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Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo Review

I had earlier seen Allu Arjun in Arya many years ago and I liked him for his style and nonchalance. Aptly called as Stylish Star, Allu Arjun is swag personified in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Scenes have been specifically written and shot to bring out this personality of the hero and he carries the entire film on his shoulders.

Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo opens with a seemingly disgruntled Murali Sharma driving an old scooter and there is a top end car also along with him on a rainy night. Murali and the car are reaching the hospital where his wife Rohini is delivering their first baby. In the same hospital, his boss Ramachandran (played by Jayaram)’s wife Tabu is also admitted for delivery. Both the ladies deliver boy babies. When Jayaram’s infant appears to be dead and nurse Eswari Rao is scared beyond words as the doctor had already informed Ramachandran about the happy news, Murali Sharma comes forward to exchange his boy with the dead one. When Eswari is placing the dead baby near Rohini, it comes alive making the situation difficult for both.

 However, a scheming Murali Sharma insists that the babies need to be switched as he wants his son to grow up in a rich house and also wants to take it out on Jayaram because both of them started at the same level in an office but Jayaram had managed to leap on the ladder of success by marrying his boss’s daughter Tabu. In a way, he wants to get even with Jayaram by having the latter’s son raised in a middle class set up. When Eswari refuses for this, Murali Sharma pushes her from the second floor and she falls down, enters coma.

 The story begins after this point. The boy who grows up in Murali’s household is Allu Arjun who has been incessantly harassed by Murali and treated very badly. However an unfazed Arjun handles things quite effectively. Murali works for Jayaram and ensures that Arjun does not enter the latter’s house which is called Vaikunthapuram (justifying the title).

 At Jayaram’s residence, Murali’s son played by Sushanth grows up very timid and meek. Meanwhile Arjun lands himself in an office which is owned by Pooja Hegde. How the fate plays between Arjun and his dad Jayaram is the film all about.

 The film is owned by Allu Arjun and he satisfies the audience big time. As mentioned earlier, scenes have been written to exclusively bring out his style and also shot in slow motion. The action blocks are done well and it is an Allu Arjun show all the way. Next to him is Murali Sharma who gives a good fight with the hero in all the scenes. The manner in which he pulls his nose or the way he walks, he is totally sinisterly.

Other actors do not have much to showcase their talent. I felt sad for Tabu and Jairam as their talents have not been utilized fully. All the same, this is a film about Allu Arjun and so can’t say much.

An outright enjoyable commercial fare!

Available on Netflix.

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Darbar Review

Being a huge Rajinikanth fan, I wanted to see Darbar in theatres, but the reviews were not encouraging and I waited for the film to appear in the OTT platform.  As a firm believer in the fact that a film is predominantly a director’s medium, I choose to see films that has good directors. Over a period of time, AR Murugadoss had established that he can give good, engaging, commercial flicks which will have something to take home to. But after seeing Darbar, I feel his creative juice is drying up.

The film’s only strength is Rajinikanth and because of him, I was able to sit through the entire length. It is clearly a one man’s show.

The story is about how a cop avenges his daughter’s murder. There is nothing new in this because such a plot is done to death in so many of our films. Okay, is there anything novel in the hero carrying out his revenge? No, none at all! Rajinikanth’s swag and ‘I know it all’ demeanor makes us believe that there could be something magical up his sleeve that would be new and exciting. Alas! Nothing at all!

He goes on an encounter rampage and no one is able to do anything. There does not seem to be anyone over him in hierarchy who can control him. He is a commissioner of police in Mumbai but that does not give the ultimate power because there is the DGP there. Perhaps, Murugadoss’s direction team did not do any research on this. In fact, looks like they had not researched on many things!

Coming to Nayanthara, I wondered why she is there in the film at all. You take her segment off and the story would never suffer, not that there was any story in the first place! It is one more film to her filmography, that’s about it and that too with the Superstar.

On the other hand, Nivetha Thomas has a substantial part and the young girl has done really well. I don’t know in which police force in India, a commissioner is given a personal assistant who is more like an errand boy to move around. This is just a small example. The film abounds in such stupidities.

However, if I am able to pull through the entire film, it is only because of Thalaivar and nothing else. It is sad that having had Rajinikanth in his cast list, Murugadoss should have done wonders but he has failed to use it to full potential to give an engaging commercial flick.

Available in Amazon Prime!  

