Aandavan Kattalai

AANDAVAN KATTALAI (2016) ....

            Being Witnessed many well- made Malayalam movies  with 'shoestring' budget in recent times and its expensive & horrible Tamil remakes, watching a Tamil film with similar intensity and cherishing nuances as like Malayalam movies was like a 'day-dream' until watching #Aandavan_kattalai_2016.

           

This 150 min  feel good entertainer has equal portions of hilarious comedy and fascinating drama within it. From its 80's style of retro title card, Manikandan (director) is very clear about narrating the whole story in the style of 'Koothu' (A diminishing village art form).

WHAT WORKED WELL ...

- A solid casting. Including leads, every one fits in their role perfectly. Yogi babu dominates the whole first half, Aravindan as Srilankan tamilian was perfect, Pooja could have been used better, Nazzar & Simgampuli's extended cameo was good. SS.Stanley as visa mediator was tailor made.

- Technically fine. Realistic camera angles, Shanmuga sundaram's (Cinematographer) shots were so pleasant. Flawless editing from Anucharan, You wont feel bored at any point. Dramatic shift in scenes are good. 

- Musically Rich. Trappable tunes from K, Bgm was peppy.  Sound design by Arun & Vishnu were too good.

- Good at details. Court room divorce scenes were well executed (Effort of Junior artists in those scenes were appreciable). Fake visa process, Airport vigilance scenes and srilankan tamil peoples current scenario were well explained.

- Well placed Dialogues. Yogi babu's one liners were ultimate, hidden social and political satire dialogues were brilliantly used like, 'போலீஸ் காரனுக்கு சில்லர தேவை படாதே'.

WHAT DOESNT WORK ...

- As the whole movie was dramatic, some portions are not effective. Especially the interval.

- Rithika singh's second half court scene was bit lengthy. Climax is very predictable and tiring ..

- Gandhi's seven lack loan story with his uncle was abruptly left.

           Character 'Gandhi' was just a cakewalk for vijay sethupathy. Rithika singh gets her major screen presence only after one hour, but she steals the show with her cute expressions specially in the climax. Until  post interval scenes, the whole movie was majorly filled with fun elements, but after Rithika's court scene the whole plot takes a serious turn. Director Manikandan had handled those portions brilliantly.

          This is his first movie which runs over 110 min and he completely engages the audience all through the runtime. A well executed flick from him, expecting something new in his next film too. All the best bro.       

Finally  #Andavan_kattalai says, 'Even a big problem may have a tiny solution attached to it, Beware of mediators'.

OVERALL : A well executed Feel-good drama with good humor, a neat and clean family entertainer.

RATING : 3.25 / 5 ......

DON"T BREATHE

DONT BREATHE  ... Until the end of the show ...

          Hollywood 'Horror' flicks in recent days  dominates regional 'Box office' much, recent examples goes like #Conjuring 2's two week collections are much higher than #Kabali's three weeks long run collection in many single screens. Now, #Dont_Breathe likely takes over its position.

ONELINE : Three thieves, Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan) and Money (Daniel) breaks and trapped into a private property owned by a 'Blind' army man, Later development will make you feel 'stuffy' even you are in a AC hall.

         Holding the brand name of #Evil dead (2013), this 89min flick starts to scare you from its 10th minute and will never leave you to relax until its end. With not much CGI, Fede Alvarez (Director) had given a neat horror flick using much famous 'Old school' method.

WHAT WORKS WELL...

        - Continues 'one shot' house interior scene in the beginning and lighting less 'IR' basement portions are the highlights of Pedro Luque's (Cinematographer) excellent camera work.

        - Roque Baños's BGM was subtle. Breathing sound was well used all through the flick, Effects and sound design was top notch.

        - Stephen lang as blind man was perfect. His make over and Luque's lighting for hiim was outstanding. Basement set was good.

        - No breathing space in the whole run time, Eric L. Beason, Louise Ford, & Gardner Gould's (Editors) sharp cuts helps much for Fede Alvarez & Rodo Sayagues's (Writers) visual narration.

WHAT DOESNT WORK...

       - Alex's death and Rocky's exit from the house towards the climax helps very much to elongate the runtime.

        Apart from minor flaws, Fede Alvarez (Director) gives us a freeze thriller  with water tight screenplay. Write from the money's gun shot, you will never take your eye out of the screen. Horror film lovers will enjoy every moment of it.

