YAAVARUM NALAM.....A THRILLER MOVIE....

INTRODUCTION:

To start with, this movie is kinda science-fiction thriller with a script that is quite innovative and new to the Tamil Industry. The script written by Vikram K. Kumar is quite interesting with a lot of turning points and queer twists then and there. It is a bilingual film and has been remade as 13B in Hindi.

Weinstein company has purchased the script and the film is also be reproduced in Hollywood. Its the first time a tamil film is going to be reproduced in Hollywood.

THE PLOT:

Madhavan who plays the role of Manohar, a middle class family man is happy in constructing a new apartment for pursuing a beautiful life along with his family. The apartment is in the 13th floor (13B) and when the family is annoyed with some typical incidents that are considered inauspicious. When an electrician comes to fix the lights in the pooja room, he receives a shock and it is considered to be ominous by his family members but Manohar shrugs it off as he is delighted about the completion of the construction work after a long time of hardwork.

Meanwhile, his family is so much obsessed with a TV serial named Yavarum Nalam and they begin to watch it daily. Manohar is shocked when he takes a picture of himself in the cellphone and finds it distorted and unusual but he doesnt consider much about it at that time. Later wen the family is out for a marriage function, Manohar finds that the dog runs away scared on seeing something in his home. Wen he rechecks taking the picture, he finds that it is normal when taken outside his appartment and distorted when taken inside. He starts suspecting that something is wrong inside the appartment.

In another instance, the dog discovers something buried near the appartment and when he digs it out he finds a photo album. The pictures in the album depict a family that is similar the that of Mahohar's who lived in the same address about 30 years back. This is where the plot gets interesting. Then he begins to investigate in this further by joining hands with his friend Shiva who is a Police inspector.

Manohar finds that the charecters potrayed in the serial have existed in the same address several years ago and there seems to be a mysterious coincidence between the happenings in the serial and his real life. The same incidents that happen in the serial occur in his real life too. He is terrified by realizing this and he starts working on it with his friend Shiva. They come across a news material which states the suicide of a person who was in love with Chitra, a girl who lived in that house. The whole family was slaughtered and a psychologically affected brother in their family is accused of this and he is placed in a lunatic asylum.

The story becomes more interesting when Manohar inquires his family Doctor Bala who says the souls with unsatisfied desires come to earth to get them done and they can take any form and this specific has taken TV as the medium. So, Manohar understands that the ghost is trying to express its need through the serial and he can get rid of it if he is able to fulfil the desire. Finally, he watches the last episode in the serial in which the family is entirely murdered and the hammer is in his hands. So, he fears that he himself might cause the destruction of his family and so he asks his friend to lock him in a room and do not let him out.

But he then discovers that the suicided boy is the brother of his own family doctor and he is the one who murdered the entire family using a hammer, for which the lunatic brother was accused and kept in jail. So, he pursues his friend and they rush to the apartment where he kills the doctor using the hammer as predicted in the serial.

In the End, the doctor's ghost threatens Manohar by speaking through his mobile phone.

CONCLUSION:

Overall the story is quite innovative and has some mysterious twists and turns with some humor. Overall It is really a good film to watch with family.

ANANDA THANDAVAM…MOVIE REVIEW

ANANDA THANDAVAM….A SKETCHY TRANSLATION….

A LOVE THAT GOES AWRY….A SHORT REVIEW:

            Filming  a Novel is a tedious task and its even tough if it is novel by a great writer like SUJATHA.

Director A.R Gandhi Krishna has taken up the challenge of transferring SUJATHA’s PIRIVOM SANTHIPOM novel on to a celluloid ANANTHA THANDAVAM with Tamannah, Rukhmani and newcomer siddharth in the lead. And if the film doesn’t appeal as much as it ought to then it is manily because the charecters are not clearly defined and pave way for several ambiguities.

 Raghu (Siddharth)  is an engineer on the lookout for a job. Madhumitha (Tamannah) comes across his path but despite the pranks she plays for him he falls for her. He is all more thrilled when he comes to know that her parents are eager to give their daughter in marriage to him. However Raghu’s father Kitty find her parent’s haste fishy. The young man Is too much in love with Madhu to heed to his father’s words. But soon things go horribly wrong.

