Kanthasamy - Soundtrack

Expectations are sky-high for this long awaited movie, especially from Vikram fans. Here he pairs with Shriya Saran. Produced by Kalaippuli .S.Thanu and directed by Susi Ganesan, this film has music by Devi Sree Prasad (raring to go after his ‘Villu’ success). The lyrics have been penned by Viveka. The audio release function held recently was a grand affair where an adoption of 30 villages and a donation of a marriage hall were also announced along with the audio release! Shot on an expensive budget, this movie Kanthaswamy has scenes in Tanzania, Kenya, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland. We have Krishna, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Vivek, Prabu Ganesan and Santhanam essaying roles along with the lead pair. The film is supposed to have a ‘Robin Hood’ feel to it! Let us wait!

Excuse Me

A fun song with infectious rhythms where the girl goes purposefully after an unwilling boyfriend. Suggestive lyrics, of course to the accompaniment of guitars and keyboard stuff. Vikram has carried it off rather well. Suchitra is her ebullient self.

Mambo Maamiyo

A kind of rock and roll meets twist meets Caribbean rhythms –kind of song! Fun, nevertheless! Lovely interludes from the guitars and violins liven up this boisterous duet no end. This is supposed to have been shot in Mexico with Mexican dancers. (the rhythm is testimony) Vikram is quite stylish here. His fans are going to love it.

Ithellaam Dupe

Well, what can you make of this very, very offbeat crazed-out number? Just freak out, will you? Gives us an amusing glossary of many kinds of words ( especially those to do with wives numbers two and three---etc;) and after a breathless round up of each set, we hear the refrain’ Kandhaswamy dhaan toppu’!! and the fiery electric guitar adds its own ‘dhum’.

Kanthaswamy Theme:

The rhythms for this song are supposed to be by the ‘Murugan Temple Team’, with Susi Ganesan supplying the ‘kozhi’ sound and Rita the female vocals. A very catchy theme song with lyrics that are so carefully worded that the song may well refer to Lord Muruga too! Again a treat for Vikram fans.

Allegro

Technically an ‘Allegro’is a classical piece played in a speedy lively manner. This is certainly an explosive dance number which starts off with a gentle soprano bit and gallops from there. With Shriya dancing to this song, (shot in Italy with Italian dancers) it is bound to be a visual feast. Fine effort from Rita. Plenty of sunshine notes from the trumpets and trombones!

Meow Meow

A very old ‘mettu’ masked in attractive modern rhythms. Priya is husky and seductive and Vikram has nothing much to essay. The guitars and violin have a field day! Could be a hit right away.

Kanthaswamy( DSP Mix)

A neat remix from Devi Sree Prasad. We have some additional rhythm work here.

En Peru Meenakumari

A song intented for 100% titillation. With Mumaith Khan gyrating to it what else do you expect? The first line from the old Chandrababu hit ‘Bambara kannale’ keeps weaving in and out of this song sung in her usual robust fashion by Malathy.

Verdict:

Vikram’s USP is that he never takes himself seriously, and it is always reflected in his song sequences. This lively album too has a huge fun quotient attached to it. If the film also manages to walk the tightrope between comedy and action without degenerating into a farce, then we have a sure hit on our hands.

Sarvam

The trailer looked slick and inviting. The movie really is slick and stylish. But inviting? That depends on what you look for in a movie. If gloss and style matters and the story can exit through the backdoor, Sarvam will be to your liking. The movie has a weak plot and an even weaker execution.

There are five characters in the movie - Karthik (Arya), an architect, Sandhya (Trisha) a doctor in a city hospital, Naushad (Indrajith) a software professional, and his young son Imman (Rohan) and Eashwar (J.D. Chakravarthy).

The first half is mostly about how the love springs between Karthik and Sandhya. The architect and the doctor meet during a kart racing event and here begins the love story. Karthik falls in love and tries to woo Sandhya. He starts visiting the hospital where Sandhya works and slowly, the relationship starts blooming. The scenes are portrayed in a humorous manner and are pretty refreshing. These scenes are the major highlight of the movie and the chemistry between the two deserves special mention.

The movie then slowly starts to get the feel of a thriller ( or should I say, tries to give the feel?). The half way point is reached with the director revealing a twist in the story and sets up for a rather contrived climax. the second half is where the (minimal) story actually gets told. Eashwar comes across as deranged maniac trying to kill the 10 year old Imman. Imman and his father Naushad run for their lives from Eashwar and Karthik enters the story, trying to protect young Imman. At points one starts to wonder whether Naushad and Imman really are victims running for their lives. Is Eashwar really a evil maniac? And where does Karthik figure in all this? The truth slowly gets unravelled and is revealed in the climax. Chase sequences and action scenes lead up to this climax of a wanna-be thriller movie.

