People you deserve

The are a few people in your life who you consider closest and important. However, you realise after a while that it may not necessarily the same from the other end too when you don't get a reciprocation from the other end of a similar level to the effort you put in and went out of your way to express your fondness / care for that person.

Should you be disappointed when the above situation arises? You shouldn't be because if you did, you just made it a transaction and not a relation because relation / love should always be selfless and you shouldn't be expecting a return on investment( at least the ideal situation :p ).

And is it the fault of the other person? It most certainly would not be because you were never as special to the other person as he/she was to you as his/her priorities would be different!

But then, what's a friend if he is not a friend in need!

So, once you get to know this, you should reassess your priorities, identify your true friends and go about maintaining that friendship for life till you reach this point again and start all over!

Poojai- Review

Poojai- Review

Producer: Vishal Film FactoryDirector: HariMusic: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Cast: 

Vishal, Shruti Haasan, Soori, Mukesh Tiwari, Sathyaraj, Radhika Sarathkumar, Jayaprakash, Thalaivasal Vijay, Prathap Pothen, Pandi, Imman Annachi, Kousalya, Abhinaya, Manobala, R.Sunderrajan, Sithara among others.

Plot: 

Vishal along with his friends Soori, Pandi etc. is a person who gives loan on interest in the Gandhipuram market in Coimbatore. One day, they encounter a girl rejecting a guy's love and Vishal has an encounter with Shruti Haasan who is that girl. After getting to know the noble intentions of that girl, Vishal develops a liking for her. There are a series of meetings followed by this including a lot of comedy with Vishal increasingly falling for the girl.

While all this is happening, we get introduced to Anna Taandavam who's a contract killer but hides it behind his Finance and other companies. He gets a contract to kill a Police officer, Sathyaraj. He is introduced as a Police officer who can identify a criminal by looks.

We also meet a family where we see two brothers, JP and Vijay, running a company with their elder brother's(late Raghuvaran) picture in the background. Their family includes their elder sister-in-law Radhika, their wives, children and relatives. Family is convinced by their village relatives to come back and take a position at their village temple as some unwanted elements(read Anna Taandavam) are creating trouble in the village and want the land donated to the temple by the family.

Vishal who goes for a movie saves Sathyaraj from being attacked. After this, Vishal gets a heartbreak when he proposes Shruti but she rejects him. It is then that we come to know that Vishal is Radhika's son who was sent away from the house because of a misunderstanding.

JP gets insulted in public by Anna Taandavam and his goons when he goes to take the position of the caretaker. Vishal is called in and he beats down his goons setting up the feud between them after knowing that he is the same guy who saved Sathyaraj too.

To know what happens next and to see Sathyaraj's cop role, you need to watch the movie in its entirety.

Comments:

Music by Yuvan is seriously just okay. Not the best he could have offered to this movie as the songs are not that great and you don't remember them after you come back from the movie.

Camera work is excellent, as the foreign locales in the songs and the fast camera work during actions scenes is great.

Vishal is terrific in his role as the firebrand guy who is ready to do anything to save his family and his love and her family too while being a good hearted person who looks for logic and ethic to fall in love. His scenes with Soori are rocking. He looks every part and is amazing whether it is action, dancing, emotion or comedy. He carries this film.

Shruti does a decent job in her first true commercial outing in Tamil films after movies like 7am arivu and 3. The fact that she was involved in the story and not just there as a glam doll is a testament to her talent and she has pulled it off nicely.

Soori has got equal footage as Vishal in the first half and the hall was exploding with laughter whenever he showed up on screen and his chemistry with Pandi and Imman Annachi was amazing. Pandi and Imman Annachi are also great.

Mukesh Tiwari looks menacing as the contract killer and carries off the role quite well. He needs to get his lip sync better though and at least in Hindi, he can dub for himself though that might have continuity issues.

Sathyaraj, JP, Vijay and Radhika do a great job in reprising their roles as a tough top cop, understanding brothers and the strict but doting mother. It is interesting to see Sathyaraj speak Tirunelveli brand of Tamil while the story is based in Coimbatore and Pollachi, there is a reason for it though, but it is interesting. Rest of the cast like Aishwarya, Sithara, Kausalya, Prathap Pothen etc. are there as like in other Hari movies being a part of the huge family.