To the viewer, Madhumitha comes as childish and mentally unbalanced. She feels nothing for anyone, falls in love with Raghu because her parents ask to, drop him like a hot brick when they instruct her to get closer to a better groom who comes their way. Thus she loses sympathy straightaway…

            Madhu’s parents are scheming and manipulative Raghu pleads her despite her disinterest towards him. Till the end his behavior is also vague and his spineless nature puts you off. Amidst all the supine charecters, comes the effervescent Rathna (Rukmini). Her screen presence, dance movements add a grace to the movie.

Siddharth makes a bow as her with the film and frankly he could have experienced more in performance. Tamannah does a neat job and has acted well. After a debut role in Bommalattam, Rukmini has played a meaty role again.

Rishi plays the role of Radhakrishnan, the guy from US who joins hands with Madhumitha.

            Thotta tharani’s imaginative art is good and captures the attention of the audience. Anandha thandavam is one simple movie with nothing special in it..

Music scored by G.V. Prakash is good to some extent.

 

CAST AND CREW:

Genre: Romance

Produced By: V. Ravichandran (Aascar Films)

Director: A.R. Gandhi Krishna

Cast: Siddarth as Raghu, Tammannah as Madumitha, Rukmini, Rishi, Charlie and others…

Music: G.V. Prakash.

AYAN – A SPICY MOVIE REVIEW

 

Ayan is one movie that, according to me, shows its best within the first 15 minutes, only to fizzle out as the story unfolds.

Once again K.V.Anand, the ace cinematographer turned director has come up with an usual story, but with a fresh approach. Ayan is a 100 percent peppy and racy entertainment which will hold everyone to their seat to watch till the final shot.

The story of the film is rather not new but is an old one taken in a new style. It is a full and full spicy masala movie with stunts, romance and good songs.

 

THE PLOT:

 

Deva (Surya) is a computer science post graduate living in North Madras area with his mother (Renuka) who runs a grocery shop and duty free shop in the Bazaar.

Instead of getting a government job according to his studies, Deva likes to become a smuggler (Kuruvi-carrier of smuggling goods from abroad) and finally joins Das (Prabhu), a good hearted local smuggler and old friend of his late father.

Kamlesh (Akashdeep Saigal) is the only enemy of Das - Deva and always tries to become the number one in the bazaar by using all means. He cant even tolerate their small victories.

Soon he sends one of his boy Chitti (Jegan) as a spy in Das' gang. Later Deva finds this and removes him from his gang. But in the meantime Deva falls in love with Chitty's beautiful younger sister.

Kamlesh greedy to get rich and powerful starts dealing in narcotics, which is against the principles and ethics of Deva-Das combo. All this leads to bloody clashes and a satisfied climax.

What makes you to enjoy the film is K.V.Anand's fresh and logical approach throughout the film. The comedy portions have been work out very well. The introduction scene between Surya and Tamanna  is an interesting piece and it continues in all the scenes involving the lead pair.

Surya dons his role with passion. His performance as an energetic action hero throughout the film pumps up the adrenaline of the viewers. He looks charming and his romantic scenes with Tamanna are poetical.

Tamanna looks very fresh and beautiful like lovely angel and steals the hearts of viewers. The chemistry between Tamanna and Surya is terrific and quite enjoyable.

The circumstance leading to Surya meeting Tamanna for the first time due to the antics of Jagan is a real fun ride.

Prabhu is a sweet surprise in the film. He plays the role as Das, the good hearted smuggler with style and dignity.

Others like Ponvannan, Karunaas, Jagan, Renuka and Akashdeep Saigal play their roles well enough.

Two songs under Harris Jayaraj's music are peppy, but the other two have really become the Speed breakers to the fast phase of the the screenplay. His background score has also not come up to the mark.

M.S Prabhu, the growing cameraman, is the offscreen hero of the film! His camera angles and colouring sense have really helped to show the film in a different style.
Rajeevan’s set design and Antony's fast cutting are the major pluses for Ayan.

