Simmba review: "Dabangg meets Singham!!!"

Who do you believe is the best Bollywood director when it comes to mass entertainers??? If I have to make an educative guess, then one of the most popular answer will be Rohit Shetty. Hence when he announced his latest project "Simmba" with Ranveer Singh, there was quite a bit of hype in the lead up to its release. The question that most of us have is how distinct is it going to be from "Singham" or other such flicks. Well the subsequent paragraphs will tell you about whether it was worth spending time. 

For audiences who are well versed with the "Singham" series will know that he hailed from Sivagadh & incidentally that also happens to be the home town of Sangram Bhalerao/Simmba (Ranveer Singh). As he was an orphan there was no one to instill the virtue of righteousness in him & he looked upon the police profession as a means of making easy bucks through corruption. In time, he becomes a corrupt officer who was hands in glove with the gangster Durva Ranade (Sonu Sood). But things take a turn when his loved ones get hurt.

Inspired from the Telugu flick "Temper" (which I havent watched), Rohit Shetty has given us a movie which seems like a mix of Dabangg & Singham. The reason for saying so is that in the first half Simmba is a fun loving bindaas police officer like Chulbul Pandey while in the latter half he resembles Bajirao Singham. With regard to the script by Vakkantham Vamsi, there is no element that could be considered as unique and fresh. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention as it was average at best.

Ranveer Singh has done utmost justice to the role after all comparisons with Ajay Devgn & Salman Khan were inevitable. He reveled in the buffoonery & was a hoot when he flexed his muscles to good effect. Ashutosh Rana had a rather interesting role which though was a cake walk was something that we have barely seen him in, Sara Ali Khan did her part aptly after all she didnt have much to do apart from shake her leg & utter a couple of dialogues. Sonu Sood was ok, Ajay Devgn's cameo was whistle worthy stuff while the rest of the cast were fine as well.

Verdict: The film delivers what it promises & that is a no holds barred masala entertainer. If you are in the mood to watch something without having to trouble your grey matter, then this is indeed the right choice. It is already making big bucks at the box office & brings the curtains down on Bollywood for this year with a bang!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Seethakaathi review: "Interesting theme with a sluggish pace!!!"

Among the numerous Xmas releases that had hit the screens, one movie that was particularly eager to check out was Vijay Sethupathi's "Seethakaathi". He has always been a wonderful performer & this seemed to be equally good atleast from the looks of the trailer. Was it just me, but the prosthetics on him kinda reminded me of Kamalhasan from "Indian". So will it be yet another classic performance from Sethupathi???

The first forty minutes takes us through the latter half of the 20th century when theatre was still a popular source of entertainment for the masses. In the Tamil theatre world, the most prominent actor in those days was 'Ayya' Aadhimoolam (Vijay Sethupathi). Despite offers from the film industry, Ayya preferred to ply his trade on the stage in front of packed audiences as that gave me a high. However, with the advent of television, internet & mobile phones, the footfalls to the theatres dwindled which worried Ayya & his fellow troupe members. To make matters worse, his grandson was diagnosed with a condition that required immediate surgery. How will Ayya tide over this difficult situation???

Balaji Tharaneetharan burst into the scene in 2015 with the comedy flick "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom" which had the critics raving about it. However, since I havent watched that, I didnt have much of a reference regarding his style of direction. The first thing that struck me about his script was his humour sense which was in the expressions of the artists rather than their dialogues. He takes his own sweet time to set the stage which to be frank does test our patience. However, if you are able to tide over that initial hour, then we are in for a fun ride as it is concoction of humour and fantasy. Personally, I felt the climax was rather lame as it seemed like Balaji didnt have an idea as to how to conclude it. On the technical side, Saraskanth T K's visuals & lighting was excellent while Govind Vasantha could have made the initial half crisper. 

Surprisingly, Sethupathi is there only for the initial forty minutes but his impact is felt until the very end courtesy of Balaji's creative script. He has done a fantastic job as the elderly star performer in all aspects be it with the body language, dialogue delivery & expressions. Actually Mouli is the one who takes the story forward & he gives a solid performance. As for the rest of the cast, both Sunil Reddy (as Dhanapal) & Rajkumar (Saravanan) brings the house down with their antics.

Verdict: There is no doubt that the Sethupathi factor will attract eyeballs but the slow pace & melodrama is definitely a dampener. It has an art movie feel to it which many will find it hard to swallow. In short, it has an interesting theme with its share of shortcomings denying it the status of an entertainer!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Maari 2 review: "Better than the prequel!!!"

