Master review: "Cracking combo that could have been much more impactful!!!"

After close to a year, the Govt has finally given permission for the theatres to be opened albeit 50% occupancy. However that in itself was music to the ears but it remains to be seen how confident people would be to venture into the halls coz of the COVID situation. Anywaz the first movie to hit the screens in this Pongal is Lokesh Kanagaraj's "Master" which featured Thalapathy Vijay & Vijay Sethupathy. Can there be a more mouth watering combination in this festive occasion? But the question is whether Lokesh managed to do justice to the star value that was on offer. 

Nagercoil, 1992 was the day that Bhavani's (Mahendran) life changed forever as his parents became victims to the wrath of the rivals in the truck association. With time, he ended up in the juvenile home & things moved from bad to worse as he was constantly tortured. This made him into a ruthless gangster & he became a dreaded name in the underworld. Elsewhere, JD (Vijay) was an alcoholic Prof who was loved by his students though the management didnt warm up to his unconventional way of dealing with issues. It is at this juncture that JD is asked to take charge of the inmates of the juvenile home. This essentially set the stage for the clash between the dynamic duo.

After the resounding success of "Kaithi", Lokesh is a well known name among the public & a much sought after director. He has already given us glimpses of his next venture "Vikram" with Ulaganayagan & that seems like a cracker as well. In "Master" he pulled off an absolute stunner when he casted Sethupathi as the antagonist after all the impact of the protagonist could be elevated only if he matched in all levels by his opposite. In that sense, the last time, Vijay had someone as good as that was Vidyut in Murugadoss's "Thuppakki". Scripted by Lokesh, the backstory for Bhavani was interesting but apart from that there was hardly anything that was unpredictable or got us excited. That essentially was the weak point as it neither had a solid story to narrate & still lasted for close to 3 h. Even the choice of numerous supporting characters made no sense as they barely had much to do and this includes the female lead as well. 

However, there were quite a few aspects that I enjoyed such as the nod to movies like "Gilli", "Premam" etc especially the reference to Kamal Hasan's character Prof Selvam in "Nammavar" (not surprising after all Lokesh is a self confessed fan of the legend). On the technical side, the stunt choreography, the colour tone Satyan Sooryan used for the frames & Anirudh's music were fine. Thalapathy was cool as ever & has done a fine job but my personal favourite was Sethupathi who oozed confidence & charisma in equal measure apart from the fact that he performed naturally as always. Malavika Menon did her part aptly along with Arjun Das, who seemed poised to be in the industry for some time. As for the rest of the cast, most of them barely had much to do but the kid who helps Malavika's character was pretty impressive.

Verdict: If it wasn't for the Covid situation, it would have shattered all sort of industry records as both the lead actors has given a cracking performance. Unfortunately, Lokesh's writing ought to have been much more imaginative & that is surely a significant let down which gets amplified even further coz of the length of the movie. In short, despite the shortcomings it does provide adequate entertainment!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Paava Kadhaigal review: "Impactful as expected!!!"

A couple of months back, "Putham Pudhu Kaalai" was released on Amazon Prime which saw a host of talented directors coming together for an interesting Tamil anthology. This time around Netflix has come out with an anthology of four stories in the form of "Paava Kadhaigal". However, unlike the previous one; this looked pretty grim & deals with topics that has consistently shaken our conscience. These include the trauma that transgenders go through, honour killing, caste based violence etc & these are not incidents confined to any particular part of our nation. Hmm... so does the maverick directors deliver what we expected???

So as mentioned earlier, this is a compilation of 4 stories which are as follows

Thangam

Sudha Kongara has set this story in Kovai in the 1980s where Sathar (Kalidas Jayaram) who has been saving money to perform his transgender surgery is in love with his childhood friend Saravanan (Shantanu Bhagyaraj). However, his hopes of marrying his friend was shattered when the latter tells him that he was in love with Sathar's sister Sahira (Bhavani Sre). Though heartbroken, Sathar does whatever was possible in his power to get the two together but the price that he had to pay for was much more than what any of them had expected. 

Love Panna Uttranum

The next segment was directed by Vignesh Sivan who draws our attention to a feudal land lord Veerasimman (Padam Kumar), who portrays himself as someone who believes in caste equality. This was merely a facade to boost his political career since in reality he despised interactions with the lower caste which included slaughtering of couples involved in inter caste marriages that he himself endorsed. Just like the public, even his daughter Aadhi (Anjali) believed in the broad mindedness of her father & opened up about her affair to their driver. Will her father be able to accept her daughter's wishes???

