Kaminey

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra
Director : Vishal Bharadwaj
Music : Vishal Bharadwaj

Till watching the hit movie ‘Jab We Met’ and analyze his performance, I have got a chocolate image only for the bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor. He is also popular as the ex-lover of glamour girl Kareena Kapoor. Now he has come in a dual appearance in an action film named ‘Kaminey’ (which means “scoundrel”). The film is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, who gave films like ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omkara’ etc. He came to the field as a music director, doing films like ‘Maachis’, ‘Chachi 420’, ‘Satya’, ‘Dhaya’ (malayalam) etc. Ronnie Schrewvala, who usually takes different subjects, is the producer of ‘Kaminey’.

This is the story of twin brothers Charlie and Guddu (done by Shahid Kapoor) who lived in the streets of Mumbai. As it has to be, both are having contrasting characteristics. Charlie is having a slip of tongue every time he speaks; he says “F” in place of “S”. He is involved in illegal gambling and under world activities. Guddu is a soft guy; he is having a break down in speech fluency. He loves the girl (Priyanka Chopra), who is the sister of a criminal gang leader. Both of them decided to leave the place. Her brother chases them. Charlie, on the other hand, being an enemy is cornered by the police and some notorious gangs. Thus Guddu reaches the hands of police and what all confusions that happen in a double role story is shown here also, but seriously. Anyway in the end, the lovers are safe.

The attraction of the film lies in its presentation and the performance of all the artists, especially Shahid Kappor and Priyanka Chopra. By experience, Shahid is matured and has given a stable and unique show. Priyanka has also given her best. From the style it is evident that the director has inspired the style of foreign films like ‘City of God’ and ‘City of Men’, in which the story happens in the background of underworld gangs and their activities.

The first half of the film is slow. It creates a lagging and some portions create confusion on the viewers also. But later the film takes it’s real pace when the two characters are targeted. The scenes involving the police and their agreement with the criminals inside the train and the climax are notable. Cinematography by Tassaduq Hussain is excellent. “Danta Daan…” is a catchy number by Vishal Bharadwaj.

‘Kaminey’ is a different attempt from Shahid Kapoor, which enhances his journey to stardom.

Rating : 7.5 / 10

Kanthasamy

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Vikram, Shriya Sharan, Prabhu, Krishna, Vadivelu, Ashish Vidyarthi
Director : Susi Ganesan
Music : Devisree Prasad


Though the director Susi Ganesan had given notable films like 'Five Star' and 'Thiruttu Payale', he became the talk of the town only when he started a mega project, 'Kanthasamy' with the national award winner actor Vikram. It is termed as one of the costliest films produced in tamil (produced by Kalaippuli S Dhanu). The hero desperately needed a hit after the failure of his previous projects like 'Bheema' and 'Majaa' (remake of 'Thommanum Makkalum'). 'Shivaji' fame Shriya Sharan is the heroine of the movie.


The pre release reports and promotion works of the film were gigantic. It made the project very big and created more expectation. The news regarding the different getup and appearances of Vikram and the shooting in Mexico all created the extra hype needed for the project. But the main challenge here is that any negative reaction for the output will affect such a big project too badly.


Rather than discussing the story of 'Kanthasamy', I think a comparative study with the same hero's super hit film, 'Annyan' is enough. Here also the story is based on the corruption, black money and the suffering of the poor people.

The hero, Kanthasamy (Vikram) is a CBI officer. He seizes the unaccountable money from the rich and distribute it to the poor. Like the website in 'Annyan', here the people writes their wish in a paper and hangs in a tree near the temple. In the night the hero takes a different appearance to destroy the evil. The director's way of showing the super heroism (with the help of hero's friends), felt amateur. Villain (Ashish Vidyarathi) and his daughter (Shreya) makes a plan and thus she gets closer to the hero since the former is being raided and a case is filed against him for doing illegal business.


When Kanthasamy's fame reached every where, police conducts an enquiry. Thus Prabhu's character reminds us of Charanraj in 'Gentle man', Nedumudu Venu in 'Indian', Prakash Raj in 'Annyan' etc. Since the director has not created any suspense in the hero's character, the power who attacks the villains is found out easily. The reason told by the hero for this is borrowed as it is from 'Annyan' amd 'Shivaji'. Anyway in the end, love matters becomes serious and the villains are destroyed accompanied by a lengthy speech by the hero. You have got comedy scenes by Vadivelu, as the side track, which is also below average only.


