Siruthai Review

Genre: Comedy, Action

Director: Siva

Cast: Karthi, Tamannah, Santhanam

Storyline: The usual double action flick where the one goes on to finish off the task the other started following his death.

Bottomline: Action and fun– though illogical keeps you entertained all through

Of all the 7 tamil films released so far in 2011, Siruthai stands out purely for the entertainment quotient in the movie. If you think that movies are meant to be watched purely for the sake of entertainment and don’t mind having to leave your brains at home for that sake, Siruthai is just the answer for you. Some (read most) of the charades by Santhanam, Karthi and Tamannah are totally illogical but no complaints as they don’t fail to bring a laugh.

Rocket Raja is a small scale petty thief who vouches to marry a rich,white figure in a fight with the local ladies. He meets Tamannah at a marriage where he goes to steal and romance just happens immediately. Twist in the story happens when a young girl comes to Raja calling him dad. In a flashback, Raja finds that the girl is the daughter of Ratnavel Pandiyan (Karthi again) - a honest ‘Kakha Kakha’ types police officer. Villains from Andhra are behind Pandian and his daughter. How Raja goes on to finish the unfinished work of Pandian after his death forms the rest of the story of this fun filled action flick.

Karthi has ventured into a new domain – action and excels there too! Though Karthi has a long way to go to catch up with the acting versatility of Surya, he does a good job nevertheless. Tamannah has nothing to do in this movie other than shaking a leg in a couple of songs and showcasing her hips (could the director not find any heroine who does have a hip??). Santhanam rightly gives her the apt name – ‘makku figure’.  Santhanam’s comedy leaves you in splits – especially the Bomb Squad part. Don’t go laughing too much on the first line, you’ll miss the next one!! Vidyasagar’s music is enjoyable though the lyrics don’t  stand out much. Adi Rakkamma, Naan Romba Romba ( Rocket Raja) and aaraaro (thalatu song) are hummable numbers. You can listen to the songs of this movie from this link

Bright Spots: Santhanam’s one liners, Karthi’s action.

Bloopers: Not much if you don’t count the logical loose ends.

Hit or Miss: A definite hit purely for the entertainment the movie has to offer. Watch it with friends at theaters!

Aadukalam Movie Review

Genre: Drama

Director: Vetrimaran

Cast: Dhanush, Tapsee Pannu, Sindhu Menon, Daniel Balaji, Kishore, Jayabalan

Storyline: Series of unfortunate events in a young man’s life following his win in a cockfight overriding his master’s judgment.

Bottomline: A story of betrayal - interestingly told. Watch it for Dhanush and Tapsee

Vetrimaran once again proves his mettle in this movie after Pollathavan. The role of karuppu cannot fit anyone else better than Dhanush and this movie just goes to show how much Dhanush has matured as an actor. He has lived as karuppu in every frame of the movie. Unlike the other flicks set in Madurai, the director has thankfully avoided the purposeful intrusion of the ‘so-called’ slangs. Tapsee as Irene is an absolute eye-candy and has a meaningful presence in the hero-centric movie.

The movie’s core is based on cockfight – one of the cultural identities of Madurai. Karuppu is one among the many assistants of Pettaikaran (Jayabalan – another commendable cast selection). The only thing they care about in life is cockfight. Ratnaswamy – a cop in town is also cast of the same die when it comes to cockfight. He tries in vain to beat Pettaikaran in the game – fare and unfair. In one such fight Karuppu overrides Pettaikaran’s words to win the fight. The jealousy and the consequent betrayal of Karuppu by Pettaikaran forms the rest of the story.

Bright Spots: Dhanush scores full marks for his acting, and G.V.Prakash has scored 3 excellent songs( yaathe yaathe, otha sollale, ayyayo nenju ).

Bloopers: There are several loose ends in the script and the climax is totally illogical. Is it that easy to get away from a murder charge – just runaway?? The script drags a lot in the second half.

