Jilla Review from Times of India!!

Movie Review: It looks like Vijay has realized that he can be in mass masala films that are not only entertaining to his fan base but also to every segment in the audience. He did this earlier with films like Ghilli, Pokkiri and Thuppakki, and does it now with Jilla. This time, he shares the glory with Mohanlal, who plays his godfather in the film. The plot revolves around Sivan (Mohanlal), a don in Madurai, who brings up Sakthi (Vijay), whose father died for him, as his own son. The two are a formidable force in the city but circumstances force Sivan to ask Sakthi to become a cop. But when an accident results in the death of several innocents, Sakthi wants his father to turn over a new leaf. But the older man is not in the mood to heed his advice, and soon, the two are on opposing sides.

As far as commercial films are concerned, Jilla is definitely assured filmmaking. Neason understands that the conflict between Sivan and Sakthi is what powers his film and sets up the initial clash between these two characters very well. Sakthi's realizes the error of his ways after a horrible blast, which happens because of Sivan's decision. The scenes following this blast are quite horrific for this kind of film but they are so effective in making us understand why someone as loyal as Sakthi will shift sides and decides to take on the person who is his father figure. The confrontation scene is very well shot and the dialogues too are punchy in this scene. Vijay and Mohanlal are very good here. Vijay utters Sakthi's lines in a nonchalant way (Unakkaga enaku pidikadha khakhi potu police aanen illa, enakkaga nee ippo nallavana maaru) while Mohanlal treats Sivan's lines with seriousness, and so we get to see where each character stands — the son only wants his father to change but the latter will not give an inch from his position and is even ready to banish him from the house. When the intermission point arrives, we eagerly anticipate what might come next.

Neason also keeps Sivan's character in the grey area — he never has any remorse for the blast, he even brokers for a pharma company which is banned everywhere in the world; he is so egoistic that he wants to put Sakthi in place at any cost. Which is why, we feel cheated when the director decides to bring in another antagonist who wants to bring down the father-son duo. Thankfully, our disappointment doesn't last long as this character poses a formidable challenge to Sakthi and that keeps this segment engaging. He even has a minor victory when he manages to kill a character close to Sakthi and Sivan.

The lighter portions too are done with confidence. Neason understands the irony of a guy who hates the khakhi falling in love with a woman who is a cop, and treats the romance in a playful manner. He even approaches the scene in which Sivan urges Sakthi to become a cop in a similar vein. A godfather asking his son to do something he hates is heavy duty drama material but the director sidesteps this by going for a good-humoured tone, and just to not make it appear too frivolous, makes Sakthi tell his mom that he will do anything to not see his dad tearing up again. He also manages to get away with the implausible scenario of a don's hireling becoming a cop.

The main issue with Jilla is that it is overlong. Neason, probably in an effort to make it a wholesome entertainer, keeps packing in scenes oblivious to the running time. So, we have an unwarranted sub-plot involving Sakthi's sister and forcefully fitted songs which only make the film lengthy. Also, his tendency to cut to a childhood moment every time he wants to make an emotional statement becomes gratuitous after a point — the film itself begins with Sakthi as a boy; when Sakthi is injured, he recalls a moment when Sivan rushed to him when he injured himself as a boy; when his brother talks about growing up holding Sakthi's hands, he cuts to a montage of two boys holding hands.  

Rating:***1/2
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jilla/movie-review/28650403.cms 

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Thalaimuraigal Review from Rediff!!

After more than four decades in the film industry, ace filmmaker Balu Mahendra, who has given us some memorable films in Veedu, Sandhya Ragam and Moondram Pirai, makes his acting debut in Thalaimuraigal. He has also written, directed, edited and wielded the camera for the film.

This is the first time that the 74-year-old director, who started his career as a cinematographer, has shot a film in the digital format with a still camera, the Canon 5D DSLR. Thalaimuraigal is produced by M Sasikumar`s company, Film Productions, and he also makes a cameo appearance in the film.

The film stars Ramya Shankar, Vinodhini, S Sashi and Master Karthick. Ilaiyaraaja has composed the music for the film. The story opens with a phone call to Dr Siva (Sashi) from his childhood friend Govind, who informs him that his estranged father is recovering from a massive stroke.

It is 12 years since Siva has last seen his father Subbu (Balu Mahendra). Siva was thrown out of the house by his orthodox father for marrying a Christian girl, Stella (Ramya Shankar).

Though deeply upset at the news, Siva is in a dilemma as he is not sure that his father will accept him back. Stella, however, convinces him to go and Siva makes the journey to his village to see his ailing father. Subbu is rude and overbearing initially, but he cannot hide the joy and pride at seeing his son, a successful doctor.