Frames captured by cinematographer Ekambaram ('E', 'Vettam' fame) are very rich. Fast cuts has been used by editors Praveen and Sreekanth to avoid lagging. Songs by Devisree prasad were good to hear, but it comes in un matched situation. Majority of songs sung by Vikram, were not visualized to the best level.


I don't know why Vikram had agreed to do the project which has got an identical story line with his previous hit project. One or two artists and their characters (like Charli) are also copied as it is. Thus Vikram's bad luck continues; it is time for him to try something different (now he will be looking forward for the release of Maniratnam's 'Ravana'). Susi Ganesan, who had also acted in the role of a CBI officer here, should be remembered as the director who did a mega project without a stable script which got released in 1000 theaters after the shooting schedule of 2+ years. He should study how director Shankar use the same kind of themes for his films which is told in a different style every time.



If the script side is weak, then extreme richness and gimmicks on the visuals won't save a project, 'Kanthasamy' is the best example. It is very sad to see that such a big amount had been invested for a film which doesn't have strength in its basic needs.


Rating : 5.5 / 10

Rithu

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Nishan, Asif Ali, Rima Kallingal, MG Sasi
Director : Shyama Prasad
Music : Rahul Raj


Director Shyama Prasad’s new film ‘Rithu’ released with a different byline comment, “Seasons change…do we”. May be the director might not have given big hits, but his films ‘Agnisakshi’, ‘Akale’ and ‘Orey Kadal’ caught attention. I always loved his mini screen works like ‘Uyarthezhunnelppu’ and ‘Maranam Durbalam’, which were unique creations in the particular area. The director’s fame is the main reason for ‘Rithu’ being in the news. We can’t avoid he debutant heroine and last year runner up in the Miss Kerala competition, Rima Kallingal, since she is the talk of the town these days. Thus it is also a factor that raised the fame of the film. Moreover the film is distributed by Megastar Mammootty’s distribution company, Play House.

This is the story of three childhood friends (played by new comers Nishan, Asif Ali, Rima Kallingal). After working in US for three years, Nishan reached the native to settle here. He asks other two people, who were in Bangalore, to join him. They agreed and while working here in an IT firm, he finds that those years made a gap in their friendship and attitude. That time itself, he wished to marry Rima. The good old memory of their friendship is still there in his mind. Now he finds that their approach is not genuine. He also has to face an official cheating from his close friend Asif, which made him to take the decision of leaving them. There after what happens to those three is mainly discussed in ‘Rithu’.

Thos who have watched the director’s previous films (excluding ‘Kallu Kondoru Pennu’) might know his style. Here also Shyama Prasad has followed the fluctuating style, which can’t be categorized into mainstream or parallel films. His attempt to create the story of the IT field with the new faces should be appreciated. (Don’t forget that director Kamal also wished to create the happenings in the same area with the experienced hands in ‘Minnaminniikkoottam’ and has failed in it). In ‘Rithu’, you have got the different activities in the IT field which is shown straight and seriously. The scenes involving the official team meeting, party gathering and negative comments against the native people are some examples. The portrayal of Nishan’s father and brother (done by director MG Sasi) characters are excellent. The performances of all the three main characters are good. The body language of the heroine suits well for the character, especially the area where she talks through mobile looks realistic.

Joshua Newton’s script is not extra ordinary, but the director’s presentation has given the life it demanded. Shyam Datt’s cinematography is good. Rahul Raj had given the music. The songs in different style are not catchy, but the background score goes with the mood.

‘Rithu’ is a cross section of a certain area of the society with many new faces. We should welcome different approaches like this.

Rating : 7.5 / 10

Modhi Vilayadu

Medium : Tamil

Starring : Vinay, Kajal Agarwal, Kalabhavan Mani, Cochin Haneefa

Director : Saran

Music : Colonial Cousins, Steven Devassy

Director Saran who gave variety subjects like 'Amarkkalam', 'Parthen Rasithen', 'Gemini', 'Vasoolraja MBBS', 'Attahasam', 'JJ' etc has come up with his newproject 'Modhi Vilayadu'. He has got Vinay ('Unnale Unnale', 'Jayam Konden' fame) as the hero and the heroine is Kajal Agarwal ('Pazhani' fame). KalabhavanMani, who got a break in tamil through the same director's film, 'Gemini', has done a vital role. Music is handled by Collonial Cousins (Hariharan and Lesle Lewis) who were so far notable in the non filmi music field.

