REVIEW OF ENDRENDUM PUNNAGAI

After Jiiva’s lengthy Dialogue

Trisha: You said everything but the word “sorry”. That’s why life with you is tough and impossible.

Audience: Say Sorry Dammit. We will leave soon.

Jiiva (To Trisha): I Love You

Audience: You could have said this before interval. We could have, at least, left early.

If you are not a big fan of reading, the above lines will sum up the movie, in short. Ahmed’s “Endrendum Punnagai” is the story of a man, with ego on a garangutan scale, refusing to budge for others even if it is his best buddies of 20 years or his father or his new-found love. It is this ego stretched in 150 minutes that is both cause and loss for the movie.

Jiiva excels well in his role despite one of the characters remarking, “You can’t act, why try unnecessarily?”. Vinay and Santhanam gel with Jiiva and create a laughter riot out of the first half. But the bromance ends in first half. The second half leaves you in South Pole. You will feel cold deserted and, for a lack of better word, boring.

The second half is, the 60 years of Tamil Cinema revisited again. Heroine walks in the middle of snowfall when the hero sees an angel out of her, a romantic number with the Alps behind, hero realising his mistakes and then comes the first few lines of this review.

Trisha bonds with her character and one expects her to see on screen more often. Andrea is a one-song girl with three extra scenes where she is nothing but a catalyst between the lead pairs. Vinay is good and Santhanam is excellent with his ridicule-humour. Harris Jeyaraj is very badly missed when the audience exit the hall for a fresh air during the songs.

Buddies will revisit their life in the first half only to accept the harsh reality in the second.

A very generous 2.5/5

REVIEW OF BIRIYANI

A playboy and his best friend wake up from an all night hangover to find themselves in the middle of a murder-conspiracy. I don’t have to say what the rest of the story is about.

The cat and mouse play is sprinkled in good proportion with humor. The Hero’s sister herself frames a dialogue, “How can you joke in the middle of such a serious situation?” Therein lies the movie’s uniqueness, despite being a crime thriller the script and characters have taken humor until the last frame. Nasser-Premji voice swap is bound to make your stomach knot.

Karthi, after a hat trick flop, has finally found the success formula which is: The hero is no superman but any simple man pushed to extreme situations can turn into nothing short of a superman.

Premji, an assured in every Venkatprabhu project, has more screen presence than any of his previous attempts. He has gone shoulder to shoulder with Karthi until the end. Hansika is yet to find a role that will break loose her acting skills, if any. Nasser and Ramki, the veterans, make a gentle yet memorable presence.

Music is a letdown; too unfortunate this has to be Yuvan’s 100.

The director has, once again, proved his mettle with a fully nutritious diet.The script has gone to great extents to prevent it from being stereotyped as a Hangover spoof and has even added a reference to the Hollywood flick. It has succeeded too.

Delightful Buffet.

REVIEW OF DHOOM:3

When a magician-thief’s trick is exploited by a cop, the latter uses it to break him apart and end the streak of bank robberies.

Vijay Krishna Aarchya’s Dhoom trilogy, the desi version of Fast and Furious on two wheels instead of four, is one of the most celebrated franchises in Indian Cinema. After months of marketing, I was inevitably pulled in for the first-day-first-show.

But the close to three hour celluloid left a few gaps which if filled could have made it more watchable. There is no question that this flick will shatter Box Office records. But, at the end of the day, just like many other 200+ crore movies, this is also filled with many obvious flaws.

The team has gone to great lengths for the action sequences, but any avid Hollywood fan would link it with several other flicks. Though the twist is revealed at the intermission, my previous experience with “Prestige”, made me see the twist coming a mile away.

Aamir, as usual, excels in his part but unfortunately he is the only one as Abishekh and Uday just fill in the mould and do nothing more. My and many others in my screening’s greatest disappointment was Katrina’s role. Between the supercop (Abishekh) and the Master thief (Aamir) there is very little chance for the Acrobat (Katrina) to pull down her sleeve. In fact the BMW bike has more screen time than Katrina. And contrary to popular expectation, Katrina doesn’t sport a Bikini.

