Chikku Bukku

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Arya, Shriya Sharan, Preethika, Santhanam
Director : Manikandan
Music : Colonial Cousins, Praveen Mani (bg score)

After the success of 'Madrasappattinam' and 'Boss Engira Bhaskaran', rising star Arya's next release is 'Chikku Bukku'. He has been paired with Shriya Sharan for the first time. This is her tamil release after a gap; she has been traveling through telugu ('Puli', 'Don Seenu' etc) and malayalam ('Pokkiri Raja') in the past few months. Debutant Preethika comes in a notable role. The director of the movie is new comer Manikandan. Gurudev ('Yogi' fame) is the cinematographer. Hariharan and Leslie Lewis, otherwise known as Colonial Cousins did the music for the movie, after 'Modhi Vilayaadu'.

The story starts in London. Arjun (Arya) is a DJ. Anu (Shriya Sharan) is studying for MBA there. After her studies, she was returning to her home town Kaaraikkudi. At the same time, Arjun is also flying to his native for settling the land dispute regarding the village house. When reached Bangalore, due to strike by the air traffic officials, both of them were forced to travel together in the train and later by bus. That journey had bought a great bondage of relationship between the two.

The director along with Ramakrishnan had written the screenplay. The way of mixing the flash back episodes of the hero's father's life (also Arya) with the current version is good. Arya did well in both the roles. Shriya Sharan is charming (I felt that she has given her own voice for the role, if it is right, then it is a good attempt). New face Preethika is also lovable in her role. The romantic scenes between her and Arya are done well. The conclusion for the lovers in the flashback are not given neatly. Two coincidences, one at the flashback and other in the current story featuring the heroes (Arya in both versions) and his friend (Anoop Kumar) are done here, two heroines accidentally becomes a part of that substance in the story line, such a creativity can felt unnatural some times. The car chase sequence was an unwanted one, the logic in the brake failure is questionable by the way in which the scene is ended. The journey episodes had got a flavor of movies like 'Kandein Kathale' (remake of 'Jab We Met') and 'Kutty' (remake of telugu hit 'Aarya').

For a cool subject like 'Chikku Bukku', the presence of an experienced music director is a must. Music given by Colonial Cousins are not the best. Pravin Mani has managed well with his bg score. The colorful visuals of Chikmagalur and Koorg has been neatly captured by cinematographer Gurudev. Editing is done by V.T.Vijayan. The two songs shot in London are done in a stylish way. The title animation of the movie felt a little bit lengthy.


'Chikku Bukku' is a romantic journey which can be watched for a time pass.

Rating : 6.5 / 10

Pokkiri Raaja

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Prithviraj, Shriya Saran, Sidhiq, Suraaj Venjarammood, Salim Kumar
Director : Vysakh
Music : Jassie Gift, Rajamani (bg score)

The grand success of films like 'Twenty 20' and 'Happy Husbands', provoked the creators to come up with multi-star projects. Though 'Twenty 20' had got a big star cast, the main stars of the particular film might be none other than the script writers duo, Uday Krishna and Sibi K.Thomas. To write such a big project, incorporating all the ingredients necessary for an entertainer by giving all of them equal importance, should be a commentable thing. We shouldn't forget that they are also the writers of the mega budget film by Joshi named 'Christian Brothers', which is under production. Now their new film 'Pokkiri Raaja' had got Mammootty and Prithviraj in lead roles. They are coming together after the unsuccessful film 'One Way Ticket', where the former did the guest role only. The new project is directed by debutant Vysakh, a former associate of Johny Antony and Joshi. Heroine Shriya Saran ('Sivaji' and 'Azhagiya Tamil Makan' fame) comes to malayalam for the first time.

Raja (Mammootty) and Soorya (Prithviraj) are brothers. In the childhood days, due to the quarreling between the two families in the village, Raja went to jail, after being involved in a murder incident. When returns, he is not welcomed by his father (Nedumudi Venu) and he is forced to leave them and reaches Madhurai, where he met a rich man (Charan Raj) and started working for him. When grown up, Soorya reaches the city to live with his sister (Bindu Panicker) and her husband, a coward inspector (Suraaj Venjarammood). Soorya gets in touch with the daughter (Shriya Saran) of the police commissioner (Sidhiq) ans started loving her. This was not liked by his father, as his daughter's marriage was already fixed to the home minister's son (Riyaz Khan). Though both of them tried to destroy Soorya, they were not succeeded. Now the police officer takes the help of Raaja, a 'don' from Madhurai. At the same time, Soorya's father asked his elder son (the same Raaja) to save Soorya from the cruel police officer. How Raaja reacts to such a situation, is told in the second half portions.