Hit or Miss: On the whole, this movie is going to be a festival feat for Dhanush fans and yes is worth a watch in theaters.

Uthama Puthiran Music Review

Given the past tracks from Vijay Antony, there is nothing much to expect from this one too. All the songs have been tuned to catchy beats and just like any Dhanush movie songs, these will go for a round in FM and TV and will then be soon forgotten. In all there are 6 tracks in this album with 4 beats number and two melodies. “Usumu Laresay” is yet another of those meaningless words to join the list of ‘Omahazeeya’ and ‘Allegra’. This is the title song with forgettable lyrics and after few minutes, the ‘takkunu takkunu’ gets irritating. “Kan Irandil’ reminds at least a couple of hit numbers in terms of the rhythm. Naresh Iyer has a beautiful voice that is the only consolation. “Idicha Pacharisi” has the foolproof folk beats and there is nothing special about the lyrics here either. “En Nenjil” is a passable duet number but what hurts the most is the poverty of imagination that has stooped to a new low. “Thooral thedum” is the only track that will possibly make any impression. The lyric is good compared to the others in the track. The only track I’d recommend for a listen. Given that “Ulagam unaku” is penned by the same guy who wrote “En Nnjil”, one doesn’t expect anything with the lyric but in this the music was also not noteworthy

.

Don’t go buying this album. Hear this one on Raaga if you want to.

Tracks in this album:

Ussumu Laresay
Sung By: Vijay Antony, Emcee Jazz, Janani
Lyrics: Priyan

Kan Irrandil
Sung By: Naresh Iyer
Lyrics: Eknath

Idicha Pacharisi
Sung By: Ranjith, Vinaya, Sangeetha
Lyrics: Annamalai

En Nenju
Sung By: Vijay Prakash, Saindhavi
Lyrics: Priyan

Thooral Podum
Sung By: Ajesh, Janani
Lyrics: Eknath

Ulagam Unnaku
Sung By: Vijay Prakash
Lyrics: Annamalai

I’d rate this album at 2 stars.

Anjaana Anjaani Movie Review

Genre: Romantic Comedy (Supposedly)

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Zayed Khan

Storyline: A stock market crash stricken young man and a ‘got cheated in a relationship’ lady meet on a bridge trying to commit suicide. When attempts fail, they decide on a date to kick the bucket and go about living their bucket list . They end up realizing they want to marry each other

Bottomline: The same no-brainer we get to see all the time. I was unfortunate enough to watch it and my sincere advice – Stay away from this

An absolute debacle. The poster by itself started as a controversy for copying frame to frame from a poster of famous Hollywood flick ‘A Walk in the Cloud’. It was later changed to what we see here. I had my doubts if was the film was going to be any better. How can directors still expect audience to go through a totally no-logic, no-story, dumb-comedy, silly-sentiment movies? The song sequences are just inserted to extend the length of this already intolerable nonsense. And even they are not impressive and remind us of the famous songs seen in the recent past movies.

Bright Spots: Guess what? I’ve been thinking for the past 15 minutes for one bright spot in this movie. But I’ve to accept defeat. Absolutely none!

Bloopers: The entire film to be honest. Worst logic ever – guys who don’t have money to buy tickets to Vegas have money enough for a luxury yacht for mid-pacific swimming spree. A girl who was cheated in a relationship goes off to another city, sets her entire life up again and then goes to commit suicide. Poor humor – if that Gay strip bar was the funny for the writer, for one thing it didn’t work at all.

Hit or Miss: An absolute waste of money. A definite flop. Don’t ever watch this crap if you had all the time in the world. Read this on twitter and find it the most fitting description of how this movie fared at box-office: “Apparently ‘Endhiran’ movie’s car parking collection was more than the first day’s collection for ‘Anjaana Anjaani’.” I don’t doubt it did!

