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Simbhu aadum Silambattam

2008-12-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Starring: Silambarasan, Sneha, Sana Khan, Prabhu, Santhanam

Direction: Saravanan

Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Production: Lakshmi Movie Makers Limited

Silambattam is about retribution, an oft repeated theme in Tamil cinema and a very regular element of Silambarasan starrers. It is all about the feuds within a family that take on unmanageable proportions and result in death and despair for many. An extended family in a village is leading a happy and united existence. The head of the family is a much loved man in the village and in his last days he leaves a large chunk of his property for the welfare of his villagers. Most of the family is happy to abide by the decision of their godfather, but there are factions that believe that the old man has shown more largesse than is agreeable and decide to oppose it. Push comes to shove and the inevitable sickle takes center stage. As many members of the family are killed, some of them make off with their lives, never to return. But destiny brings back one boy to his roots and when he learns of what has passed, then retribution is the only thing on his mind.
Silambarasan has turned in a whole hearted performance. Appearing in two roles for the second time in his career, he makes good use of the scope provided. His role as the villager in the ‘flashback’ mode must be appreciated, especially his combination with Sneha who also has managed to make an impact with a limited role. Their chemistry is surprisingly good, with machan machan song having come out really well. Sana Khan, paired with the present day Silambarasan, has been largely sidelined by the main plot. Then there is the seasoned Prabhu, the able Kishore, the veterans Nedumudi Venu, Nirosha, Yuvarani etc. But in spite of having such a cast at his disposal, the director has failed to make an impact in many scenes. The talent of these artistes cannot be doubted, the fault has to be with way they were utilized. Santhanam and Karunas shoulder the comedy in the flashback and current modes respectively. There are certain lewd and at times unsavory dialogues that have been passed off as comedy, definitely in bad taste. But Karunas salvages pride for the comedy department with interestingly devised comic situations which blend in with the plot.Highlights of the movie are undoubtedly Silambarasan’s dance skills and the foot tapping tunes. Silambarasan does not disappoint, nor does Yuvan. The Machan Machan song in Ilaiyaraja’s voice is a delight while ‘Where’s the party’ is a typically trendy pub number, thoroughly enjoyable. The action sequences too have been crafted well. But one gets the feeling that director Saravanan has relied too heavily on these elements to carry the weight of the movie, while the execution of a fairly good plot has left a lot to be desired though there are certain scenes (few and far in between) that reflect the director’s ability. Saravanan fails to join the list of cinematographers turned successful directors.

Overall: Silambattam is not a bad product, but it could have been a lot better had it not been for the lackluster handling. At the box office, Silambarasan fans might not feel let down by the content and regular additives, but when it comes down to the others, it’s a bit of touch and go. Saravanan, Silambarasan and the rest of the Silambattam team will have to wait and watch.

Vijay's double delight

2008-12-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

Vijay's double delight
Putting widespread speculations to rest, Vijay's Vettaikaaran seems to have finally decided on its lead ladies. Yes you heard it right. If sources close to the Vettaikaaran team are to be believed, the movie could well have two heroines - Anushka and Tamanna. Anushka has already paired up with Maddy for the average grosser Rendu while Tamanna is slowly catching up on the big league with her upcoming release Ayan where she is cast opposite Suriya.
Vettaikaaran is produced by AVM Balasubramanian and directed by Babu Sivan, the erstwhile assistant director of Dharani. Ravivarman wields the camera. Vettaikaaran is slated to go on floors after Vijay's commitments with Villu are over. After the lukewarm response received for Kuruvi, Ilaya Thalapathy Vijay is out on his next mission ‘Villu’ to be directed by Prabhu Deva. It has been reported that the team is charged up to make Villu a great hottie just like their previous project Pokkiri.Nayanthara will be teaming up with Vijay as heroine for the first timethough she did an item number earlier in Sivakasi. The unit will be leaving for Pazhani for a week long shooting which will involve Vijay, Nayan and Vadivelu. After the completion of this part, the crew has plans to move overseas to New Zealand in the first week of July for a twenty day shoot where some important scenes are planned to be canned.
Shooting of Moscowin Kaveri, an upcoming film being produced by Aascar Ravichandran and directed by cinematographer Ravi Varman is almost complete. This film has newcomers Rahul Ravindran and Yashoda in the lead roles. A complaint has been lodged by its producer Ravichandran against director Ravi Varman at the producer’s council.When the matter was probed, it was revealed that Ravi Varman has been chosen as the cinematographer for Vijay’s new film Villu and he has already started working in the same. This seems to have irked Aascar who stated that Ravi Varman, before completing dubbing and other post production work in Moscowin Kaveri, has shifted base to VilluWhen the matter was brought to producer’s council, Ravi Varman explained, “Only a day of shooting is pending in Moscowin Kaveri which I plan to complete after the first schedule of Villu which will go on for 2 weeks”. Kollywood circles aver that in the event of Producer’s council insisting that Ravi Varman should complete Moscowin Kaveri and then only move to Villu, the latter film may run in to some trouble.

