Thursday, March 26, 2009

Music Review: Pasanga - James Vasanthan

Our "Kangal Irandal" James Vasanthan is back with his second album "Pasanga". This album is a solid proof that his success in Subramaniapuram music wasn't a fluke. His work in "Pasanga" is genuine.

"Pasanga" has four tracks in total which includes an bit song. So only three full tracks!

The first track that impressed me is "Oru Vetkam Varudhe" sung by Naresh Iyer and Shreya Ghosal. A beautiful melody with breezy lyrics. Not just the beautiful Violin and flute interludes that make this song astounding, the vocal combination of Naresh and Shreya as well. James has struck the right chord in choosing singers for this melody. Next "Kangal Irandal" is ready to rock the small screens.

Composer's idea of choosing Legend Balamurali Krishna sir for the beautiful "Anbaale Azhagagum Veedu" works like a charm. This song features lovely chorus of kids. Use of solo violin in the second interlude is awesome. I couldn't help but excited when I listened to this song. This song is comparable to A R Rahman's "Nee thaan en Desiya Geetham".

Orchestration part in fast paced "Nandhan Goppanda" is good. Sadly this song failed to impress me even after two, three listening. Composer's attempt in Rock genre for the song "Who's that guy" is quite good.

Verdict:
James has managed to churn out a pretty decent album with some fresh music. Laudable efforts indeed. Good job!!

From my heart: Why isn't there a good kids song (like what we got in Anjali) when the movie's theme is about children's lives? That's a minus point.

Reagards,
Vinith...

Tags: Pasanga music review, pasanga songs review, james vasanthan pasanga, James Vasanthan, pasanga movie

Friday, March 20, 2009

REC - A real horror flick

I have no great passion for Horror Movies neither do I have a great aversion for such movies. I’ve seen hardly three or four horror movies (including Yavarum Nalam. Lol) of which “Grudge” impressed me. Last week I heard about a horror movie called “REC” (2007). Decided to watch it and watched it yesterday. Running time is 75 mins.

Believe me, this is THE BEST horror movie that I’ve seen. This movie managed to ruin my sleep last night. Horror scenes kept disturbing me throughout the night. Go watch it.


Filmed using "Shaky Camerawork" is a big plus. You don't get the feel of watching a movie rather you get the feel of watching some horror scenes recorded live.

If you love horror movies, this one is sure a feast. Check it out!

Warning: Please do not watch this move with weak hearted people, children or ladies.

Target: Horror movies, rec movie, rec horror movie, thriller movies, rec 2007.

Regards,
Vinith

Monday, March 16, 2009

Legend Balamurali Krishna on Ilayaraja!

I came across this post in Emjay's Blog. I loved it and I wish to share the same here.

An excerpt from the post:

"No one is the authority in music. But, Illayaraja has been achieving without breaking the grammer of music. He is a great artist who is beyond awards. Honestly speaking,the greatest awards for music across the world should come to Illayaraja now."

"I have understood music across several parts of the world. Have sung in several languages. With that experience, I can say confidently that there is no match to Indian Classical music. And in that form of music, Illayaraja has explored and mastered."

Read more...

Regards,
Vini...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Yavarum Nalam Movie Review


First of all I wish to start this post by saying that it was so great to see Maddy aka Madhavan on big screen after a long time. If at all there is one actor whom I love the most next to Rajni and Kamal, it's Maddy. Yavarum Nalam is definitely a good re-entry for him. He has done his part so well (as usual).

Well, disclosing the story here may be a spoiler. So lemme share my thoughts, what I enjoyed, what I disliked, plusses and minuses of the movie. Yavarum Nalam (13B in Hindi) is a horror movie. In Tamil Film Industry, there is no dearth for Love stories or action scripts or thriller stories or comedy stories. But "Horror" genre has always been rare to see in TFI. So the expectations are high!


What do you think could be the story of a horror movie?
Hero and his family move into a new apartment. Strange things happening in the flat. He starts discovering the mystery and saves his family. Correct? Yavarum Nalam is not an exception in this. It does have the similar plot.

What makes it different?
Things that make this movie different are,

** There is no priest who tells the history of the place (flat).
** No pooja (Homam) is performed to please the ghost and save the family.
** No strange characters to scare the audience... LOL...
** Usually ghost scares the hero and his family in the form of a person or in the form of a voice. But in YN, director Vikram K Kumar has adopted a new technique in this. That's laudable. The ghost in this movie comes through a different medium. That is strikingly different even though we get a question in mind (Can this happen?). However, that is something new that we get to see.
** A perfect blend of humor and horror.
** P.C Shriram's cinematography. Stunning. Forgoing the regular bluish tone, the film's cinematography carries a different tone which is great to see on the screen. The way our Cinematographer shows the lift is awesome. Of course, when there is PC Shriram, we need not worry about the cinematography part.

Performances:
Saranya Ponvannan, as a home maker who is passionate about tele serials, fits the bill. Neetu as maddy's wife. Even though the role doesn't offer much scope, she has done her part well. Maddy's friend, who is a police man, has done justice to his role. The whole theatre LOLed when he asks maddy for updates on the TV Serial. ROTFL. Good job.

Pros:

** Maddy..... Maddy..... Maddy..... Maddy..... Maddy..... Maddy..... He perfectly suits the role of Upper Middle Class man. With subtle expressions on his face in romancing his wife, getting scared when he experiences strange things, in comedy sequences, worrying for his family members, maddy enthralls the audience. That was a treat to watch him.
** Cinematography and editing.
** Screenplay in first half and interesting twits and turns in second half.

Cons:

** Feckless background score. Tubby-Parik has done the BGM. BGM could have been better for this horror movie.
** Second half could have been abridged.
** Loopholes...some are really silly!

Verdict:

Go, watch the movie. You will surely like it. With horror genre movies becoming rare in TFI, this one should not be missed. Don't miss it. Movie is worth watching.

Share your thoughts...

Tags: Yaavarum Nalam review, Yavarum nalam review, yavarum nalam movie review, 13B yavarum nalam review, maddy madhavan, yavarum nalam story.

Regards,
Vini...

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Song Review

Well, it's been months since I wrote song reviews. Here is one for you :) :)

Is this a soothing melody? - No
Has this song got beautiful lyrics? - Hmmm. Not really.
Is this song a good duet? - Never.
Has it got good vocals? - Yes.
Has this song got a good orchestration? - Yes. Pretty good.
Is orchestration the only reason I love this song? - Not exactly.
Then what makes me write a review for this song??????? :x

The way the composer fuses an old melody song in this fast paced number. That is not an easy task at all!!! The fast paced number "Sutta Suriyanai" song in Sarvam is the one I'm talking about. Yuvan amazingly fuses "Megam Karukkudhu Mazhai vara paakudhu" song at 2.25 when the song is going on a fast paced note. Well done. This is one main reason I love this song despite its run-of-the-mill tune. Listen to it. You will like it....

Regards,
Vini...