Thana-Nana Thaana-Nana: Yaar Yaar Sivam

The best thing about some songs is that it connects with you in a highly emotional level that it is virtually impossible for you to distance yourself from those songs. When a song connects with you not because of the singing or the music but due to the lyrics, you can be very sure that the song would connect with you at all times. Yaar yaar sivam from “Anbae Sivam” is one such song that has done wonders to me.

I am not sure when I started paying attention to the lyrics of this song; may be it was when my brother-in-law pointed it out to me. Or may be when I started questioning the philosophy of God. May be it was when I started realizing the importance of the greatest invention of man – namely God himself. The time of my realization of the truth of these lyrics is really immaterial. What is NOT immaterial is the eternal truth that is contained in these lyrics by Vairamuthu. The fact that the world would be a better place when people start loving one another casting aside their differences cannot be stated in a more simple and yet powerful way. When I read in “The Zahir” by Paulo Coelho that this world keeps spinning because of the existence of love in this world, I did not understand it completely at that point of time in my life. Now I am slowly realizing what it means. And then there is the small introduction that comes in the Pandavas background score. “When man gives up hatred and learns to love one another, peace and joy will rule this world”. Those statements and this song take additional significance at this juncture in time when India is struggling to come to terms with the unprecedented terrorist attack on its soil. I only hope that people listen to this song & spread the wings of love across borders.

The song

யார் யார் சிவம்? நீ நான் சிவம்.
வாழ்வே தவம் . அன்பே சிவம்.

ஆத்திகம் பேசும் அடியார்க்கெல்லாம் சிவமே அன்பாகும்.
நாத்திகம் பேசும் நல்லவருக்கோ அன்பே சிவமாகும்.

அன்பே சிவம் அன்பே சிவம் என்றும்,
அன்பே சிவம் அன்பே சிவம் எங்கும்.

இதயம் என்பது சதை தான் என்றால் எரிதழல் தின்று விடும்.
அன்பின் கருவி இதயம் என்றால் சாவை வென்று விடும்.

அன்பின் பாதை சேர்ந்தவருக்கு முடிவே இல்லையடா,
மனதின் நீளம் எதுவோ அதுவே வாழ்வின் நீளமடா.


Translation
(Thanks to Sampath for helping with the translation)

Who are all God? You and me are God.
Life is a penance. Love is God.

For theist God is love.
For atheist love is God.

Love is God love is God eternally,
Love is God love is God universally.

If heart is just made of skin, it becomes a mortal thing;
If heart is an instrument of love, it becomes an immortal being.

Anyone who has taken the path of love has no end;
And their longevity amounts to the expanse of their hearts.

Vaaranam Aayiram -- Movie Review

The most interesting aspect about life is that "it goes on" without waiting for anyone or anything. You can either move on with it or can be left behind to ruminate on the past. When bad things happen, life does not appear to be easy and it is a simple task to be left behind. As someone said "It is not that great men do not fall. It is that they always rise up after their fall". To raise up, dust yourself and keep moving forward requires tremendous will power. This will power or effort to move on either comes from somewhere inside( 'Heart'', as they say) or through an external trigger. Vaaranam Aayiram is one such life journey of a man who overcomes a sad event in his life to become a successful person.

Make no mistake. Vaaranam Aayiram (A thousand elephants) is all about Surya, the actor. He occupies each and every frame in the movie. Some people felt that it was a overdose of a good thing but somehow I never felt that way. Until someone mentioned it, I had not even realized that Surya was virtually present in almost all the scenes in the movie. When Surya can carry a junk movie like "Vel" on his shoulders making that stupid movie watchable, one can easily imagine what he can do when he is offered a movie with a very good plot. He almost lives as those characters and to even mention that he has acted as those two characters is a disrespect to his effort.

If Surya is one of the Heroes of the movie, the other 'unsung' hero of the movie is Harris Jeyaraj. The songs & background score are top-notch and it is really sad to hear that Harris & Gautham Menon will not be working together anymore. I am not sure whether Harris J or Gautham M is the bigger loser but I am confident that the biggest losers would be music lovers like me.

The picturization by Ratnavelu of the songs "Nenjukul" and "Adiyae Koluthe" will remain in my eyes for quite sometime. Then there is Sameera Reddy!!! Do I have to even mention that she looked very beautiful? The surprising thing is that she does a decent job even in the department of acting. This was something that I had not expected and I am very confident of seeing more of Sameera Reddy in several more Tamil movies.

One of the major complaints that I have against this movie is the screenplay. It just failed to keep me continously engrossed. Did Gautham M think that having a screenplay that had few interesting scenes now & then interspersed with lots of dull & flat scenes to be an accurate portrayal of life itself? Whatever the reasoning behind the lousy screenplay, it could turn out to be the difference between a hit & a flop.

Last Cut: Is it a movie that is a must-watch? Of course NOT. But this movie can be watched once for the performance of Surya and the songs. You might have to fight the urge to doze off or walk away at times but trust me, it will be worth the effort!!!

Rating: 7.5/10

Vaaranam Aayiram -- Music Review

Music by: Harris Jayaraj

Annal Maelae (Sudha Raghunathan) -- A soft song sung that it is almost like a carnatic song with a simple tabla background that slowly evolves into a pleasant yet minimal orchestration. Don't miss out on the haunting flute interlude after the first paragraph. Nothing to complain about in this song. Nothing impressive either. Allow the song to play.

Ava Enna (Karthik, V.Prasanna) -- It starts like a soft Kuthu song!!! (What a paradox). It is simple and yet beautiful. What is different about this song from the regular kuthu songs is the lyrics. Clean meanigful lyrics is not something that we associate with a Kuthu but this one breaks that tradition. A tune that might not make you go out and dance but a song that would surely make you sway your head in appreciation. The ending of the song is where I was not very comfortable with as the tune seem to have got lost with some stupid voices in the background. Other than that, this is a song that can be enjoyed. Allow this song to play.

Yethi Yethi (Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer, Solar Sai) -- Sounds very similar to 'Ohh Maama Maama' when the song begins but soon starts to go in a different path. There is also one particular point where it sounds like 'Taxi Taxi'. Interspersed with the 'usual' Harris funny sounds. The differnce between this song and the others is the use of English words in the lyrics. Go for the forward button.

Mundhinam (Naresh Iyer, Prashanthini) -- Starts with a dialogue rendition by Surya. As always, Surya has trouble with 'zha'!!! Naresh Iyer breezes through this beautiful duet. And the voice of Prashanthini is so sweet and she pronounces the words perfectly(and so much better than the Tamil killing Madhushree's). The prelude is something that has to be enjoyed in peace with a headphone. Then, there comes the interlude that rises the bar for the song a few notches. Then there is the so easy on the ear singing. Even for the complex words, they sing it so lightly without killing the word. An amazing song. Go for the rewind button once the song gets over.

