Two Line Reviews - #491

Movie: Arrambam(Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: A man takes on to terrorism to inflict pain on a minister & his accomplices. He uses mean ways to persuade a hacker & forces him to provide more than a handful in his mission. The smart hacker tries his best to alert the police of the terrorist & later, through a gruesome flashback, he is made to realise that the man's acts were all to fight against a corrupt political system. Will he joins forces to help the mission get accomplished or does he play it safe?!

What Works?

• Ajith Kumar, slowly but surely, is trying to redefine the lexicon that exists for commercial heroes in Tamil Cinema. With his arresting presence, fierceful body language, stylish demeanour & risky stunts, he proves there is no need for heroes to go around loud-mouthing punches & dancing around trees in duets; This is the 3rd consecutive film he has skipped those rituals & with Arrambam, has made it work in two! Arya provides a nice foil with his quirky mannerisms & funny one-liners.
• It is 2/2 for Nayanthara since her comeback & the Arya/Tapsee pairing surprises us in being refreshing, thanks to Vishnu's treatment!
• Vishnuvardhan's stylish presentation shows itself up in a number of places, combining well with Om Prakash's camerawork & Veteran editor Sreekar Prasad's slick editing!
• Subha, in spite of coming up with a story beaten to death in Tamil Cinema, offer some crisp dialogues reminding us of Sujatha (reminding & not filling his shoes).
• The stunts are the other major highlights of this film & in providing engaging fight sequences (including an impactful one involving Ajith & Rana Daggubati), Lee Whitaker deserves a worthy mention.
• Yuvan's songs have been picturised with some nice creativity.

What Doesn't?

• Vishnuvardhan has used a story that has been dealt with innumerous times & inspite of his best efforts in keeping us completely involved, we are made to feel the drag due to the predictable sequences in & post flashback.
• For the logic fanboys, there are quite a number of loopholes to feast on in Arrambam. Sampling a few - A hacker, who with his fancy softwares can hack into anything & everything, An escaped convict flying across countries at will etc.
• Yuvan's background music is a definite dampener & it is a puzzle why the grand track that comes in the trailer has been used minimally!

Arrambam has its flaws but a refreshing first half, a slick flashback & Ajith's overwhelming presence make this click!

Two Line Reviews - #490

Movie: Captain Phillips (2013)

Plot: An American Cargo ship from Oman navigates through the African belt known for its notorious Somalian pirates. When 4 pirates on a boat are on their way to capture the huge ship, the intelligent moves of the Ship's captain & crew notwithstanding, pirates get hold of the captain and hold him captive. How does America react & how the two captains hold stead in such uncertain times are dealt with in the later part of this enthralling enactment of a true story!

What Works?

• Paul Greengrass, known for his Bourne films & intense documentaries, tells the turmoil Rich Phillips had to go through over the course of the hijack & also provides the PoV of the Pirates quite convincingly!
• Who better than Tom Hanks to, first,reason out with the Somalian captain and later,express the jolts of the captured! His final act is only about 3 minutes long but could be good enough to earn him an Oscar nomination! Close on his heels are Barkhad Abdi, who plays the ruthless but wise Somalian pirate, and his 3 comrades!
• Paul's idea of filming this on the Ocean instead of using miniatures & VFX in a studio works hugely in favour of the film providing a breathtaking & impactful visual experience; The gargantuan efforts of the Cinematography team is to be thoroughly appreciated!
• The editor comes to the party in the scene when the boatmen chase the ship down & board it. If you felt respect for those villains at those moments, it was partly due to the superb cuts!
• Paul has smartly scripted this & written dialogues so that the film reaches any cine lover & has also offered reasoning (from the Somalian angle) and questioning of such reasoning (from an American angle!)

What Doesn't?

• The film sags a bit towards the middle of the second half but that is only for a brief period as it picks itself up in time for an exciting climax!

An enthralling ocean ride that pays tribute to two fearless captains!

