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Cast: Shaam, Sandhya, Divya, Revathi, Vivek

Direction: K S Adhiyaman

Music: Abhisekh Rey

Production: Medient In Association With Tarlac And Good Win Movies
 

Thoondil, a film shot extensively in London, tries to fuse romance, suspense, and drama but doesn’t fully succeed. Though the plot has some twists and turns, it is basically a melodrama about a couple that is forced to wage a custody battle over their child. Directed by Adhiyaman, the movie raises questions about biological mothers versus nurturing mothers. The plot revolves around Shaam, Sandhya and Divya, and the emotional complications that ensue when both women stake a claim over the same child.

Shaam, a handsome young man has everything in life: a loving wife, a good job, a car and all the riches that any man could dream of. He marries Sandhya and the couple begins their life on a happy note. But Sandhya has a problem: though she badly wants a child, she is unable to conceive because she cannot produce enough eggs. She learns this from her gynecologist (played by Revathy) who does her best to medically improve Divya’s chances of conceiving.

And then, to everyone’s surprise, and Sandhya’s delight, she becomes pregnant, and gives birth. Life takes on a new turn for the happy couple as they discover the delights of bringing up a baby. But just as suddenly, in a blink of an eye, everything changes. Divya, a fashion model in London, snatches the child from them. Why did she do it? Why is Shaam so helpless though he knows Divya may have kidnapped the child? Will they ever get their child back?
 
 
Adhiyaman takes a familiar plot – the triangle – and adds a new element to it: child custody. The focus is not whether Divya, the ex-lover, reunite with Shaam but will the parents reunite with their child. The director builds the suspense carefully in the first half. The flashback romance between Shaam and Divya is entertaining. The dialogues deftly illustrate the points the director wants to make, especially in a lighter vein when, through Shaam, he makes fun of Sandhya’s nose and Divya’s height!

Shaam is in his element as the hero torn between two women. We’ve already witnessed how sensuous Divya was in Polladavan, and in Thoondil, she is even sexier and appealing. She is pure eye candy in the beach song sequence. Though the film’s villain (or should one say, villy?), Divya plays her character sympathetically. Sandhya sparkles as long as she is the young wife; one she turns the young mother, she is mostly teary-eyed and sad, and her sadness weighs down the film.
 
 
 
Once the movie gets a little heavy, Vivek steps in to bring us some comic relief with his running gag of wooing snazzy London girls in his Nattamai Vijaykumar getup! Revathy is competent. Kaviyarasu’s camera uses the London locales interesting, but for some strange reason, the scenes look grainy, and lack clarity. Abhishek Ray, making his debut as music composer, hasn’t done a bad job at all, coming up with at least two memorable songs. However, the background score is noisy, overly melodramatic, with a lot of screaming violins.

Overall, director Adhiyaman’s Thoondil begins promisingly but then turns unsatisfying as it fritters out.

 Cast: Vincent Asokan, Navya Nair, Vineeth, Sriman, Raghuvaran, Ramesh Khanna, Sukumari

Direction: Jayaraj

Music: Srikanth Deva

Production: Ram New Light Productions Ltd.
 

Rebirth, an avaricious and vengeful relative who would kill for money, an apprehensive protagonist who thinks his wife is cheating on him, and a murder mystery. That pretty much sums up the national award winning Malayalam director Jayaraj’s Tamil debut Sila Nerangalil, a part period, part contemporary thriller. The movie’s attempt – a desperate one at that – to be different is glaringly evident in every frame. Clever in parts and lame in some, Sila Nerangalil plays hide and seek with logic and evokes a déjà vu feeling of the late 80s Tamil cinema.

Vincent Asokan and Navya are a happily married millionaire couple living in the 60s. Navya’s fondness towards Asokan’s singer friend Vineeth wreaks havoc in their love life. A vicious Fatima Babu, Asokan’s sister who has an eye for his money, sets them up and Asokan falls prey for Navya’s murder and eventually gets a death sentence.