Had the misfortune of having to watch this no-brainer. Share your curses :P

Jhootha Hi Sahi Music Review

I doubt if I can ever call any of the A.R.Rahman albums anything less than ‘Good’ and that’s not just me. “Jhootha Hi Sahi” goes to prove that right once again. I am very happy about this album mainly because of the number of tracks in it. There are 9 tracks - each one a treat to our ears.

“Cry Cry” the first track, is in the same league as ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’ in terms of the lyrical theme sung beautifully by Rashid Ali and Shreya Goshal. Shreya has one of the most admirable voices that makes this song work. 

I’ve still not had enough of listening to “Kilimanjaro” from “endhiran” that the same duo (Javed Ali and Chinmayi) strike again with another absolute brilliance in “Maiya Yashodha”. Awesome exemplification of their unbeatable singing talent. Just like any Chinmayi/Rahman/Javed magic, this one is the best in the album and will top the track list! The crescendo that Chinmayi and Javed build up in the end will make you exclaim out loud. The flute work in this song is creditable and I liked the ‘Jamuna mix’ better than the ‘Thames mix’ but hold on ‘Thames mix’ is a beauty in itself too.

“Hello Hello” made me ask “Hello? Is this from this album or ‘Karthik calling Karthik’ because of its lyrics. Karthick has the silky voice that carries this song very well.

Rahman and Sonu Nigam just added another song to my ‘all time favorites’ list. “Do Nishaniyan” is just a cakewalk for Sonu and it caresses the soul so beautifully. The ‘Heartbreak Reprise’ of this number focuses more on the lyric and Sonu’s vocals and makes you long that it never ends.

“Pam Para” – Ok, I must admit this. Even though it has a catchy tune with Shreya Goshal singing, it is the only song that fails to just sit on your mind may be because the other tracks are too good. Someway it reminded me of Rangeela songs.

Rahman’s innovative trials with the Indian audience paid of well in ‘Vinnai Thandi Varuvaaya’ when he tried introducing ‘Blues’ to us in ‘Aaromale’. His trials continue and this time with Jazz. A surprise in the package “I’ll be Waiting” has been rendered excellently by Vijay Yesudas. My my! this guy is one talent. The ease with which he transitions from English to Hindi  is absolutely commendable.

The title track “Call me Dil” has some interesting lyrics and a good rendering by Rashid Ali with complementing Guitar.

The Album is a definite buy. And if you didn’t feel the magic the first time, hear them once again for just like all other Rahman albums this grows on the listeners. Am sure you’ll not stop humming “Maiya Yashodha” after you’ve listened the album.

Details of Tracks in the album:

Cry Cry
Sung By: Rashid Ali, Shreya Ghoshal
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Maiya Yashoda (Jamuna Mix)
Sung By: Chinmayee, Javed Ali
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Hello Hello
Sung By: Karthik
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Do Nishaaniyan
Sung By: Sonu Nigam
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Pam Para
Sung By: Shreya Ghoshal
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

I'II Be Waiting
Sung By: Vijay Yesudas
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Maiya Yashoda (Thames Mix)
Sung By: Chinmayee, Javed Ali
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Do Nishaniyaan (Heartbreak Reprise)
Sung By: Sonu Nigam
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

Call Me Dil
Sung By: Rashid Ali
Lyricist: Abbas Tyrewala

You can listen to the songs and buy them too here

Heard the songs?? Did you like them? Share your views!

Va Quarter Cutting music review

The mere title by itself is intriguing and raises an expectation to see a well made comedy. It is rumored to be Tamil Padam – Part II and I hope its not. Spoofing movies cannot sustain the humor quotient for long! Happened to hear the album today and I was not expecting a lot (even though music director was G.V.Prakash as this seems to be a comedy movie and comedy movies usually don’t have much weightage on music) as the songs these days do not seem to make a lot of impression on us. But I was pleasantly mistaken, for the album is quite good. All the songs are good to hear and have interesting lyrics. Kudos to Kumarraja,  for penning such refreshingly new lyrics. In an air stale with mix and match of same lyrics lifted in bits and pieces from other songs, his lyrics come as a breath of fresh air.