'Pokkiri Raaja' is made in a masala entertainer format, where you have got three songs and six fights mixed with some comedy sequences. Jassie Gift gave some good fast numbers, as per the mood (they reminds us of the hit tamil songs from 'Pokkiri', 'Dhool', 'Ayya' etc). The hit duet song 'Manikkinaavin...' by Yesudas-Sujatha must have been included in the film. Songs have been neatly choreographed by Shobi ('Priyanu Mathram... fame). He has been successful in making Mammootty dancing (without vulgarity) in the club song. Swetha Menon finds very difficult to dance in the first song with her 'heavy' body language. Rajamani gave the bg score in his usual style only (he might be fast in delivering the output, but his work is not attractive most of the times). Fights by Kanal Kannan and Mafia Sasi are good. In some shots, the carpets on the floor, for the fighters to fall, are evident; i don't know who among the two stunt masters, is the culprit.

The father character done by Nedumudi Venu and the dialogues by him in many parts felt like a cliche. Just before the introduction of Prithviraj, his uncle (Vijayaraghavan) makes a big 'dramatic' laughing, to praise the former character, which should have been avoided. The childhood scenes of the heroes had got resemblance with films written by Benny P.Nayarambalam, like 'Raajamaanikyam' and 'Annan Thambi'. The character of Sidhiq has got the shades of his own role in the film 'July 4', by Joshi with the same writers. The comedy scenes of Suraaj Venjaramood is repetitive, Salim Kumar's character is having more scope to create laughing situations, which is not done well. The introduction of hero's god father character (Charan Raaj), 'coming out of a luxury car with a gun in white outfits', is not an attractive sight. As the story tells, when calculated the age, Mammootty is in his late 30's; it should have been avoided by generalizing the period, in place of specifying the correct year count !

Mammootty's dialogue delivery using 'negative' English dialogues are good. Though Prithviraj got a chance to show his heroism in the first half, he is being dominated by the title character to a great extend, in the later portions. Dialogues in the combination scenes of both the heroes are also done well. The new director Vysakh had made his debut in a notable way by placing the most valuable stars in the industry, in an attractive manner.


We usually welcome many entertainers from other languages, so no need to hesitate in the case of 'Pokkiri Raaja', which can be a good time pass for this vacation days. Enjoy it with the same mentality, as if you are watching a movie with Rajnikanth & Vijay combination...


Rating : 7.5 / 10

Jaggubhai

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Sharath Kumar, Goundamani, Shriya Sharan
Director : K.S.Ravikumar
Music : Rafi

The film 'Jaggubhai' was in the news recently, as the pirated CDs of the film were available in markets, even a month before its release. Sharath Kumar and his wife Radhika, who is also the producer of the film, supported by the whole film industry asked the help of the government. As a result of the police action, some of the culprits were jailed. We always tells about the influence of piracy in affecting the business of a movie after its release, but in the case of 'Jaggubhai', it was un believable, as the pirated CDs got released well before the film got released, it shows the deep roots of the cancer that affected the movie medium in the past decade.

Before doing films like 'Sivaji - The Boss' and 'Kuselan', Superstar Rajnikanth was actually planning to do a film for director K.S.Ravikumar with the name 'Jaggubhai'.But due to some reasons, it didn't happened and the director might have taken the name for his new film, probably with a new theme. This is the second time that Sharath Kumar is getting a chance to act in a movie rejected by the Superstar, the previous one being 'Ayya' (director Hari) which was also not originally framed for him.