In terms of unearthing the Emotional Coefficient of the leading characters, D3 has tried what Skyfall did to the 007 franchise. Close to three hours, the film really deserved attention in Editing. A few more clean shaves could have smoothened the screenplay’s cheek.

But, like I said before, none of the above criticism is going to stop the movie in the box-office and for the next few weeks, D3 will steam roll every single box-office record in record time.

6 YEAR OLD OUTCAST IN CHINA BECAUSE OF HIV

A Long, a 6 year old boy, is living alone on the mountains thanks to the disease that he inherited, rather than catching it, HIV.

His mother died of AIDS in 2009 and the father succumbed soon from the same disease. The rest of his family, grandmother and uncles included, stay away from the boy.

His tattered cloths and his faithful dog are his only companions.

At an age where he should playing with Lego, PS-3 watching Tom and Jerry, this kid cooks his own food and washes his own cloth.

His formal education was only a term before he was asked to leave owing to his health condition. “We have to consider the feelings of other parents”. Headmaster Chen says.

He uses no oil for salt for his meal but relishes it to the last bit.

He receives a subsidy of 70 yuan (110 US dollars) but treasures the basketball, a gift, more than anything else.

Off late he is show casing his Kung fu skills to his visitors, who have come after they heard his story.

The latest news is that a couple have come forward to adopt the boy.

But who will explain the little kid, the meaning of his malady.

PIXAR'S FULLFILLS DYING GIRLS'S LAST WISH THROUGH A PRIVATE SCREENING OF THE EVERGREEN CLASSIC "UP"

Here’s another reason that makes “UP”, besides winning an Oscar, a very special animated movie.

Colby Curtin , a 10 year old kid, was diagnosed with Vascular cancer in 2005 four years before her demise. The initial promotions from Pixar inspired her so much that she wanted to watch the movie. But her health deteriorated so badly that it was impossible to move her to theatre.

Hence, her parents made frantic calls to Pixar studios and explained their daughter’s death wish. Pixar send an employee and a DVD for a private screening even before the movie released.

Seven hours after watching the movie, Colby passed away.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content or the theme of the movie. I just know that word 'Up' and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that Colby was going to go up. Up to heaven”, Colby’s mother said.

“The Pixar employee’s eyes were all welled up”, Colby’s best friend, Lynch said.

          

TWO HEADED PIGLET

A piglet, in Nanchang province of China, is born with two heads. Accompanied by nine siblings this is the only black sheep who is out of context.

The mutant suffers while feeding as it confuses to decide with which mouth to suckle for milk and ends up failing.

Vets suggest it is highly unlikely that the piglet will survive. This condition with two heads is known as Polycephaly.

There have already been cases of snakes and cats with two heads, in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

REVIEW OF "THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG"

 “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug” starts 20 years earlier when Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf the Grey meet for the first time. The hobbits plus Bilbo baggins and Gandalf start a stream like journey, which soon splits into various tributaries as the dangers around multiply exponentially.

 Escaping and Aiding from the Skin Changer (The last line doesn’t make sense until you watch the movie), venturing into a far more dangerous forest, giving a slip to the Elves, barrel riding through the river, crossing the lake via a barge, through the invisible door, the Hobbits finally enter Erebor, the land that they ruled once now guarded by a sword-teethed, spear-clawed, iron-armored Dragon, the Smaug, that waits to feast upon anyone who shall enter his chambers.

 All leads up to the epic David(s) versus Goliath styled battle, thanks to Peter Jackson, J.R.R.Tolkien and the CGI team.

  The LOTR fans, including me, had a blast watching our favorite characters, minus a few, re-emerge on the screen to carry on the perilous journey that will only get worse with each passing step. Few side stories crop along the way which will make even more sense in the next installment.

 So much importance has been given to “The Desolation of Smaug”, that it appears by itself on the screen rather than as a sub-title to “The Hobbit”.

 Peter Jackson has once again proved his mettle as have Ian Mckellen, Martin Freeman and the Hobbit brothers. Ben Cumberbatch’s voice is totally unrecognizable as Smaug, which only makes it more eerie.

Summing up, a fine ramp for the final movie.