Pizza 2 Review from Haricharan Pudipeddi!

Rating:***

Film franchise is something new to Tamil cinema, which usually consists of commercial potboilers and senseless comedies, but Karthik Subbaraj's "Pizza" is an exception. 

What most Tamil filmmakers couldn't achieve, C.V. Kumar (producer of "Pizza") did in just two years. He not only envisioned an opportunity to introduce the concept of a franchise, but also used it effectively to deliver a gem like "Pizza 2: Villa", which is undoubtedly even more deceiving and complex than the original.

Pizza 2: Villa Pictures   23 Pictures

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A struggling writer Jebin, who is on the lookout for a publisher to back his debut novel, is going through the worst phase of his life. His father's (Nasser) untimely death has not only made him lonely, but emotionally weak. 

Arthi, his girlfriend, tries her best to support him emotionally as well as mentally and helps him in his search to find a publisher.

Meanwhile, Jebin learns about a villa his father has left behind through their family lawyer. Having faced rejection from numerous publishers, he is forced to self-publish his work, and therefore, plans on selling the villa for a hefty price. 

He goes to inspect the villa, but falls in love with it and eventually decides to stay there and work on his second novel. But Jebin's life takes an ugly turn at the villa, which paves way to more unfortunate events.

If you have ever wondered how could films possibly deceive us, then you ought to watch "Pizza 2: Villa", which in no way is a sequel to "Pizza". 

There are layers of deception in the film and as you start peeling it off, you'll be surprised to find more.

The more you try to compare both the films, higher are your chances of getting disappointed. 

What I really liked about the film is the fact that it gives hints to understand its climax, which is not easy to comprehend in the first viewing. 

As the saying goes, 'devil lies in the details', everything brilliant about "Pizza 2" lies in the most unexpected scenes and only when you look back at them afterwards, you'll understand its purpose in the film.

At one-hour-and-42-minute, "Pizza 2: Villa" is perhaps the shortest Tamil film. But the irony is that despite being short, it has few dull moments that might turn off a few. 

Nonetheless, kudos to debutant Deepan for narrating an engaging story in less than two hours.

Ashok and Sanchita live up to the occasion and deliver outstanding performances. 

Music and the background score heightens the overall visual experience, while occasional use of visual effects is fitting.

"Pizza 2: Villa" ends with the room for a sequel in the offing, which let's hope is even better. The film is an underdog that deceives you to eventually finish as a winner.

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/12273/tamil/pizza-2-villa/4463/review.htm

Krrish 3 Review from NowRunning!

Rating:***

Statutory Warning: The below mentioned review does NOT cater to the die had fans of the superstar superhero Hrithik Roshan and his films.

At the outset, the third installment of the sci-fi series - Krrish 3 looks like a dish straight out of a Michelin star restaurant but as you sink your teeth in it takes you to a road side stall and as you proceed you find the dish much worse that what the stall offers too.

Keeping up with the spoon-feeding tradition that our Bollywood filmmakers religiously follow, the movie starts with a quick recap of what ensued in the first two parts - Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish - and explains how the story proceeds in Krrish 3, it's as if you'd be lost in the "complexity" of this futuristic saga if you aren't fed with the prior data of India's first superhero.

Krrish 3 Pictures   30 Pictures

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Moving on, Krrish (Hrithik Roshan) is now happily married to Priya (Priyanka Chopra) and lives with his father Rohit (Hrithik again). Life's good for this local superhero who resolves daily petty crimes until the perils of an evil mind Kaal (Vivek Oberoi) start looming large on him. Kaal, along with the help of his "maanvar - a mix of human and animal" troop, is out to destroy the human race by spreading a deadly virus. The genius scientist Rohit then is asked to create an antidote which he successfully does too but it comes in the eyes of Kaal who then is out to destroy the master mind Rohit. How Krrish protects his family, saves his city and destroys Kaal is what follows through the rest of the plot.

All throughout the film I kept wondering who does this movie cater to? The multiplex audiences have all seen X-Men and Dark Knight series to know where the ideas of saving the "Gotham city" or having "maanvars (mutants)" come from. It isn't hard to identify that Kaal is nothing but Professor X meets Magneto or Frogman nothing but Toad or even Kaya (Kangana Ranaut) a shape-shifter. 

And for the single screen, small town mass, the story is so regressive and of the '80s that I am sure the dialogues of the superhero like, "mere pass har pita ka aashirwad hai," (I have the blessings of every father) are going to be nothing but yawn-inducing. 

The intense labour of the father-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan to give India it's very own superhero can be seen. The visuals in the movie are far superior to any sci-fi movie that's ever been made in India. The CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) work is spell-binding making the action sequences in the film a complete visual delight. But it's the laxity in the story aspect that spoils the fun. The cliched Bollywood masala infused with pathetic sound tracks that keep coming in gaps is what ruins your movie viewing experience. Only if Roshans could spend a few bucks more and hire a good writer the film would've made for a classic home-grown superhero saga.