Hari has given us a typical Hari movie where there is a large family, a rival, romance, a nice track for comedy and typical pace breaking songs making for a decent watch. Though the songs are captured beautifully, he needs to move from his standard formula of that typical album of a Hari movie where you have an intro song for the hero, two-three duets where one-two are in foreign locales and one in the sets, one sad song. He also needs to explain how a girl next door becomes a hot modern girl wearing short skimpy dresses in the songs. Hari needs to come up with something different because this same template has been seen from a long time and whether you watch his earlier movies like Vel, Seval, Saamy, Aaru, Kovil, Arul, Tamirabharani etc, they all have carried the same formula in different proportions.

As a Fan, asking Hari to come up with different concepts and try because we believe he can give us better. We need something and as a middle class fan spending 500-1000 Rs for a single movie outing, we deserve better.

That's not to say that you should not watch it, this is a movie you can take your family out on this holiday and in the coming weekend and you would enjoy. Just don't expect anything new or different.

Watch it for Vishal, Shruti and Soori! :)

Happy Diwali folks!

Rating: 2.5/5

Verdict: Paisa-Vasool entertainer

Feels good to see Raghuvaran back on screen, even though only in a picture but we miss him!

Singam-2 Review

Things to watch Singam-2 for:
1. Suriya: In super good form whether it is saying punch dialogs or in action sequences or in emotional scenes
2. Hansika: Has a good role and gets something to do unlike Anushka who's barely there...
3. The Villain, Danny: A fresh guy after all of us are tired seeing same people in these roles(Mostly Prakashraj), looks scary, and has that mean streak going for him...
&
Last but not the least...
3. Santhanam: He's the one who brings the laughs in the theater. His Super Star Entry, Dream sequence with Anushka and the Vishwaroopam transformation scene are the show stealers...

Three things to not watch Singam2 for:
1. Too long a film
2. Unnecessary repetition of characters: All the characters in the Original are present here too, but are a caricature of themselves. Actors like Radharavi, Viveik, Nassar etc are wasted. Anushka is barely there and even when she's there, doesn't do anything special except for crying and shaking a leg with Suriya in two songs.
3. Songs: One major reason for Singam to click was foot tapping music from DSP. Not the same here. Neither the songs nor the BGM interest you. And the odd timing of the songs killing the momentum of the movie doesn't help the cause either.

Overall: Paisa-Vasool for Suriya fans!!

Happy birthday Neemisha and Abhilash

Everybody has friends in all phases of their lives. Some only have few, some have a lot of them. Some have the same friends while some like me have different friends during different phases of their lives, depends on the situation. In my case, the situation was the transferable job that my father was in. Every 4 years, new place, new school, new surroundings, new acquaintances, new friends. But I'm thankful to my father for one thing, had it not been for his job, I wouldn't have been what I'm today and of course, I wouldn't have made the friends that I have. Now, every place that I stayed during my childhood was special and the friends were even more special. Be it Vikas and Nimesh in Bareilly or Pankaj and Neeraj in Devlali or the two that I'm going to talk about now in Chandigarh.

The very first close friend that I made in Chandigarh was Abhilash. During those two years of 9th and 10th, we were almost together all the time. Same tuition, same bench in class, similar marks(barely passing :-P), similar tastes. I used to visit his place very often, uncle, aunty, bhaiya, his two uncles, I knew everyone very well and he was a regular at my place too. I still remember playing video games and TT on the small table at his place. Roaming on cycles, renting comics, playing short pitch cricket etc etc... We'd done it all. If that wasn't enough, when we went to RTC for tuition in tenth, we ended up in the same batch. Night classes were fun too. He was my only best friend then. Post 10th class, he changed schools, was studying something else, changed his house and we lost touch on a majority basis but we still used to meet once in a while. Then I came to Hyderabad post 12th and we completely lost touch. Thanks to Orkut, we got back in touch and have been in touch since.

