Uthhama Villain Review - Lifted by Performances, Let Down by Screenplay

Cast      : Kamal Hassan, K.Balachander, Andrea, Oorvasi, MS Baskar, K.Vishwanath, Jayaram, Parvathi.
Music     : Ghibran
Direction : Ramesh Aravind
Story/Screenplay : Kamal Hassan
Cinematography   : Shamdat Sainudeen

Director K.Balachander's last movie, Kamal's tribute to his real life Margadarisi",The band demand by Hindu Outfits like VHP, the last minute financial troubles for EROS and Lingusamy, Kamal's different looks - well, controversy's favorite child Kamal, as usual has huge expectations riding on his latest offering Uthhama Villain.He introduces Ramesh Aravind as the director here, to take over his story/screenplay. How far does this combo succeed? Let's see.

Plot and Performances:
Uthhama Villain is about Superstar Manoranjan, and his race against time to accomplish things he had missed to do.He sets out on a mission to finish tasks with respect to his family,a child from a lost love,his mentor,and above all, make an epic movie, that'll live forever to speak high of Manoranjan,the superstar.How Manoranjan does that , and what ultimately happens is what Uthhama Villain is all about.

Kamal Hassan is at complete ease as the Superstar,at his romantic best in his scenes with Andrea, and literally drives audience to tears in the emotional sequences. He has given enough space (as always) for the rest of the artistes including MS Baskar and Andrea.Though Kamal's look as Uthhaman in the movie within looks a bit odd, Kamal's performance in some of the emotional sequences (Jayaram's revelation, the meeting scene with
Margadarisi and revealing the condition, Manoranjan explaining his situation to his son Manohar,the Sequence where Manonmani reads out Manoranjan's letter to Yamini and the sequence that follows, stand out among other scenes), bear testimony to the fact that he's a king when it comes to emotions and expressions.


Surprisingly, Andrea gets to play a better role as Doctor Arpana(who isn't just a doc, for Manoranjan) and delivers a fine act.Veterans K Balachander and Vishwanath perfectly fit into the roles of a mighty creator and an arrogant producer,and the former's combination sequences with Kamal are emotional.Almost everyone gets to display their abilities, be it Oorvasi in the hospital scene or MS Baskar in his confession sequence. However, Jayaram, Parvathi and Nasser could have been utilized better.

Technical Departments:

Lalgudi Ilayaraja's art work is commendable and helps in creating the Theyyam-Kooththu setup perfectly.The palatial environment is perfectly set.Shamdat's cinematography captures the Superstar's lavish lifestyle as well Uthhaman's period backdrop in an aesthetic manner.Ghibran's BGM is top notch, and Single Kisske passes
the muster. Saagavaram lingers in your ears even after leaving the cinema hall.


Direction:

Obviously, this movie falls into the list of movies which are instantly recognized by any film buff to be ghost-directed by Kamal himself(Anbe Sivam-Sundar.C, Aalavandhaan- Suresh Krissna,Manmadhan Ambu- KS Ravikumar,are notable ones). Uthhama Villain on the outset, is Disciple Kamal's tribute to Master KB, and
Kamal and Ramesh Aravind have ensured that the scenes featuring KB and Kamal looks good on screen. But the remaining part of the movie, is let down badly by a dragging screenplay. Superstar Manoranjan wants to make his last movie memorable, but settles for a folklore based movie, with a totally outdated script and screenplay. It's this portion, that acts as the Villain to the movie which was made with "Uthhama"(Noble) intentions, for, this part focuses more on the glamorous Pooja Kumar than on the acting abilities of the Ulaga Nayagan.

Besides, Manoranjan wanted a movie high on comedy, but the sequences with Uthhaman,are neither funny nor interesting,and you are forced to laugh for few ordinary jokes.This is where Crazy Mohan would have definitely helped, and probably his absence made Kamal settle for a period backdrop, with limited humor. Besides,the screenplay doesn't have any interesting moment worth mentioning, dragging for most part,and the whole movie rests on the shoulders of Kamal, whose emotional tear-jerker acts in sentimental sequences, are sure to move the audience.Songs coming in regular intervals(Especially Kadhalam kadavulin) just before the movie is about to end, the run time of the movie(2 hours 52 minutes) are some other areas of concern.

The movie within the movie, ends, showing Manoranjan is the king of performances, and his fame will never die - Just like how Kamal Hassan wanted to establish that his Guru KB's works and fame will never die. Hope the producers - Thiruppathi brothers and EROS don't get a biter experience at the BO similar to the one faced by Red Giant or Kalaippulu Dhanu. A fitting tribute, that could have been better. Nevertheless, Powerful,moving performance by the legend Kamal Hassan makes Uthhama Villain worth a watch - with some patience.

Uthhama Villain - Uthhaman for fans, Villain for Thiruppathi Brothers.