Just a week more for the New Year & one of the biggest Tamil movies to hit the screens in the lead up to it is "Maari 2". Bankrolled by Dhanush's Wunderbar Films, this is the sequel to "Maari" which was released in 2015 & had the audience entertained coz of the vibrant character of the protagonist. Hoping to cash in on the holiday season, Balaji Mohan has brought back the bindaas don once again with the intention of striking gold at the box office. So will Maari make the masses go crazy???

After the demise of Velu (Shanmugarajan), his son Kalai (Krishna Kulasekaran) becomes the boss of the gang on the insistence of Maari (Dhanush) who was his best buddy. The rival gang in the hope of gaining control over the whole region attempts to kill Maari for the 100th time & as always, he manages to escape unscathed. It was at around this time that Beeja aka Thanatos (Tovino Thomas),a hardened criminal who had some unfinished business with Maari join hands with the rival gang. Soon enough, cracks starts to appear in the friendship of Kalai & Maari, which sets the stage for Beeja to deliver the knockout punch to the latter or so he believed.

As in the prequel, apart from calling the shots Balaji Mohan has penned the script as well.  There is a marked improvement in the story as more masala elements are injected into proceedings & a worthy opponent in the form of Tovino as opposed to Vijay Yesudas in "Maari". Without doubt, there is a conscious effort to evoke Rajni mania with many sequences being a tribute to the thalaivar. Despite the predictability, it is engaging for the entire duration of the first half. It does falter in the latter half,when there is a marked difference in the character arc of Dhanush & Tovino which blunts the scenes since that was what made them unique. On the technical side, Yuvan Shankar Raja's music was a disappointment & Prasanna GK could have made it crisper while I loved the choreography of "Rowdy baby". 

Dhanush absolutely rocked as Maari & reminded me of Rajni in quite of a few of his antics. He was ably supported by Sai Pallavi who as mentioned by her in one of the dialogues wasnt just a 'loosu ponnu' type of character that we are so used to watching in such movies. Tovino Thomas was impressive as the antagonist, something which he has done well in "Style". As for the rest of the cast, Krishna, Robo Shankar etc have all done their parts aptly.

Verdict: As per the latest box office reports, it has got off to a roaring start at all the centres despite the presence of equally big movies like "Zero", "KGF" etc. Well to be frank, it's not surprising to see the reason why the movie is doing well coz it's pretty entertaining for large parts. In short, if watching a bindaas masala entertainer is fine with you, this wont disappoint despite the predictability!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Zero review: "Begins as a hero & ends up as zero!!!"

Just a day more for Xmas & what better to celebrate it than with friends & family. As is typical for any festive season, it's time to gorge on the goodies & entertain ourselves with some big banner movies. In Bollywood, this slot is usually booked by Aamir Khan, however this time around he opted for Diwali to release his dud "Thugs of Hindostan". So this Xmas holidays, we have King Khan's "Zero" which has attracted considerable pre-release attention as he was essaying the role of a vertically challenged individual. Hmm, the makers will be hoping that the box office collections does not turn out to be true to its name & protagonist's height???

Bauua Singh (SRK) is a 38 year old Meerut guy who was finding it hard to find a marriage alliance as he was vertically challenged even though he fantasized of making the Bollywood heart throb Babita Kumari (Katrina Kaif) his life partner. Despite the constant criticisms and mockery that he used to face from different quarters, he was cocky & oozed with confidence. This is when he happened to come across the wedding profile of Aafia Yusufzai (Anushka Sharma), a NASA scientist with cerebral palsy & ends up getting close to her, though he wasnt keen on taking the relationship forward. At this juncture he gets an opportunity to be part of a dance competition, the grand prize of which was a chance to meet Babita. The subsequent portions focuses on his relationship with the both of them & with whom he eventually ends up settling down. 

Aanand L Rai made a name for himself with movies like "Tanu weds Manu", "Raanjhanaa" etc apart from bank rolling praise worthy flicks like "Nil Battey Sannata", "Mukkabaaz", "Tumbbad" etc. His partner in crime, Himanshu Sharma like his previous directorial ventures have also scripted this one. The first half breezes through with humour sprinkled liberally. The thought that Himanshu invested into the character of Bauua Singh, his attitude to life, family dynamics, relation with Aafia & Babita's insecure spirit all deserves praise & the same also applies to Aanand as well for handling it aptly. Unfortunately, all these cheers dies down the moment the second half begins as it moves towards absurdity at a rapid pace. It seemed like the dress rehearsal for SRK's next movie which is the biopic of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma. By the time, the movie is over the audience are left confused as to what the hell the makers were trying to convey. 

