Maykkam Enna Review

I have chosen a still of Selvaraghavan and Dhanush together instead of the original Mayakkam Enna still to make a point that Selvaraghavan has engraved his presence in each and every scene of the film and Dhanush complemented him splendidly. While there were times when we go the movie solely for the name of the actor, this is a film you have to see exclusively for the director and the actor who is the brother of the director.

First I would like to congratulate Selva for not digressing from his usual style after his not so hit aayirathil oruvan. He clearly says he has come to make films and in his own style whoever praises or rejects and thats the attitude of a world class director. He has taken a normal life story of a youth and made all of us go through the youth's ordeal and how he succeeds in life after his numerous ups and downs. As with all Selva's film this will be liked only by a set of people probably in the age group of 16-35 but that is all needed to make this film a success.

The director's brother Dhanush is definitely the best choice for the film and anybody else would have been a misfit. As cartoonist Madan said, we can say an acting is good only if we can't find out he is acting. Dhanush was not acting in the film but he lived the character. I didn't like any of his films after Polladhavan except Aadukalam. Now add Mayakkam Enna to that list.

Richa as Yamini is a very good addition to the film and the scene where she cleans the blood showcases her acting. She personified a contemporary city girl in the first half and then a perfect wife in the second half. My friend who was seeing the film with me said that his future wife should be like her.

The music by G.V.Prakash needs special mentioning. There are times in the movie where the background music takes the film continuously for 10 to 15 mins. We clapped and sang to every song especially 'Kadhal en Kadhal'. G.V.Prakash has proved himself again. But Dhanush is rising to stardom as a singer too. Want yet another proof? Listen to 'Why this Koleveri di' from the movie 3?

The movie 'Mayakkam Enna' is definitely another milestone in the career of Selva and Dhanush.

Do 3D films really deliver?

Hollywood has got up with the 3D fever and a multitude of 3D films hit the big screens nowadays. But the question is “Do people really enjoy 3D movies compared to the 2D ones?”

Let me share my 3D experience. My first 3D film was My Dear Kuttichathan which was a Tamil dubbed Malayalam film made in the 80’s which became a block buster at that time. I don't recall that experience now since I was a little boy then. Then there was no sign of 3D films. But I waited anxiously for the next 3D film to amuse me.

And yes, the next 3D film did amuse me. It came in 2009 – James Cameron’s master piece, Avatar. Made with the latest technology, it set a new standard for the future films to be made. The sparkling flora, the astounding vistas and the cool visual effects are still lingering in my mind when I write this article. The film surpassed all expectations and the 3D was an embellishment to the already exquisite story. As we know it made huge money at the box office.

But this was taken as a wrong cue by the film makers and everybody thought they were James Cameron. The 3D films started pouring out from Hollywood.The first to come out was 'The Clash of the Titans(COT)' with the Avatar hero, Sam Worthington as the protagonist. I implored my friend into seeing this film and believe it or not I made an ass out of myself. We made to the Satyam cinemas for the 7:30 show beating the traffic to catch this movie. But after that 1 and a half hour I felt really embarrassed to face my friend. The films was sheer shit.

What happened to this film when Avatar which was made with the same 3D technology was stupendous. The reason I came to know was Avatar was made as a 3D film, but the COT was made as a 2D film and converted to 3D in the post production to extort money from the poor audience. After COT, many films got into the 3D bandwagon. To enumerate a few: Ice Age, Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story, Step up etc.

After the COT fiasco, I decided not to view any 3D film, but the inciting reviews and the teasing trailer made me to see the Resident Evil:AfterLife in 3D. This time the film was good but I felt I could have enjoyed it more if not for the glasses.I felt like I was wearing sunglasses in the night since the brightness was too low with the glasses on and I wished I had a remote control to increase the brightness of the screen. It seems Cameron deliberately increased the brightness of Avatar movie to compensate for the brightness loss when viewed through glasses.

I enjoyed Inception a lot more compared to the Resident Evil since I could vividly perceive intricate details in the movie. I hope Hollywood comes up with a better way of showing us 3D films or stick to the 2d concept.

Now the million dollar question. Will I go for 3D movies again? No, thanks. I will stick to the 2D technology until the shortcomings of the 3D glasses are disposed of.

Paranormal Activity(2007) - Review

Say that you are not afraid of the dark and I would definitely say that you are lying. When the light switches off every night and when your world plunges into darkness, you start to hear every minute sound around you until you go to sleep with fear. This phenomenon was very well personified and enacted by Ragava Lawrence in a comical way in a Tamil film, Muni. This is the nub of Paranormal activity.

Nyctophobia - Fear of dark has been manipulated to the extreme by Director Oren Peli in this film. The making of this horror film into a candid one is particularly commendable. Some really believed it is a true story. A myriad of Hollywood horror films are released these days but many of them touch only the gore part and forget the scary part. I still could not forget the Evil Dead Series which were made when I was a kid. The visual effect and CG which predominates in many of the horror films these days were not present 30 years back when Evil Dead was made. Still Sam Raimi proved us that screenplay is the only essential tool to make a good scary horror movie. He wielded it so well and made sure that you are at the edge of your seat until you leave the theatre.

