Kalavaani - Movie review

It is really a tough job for a debutant director to make an impressing movie with less popular star-cast, average music. Director Sarkkunam (Sargunam), does it well in his Kalavaani. Kalavani is a clean entertainer that can be enjoyed with whole family.

The script is all about a guy who falls in love with a girl from the next village. Both villages suffer from age-old enmity. Even we have seen this story umpteen times, what makes it worthy is the treatment and characterization.

Treatment: Crisp, clean, not dragging.

Characterization:

Making a village story (that too two villages) with limited characters is not an easy job. Most of Tamil Villages stories revolve around so many characters such as uncles, great grandparents, cousins, etc etc. Kalavaani forgoes that. I should give full marks for the director for using limited no of characters.

Saranya gets 200 Marks for her performance as sweet, innocent mom, which she usually does it with perfection. Saranya is indispensable when it comes to Mother roles. It is highly impossible to imagine someone else in her role.

Secondly, heroine's brother (New face?). He impresses with a unique body language and dialogue delivery which is quite natural. He gets 100 Marks.

Vimal, as Arikki @ Arivazhagan, has done his part well. Only thing is, few dialogues reminded me of Paruthiveeran. Oviya, has done a fabulous job. Her acting as a girl hailing from a village is so apt.

Then Kanja Karuppu as Mr. Panchayathu, who gets trapped in the plans of Vimal gang. Noteworthy performance from Ganja Karuppu after a long time.

Friends of Arivazhagan have pulled off an excellent performance. One scene that had the whole theater in splits is "Arivazhagan. Mr. Arivazhagan". OMG!

Cinematography: Excellent. Green Paddy fields have been shot so beautifully.

Music: SS Kumaran has done a better job in Background score in first half while songs are big miss. Oru Murai song works because of the picturization and "dumma dumma" hook!

Overall: A perfect movie for family audience. Do not miss it.

Regards,
Vinith...

Keywords: Kalavaani movie review, kalavani vimal, sargunam, sarkunam, oviyaa, saranya ponvannan, ilavarasu, ganja karuppu.

Nan Mahan Alla by Yuvan

One of the much awaited albums of the year. Nan Mahan Alla. Karthi-Yuvan, the magical combo of "Paiya" is back

There are only four songs in the album, plus a second version of Va Va nilava, which is as same as the first version.

Hyper catchy "Va Va Nilva" will go well with the audience. A nice song with poetic lyrics and flute interludes. Can't wait to see the picturization. Kids' chorus add a special charm at the end.

Even though parts of orchestration in "Oru Maalai neram" is inspired from Masakkali (Delhi 6, AR Rahman), the song doesn't fail to impress you. A lovable duet, grows better after few listens. Javed Ali and Shilpa being the wrong choices especially Shilpa's rendition is soulless.

Yuvan's innovation comes to the fore with "Iragai Pole". A trendy song with thumping orchestration. It's high time Yuvan stops using the "Auto Tune" which plays the spoilsport.

Madhu Balakrishnan replaces Ilaiyaraja in "Theivam illai" who is Yuvan's regular choice to sing pathos. A passable track with noteworthy lyrics by Yuga Barathi.

Overall, Yuvan never ceases to surprise us with trendy music. Last time it was "Oh Shala" in Kadhal solla vandhen and this time it is "Iragai Pole". Three out of four songs get distinction marks. Nan Mahan Alla is said to be an intense thriller. Songs will gel well with the script.

Regards

Vinith...

Tags: Naan mahaan alla music, songs review, nan mahan alla music review, yuvan shankar raja, karthi, suseendhran, vennila kabadi kuzhu, susindhran, nan mahaan alla album.

Playlist: Jan - Jun 2010; Preview : July-Dec 2010

is the list of songs and albums that impressed me in the past six months.

Most listened songs:

> Elelu Thalaimurai, Idhu Varai - Goa, Yuvan Shankar Raja. Yuvan doing an Ilaiyaraja in the former. Idhu Varai, a mind blowing melody with excellent acoustic drums.

> Happy, Sirikkiren - Bale Pandiya, Devan Egambaram. Happy, A Capella song, is a novel attempt. Sirikkiren is a roller coaster ride.

> Missing Something, Un uyirai - Aridhu Aridhu, S Thaman. Thaman songs for this 'terrorism' based movie, prove show his mettle.

