Irandam Ulagam, Tamil Film

A Grand vision that goes awry

A monumental effort that needs our support and encouragement. 

This is Selvaraghavan's second expedition into fantasy and he is indeed able to create the far and distant land with a distinct charm. 

Selva is in sublime form until interval when he tastefully interweaves the two parallel stories with effortless ease.

The scene where Arya cleanses and his father getting tickled is a testimony to the possibilities that Selva is capable of. Three minutes of screen space/time is enough to create a loveable and memorable father.

Alas, Selva's concentration in the distant land is focused on pouncing lions, looming vultures, magnificent moons, medieval castles, nomadic, barbaric and moronic tribes( except for the hero, heroine and the reverend mother!!!!) A few supporting characters in the distant land, could have built in a resonance between the two parallel lines.

When you were ecstatic in the interval that this was probably going to be  Selva's best work, little did I expect a free fall. Well to be honest I could not exactly digest the disappointment. Extraordinary hard work gone awry.

Selva seems to have certainly seemed to have mellowed down after his marriage and his vision of life seems to be getting brighter.

My fervent hope is that Selva remains ambitious and infuses the same amount of excitement in film making as he did in Ayirathil Oruvan and Mayakkam Enna.

Pizza 2: The Villa, A Tamil Film?

This franchise is here to stay.

Understated and Classy. At the outset, big hurrah!! for the producers to have the guts to produce this film in a regional language with a small market size.

While there have been several Aha! moments for Tamil Cinema in the last several years, even though there has been a quiet revolution, even movies like Vazhakku En 18/9 had to include an emotional climax to appease the sensibilities of a regional market. 

I cannot remember any Tamil/Indian film which has been so understated and more importantly adopt a very minimalist approach to sentimentality.

While Pizza did manage to bring the house down with audience screaming in a high point of the movie, The Villa departs from Pizza, in fact saunters all along and as the pace builds up, teasingly, does not gallop!!!, remains faithful in spirit to the franchise and leaves you asking for more!!!!

Yes, We Want some more, we want some more!!!!

P.S: New director, New Hero, All round technical competence, brilliant casting and hero heroine do not run around the trees. We have now come to expect this from Tamil films. 

Well the sartorial sense seemed to have improved too, with the hero distinguishing himself sporting impeccably tailored chinese collar shirts throughout the film!! Wow!! It just added to the elegance of the overall experience.

And Santosh Narayan(an), your piano strains are hauntingly are embedded within!!!

Pandianadu

Style and Substance, Sizzles

Not Just another revenge drama...

The protagonists are ordinary mortals who accept their limitations, yet decide to get even with the powerful mafia.

What is noteworthy about the narrative is that the sequence of events are highly plausible lending a lot of credibility and realism to the narrative.

For people who have watched the execution of Jayaprakash in Nan Magan Alla, you are in for equally brilliant show down at a bus station. The narrative technique used for the entire seven to eight minutes at the bus station is the reason why we watch cinema.

The brainy narrative leads to a brawny climax, realistic and satisfying.

With less explicit violence and with a one song less, the movie could have risen a notch.

Director Bharathiraja, as Vishal's father, is a treat.

Actor Vishal, needs all our support. For having produced good cinema, he deserves a fair share of patronization. 

Easily the pick of the releases during Diwali. This movie will be remembered for many of the improvisations for a long time, especially the showdown at the Bus Station