Nenjukkul Peidhidum (Hariharan, Devan, V.Prasanna) -- With clear traces of 'Mudhal Naal Indru', at the beginning, I was having apprehensions of how this song will turn out to be. What turns out is a mesmerizing number with the soothing voice of Hariharan. The vintage Hariharan is back in this song and with HJ, they create magic. This song is indeed a drizzle in the hearts. Go for the rewind button once the song gets over. Over & over again!!!

Adiyae Kolluthey (Krish, Benny Dayal, Shruthi Hassan) -- This song has been there in the net for sometime now. I was not sure at that time whether this song is from 'Vaaranam Aayiram' but now I am sure. The song starts like a rock music live in concert. Did you like 'Uyirin Uyirae'? If yes, then you would love this song. Shruti Haasan gives perfect company to Krish & Benny Dayal. If you were shaking head for 'Ava Enna' song, I am confident that you will be dancing for this song. The 3 distinctive voices are beautifully interwoven to produce yet another brilliant song. Any doubt on what you should do? Its obvious.Go for the rewind button once the song gets over.

Oh! Shanthi Shanthi (Clinton, S.P.B.Charan) -- This is one song that tOtally caught me by surprise. It starts like a pathos song, then moves over to be a fast paced song and then again keeps switching tones. SPB Charan does what we have always associated with his illustrious father. The singing while smiling or smiling while singing is a trademark SPB signature and Charan does that to perfection in this song. A great way to finish this album. Go for the rewind button once the song gets over. An even better solution would be to put the last 4 songs in a loop in your winamp.

Perfect tamil lyrics, simple yet haunting tunes, brilliant interludes and unobtrusive music are what we have come to associate Harris Jayaraj's music with. And when HJ works with Gautham Menon, it has always brought out some mesmerizing songs. Combined with the stills that I have seen for this movie, the music definitely raises the expectations for the movie. Harris Jayaraj along with Thamarai have indeed delivered what were expected of them.

Last Shout: Buy 2 CD's of this album. I am sure that one of them will get wasted because of all the rewinds and revisits.

Manal Kayiru -- Tamil Movie

Disclaimer: This is not a movie review of ‘Manal Kayiru’.

I found a website that had some of the old Tamil movies which I had not watched in a long time. There was 'Manal Kayiru' in there and it was so much fun to watch this movie. Visu had his heydays in the Tamil movie industry and this movie is one good example of why he was so highly successful at that time. A simple plot, a well knit screenplay, dialogues that sit well with the audience and a cast that fits the role to a ‘T’ are the hallmarks of a Visu movie and this movie is no different. The plot is a rather simple one of S.V.Sekar laying down 8 conditions for his future wife and the situations that arise once Visu gets S.V.Sekar married to a girl who does not satisfy even one of his conditions.

When I watched this movie, the one thing that immediately struck me is the way in which the maturity of the audience has increased over the years. A typical example of this happens during a dream sequence. S.V.Sekar has not yet seen the girl that his sister and Visu are constantly talking about and he starts dreaming about her. As he has not seen her photo till that point, the dream sequence does not show her face. All that it shows are the legs and the torso of a girl dancing in the beach. This directorial touch is very obvious but in the next scene, S.V.Sekar says it loud that he is not able to see her face to make sure that the audience understands why her face was not shown! I also could remember how during the days of Bheem singh, when the hero/heroine took a bottle of poison, not only it had ‘Visham’ written on it in bold fonts but the hero would also talk for a minute about the poison to ensure that everyone understood. Then came the period of Bhagyaraj when he just zoomed in on the bottle of poison (The ‘Visham’ in bold fonts was still intact) and then the person (both hero & heroine in the case of Bhagyaraj) would drink it without any dialogues. Then it was Balachander with his ‘touch’. The heroine would search for a bottle from a wooden shelf and would pour their contents into her mouth. No dialogues. No close up shots. No tears. Then finally, we have Bala. Scene one. He shows the heroine talking sadly to someone. Scene two. The camera pans into a room and we have the dead body of the heroine lying there (Remember Sethu?) No explicit explanations. No dramatizations. Just the facts. This change in direction would not have come about without the audience being introduced slowly to these changes. I am hoping that there would be even more changes that enables Tamil movie industry to come up with really world class movies.

Dasavathaaram -- Movie Review

First things first. A salute to the hardwork, dedication and sincerity of Kamal Haasan. It shows in each & every frame of the movie. Hats off to him.

Kamal has this rather irritating dichotomy; One side of this dichotomy is the serious filmamker who (over)indulges in his creative ability and produces classics like Hey Ram, Anbe Sivam & Virumaandi. Then there is the other side when he flips over to mindless comedy movies like Panchathanthiram, Vasool Raaja and Thenali. The interesting aspect to his dichotomy is the commercial viability - Hey Ram was one of the biggest flops while Vasool Raaja had a decent box office draw. Kamal has always struggled in getting the ingredients right for a movie that could satisfy both the mass and the class audience. With Dasavathaaram, he seems to have got that combination. Take the best aspects of movies like Anbe Sivam, Panchathanthiram, Virumaandi and make them into a formula for a succesful movie - you would probably end up with Dasavathaaram.

Dasavathaaram is about life itself and the interlinks that it creates.Each and every one of us in this world is linked to every other person in the world in either a direct or an indirect fashion. Dasavathaaram starts from the 12th century where Rangarajan Nambi, a Vaishnavite, is tied to a stone statue of Vishnu and left to die in the sea. The story then moves to a biotechnology lab in USA where a team of scientists have just produced a new form of virus that is deadlier than anthrax. As things always happen, the vial containing the virus falls into the wrong hands and it is upto Kamal to save the people from absolute disaster. Kamal's journey starts from USA and finally ends on the shores of one of the Indian beaches on 26th Dec 2004, the day when Tsunami struck. He meets various people(Other Kamal Haasan's, to be exact) during his roller coaster ride to save the nation. The body language, the accent, the makeup & the costumes of each one of these Kamal characters is different and showcases the homework that has gone into the visualization and creation.

Kamal has put his heart & soul into this venture and the movie is yet another proof of his versatility. One of the grouches that I had is that Kamal goes over the top in the old lady and George Bush portrayals. Asin, the heroine, is needlessly portrayed as a dumb person with no compassion. This, I felt, was needless and may be some more effort could have gone in the etching of this important character.

