Some fifty per cent of the mischievously titled Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppidi is astonishingly good. First-time director Balaji Mohan (Wiki informs me that he’s all of 24) makes a romantic comedy not just about the couple, but also around them, inviting us to laugh at the amorous misadventures of a host of men and women, young and old. His narration flows around these characters with the improvisatory smoothness of the jazz we hear in Thaman’s score. At least in the early portions, Mohan knows just how much to push a moment without overselling it, and we find ourselves under the spell of a fresh, fun, urban voice. Where our rural love stories (like Myna, also starring the lovely Amala Paul, who looks like a Deepika Padukone we can actually go up and say hello to) are driven by emotions played at a shattering pitch, the events here, even when borderline tragic, coast along lightly, without fuss.
Like Pyaar Ka Punchnama, this is essentially a Mars-Venus story about boys and girls being fundamentally different, but unlike that film, which took the easy way out and reduced its female characters to shrill shrews, we see, here, impressively nuanced women – the girl who’s getting engaged and doesn’t flinch from meeting her ex (because she knows it was bound to happen someday), or the heroine who loves the hero (Siddharth, in ones of his best roles, his best performances) but also knows that higher education in a first-world country is not something to be scoffed at. It’s only in the second half that the cracks begin to show. An annoying strain of thathuvam-ism creeps in (though these nuggets of wisdom are mercifully not bludgeoned into our consciousness), and more crucially, the director doesn’t handle older love as well as he does its younger counterpart. (Then again, there’s his age. Older people have been through young love, they know young love, but the vice-versa is rarely true.)
It’s a stroke of genius to have cast Suresh, second only to ‘Mike’ Mohan as the go-to lover boy of the nineteen-eighties, as a man contemplating divorce (at least for some of us, those associations percolate into this part), but the director cannot decide if he wants to treat this angle (somewhat) seriously or just milk it for easy laughs. (And with Suresh, why employ Valayosai as a flashback to an emotion? Why not Kaadhal oorvalam inge, that exquisite T Rajendar creation that showed that the man certainly knew his way around a tune. Also refer Idhu kuzhandhai paadum thalaattu.) But these are minor hiccups in an entertaining (and beautifully photographed) rom-com that begins with a broken-up couple and ends with them… Not that the outcome is weighted with much suspense, but go see the movie to find out. Or to use the jargon of our yesteryear cinema writers, meedhiyai velli thirayil kaanga. I suspect you’ll come out smiling, not just at the one-liners, but also at the sweet shock of recognition that, yes, this is how it was.
Copyright ©2012 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
venkatesh
February 19, 2012
2 good rom coms in quick succession – where is the GRCA president when you need him ?
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Kayir
February 19, 2012
@BR, sheesh! You weren’t kidding when you said you were way behind on stuff, huh? 4 in three days! Talk about productivity. Hope you’re all caught up now. Btw, you get a pass on Downton :).
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brangan
February 19, 2012
BTW, I wonder what it says when a 24-year-old writer-director’s idea of romantic music is Raja. (Siddharth says something to the effect of Amala Paul’s effect on him is like Raja’s songs running inside his mind.) Is this just some kind of cool card being played — just like Hindi cinema invokes the music of RDB to show how “cool” they are? Or are the kids all listening to Raja’s songs these days? 🙂
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Gradwolf
February 19, 2012
Actually if you notice the online crowd, you can’t help but catch a whiff of new-found, sudden-discovery type love for Raaja. This has pretty much pervaded all quarters what with the Raaja music love being consistent in most Madurai films of the past 3-4 years. And then they started appearing in the city stories too. I am sure you caught Needhane En Ponvasantham teaser. Same story. So yeah, it is a bit of a cool card too in there. 🙂
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brangan
February 19, 2012
Gradwolf: No, haven’t seen the trailer. What’s the funda? Is there something other than the fact the film takes its title from a Raja song from his most godlike period?
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Gradwolf
February 19, 2012
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Gradwolf
February 19, 2012
Oops, clicked enter. Yeah, that and the teaser belts out Raaja-romance based feelings! I know there is heavy nostalgic value but it’s already at cliche territory now. But at least this one HAS music by Raaja!
