Thala 55 - Shooting Spot Stills - Ajith, Anushka, Gautham Menon

Arrambam - Exclusive Movie Review

 Arrambam - Exclusive Movie Review

 Directed by     Vishnuvardhan
Produced by     A. Raghuram
Written by  Vishnuvardhan, Subha
Music, Re-Recording by     Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography     Om Prakash
Editing by     A. Sreekar Prasad
Studio     Sri Satya Sai Movies
Release date(s)   31 October 2013
Country     India
Language     Tamil

CAST

    Ajith Kumar as Ashok
    Arya
    Nayantara
    Taapsee Pannu
    Rana Daggubati
    Mahesh Manjrekar
    Atul Kulkarni
    Suman Ranganathan as Ramya
    Kishore
    Akshara Gowda
    Krishna
    Prashant Nair
    Lee Whittaker

 Story

Arrambam tells the story of Siva, a commando officer, and his mission to find the ones who are responsible for an irrecoverable loss in his life and bring to justice those villains who are also a threat to the nation, with the help of few of his friends.

Arrambam was one of the most publicized Tamil movie since Enthiran. Even the title which was kept a secret till 2-3 months to release was done with much fan fare. An Ajith release after almost 15 months, Billa team reuniting for all these reasons the film had baggage of huge expectations. With a check mark against all the necessities before the release of a biggie, the film had humungous expectations surrounding it.

Now let's see if the film managed to live up to those.


Arrambam which was expected to be an out and out action thriller just fell short thanks to the half baked script. The first half of the movie is infact just average. Aarya-Taapse track should have very much been avoided. The movie never gets into pace till the pre interval portion, even though that sequence was executed tackily. Also Aarya surprisingly gets as many or even more screen space as Ajith in the first half, taking over the 'humor' part. The second half is much better, and in pace. Even though lots of things happens it has been conceived neatly. Logic goes for a toss in the movie, which is not a crime for mass entertainers.

Ajith is the mega plus of the movie. He never looked this dashing, stylish handsome and fit.
The character gets more scope in the second half & Ajith has done it with elan as always. Also credit to the actor for doing all those stunt sequences despite getting injured many times. Aarya too got an important role to play, especially in the first half its his character that help the narration move forward without much lag. Nayanthara just had to do the Billa act-nothing much [looked stunning eventhough], Taapse was OK. The supporting cast were very good.

Vishnu Vardhan is one such director who gives more importnce to the visuals than the script. Most of the times the narration suffers in the effort to make each scene rich [which infact is a plus of the movie]. In Arrambam to its more or less like that. Scripting by Subha should have more crispier, especially in the first half. But the dialogues were good with plenty of quirky and massy one-liners.

Special mention to the stylist - costumes, makeup man etc. All of the characters were looking their best, lead by Ajith.

Yuvan's music has been very good, the tittle/intro song and Tamizachi song were huge hits even before the release, now with the visuals expecting more to join the hit charts. His Background score was okay this time, nothing exceptional, but the genre had limited scope.

Camera work was top notch.Needed a bit more crisp editing as it drags here and there - a big no no for action entertainers.
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The story has similarities with Sivaji and many other films that we have seen in the past, its the making and performances that saves the film. Thanks to the average first half , a great opportunity wasted (almost)

So in all Arrambam can be a great watch for 'Thala' fans, and above average time pass movie at the best for others.

Thala fan power and carpet bombing release coupled with immense hype should make the movie a hit.

Rating : 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average

Box Office - Should be a Hit

Last Word: Go with less expectations

Arrambam - Exclusive Music Review

 Arrambam - Music Review

Any Yuvan Shankar Raja musical is waited with bated breaths & if its for an Ajith film the hype even increases. Ajith-Yuvan combo have always given hits, Yuvan is also on a roll with super mega success of Biriyani, so lets see how this one turned out.