Two Line Reviews - #489

Movie: Gravity (2013)

Plot: A first-time space mission specialist Dr.Ryan Stone & a veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski are the sole survivors of the faulty Space shuttle Explorer. Their attempt to reach an International space station with which they could make their way back to planet earth takes a beating when debris floating off a Russian destruction mission put their lives in danger. At one point, Matt decides to let himself go so that Ryan, at least,could possibly survive, he instructs her to reach a Chinese station 100 Km away and provides her the 'means for survival' leaving Ryan to ponder over the question on the 'need for survival'!

What Works?

• Alfonso Cuarón's creative imagination & execution needs tremendous appreciation, for it is mighty difficult to imagine an incident of such a scale & to bring such an imagination on screen and cause an impact on the viewers!
• The editor in Cuarón stamps his presence with one of the longest sequences in movie history, spanning about 20 minutes! Effort from Cinematographers, Writer, Performing actors & the VFX team are worth a mention in bringing this spectacular starting sequence to life.
• Sandra Bullock as Dr.Ryan emotes very well in the sequences involving psychological questions & George Clooney proves he can be as cool and comforting in outer space as he usually is on earth,in other films.
• Touching & metaphorical scenes are strong & sensibly shown - Ryan moving to a foetal position upon getting into the protection of the spacecraft, the cross-talk with the guy on Radio and the questions it raises in her are examples.
• It will be unfair not to mention the brilliant work of all involved in getting the Visual effects, miniatures & the strongly researched artwork to perfection. The music that runs in loop suits the mood of the dark outer space.

What Doesn't?

• There is quite a lot of technical jargon as Astronauts talk between themselves and one might lose interest if one doesn't concentrate well! The audio-effect to show they are talking from under their Oxygen masks doesn't help the cause too.
• If you are to go with expectations on the film to be fast-paced & extremely adventurous as it deals with a sci-fi survival mission, you might end up getting disappointed.

Path-breaking in terms of creativity, technical conception & presentation. Pun intended or not - This one is out-of-the-world stuff!

Two Line Reviews - #488

Movie: The Fountain (2006)

Plot: A researcher who firmly believes death is just another disease and has its cure tries desperately to save his wife dying from a tumour. Meanwhile, his wife has an unfinished book that talks of how a Spanish Queen can go death-less by finding the tree of life Mayans had discovered. There is also a futuristic tale of a man travelling on a space bubble towards a dying star to save a tree that has lived for ages. The stories concur in theme & have similar but different ends.

What Works?

• Darren Aronofsky, who experiments on different abstract subjects takes to time travel in trying to think about the question of 'Death' & with it, provides an enticing feature!
• Hugh Jackman is fiery in his portrayals as the researcher & the queen's conquistador. Rachel Weisz, the purpose behind all the stories, plays an apt foil.
• The screenplay is interesting & would warrant a second viewing for getting fascinated as one can only do as much as connecting all the dots in the first viewing.

What Doesn't?

• The film talks about a topic which has yet to have any concrete answers but dwells with it on the surface and ends too quickly.

Timeless Love's pursuit of Endless life!

Two Line Reviews - #487

Movie: Raja Rani (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: Regina & John are forced into a marriage for emotional reasons. John keeps irritating Reg post marriage. When Regina recuperates from a sudden epileptic attack, he gets to know of her failed love from the past. John has an equally emotional flashback that makes him start loving his wife. He later realises it would take more than a sudden change of his mind & actions for Regina, who has plans to shift to another country for work, to reciprocate his feelings for her!

What Works?

• For a first time film-maker that Atlee (an assistant of Director Shankar) is, he shows sparks in the way he handles specific scenes in this rom-com. (For example, the marriage scene in the title, the scene at the registrar office etc.) but has a long way to go if he is to leapfrog other budding film-makers.
• The major bulk of screen-time goes to Nayanthara and Arya. Nayanthara has carefully chosen a solid role for her Kollywood comeback and excels in emoting; Arya shows adequate & subtle differences in style in the 2007/2013 episodes he enacts. Not far behind is Sathyaraj in a short, sweet role as an uber-cool urban pop!
• Santhanam does a fine job in occasionally bringing the roof down! But, it is about time directors who cast him realise people are used to him as well as he is used to such roles.
• The film is technically slick with eye-catching sets by Muthuraj, breezy music by GV Prakash & apt style of cinematography by George C Williams.