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brangan
February 19, 2012
gradwolf: OMG! He’s actually doing the soundtrack for this. I must have been living under a rock. This must be his highest-profile movie since… I guess Mumbai XPress (not counting Bala’s movies, of course).
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vijay
February 20, 2012
“He’s actually doing the soundtrack for this. I must have been living under a rock.”
Yes, you are. Crawl out 🙂 This has been in the news for quite some time
Nostalgia is what all that remains as far as his music is concerned right now anyways.So no harm in milking it to the full I guess. You’d be better off listening to Ninaivellam Nithya though than anything he has churned out the past few years. More than high-profile this maybe the one(and only) shot at composing for an urban film with a director who thinks urban in contemporary films. Whether that translates into something different from the mundane music-wise remains to be seen.
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Mahesh Balaji
February 20, 2012
Brangan – Do check out the Telgu version of the teaser too.
Some of us silent/ardent readers of yours think this is better than the Tamil version…
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Lakshman
February 20, 2012
@Mahesh Balaji – I guess we are slowly becoming the majority!
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avanthika
February 20, 2012
Jeeva’s mutilated ear is a big distraction in the Tamil version!
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Vignesh
February 20, 2012
@brangan
I dont agree that Neethane en Ponvasantham is his first High Profile Movie after Mumbai Xpress…
I would say Cheeni Kum, Pazhassi Raja, Paa, Nandalala, Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai, Sri Rama Rajyam (Telugu), Dhoni were all high profile projects. Even Oru Naam Oru Kanavu was one considering the Director was Balu Mahendra. He is also the regular MD in Sathyan Anthikkad movies in Malayalam. Even though these are few and far between, I think its quite good for a man who started this music direction in mid 70s.
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Arun
February 20, 2012
The movie has to work as it has two “numerically empowered” people in Jiiva and Raaja
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kurinji
February 20, 2012
Is it just me or is gautham menon incurably phony ..when it comes to urban rom coms i would definitely choose alaypayuthey or kanda naal mudhal over VTV .. looks like this new one is going to be no better ..
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Shankar
February 20, 2012
@vijay, guess you’ve been living under a rock too….crawl out!! 🙂
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brangan
February 21, 2012
Shankar: Welcome back da. Good to see you again.
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Shankar
February 21, 2012
Baddy, not much to do all day….my options are limited to either watching some TV or surfing on the iPad!! 🙂 besides, I need a regular diet of your writing to get back some normalcy…thanks buddy!!
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rameshram
February 21, 2012
“Is it just me or is gautham menon incurably phony ..:
Its not you……and appadi podu aruvalai!
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venkatesh
February 21, 2012
@Kurinji: “Is it just me or is gautham menon incurably phony” – No its not just you. I am still excited though – its Raaja after all.
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Rameshram
February 21, 2012
Venkatesh, isn’t that WHY kurinji was calling Gautam a phoney?
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Vasisht Das
February 21, 2012
speaking of gautham menon:
can dr.rangan give us a through diagnosis of why Ekk Deewana Tha has evoked such dismissive critical and box office response?
(“these southies make plot-less drivel like this into a hit”?!)
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rameshram
February 22, 2012
now now I think it’s unfair to blame ALL southies for the drivel some (cough)gautam menon(cough) produce.
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brangan
February 22, 2012
Vasisht Das: Maybe you should ask — er — “Dr. Rangan”? 🙂
Seriously though, I feel that there is some sort of bias (maybe unconscious, like the fair-skin bias most Indians have, or the class/caste bias) that the film commentators north of the Vindhyas carry towards south Indians “encroaching” on their territory. I am not saying this is fact — just that there *may* be something to it (and I’ll be happy to be proved wrong with counter examples).
But the examples I have for this argument include Kamal — who was accepted only when he played a “Madrasi” in “Ek Duuje Ke Liye” and when he emasculated himself in “Chachi 420” and when he shrank to a little person in “Appu Raja”. None of these roles are “threats” to the traditional Bollywood model of the hero. But when he tried acting in conventional romantic and dramatic roles, he was rejected. (of course, this argument can be countered by saying that so many South Indian heroines have made it big, beginning with Vyjayanthimala.)
