Miruthan to Hit Screens on Feb 19

Miruthan to Hit Screens on Feb 19

The release date of Miruthan, which is being hailed as Tamil cinema’s first zombie film, has been finalised. After keeping the audiences guessing, sources now confirm that the film will hit screens on February 19. Says a source, “The film was sent to the Censor Board for certification. They weren’t satisfied with the certificate awarded and have sent it to a revising committee.” Director of the film, Sakthi Sounder Rajan, confirmed the release date to City Express saying, “It is true. We are looking to release the film on February 19.” Commenting on the film’s title, he said, “It has been titled Miruthan for two reasons. First, Miruthan is derived from mirugam (animal) and manithan (human). Lyricist Madhan Karky also pointed out that this would be the most ideal title for a zombie film as the Tamil word for a walking corpse is miruthan.” s Jayam Ravi plays the lead along withLakshmi Menon in this film, which was shot in Ooty and Coimbatore in just 54 days. “Jayam Ravi plays a traffic cop in the film while Lakshmi Menon plays a doctor. While you may have seen several zombie films in English and other languages, this film will be different as the story will have a strong logical foundation,” says the director. But what is Miruthan all about? “We do a lot of things that go against nature. What happens if nature chooses to hit back? Basically, global pollution is the cause of the problem,” he explains. A phenomenal amount of computer graphics (CG) has been incorporated into the film. “Miruthan has over 1,500 shots of CG. It took quite a bit of work but we are pleased with the outcome. Several artistes including Sriman Kali Venkat and baby Anikha (who played Ajith’s daughter in the Gautham Vasudeva Menon 2015-superhit film, Yennai Arinthaal), have done important roles in my film. It will also made in Tamil but will be dubbed and released simultaneously in both languages on February 19,” explains the director.

Nayanthara to Play Female Lead in Sarkunam's Film

Nayanthara to Play Female Lead in Sarkunam's Film

Director Sarkunam, known for his national award-winning feature film Vaagai Sooda Vaa, is to produce a film along with Nemichand Jhabak. The film is to be directed by Sarkunam’s associate Doss Ramasamy and will feature Nayanthara in the lead. Sources say that Sarkunam will produce the film on a first-copy basis. Says a source, “Doss Ramasamy will make his debut as a director with this film, which will have an impressive star cast including Thambi Ramiah. The film, which hasn’t been titled yet, will be hard to categorise as it will have elements of crime, comedy and horror in it. Work is to begin this month.” Sources also point out that Dinesh Krishnan will take care of the cinematography while Vivek Mervin will score the music for this film.

Simbu to don three avatars in his next!

Simbu to don three avatars in his next! The film would be a full-on commercial action-packed entertainer with equal doses of romance and comedy, says Adhik. Filmmaker Adhik Ravichandran who made heads turn with his debut adult comedy Trisha Illana Nayanthara is all smiles. Reason? He managed to convince Simbu with his script! Yes, if everything goes well, he will be directing Simbu soon once the latter completes his existing projects including Gautham Menon’s Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada.

“I met Simbu a while ago and narrated the script. He loved it and gave his nod immediately. However, we are yet to make this information official. The film would be a full-on commercial action-packed entertainer with equal doses of romance and comedy — catering to the youth,” says Adhik, and adds, “Simbu will be essaying three roles in the film, which will have three heroines, one of them from Bollywood — talks are on to zero in on the cast.” Cinema has always fascinated Adhik since childhood and doing a film with an established actor like Simbu is indeed an advantage. “I wanted to make it big in the industry some day. All I am doing now is working towards it. For the moment, that alone matters,” he smiles. Ask him why Simbu, Adhik tells us, “When Trisha... released, he was the first person in the industry to call and congratulate me. Moreover, the script needed Simbu and I am glad that he agreed with me. We are yet to fine-tune further details — by mid June, everything will be finalised.”

