I am very much happy write about a few positive things happening in the professional front. I had written lyrics for an album that had 6 songs, for which i was part of one song. The album is getting released this saturday at kamaraj
hall nandanam. The music was done by three music composers and mixed by Vishal, who is a composer himself. I have been working on the script of saranalayam for a long time and we are planning to take it to the next level by finding the producers. Saranalayam has been a dream project for me, the editor Prasanna, the composer Vishal and the DOP george. Story boarding will happen for the project soon.
This week i saw ishqiya, i cant really comment about the story, as i dont understand a few dialogues. It has a combination of hindi and urdu. The real punjabi slang attached to it. Vidya Balan mesmerizes on screen and proves that, she can single handedly take a film on her shoulders. Everyone have given great performances specially vidya & Arshad warsi. I do not have any guts to comment about the performance of an actor above par like nasserudin sir. If you do not know proper hindi, its not possible to understand the film. Please do watch the film & hear the soundtrack of ishqiya for vishal B's awesome composition's. If there are some soundtracks which you cannot ignore then it's got to be Ishqiya and Striker. See you soon. Lets discuss the rest later! :)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Striker - an amateur's film review
After four years of hibernation from the hindi film industry, Sidarth is back with the film Striker, set in the ghetto's of Malvani a slum in Mumbai. His previous outing has been the Cult film Rang De Basanthi & the character Karan Singhania inspired everyone to wear Jean Jackets and Ray-Ban Eye Gears. Striker is an off beat attempt from chandan Arora, the director, deals with the life of a carrom player during the 70's & 80's to the early 90's.
The story is about SuryaKanth(Sidarth) finding his life as a carrom player in the slum dwelling of Malvani. The film traces his struggles to support his family , his fate under the hands of Jalell the local Don played by aditya Panscholi. He chooses carrom as his profession without any choice due to the circumstances he is in. Its Surya's search on what life has to offer for him, forms the rest of the film.
The best part of the film is the casting. The film has a great cast in the form of sidarth, Ankur Vikal, aditya pancholi, Anupham Kher, Seema Biswas, Vidya Malvade & Padma Priya. Everyone has worked their heart out for the film. The soundtrack consists of 8 songs composed by six music directors. Cham Cham, Pia Saanvara, Yun Hua and Bombay Bombay are worth hearing to repeatedly. You cant miss the soundtrack. A lot of effort has been put to make the soundtrack look fresh. The soundtrack has songs composed by Amit Trivedi who gave Dev-d and Iktara from Wake up sid, Blaaze has rapped for two songs, Yuvan makes his bollywood debut with Striker. Lyricist swanand Kirkire & Vishal Baratwaj has given a track each. The pick of the lot has been Shailendra Barve with his two mindblowing tracks. Soundtrack of striker would be the best soundtrack you would hear for a long time.
Art direction and cinematography has gone hand in hand. The work of re-creating the ghetto's and capturing the frames requires a lot of skill. Both the Art director & the D.O.P delivers. Since the film is inspired from real life accounts, the writer-director have planned to show it as realistic as possible. The detailing of the film requires a special mention. Film Maker chandan has opted to use flashbacks considering the film is a Neo-Noir film.
This have paid bad dividents. Using a straight screenplay approach would have been more appropriate for the film. The Hindi-Muslim riots that happens in the end of the film, comes out of the blues. Writing a story & making the audience believe the story is more important. A Taut Screenplay would have made Striker a much more better film. Considering the state of hindi cinema, We must accept small films like striker.
The story is about SuryaKanth(Sidarth) finding his life as a carrom player in the slum dwelling of Malvani. The film traces his struggles to support his family , his fate under the hands of Jalell the local Don played by aditya Panscholi. He chooses carrom as his profession without any choice due to the circumstances he is in. Its Surya's search on what life has to offer for him, forms the rest of the film.
The best part of the film is the casting. The film has a great cast in the form of sidarth, Ankur Vikal, aditya pancholi, Anupham Kher, Seema Biswas, Vidya Malvade & Padma Priya. Everyone has worked their heart out for the film. The soundtrack consists of 8 songs composed by six music directors. Cham Cham, Pia Saanvara, Yun Hua and Bombay Bombay are worth hearing to repeatedly. You cant miss the soundtrack. A lot of effort has been put to make the soundtrack look fresh. The soundtrack has songs composed by Amit Trivedi who gave Dev-d and Iktara from Wake up sid, Blaaze has rapped for two songs, Yuvan makes his bollywood debut with Striker. Lyricist swanand Kirkire & Vishal Baratwaj has given a track each. The pick of the lot has been Shailendra Barve with his two mindblowing tracks. Soundtrack of striker would be the best soundtrack you would hear for a long time.