A Madhavan, today, is accepted only because he has successfully (he is a case-study-worthy example, IMO) positioned himself in a supporting/character actor niche in films both big and small. Besides, with his Jamshedpur roots and flawless Hindi, he isn’t seen as “South Indian” in the first place.
Among directors, I would include Mani Ratnam, who gets lauded when he tackles a Bombay milieu in “Guru” but is shunned with “Raavan”. Regarding the latter, is it a great and “flawless” film? No. But it’s certainly an “interesting” film and it was certainly not the work of someone coasting along his reputation. But the way film was hysterically attacked made you feel there was something to it. (Someone even pointed me to a story in a mag where the writer said something like “Mani Sir, please go back to making Tamil movies” or some such thing.”)
Again, you can point to Murugadoss being successful, but then “Ghajini” was really an Aamir film and you could have taken out the director’s name and it would have still been a hit.
Yes, there are certainly things like taste that play a role — for instance, the Tamil/Telugu audience won’t digest certain plotlines that work in Hindi and vice versa — but maybe there’s something deeper to this.
There, that’s the germ for a “doctor”-worthy thesis. Go forth and discuss (in a sane fashion, please). I hope that there will be people chipping in besides rameshram (whose thoughts on this topic I am genuinely curious to read) 🙂
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rameshram
February 22, 2012
Oh I have no thoughts on the subject. Genuinely.
I think all films are hypocrycy of the well connected, so I see this complaint as the complaining of one group of well connnected about another.
KAy kay wants his kind of malaysian to be projected, Brannigan wants his kind of tamil to be projected, and I want NO ONE to be projected (because there’s only one of me. complete original).
Now priti can chip in with her two cents 😉
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brangan
February 22, 2012
rameshram: “there’s only one of me. complete original…” Truer words were never uttered in the history of mankind 🙂
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rameshram
February 22, 2012
yeah , but when I say it , it means a whole lot more 😉
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Rahul
February 22, 2012
I do not want to comment on the burning topic of this board, but instead, I want to ask your opinion about Siddhartha. I think he is remarkably articulate, and he seems to be more gifted and less narcissistic than your typical mainstream actor, he gives the impression that he does not belong in the film industry, and I say that as a compliment.
I think his performance in Striker was terrific, and I thoroughly enjoyed Bommarillu and couple of his other older rom-coms. But then, lately, I think his choice of movies has been different, and does not indicate any growth in his self awareness as an actor. Wonder how he sees himself and how is he perceived in Tamil\Telegu media?
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Vasisht Das
February 22, 2012
esteemed dr.rangan,
while profusely expressing my thankfullness to your kind self for the appetising “well, you know” overview above, it must be stated forthwith that it cleverly remains only a part-paisa vasool report – especially considering the exhorbitant fee that we all don’t pay you.
can i know urge the not-so-good doctor to make the effort to personally conduct a thorough
postmortem of the said cadever labelled Ekk Deewana Tha and present a full-disclosure “having said that -” report on the same at the earliest ?
in anticipation of an early and baradwajy response,
yours etc.
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vijay
February 22, 2012
“he gives the impression that he does not belong in the film industry, ‘
right, he might be better off at something else besides acting, thats the impression I get too
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vijay
February 22, 2012
“can dr.rangan give us a through diagnosis of why Ekk Deewana Tha has evoked such dismissive critical and box office response?
”
maybe the movie really sucked in Hindi? Sometimes there are simpler explanations. The lead pair looked really bad together.
I thought VTV was a bit overrated in Tamil itself. It was mostly drivel for the first 90 mins or so.
Paavam, idhukku AR Rahman vizhundhu vizhundhu music vera pottu..
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vijay
February 22, 2012
Hey BR, it just struck me that since you do your customary interviews with GVM before every film release, this time there is bound to be more interesting material, what with IR doing the music. You can tap that angle a bit more. A director’s take on his collaboration with IR and the making of the music, rather than hearing it from IR himself.
