Miruthan

With the onset of new genres in Tamizh cinema, we have Sakthi Soundar Rajan's first ever zombie movie - Miruthan. Jayam Ravi's varied choice of scripts, with his last five falling under five different genres makes him the unanimously celebrated hero in the recent times. How does Miruthan live up to the expectations from the theatre going crowd?

Miruthan is about a traffic cop escorting a group of medics after zombies take control of an entire city. Jayam Ravi (as Karthik) lives with his sister (Baby Anikha) in Ooty and the city turns into a zombie-land overnight. A group of medics, Lakshmi Menon and co., after attending a medical conference, find themselves in the mid of the catastrophe. Is there a respite in the offing?

Jayam Ravi opens his account for 2016 with a perfect performance. There are a few screen-presence moments and he enjoys the screams and whistles at regular intervals. He seems to be unstoppable after Thani Oruvan. Kaali Venkat's timing and the innocence he bears while delivering the comical scenes is entertaining and there is not even a single comedy that doesn't work. Sriman shares a lot of lighter moments right from his intro. 

With a genre that is not tried and tested with the Tamizh audience, one has to compromise. There is a sister sentiment, there is romance, there is friendship and there is heroism - all the ingredients for a commercial cinema, yet the film engages the audience throughout. Imaan's songs are appealing and the background score - one of his best. The "Horrifying Zombies" theme lingers in your ears even after you leave the cinema hall - a top-class BGM from Imaan after a long time. There are zombies creeping into the lens now and then, but there is not even a single frame that turns disgusting. The effort of the technicians behind the scenes is definitely laudable for delivering a zombie movie with authenticity in a short span. 

After Naanayam and Naaigal Jaakirathai, Shakthi Soundar Rajan has delivered his third genre in three movies. He has managed to create a zombie movie interwoven with the much needed commercial elements. There are few scenes which go overboard in action and sentiment, which could have been avoided. The director's idea of amalgamating "Mirugam" and "Manithan" for "Miruthan" deserves a special mention as he conveys the theme in just one word. With the film running lesser than two hours, we have the screenplay fast enough and Miruthan crosses the boundary line with comfortable ease. 

Bottomline - For those who rave about Hollywood zombie movies, we have Tamizh Cinema's first ever zombie movie finished in 54 days with a shoestring budget. Kudos to the entire team!

Bhoologam - A Bold Attempt!

Basking in the success of his blockbuster Thani Oruvan, Jayam Ravi is back with Bhoologam, his fourth release this year. With a bold take on commercialization, the trailer of the movie looked impressive. N.Kalyana Krishnan, former assistant of S.P.Jhananathan turns director with this flick. After a long wait for the release, Bhoologam finally hits the theatres today. 

Bhoologam has an ensemble cast with Jayam Ravi, Prakash Raj, Trisha, Ponvannan, Chaams and Nathan Jones. Prakash Raj is at his menacing best and he brings out the money-minded nature of the media with ease. Ponvannan as the boxing coach makes an impact with his silent yet powerful role. Nathan Jones as "Killer George" fits easily into the role of an international boxer. Jayam Ravi's efforts to bring a close-to-reality boxer look and his performance are commendable. His dialogue delivery comes with the necessary punch and his dancing Bhoologam style is catchy!

A peek into the story was what the trailer of Bhoologam gave to the audience. There is much more to it. The story opens with the history of boxing in North Madras and the plot is well established by the time the title track ends. Jayam Ravi as Bhoologam witnesses his dad killed out inside a boxing ring against another boxer hailing from the same area. At that time, the boxing championships were more local and took place in an open ground with people of North Madras gathering around the ring to watch their local superheroes fight it out. After twenty years, the legal heirs of the boxing legends of North Madras - Bhoologam and Arumugam decide to take on each other, the former for revenge and the latter to defend the title! Unravelling this usual revenge story, the director adds few more interesting elements in screenplay - the media coverage from an upcoming television station, the entry of an international boxer and the sponsors who run behind the boxers and the media to take their share of profit. However, this interesting line up is lost somewhere in translation.

A dragging first half, a below average background score, songs, cheesy scenes and the pre-interval twist prove a dampener. The screenplay begins to pick up pace only few minutes before the intermission. The second half is flawless and conveys the intended message brilliantly.  Bhoologam concentrates on the effect of commercialization of sports and also takes on various sensitive social issues during its run. The portrayal of television media's monetary lens, the commercial and advertisement oriented sport outings is perfect.