Vannmagal

Gautham Menon has been on a roll in recent times & he has come up with yet another winner about a family that goes through the trauma of their daughter being raped. Satya (Gautham Menon) & Mathi (Simran) tries to deal with the tragedy in their own ways while the brother, Bharath (Aadithya Bhaskar) bayed for revenge. Amongst all these flood of emotions, will their daughter ever have a normal life???

Oor Iravu

The director that I looked forward the most to in this group was Vetrimaaran & he has rocked as always with a movie that is disturbing yet not gruesome. This also deals with a girl marrying against her families' wishes to a guy from a different caste.  The couple in question was Sumathi (Sai Pallavi) & Hari (Hari Krishnan) who were well settled & expecting the birth of their first child. It was at this juncture that her father Janakiraman (Prakash Raj) manages to locate them & invites them over to the hometown for the baby shower. However, will her relatives be able to keep aside their animosity???

All the segments were picturized well & had an interesting tale to convey, though Vignesh's part did not quite have the effect that the other three had. In terms of performance, pretty much everyone has done utmost justice to their roles of which Kalidas & Simran definitely stood out. It was heartening to see Kalidas being offered a meaty role & he was able to convey the nuances that the character required aptly. Similarly, Simran was spot on as the anguished mother who braves the storm in her daughter's life resolutely.

Verdict: This a is type of movie that will give the audience a couple of uncomfortable moments. It makes us realize that whatever might be the case, families need to stick together at all times rather than sacrifice happiness for the sake of the society. Of course we have to survive in a society, but nothing is more important than the happiness and welfare of our loved ones. The movie doesn't quite have light moments, so if you are looking for some light entertainment; this is definitely not the one for you or else dont miss it!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

AK vs AK review: "Kapoor rocks though the movie doesn't quite!!!"

Seems like most of the establishments are back on their feet though the film industry is still waiting for the day when the public will flock back to the theatres. Until then, OTT platforms will remain their only option to showcase their wares & this Christmas season,  Netflix released Vikramaditya Motwane's "AK vs AK". Ever since I saw it's trailer a couple of weeks back, it certainly aroused my curiosity as it was a meta movie & from the looks of it, both Anil Kapoor & Anurag Kashyap has gone all out in this experimental flick. But will the audience warm up to the concept after the initial thrill.

Anurag has been chosen as the subject of a documentary titled 'Best of Indian Cinema' which was shot by an aspiring film maker, Yogita. Her assignment starts off with Anurag attending a talk show with Anil in which they get into a war of words which eventually resulted in the latter being thrown a glass of water onto his face. As expected, Anurag's actions were slammed by many in the industry & he gets professionally sidelined. This is when Anurag along with Yogita hatches a plan to kidnap Sonam Kapoor & put her father through a world of pain. 

It's been quite a while since Motwane had called the shots but he has been involved on the production side of some interesting movies like "Cargo", "Manmarziyaan" in the recent past.  His latest directorial venture is truly an experimental meta movie that has real & reel being played out in equal measure in front of the audience. Scripted by Avinash Sampath, it is an interesting movie with many of the dialogues being acerbic yet humorous . However, the glitzy life of the stars, their insecurities, privileges' as well as troubles that they have to take coz of their profession has been shown in fair detail. In terms of the plot, it certainly had a suspense element to it but it lacked the thrill & the twist in the end, kinda missed its mark. On the technical side, Swapnil Sonawane's camera work, Bunty Bhansali's editing and production designs were spot on with the mood of the movie

This is undoubtedly one of the finest performances from Anil Kapoor in the last decade or so. He was completed invested in the role & it's hard not to appreciate the effort that veteran has put in at this age. In comparison, Anurag seemed average especially in the latter half of the movie while the rest of the cast which were mostly cameos seemed ok with Harshvardhan seemingly outlandish. 

Verdict: First & foremost, kudos to Motwane for taking the effort to create a different type of movie. However, the script could have been much more tighter as it fails to keep the audience hooked until the very end. In short, Anil was brilliant & though the movie doesnt quite match upto its potential, it's still worth a try !!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Laxmii review: "Irrespective of the change in title, it would have still bombed!!!"

Over the years, we have been witness to news of movie's title being changed either due to superstitions or pressure from external sources. The latest to join this bandwagon is Raghava Lawrence's "Laxmii" when certain religious outfits took offence over it's original title. Well it was released prior to Diwali & there were certainly high hopes riding on this movie after all it had Akshay back in his comic avatar or atleast that is what the trailer seemed like. Alas, it wasnt to be as it seemed like a competition for mediocrity for large parts of the movie.