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vijay
February 22, 2012
BR, do you and Sudish have different bosses? Just curious.
Did you catch the Sudish-GV PRakash twitter spat? Hilarious, I must say.
A recap here
http://www.moviecrow.com/News/369/gv-prakash-vs-sudhish-kamath
I wish he did live reviews on TV and interviews.It will be fun to see our 20-something celebrity gang get all riled up over his reviews.
Coffee with T Rajendar with Sudish and GVP(or Vikram) as the guests. How about that for TRP ratings?
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KayKay
February 22, 2012
” KAy kay wants his kind of malaysian to be projected”
Why pull poor old moi into this? Unless it’s symptomatic of some unrequited man-crush you have for me? While applauding your excellent taste, it nevertheless creeps me out somewhat 🙂
“because there’s only one of me”
And for that, I genuflect in gratitude every morning. It now forms part of my “Surya Namaskaram” 🙂
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Mia
February 22, 2012
Rangan sir, the debate that you have started cannot be but answered with a thesis!
Talking about EDT, clearly, I do not see a woman clad in a crisp cotton saree being perceived as the smart and ‘well-read’ kind that men would would fall for in Mumbai or Delhi. At best, I get a fleeting image of Konkona/Nandita; but even they doesn’t do sarees in their movies (atleast not conspicuously).
In some cool formals, yes, this character could possibly work. But I think that the 20-25 year old, well-educated, sensible, intense kind of woman parading in a cotton saree in a place which isn’t south india is more myth than anything else. While this appeals to us tam folks, the same is definitely not the case elsewhere. Especially when the casting is as disastrous.
As appreciative as I could be of G. Menon’s taste, it is very typical and specific. While the substance of the woman who is universally admired is the same, different places have different forms to depict it. This, to me seems to be the fundamental flaw.
And if this cannot reach the audience; they are just left wondering the reason for the hero’s interest especially considering the volatile nature of the woman.
Then again, moving beyond EDT, the endemic differences in what can come across as pretty, intellectual, etc. could also possibly be a reason for the artsy divide!
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rameshram
February 22, 2012
“Why pull poor old moi into this?”
Cuz I choose to .
😉
” I genuflect in gratitude”
Adhu!
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brangan
February 22, 2012
Kay Kay / rameshram: Get a room — like — right now! 🙂
Rahul: Why do you think “growth” is a prerequisite for a good actor? I think he’s making smart choices that are becoming commercially successful as well as broadening the scope of mainstream cinema (a wee bit). That’s a good accomplishment, no?
vijay: Sorry to disappoint you, but no interview this time. Unlike the earlier paper, this one has different go-to people for these things,
Mia: For that matter, those crisp cotton saris weren’t exactly what the Tamil film heroine wore — it was a bit of a character conceit. It worked here. Had the film worked in Hindi, then we’d be saying that Gautham brought back the Vidya Sinha era or some such thing. So I don’t know that the film’s failure can be explained away by that… But yes, the other things you say sound reasonable.
Speaking of Vidya Sinha, here’s a beaut:
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vijay
February 22, 2012
“I think he’s making smart choices that are becoming commercially successful ”
180 was a borderline flop(and deservedly so) and I dont think Striker was all that commercially successful either. Not that commercial success should figure as a criterion for evaluating his acting abilities, but since you brought that up.
He could play the typical sidekick like Madhavan in a big Hindi movie, and he has always looked like the hero’s younger brother since the Boys days.
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NullPointer
February 22, 2012
IMO, GM’s movies/character’s in Tamil come off as pseudo-urban/corny/wannabe. His idea of being urban is to have a character drop the f bomb(and what makes it even more pukeworthy is choosing Mr Simbu for the job-someone more suited for mouthing Tamil profanities!) or have a Tamil cop say something like “back in India, they call it Raghavan instinct”!)
So maybe in this case , there is no conspiracy theory involved. An open and shut case of yet another bad GM movie!
