Mayakkam Enna - Review

Right away, you are drawn to the life of Karthik Subramaniam (Dhanush) a struggling freelance photographer in Chennai who does portfolios, weddings and other functions. Karthik has a keen interest in wild life photography and friends call him a genius, though he is bit of a loner. His role model is Madhesh Krishnaswamy (Ravi Prasad), a world renowned wildlife photographer and his dream is to be an assistant to this arrogant man.Karthik hangs out with his friends and is extremely close to Sundar (Sundar) who introduces his girlfriend Yamini (Richa) to the gang. Initially Karthik and Yamini can’t stand each other but there lies the twist, when opposites attract. The director is on familiar grounds as he has gone back to his unique edgy filmmaking and writing style which one saw in his early films. The story hinges on relationship, and deals with anguish and ruminations of a genius who goes down the road of self-destruction due to pain of love and alcoholism. The most frequently recurring theme in the film is an admonition not to give up on life. Why surrender when you don't know what lies ahead?Selva tells a simple story and packages it beautifully with the correct mix of entertainment elements. A couple of scenes stand out like the hatred between the lead pair evaporating into a kiss on a rainy night in a bus stand. The scenes of the hero pleading with the master photographer to make him his assistant and the shot in the forest when Karthick gets the shot of the rare bird that he was chasing.In the end, the film belongs to Dhanush. He delivers his best work till date, emerging as the emotional soul of this film with spectacular, yet restrained performance that he constructs with the help of a solid script. Be it the spirited teenager, the frustrated photographer, the guilty friend, an insecure, unpredictable, alcoholic husband and the mature man at the end. For Dhanush alone, this film deserves a watch.Richa is impressive in her first film in Tamil. She is able to stand up to Dhanush in the difficult climax scenes of the film. The voice modulation of Deepa Venkat who has dubbed for her has given the character the extra edge. Famous still photographer Sundar has made his acting debut as hero’s best friend and is riveting. Ravi Prasad as the scheming ace photographer who boils with rage seeing younger competitors is convincing.Technically, the film is slick and well shot. Cameraman Ramji’s shot composition is visually hypnotic and emerges as one the film's biggest strengths. His long shots and use of natural lighting is marvellous. Kola Bhaskar’s crisp editing makes Mayakkam Enna, the director’s shortest film at 2 hours 25minutes.One of the pillars of the movie is GV Prakash and his background score, which moves the story and brings out its myriad characters alive. His rousing background score where silence is used as a motif in the first half adds considerably to the film's evocative appeal. Kathal En Kadhal, Pirai Thedum and Naan Sonnadhum are all woven into the narrative seamlessly, while the first number Voda Voda.. is shot as a fun music-video style number. 

Mayakkam enna taken as No 1 position

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Porali Super hit movie - Review

They have a passion for rendering meaningful movies. From 'Subramaniapuram' till 'Eesan', they came out with films that leave an impact with the masses. Joining the list is 'Poraali', from the famous Sasikumar-Samuthirakani duo.

The title may mislead you. For, it is a movie that is more than action or a revenge plot. It speaks about human emotions, however in a familiar way.

Director Samuthirakani presents the lives of four individuals. He narrates their passion, aspirations in style. Sasikumar is the pivot around whom the whole story revolves. He brings solidity and dignity to the role.

Tollywood's 'Allari' Naresh plays second fiddle to Sasikumar and carries the role with substance. The first half is set in Chennai and in total contrast is the latter part that unfolds in a rural village.

The movie begins with two youngsters, Ilankumaran (Sasikumar) and Nallavan (Naresh), who come from a village to settle in Chennai to make a livelihood. The two are noble-hearted and ensure that they go hammer and tongs to help everyone around.

They manage to get shelter at the compound where Pulikutty (Kanja Karuppu) lives. The place houses many interesting families who have their own problems, but live their lives in an interesting way. All these are narrated in a hilarious manner.