‘Unnai Kan theduthe’ is going to be a hit among the youth and is sung well by Gana Ulaganathan. All ‘kudimakkal’ are gonna be very happy about the lyrics. The beat might remind you of ‘Un mela aasai than’ – an other G.V. number. ‘Thediye Thediye’ is a rhyme like melody that sticks to your mind soon enough. A very beautiful song that starts with a sad tone but ends on a happier tone. Andrea has added soul to this song by showing the variation of the mood in her voice. ‘Saudi Basha’ has cool arabic / islamic beats. ‘Shake Shake Shake’ is going to be the way of youth for sometime to come now. Absolutely enjoyable lyrics by Siva and R.Amarendan (they’ve the credits for just this song in the album). ‘Saarpu Saarpu’ is a ghana type rap. Cool bit of music and lyrics again here. The last number is the remix of ‘Unnai kan theduthe’ and the ‘quarter quarter quarter’ humming is all that remains in mind after listening to this.

A interesting bit of innovation in this album – 4 dialogs are included as a part of track list! Those are hilarious too. Overall, this album is going to be a sure shot hit among the youth and FM radios are all going to play these songs nonstop on all their primetime shows!

A strong yes to buy this album. Rate this at 4 stars.

Click here to download these songs or to here to hear them online

Tracks in the album:

Dialogue 1
Artist(s): Siva, SPB. Charan

Unnai Kan Thedhudhe
Artist(s): GV. Prakash, Gana Ulaganathan
Lyricist: Kumararaja

Dialogue 2

Thediyae Thediyae
Artist(s): Andrea Jeremiah
Lyricist: Kumararaja

Dialogue 3
Artist(s): Siva

Saudi Basha
Artist(s): GV. Prakash, Bhargavi
Lyricist: Siva, R. Amarendran

Dialogue 4
Artist(s): Siva, SPB. Charan

Saarpu Saarpu Ji
Artist(s): GV. Prakash, Lakshmikanth
Lyricist: Kumararaja

The Quarter Song: Clubmix
Artist(s): GV. Prakash, Gana Ulaganathan, Remix: DJ Vijay Chawla
Lyricist: Kumararaja

 

Did you like the tracks? Do share your reviews in comments!

Inidhu Inidhu Movie Review

Genre: Drama, College

Director: K.V.Guhan

Cast: Narayan (Tyson), Sonia (Shravs), Arun Iswaran (Sidhu), Reshmi Menon (Madhu), Vimal (Vimal), Bennas (Appu), Sharan Sharma (Shankar), GiaUmar(Sangeetha), Sunny Sawrav (Sanny Balboa), Abhishek (Arjun), Krishna (Sanjay), Ajay (Ajay)

Storyline: College life

Bottomline: This seems to be the director’s fantasy college. Unrealistic and Hollow

After movies like Mozhi and Vellithirai, expectations are very high when Prakash Raj produces a movie. This movie did nothing to even get close to 1% of the expectation. The film is a remake of the Telugu movie “Happy Days”. It doesn’t even qualify to be stated in the same breath as the original version say my friends who had watched Happy Days.

I guess the director had not even passed by an engineering college in his life. In his world college is all about flirting, boozing, gang fights, ragging and farewell :P. Nevertheless, the debutant actors Arun (Siddu), Reshmi (Madhu) and Bennas (Appu) have done a good job in acting. The only touching scene in the entire movie was that of MilkPandi (Paalpandi). Yes, that was also the only thing close to reality in the movie.

When did engineering girls and boys start going out on private tours?? I wish we were in the era that the director has dreamed of :P The lone good part of this entire fiasco is the music. The music review can be read here. I could not help thinking that with college stories like ‘3 Idiots’, how could a director dare to make such a bad movie.