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Mohan
February 22, 2012
Liked this movie for some of the same reasons you mentioned. Moving on to the more interesting topic, Dr.Rangan(when did the Dr happen anyway? Sorry. Been missing from your blog for a while now so haven’t been abreast of happenings), do tell me what you thought of the telugu version trailer of Gautham Menon’s next. It’s quite a bit different from the tamil one, and not just in terms of leads or language. That’s why I am curious to know what you make of it.
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rameshram
February 22, 2012
Nullpointer,
When I was in B Com College (D B Jain) I developed a habit of going to all those regional intercollegiate competitions (Light music) and visited a bunch of places – trichy erode madurai cochin kozzikode,nagercoil kumbakonam… to a few regional colleges.
There used to be a certain rich guy/pretty gal steriotype that we came to escribe as the “districts college elite” . the term had a half savory,somewhat “Spoilt rich mama’s boy now finds a girlfriend” feel to it, even as we said it, no one particularly wanted to be it.
Gautam menon’s films remind me of this existential trishanku sorgam. He’s talking about feelings and charecters everyone knows about, but noone really understands why films need to be made about them….except GVM…
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venkatesh
February 23, 2012
BR : Since when i have you become Dr. Rangan ?
RameshRam : Naanum adhu dhaan paa sonnen….. for the most part i cannot tolerate Dear Mr GM’s movies – orey pseudo foreign english , who in Chennai or TN speaks like that – Not in my circles at least.
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Ravi K
February 23, 2012
What was that particularly florid line of dialogue in VTV? “She’s just a one-way ticket to heartbreak city” 😛
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avanthika
February 23, 2012
I’ve seen college going guys who are particularly into English writing and western musics to be using such phrases or words in daily conversation. It’s not as eccentric as you might think 🙂
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vicky
February 23, 2012
Hey , the point you came up with was something to ponder over. I also feel the southies are kind of cornered when they try to make it big in mainstream Bollywood cinema. Coming to EDT, remakes are not always a cakewalk. When “Thevar Makan” became “Virasat” or “Kireedom” became “Gardish”, lot of effort was put by Priyadarshan to make those sensitive remakes sensible. I think GVM has to mature when it comes to remaking his movies in Hindi. Only thing I found peculiar was the characterisation. I strongly feel he hasn’t chosen the right people. But yes, we can keep our fingers crossed for “Neethane En Ponvasantham” which am sure will show us what GVM is capable of.
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KayKay
February 24, 2012
I think in this particular instance, the explanation is probably a lot simpler. I enjoyed VTV, but even as I was watching , I found myself slotting it into the “A for Effort” category.
In the vast wastelands of Tamil Cine Romance which frequently denigrates women while elevating stalkers and borderline sociopaths as babe magnets (seriously, has any film industry worked so hard to market oafish behaviour and thuggish chauvinism as sexy?), VTV was a breath of fresh air, a romance that played out exactly how it would, rather than how it should, under those specific circumstances, where the male was practically powerless and paralysed by the sheer vagaries and uncertainties of the female.
Now transport that same theme to Bollywood which has been thriving for more than a decade now with a vibrant “multiplex” cine culture and parallel art-house cinema where such themes are commonplace and have been dealt with many times and most likely in far greater depth. It would be a case of, “So what’s new here?”
Am not getting on the GVM bashing bandwagon. I think the man still has it in him to be a good director of psycho-sexual thrillers. He just needs to develop a far greater obsession with fringe-dwelling freaks like Bala, and embrace his inner Asshole like Selva.
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rameshram
February 24, 2012
“a good director of psycho-sexual thrillers.”
The line writes itself. if only he were a little less psycho and a little more sexual, we might then have a filmmaker to watch..
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strickland
February 25, 2012
In this trailer, exactly what does Samantha mean when she says “naa gaaaaaaaaaali”?
why are GVM’s thamizh dialogues made up mostly of semi-onomatopoeic words uttered in a constipated tone? Why isn’t he unable to write any one line of substance in thamizh? will the gradual disappearance of thamizh from daily-life in chennai only create more such writers? that’s the-scary-thought-for-the-day.