This movie also brings into limelight the story, screenplay & dialogue writing skills of Kamal. K.S.Ravikumar, the director, deserves equal amounts of credit for making this movie possible. The art direction is brilliant and the initial scene at the 12th century temple premises is a case in point. The graphics, which was touted as world class before the movie's release, is adequate. It is definitely not in par with some of the english movies but on comparison to other tamil movies, it is definitely in a higher plane (Watch out for the graphics and the temple set seamlessly integrating in the 12th century temple scene).The background score is a big letdown as it does not enhance the visuals. Devi Sree Prasad must have felt satisfied to allow the visuals on the screen to dominate and the background score is not appealing. The camera of Ravi Varma was patchy in a few places (Or was it the fault of the projectors?); apart from these glaring mistakes, the camera work is brilliant as the number of shots required would have been enormous to capture the different Kamal's characters. The 'Mukunda' song is already a big hit and 'Kallai Mattum Kandal' & 'Oh Ho Sanam' might get added to this list very soon. The fact that Himesh Reshmaiyya, a person of North Indian origin, has given a touching song like 'Kallai Mattum Kandal' is ample proof for his talent.

All said & done, is this a perfect movie? The answer is a definite 'NO'. The screenplay, while racy and kept us waiting for the next scene, had glitches and some scenes were not given a proper closure. The non-linear narration of the story, a brilliantly executed one, did not help the matters much in some cases as there were some loose ends that went unanswered.

Rating: 8.5/10

(P.S: I am an ardent fan of Kamal & hence this review has its fair share of 'personal' bias)

Thana-Nana Thaana-Nana: Ennai Thaalata Varuvaalo

It is the 2nd year of my B.E degree and I had just started working on my GRE wordlist. It was in this wordlist that I first came upon the word 'ubiquitous'. My way of remembering these complex words is to come up with a sentence of my own using some incidents or things that I can easily relate to. And it is no surprise that I associated this word to the song "Ennai Thaalata Varuvaalo" at that time. The penetration of this song at that time was so deep at that time there was not a place where this song could not be heard. Local tea shops, town & city buses, hostels had this song blasting out at every possible occasion. The image that I get when I hear the song these days is the walk that I had to take from my 2nd year hostel to the college mess. In my college, the 2nd year hostel is located farthest from the mess and we need to travel through the 3rd year hostel and go between the 1st & 4th year hostel blocks to reach the mess. During a 2 to 3 month period, not a day passed without hearing this song during that walk from my hostel to the mess. Invariably, one of the hostel blocks had this song playing from their tape recorders.

The greatest compliment to this song is that I never seem to get bored of it. Many songs regularly find a place in my winamp 'Repeat' list but only a few songs retain their flavor even after years of repeated listening. Vijay appearing in different T-shirts and the scene of Vijay kicking a piece of twig will always remain etched in my memory along with the days of walking through the hostel blocks with my plate towards the college mess. Some memories like these are forever engraved in our minds like beautiful idols on the facade of a majestic temple.

Vellithirai -- Movie Review

Remake movies suffer from a distinctive disadvantage; the disadvantage of a constant comparison with the original movie. It takes a great effort from the director and the cast to move away from the shadow of the original and establish a territory of its own. Having watched “Udayananu Thaaram” (The Malayalam original starring Mohanlan & Srinivasan), it became natural for me to make comparisons between that and ‘Vellithirai’ while watching the movie. Vellithirai not just creates its own territory but also fortifies its territory with some solid performances and overall team work.

I was a bit apprehensive when I learnt that Prakash Raj was doing the role of Srinivasan. Srinivasan is basically a comedy actor and I was not sure whether Prakash Raj did the right thing by casting himself in that role (Prakash Raj is one of the producers). I soon found out that my fears were baseless for Prakash Raj steals the show with some brilliant acting. It is said that Prakash Raj is a director’s actor. It is very true for he can easily go overboard with his histrionics and easily spoil the movie if the director does not exert the right amount of control over his acting. A director should have complete control and Viji (The director of this movie) seems to have found the correct mix for getting the best out of Prakash Raj.

The story is about two struggling film artists trying to make their mark in Kollywood. One of them is Kannayan (Prakash Raj), an actor aiming to be a hero and the other is Saravanan (Prithvi Raj), an assistant director aspiring to be a director. Saravanan has a story ready and a producer agrees to go ahead with the film. Before the movie could start, Kannayan steals the story from Saravanan and gets it registered in his name. The strength of the story forces a producer to accept the condition of Kannayan to cast him as the hero for the movie in exchange for him to produce the movie. Kannayan becomes a superstar and renames himself as Dileepkanth. What happens to Saravanan and whether he is able to attain his rightful position forms the rest of the plot. Gopika plays the role of the lady interest of Prithvi Raj.

If Prakash Raj’s acting is the highlight of the movie, the support extended by Prithvi Raj & Gopika is equally commendable. They seem to have understood their role perfectly and go on to nail it to perfection. The fact that the director has the guts to make fun of the stardom enjoyed by some of the actors in the film industry is to be appreciated. Viji plays it safe and seems to have drawn an invisible line regarding where the satire of the film industry can stop.

The music & songs of the movie play a very prominent role in making this movie a thoroughly enjoyable watch. The director had the convenience of introducing the songs as though they are part for the movies that the characters are working on and this provides her with the advantage of not having songs that appear to have been forced on the viewer.

One of the few grouches that I have with the movie is the way the movie ended. The original movie climax appeared to be more logical and ‘Vellithirai’ seem to have faltered a bit in the way the climax is played out. It appears to have been rushed up a bit. May be Prakash Raj wanted to maintain his ‘Image’as a superstar!!!

Last Cut: A movie that can be watched for its simplicity.

Rating: 8/10

Anjaathe -- Movie Review

Is being different from the rest of the fare a criteria for a movie to be considered a brilliant movie? Should a movie be rated on its merit or should it be appreciated for trying something new (albeit failing in the attempt)? I sincerely believe that being ‘different’ is not enough for something to be considered as a ‘class’ movie. Appreciation is a totally different ballgame altogether for I am of the opinion that the good points have to be acknowledged so that someone can improve on those aspects in the next time around. Why am I talking about all this when I am supposed to be writing the review for the ‘Anjaathe’ movie? The simple reason is that this movie entirely fits the description above. This movie is nothing more than a pretender. Pretentious and full of false promises that never get realized at the end of the show!