Bangalore Naatkal Movie Review

Bangalore Naatkal Movie Review SYNOPSIS: Three cousins — Arjun (Arya), Divya (Sri Divya) and Kutty (Simhaa) get to realise their childhood dream of living in Bangalore, and have to deal with the turns that their lives take there. REVIEW: Anjali Menon's Bangalore Days was overlong with a plot filled with cliches — a marriage where the man is unable to forget his past love and accept his wife (a sort-of Mouna Ragam with the roles reversed), an impulsive, aimless individual learning to enjoy life after falling in love with a girl who is a motivational figure, a goofball character whose 'romance' is used largely for laughs, and even a climax that involves stopping a character from going abroad! And yet, the film worked and connected with its audience, because it played out more as a wish- fulfillment fantasy, invoking nostalgia (cousins enjoying each other's company), and filled with feel-good moments that one savour many times. But mostly, the cast, which included the younger generation of Mollywood, was simply terrific.

No wonder that when the cast of Bangalore Naatkal was revealed, the news was met largely with dismay. But, surprisingly, this remake works to a large extent (if you haven't seen the original, even better), because the director, Bommarillu Bhaskar hasn't made any drastic change to the original script and manages to capture the emotional drama of the scenes. The film is still overlong (despite clocking in at 156 minutes compared to the original's 172) and does take a bit of time to warm up to — the initial scenes are bland and the lead trio, especially Simhaa, are stiff and do not project the conspiratorial closeness that cousins share. Bhaskar is also unable to capture the rural setting. But once the action shifts to Bangalore, the scenes become more casual and free-flowing. It also helps that the three characters are finding themselves in a new situation and that makes their performances feel real. Sri Divya might not be as chirpy as Nazriya, but she gives a confident performance as a small-town girl in a big city. The only issues are her whiny voice (the actress has dubbed for herself) and the out-of-sync dialogues in the initial scenes. Arya, in fact, is more believable as Arjun, because the role is that of a biker and requires him to be a moody individual who doesn't show his emotions on the outside. We even get used to Simhaa after a point, but Rana Daggubati is clearly miscast. The actor can do brooding roles but here, as Prasad, a newly married man who is unable to forget his girlfriend (Samantha), he doesn't project the character's reluctance to let his wife into his life. The sub-plot involving Kutty's mother and father does not feel as organic as they did in the original (even there, they seemed a bit unnecessary) but it delivers the laughs here and Saranya Ponvannan has a great time playing the role of a woman who gets to satisfy her yearning for city life. But then, we begin to care about these characters and their problems — Can Divya make Prasad forget his past and fall in love with her? Can Arjun discover the happiness in live and get together with Sara (Parvathy, who reprises the role she played in the original and is fantastic) before she moves to Australia? Can Kutty find his one, true love? — we are swept up by the narrative (and Gopi Sundar's emotive score), despite the predictability, and start enjoying it.

Anjala Movie Review

Anjala Movie Review SYNOPSIS: Can a 100-year-old tea shop, which is more of a home for a group of regulars and a legacy for its soft-spoken owner, survive a road widening plan? REVIEW: There are some films that manage to leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling even though they have their issues. Anjala is one such film. The plot revolves around a 100-year-old tea shop — Anjala Tea Shop — that was instrumental in an entire small town developing around it and the struggles its owner, Muthu Velaandi (Pasupathy), a genial, soft-spoken person, faces to keep it open. First, the shop's existence is threatened when the government decides to widen the road for a highway; next, the owner and some of its regulars (who consider the place as home) are arrested on suspicion and the shop is sealed after a customer uses it as a conduit for circulating counterfeit currency. Then there is UK (Subbu Panchu), a big shot, who blames the people in the shop for him getting arrested for selling illicit liquor, and wants to have his revenge. How these events impact the lives of those who hold the place dear is narrated by Thangam Saravanan in a somewhat melodramatic but heart-warming fashion.