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Vasisht Das
February 25, 2012
prof.rameshram,
“I think all films are hypocrycy of the well connected, so I see this complaint as the complaining of one group of well connnected about another.
KAy kay wants his kind of malaysian to be projected, Brannigan wants his kind of tamil to be projected, and I want NO ONE to be projected”.
“there’s only one of me. complete original”.
thanks for never letting all of us jokers take the movies or ourselves too seriously :0
but, aside from dripping nakkal and being an ever-eager comedian around these parts, please enlighten us – mention a few films / film makers that have interested or impressed you – tamizh or other indian film makers (not angrezi trickovsky types from out there)..since you invest consistent efforts at watching, reading and reacting to local sarakku ? !
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fewpressedwords
March 3, 2012
I guess MR GVM has crooned the first line here. Hope its better than his boring ones offlate
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Gautham vasudev menon
March 9, 2012
Gosh, you guys are a bunch of jokers! Wasn’t this supposed to be a review of kaadhalil sodhapuvudhu? Where did I feature in this? So this comes from a right to say anything because films are out there and also because you guys can hide behind or on top of the mediums you use to say all this crap is it?
Cool card? Nostalgia? Mundane raja music? Better off listening to ninaivellam nithya? Milking? Boring films off late? Phony or phoney? Phony!? Rich girl steriotype?(can you even spell that right?)districts college elite?( ha ha).. Thrishanku sorgam? Pseudo foreign English? Onomatopoeic? ( how many people here know what that means except maybe rangan and myself and a few others apart from the Tamil crusader wise guy who wrote that)
Embrace my inner asshole?( Can you show me how). Less psycho and more sexual? Can I barf all over you?
I mean like what’s up guys? Are you guys for real? Do you guys even have a life outside your rooms?
You have the right to comment on my work and raja sir and almost everybody else in the world and hence I have the right to call you guys jokers too.
Do me a favor. Do not watch my films. I urge you and implore that you don’t watch my films. No loss for me. Will save you from boredom and being forced to watch drivel. I on the other hand will stop looking at this blog/page because I have seen over time that it encourages negativity in the name of discussion. I mean, are you guys filmmakers? Experts on music? Just with the tag of ‘ critic’ you can say anything you want is it? Maybe you can. I’ll excuse myself from the page. No loss for you but hey no loss for me too.
You guys are maybe ten fifteen in number. That’s all. That’s all. Like I said, you guys might be capable of killing a film or two, or maybe even fifteen but you can’t stop a filmmakers journey. And there a lot of people who like the journey I have taken..
Lots more to say but suddenly I feel it’s not worth it.. That’s what people around me are saying too.
Just one request. Do not comment on somebody like an ILAYARAJA. Seriously! If you work with him for just one hour, you’ll know what he creates and how he creates that is far better than anything anybody else does in any field of work. About some people, nobody has a right to even comment..
I’m out..
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rameshram
March 9, 2012
bye.
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rameshram
March 9, 2012
“but, aside from dripping nakkal and being an ever-eager comedian around these parts, please enlighten us – mention a few films / film makers that have interested or impressed you – tamizh or other indian film makers (not angrezi trickovsky types from out there)..since you invest consistent efforts at watching, reading and reacting to local sarakku ? !”
to channel visu,
Idhe keviya konjam bavvyatthoda kettu irundhenna, nan santhosha pattiruppen badhil sollieruppen.
anal neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..
