AlPhA KaPpA DeLtA PhI

IKMS (Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam) , is Director Simbudevan’s latest venture. After a mediocre movie (Arai En 305-il Kadavul), the director will be looking to enhance his reputation as a film maker with a difference. IKMS is set in the genre of Wild West movies. It has dancer-actor Lawrence playing the lead role. Sandhya, Padmapriya and Lakshmi Rai play the leading ladies in the movie. The Film has caught the imagination of many with its unique theme. But whether it sets the cash registers ringing is not known. The movie has released today and is doing average business so far, but the weekend will spell the verdict.

Veteran producer Kalpathi Sa Agoram is the producer of this movie and songs are by GV Prakash. The music director is getting good projects of late with this one following his laudable effort in Ayairathil Oruvan.

Coming the review of this movie. IKMS is has a strong story line. Not that it breaks stereotypes familiar to Tamil cinema, but the theme more than compensates for the usual good versus bad drama. Opening in a mythical time when Tamil Nadu was ruled by Cowboys the movie takes off with a serious plot. The freshness of the theme keeps the interest till the end of first half. But the slightly elongated second half makes you wonder if the could have been edited well. Raja Mohamed is the editor and in all fairness has done a good job. The director perhaps is little carried away by the theme. The good versus bad theme runs as an under-current in this movie and one can’t help but note the similarities of scenes between the ones in this movie and the ones in classic Wild West movies from Hollywood. The director should have been aware that those movies are very popular in Tamil Nadu. Padmapriya and Lakshimi Rai play the rough female cow-buys and their presence lends credibility to the movie, but nothing spectacular from them.

My only crib in this movie is that, none of the lead actors do full justice to their roles. They don’t fail in their attempts, but a more convincing performance would have been better.

The support cast more than fills in for this defect. Manorama, Nassar, MS Bhaskar, Delhi Ganesh, Vaiyapuri and Mouli make for a very impressive support cast. The presence of such names makes the milieu more realistic and credit must go to the director for roping in all these people for one project. Sandhya plays the love interest for Lawrence in this movie. And though I am not a big fan of her work, she pulls off an above par performance.

Overall, its worth the watch. Good choice for this weekend. Perhaps and 3.5 on 5 will do justice for this movie.

Beera – Vijay Prakash

Behene De – Karthik

Kata Kata – Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi, Kunal Ganjawala

Khili Re – Reena Bhardwaj

Ranjha Ranjha – Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali

Thok Di Killi – Sukhwinder Singh

The cast of the movie includes the following Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, Aishwarya Bachchan, Govinda, Prabhu, Karthik Muthuraman, Priyamani, Bipasha Basu, Munna, Kishore, Manisha Koirala, Ravi Kishan,Nikhil Dwivedi, Vaiyapuri.(cast from both Hindi and Tamil versions of the movie)

You can also download all the songs by one click here

AR Rahman has come up with his latest offering – Ravan. The maestro teams up with Gulzar once again and the combination brings great joy to listeners, as both the artists are experts in their respective fields. Mani Ratnam’s direction is another plus to this combination. Rahman is knwn to produce his best for Mani Ratnam. The tunes of Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Guru, Saathiya come to mind instantly.

The album seems to reflect the kind of movie that Ravan actually is. It has a rustic feel to it, and includes a semi-devotional songs as well. “Beera” is a cult song in the album and is sung by Mustafa Kutuane. “Ranjaha – ranjha”, sung by Rekha Bharathwaj and Javed Ali is sure to be a hit song. Radio stations are already buzzing with this song. The other favorite song is “Thok de Killi”, by Sukhwinder SIngh has an Arabian flavor in its interludes. It is such interesting juxtaposition of myriad flavors that makes Rahman’s work worth waiting. Rahman’s amazing rhythm sense comes good in “Kata-Kata”, which has lively beat sequences and is an uplifting song. “Kille Re” is the semi-devotional song which seems to be pictured around Aishwarya Rai (just guessing)

Overall, its an excellent album and Rahman has stretched his potential once again to offer his fans the best. Ravan Music album is a must buy. The movie is expected to release in later half of June, and is a bi-lingual (Hindi and Tamil).  