There are some really cool scenes (The interview scene for Naren & his friend) and exemplary camera works (Showing just the legs of the main players during the scene where Kirupa brings home the villains) along the way that make you sit up and take notice. Sadly, these are few and far apart. The momentum that the story generates is lost in the tardy screenplay and the director seems confused about the genre of his movie. It starts off as though it is a tragic-comedy movie, moves to the action movie genre, then finally ends up being a psycho thriller. Each of these segments is adequate in its own way but when combined into a 3 hours & 15 minutes movie (No typo there. It is indeed 3 hours), it loses its sheen due to the director’s inability to stick to a particular theme.

Then there is the stolen background score towards the fag end of the movie. The theme music of ‘Signs’ is shamelessly lifted during the fight sequence between Naren & Prasanna. This lift of a popular theme stands like a sour thumb for Sundar C.Babu (The music director) who has otherwise done a decent job in the re-recording and the 3+1(Title bit song) songs. The clipped dialogues reminded me of Manirathnam’s ‘Agni Natchathiram’!!!!

There was nothing much to talk about in terms of the acting talents of the lead actors in this movie. I liked the role of Pandiarajan with his squint eyes rolling here & there, the unmistakable sign of working on something fishy. Prasanna was looking out of sorts in his role as villain. At best, his hairstyle would have made a poodle envious.

Last Cut: There are some movies that fail to make impressions of any sort in your mind. There is nothing terribly wrong with them for you to hate them completely. On the flip side, there is nothing really good that makes you remember it. ‘Anjaathe’ perfectly fits that bill. A pretender that could have been a lot better if the director had spent enough time on his screenplay.

Rating: 6/10

யார் யார் சிவம்......

உயிர்களெல்லாம் தெய்வமன்றிப் பிறவொன் றில்லை;

ஊர்வனவும் பறப்பனவும் நேரே தெய்வம்;

பயிலுமுயிர் வகைமட்டு மன்றி யிங்குப்

பார்க்கின்ற பொருளெல்லாம் தெய்வம் கண்டீர்;

வெயிலளிக்கும் இரவி, மதி, விண்மீன், மேகம்

மேலுமிங்குப் பலபலவாம் தோற்றம் கொண்டே

இயலுகின்ற ஜடப்பொருள்கள் அனைத்தும் தெய்வம்;

எழுதுகோல் தெய்வமிந்த எழுத்தும் தெய்வம்!

(பாரதியார் கவிதை)

En Peyar Raamaseshan -- Book Review

ஒற்றை வார்த்தையில், லோக்கல் பாஷையில் இந்த புத்தகத்தைப் பற்றி சொல்ல வேண்டுமென்றால், அந்த ஒரு வார்த்தை: நெத்தியடி. முதல் பக்கத்திலேயே சிக்ஸர் அடித்து கவனத்தை கவரும் எழுத்தாளர் ஆதவன், Virendar Sehwag போல 40 ரன்னில் அவுட்டாகாமல், ஆவேசமின்றி ஆசுவாசமாய் 200 அடிக்கிறார். ஒவ்வொரு பக்கத்திலும் "சபாஷ்!" சொல்ல வைக்கும் வகையில் உள்ளது இந்த நாவல் என்று கூறினால் அது மிகையாகாது.

மனிதர்களும், அவர்களின் பல வேஷங்களும் முகமூடிகளும் தான் இந்த கதையின் கரு. மனிதர்களின் பல திரைகளை கிழித்தெறிந்து, அவர்களை நிர்மூலமாக்கி, நிர்வாணமாக்கி, மேடையில் ஏற்றி நமது hypocrisy மீது spotlight அடித்து காண்பிக்கிறார் ஆதவன். 1980ஆம் ஆண்டு எழுதப்பட்டிருந்தாலும், இன்றைக்கும் புதிதாய், நடைமுறை நிகழ்வுகளுக்கு பிரதிபலிப்பாய் உள்ளது தான் இந்த நாவலின் சிறப்பாம்சம்.

ராமசேஷன் என்னும் கதாபாத்திரம் சொல்லும் தன் சுயசரிதை என்று மேலோட்டமாக சொன்னாலும், இது சுயசரிதை என்பதை விட ஒரு சுயவிசாரணை என்பதே சரியாக பொருந்தும். ராமசேஷன் தன் இன்ஜினியரிங் படிப்பை தொடங்கும் காலத்தில் தொடங்கும் கதை, அவன் படிப்பை முடிக்கும் போது நிறைவடைகிறது. தான் சமூகம் ஆட்டிவைக்கும் பொம்மலாட்ட பொம்மையாகி விடக்கூடாது என்னும் ஓட்டத்தில் கலந்து கொண்டு, அவ்வோடத்தினாலேயே அந்த சமூகத்தின் கைப்பாவையாகிறான். In trying hard not to be a product of the society, unknowingly, he becomes a product of the society.

7 (அல்லது) 8 முக்கிய கதாபாத்திரங்கள் மட்டுமே கொண்டு 200 பக்க நாவலை மிக அழகாக நிரப்பியுள்ளார் ஆதவன் அவர்கள். ஒவ்வொரு கதாபாத்திரமும் நம் ஒவ்வொருவரின் ஒரு வேஷம் போல் symbolically அமைத்துள்ளார். புகழ் விரும்பும் ஒருவர், புகழினால் கர்வம் கொள்ளாத ஒருவர், புகழ் அடைந்த மற்றவர் மேல் தன் காழ்புணர்ச்சியை எறியும் ஒருவர், மரபுகளை எதிர்க்க தைரியம் இல்லாத ஒருவர் என சராசரி மனிதர்களின் பல பிம்பங்களை கட்ட அவிழ்த்து விடுகிறார். கதாபாத்திரங்கள் அரைகுறையாக இல்லாமல், நன்கு செதுக்கப்பட்ட சிலை போல் இருப்பது கதைக்கு மேலும் மெருகூட்டுகின்றது.

Bottom Line: நான் இதுவரை படித்த மிக சிறந்த புத்தகங்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று. நிச்சயமாக தமிழ் தெரிந்த அனைவரும் படித்து மகிழ வேண்டிய புத்தகம்.

மனதில் நின்றது: நாம் நம்ப விரும்புவதைத்தான் நம்புகிறோமே தவிர, நம்ப வேண்டியதை அல்ல.

(தமிழில் நான் பதிக்கும் மின்குறிப்புகள் சுத்த தமிழில் தான் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்கிற வரைமுறை நானாக போட்டுக் கொண்ட விலங்கு என்பதை எனக்கு உணர வைத்த ஆதவன் அவர்களுக்கு என் "Thanks")

Bheema -- Movie Review

Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Story. Bullets. Violence. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns.