What works   : Kamal Hassan, KB Sequences, Emotional quotient, Ghibran
What doesn't : The dragging screenplay and the runtime.

VERDICT : Emotional tribute to a master, Lifted by performances, let down by Screenplay.
6/10

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Vai Raja Vai - An Interesting Theme Ruined by Incoherent Screenplay

Cast           : Gautham Karthik,Vivek,Daniel Balaji,Priya Anand,Tapsee.
Direction      : Aishwarya R Dhanush
Music          : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography : Velraj.

What happens when a man is targeted by an anti- social betting racket for his extraordinary ability to predict things that are gonna happen ? That's what Vai Raja Vai is all about. Gautham Karthik plays the young man with ESP, and he's caught into the web of the gambling gangster played by Daniel Balaji, due to his closeness with a mysterious Panda Played by Vivek. What happens to Gautham? Does he manage to escape from the evil Daniel
Balaji and unite with the love of his life Priya anand is what is to be seen on screen.


What Fails:

- Casting Gautham karthik as the lead. His deadpan face is a big turn off,and he remains expressionless, be it an intense scene or a romantic scene. Even in the songs, his face is devoid of expressions. Come on, Priya Anand deserved a better on screen pair,who can actually express romance.

-Except the Climax and the pre-interval sequence, none of the scenes stay in your mind, and the screenplay is unimpressive. Poor casting, incoherent screenplay, and the placement of songs is just annoying.

-There are lot of comedians like Manobala, Mayilsamy, Sathish and Swaminathan but Vai raja vai is low on humor, except for few scenes featuring Vivek. The song-dance sequence featuring MS Baskar and Vivek acts as an irritant rather than providing comic relief.


What Works :

- Dhanush's cameo in the climax as Kokki Kumaar is just stunning, and Yuvan's Varriya BGM and the humour laced dialogues just help in elevating the scene.The theater erupts, the moment Dhanush arrives, and there's no other good moment in VRV.
- Yuvan's BGM score is impressive, and among the songs Pachhai Vanna poove passes the muster.
- Daniel Balaji doesn't look menacing, but his mere screen presence just makes the viewer sit through the boring movie.
- The pre-interval India Vs Srilanka match prediction sequence just raises the expectations towards the second half.


With an interesting premise like a hero with ESP,A betting racket,Casinos and gambling, Aishwarya could have gone for a gripping action thriller,but delivers a half baked product, sans quality. Poor casting just adds to the negative effect. At a runtime of just 2 hours, Vai raja Vai actually is decent on the outset, but the content isn't gripping, and that ultimately kills the movie. Aishwarya makes us consider Moonu is a classic !! (Moonu had atleast a superior performance by Dhanush and an awesome score by Anirudh)


VERDICT: Wait for the DVD, to watch the climax featuring Kokki Kumaaru.

5/10

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Avengers: Age of Ultron - The Perfect Summer Vacation Movie

Perhaps the expectations on the Avengers' sequel was so high that whatever they had done would have not satisfied us. Perhaps the Marvel movies of late have consistently set the bar so high with super movies such as 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' over the last couple of years that the biggest ensemble of them all would have great expectations. The thing with Marvel movies is that, they have a habit of bettering expectations. Do they achieve the same with 'Avengers - Age of Ultron'? Read on to find out.

First things first, if you have to assemble the Avengers, you need a threat so big. And this is a sequel, so aliens coming in from other galaxy as in the first part need to be bettered. Do they? No, actually, the threat comes from within. It is of their own making. Tony Stark fiddles with an Artificial Intelligence (Ultron) - found in the gem inside Loki's scepter - which with some twisted logic wakes up and decides that the best thing for this world is for mankind to be decimated.

The first set of people standing between word destruction are the Avengers and so, Ultron decides to build an army that would decimate the world and so it goes around for the one element that would be indestructible: Vibranium (yes, the one that Captain America's shield is made of). He also uses the synthetic tissue generation technology of a doctor Helen Cho and tries to upload himself to a body created with the sceptre's gem. However, he is stopped in the process and the body is made to occupy JARVIS by Tony Stark, giving rise to Vision (Paul Bettany). So, whether the avengers coupled with the Vision manage to defeat the nefarious plans of Ultron is what the story is all about. 

There are a few new additions to the cast such as Quicksilver (Aaron-Taylor Jhonson) - a Flash inspired character who can well, run fast and Maximoff (Elizabeth Olson) who can control minds. They are initially seeking revenge against the Avengers and especially Tony Stark, whom they blame for destroying their family. Their presence adds a different dimension to the Avengers ensemble and they surprisingly find their own in a rather star studded movie.

