Saturday, February 24, 2007
Vikram`s new look
Vikram would be sporting a new look for his film kandasamy .Director susi ganesan and Vikram are tryig to use graphics to give in a new look. Vikram would be playing a simple guy inspired by a real guys.And Shreya`s role is that of a multi milloinaire.Vivek and santhanam have been roped in for providing comic relief. Along wiht Raghuvaran who plays the main villian. While the cinematography is handled by Ekambarm of Iyarkai fame.The music would be scored by Devi Shri Prasad.The movie is slated for August release. Source Chennai Chronicle.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Pachai Kili Muthucharam Review
It takes guts and gumption to stitch an icy thriller with the tapestry of commercial cinema. It takes an ability almost bordering on genius to pull it off. Take a bow Gautham & Co, you have just pulled off a memorable coup as Pachai Killi Muthucharam is an over two-hour non-stop excitement that pins you down to your chair (albeit on the edge of it).
This glossy and gritty, slick and stylized in typical Gautham’s style of fast-cut narrative, is an answer to all those who demand their entertainment to be intelligent and interesting. The story, the performance, the presentation and the entire everything belongs to top-drawer and those associated with the film can take pride that they have done something worthy.
Gautham is one director who marries substance with shine and here does it with his usual panache. His skill over the medium becomes evident right from the slanting lights and the dark corners that are pregnant with the greyness of life. Medium apart, Gautham is also very good with men and women, so to say as he has got the best out of his acting team. Sarath in a near-life character after a long time shows that he is no one-trick pony. And what do you say of Jyothika. You may think that she reserves her best for Gautham. She is too good in a character that is complex and compelling in its contradictions. Gautham’s success lies in elevating an every-day tale to a believable drama. The shell of the story is, as Gautham has mentioned, is Derailed, the book. But the core is Gautham’s own ingenuity and improvisations.
When you see a movie like Pachai Kili Muthucharam it exposes the hollow talk of many directors and producers that they make movies under a lot of commercial compulsions. Make no mistake Pachai Kili Muthucharam is a commercial entertainer but is filled with all the right stuff that at no point you feel bored.
Gautham, as ever, sticks to his high technical standards and makes the mood and moment come alive with all its intriguing possibilities. The plebeian Chennai of trains and dust, of crowd and clamour get an artistic edification in Gautham (and cameraman Aravind Krishna’s) eyes.
To talk of the story of such an interesting thriller would be wrong and unforgivable. But the broad story line is contoured around Venakatesh (Sarath Kumar). He is so every-day like that he maybe your neighbour. A contended man, who doesn’t stir beyond the comfort zone of his regimented life. The work and domesticity are his bliss. His life is simple and sweet and revolves around Kalyani (Andrea), his wife. The sweetness of their life is their son Nanda. Sweetness should not be the word here as Nanda is diagnosed as suffering from diabetics.
And soon enough color goes out of their lives and a steely monochrome replaces it. Venky and Kalyani, though bound by their domestic compulsions, drift apart inexorably. Their comfort zone, at least in the mind, is shaken. It is at this juncture that Venky espies Geetha (Jyothika).
She comes into his life in the train that carries to and back to the city. It is in the rattle of rickety train that his own life becomes rickety and rattled. There is a forbidden charm to Geetha’s quiet beauty. Her eyes carry the bait that no man can escape. Venky slips very badly. The dark menace of blackmail starts. And then? By who? Why?
Well it is a question mark after question marks as Gautham rings in the changes like a master sorcerer. The surprise is in every scene and every change. The script gets a sharper edge with dialogues that are real and reasonable.
Sarath reins his over-the-top tendencies and shows a mature mind to fit himself to the role. Venky, the character is a success, because he is no different from you or me. The controlled emotions and the difference in his manner while carrying the secrets of his life is really good.
And then we have to talk about Jyothika. But where do we start? And should we end? It is a breathtakingly brilliant portrayal of a woman who is normal yet not so. The danger lurking inside her is brought out with amazing finesse and nuance. The complexity is agreeable because it is portrayed acceptably.
Milind Soman, the Mumbai macho, fits his character with rare ease. He is absolutely at home and lends weightage to the pivotal character. Andrea, though slightly self-conscious, too is very good in her role as woman who has to contend with her husband’s indiscretion.
Harris Jayaraj usually reserves his best for Gautham. Here he outdoes his previous works. The songs are soulful and superb. Be it Unnakul Nan in the ethereal voice of Bombay Jaishree or that refreshing Un Sirripil or that Kadhal Konjam in Naresh Iyer’s youthful vocals, they are all treasures. The re-recording too is amazingly apt.
Aravind Krishna, who is a newcomer to Gautham’s school, is a true delight. The fact that he had worked with Selvaraghavan who is a past master in showcasing dark human emotions, comes more than handy as this movie is a thriller of the mind. His angles and the unusual play of lights give your everyday vignettes a new focus.
Anthony’s editing is sharp and carry with it the precision of a surgeon and the flourish of a painter. It helps to maintain the tempo of this racy venture.
