FAST FORWARD 2008-KOLLYWOOD

It has been a pretty dissappointing year for all the fans of the bigger and well known stars of tamil nadu while films with a smaller budget and lesser knwn stars had struck gold!!! This is a showdown of the best and the worst movies of 2008,this time from kollywood. lets roll…

TOPPERS

1. DASAVATHARAM

***ing: Kamal Hassan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat.

Directed by: K.S.Ravikumar.

Kamal hassan’s magnum opus was perhaps the only big budget movie to have survived this year. With Kamal Donning 10 roles it was a total treat on screen.

2. SUBRAMANIAPURAM

***ing: Jai, Sasikumar, Swathy.

Directed by: Sasikumar.

The dark horse of 2008, a classic movie set in the rustic 1980’s feel made its way to the hearts of many with some spellbound storytelling and soothing music. “”Kangal Irandal”" is an anthem for lovers now. A landmark tamil movie.

3. ANJAATHE

***ing: Narein, Prasanna, Ajmal, Vijaylaksmi.

Directted by: Myskkin

If “Chitiram Pesudathi” was good, this one was better. Yet another winner with some tout screenplay and an engaging story made sure the producers laughed all the way to the bank. A trendsetter nonetheless.

4. YARADI NEE MOHINI

***ing: Dhanush, Nayanthara, Karthik Kumar.

Directed by: Mithran.R.Jawahar.

This one is for the family. A perfect family entertainer went on to become one of the biggest grossers of 2008. It also catapulted Dhanush to the bigger league and made Nayanthara the queen of bollywood.

5. SAROJA

***ing: S.P.Charan, Shiva, Premji Amaren, Vaibhav, Vega.

Directed by: Venkat Prabhu.

Venkat Prabhu proved that his Chennai-600028 was no flash in the pan with this one. He also intoduced a new Genre to the public. An edge of the seat thriller with some perfect comic moments made saroja a household name. A youth carnival.

MISSED THE BUS!!!

These are some movies that were good but not good enough to make the top cut…

• VARANAM AAYIRAM
• SANTOSH SUBRAMANIAM
• DHAAM DHOOM
• POI SOLLA POROM
• POO

FLOPPERS

1. KUSELAN

***ing: Rajnikanth, Pasupathi, Meena, Nayanthara.

Directed by: P.Vasu.

A disaster of a movie from P.vasu who thought that having Rajnikanth in the movie would rake in the moolah. Could have been a good movie if only he had concentrated on the script. People made sure they were nowhere near the theaters where the movie was on. Kuselan tops the list.

2. SATHYAM

***ing: Vishal, Nayanthara, Upendra.

Directed by: Rajasekhar.

Nothing much to say about this movie. Vishal talked away to glory all throught making it a happy sleeping sesssion for the people who were dumb enough to watch this dud. A total disaster.

3. SAKKARAKATTI

***ing: Shantanoo, Vedhika.

Directed by: Kalaprabhu.

Yet another no brainer movie which came out with lotsa hype around it. The director made a mess of A.R.Rahmans mesmerizing tunes by picturizing it the worst way possible. Phew!!!the only relief people got was that the movie was just 120 mins long.

4.  INRALOGATHIL NA.AZHAGAPPAN

***ing: Vadivelu.

Directed by: Thambi Ramaiah.

Touted to be a comic caper, this was perhaps the only movie that gave audiences more pain than laughter. Vadivelu got a reality check to his hero image.

5. SEVAL

***ing: Bharath, Poonam Bajwa.

Directed by: Hari.

Perhaps the first time hari has failed at the box office. An Awry story with some over dramatic and over the top acting by barath failed to impress many. A dud nevertheless.

COUNT ME IN!!!

Many many moe duds that might not have made the top 5 but were equally unimpressive.

• KURUVI
• BHEEMA
• DURAI
• DINDUKKAL SARATHY
• AND MANY MANY MORE…
  

KUSELAN-MOVIE REVIEW

Star Cast: Rajnikanth, Pasupathy, Meena, Vadivelu, Nayanthara, Livingston, Prabhu.

Rating:

If there was ever a movie that i felt that i was robbed of my ticket money, it must be Kuselan for sure. Except a heart warming climax, the movie had absolutely nothing to boast about. Remade from the Malayalam super hit movie “Katha Parayumbol” this movie is rendered a weak storyline by P.Vasu the director of the movie. Halfway into the movie u find it hard to sit in the cinema hall.

The storyline revolves around a simple thread “A Tribute to Friendship”. Balakrishnan(Pasupathy) alias Balu is a barber in a small village. He is so poor that he could not make ends meet even for a days meal. He is a really honest man and refrains from the bad ways of promoting his job like his ex-worker Shanmugam (Vadivelu). News comes that Ashok Kumar(Rajnikanth) ,the  Superstar of tinsel town is shooting in their village for a movie. Everybody comes to know that Balu is a yesteryear friend of the Superstar and wants to catch a glimpse of him through Balu. Everybody including Balu tries in vain to get close to the Superstar and at a point of time the villagers feel Balu is cheated them by lying.