Vijay's villu music review

2008-12-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Vijay's villu music review
1) Hey Rama Rama...
Vocals: Amalraj, Kovai Sarala
Lyrics: Kabilan.
A typical vijay song , in terms of music, beats and sentiments! Is it the title song? With lines like ‘sattham inri udhavi seynja vazhum podhe sorgam varum--’ you can imagine the rest. Some fine rhythm arrangement we have here and a bit of violin. A miniscule effort from Sarala. Vijay fans are the target here, but haven’t they heard such songs earlier?!
2)Nee Kobappattaal...
Vocals: Sagar
Lyrics: P.Vijay.
A song that moves somewhat like a nursery rhyme, with simple lyrics and easy rhythm. The song of a love-stricken heart where the hero goes, ‘nee ennai marandhal mattum uyirai viduven’ and everytime he says that, the instruments-mandolin, later the sitar and the sax essay cute notes along. Appears set on Natabairavi scale. Small but nice inputs from live rhythms and the guitar.
3) Daddy Mummy...
Vocals: Mamta Mohandas, Naveen Madhav.
Lyrics: Viveka
A surprise from the young actress Mamta! Strong but nasal voice. Quite a sexy song with somewhat distasteful lyrics. The creative rhythms hijack the whole song and make it foot-tapping. The instrumental piece that goes ‘ma ma ma ga ri ga ma pa --- ga ma ri sa’ keeps up the pace. Is it clarinet that we hear? Hard to tell!
4) Are You Crazy...
Vocals: Divya.
Lyrics: Prabhu Deva, Akila, Ravi.
just a quarter of a song , with the lady singer heaping abuse on a man and rounding off with ‘you,loser!’. Three people to pen this?
5)Jalsa Jalsa...
Vocals: Baba Seghal, Rita.
Lyrics: Rohini.
A song expresslydesigned for vijay, as the singer himself remarks – ‘rock the floor ilaya thalapathy!’ Full of infectious rhythms—a groovy dance number rendered very neatly by Baba Seghal. A kind of Spanish meets native meets calypso kind of beats. Starts off with some Spanish words and a nice glide on the ‘paa’ swara. Adequate support from guitar, keys, drums and rhythm pads, of course. Look out for some breathless dancing from Vijay!!
6)Vaada Mapilley...
Vocals: Tipu, Rita , Vadivelu
Lyrics: Kabilan
Ha, ha , a delightful native ditty using the Sankarabaranam scale where the song starts off like a singalese 'biala' number and, moves on! At last we get to hear some good guitar, nagaswaram and thavil beats in the interludes. Vadivelu’s ‘bale’ ‘bale’ adds zing to the song. Could be a hit in spite of the cheap lyrics. Tipu’s high pitched vocals balance Rita’s seductive ones.
7)Dheemthanakka...
Vocals: Devi Sri Prasad, Divya.
Lyrics: Snehan
Oh, no, another relentlessly paced dance number, a duet of course! All rhythm pads, drums, guitar, keys, sax, and a bit of flute. But everything drowned out by beats. Some good poetic stuff from Snehan, but still a bit crude. We have the composer indulging his vocal chords here
8)Jalsa Jalsa... (The DSP Mix)
Vocals: Baba Seghal, Devi Sri Prasad, Rita
You guessed right, this is the ‘remix cum cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof’ avatar of the earlier. Plenty of instruments, synthesized beats and a teeny weeny bit of tabla (surprise). Meant for dance floo