KATHTHI

KATHTHI

Theatre : TVM Anjali
Showtime & Date : 9.45am, 22-10-2014
Status : Double Housefull, people were sitting even on floors

Ilayathalapathy Vijay and A R Murugadoss unites again after THUPPAKKI, what else needed to watch the movie on first day itself. Did the movie succeed in meeting the expectation??? Lets see

Story
Kathiresan(Vijay) escapes from Calcutta jail and tries to board Bangkok. At Chennai, he accidently meets Jeevanandam(Vijay) who is on his mission to save his village from land acquiring by corporate companies. Yes you guessed the rest. A in B's place. Thats it. But what makes the difference is the awesome screenplay and fresh proceedings and a hard hitting socially relevant plot.

Performances
VIJAY VIJAY VIJAY
What to say??? AWESOME PERFORMANCE
CLASS & MASS, ACTOR & SUPERSTAR
 You can't think of another actor in this movie. What a performance!!! I'm running short of words to explain his performance as many may act as spoliers for those who haven't seen the movie. That includes the smile to villain in climax

Samantha had nothing much to do. She looked a bit old too. Satheesh once again shines. Niel Nithin Mukesh was fine with good lipsync. Rest of the characters were apt in their roles.

Songs & BGM
Songs were good and picturisation was rich and had high production values. BGM - NO WORDS TO SAY - AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME especially title cards music when used in climax ADRENALINE PUMPING ONES

Technical
Top class in cinematography, editing and art direction

Script & Direction
A R MURUGADOSS definitely deserves a standing ovation.
The people who may hear the oneline or so called story may doubt about how this will work on bigscreen. There he stands tall. IF SCREENPLAY IS THE BACKBONE OF THE MOVIE, THIS ONE HAS A DOUBLE STRONG ONE. A plot which would have become a routine masala tearjerker with unwanted heroism blending one was neatly presented in a cinematic realism way which is a really tough task. Direction by him too stands out. If I'll point out any negatives, it'll be the starting of Interval action block and climax song picturisation in between.

OVERALL A GREAT MUST WATCH INDIAN MOVIE WHICH SPEAKS TAMIL LANGUAGE

VERDICT : GO FOR IT!!! DON"T MISS IT
BLOCKBUSTER WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

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

THUPPAKKI

THUPPAKKI

Theatre : TVM SreePadmanabha
Showtime & Date : 8.45am, 18-11-2012
Status : Housefull with terrific atmosphere

After hatricks - Kavalan, Velayudham & Nanban, ILAYATHALAPATHY VIJAY is back with his new film THUPPAKKI - written & directed by A R Murugadoss after not so well accepted 7am Arivu. This time he created a movie that is fresh screenplay and execution, executed through not the star VIJAY alone but through the actor VIJAY too.

Story
Jagdish(Vijay) - DIA specialist in Indian Army comes to his home in Mumbai for leave. By coincidence, he catches one of the sleeper cell, who made a blast in a bus. Rest of the story is how Jagdish intelligently tracks the whole team.

Performances
Ilayathalapathy VIJAY takes the character to next level with his awesome performance. This time he's not rendering any punchlines, but the simple lines he speak in the movie makes the whole audience clap. Thanks to his immense screen presence, voice modulation & style which took the superb screenplay to a great level. The scene with retired army men was superb. A VIJAY SHOW all the way.

Kajal Agarwal as Nisha was fine in first half where she had something to do. In second half, her role was limited. She was good in her with emotional scene in restaurant. Jayaram in his brief role will make us laugh, Sathyan too. Vidyut Jamal as baddie was fresh and convincing in looks. Rest of the cast did their parts well.

Songs & BGM
Harris Jeyaraj disappoints this time. Google Google sung by Vijay & Andrea was foottapping. Vennilave, Antartica, Kuttippuli were fine with visuals though lacks the punch of usual Vijay movie songs. My pick is POI VARAVAA in climax. Awesome lyrics, superb & touching picturisation. Vennivale & Google were speedbreakers. BGM was awesome, especially the theme music was adrenaline pumping one on screen.

