 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Will it have enough energy to steamroll into the following weeks is a question that needs an answer. Sanjeev, who made an impressive debut in Kulir 100 degrees, is the hero of this movie and Sethna is making her debut as the heroine. Sampath, known for his villain and character roles in movies like Saroja and Goa, has acted in an important role in Neeyum Naanum. Set in a school backdrop, Neeyum Naanum is about what happens in the life of two students and a young teacher who wants to break all barriers. Sampath is the correspondent of a convent school in which his son is studying. Sethna, Sampath's orphaned niece, is the Head of the Department for dance in the same school. Sampath's son is in love with Sethna who denies the love in typical filmy style. As is the case in most movies, Sampath's son is the spoilt brat. This is when Sanjeev joins as the dance teacher in the convent. So what is the plot all about? Read on. Sanjeev meets Karthik, a young boy from Nochikuppam. Karthik, who has lost his father, helps Sanjeev in his daily activities and his expertise in English impresses Sanjeev. Sanjeev tells Karthik to join school and encourages him to study well. When all is well, Karthik's mother faints and doctors diagnose that she has lung cancer and they would need 5 lakhs for her treatment. This is when an inter-school competition is announced with a first prize of 10 lakh of which 6 lakhs would go to the lead dancer. Karthik asks Sanjeev for help who refuses by saying that he does not have it in him to dance. But Karthik is adamant because of the money involved. Sanjeev finally gives in to Karthik's repeated attempts. Not very impressed, Sanjeev somehow agrees to include Karthik in the dance group. But Sampath and his son are against it. This makes Sanjeev leave the convent with Karthik and join a Corporation school as a dance teacher. With Karthik as the main dancer, he hand picks 12 boys from the slums from varied backgrounds and trains them. The interschool dance competition is the climax of the movie and there are no prizes for guessing who wins the competition. To add to the drama, Karthik faints before the dance and Sanjeev brings him back to life. I think you would have an opinion in your minds by now. Yes, the movie definitely reminds you of a lot of movies of the past. Especially the rock and roll movies of Anand Babu... fantasy, dance, love, tears et al. And again, we have yet another movie which is predictable and makes you yawn. More so because this one involves school going kids. The direction and screenplay have a lot of loopholes. The one thing which makes an exception in the movie is the choreography of a couple of dance sequences. Otherwise, the cinematography by Prem Shankar and music by Sriram Vijay are not worth a great mention. Sanjeev, Sethna and the rest have done their bit which deserves no special mention. Sampath has been wasted in such a miniscule role. Master Rimson and Master Sachin have done a neat job. The movie could have been much better if the scenes don’t remind you of movies of the 70's and 80's. Neeyum Naanum has a very faint chance to score big. Verdict – Neeyum Naanum - Fails to thrill you and me  | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Karthi (Jeeva) is a happy go lucky young man waiting for a job, not that he is serious about it. He is fun loving exuding positivity always and is popular in his circle. He has a doting family; dad (Jayaprakash) a call taxi driver, a house wife mother (Lakshmi Ramakrishnan), and a younger sister. Jeeva’s life revolves around his family and friends. He meets Priya (Kajal Agarwal) in his friend Sudha’s (a neat portrayal from Neelima) wedding and falls for her. He expresses himself to her in an interesting manner and the ways of wooing are lively and enjoyable. When he seeks Priya’s hand in marriage, her father (Ravi Prakash) does not approve of this and averts to a local dada to dissuade Jeeva. The ensuing events are the most unexpected ones for Priya’s dad and for the audience. When life seems to go on a straight track for Jeeva, in comes a thud in the form of his dad’s scripted accident and the unhappy turn of events from that point which leads and culminates into a riveting climax. It is Karthi, Karthi and Karthi all the way who monopolizes the film in every frame. The growth of this young actor is palpable in every shot. The mischievous twitch in the lips and a twinkle in the eye when trying to woo the heroine are a few examples. Bhaskar Sakthi’s realistic one liners and retorts come in handy and color the film in bright hue. In Paiyaa we saw Karthi getting out of the garb of Paruthi Veeran. In NMA he is just the adorable live wire boy next door who floors you with his optimism, bonhomie and comic timing in right proportion. Kajal Agarwal does not have much to perform but does her part adequately. Jayaprakash