Ivan Veramathiri - Tamil Movie Review

Ivan Veramathiri - Tamil Movie Review

 Directed by     M. Saravanan
Produced by     N. Subash Chandrabose, N. Linguswamy
Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Written by     M. Saravanan
Music by     C. Sathya
Cinematography     Shakthi
Editing by     A. Sreekar Prasad
Studio     Thirupathi Brothers, UTV Motion Pictures
Release dates December 13, 2013
Country     India
Language     Tamil

Cast

    Vikram Prabhu as Gunasekaran
    Surabhi as Malini
    Ganesh Venkatraman as Aravindan IPS
    Vamsi Krishna as Eeswaran
    Hariraj

 Saravana's 1st Tamil film 'Engeyum Eppodhum' was one of the best movies of 2011, it was with that expectation that I walked in to watch this movie. Also the film was coming from banners who gave atleast above average films [Thirupathi Bros & UTV]. Plus it was interesting what Vikram Prabhu can offer after a super debut in 'Kumki' last year.

If you tell the story of IVM in on3/two lines it appears pretty simple, something we often see in Tamil/Telugu cinemas. Hero witnessing/becoming part of an incident, takes revenge wearing a mask, villain looking for the guy behind the mask + usual commercial elements in between. But IVM is not an average fare.

The first half is above average with most of the time devoted for the scenes between the main leads, the plot involving villain taking a back seat. But in the second half the movie picks up immense pace and its a thrilling cat n mouse house towards the climax. The final 30 mins is racy and the crux of the film. Usually its in the 2nd half that films falter, but IVM scores heavily as time progresses, making once forget the few blemishes in the initial reels.

Kudos to Saravanan, proved that he is not a one time wonder. Its his top class direction, racy narration and crispy writing that's the backbone of IVM, even though its not upto Engeyum Eppodhum.

Talking about performances its the heroine Surabhi who takes away most of the applause,She is beautiful and looks cute and apt to the role, but apart from that she has also done a terrific job as Malini. She got all the expressions right and even the lip sync was almost perfect. Its her scenes in 1st half that makes it watchable/entertaining. In the final reels, where her role gets minimal involvement, she was able to create an impact.

Vamsi Krishna was impressive as the villain. Vikram, apart from emotional scenes, give a strictly okay performance, nowhere near his debut performance.  Looked like was sleep walking in songs/dance, should have shown bit of energy. Charmi, Malavika etc have also done their part well.

Stunt master deserves a pat on his back for giving some real, raw, good old hand to hand fights without going over the top. Cinematography was good, equally good was the editing. Nothing special to mention about BG score, it was Okay, but songs were disappointing, could have avoided those.

So overall Ivan Veremathiri is a Veramathirifilm thanks to the second half. Its racy, entertaining, thrilling..

Rating 6.5/10

Verdict: GOOD

Last Word: Worth Your Time

SATYAGRAHA : Movie Review

SATYAGRAHA : Exclusive Movie Review

Directed by Prakash Jha

Produced by Prakash Jha/Ronnie Screwvala/Siddharth Roy Kapur

Music by Salim-Sulaiman/Meet Bros Anjjan/Aadesh Shrivastava

Written by Anjum Rajabali/Prakash Jha/Rutvik Oza

Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee & Amrita Rao

Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair 

Theater – Grand Al Mariah Cinemas, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

29/08/2013 – 10.40pm Occupancy – 70%

Director Prakash Jha is known for his political and socio-political films such as Damul, Mrityudand, Gangaajal, Apaharan & Raajneeti. Most of his films were box office hits. However the director's last two movies Chakravyuh & Aarakshan were flops at the box office. Both films without his favorite actor, Ajay Devgn.

Satyagraha is the 5th film of 'Prakash Jha - Ajay Devgn' team. Like all Prakash Jha films, Satyagraha is also a multistarrer with Mr.Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee & Amrita Rao. Satyagraha is a UTV film. The makers are riding high this year with all of their movies worked big time at the box office, blockbusters like Chennai Express & YehJawaaniHaiDeewani (Distribution), Hits like Kai Po Che & ABCD and an average grosser in Ghanchakkar.

