NEETHAANE EN PONVASANTHAM

NEETHAANE EN PONVASANTHAM

Theatre : Aluva Madhurya
Showtime & Date : 11.30am, 16-12-2012
Status : 40%

Gautham Vasudev Menon, after a big hit romantic movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya is back with his new movie Neethane En Ponvasantham - an Ilayaraja Musical with Jiiva and Samantha in lead roles. Whether the movie entertains us??? Before watching the movie, the first & only thing you have to forget is VINNAITHAANDI VARUVAAYA.

Story
Its all about Varun(Jiiva) & Nithya(Samantha) - their love & breakups at various stages of life. Whether they unite or not - watch it on screen.

Performances
Jiiva was good in a well written role with depth of a lover boy with possessive nature as a school kid, a happy-go-easy loverboy in college life, a loving son who recoginises his duties to family & ultimately as a LOVER. He performed what the character demanded. Samantha was cute in all stages of life lookwise. But when comes to acting, she needs more homework especially in such a movie where female character having equal importance, may be more than that of hero. Missed a golden chance in my opinion. Still the school episode and second half and climax episode will make an impact because of the well developed and well written character by Gautham. Santhanam - once the movie starts and first song will make you feel whether he is the hero. Yes to an extent he's also a hero in the movie. His Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya spoof episode in opening second half sequence was superb. As usual, his oneliners will make us laugh throughout in scenes he appear. Ravi Raghavendra repeated his role in Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi with a dull tone. Even the school friends of Samantha was the same in Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Eppadi. Rest of the characters were fine in limited roles. Once again GANESH rocks with his trademark dialogue.

Songs & BGM
Songs were a big letdown except Saayndhu Saayndhu. Rest of the songs looked totally unfit for the movie. BGM was okay.  A R Rehman or Harris Jeyaraj could have taken movie to another level with both songs and BGM.

If this is your first impression, then you are thoroughly mistaken. The songs in the movie are like slow poison which will haunt you like anything once you watch the movie. Saayndhu Saayndhu, Mudhal Murai, Satru Munbu - Ilaiyaraja is a genius. BGM was superb. The best BGM was Saayndhu Saayndhu BGM used at parts, especially with climax.


Technical
Cinematography lacked the usual sharpness found in Gautham Menon movies. Good visuals are also not there much. Editing by Anthony was fine in first half, but second half could have been better. Art direction was good as usual by Rajeevan. Costumes by Nalini as usual rocked bringing apt colour tones with the background at the sametime making characters look realistic.

Script & Direction
Gautham Vasudeva Menon once again presents a romantic movie this time his trademark autobiographical narration was missing throughout the movie. Story by Venkat Somasundharam was a wafer thin one. Screenplay by Venkat & Gautham had enough moments. Somewhere we feel like Venkat wanted this one to be a routine tamil flick where as Gautham wanted to be his trademark film. Felt like this conflict spoiled many sequences. Dialogues as usual rocked especially "Melbourne friend". Email idea was extreme brilliance of script writer. Direction lacked a 100% dedication in second half I think. This can be called as 100% musical love story. Climax was awesome

On the whole a good love story

Verdict : Good
BO Verdict : Hit (low production cost as this one has no foreign location & street dancers, a pure Tamilnadu flick)

The theatre experience of this movie purely lies on the hands of audience watching with you. You may find many scenes as touching while others may find boring. Vice versa too. Their reactions may spoil your viewing experience too. So don't conclude your verdict with public reaction.

INTHA MAATHIRI PADAMELLAM PAATHA UDANE PUDIKKAATHU, PAAKKA PAAKKA THAAN PUDIKKUM

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