Mattran

Mattran, felt very sad, a lot of hard work, atleast 3 songs wonderfully picturised, extraordinary stunt choreography before the interval, great performances by Surya and Sachin Kedekar, let down by a poor screenplay. Of course you were constantly wondering, if Sachin Kedekar was dabbling in Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering or Chemistry!

Pizza

The new generation of Tamil Director's have yet again proved that they do not require stars to make a movie rock and bring in the moolah!!!. The movie starts of on a rather weak imitation of Ghostbusters and kind of meanders before the Director targets the audience, teases and tantalises them and sucks them into the proceedings with the dexterity of a magician. The Annanagar visit by the Pizza Delivery boy till the Policeman getting sucked into haunted house is told with devilish relish, stands out distinctly from the rest of the film.

Lovely article written by Kamalahassan on Nayagan

On wintery night way back in 1987, my dear friend Shankar and I saw Vertigo in Chanakya, the evening show, which left us breathless. After the the Hitchcock feast we were not very sure if we should accept another friend Suresh's invitation to his Karol Bagh Adda for an all night exposition of Tamil Films which were released for Diwali that year, Manithan, Nayagan and a Suresh and Nadia starrer. We had been continuously receiving rave reviews of Nayagan and decided to take the plunge on shivering drive through the dark Buddha Jayanthi Park. We had to patiently wait for Nayagan to be screened by two in the night. There were about twenty people watching the movie. All through the movie there was not only pin drop silence throughout the movie but not even once did anybody get to use the restroom. It was just stunning. I can just visualize the happiness that Kamal experienced after completing the film. Even though there has been a lot said and written about Kamal, this article is certainly special and gives a certain perspective to thought process of a highly driven professional. 

Enjoy the article, Of course Velu Nayakan doesn’t dance

Argo

Argo, has been made fascinatingly. Any professional in any walk of life must watch Argo, for three important aspects, The level of detailing, The narrative style(the screenplay) and the extraordinary dialogues. Working professionals especially who want to improve  their communication and presentation skills must view it several times over. It is a cleverly crafted thriller, expertly narrated but falters in the end due to a simplistic escape plot which does not have enough meat. Wish Ben had tweaked the plot a bit to include some more twists to the tale  in the second half to make this one hell of a movie. Nevertheless, this is a movie which is not to be missed

English Vinghlish

The whole world is paying tribute to SriDevi. The Movie is a well crafted film and will be remembered for a long time. I shall always remember it for Mehdi Nebbou. Mehdi born to a German mother and Algerian Father is quintessentially French. It is a mesmerising performance As a doting lover whose eyes are forever transfixed on SriDevi, aching to see her at the every possible moment, trying to catch enough of her whether at a distance while watching a film, or travelling with her in the train all the way to her home or the disappointment at her not turning up at the class or catch up over coffee or at his perseverance in sharing a crepe,' French Laddu', cooked by him. Nebbou is intoxicating. Nebbou is beautifully sensitive when SriDevi and him take a peek at the New York Skyline and while doing so, SriDevi accidentally falls back only to be supported by Nebbou from behind and in that instance, Nebbou eyes meets SriDevi's and Nebbou, reaches out for a strand of her hair on her face and gently pushes it back. Mind Blowing!!!!!!

The Fighter

Since Thandavam, have had the opportunity to see two interesting films, the 2010 film, The Fighter and the latest English Vinglsih. Probably record my impressions in two separate posts. I feel really sad I have not seen this for two years. The Fighter was quite interesting and absorbing. While the movie was dominated by the standout performance of Bale, the screenplay vied with him for equal honours. I tried to imagine the amount of preparation, that Bale must have taken to shed his weight and bring the drug addict's sunken eyes. Bale beautifully enacted the grand illusion of an addict and enhanced it with the most quixotic gaze sometime giving an expression of getting lost and sometime wandering away into some dark forbidden world. It is a pity that he only won a best Oscar for a supporting actor. It is a joke that in view of such kind of performance and the haunting performance of Xavier Bardem in Biutiful  a lack lustre performance by Colin Firth won him the Best actor award at the Oscars. The Fighter is quite metaphorical and resonates the trials and tribulations we all face in our daily lives, the manifestations though being different.