Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam is a comprehensive take on relationships and arranged marriages which is made in a bold fashion and greatly benefits from the fresh blood in the form of a debutant director and fresh faces to Tamil cinema. Despite a weak ending, it’s a well-conceived movie that can strike the right chord with adults.
With an interesting characterization of the protagonist and a gripping narrative around the police milieu, Anucharan makes an impressive debut. He can be forgiven for attempting to add some forced sensation to the climax on the grounds that he is a promising film-maker!
Point Break is one of those that can market itself just by using the marvelous stunt sequences on show. However, a bunch of daredevilry cobbled together don’t make for an engaging film and as a result the overall movie falls flat.
The film conveys thoughts on 'relationship' that has seen enough years for the individual space of the ones involved blur and obsession to creep in. A third person's contribution in providing a fresh perspective to sort the unsettled dust forms the major chunk of the short. The idea chosen to provide this perspective is radical, yet pleasant and the casting of Balaji for it seems to have done the trick as he comfortably carries it to coast.
The final quarter of the year started off with the much-expected experimental Vijay film Puli which tamed timidly. A flurry of small releases over the next few weeks meant the weekend that saw the release of Naanum Rowdydhaan & 10 Endrathukulla a prominent one. While NRD got a positive verdict, the Vikram starrer failed to arouse the Box office. Then came the traditional Deepavali festival weekend which saw Kamal‘s Thoonga Vanam & Ajith‘s Vedalam release both catering to its own set of target audiences. Towards the end of the year, the films that created the buzz were small ones big in heart and ambition – 3 of which make it to our picks for the quarter. The year ended though with the jaded and uninventive Thanga Magan, an unpleasant reminder that Tamil Films have not completely come of age. Let’s look forward to a nice 2016.
The sequel to Pandiraj’s National Award Winning Pasanga certainly does not match up to the predecessor as it turns preachy & paints an ideal picture as the solution resulting in a lot of artificiality. However, the film cannot be totally dismissed as it brings to the table a contemporary & pertinent issue that needs more attention.
Jilebi starts off like every other Gen-Y short film where two young folks talk on phone in a somber tone with expletives thrown around casually. Of course, there are some good lines amidst the conversation like the where 'Game of Thrones' is described as 'Bit ku naduvule thaan kathai'! The narrative jumps into serious mode with Akshay-Prithu’s fabulous background score accompanying it.
The short (read very short) film ventures out to prove its opening statement that Love is Blind, Shameless and Brainless, with a quirky little story - rather two of them! The way the first one was played out had some decent humor built on a funny conversation. The haphazard cuts, inconsistent frames and unconvincing acting made it look a lot less professional. The music was quite well done with the second story and the dialogues were casual and just suited to the theme and characters despite having a couple of cuss words chosen in pretty bad taste as they were not of real significance. The three characters in the second story did a fine job with their acting.
The aptly named ‘Tanglish’ captures your attention right from the credits where it thanks The Rock, Guy Ritchie & MSV-Ramamurthy. Similarly the in-film animation sequences also attract us towards the film. There are some wonderful phrases that are spoken in ultra-casual yet effective fashion like how a crying kid in Chennai is asked to lament saying ‘Mummy’ instead of ‘அம்மா’, how “Dude in Tamizh is DA” and so many such instances. The female lead & the English speaking car-owner are very interesting characterizations that you do not come across very often on celluloid.
Without the deliberate messaging towards the end & heroics, the film may have passed as a realistic take on family, values and money. With it, sadly, it doesn’t pass as a formulaic commercial entertainer either for want of a better villain to elevate its hero & ends up in no man’s land.