Stella, who is very keen to give their son Aditya (Master Karthick) an opportunity to know his grandfather, also joins him after a couple of days.
At the very first glimpse of his grandson, Subbu is overjoyed, and all the anger and hatred just seem to melt away. Even the contempt for his Christian daughter-in-law vanishes.

Subbu is now just an old man trying to understand his grandson, who does not speak a word of Tamil. Unfortunately, Subbu not only does not understand English, but even hates the language.

Is there a common meeting ground? Can they break the strong barriers of caste, religion and language and find love and respect for each other? All this is revealed with a lot of sensitivity and simplicity in the second half of the film.
Balu Mahendra’s effortless performance in Thalaimuraigai proves that acting is yet another skill to be added to his already long list of accomplishments.
He plays an angry father, who eventually comes to regret his orthodox beliefs; his perception of caste and language differences are changed by his grandson and daughter-in-law.

Despite all the differences, the underlying love and pride between the father, son and grandson is brought out beautifully. Master Karthick plays the bright and intelligent grandson, whose curiosity and earnestness will definitely make you smile. All the others too, have excelled in their respective roles.

There are no songs to mar the narration and the background score by Ilaiyaraaja remains inconspicuous, subtly bringing out the depth and intensity of the film, while enhancing the natural sounds of the singing birds and the flowing water. Balu Mahendra is a master of cinematography and his love for shooting in natural light is evident throughout the film.

Director Balu Mahendra's Thalaimuraigal is a heartwarming tale of a grandfather coming to terms with his own conservative values and beliefs, while at the same time instilling in his grandson, a sense of pride and appreciation in his language and culture.

Rating:***1/2

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-thalaimuraigal-is-brilliant-south/20131223.htm

Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal Reviews from Rediff!

Everything goes wrong in the first 30 minutes of Malayalam film Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal, and the people involved in it try their best to salvage the situation. Finally, everything gets untangled in the last 15 minutes and the audience goes home happy. There are a few guffaws, a couple of heartaches and one or two action sequences punctuating the narrative. This description is suffice to summarise Lal Jose's Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal, with his actor friend Dileep in the lead. Aby (Dileep), a hotshot ad-maker, decides to finally get married. He has a painful history, where the girl he had loved left him just days before their wedding.

After getting intoxicated in his own bachelor’s party, Aby decides to invite his old flame Sini (Rima Kallingal). When he reaches there, she is alone and both boast about their respective life partners. Sini is married to a boxer called Tyson Alex (Murali Gopy) and Aby is engaged to one of his models Ann (Parvathy Nambiar).

Their meeting results in complications that compel them to meet again and again. How they do it dodging their partners and their large circle of common friends before the hell breaks loose, is what the film is all about.So, this is the story of seven beautiful nights from the day of the bachelor’s party to the day of the wedding, penned by James Albert (who had first scripted Classmates for the director). The narrative goes back and forth every now and then.

Tyson Alex is presented as an uncouth person, who seriously is a threat to Sini as she tells Aby once that their relationship exists only because they have a child. The rest of the ensemble cast that includes Harisree Asokan, Tini Tom, Vijayraghavan, Sreejith Ravi and others provide comic relief at a sporadic interval. Parvathy Nambiar, who makes her debut in this film, has an angelic smile that makes up for any deficiencies in her performance.

Rima Kallingal, who has to look distressed in her post marriage scenes, is good as nothing much is demanded of her. Dileep has to have two distinct looks as a young photographer (which he does with a wig of shoulder length hair and stubble) and his age today as a matured ad-maker. Wishing for any other distinction in his character would be asking for too much. Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal may have been an attempt to look at the fickleness of relationships in today’s times in a humourous way but it does not have the desired effect.

Rating:**

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-ezhu-sundara-rathrikal-falls-flat/20131223.htm

Madha Yaanai Koottam Review from Rediff!!

Popular music director G V Prakash Kumar's maiden production, Madha Yaanai Koottam, is directed by Vikram Sukumaran, former assistant of the legendary Balu Mahendra.

JSK Film Corporation has acquired the distribution rights of the film. The film features newcomer Kathir and Oviya in the lead roles supported by Viji Chandrasekhar, Vela Ramamoorthy, P Gopalakrishnan and others.
Madha Yaanai Koottam, when translated means ‘Group of mad elephants’. The characters of the film do exactly what a herd of mad elephants would do, go on a senseless rampage destroying everything in sight for no apparent reason.

The film opens with a death scene and every 15 minutes there is another death.

Jayakodi Thevar is unfortunately the man whose death is being celebrated in a grand manner with loud music, dancing, fire crackers, and a continuous supply of drinks and food.  As a eulogy, the artists sing about the greatness of the dead man and the film shifts into a flashback.