Art direction and cinematography has gone hand in hand. The work of re-creating the ghetto's and capturing the frames requires a lot of skill. Both the Art director & the D.O.P delivers. Since the film is inspired from real life accounts, the writer-director have planned to show it as realistic as possible. The detailing of the film requires a special mention. Film Maker chandan has opted to use flashbacks considering the film is a Neo-Noir film.
This have paid bad dividents. Using a straight screenplay approach would have been more appropriate for the film. The Hindi-Muslim riots that happens in the end of the film, comes out of the blues. Writing a story & making the audience believe the story is more important. A Taut Screenplay would have made Striker a much more better film. Considering the state of hindi cinema, We must accept small films like striker.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A Week full of movvys
This week has been a week full of movies. It started from Goa @ Sathyam on tuesday, Tamil Padam @ Kamala on wednesday, Striker @ Sathyam on Friday and Asal @ Kamala on saturday. Goa is totally Fun. its a combination of spoof and mindless comedy. Tamil Padam is total spoof without any solid storyline. If you ask me , go for Goa than tamil padam. Yesterday I had a look at the trailer of Kites, starring Hrithik , Barbara Mori & Kangna Ranaut. The trailer
was of international class & blew my mind. Seems like a Romantic thriller. Barbara mori is uber cool speaking Spanish. The film is written and directed by anurag Basu, who gave us two gems , life in a metro and Gangster.
Asal Ajith's next offering is releasing this Friday. Expectations are big, this time as the trailer's look promising. Sidarth is back in Hindi film industry after a two year hiatus in a film called Striker. The film is set in the ghetto's of Bombay is about a carrom Player. The soundtrack looks very promising with 8 songs composed by several music directors. Sidarth has sung two songs in that album. Cham Cham a sufi number is the best of the lot. As the Oscar fever is catching up, I have not seen most of the films that are nominated for Oscars. I have seen only avatar and inglorious basterd's, so its tough to predict anything. Best thing is to catch up the Oscar night from TV. :) Chalo PPl. talk to you laterz :)
was of international class & blew my mind. Seems like a Romantic thriller. Barbara mori is uber cool speaking Spanish. The film is written and directed by anurag Basu, who gave us two gems , life in a metro and Gangster.
Asal Ajith's next offering is releasing this Friday. Expectations are big, this time as the trailer's look promising. Sidarth is back in Hindi film industry after a two year hiatus in a film called Striker. The film is set in the ghetto's of Bombay is about a carrom Player. The soundtrack looks very promising with 8 songs composed by several music directors. Sidarth has sung two songs in that album. Cham Cham a sufi number is the best of the lot. As the Oscar fever is catching up, I have not seen most of the films that are nominated for Oscars. I have seen only avatar and inglorious basterd's, so its tough to predict anything. Best thing is to catch up the Oscar night from TV. :) Chalo PPl. talk to you laterz :)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Goa* - A venkat Prabhu holiday- Conditions Apply *
Call it spoof, Call it madness, Call it fun, Call it Goa. Goa is a non-stop fun film that will make you laugh all the time. This is Mr Venkat prabhu's third offering after the Cult film chennai-28 and the comedy thriller saroja. Venkat has created a set of character's based upon current generation of youngsters and made it look simple. He has kept the plot simple. Four individuals in Goa, finding their love life and understand relationship's. He has taken the bunch of guys from his well known cast & asked them to chill out at Goa, as if they are on a holiday. Believe it or not, they have done exactly that and delivered big time. Venkat keeps it simple and straight when it comes the screenplay as well as the character sketches. It sinks effortlessly in the screenplay of the film.
Jai, Vaibhav and Premji are from the same village, where the traditions and customs are still like the 1980's ramarajan/ Gangai amaren films. They get tired of answering questions in the town panchayat & leave the village. Jai meets his friend at a wedding to know that, he has married a foriegn girl from Goa. The three friends flee to Goa in search of their love and the way they find their love has been portrayed hilariously.
Jai- Pia's love story is the best of all. Jai finds what he wants in Pia, but refuses to accept her because of the stupid reason that he wants to marry a foriegner. Pia has fallen for Jai on the first meeting. The scene where Pia takes Jai to an empty theater for listening her sing was a beautifully constructed sequence. At last Jai accepts Pia as she is even after knowing that she had an affair with Vaibhav( Jai doesnt know vaibhav lied). That's the way it is today. This generation does not care about the past. This is venkat prabhu's take. Pia has a certain charm in her & she looks good with those curls and outfits even though she is short.
