Naan Kadavul is one of the movies that I might not watch ever in my lifetime, though I want to. Bala's movies are something that I so want to watch, since I know they are quite different from the run-of-the-mill movies. I was kind of scarred by the ending of Sethu (which was the only scene I saw in the movie), skipped Nandha (thanks to the trailers shown by Sun TV), and saw Pithamagan first half featuring Surya and Laila's comedy. I probably would have watched NK, if Ajith starred in it, since I was a loyal Ajith fan till a while ago. Unfortunately that didn't happen and Arya acted in it getting rave reviews.
The Maestro reworked on a few of his earlier scores and created magic with his music in this movie. One of the songs that will linger on in your mind for a long time is this song 'Amma Unn Pillai.'
This song starts with a gruffy Lata-Mangeshkar-kind-voice, and sails smoothly only to unravel that Sadhana Sargam is singing this song. Reworked from one of his songs in the early 80's Ilayaraja makes it very contemporary and probably apt for the movie.
The violin piece before the first charanam is a classic composition, and the interlude before the second charanam reminds you of the really good 1980's music. The interlude before the third charanam is something that you would have definitely heard in the movie climaxes, but the way the Maestro mixes it into this song is really superb. Hopefully this is picturized on screen well. That way Bala picturized a lot of his songs so very well including: Malaiyil Vethanai in Sethu, Mun Paniya in Nandha and Elangathu in Pithamagan.
One of the very few songs with three charanams these days had wonderful lines like --- 'Vidhi enum Ezhuthellam Vizhi neeril Azhiyum Or Neram,' and 'Jenmangalil Paavam Pen Jenmame, Bandhangal Endru Sonnal Thunbangale.' The latter one is true!
Not a typical song of Sadhana, this needed a lot of emphasis on the words, which she has not mis-pronounced the words, which is good (including the hard 'zh' in 'Vidhi enum Ezhuthellam Vizhi neeril Azhiyum Or Neram' ). Though she gets a little screechy in the high pitches, she maintains the sober tone of the song. I would'nt call it her best rendition, but it surely is one rendition, she will definitely be proud of. From a gruffy voice in the first line to a sweeter voice in the charanams, she sails through the songs very well. And she definitely puts in a lot of emotions into this song.
In a time of really past paced songs with non-sensical or non-decipherable lyrics this is sure to stand out :)
Aug 31, 2009
Aug 16, 2009
Reviews - Love Aaj Kal and Kaminey
Reviews for the two Hindi movies I watched in the theatre after a really long time. And I was looking forward to Kaminey for a long time!
Love Aaj Kal – A perfect example of how being 'practical' can unnecessarily complicate things. I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie or liked it entirely. The dialogues were one of the best in recent times. But the premise was a realistic one and something that everyone in the age group 20-30 faces, after all we are Mango people (Aam janta :P). Though, I wouldn't call it a tale of not-being-able-to-get-over-someone, that was what happened finally. The main characters were utterly selfish and this is true in today's life. The Punjabi kudi Harleen, actually a Brazilian model was the surprise package of the movie. Saif's Punjabi accent was something he could have improved on. Deepika Padukone was her usual wooden frame - looking good, but no acting skills to speak about. Her dialog on the second day of her wedding to Rahul Khanna- 'I have done a mistake, please let me go see Saif now, I will come back and apologise later' was enough to crack the entire audience. Pritam for once had a track that was not taken off any source. Loved the Twist song and the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song. Rishi Kapoor didn't have a great role in the movie, but the way the second story was interwoven was really interesting. It was a good watch with interesting dialogues and decent touch of reality.