Bipasha Basu put on a superb show in the IPL closing ceremony. The sizzling hot actress danced in the company of Shahid Kapoor. There was a lot of excitement on which star would perform at the ceremony. Initially Hrithik Roshan was supposed to be dancing in front of the Mumbai crowd, but a broken knee left him out. Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai were performing at the music launch of Ravan and hence weren’t available. The IPL big boss finally pulled all his strings and roped in Bipasha and Shahid. And the two did not disappoint.

Bips was dressed in a black mini skirt with multi coloured frills at the bottom and looked hot. Shahid was looking dapper in a torn jean and a banian, complemented by dark shades. The IPL closing ceremony was a dazzling event and lived up to the expectations. AR Rahman also performed at the awards and added a classy touch.

Rettaisuzhi, staring ace directors K. Balachandar and Bharathirajaa has finally released. The movie is shot by director Thamira, a debutant director. The highlight of the movie is its interesting cast. K. Balachandar, plays Ramasamy and Bharathirajaa plays Singaravelan. The two are childhood friends who have grown up and still retain the childishness in them. Apart from these two people, Anjali (of Angadi Theru fame), Karunas and Manobala chip in with roles in the movie.

Director K. Balachandar, admits that it was hard to keep the creative person in him silent and follow the orders of another director. Interestingly, Thamira, the director, has worked with KB for almost 8 years now. KB admits that this and the director’s confidence in his script convinced him to act for another director for the first time. About the movie; it is produced by “S Pictures” (Director Shankar), music by Karthik Raja and cinematography by Chezhiyan. Director Shankar, whose eighth film as producer is Rettaisuzhi, flexed his muscle and roped in Aishwarya Rai to attend the audio release function. Even the veteran director’s couldn’t stop raving about Aishwarya at the function! It almost looked like a felicitation function for Aishwarya Rai and not a music launch. The story of the movie goes like this. Ramasamy (KB) and Singaravelan (Bharathirajaa) are childhood friends who remain close all their lives. The movie paints the troubles of men who are not able to match the fast pace of today’s world, in subtle way. So, the movie focuses on how these men interact with kids and hence turns out to be a movie for the children. That’s right; Rettaisuzhi will most likely please the kids section of the audience in the B and C centers. Nothing much for the audiences of the A centers in this movie. In the midst of all this happens a love story that is admirably cute.

Revealing more would spoil the charm of watching the movie, so go ahead and take the time out to watch this pleasant movie, with well-etched characters. The chemistry between KB and Bharathirajaa is the best part of this movie and it doesn’t disappoint one bit. One can’t help but admire the scenes where the two veterans live their characters on screen. Overall, this is not a bad movie to watch. The director scores with his neat casting and subtle emotions, depicted dramatically.

The ravishingly hot Tamanna is having a good time in Tamil Films. The red-hot actress was seen talking to a mystery man throughout the audio release function of the film Paiya. The last image in the series was taken during once such conversations.. When quized about the mystery person on the other end, the actress declined to comment. She did not throw any tantrums during the function, but was visibly upset. Stars value their privacy a lot. And Tamanna is no different.

A press release later, confirmed that Tamanna was talking to ralative who was not keeping well. Even though that sounds too simple to be true, the media manager had no response when asked how Tamanna could laugh frequently while talking to a sick person. Fishy eh? Watch this space for more on this story.

Quite a debate has been happening ever since Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan starrer Cop Out has failed to attract viewer’s attention. Some say, the days of police running behind the thief for breaking credit card processing system are over. While some claim that the movie went dud because of confusion of genre. People did not know to expect humor or action or both.  But a majority of people who watched the film, claim that Bruce Willis may have been the reason behind the fall out of the film. He has been a cop in so many movies that viewers are getting bored of him in the uniform.  Of course, diehard fans of Bruce refute this statement.

Paiya movie has finally released today and I was able to catch the first show of the movie. The tickets were not that hard to get and that was surprising for me. With so much of hype surrounding the release of the movie, I thought it would be hard to get tickets even from my unique sources. Anyway, on with the story.

The movie reminded me of the Bollywood movie Road. Vivek Oberoi starred in that movie. But the similarity ends there. Karthi takes a ride to Mumbai from Banglore and on the way meets Tamannah. The story begins there and spirals into a thriller very shortly. As you might have guessed, Tamannah’s past comes back to haunt her. But with the suave Karthi around, her troubles seem less heavy. Shades of Ghilli? Maybe yes. But again the comparison ends there. Karthi believes in taking the villains head-on, unlike in Ghilli.  After the usual sequences of fights and sentiments, the maovi drags its way into the climax. A massive show-down ends this rather lengthy movie.