Arya and Trisha have done a good job and sizzle together. Trisha hasnt got much of a role, but does well in the limited scenes she does get. J.D. Chakravarthy does the character justice, but the characterization itself has to be questioned. Indrajith and Rohan fill their roles and give decent performances, but nothing to write home about.

The music by Yuvan Shankar Raja has already become a decent hit and the songs have been picturized very well. Cinematography is one of the fine points of the movie and the splendid camera work comes out even more during the songs. Kudos to Nirav Shah, the cinematographer.

The Go-Giver

I'm generally not a fan of the business parable book-dumbed-down, poorly-written stories that equate cheese with change (for one obvious example), and are meant to spur us into new attitudes and actions. Mostly they inspire for a few minutes and then are forgotten. If I remember any for an extended period, it's usually due to the awfulness of the writing. I read one recently that was so bad I didn't know if I should feel worse for the book's writer or the publisher that had decided to waste paper on it.

Which leads me to my review of The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann. While it may be faint praise, this book is decidedly better than most in its genre.

The story's plot centers around ambitious young Joe, who is spinning his wheels professionally despite his hard-charging attitude and generally likable personality. In keeping with his bold spirit, he decides he's going to meet a powerful local businessman, Pindar, and convince The Chairman (as he's known) to help Joe land a big account. To Joe's surprise, Pindar is easy to get a meeting with. However, Pindar's goals for Joe are not necessarily the same as Joe's goals for Joe, and thus this unlikely parable unfolds with Pindar taking Joe under his wing and teaching him a series of success lessons. Each lesson involves Joe meeting a new, successful person and learning what led to their successes.

(Spoiler: The root of success is giving, not getting - thus the title The Go-Giver instead of The Go-Getter.)

Each meeting teaches Joe one of the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. There's The Law of Value, The Law of Compensation, The Law of Influence, The Law of Authenticity and The Law of Receptivity. After learning each Law, Joe agrees to try to put it into practice before the next meeting with Pindar, where another Law will be unveiled. Despite my somewhat cynical nature, the book continually kept me curious as to the next law, the next person to meet, and how Joe would put it into practice. While the whole premise of the book is a bit corny, and the writing isn't exactly Tolstoy, I read it quickly and eagerly.

I think my favorite of the laws, in terms of offering something new or fresh (and in terms of sticking with this blog's money theme), is the Law of Compensation, which states: "Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them." The example used is a schoolteacher who invents a line of educational software, thus trading her schoolteacher salary for a much larger income due to the fact that her company's software reaches so many more people than she ever could have as a teacher in a single school.

There's nothing genius about this concept, but I don't know that I've ever heard it stated that way, and it made me think. If you want to make more money, how can you get yourself on a bigger stage where you serve more people? I think any of us could come up with ideas on how to serve more people, whether it's taking on more work responsibilities, adding new volunteer tasks, raising our entrepreneurial sites, or whatever. The benefits may not be immediate, but the more people you touch in a way that makes their lives better, the more you're known for being that type of person, the more chance there is that money is eventually going to flow to you.

Anyway, despite my initial skepticism, I like this one. If you're a go-getter, or would like to be, the concepts in The Go-Giver will help you ensure that your time is spent doing the right things with the right spirit.

8 x 10 Tasveer

Well, here’s another new genre of ‘Supernatural Thriller’ persistently hitting screens sans a pause. Glimpse through previous weeks’ releases. ‘13b’ dealt with a phenomenal idiot box, ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ – about a mysterious camera unveiling future’. Here goes, ‘8 X 10 Tasveer’ right on similar notes. This time it’s all about a ‘photograph’ that will unravel the frizzled scenario.

It’s really surprising to watch Nagesh Kukunoor taking up a new avatar of treating an unparalleled script – ‘Murder-Mystery’. He takes off with a perfect narration all throughout the show and naturally holds onto a perfect climax. What else should a film possess to carry the label of best verdicts? Obviously, Nagesh seems to have focused more on technical aspects that helps a lot for a positive approach on audiences.

Perfect cinematography – sleek editing – dazing locales of foreign countries; here’s the mantra of delighting audiences with a visual treat.