but seriously, tamil has not had bad filmmakers (people just don’t pay attention to the good ones sometimes. ) Kamal’s good films are worthy (he just has few of them inbetween his junk. (Mahanadhi, virumaandi, thevar magan raajaparvai) , I like the neoclassical trio – Balu mahendra Bharatiraja (vedam puthithu..) and Mahendran’s films. I also like the film of some guys inspired by them ( Rajiv menon, mani ratnam(isn’t nenatthai killathe the SAME EXACT film as mouna ragam?) Bala,Balaji Shankar etc) there are a few single gems in the canon – filmmakers who made just one film (or two) but those are enduring classics. Aval appadithan, sila nerangalil sila manithargal, Moghamul,come to mind. There are films by idiosyncratic filmmakers – they fall all over the spectrum but there’s one movie that has caught my fancy : Aayiratthil oruvan, for example. (I know beat me up for this), which I think is very classic tamil filmmaking from a lost branch . Speaking of lost branches, I really enjoy the tamil musical dance drama films of the old. Nandanar, Avvaiar (has some spectacular non KBS in thirunool seqiuences) GNB’s tamil films, MKT/SGK?TRM/PUC. A good MGR historical from neverland never failed to impress me, if not for anything else , then for its breezy overconfidence. Rajinikanth’s non thinky films (I liked muthu , though) specially when he was parleying the -kanth label to appeal to Jeyakanthan’s audience are fun films , and I thought sivaji was some kind of master craftsman’s gem, although you need to have the taste for it. Of all the “cinemadurai” filmmakers(and these are not in the BR defined genre) I like the Dhanush ” common man snaps and produces mayhem against a OBC mafia don villain ” genre. I like many films for the girls, of course.specially if a punjabi girl can wear a davani well.
Othervice I think very little original genre bending/ breaking stuff has come out of tamil cinema. Only films that cater to the districts college elite. 😉
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rameshram
March 9, 2012
and the Warner brothers stable (venkat prabhu) produces some decent films too.
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rameshram
March 9, 2012
how can one forget
😀
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venkatesh
March 9, 2012
GVM : “Just one request. Do not comment on somebody like an ILAYARAJA. Seriously! If you work with him for just one hour, you’ll know what he creates and how he creates that is far better than anything anybody else does in any field of work” . Amen to that. No one denied that. And from what i can see no one said anything about ILAYARAJA ( in caps ). You on the other hand are fair game.
And oh yes, Bye.
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rameshram
March 9, 2012
” because you guys can hide behind or on top of the mediums you use to say all this crap is it?
Cool card? Nostalgia? Mundane raja music? Better off listening to ninaivellam nithya? Milking? Boring films off late? Phony or phoney? Phony!? Rich girl steriotype?(can you even spell that right?)districts college elite?( ha ha).. Thrishanku sorgam? Pseudo foreign English? Onomatopoeic? Embrace my inner asshole?( Can you show me how). Less psycho and more sexual? Can I barf all over you?
I mean like what’s up guys? Are you guys for real? Do you guys even have a life outside your rooms? I mean, are you guys filmmakers? Experts on music? Just with the tag of ‘ critic’ you can say anything you want is it?…. ”
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brangan
March 10, 2012
Here are some “minimal Tamil film posters designed by the reliably excellent Arun Ramkumar. (It’s an FB link. Hope everyone can see it.)
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vijay
March 11, 2012
Is that a legit GVM sighting? Why does he think that in the comments space of a film review ONLY that film needs to be discussed. Doesn’t he know how blogs and comments function by now? 🙂
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rameshram
March 11, 2012
kadakkan verum fellow. :p
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sharath
March 11, 2012
BR, i am waiting for your review of kahaani. what a movie and what a kahaani it is
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Shankar
April 13, 2012
Finally, watched this film today…you are spot on about all points…the easy flow, the urban script, the awkward handling of the older love. And you are right, Our memories about Suchu do come in watching him on screen and wondering – Wasn’t this guy recently romancing Nadiya on screen? Man, the years have gone by quickly!! 🙂
It’s great to see a young guy getting the chance to take his initial short story/film and turn it into a commercially successful film.
As for Valayosai, I thought that the incredible prelude was an apt BGM score for that moment (even if it was awkwardly shot by the director) to indicate the fluttering hearts. Of course, as the song played, it just reminded me of how terrific it still sounds, the awesome bass lines, the tight orchestration…well, topic for another day! 🙂
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c.s.baskar
June 24, 2012
then you did not work with him all this years and you realized his majesty only now .. you are now cornered by Harris and other MD’s and you have no choice to go elsewhere and raja too is free . so please be realistic atleast in the writings if not in your cinema . do you all think that you have come to save Tamil cinema form death bed ? and Rangan writes as if there has been no cinema til raaja entered the fray .
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