Anyways, the final word is that the movie is NOT AT ALL worth to be watched in theaters. Don’t waste your 120 bucks, wait for CDs to come to burma bazzar

I rate this movie at 1.5 stars (My big heart doesn’t let me go below this – few may rate it in negative terms.. he he)

Inidhu Inidhu Music Review

Inidhu Inidhu is a remake of the Telugu Hit “Happy Days” produced by Prakash Raj. The music was released on the Friendship Day. Music for this album is composed by debutant music director Micky.J.Meyer. In all there are 7 songs and I must say the album is actually nice. Vairamuthu proves yet again why he is the best in the business. The lyrics of all the 5 songs that Vairamuthu has written are very interesting, intelligent and meaningful. In fact in some cases (Ammakale Appakale, Kalloori Thaye) the music doesn’t seem to live up to the lyric standard. Na.Muthukumar has penned the other 2 songs which are also lyrically good (unlike his fiasco in Sindhu Samaveli). “Inbam ethirile” is definitely a song that you might want to your collection for a long drive. “Valkai oru” song is worthy to be heard many times for the quality of lyrics. “Kodi Kannavu Kannil” would probably be the only average song in the album but is definitely better than most of the songs that come out these days.

The album is worthy of a buy. I’d rate it at 3.5 stars.

The list of songs in this movie are:

Ammakalae O Appakalae
Singers: Micky.J.Meyer, Krishna Chaitanya, Adithya, Kranti, Sashikiran, Siddharth
Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Inbam Ethirilae
Singers: Karthik, Timmy, Gridlock
Lyricist: Na. Muthukumar

Inidhu Inidhu
Singer: Karthik
Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Vazhkai Oru
Singer: Karthik
Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Ennangal Vaannoki
Singer: Kalyani
Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Kodi Kanavu Kannil
Singer: Naresh Iyer
Lyricist: Na. Muthukumar

Kallori Thayeh
Singer: Micky.J.Meyer
Lyricist: Vairamuthu

Sindhu Samaveli Music Review

Sindhu Samaveli is one of the new music tracks that has been released recently. The music for this album is scored by Sundar C.Babu and lyrics by Na.Muthukumar. I would actually say this album was a disappointment esp because I was expecting something that would beat Anjaathe in music and also was looking forward to hearing some good refreshing lyrics. But Na.Muthukumar seems to have lost his marbles after he finished writing “Ovvoru manithan nenjum”song. The others are just collage of the usual lyrics that we hear all the time. The “Thappu Thanda” started with good beats but again it just didn’t make an impression. The lyrics made me compare that with a better version of the same thoughts in “Sirichi Sirichi vandha cheena thana” in Vasool Raja.Anyway this was a typical Malgudi Subha number. “Yaar ingu nallavargal” again has no originality in terms of lyrics and neither is the music catchy. If the music director was planning to give an instrumental to match “the king arrives” instrumental of “aayirathil oruvan”, I must say he has failed miserably. It was more of noise than music.  The female version of “Yaar ingu nallavargal” has the same lyrics but has Janaki singing the number. I seriously don’t understand why veterans like S.P.B and Janaki agree to sing these

The last track in the album “Muthathale Sanda” is the only track that might stay on your mind.

Overall, I’d say that this album is not worth a buy. If you want to still listen to this, go to Raaga.com and listen to the tracks.

I rate this album at 1.5 stars (just for the lyrics of “Ovvoru manithan” and music of “Muthathale Sande”)

Track list:

Oovaru Manithan Nenjum  
Sung By: Karthik 

Thappu Thanda  
Sung By: Malgudi Subha 

Yaar Ingu Nallavargal  
Sung By: SP. Balasubramaniam 

Theme Music  
Instrumental 

Yaar Ingu Nallavargal  
Sung By: Janaki 

Muthathale Sanda  
Sung By: Naveen, Rita