Witness Review

Shanmuga Rajan (Known for his role Peikkaaman in Virumandi) as Lawyer Sivaprakasam is as brilliant as Jai Bhim's Chandru in *Witness* movies in Sony Liv. It is a very very hard hitting movie, which leaves a tight slap against couple of key issues in the social system and a potential chain effect of one issue leading over the other. There is no beating around the bush or no songs or any unnecessary dragging scenes in the screenplay and the director is on point on what needs to convey in this high quality film. Definitely not a just entertainment film, rather the film doesn't hesitate in calling a spade a spade and sticks to the reality. Movies like this is kind of a social science lessons for kids growing as it leads them to ask and explore more on the various aspects of the current system and it could inspire them to be a problem solver in future

Pettaikaali Review (My view)

Pettaikaali in Aha, is an example of the finest film making. Top notch quality content which can even be case studies for many film institute The extensive amount of hard work done by the director Rajkumar is mind blowing and the producer Vetrimaran did mention he is gonna use all the intel from this for Surya next film "Vaadivasal" From what I heard the director waited and shot the series in live Jallikatu and a series like this I wished it was in Netflix for the world to see this master class, as it literally takes you to the Vaadivasal arena SaNa Music 👌

Stateless - My View: Not a review

Series Name: STATELESS

Number of Episodes: 6

Language: English (mostly)

OTT: Netflix

My View:

Brilliant is an understatement for this emotional series based on the true event. I will definitely go with full points for this. Be it the 2 Tamil guys on the roof, The Afghan and Iraq family and detainees, you could feel their pain throughout. 

I have to start with the fact that this is not written to be a docu-drama, rather the screenplay and the characterization of every characters in this series have lived the life of the original people. One of of the most gripping drama series which I have watched in the recent times. The series is about the life of the refugees in the Australian detention center, who is seeking for Asylum and visa for a better life. 

The writers did an excellent job in carrying out the emotions that both the officers and the people who were impacted, which reemphasize the fact all humans are good and they wanted to do good, but circumstances and scenario make them to deviate from the default good character.

The final episode and the final few minutes are too emotional and also its an eye opening on what all the families under various scenarios across the world had to go through and take the tough decision of leaving their country.

MUST WATCH --->  100/100

Ragnarok Season 1 - My view ( not a review)

Series Name: Ragnarok - Season 1

Language: Norwegian 

OTT: Netflix

My view:

My first Norwegian movie/series, and glad I watched it. It's brilliant on its own. I would say the Genre is a mix of Feel Good, Action , thriller and few more which I wouldn't reveal much. The most awesome of all is the location and every long shot in the screenplay is a wallpaper. The lead actor's gethu and attitude is just brilliant and they way he carried over the the first season is amazing. The first season is 6 episodes and its a good one to start and complete in a weekend.

I would go with 90/100 for this series first season and my reduction is something related to not believing in few aspects compared to reality. The reduction points reason is not a show stopper for sure, but I just felt it.

Kaval Thurai Ungal Nanban - My View ( Not a Review)

 Movie Name: Kaval Thurai Ungal Nanban

Language: Tamil

OTT: Zee 5

My View:

First minute to last minute the movie is brilliant and stays with our nerves with the excitement and tension on what's gonna happen next. Very Very Hard hitting movie based on a real life incident, and once you watched to movie, it would leave an impact.

I will go with 100/100 for this movie. It's not a feel good, horror, action movie. but its a dramatic thriller and the way the completed the climax with the movie title at the last has the directors touch. If not based on the real life, the story could have moved in a different way, but truth to be told is held. One of a very high quality movie that will leave you with an impact throughout

Methagu - my View (not a review)

 Movie Name: Methagu

Language: Tamil

OTT: BS Live

My View:

A very honest and good biopic movie on the early life of  the revolutionary leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The movie showcases the events focused between 1954 and 1975 in the life of Prabhakaran and eagerly expecting for the second part. 

The makers of the movie have put in a sincere effort with the the given budget and resource and though certain locations didn't bring back the authenticity, credit must be given to their efforts. Kudos to the makes for factually maintaining the event and characters authenticity and and brave enough to make use of the original names and the events which happened during the couple of decades.