Technical
The whole team was superb. Considering the technical perfection from Santhosh Sivan, cinematography lacks the magic though a set of scenes looked good & the final railway station scene was awesome. Editing by Sreekar Prasad was superb. Art direction by Sunil Babu was cool. Action by Kecha needs special mention - another Peter Hein on the way I think. Hope we can expect fresh action seq from him.

Script & Direction
Both departments handled by A R Murugadoss. Though the oneline seems to be simple, the screenplay was awesome with fresh sequences - especially Interval and one in second half. SUPERB!!! Though Vijay-Kajal scenes & songs in second half were speedbreakers, we can easily forget that negative considering the whole movie. After JULAI, another movie with villain with intelligence. Direction was topnotch. Even simple things were made special with his direction.

On the whole - a great entertainer movie for those who love their nation.

Verdict : GO FOR IT!!!
BO Verdict : BLOCKBUSTER

A R Murugadoss had made not only INDIAN ARMY proud but also their families. Really great and wonderful!!!

NANBAN

NANBAN

Theatre : TVM Remya

Showtime & Date : 6.00pm, 16-01-2012

Status : Balcony Full, FC 10%

Ilayathalapathy VIJAY with south india's showman director SHANKAR, remake of well acclaimed movie 3 IDIOTS, Jiiva & Shrikanth in supporting roles, Ileana's second innings in Tamil, calling cards were several including the well edited TRAILER. Yes, the movie is a 101% genuine remake of 3 IDIOTS where Vijay the actor plays the lead role with no punchlines,no action & no mass masala elements usually seen in his films.

Story

The story is told as a flashback by Venkat(Shrikanth) whom with his friend Saravanan(Jiiva) with silencer(Sathyan) in search of his friend Panchavan Parivendan(Ilayathalapathy VIJAY) who were college mates in Ideal Engineering College run by Virumandi Sandanam aka Virus(Sathyaraj). Watch the rest on screen friends even though you have seen the original.

Performances

Its an ILAYATHALAPATHY VIJAY show. Happy to see that VIJAY which we have seen in SACHEIN last time. He lived as the character - the body language, even a single smile makes an impact on screen. We can expect more good characters from this ACTOR.

Jiiva once again proved his versatility. In my opinion, he's the best in South Indian Cinema now to perform well as a drunken guy. Boss Engira Bhaskaran & Siva Manasula Shakthi are good examples. 

It's a comeback for Shrikanth & he performed well, I should say we will forget his previous movies.

Sathyaraj as VIRUS was a good choice which he performed well in his own style at parts. Ileana was okay only as her makeup was bad at many parts,  but surprisingly lip-sync was better. Anuya & S J Suryah in their cameo was impressive. Sathyan did the role of silencer well but lacks the perfection as he immediately speaks in normal Tamil soon after the Teachers Day sequence. 

Though in a small role, once again director Shankar included a malayalam actor in his movie - Indrans

Happy to see Ajay Rathnam again in a Shankar movie after a long gap- if I'm not wrong

Songs

Harris Jeyaraj's music had the charm especially En friende pole song's beat had that haunting effect. Aska Luska & Irukkana was good though picturisation of both lacks usual Shankar charm though made in rich sets.

BGM was superb especially En friende pole beats.

Technical

Manoj Paramahamsa amazes us with his awesome cinematography, superb visuals!!! Editing was fine with first half but second half could have been better. Art Direction was superb!!! Resul Pookkutty made his mark with clean & clear sound mixing.

Script & Direction

Story is inspired from the book 5.1 Screenplay by Rajkumar Hirani & Abijath Joshiy in hindi is the same used here. But the dialogues by Shankar & Karki made the script more powerful. The placement of Irukkana song looks misplaced and could have been avoided. Also second half seemed too lengthy & the proceeding could have been ore interesting. It's the first remake movie of director Shankar to which he did 101% justice without ruining the original but made a bit better than original if the total making perfection is considered. But song picturisation could have been better for Aska Luska & Irukkana which looks totally out of place for the whole movie. I felt that the theme was not conveyed to that extent as in original which made a good mark along with other sequences.Climax sequences could have been better.

Eventhough you have seen original, its worth a watch for Vijay as its the actor & not star here.

