Showing posts with label Ajith Kumar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ajith Kumar. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Glares for 'GETHU'


Our cinema industry is blessed with a bevy of charismatic heroes with each of them having their own sizable fan followings. In their quest to add that extra tinge of heroism to their onscreen avatars, heroes take the help of a lot of accessories. That extra mass factor or the ‘gethu’ factor really plays a part in endearing heroes to the masses. Accessories range from stylish kerchiefs wrapped around the neck to ear studs to chains to bracelets.

Who can forget the superstar’s stylish bracelet in Arunachalam, which he used with a lot of punch.  In movies like Dheena, Attagasam and Amarkalam, Ajith used a variety of accessories to look the part as a street ruffian. Vijay has also done his part in promoting accessories in movies like Madura.

But, I’ve missed the mother of all accessories. One, which can be used to project a debonair look, a heroic look as well as a rough and tough look. Each of our heroes has played his part to ensure the iconic status that this accessory has in Tamil cinema today. Be it, a gangster’s role or a policeman or a thug or a college dude or just a jobless street Romeo, one thing in common to all these characters is the glares (or shades or sunglass or the cooling glass in everyday popular lingo).

Imagine the Superstar in countless movies, Ajith in his recent movies, Kamal as the heroic cop in Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu, Vikram as the stylish Remo or even Arya as Boss. The glares have added so much style to the look of these characters. To give it to the heroes, they have also carried off these glares with such panache.

Not to mention, most of the songs picturized today will be incomplete without a set of these accessories on the lead hero, the beautiful heroine and even the side dancers in some cases.

Rayban, Fastrack, K-L, Police, Polaroid etc. must be indebted to our heroes for positioning their products in such spectacular fashion in movie after movie. Free marketing and free publicity for these brands. Why not an in-film branding / positioning tie-up with one of these brands? Tamil producers can think on these lines.

The glares have become such a part and parcel of Indian cinema, that you can’t even imagine a single movie without these. We also enjoy our heroes more when they put on some decorative eye wear.

Just a sample, in a scene in Mankatha, when Ajith drops his uber stylish Rayban glass towards the ground facing the camera, my friend sitting near me in the theater just leaned forward towards the screen in a gesture as if to catch those glares. As we all must have seen, those glares were a part of Ajith’s character and he blazed the screens in scene after scene wearing it. Billa 2 just reinforces that special relationship that heroes share with their glares. Even in the court scene when Ajith is going for a hearing or when he is arrested by the police, bizarrely, his glares are very much intact.

Some people might laugh at such obsessive use of the glares but we can say, glares accentuate ‘gethu’ and they are just irreplaceable and unmistakable for the all-important mass factor in the characters that our heroes play.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Billa 2 music review - FIRST ON THE NET


Movie: Billa 2 (2012)
Cast: Ajith Kumar, Bruna Abdullah, Parvathi Omanakuttan, Vidyut Jammal
Direction: Chakri Toleti
Producers: Sunir Kheterpal, Suresh Balaje, George Pius
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Label: Sony Music

On Thala Ajith’s birthday, the audio of Billa 2 has released with tremendous buzz and expectations. Sony music has done a great job in marketing the audio release as a huge event with their proactive presence on the social networking space. Now, straight onto the audio review of this Yuvan musical.

Madurai Ponnu
Andrea Jeremiah
A song with Arabic shades and a genre which is pretty familiar to Yuvan. He is a past master at such seductive yet rustic item numbers. ‘Theepidika’ will definitely come to mind. BGM bits from Mankatha surprisingly make an appearance at more than a few instances in this song which is apparently set in the backdrop of a brothel. Can expect to see some gyrating moves on screen thanks to the foot tapping ‘tavil’ beats and the bevy of item dancers, supposedly in this song.

Billa 2 theme … THUMBS UP
Yuvan
The legendary theme of Billa 2007 has been taken and made more intense with usage of heavy instruments. Suits the larger than life screen presence of Thala and the character of David Billa. The theme has a haunting as well as a pulsating quality to it, with the ending whistles taking the cake.  

Yedho Mayakkam … THUMBS UP
Yuvan, Tanvi Shah and Suvi Suresh
A club song that can be predicted to set the dance floors on fire with its naughty and endearing quality, thanks to a super peppy effort by Tanvi Shah and Suvi Suresh. The native ‘nadaswaram’ touches to this song are admirable. It would be interesting to see how Thala grooves to this super youthful song as such songs have been the trademark of the STR-Yuvan combo. Can expect this song to be on the playlist of all city slickers for some time to come. The pick of the album, without a shade of a doubt.

Gang Gang Gang … THUMBS UP
Yuvan and Stefny
The first teaser song that was released to tremendous response and as expected, its full version is terrific as well. The trance, hip-hop and techno touches to this song are typical of Yuvan. The lyrics expectedly reek of heroism and these are already in the hearts of all Thala fans. The tune revolves around the legendary theme music.

Idhayam … THUMBS UP
Shweta Pandit
A mellifluous melody that has a haunting mood to it thanks to the tasteful usage of tabla, flute and veena. This song is sort of a female reprise to ‘Engeyo Paartha’ from ‘Yaaradi Nee Mohini’. Shweta Pandit will probably put up stiff competition to the likes of Shreya Ghoshal. Such is her rendition in this song. Would be interesting to see the romantic side of Ajith in this song.   

Unakkulle Mirugam
Ranjith
This song talks about the animal that resides in each human being and the philosophies of David Billa, the man. The treatment of the song is hardcore ‘Rock’. The theme music makes a guest appearance as part of the instrumentals of this song as well.

