Mariyaan Movie Review

Banner: Aascar Films Cast: Dhanush, Parvathi Menon, Salim Kumar Direction: Bharat Bala Production: Aascar V Ravichandran Music: A. R. Rahman

From shouldering the huge burden of hype and hoopla, Dhanush the actor has broken free from the stage of ROUTINE to an unfazed zone of acting. Mariyan strikes the unique balance of cinematic experience with everything you can dream of. In the hour of test and faith, Love prevails and gets the man ashore swaying all odds. Dhanush, the National awardee comes out with yet an award winning performance, so memorable you would forget to finish off the popcorn. What more could we expect from a team of zealous technicians who have come together to present a movie of a lifetime. However let's put on our magnifying glasses and review this movie.

Dhanush has come a long way from the days of KadhalKondein, which was one of the firsts to showcase his talents in acting, and this movie pitches agony and love together, unleashing the unexpected. As a fisherman from the suburbs of Tamil Nadu, carefree but full of energy he is taunted by a girl sparkling with love for long. The film starts off in Sudan, Africa where Mariyan (Dhanush) is seen working for a contractor and after some rigorous 2 years of work, he is upbeat about getting back to home, sea, food and his soul mate Panimalar (Parvati). Dhanush and Parvati ooze the chemistry of love and separation in the first scene itself, a beautiful spring that showcases the excitement of meeting each other after a while.

Instantly we are sent in a Flashback, where Mariyan is the nomad fisherman who is always happy-go-lucky and keeps smudging off Parvati, who is in her umpteenth attempt to lure Mariyan with Appukuty's help. The beautiful seashore, the people who flock around, love in the air, BB makes you literally smell the aroma of sea. The first half is a visual treat to watch and feel how the love of Mariyan-Pani evolves amidst the sweetness of the waves and fishes. The screenplay evolves lazily and the director takes plenty of time in the love segment, to an extent where it makes you wait for the intermission.

Now that our patience was put to tremendous test, he justifies it through the second half where Mariyan is now held captive along with two other prisoners. In the middle of nowhere the prisoners are held at gunpoint by African terrorists who demand money to the company that handles them. From then on the movie almost transforms into a web of struggle and pain that Mariyan faces. Under traumatic circumstances, Mariyan encounters myriad images of Panimalar and takes that as a sense of inspiration to come out of his misery, and that does not come at ease. All said the torture and violence from the terrorists makes you wonder why? Their characters are not etched in a reasonable way, and BB could've given more insight on their drive towards cruelty.

The movie itself is split in two milieus, one with a fisherman's routine life and love and the other is how much Love can catapult an individual to take the extra mile. In the middle of so many movies lately that end on a negative note, yet hit the BO, Bharat Bala has carved a niche among a positive tale tellers and has given a movie that you can take back home on a high note. The standard he has set is so breathtakingly high, that makes us wonder what next. To ponder hard and point the negativity, it should be the lethargic screenplay in the first half, as BB has taken a lot of time to tromp their love home.

Rahman is one word "Awesome", be it the BGM or the songs, they sizzle throughout. In the scenes that follow the struggle of Mariyan it inspires and motivates perennially. For the underwater scenes, Rahman's ripple effect on the waters magnify with Auro 3D crystal clearly, that its realism demystified. And Marc the French Cinematographer! Boy what can we say about him! The rusty deserts, serene oceans, the fishy tale, enigmatic love and infinite range of visual awesomeness sum up his work. For the African part of the movie he has used mild and varied color tone.A bunch of Kudos to editing work by Vivek.

Acting wise, no little or lengthy words to explain the magnificence of Dhanush, he can go up with heads high of the fact that, he is no more an ordinary actor down the lane and more is left in that lean body. Parvati as Panimalar is sure to create a crater size impact on Indian Cinema, her eyes twinkle and do most of the talking, but that doesn't stop the actress, her chemistry with Dhanush is one of the best in Tamil Cinema. Rest of the cast Appukuty, Uma Riaz, Jagan, African cast all live up to their expectations as well.

Ergo, a fine movie not just to watch and enjoy, but to feel and relish.

Verdict : 3.5/5

Singam 2: Review

An energetic tale the story begins with Duraisingam (suriya) who works as an NCC master in a school. But in reality he is on an undercover assignment trying to locate the nefarious activities of Bhai (mukesh rishi), Thangaraj (rahman) and their links with an international criminal Danny (Danny). Situation becomes tense and Duraisingham takes his posting once again as the DSP and begins an operation D to eliminate the bad guys. How that happens forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:
The director has come up with a regular storyline and while the presentation was rich, the narrative was quite absorbing. The dialogues were punch packed. 