The movie begins by showing Suriya aka Deva as a wealthy and well-educated traveller ( who criticizes corporates) only to find his English to be replaced with Madras slang and his true profession revealed when he leaves the airport. Suriya is a smuggler working for Prabhu (Doss)and in this intro scene, he is seen smuggling pirated copy of a diwali release.

In the next few scenes the villain emerges. Akashdeep Segal (Kamalesh), son of a friendly rival of Prabhu’s gang wants to depart from the friendly ways and establish himself as the numero uno. Segal informs the police about the piracy and Suriya and gang have a close escape.

Next, we are taken to Congo, the land of diamonds and AIDS, as said by Suriya’s character. Here we see Suriya, and his sidekick Jegan, obtain a pouch of diamonds from the country’s rebels. Suriya is watched in Congo by Segal and his men and what follows is a brilliantly choreographed action sequence in which Suriya recovers the diamond pouch that Segal’s men steal from him. If you, like me, expected to see more such action sequences later in the movie, you will be sorely disappointed, for, with this action sequence and the “hero’s intro” song (Pala palakra pagala nee), the movie is pretty much over. The audience can now throw in some romance, some twists and a climax sequence to get the entire “picture”. The movie is about how Deva overcomes Kamalesh in his smuggling venture and eventually becomes ( not unpredictably) a customs officer.

Well, the romance does require some mention. The Suriya-Tammanah chemistry seemed very good and the scenes portraying their second meeting ( god! the first meeting was pretty deplorable) have been shot well. Suriya, as usual, has done justice. His acting, dialogue delivery, action and, prehaps more importantly, his looks, are all as expected from the Vaaranam Aayiram hero. Tammanah looks good and has done a decent job in a rather limited role ( which is not new in Tamil cinema).

The first half is racy with comic interludes from Jegan. Jegan has got a decent role in this movie and makes full use of it. He’s not just the comic relief in the movie, but plays a vital role. Without revealing much, I can say that Jegan has done a good job and we can expect to see him get more such roles in the future.

While the “first half” could have been the saviour of the movie, the second half was, without qualifications, bad. There is a fair share of twists and bad song placements in the second half ( can you imagine a duet song soon after the demise of the heroine’s brother?). The twists in the movie are too cliched and too numerous to be enjoyed. The Honey Honey song is completely out of sync with the movie.

Do I have to talk about the villain? He is a sore sight in the movie and Segal has to a lot of work to be done in the acting front. Prabhu, on the other hand, is exceptional. Portraying the role of a gang leader, Prabhu is all brilliance and his experience shows. Karunas has also managed to perform well and the emotional scenes in later part of the movie show his acting skills.

Harris’ music is, of course, pleasant to the ears, but brings with it the feeling of having heard it before. The re-recording is good enough to be mentioned, but is not fabulous.

 

CONCLUSION:

Bottomline is that Ayan is a typical commercial tamil film set apart by some good performances by Suriya and Prabhu and a rather decent screenplay.

A must watch entertainer this Summer!

 

Credits:

Cast: Surya, Prabhu, Tamanna, Karunaas, Ponvannan, Jagan
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Camera: M.S.Prabhu
Stunts: Kanal Kannan
Arts: Rajeevan
Editor: Antony
Story, Screenplay and Direction: K.V.Aanand
Producers: AVM
Presenter: Sun Pictures

ENDHIRAN MOVIE SHOOTING.....

Superstar Rajinkanth starrer and Shankar directed movie Robot has been renamed as 'Enthiram'.

However, Shankar has retained the original title as the sub-title. The movie, following the style of ' Sivaji The Boss', has been rechristened as 'Enthiram the Robot'.

The film, which is arguably the first full fledged sci-fi film in Tamil, is said to be based on two novels written by late Sujatha.

Rajnikanth had earlier announced that the film, produced by London-based Aingaran Films International (Pvt) Ltd., would get a Tamil title soon. The Tamil title was not intended to get the tax-exemption, but to honour the State Government's commitment to patronize films with Tamil titles.