Verdict : Good

BO Verdict : Superhit

What Shankar said on audio launch time was right - people who don't like Vijay will start liking Vijay after watching this movie

VELAYUDHAM

VELAYUDHAM

Theatre : TVM Dhanya
Status? An unwanted question, HOUSEFULL with family audience even at first front row of first class
Showtime & Date : 5:55pm, 26-10-2011(DEEPAVALI)

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
BOX OFFICE GHILLLI IS BACK

When Jeyam Raja joined with Vijay, everyone expected a remake or a usual mass masala film of Vijay like his previous films, even trailers too were not different, but the final product is not something we expected, it's something different which had all the elements to satisfy all.

Story
Movie begins with Tamilnadu minister in Pakisthan-Afganisthan border joining them to implant bombs in Chennai. Freelance journalist(Genelia) & her friends tried to find out the crimes happening in Chennai. They were caught by villain gang & kills them. Luckily Genelia escapes. When the villain gang gets killed in an accident, she creates a character VELAYUDHAM who is after criminals. Then story unfolds with introduction of Vel aka Velayudham(Vijay), his sister(saranya Mohan) & his friends going to Chennai & their story flashbacks. They came to Chennai to get the amount back from Chit Fund for Saranya's marriage. There Santhanam, a small time thief joins them as friend. Velayudham accidently rescues people from bomb blasts 2-3 times. When Genelia realises that everything happened without his knowledge, she asks Vel to be real Velayudham. Though he rejects, later he was forced to be Velayudham. The rest is Velayudham vs Villains.


Performances
First of all, thanks to M.Raja for utilising not only the mass hero only, but the good actor in Vijay which we have seen in Kannukkul Nilavu, Priyamudan, Sachein, Thullatha Manavum Thullum, Shahjahan.....Its a clear ILAYATHALAPATHY SHOW. This time the screenplay was fresh not giving him an over buildup or lots of punch dialogues or much over the board action sequences. VIJAY once again proved after Rajnikanth he's the one who can carry an whole film with his charisma. Watchout for his performance in second half towards especially towards the climax. Sentiment scenes were superb!!!

Genelia got a powerful role, but her lipsync was bad & expressions were almost same. Hansika Motwani was surprisingly good especially in comic scenes. Watch out her expressions in the train sequence. Hansika's role was limited one. Script could have provided much more comic scenes as she was capable for comic scenes execute well. Shayaji Shinde & Pandiarajan were good. Santhanam will make us laugh. The one who narrates Vijay-Saranya flashback in train was superb. Rest of the cast did their job well. Villain characters failed to create any impact.

Songs & BGM
Vijay Antony once again scores. Sonna Puriyathu is the best mass number in recent times. Picturisation was rich & colourfull, SUPERB!!! Chillax was a forced one, though enjoyable in richly made sets. Mayyam Seythayo seems unwanted, but picturisation was innovative. Molachu Moonnu is the best melody in recent times but picturisation & choreography was not upo the mark. Rathathin Rathamey was good.

BGM was SUPERB!!!

Technical
Cinematography was superb especially in action & song sequences. Editing was good. Milan's art work was good. Stunt director's did a good job.

Script & Direction
Here comes the man behind the show - M.Raja aka Jeyam Raja. Story is inspired from Nagarjuna's hit telugu movie Azad. But he took only the basic thread only. Screenplay was fresh & racy with all commercial ingredients. Subha's dialogues were good & superb at many part Direction was racy & tried maximum to avoid the buildup & over the board scenes though a set of scenes are there which were enjoyable with the flow of the movie.. Instead of executing a script with Vijay on mind, M.Raja seems to be executed the final script with Vijay. Yes, a director's movie in which Vijay scores with his charisma, thats VELAYUDHAM.

Verdict : Superb Mass Entertainer
BO Verdict : SuperHit/MegaHit

THE FINAL SHOT OF THE MOVIE WAS INNOVATIVE & EXECUTED WELL.

When M.Raja said that he was not worried eventhough 10 films like RA-ONE or 7AM ARIVU releases with VELAYUDHAM before release, I didn't believed. Now I can say HE WAS RIGHT, 100% RIGHT