Asif (Akshay Kumar) does not believe in ghosts & exposes fake gurus who tries to swindle money on the pretext of supernatural occurrences. On the wedding anniversary of his in-laws with whom he shared a strained relationship as his father in law, Sachin (Rajesh Sharma) didnt approve him of being married to their daughter, Rashmi (Kiara Advani), they invite him over in the hope of breaking the ice. Apparently, there was a haunted ground in the vicinity & after Asif had visited it, strange events start unfolding in his in laws home. Will Asif eventually be forced to believe in ghosts???

So Lawrence makes his Bollywood directorial debut with the remake of his own Tamil movie "Kanchana" (2011). I dont know about others but I certainly didnt find the original interesting & was perplexed as to why would anyone want such an average movie being remade. Anywaz since Akshay was in the mix, I certainly had hopes but it turned out to be an absolute torture for large parts. However, the portions that featured Sharad Kelkar as Laxmii was impressive & even Akshay in the transgender avatar (especially in the Bam Bam Bhole song sequence). But that was solely for their performance & not for the mediocrity that unfolds on the screen. 

Apart from Sharad Kelkar's performance, none of the rest deserves a mention as all of their performances were so damn pathetic & artificial. Even Akshay who usually revels in comedy sequences failed to tickle the funny bone. Ashwini Kalsekar seemed like she was vying for the worst performer award with stiff competition from Ayesha Raza. 

Verdict: Damn...this was undoubtedly the worst movie that I have seen of Akshay in the past few years. It belies my logic as to why Fox Studios decided to even invest money for such a lame script. In short, definitely AVOID IT!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Chhalaang review: "A leap that doesnt quite match upto Hansal Mehta's credentials!!!"

The US Presidential Elections has come to a close with Biden chosen as the next President but Trump has chosen not to concede defeat for reasons that seemed absolutely absurd. Well even as many leapt in joy at his defeat, back home the Union Health Ministry announced that the COVID recovery rate leaped 92% of the cumulative cases. Hmm...seems like 'leap' is the oft used word in recent times as one of the the Diwali releases was "Chhalaang" which featured the hit duo of Hansal Mehta-Rajkummar Rao who have given us some excellent movies in the past. Apart from that, it also seemed like a sports drama which is one of my favorite genres. So is it yet another winner from the hit pair???

Mahender aka Montu (Rajkummar) is the PT Master in the same school that he spent his formative years. However, he lacked the professionalism, credentials or even the passion that was needed for his job as he took it for granted. But he was in for a rude shock when the Principal (Ila Arun) recruits Inder Mohan Singh (Mohammed Zeeshan) as the senior coach. Though he initially agrees to be the latter's subordinate, it didnt last for long & the duo decide to settle their differences with the teams that they coached across three disciplines. So will this motivation make Montu shake off his lackadaisical attitude for good???

A couple of weeks back, Mehta came out with "Scam 1992" a cracker of a web series & if you guys havent watched it, dont miss it. But the same cant be said about his latest celluloid creation which frankly speaking just didnt have anything that captured our attention as the script by Luv Ranjan, Aseem Arora & Zeishan Quadri lacked imagination. Even the sports drama that is being created in the latter half was predictable & lacked the thrill that we would normally associate with such genres. On the technical side, the music by a host of individuals was good while Eeshit Narain's visuals were fine.

All the artists have done their parts aptly be it Rajkummar, Zeeshan or Saurabh Shukla but with the script not offering much scope; there isn't much that they can add onto it except that they made it a decent watchable experience. Nushrat Bharucha did justice to her role but I felt she was miscast for the part.

Verdict: Well it is certainly one of the weakest movie of the Hansal-Rajkummar duo as it is pretty predictable stuff & doesnt offer anything different that we would naturally expect from them. In short, just an average feel good flick at best!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Ludo review: "An interesting fun take on karma & dharma!!!"

How often have we played the game of Ludo? Interestingly, it was derived from Pachisi (I presume you would remember it as the game in which Pandavas were cunningly slam dunked by Shakuni that led to the Kurukshetra War). Anywaz as has been the norm in the past, England modified the dice into a cube & patented it as 'Ludo'. In Anurag Basu's "Ludo", just as in the game; it's an anthology of four set of characters whose lives converge at various junctures with the ultimate aim being to settle down in peace. There were a few segments in the trailer which indicated that it was a fun movie & with an interesting mix of characters including our Pearle Maaney, it seemed like a perfect choice for Diwali.

Sattu Bhai (Pankaj Tripathi) was the much feared don in the area & his latest victim was a builder. However, that sets off a chain of reactions one of which included Rahul Awasti (Rahul Suresh), a sales boy who happened to be the witness to the crime & Pinky Jain (Fatima Sana Shaikh), whose husband was the friend of the builder and had used the latter as an alibi to hide his extramarital affair. At around the same time, Bittu (Abhishek Bachchan) who was once the trusted lieutenant of Sattu Bhai; came over to meet him to settle some financial disputes. Another character that was linked to the don was Akash (Aditya Roy Kapur), a ventriloquist & dubbing artist who sought the former's help to remove a sex tape of him & his girl friend, Shruti (Sanya Malhotra) that had found its way into the internet. How each of these set of characters try to get out of the mess that they found themselves in forms the crux of the movie.

