Raja's read only memories

Peppered by stellar performances by its cast, Saguni has a beaten-to-death storyline If only politics were as easy as portrayed in Saguni Anarchy prevails the ruling political party — which interestingly portrays the late actor Poornam Vishwanathan as its founder — when its scheming deputy chief Boopathy (Prakash Raj) supplants the chief minister-elect unceremoniously, with some help from his concubine (Kiran, back after a hiatus). He rules the party, and the state, with an iron fist. The camera then swings to the protagonist, Kamalakannan (Karthi) a villager on his maiden visit to Chennai, who, after witnessing its squalor, remarks sardonically, "Busy city, pasi (hungry) citizens." Sounds familiar? Those who grew up in the 70s/ 80s would have sworn that these scenes belong to an MGR's messiah-of-the-masses movie (think Nam Naadu ), or Rajinikanth flick. A man-against-the-system themed movie that manages to punch above its weight due to power-packed ...

Published in City Express, the daily supplement of The New Indian Express, Bangalore on April 16, 2012 A rehash of the director’s earlier hits, Oru kal ou kannadi bears no novelty and entertains, albeit partly And we thought recycling allegorically referred to only leftover-dependant lazy cooks or music composers with little care for copyright issues. Joining the bandwagon is director Rajesh with Oru kal oru kannadi (a stone, a looking glass), which reprises – and ends in a reprisal of – his earlier hits Siva Manasula Sakthi and Boss Engira Baskaran.  An etymology analysis would reveal that the kal and kannadi of the movie’s title – probably inspired by a song of the same name from Siva Manasula Sakthi – refer to the sexes from Mars and Venus respectively; one needs no nuclear scientist to infer that this is a love caper. OKOK opens to Saravana (Udhayanidhi Stalin, grandson of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi) and his friend Partha (Santhanam) setting out to Pondicherry t...

Appeared in City Express , the daily supplement of The New Indian Express , on 23 March, 2011 If ever there is a movie to exemplify that a comedy track alone will not suffice to cover the gaping holes in the logic of its screenplay, one need not look beyond Kandean (I saw). The movie abounds with scenes that lack coherence and could have done with a great deal of trimming. Vasanth (Shantanu), the son of yesteryear film director K Bhagyaraj, is a playboy and a software engineer, whose sole aim is to fall in love with a girl and marry her. Vasanth’s grandfather, Chinnrasu Kounder (Vijayakumar), a village chieftain, (someone please tell him that the days when rural-centric movies like Naattamai or Natpukkaga were a rage are over) forces his grandson in vain into a marriage when Vasanth lies that he has a girlfriend back in Chennai. Narmada (Rashmi), a college student and the daughter of the police commissioner of Chennai (Ashish Vidyarthi, who follows a pattern in grimacing and mellowin...

With Pongal being the next most significant period to release a Tamil movie after Diwali, it is only natural that filmmakers ensure a blockbuster (which, in 99 times out of 100, is of the feel-good variety with action and glamour thrown in generous doses). A safer bet to do so is by remaking a movie that has tasted success in another language. Siruthai (the leopard), a remake of the Telugu hit Vikramarkudu, follows the above dictum to a T by casting Karthi, Surya’s sibling brother, in polemic characters. Rocket Raja (Karthi) and Kaatupoochi (Santhanam, in familiar territory as the hero's sidekick) are petty thieves who aim at making a quick buck. Raja chances upon Shweta (Tamanna) while attempting to rob a marriage party, and, true to cinematic tradition, falls in love with her. His distaste for children gets into a tailspin when he and Kaatupoochi rob a chest supposedly containing jewels, only to find a girl inside, who identifies him as her father. Meanwhile, we have Rathnavel Pa...