Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya - a love story well told

I have been wanting to write this review for sometime now but found the time only now.. I went and watched VTV primarily because it was a Gautham Menon movie.. I like the way Gautham tells his stories.. there is nothing mind blowingly different about them except the way he weaves them on screen.. it is refereshing, it is different and it is very matter of fact with a big under play of melodrama.. I have watched all of  his movies from Minnale which of course had a lot of masala in it but then the progression from Minnale to Kakha Kakha was tremendous.. I have watched a few of Simbu's movies but have been largely discouraged to avoid his movies because of his trademark antics viz waving his hands.. unwanted punch dialogues, smirks etc on screen.. but what Gautham has done to Simbu in this movie is just mind blowing.. though I feel his dialogue delivery could have been slightly better.. most of the situations in the movie are sequences that anybody who has been in love would have definitely gone through.. Simbu has underplayed his natural mannerisms and mellowed himself so much so that it would be difficult to get out of this image.. Trisha was good.. for a change.. her acting was good in a few scenes.. pretty natural.. though I did not get the reason behind her sloppy walk.. was it intentional or wasn't she just not comfortable in the saree..considering her other costumes are just a little bigger than a hand towel :-)  the ending was totally different.. it is not the typical guy falls in love.. tension in the middle and all is well that ends well kind of a story.. apparently the telugu movie has a happy ending because the producers of the telugu version wanted it that way.. it is also good to note that tamil audience are a lot more mature and have adapted themselves to endings like this as well.. it shows that the maturity of the film going audience in Chennai is definitely improving.. it was great to see Babu Antony on screen after ages.. except for some slight signs of aging.. he still looks great.. I still remember him for his terrifying role in Poovizhi Vasalile.. nice performances from the other supporting cast as well.. especially Simbu's cinematographer friend who provided good deal of laughs in most parts.. Kitti, Uma and others.. this movie is definitely not for the so called "C" class audience so to say.. like Varanam Aayiram.. Gautham has again targetted the A and B centers.. if am getting the industry terminology right.. I just hope someday Gautham makes a movie which is a complete village subject with tharai thambattai et all.. or probably a hybrid one which involves both village as well as some city thrown in to it.. knowing him.. am sure he will make that interesting as well.. Go watch VTV.. it is definitely worth a watch.. I watched it for Gautham  and of course the mind blowing music of ARR.. shot fabulously by Manoj Paramahansa :-)

3 idiots - my take..

Quite a long pause before I managed to do this review.. 3 idiots.. what do I say? in short..brilliant in some parts because of the histrionics, filmy in most parts.. cleverly altered so that it does not become a replica of the book though some portions show through enough that it has been ripped straight off the book.. After all the controversies around this movie.. I would say that it is a contorted version of the book.. what ever directorial changes or script changes might have been done to this.. it was a good thing that I read the book first.. I have a great deal of respect for Raju Hirani as a film maker and Iam a big fan of the Munna Bhai series.. I have no big deal of respect for Vidhu Vinod Chopra because he has always come across as a dude with a loud mouth and a bad attitude.. whatever said and done..whatever changes you might have done to the script..change the protagonist.. change sequences.. blah blah. the basic idea.. the seed for the movie was the book and I think Chetan or rather any author is entitled the due credit for this.. From an acting part.. I think Aamir was at his best as always.. undeniably one of the best talents the hindi film industry has.. Madhavan I felt did not have much to do but his talk post the movie has been a bit too much on how choosy he is about this movies blah blah.. Maddy.. do not forget you did movies like rendu, thambi etc when the hindi film industry ignored you :-).. Sharman, for me, was a revelation but he was getting too teary eyed too often.. Boman was great..as usual.. I will not comment on Kareena as I do not comment on people I do not like.. in fact the person who played her sister did a better job than her.. though the vaccum birth sequence was a bit too much to stomach.. my thoughts.. good movie but great marketing raked in the moolah for this one.. certainly not a mind blowing movie.. have seen better ones than this..