VERDICT: The songs have given even more push to the pre-release buzz that has already been hitting the peak. The Thala Yuvan combo continues to rock with another youthful album. Until the next biggie comes around, Billa 2 will stay on top of the charts merrily.

3.5 / 5 

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Billa 2 latest stills - 3

The first look of young David was finally released. Ajtih looks cool in his trademark stubble. The popular film sites have described this still as David landing in the Tamil Nadu coast as a Srilankan refugee. He has something like a can in hand.

By the looks of it, the film will narrate the journey of a Srilankan refugee, David as he traverses his path in the big bad world, starting from India and going all the way up to Georgia and other countries. 

Billa 2 latest stills - 2

Thala locked up in jail and in obvious pain. The focus is on the pain and anguish that he is going through. This might be one of THE crucial moments in David's journey towards being an international don, the one and only Billa

The shooting is complete, that's what the ad proclaims. Waiting for more dates and updates as the release day nears, ever so slowly. 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Billa 2 new look

Thala's much awaited Billa 2 is getting ready for release for his birthday on May 1. His legions of fans are super excited as always while the general audience also wants more of Thala after the blockbuster success of Mankatha, his 50th film.

The earlier released stills carried the same look and feel of Billa 2007. Ajith looked his suave best in his designer suits and coolers. One still showed a rugged Ajith with a gun and standing along the coastline. Some other stills showing Ajith visiting a brothel were released some days back. In a clean shaven avatar, Thala was plump and a bit jaded.

The latest still shows a rugged Ajith, again with a gun in hand and walking with a helicopter in the backdrop. Looks sexy and classy for sure. But, very predictable.

Whenever an Ajith film is getting released, certain elements are becoming very much constant  - a gun, coat / suit, helicopter, coolers etc etc. Ajith needs to rediscover his cheerful ways. Why so grim, Thala?

Nevertheless, Billa 2 is a sureshot. Can bet the last penny on this movie. Thala's 51st offering. It is a prequel to Billa 2007 and the music by U1, official trailer will be out in the coming days. The expectations will reach feverish pitch, guaranteed.

Audio Launch: March 2nd week

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mankatha movie review

The Plot
"THALA 50" finally released today. So much frenzy. So much hype. The movie lives up to the hype gloriously and provides the best Thala treat since 2007. The best 50th movie any fan can get from his favorite hero.

The plot is as expected about cricket betting. The 500 crores worth money is expected to come to Golden Theater in Dharavi that is under the control of Chettiyar a big shot who is into many businesses and has many contacts.

4 guys plan to loot this money and settle in life. Ganesh, Mahat, Prem and Sumanth are these 4. Vinayak Mahadevan, a suspended cop also joins in the game and takes over the planning and execution in style. The money is looted but problems start cropping up.

The cops are after the money, Chettiyar's men are after the money and of course the 5 men also have their eyes on the money. Mahat and Prem escape with the money leaving Vinayak and the other 2 fuming and desperate for their share. A mad elimination game begins. What happens next is the movie's thrilling ending that has so much entertainment, fun and one helluva twist in the climax.

                                                                       
Hits

  • THALA THALA DAN. What style. What mass. Debonair to the core. His grey hair, the light stubble, the coolers, the smoking style and the casual dressing are a REAL TREAT for Thala veriyans. Just fell in love with him all over again. Couldn't take my eyes off him.

  • Venkat Prabhu has outshone all his previous works and really sprung a surprise with his handling of this dark, deadly, action packed and thrilling movie for the men. 

  • The interval block is an example of what Thala can do in negative roles. This scene gives a mad adrenaline rush to all fans in the theater. 

  • The way the title card screams out THALA 50 with all the different faces of Ajith's film career after Thala's intro fight in police dress, is a goose bumps moment for all Thala veriyans. 

  • His look in the climax in another surprise and Thala carries off this look brilliantly too. The climatic twist is another big highlight. 

  • The end credits are funny and light hearted. 

  • Arjun as the cop Prithviraj is smart, fit as always and very agile in stunts. An apt foil for Thala. 

  • The editor Praveen deserves a royal salute. The look of the film is top notch and he has showed Thala like a real rock-star with his stylish cuts and techniques. Cinematographer Sakthi Saravanan must also be lauded for his contribution towards the look of the movie.

  • Yuvan and co.'s BG score is terrific and lifts the mood for all the thrilling action scenes and chases.

  • The scenes showing Thala planning how to get into gang and the way they pull off the heist is very interesting and pumping. 

  • The action sequences have been shot grandly though they are quite long at times.

  • Premji lightens the mood in many scenes and his pranks as the IIT genius are funny most of the times. 

Misses
  • The song placements particularly 'Vada Bin Lada'

  • Some blips in the VFX

Comments
  • Too many scenes glorifying Ajith's smoking style and his drinking antics

  • Lots of bad words and beeps heard in Ajith's dialogs particularly in the second half when he becomes mad about the missing money. 

  • Too many fights that might put off a few in the family. 

  • The girls in the movie don't have much work. Trisha is Ajith's pair, Anjali is Vaibhav's wife and Andrea is Arjun's wife. Lakshmi Rai is also part of the heist and she has the best part among all the girls. She is SMOKING HOTT. 

  • The remaining boys in the movie are mostly standard in all Venkat movies and they do their part. Ashwin as the cop Ganesh is smart and impressive in particular. 

VERDICT
A royal treat for Ajith fans. THALA MANIA all over again after Billa in 2007. The best 50th movie Thala could have provided to his hard core fanatics. Venkat Prabhu rises to the occasion like a true talent and THALA shows his grey side in all its glory