Namma Veettu Pillai – Movie review

Director Pandiraj once again brings us to village Family drama , this focuses more on brother and sister relationship. Arulmozhi varman (Bharathiraja) has three sons and daughters, each one an peculiar character played by well known cast. We focus on Arumpon his grandson of his late second son Bose( Samuthirai kani). Arumpon the village’s favourite , always there to the needed and keeps the huge family also in a tight circle. Arumpon’s  sister thulasi( Aiswaraya Rajesh) are veryt close and are inseparable. Though Arumpon and his mother wants Thulasi to get married and settled but we see past tragedy which involves Thulasi which becomes a hindrance in her life. Finally a distant relative Ayyanaar ( Natraj)agrees to marry Thulasi, who Arumpon doesn’t approve. But Ayyanar shoes his true colors as we come to know that he marries Thulasi to take revenge on Arumpon. What happens next is the rest of the story.

Namma Veetu Pillai comes with great expectation after Kadai kuuty Singam from Pandiraj. Even more from Siva Karthikeyan as his last few films didn’t make well in box office. The story takes its own time , nearly the first half is taken to introduce all the characters in the film . interval is predictable , and so is the second half  but emotions are elevated towards the climax. Siva does his best and concentrates more on emotion rather than half boiled jokes. Suri too delivers a neat comic track along with  Anbukkarasu ( Pandiraj’s son) who cracks one liners which makes us smile. Aiswaraya rajesh plays the perfect role along with Archana as her mother and well supported by Bharathi raja. Except for the climax the rest of the scenes are not new to Tamil cinema, just modernised versions. Imman music works perfectly to elevate emotional scenes. Namma veetu pillai works to a level, but nothing new. I give 5/10

 

Kaapan – Movie review

The film starts with Kathir( Surya) planting bombs on a running oil tanker train, and cuts into a flash backs which starts 6 months back. We see Kathir as a farmer creating a green revolution using only natural resources for framing. But we also see him planning a strike in nearby military base filled with chemical weapons. Parallel to this we see an assassination threat against the Prime Minister Chandrakant Varma (Mohanlal) being contained by the secret service. We then come to know that Kathir is a secret agent working closely under the government. The Prime minister appoints Kathir as his personal body guard as the threats have been consistent. But Tragedy strikes when the Prime minister visits Kashmir and dies in a bomb blast. Worst even Kathir becomes one of the suspect. How Kathir eliminates the terrorists group behind this is the rest of the story.

Director KV Anand keeps us quiet engaged with lot of things in the first half, though this creates various paths in the story this also creates frustration as it leads to no where. Forced songs sequences irritates and music doesn’t merge with the film at all. Surya though has performed to his best to the character, but is finally left behind as the story and screenplay fails miserably in the second half. Though some key scenes bring out some interest to audience, the film collapses with too many things to follow and becomes a big mess in the climax. Sayyeshaa just manages through in the film, and one wonders why Arya was casted in the film at all. Kaapan is over cooked with lot of things and ends undigested .          I give it 4/10

 

Magamuni – Movie review

Maga (Arya) is a call taxi driver, he is married to Viji( Indhuja) and has a 5 year old son. Maga leads a double life as a taxi driver and also works as a hitman to a local political leader Muthuraj (Ilavarasu). Maga is very loyal to Muthuraj, but when Muthuraj goes ahead in the political hierarchy, his enemies target for revenge Maga as they can’t touch Muthuraj. On a parallel track Muni (Arya) is an educated organic farmer in a village near Erode, leads a disciplined life away from all the buzz of the city life. When both Maga and Muni’s life cross paths tragedy breaks and forms the rest of the story.

Santhakumar who director the acclaimed Mouna Guru, comes with his second film Magamuni. What stands out in the film is the way Santhkumar fills up deep philosophical lines very casually in between the dialogues and scenes which forms the highlight in the whole film. Arya after Bala’s  Naan Kadavul, performs to his best in this film. Induja delivers to maximum but I have to say that her character is wasted in the film as of most of the cast. Though most of the film follows with philosophical lines the story develops quiet intriguing in the first half, but the second fails miserably and ends with a lot of unanswered questions. Magamuni is watchable to an extent.i give it 4/10

 

Sivappu Manjal Pachai – Movie review

Orphaned at an early age, Madan  ( G V Prakash) and his elder sister Raaji(Lijomol Jose) , have a very tough childhood but take care of each other. Madhan is too possessive of Raaji, so intense as he even make Raaji promise as she would only marry a person whom both of them like and agree to. Raaji too takes care of Madan as almost as his mother. Madan grows out to be street bike racer and often gets into trouble with other local biker gangs. Raaji who warns Madan of the consequence of rash driving, but Madan shows a deaf ear to her. On one of his races he gets caught by a strict traffic sergeant Rajasekar (Siddharth) and gets humiliated publicly. Madan who looses his bike and humiliated as a grudge on Rajasekar.  On a twist of fate Raaji and Rajasekar marriage alliance is formed and Madan is left stranded in the bond is broken. How the  brother and sister heal their relation back is the rest of the story.

After the blockbuster hit  Pichaikkaran in 2016, director Sasi returns with Sivappu Manjal Pachai. This time he takes the brother –sister relationship and also shows how important is the brother in law’s relation towards the siblings in a family. Thought he movie is over dominated by melodrama with some good writing and dialogues manage to keep you engaged. Siddarth and G V Prakash share equal screen play and do a decent job, though siddarth’s acting still looks over reactive. Lijomol Jose gives a lead actor’s performance and dominates the whole film. The story goes fast in the first half but looses track with over melodramatic scenes and tests our patience in the second half. I give it  3/10

 

Sixer – Movie review

Aadhi(Vaibhav) is a site engineer who suffers from night blindness, is life in the outside world is only for 12hrs in the day from morning 6an to evening 6pm. His parents and his friends help him in the remaining 12hrs. Though his parents are determined to find a girl for marriage. Aadhi is reluctant due to his condition. One evening as he is rushing back home, his bike stops midway near the beach. As his blindness creeps in he calls his friend to pick him up. In a comedy of errors he gets mixed up in a protest in the beach and claimed as the leader of the protest by the media, especially by one reporter Krithika ( Palak lalwani) . Though Aadhi finally falls in love due to this situation, he also falls in the wrath of the politician whom the protest was done for. How Aadhi manages his love and the villain is the rest of the story.

Vaibhav fits the theme naturally and also carries the character in the film decently. Director Chaci brings in lot comedy which almost works in the movie too. Though very predictable the movie keeps you engaged throughout.Gibran’s music works but songs doesn’t stick to the movie. Palak lalwani who actually has a lot of screen space doesn’t deliver at all. Satish and Radha ravi manage to pull it off in the slow second half. Sixer is still watchable to an extent. I give 3/10