Unnaipol Oruvan (2009) User Reviews

A classy movie!

[rajesh181 · 8/10 · 20 September 2009]

UPO is a well made movie in all aspects. It was very nice to see the two big stars cum actors of India, Kamal & Mohanlal share the screen. Kamal is so good in the last few scenes of the movie and Mohanlal has done his part with ease. Enjoyable movie with strong message. I feel that with big stars, message can reach broader audience and Kamal has exactly done that with the movie.

Dialogues and background score of the movie really need a mention. Era.Murukan as a dialogue writer and Shruthi Haasan as music director and both being a debutant have done a good job.

It's tough to cope with the expectations set and no one would dare to remake such a critically acclaimed movie like 'A Wednesday', only Kamal will. Hats off!

a rocking movie!!!!!

[sabarish10 · 9/10 · 22 September 2009]

Unnaipoloruvan is the story of a common man.i haven't seen its Hindi version yet.but the tamil version is brilliantly paced.the story is very realistically told.the screen play is absolutely amazing.also a great acting from the two legends, Kamalhassan and Malayalam superstar MohanLal.there are quite a few emotional sequences in this film.the dialogue is really very well written.editing is very nicely done.chakri toleti has really directed the film well.this is his debut film.allover this movie is very brisk,fast paced and very realistic.In addition the background score by Shruthihassan is excellent.so i give this movie 9/10

Worth watching

[crjayaprakash · 7/10 · 20 September 2009]

It's again a different experience for Tamil viewers. Thanks to Kamal Haasan. No songs, No Heroine, no big sentimental drags. First half thrill turns into a drama later reducing the curiosity. Still a good attempt. Mohanlal excels. Limited role for characters makes the film look crisp. Shruti Haasan scores in her debut. Content given importance in the form driven South Indian Cinema. Let this movie taste success so that further creations in Bollywood start reducing their usual run time 165 minutes. Different approach to Terrorism theme. Thanks for not infusing violence in this terrorism story. This movie might go well with Ladies too, though no big roll is earmarked for them.

Story of a Common Man

[justingemini · 10/10 · 19 September 2009]

Its a daring move by Kamalhassan. We all have seen The Wednesday so would know the storyline. To reproduce the story to the taste and likes of another set of audience at the box office is a tough task. All the characters, be it Kamal or Mohanlalthe support crew have given their best effort to make the movie the life. Only Kamalhassan has been dare enough to give such movies and he has proved his worth. Introdcing Shruthi to the audience under the home banner is a real good effort and she has excelled in her share. Altogether UPO is a must watch and will remain the minds of the people forever. Ulaga Naayaganey ... Nee Vaalga Pallandu

Oh My God!!1...absolutely thrilling!!!!

[ashok-akossotto · 10/10 · 28 September 2009]

Kamal Hassan's Chakri-Toleti directed Unnaipol Oruvan is new age Tamil cinema, which we can say proudly, is a must-watch. What elevates the film to a new high is the crisp presentation and outstanding performances from the lead actors, mainly Kamal and Mohanlal, who simply rock. The film is on par with the original Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday, with minor modifications to make it politically correct by including a Hindu mercenary, a gun runner for whom it is just about money.

The dialogues written by Era Murugan are electrifying and justifies the milieu change from the terror-prone Mumbai to much calmer climes of Chennai.

Kamal Hassan and his team have also pointed to the Coimbatore bomb blast and Meenambakkam airport blast to give the film a local flavour. And to add his own secularist view point, one of the Muslim characters justifies his action and says it is all because of Modi and communal politics which led to the Best Bakery case. The film is well intended and is told in an emphatic manner very bravely.

One ordinary day, the Chennai city police commissioner Raghava Maraar (Mohanlal) receives a threatening call on his mobile from a guy (Kamal Hassan), who claims that he has placed five bombs in various parts of the city. The veracity of the caller's claim is confirmed when the cops find a bag with a RDX bomb at the Anna Salai police station.

The anonymous caller wants five hard core terrorists to be freed -- If not, he threatens blasts at various locations in Chennai where he has concealed the bombs. The chief secretary (Lakshmi) on the orders of Chief Minister has given a Maraar a free hand.

Maraar and his crack team of officers, led by a daring brooding cop Arif Khan (Ganesh Venkatram), gets ready to hand over the terrorists to the anonymous caller at an airfield. The story cannot be told further as it would be a giveaway of the stunning and well written climax, which had the entire audiences in the theatre giving a standing ovation at the end. It is a very brave and pathbreaking film, with a running time of only 110 minutes.

The film works because of its ensemble cast and the outstanding performances of Mohanlal and Kamal Hassan. Unlike in the Hindi version where Naseeruddin Shah had an edge over Anupam Kher, here the best dialogues in the film and almost equal screen time is given to Mohanlal.

Kamal's emotional outburst at the end, is heart rending and perhaps one of the finest piece of acting seen in Tamil cinema. Kamal and Mohanlal coming together is worth your ticket money. Ganesh Venkatram has a tailor-made role, and this film is going to be his big ticket to stardom.

Technically the film is picture perfect, with great background score by Sruthi Hassan, that builds the mood.

Chakri Toleti as a director cannot make a better debut as director in a film that will bring about a change in Tamil commercial cinema. Go for it and encourage good meaningful cinema.

Unnai Pol Oruvan: A Retrospective

[GoodFella1980 · 10/10 · 20 October 2009]

Very rarely does a Tamil movie make me sit up straight and gaze in awe at the big screen. When the actors live the characters and the technical aspects do not stand out, but, rather support the screenplay which moves with such an incredible pace as it happened in UPO, I knew I had witnessed a milestone in Tamil Cinema. And, if we, the Tamil Cinema audience (who appreciate quality movies) have mainly one man to thank for, it is none other than the one who celebrates his golden year in the film industry, Mr. Kamal Haasan.

This is neither a movie review nor an appreciatory message on Mr. Haasan, but my thoughts on the movie and a few issues that seem to crop up in some of the reviews for UPO.

Kamal as a "Common Man": some people find it hard to differentiate Kamal Haasan the movie star and Kamal Haasan the versatile actor. If you understand Kamal Haasan as an actor, you should be prepared to get whatever he throws at you. There have been so many characters from "Kalyana Raman" to "Dasavatharam", where he has portrayed a range of characters in all walks of life. If you had taken that in mind into the movie theatre, you may not have been imbued with his "star value". I deliberately wrote that within quotes, because I believe (my opinion) the great characters we have witnessed on-screen were rather common men (in movie terms, character actors) than leading men. One of the greatest Hollywood examples would be "Travis Bickle" played by Robert De Niro in the "Taxi Driver (1976)". Travis as Kamal Haasan's character in UPO has his own sense of justice. He metes out justice as he sees fit.

Kamal's Viewpoint of Terrorism: it is best that we do not assume that the "Common Man's" viewpoint of terrorism in UPO is that of Kamal Haasan. Would we as the good people of this earth, want "instant justice" like "2-minute-noodles"? It would not be surprising to see many people divided over this issue. We have seen many movies where the protagonists fight the evil almost single-handedly and save the damsel in distress at the end of the day and ride into the sunset. Is the "Common Man" in UPO a protagonist? Has he triumphed over evil at the end of the day? I believe the answer to both questions to be a firm "NO". The common man walks the fine line between the good and the bad (as we the good people like to call the "necessary evil"). As a common man he has seen the governments play games with each other (clue: the TV program "Mush & Bush") and red tapes all over when the situation could have been solved instantly. So, the "Common Man" of UPO proceeds to decide the fate of the terrorists.

Kamal & Secularism: why was one of the terrorists a Hindu? Is this Kamal again forcing his secularist issues on the audience? Was Kamal trying to play it safe? I believe not. When Naseeruddin Shah played the "Common Man" in "A Wednesday", the audience watched the movie theatres with an instilled sense of justice as Naseeruddin Shah is by nature, a Muslim. Unfortunately there are people, who would see Kamal Haasan (by birth a Hindu and now an atheist who orchestrates to kill Muslim terrorists), and will call him politically incorrect and burn his effigy.

Unnaipol Oruvan works as an "engrossing thriller" a clichéd review would say, but as far as I am concerned, Kamal Haasan has yet again lashed out against the mundane and ignorant existence of the common men. Especially his monologue scene as tears flow from his eyes, we watch like most people who are unable to do anything lest we speak out. How much more of evil must we face before we are pushed over the edge?

Good entertainer with gripping screenplay

[MichaelMKR · 8/10 · 4 June 2020]

Brilliant performances from both legends ulaga nayagan and lalettan.

This movie is better than Wednesday because of star and production value.

Reason kamal gives why he plot to kill terrorists is not convincing, I feel that is the only minus point in the movie.

Not wholly Disappointing

[sesht · 19 September 2009]

Not all remakes can aspire to reach the heights of 'The Departed'. So they should never be attempted. Kamal has always been fond of re-interpreting successful Hindi movie works. In my opinion, Kuruthipoonal was the one that was done the best, though it didn't get full marks for subtlety. This one, however, scores high on subtlety, esp. considering both the lead performances. I was only disappointed that they did not try to re-invent the movie, but just chose to make an almost exact replica. However, for those that did not watch A Wednesday, since it was more of a multiplex success, this is a good opportunity to sample something different from the run-of-the-mill fare (though Tamil cinema of late has fewer of those than Telugu, which is still ruled by the grandiose 'seema' style of movie plotting, or the 'Bommarrillu' fare).

A Thriller Showing the Angst of a Common Man

[IdlyViswanath · 7/10 · 18 March 2023]

Chakri Toleti's Eenadu is about a common man who calls the commissioner saying he planted bombs across Hyderabad and will explode them if the police don't accept his demands. His demands are to release four terrorists. Who is this man? Why does he want these terrorists released? How does he benefit?

The movie is fast paced, with a 100 minute run time it has to be to the point. The screenplay is quite good as it keeps the viewer engaged and it stays on point without deviating. A few quips here and there and quickly narrated flashback help with this. The film is a remake of Naseerudin Shah's A Wednesday, which I have not watched.

The movies thrills and suspenses land for me as I have not seen the original. The social commentary is not so in your face and is presented well. It explores extreme terrorism and questions why we hold onto these terrorists until someone demands their release, rather than executing them. It also questions the corruption involved in the process. Putting aside my personal opinions and disagreements with execution without trial and the death penalty in general, the movie succeeds in getting its point across in a simple yet effective manner.

Kamal Hassan plays the role of a common man, whose name is never revealed, while Venkatesh plays the role of DGP Eeswar Prasad. The two have palpable chemistry and it's a joy to see some of my favorite actors just killing it on screen. Kamal plays the common man's role quite well and succeeds in getting the angst he faces across well. Venkatesh pulls off the strict cop role quite well and his interactions with the Chief of Secretary, played by Lakshmi, lead to some laughs.

Overall, a solid thriller which shows the angst of the common man as terrorists keep the world in fear.

Unnaipol Oruvan (2009)

[santhosh-10290 · 10/10 · 1 January 2018]

The movie was excellent. As usual Kamal Haasan delivered a wondeful acting in the movie. Mohan Lal also done a good job in the movie. BGM was also amazing in the movie.

One Of The Best Tamil Films Ever Made

[eliav770 · 8/10 · 14 February 2010]

Amazing acting for starters. For once I think they've reached almost international standards, the tension was awesome, there weren't any songs (the usual in Tamil movies) which was a pleasant surprise. Amazing acting again and the English when used (esp by Kamal) sounded like English for a change. India was portrayed well for a change as well, no rogues at every corner, well-dressed and neat police officers (and yes they were the good guys for a change). The places were clean, the shots were realistic and it was a good movie even in International standards. Even the Tamil was well spoken. I would recommend this to those who are learning Tamil, entertaining and good language used and as an example to future Tamil Film Makers. Make films like these and you'll attract the young, professional (non rowdy) crowd.

P.S. Kamal should consider starring in some Hollywood Blockbusters! Awesome Actor, the best the Tamil Film Industry has had by far. I would have given it a 7 had it been an English movie though. 8 Stars and well deserved (it being a tamil movie and because it definitely took a lot of breaking out of the box).

Average

[backer25 · 5/10 · 16 December 2009]

Well if you have seen 'A Wednesday' just forget about watching Unnai Pol Oruvan, its just another remake gone bad.