The whole movie pretty much progresses like this until the climax. Superstar Ashok kumar is invited to a 25th annual school day function where he reveals(out of the blue) about how he became a superstar and his best friend Balakrishnan. Pasupathy and Meena fit the bill to a tee, although Meena never looked like a poor mans wife(thanks to the costumes and makeup). Vadivelu is good in parts(but were those vulgar jokes needed!!!) and is becoming too stereotypical. The pick of the comedians are Livingston(Mudhalali) and Group who are behind the Superstar for some sheet(Callsheet!!!lLOL). Nayanthara plays herself and also gets to dance in a two piece for a song which was in no way related to the story. The Movie ends with the Superstar Ashok Kumar ending up at the house of his friend and finally says that his friend should stay with him.

If P.Vasu was in full throttle giving us “Chandramukhi”, he is in no form whatsoever in “Kuselan”. Inspired by the original version he has roped in Rajnikanth and has cooked up a story with punch lines and dialogues suitable to potray Rajnikanth as a Superstar that doen not fit the theme and is weak. The first and second half are a drag except for the climax and some enjoyable comedy by Livingston and Co. The Cinema Cinema song shows its a dedication to the film industry, but then why it shows only the superstar again and again(the picturisation could have been loads better). And Rajnikanth coming in different costumes…Ah!!!Enough of these childish stuff. The music as such is weak and even the BGM’s have the i heard it before effect to it. P.Vasu shows Rajni(Ashok Kumar) in the village to shoot movies but then he shoots Annamalai-2, Chandramukhi-2 and it goes on(How many movies does the superstar act at once!!!makes one wonder). And Prabhu as the head Police officer looks painstakingly obese!!!(can’t tell when he might explode). Looks like P.Vasu was not even confident of the script that he made nayan to dance in a 2 piece which he thought would pull in the crowds to the theatre. And Rajnikanth as superstar can only act like one. Although his explanations about politics and dialogues are good even he could not save the film. And all throughout the film(even the songs) potray Superstar too much and makes u sick!!!. The only saving grace in the movie is by Pasupathy and the tearful climax otherwise i dunno what prompted P.Vasu to make such a movie.

As Rajnikanth says in the movie “Even a Superstar cannot save a movie if it has a bad storyline, the people are not fools to make it run“. Mayb i thought Rajnikanth watched this movie before rendering that dialogue. I thought of giving it 1star but the credit for the climax gets the extra star (Thank God!!! P.Vasu didnt change that atleast).

Kuselan-Yawn!!!!

THE APOLOGY!!!

Now that cartoon picture says it all. Cut to April 4,2008, Hoggenagal water issue fast meeting of  Kollywood cine stars, this man made a furious speech, it was so furious that everyone was initially surprised by his comments and really happy that he is in full support for TN in the Hoggenagal issue. An excerpt from his speech here i quote: “Shouldn’t those who place a stumbling block on a drinking water project (in Hoggenagal to benefit some 4 million Tamils) be beaten up to be taught a lesson?”. Cut back to the present and we have the same man just because his movie “KUSELAN” was not allowed to be released in Karnataka begged for forgiveness to the Kannadigas. An excerpt from his speech now i quote: “Money, success and fame have not gone to my head. I carelessly erred in the past due to my eagerness to help the Tamils. If given a chance, I will do much more to help people of Karnataka”. So are Tamilians fools???

Not really!!!. It is Mr.Rajnikanth who is. This very incident goes to show the selfish act of Mr.Rajnikanth who just for a few crores has sold the sentiments of the people of TN. He who answered “i don’t care, i want justice” when reporters asked him what if Kanndigas do not allow you to screen your movie in Karnataka??? is the same man who has now fell flat to the legs of the Kannada Rakshana Vedika(KRV) who said it was a victory for Kannada pride. He has also sent an unconditional apology to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president on this issue. Shame on a man who has earned such a status and is being loved by many in TN. He has proved his real self to the people of TN and is not amusing even his fellow actors and members of the Tamil film industry. Instead of doing all this apologizing and stuff he could have just kept “QUIET” on April 4 which would have not led him to this shameful act.

Well all this adds up to one thing, that Rajnikanth has just toyed around with the people of TN and proved to them that he is a good actor in real life too. All he has brought himself with this apology is a release for Kuselan in Karnataka(ah!!!isn’t he a happy man now), a bad name among people of TN(@##^&*((*^%&()) and has won hearts of the Kannada people. This incident just proves how opportunistic and selfish people can be in making things work for them and hats off to Mr.Rajnikanth for showing us just that!!!.

P.S. This post does not aim at sparking racial or regional issues. It just aims at showcasing how people can be oppurtunistic and selfish and can change colours just to get a thing or two done just for the sake of money.

