Films recently watched & worthy of some discussion

[mappi]

Dhuruvangal 16 did not release here. The trailer and the background score in it was slendid. Looking forward to watch the film when its out on DVD (or any other good copy). The producers should seriously think about Video On Demand under a secure web portal.

[NOV]

You would love it Karthik... it's a movie that's so well made justifying the medium.
A cinema lovers dream.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[mexicomeat]

You would love it Karthik... it's a movie that's so well made justifying the medium.
A cinema lovers dream.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

see the templemonkeys video on youtube on D16 vs S3 - funny

[mappi]

Pambu Sattai [2017 : Tamil : 2h15m : Drama]
Written & Directed by Adam Dassan

Banner : Picture House

Starring : Kreethy Suresh, Banu, Bobby Simha, K. Rajan, Rajendran, Guru Somasundaram, Charlie & R.V. Udhayakumar



The Self alone, the Sole Reality, Exists for ever.

Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara requested the Supreme to teach them methods to eradicate Maya (illusion). The four gathered around a man who was seated under a banyan tree. He introduced himself to them as the destroyer of ignorance and the four men asked him several questions. Initially the Q&A session was proceeding well, but suddenly the replier refused to answer any more questions and went into a deep silence. The four men sat down before him in silence too. In that calmness they united with their Self and were surprised to get the answers to their own questions. As they were building questions, Anjana (Ignorance) made them poke several more queries. The Devine Silence produced by the Devine Soul liberated them from their ignorance, and they called him Daksina.



Snake Plissken is one of my favorite fictional characters (created by John Carpenter / Nick Castle). Decoding his nature, by aggregating Snake's features and traits, reveals the reason behind the given name. After decades, Adam Dasan in his premier directorial has come up with an excellent title - Pambu Sattai, simply put Snakeskin.

Daksina (a wonderful name), living with his widowed relative (Anni), falls in love with Veni, a young lady working in export garmenting. Her father, a sanitation worker (high time our government takes measures to replace humans with machines for such job descriptions) objects the marriage pointing at the community which has judged Daksina cohabitation with his relative as sexual union. To jump out of the ugly mouths of the society, Daksina searches for a good-hearted man to marry his Anni. During this event, money introduces itself as the main obstacle, which in return poses a problem from the unison of the young couple. The shadow of money, acting as the original, seduces Daksina by taunting him with measures that could get him all that he desires. Hesitant to take the path that was not meant for him to travel, Daksina slowly gets pushed onto the unlit lanes where his regret is quickly overtaken by survival.

Pambu Sattai is a well-directed film. Snake, as in the title, is also painted as a primary shade around the character Daksina. While moulting its skin, a snake undergoes several psychological shifts - blindness, irritation, aggressivity, etc. Daksina, wonderfully portrayed by Bobby Simha, floats on the waves of such effects while the film progresses. He is blinded by greed; he becomes ignorant to righteousness; he is triggered by anger; and finally, he turns calm when he sheds off the hesitance and slithers gradually towards his nemesis. The director also jots an ancient saying "Kala suthuna pambu kadikama vidathu" while showcasing the conflict between Daksina and Shanmugam, a trader in counterfeit goods, authentically enacted by K. Rajan. Post climax, the final snake connection "Pambin kaal pambariyum" is indicated, where the writer attaches it to the backstory of Daksina - the younger brother knowingly or unknowingly had crawled on the same tracks of his elder brother. Hats off Adam Dasan.

As soon opening of the film flashed, I was certain that I am going to watch an excellent movie. Parthiban's Sugamana Sumaigal (1992) talks about the struggle of a family man and looks deeps into the measures he takes to acquire money. Similarly, Daksina runs around to gather wealth, and the same smiling paper projects to him the dark traits of life.

Bobby Simha plays the cheerful young man in search of fortune. He is certain about uncertainty and does not hesitate to fire questions. During his expedition, his questions and morality converts into angry and makes him sit in silence. There is a steep variation in the character throughout the film, and every moment was well enacted by Bobby Simha - he truly emotes. His accent is kind of catchy and his grin looks natural.



I have nothing to say about Keerthy Suresh (plays as Veni), simply because she is not a type I would want to watch for a hefty runtime. But I did find that she has imitated Catherine Tresa's Kalaiselvi character from the movie Madras (2014). The film making too closes up with another work, Cuckoo (2014), in both music and the ambience. The film shifts elegantly inside a social environment captured by K.G. Venkatesh, which is cut (editor : S.P. Raja Sethupathi) and polished brilliantly in post-production.