The opening scene of the film itself is rich, since it is the introduction of the hero's father character, who is an international multi millionaire. The proposed sequences gave me a shocking uneasiness, since the character done by Kalabhavan Mani is shown landing in his house (looks like an IT park) in a helicopter. This is the area where the image of the actor plays a negative role.

Hero (Vinay) looks after the wide business maintained by his father. He has got an assistant (Yuva), who always accompanies him by a bulk of body guards. He met the heroine on the way through a car mishap caused due to her carelessness. She is being asked by the hero to pay the price by doing his household jobs (such an agreement is a foolishness, but the director can use it as the reason for them to love each other).

The father had got some serious opponents in the business who tries to destroy them. A professional killer is being arranged. By mistake, he shoots the hero's companion.This incident change the life style of the hero. Now the suspense is revealed that the person who is dead, is the real son of the business tycoon. This caused a break up in the relation of the hero and the rich man. What all benefits that were provided to the hero were withdrawn and he is being targeted also. How he overcomes all these hurdles and takes revenge on the rich man is where ''Modhi Vilayadu' ends.

The film has got a good story line. But the execution failed in many areas. The way in which the heroine is shown working in the hero's house, looks amateur. The revenge episode is told too fastly and hence it is not convincing. The comedy scenes featuring Mayil Sami and Cochin Haneef are also not upto the mark. It is good to hear that the hero Vinay has dubbed in his own voice, but it lacks stability. Kalabhavan Mani in such a heavy character is a miscasting. The songs by the debutant music duo are very below average only. I don't know why music director Bharadwaj was opted out from Saran's favorite list this time. Anyway, debutant Steven Devassy ('Hariharan Pillai Happiyanu' fame), who gave a peppy background score had tried his best to maintain the tempo. Cinematography by Karun is good.

'Modhi Vilayadu' is such a project which should have been made in a better way since the base story line is good.

Rating : 5.5 / 10

Indiravizha

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Sreekanth, Namitha, Hemamalini, Vivek, Nasser
Director : Rajeshwar
Music : Aathish

Tamil actor Sreekanth, who don’t have big hits after films like ‘Rojakkoottam’, ‘Parthiban Kanavu’ and ‘Kanaa Kandein’ has acted in a new tamil movie named ‘Indiravizha’. But he can’t claim the credits for the above alone, since he was a new face in the first film with Bhoomika as his pair, second one has got Sneha in double role and the last one has got debutant Prithviraj in the main negative role. Now, super glamour queen in the south, Namitha is the co-star in ‘Indiravizha’. She has done the role in her “style”. Rajeshwar, who gave the periodical film by Simran, ‘Kovilppatti Veeralakshmi’ (2004), has directed the movie.

The hero (Sreekanth) is the creative head of a private tv channel. The LLB student (Hemamalini) is a victim of the fun show created by the channel. After being mentally irritated repeatedly, the hero felt sympathy and he marries the girl. In the mean while the owner of the channel (Namitha) comes with her husband (Nasser). She is the ex lover of our hero. She tries to get in touch with him again. But he refused and she planned to take revenge by arranging a drama. A case is filed against him for rape attempt. His lawyer friend (Vivek) comes as the defense. Yesteryear actor, YG Mahendran appears as her lawyer. In the end the truth is revealed after hero’s wife, who is also a lawyer appears for him.

The happenings in the story regarding the channel program in the first half deviated my thoughts about the source of this story. But soon I succeeded in finding that ‘Indiravizha’ is the remake of hindi film, ‘Aitraaz’ acted by Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra (negative role), Kareena Kapoor (wife’s role) and Amrish Puri. But the current project is so poor that it cannot be compare with excellent hindi version. Don’t forget that it was also an adaptation from the Hollywood film, ‘Disclosure’. If you are particular in making a remake, then why are you adding unwanted elements?