Coming to performances, Karthi has pulled off what we thought might be hard for him. Playing slick urban youth,  he looks convincing for the part. Paiya is certainly a watershed movie in his carrier. This will establish him as a sale-able actor. Tamannah, could do better with her acting skills. Yes, she has gotten better over the years, but somehow has never got under the skin of any of the characters she has played. This might not augur well for her carrier in the long-run. Director Linguswamy has once again managed to squeeze out a fast-paced movie which will surely collect good returns. Yuvan impresses with his background score, but needs fresh ideas for melody based tracks. Somehow he is not in sync with the director’s flow.

So, my overall rating for this movie will be a 3.5 on 5. The movie is at best a onetime watch. It doesnot have the star cast to come back again.

Oh, I almost forget about Milind Soman. After PKMC, this is his next appearance in Tamil and has done a good job with lip-sync. He can certainly do justice to other Tamil movies. Will he be game for it?

If you are looking for the songs of the movie, click here. If you are looking for steamy stills from Paiya, click here

Ace actor Ajith of Kollywood is back in F2. The official website of the Ultimate Star has some stunning pictures. Check them out below.

So what is the deal with Ajith’s repeated ventures in the world of motorsports? The actor grew up as a mechanic. It was the classic rage to riches tale for him. Since then, Ajith has been hung up on motor sports. All of know that Formula racing tests one’s ability to drive well and handle the car effectively. It is this challenge that interests the star to pursue racing.

Formula 2 is known as the less popular and less expensive cousin of the famous Formula 1 races. But the races are as competitive as the premier F1.
Other racers from India include Arman Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwawar. Guess Naren Karthikeyan is the inspiration for all these aspiring racers.

So what about films? Any new movie that the actor has accepted to star in? The grapevine has it that the actor wants to give his racing passion more time currently. And so acting will take a back seat for the time being.  Is that confidence or foolishness? After all, not all people get the popularity that he has. Wonder how his fans will react?

Ilayathalapathi Vijay doesn’t want to experiment any new things for his 50th movie. He is going with the same commercial formula for his 50th movie “Sura”. Actor  Ajith who always keen to try many new things said he is going to take some time till he gets good director and script for his 50th movie. Recent news is that Gautam menon after the success of VTV has discussed a cop story with  ajith and has asked our ultimate star to wait for sometime til he finishes the script. Meanwhile Ajith has started his hip arthritis treatment in a private hospital to keep him fit when the shooting begins. All the best thala !!! Keep checking my blog for more update on this…

As we all know katrina kaif replaced Aishwarya rai for the latest Nakshatra diamond collection. The agile beauty was little upset as rumors spread that deepika padukone will replace her for the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s brand ambassador this season. But  vijay mallya made a clear statement that  Katrina will continue to be the ambassador for Royal Challengers bangalore for both IPL 3 and IPL 4 seasons. He  has also announced that actor Deepika Padukone, a prominent Bangalorean, has consented to cheer the team as the Founding Member of the Royal Challenger Fan Club, during some of the home matches in Bangalore. The sexy katrina is also now the new ambassador for Lux purple and the latest news is that Katrina has agreed to do an overseas commercial for the famous acne face wash cream.  Really a Way 2 go Kat!!! Keep checking my blog for more updates on this…

Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya, the much awaited movie of Gautam Menon has finally released. Here’s how much I liked the movie, i.e my review on this rather chick movie

The movie begins with how Jessie (played by Trisha) and Karthik (played by Simbu) meet each other. Jessie is a rather up-tight character who doesn’t fall in love easily. When she is suited by Simbu, she questions his intentions from the start. Karthik plays it cool with her and manages to bring her out of her cloister and makes her fall in love.

Things however don’t go that smoothly. Karthik is an aspiring movie director and has to take the call between his love and career. And he chooses love. Next come the obtrusive family members. A Hindu-Christian marriage doesn’t go well with either community and Jessie has to take the call in deciding between her family and love. She chooses her family. And things get crazy at this point in the film. But destiny (again…!) brings the stars together, hah.. thats what you think would happen. But no, the movie ends the other way, with the Karthik and Jessie not uniting. A brave decision by the director to keep the movie this way.