Vaibhav-Sneha 's story is about two concepts that prevails in this generation's men-women. Vaibhav badly wants to be in a relationship and have sex, for that he chooses sneha. Sneha is full of attitude and chauvinism. They both get married and divorced. Vaibhav accepts to sneha that he was never in love with her and it does not work out for hm. Vaibhav and sneha both have come out with a solid performance.
Premji-Melanie - This will bring the roof's down as well as make some sob at the end. It takes guts to portray a love story between a guy from a village and a foriegner. Melanie is beautiful and refreshing to see in the screen. She has done her part well, except for the dialogues in tamil. Premji has spoofed a lot in the past two films and has continued the same way in the third.
The fourth one is a gay relationship between Aravind Akash & Sampath. Sampath has given a mind blowing performance. He has made people believe that they are a gay couple. Aravind Akash has hit gym & put a six pack abb's, Both him & the six pack Abb's shines throughout the film.
There were a few drags, a very few dull moments that could have been taken care in the edit of the film. This film has the potential to acheive cult status. Our audience are very different these days, no one is not sure what to accept ?. Applause for the bravery of Soundarya Rajnikanth and venkat Prabhu to make a film like Goa. They have succeeded in reaching the films to the hearts of A center audience. I believe venkat will not continue with the same kind of films, which he has made till now in his next offering.
Jai, Vaibhav and Premji are from the same village, where the traditions and customs are still like the 1980's ramarajan/ Gangai amaren films. They get tired of answering questions in the town panchayat & leave the village. Jai meets his friend at a wedding to know that, he has married a foriegn girl from Goa. The three friends flee to Goa in search of their love and the way they find their love has been portrayed hilariously.
Jai- Pia's love story is the best of all. Jai finds what he wants in Pia, but refuses to accept her because of the stupid reason that he wants to marry a foriegner. Pia has fallen for Jai on the first meeting. The scene where Pia takes Jai to an empty theater for listening her sing was a beautifully constructed sequence. At last Jai accepts Pia as she is even after knowing that she had an affair with Vaibhav( Jai doesnt know vaibhav lied). That's the way it is today. This generation does not care about the past. This is venkat prabhu's take. Pia has a certain charm in her & she looks good with those curls and outfits even though she is short.
Vaibhav-Sneha 's story is about two concepts that prevails in this generation's men-women. Vaibhav badly wants to be in a relationship and have sex, for that he chooses sneha. Sneha is full of attitude and chauvinism. They both get married and divorced. Vaibhav accepts to sneha that he was never in love with her and it does not work out for hm. Vaibhav and sneha both have come out with a solid performance.
Premji-Melanie - This will bring the roof's down as well as make some sob at the end. It takes guts to portray a love story between a guy from a village and a foriegner. Melanie is beautiful and refreshing to see in the screen. She has done her part well, except for the dialogues in tamil. Premji has spoofed a lot in the past two films and has continued the same way in the third.
The fourth one is a gay relationship between Aravind Akash & Sampath. Sampath has given a mind blowing performance. He has made people believe that they are a gay couple. Aravind Akash has hit gym & put a six pack abb's, Both him & the six pack Abb's shines throughout the film.
There were a few drags, a very few dull moments that could have been taken care in the edit of the film. This film has the potential to acheive cult status. Our audience are very different these days, no one is not sure what to accept ?. Applause for the bravery of Soundarya Rajnikanth and venkat Prabhu to make a film like Goa. They have succeeded in reaching the films to the hearts of A center audience. I believe venkat will not continue with the same kind of films, which he has made till now in his next offering.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Wake up sid & Rocket singh
I wanted to write this update, after watching two back to back movies starring ranbir kapoor. I bought the dvd of wake up sid in landmark. This one is really good, i mean the features inside the disc. This comes with the making of
the songs, the making of wake up sid, deleted scenes. If you love the film, go get one soon. If you have thought that wake up sid is Ranbir's best performance, then comes Rocket singh. Rocket singh is a film that will stay with you for a long time, if your are looking for realistic cinema, I feel bad that i did not see it in theatres. Rocket singh written by Jaideep Sahni has also taken care of dialogues. Set in a small office, which does computer sales. Jaideep has etched out a wonderful set of characters, who has done an amazing performance given rocket singh as their debut. In fact except ranbir, most of them are new to cinema. The film is directed by Shimit Amin who gave us Chak de India. Bloggers spend some time watching this small ode of a film. ;). Both Wake up sid and Rocket singh, has been coming of age kind of a film, for Ranbir as well to bollywood. It was in the best film's list of many indian critics for the year 2009.