On the technical side, Ajay-Atul's music was pretty good especially "Mere Naam Tu" rendered by Abhay Jodhpurkar which is my most favourite track in the past couple of years. The way Manu Anand had shot it was fantastic while the VFX though impressive at times lacked consistency. When it becomes to performances, after the debacle of "Dilwale"; there has been a conscious effort from SRK's side to take up roles that offered him something to perform. This is undoubtedly one of his best roles in recent times & SRK has done a fantastic job. Anushka Sharma has given an earnest effort, but her portrayal of cerebral palsy wasnt quite upto the mark. However, Katrina Kaif surprised me with her ace performance of the broken superstar. As for the rest of the cast, Zeeshan Ayyub was fine while talented artists like Tigmanshu Dhullia & Sheeba Chaddha were wasted. The same goes for the cameos of Madhavan & Abhay Deol as well while the mini "Om Shanti Om" lineup of actresses or Salman didnt have any sort of impact.

Verdict: Being a SRK movie & the curiosity of watching him as a vertically challenged individual should enable the movie make a killing at the box office in the opening weekend. However, the lack lustered latter half will create a significant dent in the collections & it will definitely struggle to make a sizable profit especially since it was made at a cost of 200 C. In short, the first half is worth watching but the latter half is an absolute drag, the choice is yours!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Odiyan review: "A decent movie let down by Shrikumar's audacious claims!!!"

It's been ages since I have written the review for a Malayalam movie & it was primarily coz of the lack of movies being released at my place on the same day as in back home. Hence when Lalettan's "Odiyan" was released here, I was naturally thrilled until I read crushing negative reviews about it on social media. However, I still decided to give it a try after all different people perceive the same movie in different ways & also maybe coz my last name was "Thomas". So was the flick as bad as what I heard???

The film unfolds in Varanasi where a drowning female is rescued by a long haired unkempt sage who in the next scene turn up in a village called  Thenkurissi. He turns out to be Odiyan Manikyan (Lalettan), the last among the Odiyan clan who were said to possess powers to assume animal forms. Odiyan was back in his village after a self imposed exile of 15 years after he was forced to leave it on the back of two murder accusations. Incidentally, one of them was the husband of his childhood friend Prabha (Manju Warrier) & it soon becomes evident that her cousin, Ravunni Nair (Prakash Raj) had masterminded the whole plot. So how will Manikyan prove his innocence as he put his skills to the ultimate test.

This has been a venture in the news for quite a while & there has been immense hype towards the lead up of its release. The project was helmed by the debutant V A Shrikumar Menon who is quite a known name in the ad world. Despite being his debut venture, one thing that had stood out was how Shrikumar boasted about himself & the movie as truly incredible prior to its release. Well it's a claim that most of us bought after all Harikrishnan of "Kutty Srank" fame took on the Odiyan folklore which was an interesting concept  that felt both fresh & intriguing. Surprisingly, rather than focus on the Odiyan angle it turned out to be a typical hero-villain revenge saga that we have watched numerous times. I am not saying that it has to be taken like the effects of "Vellichapadu" on a family as in Murali & Prithvi's "Veeralipattu", but the Odiyan theme could have been explored much more effectively. To make matters worse, Shrikumar's execution left a lot to be desired.

On the technical side, the visual effects was pretty average & though Peter Hein's action sequences were impressive, it didnt have the desired impact coz of the sloppiness or Shrikumar's lack of vision. With regard to music, M Jayachandran has given some incredible tracks especially 'Kondoram' rendered by Shreya Ghoshal & Sudeep Kumar which was equally well picturized though the placement of it was rather odd. Sam C S also deserves praise for his catchy BGM along with Shaji Kumar for his cinematography. There is no denying the fact that the movie moves at a snail's pace at times & Johnkutty ought to have done a better job with the editing as it wears down the audience by the end.

