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Book Review
Direct from Dell

Shantaram

Shantaram
Monday, April 13, 2009
Anandha Thandavam
Theory: Aascar Ravichandran profited a lot from his last movie. So he decided to fund some of that on a project that wouldn't really take off well.
AR Gandhikrishna, who shot to fame with Chellame; thought that he could turn a Sujatha novel into a fantastic movie. But the movie was too late to the audience.

Sujatha's novel - Pirivom Santhippom was based on situations that were perhaps a decade old. Affluent NRIs marrying innocent pretty girls; going back to US to lead a luxurious life. The girl never realises that she is being ignored. Emotional drama, but not suited to how things are at present. Especially, when everyone is talking about RECESSION!!!


Anandha Thandavam (dance of ecstasy) is a movie that failed to capture the characters that Sujatha had created in his novel. In between, we also have a hero who is the most vulnerable character I have seen, maybe in years. The director, even after sticking to the novel, could not create the right impact.

Pathetic Editing - We see a car getting onto a highway in the US. In seconds, the same car is hit by a trailer in Malaysia and then the next minute, everyone's in KL Airport.

Great locations near Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. Bana Theertham is a place to visit. The cameraman has captured some wonderful landscapes in interior Tamil Nadu.

I must definitely talk about the music. An amazing rendition by Shubha Mudgal and Nithyasree Mahadevan. Kanaa Kaangiren (see my previous post) is a brilliant song with splendid choreo. Worked well for Rukmini. GV Prakash's music is just getting better and better. Poovinai sung by Srinivas and Shreya is also a great song that is shot in Atlantic City. These two songs will stay on your mind for a while.

Tamannah plays the innocent pretty girl. A mix of the child and woman - young at heart and mind too, she plays silly pranks with her brother, listens to her parents and doesn't have a clue of the outside world. If this was what the novel wanted from her, then she did 125% of what was required.

Siddharth (a newbie), does exactly what a newbie is expected of. Everything goes belly up for him - acting, dance, delivery, emotions. Totally shreds up into pieces.

Rukmini is another actor we have to watch for. She scored pretty high in Bommalattam. In this movie, she definitely strikes a chord. Her character and then few others (eg. Kitty and the US Uncle) bring a lot of direction into a screenplay that just goes astray every now and then.


This movie is a pot pourri. Its about love at first sight through the eyes of an unemployed youth who has no direction in his life; parents wanting their daughter to live a rich life abroad without understanding what could be in store; a father who gets blamed and ignored for being concerned about his son's life; a loser who cannot come to grips with what is not his own. There are too many characters who in their own way impact the storyline, but I am thinking that these characters would have been carved well in the novel.

Overall: Fails to deliver.

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Narayan @ 10:37 AM  
2 Comments:
  • At 8:26 PM, Blogger Rhapsoder said…

    You forgot to mention our ordeal! :-P

     
  • At 4:09 AM, Blogger Prem said…

    Well... I have read the book and feel that the movie has fallen into a self tailored pitfall of making a well enjoyed book into a movie. But I would say I still enjoyed the movie, though it was jumpy all around because of the scenes moving fast loosing connect wit the narration. Again, a movie much far for the average viewer as the nativity is neither here nor there, may not be able to reach them. I would not expect this in the league of Big wig hits but only could compete in the niche area. So I would not drub this movie. But can be watched in Urban space. Personally I liked the movie but for the crappy climax antics. That could have avoided.

     
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Name: Narayan
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