What Doesn't?

• The love stories in the flashbacks are way too easy to be practical & have been handled very casually. Net result is the lack of impact which films in a similar genre like Mouna Raagam & Rhythm have been able to create.
• Jai & Nazriya don't have roles of substance and their characters too are weakly defined.
• There are a lot of stereotype scenes & comedies we have seen in umpteen films before (The software engineer boyfriend of Nazriya, Naan Kadavul 'Rajendran''s role reminding us of Boss e Baskaran etc.)
• Arya has an emotionally shattering flashback but the way he behaves post marriage doesn't exactly reflect that, which would leave the audience clueless!

Not so kingly to be taken seriously!

Two Line Reviews - #486

Movie: Onaayum Aatukuttiyum (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: A murderer on the loose gets shot when Policemen and his former associates separately chase him down. A medical student saves his life allowing the murderer to gain consciousness & flee. He then chooses the medical student, now under police custody, as his bait in his attempt to perform a task which has a night's deadline. The rescuer and the rescued are chased down by cops and the criminal gang on a chilling night in this chilling tale.

What Works?

• Mysskin, mysteries & midnights - The combination that often impresses doesn't fail in presentation here as well. The initial chase sequences as the story unfolds move viewers to the edge of their seats.
• Ilaiyaraaja's symphony style music provides a wonderful canopy for the mysterious plot the film reveals gradually. Those tracks offer more than what you expect from music! Munnani Isai Korppu is, indeed, the apt label for it!
• The candid-shots of Balaji Rangha work, with all those typical inputs from Mysskin.
• Coming to performances, Sri does a commendable job in scenes where he is left to perform on his own and shows how Naren was forced to act the way he did in Anjaadhe in scenes where he replicates what Mysskin had expected of him! Mysskin, in his own role as Wolf, packs a punch with noteable support from Shaji who plays CBCID officer Lal.
• To some extent, the dry sarcastic comedy in the midst of serious scenes work but it is about time Mysskin steps up.

What Doesn't? 

Two things that taut mystery/murder thrillers need are 1. An intelligent set of people chasing the main character; 2. A solid foundational story that, by itself, would justify all the killing.

• Thamba & his clownish gang members comprising a bald guy in shades, a Lays-chips addict, two clad in eye-hurting Martial arts outfits & two bikers who roam around the city with not much purpose don't make for intelligent chasers. The policemen are shown clueless and the character of the CBCID, which seems to be the answer for that intelligent chaser, also fizzles out as we approach the end.
• The story that Wolf narrates in the climax doesn't answer many questions & is something that most of the viewers would have already known!

• Metaphors were aplenty & except for a few touching ones, a lot appeared overbearing!

The film, so, is deceptively good on the surface, with inconspicuous dents as one goes deep into it.

The wolf doesn't bite as well as it howls!

Two Line Reviews - #485

Movie: Rush (2013)

Plot: One was a meticulous racer having profound knowledge on the technical nuances of cars who had to break from his sophisticated lineage to pursue F1 racing; the other was a carefree casanova in whose view Formula 1 was 'meant for him'. One shies away from distractions to focus on his career; the other feels happy distractions are the ends to look for through the 'F1 fame' means. They had two things in common though! Passion for racing & the belief that the other one was an 'Asshole'; One was the Austrian Niki Lauda, the other was the Brit James Hunt. The film shows their epic rivalry that blossoms in F2 racing in early 1970s and reaches its apex in the 1975 Formula 1 season!

What Works?

• Ron Howard is one film-maker who can take Game theory to the common man & Boxing to the hearts of the soft-hearted! Here, he takes Formula 1, the heat/tension & risks surrounding racers' lives to even the one who is not even remotely inclined to the sport.
• The screenplay is so intelligently planned that it gives a layer on what experiences a typical F1 racer goes through underneath the exterior layer that provides a record of how Lauda & Hunt set the tracks ablaze.
• Hans Zimmer's grand background score uplifts the action on screen & provides the complete AV experience.
• In bringing the cars and tracks of the 70s, the Art & VFX team deserve special mentions.
• It is Daniel Brühl who comes up with the best performance. His Austrian-scented English accent, mannerisms etc. show the dedicated effort he has taken while Chris Hemsworth effortlessly showcases James Hunt. Olivia Wilde, with some nice expressions in emotional sequences after marriage & Lauda's accident, scores.
• The climax at the airport hangar expresses with class, how perspectives & the impact of them on priorities can alter champions' careers!

