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nanda-ramesh
Reviews
Dia (2020)
Promising and eminently watchable movie but ...
This movie is difficult to rate, because I enjoyed many things about it but... well, I will get to that BUT below.
First, some comments without spoilers (warning below before I reveal).
The story revolves around the an young girl, Dia. Nothing special about her character. Just your average young student going about her college life. Only flaw, if it is a flaw is she is an incurable introvert who keeps her thoughts/feelings to herself. The plot time line is mixed to make the story telling intriguing and to add some suspense. Movie opens with Dia contemplating suicide. Then cuts to her story on what led to this situation and continues with the events after the opening incident. It covers young romance, emotional challenges, etc. For the most part the story telling is not too complex making it an easy relaxed viewing pleasure. Key phrase is for the most part. 95%!
Good things:
- Story telling. Its simple and has an easy pace. Yes, as many have pointed out, it is cliched with some parts really over the top, but still enjoyable if you ignore that. KS Ashoka who has written and directed this move has a lot of promise. Hope to see more without the drawbacks I list below.
- Acting. By and large was good to me. Dia, played by Kushi and Adi by Pruthvi stood out. Kushi plays the introvert girl to perfection so much so, she might get criticism for being boring! Says little and listens mostly with vivid expressions.
SPOILERS BELOW
Bad things:
- The writer side of KS Ashoka messes up the movie big time by going for that ultimate need in a story teller. The TWIST! It has to be so good and so unexpected that NO person on earth can guess. Was that really needed? With that goal, he destroyed a decent, even great for some, movie. It is fine, even with some mega co-incidences in the life of Dia (which movie doesn't), before for some morbid reason he wants to kill off as many as possible in the end, like some horror movie in the genre of "I know what you did last summer".
So, I suggest the following changes when listing this movie.
Genre: Romantic horror and depression Name: There's something about Dia
Thithi (2015)
A sophisticated village story
On the surface and from the trailer and most reviews, you would expect Thithi to be a rollicking village comedy with the story making fun of village bumpkins that we urban elite find humorous and roll our eyes at the crudeness of their actions and language. However, Thithi is much more than that and when viewed through a filtering glass, the story has many layers of human nature and complexity that can even be termed philosophical.
The story itself is slow paced, suiting the village setting where people have umpteen amounts of patience, with a simple plot and plenty of comic moments especially in the first half. It revolves around the death of a centurion aptly nicknamed, Century Gowda and how his sons and the villagers respond to this "major" event at their village.
Warning: Most of my comments below are spoilers as I could not say more without revealing the story. So, this is for those who have already seen the movie.
When I walked away from the theater, to me the movie felt like one of those paintings which we kind of like but can never understand why, as it looks quite simple and similar to other work that are clearly not special. It is the same here as it feels just like any other informational documentary at first. But as you recall and reflect on the story, it reveals surprising elements of human qualities presented quite innocently in a simple and plain manner. I will just mention a few here that I noticed.
Thamanna, main character of the movie, does things by the book publicly. Suitably arranging for the cremation and Thithi and dutifully following rituals even though he does not agree with them. His true character being greed is revealed over the course of the movie as he is willing to go to any length to get his hands on his grandfathers property. He berates his son for being lazy while he himself is finding criminal shortcuts to wealth.
Gadappa son of Century Gowda, is shown stealing money from someones shirt. Later we get to know that he is uninterested in property worth Lakhs which is now in his name. Contradictory? yes. As the movie progresses we learn more on his personality. His only interest in money is to buy his daily dose of Brandy. Otherwise, he has no value for money as shown clearly when he just gives away thousands of rupees to the shepherds who he sees fighting about money. Initially he is also portrayed as a villain because he doesn't care about his fathers death. Later the reason is revealed as he simply and poignantly tells a story to the shepherds on how is father betrayed him. Finally, it appears that his character having given up on everything (except his brandy!) has found a way to happiness.