While there is ample fun and frolic among the Avengers - the butt of their jokes often being Thor ("..if I place this hammer in an elevator and it goes up, then the elevator is worthy enough") and the Hulk ("...just roll over and show your belly when somebody snarls?"), there is a serious element of lightness even to Ultron. He is made from Stark's vision alright, but there is an element of Stark's sarcasm and nonchalance to Ultron that you often feel that the AI isn't all so serious. Simply put, the antagonist here isn't menacing enough. Sure, Loki wasn't the terminator reincarnate, but when needed, he was dead serious. Ultron just doesn't command so much fear.

Another thing that fails to work big time is the romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romaoff. True, the beauty and the beast is a wonderful concept and it brings a lot of emotions to the screen, but the blossoming and the acceptance of the romance in this already stars-everywhere-gasping-for-screen-presence movie is so huge that it doesn't fit in properly. 

While that would sum up the "What doesn't work" part, what works is absolutely everything else. The length is 142 minutes but it doesn't show, at all. The CGI is unbelievable and 3D technology has been put to excellent use in most scenes. The screenplay and dialogues are exhilarating: there are so many witty and sarcastic quotable quotes that you are bound to crack up every other scene.

It's heartening to see the characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye get more screen presence and character development since they have no movies of their own. There are also surprising cameos here and there that would delight the ardent fans. To sum it up, kids will love it, fanboys will drool over it and the rest will definitely enjoy, for a few minor plot holes. Joss Whedon, take a bow!

Overall, Avengers is the movie to watch out for this Summer and I would be surprised if any other Hollywood movie can come close to it till Batman Vs Superman comes up next year.

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OK Kanmani - Mani Rathnam Limps Back to Form

Cast : Dulquer Salman, Nithya Menon, Prakashraj, Leela Samson
Music : A.R.Rahman
Direction : Manirathnam
Cinematography : P.C.Sreeram

Expectations:

Manirathnam is back after the Kadal fiasco,with this romantic entertainer, which was touted to be a modernized, updated version of the maker's another romantic blockbuster Alaipayuthey,especially after the promos were very much reminiscent of the latter. Combine that with the dependable A.R.Rahman - P.C.Sreeram combo , and you are sure to expect a feel good entertainer. Does the movie meet the expectations? It's a partial yes.

Plot :
Aadhi (Dulquer) is a game developer, without faith in the system called marriage, and has a lot of liking for girls.
He gets to meet Tara(Nithya),who again hates marriages, especially after the end of her parents' relationship. They like each other instantly, and the decide to start a life together- without marriage. Aadhi stays with Ganapathy-Bhavani family,as a paying guest, and though Ganapathy initially doesn't approve of the pair living
together, he later accepts.The pair's fondness on each other grows rapidly, but they both have other plans- Aadhi wants to make big money, and Tara wants to travel to Paris for her education. Though they develop "love" for each other, their disbelief in marriage keeps them apart. However the way Ganapathi loves and cares for his wife Bhavani, an Alzheimer patient brings a positive change in the pair. Whether they entered wedlock or parted ways is what OK Kanmani is all about.


Performances and Technical Departments:

Dulquer is full of energy, and is expressive. His voice reminds us of Arvindswamy, and after OK Kanmani, he will become the heartthrob of TN girls as well. With right movie choices in tamil,he can establish himself as a talented actor here as well. Nithya Menon is her usual bubbly self, and is full of expressions. Her chemistry with Dulquer
post the Ahmedabad episode in the first half just adds fun to the proceedings. However the pretty actress has to take care of her appearance, as she may run out of offers soon if she loses focus on that. The best roles of the movie are given to Prakashraj and Leela Samson. As the couple full of real love on each other, they impress.
For Prakashraj the role is a cakewalk, and he leaves a mark. Kaniha is wasted in a "blink and you miss" role.

AR Rahman impresses with "Naane varugiren","Parandhu Sella Vaa" and "Mental Maadhil".The romantic BGM is apt, and is in perfect sync with the mood of the movie. P.C.Sreeram captures Mumbai in an aesthetic manner. Special credits to the VFX team which worked on the Mumbai 2.0 game, which Aadhi develops in the movie.

Direction :

Manirathnam returns with a complete romantic movie after Alaipayuthey, and this time around he deals with Living together.The first half is slow, and takes its own sweet time in establishing the characters, their traits, with very few good moments. However the chemistry between the lead pair and the Ganapathy-Bhavani pair's characterization keeps the viewer engaged. The second half gets better, but ends with a tedious 10 day phase and a subsequent search sequence which drags, testing your patience. Manirathnam's take on modern youth and their disbelief in mariage,and the living together culture, will definitely find takers in a minor section of the audience(urban youth),besides the die-hard fans of the maker.As the maker himself has mentioned, the movie could cater to only a section of the audience, and probably that was why the number of screens was limited. All said, OK Kanmani is a treat for die-hard fans of Manirathnam, a movie made specially for youth,and could satisfy only them.