If you found the 'Story' in the above paragraph, there is every chance that you would end up finding a story in this movie as well. And if you had never understood the meaning of the term "Colossal waste of resources", I would recommend you to watch this movie. Top notch performers like Vikram, Prakash Raj, Raghuvaran, the great cameraman R.D.Rajasekar and the lilting tunes of Harris Jeyaraj are grossly mishandled & what we get is a product that can be directly dumped into river Cooum.

Is this director Lingusamy the same one who gave us such racy flicks like 'Run' & 'Sandai Kozhi'? Is he the director who gave us the family entertainer 'Aanandam'? So much is the gulf between these movies and Bheema that I am planning on writing to Ripley's 'Believe it or not' to add these as facts so that the common man believes they are by the same director.

Vikram tries real hard to carry this movie on his shoulders but, like the 'N' number of people who fall prey to his bullets, he also falls pathetically short. Vikram looks aged and maybe its time for him to consider roles that suits his age instead of prancing around with young heroines. Trisha looks perfectly like a doll. Beautiful & lifeless. Acting and Trisha are like south pole & north pole; miles apart and no chance whatsoever for an overlap.

The editing, camera and background music are top notch. It seems Harris Jeyaraj spent close to 48 days for the re-recording and the effort shows in each & every frame. Except for minor aberrations here & there, he scores BIG time in this movie. The song "Mudhal Mazhai" is pleasing aurally & visually. All said & done, this is a movie that really tested my patience. My friend summed up the movie perfectly when he turned to me just before the intermission and asked me with a serious face the question, "When will the movie begin?". Enough said.

Last Cut: Avoid it at all costs.

Rating: 3.5/10

Katrathu Thamizh -- Movie Review

தமிழ் பட ரசிகர்கள் பார்த்து, ரசித்து வெற்றி கொடுக்கும் படங்களின் கதாநாயகர்கள் எப்பொழுதும் நல்லவர்களாக, மிகவும் பாசமுள்ளவர்களாக பல நல்ல குணங்கள் படைத்தவர்களாகவே சித்தரிக்கபடுவர். சில படங்களே இந்த கட்டுக்கோப்பில் இருந்து மாறுபட்டு இருக்கும்.(உதாரணம்: பருத்தி வீரன்). இப்படிப்பட்ட சூழ்நிலையில், "கற்றது தமிழ்" படம் ஒரு மாறுபட்ட முயற்சி என்று கூறலாம். இதில் கதாநாயகன் பல கொலைகள் செய்பவன். மது அருந்துபவன். கஞ்சா அடிப்பவன். அவன் ஒருபொழுதும் தான் செய்த குற்றங்களை நியாயப்படுத்த முயலாதவன். சுருங்கச் சொன்னால், தமிழ் பட கதாநாயகனுக்கான குணாதிசயங்கள் எதுவும் இல்லாதவன்.

சூழ்நிலை காரணமாக, காவல்துறையில் இருந்து தப்பி ஓடும் நிலைமைக்கு தள்ளப்படுகிறான் பிரபாகர் (ஜீவா). விதி அவனை மிக வேகமாக துரத்தி பிடித்து ஒரு கொலை செய்ய வைக்கிறது. ஒரு கொலை மிக விரைவில் இரண்டு கொலைகளாக விதி செய்யும் சதியால் மாறுகிறது. காலங்கள் உருண்டோட, வருடங்கள் முன்னேற, அவன் செய்த கொலைக் கணக்கும் 22 ஆகிறது. ஒரு தொலைக்காட்சி நிருபரை கடத்தி வந்து, தன் பழங்கதை கூற ஆரம்பிக்கிறான் பிரபாகர். அவன் கதை தான் என்ன? அவன் வாழ்க்கை எப்படி இப்படி தடம் புரண்டது என்பதை சொல்வது தான் மீதிக் கதை. பிரபாகரின் சிறு வயது நண்பியாக, இந்நாள் காதலியாக ஆனந்தி (அஞ்சலி). இவர்கள் ஏன் பிரிந்து வாழ்கிறார்கள் என்பதும் கதையோட்டத்தில் விளக்கபடுகிறது.

தமிழ்நாட்டில் தமிழும், தமிழில் பட்டம் பெற்றவர்களும் படும் இன்னல்களை சொல்ல முயற்சி செய்திருக்கிறார் இயக்குனர் ராம். ஆம். முயற்சி தான் செய்திருக்கிறார் என்று சொல்ல வேண்டும். படத்தின் கடைசி 30 நிமிடங்களில், திருவிழாவில் தொலைந்து போன பணக்கார வீட்டு நாய்க்குட்டி போல அங்கும் இங்கும் அலைந்து கதையையும், அது சொல்ல வந்த கருத்தையும் பரிதாபமாக சாக விடுகிறார்.

ஜீவா என்ற நடிகர் படத்தில் தென்படவேயில்லை. பிரபாகர் என்ற அவரது கதாபாத்திரம் தான் படம் முழுவதும் நிரம்பி வழிகிறது என்பது ஜீவாவின் நடிப்பிற்கு ஒரு மிக நல்ல சான்று. காதல், சோகம், கோபம், இயலாமை என எல்லா உணர்ச்சிகளும் மிக இயல்பாய் இவருக்கு வருகிறது. விக்ரம், சூர்யா வரிசையில் ஜீவாவும் நல்ல நடிகராய் வலம் வருவார் என்பது தெள்ள தெளிவு.

ஆனந்தியாய் புதுமுகம் அஞ்சலி. பல படங்கள் நடித்து கைதேர்ந்த நடிகை போல், புதுமுகமா இவர் என்று வியக்கும் வண்ணம் உள்ளது இவருடைய நடிப்பு. கண்களால் பேசி, அழகாய் சிரித்து பல இளைஞர்களின் மனதை இவர் கொள்ளை கொள்ளப் போவது மிக உறுதியாய் தெரிகிறது. தமிழுக்கு ஒரு நல்வரவாய் இவர் அமைவார் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கலாம்.

படத்திற்கு பெருந்தூணாய் யுவனின் பின்னணி இசையும் பாடல்களும். பல இடங்களில் இசை மெருகூட்டி சில இடங்களில் மௌனம் காத்து ஒரு குட்டி கச்சேரி நடத்துகிறார். நா.முத்துகுமாரின் வரிகளில் ஒவ்வொரு பாடலும் ஒரு ருசி. இளையராஜாவின் குரலில் ஒலிக்கும் "பறவையே எங்கு" பாடல் மெய்ச்சிலிர்க்க வைக்கிறது. ஒளிப்பதிவும், எடிட்டிங்கும் ஒன்றோடோன்று போட்டி போட்டு ஜமாய்க்கின்றன. பல இடங்களில் "சபாஷ்" சொல்ல வைக்கின்றன.

