Category: Movies

Movie Review: Chandramukhi –The Return of the Tamil Superstar

Chandramukhi (Tamil film) stars Rajnikanth, Prabhu, Nayanthara, Jyothika and others.

An all time hit, Padayappa, a relative flop, Baba, a few political false starts, and a two year hiatus from films. This was what Rajnikanth was up against. One more flop and the man would have been history for all practical purposes. Under these circumstances, selecting a come back vehicle must have been a tough call. Based on current press reports it sounds like Tamil cinema’s superstar has once again delivered a super hit despite all these odds.

The film is very much an “un-Rajni” film. Its a family drama. The hero has no villain to fight against. There are no cigarette tricks, no political dialogues, no tailored punch lines. Yet, its a watchable, entertaining, and engaging film especially if you have not seen the original malayalam version, Manichitrathazhu. Despite the long break Rajnikanth does not seem to have lost his touch. As many of the usual ingredients of a typical Rajni film have been weaved into the story: An intro song with a fast moving background with scores of extras while the hero moves energetically with an MGR-esque sleight of the hand, a couple of fight sequences, a few songs (Konja Neram being my favorite), plenty of comedy etc.

Tamil films unlike Bollywood, still seems to prefer pretty faced women with well endowed back-sides. Nayanthara and Jyothika do justice to this requirement. Vadivelu’s comedy is an asset to the film. Prabhu is a passenger (I guess he was more focused on the production activities). The rest of the supporting cast does a reasonable job.

As for Rajnikanth. Credit to him for having maintained himself so well. At 55 the guy is slim and trim. After his lip job, and perfect wig, and plenty of make up, Rajnikanth seems to have been geared up for a successful return to the silver screen. For once, great care has been taken in his dressing. He is well dressed throughout the film without being distracting. His racy dialogue delivery style remains intact. He did throw in his trademark sun glasses flip, barring which the conventional style was absent. Given the story and script there was little room for it. In any case, he handles his role with the utmost ease.

A lot has been written about the plot, so I am going to avoid mentioning it here again. If its a Rajni film it doesn’t really matter. Does it? If you are a typical Tamil film viewer, either you are pro or against Rajnikanth. If you are pro you will like anything he dishes out. If you are anti-Rajni you will find something criticize no matter what. So the plot is inconsequential anyway!

Overall, the film is certainly worth watching, especially if you haven’t seen the original Malayalam film. The background score is quite annoying (I find this to be as trend among a number of Indian films, especially the fast jerky screen movements accompanied by loud music). The music is adequate and the acting of the supporting cast decent.

Lastly, having been there and done it over and over again, I hope the superstar will use the success of this family drama, to transition to movies where he doesn’t necessarily have to be portrayed as young, fighting villains, prancing around with 20 year olds etc. If he does manage to accomplish this transition, Tamil cinema would be much better served. There is no question, Rajnikanth is Tamil cinema’s all time great box office draw and has remained so for over two decades. That’s a tall order. The question is if he can make a transition and offer something new going forward and still maintain his top draw status instead of simply re-hashing the tried and tested formula.

Movie Review: Udayananu Tharam

Malayalam film starring Mohanlal, Meena and Sreenivasan. The title translates to Udhayan is the star.

Mohanlal-Sreenivasan combo is know for many super hit malayalam films. Sreenivasan incidentally has written many of these successful stories and scripts. Here he manages to deliver another super hit. Saw the film after 100 days and it was still packed. Mohanlal plays Udhayan, a struggling movie director, story, screenplay writer. Sreenivasan is a friend and also an aspiring struggling movie star still looking for his first break.

The story revolves around how Sreenivasan’s character steals Udhayan’s screenplay and story and becomes a superstar overnight by insisting on acting in the film. The rest of the story revolves around how Udhayan struggles and yet comes on top at the end. Meena plays Udhayan’s love interest and a leading actress in the film. The relationship between the two is particularly well handled. Mohanlal’s performance is simply fantastic. The various emotions he portrays with minimum fuss is simply fascinating. He is a class act. No doubt.

The movie has some interesting twists and turns and keeps you engaged. Sreenivasan’s tantrums are a little annoying but there are several comical scenes especially the reference to films stars diversifying into other business (selling parottas with their pictures on the packets). The songs are decent. Overall a good package, and hence a super hit. I hear that the malayalam films are on the decline and good movies are hard to come by. So when something even reasonable shows up a hit is almost certain. That’s the local theory.

Udhayananu Tharam is definitely worth watching. I enjoyed it. Won’t be surprised if a hindi version is in the works.

Movie Review: Swades

This is a movie about a US returned NRI — visits India in search of a loved one, gradually moved/, enamored by villages and the problems facing India, finds his lady love, and decides to live happily ever after in India, kissing goodbye to a job as a project manager at NASA. This in short is the story of Swades. The director riding on his Lagaan success has tried his best to follow a similar style/pattern. The sets are similar, some of the songs feel similar etc. But unfortunately, the movie lacks the “dum” (for lack of another word). It doesn’t come even close to Lagaan. Its a little unfair to compare, but the truth is it ain’t anywhere close to Lagaan. I wish the director had focused more on why the hero was so moved. This part of the film which forms its crux, was simply was not compelling enough. AR Rahman’s music goes well with the movie.