On the professional front, I have just started to work on a screenplay for a new project on Srilankan-Tamil problem, called the Eelam, researching is on for that script. I am reading a book called screenplay by Syd Field, so far so good. Tweaking the minor mistakes and corrections for saranalayam script before it goes to the producers hand. Saranalayam is kind of special for the whole team. Sarath-Actor , George C williams - Director of Photography, Prasanna G.K.- Editor ( It is a highly personal film for him) as well for vishal because it is a musical. I can tell you that, this is the best script or screenplay i have written till date. I am also working on the dialogues for my friend Kaushik's film.
CONGRATS ARR Sir for getting the Grammy awards :) . We all love your music & You as a person :)
the songs, the making of wake up sid, deleted scenes. If you love the film, go get one soon. If you have thought that wake up sid is Ranbir's best performance, then comes Rocket singh. Rocket singh is a film that will stay with you for a long time, if your are looking for realistic cinema, I feel bad that i did not see it in theatres. Rocket singh written by Jaideep Sahni has also taken care of dialogues. Set in a small office, which does computer sales. Jaideep has etched out a wonderful set of characters, who has done an amazing performance given rocket singh as their debut. In fact except ranbir, most of them are new to cinema. The film is directed by Shimit Amin who gave us Chak de India. Bloggers spend some time watching this small ode of a film. ;). Both Wake up sid and Rocket singh, has been coming of age kind of a film, for Ranbir as well to bollywood. It was in the best film's list of many indian critics for the year 2009.
On the professional front, I have just started to work on a screenplay for a new project on Srilankan-Tamil problem, called the Eelam, researching is on for that script. I am reading a book called screenplay by Syd Field, so far so good. Tweaking the minor mistakes and corrections for saranalayam script before it goes to the producers hand. Saranalayam is kind of special for the whole team. Sarath-Actor , George C williams - Director of Photography, Prasanna G.K.- Editor ( It is a highly personal film for him) as well for vishal because it is a musical. I can tell you that, this is the best script or screenplay i have written till date. I am also working on the dialogues for my friend Kaushik's film.
CONGRATS ARR Sir for getting the Grammy awards :) . We all love your music & You as a person :)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Ayirathil oruvan - A Flawed film, but a visual experience
Ayirathil Oruvan, believed to be selvaraghavan's magnum opus, which has been in the making for three years has had a grand opening at the box office hugely because of the pre-release hype and the publicity for the film. As two week's has passed by, two versions of the film are out. The first version of the film which has been 3 hours long and there is a trimmed version that is twenty minutes shorter than the first one which was in the theatres from the fifth day of the release.
The film travels through the journey of two archaeologists (Andrea jeremiah & Reema Sen) to East-Asia in search of the ancient tamil ruler's chola's kingdom along with military base headed by Azhagu perumal and Local workers headed by Karthi sivakumar. The events and sequences that unfolds throughout the travel forms the first half of the film. The second half is an entirely different genre, that explores the civilizations of the Chola Kingdom.
Ayirathil Oruvan is of a fantasy genre, where a few minor logical error's can be kept aside. Watching this film in the huge screen has been an amazing visual experience. Its a visual treat, with Ramji's camera work that deserves special a mention. When it comes to film making its an visual experience, there should not be a difference between camera work and CG work. In this film we could clearly differentiate the sequences shot & the CG's used. It requires more time and techinical finesse to make the CG portions of ayirathil oruvan to look more realistic and authentic.
The script is not a fresh script, with selvaraghavan drawing inspirations from Mckena's Gold( The Nataraja - Stone Henge sequence) , 300 (War and stunt sequences) , The Lord of the rings Trilogy and Indiana Jones series. He has done enough research for the tamil dialect, the chola's lifestyle and the costumes. The research work has been
indeed wonderful. The screenplay has a lot of loose knots, which has not been taken care even in the edit. There would be a sequence where Karthik, Reema and Andrea escape from the fourth form of danger the snakes. They would escape through the river after that there is a sequence of loosely interconnected shots that does not even relate to each other, and finally we find them in the middle of the forest.
We agree that the script is a fantasy, where a few logical errors can be neglected. There were more big blunders in the screenplay that is hard to believe. Before the beginning of an military journey, the equipments and machinery would be properly planned for the whole trip. In the final sequences of the film when Karthik and the boy escapes from the militants, its hard to believe that they easily escaped in front of so many militants with weapons. The casting of the militants is not commendable, I meant they must look like a person working for the Indian military. whereas the casting of the people living in the Chola civilization is especially with the black make-up.
