes for the symphony and then composes the music with the written notes. (Please correct me if I am wrong). So this piece seems to be an accidental one. Of course, no composer would sit and copy/inspire the music that comes merely for 3 seconds.

Listen to those pieces!

Manmadhan Theme,



Kridom Theme,



This is just a coincidence I guess. What do you think about this?

Regards,
Vinith

Friday, August 1, 2008

Raman Thediya Seethai (Vidyasagar) - Music Review


After a series of disappointing attempts in his recent albums Kuruvi, Alibaba, Muniyandi, Vidyasagar is back with some interesting songs in Raman Thediya Seethai. Thanks to the composer for doing away with irritating kuthu songs. Musically, RTS is no Mozhi, but is definitely an album that gives listeners a good feel.

Nanba – Karthik
A pleasant bit song with Karthik’s excellen vocals. A short song with amazing interlude and good orchestration. This song has some cheerful lyrics to pep up the friend.

Ippavae Ippavae – Madhu Balakrishnan, Harini
Starts with an interesting prelude. A breezy song with minimal orchestration yet noticeable. Madhu and Harini’s rendition definitely suits the mood of the song well. Had the tune been honed well, this would have been another best song in this album.

Mazhai Nindra – Kalyani
Pick of the album. Song would definitely go well with the masses especially with lovers. The song is so soothing with beautiful lyrics, mind-blowing orchestration and mesmerizing vocals by the singer Kalyani. Given a chance, Kalyani would surely be another Shreya Ghosal in TFM.

Vanathai – Tippu
Another best track in the album. A complete song with magnificent orchestration, excellent interludes, noteworthy lyrics and amazing vocals from Tippu. Guitar usage in the first interlude is awesome.

Enne Pulla – Vidyasagar
Sounds like a folk song. Composer himself has rendered his voice for this song. Vidyasagar shines well as a composer but fails to create an impression as a singer. Composer’s nasal voice irritates at times. Overall orchestration is good.

Dj Dj Disca Poodu – Suchitra, Benny
The only below average song of this album. A song that doesn’t catch your attention. Composer falters in this song.

Verdict of Vinith:
With three good numbers, the album is definitely worth listening. Vidyasagar is one of the few musicians who strikes the right note in choosing the singer for this songs. He doesn’t spoil the song by roping Tamil-killers in. This is one good example.

Star Rating: 3.5 stars

Regards,
Vinith