Anjala is an uneven film, with filmmaking that is hardly remarkable and a script that lacks finesse and focus. Yet, the film makes it clear right in the initial scenes that it is more interested in going after our emotions. A couple of stretches are quite impressive. One occurs in the first half when the film flashes back and tells us the story of Muthu Velandi's grandfather, who set up the tea shop. We are shown how a barren expanse of land gradually turns into a community in a plausible manner and the director also uses this segment to impress us with period details — the independence movement, the advent of radio, the floral prints of the 80s... The other notable segment is the climax where the shop and Velaandi — in one way or the other — play a role in sorting out the lives of the shop's regulars, and the community standing together for the shop in its darkest hour. These scenes require some suspension of disbelief from the viewer, but they press the right emotional buttons. Even the romantic track between Kavas, the film's nominal lead (played by Vemal, who once again gets to display his one-note talent for playing an affable small town guy) and Uthra (Nandita, who is also typecast as a demure college girl), is kept to the sidelines. Most importantly, despite painting his characters in broad strokes, Thangam Saravan presents most of them as people whom we might encounter on the street. There are also times when the director succumbs to cliches and compromises. The entire arc involving UK seems redundant, considering the shop already has two more serious problems that need to be sorted out. The comedy bits — one with Adukalam Murugadas as a 40- something bachelor wanting to have a love marriage and another with Imman Annachi as a customer — are mostly irritating and only end up making the film feel overlong despite its under two-hour running time. Still, Pasupathy's solid, unfussy performance, which at times brings to mind his Kuselan effort, ensures that we do not give up on the film and makes us care about the fate of his character and his tea shop.

Jil Jung Juk Movie Review

Jil Jung Juk Movie Review SYNOPSIS: Three bumbling underlings who are tasked with smuggling cocaine get into problems during their journey.

REVIEW: Deeraj Vaidhy, the debutant director of Jil Jung Juk, seems to belong to that rare breed of filmmakers in Tamil cinema — one who uses visuals to tell his story. Aided by his cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna, he gives us flamboyant visuals (the film is set in a not-so- distant apocalyptic future), which are further enhanced by Vishal Chandrashekar's boisterous score (that, at times, drowns out the dialogues). In that sense, the film heralds the arrival of a promising talent. But, the film, as such, is somewhat of a minor let-down because the writing is not as strong as the visuals and, while it is definitely offbeat and brave, it doesn't feel as ambitious or as remarkable as it wants us to take it. The film has an attitude that is instantly likeable but look beneath all the coolth and the quirks and what we see is a plot that is formulaic and even predictable. Here, Jil (Siddharth), Jung (Avinash) and Juk (Sananth) are tasked by their boss Deivanayagam (Amarendran) with getting a car containing cocaine from one place to the other. But they lose the car in spectacular fashion, and decide to pass off a similar-looking car as the actual one. During this effort, they run into trouble with Deivanayagam's rival, Rolex Rawther (Radha Ravi) and Attack (Dheena), a drug supplier. So, they plot to pit them against one another and get away unharmed. But will their plan work? The jerky narrative follows a structure that we have seen in some of the black comedies (Neram, Moodar Koodam, Burma and Naanum Rowdy Dhaan) over the past few years. We have a lead who aspires to punch above his weight, his sidekicks who are funny and weird in a good way, ganglords who are bitter rivals waiting for an excuse to shoot down each other, goof- ups, misunderstandings and a climax where the leads manage to save themselves by pitting the various players against one another. This could still have worked, but we are hardly able to get the dire situation that the leads are in. One reason for this is that, in his efforts to give us eccentric villains, Deeraj makes them less threatening. There are some big laughs, courtesy the excellent duo of Avinash Raghudevan and Sananth, and Bipin, who nicely plays off on the Harahara Mahadevaki WhatsApp viral audio series. But the problem is that they aren't consistent. For every joke that works, there is an equally laboured (the bit involving Rawther's prostate cancer) or dull one (the scene where the trio try to pass off a drug addict as some from Uganda). To some extent, the director offsets such disappointments by providing us with a steady stream of quirkiness — Jil's blue-streaked hair, Juk's colour blindness, a cocaine-coated car that is in bubblegum pink colour, butterfly effect, film references (one involving Karagatakkaran's Soppana Sundari joke and the other, a mandatory hat tip to Ajith), animated sequences that play out like cartoons and comic book frames, and a shoot-out that plays out over a funky Carnatic musical piece, but the climax, which is over-stretched and cliched, leaves us with a film that we admire but cannot wholeheartedly fall in love with.