GOOD VS EVIL ('Mankatha' movie analysis)

Stylish heist movies are quite prevalent in hollywood but its quite a rarity to find such themes in Kollywood. And that too a mass hero trying to do a heist with a small gang is indeed a rarity, as usually it would be a one man show like Kamal Hassan's 'Guru' or Arjun's 'Gentleman' or Ajith's own 'Villain' but in all these movies there is one more thing which is common, The protagonist will have a tragic backstory and a social responsibility behind his action. But the latest Venkat Prabhu directed flick – 'Mankatha' is here to change the game. Its different, the hero doesn't want to rob for society and he doesn't have a tragic backstory, he just loves money and wants to settle down rich, its as simple as that.

I have been thinking and thinking on how to look at this movie, its a below average film which tries too hard to be western by having too many twists and loose ends which gets filled up when the last twist is revealed. But in the process of making the movie loaded with plot twists the director and screenplay writer loose their focus in the first half only to redeem a wee bit in the second. The so called brilliant Heist itself looks too artificial and unbelievable(the right word would be Stupid, but I dont want to use such harsh words in this analysis, so...) , how come such a big crane and the switch of the container with a magnet (which is bound to make at-least a thud noise) go unnoticed by the transporters who are just a few steps away? Ok, people do tell me not to ask for logic in tamil movies, I just want to ask them – Why shouldn't I? There are few unbelievable moments in Ocean series heist too but they have researched with scientists and professionals to make sure the entire heist will make you sit up and clap for its brilliance. Come on Venkat, we do believe that you can do better than this.

Apart from the insignificant roles for Trisha, Lakshmi Rai and Anjali and no character sketch for any other character except Ajith and Premji, there is one more thing which I wanted to discuss about. Has the tamil movie viewers evolved this much for taking such a negative themed movie in the right spirit? That too when its acted by a mass hero like 'Ajith'? Ajith looks good, has acted brilliantly, has enjoyed his role but in the film his character is too grey to go unnoticed. Hero's have indeed showed grey shades before but in the end justice prevails or the good wins but Venkat Prabhu has made a movie where evil wins over good which is just like how bollywood's underrated remake of 'Face off' - 'Aks' ends. Aks did face huge controversy and went on to be banned in few places too. But Amitabh at that time had far less fan following and Manoj had almost to none. But Ajith is different, he is a phenomenon – he gets the best opening next only to Rajnikanth in Tamil Nadu. Ajith should be lauded for such an experiment but can a tamil hero who has such mad and blind following try to propagate crime? At-least if he falls at the end it would have been a little better but he doesn't.

Unfortunately in tamil cinema with such blind fans a mass hero just shouldn't experiment with good and evil this much. What do you think? Do comment...

SHOR IN THE CITY - MOVIE REVIEW BY HARISH V

The director duo Raj Nidimoru & Krishna Dk surprised me the first time with a timely '99' which became the only movie to survive during the distributor - multiplex battle which happened two years back. And now they have come up with another film which looked like a serious movie on Mumbai and its underbelly, But Raj and DK surprised me once again with a film which can easily be the most entertaining movie of this year(atleast till now).

The best form of entertainment is when you feel that you have seen a sensible movie and you thoroughly enjoy it too. And Shor does it both with elan.

Technically the movie is quite good with sensational music and bg, decent cinematography and natural art direction. The movie is a winner thanks mainly to the exciting and happening screenplay, stories which sees the irony in almost all walks of life and brilliant performances. The 'Heroes' fame Senthil, has indeed grown well as an actor as he emotes well and suits his character perfectly. Tushaar is believable (for once). Nikhil Dwivedi and Sundeep Kishan work through their characters with ease. Amit Mistry who was remarkable in the director duo's first work was excellent in this as well. But the honors for the acting department is snatched by a lesser known actor called Pitobash who steals the show in every single scene he comes in. An actor to look out for!!

Stop complaining about lack of good movies in bollywood and go watch this movie. A treat to all..

Stars - 4/5

Intelligent entertainment!