Kaminey – A movie you'll totally love or totally hate. Initially, I thought I was going to fall in the latter category, but surprisingly no! It was not an extra-ordinary tale, but was a dark (literally and on-screen) tale with each of the characters being selfish (yet again). The new style of story telling will surely will be a tutorial for a few film-makers. Fhahid.... oops Shahid Kapoor had the role of his career in this movie and executed it pretty well, both as Charlie and Guddu. As the Guddu character, he is shown as a simple NGO worker, and is pitted against Priyanka. Priyanka is shown as a talkative Maharashtrian girl, and had a few good lines for herself, though her role was limited on screen. Charlie is the 'F' for 'S' guy, with big dreams and trying to take a shorter shortcut to success. His characterization was near-perfect, both as a dutiful brother (son – as we are later told) and as a ruffian-in-the-making (is that word right?). Amol Gupte (the partial director of Taare Zameen Par) is in a nice 'Raj Thackeray' role. The movie subtly touches upon the 'Jai Maharashtra' issue, in addition to HIV prevention (Fatak songs) and drug peddlary. Though violent, it was not shown on screen graphically. Music as always in any Vishal Bharadwaj movie was top-notch. And in the end credits, the Mohit Chauhan song that plays should have found a place in the movie (in fact some romance shown in those credits could have been placed in between the movie.) The Dhan Te Nan song, the highlight of the movie found its place in the right portions in the movie and was used as energetically as it was sung by Vishal Dhadlani and Sukhwinder Singh. And I wondered why it earned an A certificate in India, and realized it, thanks to the 'intense' kissing scene between Piggy Chops and Shahid Kapoor. That one scene, though shot aesthetically, was enough for the movie to get an R rating. The dialogues were interesting yet again, and the timing sense was excellent. Overall an interesting watch, with a good time-pass element.
Love Aaj Kal – A perfect example of how being 'practical' can unnecessarily complicate things. I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie or liked it entirely. The dialogues were one of the best in recent times. But the premise was a realistic one and something that everyone in the age group 20-30 faces, after all we are Mango people (Aam janta :P). Though, I wouldn't call it a tale of not-being-able-to-get-over-someone, that was what happened finally. The main characters were utterly selfish and this is true in today's life. The Punjabi kudi Harleen, actually a Brazilian model was the surprise package of the movie. Saif's Punjabi accent was something he could have improved on. Deepika Padukone was her usual wooden frame - looking good, but no acting skills to speak about. Her dialog on the second day of her wedding to Rahul Khanna- 'I have done a mistake, please let me go see Saif now, I will come back and apologise later' was enough to crack the entire audience. Pritam for once had a track that was not taken off any source. Loved the Twist song and the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan song. Rishi Kapoor didn't have a great role in the movie, but the way the second story was interwoven was really interesting. It was a good watch with interesting dialogues and decent touch of reality.
Kaminey – A movie you'll totally love or totally hate. Initially, I thought I was going to fall in the latter category, but surprisingly no! It was not an extra-ordinary tale, but was a dark (literally and on-screen) tale with each of the characters being selfish (yet again). The new style of story telling will surely will be a tutorial for a few film-makers. Fhahid.... oops Shahid Kapoor had the role of his career in this movie and executed it pretty well, both as Charlie and Guddu. As the Guddu character, he is shown as a simple NGO worker, and is pitted against Priyanka. Priyanka is shown as a talkative Maharashtrian girl, and had a few good lines for herself, though her role was limited on screen. Charlie is the 'F' for 'S' guy, with big dreams and trying to take a shorter shortcut to success. His characterization was near-perfect, both as a dutiful brother (son – as we are later told) and as a ruffian-in-the-making (is that word right?). Amol Gupte (the partial director of Taare Zameen Par) is in a nice 'Raj Thackeray' role. The movie subtly touches upon the 'Jai Maharashtra' issue, in addition to HIV prevention (Fatak songs) and drug peddlary. Though violent, it was not shown on screen graphically. Music as always in any Vishal Bharadwaj movie was top-notch. And in the end credits, the Mohit Chauhan song that plays should have found a place in the movie (in fact some romance shown in those credits could have been placed in between the movie.) The Dhan Te Nan song, the highlight of the movie found its place in the right portions in the movie and was used as energetically as it was sung by Vishal Dhadlani and Sukhwinder Singh. And I wondered why it earned an A certificate in India, and realized it, thanks to the 'intense' kissing scene between Piggy Chops and Shahid Kapoor. That one scene, though shot aesthetically, was enough for the movie to get an R rating. The dialogues were interesting yet again, and the timing sense was excellent. Overall an interesting watch, with a good time-pass element.
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