But the film stops an inch from reaching the destination of triumph. It all goes with a slight stumble in the latter part and the reasons justified for murders. Nagesh Kukunoor sports himself bounded with amateurishness on dropping such motifs on the screen.

‘8X10 Tasveer’ is a story about young man named Jai Puri, (Akshay Kumar), who possesses supernatural powers. Jai is of Indian origin who works as a forest ranger in Canada. His life is shattered by the loss of a very important person in his life, his father (Benjamin Gilani). This personal tragedy leads him to use his unique supernatural power to unravel the mystery behind the murder. ‘8x10’ is a supernatural thriller with a nail-biting finish to come up with startling answers.

Getting on with performance, Akshay Kumar excels with his decent show. Perhaps, if you ever felt that Akki had overdone acting in many of his previous flicks, here’s something that proves his adeptness. Be the sequences, where he’s woe-stricken by his father’s loss or the part where he shares elated moments with his sweetheart, he’s cool. Ayesha Taakia goes about with her middling act and Nagesh could’ve depicted her characterization that would’ve had a better impact. Man who steals the show is Javed Jaffrey. He’s sure about sparkling smiles on your faces when he says ‘My name is Happy… Happy without ‘I’ and you are pulled in more with his witty mannerisms, particularly ‘Aaj Mera Happy Birthday Hai’ quotient works out well. Sharmila Tagore, Benjamin Gilani, Ananth Mahadevan and Rushaad Rana score 5/5 for their best take. Credit goes to Nagesh for a perfect casting.

Vikas Sivaraman’s cinematography is scintillating. As mentioned earlier, his works on the stunning locales are sure to carry your senses straight to those places. Songs are quite mediocre and it could’ve been done better while the background score by Salim Sulaiman has been done stylishly.

On the terms of scripting and narration, Nagesh excels with extraordinary skills. Of course, you are bounded with so much of suspense that you’ll really get mystified about the murderer. But then, if you’re really a wizard, the mystery is disentangled right before the intermission.

A gratifying entertainer.

Ayan

It’s not everyday that you get to watch a gangster movie, with double-crosses, skillful smuggling, mother’s love and a romantic story tossed in, without having to squirm or probably having to end up with a headache. However, Ayan’s screenplay does the trick – brilliantly choreographed stunts and car chase sequences, cleverly planted twists at every nook and corner of the plot and some good music. Ayan proves to be an absolute time pass fare. For a little more than two hours, it would be an offense to call Ayan just another commercial potboiler.

Suriya, who proved his credentials as a versatile actor doing varied roles untill recently, has taken a litmus test of doing a mass commercial hero in ‘Ayan’. In the end, he emerges out as a clear winner leaving his impression all through the film.

The striking feature of the movie is Suriya’s amazing screen-presence. He is right there delivering his best. Be it romance, action or comedy, Suriya is at his crackling form serving the very basic purpose of purpose of entertaining the masses.

Suriya’s rendition of ‘Chennai Thamizh’, his youthful looks and body language are the major strengths of the movie. His onscreen chemistry with Tamannah is good. Amazing to see Suriya performing acrobatic stunt sequences, who has been hitherto considered as a 'performing' actor. His dedication and involvement could be seen in every frame.

Equally appealing is Tamannah. Though she has no major role to play besides a couple of songs including one in alien land, she is convincing. Prabhu as Das is apt fit for the role. He handles the role with much-needed maturity. He renders grace and charm to his role. Jagan and Karunaas play the supporting roles well. Specially Jagan with his one-liners is impressive. Akashdeep Saigal, the baddie from Mumbai, lends solidity to the role. His dubbing by ‘Kolangal’ fame Ajay is appropriate.

The spine-chilling chase in the streets of Congo, choreographed by stunt master Franz Spilhaus deserves a special mention. M S Prabhu capturing the mood of film in various shades and tones is a pillar of strength to Anand. Harris Jayaraj’s songs are peppy. Watch out for the opening song “Pala Palakura”, which is racy. However the real scene-stealer is editor Anthony. His slick work manages to sustain interest all throughout.

Yavarum Nalam

Vikram K. Kumar has done his homework and has associated some big names into his production to make a movie which keeps you on the hook till the riveting end. The director might have got some inspiration from the local horror serial ‘Aahat’ and maybe even more from Steven Spielberg’s ‘Poltergeist’ but what makes this a joy ride is the screenplay which zooms ahead in the second half of the movie.