In the film, Jagannathan (Sharath Kumar) is an IPS officer. His senior (Vijayakumar) always asked him to get married to a bar dancer (Kiran), who is madly loving him. He always refuses the request as he is still having memories of his lover who is in abroad now. One day, he gets a call from a lawyer in Australia, who asks him to reach there immediately, as his lover got died in an accident. He reaches Australia and came to know about the last wish of his lover. He realizes that he is having a daughter (Shriya Sharan) in his lover and Jagannathan alias Jaggubhai became the care taker of the girl, without revealing his identity. He got the help of his friend (Goundamani), who is working in the police department. He saw the villain gang chasing his daughter always and also came to know that his lover was actually killed. How he safe guard his daughter from the baddies is shown here.

More than 95% of 'Jaggubhai', happens in Australia. Shriya Sharan in the daughter's role is glamorous and also has a freak and flirt attitude in her character. The director has even asked her to do fashion show rehearsals in front of his father. Goundamani as hero's companion is not flexible, his witty dialogues didn't have an effect here. The villain character is not strong and the new face who did it is not impressive. It look like, the director is still wandering with the hangover of his previous film 'Aadhavan', seeing the climax. Such a scene in the air, featuring the hero, heroine and the villain hanging in the helicopter, is a style of films in the 80's. Songs by the new music director Rafi is not at all up to the mark. RD Rajasekhar is the cinematographer here. Don Max is the editor.



I feel sad for the producer and the team behind 'Jaggubhai'. The issue of piracy was the first blow affected them, next one being the outcome of the movie, which is also not a positive one...


Rating : 4.5 / 10

Kutty

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Dhanush, Shriya Sharan, Sameer Dattani
Director : Mithran Javahar
Music : Devisree Prasad

Actor Dhanush is having a good time as his last few films like 'Padikkathavan', 'Yaaradi Nee Mohini' and 'Pollathavan' were hits. Now he had chosen Javahar ('Yaaradi Nee Mohini' fame) to direct his new film titled 'Kutty'. Sameer Dattani, the kannada actor who is otherwise known as Dhyan ('Monalisa', 'Amrithadhare' fame), also does an important role in the film. The heroine of the film is Shriya Sharan ('Sivaji - The Boss' fame); both of them had acted together in 'Thiruvilayaadal Aarambam' before, which was also a hit. 'Kutty' is produced by Gemini Films. It was heard that this film is the remake of a telugu super hit film, 'Aarya' (dubbed in malayalam also with the same name). It gave break for the young star Allu Arjun. So the credit for the script should go to Sukumar, the writer-director of 'Aarya'.

Sameer is a rich student in the college where Shriya also studies. He proposes her, though she rejected it, the situation forced her to get into an affair with him. One day, Kutty (Dhanush) expresses his love to Shriya. She is confused. When Sameer opposes Kutty's move, the latter made fun my telling that Sameer is not confident on his love. Kutty is having his own justifications for his love. In between, Sameer arranges some rowdies to beat his competitor. This was not known to the heroine. Sameer's father disagrees with his son hearing the love matters. Fighting against the villain gangs, Kutty helped Sameer to escape with the girl. Three of them travelled and reaches a far away place. One day when Sameer left the place, Kutty gives extra care for the girl. Though Kutty still stands in his love, he is not expressing it. He is also supporting the arrangements for the marriage between Sameer and Shriya. What happens to Kutty's love and who is winning the girl is where the climax of the film lies.

The title character in this film is jolly type and humorous. Dhanush did well in it. Sameer Dattani is apt for the role, but he struggles well to speak the language. Shriya Sharan is ok, but not the best. Gundu Arthi comes as the companion of Kutty, it is very difficult to identify that whether she has done a male role or female role here (moreover Kutty calls her as 'machaa...' always).

Devisree Prasad gave fast songs, it has got a telugu flavor and a couple of them is retained from the original version also. His bg score is good. Balasubramanyam's cinematography is colorful, especially in the outdoor locations in the second half. The train scenes, where they travel and the dance sequence happening in it, is treated as the same; but they are not properly executed, the cheating shots taken from two trains are neatly revealed there. Action sequences by 'Dalapathi' Dinesh ('Chandramukhi' fame) need more gimmicks. The way in which Dhanush's character presented by the director is interesting. Since I have watched the telugu version also, compared with the new version, 'Aarya' always lies the best in the presentation and performance areas.

'Kutty' is a campus love story told in a different style. If you have not seen the original version, then you can watch this for a time pass.

Rating : 7 / 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