இவை அனைத்தும் அருமையாய் இருந்தும், படம் ஒரு பெரிய தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்த மறுக்கிறது. கதாநாயகன் பாத்திர படைப்பில் பலர் போன பாதையில் போகாமல் தனித்து நின்ற ராம், 2 மணி 45 நிமிடம் ஒரு படம் ஓட வேண்டும் என்ற போடாத சட்டத்தில் ஏனோ விடாப்பிடியாய் நின்று விட்டார். முப்பது நிமிடம் குறைவாய் படம் இருந்திருந்தால் இன்னும் நிறைவாய் இருந்திருக்குமோ? கண்டிப்பாய் ஒரு முறை பார்க்க வேண்டிய படம்.

மதிப்பெண்: 7/10

Satham Podathey -- Movie Review

Vasanth is one director who has directed some really great movies like “Keladi Kanmani” and “Rhythm” while also directing some utterly hopeless movies like “Hey, Nee Romba Azhaga Irukae”. The trailer of “Satham Podathey” that I saw during the ill-fated “Urchagam” movie piqued my interest. The trailer showed the movie to be a thriller movie. With an unfathomable scarcity of thriller movies in Tamil, I was eagerly expecting for this movie. Did “Satham Podathey” fulfill the expectations? Did Vasanth come up with another quality entertainer?

Story: When Bhanu (Padmapriya), a person who has a lot of dreams about marriage & children, marries Rathnavelu (Nithin Sathya) life takes her through routes that she has not even thought about in her wildest dreams. Rathnavelu is an impotent due to his past drinking habits. He hides this fact from Bhanu and gets married to her. Bhanu soon comes to know if this & also the fact that Rathnavelu is a psychologically disturbed person. She applies for a divorce on these grounds & gets it. A few months pass and a new spring season seems to bloom in her life when she meets with Ravichandran (Prithviraj) who is willing to marry her. She also slowly falls in love with Ravichandran. Whether they marry each other inspite of the problems caused by Rathnavelu and whether they live happily after that forms the rest of the plot.

Making a movie out of a complicated & emotional story such as this one requires the portrayal of solid characters that can enhance the story. Vasanth has done a pathetic job in this and hence fails miserably in evoking the required emotions out of the viewers. Movie goers generally tend to identify themselves with one of the characters that is shown and when this does not happen because of weak characterizations, the movie seldom creates an impact in the hearts of the viewer. There was a sense of emptiness that engulfed me after watching this movie as it failed to leave any visible impact. This could be considered as the downfall of this otherwise ordinary movie.

The other thing that I couldn’t let pass is the insertion of the 2 songs after the interval. The two songs are forced and they only hamper the flow of the movie. Added to this is the fact that these songs are downright cheap and make you cringe does not augur well for a director like Vasanth who has always been churning out movies which the entire family can watch without getting uncomfortable in their seats. “You too, Vasanth?”

Performances: The top prize would surely go to Padma Priya for her brilliant portrayal of the girl who interminably suffers in the hands of a psychopathic husband. She emotes very beautifully and it is really surprising to see very less of her in the tamil filmdom. May be it is her mature look that acts as a deterrent for the film directors to not cast her in their movies. Nithin Sathya as the mentally disturbed husband would come in as a close second in terms of acting honors. It is very commendable of him to come up with a highly individualistic performance and not to be ‘Inspired’ from movies that have the same kind of characterizations (Prakash Raj in Aasai readily comes to my mind). PrithviRaj sadly looks good only in the romantic & comedy scenes and fails miserably in highly charged scenes. It is really surprising that Vasanth has not meted out a much meatier role for PrithviRaj.

Other aspects: Vasanth has this uncanny ability to get the best from his music directors and his streak continues in this as well with Yuvan churning out some really great songs. The “Pesugiren” and “Azhagu Kutti Chellam” would surely do the rounds in the TV channels for sometime atleast. Yuvan seems to grow with each movie in terms of his ability to give amazing BGM’s and this is no exception for he creates the perfect ambience for a dark thriller.

The camera work was horrible to say the least. Whoever taught the cameraman that swinging the camera from one end of the screen to the other when the characters are talking to be a modern technique seems to have taught him the wrong things about handling a camera. It becomes highly irritating very soon and I wanted to shout out (Oops, pun unintended) to stop prancing around with the camera. The only saving grace is the picturization of the songs. The lush green forts of Kerala act as a treat to the eyes.

Last Cut: With its unique theme and sensitive & sensible handling of the script notwithstanding, the lack of depth in characters bring down this movie. A movie that should have gone out loud & clear instead goes out with a whimper. Wait for the DVD release to watch this movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

Kannamoochi Enada -- Music Review

Music by: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Andru Vandathum Athe Nila (Shankar Mahadevan, Haricharan, Swetha) -- It is no secret that I hate the re-mix versions of the old popular numbers. All that the music directors end up doing to these songs is add a track containing heavy jarring beats which incidentally makes me crave for the original version more than ever. One exception to this rule was the song 'Thottal Poo Malarum' from the movie 'New'. Rahman had actually 'Retuned' the song and it was refreshing to hear it. Yuvan does the same thing here for this yesteryear classic by adding a jazzy mix and a funky tune while keeping the starting lyrics the same.Special mention to Shankar Mahadevan who breezes through this to make this an extremely catchy song. What transpires here is a beautiful reinvention that makes you yearn for more of these kind of retunes. The best song of this album. Once the song is over, go for the 'Repeat' button.

Kannamoochi Aatam Aadithaan (Palghat Sriram, Sainthavi, Prasanna, Dr. Narayanan) -- This song starts with a small beautiful rendition of a song that is normally sung during marriages. The interludes are tastefully peppered with small english lyrics. This one appears to be more a situational song and is not instantly catchy. Nevertheless, surely worth a listen. Allow this song to 'Play'.

Sanjaram (Shankar Mahadevan, Madhushree) -- A beautiful duet and a perfect melody that has Yuvan's stamp all over it. This is the Yuvan that I have come to love and he proves all the way why he is considered as the most promising music director in Tamil industry. This song also features Shankar Mahadevan at his best with his nonchalant yet pleasing to the ear kind of singing. The sore point of this song is the pronounciation of Madhushree. Can someone ask her to spit out the lollipop that she has in her mouth atleast while singing? Once the song is over, go for the 'Repeat' button.

