Monday, June 1, 2015

Tamil- Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010)


Will you cross the skies for me?


LANGUAGE : Tamil
CASTSilambarasan, Trisha, Samantha Ruth Prabhu
DIRECTOR and WRITERGautham Vasudev Menon

MUSIC: A R Rahman
GENRERomantic Drama
RELEASE DATE: 26th February 2010
DURATION157 min



Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa starts off as an any other cliched Indian romantic film. Karthik (Silambarasan), like any other boy next door falls for simple yet elegant mesmerizing beauty Jessie (Trisha). Frankly speaking, there wasn't anything extraordinary about the film in the first half. Director's marvel strikes you post interval when the film transforms into something magical, each character starts growing on you. You starts reasoning with obsession of Karthik, helplessness of Jessie and beautiful love that starts blossoming. 

Writer Director Gautham Menon pours his heart out to write this story and made it this remarkable film. There are so many similarities between the character of Karthik, background of the plot with Gautham Menon. It won't be wrong to assume that he has taken a poignant leaf out of his life and made it alive on screen. Though, he refutes any such claims but such passionate narration definitely needs an inspiration. He dedicated the film to our true love in the end. What made this movie special was its ending, which was practical, poignant, painful yet very romantic. Hats off to Gautham Menon to culminate the story at a high point, which would leave the audience awestruck.

Silambarasan essays the role of impulsive boy next door perfectly and he was a great choice to play Karthik. His performance was above average through out the film but towards the end, there is a scene (in central park) where he describes his love. That would make a tear roll down your cheeks. Trisha looked absolutely gorgeous through out the film. Character of Jessie required her to look simple yet elegant, charming, strong, well cultured and a perfect dream wife. If not Trisha, you would definitely fall in love with Jessie. 

Music by A R Rehman had a great contribution in making this film legendary. Hosanna in the voice of Vijay Prakash is still fresh in the memory of audience even after 5 years. There is a good mix of peppy dance numbers to slow romantic ones. What left me speechless was Mannipaaya in the melodious voice of Shreya Ghoshal. Voice of A R Rehman gelled well with Shreya for Mannipaaya. There is a sad version of Mannipaaya towards the end, which would make your eyes moist. If it grows on you, this song doesn't leave you easily and would haunt you for a long time :) 

Cinematography of the film is stunning. Filming was done in several locations as New York City, Malta, Kerala, Chennai, Trichy, Thanjavur and Rome. Right from the first scene, film is an absolute visual treat. Anyone familiar with Chennai, would easily locate the scenes shot at beautiful beaches at ECR stretch. 

VERDICT – If you like romantic films then this one is a must watch for you. I don't understand Tamil and watched it with subtitles and yet it left a lasting impression on me.

RATING - 4/5 (I wish same magic was there in first half too)

TRIVIA – This film was made in Hindi too as Ek Deewana Tha. Please don't compare the two films. There is nothing worth matching between the two, except the unfortunate truth that both were directed by Gautham Menon. He still regrets the decision to make it in Hindi that too with Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson! I wish he would have chosen Rajkumar Rao and Alia Bhatt instead. 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Hindi - Watchlist of best films


Gems of Hindi Cinema 



1. Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986 TV Movie)


Court room drama - One dissenting juror in a murder trial tries to influence the verdict with his personal prejudices and biases



Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is a 1986 Hindi film, directed by Basu Chatterjee. It is a remake of the Golden Bear winning, American motion picture 12 Angry Men (1957), which was directed by Sidney Lumet.






2.
Chhoti Si Baat (1975)

Arun (Amol Palekar) is a shy accountant in Bombay who dreams of romancing Prabha (Vidya Sinha), but never gets past following her around without managing to actually speak up.

Chhoti Si Baat is a 1975 Hindi romantic comedy film directed by Basu Chatterjee. It is a nostalgic favourite for its quirky take on pre-hypercongestion Bombay.  




3. Chupke Chupke (1975)
A newly wedded husband (Dharmendra) plays a practical joke on his wife's (Sharmila Tagore) family (Om Prakash), with full support from his wife and friends (Amitabh Bachchan and Asrani).

The movie, a remake of the Bengali movie Chhadmabeshi, was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee based on Upendranath Ganguly's Bengali story Chhadobeshi with music composed by S.D. Burman. This film is highly remembered for actor Om Prakash and Dharmendra hilarious act.





4. Angoor (1982)
The film is about two pairs of identical twins (Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma) separated at birth and how their lives go haywire when they meet in adulthood. 


It is based on Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors. All characters are innocent and destiny plays the main role in bring all characters at one place. Most of the other films are generally based on false characters and deliberately make false statements to fool others.




5. Masoom (1983)

Indu (Shabana Azmi) and DK (Naseeruddin Shah) have a happy marriage and two daughters — Rinky(Urmila Matondkar) and Minni, and live in Delhi. The tranquility of their life is shattered when DK receives word that he has a son(Jugal Hansraj) from a short-term affair with Bhavana (Supriya Pathak). 
It is a 1983 Indian drama film and directorial debut of critically acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. An adaptation of Man, Woman and Child, 1980 novel by Erich Segal








Kannada - Lucia (2013)


Lucia (Kannada) - Live your dreams




CAST: Sathish Ninasam, Sruthi Hariharan, Achyuth Kumar
DIRECTOR: Pawan Kumar

GENRE: Psychological Thriller
RELEASE DATE6th September 2013
DURATION: 135 min

Lucia is a story of all of us, who have a dream.. a dream to become successful, rich and happier. What if we get to live that dream? What if the dream starts appearing real and life starts getting surreal. Do we love our dream so much that we are ready to give up our real identity?

Talented director Pawan Kumar has beautifully conceptualized and narrated this film. A psychological thriller, which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Two parallel stories are narrated simultaneously and seamlessly intersect and finally converge with each other. Idea of monochrome scenes was very thoughtful to segregate the story well.

Strongest part of the film was absolutely mind-boggling story and a superb screenplay. One of the best I have seen so far. I am glad that lead role was given to Sathish Ninasam. He has done a fantastic job and has proven his mettle. An established actor might not had so much of realism and fresh appeal. Sruthi Hariharan also impresses with her cute looks and essaying role of a compassionate girl. Achyuth Kumar is a great actor and was bound to do exceptional job. Sanjay looks mystical in his offbeat appearance.

Music of the film was well appreciated, especially Jamma Jamma song. Somehow, I felt that ending was a bit filmy and could have done more artistically. But, overall a great film which you are definitely going to love it.

TRIVIA – Lucia in itself was a dream and a path breaking innovation in film making. It was crowd funded by 110 investors who contributed to the project through a Facebook page and a blog. Quite unique, isn’t it!

P.S. Movie is shown with English subtitles in theatres and you’ll love it even if you don’t understand the language.

Ratings: 5/5