It's been quite while back since we had been treated to Basu's celluloid creations with the last one being "Jagga Jasoos" that released in 2017. Even though his movies might have missed the mark at times, there is no denying the fact that he always tries to bring in something unique & different in every project that he works on. His latest release which he had scripted along with Samrat Chakraborty belongs to the crime comedy genre & it undoubtedly keeps our spirits high. Actually Basu has juggled with quite a few hats here as he has shared the credit with Rajesh Shukla for the cinematography & was also the production designer and he has handled all of it impressively. The choice of colours that has given for each set of characters was interesting with Pankaj Tripathi being the dice. 

Another major positive was the choice of artists & each of them have done their parts aptly be it Pankaj who has risen to one of the finest actors in Bollywood or Abhishek whose careful choice of movies is slowly but steadily resurrecting his career. To be frank, apart from Basu; the other two people coz of whiom I was eager to watch this movie were Rajkummar Rao who nails it as the quintessential Mithun da fan & Pearle who as expected handled her part with ease. Kudos to Pritam as well for some melodious tracks rendered by Arijit Singh.

Verdict: Despite a running time of 150 minutes, it isn't the type of a movie that takes a toll on your patience. There are surely certain sequences that could have been trimmed but once the stories unfold then it's unadulterated humour. In short, you can rest assured of being entertained!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

Soorarai Pottru review: "Both the cast & crew deserves pottru!!!"

Just a month more for Xmas & I hope to spent it with my family after all COVID had spoiled my earlier plans to visit home during Easter & Onam. Anywaz I have been looking at airline tickets & realized as to how much the charges have changed over the years thanks to the no frills airlines which became a reality in our country at the turn of the millennium. This was the result of the hard work & determination of Captain G R Gopinath who founded Air Deccan. So this Diwali, Sudha Kongara gave a tribute to this incredible personality in the form of a biopic titled "Soorarai Pottru". The trailer was impressive & it certainly seemed liked a winner.

Nedumaaran (Suriya), an ex-air force officer harboured hopes of launching a low cost airline that will even allow the financially challenged to make use of this conveyance without having to worry about its exorbitant costs. He drew inspiration from Paresh Goswami (Paresh Rawal) who also came up from humble beginnings to become the biggest airline tycoon in the country. However, Maaran's efforts failed to bear fruit as none of the investors saw it as a viable business proposition & to make matters worse, Paresh made sure that the former was beset with bureaucratic obstacles. But Maaran had his eyes set to the skies & how he eventually manages to achieve that despite all odds forms the crux of the movie.

Based on Captain Gopinath's 'Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey', Sudha Kongara created a dramatized version of it taking cinematic liberties but made sure that the struggle, pain & emotions of the protagonist was captured aptly. Though it does get a tad lethargic in certain sequences, it certainly kept me engaged until the very end. Sudha deserves praise for the apt choice of artists & for making sure that apart from Suriya, others like Aparna, Urvashi etc also had the opportunity to make their presence felt . Most of the emotional scenes were picturized well especially the one between Suriya & Urvashi after his father passes away which was undoubtedly one of the best that I have seen in recent times. On the technical side, the colours that Niketh Bommireddy had opted for the visuals were in sync with the mood of the movie & the terrain. GV Prakash's music gelled well while Sathish Suriya could have done a better job on the editing table. 

This is undoubtedly one of Suriya's career best performances & I would be surprised if he doesnt carries home a bunch of awards for his fantastic portrayal of the character. Giving him excellent support was Aparna Balamurali & though I didnt quite feel a cracking chemistry between them, she was spot on as the independent & strong Bommi. There isnt much that needs to be said about Urvashi after all she is one of the finest artists that our nation has seen & she continues to mesmerize us with strong performances. Paresh Rawal had done his part well though I felt it was kinda one dimensional, Mohan Babu could have been given a meatier role while the rest of the cast like Karunas, Krishnakumar (as Che) etc did justice to their roles.

Verdict: It's really unfortunate that this couldn't have a theatrical release as it certainly deserved one seeing the effort that has been invested in by the cast & crew. Both Sudha & Suriya deserves cheers for a wonderful job as they have created a movie which though not of the mass masala genre does have the ingredients to keep the audience hooked onto it. In short, the length of the movie might be a downer for some but you definitely got to check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben