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Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya (2013)
Laugh and be merry
Visit: http://movies.chennaivision.com/tamil/review.php?id=1291
Comedy always sells. Proving this once again is Kanna Laddu Thina Asaiya. Santhanam's maiden production foray, a humour-based one, seems to be the perfect recipe for the festival occasion.
Santhanam, who has climbed many rungs in the comedian stakes in Kollywood has struck a chord with punchy and witty dialogues and is hugely popular these days.
He is at his best in 'KLTA' and shines through in the company of the remarkably popular 'Powerstar' Dr Srinivasan and Sethu. Vishaka dons the female lead in what turns out to be a laugh-riot.
The film directed by Manikandan is about three youths falling for the same girl 'a la' the Bhagyaraj-directed venture Indro Poi Naalai Vaa and stands out for Santhanam's one-liners and comical interludes.
The film revolves around the trio of Santhanam, Srinivasan and Sethu. The heroine Vishaka settles down in a house next to Sethu's.
He is bowled over by her and falls for her, almost immediately. Coming to know about the girl, Sethu's pals Santhanam and Srinivasan visit their friend often and spend a lot of time there. As expected, they too fall for her.
On his part, Srinivasan in a bid to impress her family enrolls in the Bharathanatyam classes run by the heroine's father, while Santhanam takes up singing classes with her uncle.
The rest of the story is what happens between the threesome and the girl and turns out to be a full-fledged entertainer with cameos by STR and Gautham Vasudev Menon.
Santhanam is the star but the role of Srinivasan and Sethu can't be underestimated while Vishaka looks pretty.
The rest of the cast includes VTV Ganesh, Kovai Sarala and Devadarshini and they too contribute to the mirth. In the end, 'KLTA' is an entertainer worth watching, if you are ready for a fun-filled ride.
Kanna Laddu Thinna Asaiya - Sweet Pongal
Kadal (2013)
Kadal - Coastal Flavour
Visit: http://movies.chennaivision.com/tamil/review.php?id=1177
A story that hardly kindles any interest, a narration that fails to impress and dialogues which heavily remind Neerparavai sum up the hugely expected Mani Ratnam's Kadal.
But for Rajeev Menon's cinematography, which is the big saving grace of Kadal, the flick disappoints movie-goers a lot. And it is doubly so for who love Mani Ratnam's films.
No doubt A R Rahman's music is great as usual. But it fails to gel with a rural story which deals with the lives of fisherfok.
It was more than three decades ago Karthik and Radha made their debut together with Alaigial Oyvadhillai. Now Gautham and Thulasi, Karthik's son and Radha's daughter respectively, have debuted with Mani Ratnam's Kadal.
Both Gautham and Thulasi are good in parts. Considering that this is their first film, all that we can say at this point of time is experience would mould them well.
Aravind Samy is back and he is here to do a character with some different shades. And Arjun plays a meaty (negative) role.
Coming to the story, Sam Fernandez (Aravind Swamy) and Bergmans (Arjun) undergo training to become priests. But over a period of time, they take different paths.
As years pass on, Thomas (Gautham Karthik), an orphan, is showered love and affection by a priest (Aravindsamy). He falls for Bergman's daughter Beatrice (Thulasi Nair). What destiny has in store for them is the crux of the story.
Kadal presents us never seen before locations in a beautiful and tasteful way. A R Rahman has blended the music of the east and west.
Dialogues in Kadal differ a lot from earlier movies of Mani Ratnam, courtesy Jeyamohan. But he could have avoided repeating Neerparavai. Also there is a feel as if we are attending a Christian missionary meeting.
The minus point is the narration by Mani Ratnam. Though the ace director got it right in terms of beautiful locations and best output from the cast and crew, his narration takes the sheen away. At many places, the script moves very slow.
Kadal - Coastal Flavour
Verdict - Poor
David (2013)
Two is not a treat
Visit: http://movies.chennaivision.com/tamil/review.php?id=1314
Vikram and Jiiva, the two sought after actors of Kollywood, have come together for David, a film directed by Bejoy Nambiar of Shaitaan fame (and a former associate of Mani Ratnam).
Despite the presence of two popular actors, we in Tamil Nadu hardly get a native feel as a result of which the film fails to work. In most parts, it is like watching a dubbed movie.
Two characters hailing from different backgrounds sharing a common name and meeting together at one point of time is a good idea to execute.
But Bejoy Nambir has failed to succeed fully in the execution part, at least in the Tamil version. However, the beautiful performance of Jiiva, Vikram, Tabu, Isha Shervani, Nassar and others saves the film from falling flat.
The story is about two Davids. One (Vikram) lives a carefree life in Goa by spending most of his time drinking. And another (Jiiva) is an aspiring guitarist who wants to make it big in life.
The latter has to settle scores with a politico, who has spoiled the reputation of his father. The two Davids meet each other at a point of time. What happens next is the crux of the story.
Vikram and Jiiva have come out with their best. While the former reflects well a carefree youth, the latter expresses the feeling of a musician in an emotional way.
Some songs are impressive while the others are not. Background score is loud at places. Cinematography adds strength to the movie.
On the whole, David is an interesting knot which gets diluted while making it as a movie.
David - Curate's egg
Verdict: Average
Samar (2013)
Samar - Game of fate
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Vishal's recent films haven't had a great run and he is under pressure to reinvent himself and work his way back into the reckoning.
He probably put faith in Thiru of 'Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai'-fame to pull himself out of the rut and has probably got himself on the road to redemption with Samar.
Samar is on similar lines but there is a difference too. It is not only an action-oriented one but also one with the suspense element attached to it, which makes it a good watch, incidentally.
Vishal, known for his fast-paced stunt scenes, is seen doing it in Sama' too but the director managing to hold the audience's interest with twists and turns is the USP of the film. Trisha, looks pretty and does what is expected of her while Sunaina has nothing much to do.
The story goes like this: Sakthi (Vishal) is a happy-go-lucky young man, who enjoys trekking and guides people around in Ooty and on occasions tries to stop those involved in smuggling of sandalwood in the woods. The initial scenes show him break up with Rupa (Sunaina), who thinks he isn't 'fit enough to love girls.' Even as he continues to think as to what could have been with regard to his love life, there is a surprise in store. He gets a letter from his 'fiancee', who is in Bangkok, asking him to join her.
At the airport, he meets Trisha and they develop a rather good friendship. However on landing in Thailand, things don't go as per plans. His 'fiancee' never turns up and he meets a Tamil-speaking police officer (Sampath) who helps him. Then comes the big turnaround, he is mistaken for a business tycoon of the same name and looks and finds himself a confused man as there is even an attempt to finish him off.
To his credit, Vishal has essayed his role pretty well and gets it right in scenes when he is caught in a fix after being made to run pillar-to-post as he battles to shrug off the identity issue.
Trisha has a meaty role while Jayaprakash is impressive as the Embassy official while the baddies (Manoj Bajpai and J D Chakravarthy) could have had a more profound impact given their stature.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's songs don't rise above the ordinary while the background score by Dharan matches the mood of the movie - that of intrigue and is one of the highlights of Samar.
Thiru needs a pat for his handling of the story and script and should feel happy that he has come up with fast-paced film that will suit Vishal's image. On the flip side, the film is dragging in parts, and also the scenes sound familiar.
Samar - Game of fate