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SUPERSTARS OR WANNABES ??!!

2010-01-10T15:28:00.003+05:30

After the Big B, there are Khans and Kapoors to pillar up Bollywood. But after Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan , Kollywood is yet to see an out-of-the-box and a successful actor. For reasons unknown, four heroes are much talked about as the next Rajini or Kamal. But their career graphs seem to be ripples and waves than mountains and cliffs. Am jumbled as to which part of the quarter I should begin with because am sure the NARROW-MINDED fans would rip me off if I give the chronological preference to one and not the other. So I better rip their idols off in the contemporary/conventional chronology of alphabets.

AJITH KUMAR aka ULTIMATE STAR:

Touted to be the King of Opening, he hardly scales up to a pawn in the rest of his movie's tenure at the theaters. For sure, reasonably versatile an actor. For surest, a fragile script-chooser with near to nil knowledge about how screenplay works amongst the audience. Goes by instincts than intuitions. His comedies are goofed up and seems more like dance. And his dance is all graphical and seems more like a comedy. Handsome voice, Slick outlook, Charming smile, Style.. every other asset of his goes in vain. Blame his scripts and instincts. Certainly not ultimate. But certainly can be one in the future with royal refinement.

SURIYA aka NARPANI NAAYAGAN:

Another Hassan in the making is all that people say. Mahn... how could you ever compare infancy with intelligency? Okay.. fine... he seasonally goes the offbeat way and signifies his office. But that doesn't mean every Tom, Dick and Suriya can become Hassan. Hassan can LOVE the lead lady. Suriya can't. Hassan can dance till he brings the roof down. Suriya can dance.. but way monotonous. Hassan is a timely comedian. Suriya isn't. Hassan is a brilliant filmmaker. Again... Suriya isn't. Ok cool... you could tell Hassan did all these later in his career. Am pretty sure by just taking the first 25 movies (assuming this to be Suriya's experience) of Hassan, Suriya is way behind. Considering his recent craze over the loosely scripted masalas and purposeless punches, the one who was seen as an emerging diamond among the heap of the garbages, is getting all bound by the heap, hype and hooplah.

VIJAY aka ILAYA THALABATHY:

Future Rajinikanth? Oh Please... I laughed enough for the day! If Rajinikanth had hit gold with Chandramukhi, he went to hit something greater than gold with Sivaji. But what do we say about Vijay who still survives with his Ghillli glories? Accepted. Action movies are the best way to ace amongst the audience. But such a movie requires a heavy teamwork and a fantastic set of filmmakers to work with. Vijay tries to shoulder it all by himself and flaws. And even if he churns out his flexibility, he has to go a long way to click with diversity and the required maturity. You dance, you bash the villains, you make us laugh. All is well. Give your masala. But give it in the acceptable way. Incredibly Ilaya Thalabathy ONLY with his looks, but not for our likes.

VIKRAM aka CHIYAAN.

On the first place, he isn't sure about the way he is taking/about to take to superstardom. Fine. Forget that. He is crazy about working with the famous ones. He gets driven by names. Another actor who goes by instincts rather than intuitions and an all salty script chooser. It is said that quality is far important than quantity. But Chiyaan loves giving long call sheets than a movie that could be talked about for long. He is an actor who deserves more than a national award and more Dhools and Saamis than Majaas and Kandha(l)saamis.

It isn't fair if we blame the actors alone. The Y Generation filmmakers need to be blamed as well. Their annoying assumptions are way far from success. And the rocketing remunerations and egos. OMG! Are our movies going to dogs? We sure have lost the audiences.

Accepted that the actors above ooze with their own positives but this is Tamil Cinema that gave India and the World many a legend and variety of veterans. Movies are supposedly the strongest mass communication, particularly in our state. PERFORM or PERISH. Don't play with it... Oh you Wannabes.

Sid

ALGEBRAIC AURO ACES IN PAA !! : A REVIEW

2009-12-07T20:55:00.009+05:30

One another movie from Bollywood's bag that is going to be talked for decades to come . Bollywood has been synonymous with skin show and seduction for quite some time. PAA is one of those towering tableaus attempting to break this ice and serve the difference.

To start from the scratch, the credits need a worthy mention. It was an innovative effort to have made one person call out the cast & the crew. And the person chosen can't get any better. Jaya Bachchan had the lifetime opportunity to have introduced her hubby in a newer version. And she was all blushes while pulling it off. Well, PAA is about a 13 year old child suffering from Progeria, who re-unites his dad and mom. The story might be as simple as it is. But the theatrical touch rendered in the form of screenplay and dialogues has made many an eye moist and muggy.