When it comes to the performance's Parthiban has done a mindblowing work. Karthik shines effortlessly in the comic sequences than the serious scenes. In the first of Half, Karthik has started from where he left off in paruthi veeran. Reema Sen has done a brilliant portrayal as the girl from the pandiya kingdom. Both Andrea and Azhagu perumal does not have enough scope to perform.
The soundtrack of the film is commendable for the songs, specially in the second half. The Theme's A celebration of life and The King arrives were really top notch from a young music composer like G V Prakash. The Background scores were heavily inspired from the tracks of Metallica. Different ancient instruments has been used for the soundtrack to provide the ancient historic era feel.
Set design and the art work for the film, specially the second half meets expectations. Costumes are designed by Erum Ali deserves a special mention, considering the magnitude and the junior artists of the film.
Selvaraghavan has the gifted potential to create those unforgettable moments in a film, fails to perfectly execute his visualization. The effort that has been put into this project is truly huge and has opened avenues that Indian cinema's got to explore upon. If the detailing of the first half as well as the screenplay had been slick, it would have been better.Watch it in a big screen once for the experience.
Crazy week - end of Jan 2010
This week is sort of huge in terms of profession as well personal issues. There is enough madness, to kickstart the week by a huge setback for my next production. I have been looking out to make the movie, materialise it soon. I am planning to approach a few producers. At work , @ Inautix there has been a big production move
this weekend, All the efforts spent for the last 5 months comes to a close today, something like a judgement day. Fine moving on, I had a dilemma whether i got to switch over to media. I asked my friend venkat for a suggestion, he replied just think whether you are worth there? as if i am worth here in IT :) i laughed my heart out when he said that!
Coming to the Soundtrack of VTV, ARR's new offering after the academy award. ARR-Gautham Combo is fresh as well the songs. Lots of western instruments as well as orchestration. Indian music lovers takes time to like it. A week ago, a colleague of mine and I had an argument over aaromale song. Thats the pick of the album sung by malayalee music director alphonse. Its really refreshing to hear Kalyani menon sing, Omana penne with malayalam lyrics. For starters, Kalyani menon is Cinematographer-Director Rajeev Menon's Mom. Her voice sound's like a teenager. Songs like Anbil Avan does not even stay with the rhytm, seems like a deliberate attempt from rahman Ji. We are loving it ARR. No one except you in this indian industry sets standards and achieve it slowly. Its Chinmayi who has sung it with devan ekambaram. Her choce of songs, Oru deivam for kannathil muthamittal, Mayya Mayya from guru, Anbil Avan from VTV. She has carved a niche for
herself in the industry.
As sun sets in chennai on a long friday evening, the weekend madness starts, Saw Ayirathil oruvan selvaragahvan's so called Magnum Opus. Will write a detailed review of that soon. Got to catch up Goa, Tamizh Padam and also Ishqiya. Heard Ishqiya is a must watch, set in the suburbs of INDIA and is a battle between Love and Lust.
this weekend, All the efforts spent for the last 5 months comes to a close today, something like a judgement day. Fine moving on, I had a dilemma whether i got to switch over to media. I asked my friend venkat for a suggestion, he replied just think whether you are worth there? as if i am worth here in IT :) i laughed my heart out when he said that!
Coming to the Soundtrack of VTV, ARR's new offering after the academy award. ARR-Gautham Combo is fresh as well the songs. Lots of western instruments as well as orchestration. Indian music lovers takes time to like it. A week ago, a colleague of mine and I had an argument over aaromale song. Thats the pick of the album sung by malayalee music director alphonse. Its really refreshing to hear Kalyani menon sing, Omana penne with malayalam lyrics. For starters, Kalyani menon is Cinematographer-Director Rajeev Menon's Mom. Her voice sound's like a teenager. Songs like Anbil Avan does not even stay with the rhytm, seems like a deliberate attempt from rahman Ji. We are loving it ARR. No one except you in this indian industry sets standards and achieve it slowly. Its Chinmayi who has sung it with devan ekambaram. Her choce of songs, Oru deivam for kannathil muthamittal, Mayya Mayya from guru, Anbil Avan from VTV. She has carved a niche for
herself in the industry.
As sun sets in chennai on a long friday evening, the weekend madness starts, Saw Ayirathil oruvan selvaragahvan's so called Magnum Opus. Will write a detailed review of that soon. Got to catch up Goa, Tamizh Padam and also Ishqiya. Heard Ishqiya is a must watch, set in the suburbs of INDIA and is a battle between Love and Lust.
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