What Works:
Prakashraj-Leela,Handsome Dulquer,Expressive Bubbly Nithya, ARR. Few fun, romantic moments.


What doesn't:
A leisurely paced first half, the drag in the build up towards the climax.

VERDICT: 
A dragged Ohhhhhhhk Kanmani !! A Can watch for the Chemistry between the lead pair, and the elder pair which provides an  emotional connect.

6/10

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Detective Byomkesh Bakshi - Slow, but Smart!

Movie: Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
Starring: Sushant Singh Rajput,  Anand Tiwari, Swastika Mukherjee, Divya Menon, Meiyang Chang, Neeraj Kabi
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Cinematography: Nikos Andritsakis

Dibakar Banerjee has always had a flair for the unconventional and had never bothered about stereotypes. He finally returns to his motherland, Calcutta for this historical adventure and in an interesting casting of sorts, casts the young Sushant Singh Rajput as the detective. The rest of the cast is relatively unpopular for Bollywood standards and that is perhaps what a suspense movie requires: that nobody has any preconceived notions about anybody in the movie.

The comparisons with Sherlock Holmes movies are inevitable since they are also set in the past and are about how Holmes and Watson save the day with the help of Holmes' mercurial deductive reasoning. However, much credit must be given to Dibakar Banerjee for showing us the formative years of the deductive: he is not a detective because he trumps everyone else with his wit, but only because he thinks he is good to be one. He is amateurish at times and even foolhardy in some sequences, trying to outsmart the villain. That is one nice twist, since we are getting to know that Bakshey is not invincible as a Holmes and is refreshing to watch.

The story is set in 1942 in Calcutta and this is one of the most authentic renditions of that age. Hope the makers of 'Hawaaizaada' have a look at the costumes and the set pieces used in this movie and realize how to actually be authentic in a movie set in the past. When Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari) approaches Bakshey to request him to help out in finding his missing father, Bakshey realizes soon that his individual disappearance is not a one-off event and connected to a major plan by the Japanese army, Chinese drug lords and a secret political party. 

He eventually comes across a smart doctor Anukul Guha (Neeraj Kabi) who seems better than the detective himself with his reasoning abilities, a film star Angoori (a sensual Swastika Mukherjee) who seems to be attracted to Bakshey and a fiery Satyawati (a small role for an elegant looking Divya Dutta) who all seem something on the inside and seem to have their own hidden secrets. Whether Bakshey spoils the nefarious plans of the unknown perpetrators and whether Calcutta is saved from imminent doom forms most of the story.

The story gets really interesting around the first hour when people seem to be mysteriously dying around Bakshey as he tries helping Ajit - who eventually sort of settles into a sidekick - into finding out what happens to his father. The charm of the story lies in the fact that Dibakar Banerjee doesn't shy away from showing Bakshey as a shy, frightened or instinctive in a bad sort of way. He seems to be falling easily to the trap of the seemingly smarter villain and realizes that only too late into the movie, after a lot of others die around him.

While the movie itself is engaging, one sore point is the lack of pace in the latter part of the second half before the climax where the movie - like Bakshey - takes it's own sweet time to establish the motive of it's villains. While anybody could have guessed who the villain was, the revelations of why and how are the biggest turning points of the movie and the shock element seems a little lacking during the final reveal.

The technical department is mostly spot on. The editing is taut and to the point, except during the second half where the story seems to be dragging on. The cinematography is beautiful, especially in the fight sequences at late night towards the end, which are a delight to watch on the big screen. Thankfully, there are no irritating song sequences and only sequences which merge with the theme of the movie.

Nevertheless, the biggest takeaway is that Byomkesh Bakshi is not another Sherlock wannabe; Dibakar Banerjee has ensured that Byomkesh is a riveting stand-alone movie with an Indian sensibility and an excellent possibility for future sequels: this is one movie where I found myself immersed and interested in how the fate could turn out for it's different characters after the end. Let's hope they make a good sequel; I'd die to watch one.

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Nanbenda Movie Review - Puts Anjaan and Azhaguraja to Shame

Nanbenda Review

Cast : Udhayanidhi Stalin, Nayantara, Santhanam.
Music : Harris Jayaraj
Direction : Jagadeesh.

Expectations:

Nanbenda comes from the superhit combo (as they think) of Udhayanidhi Stalin and Santhanam, and there were expectations of witnessing a laugh riot on the lines of Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. However, debutante director Jagadeesh probably had other plans in mind. Coming from the school of Director M.Rajesh (known for
his no-brainers relying totally on Santhanam's comic antics like SMS, Boss Engira Baskaran, OK OK), Jagadeesh pays tribute to his master , not just by naming the movie after a famous line from Boss Engira Baskaran, but also decides to put his master's recent and worst ever attempt Azhaguraja to shame,by making this epic movie. Let's see who this Nanbenda is.