Jayakodi Thevar has two wives and is currently staying with his second wife and their son Paarthi (Kathir) and daughter.

The older wife also has a son and daughter, but is living under the protection of her brother. She wants nothing to do with her husband as she feels he has betrayed her.

The enmity between the older wife’s brothers and his children and Paarthi is the crux of the story.

The minute the former hear about Jayakodi’s death, they carry his body out of Paarthi’s house stating that only the older wife has rights to the body.  They don’t allow Paarthi, his mother or sister to join in the rituals.

Paarthi, who initially remains passive, is forced by circumstances to join in this stupid, mindless fight, where there is absolutely no regard for life.

The first half of the film reveals the various rituals followed after death, in great detail. We also get to know about an interesting custom called seimurai, where the relatives have to buy new clothes and even gold jewellery for the surviving members of the family.

The second half is the usual revenge saga, which is totally unimaginative and boring. Oviya plays Kathir’s love interest and has absolutely nothing to do in the film.  Kathir seems to walk around like Vishal and though he does have the height and built to carry off the role, his face looks too innocent and guileless to express the intense hatred and anger. All the other characters, however, have been chosen well: menacing lungi-clad tough guys, with the ever present aruva in their hands and of course the authentic dialect of Theni.

The songs and background score by N R Raghunanthan and cinematography by Ragul Dharuman, who has skilfully captured the mood and setting of the film is definitely a plus.
Director Vikram Sukumaran’s Madha Yaanai Koottam deals with many emotions: hatred, vengeance, betrayal, fear. But pride and anger seems to take precedence and the film eventually ends in a mad rampage of revenge, brutally slaughtering everything in sight.

Rating:**

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-madha-yaanai-koottam-shows-senseless-violence-south/20131226.htm

Veeram Review from Rediff!!

After the huge success of Aarambam, expectations were sky-high for the Ajith starrer Veeram. Directed by Siva, who gave the commercially successful Siruthai in 2011, the film is produced by Vijaya Productions, the prestigious banner of the late producer B. Nagi Reddy.
Set in a rural backdrop, Veeram is a slow-paced family drama that revolves around Vinayagam (Ajith) and his four brothers Vidharth, Bala, Munish and Suhail Chandhok. All of them are known to be extremely violent and get into fights at the slightest provocation.
Vinayagam has brought up his brothers single-handed and is determined to stay unmarried as he fears that bringing a woman into the house will disrupt the family and cause a rift among the brothers.
The brothers, however, have other plans.  Two of them are already in love and believe that the only way to make Vinayagam approve would be to make him fall in love, too.
On a mission to find an ideal match for their brother, they zero in on Kopperundevi (Tamannaah), who is part of a group that restores old statues in temples.
Along with Santhanam, who is their lawyer and friend, they devise several plans to bring Vinayagam and Kopperundevi together. After a few hiccups, the two do fall in love, but now there is a decided twist in the story.
Will it be Vinayagam’s violent past that destroys his chance at happiness or will Kopperundevi and her family’s past come to haunt them? All this in the second half that seems to be just as slow as the first.
The film seems to pick up momentum only during the action sequences. 
Ajith sports a different look in the second half, reminding us a little of the good old boy-next-door Ajith of Vaali and Villain.
After Billa, Ajith seems to have acquired this all-powerful indestructible image that seems to have struck a chord with the audience, and all his directors seem to be bending over backwards to nurture this image.
Though his dark glasses, black T-shirts and expensive suits have been replaced by a snow-white dhoti and shirt, he still maintains his larger-than-life persona in Veeram and effortlessly destroys the enemy with his power-packed punches and equally powerful dialogues, guaranteed to send his fans into a mad frenzy.
Tamannaah is totally unsuited to this sad, saree-clad boring character and has little to do in the film.
Santhanam lacks his usual spark, but Thambi Ramaiya in the second half provides some laughs. 
There are no terrifying villains in the movie either; their sole aim seems to be getting bashed up by Ajith.  The action sequences choreographed by Silva, however, do deserve some credit.
The song Nalavannu Solvanga has become quite popular, but otherwise there is nothing remarkable about Devi Sri Prasad’s music in Veeram.
Though there is no denying that the super cool, ultra stylish Ajith can carry off any movie on his broad and powerful shoulders, there is nothing remarkable about Siva’s Veeram. 
With an ordinary story line, an average screenplay and characters that are all overshadowed by one man, the film seems like an ode to Ajith and should be dedicated to all his fans.

Rating:**1/2

http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-veeram-is-a-treat-for-ajith-fans-south/20140110.htm