#Thalaivarda
GENRE: Vijay's first Fantasy Entertainer
CAST: Presence of names such as Sridevi, Sudeep and Sruthi Haasan
DIRECTOR: Chimbudevan, an off-beat director on-board
REACH: Vijay's first movie made in more than one language
#Thalaivarda
Samina Motlekar
'Puli' Review: A Flop Fairy Tale
It starts as a virtual tour of a castle from a video game. Voila, a floating baby appears, a la Mahabharat. One Sholay-like chopping of limbs later, a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon battle sequence begins. The Lion King contributes a Zazu-like talking bird. Asterix chips in with a magic potion. Littered with these influences and many more, it would not be wrong to say Chimbudevan's Tamil-Hindi bilingual Puli is a truly inspired piece of filmmaking.
The story is the age old fight between good and evil. Good is the baby-faced hero found floating in the basket. Evil is the Vedaal clan with blue eyes, fangs and superhuman powers led by a tyrant Jalatharangam (Kannada star Sudeep) and evil queen Yamandevi (Sridevi, who appears only after the interval). They terrorise poor villagers with a Lagaan-like tax and Gabbar-like brute force. Enter our hero Maghadheera (Vijay). With the help of two bumbling sidekicks, a trio of Lilliputian pygmies (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma), a magic potion that works for eight minutes, and a helpful frog, he must enter the Vedaal castle, rescue his ladylove and save the human race.
He manages to do all this, and still find time for long song and dance sequences with the heroines -- Shruti Haasan, his childhood sweetheart and Hansika Motwani, the princess. In between, he learns to control a one eyed troll with sheer will power, pass the Vedaal version of an agnipariksha and triumph in a Gladiator-like battle.
The story goes back and forth multiple times in a bid to explain causes and effects and the relationships between the characters, but still manages to remain convoluted. It is as if the editor has placed the flashback scenes at random. The music, if one can be charitable and give that name to the cacophony, is an excuse for skin show by the heroines and a bevy of backup dancers. The costume design is quirky, especially the fruit- and vegetable-inspired clothes worn by the little people. The attempts at humour are unbelievably lame -- a man with two moustaches, a vomit-spewing giant turtle, a frog that must be licked to turn into a direction giving compass. So puerile is the humor that the biggest laugh comes when in a film featuring weighty names (Pavazhamani, Maghadeera, Nambudevan), a dying character is called Pushpa.
Stepping into this fantasy world of too much song, dance and slapstick humour, into a castle of flat fake easily scalable walls and a gladiatorial arena of cement, one wonders if this very inspired director found the time to watch Game of Thrones. For what is a fairytale without at least a believable castle? One can hardly expect magic from cinematographer artist Natarajan Subramaniam when all he has to work with are one-dimensional sets borrowed from last decade's video games.
puli
A still from 'Puli', featuring Vijay (left) and Sudeep
It is only when Sridevi enters Puli, post the interval, that the fairy tale finally takes shape. Hope springs. The castle may be crummy, but its queen is majestic. In the presence of the evil queen, the princesses pale and the hero deflates. She rules the screen, exuding menace and madness like a veteran. Sridevi's star power camouflages, if only for a little bit, the penury of the production design, the bumbling of the rest of the cast, and the lack of soul in the script. But far too soon, the repetitive battle scenes take over, as do yet more flashbacks and songs, and the fairy tale loses its way.
It is ironic that Puli means 'tiger' because actor Vijay who plays the lead role exhibits not a single tiger-like quality. An awkward lover, a warrior who can barely wield a sword and with no physique to boast of, he is overshadowed even by Shruti Haasan's just competent presence. He simply disappears in the presence of Sridevi. Forget roaring, this is a tiger without even a meow.
There is a reason we love fantasy. It takes us away from the mundane. It gives us hope that one day a prince will come. It makes us believe in the bravery of men. And that good will triumph over evil. But in the Puli version of fantasy, the good is so grating and the prince so plain, that evil seems to be the more interesting alternative. But in a late plot twist even the evil that entertained for a bit betrays our hopes. Puli is a reminder that Chimbudevan's fantasy is our nightmare
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/samina-...b_8231258.html
severely critisizing a film is no surprise but panning a actor like this
mediocricity of actor/star is exposed when there is bad film
Puli Movie Review
Saibal Chatterjee
Movie Review
Genre:Fantasy-Drama
Cast:Vijay, Sridevi, Shruti Haasan, Hansika Motwani, Sudeep
Director:Chimbu Deven
It could be argued by some that a fantasy epic is by definition infantile and it should, therefore, be treated purely as a fun outing.
But even if one were accept that line of thinking and allow the film some leeway, Puli, directed by Chimbu Deven, is unconscionably puerile.
The paucity of depth and genuine originality robs it of any possibility of being regarded as a success.
Puli has numerous quirky creatures, including a talking bird, a wise tortoise, a shiny green frog with an uncanny sense of direction and an entire clan of invisible midgets straight from the isle of Lilliput.
At one point, the dwarves capture the hero and tie up him up a la Gulliver only to realise that he is harmless.