Plot:

Even after that introduction, if you are still looking for a plot, then here it is. Wayward hero Sathya falls for the
gorgeous, angelic bank employee Ramya, and takes his good for nothing bestie Siva kozhundhu's help to succeed in his romantic mission. Just When all things proceed positively, Sathya gets to know that Ramya is not the beautiful self she is outside, but has a dark secret.The lovers break up eventually,and fate forces Sathya and Siva Kozhundhu get entangled in a murder mystery. Whether the best friends come out of the crime web and unite with their respective pairs is what the tiresome Nanbenda is all about.

Performances:

Udhayanidhi stalin has come a long way in terms of dance,and that's it. He's still the same old guy we saw in OK OK, in terms of performance. Be it romance, anger, action or comedy, Udhay must be applauded for exhibiting the same expression throughout, and that certainly makes him worthy for an Oscar. The highpoints are the priceless expressions when he romances, looking into the eyes of the beautiful Nayan, and the "casual dialogue
tone" and so-called "humorous body language" he presents in comic situations. The role Udhay plays here is no
different from the roles he has played in his previous two acting ventures, but Udhay proves he's the perfect example for a bad actor who survives only because he funds his movies.

Nayantara looks beautiful, and that's it. She romances Udhay, appears in the songs in all kind of costumes, and just sleepwalks through the poorly written role. Since her return to filmdom after a brief sabbatical post the Prabhu deva episode, She started off well with successful ventures like Raja Rani and Aarambam, but if she continues featuring in movies of this kind (she starred in Udhay's previous dud Idhu kathirvelan as well), she might run out of offers, risking ending her career soon.

Santhanam yet again fails to deliver, and all his one liners and counters fall flat. None of his comedies evoke laughter, and he lets down the director big time.Post the azhaguraja debacle, none of his comedy tracks have clicked (except for a few like Endrendrum punnagai). Besides,his looks and mannerisms (particularly in Udhay's movies) has become monotonous and irritating.

The rest of the artistes like Pooja, Sayaji Shinde and Manobala are just wasted.

Technical departments:

Harris Jayaraj has delivered an unimpressive album post the successful Yennai arindhaal and Anegan numbers, and among all the songs, "Oorellam unnai kandu" works a bit, only because it looks like a rehashed mix of "En veettu thottathil" from Gentleman and "Sundari neeyum" from MMKR. Cinematography by Balasubramiem captures the songs well.Otherwise , there's nothing much in Nanbenda to exhibit technical excellence.

Jagadeesh could have definitely taken inspiration from his mentor Rajesh, but not to this extent. He has totally lifted the Hero-comedian pair characterization from Rajesh's movies like SMS, BEB and OK OK, presents intolerably silly sequences, throws an unexpectedly crass flashback sequence towards the interval, and tests the patience of the viewer with sequences that neither sustain interest nor evoke laughter. Did the maker think
Nayantara's flashback was funny ?? If it was meant to be funny, sorry Jagadeesh, the result actually was the audience exiting the theaters,immediately after that.The songs are unwarranted, and the whole murder-jail episodes of Santhanam and Udhay totally lack humour/freshness, and trouble the audience even more. When the proceedings end, you just get a relieved smile, only because the torture has ended.

Nanbenda is for sure a classic, that overpowers movies like Azhaguraja and Anjaan, which were subject to heavy criticism for the awkward making and the uninteresting content, and ends up making you wonder what made you invest 120 on this.

You can be excused for wishing someone would get some sense into making Udhayanidhi Stalin think about quitting acting after the highly negative reviews for his Nanbenda, but reality has it that, he has just felt "My choice, my money", and has started shooting for his next movies already, including "Gethu" with Amy Jackson, and one more "Idhayam murali" with Hansika. It's high time Udhay stops his mission of pairing up with all top heroines of South cinema (he has already paired with Hansika, Nayantara,and Kajal was supposed to star opposite him in Nanbenda,but it was Nayan who came in again) and quits acting, for, he's a bad actor(Much worse than the
likes of Karunakaran and Bobby's characeters in Jigarthanda).

He does have one positive aspect in him: he's one who can definitely fund good ventures. He has released many successful medium budget-commercially successful movies like VTV, Ko, Madarasapattinam, TEOA, Saivam in the past and has also produced the critically acclaimed Neer paravai. How about restricting yourself to producing quality movies with the resources you have, rather than making the audience suffer with your movies and parthetic
acting - any thoughts Udhay ??

What works :  Nothing actually.
What doesn't : Everything from the starting till the end.