Hrithik Roshan as the superhero bores you this time around with his cheesy sugariness and it's Kaal's devious plans that you want to see with excitement. Vivek Oberoi delivers tremendous performance and everything right from his looks to his acting is laudable. Similar is the case with Kangana Ranaut who is fantastic as the shape-shifter Kaya. Her latex suit, her hair and her walk are absolutely apt for her part and so is her acting. Priyanka Chopra as passable. 

Krrish 3, in summation, scores top marks for the visuals but takes serious beatings in the story and hence ends up disappointing you.

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/10029/bollywood.hindi/krrish-3/4451/review.htm

Rajjo Review From now Running!

Rating:*(Poor)

There can only be two reasons for Kangana Ranaut to have taken up a film like Rajjo:

1 - She was drugged while signing it.

2 - The producers were happy to offer her heaps of money that too during her lean phase in which this desperate-for-work-actress took up films like Rascals, Double Dhamaal etc.

There can be no other reason why an actress who has immense potential and acting talent would take up a film which has no script, skewed thought and tattered execution.

Rajjo Pictures   52 Pictures

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Rajjo takes off with the introduction of Mumbai's infamous seedy lanes of dance bars and bar girls. With a garish introduction on equally jarring background score, clearly making you brace yourselves over what's to follow throughout the film, comes the dramatic entry of Hande Sahab (Prakash Raj - who repeats his creepy-cum-funny act for the zillionth time). He wants Rajjo (Kangana Ranaut) at any cost and hence comes to the doorsteps of Begum (Mahesh Manjrekar) to take her away. However, we are told that Rajjo had eloped with her lover. What follows is a predictable flashback of how a curious 21 year old young boy Chandu (Paras Arora) lands into a brothel in a bid to 'turn into a man' but falls in love instead with the most popular courtesan. How the two unite throughmarriage but yet face societal rejection is the rest of the plot which tries to find its way whilst getting squashed into multiple pointless sub-plots.

IAS Officer cum collector turned filmmaker Vishwas Patil may have intended to pass a social message with his film hence the gritty subject, however, the film instead of doing any good only makes matters worse for the audience is sure to come out angry at the poor representation of events. 

The main plot, though highly predictable, is a simple one liner where a young boy falls in love with a star courtesan and wants to rescue her from the ruthless world by marrying her. However, it's the disjointed sub-plots throughout the film that makes a mess of a predictable storyline too. 

There are characters in the film and their back-stories, for example, the suspendedinspector and his encounter tales, which have no relevance to the main story but yet takes up ample screen time. Half way into the film it appears the filmmaker doubted he'd get another chance to make a movie hence stuffed everything into one film without doing justice to any plot.

Kangana Ranaut, who just won ample appreciation for her performance and dialogue delivery in Krrish 3, is at back to her faulty self again in this film. It's partly her character sketch and the flawed director and partly her imperfect dialogue delivery that makes one hate her throughout the film but rest assured she is still the best thing in the film. Her efforts in gyrating to the mujra beats can be seen. 

Patil tries to make a hero out of his male lead Paras Arora and it's the inexperience of the newcomer that makes his performance over the top. 

The production quality of the film may be the worst this year. The sets throughout the film appear garish and gaudy. Some parts literally remind you of low budget regional films. 

Music and background score is hackneyed and horrible. The songs which are in plenty sound very old and dated while the background score highly melodramatic. Even the '60s phase sounds new-age compared to this trite album.

Rajjo has many shortcomings making is an easy skip. Filmmaker Vishwas Patil not only fails to extract performance from an actress like Kangana but also fails miserably in putting together a film which can be watched.

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/12258/bollywood.hindi/rajjo/4465/review.htm

Philips and the Monkey Pen Review by Veeyen!

Rating:****

Filmmakers Rojin Thomas and Shanil Muhammed have come up with a bravura blend of imagination, wit and emotional resonance in their directorial debut 'Philips and the Monkey Pen'. A highly engaging social commentary with its heart right on place, it casts a charming spell over the viewer in no time.

Ryan Philip (Sanoop Santhosh) is not quite the charmer at school, and has a horrid tale to tell of having peed his shorts when confronted with a mathematical problem in the first grade. A few years have passed since then, and hes is relieved that in V B, not many of his classmates remember the vile tale. Not much has changed otherwise, and Ryan and his three best friends - Jahangir, Raman and Innocent - have had it up to their throats with the complications that crop up in their otherwise simple lives, by something called Math homework.

Philips and the Monkey Pen Pictures   24 Pictures

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I hold a very special affinity towards Ryan, since I need to admit that I see myself in his chair, slouched behind my classmate sitting before me, terrified of meeting the Math teacher's eyes. Some miseries in the world are unexplainable, and the overwhelming terror that is generated by those numerals that possess an uncanny power to multiply, divide, add and subtract with each other falls into the aforesaid category. As the teacher bellows at Ryan seeking a clarification from a multiplication table, the numbers that reach his ears assume bizarre contours all on a sudden before developing butterfly wings and flying far away. I can see what you have been through, Ryan! I really can.