Cut to the present, Navya – no price for guessing, she is reincarnated again – is in rehabilitation owing to depression following the aftershock of Tsunami. Asokan – the reincarnated – is a psychiatrist and treats her back to good health, in order to have her reunited with her family, Asokan’s advertisement in the newspapers catches the attention of Raghuvaran – yet another psychiatric consultant. Enter Raghuvaran and his hypnotic tricks, which enable Asokan and Navya to discover they were a couple in their previous birth. Hypnosis also reveals many more such shocking secrets.
 
 
Vincent Asokan plays the role of a loving husband who transforms into a doubting Thomas to flawless perfection, especially in those scenes showing this transition. Navya’s role of looking good pays off well in her 60s-styled role where she seems to totally belong, but loses luster in her more contemporary look. Raghuvaran’s character loses dignity the moment he reads Navya’s mind to the extent of discovering her previous birth. Vineeth is admirable, while Fatima Babu as the vicious vixen comes across as exactly that.

Of the few highlights, the camera steals the show. While the minute details of the sixties sets deserve a special mention, Rajavel’s cinematography attempts to present it in a more than make-believe manner is commendable. Same with the impeccable make up and costume that enhances the period look and feel of the movie.
 
 
 
Srikanth Deva’s Pongude pongude and Enpaavai are songs worthy of downloading onto your music player. Sirkar Prasad’s expert editing helps you follow this twisty plot clearly. Calling Ramesh Kanna’s comedy boring would be an understatement – it’s that lackluster. While director Jayaraj manages to keep the suspense intact in a few places in this two-hour movie, it is clear that crafting such a shape-shifting screenplay has eluded even a good director like him.

After several reshuffling of dates and over 2 years in the making , UTV and Ashutosh Gowarikar bring to you Jodhaa-Akbar a complete epic in itself. Any comparisons with Mughal-E-Azam or Ashutosh’s previous piece of work should be strictly avoided.Besides a good star cast and soulful music, Jodhaa-Akbar has much more to offer. Set in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey — the journey of true love.

The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar’s biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess.

Firstly Jodhaa –Akbar isn’t too complex a film to understand, the script and screenplay is simple and above all the language is simple with a mix of Hindi and Urdu.

The characters in the film are so real and leave a heavy impact on you. Only a visionary such as Ashutosh Gowarikar can dare to do such a film. When Ashutosh kept justifying the shuffling of the release date, one thought it was all humbug. But on viewing the film, you are more than convinced that a film of such magnitude indeed requires a lot of courage and patience to firstly shoot it and then edit and compile the various scenes.

It is so obvious on screen the amount of effort put in and the care taken to craft a film such as this. Just observe the casting of the film, besides the prime faces we know of, Ashu brings to you such tremendous talent that fits the bill even with their slightest of roles in the film. For example, take a look at the Villain in the film-Niketan Dheer, he is much taller and built than Hrithik which makes it so believable in the fight sequences that Hrithik is bound to fall when he collides against him. Also take a look at the various kings, the common men depicted in the film, the warriors etc. It’s just apt.

On the performance graph, no one could have possibly played Akbar with such elegance as Hrithik. Hrithik is simply fabulous. It’s not just his body and looks that impress but it is the way Hrithik carries himself throughout the film. He impresses in almost every sequence. Watch out for Hrithik’s duel with the elephant, his sword fight with Aishwariya , his dialogue delivery and expressiveness when he is betrayed by his step-brother. Also the climax fight sequence has some great dialogue delivery from Hrithik.

Aishwariya stands perfect as Jodhaa. Many would state that after Hum Dil Chuke Sanam , Ash is simply at her best in Jodhaa-Akbar. The sequence where she sets her demands before Akbar are impressive. She emotes well in sequences where she is humiliated by Akbar’s step mother played by Ila Arun. She also does well in bringing out that romance and is smooth with the sword sequences.

Sonu Sood is yet another character to watch out for as he portrays Sujamal, Jodhaa’s step-brother with ease. He impresses with both his dialogue delivery and sword handling. Poonam Sinha returns with a terrific guest appearance. Ila Arun freaks you out and watch out for her dialogue delivery with Ash as she expresses how possessive she is of her son Akbar. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad and Rajesh Vivek  are all so apt and add to this epic.