JULY…AS IT WAS

Many a happenings takin place in this past month…some good,some bad but all u could ask for…lets peek-a-boo into the past months happenings in a flash

NADAL mowed FEDERRER to lift the Wimbledon trophy…so long for the Federrer era.

Jaane tu…ya jaane na…released and Imran Khan won accolades all over.

The music kings were back with their albums…be it Ilayaraja,ARR,Yuvan or Harris…all gave their best shot in their released albums.

Men in Blue lost as usual in yet another Final…Asia Cup was the occasion and SL,the opponents.

Lewis Hamilton was back in the title hunt after a couple of wins in F1.

How can i miss this, the political drama unfolded in the trust vote which eventually the Govt. survived but left thoughts pondering in many a minds.

INDIA was having a BLAST, 25 bombs in a space of 2 days at 2 different locations, Bangalore and Ahmedabad were made scapegoats. And Surat had scares of unexploded bombs, 20 bombs found and defused.

The Dark Knight released all over and the late Heath Ledger frightened all over with his dark potrayal of THE JOKER…an OSCAR in the reconing.

Federrer is on the Verge of being dethroned from his Numero Uno position.

South Africa won against England to gain the lead in the test series.

India saw their batsmen fail by being crushed to their third worst defeat in all cricketing years…thanks to magical spin bowling by the Mendis-Murli duo…both being equally deadly.

Dasavatharam completed 50 days worldwide and is breaking all records worldwide.

Kuselan has released and is recieving rave reviews.

So with an action packed July all we expect is August to be much more thrilling and rivetting as July…watch out Federrer is going down!!!

KUSELAN-Music Review

MUSIC: G.V.PRAKASH KUMAR

LYRICS: VAALI, PA.VIJAY, YUGABHARATHI, DR.KRIDHAYA

RATING:

GVP has come a long way over the years, but the lack of experience shows up in this album…too many cliche’s and yes he disappoints here…but the “RAJNI” factor will carry the songs and make it a hit among the masses.

Chaaral (Shreya Ghoshal & kids)

A decent song with some great piece of orchestation. Shreya Ghoshal as usual makes an everlasting impression with her charming Vocals. It is definitely a cool number and is worth listening to.

Cinema Cinema (Shankar Mahadevan)

A special song for rajni fans. A very fast number and Shankar Mahadevan does a decent job, but still the orchestration reminds you of some previous hits. Definitely the chorus reminds us of Mudhalvane song. Vaali deserves special praise for the lyrics.

Om Zaarare (Daler Mehndi,Chitra & Sadhana Sargam)

A good tune but Daler fails to impress with this one. Chitra and Sadhana Sargam do justice to this number, but it fails to make an everlasting impact. The lyrics is filled with superstar rajni’s yesteryear hit film names which might go well with superstar fans.

Perinba (Kailash Kher & Prasanna)

No big differences in this song. Hauntingly it is exactly the same as GVP’s first composition “Veyilodu Vilayadi” and the voice of Kailash Kher dosent help either. Prasanna’s voice is soothing and is of great effect. Yugabharathi’s lyrics are really the high point of this song.

Sollamma (Hariharan,Sujatha & Kids)

Really a standout number in this album. Hariharan & Sujatha just make you mesmerise while you hear this song. its refreshing and unique nature makes it stand out in this otherwise average album.

Rajster’s top 3 Songs

1. Sollamma (Hariharan,Sujatha & Kids)
2. Chaaral (Shreya Ghoshal & kids)
3. Perinba (Kailash Kher & Prasanna)-only for its lyrics

Rajster’s Verdict:

On the whole GVP has come out with a mediocre album. He has not  done something really great for  Kuselan. Why GVP??? The songs might eventually go well with superstar fans but not with music lovers. Maybe the trio of Rajni-P.Vasu-Vidyasagar might have come up with a better one. Well only time will tell…

THE MONTH GONE BY…JUNE

June was a month filled with excitement…so much had happened in a short notice…

i became an engineer…

i had travelled miles from India to Kuwait…

i started this blog…

Rajasthan Royals won the inaugral IPL…

Sarkar Raj(movie) released and put RGV back on track…

DASAVATHARAM became a Blockbuster…

Men in Blue lost in the kitply cup final to Pakistan…

Nadal recorded his 4th straight French Open title(a Record)…

Ana Ivanovic won her first French Open title…

Australia won test series against West Indies 2-0…

A few movie songs were released Kismat Konnection & Ada to name a few…

We Friends had a reunion…

Yamaha yzf r15 was released in India…

Massa leads the pack in F1 by winning at France…

the big thing SPAIN were EURO ‘08 champs…

the Wimbledon Championships are goin on and so is the Asia Cup…quite a few movies are scheduled for release Kuselan being the big one…so lots in store as we take our first step into the month of July.