Film / Documentary - Recently watched & worthy of some discussion

**selvakumar** · 30th November 2013, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by ajaybaskar

Actually i didnt find any bad tamilian in the film. There is one traitor character which I thought was a tamilian. But he ended up being a Malayali. If guys like Seeman are desperate to create problems over silly issues, then we cant expect others to consider our opinions when there is really a serious issue.

I think much of the issue was on Censor's take on allowing films on the eezham issue. A film like Kutra pathirikkai was banned for years whereas a hindi film focusing on Pro-India history was allowed without any issue. This is what irked many people and allowing such a film showing only one side of the history was their main concern.

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**mappi** · 30th November 2013, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Movie Buff

Vidiyum Munn - Brilliant film. Saw the tweets that it is an adaptation of the British film 'London To Brighton'. Checked Wikipedia. The plot is exactly the same. Only hope the makers are more open when they remake/adapt from foreign films.

Excellent. Been waiting for this movie since the poster/trailer was released.
London To Brighton is a British dense-drama with raw violence. Watched it about a decade back and loved it. Maybe will re-visit it to get the basic idea of VM.
And I always admired the sharp acting skills of Pooja + she is pretty too. Unfortunately it is not released here, I think. Got to check.

**hamid** · 1st December 2013, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by ajaybaskar

Madras Cafe

A reasonably good thriller on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination episode. I didnt find anything offensive about TN or its people and in fact it only speaks for them . It only questions the approach of LTTE on that particular issue, which Prabhakaran himself admitted as a terrible mistake. Wonder why the movie was banned in TN. Are we too insecure about facing facts?

Exactly the same feelings I had..

**mappi** · 2nd December 2013, 05:24 PM

Jannal Oram (Tamil:2013)
Directed by Karu Pazhaniappan
Written by Sugeeth
Music by Vidyasagar

Starring : Parthiban, Vimal, Rajesh, Manisha Yadav, a bus & passengers

A tale of bond formed on the road - On the bus route Palani to Pannaikadu, the regular passengers of the surrounding towns and villages get well along with its "drunken" driver (Parthiban) & "clown" conductor (Vimal). Karuppu & Subbu shuttle between these 2 towns once everyday and pass their night in the respective town, thus getting very well acquainted with the locals. AnnaSir (Rajesh) is a respected man in Pannaikadu who is all set to arrange the marriage between his son Shiva with his god-daughter Nirmala. After a bus breakdown incident, Subbu the conductor takes control of the bus as Karrupu is completely drunk, resulting in an accident. They put the wounded man in a jeep to the hospital - Who is this wounded man, what happened to him & how he is related to the locals - rest is a suspense drama about how Karruppu and Subbu come out of this nasty suituation.

Jannal Oram comfortably takes the old-school narrative. Karu Pazhaniappan balances his characters throughout the movie. He has given a "Jannal Oram" feel, that is, you know the characters but nothing much about them, even though couple of back stories and romance in the song sequences develops timidly the nature of few main characters. The dialogues are witty at places, the situations were quite funny but what rolls the movie forward is the suspense element. If not indulged in guessing game but just allow the director to visually narrate a story, this movie is a fun watch. Even though the movie seems to be simple, the end episodes have been crisply done, much attention has been given to these parts. The scenery in and around where the story takes place has been wonderfully captured. Also, the villagers, their dress code, the town set up etc., got all my attention. It was a pleasant watch.

Parthiban delivers quite naturally, his witty lines are enjoyable. He casually plays the play-boy driver that he is so believable. Vimal got back a character in which he suits. He uses the support of Parthiban well, and excels in his role as a conductor. While watching the movie I got reminded of Murali, he would have been more perfect. Manisha Yadav is pretty in her "half-saree", but all she does is smile. Just another thought - how would Pandiya Nadu been if Rajesh was casted as Vishal's father. What an artist Rajesh is - perfect and measured performance. Add his voice and that saintly smile - have all the factors to get you hooked to every scene he is present. The other characters played by different artists are quite gripping that it carries the movie forward.

Vidyasagar tries to punctuate his presence, but only his absence is prominent. Even though few songs craves attention, they sound to be coming from one of his favorite jukebox. As the movie advances, I was completely taken into the film and failed to note any BGM, maybe there were few good ones. I understand that Karu Pazhaniappan did not want to stress the audience, but his hesitance to take the movie to a darker note comes to light as the movie advances. Personally, I felt that more darker elaborations would have given the film an entirely another dimension. A bond is woven with emotions, and its completely missing here : example Karrupu & Subbu's bonding loosely hangs around Karruppu's sister which Subbu has not even seen. Likewise the whole emotional elements are missing in the bondage between any 2 characters, be it romance or a relationship. The integration part does not work either - different people practicing different religion living together in harmony. Too many characters and rushed dialogues does not fit in many situations. It was like assembling scenes picking it randomly from a pot of written play.

Jannal Oram : Breezy

**NOV** · 2nd December 2013, 05:30 PM

JO is only playing in one cinema near my place.
OTOH Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham is playing in several cinemas....

**mappi** · 2nd December 2013, 06:20 PM

Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham - the mythological side-story was quite hilarious - Gods with High-tech gadgets who do not hesitate to call in Steve Jobs for a computer boot problem. Manobala as Naradar with a guitar and Subramanium as the Project Manger Shiva were hilarious. So is Devadarshini as Parvathi - check her out while the pava-puniya kannaku of the 4 friends are brought to Kailash. After IABalakumar, the movie treats itself as a spoof and never shies down to look at itself as a movie - it uses Facebook/Twitter comments as dialogues : Naradar says 1st half good, 2nd half mokka - plus it glorifies, as usual, Powerstar & Sam Anderson. No idea why Venkat Prabhu comes on and off jiggling each time ! The 4 friends humor, mostly provoked by VTV Ganesh, depends on your tolerance level [Nov, Check PM]. As usual went to see the film for Jai, and as usual he disappoints.

On a side note : watching it with teens / kids is a risk, as certain situations & dialogues may put the parents in the discomfort zone.

Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham - Nothing New, well, actually Nothing at all.