Three photo-shoots have been held to promote the film, including one that was shot in Hollywood in U.S. last week. The shooting is expected to kick off in Brazil from September 20 onwards.

Produced at a whopping budget of Rs.140 crore, the film is said to be the most expensive film made in India in any language till date.

Enthiram (formerly Robot), the epic production by Ayngaran International and Eros International, starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai, will begin filming on September 8th. A song will be filmed in the beautiful and picturesque locale of Machu Picchu in Peru, which is a South American nation. This is the first time an Indian film will be shot in this ancient site built by the Incas around 1460, which is also recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Take a look at the picture of Machu Picchu provided at the top left corner of this write-up. It could be described by a paradoxical phrase – beautiful ruins! Ace director Shankar will direct Rajinikanth for the second time in this film after Sivaji.

One look at the technicians’ list of Enthiram will leave anyone agape as it comprises the names of the most elite of Hollywood. The following paragraphs will give you an idea about these elite technicians who are entering the Indian film world for the first time through Enthiram, and their roles in this film.

Hollywood costume designer Mary E. Vogt – the expert who designed the futuristic suits and gadgets in Men in Black, Bat Man Returns and Inspector Gadget – will design the robots to be featured in Enthiram. She will also design the futuristic suits that will be donned by the artists.

Manish Malhotra will design the 'normal costumes' that will reflect the futuristic fashion that might be prevalent in the period depicted in Enthiram. Manish, with his vivid imagination and inferential capabilities, is best-qualified for the job. The costume designer, who had worked in innumerable Bollywood projects, had already worked with Rajni in Sivaji.

Stan Winston Studios, which have been catering to all animatronics needs of Hollywood, will take care of the animatronics involved in this film. Iron Man, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, and I-Robot are some of the movies that testify Stan Winston Studios’ efficiency. They will also be aided by companies like CafeEFX ILM, Tippet, Centro and Menfond.

(Animatronics is nothing but moving the puppets, for example robots in this film, using high-end electronic devices which makes scenes more realistic.)

Stunt choreographer Yuen Woo Ping, who choreographed the stunning and visually appealing stunts of Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Kill Bill, will take care of all the stunts of this film.

Enthiram is indeed an epic!

Director Shankar, Rajnikanth , Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, cinematographer Ratnavelu and a crew comprising of 40 people left for the US last Friday to shoot for the magnum opus Yanthram (Enthiram) (formerly titled Robot).

The crew is scheduled to start shooting two songs composed by A R Rahman in undisclosed "beautiful locations in America" on September 8.

The last time Shankar and Rajnikanth came together was in Sivaji and it was Rahman who composed the songs for the same.

Producers Ayngaran International Films Pvt Ltd and Eros International have also released the schedule for Enthiram.

The crew details list  R. Ratnavelu as cameraman, Sabu Cyril as art director, editing by Antony, choreography by Raju Sundaram and costume design by Manish Malhotra. Mary E Vogt, the costume designer of Men in Black, Batman returns and Inspector Gadget is designing the futuristic outfits.

Stan Winston Studio (USA) who has worked in Hollywood biggies such as Predator, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Iron man, Terminator and I-Robot will do the animatronics while Yuen Woo Ping (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Matrix and Kill Bill fame) is in charge of the stunts.

Handling the visual effects (VFX) are Hollywood companies like ILM, Tippet, Cafe EFX as well as Hong Kong companies like Centro and Menfond.

 

Robot, the 140 crore project produced by London-based Aingaran Films International (P) Ltd., would get a Tamil title soon. As Superstar Rajnikanth had announced earlier, the science fiction movie  directed by Shankar, will be named after a Tamil title. The latest news is that it would be renamed as Enthiram: the Robot, resembling Sivaji: The Boss.

The film, arguably the first ever full fledged sci-fi film in Tamil, is said to be based on novels titled 'En Iniya Iyanthira' and 'Jeeno', written by late Sujatha, a outstanding popular writer. It is learnt that 'Eyanthira' and 'Eyanthiran' were earlier considered and the final choice fell on the title Enthiram - The Robot.