The immature and energetic characteristics of the youth is displayed splendidly by Abhi, the great grandson of Century Gowda, in all its rawness. His is a boy who steals, gambles, drinks and successfully courts the youthful lass who is visiting his village. The courting of the girl is displayed with a brashness that exposes the primal urge of humans when the hormones get going without becoming too crass and managing to hold on to a thread of innocence. Such courting, is only possible in a rural setting where the girls final acquiescence is delicately shown as she gets her nose pierced following his suggestion that she would look pretty with it.
There are many other interesting nuggets that one can take away. How death itself means so many different things to different people. Opportunity for wealth, final relief from a bad episode, good food, fond memories of a former lover, etc. The simple life of the shepherds who welcome a stranger wholeheartedly. A coat wearing pretentious man fearing his wife berating him for not finishing tasks. The irony of the Thammanna paying for the sheep indirectly even though his son stole them. The precarious nature of life, where if the buyers had not stopped for cool drinks or Gadappa had not been spotted, Thamanna may have gotten away with his scheme!
All in all, a nice effort by a bunch of first time actors, writers, directors that should stand the test of time.
RangiTaranga (2015)
Decent attempt at a Kannada Thriller
Thrillers are usually hit or miss affair. Sometimes, plot, script and cast are good but it will just be short of the oomph factor which makes it a hit, ie, a particular twist which will have everyone talking. Sometimes, everything is about average but it will make the grade, the reason which no one can truly pinpoint.
I feel RangiTaranga falls into the 2nd category.
Pretty much everything is average, plot, cast, acting, script, direction. Maybe songs are above average, thats all. But it all comes together well for debut director Anup Bhandari. The flow is fairly smooth. Actors fill their roles well. The complex but hackneyed plot does enough to keep the audience guessing. Music and camera work do a fair job to make the scary bits scary. But no single reason for it to become such a hit.
As many reviewers have pointed out, the plot has many many holes. The author has chosen to ignore them and stick to "thriller" part of the tale. So, Don't ask too many, "how did the...", "what happened to...", questions. Just go with the flow if you want to enjoy the movie. The twists are good and worth being patient until the end.
If the script could have been tighter (~2hrs) and the plot more sophisticated but simpler without any holes, this could have easily been a classic in spite of the average cast. The author needed a couple of revisions to have reached that state.
Still a very promising start and I hope more and better fare will come through his lens!
Un Samayal Arayil (2014)
Romance has no age bars!
It is a common maxim that Romance has no age bars, however it is a topic that is rarely dealt with sensitively especially as a central theme by Indian Cinema. The romantic comedy movie Oggarane attempts to do just that around a theme of food. As it is said at the start of the movie, Life is about eating tasty food! Food, I suppose, is a metaphor for love here and that certainly has no age bars!
Prakash Raj as Kalidasa is an Archaeology official who is single and lives with just a long time servant. Sneha as Gowri is a dubbing artist and is also single. Thought both are perfect marriage material in career as well as looks, they have remained unmarried well into their middle ages. A quirky set of circumstances brings them together. Then with an under current of food and recipes, side stories of comedy and romance and even a little bit of suspense regarding adivasis, the audience is entertained with the narration of how their love blossoms and culminates.
What I liked about the movie:
- Great script and it flows very well most of the time. First half was perfect.
- Fantastic casting and acting by all. The younger love pair do seem to labor a bit but manage fairly well.
- Some of the comic circumstances were very good. We liked the potential bride interview visit the best.
What I would have liked different:
- Better pace in the 2nd half as it dragged in some places. There were 2 songs with the younger couple. One could have been cut.
- Adivasi parallel story was not concluded to my satisfaction.
- Story somehow lost the theme of food in the 2nd half.
7aum Arivu (2011)
Its all about Surya!
Saw the movie on the 1st day (26th Oct), noon show. It was fun to hear the whistles when "the man" appeared first time. Mind you this is in Bangalore. Interestingly, Director Murgadoss also got similar response when his name appeared.
The story, I think all of you know by now having probably read the summary or one of the many detailed reviews out there. It is a science fiction story based loosely on the various legends of Bodhi Dharma with a plot similar to many recent movies/books like Outbreak, James Rollins "Doomsday Key", etc. The story ties those 1500 yr old legends to modern day issues and eventually becomes the usual masala(potboiler) movie. The script is still very much an original one(I thought) tailored to showcase Surya and Shruthi Hassan.
