Monday, 5 September 2011
7aam Arivu on October 26
Ace director A.R. Murugadoss' much awaited 7aam Arivu, which has Suriya and Shruti Haasan in the lead roles, is likely to grace theatres on October 26, 2011. The director is currently busy with the post production works and the music launch will take place in Chennai on September 10, 2011. The story is said to revolve around a time machine which is brought to India by a scientist. 7aam Arivu is a sci-fi thriller in which Suriya plays a triple role: a circus artist, a Buddhist monk and a scientist. Vietnamese stunt actor Johnny Tri Nguyen will play the baddie.
The film is made with a whopping budget of Rs. 84 crores and interestingly, this is the highest budget film in Suriya's career till date. Recently, producer Udayanidhi Stalin and director Murugadoss approached US based Stan Winston Studios, who has created some mesmerizing graphics in Cameroon's Avatar and Shankar's Enthiran, to do the visual effects. The technical team includes Harris Jayaraj (music), Ravi K. Chandran (cinematography) and Anthony Gonsalves (editing).
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Mankatha - Review
| Cast | Ajith Kumar, Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali. |
| Director | Venkat Prabhu |
| Story | Venkat Prabhu |
| Music | Yuvanshankar Raja |
| Banner | Sun Pictures, Clooud Nine Movies |
| Producer | Dhayanidhi Alagiri |
Mankatha is everything one would expect (or want?) it to be: A complete masala entertainer with doses of slickness, comedy and riveting dishoom-dishoom.
...And one unique element added to this? The unabashed portrayal of negative shades of characters and lack of forced moral correctness! Yes. In this movie, it's not always that the good guys defeating the bad guys; it’s just as the bad guys are fun enough that you'd want them to win!
The entertainment in the movie is not so much the storyline itself – which is a dirty-cops-and-heist-gone-wrong thriller – but the zippy screenplay, big doses of humour and Ajith's grandeur and "coolth".
Simple story:
The latest white-collar crime with blue-collar shades? Illegal betting on cricket matches by Indian and international communities like on the IPL matches. Who are the main characters?
Jayaprakash is the unscrupulous Chettiar who owns Golden Theatres in Mumbai, which forms the front for all his illegal businesses like money laundering, gambling, etc. Also the father of Sanjana (Trisha). Then there's suspended cop Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith), tainted S.I. Ganesh (Ashwin), Chettiar's cronies Faizal (Arvind Akash) and Sumanth (Vaibhav), their friend Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra), his geeky friend Prem (Premgi Amaren), super cop Asst. Commissioner Prithviraj (Arjun) and his loyal aide Kamal Ekambaram (Subbu). The ladies in the movie are Sanjana (Trisha), Sona (Lakshmi Rai) and Suchitra (Anjali). Andreah plays a small role as Prithviraj's wife.
Long story short:
Chettiar convinces Mumbai's dons to use Golden Theatres to collect and divide the vast betting monies of IPL's final matches. Ganesh, Sumanth, Mahat and Prem want some of this moolah. Vinayak enters the scene with his cool scheme to take ALL of it away. Meanwhile, there's a special undercover police task force set up to close the net on these illegal betting activities. The money disappears. Chaos and mistrust happens. Mutiny in the ranks. Vinayak strives to be one step ahead of Chettiar, the cops and his own cronies. Big chunks of music, comedy and fight scenes. The plot thickens, the end happens in the series of twists and turns – and it's interesting to watch the whodunit happen and who's REALLY who in the story.
Big pluses:
First: I personally liked the fact that Venkat Prabhu chose to thumb his nose at all the oft-seen fake morals-upholding business in Tamil films. So what if the bad guys are good to look at or fun enough that we as the audience would cheer for them? So what if the supposed "hero" is a cad? So what if every character has big swathes of grey in it? It's an entertainer, not a lecture on morality; our job is to sit back, relax and enjoy the hours of entertainment.
Then: This is an out-and-out Ajith film. He's greying around the temples, sports a scruffy stubble, doesn't have a hero's lightning-fast reflexes anymore and isn't skinny or rippling with muscle. But boy, he's got charisma and style. Pizzazz and panache. Looks and personality. Cool lines peppered with bleeped-out cuss words. The look, the role, the character and the mood suits him perfectly. You go, bro!
Next: Just because it's an Ajith film doesn't mean everyone else in the movie is simply chopped liver. Every single other character has weight and strength. The boys (Premgi, Vaibhav, Arvind Akash, Ashwin and Mahat) have done a superb job. Ashwin is especially impressive – tall, good-looking and a promising actor. Vaibhav is superb. Premgi is adorable. Mahat is one of those cute guys with a mean streak – perfect. Arvind is the perfect loyal goonda for the baddie. Arjun is on par with Ajith in heroism, the yin to Ajith's yang. Subbu is impressive as the upright police officer.
More: Nice twists and turns and fight scenes. It's good to see Ajith getting beaten up a little here and there too – it's more realistic, Hollywood-ian and one savours Ajith's fiery return barrage even more! Of course, comedy is a definite must in a Venkat Prabhu movie and everyone contributes to the haha-factor.
Some downers:
Tedious in places. The movie runs for 2 hours 35 minutes, but feels like it's 3 hours long! There are a few CG and gimmicks spots that would be better off snipped completely! A couple of songs are kickass, but others slip under the "superb" notch. In fact, there's one song with some bewildering background CG and picturisation that can be removed altogether! Some small but glaring loopholes here and there (lack of attention to detail has long been a Tamil movie failing), laborious fights that could have been tightened around the belt and so on. Perhaps the biggest letdown was that the heroines were close to being completely wasted. No – they were not completely redundant; but they were not utilized to their maximum capacity either. Trisha is very pretty and has a unique fashion sense (that's bound to become a college-girl fad) and she's done the best she can within her character's framework, but Lakshmi Rai perhaps has the most colourful role.
Still, all in all, an entertaining end to an entertaining movie. The end credits are un-missable, so don't get up and walk away thinking the movie's over! Hilarious and uber cool!
Verdict:
"Thala-lai" vechittu kondaadalaam – a MUST watch for Thala... and his able boys! Good going, director Venkat Prabhu
7aam Arivu music launch on September 22
7aam Arivu is a sci-fi thriller in which Suriya plays a double role: a circus artist and Buddhist monk. (There are reports that Suriya will sport the look of a Buddhist monk for only 20 minutes in the film.) Vietnamese stunt actor Johnny Tri Nguyen will play the baddie. Ravi K. Chandran handles the camera while Harris Jayaraj is the music director. According to sources, Suriya is also planning to perform the circus stunts he has learnt during 7aam Arivu live for his fans at the audio launch of the film, which is likely to take place in Chennai.
Vikram as gym instructor in Raja Pattai
After the critically acclaimed Azhargarsamiyin Kuthirai, director Suseendran is getting ready for a complete action entertainer. Sexy siren Deeksha Seth, who created waves in Tollywood within a short time, will make her Kollywood debut with this film. Deeksha has revealed that she will play the role of a modern IT professional; Abhinaya will also be seen in a prominent role. Yuvan Shankar Raja will score music and Madhie is the cinematographer of this complete action thriller. Veteran actor K. Viswanath will appear as Vikram's father.
Prakashraj turns wedding planner
While the whole film industry is looking forward for the upcoming Prabhu Deva-Nayantara wedding likely to be held in October in Mumbai, it is now heard actor-producer-director Prakashraj has taken the responsibility to be the “wedding planner” of the event.
It is also heard that the marriage was planned for September, but was postponed to October since Prakashraj is busy shooting for his Tamil-Telugu bilingual Dhoni. Prakashraj will soon make some visits to Mumbai and plan the wedding and reception for the star couple.