Defintely the credit for this magnum opus goes to Ashutosh whose dares to dream big. But, without a skillfull team of technicians this would still be just a dream. Firstly, A.R.Rehman’s music is simply soulful and the right mix for a film such as this. The songs just grow on you and the background score is simply terrific. On leaving the theatre you are sure to hum either the ‘Jashne Bahar’ or ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehanshah’ track. The choregraphy and picturisation of ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehanshah’ is splendid.The song that was shot in 12 days is rich in colour , choreography, camera movments-  you name it, it carries all. It’s been a while since the Indian Audiences have ever seen something like this.

Kiiran Deohans brings in topnotch cinematography. You are simply floored by the way the camera tracks out from low below the horse’s legs and various other sequences show you simply how brilliant the D.O.P is. Take a look at even simple sequences where Ash’s brings in a curtain to separate Hrithik from her and the conversation between the two is shot with great style.

Haider Ali teams up with Ashu to bring a screenplay that is highly researched, interesting and very impressive. The length of the film is indeed 3hrs 20 mins but , Haider and Ashu can’t be fully blamed for it.Haider does a cameo in the film , he is seen in the ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ track. K.P.Saxena’s dialogues are terrific. They are simple and carry the aura that an epic such as this requires. Take  a look at the dialogue when Akbar takes on Jodhaa in a swordfight .The costumes by Neeta Lulla are so rich , apt and terrific. The costumes just make the characters stand out.

Cast : Vadivelu, Suja, Theetha, Rari, Nazar, Shriya

Direction: Thambi Ramiah

Music: Sabesh Murali

Production: Manickam Narayanan

Very much on the same lines of Imsai Arasan, Vadivelu has belted out his second venture in the fantasy-comedy series. If Imsai Arasan worked, it was for its genuine, no-nonsense, spontaneous humor set in a unique milieu. Not to mention, the script was taut and extremely appealing. In the same breadth, Indiralogathil Na. Azhagappan has an engaging script, but what seems to be missing from this fantasy-comedy is the sparkling humor that made the earlier one click.

The movie would have worked but for the contrived and stale comic sequences that makes one wonder if, instead of coming up with a cohesive comic script, they just cobbled together an ensemble of comedy tracks.

Vadivelu’s intro, with a song, is definitely on par with the biggies in the film industry, reiterating the golden rule of an opening song for the protagonist. Vadivelu’s fans will be delighted to see him don the lead role on-screen once again. The actor has done a commendable job in all the three roles, as Azhagappan, Indiran and Yamadharman. Of the three, the Indiran role seems to suit him best.

The story is plain and simple. The three beauties of Indiralogam – Rambai, Oorvasi and Menaka – come down to earth on a visit. Enchanted by Vadivelu’s drama, Rambai is unable to return to her abode within the stipulated time. As a result, she is cursed and turned into a stone sculpture. Meanwhile, Vadivelu is advised by an astrologer to garland the sculpture. Promptly, he garlands her sculpture and Rambai returns to her original self. She also takes Azhagappan along with her to Indiralogam. 

His visit to Indiralogam empowers him to predict the past and future of the earthlings. Because of his newfound powers of prediction, the crime rate in the human world declines and there is little work to do in the Yamalogam. Confused, Yamadharman confers the responsibility of investigating this mysterious turn of events to Lord Naradar (enacted by Nasser), who reveals the true cause. Angered by this, Vadivelu is cursed and turns into a 90-year old man. 
  
 
 

Given the fact that Vadivelu’s huge chunk of fan population comprises of kids, the director could have avoided the top angles that conveniently feast on the bevy of beauties that encircle Vadivelu.  Though Shriya looks good in her small role, the idea of having her play the necromancer doesn’t quite create the desired impact. Vandanam Vanakkam song by Vadivelu and company is quite natural.

Thotta Tharani has done an admirable job with the sets, especially the Yamalogam.

J. N. Jawahar’s editing is adequate, while Sabesh-Murali’s music with its tinge of 23-aam Pulikesi, is very mediocre. Costumer R. Murugan deserves a special mention, but for Vadivelu’s 90-year old act that deserved a little more attention.