Megam Megam (Haricharan, Swetha) -- I have not heard about this Haricharan (Is he the one who sung the "Unnakena Iruppen" in Kaadhal movie?) but he does a great job of singing this song. And I am even more unaware of this Swetha but she sings the song as though she has doing this for years together. A simple but excellent rhythm runs all through the song. And then there is the beautiful lyrics that are uncomplicated conveying the meaning in such a crystal clear way. The lines that particularly caught my attention is "Muthal muthal vaazhvil thondrum vanna kuzhapam vaanavil thaana". Too good!! Allow this song to 'Play'.

Putham Puthu (Shankar Mahadevan, Vijay Yesudas) -- If Sanjaram featured Shankar Mahadevan's singing that I have always yearned for, this song features the Shankar Mahadevan I have come to despise. Loud & uninspiring singing for a pretty mediocre tune. A tune set in the lines of "Kuyilukku Koo Koo" song from "Friends" and the "Ohh Nanbane" song from "Mounam Pesiyathe", this is the weakest link in an otherwise wonderful album. Go for the 'Skip' button.

Last Shout: Buy this album and add it to your music collection.

Urchagam -- Movie Review

Why do I make such stupid mistakes? How did I believe that a movie starring a hero who has only a couple of movies to his name and a heroine whose only credit till date has been her 'bare all' first movie would be of any good? Why did I think that good songs would automatically get converted to great visuals and a decent story? Why? Why? Why? Like everything else in life, I am searching for the answers to all these above questions.

Even writing a review for movies like this is an atrocious waste of time but I feel that I have a 'Social' responsibility (Look at my generosity here!!!) in making sure that other people out there do not make the same mistake as me and end up watching this hopeless parody of errors compiled in the name of a movie. There is no shard piece of evidence to show that this movie has anything original in terms of its screenplay. The term cliche would start appearing cliched if I start to list out the cliched sequences that appear in this movie. It would be better if I just said that it is so FULL of them.

There used to be a time in tamil movies when the heroine would take up a small bottle & the camera would zoom in to show the words poison (With the tamil translation below it) to explicitly show to the viewer that she is about to commit suicide. Then directors like Bhagyaraj came in and they just showed the heroine drinking something from a small bottle and in the next scene people would seen crying and the viewers understood what it meant. The latest line of directors like Bala show just the corpse of the heroine & let the viewer understand the sequence. The underlying pretence here in all this is that the movie watching public is assumed to have a certain amount of gray matter in their heads and that they can understand things without the need for an elaborated explanation. The director of this movie (I have no clue who it is.....) questioned my intelliegence by explaining even the simplest of things and made me look even more stupid than I am actually is. Then, towards the end, there were sequences where the villain would have made the FBI team go green with envy with his detective & deductive capabilities. And when I was expecting some answers from the directors on how the villain was doing all this, he provides me with none!!!

There is nothing to write about performances or technical aspects and I would directly go to a sour point that irritated me the most. There is this beautiful song 'Naram Pookal Thedum' that I was eagerly waiting for and when it finally showed up in screen, I immediately knew why I was not able to catch this song in the regular song programs that comes in every other channel these days. I was, afterall, looking for this song in the wrong program. I should have been checking 'Hot, Hotter, Hottest' or 'Midnight Masala' instead....... What a complete waste of such a brilliant song.

Final Cut: When movies like 'Paruthi Veeran' and 'Kireedom' try to take the tamil movie industry forward, these movies end up pushing them back by a solid 30 years. Avoid this at all cost.

Rating: 2/10 (The only reason I gave this movie 2 points is for the songs. If you have not listened to it yet, you are surely missing something)

Kireedom -- Movie Review

Ajith has never been my favorite actor and I was very apprehensive about watching his movie in a theatre. The last movie that I saw of Ajith in theatre was "Kandukondain Kandukondain" and that was way back in 2000. For lack of anything worthwhile to do, I have ended up watching movies like 'Red', 'Citizen', 'Anjaneya' & 'Paramasivan' in the
computer and these movies did deliver great comedy & tragedy movies rolled into one. I knew that I was taking a huge risk when I decided to watch 'Kireedom' along with my friend.

The movie gets rolling with 6 prisoners escaping from the central jail and they end up running (With their prison uniforms intact) into the marketplace in broad daylight with rain also providing perfect foil. Someone kicks one of the prisoners in the chest and the prisoner flies in the air to land 50 ft away. The camera pans towards the person who kicked the prisoner and it is none other than our very own 'Thalai' Ajith. Add to this some extraordinary stunts and stylish poses (Ajith and the other prisoners pause to allow our hero to tie his bootlace in the most stylish fashion possible) and I squirm in my seat. This sequence ends with Ajith catching all the 6 prisoners using a long 35 feet iron chain and the entire police force saluting him. One of the police who is seen saluting him is Raj Kiran. I start to cringe as my worst nightmare seem to be materializing in a wide screen infront of me. Then, the scene pans out to show Rajarajan (Raj Kiran) getting up from his bench in the police station (Rajarajan is a head constable) and we understand that it is his dream to see his son Saktivel (Ajith) as a police inspector. On retrospection I feel that the director Vijay has come up with a perfect scene. It would have satisfied the hard-core Ajith fans with a grand hero entry without compromising on the importance of the scene to the overall movie as it showcased perfectly the dream a father has for his son.

And thankfully, this scene marked the end of 'Ohh My God, how can they be so stupid?' kind of scenes. It is not just Raj Kiran who sits up after the dream but the story as well does at this point. The story is about the dream of a father to see his son become a inspector and how fate scripts a different route for the family forms the rest of the story. The movie, a remake of a malayalam movie of the same name, reeks with realistic scenes and performances. There are no exaggerated melodramatic emotional scenes and even the songs (barring the 'Thalai' song) are beautifully placed in the scheme of things.

We all believe that we have complete control of our lives and that external unforeseen events are just minor irritants that force us to deviate from our chosen path a wee bit. Is that a fact or fiction? This movie questions the above belief as the hero is forced into a situation that is totally out of his control & he is forced to be just a player who plays out the role dished out to him without having any control over the flow of things. Ajith plays the role to 'almost' perfection, the minor complaint being his monotonous voice proving to be his undoing in highly charged scenes.

Raj Kiran comes up with the best performance of the movie. He seems to have been created for these kind of roles & he dishes out an admirable performance. The maturity, the anger, the dreams, the understanding, the sorrow of a father comes as naturally as mosquitoes flocking an house in West Mambalam. I could even go on to endorse the view my brother has about him that one can expect Raj Kiran to attain the position of 'Sivaji' Ganesan in these kind of roles. And to even compare someone with 'Sivaji' is no mean achievement. Well done, Raj Kiran!