According to a source, Prakashraj and Prabhu Deva are very close friends and he has been supportive of their relationship all along. Prabhu Deva and Nayantara reportedly spent a few weeks at Prakashraj’s home in Chennai during their initial days of romance.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan honoured with Abhinaya Kaala Ratna
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was honoured with the Pazhassiraja Purashkaram 'Abhinaya Kaala Ratna' by the Pazhassi Raja Charitable Trust. Other recipients of this award were Lata Mangeshkar, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and many others from other fields. Earlier, this award has only been conferred to Amitabh Bachchan from the Hindi film industry; now Lata Mangeshkar and Aishwarya have joined the eminent list of recipients.
Aishwarya could not attend the event as she had a prior family commitment out of town but her message said, "I'd like to dedicate this award to every professional I've worked with throughout my career and to all my audiences in India and the world over for their love, support and blessings... and my family."
The ceremony was planned in Delhi earlier this year in the presence of the President of India, but due to the sad demise of his Highness Sankara Varma (senior Raja of Pazhassi Kovilalam) the ceremony was rescheduled in Mumbai in the presence of His Excellency the Governor of Maharashtra.
The Pazhassi Rajakeeya Puraskaram, an award instituted by the Pazhassi Raja Charitable Trust honours eminent personalities of international reputation from across the country.
The Pazhassi Raja Charitable Trust was formed with the noble intention of remembering the great pioneer freedom fighter Veera Pazhassi Raja, his uncompromising patriotism and introducing him to the new generation. This, we hope, will enlighten them with the chivalrous stories of the fight against alien rule. Dr. Peeyush M. Nampoothiripad, a young doctor hailing from Meppayur, a remote village in Kozhikode, is the Founder Trustee and former Chairman of the Pazhassi Raja Charitable Trust. The missions envisioned are the outcome of this young doctor's ideas.
Who will direct Ajith post Billa 2
We all know that the shooting of Ajith's much awaited Billa 2, directed by Chakri Toleti, is progressing briskly in Hyderabad. According to sources, the team will soon move to Goa and Tuticorin to shoot some important sequences. A portion of this film is likely to be shot in Russia. Popular model Huma Qureshi, who has appeared in ads for many leading brands, will play the love interest of David Billa in this film. Bollywood star Sudhanshu Pandey, Bruna Abdullah and Malayalam actor Manoj K. Jayan will play prominent roles in this film, made with a whopping budget of Rs. 35 crores. Billa 2's technical team includes cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi, editor Sreekar Prasad and music director Yuvan Shankar Raja.
But the big question is: Who will direct Ajith post Billa 2? Well, according to sources, Thala is likely to team up either with Madrasapattinam Vijay or Vishnuvardhan. Ajith and A.L. Vijay have earlier worked together in Kireedom and the actor is looking forward to working with him again. Vishnuvardhan, who directed Ajith in Billa and missed doing Billa 2 due to clash of dates, is also in the race.
But the big question is: Who will direct Ajith post Billa 2? Well, according to sources, Thala is likely to team up either with Madrasapattinam Vijay or Vishnuvardhan. Ajith and A.L. Vijay have earlier worked together in Kireedom and the actor is looking forward to working with him again. Vishnuvardhan, who directed Ajith in Billa and missed doing Billa 2 due to clash of dates, is also in the race.
Prabhu Deva in 3D film
After Faltu, choreographer-turned-director Remo D'Souza is all set to begin his second venture soon. According to sources, it will be a 3D dance flick with Prabhu Deva in the lead role. Bollywood dance master Ganesh Acharya is also said to be part of this project. There are also reports that the film is inspired from the Step Up series that was a hit in Hollywood. The hunt for the heroine is on/
"Yes, I am directing a dance flick with Prabhu Deva. He is the main lead in this film. I wrote the story with Prabhu Deva in mind and I think it's going to be great working with him," Remo was quoted as saying.
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