Another person that I'd like to talk about is my second best friend of that time and my sister Neemisha. She was one person whom I valued a lot at that time. I still remember my first day at school in Chandigarh. I came from Maharashtra to Chandigarh. I had a metal chain in neck, bubble gum in my mouth, shirt's collar was up always. These things changed once I came there. But one thing did not, usage of abusive language. It used to come automatically. She had a major role in me controlling that. She had told me to stop it or not to talk to her and then I reduced it by a great deal and she was happy. She also used to ask me to study. Well, we had our own share of fights too for which I always used to say sorry to her, Sorry once again Sis :-). Her last memory that I have with me is the gift that I gave her on her birthday in 2003 which was a card with a chocolate and a photoframe with our photo. And she had given me a parting gift when I was leaving Chandigarh, a glass keychain.

The reason I'm writing this today and mentioning these two very special childhood friends of mine is the very reason that it's their birthday today and though I'm not present there physically to wish, I wanted to wish them in this way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEEMISHA AND ABHILASH... Miss you guys and those days... :-)

Another co-incidence is that all three of us are getting married this year so I'd also like to wish them a happy married life too.

Thank you for the memories Abhi and Neemisha... :-)

Your friend
Bhaskar.

Deiva Thirumagal(Tamil-2011)

As a person who watches a lot of movies, I knew this one was going to be a fairly predictable affair as I've watched the same movie in Hindi(Main Aisa hi hoon-2005, which itself was an unofficial remake of an English movie I am Sam). But the thing about remakes is that it can be a scene to scene copy, or they can keep the essence of the original and make it different than the original). Where this one stands out is the very fact that after a very long time, here is a clean family movie with emotions and a lot of fun sans the usual fights, foreign location songs and especially item numbers. The technical aspects, the characterization and the stellar performances of the cast are the other things that make you watch this movie

Vikram proves his mettle as an actor once again with a stellar performance. His ability to act such roles with perfection is amazing. Whether it was Sethu, or Pithamagan or Anniyan, are the highlights of his career with varied roles and superb performances. He performs this role with a childlike effervescence. The scenes between M.S.Baskar and Vikram where the former asks Vikram, "Mela sollu", and Vikram looks up and repeats what he said previously is a roar. His chemistry with Baby Sara is amazing. Baby Sara looks very cute and has performed very well too. She talking to Vikram, Amala Paul are the scenes to watch out for.


Its good to see Anushka in this kind of a role for the first time. Even though she acts a girl next in almost every second movie(typical heroine role in mass movies) but the fact that she turns into a girl with skimpy and wierd clothes dancing with the hero during the songs is something I never liked(which is the case with most of the female leads). She is very graceful and looks the part. Her act as a lawyer who is desperate for a case and then helping out Krishna(Vikram) along with her team of Santhanam and her other assistant is good. Looking forward to more such roles from her.


Amala Paul doesn't have much to do as Nila's aunt, Shweta. First she misunderstands Krishna and takes Nila away from her and then looking at Nila longing for her father has a change of heart. Her eyes are pretty and for this movie, that's pretty much about it. Let's look at her forthcoming ventures, hopefully she has more to do there. Karthik Kumar as Shweta's fiancee is wasted. He's just there for like 5 scenes in the movie, ok make that 10, but that's the maximum.


Now to the other hero in the movie, a large part of the success of this movie should be attributed to the man who got the most whistles and claps there, SANTHANAM, the most wanted comedian of this moment. Acting with all the leading heroes in their movies and demanding a following on his own because of his performances is amazing. Lawyer suddenly turning into a Tea shop worker scene is simply amazing. 


Story is predictable but screenplay is good. It could've been a little better as the protest ended far too quickly and wasn't that exciting to me as I expected it to be. But that's my only complaint. Cinematography is amazing. The Rain backdrop song between Anushka and Vikram is worth mentioning. The Graphic effects in the Raja song are great too and kids loved it. Music is nice and easy on ears. Melodies are always a yes for me any day over the totally not required raps and the beats.


So, overall, its a movie not to miss...


Go, Watch it....
Rating: 4.5/5

Fast Five- Furious it is...

Hellos after a long time!!

Back with another review of mine after a long time though since the last post.

Just came back after watching Fast Five in IMAX with Shishir Goswami. Met my other buddy Venkat after the movie ended.For someone who hasn't watched the previous movies(except Tokyo Drift a long long time back and don't remember anything), it was a nice enjoyable movie for someone who enjoys action movies.