What Doesn't?

• Ironically, the film ends with 1975 and doesn't go beyond to show the brilliant comeback triumphs of Lauda after his spectacular life-threatening Neurburgring accident in the season of '75. We would have loved to see more, Ron!

Adrenaline-pumper!!

Two Line Reviews - #484

Movie: Aadhalaal Kaadhal Seiveer (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: Two college-going teenagers fall in love and, at that stage of relationship, engage in their nuptial ritual. Unluckily for them, the girl becomes pregnant as well! With the help and tips from friends they try all ways of secretly wiping the trace off & in a revelation the parents get to know the story. The two families try to handle the situation differently & in the period of their discussions, the trust between the lovers is put to litmus test!

What Works?

• After a film like Raajapaatai, anything sensible would be a decent return to form for director Suseendhiran & in being sensibly handled, this film is exactly that!
• The sequences following the pregnancy have been handled quite refreshingly & the reminder of the film has a lot of interesting scenes.
• Performance-wise, the veterans lead the pack with Jayachandran & the woman who plays his wife performing very well. The Heroine, Manisha Yadav, is not far behind! The scene between the mother & daughter when the shock gets unravelled is highly applaudable.
• Yuvan Shankar Raja's music provides lively moments in the first half & the background song in the climax adds strength to the hard-hitting set of scenes.

What Doesn't?

• The hero of the film is quite bland in expressions & even his character is not very well defined.
• The first half might appeal to college going youth but there isn't much in it for the rest.

A decent take on an issue seldom attempted on celluloid!

The 'Lucia' Experience

I have only seen Thamizh, English & Hindi films in theatres before. I have seen a lot of foreign language films relying on my beloved set of friends whose names end with '.srt'! For some reason, never have I seen films in languages of neighbouring states: Telugu & Kannada! I was apprehensive about watching a Kannada film for the first time, in a theatre but going by words of some people who, in my view, have a wonderful taste on films, I had to break my duck and go watch this one. Was it worth breaking the rigid reason-less rules I had set for myself? Hell, yeah!


First things first. The film is experimental from every angle one sees. It is the first crowd-funded mainstream Indian Cinema (funded by about 1300 individuals); It has been made at a budget of about 70 Lakhs rupees. If these are mind-boggling, what is shown in the film is even more so. You are made to dream with the makers.

The film begins with lines from a Kannada poet's philospohical set of verses and at the end of it all you are made to realise, the film couldn't have started more apt!

It is very difficult to give out Lucia's plot without revealing things that, by remaning suspenseful, would make the film an even better one to watch! Hence, I choose the brevity path. The film deals with a guy suffering from insomnia and how he gets introduced to pills that can allow him to cultivate and experience lucid dreams (For more on this, go watch the film or go to wiki). How the dream and real life get dramatically entangled is what gets presented in tremendous style with a classy exhibition of almost all qualities & measures a film can be gauged with.

You get to see a fast-cut, interlaced screenplay with heaps of scenes that give a lot of clue (foreshadowing?, may be!) which you wouldn't be able to connect till all of the suspense is revealed at the end - Quality of a typical thriller which would give one the urge to watch a second time and a delight while doing so! Pawan Kumar, the film's director, I gather from his website, got the urge to make films only later than 2005 (when he mentions he started watching a lot of films) and in about 8 years of following his passion, if he can give this good a film, one can surely expect a lot more gems from him and his talented team. It is evident (and I mean it in the right sense) that he follows a lot of World Cinema and has mixed and matched styles from various such schools at apt places. For instance, the characters of the interrogating officers work as well as they do because they don't go over the top but work the way you see in South American films (those guys show cops best!).