Story
Retired teacher Dwarka Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) is an idealistic man. His engineer son Akhilesh's buddy Manav (Ajay Devgn) is an ambitious capitalist. Manav cherishes his friend - who suddenly dies. Minister Balram Singh (Manoj Bajpai) announces compensation which Akhilesh's wife Sumitra (Amrita Rao) cannot get despite daily applications before government babus. Incensed, Dwarka slaps an arrogant official and gets imprisoned. Manav starts a campaign to free him, using social media, roping in wannabe-bahubali Arjun Singh (Arjun Rampal) and journalist Yasmin (Kareena Kapoor).

Positives

The only positives of Satyagraha are the acting of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan & Manoj Bajpayee. Their performances are of a high standard. It's a delight to watch Mr.Bachchan in complete form after a long time. Mr.Bachchan as Dwarka Anand is excellent. He has some of the toughest scenes in the film. In fact, a lesser actor would've failed to do justice to the role. But Mr.Bachchan's expressions, voice and movement bring the character to life.

Manoj Bajpayee delivers yet another performance that he can be proud of. The actor is flawless in a role that seems tailormade for him. Special 26, Shootout At Wadala & now Satyagraha, 2013 turning out ot be a good year for the actor.

Ajay Devgn & Arjun Rampal are average. The powerful punchlines are missing this time. Kareena Kapoor is strictly ok. Amrita Rao leaves a mark in the first half. But in the second half her role is limited and have very few dialogues. Bengali actor Indraneil Sengupta is good in a limited role.

The film has quite witty one liners. Mr.Bachchan's 'Aap Ka Time Shuru Hogaya Hai Ab' & Manoj Bajpayee's "Tum Jiase Dost Hai To Dushman Ka Kya Zaroorat Hai" is extremely funny! The role of social media (Facebook & Twitter) in modern day revolution is highlighted well in the film. Prakash Jha's direction is good. Some scenes are directed brilliantly. Cinematograph by Sachin Krishna & Editing by Santosh Mandal are good.

Negatives

The problem with Satyagraha is film is so predictable & very slow. First half is strictly ok, but second half is unforgivably long! The film has moments of optimism, but failed to impress any real passion. The romantic angle between Ajay Devgn & Kareena Kapoor was unnecessary. So is their romantic song just after the interval. There is no scope for music in political thrillers, yet the makers added few songs in the second half. 'Janta Rocks' song in every 20 minutes is irritating. Music by Salim Sulaimaan, Meet Bros Anjjan & Aadesh Shrivastava is ordinary. Script by Anjum Rajabali, Prakash Jha & Rutvik Oza is confusing.

Kareena Kapoor's role is just ok. Infact not an ideal role for her after Talaash. Arjun Rampal is miscasted.The actor had a rocking role in DDay, but in Satyagraha nothing to offer. Mugdha Godse is wasted in a miss-before-you-can-blink role! Sad to see Ajay Devgn's poor acting (which is very rare) in Satyagraha. Just watch out for his crying scene in the first half. Shockingly horrible expressions. Himmatwala & now Satyagraha, not a good sign Mr.Devgn!

Actually it's not the actors fault. Satyagraha is a just an average film with a bad script & good actors. That's why the result is mixed! It's hight time... Mr. Prakash Jha should make films without 'politics' theme. Satyagraha is promoting so many advertisements in it. Advertisements in a political thriller?



Overall Satyagraha is a mixed bag from Prakash Jha. Film has some moments, yet not enough to evoke any real patriotism or any good message. Watch it for Mr.Amitabh Bachchan & Manoj Bajpayee's acting and to see some real truth. At the box office will film have an average opening 6-8cr with a weekend of 18-22cr! A long run is ruled out due to the back to back multiple films from next friday onwards.

P:S:Watch it for Mr.Amitabh Bachchan & Manoj Bajpayee!!!

Verdict - SATYAGRAHA ... Film has some moments, yet not enough to evoke any real patriotism or any good message!!!

Rating - 2.75/5! Average !!!

 Reviewer can be contacted on Twitter : @i_spn :

Will Chennai Express eat into Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara opening ?

Just like Diwali last year this years EID too would have seen two high profile releases of two big super stars colliding each other - Chennai Express & Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara. But unlike last year there was a  holiday in the following week, plus some intelligent tactics by UTV films, made OUATIMD back out from the head on fight, who would in any case be the biggest looser out of the two had they clashed.

according to sources UTV while making deals with theaters for Chennai Express is believed to have  made agreements according to which theaters cannot remove their film before it completes 1 week. At that time the release date of CE was August 8th, but then out of the blue they suddenly decided to postpone the release by one day, saying 'EID falls on 9th.' This according to the ealier agreement ruins the plans of OUATIMD which is supposed to come out on August 15th, the 7th day of CE. Then UTV once again hit a master stroke by releasing CE in about 80-85% of their total screens on 8th evening (After 6pm) itself, with a tag that its just 'Paid Previews' - a release which even smaller films can't afford in full scale. So in papers CE will still be hitting 7th day only on 15th and theaters can't reduce show times or remove the film for OUATIMD, which will affect the films chances.