VERDICT : A Classic that puts Azhaguraja and Anjaan to shame. Pathetic, painful experiene for the viewer.
2/10

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Rajathandhiram - Solid Heist Flick that Doesn't Take Your Intelligence for Granted

Movie: Raajathandhiram
Director: AG Amid 
Cast: Veera, Darbuka Siva, Regina Cassandra 
Cinematography: SR Kadhir
Background Score: Sandeep Chowta

Rajathandhiram comes backed up by big names such as Fox Star Studios and Goutham Vasudev Menon, so the general expectation is that it ought to be good. Also making his comeback is Veera Bahu who played a controversial psychopath murderer in Goutham Menon's 'Nadunisi Naaygal' makes a comeback. 

Arjun (Veera), Austin (Darbuka Siva) and Deva (Ajai Prasath) are small time crooks, indulging in intelligently planned petty crimes. By chance, they happen to meet up Michelle (Regina Cassandra), whose father had to commit suicide due to mounting debts after being cheated by a financier Dharma (Aadukalam Naren). Even after many years, Michelle is still attempting to pay off the debts. When Arjun finds out that his next heist is to rob from the same people who had cheated Michelle, he jumps straight into the plan even though it is riskier than any other heist they have done before. Whether the crooks succeeded in their attempt makes for a joyful adventure.

In fact this movie can be called a distant cousin of  'Soodhu Kavvum'. The story is about a group of small time con men trying to make it big in a bank robbery. The concept may sound very similar to 'Soodhu Kavvum', in fact there is even 'Kaasu.. Panam..' song from the movie playing in the background in one of the scenes. But the similarities end there. This movie has a strong moral compass (unlike SK) and tells you that all sins have a price and the price must be paid, in a rather light hearted manner. In fact, much part of Rajathandhiram moves in a brisk pace because the movie, though is tense and suspenseful at times, but never takes itself too seriously.

There are some wonderful suspenseful stretches, like the scene where Arjun and co try to rob a bag full of cash. While in most Tamil movies, the hero would effortlessly cheat the other guy and run away with the bag, things turn awfully messy and the crooks have to improvise on the go. This is where the direction, the clever script and screenplay stand out and make you want to applaud.

There is unbelievable amount of levity brought to the movie, thanks to the timing and sarcasm of Dharbuka Shiva. There are tens of memorable dialogues that he effortlessly mouths that after a point the audience seem to be laughing for everything that came from his mouth. Great new talent! The next most impressive performer of the movie is Pattiyal Sekar as Kanchi Azhagappan, who is the main antagonist, equally brilliant as the hero and matches him move to move in the game of cat and mouse (or valai-eli-pori, as Veera remarks).

Regina Cassandra as Michelle does a neat job of the little time that she has to come on screen, looks beauiful and does justice to her role. Aadukalam Naren as Dharma and Ilavarasu as Madhavan Iyer do a neat job of their respective roles.

There is only one song in the movie, a romantic duet between Arjun and Michelle, which has been handled in the most tasteful way that you would see a tamil movie romantic song handled in recent times. There is no foreign location, no fast dance moves, but just interesting and sweet performances by the lead actors that make the song interesting. That alone is a testament of how smart, sound and innovative bunch of technicians are those involved in this movie.

With the ever growing bunch of nonsense comedy flicks around us, Rajathandhiram is one movie that dares to provide quality entertainment that doesn't take your intelligence for granted. Go watch it before some so-called-big-movies forces it out of the theatres.

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Travelogue - A Trip to Wayanad - Part 3 - A Bilssful Day at the Beaches of Kerala

The Morning Walk

Did I not already mention that this Sura has the horrible habit of waking people up in early mornings? He did that again today and forced me and Daddu to come on a morning walk with him. Not that I didn't like it, but I was too lazy to go anywhere. Finally, I did get myself out of my bed and decided to take my camera to snap some nice misty images.

Out we went and the view was pretty cool. So, I took my cam, adjusted the ISO and centred on a beautiful long shot and clicked 'Snap' on my DSLR. And that image, I can't show you because, you need to 'Insert Memory Card' inside your cam to take a click. Bloody Kumar! He had transferred all the DSLR pics to his cam and left my memory card in the laptop! Grrrrrrrrr!

So I thought, well let that thing go; we'll better take some snaps from my mobile and took my mobile out, set a nice background and clicked and this is what I got:

Right out of some screensaver..

My mobile has a freaking 13 MP camera, for God's sake. Some moisture had gotten into my lens and all the images are now coming out blurred! What the...!

Misty lens capturing a misty morning..!

But Sura had a good 20 MP cam, so we did get some pretty pics:

The Sun Rise!

Long, Winding and Empty Road...

Finally there was some relief from the cold as we found a tea shop and I eagerly wanted to go and order a tea, which was when I realized that I had left my purse at the room! And nobody else had got their wallets either! Fffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...!!!!!!

