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!

Irudhi Suttru - Boxing Its Way To Box Office Success!

We have been seeing sports drama movies in the recent times in Tamizh cinema - Vallinam, Jeeva, Bhoologam to name a few. We have Sudha Kongara's Irudhi Suttru concentrating on issues plaguing Indian Sports industry - Right from political interference to sexual harassment.

Madhavan as an angry, foul mouthed, short tempered boxing coach makes a memorable comeback to Tamizh cinema after 4 years. Prabhu (Madhavan), a boxing coach with allegations of sexual harassment against him goes in search of (is made to go in search of) new boxing trainees. He stumbles upon a "born boxer" (Rithika) in the slums of Chennai. The journey of this born boxer to world championship forms the storyline - a clichéd storyline that differs in the treatment it gets.

How often have we seen screen presence of a woman in Tamizh cinema? Rithvika Singh has delivered aplenty here, especially the "Kannula Gethu" moment. Rithika's portrayal of the bold, defiant and rebellious "Madhi" is definitely laudable. Her lip sync is perfect - the dubbing artist needs a special mention too. She even overshadows Maddy in many scenes.

There is not even a single frame that doesn't belong. A tight screenplay, an honest script, hard hitting dialogues by Arun Madhieswaran makes the movie a must - watch. The film's supporting cast is hand picked and there are no complaints. Kaali Venkat, as Rithika's father provides the humor relief. Nasser, as a boxing coach reiterates that he is one of the best supporting actors Tamizh Cinema has. Radharavi cakewalks his role and no doubt he is Nasser's counterpart in the most sought after supporting actors. The villain gives a performance that makes you hate him, a winner hands down.

Behind the scenes, we have a hero - Santhosh Narayanan. His songs are a huge plus. His background score and placement of lyrics from Muthamizh and Vivek are brilliant. There is a scene where Rithika counters Madhavan after he dictates her to do pushups as a punishment. Santhosh's placement of "Kannula Gethu... Ava kannula gethu... Vaaipilama vechuduvaa vaaiyila kuththu" gives Rithika the best screen presence moment. Be it a foot tapping "Vaa Machaney" or a soul stirring "Ey sandakaara" or an ambitious "Maya Visai", we have typical Santhosh in full form. There are whistles and screams at the start of each of his songs. His background score in the final moments makes your heart race faster - his brilliance in script oriented music revisited. The climax sequence makes you feel as if the moment is live, though we see shades of Chak de India.

Madhavan underplays his role, a much needed performance for the script. Being overshadowed by Rithika's performance in most of the scenes, he makes it even with just one emotional shot in the climax - a knockout performance.

Sudha Kongara delivers an honest script without much fuss and with no compromise. Her detailed research on boxing is clearly evident from the never ending list of boxers in the end credits - a trendsetting lady filmmaker.

Bottomline - Irudhi Suttru, tadoun tadoun tadoun tadoun taaandoun tatatadoun! (Santhosh Narayanan effect)