It looks like that the director wants to exploit only the maximum glamour of Namitha. The comedy scenes by Vivek are not up to the mark. The scenes created for comedy inside the court involving the judge (Radharavi) is also horrible sometimes. Songs comes in non realistic situations, especially the last one is misplaced. The fun based program made by the channel not only gives mental tension to the heroine but also to the viewers. Later when the hero reveals his wish, suddenly her mood changes to happiness, which is also unrealistic. Only advantage here is the extra glamour, that too for die hard Namitha fans. Thus too many negatives had made the project non watchable.

No need to take the chance on ‘Indiravizha’; It is better to collect the dvd of ‘Aitraaz’ and watch it.

Rating : 2.5 / 10

Daddy Cool

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Master Dhananjay, Richa Pallod, Biju Menon, Daniel Balaji
Director : Aashiq Abu
Music : Bijibal

Though our top heroes are selective in their projects, occasionally the late release of some of their movies may affect the long run of some other projects done by them, to a certain extend. After ‘Ee Pattanathil Bhootham’, this is another release for the Megastar with in a month’s gap. Since the first film is not so bad and it is catching up its pace slowly (even after releasing late), the arrival of ‘Daddy Cool’ may affect the long run of the former film. Such a custom is not good for a small industry like ours.

The name of the new film by Mammootty is familiar through a hit English song,” daddy cool…” from Bonney M. ‘Daddy Cool’ has got some excellent posters and publicity stills involving the hero and the kid. But, the viewers are not so aware of the story line or the treatment of the project before its release. A chance for having a pre assumption on the project in such cases is not there and it is an added advantage for any project if it is neatly made. Aashiq Abu, who has assisted director Kamal in many films, takes the role of script writer-director here. Sameer Thahir (‘Big B’ fame) is the cinematographer.

Hero (Mammootty) is a crime branch CI. He lives with his wife and kid (Richa Pallod, Master Dhananjay). He is not punctual and also his laziness in the job has caused some official troubles to him. He always loves to watch cricket game in television. He has got a deep affection to his son. He will do anything for his kid. Such an attitude has caused problems in his family life. He comes across some underworld gangs (Ashish Vidhyarthi, Daniel Balaji etc), as a part of the investigation. His meeting with the cricket star Sreekanth (Govind Padmasoorya – ‘Adayaalangal’, ‘IG’ fame), leads to certain incidents happened in his life later. At one stage, he even lost his child. What happened to the hero and his family in between the official commitments is shown in the later areas of ‘Daddy Cool’.

The new director had succeeded in placing the central character which has got the chance to perform the family and official emotions. It is after a long time that Mammootty got a chance to perform such a father character. His combination scenes with the kid are also good. Mammooty is glamorous and his soundless act as a cool daddy is also a plus point for the film. The director had shown the father’s heroism through the son’s viewpoint in a song which is good to see. Master Dhananjay (serial ‘Sree Guruvayoorappan’ fame) is cool and has done well. Though her performance in the first few shots felt lengthy and nervous, but later it is corrected and thus to see a new face, Richa Pallod as hero’s pair also felt different. After placing him in small and irrelevant roles in films like ‘Black’ and ‘Bhagavan’, finally Daniel Balaji (‘Vettayadu Vilayadu, ‘Kaakka Kaakka’ fame) got a chance to perform here.

Sameer Thahir (camera man) and V.Saajan (editor) had worked excellently to make the visuals rich. The animated title sequences are also catchy. Bijibal should have been more serious on the song composition side. But he has compensated it through an excellent back ground score. The songs are visualized colorfully. The choreography of the children song and the climax song (by Harikumar, Gayathri Rahguram) are good. The song in the end portion is a style adapted from the bollywood (we saw the same in ‘Sagar Alias Jacky’ also). I didn’t see a single man standing up, ready to exit when the colorful song which came after the climax was played. We are ready to welcome such new innovations, since it is smartly done. The presentation of the film shows the talent of the new young director. He had succeeded in creating it without big mistakes.

‘Daddy Cool’ is a family-action entertainer. For the time being, you can’t complaint that the hero is not doing roles which his age demands.

Rating : 7.5 / 10

Oru Pennum Randaanum

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Nedumudi Venu, Manoj K Jayan, Jagadeesh, Praveena, Sukumari
Director : Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Music : Issac Kottukappally

The custom of giving awards for non released films is happening these days. The main criteria for submitting a film for award jury is that the date of censoring should come within the particular year. Anyway, I am against such a practice happening in malayalam. Every year, controversies happen while the state awards are announced. The film technicians itself plays the role in such things. Viewers don’t want to be the part of the debate. This is mainly due to the fact that they are not getting a chance to watch the particular film and to grade it, since it is not released in theatres.