Madhavan, who the audience got accustomed watching him romancing the heroines and much recently bashing baddies, play a different role. He plays a male protagonist who strives to save his family from the hands of a super natural power. As a caring hubby and a loving son in a joint family, one can see a refreshing Madhavan. He looks dashing with his sophisticated looks. Looking at ease on screen, he is casual in his dialogue delivery and his body language. He bubbles with enthusiasm in the first half and brings out the frightened look well towards the climax.

The Director has done his part well but there is a problem too the first half drags with the usual clichés of an Indian horror which also includes a romantic number in the middle which is totally uncalled for. This does put you off and might drive you off the theatre too. But if you do survive that torturous first half you would experience quite a ride in the second half of this horror.

P.C Sreeram, the veteran cinematographer experiments a lot and some of his experiments work brilliantly and others, especially the hand held shaky sequences does make you shaky too. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is satisfactory. The background music also does its part in increasing the tension of the proceedings. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy’s music is good but totally unneeded for this kind of cinema. The credit roll song, ‘oh sexy mama’ is finely pictured though.

It is a movie that is refreshingly different.

Pink Panther - 2

Back in the fun, free-basing '70s, Steve Martin was a stand-up comic god. Me Decade audiences lined up for hours to see this one-man Beatles of absurdist humor. They bought his albums, memorized his skits -- even stayed up late to see him swing with groovy foxes as part of a then-relevant Saturday Night Live. Fast forward 30 years, and the formerly wild and crazy guy has decided to follow fellow SNL alum Eddie Murphy into the fetid family film arena. With a couple of Cheaper by the Dozens under his belt, Martin is now mangling the legacy of one of film's greatest comedy franchises. No matter how hard he tries, however, he can't completely kill the legacy of the Pink Panther. This unnecessary sequel does come awfully close, though.

When four of the world's most valuable artifacts -- the Magna Carta, the Shroud of Turin, the Royal Emperor's Sword, and France's famous Pink Panther diamond -- are stolen by master thief The Tornado, a dream team of detectives is assembled. They include British sleuth Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), Italian officer Vincenzo (Andy Garcia), Japanese tech expert Kenji (Yuki Matsuzaki), and of course, inspector Jacques Clouseau (Martin). Helped by Sonia (Aishwarya Rai), a special agent from India, and the French home team including Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese), Poton (Jean Reno), and political correctness liaison Mrs. Berenger (Lily Tomlin), all paths appear to lead to exiled art dealer Avellaneda (Jeremy Irons). But even in light of all the obvious evidence, Clouseau thinks he knows the identity of the real culprit.

If the first Pink Panther remake was the entertainment equivalent of re-experiencing the grief over original genius Peter Sellers' untimely death, Pink Panther 2 is like dancing on the British funnyman's grave. It's akin to whistling past the cemetery and spitting on the mourners inside. It says something about the quality of material here that both Academy Award winner Kevin Kline and Jay-Z's squeeze Beyonce bowed out this time around. In their place are a bevy of polished, professional actors who should really know better, and a storyline that sacrifices intelligence for sloppy CGI-aided slapstick -- and when it's all over, we barely remember what happened.

The lack of imagination and inspiration is stunning. Martin's hate-crime-lite accent wraps around impossibly dumb malapropisms as if merely misspeaking any word in the English language will garner instant giggles. He is matched by his clueless collaborators, all of whom ratchet up the brogue for supposed belly laughs. One feels especially bad for Reno, reduced to an impotent running gag, while Garcia, Molina, and Rai merely take up space. Like the haphazard Disney comedies of the '70s, the action frequently stops dead so that director Harald Zwart can stage another uninspired bit of physical comedy. If anyone other than the Sellers' estate should be offended, it's Blake Edwards. The Hollywood heavyweight, known for helming some of the best films of the '60s and '70s, gets his legacy undercut by this Panther's pathetic pratfalls.

Even if we were to consider the demographic and argue that Martin has made yet another PG-oriented celluloid babysitter, the witlessness on display argues for child abuse, not appeasement. There are so many dead spots in the script that you wonder if some of the onset bloopers couldn't have been substituted in their place. Nothing with Irons' character works, and when Clouseau and implied love interest Emily Mortimer (as poor, put-upon policewoman Nicole) get romantic, the lack of chemistry is appalling. Three decades ago Steve Martin was considered a true comedy original. The Pink Panther 2 proves he's now nothing more than a paycheck-cashing hack.