What’s special in the movie is not the story, but the way it is told. Gautam Menon weaves his magic and it captures the youngsters. The loves scenes make for good viewing. Compliment this with soul-stiring music and elegant cinematography, and you have the perfect combination for this genre of movie. A. R. Rahman scores high with a new brand of unconventional song structures. It’s nothing like what you might have heard before. It is great to see the master stretching the limits of creativity, even after achieving dizzying heights. Manoj Paramahamsa, impresses with his neat cinematography. I haven’t heard of him before, maybe I will watch out for him from now.

So will this be a cult film in romance. It’s hard to say and so it won’t. Its a great film to watch, but perhaps the Gautam Menon could have chosen other stars as protagonists to make the film greater than it already it.

On the whole, it’s a 4 on 5 for Gautam Vasudev Menon’s Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya. Watch it for the neat romance, elegant shots and awesome music. An evening spent well. 

Theeradha Villayatu Pillai, is produced by Sun Pictures and stars Vishal as a love dude. The movie stars Vishal, Neetu Chandra, Tanushree Dutta, Sarah Jane Dias, Santhanam, Prakash Raj, Sathyan, Mouli,Mayilsami and is directed by Thiru. Yuvan Shankar Raja has scored the music for this film and doesnot impress much.

Vishal is back doing comedy flicks after a spate of action film bombed at the box office. Comedy seems to be the flavor of the season and Vishal is out trying to woo audiences and the lovely girls beside him, with his witty one-liners.

The Story: Karthik, played by Vishal, is an extremely out spoken and casual character who has his way the ladies. Trouble brews when he starts having too much of them. Prakash Raj plays the father character and as usual pulls it off with panache. His loud voice and commanding presence is a little too familiar. Maybe it’s because the role is all too familiar for Tamil Audiences. The lovely ladies in the movie, play nice fillers and except Neetu Chandra, very few catch your attention. The lady has to use weight loss products to lose her excess flabby muscles.They seem to be ephemeral; appearing and disappearing in a flash. Karthik gets into trouble with the girl’s parents and not the girls themselves. They seem to be fine with his philandering. The drama boils down when common-sense prevails among all, including Vishal, and ends with the – “All is fair in love and war” theme. This one is all too familiar for Tamil audiences, for others, read the next post. This one ain’t for you.

A special word about Santhanam. What we are seeing is the fast evolution of a lead comedian. After Vadivel and Vivek it is nice to see Santhanam come out and take mainstream cinema by storm. His genre is different from Vadivel and Vivek, and resembles the comedy king Koundamani. He has done a neat job and does make you laugh whole heartedly. Good job. Keep giving us more.

MNIK or My Name is Khan is Shah Rukh Khan’s latest offering. Directed by the ever-green director Karan Johar, this movie does not disappoint any of King Khan’s fans. Unlike many other heroes SRK does not get caught in the web of commercial movies and compromise on quality.

Here is the story of the movie.  It opens with junior SRK, played by Tanay Chheda, a Muslim, who suffers from Asperger syndrome. He grows with his mother, played by the charismatic Zarina Wahab,  in Mumbai.

As the story moves on SRK, playing the character of Rizwan Khan moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother’s family. It is here that he falls in love with Mandira (Kajol). They eventually marry and begin a business. But after the twin tower attacks in the US, there is a biased attack on Mulims in the US. SRK suffers as a victim of this biased persecution and after several trials, and typical commercial sequences, SRK and Kajol hang on together. However, that’s not all, after a cinematic series of events in between SRK and Kajol separate, leaving the King Khan alone to fight his battles. However, Kojol does re-unite with SRK and in the end, as you guessed it; SRK and Kajol re-unite after fighting off the battles drawn on the lines of religion.

SRK steals the show with his performance and for all his fans; it is refreshing to see him back after a while. He sizzles and makes you laugh and cry, all at once. In the end, you will end up appreciating this film where he plays the pivot.

Kajol has her moments in the movie. She looks damn good. No one could say she is 35. I think her best wrinkle cream has done a magic. Jokes apart. She plays her role convincingly. Maybe her character got lost in SRK’s, but never the less, the two make a splendid couple on screen. For all those fell in love watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, seeing the two back together is worth the effort to watch the movie.

This one is for SRK fans and for all those who feel Bal Thackery must die..!