Actor Charlie puts up his trade mark expressions and uses his sunken voice during pathetic situations. Guru Somasundaram straightens up after his atrocious mannerisms in Yaakkai (2017). He carries himself well as Rajendran, a broker working for Shanmugam. K. Rajan as the villain devoid sympathy. His casual dialogue delivery adds to the lack of feeling. He reminded me of the cold-hearted character Chidambaram from Agni Natchathiram (1988) played by Anand theatre owner G.Umapathy. There is couple of henchmen named Ravi and Samy and the artists have put up a neat performance. I look forward to the compositions of Ajesh, lovely music arrangements. "Kanavugalaal Kalaindhomey" sung by Madhu Balakrishnan and written by Yugabharathi is a sad and soulful song, which are very rare these days.

Even though Adam Dassan has narrated his story professionally, I felt it had more voice in picture. I understand that sometimes the script defines such narrative - for instance, in Iraivi (2016), Karthik Subbaraj enlarges the characters psychology through random scenes, but he stammers to elaborate Jagan's character. Unlike the Arul and Michel, Jagan expresses himself inside a closed room, converting the part of the narration as an inner monologue. Adam Dassan should tighten his expression and provide more events embedded in the images of the motion picture.

Pambu Sattai is neither an action film nor a thriller nor a crime movie. It is an elegantly paced Drama, similar to our awesome movies of the 70s and 80s where tragedy follows the characters throughout the film, yet, the movie explores life and the experiences without dashing too much on the hurdles.

Pambu Sattai - Ceasing Thoughts

[A.ANAND]

kavan the best entertainer movie of the year...welldon KVA...inime super singer,sun singer,neeya naana progrem paapikkingala...kilichi thongga vittu klip maatitanungga..

[mappi]

kavan the best entertainer movie of the year

If you are interested in political thrillers-courtroom drama, checkout John Madden's Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain. The film also has my favourite actor Mark Strong.

Miss Solane is highly identic to Kavan, packed with explosive dialogues during television debate. The film explores influence and lobbying, quite a rare premesis just like hangman stories. Be cautioned that there are no explosions or car chases or over the top action segements, but just nectared drama directed as an anticipation and suspense film.

[mappi]

Kadamban [2017 : Tamil : Action : 2h20m]
Written & Directed by Raghava

Banner : Super Good Films & The Show People.

Starring : Catherine Tresa, Arya, YG Mahendra, Deepraj Rana, Murugadoss & others

I got this story from someone who had no business in the telling of it - Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes )



A scientific team working for a business tycoon unearths limestone outcrops, the primary raw material for manufacturing cement, inside a rich forest. To exploit the natural resource, the industrialist opts crooked ways to vacate the aboriginal people from the forest. When all his attempts fail, he uses brutal force on the indigenous peoples. A group of natives are left stranded after the massive attack and with the mercy of the forest whom they consider as their prime power source, a set of valiant warriors write a heroic story of survival and tragedy by challenging the armed forces using nature's weapons.



The entire film looks like a 'Go Green' campaign. There is green everywhere (including the visuals produced utilizing green screen technology). There are couple of breath taking moment like the opening of the film and the climax fight. As the hero, Arya worked out well but as an actor, he puts up a 'Rambo-ish' face and utters the same dialogues the same way extraordinarily! He hangs upside down one legged, rolls over twigs and dry leaves, elegantly vaults across dead branches, swings, jumps, crawls, swims - well, every action that Tarzan does in his sleep. Hats off Arya.



The couple (Catherine Tresa plays the female lead) looks good together, but they do not mingle well with the forest crowd. They look like tourists accidently caught up in a wrong turn. Catherine once again caught my attention with her seductive eyes and provocative lips. She naturally uses them together and when she does that, she looks hot. Bonus : There is a song under the rain where much care is taken to see to that Catherine's wet clothes and Arya's hug are identical.



I would like to know the name of the artist who plays Arya's father, please.

Yuvan's theme for the Villain is catchy. The film is neatly edited camouflaging well the indoor sets with the outdoor location. The color corrections, especially green and teal, are well done without losing the natural glossiness of the artists. The camera work is energetic while filming Arya and fight sequences. Stunts are excellent (but they could have avoided a bunch of henchmen emptying the bullets from automatic rifles all at once and then, trigger pull empty before looking at each other in most miserable awe - Result : get stampede by elephants; a lesson for those who are looking for 'social messages' in films).