Indiralogathil might appeal to those who swear more by Vadivelu’s slapstick antics than his verbal wisecracks. Because there are hardly any verbal fireworks, and those few that are there, are submerged in the extravagance.

One more star from the legendary nadigar thilagam Sivaji Ganesan’s family is making his foray into Kollywood through ‘Singakutty ‘. Shivaji, the grandson of Sivaji Ganesan , is the son of Ramkumar and Meena ramkumar. He is also the nephew of actress Sripriya.The film is to be directed by A Venkatesh, who has given hits as ‘Bhagavathy’ for Vijay, ‘Aei’ and ‘Chanakya’ for Sarath Kumar, ‘Vathiyar’ for Arjun and ‘kuthu’ for Simbu. Gowri Munjal does her second Tamil film after ‘Thottal Poo Malarum’.

Recently a lavish song sequence was shot in Kumbakonam with more than 500 artistes. The song was picturised in a festival background with real folk artistes. The song sequence is the introduction song for the hero. Vaali has penned the lyrics for the film with his usual vibrance and energy. According to director A.Venkatesh, Singakutty has been tailor made as a youthful entertainer with all commercial ingredients and he is all excited about the film’s reach among masses.Vivek is acting as a fan of Malavika in the film and the comedy track is said to be rich with his one liners.

The film’s audio launch is recently held in the city with meena ramkumar and actress sripriya formally unveiling the young debutant. The function was attended by Kushboo, Manoram aachi, Silambarasan and Raadhika sarathkumar.

Prasanna Sekar who has composed music for Bollywood movies like Sarkar, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag and Darling is the Music Director of the Movie. He makes his Kollywood debut with this film.

The film is being marketed by M.A.Jinna, southindia’s

 Director: Kanagu 
Cast: VAshok Kumar, Vishaka, Saranya, Sampatraj, Kanja karuppu

A love story sensitively narrated, the script weaved in with humour and interesting little scenes to depict the growing love between the lead pair, makes ‘Pidichirukku’ an engaging entertainer. Director Kanagu (he’s apprenticed with Cheran) makes a mark with his very first film, as a director who has a fair grip on the medium. The freshness and charm of the lead pair, and their screen rapport adds to the film’s appeal.

It’s Ashok’s second film after ‘Muruga’, and the actor shows tremendous improvement. It’s a role which gives him enough scope to emote. Ashok plays Velu with perfect understanding bringing out the various nuances of emotion, as Velu goes through the joy of first love, and then the agony of separation. Debutant Vishaka’s soft looks and cute expressions lends charm to the role of Manju.

It’s not a very pleasant first encounter between Velu who runs a lorry booking office in a congested lane, and Manju a college student. But subsequent encounters turn to mutual attraction and love. The scenes of Velu trying to snatch some private moments with Manju, away from the prying eyes of his workers, and the hawk eyes of her dad, are interestingly sketched out and narrated with some humour. Kanja Karuppu gets a meaty role as Velu’s friend, provides some fun moments. Saranya and Sampatraj provide strong support as Manju’s parents, with .Saranya getting her space in the closing scene.

The film which keeps you engaged for the most part, meanders a little in the second half where Velu sets off to Poone to search for Manju. Scenes of Velu and his friend struggling to survive in Poone, does touch a chord. But these episodes could have been trimmed a little. The director however gets back his grip soon, and steers his story to a satisfactory finale.

The lyrics of one song has each of it’s stanza written in Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi , as Velu crosses the respective states in his lorry. An innovative thought here. ‘Pidichirukku’ is an engaging entertainer, a very promising effort from a debutant maker.

Director: Tarun Gopi 
Cast: Silambarasan, Vedika, Lal, Sangitha, Seema, Santhanam,Tarunchatriya

Tarun Gopi’s second directorial venture after the successful ‘Thimiru’, ‘Kaalai’ shares some similarities with the director’s debut film. It’s mainly in a similar narrative style. In the suspense element he creates around his protagonist, and in the etching of the female characters, who are depicted as gutsy and given more prominence in the script, it is almost the same treatment.