Both Kumaran and Nallavan get a job in a petrol station and thanks to their hardwork and sincerity, they win the admiration of the properitor. There is Bharathy (Swathy), a group dancer in films, who lives in the same compound. A good samaritan, Kumaran slowly wins the admiration of one and all.

Bharathy falls for Kumaran's noble ways. Kumaran too reciprocates her love. When all things go well, there's a twist in store. A gang of men with sickles arrive from a village and the chase begins. They madly run behind the two. Eventually the identity of Kumaran and Nallavan is revealed.

Sasikumar's charm and aura is prevalent all through. He burdens the whole responsibility on his shoulders and delivers a decent performance. His dialogue delivery is awesome. Though his role seems to be an extension of what he did in 'Nadodigal', still Sasikumar manages to give a distinct look to it.

'Allari' Naresh compliments Sasikumar well. Swathi seems to have graduated a lot since her 'Subramaniapuram' days. She is chirpy, bubbly and has limited scope in the story. Vasundhara plays a cameo and she suits the role to a T.

Jayaprakash does a short but a strong role. After a long interval, both Ganja Karuppu and Parotta Soori get meaty characters to do in this film.

 Sundar C Babu seems to have relived 'Nadodigal' music. Especially numbers like 'Yaar Ivan...' and the theme music sound familiar. Kathir's cinematography deserves a special mention. He brings the right variation in terms of lighting and tone in capturing the city life and that of the events in a village.

Dilip Subbaarayan's pacy stunt choreography and RK Nagaraj's art direction steal the show. However 'Poraali' does suffer from some minuses.  A lengthy second half with jerks in narration and too much blood and gore could have been avoided. The climax takes us on one de ja vu ride.

On the whole, 'Poraali' provides sparkling moments that will linger in our hearts. 

Again the team has won.

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Osthe movie Review

The most refreshing thing about Dharani’s Osthi, a remake of Abhinav Kashyap’s Salman Khan blockbuster Dabangg is that it sticks to the original. It plays to the galleries and STR is perfectly cast as the do-gooder cop who fights the corrupt system single-handedly.
The mix is perfect for commercial mass masala. It is a full Thali meal - a star, super action scenes, romance, dances, punchlines, comedy, lot of sentiments and finally good triumphing over evil.
Osthi Velan (STR) loves his mother (Revathy) and is an inspector in a village near Tirunelveli. He has a deep rooted animosity towards his stepfather (Nassar) and step brother Balan (Jithan Ramesh) from childhood. Balan is a loser who by hook or crook wants to marry his lady love (Sarnya Mohan).
In between, our hero falls for Neduvali (Richa Gangopadhyay). Then there is this politician-thug Boxer Daniel (Sonu Sood) with whom Velan lock horns. What follows is predictable as the villain exploits the hostility between the brothers to get back at Velan.

Director Dharani deserves a thumps up for perfect casting which has resulted in Osthi turning out to be an engaging crowd-pleaser. Of course, much of the film's appeal lies in watching the leading man STR’s approach to his role with an unmatched fervour. He is hyperkinetic and adds pep and pepper to the proceedings. STR carries the film on his shoulder and he's wide awake and seems to have had a blast, especially the climax fight where he takes off his shirt.

Richa has hardly anything to do and is there for the songs and romance. Jithan Ramesh is a revelation and proves that he has a career ahead as guy in negative roles. Sonu Sood is riveting as the treacherous villain. The rest of the cast like Nassar, Revathy, Santhanam and VTV Ganesh are adequate.
Thaman’s music works to the film’s advantage, with Neduvalli and Pondati being the pick of the lot. Kalasala does not match up to Munni Badnam Hui. Gopinath is a commercial filmmaker’s dream cameraman, as he makes the hero look larger than life through clever movements and use of Jimmy Jip. The location chosen (Mysore) to shoot the film just does not match Tirunelveli landscape and the sets especially the heroines hut looks tacky.
The film makes no bones and is designed to give the audiences a rollicking good time. Osthi is another time pass entertainer, a smart action movie that's well worth your time.

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