The director, Raghava, tries to imitate the directorial of Mel Gibson by forcing families to separate, manhandling kids and zooming on a woman's body during pregnancy - the bunch of sacred gimmicks to create an illusionary sympathy - (I don't take stuffed empathy). Raghava then turns towards Thai action star Tony Jaa's elephant fight sequence from the film Ong Bak 2 and looks at Caesar (Planet of Apes) to sketch his principle character Kadamban. The best part comes when drones replace the helicopter invasion of Apocalypse Now. His movie, Kadamban, is a majestic effort put together with immense cooperation from the artists and technicians. A nicely produced film, else it would have looked like a B movie from the eighties.

I would easily recommend Kadamban to fans like myself who have a fixation towards exploitation films (lured content). A film where one can walk out and join back again anytime without missing out anything during the brief absence - a friendly film that repeats itself between the Acts.

Kadamban is a cool afternoon-couch-movie, whose goal is to entertain, and Kadamban strikes.



Kadamban - Strongest Branch

[mappi]

Maragadha Naanayam - The Curse of the Green Gemstone

Written & Directed by ARK Saravan

[Tamil: 2017: Fantasy: 2h15m]



Maragadha Naanayam, a medallion with an emerald stone embedded in it, is a cursed jewel. For several centuries, adventurers and collectors who had come across the jewel did not live long to talk about the sparkling green gemstone; anyone who possessed the Maragadha Naanayam met up with similar death - ran over by an iron truck. Considering the stone curse as a myth and evaluating the death as mere accidents, Senguttuvan and Elango, a pair of small time crooks, decide to reap fortune by finding the medallion. Set in search of the precious stone, they quickly realise that few things are beyond human comprehension and control; thus they seek a help of a sorcerer who guides them to get the stone without getting them into trouble. But the sorcerer's troubleless process becomes troublesome when four unnatural characters join them in their treasure expedition.



Daniel Annie Pope and Muruganandam, the woderful duo who provided a humor feast in the movie, Ithuku Thaan Assaipattaiya Balakumara (2013), feature in this film too, but they hardly have much scenes together. Muruganandam, who recently played the middleman in real estate business in the film Kashmora (2016), is a super-macho gangster working for his mob boss ‘Twinkle’ Ramanathan portrayed by Anandraj, while Daniel (who played the character Tip Top in Rangoon [2017]) picks the role of Elango, the assosiate of Senguttuvan, performed by Adhi, the protagonist of the film.



Writer-Director ARK Saravan symbolizes greed with Maragadha Naanayam, and at every instance the medallion pops up on screen, he attentively catches the excess longing and selfishness without putting in much stress but intelligently infusing it, rather diluting it within humor. The iron truck portrays gluttony, the hunter of the gluttonous love of money, well, mentioning it for those who would like to pick up such things on the way while being entertained. I assure there is much more inside the film other than just being a hunt for a green jewel.



Recently I watched an Argentinean film White Coffin (2016) [will certainly not recommend it to many for its explicit content]. I liked the way the director Daniel De La Vega treated his screenplay to fit into a road movie, where as the story deals about Religious Cults. White Coffin has nothing to do with Maragadha Naanayam, but I was amazed to see Saravan bending a treasure hunt movie into a road movie while it draws itself towards the climax. Its then he punches that the whole film was indeed a road movie, without sticking much into the locations or destinations. It is very difficult to communicate such a variance while providing limited knowledge to the spectators. The shift was cool.



Maragadha Naanayam is one among the rare films that made me wish to take a bloody afternoon; to sit; watch and analyse it – the film gets a spot in my ‘awesome movie’ collection. The philosophy of the film Maragadha Naanayam is based on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where Saravan does not preach but silently inverses their meaning by allowing his characters to project the conception of good and evil, stuck together with 'something from beyond'.



A motion comic block tells the back-story of Maragadha Naanayam, crisply narating the tale of Irumburai Arasan - I am sucker of Raja stories. Normally there will be a great influence of Indiana Jones or Allan Quatermain when it comes to treasure hunts. Maragadha Naanayam deals more about the characters who indulge in the search and less about the search itself. The revelation is done in the beginning itself, giving the details on the whereabouts of the searched item, thus, declining the main purpose of mystery.