> Usure pogudhe, Kaatu sirikki - Rahman is genius. Usure Poguthey is an extraordinary song in the recent times. Brilliant rendition by Karthik. He sure deserves an award for this song.

> Hosanna, Mannippaaya - Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya. Rahman again. Hosanna a peppy number. Mannippaya, though sounded boring initially, picked up later and became one of my favorite songs of 2010. Poetic lyrics by Thamarai.

> Oh Shala, Anbulla Sandhya - Kadhal Solla Vanthen, Yuvan Shankar Raja. Oh Shala is one of the best songs of the year. I prefer this song mainly for the rhythm part of it. Yuvan in decent form.

> Kan thaakudhe, Oru paithiyam pidikkudhu - Baana Kaathadi, Yuvan Shankar Raja. If you see Yuvan's name in the "Singers" section, then go for it. That should be the best song of the album. Here, Kan thakkudhe is.

> Pookal Pookum tharunam - Madharasapattinam, GV Prakash Kumar. Pookkal pookkum is such a killer song. Roop Kumar's is probably the only minus. Any Tamil singer could have been a better choice.

> Haq Se - Striker - Yuvan Shankar Raja. A hindi song by Yuvan, rendered by himself along with Siddharth. No doubt. The song has all the elements to make it worth listening.

> Kodi Kodi aasaigal - Kavalar Kudiyiruppu, James Vasanthan. A killer song. James Vasanth proves that he is not a one-hit wonder. The first interlude in this song is noteworthy.

Albums of the Six months:

> Goa
> Raavanan
> Aridhu Arudhu

No doubt. The first half of 2010, has been really good and very much satisfying. The second half is even more promising with interesting albums lined up. I'm giving the list of albums that I'm looking forward to, in the coming months.

Upcoming, much awaited albums:

1. Nan Mahan Alla, Yuvan Shankar Raja. Expectations have gone sky high after Yuvan tweeted "Iragu pole in NMA is a killer song".

2. Enthiran - AR Rahman-Shankar-Rajni. Three guns of Tamil Film industry. Terrific trio.

3. Aaranya Kaandam - Yuvan Shankar Raja. The promo stills, the cover story about this film in a popular website, and more importantly, the one minute promising teaser trailer have made me look forward to this album. We may get to hear some instrumentals in this album, like Pudhupettai.

4. Aadhi Bagwan - Yuvan Shankar Raja. Ameer is back with a love story. Should we even bother about the music of Yuvan? Wouldn't that be in par with Mounam Pesiyadhe?

5. Selvaraghavan - GV Prakash combo movie. Yeah, it will take time.

Share your thoughts....

Regards,
Vinith...

Thillalangadi - Yuvan Shankar Raja, Thaman

Thillalangadi tracks are out. Has 7 tracks in total. There were news doing rounds that Thaman has done two songs. I thought that was a rumor. But it is true. 2 out of 7 songs are composed by Thaman, who did original Kick songs.

"Sol pechu" sung by Chitra, Shreya and Yuvan is perhaps the only good song in the album. A song that reflects two different attitude of a girl who is about to fall in love. Chithra sings for the attitude that says NO to love while Shreya sings the attitude that says YES to love. Fabulous vocals by both of them. This song will be a chart buster once the movie releases.

"Ding Ding", sung by talented Vijay Prakash and Naveen is very much saved by the Kids' lovely chorus. Drum beats in the second interlude is noteworthy. "Memory loss", is a funny song, in the line of Sirikkiren (Bale Pandiya, music by Devan Egambaram). Khailas Kher's singing adds an extra layer of fun. This song may not be remembered for a long time.

"Pattu pattampoochi" sung by Simbu & Manasi Scott is insipid while "Thothu ponen", by Shankar Mahadevan is an obsolete, tune wise, orchestration wise, lyrics wise.

Thaman reuses two of his songs in Kick (Original version of Thillalangadi). "Pootta pathadhum" sung by Suchitra and "Idhayam Karaigiradhu" bu Vardhini are both mundane. The latter is slightly works better because of its tune.

Overall, Thillalangadi turns out to be an average album overall. Don't worry. Yuvan will compensate and satisfy us in Nan Mahan Alla, which is hitting the stores in other few days. Get ready!

Regards,

Vinith

Keywords: Thillalangadi, thillaalangady, music review, songs review, jeyam raja, jayam ravi, thamanna, yuvan shankar raja, thillalangadi 2010, thaman songs, album, kick remake, kick songs reused.