My oscar predictions

- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

An extremely difficult decision and a chance for a bit of oscar surprise is awaiting in this category. John Hawkes's performance in 'Winter's bone' has surely been overshadowed by the boxing and voice coaches but again surely a well deserved nomination. Jeremy Renner did give one of his best performance in 'The Town' and surely is a black horse in this category. Mark Ruffalo was overshadowed too by all the praises which his fellow actors are getting for the same film but still a performance which should not be taken lightly. Now lets discuss about the big wigs, Christian Bale and Geoffrey Rush. Both had given a spectacular performance and even though Geoffrey Rush was superlative as the voice coach of the King but the man who gave his heart, soul and hard work to his performance Christian Bale is definitely the strongest of the lot to win this coveted title. The way Bale has brought down his weight, his dialogue delivery and his eye expressions are something which has to be enjoyed. So,

My Pick - Christian Bale for The Fighter (2010)


- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Somehow i guess there is no big surprise in this category, I guess it would be a showdown between Melissa Leo and Helena Bonham Carter. Melissa Leo's performance has more wider spectrum of emotion than Helena but somehow my heart goes for Carter's performance of a caring and loving wife and also showing the pride of a queen, spectacular performance indeed! (Havnt seen Animal Kingdom yet though)

My Pick - Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech (2010)


- Best Achievement in Directing

Well again its gonna be a major fight between just three(according to me), Tom Hooper, Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher. Tom Hooper may get a cold shoulder as the movie is a brit movie(a very weird theory but usually such movies do get nods only in the acting department). Darren did try something really out of the box with his Black Swan and David did showcase his complete control with the real life story(or, so they say!) of the creator of Facebook. And both being my favorites it took time for me to predict this one, and finally I decided its should be David Fincher who has a small edge over Darren for his realistic approach.

My Pick - David Fincher for The Social Network (2010)


- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Well Javier Bardem was exceptional in Biutiful and James Franco was outstanding 127 Hours but can they win the oscar? or will it be the surprising brilliance shown by Jesse Eisenberg in Social networking? There can be only one king and this time its sure to go to Colin Firth who enacted the stammering king to perfection. A work which had got him all the major awards this season and the golden statue will also follow for sure. Sorry Jeff, not this time!

My Pick -Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010)



- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Again, a very difficult category to judge. Though Nicole, Jennifer and the supremely talented Michelle did impress there was always just two probables. Either it is Nataile Portman or Annette bening. Though Nataile was superb and everyone is expecting a easy win for her, to me the scene in 'The Kids Are All Right' where Annette cries out in the bedroom when she finds out that her spouse has cheated on her, is enough for me to hand that statue to Annette.

My Pick - Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right (2010)



- Best Motion Picture of the Year

Well I so want to hand it out to Inception but i guess it would end up either with Black swan or social networking or The Kings speech makers. And i am gonna bet on Social networking.

My pick - The Social Network (2010): Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Ceán Chaffin



- Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

My pick - The King's Speech (2010): David Seidler

Can INCEPTION surprise the king?




- Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published


My pick - The Social Network (2010): Aaron Sorkin



- Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Hands down

My pick - Toy Story 3 (2010): Lee Unkrich


- Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

My pick - Incendies (2010): Denis Villeneuve(Canada)




- Best Achievement in Cinematography


My Pick - Inception (2010): Wally Pfister



- Best Achievement in Editing

My pick - Black Swan (2010): Andrew Weisblum


- Best Achievement in Art Direction

Little too difficult to pick i guess

My pick - Alice in Wonderland (2010): Robert Stromberg, Karen O'Hara/
or Inception (2010): Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Douglas A. Mowat


- Best Achievement in Costume Design

My pick - The Tempest (2010/II): Sandy Powell



- Best Achievement in Makeup


My Pick - The Wolfman (2010): Rick Baker, Dave Elsey



- Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

My Pick - The Social Network (2010): Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross


- Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song


My pick - Tangled (2010/I): Alan Menken, Glenn Slater("I See the Light")


- Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

My pick - Inception (2010): Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick


- Best Achievement in Sound Editing

My pick - Inception (2010): Richard King


- Best Achievement in Visual Effects

My pick - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010): Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz, Nicolas Aithadi

The Kids Are All Right - Movie review

Lisa Cholodenko, a lesser known director has taken a simple What if?-scenario and made it into a 100 odd minutes of riveting family drama. But the movie reaches the level which it has reached thanks only to the stupendous performance by its lead artists. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore just shows us how its done and a small question arises, can the Oscar for the best performance – actress can be shared? (Havn’t seen Nataile Portman’s raved performance in ‘Black Swan’ yet though.) Mark Ruffalo plays his part exceptionally and the two kids Mia and Josh were mind-blowing as well.
The movie is slow especially in the middle portions which will surely make you yawn or even make you doze for few minutes but we all forget these petty things when Annette breaks down in the bedroom and Julianne tries hard to lie.

Watch it for Annette and Julianne

Stars - 3

Tangled - movie review

Now, this is what we have been waiting for from the Mouse House. After enticing us with enchanted and impressing us with ‘The Princess and the Frog’, the mouse house comes up with its (if I am not wrong) 4th 3D animated movie without the help of Pixar. And this is for sure its best 3D animated movie yet.

The age old tale of Rapunzel gets the usual Disney’s touch to become a magical ride for the kids and adults alike. With spectacular animation and exceptional characterization and brilliant voice overs this gets a big thumbs up from my end. A thoroughly enjoyable movie.

A Disney treat

Stars - 4

Megamind - Movie review

Mega mind was a mega let down as I expected something extraordinary from the company who are slowly getting better and better with their animated flicks (without counting the last of the Shrek series, of course). Dreamworks did get richer by a few hundred million due to this movie so I don’t think they will be complaining or hear our complaints, but seriously a substandard work taking the content into consideration. A predictable movie from start to finish which has the same Villain-turned hero story, which was quite cleverly put-forth in the recent Universal hit, ‘Despicable Me’.

Will Farrel is a big let down and why the hell did Brad Pitt even sign for this petty role? Jonah Hill’s voice suited the role perfectly though. Let me make this clear, the movie was not all that bad, a definite one time watch in your home theatre but all too predictable a fair which might be lapped up by the kids but not the adults. Kick-ass animation though.

A mega waste of time.

Stars – 2

Manmadhan Ambu - review

The long awaited movie of the Universal star - Kamal Hassan, has finally graced the cinema halls across the state. And as the story, screenplay and dialogues were penned by Kamal, everyone expected a rollicking joy-ride at the theaters. Everyone speculated that the movie was indeed a remake of Hitch and as I stepped inside the dark hall i was praying that it should probably be a rumor and I see an original Romantic comedy as its trailer promised. And at the end of the movie I was just thinking that if it had been a remake of Hitch it would have been much much better.

Kamal Hassan the dialogue and screenplay writer has indeed taken the audience for granted as the movie which promised to be a rom-com was neither romantic nor did it have any laugh-out-loud moments. There are several problems with this movie, be it the timeline problem(three years of bad relationship and she goes for a vocation now?) or for the very fact that we still don't know when Kamal and Trisha fell in love.

Its a plain mediocre script which has nothing new to offer to the audience and Crazy mohan was heavily missed in the dialogue department for a Kamal comedy. Cinematography was tacky most of the times, music was decent and the editing was lifeless. Neela Vaanam song was amazingly picturized. Kamal Hassan who has also penned the lyrics has indeed made a strong statement with his words- kudos.

Kamal Hassan, the actor has done a good job(as usual) and so has Madhavan. The pre-climax and climax sequences, Madhavan has outdone himself. Trisha was alright. Sangeetha was real good and the boy who played Sangeetha's son was adorable and funny. Oorvasi and Arvind were wasted in an insignificant roles.

Overall the movie lacked the punch and people who are expecting a MMKR or a Panchathanthiram or a P.K.S is sure to get hugely disappointed.

missing the CRAZY element

Stars - 1.5/5