Now for my critique.
The good things first:
- I thought Surya's acting was fantastic. He is truly head and shoulders above everybody else resulting in them looking bad by comparison. Future casters for Suryas movies have to be smarter and put actors around him, even for smaller roles, who are up for the challenge.
- The plot is quite good and I commend the group for experimenting and taking risks. The presentation of the 500AD scenes were quite believable.
- Songs were good. I was looking forward to the Ringa Ringa one. It was again a good try. However, I was disappointed with the fast camera panning and lack of more crowd screen time, that is the non-planted ones. It seemed to me that they had too many actors mingled in the crowd and in effect missed out capturing the true surprise shown by the normal crowd on suddenly seeing Surya dancing.
Now the bad things:
- Other than Surya, and the villain John Nguyen(?), rest of the action was sub-par. Shruthi Hassan, her friends, Professor, Chinese plotters, Police etc..etc..all looked to be from a C grade movie. I sincerely feel, Shruthi is better off going back to music. She looked stiff and overwhelmed in her role. Her dialog delivery was as bad as it can get. I thought also she lacked the Glamour feel for the Heroine role and worst of all... no chemistry with Surya! Oh well....but she has good looks and who knows...with her pedigree she might still make it.
- Too much violence. But thats just me. The Tamil-makkal(people) may like it. But I and my wife thought there was too much gore and killing, a lot of which could have been avoided. Dong lee forced one too many hypnotic "harakiris" leaving the audience exhausted by the end.
- The plot ended quite amateurishly after starting out well. I can take stretching the possibilities quite a bit given this is a science fiction movie...but to do genetic modification using scriptures from 500 AD? Well, I have to draw the line somewhere! :) Also, what happened to China after it was exposed to have perpetrated a massive terror strike on India? The script conveniently forgot all about it.
- unnecessary Tamil pride lines all through with a totally weird final rah-rah speech by Surya. Just tell the story and let the audience figure it out...when it is force-fed...the message becomes a bit rancid.
Overall, in spite of the original exciting script handled by great talent all around, the movie became an usual run-of-the-mill masala. Too bad! But I do hope the same group will venture further and do a better one next time and make sure they have enough screen time to end it well.
Allide Nammane Ille Bande Summane (2011)
Good insight into immigrant struggles
Cast: Saurav Babu, Sriraj, Reena, Yagna Shetty, Daththanna and Padmavasanthi; Storywriter-Producer: Saurav Babu; Screenplaywriter- Director: Gopi Peenya; Music Director: Guru Kiran; Camera: P.K.H. Doss;
At the outset, I would like to mention that I watch about 2 to 3 Kannada movies a year. Our usual choices being Tamil or English movies. Having said that, Allidhe Namma Mane Illi Bandhe Summane's story was intriguing enough that we decided to catch it at Inox with full family, that is, wife, kids 10 and 6, with me being the only Kannada expert! The plot base was close to our heart as we ourselves had migrated *back* to India in 2004 after a 13yr stay in USA.
The movie is about 2 young couples from Karnataka staying in US. In the first half we get to see the struggles that Babu (played by Saurav)goes through in immigrating to US and finding a job. He is helped by Sudarshan (Sriraj) who is a bachelor at that time. Eventually both marry and become good family friends. The movie focuses on the funny incidents that most immigrants face one way or other when interacting with the Americans. It also highlights the usual issues and insecurities they encounter being so far from their birthplace and how they deal with it. In the 2nd half, impending tragedy, causes Sudharshan to change his life priorities. The rest of the movie is about how he faces it.
The highlight for me was the acting of Saurav with the Dharwad accent, which I believe was dubbed. He plays the role of the wide eyed innocent immigrant struggling to land a job, quite well. Also, several funny incidents such as the barber shop was filmed well. Director Gopi Peenya has done a great job with new artistes in the lead role as their acting comes out quite naturally in the scenes. They however clearly struggle in the glamor portions of the script such as songs. Most of the dialogs were written well and sounded natural. The first half was entertaining and enjoyed by all. In the 2nd half the story takes a serious turn, unexpectedly. Though it is mixed with normal life scenes the film becomes too sentimental at this point. I feel it would have been a much better plot if it had stayed on the same path as in the 1st half and be just a humor driven movie. I know sentiment and shock emotion sells but so does a good fun movie. This should have been one of them!