as Karthi’s dad is efficient and the subtle gestures suggesting his love and understanding of his son are a treat to watch. The Royapuram dada makes a noticeable performance. The boy with big eyes in the villain gang is quite menacing with his aggressive demeanor. The conversation between Karthi and Kajal over phone and their subsequent meeting clearly indicate the lively contemporary times between lovers. Same goes for Karthi’s interaction with his friends. The scene involving his boss at the liquor shop is one more example of Karthi scoring in comedy department. Suseendiran has dichotomized the mood of the film clearly and a touch of levity runs through the first half while seriousness pervades the second half. Credible characterization and a fairly neat screenplay are the positive components in NMA. He has not veered from the subject and if at all something slows down the momentum, it is the Deivam Illai number in the second half. The bringing in of villains and fusing them at the right place is interesting. A few sequences could have been pruned which could have given a complete feel to the film. Yuvan does a neat job in the music department and Iragai Pole’s picturization is appreciable. Vaa Vaa Nilavai Pidichu has Karthi trying out a few dance steps. In the second half, Yuvan’s RR work dominates and steers the film ahead. Rajeevan’s art work is hardly visible which only goes on to reiterate his success in his job. Interestingly he appears in a small cameo. Madhie behind the camera conveys the mood of the film through his apt lighting. The climax fight choreographed by Anal Arasu gels with the characterization of the subjects. Although there are a few slow patches, Suseendiran should be appreciated for coalescing the energy and entertainment of a mainstream film with a sensitivity of a realistic one. He has the wholesome attention of the audience in most parts. Verdict – A hard hitting realistic take!  | |||||||||
|  |
The movie is essentially strung together with beads of incidents of college years: accidental friendships, blossoming love, undercurrents of jealousy that largely arise out of competitiveness in studies and real life, peer pressures and so on. It’s as if you have stepped into a college for about two hours to witness the goings-on with a sense of déjà vu.
Inidhu Inidhu is set in an engineering college and follows the lives of a gang of students during the course of their studies – four years. They are absolute strangers when they start out but as they are thrown in together in unfamiliar surroundings, the quintessential college friendship sprouts that stay on for the four significant years of their lives.
As a result, there is no definite storyline in the movie. The incidents, although do not mar the flow, also prove to be reason for tedium to set in. But, thankfully, the script spruces itself often with a little twist here and a turn there resulting in swiftness in the pace.
Few incidents do set the tone of the movie: asking for directions to a department, a friendship is stumbled upon, a hyper lover boy begs for a smooch from his love-interest only to be caught red-handed by her father that almost costs him his only budding romance, an unrelenting love with a senior that surprisingly doesn’t go overboard and hence not stereotyped and the sacrifices in studies for the sake of friendships. The English professor, who receives unmanageable attention owing to her fair skin and her flair for the language leaves an indelible presence of college life in the movie. The delightfully bright costumes also play pivotal role in bringing the college setting close-to-life. Each frame is multi-hued and hence makes for a pleasurable viewing experience. So are the locations, albeit set in a college, are scenic.
Thankfully lots of emotional scenes in the movie are not dramatically enacted; most of it is left unsaid and hence understood by the audience, which is often the best way of story telling. For instance, there is no exchange of love between the lovers but the undercurrents are strong that it’s written all over the actors.
On the downside, there are chances that the movie might only attract a particular age group of college-goers who tend to relate to it. Although a strong sense of déjà vu is prevailing throughout the movie, it’s hard not to feel slothful sitting through hence it’s only a depiction of incidents with no drama whatsoever. That could have made the pace brisker.
Besides, music in general, background score and the songs, is just passé and none of the songs stands out. Camerawork is pretty straightforward since the cameraman had not taken any strain for imaginative angles.
On the other hand, if you are looking to be teleported back to your college days for a couple of hours or so, Inidhu Inidhu will come in as handy. It’s a feel good movie. But if you are already in college, you will only need half a reason to watch this.
