THALAIVAA

THALAIVAA

Theatre : Aluva Casino
Showtime & Date : 6.00pm, 09-08-2013
Status : HOUSEFULL

First of all, THANKS to all those "great people" who watched this movie yesterday at outside India theatres and for putting negative reviews.

A Vijay starrer after Thuppakki, a mega mass teaser and a well cut trailer though increased hype, the name of the director and his previous track record made a small doubt. So how's the movie??? If that's the question, read here.

Story
Vishwa(Vijay) is doing business in Australia. His father Rama aka Anna(Sathyaraj) is a leader in Mumbai. To avoid his son know what he's doing, he sends Vishwa to Australia and visits him once in a year. Things change when Vishwa falls in love and takes her and her father to Mumbai to meet his father. The rest is villains killing Anna and Vishwa becoming the next THALAIVAA with some interesting twists and good as well as cliched sequences.

Performances
In the first half, Vijay is just that cute simple lover boy and in second half he's at his full energy carrying the whole movie. As in THUPPAKKI, its the character and not the image of Vijay which carries the film. His scenes with Sathyaraj and his histronics and dialogue delivery was superb. Sathyaraj makes a strong presence as Anna. The intro scene itself was too good. Amala Paul though her makeup is a bit over the board, she had considerably improved in acting and a big round of applause for dubbing in her own voice. In song sequences too she shines. Santhanam as usual with his witty oneliners makes audience laugh. All other actors did their part as needed for the movie.

Songs & BGM
Songs lacked the tempo though the ecstacy of love and Sol Sol fits well. THALAIVAA and Vaanganna song were picturised badly. BGM was good at parts.

Technical
Nirav Shah's cinematography was top class. Editing was good. Art Direction needs special mention.

Script & Direction
Story by A L Vijay(not exactly) is as old as hill one. Screenplay had nice moments in first half with a good interval punch. Second half was too predictable though director included some nice sequences. And climax was routine. Still the movie is worth a watch as this one is an A L Vijay style of making and above all the actor VIJAY is used more than the star ILAYATHALAPATHY VIJAY.


Verdict : Mass presented in a classy way
BO Verdict : Hit

RUN BABY RUN

RUN BABBY RUN

Theatre : TVM Sreekumar

Showtime & Date : 2.30PM, 29-08-2012
Status : Balcony FULL, FC 60%
Joshiy is back with another ONAM release RUN BABBY RUN,after Kunchacko Boban starrer SEVENES last year, this time with Mohanlal after the hit movie CHRISTIAN BROTHERS - scripted by Sachi of Sachi-Sethu team. Whether movie entertains us, LETS SEE

Story
Venu(Mohanlal) - a stinger cameraman of Reuters returns to Kerala as part of a case in court. Accidently he met with Renuka(Amala Paul) who was his ex-lover who were seperated of the similar reason we saw in the case of Mohanlal & Priyamani in recent Mohanlal flick Grandmaster. Both were assigned to work on a single case which makes their life keep on running.

Performances
Mohanlal as Venu was safe in his hands. Though the flashback episode was bad, soon after the flashback episode, Mohanlal delivered a fine performance with cool oneliners. Amala Paul was okay in her role Renuka. At parts she was good. BIJUMENON as Rishi is the one who stole most of the smart scenes in the movie with well written dialogues. Superb dialogue delivery in many scenes. Vijayaraghavan, Saikumar, Siddhique, Shammi Thilakan, Anil Murali, Aparna did their part.

Ameer Niyaz makes his appearance in this movie too as Abu after SEVENES, good role though a small role.

Songs & BGM
Only the song Aattumanal sung by Mohanlal was there in the movie. Makers please dont air this song video in TV channels as it'll give only negative publicity. BGM was ok  only, lacks freshness.

Technical
R D Rajasekhar's camera lacks the magic which the theme demanded. Editing was fine at parts. Art direction was superb. Action by Anal Arasu & Pazhaniraj lacks freshness.

Script & Direction
Script by Sachi(Sachi-Sethu team) had a great plot to be a super racy entertainer. But the screenplay couldn't rise to the level of the plot. Compromise is the word which killed the party I think. Unwanted romance track, songs, a heroine, hero praising by other characters, a predictable flashback..... If these things were avoided, then it would have been a better one. The first 45 minutes were just oke with a predictable flasback & romance. After that the movie took a turn to a racy thriller with witty oneliners by Mohanlal & Bijumenon. 15 min after interval the plot became great, but screenplay became more & more predictable with a very much predictable climax episode. Villain teams were not at all convincing for the plot. Movie focuses on News TV channel wars than any other surrounding things which makes things look bore at parts. Sachi - please watch the movie KO

Direction by Joshiy was incnsistent. Direction lacked the usual Joshiy signature. The whole movie starts 20 min before interval only. To a large extent, it is this master craftman's talent which made the climax portions this engaging.

On the whole, a uninteresting 50 min & an engaging 20+ minutes firsthalf & a good set of moments alone in an average predictable climax

Verdict : Tad above Average
BO Verdict :  HIT, at max

After watching the movie, we may feel like the apt title for the movie was the previous one - CAMERAMAN VENUVINOPPAM RENUKA