 Track List

  

 1. Adada Arambame

Feels like the Intro/opening song for Ajith. Its a festive mood song. It has got that zip and energy that should be associated with such songs. Shankar Mahadevan's voice should match like anything with Ajith. This is the song in the album that's gonna be an instant/first hit. With visuals the impact of the song is surely gonna grow

3.25/5

 2. Stylish Tamizhachi

 Song begins in super style with English rap portions that are simply rocking. It makes one feel that if we are listening an 'English' track for real. The energy gets transferred to the remaining portions of the song too. Its an out and out party blast track, this one is my favorite pick of the album, even though didn't like much after first listening. Singing, Instrumentation, lyrics, rap everything is Kick-Ass

3.5/5

3. Melala Vedikuthu 

A typical friendship song, might be picturised on Ajith-Arya-Nayanthara. This is the Holi song in the film.. Loved the lyrics of the song, 'messages infused' one. A particular portion in the music is also quite infectious. An above average song even after multiple listening, may be the video could change the opinion.

2.75/5

4. Hare Rama

Te song begins with high energy, but it soon fizzles out. The instrumentation is once again good but wish if the punch was carried throughout the song. The song has '50 Cent: Candy shop' inspirations here and there I think. Singing is energetic and apt for the song

2.75/5

5.  En Fuse Pochu

Looks like a fun romantic duet picturised on Aarya & Taapses. Has got funky lyrics too. Didn't like the song too much. Considering the theme of the movie a song like this could also end up as speed breaker. The only song in the album that i didn't like. But its not completely bad, liked in bits and pieces, but as a complete song its not up to the mark.

2.25/5

Arrambam in total is a Good, different album but definitely not an instant hit. It lacks that one 'blockbuster track' which can sell the entire album and even the film. Its a complete youth/urban album, maybe specifically orchestrated to cater the theme of the movie. It takes atleast 2-3 listening before you start to get a liking towards the songs. Its everyone's cup of tea and there is very little for the masses.

But for those who like a bit of difference and are fans of Western songs, this one should definitely work for you. I seriously think that once videos are out the songs are gonna be liked even more.

So all in all Yuvan fails to meet the humungous expectations that everyone had for the album. If you have no expectations you might like the album very much, for others I recommend you wait till the video promos are out or listen to song promos multiple times before buying it.

Rating: Above Average to Good

Rating: 2.9/5*

Last Word: Mixed BAG !!!

Buy/Download/Listen Songs Officially from following links

Nokia Music

iTunes

 Saavn

YouTube

* ([3.5+3.25+2.75+2.75+2.25]/5) = 2.9/5

Thala 53 finally gets a title - 'Arrambam' - Official Press Release

Finally the title of the much awaited forthcoming Ajith Kumar film has been revealed - 'Arrambam'. There were many speculations going on for the past few months regarding with various sites & trade analysts reporting a different name each time quoting their non-existing sources. But everything just added to the curiosity and hype regarding the film. The makers even teased everyone in the first look teaser (See at the bottom of the page). The film was titled 'Thala 53' by fans and the press, noting the 53rd film of Ajith Kumar.

Ajith is believed to be playing a cop or a secret agent in the film. Details of the film has been kept under tight wraps. It is said to inspired from a real life incident. The teaser promises us a slick action thriller. The film is scheduled to release on September

Arrambam directed by Vishnuvardhan stars Ajith Kumar, Aarya, Nayanthara etc. Music department is handled by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Cast

Ajith
Nayanthara
Arya
Daggupathy Rana
Taapsee
Kishore
Atul Kulkarni
Mahesh Manjrekar
Suma Ranganath

Crew

Subha - Dialogue
Vishnu Vardhan  & Subha - Story, Screenplay
Illaiyaraja - Art Director
Lee Whitaker, Kaecha, Tinu Varma & Jagan - Stunt
Dinesh & Shobi paul raj - Choreography
Vishnuvardhan - Director
Pa. Vijay - Lyrics
Om Prakash - Cinematographer
Sreekar Prasad - Editor
Yuvan Shankar Raja - Music Director

'Aarambam' - Teaser Trailer & HD Screen Shots

Click on Images to view in full size