Now come to the present, CE has released and with over whelming reviews from masses the film has broken almost all existing opening records. The WOM is so good that now even theater owners doesn't want to replace the movie on a National Holiday, aug 15th, Independence Day. The film will reportedly get only about 1500 screens in India, about 2000 less than what CE got.  So all those mentioned above have no validity anymore as its peoples demand and no longer UTV tactics that's affecting OUATIMD. As per now it looks like CE on Day 7 will NETT more than OUATIMD on its First Day

But all is not well with the OUATIMD as well, the promotion has been on the lower side, and almost invisible thanks to the extravagant promotions SRK and co did for CE. Also the songs are not yet popular, an important factor for Box Office opening. The visibility of promos, buzz is also very less for the film having 2 super heroes and one super heroine + its a sequel of a big hit too. May be the makers are very much confident with the product in hand, that they chose to under promote the movie. The movie might be a WOM hit like Aashiqui 2 & Bhaagh Milkha Baag.

Anyway we will get answers to all questions in  days time.....stay tuned for more udpates

Chennai Express - Movie Review

Chennai Express : Exclusive Movie Review

Direction by Rohit Shetty
Produced by Gauri Khan/Ronnie Screwvala/Siddharth Roy Kapur
Music by Vishal–Shekhar
Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sathyaraj, Nikitin Dheer & Priyamani (Cameo - song)

 

Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair
Theater – Grand Cinemas, Sharjah, UAE
08/08/2013 –1.45pm
Occupancy – 90% 

                                         





Rohit Shetty is known for directing action-comedy masala entertainers. Except Zameen & Sunday, rest of his all films were superhits at the box office. The director's last 3 films were 100crore hits too (Golmaal 3, Singham & Bol Bachchan) Chennai Express is director's 9th film, and first film without Ajay Devgn as the main lead. Chennai Express stars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. Both stars had a blockbuster 'Om Shanti Om' in the past.  Chennai Express also stars Sathyaraj, Nikitin Dheer & Priyamani( cameo in a song) '

Story
Rahul embarks on a journey to a small town in Tamil Nadu to fulfill the last wish of his grandfather, to have his ashes immersed in the Holy water of Rameshwaram. En route, he meets a woman hailing from a unique family down South. As they find love through this journey in the exuberant lands of South India, an unanticipated drive awaits them.

Positives
Chennai Express is a crazy ride till first half. It's loaded with many laughter-inducing moments. The slapstick quotient is on the higher side. Rohit Shetty plays it smart by choosing Shah Rukh Khan as main lead. Shah Rukh Khan dominates the proceedings, as always. The requirement of the role was, SRK has to be loud and hammy and it works quite well in the film.

Deepika Padukone is striclty average. She looks gorgeous. One of the most hilarious scene brilliantly acted by Deepika Padukome. Infact the best comedy scene in the film (after interval). Lekh Tandon and Kamini Kaushal, as SRK's grand-parents are good. Nikitin Dheer is strictly OK. Priya Mani's item song 1 2 3 4 is already a chartbuster, so is Titli song.
I would Iike to make a special mention of the film's dialogue writers Sajid-Farhad. Dialogues-One liners are first rate. Notable scenes are :
Sathyaraj to SRK : Tamil Teriyumaaaa ? SRK to Deepika : Yeh tumhari papa kya bolti hai meri Maa k bare mein? :D
A Malayalee guy to SRK : Entha Joli ? SRK : No No I'm not Angelina Jolie ! :D
The first half was so fast paced and I was expecting the same in second half. But... :(

Negatives
Second half is a huge let down. The second half is boring and also had many over acting scenes by the main leads. Another minus point is makers added three songs within 20 minutes in the second half. Titli, Kashmir Se & Tera Rasta are back to back and the placement of the Kashmir Se & Tera Rasta are really bad. Even Vishal-Sekhar's music is a mixed bag barring Titli & 1234! The makers so called tribute 'Lungi Dance' to Rajnikanth is actually an insult not only for him, but entire South Indian film fraternity.
Chennai Express is promoted as an action masala entertainer! Unfortunately there is ONLY ONE action sequence (climax) which is over the top! Most of the jokes are used through old hit songs. At some scenes Shahrukh is overacting to the core. His repetitive ‘don't underestimate the power of a common man’ is really irritating. How to do a convincing 'Bewada act' SRK should learn from Legendary actor Mohanlal. Deepika Padukone's hindi accent is horrible in some scenes.