There is a Decimal for every Ryan, and the nerd with the glasses who would refuse to budge from his front seat, hoping forever to catch those words of wisdom that would drop down the teacher's mouth before the rest of the class would even get a whiff of it, is someone whom we know like the back of our palms. Alert, sharp but easily disappointed, they often miss life by a decimal. 

The hazy plastic ruler through which Ryan looks around to find a prospective girl friend who could do his Math homework yields positive results. Joan (Diya Lena) flutters into Ryan's life but is quick to reject his appeal for love. She does not however squeal and make the class photograph a mess, and slips his note beneath her before putting up her best grin for the camera. 

Joan finds it surprising that boys have brains as well, and Ryan is quick to prove his point. The first major challenge that is hurled at Ryan's face is coincidentally from Joan, and the girl does mean business, as her dad furtively suggests. Several scenes and days later, when she waves at him from the school bus with a smile that makes him blush, Ryan has emerged a new boy. 

Padmachandran (Vijay Babu), the Math teacher is no monster, as he initially seems to suggest. However, the impermanence of his job and the resultant insecurities that creep in, coupled with the persistent jabs of a hostile colleague almost transform him into an ogre that Ryan simply dreads. Eventually, as he helps Ryan come to terms with failure, the teacher who had almost given up once, looks like he has learned a lesson or two himself. 

Times have changed and so have the kids, and as someone points out they have plans of heading for the moon, as they lie in their cradles, sucking their thumbs. The retort that Philip Sr. (Joy Mathew) receives from Ryan is appalling and so is the ploy that the kids devise to bring a troublesome instructor to book. On a lighter note arrives the lean kid who sashays in on his bike to offer his service, takes a quick look around the internet and confirms that no software has yet been discovered to do homework in Math. 

The rustle of the answer sheets before they are handed over after valuation, the gulp that escapes down your throat as you wait for your name to be called out, and the final moment that draws the curtains on what seemed to be an infinite wait - they are all there. We still hold fast to those fond memories of having rushed into the class all drenched in the rain, and pulling off those shoes to topple out the water that had settled inside. How could you ever forget the watchful eyes of the class monitor that dart right towards you at that fatal moment when you utter a word, and that feeling of disappointment at yourself as he scribbles your name under the list of defaulters who had broken the vow of sacred silence. For once, it smells like the good old school that you and I have been to, and it feels good to be there again.

The glitter sparks of goodness that the monkey pen splatters over you, starts with the seven day task that it has in store for Ryan. With closed eyes and a bowed head, Ryan wishes a teacher a fine morning, making the latter wonder if the kid was pulling his leg. Here is a superb thought that finds further expression in a brilliant visual which has a teacher acknowledging a word of greeting put forth by a child who hands it over straight out of his heart. 

The monkey pen has even more splendid assignments lined up for Ryan. Without much of an effort, he manages to stick a smile around and exhorts his school mates to clean their lunch boxes and their class rooms. The principal quickly adapts himself to Ryan's dictum to share food, and is moved beyond tears when the toddlers throw him a surprise party on his birthday! And last, but without doubt not the least, Ryan indulges in a heart to heart chat with his mom. 

I would simply hate to label 'Philips and the Monkey Pen 'as a kids' film. Rather, this is a film that needs to be watched by anyone who would love to sense those tiny drops of care, integrity and warmth drip over a weary heart that has turned almost deadbeat, having churned the very last bit of innocence and virtue out of it.

There are not one, but two scene stealers in the film - Sanoop Santosh who literally lives as Ryan Philip, with every smirk and every tear of his, etched to perfection, and Gourav Menon, who with his toothless grimace, gawk and gape should undoubtedly emerge the most adorable kid whom we have seen on screen this year. Diya Lena, Akash Santhosh and Antony Elrin D'Silva put in spectacular feats as well. While Vijay Babu is highly imposing as the tutor, Jayasurya as Ryan's dad proves yet again that he's more of an actor and less of a star. Remya Nambeesan is perfectly cast as well.

There is a visual eloquence that is visible throughout the film courtesy the poetry that Neil D Cunha's camera pens down on screen. Almost every frame in it feels like a stellar set piece enriched with striking textures and colors, that dynamically comes to life as if on the wave of a magic wand, nurtured by an incredible musical score by Rahul Subrahmanian. 

The high philosophical notes that the film occasionally strikes are impeccably orchestrated. Truth, they say, is never bitter. It's just that a lie always appears a bit too sugared. And it's this disarming sincerity in what it attempts to tell, that makes 'Philips and the Monkey Pen' one of the best films of the year. 

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/12271/malayalam/philips-and-the-monkey-pen/4457/review.htm