It’s a complicated scenario the director presents in the earlier part. An air of suspense is created in a conscious attempt to confuse the viewer. Various characters appear on screen in quick succession, the audience are left wondering about their identity and motive, their mutual relationships and what the fracas was all about.

‘I want Jeeva’ thunders a woman constantly on the phone, to what seem like a bunch of hoodlums pushing through a crowd, in search of ‘Jeeva’. And there being three ‘Jeevas’ around, one a police officer Jeevandam (lal), the other a rowdy’s wayward son Jeeva (Tarunchatriys), and the third our hero Jeeva (Simbu) who takes cudgels against those harassing women. Its all a bit confusing for the audience to guess as to who the target is. It continues till we get to unravel the puzzle in the second half, when the film takes a flash-cut to the past. To a remote village lorded over by a woman (Seema) revered by her people, and the gory happenings there.

It’s then that we get to learn about hero Jeeva’s motive for his vendetta against policeman Jeevanandam. We learn as to why Jeeva kidnapped the cop’s daughter Brinda (Vedika) feigning love to her; as to why the rowdy advises his son to backtrack from harassing Brinda; and as to why the woman (Sangitha) screams instructions mixed with expletives, to the men on Jeeva’s track.

While it’s commendable that the female characters like that of Seema and Sangitha have been given more footage and prominence, unfortunately their activities are limited to a lot of screaming, rather than any real acts of bravado. It’s an energetic performance from Simbu. Though a bit of guidance would have helped him help smoothen the rough edges. Vedika provides the romantic angle. Nila comes in a dance number.

No doubt the director after the initial confusing scenario, has cleverly knotted up all the seemingly loose ends, and put back the pieces of the puzzle into a coherent whole. But the complicated earlier part, and the attempt to decipher it do exhaust the viewer. He could have adopted a more simplistic narrative style to this vendetta story.

 Director: Seeman 
Cast: Madhavan, Bhavana,Gayatri, Marudhu, Muthusami, Mallika Sukumaran, krishnamurthy

‘Vazhthugal’ begins promisingly enough, the earlier scenes focusing on the responsibilty of children towards their aging parents, and the trauma the latter undergo when they are discarded by their progenies. But as the narration proceeds, the script loses it’s focus, the director unable to maintain the same pace, feel and interest.

The opening scenes of Kathiravan’s apprehension, that marriage may prove a block to his fulfilling his duties towards his parents, are well brought out. Kathir’s best friend caught in a mental torment between his responsibility towards his aging parents and a demanding wife, had packed off his parents to an old age home. And Kathir didn’t want this scenario repeated in his life. But a chance viewing of an interview of Kayalvizhi on a TV channel, her noble thoughts, simplicity and her expressing her happiness at being part of a joint family, kindles in Kathir the thought that she would make an ideal bride for him. Kathir makes a trip to Coimbatore and devises a plan to worm his way into her household and her heart. It’s from here that the script diverges, and it becomes more about love marriage versus arranged marriage, with Kayal’s grandpa a staunch opponent of love marriages.

Some of the scenes here are far fetched, like the way Kathir maneuvers his way into Kayal’s mansion. Again, the ‘joint family’ has about a dozen characters, some of the actors being fresh faces. The lack of co-ordination in their performance, and there being no depth in the episodes, Kayal’s ‘joint family’ seems more like a group of unrelated, assorted characters brought under one roof!

There are a couple of fights thrust in, as if the director suddenly became conscious of the lack of ‘heroism’ in his hero. The characters and the episodes turn cliched and stereotyped here. And in this scenario, if Madhavan seems disinterested and lackluster, and Bhavana despite her chirpiness fails to connect to the audience, it’s not surprising.

One can appreciate the director’s love of the language, in the way he has named his characters, and in his determination not to include non-tamil words in his dialogues (with a couple of exceptions). But it becomes a bit too verbal at times. ‘Vazhthugal’ may be a well intentioned film. But it fails to entertain or touch a chord

 Director: Perarasu 
Cast: Bharat, Kajal Agarwal, Khushboo, Biju Menon, Aishwaria, Chitti Babu, Ravi Maria, Raj Kapur

With an insipid script, scenes that have no logical continuity, sense or sensibility; confused narration, and the waste of talented actors, ‘Pazhani’ turns out to be a total fiasco.