In spite of being a low budget movie, credit goes to the direction, music, cinematography and the actors. Overall, a very good movie which takes its own pace in establishing the story and staying true to it. Hoping for a second part of the movie. 

I had a chance to pause and learn more on Google events depicted in the movie, be it the 4th World Tamil Research Conference or the names the Mayors/Politicians/Cops and it was 

I would go with 90/100 as this is a subject that interests me for learning. May be certain locations didn't give the actual feel of the story happening in Sri Lanka, but nevertheless given the budget and wonderful effort by the team, this shouldn't be an issue for the movie lovers who have interest in the subject.

Mare of East town

Name of the Series: Mare of East Town

Language:  English

OTT: Hot Star

Episode 1:

The episode 1 is more like a character introduction and getting yourself set up for the environment of the small Town, and the stage is set during the final few minutes of the episode, by revealing what is supposed to happen in the upcoming episodes. In terms of engagement factor,  it is definitely slow and not much boring, having learn the genre is a crime drama, no complaint so far.

(Views on next episodes coming up)

Thaen Movie - My View (not a review)

 Movie: Thaen

OTT: Sony Liv

Language: Tamil

My View:

First half is like a "Feel the Breeze" feeling and what a wonderful cinematography to take us through the hills, of TN Kerala border. The movie is written awards all over and hence it falls into 20% of non engaging/feeling bad atmosphere scenario for me. I would go with 80/100 for this wonderful movie. If you are a fan of action, thriller genre and doesn't want the story to be on the dip of a wave, probably a testing second half. Again quality of the movie throughout is brilliant.

Jagame Thanthiram - My View (not a review)

 Movie: Jagame Thanthiram

Langauege : Tamil

OTT: Netflix

My View:

I personally think the style of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro & Quentin Tarantino, which Karthik Subaraj(KS) likes, made him to do lots of inspiring scenes. The movie needed some time initially, as they need to establish the base, but felt the screenplay because of this was like bits and pieces initially. Could have done a better job. KS did say that his one liner of Mix of Foreign + Indian gangster, about this movie. He initially planned this in NY and also I guess he approached Al Pacino.

Gotto admit the fact that Karthik Subaraj did a good job to not dub the English dialogues, and as I could see the actual raw conversation. But at the same time this also would have an impact on commercial impact ( probably since Netflix, he went with this). This is definitely not the best of KS and not cult, and KS should have carried over his own style over inspiring his favorite stars. One liner is really good and I felt could have been dealt much better. I used to imagine when I watch some English thrillers, what would be if we need to have an Indian hero here and KS brought in a good visualizing and even maintained the authenticity of Football reference. Should give kudos to him. At the same time, KS has set a good profile for himself, the expectations were carrying in high of this genre.

The mid and post mid portion of the movie I felt really good and it worked for me. Kind of interesting sequence between Shivdoss and Peter. The emotional connect of what happened to Tamils in Sri Lanka was explained very well and kudos for good acting. They touched the key point on what India failed to do, which various European and other countries like Australia, NZ took, by welcoming in Tamils form Sri Lanka during war and gave them status. Many Indian & TN politician played politics all the time and made use of the situation for vote bank, and did not do enough.

I think the story's thought process is complex and challenging. Presenting the blend of 3 Key issues under 3 hours i.e, Gang War, Immigrant Issue, SL Tamil issue is definitely tough and I feel though we can appreciate KS for a try, but I doubt if he has executed extremely well. It's not bad and definitely somewhere just on par.I really wanted to KS to make a full fledge movies/series on SL Tamils and use this medium to educate and understand the struggle they went through.

