Thuppakki - Quiet and Racy

It takes so much time in Melbourne to get an opportunity to watch a Diwali release. Gosh two weeks!

Anyways, I guess the wait was definitely worth it. AR Murugadoss proves that he is not a director who can be taken for granted. And yes, there is hope in Tamil cinema for good movies.

Thuppakki is a very quiet yet racy film. For once, the commercial aspects of a mass hero film has been played down very efficiently and the presentation of the rest of the screenplay has moved up a few notches without heavy damage. The theme of the movie is based on eliminating terrorist sleeper cells operating within the country. Maybe the theme by itself was a reason for the director to keep the extravagance under wraps. Good decision indeed. Execution becomes a key element of such movies and I should give the director a big salute. Scenes did not seem stretched at all.

In a year when most other superstars of Kollywood have wasted their talent and screen space on delivering over senseless scripts, Vijay has stolen the opportunity to shed his mass hero appeal from the likes of Sivakasi, Thiruppachi etc etc and play it down, a bit mellowed is the right word. No punch dialogues in high intensity and measured usage of words makes his character more believable in a number of instances.

With everything going right with the script, someone got drunk and introduced two characters to waste time. Kajal Agarwal and Jayaram.

Kajal Agarwal was hopeless. For a movie of this kind, she was zero value add. I would have been happy if she was kidnapped by the villain, like the typical Tamil movie climax but that didn't happen too. Am sure someone gave her a voice over and that was pathetic.

Jayaram - an actor whose talent was made worthless by the script.

Sathyan, as Vijay's friend, plays a very good role in the movie. His reactions and sense of comedy was more than enough for screen. The director didn't have to experiment another side-track with Jayaram and Vijay which turned out be a fiasco.

Oh yes, music. Harris J. He should have stuck to background score. Every song in the movie was just another loo break opportunity.

Tamil cinema can never end without bloopers. The climax was the best here. A bomb had been set to blast in 15 mins. And there was exactly 15 mins left for the whole movie to end. And in that time, the hero fights the villain, jumps out of the ship, the ship blasts and later he also manages a tearful send off from his family. This was hilarious. When people say, cut the crap, they really mean it. So, in future, please cut the crap.

Overall: Thuppakki entertains

Coldplay

So, I attended the Coldplay concert today at the Etihad Stadium in Docklands, Melbourne. I was new to the band. I had heard of them but hadn't heard their songs at all. I started listening only after I landed in Melbourne. Only a few of their songs registered in my mind and thankfully, they performed the ones I had heard a number of times (Paradise, Charlie Brown and Princess of China). The concert had some great pyrotechnics and the stadium was packed. It was a great experience but I never knew that it was going to be the experience I would never want to recollect again in my life.

Turns out that she also wanted to come to the concert. When the tickets came up for purchase, I asked many times and I got answers like "I may not be in town, so let's not buy". The first batch of tickets sold out. Then my friends who were attending the concert, asked us to buy. I looked up again. Tickets were available. I asked if I could buy. I got the same answer. Tickets were not cheap. 100 dollars each and I had no interest in buying a ticket and letting it go waste. I asked many many time before booking my ticket. I got the same response. So, I went ahead and booked my tickets; and by doing that I paved way for an atomic bomb to burst.

All the dialog about not wanting to spend more money, unsure of not being in town, Diwali and wanting to stay at home to prepare a sweet dish was all a big sham? In the bigger scheme of things, these were ideas that were planted in my mind to try and create a deviation so as to see if I steered back and said "its okay, I want you to be there with me". Obviously, it had no impact. Rather, I had no idea. Its like the Melbourne weather. It could rain, hail, shine and be windy on the same day. What would you do? Not listen to anyone and just walk like its a normal day.

I could have surprised her, she says. But why? Why should I surprise? Didn't I ask whether I can buy tickets? Didn't I plan for it in advance? During all those times, I never got an answer that told me - go and buy it. It was always signals to not buy.

I just don't get it. Why can't things be straight and simple in life. Why are women so complicated? If you want to go, then why don't you just say it?

I can't handle surprises. In fact, I am the last one who could think of anything of that sort. My rules in life are very simple. There is no instinct. Its rule driven and basic yes or no. I cannot work with something that is lying on the back of the mind and infer the same. It simply doesn't work that way for me.

So today's concert has gone down in my books as one of those days that will come back and haunt me forever. Every time I listen to a Coldplay song or someone talk to me about the band, I am going to have a nasty time.

And the husbands who book surprise holidays for your wives - if I see you anywhere, I am going to kick you in the nuts.

Maattrraan: The Milk Powder Conspiracy

History: Director Vijay decided to make a bad movie with Vikram and approached a few producers. He said he will shoot in London. Producers were not happy. Hearing this, KV Anand announced that he will team up with Suriya and shoot a movie in Ukraine which will not just be bad but be called the WORST MOVIE of 2012. That was the beginning of Maattrraan.

Maattrraan is about conjoined twins tangled in a milk powder conspiracy. The screenplay has a huge marquee titled SHIT running everywhere.

Director KV Anand has lost it completely. He was his best in KO, which was also copied from a Ben Affleck movie. After that its just downhill mister. Although his concept of having the conjoined twins is a novel idea, it totally misses the point. And then selling a genetically modified product to the Russian Olympic Athletes; and selling the same stuff in India. Ridiculous. WADA Officials please note, there is someone who is giving ideas to escape the doping tests.

For all the drama you did, shouldn't you atleast get the medals tally right. You claim in the movie that because of consuming this GM stuff, the athletes broke world records and Russia beat United States. And in the medals tally, China is number one. Russia is not even in the Top 10!!! What a genius you are. And hence I am not going to talk about direction. You have got a Razzie Nomination.

Gosh Suriya. Looking smart and young is not enough. Please choose good scripts. Did you even read this before signing up? Does it even make sense? Anyway, the scenes with the twins are marvelous. That fight around half-time was even longer than a SUN TV Mega Serial. And there isn't much to say about acting because too many things are happening at the same time. The director managed to fool you too.

Kajal Agarwal does manage to get some credit in the movie. Thankfully she is not the glam girl who smiles and romances when required. She does more than that, acting I mean. Good for you girl.

The first half is good because its has all the commercial elements of Tamil cinema. Ideally, the movie should have stopped there. It would have made money in the box office if the audience were shown just the first half. The second half is just trash.

Harris Jayaraj - for the past 12 years, you have ensured that you will always stick to 6 tunes. Hashing and rehashing for every movie.

The only person who has done a commendable job in the movie is the dad of the twins. He is fantastic. A very good choice for the script. Having been around in the industry for many years, he presents himself as a quite yet powerful character throughout the movie.

Overall: Maattrraan is a movie that should have been shelved during the story discussions.