It’s Bharat’s first full fledged action role, and the actor makes a desperate, but futile attempt to play the action hero. Spontaneous and natural otherwise, his boyish frame taking on single handedly, a dozen or more armed hardened criminals , is a bit too hard to digest. Added to that is the numerous, unsuitable punch lines he’s been given. The director should have known the capabilities and limitations of his hero, or at least should have tried to project him in a more convincing and acceptable way.
 
Bharat plays Pazhani who at the age of ten had been sentenced to fifteen years in jail for a murder. Juvenile homes seem to have been unheard of here!. Pazhani comes out of jail and changes his name to Vellaiah. Not revealing his identity, he takes a job at the house of his sister Karpagambal (Khushboo), who by now was married to Jeeva (Biju Menon) a wealthy two- timing charlatan. How Pazhani came to know of his sister’s whereabouts is a mystery unexplained..Pazhani takes on his detractors, foils their plans, and tries to set things right for his sister. With the scenes of sibling bonding lacking in depth, the sentiment factor too doesn’t work out here.

Khushboo goes about her role with earnest sincerity, unmindful of the contradictions in it, and the silliness of some of the scenes. But it’s not so with Biju Menon, who understandably looks confused, not quite sure if Jeeva is a bad man or a gullible one. Aishwaria plays his mistress Durga., her character having to talk a lot! Durga’s hoarse voice puts you off after a while. There is debutant Kajal for the love angle, cutting a pretty picture, trying hard to lip sync her lines.

Keeping the names of places as the title, and making dramatic cameo appearances in his films, has been the trademark of director Perarasu. And he follows it here too. The director who had begun promisingly enough with ‘Tirupachi’ and ‘Sivakasi’, had taken a downward slide with his subsequent films ‘Thirupathi’, ‘Dharmapuri’,and now ‘Pazhani’!

 Director: Lingusamy
Cast: Vikram, Prakashraj,Trisha, Thalaivasal Vijay,Raghuvaran, Ashish Vidyarthi, Kalatpadai Jai, Tanusha

Bheema

‘Those who live by the sword, die by the sword’, goes the caption at the end of ‘Bheema’. It is nothing new; for, we have seen both the caption, and the saga of the gangster and his favourite henchman, in innumerable films earlier. It’s again a sense of déjà vu for a viewer here.

The film does begin promisingly, and manages to keep viewer’s attention engaged for the earlier part. However, as the narration proceeds, the scenes turn repetitive, and the script takes a downslide from which it never recovers. Chinna is a thug, whose men are on a killing spree. But who his victims are, and what really is their crime, is a confused scenario. With Chinna’s rival being Periyavar (Raghuvaran), a wobbly aging gangster who could barely speak coherently, there is not much of an intimidating opposition for Chinna. It’s a further lost cause for Periyavar, with the entry of the gutsy, one-man-army Shekhar into Chinna’s fold. Shekhar had admired Chinna’s ways and attitude since childhood and had joined his gang. The police enter the picture in order to end the gang war. But with no proper strategy, it’s confusion confounded. Some of the fights are well choreographed, while others are those gravity and bullet- defying ones.

Weaved into this is the love story between Shekar and Shalini (Trisha), and of Chinna’s secret love (Lakshmi Gopalasami). It’s an ornamental role for Trisha, though there is a futile attempt to thrust her character towards the climax. Songs and dance numbers pop up at inopportune moments causing a lag. . The finale is a weakly etched one, which neither touches a chord, nor evokes any sympathy.

Bheema

Prakashraj plays Chinna with flair and panache. Thalaivasal Vjay makes his mark as his loyal man. Nevertheless, the saving grace of the film is Vikram. Looking handsome, using his body language to good effect, Vikram plays Shekhar with total involvement and sincerity. The actor is consistently good, even when the script lets him down.

Lingusamy had made well packaged, engrossing, action-packed entertainers like ‘Run’ and ‘Sandakozhi’. ‘Bheema’ seems to be the weakest of his scripts. It’s a film strictly for Vikram’s fans.