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Sillu Karupatti

Directed by Haleetha Shameem of Poovarasan Peepi fame, Sillu Karupatti is an anthology of four different stories. There is something that strings all these four stories, which is the emotion LOVE. When you go a little further, you realize that each segment deals with a specific age group. The first segment Pink Bag is about adolescents, the second one Kaaka Kadi is about a young couple, the third one Turtle is about an old aged couple and the final one Hey Ammu is about a middle aged married couple.

What I liked about the film is that there is nothing that is ‘in your face’ and even the most serious of things, like testicular cancer or an incapacitating illness or for that matter, a habit of seeing porn films, is dealt in a matter of fact manner, not relying anywhere on over drama.  

The first story starts with a drone shot of a huge garbage area. An adolescent boy from the lower strata of society picks a particular pink trash cover and looks for interesting things. There is a birthday greeting with a girl’s photo and also a recorder with her voice. Looks like an everyday routine for him to seek the pink cover and look for things. One day, he sees a finger ring with a precious stone and he slowly traces the house of this girl. The shots of the rich girl higher in a bungalow and the poor boy at the ground near the bin casually say where they come from. As the story was proceeding, I was wondering how the director is going to extend this knot into a lengthy one. That’s when I realized Sillu Karupatti is an anthology film.  Till then I did not know this film has four stories in it. The film ends on a very pleasant note.

The second one is about a meme creator discovering that he has testicular cancer which leads to his girl friend breaking up with him. In a car pool he gets to meet another girl who falls in love with him. The third one has the aged couple Leela Samson with Kravmaga Sreeram. I somehow felt this story could have been handled better considering the age of the actors in the story. It is actually a tight rope walking when you are talking about romance in old age and I felt a few places had come across a bit inappropriate for this segment.

The fourth story is what appealed to me the best which dealt with the middle aged couple Samuthirakani and Sunaina. The feelings of Sunaina on being ignored by her husband are reflective of numerous women out there. This story has such great performers especially when compared to other stories.

There is a mild segue of sorts between the stories where character from one story is seen in a small part in the other.

Sillu Karupatti means palm candies whose sweetness stays with you long after you have chewed it. And the film’s feel good emotion stayed with me long after I was done with it.

Available on Amazon Prime.

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Paheli Review

There are films which lose its sheen after few years, despite it being a much loved one. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge belongs to this category. I remember having seen it so many times during its release period and later in TV with so much of craziness. When I recently saw it, remembering the old magic to weave the same spell, I was totally aghast at my choice and even wondered how did I see this film so many times. The film failed to generate the same excitement in me.

 And there are films which transcend time and remain as fresh, as vibrant and as lovely forever. And that is the Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherji starrer Amol Palekar directorial Paheli. I fell in love with the film the first time I saw and it took a long time for me to get out of its magic. And when I wanted to see it again in the OTT platform, I was a little skeptical about how I would feel towards it and I did not want to lose that magical feel about Paheli. I did not want to lose my love towards it. So, with a lot of trepidation, I watched Paheli again and I was glad that I continue to love the film even now and I can very easily slot this in the ‘timeless love’ category.

 The story is based on Rajasthani folklore where a ghost falls in love with a newly married woman whose husband leaves her on the very next day of their marriage, not because of any serious reason, but to chase money. The film is set in an ancient era. The husband was to return to his home after five years after amassing wealth and the ghost taking advantage of this situation takes on his form and stays with the woman he loves. Right at the first meeting, the ghost tells the woman the truth and leaves the choice to her to either accept him or reject him. A dialogue that the woman says actually marks the story’s theme. She says, “When I could not stop the man who wanted to leave me, how can I stop a man who wants to be with me”.

 Shah Rukh plays both the ghost and the husband Kishan Lal. Rani Mukherji plays the woman. I don’t consider Rani to be a great looker but in this film DoP Ravi K Chandran has showed her in such flattering angle that she in fact looks beautiful. Of course Rani is known for her versatility and the husky voice adds a lot to her performance in any role.

 The visuals are highly vibrant and colorful, thanks to the premise being set in Rajasthan. The costumes are simply beautiful and the texture is so rich. The havelis take you to the terrain of the yore and I loved the well that had geometrical steps. Not sure if it was real or an art director’s work. Whatever be the case, it is certainly an Architectural splendor, I would say.  

 The ghost in the form of Shah Rukh Khan does all the nice things in the village and it is totally unlike the man Kishan Lal that it is masquerading. So, there are some nice and comical moments in the film, like a well being dug for the villagers, the family winning the prestigious camel race which was in fact responsible for the elder son Suneil Shetty leaving the house, his wife and children.

 The father, an outright miser, played by Anupam Kher is brilliant and there is nothing new in it. The ever cute Juhi Chawla plays Sunil Shetty’s wife who is sad but not bitter.