After roaming around pointlessly for a few minutes carrying a camera bag that was suddenly weighing a lot heavier because, well, there was no use for the camera now for me and feeling irritated because I was well, hungry and on a pointless walk. And then when we returned back to the room, it was around 7 am and still most of them were fast asleep.

Pack Up

This time, though, we just decided to start packing because this was the last day of the tour and most of our day was going to be spent in the car than the room. We had time till 12 PM, but decided it was time to vacate since the place where we were going to was on the way to Kozhikode and returning back to the room from there made no sense.

So comes the most difficult part of a tour - packing up. I have been to many tours with many gangs, but the most annoying part of it is to pack up all that random stuff that you've thrown all around the place. The trouble gets bigger if we have either a big gang or if the tour itinerary is just very long. Here, we had a mix of both and my fear was leaving something out at a place where we would most certainly never return. So, I went sweep after sweep trying to clear out all the stuff and leave enough space in the bag for anything we might purchase.

After everybody's packing was over, there came this ominous task of cleaning up. There was just so much of stuff lying around (including the trash of the now infamous JD bottle) and all the other stuff that we had effortlessly thrown around these last couple of days. Finally, it took around 9 AM to finish that job. Once we were done with that, we came out to the smell of pooris with potato masala arriving.

Soft and Hot Pooris!!

The homestay owner aunty had brought us the hot pooris with the masala. There was enough for 4 pooris per person for the eight of us (including our driver) but the masala ended up lesser than required.

Hot and Yummy Potato Masala!

However, we guys adjusted with some sugar: I guess when you are hungry, everything tastes good. After paying for the homestay, we bid goodbye to the aunty and started off to Poolkot lake.

The Local Shopping

We had requested our driver to stop at some place selling local goods such as tea, spices, etc and our driver took us to a decent looking shop in Kalpetta. While I was content buying some Amla (Gooseberry) dipped in honey, the others took it as some serious shopping opportunity buying for probably the next monthly supply of everything from tea, soaps, bath scrubbers, spices, toys and what not. After half an hour of intense shopping, we headed to the Poolkot Lake.

Poolkot Lake

We reached the place at around 11 AM and it looked more like a local park from the outside than anything else.

The tickets cost INR 20 per person and cameras INR 25 each. The walk to the place of boating from the entrance was a small one, although it contained a lot of interesting views, including an aquarium, a mini-children's park and a magic mirrors section. But the main attraction was the boating anyway. We had opted for a raft with 7 people (which cost INR 350) for boating around the lake.

A View of the Lake..

We have had an earlier experience in Munnar where the Monk and a couple of other guys were too tired and had gone to sleep half way while boating. So, there were a little apprehensive when we did actually go for the boating. However, we had managed to convince them and our boat was scheduled to arrive in some 15 minutes.

The Mischievous Monkeys

Instead of waiting, we had decided to go eat come snacks. Just when we had bought a couple of ice creams, did some monkeys jump out of nowhere and grabbed the corn from the hands of one of the children ahead of us. Guess they had a cold or something, fortunately they weren't interested in our icecream.

The Mischief Monkeys

The entire monkey family had a peculiar hairstyle. Even Ravindra Jadeja wouldn't have dreamt of such hairstyles.

Look at that Family Hairstyle!

The Boat Ride

As explained earlier, boat rides are just not the thing for a lot of our boys. So, me and Arvind sat at a couple of corners and took out our cameras searching for some elusive wild elephant or some pretty birds. The view wasn't so great in the beginning, it was sunny, there was no/less breeze and it was virtually like going on a boating at Muttukadu. But once I had my viewfinder on, the place was looking totally different. There was this kingfisher in the far corner, perching on fishes, there were a few beautiful birds, and the small lily flowers in the waters were beautiful. Check out these sample images.

Sura managed to capture this duck preying on a fish right on time!

Twenty minutes into the ride, we started hearing a strange noise as if some bigger boat is approaching us from behind. We turned back to only realize that it was only the monk who was snoring again. This guy pays for boat rides to sleep on them.. Wow!

Some people were taking a quite walk around the lake as well...

The Aquarium

Sura and a couple of other guys were pretty interested to go the aquarium as soon as the boat ride was over. It had a INR 10 fee, so me and a couple of other guys weren't really interested. :P While we were eating some snacks, Sura and the other guys entered and returned the aquarium in less than 10 minutes. This is what Sura had to say: "Macha, the fish tank in my home would have more varities than what these people have. They have a few gold fishes, carps and cat fishes. Total waste of money."

We had a 'told-you-so' look on our faces. ;)

No Prizes for Guessing... Gold fish! :P

The Lunch

While it was 1 PM already by the time we exited the place, we had requested the driver to stop at some good hotel on the way to Kozhikode. We have no idea what he thought was a good hotel, but he drove us for one full hour and took us to a place that actually looked like a hotel for the first time since we had visited Wayanad for lunch in our trip.