We have witnessed the argument happened between Adoor Gopalakrishnan (director of ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’) and TV Chandran (director of ‘Bhoomi Malayalam’) after the recent announcement of state film awards. The latter one criticized the jury for giving best film award for ‘Oru Pennum Rendaanum’ which looks like a television serial only while the former welcomed it by saying that the jury’s decision is excellent. One of my friends asked me about the authenticity in TV Chandran’s comments. I was helpless since I didn’t get a chance to watch “the controversial film” so far.

Like Adoor’s last film ‘Naalu Pennungal’, this film ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’ is also based on four short stories by notable writer Thakazhi like ‘Kallante Makan’ (done by MR Gopakumar, Indrans, Seema G Nair), ‘Niyamavum Neethiyum’ (done by Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan, Jagannathan, Krishnan, P Sreekumar), ‘Oru Kai Sahayam’ (done by Jagadeesh, Sudheesh, PC Soman) and ‘Pankiyamma’ (done by Sukumari, Praveena, Manoj K Jayan, Ravi Vallathol, Babu Namboothiri, Krishnaprasad). The first story is shown on the child’s views and reactions whose father is a local thief. Corruption is the main issue discussed in the second story. In the next area, friendship is shown in a different way. The last story deals with a beautiful girl in a village and the three men associated with her life.

These stories are happening in the Kuttanad region in the 1940’s. The director has followed the same format of the previous film here also. That time itself I told that the director should have made the film for the mini screen. Here also the co-producer is Doordarshan, thus tele-series format is more suitable. The performances of all the artists are good. But, each and every scene reminds us of a seriously made tele serial in the late 80’s or early 90’s which came in Doordarshan. The question is that whether the big screen is necessary for Adoor Gopalakrishnan to visualize this. Among all, the last story, ‘Pankiyamma’ is serious and good though its is lengthy. We don’t know the significance of the story ‘Oru Kai Sahayam’. Camera is handled by MJ Radhakrishnan. Issac Kottukappally gave the background score.

These facts helped us to reach an assumption that TV Chandran was correct in his stand. “To give the best film award for a tele serial is not fair”; hence ‘Bhoomi Malayalam’ was far better than ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’.

If you are too desperate to watch a product from Adoor Gopalakrishnan, then you can proceed to ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’.

Rating : 6 / 10

Nadodigal

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Sasikumar, Bharani, Vijay Vasanth, Ganja Karuppu, Ananya, Abhinaya
Director: Samudrakkani
Music : Sundar C Babu

Delivering hit films one after other will create the expectation more, when the team behind comes up with a new project. After ‘Subramanyapuram’ (as director, producer, actor) and ‘Pasanga’ (as Producer), Sasikumar has done the lead role in the film ‘Nadodigal’. This time the director is Samudrakkani, who did the villain role in ‘Subramanyapuram’. Vijay Vasath (new face), Bharani (‘Kalloori’ fame), Ganja Karuppu etc are there in the supporting roles. Malayalam actress Ananya (‘Positive, ‘Rahasya Police’ fame) and new face Abhinaya are the heroines. Sundar C Babu (“Vaalameenukkum…” fame) gave the music and Kathir (‘Subramanyapuram’ fame) is the cinematographer.

In the beginning itself we are shown the motto “Your friend is also the friend of mine“. Hence it is clear that ‘Nadodigal’ deals with the story of friendship. The three friends have got their own ambitions. Karunakaran (Sasikumar) wants to get a government job, his friend (Vijay Vasanth) wants to open a computer centre. Their love matters are also shown. In the middle, former’s friend reached there. He is seeking their help to solve the problem happened to him due to love failure. They took the risk in helping the friend to be got married. The incident has become a turning point and causes problems in all their lives. They have to put down their ambition due to this. After few months, they are shocked to see the present condition of the newly married couples and what happens to all of them is discussed through the film ‘Nadodigal’.