 I loved the costumes on every character, be it the leads or the peripheral ones. Shah Rukh simply sizzles and the sensuous chemistry between him and Rani is evidently palpable. Amitabh Bachchan makes a small cameo at the end and Naseruddin Shah and his wife Rathna Pathak Shah lend their voice for the puppets that are kind of Sutradaar for the film.

 A film has to have the best output from all departments to be successful and Paheli can proudly scream from the rooftop that it has the best of everything, from story to screen play to cast to performance to music.  

 I loved the ending the best although it gave me a few tenterhooks. It was a totally satisfying experience even after so many years and thank you Amol Palekar for this!

 Every woman loves to be loved. If a woman gets a husband like the ghost (of Paheli) in life, what else is needed? Why would any lady refuse?

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Oru Vadakkan Selfie Review

Oru Vadakkan Selfie

The attraction to this film was mainly because of Manjima Mohan, who debuted with this  and happens to be a good friend. Did not realize Nivin Pauly was also there, not that I regretted his presence. I like Nivin Pauly; Who does not like him?  

 The story is actually about a useless Nivin who has around 38 to 40 papers as arrears in his Engineering. His dad has a provision shop and has no hopes on his son, so does his sister. His mom is that gullible one who can never mistrust her son. Nivin wants to make something out of his life but sadly nothing happens. As in many of such films, he also has a few friends who are more worthless than him. To this kind of his life, enters Manjima Mohan as his tenant and he immediately falls for her. She does not even know he exists!

 The initial half is very funny and there are so many laughable moments, all pertaining to Nivin’s failed attempts to do something worthwhile. He is very fond of director Gautham Menon and draws a lot of parallels with his life and attempts to travel to Chennai to make it big in Tamil cinema. To his utter surprise, he finds Manjima in the train and takes a selfie without her knowledge and sends to his friend Aju Varghese. This is actually the starting point of all things to come. He tries to talk to her in the train but she clearly shows no interest.

 After four to five days in Chennai in vain, he returns to his home town only to realize that Manjima has actually eloped and the selfie that he has sent to his friend has done its round with people inferring that she has eloped with him. Nobody is willing to believe him and a complaint is lodged against him. He somehow escapes and along with Aju Varghese, (a delight he is) lands in Chennai to locate Manjima. In their tryst, they come across Vineeth Sreenivasan, a private detective who helps them in their mission.

 But post interval, the films totally takes on a different route and turns serious. In fact, when you ask me what the knot of this film is, it is about unsuspecting and gullible girls turning victim to online fraud. I liked both the tones of the film but would have preferred a uniform texture.

 Nivin Pauly is perfect to play an innocent character. It totally suits him (Hey Jude!, Premam, Love Action Drama). He is such a natural! Manjima’s role is the pivot for this film and she is very good. I would say that her talent has not been utilized well in Tamil films. Aju Varghese is, as I had said earlier, is a delight.  

To sum it all up, Oru Vadakkan Selfie is a good watch. I enjoyed!

Available on Hot Star

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Pattas Review

Pattas Review

Directed by Durai Senthilkumar Pattas had incited expectations because of the director and the actor. Durai had made Edhir Neechal, Kaaki Sattai and Kodi, the last one with Dhanush in dual roles. Pattas also has Dhanush, again in dual roles. The reviews were pretty decent and I was waiting for the film to appear in OTT platform.

I liked Pattas as it was a well made commercial entertainer. There was nothing new in the storyline except for talking about Adimurai, a Tamil Nadu Martial art form which has been seemingly forgotten. This was pretty new to me and I really liked the director for taking on this and exposing at least the Tamil audience to this forgotten defense art form. He has spun an interesting story line round this as the central point.

 Besides this, the story has been done to death in our Indian films, a son avenging the death of his father and establishing glory to the latter. Another interesting feature in this film was Sneha’s character. It was such a powerful one and I liked the fact that she has solid role on par with the hero Dhanush. Coming to Dhanush, I liked the elder one better; this is certainly not belittling the younger one. I kind of liked his character arc, a matured good man. It is to the advantage of the director that Dhanush and Sneha are great performers and therefore the scenes involving them come out lively.

 Mehreen Pirzada has to be there for the younger Dhanush. In this film at least, she looks like one of the many Bollywood imports who come for a few scenes, mouth words which are totally out of sync with what we hear. Songs are okayish types.

 As a film in its entirety, Pattas is engaging and a decent watch. The very fact that despite the story not new and also being predictable, Durai has managed to hook the audience to the screen for most parts.

Available on Amazon Prime.