I didn’t find any long drawn “moral science” lesson of any sort in the movie. The new entrant Gayatri Joshi did a fine job holding her own opposite today’s mega star, Shahrukh Khan, who put up a good measured performance without any overacting, thankfully. She certainly needs a more glamorous role to get into the big league in bollywood.

Overall, I thought it was an ok movie.

Movie Review: Bride and Prejudice

Saw this movie on DVD. After all the buzz created with Ash on Letterman, CBS etc and Gurinder Chhadha, the director of Bend it like Beckham fame (which was an excellent film) all over the press, we decided to watch the movie at home on DVD.

Man, what a disaster, a complete boat load of trash!

Gurinder Chaddha clearly has been watching a lot of bollywood films, particularly the Yash Chopra type — lush green fields, romantic couples, colorful dances etc. Besides, she appears to be overwhelmed by Ash (umpteen needless close-ups!). Cashing in on her recent success Gurinder possibly aspired to make a blend of hollywood and bollywood. Unfortunately, she has ended up neither here nor there. I won’t bother getting to the story. There are simply too many flaws to even appreciate anything positive, if at all, in the film. Ash speaks too fast, her character was unnecessarily “bit…y”, out of shape punjabi women singing songs in english with a British accent on the streets of Punjab is the most senseless portrayal one can imagine, Anupam Kher hardly has a role etc. etc. the list is endless.

The movie is not even worth watching on DVD, let alone a trip to the theatre. All the praise she earned with all her previous films (What’s cooking, another of her films was wonderful) combined has been more than wiped out by this complete piece of trash. A couple of junk releases like this and Ash might have to giggle her way back to bollywood.

Movie Review: Flavors

Saw Flavors over the weekend. Another Indo-American movie produced and directed by NRIs and second generation Indians living in the United States. The movie revolves around a number of young people (many couples), their relationships and life of desis in the US in general. The director has cleverly managed to weave so many different characters and their stories into one at the end of the movie. The movie stars a number (maybe most?) first time actors. Also, starring are two Bollywood imports as parents of one of the characters in the film.

There are times during the film when the constant context switching between the various stories gave the movie a choppy feel to it. Some of the accents were a little exaggerated. In some cases, it appeared as though the story would have been better served had first generation Indians been cast in some of the roles as opposed to second generation.

The two Bollywood imports did a fine job and blended very well into the film. The characters of “Vivek” and “Sangita” came across as most genuine and were perfectly portrayed by the actors. Pretty much all the characters in the film are very believable and true to life. For a first time movie maker, the director and crew have done a fine job. Its definitely better in production and direction quality than a whole bunch of movies that have been released in the last couple of years by aspiring first time movie makers of Indian origin.

Overall, hats of to the crew. Very impressive for a first time director. An easy going movie, that will serve as a nice break from the standard bollywood masala.

Ash on CBS 60 minutes

Saw the recent CBS 60 minutes program featuring Aishwarya Rai. The last time I saw this program was when the IITs were featured here. The interviewer referred to her as “the most beautiful woman in the world” and said that the likes of Julia Roberts have given her a verbal certificate to the same effect. As you can imagine Ash was all giggly (and quite understandably so). Nevertheless I thought she did a very nice job of handling the interview. I am not a huge Ash fan, but I thought she looked better than she looks in most films. Clearly, this is a huge step for her and not to mention Bollywood. She is certainly doing the right things from a PR perspective, helping her achieve what no other Indian star has ever achieved on a global scale. Hats off to Ash and her PR agency!

Movie Review: Lost in Translation

Saw the widely acclaimed Lost in trainslation starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.

Bill Murray plays a middle-aged man living in Japan on an extended business visit, while Scarlett Johansson plays a young recently married woman visiting Japan with her husband also on business. Both live in a large hotel and run into each other on and off. The movie is about how circumstances bring the two characters together, well almost. The contrast between a middle aged man who is ambling along in life and a young woman who is just beginning married life is portrayed, or at least that appears to be the intent (based on my translation!).

Overall, I was at a loss as to what all the fuss about this movie was. I never found it funny. Neither did I find anything earth-shaking about the production/direction aspects of the film. Bill Murray had the same smug expression through the movie, there were times I wished someone would just step up and give him a slap or two to see if his expression might change. Scarlett Johansson on the other hand, does a fine job. With minimal dialogues she portrays a lot of emotion through facial expressions. The movie is full of disjointed scenes, and very often I was left to wonder what the point of many of the scenes were! After I while, I was waiting for something to happen, and sure enough nothing did.

In short, I was lost all through the movie. Maybe I needed someone to translate!

Polar Express on IMAX

Over the holidays we saw the Polar Express on IMAX. If you plan to watch on IMAX make sure you find good seats (at the top). Otherwise, its better to watch it in a regular movie hall. During the holiday break every show was full and we actually purchased the tickets in advance.

Nice movie. Kids will enjoy it for sure. The look and feel of this film is different from the other popular animated films. I prefer the Pixar/Disney animated movies.