Nanban movie review

Nanban is a faithful remake of '3 Idiots'. The essence of the original is totally preserved. The only feeling of redundancy is due to the fact that the original was such a widely accepted classic. Nanban has been beautifully enacted by the likes of Sathyaraj, Sathyan, Jiiva and last but not the least the ever youthful, handsome 'king of the masses' Ilayathalapathy Vijay.

The message of the movie is to see education as a holistic concept and not as just mere marks and ranks. Panchavan Parivendan is one such brilliant student for whom science and machines are a passion. He despises the system and enrages the college dean Virumandi aka 'Virus' with his brilliant antics. His 2 friends Senthil and Venkat struggle at engineering due to fear and misplaced passion, respectively.

Pari helps his friends at all times and shows them a direction in their life and career. There is a nerdy idiot 'Silencer' who is always on the lookout to pull Pari down. Then we have Ria, the dean's daughter who falls for Pari and Ria's pregnant sister who delivers her baby with the help of Pari

There is a suspense behind Pari's identity which is a shock to everyone concerned, a pleasant one at that. As the movie ends, there is an overwhelmingly positive feeling and everyone is happy. "Aal iiz well" as they say ...

Hits

• Vijay's youthful screen presence. He looks a million bucks and his 'spiked' makeover in the climax is a 'sixer'. He is capable of understated emotions and he shows that again. His comic timing is also perfect. Not much scope for dance and zero scope for fights. The king of the masses has bowled over the entire audience spectrum with Nanban. His costumes are casual and envious. 
• Sathyaraj and Sathyan are brilliant and they are supposed to irritate yet, make us smile. These talented actors have delivered spotlessly. Lot of awards up for grabs for Sathyaraj in particular. Jiiva comes into his own in the 2nd half while Srikanth is a limited actor not capable of anything special.  
• The casting is perfect. Actors who play the various parts have matched the original actors in every aspect. Vasanth Vijay scores very well in his brief cameo that makes the heart heavy. 
• Among the songs, 'En Frienda Pola', 'Heartiley Battery', 'Endhan Kan Munne' hit the bulls eye. 

Misses

• The majority of the movie happens between 1997-2001. No care has been taken in this aspect. People use the term Chennai freely when it was only Madras back then. The cars, the brands shown in the movie didn't even exist back then. We expect perfection from Shankar
• Harris Jeyaraj's BGM is a major letdown for most of the movie.

Comments

• The feeling of seeing a Shankar movie comes only during the cheekily shot Asku Laska song. The original movie is such. 
• Ileana and Anuya play their parts in a male dominated movie. Ileana is cute, anorexic and her much hyped waist isn't special. 
• The longest Thamizh movie in recent history. Though not boring. At least the long drawn out delivery scene in the climax could have been trimmed. 

VERDICT

A faithful remake and a blockbuster treat for the entire family after a long time. 

Vandhaan Vendraan (2011)

The Plot
The movie is about the efforts that Arjun takes to mend his elder step brother Ramana and to bring him back home. Ramana is a dreaded gangster in Mumbai and he is wanted by an opposing gang. He has a lot of connections in the police and has a major illegal business setup in Mumbai.

Arjun uses love as a tool and he tells a love story to Ramana featuring his dream girl Anjana. Arjun tells Ramana that he can get Anjana only if Ramana surrenders as Ramana is the guy who killed Anjana's father. Arjun uses a lot of 'brain' to get Ramana behind bars.

Whether Arjun's love is actually true, whether he gets his lady love and whether Ramana mends his ways and returns back to his family is what the climax is about. It is not as cliched as expected. The ending is particularly interesting with a major twist. The movie has other cinematic elements like Santhanam's hilarious comedy track and good songs

Hits

• The twist in the climax is a major plus. It is a shocker 
• The songs by Thaman are another big highlight. Anjana and Thiranden lead the pack
• Jiiva's costumes are trendy and he looks very fit. 
• Taapsee looks very cute and her role is not as expected.
• Nanda looks menacing as the gangster. But, he is always grim
• Santhanam's comedy is a treat too. 

Misses

• Too many fights and gunfire featuring Ramana and other gangsters. Ramana misses each bullet always. 

VERDICT

An interesting film for sure. Could have performed better at the box-office than what it actually did. The climax lifts the movie considerably. 

Ko (2011)

Whats it about
The film details a lively and smart photo journalist Ashwin's exploits in the political world of TN. Ashwin assists his reporter Renu on all the political stories doing the rounds in Chennai. Ashwin exposes the wrongdoings of the opposition party leader as well as the ruling party's CM on 2 separate occasions. He also forwards the case of Vasanthan (his former college mate), the leader of 'Siragu', a fledgling party formed by educated youngsters.
         During one big election meeting of 'Siragu', a bomb blast takes place and many 'Siragugal' are badly injured. Public are killed too. Saro, Ashwin's colleague is also killed unfortunately. Majority are saved by Saro's timely sms to Ashwin. Due to a major public sympathy wave, Vasanthan's party wins the elections and he becomes the youngest state CM at age 28.
         Later Ashwin comes to know that Saro had actually been murdered by a Naxalite in the crowd and that he was the one who had earlier been involved in a bank robbery. After further investigations with the Naxalite, Ashwin finally comes to know of Vasanthan's true colors. It was Vasanthan who actually planned all the happenings with precision, including the bomb blast. Vasanthan is actually a Naxalite loyalist.
        Finally Ashwin bashes up Vasanthan, eliminates him and makes up a story that Vasanthan had sacrificed his life for the public to save the other 'Siragugal' who have noble intentions and true service mentalities.
        Ashwin and Renu carry on to their next assignments as usual and all is well in their life too. Their love track and Saro's lively pranks and sad demise are other notable scenes.

                                                                    

Hits

• Very entertaining screenplay though the basic story plot has some cliches. 
• Harris' songs are already major hits. The song 'Amuli Thamuli' has been very well picturized too.  
• Jiiva, the ever boyish star has given a very earnest performance and wins us over in the end. 
• Pia really makes a major mark in her role that ends very sadly. 
• The climax fight between the male leads is unique for the camera angles

Misses

• The placement of the songs leaves a lot to be desired. 'Gala Gala' is totally unnecessary and 'Venpaniye' comes at a very awkward point in the film. 
• Picturization of the songs don't match the quality of the audio
• In the climax shootout, the commandos are made to be mere dummies after a certain point. 
• It's very hard to accept Ajmal as the CM. His dubbing voice is also very stiff and clichéd. 
• Some scenes showing Ashwin's ease at approaching the CM are unbelievable. 

VERDICT

Definitely entertaining. The second half in particular is very engrossing. But, Ko is not up to Ayan's levels. But surely worth watching nevertheless.