One aspect of the film that stands out is the fact that Lucia despite being a complex narrative, doesn't suffer from a big problem some of the other complex, tough to comprehend, open-ended mindf**k films undergo - Leaving the audience with questions and allow them to discuss things on forums! (I hate such ones like The American Psycho & even Mullholland Dr. to an extent!). The film teases the viewer like anything and ultimately connects all untied ends and trolls the critic in you to perfection. That is the best possible Check-mate a film maker can offer his audiences.To elaborate the point, You find a lot of characters which you could  ,while watching the film, think would be usable in a debate against the film (the tall killer guy and his seemingly irrelevant presence as an example) but with the twist offered and the explanations given, you have no choice but to accept the maker has made that role with purpose!

Coming to the performances of the Cast and crew, the film's technical prowess is evident in both style and efficiency (that has helped this one to be made in a shoe-string budget!) Siddharth Nuni's(who I realised later was in the show with us in PVR today) modern-school camerawork complements Pawan's intentions so well and the music by Poornachandra Tejaswi (aided in BGM by Santhosh Narayanan) is quite impressive. The cuts are classy and combine well with the screenplay.

Performance-wise, Satish - the guy who plays the main role is a revelation! I am not sure if he is a seasoned mainstream actor in Sandalwood! If he isn't yet, he is sure to be one soon! If he doesn't become one - God save the industry! He presents a subtle contrast between the two characters he plays and when he breaks down on the death of his beloved mentor Shankranna and vows to bring back life to the talkies, he brings the raw emotion on to screen brilliantly aided by some wonderful dubbing accent. Supporting him well are Shruthi Hariharan, Shankaranna & the policemen.


If there is anything to talk negative about the film, it could be the build-up given to CBI officer Sanjay whose role eventually fizzles out and makes one feel the initial build-up was unnecessary. Who knows, that could have even been to distract the viewer from what line the film is to take when it gets deep!

There are loads of smartly placed elements that could appease members of 'I-go-to-films-only-to-be-entertained' club as well and I see no reason why this film shouldn't gross some big buck as well!

Given the fact that I have never even watched one Kannada film before, I could be prejudiced in having the view that the Kannada industry lags hugely behind most of the other language industries in India known for their films; One Lucia isn't going to change that view completely but I will think twice before generalising things, for, there has been such a gem somewhere within the industry I have considered low on quality; A gem that, in the best possible way has explained "There is someone with a big dream about your small life!" And there could be many more. We should be glad to welcome them all if and when they arrive!

Two Line Reviews - #482

Movie: Maryan (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: A fisherman who loves the sea and his work is forced to leave to Sudan for 2 years on a construction work assignment to get enough money to save his lover's father from the loan-shark who also has his eyes on the girl! He refreshes his love for the land,sea and his lady when he is a week away from returning back and that is when he is held hostage by an activist group that seeks money from his company's owners for exploiting the oil and resources of its land. He endures the pain of his fate, breaks loose one night and runs about 300 miles over 10 days to try and escape from the group's clutches in what turns out to be a stern test of his survival for love! Does he succeed or succumb in the end?

What Works?

• Bharat Bala has taken a very simple story, set it up in a milieu that is unprecedented territory for Thamizh cinema and succeeds in delivering what he intends to! The guy who looks a bit like Sergio Leone seems to have taken a few leaves out of Leone's works in terms of providing an unwavering, uncompromising screenplay that grips even while moving at its own pace!
• Dhanush is at his best in dialect, expressions and performance in Sudan - He can be a towering inspiration for actors of his period. He must have endured a lot of pain shooting for the film and the result we see on screen is something he deserves! Parvathy Menon is extremely good with her emotions & is a bit too classy and urbane in looks to be a fisher-folk woman!
• AR Rahman s songs were already making waves but they have been aptly picturised and placed (none placed better than Nenje Ezhu) & his soulful background score is an added plus.
• Technically the film is better also thanks to the contributions of photographer Belgian Marc Koninckx, Editor Vivek Harshan & Author Joe Cruz who is a welcome addition to the dialogue writers club with some brilliant one-liners (Unnaala illa Pani, Unakkaaga, for example!)

A survival tale that inspires; Promising debut venture for Bharat Bala!