There are many excellent performances throughout the film from almost all the artists who were part of the movie. Most dialogues for Anandraj are picked up from the shooting spot itself and were effortlessly inserted into the scenes. He casually mouths lines on filming process that sync well with the proposed situation. While the credits run, where they were showing the bloopers, Anandraj casually says to Muruganandham "Nee Frame out". Imagine such dialogues are not only in a bloopers video but inside the mainstream itself; hilarious ones.



The four mystified characters are what that will give this film its popularity among contemporary cinema. Without even a bit of a struggle, Saravan drops them as the mid film twist, and then carry forward his narration by brilliantly splitting the information he wishes to deliver among these four. Music by Dhibu Ninan Thomas is enthralling. Already addicted to the songs, was glad to catch them illustrated inside an excellent visual narrative. I still got the song ‘Aasai’ sung by Sharanya Gopinath stuck to my playlist. The flow of the background score aligns itself with the narratives giving much space for the characters to perform, and casually takes over establishing its main purpose, esp. towards the climax where the sounds are brilliantly mixed with dialogues, appropriate noises and ‘Kottai Aanda Arasan’ single from the movie's OST.



Our movies are rapidly getting into a time box much smaller to fit it inside. Maragadha Naanayam is bitten by the time bug, not permitting the film to explore much the (wonderful) characters. An in depth view of the four special characters, (personally I would like to see more of Twinkle & his gang; Tamil Ayya played by Sangli Murugan; thought this character added a lot of flavor to the film) would have added more fun to an already exhilarating film. Such films should be released under two versions - Producer's Cut & Director's Cut.



Maragadha Naanayam is a wonderful film that oscillates in phase with humor and thrills.

Maragadha Naanayam - Runners & Chasers

[NOV]

Thupparivaalan - The Detective

Director Mysskin is the real hero of this detective movie!
He pays tribute to Sherlock Holmes/Hercule Poirot genre and even has a sidekick ala Watson/Hastings.

A chance investigation on a random killing of a dog, leads to the unraveling of multiple murders disguised as accidents.

With no songs, 2.5 hours may seem lengthy, but this is not an edge of seat thriller. Rather, it's a game of intelligence and deductions. And Mysskin handling of the theme, is classic!

Performance all round, from major to minor, has been excellent and once again it's proven that in the hands of an able Director, even the mediocre actor performs. ��

Go watch for the sake of Mysskin at least, especially if you are a fan of classic detective stories.

☆☆☆☆

[mappi]

Meyatha Maan [2017 : Tamil : 2h15m : Romance (Muscial)]

Written & Directed by Rathna Kumar

[Based on Rathna Kumar's short film 'Madhu'; fifth feature in the independent Tamil Anthology film Bench Talkies (First Bench) (2015)]

Produced by Kaarthekeyen Santhanam

Banner: Stone Bench Films

Music: Santhosh Narayanan & Pradeep

Starring: Priya Bhavani Shankar, Indhuja, Vaibhav Reddy, Vivek Prasanna & Arun Prasad

Content Warning: frequent suicidal ideation, some sexuality (in theme), alcohol use, occasional strong language and racist comments.

Pray you do not think me unworthy of your ear; it was your beauty that turned me statue. I can speak Fair Lady, will you hear me if I speak Love?
- Ever touching! And will you give me hope of future happiness?
That, as I shall find you. The fort that's yielded at the first assault is hardly worth the taking.

From The Great Duke of Florence (1627), Genre: Tragicomedy, by english dramatist Philip Massinger (1583 – 1640).



The needs are same of everyone. Only the priorities vary, leading to become judgemental and forcing to conclude affairs according to the priorities of the individual. This happens all the time, each second of the day, where two individuals see the same situation differently - one is desperately in need and for the other, it’s not the his need of the hour. Meyadha Maan is based on this social theory, where the characters share bitterness with each other as and when they prioritise their needs - the same need which is inbalanced on the same scale as seen by each other.

I usually distance myself from Romance genre, but I watched Meyatha Maan for few reasons - I simply can't ignore Karthik Subbaraj; the tag line - Rayapuram La La Land (I haven't seen La La Land either, but the tag was catchy); for the worderful music and finally for Vaibhav Reddy & Vivek Prasanna.

The initial 20 minutes of Meyaadha Maan is a resumption of Ratna Kumar's short film 'Madhu'. Sananth Reddy (Jil Jung Juk, 2016) who plays Kumar in Madhu is replaced by Vaibhav Reddy as 'Idhayam' Murali in Meyaadha Maan, while his friend Vinodh played by Vivek Prasanna is retained. Then the fresh piece of story - Life of Madhu and Murali - starts one year after the actual break up event.



