KOLLYWOOD (Tamil)

[renjuekm]

Movie Review

Aalwar - Cool for fans

IndiaGlitz [Monday, January 15, 2007]




These days, most heroes don’t want to disappoint their core audience. They know their fans expect the usual package. Ajith is a smart man, he knows what his legion of followers need from him. And he has provided just that, even though for most part the film moves on a formulaic pattern. If that is what is going work at the box-office who is to complain.

Coming after his big success in Varalaru, Ajith looks confidence personified and delivers his usual punch with poise. Ajith also looks ease and elegance. The usual package of action, comedy, sentiments and other attendant things that an average film-goer looks for is present here too.

The story is the metamorphosis of a simple, straight as rod, Aalwar into an avenging machine named Shiva. Why Aalwar ends up as Shiva? Well, Aalwar is a traditional priest. He is devoted his mom and sister. But the villainous elements ---- Lal, Vincent Asokan, take out the sister and mother.

If this is not reason enough for Aalwar’s blood to boil, then what is? Aalwar, with revenge ringing in his mind, ends up as Shiva the killer, even while working as a ward boy in a hospital.

Shiva is out to make a statement against the venal forces. He sees himself as some kind of avatar —in fact, he bumps off the baddies under the guise of Godly elements. At denouement, Shiva turns up as Narasimha. Shiva says theat he is indeed the God.

Woven into this simple masala story is the love angle with Asin. Then there is also the comedy of Vivek, which is indeed hilarious at places.

Ajith’s character has not much confusion and delivers it with his usual aplomb. His intensity while dealing with the baddies is very real and absorbing. Asin is full of panache and shows her usual chirpiness. Vivek is back in his element and the comedy tracks carry his usual spark and spunk.

The music and camera are okay without doing anything extraordinary. The song could have been more imaginative and the same could have better captured.

The director has not tried anything fancy. He has set out with a simple plan ---- to no let down Ajith’‘s fans. That is what he has accomplished.

The entertainment sticks to the distilled formula. The violence maybe heavy at places. But overall, the movie’s cadences are well measured out.

[renjuekm]

Movie Review

Pokiri - Action aplenty

IndiaGlitz [Monday, January 15, 2007]



With a winner in the form of story, Vijay in the company of Prabhudeva has come out with an action-packed entertainer.

With typical 'Vijayisms' (action, humor and punch dialogues) finding a place at right intervals, he steals the show and his charm is spread all through the movie. The life and blood of the movie, the actor charms the audience in dance and stunt sequences. His characterization, though not unfamiliar to the film-buffs, is made interesting by director Prabhudeva as he has let Vijay to be himself on the screen.

Prabhudeva and Vijay leave their magical presence especially in the dance sequences. Both proven dancers, the choreography for the peppy songs are entertaining and attractive.

Asin is attractive and plays a typical heroine falling in love with a macho-man. She does have the opportunity to shake her legs with Vijay. Prakash Raj as the notorious Don Alibhai does his usual stuff. But such a powerful mafia don is projected in comical style in the second half.

Nepolean plays an honest police commissioner in the hunt of criminals. Vadivelu evokes laughter with his comedy. He succeeds in tickling the funny bone.

Thamizh (Vijay) is a hardcore criminal, who can do anything for money and also change loyalties for currency. He falls in love with Sruthy (Asin) and love is the immediate offspring between the two.

A villainous cop attracted by Sruthy threatens her mother to end her daughter with him. Enters Thamizh as savior for Sruthy and her family.

Thamizh works for an underworld gang and he soon rises in the ras for his bravery and never-say-die attitude. His boss and an international don Alibhai (Prakash Raj) arrives from abroad only to caught by the Tamilnadu police.

An honest cop Mohideen Khan (Nepolean) investigating the cases of Alibhai is blackmailed by Ali's men. What happens next and how the Thamizh nails the coffin for Alibha and his men forms the climax.

Stunts by Vijayan are another attraction of the movie. The chasing sequences have been captured well by Nirav Shah's lens. Srikar Prasadh's editing is crisp with fast-paced cuts.