The rest of the cast play out their roles as expected and the team work pays a lot of dividends. The technical team has done a commendable job. The camera, the editing, the screenplay and direction are upto the mark and make the movie a complete one. Special mention needs to be made for the songs tuned by G.V.Prakash Kumar. Three of the songs will remain in the minds of the viewer for sometime atleast.

Final Cut: A movie that can be watched and enjoyed for the sheer honesty and lack of melodramatic elements.

Rating: 7/10

Athma Jeyam (Inner Victory)

(Poem of Bharathiar on ஆத்ம ஜெயம் (Inner Victory) )

கண்ணில் தெரியும் பொருளினைக் கைகள்
கவர்ந்திட மாட்டாவோ? - அட
மண்ணில் தெரியுது வானம், அதுநம்
வசப்பட லாகாதோ?
எண்ணி யெண்ணிப்பல நாளு முயன்றிங்
கிறுதியிற் சோர்வோமோ? - அட
விண்ணிலும் மண்ணிலும் கண்ணிலும் எண்ணிலும்
மேவு பராசக்தியே!

என்ன வரங்கள், பெருமைகள், வெற்றிகள்,
எத்தனை மேன்மைகளோ!
தன்னை வென்றாலவை யாவும் பெறுவது
சத்திய மாகுமென்றே
முன்னை முனிவர் உரைத்த மறைப் பொருள்
முற்றுமுணர்ந்த பின்னும்
தன்னை வென்றாளும் திறமை பெறாதிங்கு
தாழ்வுற்று நிற்போமோ?

Kizhinchalgal

இறைவன்

இன்று இறைவன் தரிசனம்.
கடலிலும், நதியுலும், தோப்பிலும்
அழகிய அவன் உருவம்.




வேண்டுதல்

பல போர்கள் என்றாய்.
காரணம் மதங்கள் என்றாய்;
மதங்கள் என்ன செய்தன இவற்றில்?
மதத்தின் பெயரால் மனிதர்களின் மனங்களை
பதம் பார்க்கும் சில மிருகங்களின்
விபரீத விளையாட்டில் வந்தவை இவ்வேதனைகள்.
இறைவா -- கல்லாய் இருந்தது போதும்.
எழுந்து வா.
இம்மிருகங்கள் வதை.
அனைத்து பேதங்கள் புதை.
அமைதி வளர வழி செய்.

Malaisaamy -- Movie Preview

Movie name: Malaisaamy
Tag line: The unbearable
Hero: Vijaya T.Rajendar
Heroine: Mumtaj (Who else do you think will agree to act with T.R?)
Supporting Cast: One "Ajakku" second hero, one "Thangachi" for reciting sentimental dialogues, tons of Glycerin
Director, Producer, Light boy, Car driver, Mess boy: T.R

Story: Our hero T.R is sleeping in his bungalow wearing his Adidas shoes and Reebok shirt when he has a weird dream(And yeah, our hero is a very poor guy who has only a Benz car to drive around the city). In his dream, he is transported to the forests of amazon and there he meets his long lost brother(Please see photo below). T.R & his brother had got separated during their childhood days when they had gone to play gilli near the river. The story kick starts from here and it traces T.R's journey to Amazon forest to meet his brother. Mumtaz, sister sentiment & the dummy hero provide the much needed support for our hero. The second hero happens to be a tribal person and he has the uncanny ability to always fall in love with T.R's sister however horrible looking she might be.

The reunion scene between T.R & his brother is supposed to be the highlight of the movie and the following song plays in the background:

(Tune happens to be similar to "Aathi vaasi naane" from KD)

Kaatu Vaasi Naane, Karun Korangu Neeye
Thaadi vechavan naane, enna maranthu ponavan neeye......

There are also the T.R style dialogues which the general public has taken such a liking to. One stolen sample is given below:

En anbu magane Simbu
Nayanthara unna paathu vita oru Ambu
Kaathal epavumme Vambu
Naan solratha nee Nambu
Vanngitharaen unnaku eversilver Sombu

As usual, there is a lot of sister sentiment and hence loads & loads of glycerin to be wasted in production costs. Whether the brother comes back with T.R to the city or whether T.R stays back in the Amazon forests with his brother forms the interesting part of this highly anticipated movie.

Chennai 600028 -- Music Review

Music by: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Jalsa (Remix) -- A typical club remix song. Sounds like a modified version of "Pushing It Hard" from the movie "Kanda Naal Mudhal". Pronunciations are horrible. Go for the 'Skip' button

Jalsa -- A beautiful start and a much better singing keeps this song afloat. Sings about the importance of friendship or something on those lines. Allow this song to 'Play'

Natpukullae -- Even with the horrendous singing of Yuvan and a small resemblance to one of his previous song, this short song sustains the interest till the end. Allow this song to 'Play'

Ohh oh Ennanamo -- A beautifully done song with layer after layer of embellishments. If you are one of those persons who is very particular about proper pronunciation, Anushka(The singer) would have been banished to hell for life. Allow this song to 'Play'

Saroja -- You will be pardoned if you thought it is a song for a Vijay movie. A typical Shankar Mahadevan Kuthu song. As usual, a couple of lines from an old movie have been added in the middle of the song. Go for the 'Skip' button

Ullae Vaa -- The song starts with a Rap that is more like an English song than a Tamil song. The lyrics of the song seem to want to make use of the world cup fever with liberal use of the names of the Indian cricket team. The tamil rap in the interlude is enjoyable. Rest of the song is eminently forgettable. Go for the 'Skip' button

Unn Paarvai – This song is a tutorial on how to spoil an excellent tune and a nonchalant yet brilliant singing by adding bizarre sounding noises in the background. I have nothing against using computer generated sounds in a song but this takes it to a level where it starts to get on your nerves. If not for Vijay Yesudas, I would have hit the forward button in the first minute of the song itself. Go for the 'Skip' button

Yaaro Yaaro (Friendship) – If the inexplicable sounds were an irritation in the previous song, some kiddish lyrics spoils an otherwise decent song. Notwithstanding the orchestral music in the interlude, this song fails to evoke & sustain the interest. Go for the 'Skip' button

Yaaro Yaaro (Love) – Whenever a song features SPB & Chitra, we have come to expect a scintillating song. This song does not elevate itself to that level, maybe because of a jaded sounding SPB or listless music or some factor which I am unable to fathom. Best song of the album. Allow this song to 'Play'

Last Shout: Not worth buying