Summarizing it, many dialogues were really good, especially from the "Murugesan" who acted as a dishwasher and thought process of the story is good, but felt could have had a better execution, to fall into cult category. The finishing touch on giving water is brilliant and so does the camera circling up two persons on 2 incidents, is a symbolic representation shift in things is about to happen. Those were few of the very good KS's touch. I liked it and felt could have been better with much more engaging factor and will go with 80/100

Dia Movie - My View

Movie Name: Dia

Language: Kannada

OTT: Amazon Prime 

My view:

The move is so heartful and has the soul and pain. The stroy's depth and its simplicity with an amazing feel good background music takes this movie into a cult status in Kannada Film industry. The charactreization of the lead actors ( the 3 main leads) is potrayed beautifully and the story progresses without any hiccups. 

I would go with 90/100 and the only reason I had to reduce the the 10 points is "one portion" of the movie ( didn't want to say which portion it is to not reveal any spoilers).. I don't question "that portion" from the director, but may the atomsphere and timings I watched the movie some time back, didn't want to take that climax and thought about an alternative.

Neverthless, its a really a good movie for m

Vishwaroopam Review - My View

Seldom you could see some films which produces two kind of audience reaction, after viewing the film,

i) "Superb Film"

ii) Can't understand the film.

Vishwaroopam falls in this category.

Gone are the days, where we would claim Tamil movies as "On Par With Hollywood" and Vishwaroopam breaks this jinx and went one step ahead, to be acclaimed as " It is an Hollywood film in Tamil language." As experts suggest,if Kamal is a Universal Hero, then his prefix for Directional field is,

(Universal Hero) + 1 = Universal Director.

Amount Spent Vs Satisfaction:

Total amount spent: 10 $ ( Yes, watched in USA)

The movie starts of in a slow pace and picks up with a jet speed during the transformation scene, supported by stupendous music which catches the pulse of the audience.Though I couldn't get the best of the best feeling, thanks to not a quality theater, but still it was the best scene in recent times. Take away 4$ for that scene alone.

Then comes the Afghanistan Scene, where most of them say, they couldn't understand, but that the part where the Tamil film has become an International film. Kamal proves an example of other Indian Artist how top act like an RAW agent. Brilliant portrayal of mix of war and emotions where shown in those scenes in Afghanistan. The way Kamal looks the child after the suicide attack, is a the message of the world and also depicts the ugly face of the war. Take away 8$ for that, since it will be completely new for Tamil and Indian cinema, of that standards, and that is why I mentioned it is an "Holywood film in Tamil language".

Then comes the thriller revealing scenes at USA. I guess not many would have seen a series called 24 where Jack Bauer deals with terrorists and other stuffs. It was the best for me and when I went in to watch Vishwaroopam I thought our film will have the same theme as 24. But on the other hand, Kamal proved me wrong, and he dealt it in a completely different way and believe it or not, he never showcased as one man army as Jack did in 24. Vishwaroopam was more practical at later part in USA. Take a bow Kamalji. Take 5$ for that.

Editing. That is the backbone of the movie. If you clearly see, hardly any logic missed in the movie. Everything is covered in this movie, and this could be possible only because of wonderful editing. Wow is the only word of appreciation for this marvelous job. It was supported by very good cinematography. In general technical aspects is an asset for the film. Take 10$ for that.

From my perspective I felt that they could have done some more good work on graphics, like helicopter stuffs. Andrea role is a doubt for all, may be Kamal will reveal the importance of the role in second part. On the whole just -1$ for negative shade for the film.

Satisfaction Index:

Total: 4$ + 8$ + 5$ + 10$ - 1$ = 26$

Ticket Cost: 10$

Satisfaction Index: 26$ - 10$ = 16%

Brillaint Film

Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya (KLTA) - My View

Power star before 2 months in Vijay TV : "Enaku Tamil Natla 50 lakhs Rasigargal"

Everyone Laughed....

But now after watching KLTA... everyone laughed again and become his fan :)

Not a big story... not the best screenplay as "Indru Poi Nalai Va"... but worthy worthy..

First Half: Good and no boring
Second Half: Sooooo much fun. Really Njoyable

Every action of POWER Star is a laugh riot. Santhanam Timing Comedy is very brilliant in this movie. A scene where Power Star was scolding when Sandhanam left in an Ambulance and when Power star comes down from stairs, Santhanam used to give the best timing comedy.

Sandy's song is great and great cheer....