We all have seen Big B as a drab doc in 'Anand', a slick smuggler in 'Don', a mushy mate in 'Sholay', an angry-young man in "Zanjeer" and many movies that followed, the tippler teacher in 'Black' , and in numerous other applaudable and acclaimed roles. But this role of an alluring 13 year old amateur in PAA is sure to stand tall in his filmography along with his other out of the box roles. Auro... Yeah thats his name. Typical to his name, he creates distinctive auras in every other scene. Auro is acrimonious, adept, adoloscent, affable, affectionate, algebraic (damn good at algebra), antic, arduous, artistic, assiduous and what not? By just a quarter past Auro's intro, you seem to forget that it is the Shah-en-Shah of Cinema in the shoes of the thirteen year. A congenital and casual touch to the character takes you along with Auro throughout the movie. Am sure this man has enjoyed the dippy dance and the comical classroom sessions with the kids. If I tell that he is proficient in comedy as well as emotional sequences, I know I would be one of the last persons in India to tell that. But.. what makes the difference here in PAA is, in spite of such tedious make-up sessions and the toughness in the skin, he remained as the acing actor on-screen as he has been ever. P.S: The way he calls his grandma as "BUM" is the bumper humour in the movie.

Vidya Balan was more at home before the camera. She understood that her character had four faces- doting mom, acknowledged gynaecologist, colourful lover and the outgoing daughter and gave all her best to live upto all those faces. With mere saris and a homely outlook, she makes you drool in certain scenes with her conventional looks.

Amithabh's friends in the movie... I mean the kids who played as his classmates did a fabulous job in providing the best of humour. Making people laugh isn't an easy task. And being just toddlers by experience, they evoke thundrous laughter from the audience easily.

Coming to the captain of the crew... The man who wielded the megaphone.. Director Balki. He has a sarcastic and punned sense of humour. His intentions are pretty clear through Auro's dialogues. If people perceive it to be mere humour... well then it is! If people perceive it to be sarcastic and reflect reality , well then it does! He has reflected his elite anger about the society through the role of the prophetic politician Amol Arte played by Abishek. His eye for the societal welfare seems to crop often in the movie. His eye for detail comes along with his agony on the way the nation is functioning. Be it with the crafts displayed in the art competition scene (especially the make containing the bandaged path between India and Pakistan) or the scene where Auro comments on Rashtrapathi Bhawan as a gargantuan house for just one person, Balki deserves applause. He has proved his mettle yet again by crafting a fantastic flick after 'Cheeni Kum'. Yet, it has some boring pieces near and far. The story was pretty guessable. There was never an element of uncertainity. It was the screnplay that kept the movie going. Nevertheless to say that the chemistry between both the B's was cool. But by reducing the humour quotient and the political quotient, and by adding more weight and time towards scenes between the duo, could have made the movie even better. On the whole, Balki deserves a big bow for such a daring and successful attempt.

P.C. Sreeram is to be praised for his simple yet striking cinematography. Udhi Udhi song can't miss a mention with regard to this.

Rajaa... OMG! As Amithabh rightly said, he is one person who can bring tears to eyes through his music , even without the lyrics. All the songs are nerve-tickling and brings out the right emotions from the listeners according to the season of the songs. The 'Meri Paa' song sung by Auro, that is sequenced after the climax is to be blamed for making all the eyes wet. Re-recording rocks !!!

Last but not the least for sure... the real time son and the reel time dad... Abishek. Arguably one of the leading heroes of today. He has accepted a script that would easily and potentially show him in a role of lesser importance than Amithabh's. But still all that he says is that he wanted to be a part of such a great film as he has been in many other flicks where the main face was not himself. He is Amol Arte in the movie who is a plain spoken and pious politician. He seems to resemble more of Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot in his attire. Playing Amol wasn't all that tough for him as he has played more challenging roles. But the real challenge was to play as dad for his dad. He drew a lot of courage to do that successfully. If at all Abishek had flawed even a little, the tone of the whole movie would have been lost.

PAA on the whole puts Bollywood on a better track and has sure raised the eyebrows of all the Khans, Kapoors and Kumars over the Bachchans.

My rating:

3.5/5.

VIJAY : VEHEMENTLY VICTORIOUS !!

2009-11-21T22:26:00.002+05:30

Consistency is an asset. And if you want to choose a consistent actor amongst the prodigious pack of the Kollywood heroes we have, Vijay is sure the best pick amidst the younger slew of the heroes. Be it with regard to blockbusters or bombers, Vijay has never made it complete without a hat-trick streak. That is, consistency.

Now what makes him click amongst the audience?? Certainly, his boy next-door image. Thankfully, he is blessed with a good rhythm sense that eases out his legs to do the rest of the work for the peppy pieces. It is usually said that those who dance well aren’t all that proficient in singing. He has excepted himself in that particular fact. Chartbusters are aplenty through his voice. Right from his first movie, he has been trying to develop humour as one of his fortes. Though initially it never paid off, there are a lot of people now out there to understand and laugh out for his humour on-screen..Be it with regard to his fiery eyes or his super-man stunts, he has always been making good attempts to improvise his stunts and display some entertaining action sequences to the audience. Having the tag of an action hero, he has made reasonable attempts to show some variety here and there with regard to his choice of movies. Followed by a chain of movies that contain nothing but kicks, punches and punned dialogues; there has always been a Vaseegara or Sachen to ease out the tone of his movies and further his appeal in a pervasive way. Above all, he has been giving utmost importance to the C centers that has made certain people who are down there at the slums to feel that he is their household property.

