Starring: Silambarasan, Sneha, Sana Khan, Prabhu, Santhanam
Direction: Saravanan
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production: Lakshmi Movie Makers Limited
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.
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.