The plot is thin where Dominic Toretto is helped escape prison and he along with his sister and Ex-CIA agent turned Thief Brian O’Conner plan a heist of $100 Mn from the local drug mafia boss. They assemble their team comprising of various characters appeared in previous instalments plan it. To foil their plans, FBI agent Luke Knobbs from the USA came in and starts hunting for them. Whether they are successful and if yes, how forms the rest of the plot.

Performance wise Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster were good. The rest of the crew have played their part well. Giesel Yashar looks good and she can act too. She and Sung Kang seem to have a great chemistry. Tyrese Gibson can definitely talk and provides the fun quotient to the movie. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a welcome addition to the crew and he was great in his limited role in this movie. He has come a long way since Scorpion Kind and seems to be the only one who has successfully transitioned from in ring competition(WWE) to the silverscreen while the others are still finding their feet. Whether it is a Disney movie like the Gameplan or an action movie like this, he has covered it all.

This is a transition movie as the franchise itself is moving away from only being a Street Racing oriented movie into an Action movie. You see all of it in it, Fast cars, Gun fights, Fist Fights, $100Mn heist etc. Action is first rate. Couple of sequences worth mentioning are Chase sequence over the roof tops, Fist fight between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel was realistic and cool. The climax chase scene where they pull the vault using the two cars is a highlight too.

The scene in the climax sets up the plot for the next instalment and it is definitely worth looking forward to since that will see Dwayne Johnson coming back to reprise his role.

Verdict: 3.5/5

Aadukalam Review...

Pongal releases are here and this is my first of them. When you have the team of Dhanush, Vetrimaran(Dir), Kishore, Velraj(Cinematography) coming back together after a gap of three years when they gave an amazing movie, Polladhavan(2007), expectations are bound to be sky high. And these guys along with the girls Taapsee(breath of fresh air in Tamil Cinema) and Sindhu Menon did not disappoint at all. It is a heart touching movie. Much like Polladhavan, the movie shows you a couple of scenes happening now and then it cuts back to the past showing you how it reached the current situation.

Rathinavel and Pettaikaran are two seasoned cock fighters, with Rathinavel being a well to do police inspector still indulges in it as its his family game played since generations and Pettaikaran who has been and still is the only one to always defeat Rathinavel. A lot of enmity ensues between these groups because of this as Rathinavel is desperate to get a win. Karuppu is Pettaikaran's prodigy and learns all the tricks from him staying most of the time at his place. Durai is the unofficial financer of this group running a bar in Madurai. There happens a police raid during one of these fights and every one in the Pettaikaran group suspects of Rathinavel doing this as he cannot defeat Pettaikaran. With that suspicion, they refuse to further participate or to play against Rathinavel. And while everyone was running, one associate of Rathinavel steals one of Pettaikaran's roosters, in search of which Karuppu goes and meets Ireene. This leads to him falling in love with her. Rathinavel using his police brain tries to pursuade Pettaikaran to play against him which Pettaikaran refuses bluntly. This leads to the death of one of Pettaikaran's close associates after whose death he wants to hold a tourney to raise funds where the prodigy defies the mentor and goes against his wishes planting the seeds of jealousy in his mentor... What happens next? Does this situation become better or worse, Does he get love of his life? Answers at a nearest theater...

Overall, the movie is brilliantly shot but we do have a couple of complaints, especially with the way the climax is handled, It leaves a person in a confused state of mind. You will get those questions too when you watch the movie. Also, the character of Rathinavel isn't seen in a single shot in the second half.

Technically, brilliant cinematography, background music, yathe yathe song, porkalam song aptly timed in the movie. Dhanush puts in yet another brilliant performance. Last time we saw a six pack performance from Dhanush in a Vetrimaran movie, here he completely steals the show with his innocence, honesty and has played his part to perfection. Taapsee as I mentioned already, is a fresh breath of air in Tamil Cinema, she is very cute, and has played her part well looking every bit of the Anglo girl she was to look very comfortably. She's got a great future ahead. Kishore, as we know is a very good actor and he hasn't disappointed. Another person worth mentioning is Jayabalan, who plays Pettaikaran. He's played the role of a jealous mentor very nicely.

Well, this is one of those few movies I heard claps(including mine during the intermission). Except for the climax, I liked the whole movie. Climax left me wanting for more, may be Aadukalam-2, what say???

Verdict: 3.75/5