But… there are still various avenues upon which Vijay should work upon to become a complete hero. Mark my word… HERO . An actor is always different from a hero. A hero is illogical and provides wholesome entertainment and nothing else. And being a hero, isn’t a crime at all. But Vijay hasn’t developed all the aesthetics in the best way that concerns a hero. One amongst the prime aesthetics is an aggressive dialogue delivery. He is just able to give us a tight lipped one. All that we are able to see on-screen is his teeth and not his tongue. Occasionally it spoils the season of his songs as well. One another drawback is his elliptic face. He can never show much of variances with his face from one movie to another. Monotonocity heaps up because of this in his movies. “Too much of something is too bad”. So is it with his punched dialogues. He is yet to understand that he has just crossed the embryonic stage and at this stage, too much of such dialogues even bores out his hardcore fanatics. He is resistant in getting associated with dexterous directors. He doesn’t understand that such directors can provide a sizzling script that could just ascend his image and not abort it. He must have a composed screenplay. He overplays by performing larger than life stunts that make people burst out rather than bring down the house for this matinee idol. Off late, certain scenes in his movies take the shape of vulgarity and obscenity, The Villu scene, for instance where Nayanthara rescues Vadivel along with him from the well. All these drawbacks maybe an advantage for his appeal over the C centers, but… there are a lot left to be explored other than the C centers that he should do by making good use of his opportunities and strengthening his talent purse. It is just that he is vehement in his way of attaining victory. Some flexibility for his own good would surely make Vijay scale the greatest heights in Kollyood.

All the best Thalabathy. Expecting a cracker of a movie from Vettaikaaran

HOMO SAPIENS WE ARE !! DUH...

2009-08-01T17:21:00.000+05:30

Blame it all on Adam and Eve, who kickstarted the human genealogy. One planet isn't enough for us. Thus, researching the possibility of life in the other ones. We launched civilizations in the name of development. We did barter to satisfy our mutual needs. From then, it has always been "Survival of the Fittest", not between varied species as Darwin quoted but within us, the humans.

Newton once scientifically proved that, "Every Action has an equal and opposite reaction". Am astounded to notice that his theory holds good for our chronic cycle of life as well. But unconventionally, here, the action is disposed by one and the reaction is drummed up through or by the other. Now, you must either be bored or confused. If you are bored, you can stop reading this post or even my blog hereon. No hard and fast rules for such trifling things in life. Isn't it? And, if you are confused, just wait for some clarity, as I know you have a good backbone :D. In economics, they call it as trickle down effect where benefits or burden to a particular arena trickles down to the other in either forms. This is very much against one of the preeminent proverbs, " As you sow, so you reap". I know, you are confused. Whoot!!! Straighten your backbone. Here comes more clarity. Examples are the best mode to communicate. Aren't they? Take it!! There are many people struggling for one square meal a day. Reason being, we hog them all belittling their demand. Now, read this paragraph again. You'd understand it all. If you still havent, am sorry. Better benign next time. :P

Shakespeare rightly said, " All the world is a stage, and all the men and women are merely players". To get your life going, you just need to fake yourself. Now, the very same confusion is concerning me as to why the Absolute Being up above embodied emotions upon us and that too in promiscuous proportions in each and every one of us. Today, anger is an amiss, blubbering is a blunder, crying is a crime, deep excitement is detrimental even when they are displayed to your dear and near ones.

After taking all these doses in these 21 years, am all set to live my life as a mere player, performing actions that would yield the best reaction for my concern and make bloody good use of the trickle down effects to survive as a part of the fittest. In short, am well evolving as a MAN. Hello World, Here I come :)

Sid.

BLOCKHEADED BLOGGER TO BORE YOU OUT....

2009-07-31T22:13:00.000+05:30

Where do I start and where do I end?

My life is just a hairpin bend.

Many a twist and many a turn;

Sometimes soft and sometimes stern.

Unemployed graduates were quite common during the 80s in India. Quite a rarity these days, but for a few qualified engineers. Ha ha. Blame it on the recession. Now, why am I talking about recession, unemployment and engineering in my very first post and that too after a poem??

Am I an economist? Oh puhleeease... I can't analyse myself... How would I do it for the economy then?

Am I a politician? You feel politicians genuinely worry about recession and unemployment? ;)

Am I a journalist? Having known about my elliptic English, you better not think that way :)

Am I an engineer? Once upon a time, my parents wanted me to be one.

Am I a poet? Well, all men are poets in a way. Aren't they?

The only option left out is the Unemployed graduate. Am I that atleast?? Oh yeah, I am.

I pushed myself into a deep well, hoping to swim back with buckets of water. And then I realised, it wasn't a well but an ocean. Chartered Accountancy it is called, and now am learning to swim in that ocean. Sure to come out with not just buckets, but chambers of water. Swimming is what I am doing now, searching for the right shore.

You better know more about me through my profile. And all that I can say as of now is... this blockheaded bugger/blogger is all set to bore you out hereon...

Sid.