The script takes a long hop many times in the 1st half (in the 2nd half they put the dates explicitly to help the viewers) with respect to the time-line leaving me confused as to what happened in between. Suddenly, one is married and back in US, or they are on Vacation, etc, with no connected glue in between. There were also gaps in the story which were not closed properly. For example, status of Sauravs sister/parents who had several emotional scenes at the start about his move to America and his promises to them. They are conveniently forgotten and do not appear again at all!
Overall, the movie is worth watching to catch the "good fun" in the 1st half. Some of you may like the more sentimental 2nd half also. Good luck to all the cast and production team on their next venture. All of them show they have enough talent to go further in their careers!
Deiva Thirumagal (2011)
Great cast delivers an almost perfect performance
Once in a while, we get a Tamil movie where the production crew genuinely try to deliver without the worry of it being a commercial success get in the way. I thought this was one of them, even though, it is a remake of the English Movie "I am Sam". I have only read the summary of the original and it looks like the the story deviated quite a bit to suit Indian viewers for this one.
I thought the strength of the movie was the casting. Everyone fit their role and acted superbly with the accolades going to Vikram as Krishna, Baby Sara as Vikrams daughter Nila and Anushka as Anuradha the lawyer in that order. The script is fairly tight with the comedy scenes kept within limit and no fights!
The movie opens with Krishna searching for Nila in Chennai. He is then found by Anuradha and her partner who decide to help him. We get to know why he is on the streets searching for Nila in a flashback. That story is about this mentally-challenged Man, Krishna, with the maturity of a child. He works as a helper in a chocolate factory in Ooty. He is blessed with a baby girl but loses his wife during birth. Somehow with the help of a friendly worker wife he manages to get her to school age. Here trouble starts and we end up with the starting scene. The 2nd half of the movie is about how he finds her and fights to get back his daughter.
==== SPOILER ALERT : ENDING REVEALED BELOW ====
To me, the story, plot and screen play was more or less very good, for a Tamil movie. There were no silly dialogs or too much emotion or unnecessary violent scenes just to shock. Maybe some of the initial comedy with the van driver suspecting his wife was a bit too much and took away from the story. Some reviews have said 1st half is slow, but I did not think so. The court scenes were OK but lacked in depth and complexity given the difficult case of child custody to a mentally- challenged parent. They had a wonderful opportunity to study this social dilemma with this background but missed it.
The reason I have given only 8 stars is that I was absolutely stunned with how the director chose to end the movie. It is unbelievable that any person sane or otherwise would fight for his child so much and then after one night, just one night!, choose to return the child to his dead wife's family who gave him no respect whatsoever until then. This he did apparently based on one chastising speech by the opposing lawyer where he questions his capability to bring up the child, though the movie itself provides enough instances where he is shown to be quite capable!
I sincerely believe, the directory or script writer, chose this ending just to to make it unexpected, as most audience at that point thought he will keep custody by marrying Anuradha..or worst case opt for joint custody with his in-laws to safeguard the future of Nila. But no! They wanted to give that final emotional punch to the gut, so to speak, by making him sacrifice his ultimate desire and give back Nila. The story ends abruptly after this sequence..with no clue given as to how Nila felt about this or what happened to her eventually. It is left to the viewers imagination. Unbelievable decision. After an emotional roller- coaster ride where the hero finally wins the court-case, this was absolutely the stupidest ending possible. It also reflects poorly on the social message that even though a mentally-challenged person took care of his child well.... he is better off giving her up to strangers(to the child) for a supposedly better chance in life.
If the director or anybody associated with this movie read this, I urge them to consider this suggestion when releasing the DVD if they have shot footages of an alternate ending(which I suspect they have). Give both the endings.. one as in the theater release.. and another where he gets to keep her and is successful or at the least shares custody with his in-laws. Let the viewer decide what to watch!
If not for that ending, this would have been a movie for the ages. Now I cannot think of watching it again being aware of the idiotic way it ends!