Veteran South Indian actor Sathyaraj is wasted! His eyes have more 'screen-frames' than his entire role. Rohit Shetty's direction is poor in the second half. Script in the second half is super shoddy.

Overall Chennai Express is a mixed bag! A good first half & and a pathectic second half. However the film is all set to take an earth shattering response at the box office thanks to UTV's promotions and Shah Rukh Khan's starpower + 40-50% hike in the ticket price! The film's paid preview happened today and likely to cross the 3 Idiots record of 2.5cr. The film is chasing Salman Khan's Ek Tha Tiger opening day records of 32crore, which is unlikely to cross for me. An opening day between 26-28cr with 70cr+ weekend will help the film. But a long run is ruled out due to upcoming films like Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara, Madras Cafe & Satyagraha. Film will be good in overseas.
P:S: Another 100crore film for Shah Rukh Khan, and another punching bag for him after Ra.One & Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Verdict - 'First Class' First Half & 'General' Second Half!!!

Rating - 3/5! 

This Reviewer can be contacted on Twitter : @i_spn : https://twitter.com/i_spn

GHANCHAKKAR : Exclusive Movie Review

 GHANCHAKKAR : Exclusive Movie Review 

Direction by Rajkumar Gupta  

Screenplay by Rajkumar Gupta & Parvez Sheikh

Produced by Ronnie Screwvala & Siddharth Roy Kapur 

Music by Amit Trivedi 

Stars : Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan, Rajesh Sharma & Namit Das 

Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair 

Theater – Grand Al Mariah, Abu Dhabi, UAE 27/06/2013 – 11pm Occupancy – 60 % 

Director Rajkumar Gupta is known for his critically acclaimed movies Aamir & No One Killed Jessica, Both films were decent success at box office. Ghanchakkar is his third film as director. Ghanchakkar stars The Hit 'Dirty Picture' Pair Emraan Hashmi & Vidya Balan with Rajesh Sharma & Namit Das. The release of Ghanchakkar is crucial for both Emraan & Vidya. Emraan's previous two films, Rush & Ek Thi Daayan were non performers at the box office. And for Vidya, Ghanchakkar is her first film (as lead actress) after her marriage. Her last film, Kahaani was released 15 months back.

Ghanchakkar is the story of Sanju (Emraan Hashmi), a suave, master safe cracker wants to retire from a career in crime. So he decides to team up with two dangerous criminals Pandit (Rajesh Sharma) & Idris (Namit Das) to commit one last heist, A bank robbery! A bank robbery will ensure that Sanju never has to worry about money again in his life. The robbery is successful and everything goes according to their plan. Sanju is given the task of hiding the money till things cool down. Three months later, Pandit & Idris return to collect their share of the money, but Sanju refuses to even recognize them! They realize Sanju got into an accident and is suffering from strong amnesia and decide to stay with Sanju and his wife Neetu (Vidya Balan) until Sanju remembers where he hid the money? What dangerous game is Sanju playing? Where is their money? 

Positives

Ghanchakkar is a brilliantly made film! Be it direction, story or performance, Ghanchakkar is a

terrific film that will entertain you for sure. Screenplay by Rajkumar Gupta & Parvez Parvez Sheikh are top class. You can't even find a single dull moment in those 2hour 10 minutes! Rajkumar Gupta's earlier films Aamir & No One Killed Jessica were serious films. But Ghanchakkar is a well made comedy thriller with humour as film's USP! Full credit to Rajkumar Gupta! 

Emraan Hashmi as Sanju is outstanding. It's not a tailor made role for Emraan Hashmi. But Emraan responded brilliantly with his powerful performance. Easily can be described as Emraan's best performance after Shanghai. It's a new Emraan that you witness here, especially on those angry & frustration scenes. Surely a nominaton for 2013's best actor at bollywood awards. 