SP. Jhananathan's thought provoking dialogues and Jayam Ravi's bold and flawless dialogue delivery makes the movie a safe one-time watch. Jayam Ravi's choice of scripts are amazing of late. SP. Jhananathan's dialogues during the pre-climax and climax sequences are samples of how bold the movie is. "Vyaabaaram sarva desam... Kadal thaandi chaeri-kulla vanthu kaasu paakum... ellai thaandi meen pidika ponaa thuppaaki sudum", "Walmart ae India la vetthala pocket poada vanthutaan", "India aezha naadu thaan, aana.. market perisu" are masterly penned dialogues. Dialogues receive the whole-hearted support of the audience and whistles and screams acknowledge it.

Except for some hiccups in translation of the ideas on-screen, Bhoologam conveys a strong message, a much needed one - portraying the sad state of today's society.

Bottomline - A film to be supported, rather than reviewed. I support Bhoologam!

Thani Oruvan - A winner, hands down

From the jaws of evil, good always prevails. This has been a TM of tamizh cinema for decades. Thani Oruvan has been stamped with this genre but at the end evil has the upper hand here. Mohan Raja comes out of his comfort level to make an original script as against his previous remake hits. Like his previous films, this film also boasts a huge starcast - Jeyam ravi, arvind swami, nayanthara, ganesh venkataram, thambi ramaiah and many others.

The opening scene gives an unusual introduction of the antagonist. The director starts scoring right from the first scene. A baby is born in a car with placards wrapped around it saying "naalaya vidiveliyae". The film moves at a brisk pace as the sequence of scenes is flawless and seamless. A typical Ram - Ravana story delivered new and afresh. Jeyam Ravi and his group of aspiring police officers take on crimes happening in the society from the days of their training. In due course, Jayam Ravi finds his villain, tailor-made for him. From then on, there is tension between the two, one overtakes the another and finally it ends with dharmam marubadi vellum.

Jayam Ravi gives 100% to his role, a perfect rival for his enemy. But, jayam ravi as Mr.Perfect is again a cliche of 'be-good do-good' heroism in tamizh cinema. Nayantara has no strong scene in the first half, but she scores in the typical motivation-to-hero scene in the second half. She has got a performance-oriented role after raja rani and makes no mistakes. Thambi Ramaiah is a bundle of talent, he evokes laughter just with his mind voice. Whenever the film gets high on seriousness, thambi ramaiah brings it back on track with humour that doesn't disturb the movie. He makes an impact even when he is in a frame with arvind swamy.

Enough said about the "other" members of the starcast, there is one man who steals the show - Arvind swamy. He is pure evil. He plays a role  contrasting to his chocolate boy image and still manages it with ease. He conveys everything with just his eyes and his smile. There are places where he uses words like "incorrigible". A sophisticated villain. One might get reminded of kanaa kanden prithviraj, but arvind swamy is the trendsetter now thanks to the gripping screenplay. Yes, arvind swamy wins hands down over jeyam ravi - evil prevails over good, but only in the audience's heart.

The dialogue writer duo SuBa come up with their best after ayan and ko. "Nallatha mattumae seiya, kadavulaala kooda mudiyathu, nammellam enna?", "Nee kodutha vaazhkaiya naan aethukala, nee kaeta vaazhkaiya naan kuduthutaen", "Love at first sight, kill at first betrayal" are "just" samples, there are plenty. Everyone is in praise of arvind swamy and Raja after the release. Hiphop tamizha is a silent winner. His "theemai thaan vellum" for arvind swamy is haunting, though it is repetitive. The lyrics written by Hiphop Tamizha himself deserves a special mention. His songs are chartbusters already. "Kannaala" song rings in your ears though it comes at a place to disturb the pace of the movie.

Mohan Raja makes a debut after 5 films, as an original script writer. He hasn't compromised to take in commercial elements, every scene is much needed for the plot and the story. There are few scenes which thrill you in an unusual, unexpected way - jeyam ravi checking out the silencers of the parked bikes to trace the enemy, the bug tracker scene, the first scene at the chief minister's office, the first encounter of arvind swamy with jeyam ravi with the gun case. After all, there is the proposal scene with no words. Audience unanimously acknowledged with thunderous applause for each of these scenes. Hip hop tamizha's bg score elevated all these scenes to give a mass appeal.

Mohan Raja has bounced back and no stopping from here!

Bottomline - a perfect masala movie, a must watch.