Pokkri is a sweet Pongal treat for Vijay fans.

[Vinu]

Hai friends....yesterday i saw Aalwaar from Bangalore srinivas theatre....(SG Palya).....

The movie is watchable...nothing great in it...the story is old wine in new bottle....ajith has done his role brilliantly....and once again asin proved that she is good in comedy....Lal in his villian role is terrific....
The movie has some shades of anniyan...where he takes the revenge...he dress up with some of hindu gods..like krishna,sri raaman and narasimham...

Total 5 songs are there out of which two songs are good...one devotional song is the highlight of the film....as said in sify review....its true..when asin comes to screen...she dreams a song....that is unsahikable...and the comedy which never matches with the script....on the whole a watchable movie with some good action sequence's...this film wont makes bore....

k.

Thanks for the review!!

Expecting ur review of Pokkiri too..

[KarthikeyaN]

They gave problems in Mullaiperiyar. Now they are troubling Tamil films too.

Tamil films are superior in quality and entertainment value. One can say that with a little pride that Tamil films are trend setters in comparison with other south Indian regional films.

While local films are barely scraping through, Tamil films are doing good business in other states. So Karnataka govt gave an order that Tamil films should be dubbed in Kannada and released several weeks after the original Tamil release here. A similar talk happened in Andhra too, but that somehow got squashed.

Tamil films are doing very well in Kerala and Tamil songs are played at many functions. Our popular stars like Rajini, Surya, Vikram, Ajith, Vijay, Simbu, Kamal and others have a fan following there. We are also way ahead of them in technical superiority.

Because of these factors, Kerala films and stars are not faring well. In connection with this, a meeting was held by distributors recently at Thiruvananthapuram according to which, Tamil films can be released in Kerala only a few weeks after they get released in Tamilnadu. This restriction does not apply to Rajini, Vijay and Ajith films!

The Kerala govt aims to suppress the popularity of Tamil films. Can one block out the sun just by shading one's hands?





vella kaaryamondaayirunno

[Raju]

Whatever be the quality of each one the Pongal Outcome is coming clear. Pokiri making a sensational run, whereas Alwarr started its downward journey. Some prestigious theaters in Chennai reduced the number of shows for Alwarr, maintaining that of Pokirieg Mayajal opened with 10 shows each for both now runs at 4 and 8 respectievely. Tamirabharani's initial fate was not that great in TN, but gets good report. May pick up sooner.

[kannan]

They gave problems in Mullaiperiyar. Now they are troubling Tamil films too.
..........................The Kerala govt aims to suppress the popularity of Tamil films. Can one block out the sun just by shading one's hands?


vella kaaryamondaayirunno

[kannan]

Mobile phone cameras causing havoc on sets

This probably is no big deal for filmmakers in Malayalam, but mobile phones with digital cameras have become a big nuisance for filmmakers in Tamil.

Rajinikanth's 'Shivaji' regularly makes headlines due to camera-phone problems. The film's director is obsessed with maintaining high-level secrecy about his film's shooting but every once in a while, pictures do find their way to the media. There was Rajini with his tonsured hair. There were pictures of the hero when he was in Spain for his song sequences.

The film's story doesn't remain a secret anymore either.

It looks as if 'Shivaji' is not the only film dealing with this problem.

Bhavana and Arya are the main stars of the Tamil film 'Naan Kadavul'. Bala, of 'Sethu' and 'Pitamagan' fame, is directing this one. A song sequence was shot in Kashi. Unfortunately for the director, someone on the sets had recorded the entire song sequence filming on his mobile phone camera and had circulated the clip all over Kollywood.

What has made the director particularly angry is the fact that he still hasn't even released the film's soundtrack!!!

There's something very funny- the directors who aren't so obsessed with secrecy don't have any problems with mobile phones and cameras. Nobody shoots their film clips and circulates it everywhere.

Is there a lesson to be learnt here?

[kannan]

Vijay in and as ATM !