OVERALL : A worthy horrific watch of this season, Much horrific than Conjuring 2 and Lights-out.

RATING : 3.75 / 5 ...

                               ................. Santhosh.A.V.K........................

KUTRAME THANDANAI

#KUTRAME_THANDANAI ... Well tried!!...

'#Kaaka_muttai kind of 'Soft' phased crisp take on a 'whodunit' Mystery thriller, sums up 'Kutrame thandanai'. Lasting only 99 minutes, this flick is stuffed with enough thriller elements established in a raw and gentle manner.

Establishing every character elements through Hero's perspective eats away the primary 50 min, long side the clear explanation on 'Tunnel vision' is attached by. Though the murder scene was established within primary 20 minutes, its subsequences are planted for final 49 minutes which leads to a middling climax with 'plot turning' twists.

#WHAT_WORKED_WELL ...

- 'Tunnel vision' and its medical politics were well explained. Also a much detailed take on 'behind the court' activities are appreciable. 

- 'Vidharth' as a city man was refreshing and perfect, his 'tunnel vision' act was superb. Rahman, somasundharam, Pooja also did their level best. Nazar's extended cameo was good.

- Manikandan's cinematography was rich and perfect. Anucharan's (Editor) cuts were perfect. 

- Though first half was slow phased, second half was padded with some interesting sequences.

#WHAT_DOESNT_WORK ...

- Since the whole phase of the movie is soft and slow, none of the twist affects the audience immediately. (Cant say the phase of the movie is perfect for a murder mystery).

- Vidharth - Rahman combo scenes are well established, Vidharth - Aishwarya scenes in the climax goes off soon and doesn't registered well.

- Illayaraja's BGM was good in many places, but disturbing and noisy at some portions that over shades few dialogues. 

- Non-linear climax editing was nice and intelligent, but a normal audience will have no clue that, 'who murdered the girl?'. Could have simplified it little.

Since this movie was signed before 'Kakka muttai', 'Manikandan' succeeds 50% in his first attempt, his 'Soft' take on a murder mystery was applaud able. At the end of the show i was left with a major question,

Through Ravi's (Vidharth) character, did the director encourages ' violence against women'?

#OVERALL : An impressive attempt on a 'murder mystery' thriller, which leaves you with some impact. Don't expect any thing big.

#RATING : 2.5 / 5 ......

............. Santhosh.A.V.K............

KIDAARI

KIDAARI ...

A regular commercial 'Raise of a Local don' tale embedded in a 'whodunit' pattern of screenplay over 140 minutes of moderate run phase, comprises the attempt called 'Kidaari'.

WHAT WORKED WELL ...
- Using 360 degree camera in a car interior scene was worthy. S.R.Kadhir's (Cinematographer) experimental shots in chasing scenes are really good.
- Sasikumar's performance and few love scenes are energetic and good. Sasikumar's tiny reactions in love scenes had come out well.
- 'Kidaariye' song and following scenes are few good hopes after intermission. BGM and other songs are not up to mark.
- 'Kombaiyya pandiyan' and all other lead characters are well sketched. Rest of the cast did their job well.

On the flip side, Unwanted bunch of characters and too much flashbacks diverts audience from the main plot. Restrictions on those would have resulted a better product.

WHATS THE PURPOSE OF THE MOVIE 'KIDAARI'??...
Apart from review, i have few more question to Mr.Prasath murugesan (Director).

- The whole movie is narrated from the view of Komban's auditor (Kanakkupikkai). Until relieving his original shade, he never stopped praising the character 'Komban' and in final sequence all of the sudden, he reacts like 'Komban na periya komba' kind of mannerism. What kind of character he is? what is the purpose of the character?.

- if 'Kidaari' really loves his father, he should come out of all his gangster activities as his wish (Napoleon mentions that he needs to settle in Kerala by leaving all those activities). But why does he return to the same path in climax too??...

- All through the movie, director showcases the different types of 'Arivaal' and suddenly says 'there is no use of being violent' and in post-climax sequences, he again encourages gangsters. Why this plot should have so much of Contradictions with its own theme??...

Overall, a movie should have a beginning and an end with some purpose (Concept), which carries the movie all through the run time. But i cant find any of these elements in the whole story line. Specifically, there is no purpose for this flick, its better to drop these kind of movies in the discussion table itself.

RATING : 1.75/ 5...
..................... Santhosh.A.V.K..................