As we said, Gautham has shown that he is among the most promising avant garde directors in the country who know how to tell a story with all the contemporary fizz and flourish. Yet, at the same time retain the pristine nature of story telling — which is to keep the audience thinking ‘what next’.
Gautham has done that.
So stop reading this and go out and book the tickets for the show. And now, that is!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is certainly the biggest director in South India today and a much-respected one all over India as well. He has revolutionized the Tamil Film Industry with technically strong films that are beautifully photographed with well picturised songs. Every frame in a Mani Ratnam film is perfectly composed and beautifully backlit even if this style involves total violation of tonal, focal and colour continuity.
Born in 1956 in Madras, he studied at Madras University and then received a management degree at the Bajaj Institute, Mumbai. He worked initially as a management consultant before getting in to films. (His father was a producer - 'Venus' Gopalrathnam and his brother G. Venkateshwaran, a distributor turned producer)
Ratnam's debut film in Kannada Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983) starring Anil Kapoor, Lakshmi and Kiran Vairale hardly caused any ripples though one song in the film shot stylishly in an auditorium gives a good hint of the Mani Ratnam to come in later years. His initial films (both in Tamil and even one in Malayalam) still did nothing for him till he broke through with Mauna Ragam (1986) starring Mohan, Revathi and Kartik.
The film deals with a woman who is forced into an arranged marriage and lives with her husband in Delhi. She recalls her carefree days with her first boyfriend, a gangster who was shot dead in front of a temple even as she waited to marry him. She seeks a divorce but as the law requires the couple to stay together for a year, they stay separately in the same house and by the years end decide to stay together. The film is notable for its sophisticated approach and execution.
His next film was also perhaps his greatest, Nayakan (1987). A take off from The Godfather (1972), 
Agni Nakshatram (1988), the story of friction between two step brothers was shot in an ad like manner with glossy camerawork using extensive backlighting and flare filters with rapid cutting and extensive dissolves much like a long slick music video. The film set a trend for a whole new visual style in Tamil Cinema.
Gitanjali (1989) was a touching love story between two people who both have less than six months to live. The film was mainly shot in the misty landscape of Ooty to give the film an almost soft and poetic feel. The comedy track in the film however was totally forced and unnecessary ruining what was otherwise a great film.
Anjali (1990) about a mentally handicapped child brought back to her family with two normal siblings is perhaps sourced in a novel by Fynn, Mr. God, This is Anna. The scenes and songs with elaborate choreography featuring the children and neighbouring kids are the film's highlights.
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It was Roja (1992) however, a patriotic love story against the backdrop of Kashmir terrorism that made Ratnam a household name all over India as it was dubbed and released in Hindi and proved to be a huge success all over the country. A semi-political, romantic thriller, the film reinforces in a big way Ratnam's reputation as a filmmaker of style and substance. The film also marked a highly auspicious debut for young music director A.R. Rahman whose music contributed to the film's success in a major way. India's then election commissioner T.N. Seshan took the unusual step of officially endorsing the film.
Thiruda Thiruda (1993) was a misfire about two petty thieves and a girl on the lines of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) but Ratnam bounced back with his next film, Bombay (1995).
Bombay, a love story between a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl against the backdrop of the Bombay riots of 1993, again released nationwide but ran into controversy as the film was released in Bombay only after getting clearance from Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray. The film was attacked for its anti-Muslim stand, its misrepresentation of widely reported events in order to blame the Muslims for having started the riots and for its tendency to equate the 'voice of reason' with Hindu majority. But all the controversy helped the film as it scored heavily at the box-office.
Continuing with his obsessions with politics, Ratnam made Iruvar (1997) loosely based on the MGR - Karunanidhi story and his first Hindi film Dil se (1998) supposedly based on the North-East Indian problem. The last though a visual spectacle with a pulsating musical score by A.R. Rahman is a totally strange and confused film heading nowhere and represents a nadir in Mani Ratnam's career.
Alai Payuthey (2000) sees him returning to more familiar ground as he tackles the love story of a young couple in love that get married and realize marriage is not the bed of roses it is made out to be. And his subsequent film Kan Nathil Mutha Mittal (A Peck on the Cheek) reaffirms Mani Ratnam's return to form as one of Indian Cinema's best storytellers. Mani returned to Hindi Cinema after 6 years with Yuva but in spite of some fine flourishes here and there, the film largely fails to work. Maybe in Hindi it will be third time lucky for Mani Sir! Yuva has also been made in a Tamil version with a different cast - Ayutha Ezhuthu.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Gautham on Pachai Kili Muthucharam
Pachai Kili Muthucharam is expected to underline yet again Gautham Menon’s talent for a gritty and an urban thriller.
The movie is an adaptation of Derailed.
Ask Gautham Menon about it, and he quickly retorts that the adaptation is only of the book and not the movie of the same name.
There is a tale behind how Gautham came to film this story. The Derailed book was given to him by Anurag Kashyap (whose Black Friday incidentally released this week).More