No sooner is he set free than he breaks into song and dance with his erstwhile captors.
The size of the midgets in relation to the protagonist fluctuates all through the number but nobody seems to care. This is a fantasy after all!
Much of the action in the second half of Puli - this is the only passage of the film that is somewhat watchable - takes place on the CGI-generated grounds of a garish palace.
The structure is complete with ornate thrones, watch towers, sprawling arenas for duels, and dark, dank garrets to hold prisoners.
Comparisons with Baahubali are inevitable, but the Rajamouli film, for all its own share of flaws, was infinitely better mounted, told a more engaging story, and had much beefier actors.
In Puli, too, the hero is a foundling who floats down a river into a village. The boy is promptly adopted by the chieftain.
In another scene, having acquired superhuman strength thanks to a magic potion yielded by rare plants and herbs, he lifts a boulder and carries it in his arms.
But neither the pivotal character nor the film is a patch on Baahubali.
The visual effects in Puli fluctuate from the very impressive to the outright tacky. Some of the backdrops look like static scenes in shoddily printed calendars.
The story progresses largely in fits and starts, with too many songs slowing the pace of the film.
In the first half, the hero uses all his spare time to woo his childhood love (Shruti Haasan). Not that it takes much effort for her to melt.
In the second, he sings and dances with a buxom princess (Hansika Motwani) while the girl he really loves awaits the fate of a sacrificial lamb.
Vijay, who plays the invincible protagonist in Puli, is far too boyish for the job of a comic-strip superhero.
He lacks the look and the physique to be convincing when he takes on an army of sword-wielding marauders.
That apart, Vijay isn't much of an actor. Neither his face nor his eyes express emotions. Watching him is a bit like being before a mannequin in a shop window.
In the make-believe world that Chimbu Deven conjures up, Sridevi (making a highly anticipated comeback to Tamil cinema) is an evil queen with magical powers.
She belongs to a breed of people of people that have blue eyes and Dracula-like fangs that bare themselves when they are enraged.
They are endowed with great strength and can walk through fire without going up in flames.
This queen, Yaman Rani, unleashes a reign of terror on the hapless villages that she rules with the help of her brutal general (Sudeep).
The hero, who lives in one of these terrorized villages swings into action when his newly-married wife (Shruti Haasan) is abducted by the evil race.
The overly bright colour palette prevents the film from capturing visual nuances and letting them imbue the tale.
If Puli is really meant for younger audiences - or at least for audiences that are young at heart - it should have gone easier on the violence and the skin show. There is an excess of both.
Early in the film, a man has his arm chopped off. A little later, a girl's throat is slit. And all through the rest of the film, bodies are impaled with impunity.
The Hindi dialogue and the dubbing are stilted. It is disorienting in a film set in an indeterminate and distant past to hear a character compare poetry to the way Gujarati, Marathi and Tamil women wear their saris. Neither than the analogy nor the historiography work.
But that is only one of the many things that are not quite in order in this ambitious but hugely flawed film. Puli lacks the imagination or the heft to carry the weight of its flight of fancy.
The only weight visible in the film is around the midriffs of the swaying heroines. The rest is all dreary fluff.
Puli gets two stars for ambition and scale, but none for execution.
http://movies.ndtv.com/movie-reviews...ie-review-1185
Have you seen it ?Originally Posted by Muthalvan
Om Namaste astu Bhagavan Vishveshvaraya Mahadevaya Triambakaya Tripurantakaya Trikalagni kalaya kalagnirudraya Neelakanthaya Mrutyunjayaya Sarveshvaraya Sadashivaya Shriman Mahadevaya Namah Om Namah Shivaye Om Om Namah Shivaye Om Om Namah Shivaye
Seen it. It is just meh. Could have gone without seeing it. I'm happy that Vijay is trying out new things and I really can't blame Vijay for choosing Chimbudevan. Sure he has given pretty mediocre movies previously but Vijay has always been someone who gives chance to new and upcoming directors.
It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.
- Robert H. Goddard
ஏன் நீங்க பாக்கலையா?Have you seen it ?
நான் இன்னும் பார்க்கலை.
This is a very big world!
Box office India is so biased againt tamil movies? They have not even mentioned anything about "hindi puli" so far!!
This is a very big world!
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/box-office/overseas
Overseas is out!!!
UK seems good. US is bad! Malaysia is OK
This is a very big world!
Puli Hindi. Weekend gross : 3.1crores!!
http://www.boxofficeindia.co.in/puli...ll-india-nboc/
Haters are just confused admirers. Instead of talking about people they claim to admire, they will read, write, know and talk more about people they claim to hate.
Chennai Box-Office - October 2 to 4
Monday, 05 October , 2015, 15:02
It was a very good weekend at the cinemas, as Gandhi Jayanthi fell on Friday (October 2). Vijay's Chimbudevan directed Puli is the clear number one by a mile. The film which opened on Thursday amidst income tax raids on its producers and the hero, took a very good opening.
Puliis at number one place and is reported to have grossed nearly Rs 3 Crore from Chennai. The film, which is not tax free, was received with mixed reports and was trashed by critics. http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice...2&cid=13525926
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