Two Line Reviews - #309

Movie: Osthe ( Thamizh, 2011)

Plot: A police officer with autocratic instincts takes the money off the area hoodlum and pockets it home. His half brother and the villain get after the money, he loses his mother in the process. After some chessboard battles with the villain, the police triumphs and seeks his revenge for his mother's death.

Highlights:

• The songs of Thaman are the key pluses for this film. They are all foot-tapping numbers & Dharani has ensured that they have been picturised well.
• The colours in the film make it a watchable commercial fare. So does Simbu (if one can bear his self-trumpet blowings & artificial accent) as Inspector Osthe Velan. It surprised me that he showed some sort of screen presence in this film.
• The heroine Richa Gangopadhyay, Sandhanam and Co. play roles that have been beaten to death in Thamizh films but are OK with whatever little they have to do.Sonu Sood too,is better than the shouting, raucous gypsy jeep villains you normally see in films of this kind.

Lowlights:

• Well, the screenplay is as flat as a Kanpur wicket. No twists and turns - disappointing from Dharani who has shown them in Dhil & Dhool.
• The irritating,irrelevant & nonsensical repetition of the word Osthe by many characters in the film.

Verdict??When the first 'plus' put is a film's songs, you'd probably get an idea of the verdict :)

Two Line Reviews - #308

Movie: Mayakkam Enna (2011, Thamizh)

Plot: A wannabe photographer falls in love with his friend's date who too has her sights on him. In the midst of it all, his pursuit of passion gets badly hit when his inspiration - a leading photographer - denies taking him as an assistant & steals his click which brings instant national & international fame. Meanwhile, he marries the girl he was fatally attracted to but loses his mind. That's when his girl steps in determined to get him on track from the mental trauma he undergoes, and that she ends up doing successfully.

Highlights:

• The last 45-50 minutes of the film is where all the pluses lie - Be it the grit of the lady ( played well by Richa) in wanting to get her husband to recovery mode, be it dhanush's performance, be it the music - and that's when Selvaraghavan shows stuff.
• The photography, by the highly talented Ramji, is a huge plus.
• Music by G.V. Prakash moves well from catchy in Oda Oda to touchy in Pirai Thedum during the film's course.

Lowlights:

• This time, Selva goofs up the first half instead of the second! The first hour and a half is utterly unrealistic - the friend's character being the worst of them all.
• The irrelevant situation in which Kadhal en kadhal song pops up is example enough to show what we see is not what Selva must have initially had in mind for the film.
• There are cliches aplenty from his previous films - a heroine who stares pointlessly, a friend who doesn't even know who his date is after etc.

Didn't enthuse or inspire me ( which it seems to have done many)