Lalettan has done a fine job as the protagonist & his effort is there to be seen be it with his expressions, body language or agile action scenes. Manju did complete justice to the role that was offered to her while the role didnt do justice to Prakash Raj's caliber as it was something that he has done innumerable times with the only difference being the dark makeup applied on him (did Shrikumar mean to imply dark means evil...so imbecile). As for the rest of the cast, Sana Althaf, Manoj Joshi, Innocent, Siddique etc, did their parts aptly,

Verdict: Prior to the release of the movie, Shrikumar has put up a FB post in which he claimed that they had already collected 100 C through the sale of rights & pre-release bookings. Well I dont know whether it's true but there is no doubt that after all his boastful statements I feel he ought to be called "Pushkumar". As far as the movie is concerned, it's a decent flick which if watched without the outrageous expectations that Pushkumar has created, then it will surely satisfy the audience. In short, wort hurt to give it a try but I hope MT Sir doesnt give him the script for "Randamoozham" as I doubt whether he has the caliber for it!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

2.0 review: "Visual treat doubles the thrills but the script lacks depth. Dot!!!"

Is it a bird??? is it a plane??? no..it's Pakshirajan & in true gladiator style, he is in a slug fest with our badass Chitti 2.0 in 10,500 screens across the globe. Finally after years of hype & anticipation Shankar's magnum opus "2.0" has hit the screens much to the delight of fans & movie lovers alike. It is the most expensive Indian movie ever with a budget that is said to hover around a gargantuan 550 C. With such a hefty budget, the question is whether Shankar was able to invest the money judiciously & give us something that will blow our mind. Being a Rajini & Akki fan , my expectations just like million others are sky high. So was "2.0" able to satiate it???

The film unfolds with an elderly man hanging himself atop a cell tower in a remote area & his lifeless form being swarmed by hundreds of avians. Back in the city, Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajini) introduces his latest creation, a human android named Nila (Amy Jackson) to a group of enthusiastic students. Soon after, a peculiar phenomenon occurs in the region whereby cell phones seemed to attain life & soars away like a bird from the grasp of its owner. As panic sets in across the state, the Government calls for an emergency meeting of eminent scientists and law and order forces. Vaseegaran was of the view that since the present threat seemed to suggest a fifth force, their best line of action would be to reassemble Chitti & entrust him to negate the menace. However, that proposal gets vetoed & the authorities decides to engage the military instead. But soon enough they realize that if they stood a chance, then their best bet was Chitti.

The showman of Indian cinema, Shankar is one who doesn't need any introduction after all he has constantly pushed boundaries ever since he burst into the scene with "Gentleman" quarter of a century back. His latest creation is no exception as it is the finest sci-fi movie that has been made in India & which can proudly rub shoulders with similar Hollywood flicks. Shankar has crafted his celluloid creation brilliantly & we would be awe struck as to how exquisitely he has executed his marvelous vision. But I would have to admit that I was disappointed & surprised at his rather feeble script which could have elevated the experience to stratospheric levels. 

The message that he wants to convey is really worth thinking about & even the back story for Akshay was impressive. Though I am not questioning cinematic liberties, but still the subsequent portions which led to the creation of the birdman doesnt quite gel. The movie starts off with a bang & then slacks off though the graphics keeps us engrossed for most parts of a rather weak first half. However, we wont have any such complaints in the latter half as it is exhilarating stuff pretty much until the very end. From a technical point of view, it's just MIND BOGGLING as it is a visual treat with the VFX from the top drawer. Kudos to Nirav Shah for the mesmerizing visuals along with the make up & art team; all of whom have done outstanding jobs. Unlike the prequel, A R Rahman's music doesnt feature much while his BGM was praise worthy. 

The Superstar floors us yet again with his style & charisma especially when he enters the sequence as the rogue Chitti after all thalaivar revels in villainy. For such an imposing hero, the impact will be delivered only if he has an equally matched adversary & Akki deserves full points for that. The Khiladi has done utmost justice to his role & reminded me of Thanos in a subtle way. I never thought I would be saying this but Amy Jackson was a perfect choice as the human android & she does provide a couple of chuckles as well. There are quite a few others as well & all of them have done their parts aptly. 

Verdict: As per reports, the producers have recovered about 370 C prior to the movie's release through the sale of rights etc. With the first day collections estimated to be more than 100 C, it has more or less recovered its costs as well. Despite a rather weak script, the VFX & the star power of Rajini & Akki should make this venture a blockbuster. So will it pose a challenge for "Dangal" & "Baahubali 2"? Hmm...to be frank I dont think so, though I wont be surprised if it crosses the four digit mark. In short, a must watch in theatres to enjoy the visual extravaganza!!! 

Rating : 3/5

Regards...Ben