One such film is Paranormal Activity. No special effects, no big cast, no exotic locations, no gore but you are guaranteed to piss in your pants the night you see this film. Katie and Micah acted, sorry, lived the 1 and a half hour as Katie and Micah. Katie was cute enough to attract us with her good looks and sexy thighs throughout the film. She was afraid of 'something' that makes contact with her every night and it has been chasing her right from her child hood. Micah on the other hand is a brave guy, believes in Katie and in an effort to find out what that 'something' is, he becomes the cinematographer of this film.

The whole film takes place in the upstairs bedroom of their home. A camera is mounted on a tripod by Micah covering the bed and the doorway to find out the happenings. When Katie and Micah are sleeping, that 'something' walks upstairs every night clumping on every step. Your heart will beat in rhythm with that sound and you will be petrified the moment it enters the room. You are sure to pounce with fear at climax and if you don't then you are drunk or something is wrong with you. According to IMDB there were two different climax for this film. Make sure you get to see both of 'em.

A film is yet to be released in Hollywood to beat this inimitable horror, Paranormal Activity.

Enjoy the journey

Life is similar to a journey. It has got its ups and downs. We all know this fact. But, what most of us don’t know is this – We race against everybody, not caring about the repercussions, trying to reach the destination without realising that we are here to enjoy the journey.

Most people do realise this fact but only at their last lap. They would have earned everything at the expense of their health, garnered huge amount of wealth to their heirs and kins , but when they do their last lap, when there would be nothing to salvage, they would find the truth . Quoting Superstar Rajnikanth’s words here, ‘If we know when we are going to die, living would become hell’.

Consider another example. After quitting my software job, I started jogging in our neighbourhood ground, where running a round would tantamount to 350m. Suppose I run 8 rounds everyday. When I complete the first round, I would think, ‘When I would complete the 8^th round’ and by the time I complete the 2^nd round, ‘We have only 6 more rounds’ and after the 3^rd round, ‘4..5...6...7..8...We have only 5 more rounds’. Jogging was more of an arduous task where I had to exert myself to complete even few rounds.

It suddenly dawned on me one day that I was not enjoying my jog. I mustered all the possible explanations and then I realised that I was not concentrating on the jog but had my eye only on the destination. Then I started to jog, concentrating on my steps, enjoying the bracing morning ambiance, smiling at the frolicking children and then in no time, I completed my 8 rounds. It was not an exertion anymore.

Try it, you won't regret it. So enjoy the journey. That’s life’s sine qua non.

Picture courtesy : upsy-downsysblog.blogspot.com/

3 Idiots - Review

Say "All iz well" to the 3 Idiots: Aamir khan, R.Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.

I haven't seen much of Bollywood films but the films I saw mostly were of high quality. Some of them are Black, Taare Zameen par, 3 Idiots.. I don't know Hindi language, so I was forced to view Bollywod films with subtitles which I very much regret and I am thinking of learning Hindi soon just to enjoy Bollywood films. Even then, I could very well connect to films when Aamir khan is the protagonist. I became a fan of Aamir khan since his directorial debut in Taare Zameen par. Taare zameen par was extraordinary, Ghajini was marvellous(but truly I liked our Tamil version which was very well acted by Surya) and when you think Aamir khan cannot do better than this, he transcends them all in 3 Idiots. The Mr.Perfect's charisma made every one of his audience to love him, search for him when he vanishes in the film and made us jump in ecstasy when we find out in the end that he is a great scientist Wangudu.

There is always a gospel among novel-movie enthusiast, that films do not deliver as good as the novels. In some cases, it may mutilate the novels. But this films is an exemplary evidence of how a novel can be brought to the celluloid with complete justification. I was fan of Chetan Bhagat's first foray into the novel world with Five point someone. I could relate myself very much with the book since I also went through the anguish that every student in India endure. I have always resented the crappy syllabus that the schools and universities use to teach students only one thing - "How to earn money and settle in life" and not any other thing about life. F***.

But when the book became a film with one of my favourite actor in it, I was more than happy, I was indeed euphoric. Thanks to the director Rajkumar Hirani for this wonderful adaptation. Even though there were slight changes in this adaptation, I loved it. Every one in the film did their part to their best, even the millimeter boy. We have always loved Madhavan in our Tamil movies(from Alaipayuthey to 13B), but he looked a lot younger and charming in this film. As the narrator of the story he elucidates each and every reel immaculately. Sharman Joshi as a not-so-brave guy made us love him inspite of the blemishes of Raju Rastogi. You would have been seeing him in a lot of Airtel ads after the triumph of this movie. Kareena Kapoor was cute and a perfect match for Aamir khan. She was cutest when she barges into Aami's hostel room with a Vodka in her hand and asking him prove to her that he is not impotent.

But the special mentioning goes to Boman Irani as Viru Sahastrabudhhe. He epitomized all the spearheads of schools in India pushing every student to the brink until he breaks. A line delivered by him in the movie, 'Sunday afternoon, my son fell off a train and died. Monday morning, I taught a class. So don't give me that nonsense. I can give you sympathy, not an extension', to a final year student who asks extension for his project probably gives a clear picture of him.

I have already seen this movie 5 times. I strongly recommend you to see it asap if you have not seen it yet.

"All iz well".

My favorite one liners from Hollywood movies:

Batman(Dark Knight)

This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

Ironman

Sometimes you've got to run before you can walk.

Records are made to be broken. Come on!.

Afro Samurai

My aim is to move only forward.

Vanilla Sky

Every minute is a chance to turn your life around.

Meet the Robinsons

Keep moving forward.