This is yet another example of a film where the attraction lies in the simplicity in the story and its realistic presentation. We have seen kidnapping scenes in many films presented seriously and also in a humorous way, but the one lead scene to the interval where the lover girl is being kidnapped from the parents is stunning. “Sambo…” song in the background suits the mood well. Like the previous films, here also you are having good performances from many new faces. The real atmosphere of the village is truly brought to the canvas once again. Though it is not a necessity as far the story is concerned, the creators have included one or two gana songs also to give a local flavor considering the regional audiences.

Sasikumar has done well; it doesn’t feel that he acts, rather he is behaving. Vijay Vasanth, Bharani and Ganja Karuppu also did a good job. Ananya, who comes in the bubbly character, will get a good name through this film. It is good to see that she has acted by giving her own voice in her first film. The director should be appreciated for casting a deaf and dump girl like Abhinaya in the lead role. It should be noted that she has done well in a normal character like the hero’s sister role. The director had given a good dubbing for her and the camera angles help her to perform like a normal girl.

Sundar C Babu has given a lively mood with an excellent background score. Even after doing a Vijayakanth film, he was not notable as a director before, here after Samudrakkani will be remembered as the creator of ‘Nadodigal’. Kathir, the cameraman has given some good visuals also.

‘Nadodigal’ is simple, straight and sometimes haunting. Its realistic presentation gives a message also.

Rating : 9 / 10

Love Aaj Kal

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor
Director : Imtiaz Ali
Music : Pritam, Salim Sulaiman

We have already discussed about the different trends going on in the current bollywood film arena. The canvas is big, budget is high and the release is globally these days. There is also some experimentation happening in the theme side. Some of them are good, but some others are cliches only. They always give importance to romantic subjects (some exceptions like Ramgopal Varma, Madhur Bhandarkar etc are also there). Since they are targeting the global audience, the ingredients in the film has also been changed. This is the reason why Sylvester Stallone has been placed in a guest role in Akshay Kumar's recent film. The inclusion of more intimate romantic scenes as in english films is also evident in bollywood. Now they got the reason for the story of a film happening in US or UK.


May be for an average viewer, a film starring Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan can be the main reason for watching 'Love Aaj Kal'. Any how I won't miss watching such a hindi film. But for me, the cause is different. The director of the film, Imtiaz Ali is the factor as far my interest is considered. Those who have seen 'Jab We Met'(starring Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor), which was director's previous film, will totally agree with me. The film which got released two years before was a romantic comedy that gave the real nostalgic feeling of the hindi films in the 70's and 80's. The new film is also produced by the same banner Shree Ashta Vinayak Cine Services Ltd.


In the opening scene, the development of the love affair between the hero (Saif) and the heroine (Deepika) who stays in Europe is shown. It is carried through different months and reached almost two years with in the first few minutes of the film itself. She wants to settle in India. On the other hand, he doesn't give real value for the love and he follows the western culture of romance. Then they decides to have a break down in their relationship. They have been watched by a sardarji (Rishi Kapoor), who is a restaurant owner also. He gives advice to the hero about the real value of love and the difficulties faced by him for loving a girl in his younger days. All such things are shown through a flashback. At the same time even after got splitted, the hero and the heroine can't lead a normal life. Both of them had found a new spouse of their own; whether they are satisfied in it is the area where ''Love Aaj Kal' discusses.



The main attraction lies in the treatment of the film. The flashback scenes of the film is the specialty. A new style has been developed by the director where the hero does the double role. He represents both the current and old generations. Such a contrasting characterization where the hero did the flashback character of another senior actor also felt different. But the director failed to show the deepness in the affection of the characters in the flashback and the theme is not unusual.



The film has got the flavour of films like 'Anbe Sivam' and 'Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam' in few areas. Saif, Deepika and Rishi Kapoor had done their roles well. Gisello Monteiro, who comes as the pair for Saif in flash back scenes is not a good choice. She is not flexible in the song scene also. Also Neetu Singh (Rishi's wife) who comes as her old age character in the climax shot doesn't have similarity in appearance with this young girl (it can be left un noticed saying cinematic!). Nataraj Subramanyam, the cameraman who worked for the director in his previous film, has given excellent visuals. As usual, Some peppy songs has been given by music director Pritam.


Those who are too interested in watching bollywood movies can watch 'Love Aaj Kal'. It is presented differently, but the message is same, "Love Never Fails..."


Rating : 6.5 / 10