The script was average but the screenplay was excellent. The background score was melodious but only one song was worth listening. Cinematography was the main strength to this film. Editing was sharp. Costumes were well designed while the art department was apt. Suriya shouldered the entire film on his shoulders and created a strong impact, he was good. Anushka was sweet and did her bit in songs and scenes. Hansika was alright. Mukesh Rishi was very good and he gave strong performance while sharing screen with Suriya. Rahman was elegant. Danny looked menacing. Santhanam and Vivek gave their comedy. Anjali was voluptuous in her special song. The others did their bit as required.

Conclusion:
The film happens to be a sequel to the original hit ‘Singam’ and it is also dubbed in Telugu with the same title. From the opening scene, the director doesn’t waste any time and gets to the point and how he connects the dots and forms the essence. The interval bang was good and the second half was more energetic. Overall, the film scores due to strong technical values and good performance from the lead. Also, it is the pace and energy in the film which really works. At the box office, this will be a treat for Suriya fans and also for the typical commercial potboiler audience.

VERDICT : Formulaic commercial entertainer with good pace, watch it

World War Z Movie Review

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos
Director: Marc Forster
Rating: Two stars

Their teeth drum up a be-be-beat, their necks turn into raw meat, their hands-legs-foreheads are fiery red because of a virus, or an intergalactic spray of heat. Oh oh, those undead critters called the zombies are back, out to horrify everyone of the shirts off their backs.

Beware, then, of the Marc Forster-directed 'World War Z', which doesn’t add up to A-class entertainment. It’s an expensively mounted 3-D extravaganza, but the gazillion dollars squandered on it don’t really show up on the screen. Compared to any of the super-hero blockbusters of late, this one pales by comparison, its only appealing element being the presence of Brad Pitt. In fact, the supporting ensemble looks tiresome throughout, led by the excessively mawkish wife played by one Mireille Enos (not to be confused with the fruit salt). Quite strangely, the wonderful German actor Moritz Bleibetreu from 'Run Lola Run' is wasted in the part of a laboratory assistant, which could have been performed by any bit-player.

Anyway, since Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) – from an United Nations taskforce--  has to save quite a sizeable section of the world from those blood-thirsty zombies, no one else matters. He can do it alone, unaided except by his flowing blonde hair, laser blue eyes and a physique which seems to react chameleon-like to the crises on hand. Obviously, the two years which were expended on script rewrites and a reshoot of the climax, contributed to the film’s and its leading man’s inconsistent look.

But looks shouldn’t matter. It’s the story and telling that count. Right? Kicking off zingily enough with one of those sudden disaster-strikes scenes, the zombiefiesta compels a reluctant Gerry to swing into action. If he doesn’t, that means no official protection for Ms Enos, their two adorable daughters and a fesity Spanish kid who doesn’t seem to care if his biological parents have been neck-sucked to smithereens. Why should he? Brad Pitt gives him a broad grin, a hand-five, besides commanding him, “Okay, so when I’m away look after the ladies.” Spanish kid grins, “Yes, sireee,” all this bonhomie occuring in the midst of mass-scale destruction and tragedy.

Apparently, the script is more concerned about globe-trotting. Hopefully your ears weren’t playing tricks: India is actually mentioned as one of Gerry’s destination points, to which the instant comment is, “India is one black hole.” Really? No time to ponder over that, since the UN warrior has to fly rightaway to South Korea, Jerusalem, Cardiff and Nova Scotia, without ever disclosing a trace of hunger, thirst or fatigue. Correction: he does swig a mini-bottle of vodka to keep his spirits up. Hic!

Meawhile, Ms Enos keeps trying to contact him on phone as if he had lingered far too long at a groceries mall. He’s even given up for dead. Not to worry: it’s a false alarm. After bandaging an Israeli soldier’s decapitated hand, he survives an aircrash, to reach the WHO medical research facility. Since the soldier’s a woman, she accompanies him, looking like a saucer-eyed fan.

Next: the film’s final and most accomplished act. Believe it or faint, the hunt for a wonder vaccine in the facility’s zombie-infested corridors, is executed with sufficient verve and panache. Also the section set in Jerusalem with zombies cascading down a wall, is a nail-biter.

Those are minor rewards though in a major head-spinner. The computer-generated skirmishes and holocaustic destruction just don’t hold together, often compelling you to roll your eyes ceilingwards. As for the zombies, they’ve been seen to more grisly effect in George A Romero’s pulp movie classic 'Night of the Living Dead', dating back to 1968. Zombies were created as more fanciful versions of vampires, but here they appear to be matchstick-thin growlers. Blood isn’t spilled at all, obviously in a bid to get a PG-rating.

Quite sanitised and jerky, 'World War Z' by the director of the Bondflick 'Quantum of Solace', catches Brad Pitt in one of his most mechanical and expressionless performances yet. And to add insult to injury, the imminent production of a sequel is announced, loud and clear. Here’s keeping one’s fingers, toes and eyes crossed. Please don’t. Give the zombies and us a break.