I have seen A Wednesday and it's a real class movie, fast paced and very good performances by Nasiruddin Shah, Anupam Kher & Jimmy shergil.

I am a huge fan of Mohanlal & Kamal, I consider they are far superior actors than their Hindi counterpart in Wednesday, in fact i consider Mohanlal as the best actor in India and Kamal comes close to him and he is the next best along with Mammootty.

So my expectation sky rocketed when i heard that Mohanlal and Kamal are doing the remake of A Wednesday, and guess what, it turned out to be a huge disappointment for me Big Disappointment was Mohanlal, just an average performance by him, his Dialogues in English sounds pathetic, Kamal was OK all in all just an average movie

A Remake made to make audience rethink!

[Rollo_Tomasi_haha · 10/10 · 21 September 2009]

First off let me tell you, I have seen all three versions of 'A Wednesday' - A Wednesday in Hindi, Unnai Pol Oruvan(UPO) in Tamil and Eenadu in Telugu and I have a few interesting things to share. This review might contain spoilers and therefore please skip my review if you haven't yet seen this movie.

In UPO, they show one of the four terrorists as a hindu and he admits that he supplies arms, bombs and weapons to terrorists for sake of money alone. The other three are shown as in Wednesday. Anupam Kher's performance as the commissioner is a notch better than Mohanlal's portrayal but Venkatesh's version beats both. Kamal's come out with a brilliant performance and even his body language while he climbs the stairs and picks up the fallen tomatoes look so naturally 'uncinematic' and so real.

Mohanlal acts as if he knows whats going to come in the next scene which is a big disappointment but at least he does not falter in dialogue delivery and his thick accent probably is needed to justify that he is very vulnerable to insubordination and lack of cooperation thereof among peers in the judicial setup like the chief secretary of the CM for instance. So one can personally interpret that he was living in dangerous waters dealing with other big names even though Tamil is not his mother tongue. So there is no need for audience to understand how he would have been stripped off his duty. (Atleast seeing his character I did not feel curious as why such an able officer was sacked. For he looked very vulnerable for that position with his accent. But not in the case with Venkatesh in eenadu) In Telugu version(Eenadu), they rather show a bit more confrontation between Lakshmi and Venkatesh to make it look like he was terminated of his service as a result of his misuse of power and authority alone. And that made me wonder how such an efficient officer is sacked. Kamal's casting of Venkatesh was a good one but Mohanlal should have done a bit of more home work. Especially the scenes where he is made to react to the phone call - Venkatesh makes it look like he is left in the blue to figure it out himself and gives the impression he actually is facing the situation while Mohanlal looked like he knows the story and whats going to happen next. But that apart, Eenadu is the better version between the three and although I do not understand much of Telugu, still the acting was exceptional by all. UPO is good for its dialogue delivery and Kamal & Ganesh Venkatraman's performance alone. But full marks for this path breaking theme of songless, glamorless, comedy less, single-costume affair that it is going to inspire more and more movies of this genre in the future. Already the movie has had a fairly decent opening to add to the success story of this project. Raj Kamal international and UTV's production values have been excellent and is a 100% value for your money. Shruthi's music, Era Murugan's screenplay and dialogue, the cinematography of the movie (using the Red One camera for an entire movie for the first time in Indian cinema) and the acting, it is a 5/5 rating movie.

Poor Remake

[baali_blr · 4/10 · 22 December 2011]

With a Stellar star cast, they have managed to churn out a mediocre remake. At least if they had stuck to the original script, they would have done justice to movie. A half hearted attempt at showing some originality. Kamal of Dashavataram and Anbe-Sivam, associating with this kind of production quality is not acceptable. Some of Kamal's earlier Hindi remakes like Kurudipunal, were actually better than the original. I have watched "A Wednesday" more than 5 times, while it was so hard to see this even once. Lakhsmi's acting is also a great let down, and the raw anger in Arif character was excellently portrayed by "jimmy Shergil" could not be matched in this movie. Mohanlal was a bad choice for the commissioner role, I was actually expecting Nasser in that role. Probably if Kamala Hasan was not part of this movie, my expectations would have been less. ...a forgettable Kamal movie..after a long time..