Verdict: Feel-good nostalgia, with its pitfalls!
| |||||||||
| | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Its love alright, what Pandiyan’s favourite forte is, and he has revelled in adolescent love this time. As is given away by the title of the movie, the story revolves around a young man’s (so young that he’s only in his late teens) attempt at expressing his love. He is only in his first year of college and falls in love, instantaneously, as soon as he spots a pretty girl in his college. The catch, however, is that the girl is in her third year of studies and hence elder to him. Just as you think how much can a lover boy’s attempt be slotted in a two-hour movie without it becoming a tedious watch, Boopathy throws in some surprises, few comical sequences, adolescent grudges and other factors to give it a bit of zing. For most part, he pulls it off. For the rest, it’s left for us to judge. So the movie treks along as Balaji finds ways to express his love to Meghna. He gets hired by another student to be a messenger of his love and takes the opportunity in his side. He wins a few moments with Meghna who is proving to be famously obtuse about her love. However, cupid has already stuck our senior girl. What ensues next is the climax that has a little twist and a dramatic message with that. There could not have been another perfect fit for the role of the adolescent college boy than Balaji. His stint at Kana Kaanum Kaalangal obviously comes in handy and he pulls it off with much ease since the role demands pretty much nothing from him other than playing pranks at his seniors and trailing and tracking down a senior girl to express his love. It’s like giving away ladoos for a person with sweet tooth and Balaji has taken advantage of the situation completely. The characterizations of Meghna and the rest of the crew have been made appropriately and hence ebbs and flows with the movie’s moods. Yuvan’s music is so-so with no songs particularly leaving with the viewer from the theatre. That’s not to say the songs are not shot nice, they are. In a ‘pleasing to the eye’ way. Boopathy Pandiyan’s Kaadal Solla Vanden is not the time pass material he has produced before. It’s much less entertaining than its earlier counterparts and the fact that the storyline has very little scope for fast-paced narration leaves you stifle a yawn quite often. No matter how many tricks and techniques to pursue love are explored, the concept gets repetitive often. It also threatens to border in on childishness and that’s exactly what seems to happen during the course of Kaadal Solla Vanden. There’s no harm in giving it a chance, only if you have nothing better to do over the weekend. Verdict: Chasing love relentlessly! | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
At the outset, in Vamsam, Pandiraj has attempted to record the life styles, the culture, traditions of a community called Devar in the interior Tamil Nadu. There are 11 sects belonging to this community who are well known for a particular trait; one for rendering unequivocal justice, one for revenge, one for adventure sports etc. Kishore belongs to the tribe which excels in rekla, silambam and other such games and always comes up trumps in any activity that he is involved in. Jayaprakash on the other hand belongs to the sect which avenges any form of humiliation. Not withstanding Kishore’s triumphs, he kills him mixing poison in his liquor. Jayaprakash’s intentions are to completely erase the clan of Kishore. However Kishore’s wife, who was pregnant during the time of her husband’s death, decides to raise her offspring away from the habits of her husband which brought him his untimely end. Fortunately for her, Jayaprakash spares her son. Arulnidhi, son of Kishore is a very timid boy, a post graduate in Botany who minds his business. Unable to manage a cow (Asin), he sells it to Sunaina’s family but Asin runs back to Arulnidhi’s house. This leads to interesting interactions between the couple which ultimately blossom into love. Asin plays the messenger of love between the couple and the reason for their frequent meetings. Meanwhile, Sunaina’s father who belongs to the clan of giving out justices, hands out a verdict in favor of Jayaprakash’s servant who was ill treated by him. Irked by the disgrace Jayaprakash kills him. Upset by this, Sunaina throws a pail of dung over Jayaprakash’s face in open street which is the pinnacle of ignominy for a person in the community. This triggers the series of revenge episodes in a relay fashion and where it all leads and ends form the rest of Vamsam. In the department of performances, a deglamorized Sunaina takes the cake revealing that she can deliver any type of role. Although Arulnidhi fits the role of a docile, educated boy, he has a long way to go. The sequences where the couple in love talk in botanical terms is something new to Tamil cinema in recent times and would be enjoyable for Botany students. Ganja Karuppu and Arulnidhi take care of comedy department which are enjoyable. Kishore delivers a neatly crafted performance and so is Jayaprakash. The screen play does tend to get wobbly at times and meanders here and there making it to difficult to connect with the film. Although there are incidents of killing, they have not been depicted grotesquely. The Thiruvizha scenes stand out in their native grandeur and the camerawork by Mahesh Muthusamy is laudable. The explanation about killing during Thiruvizha times is something new. Music director Taj Noor; an erstwhile assistant of A R Rahman, shows potential especially in the pada pada pattampoochi number. He is efficient and sure to go places with the right kind of opportunity. Pandiraj is successful in showcasing the life of a community in its various facets which could be interesting to some. He has fused realism and cinematic elements in the right proportion and has sliced his way through the path less trodden with considerable aplomb this time also. Verdict – Illustrious lineage! | |||||||||