Murali is a 'bandman', organising light music for social events. He is also a silent lover of Madhu. He convinces himself to let go his three years of strong feelings for her after hearing to her insults. Leading a life, morally supported by his sister and friend, Murali slowly starts to wipe out his past when his path crosses with Madhu again. He is stroked with retribution where he urges himself to be successful and show Madhu how bright his life is without her by his side. His collapsed life starts to tremble with insults and pain when his relationship strengths with Madhu. An emotional battle reigns between them leading to war of hearts which is won by none. Or is it Murali who is fighting to lose?

Meyatha Maan comes as a delicious meal for the formula movie programmed mind. The film is excellently realistic, touchingly human and very well directed. Hats off Rathna Kumar. The humour present in the writing is carefully translated to the screen. The dialogues, short and funny, are found everywhere. I don't know why, any joke on Harry Potter gets me going for a while. You got a Harry Potter mention in this movie too.



Vaanavil thediye Oru minnalai adainthen

The team has sucessfully exhibited their story envelloped inside a soul stiring music. When 'Rathina Katti' echoes inside the dark cinema hall, the bright screen lightens up the mind triggering a sort of fabulous emotion. The song connects the mood with the characters through its tremndrous placement and exceptional pictorisation. Another melody low in its tempo, 'Megamo Aval', glitters within the suituation. There is a wonderful whistling inside this song.

Alli sinthum azhagin thuligal uyiril pattu urulum.
Vasamilla mozhiyil idhayam ethayo ularum.
Illai avalum endre unarum Nodiyil idhayam irulum.
Aval paatha suvadil Kanneer malargal uthirum.
Megamo Aval ...

'Nee Mattum Podhum' that embraces Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy, and 'Enna Naan Seiven' fall as tiny stones sending wrinkles on the shallow mind. 'Thangachi Song' and 'En Vettu Kuthu Villake' richly describes relationships. And the grand finale 'Address Song' is filled with humour. Been a while I had come across such a funny song sequnece [last one I enjoyed / still enjoy is Petta Rap from Kadhalan (1994) composed by ARR]. Other than the OST, there are few IR songs used in the film ... Then Madurai Vaigai Nathi Dhinam Paadum Tamizh Paatu ...

Hats off Santosh Narayanan, Pradeep & Vivek.



Vaibhav shows great amout of enthusiasm as Idhayam Murali. He is impressive while emoting or adapting to the need of the suituation, and the same time he is funny during reaction shots. There is this tiny sequence 'Adal udan Padalai Kettu' playing on a gramophone. The way he rolls his eyes to conceal the suition is exceptional. He also does a lot of body movements to integrate the sensitivity and demand of the circumstances. I am very glad for Vaibhav as his performance has turned out to prove his soaring scale as an actor. Vivek Prasanna, just like Kali Venkat, Ramesh Thilak and Karunakaran, is a born artist. These guys are a bright substitute to irreplaceable artists like Nasser. He delivers the speech by bringing out the needed emotions in his voice is apt. The way he carries himself during the circumstances which are not his set of affairs, but he is working for the upliftment of Murali, are very best. The energy they both have given during the hospital scene is massive. Hats off Vaibhav & Vivek Prasanna. Arun Prasad expresses his friendship delicately. He is the one who often runs around, poor fellow. The film resembles a lot to 'Enakku Vaaitha Adimaigal' (2017), strictly when talking about the efforts Kishore and Vinodh take to protect Murali.

A special mention to Nithyaraj who plays as a mechanic aid in Vinodh's workshop. Nithyaraj acted in Put Chutney's promotional video of Jil Jung Juk as the tea boy. Eventhough I am against Child Labour, I must accept the reality too, but keep on working for betterment of the human condition. Children must be happy and should go to school. Only through higher eduction we can eliminate social conflicts. Anyway, every dialogue uttered by Nithyaraj attains a cult status - True kalvettu inscriptions. His Theory of Love is phenomenal. Hats off kid.



Eventhough I felt Shraddha Srinath (as I like her) would have been just fine as Madhu, Priya Bhavani Shankar is an express of surprise. Her tiny facial reactions are taunting and the chudidhars she wears are fabulous. Indhuja uses her eyes effectively to express her thoughts. She is a volcano that can erupt with mixed emotion when need may rise - Excellent performance by the lead actresses.





Meyatha Maan is a gem in the rough. Hats off Karthik Subbaraj.



Meyatha Maan - Trap of Love