By Moviebuzz | Wednesday, 24 January , 2007, 16:52

The shoot of Vijay's new film Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (ATM) starts today (24 Jan) in Chennai. But our hero is chilling out in New York with some close friends. He will join the shoot on January 31, after he comes back to Chennai.
The film is directed by Bharathan, long time Dharani's right hand man and a good script writer. Balasubramaniam is the cameraman, FEFSI Vijayan who has come in for praise from Vijay for his work in Pokkiri, is going to be the action director. And the highlight is A.R. Rahman's five lilting tunes.

Vijay is being paired for the first time with Shriya while Namitha plays a cameo. ATM is going to be a different kind of movie, something which Vijay has not done before. He plays a character that has a negative streak in him. Says Vijay: "If you ask me who the villain in the film is, well my character himself is “the villain”. ATM otherwise will be a typical Vijay film with all essential entertainment ingredients."

"Swargachitra" Appachan, the one time leading Malayalam producer who has made Friends with Vijay more than six years back is the producer of the film. Actually Appachan was to start the film nearly two years back, but somehow it never materialized.

Vijay has given bulk dates to Bharathan to complete the film. Since he comes from the Dharani School of direction, he is sure to take more than 100 days to shoot the film. As of now ATM is scheduled to release on August 15, 2007

[kannan]

Maddy hits big time!

By Moviebuzz | Sunday, 04 February , 2007, 09:50

Our Maddy has hit the international circuit. Yes, he has been signed by the avant-garde director Deepa Mehta, to do an original Hollywood made English film Stella. The heroine is none other than his Guru girl Vidya Balan.
Deepa Mehta's controversial film Water, is nominated in the Best Foreign Film category for this year’s Oscars. Water is not India’s official nomination as it is the first non-French film from Canada to be sent for the Oscars.

Stella is a wacky comic flick. Says the Toronto based director Deepa Mehta: “I met Maddy and simply adored him. He’s a wonderful human being and a terrific actor. The fact that he and Vidya looked so compatible in Guru is one good reason why I decided to cast them together.”

And the big news is that Brendan Fraser the Hollywood actor who shot to fame with Mummy is also in the cast. Maddy told Sify.com: “For me it’s an honour to be a part of this film directed by Deepa Mehta a world renowned director. The film will start rolling probably by September this year.”

[kannan]

Nayan's hat-trick victory!

By Moviebuzz | Saturday, 03 February , 2007, 13:17

Nayanthara has enough reasons to smile. Last week all her three Diwali releases in Tamil- E, Thalaimagan and Vallavan celebrated the coveted 100 days run. It is a rare feat for a heroine to have three of her films celebrating 100 days simultaneously
In Andhra too in Telugu cinema there is a Nayan wave. Her Pongal release Jogi, opposite Prabhas, is a big hit. The film is doing extraordinary business in B and C centres. She is now doing a film with Venkatesh and another one with Ravi Teja and is on the verge of signing up another big project.

And in her home state of Kerala she is still the queen. Can you believe it, that her Telugu hits are getting dubbed into Malayalam! Incredible it may sound that in a state where dubbing other language movies into Malayalam is not a commercially viable proposition.

Her Lakshmi dubbed into Malayalam under the same title is a super hit and will do business worth Rs 50 Lakhs plus. Now releasing this week is another of her Telugu dubbing Boss with Nagarjuna. Soon to follow is Jogiin Malayalam! Remember that that these Telugu dubbings sell in Kerala only due to the Nayantara factor.

Meanwhile Nayan is all excited about her special appearance with the real superstar, Rajnikanth in the most talked about movie of the year Shankar's Sivaji. She appears in Rajani's introductory song sequence, which is sure to scorch the screens.

And on Friday night at a glittering function at the Taj Krishna, Hyderabad, she officially launched her website www.nayanthara.sifymax.com. The Chief Guest at the function was Rama Naidu the doyen of Telugu film industry and top stars like Nagarjuna, Ravi Teja, Madhavan, Prabhas and Srikanth were present.