Less songs proved more effective...

Please go and watch KLTA.. and that too if you are watched in packed house the reception Power Star gets is a wonderful experiance

Alex Pandian Movie - My View

From my perspective Alex Pandian is probably the worst of the worst movie that one could watch in theater. If something Santhanam can do to save the movie is, that he brings the result of the movie from Very Very worst to Worst.

AP made even Saugni, Sura, Villu, Vandhan Vendran, Rajapattai better,

Nothing is good about the movie and in the name of comedy Karthi is just wasting the time of people who spend 120 rupees to watch his movie. Worst Direction followed by worst screenplay. 

When the Tamil Cinema is trying to go to global standards, this kind of movie must be banned even before releasing in theater. This is a back mark for Tamil Cinema. If logic is not there, it is fine, but if you tend to do things even superman can't do, then it is totally useless. Example: In one scene Karthi driving Omni and he uses his Aruva  (Big Knife), and damages the Sumo's car, to destroy it. Totally Nonsense

My satisfaction Index for the movie vs Ticket cost spent:

Ticket Cost Spent: Rs 120

Satisfaction Index:: - Rs 100 ( Total Headache)

So I want 220 Rs back, since it didn't bring any satisfaction, rather headache.

Note: All this are my individual view. As a citizen of India and world, I have the right to express my view and save others as a precautionary one :)

Kumki (Gajaraju) - Review : Worth watching?

Kumki(Gajaraju)- Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: TBD

Kumki -"a film that chills your eyes with plenty of laughter therapy elements. Above Par technically brilliant film"  

Neethane En Ponvasantham - My View

Neethane En Ponvasantham (NEP) - My View:

In Short: I really felt, " Even the Maestro couldn't save GVM in NEP"

My View:

I guess, my experience watching in theater FD will give you an overview about the movie.

1) Sandy.. Sandy.. Sandy @ SANTHANAM: Each and every scene Santhanam entered is a LAUGH RIOT. His dialogues are English and will be trending forever, with youth, till he replace it in his next movie.

2) SLOW and dragging

3) Too much less interesting dialogues. It will bore you to the core.

4) The entire movie is the conversation between Jiiva and Samantha They will be attracted towards each other from school age, and will split again. This sequence continues till the climax, after which we don't have any chance, will they live happily together or will again split.

5) If you ask me, Ilayaraja's NEP or ARR 's VTV, I and most will prefer the latter. The magic produced by ARR lacks in NEP. But still Raja is Raja. His effort and Sandy's effort are the only highlight of the movie

6) This movie is about ego between lovers and in this conflict,and the audiences are scapegot

7) After the movie was over, there was huge clapping and shouting, and the reason is, it was a sense of relief that the movie has finally come to an end

8) I saw a group of 10 friends, taking over and joking fighting with one of the their friend, who has booked for this movie. May be that's the height of frustration.

9) If any of my friend comes and asks me, can they watch the movie or not, then I might not be in a position to give an affirmative answer.

10) In short, if this is worth or not w.r.t to amount for ticket spend vs Satisfaction Index , it is 120 investment vs 50 Output( thanks to Sandy and Maestro)

THIS IS just MY VIEW

Neerparavai - Review : Worth watching?

Neerparavai  - Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: TBD

Neerparavai -"it can be claimed as a beautiful Tamil movie, which portrays the real problems faced by Indian Fishermen of TN"  

Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom(NKPK)- Review : Worth watching?

Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom(NKPK)- Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: TBD

Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom(NKPK) -"Probably the best Tamil movie of 2012. The result of this movie is somewhere between awesome and mind-blowing"  

Cinderella Man - Review : Worth watching?

Cinderella Man  - Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: 7.9

Cinderella Man - "if you want to know what is courage, watch this movie: BRILLIANT "

The Insider - Review : Worth watching?

The Insider  - Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: 7.9

The Insider- "a true story about a brave whistle blower  "

The Shining - Review : Worth watching?

The Shining   - Review : Worth watching?

IMDB Rating: 8.5

The Shining- "a movie which describes how a cabin fever turns a man into a murderer "