Vidya Balan is in terrific form, eventhough her role is not as great compared to her roles in her previous films like Kahaani, Dirty Picture & Ishqiya. However she succeeds in providing enough entertainment with her repeated slang 'Haaaa-eeeeeee' after every dialogues. Her Punjaabi dialogue is superb, "Aina di aj main Bund maar deni hai " 

Of the supporting cast by Raajesh Sharma & Namit Das, it's indeed difficult to say who'd walk away with ceetees and taalis. Both are first rate and versatile actors. The film relies heavily on this duo, and they performed really well. Namit Das's repeated dialogue ' Yeh hamko ***** bana raha hai aur hum log ***** ban rahe hai' scenes are well executed. 

Music & Background score by Amit Trivedi is good. Allah Meherbaan & Ghanchakkar Babu are already popular. Cinematography by Setu is fine and editing by Aarti Bajaj is smartly done. 

Negatives

The second half dragged little bit. Many foul words are used in this film, including one by Vidya Bala. Vidya was always slammed for her poor sense of dressing in the past and her unfashionable past is back again to haunt her thanks to a horrible dressing in Ghanchakkar. Kitni Moti Hogayi Hai Yaar???

Overall Ghanchakkar is another winner for bollywood, A Complete Paisa Wasool Film! Great Script, Fantastic Humour, Excellent Acting by lead stars! The film is all set to have a good opening at the box office thanks to UTV's brilliant promotion. Business at multiplexes will be very good and will be average at single screens. An opening day of 7cr-9cr with a weekend of 26cr-28cr is a safe bet for the film. Another profitable venture for UTV! 

P.S- It's been raining hits in bollywood these days . Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Fukrey, Raanjhanaa and now Ghanchakkar!!! 

Verdict - FUNCHAKKAR HAI GHANCHAKKAR 

Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair Twitter.com/i_SPN

Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru - Movie Review from Kerala

Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru - Movie Review  

 Directed by     Sundar C.
Produced by     Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Khushboo Sundar
Written by     Sundar C. (Screenplay)
Venkat (Dialogues)
Story by     Sundar C.
Music by     C. Sathya
Cinematography     Gopi Amarnath
Editing by     Praveen K. L.
N. B. Srikanth
Studio     UTV Motion Pictures, Avni Cinemax
Release date(s)    June 14, 2013
Country     India
Language     Tamil

CAST

    Siddharth as Kumar
    Hansika Motwani as Sanjana
    Ganesh Venkatraman as George
    Santhanam as Mokia
    Vidyullekha Raman
    RJ Balaji as Karna
    Devadarshini
    Bosskey
    Aishwarya Menon
    Vishal Krishna as himself (Cameo appearance)
    Samantha (Cameo appearance)

Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru  (You've to work hard, Kumar! is inspired from Partner which itself was a remake of 'Hitch'. Kumar is a looser when it comes to the matters of love. Kumar who is working in an IT firm has has fallen head over heels in love with his colleague Sanjana. But unable to express his love or for that matter even talk to her and growing competition from other boys, Kumar seeks the help of Love Guru Mokia who is an expert love consultant. What happens to their lives after Mokia enters the scene forms the rest of the story.

Those who were expecting a regular over the top typical Sundar.C mass masala will be heavily disappointed. TVSK is a normal romantic comedy with slight twists and turns and some amount of humor. But the film would have been just ended up as ordinary fare if not for Santhanam. The poor hero's [or director's or writer's] Superstar, once again comes to the rescue of an avg film, elevates it to at least above average level (IMHO) and make a super hit out of it. But here too he gets in full flow in the 2nd half. He is the pillar on which the film stands supported by others. But he should seriously conider a change of track before this side kick role starts boring & repetative.

Sidarth played his role well, but nothing exceptional. Hansika, eventhough a bit over weight [BTW her latest look during Singam 2 audio launch was super hot and super slim], was super cute as always. Improved her acting by leaps and bounds, but still need to work on the lip sync. Rest of the cast were also Okay. The cameo scene by Samantha was very good.

Direction was okay, made a decent watch out of an ordinary script, packaged everything well. Camera, editing was good. Music is a big disappointment, don't know why no UTV South movie have chart buster music.There is not even a single hummable or foot tapping track. 

TVSK is a good, clean watch for families, Kids and youth sans unnecessary mass masala, action, violence etc. 

A Time pass entertainer

Rating: 2.7/5 [thanks to Santhanam]

Verdict: Above Average

Box Office: Hit ??? May be