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...

Chills and thrills...

Its been quite a while since I sat down to write for this blog, as I am working in a website called behindwoods.com where i have taken the role of a movie critic for Hindi movies. You might think i am trying to sell my stuff, market the website but trust me in this world there is a need to market yourself, if not u will be left behind, far far behind.

Now back to serious stuff I happened to see three hindi films of varied genre, Stoneman murders, Mumbai mere jaan and Mithya. Two of which are real life incident based of which one is a thriller and another a drama, and the last is a dark thriller with a comedy undertone. Its really encouraging to see such diverse movies tried in bollywood now a days, and these three are examples of how bollywood has evolved over the years.

Stoneman murders which is based on the serial killings in Mumbai in the 1980s and the plight of a ex-policeman who wants to prove his worthiness by solving the case but in the process he becomes the bait of the killer and people start thinking him to be the one. Is he? well, suspense are better kept a secret. The director has made the script very tight much like a hollywood edge of the seat thriller.

Next up is Mumbai mere jaan which released a few months ago, it deals with the aftereffects of the Mumbai train blast on 6 different people. I happened to meet Nishikant kamat in the premiere of Yevano oruvan and i told him that the movie was a good one, if only i did see him this time around i would surely hug him and beg for an assistant's position. Loved the movie and loved the acting of everyone in the lead be it Kay kay, Irfan, Madhavan, Paresh or Soha, everyone were perfectly cast and were spectacular. Pls dont miss this movie, highly recommended.

Mithya, its been a year since it released and i feel so ashamed of callin myself a movie buff and seeing this movie so late. Rajat kapoor has made a movie which can be compared to none other we have seen in Indian cinema as he has mixed - realism, black humour and violence so effortlessly into the script that we are left wondering how simple and at the same time complex a movie can be.

Except for Mithya both the movies fared badly at the ticket counters But such movies have really made bollywood look cool. Of your foreign frnds are askin you a list of movies these three should surely be included.