They had allotted a separate room for us in the lunch since there was eight of us. Again, Daddu has his own style when it comes to lunch. While everyone had ordered meals and accompaniments, Daddu alone had ordered one and a biryani with fish fry. What that meant was everyone eating a mouthful of his biryani and so, obviously, his stomach was not full at the end of it. While all of us were about to leave, he ordered another half plate biryani. That's Daddu for you! ;)

So after another 10 minutes of waiting for Daddu, we left with a bill of 680 INR, out of which my part was only INR 35 since I had only Veg meals and Daddu's was INR 210. Two extremes!

The Kappad Beach

So, off we were to the last phase of the tour: the beautiful beaches of Kerala. The journey was quite bumpy and I was surprised that none of us had puked yet in the tour. There's something about the hot Kerala water and the food in general that they serve in all Kerala hotels. While we have been to all the states of south India, Kerala has been the one where we had fell sick the least, had the least problems digesting our food or getting used to the water. I still remember how person after person puked during our tours of Munnar and Coorg. Kerala had always been different. Any theories?

Coming back to the trips, the first of the two beaches that we would be visiting was the Kappad beach. Saying that it was beautiful would be an understatement. There was a small shoreline, interspersed by huge rocks - almost 40 metres in length. So once you climb on top of that, you can see the entire shoreline on either side of you and the view is simply breath taking. The shore itself was clean compared to the littered beaches that you find in Chennai. Marina would commit suicide if it were to ever catch a glimpse of the spotless shores of the Kappad beach!

The Pristine Kappad Beach!

There were a few pretty birds pecking on the shore, hunting snails and fishes. We got to snap a few of those in beautiful close ups and they just came out lovely!

A Stork Preying for Fish along the Kappad Shores..

Then, the main reason why the driver took us here. The beach has a bar nearby. By this time, he had assumed us to be a group of drunkards, I guess. I wouldn't blame him for that though, but he looked at me and told me that the beach has a bar. As if I was the biggest drunkard in the group :/

So, while the other guys left to the bar to chill out with some beer, myself, Kumar and Daddu had started a mini photo session with our phones and cameras, trying out different angles from below, in between and on top of the rocks.

The Long Shots..

After a while, my battery had died out and we had snapped enough pictures to keep as profile pictures for the next one year, and so, we stopped snapping and lied down on the warm rocks and stared at the sky. It was beautiful and heavenly.

The Rocky Shoreline..

The Kozhikode Beach

By 4 PM, we decided to leave the beach and go to the next attraction, the Kozhikode beach. After a travel of about half an hour we reached the beach. It was much different compared to the Kappad beach and quite comparable to the Elliot's beach in Chennai. It had paved pathways for walking and space for parking vehicles and well maintained and clean shore. It would probably be one kilometre long at the maximum.

Prabhu tempted everyone saying that they could find some fresh fried fishes there. But unlike Marina, there were no fish stalls in the beach. The only things being sold were fried snails, which a few of the guys ate. I have no idea how the taste was and neither do I wish to find!

Me and Sura had some crushed-ice-tutti-fruity-sugar-syrup mixed delicacy which tasted just brilliant. Even as we were tasting that, the skies started darkening and there was a slight drizzle, so the entire plan of watching a beautiful sun set just got spoiled!

The boys took cover to the drizzle by going to a shop nearby ordering Shawarmas and Faloodas. I had my stomach full already from the lunch and so didn't eat anything there. After some 45 minutes of eating out at the shop (I was really surprised at the appetite of my boys :P), we headed to the last phase of the tour: the shopping.

Chips and Halwa

You don't have to be an expert to know that similar to ladoos from tirupathi, you need to get chips and Halwa to people back home if you are returning from Kerala. For whatever reason, the other guys didn't seem too bothered. But that was not to deter me and Sura. Soru is always important. So, we were supposed to be taken to one final shop to a good snack serving shop in Kozhikode. The driver took us to a shop at some corner. It didn't seem too huge or active, but by the time we walked into the shop, we could smell that wonderful smell of coconut oil and freshly prepared chips, so we didn't question anymore.

Myself and Sura bought a kilo of chips and 2 kilograms of halwa and the entire thing came only to 400. Was that cheap or what! After finishing that up, we reached the station by 6:30 PM, well ahead of our schedule. For an hour and half, we just charged our mobiles and were chit-chatting, while Kumar was again busy transferring his pics from the DSLR to his mobile. Oh, for the love of God! :P

The Return

The return was quite a silent journey since most of the guys were tired and sleepy. While we didn't talk a lot. we had a hell lot of pictures, memories and stupid stories to share as we have done now in this three part series. Now you know, why we travel so frequently! :) Until next time, thanks for reading. Adios!

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