Grandmaster review

Finally, I managed to watch a Malayalam movie, that too in a cinema hall and that too featuring the best Malayalam star, Mohanlal.

Grandmaster is pretty riveting. It is an investigative thriller where a maverick senior cop (Chandrashekhar) goes about digging the truth behind a series of murders that are apparently by a serial killer. The victims have their names in alphabetical order starting from A through to C. The person up next is Deepthi who happens to be the divorced wife of our supercop. He succeeds in stopping this killing and also gets to know the real motive behind these killings. The killer is also not who we are led to believe since the start. 

The final portion of the movie where all the mysteries are solved is pretty interesting and well knit. If only, the English dialogs spoken on screen had been pronounced correct, the scenes could have been more authentic. 

The rock song that comes when the action is really gripping is a big downer. Other than that the BGM score by Deepak Dev is a major plus point for the movie. Of course Lal has arresting screen presence, majesty and grace to pull off this serious cop role with ease. He is the single most compelling reason to watch the movie. His struggles in the action scenes are evident though. 

Then we have the trim and smart Narain, a serious looking Priyamani and an embarrassingly bloated Anoop Menon to complete the cast. Babu Antony's makeover is pretty dirty and badly done. Scenes showing the correlation with the chess board remind us of 'Mankatha'

VERDICT: On the whole, this one is pretty interesting and doesn't have major compromises with respect to the central premise. Watch-worthy for sure.

Tezz review

Genre: Action Thriller

Prolific director Priyadarshan has decided to try out some thrills and spills, leaving behind his favorite comedy genre. Senior statesmen Ajay Devgn and Anil Kapoor are part of the cast which includes some more bankable names in Boman Irani and Sameera Reddy. Made at a generous budget of 40 crores, Tezz released in close to 2000 screens. Does it provide the expected adrenaline rush?

An Indian immigrant (Aakash Rana) with a maligned past suddenly lands up in London after a 4 year exile and decides to plant bombs in a  goods train and more importantly in the London – Glasgow bullet train. Expectedly the railway network and the police force are forced to take the requisite measures. What forced Aakash to take this step, what happens to the bomb & the 500 passengers and whether he unites with his estranged family are certain questions for which the answers may be found in a theater near you where Tezz is playing.

Though the actual trigger that makes Aakash do what he does, is not very convincing, the action on screen and the pacy screenplay make you forget such glitches. There are all sorts of terrific action blocks featuring Parkour, bike stunts and river rafting. The cinematographer Tirru must be given major credit for the superior cinematography and the aforementioned pulsating action fest.

On the performance front, Anil Kapoor and Boman Irani compete for the cake. After a long time, Anil is intensity personified and really turns in a solid show as the investigating cop. His working style is reminiscent of the legendary Harry Callahan. Boman Irani also keeps the tension going with his proactive moves as the railways traffic head. Ajay Devgn doesn’t have much scope as the lead other than looking grim, manly and speaking some serious lines. Zayed Khan must be a proud man for all the Parkour stunts that have been credited to him, thanks to the stunt double.  On the ladies front, Sameera Reddy has an action packed role in which she excels while Kangana Ranaut is crying most of the time in her artificial style. Mohan Lal in a cameo as the cop looks pretty stuffed and there isn’t much required out of him.

Technically, the movie is superior thanks to some stunning cinematography by Tirru. His aerial shots of the bullet train are captivating. The songs by Sajid-Wajid pop up at odd times including the totally unwarranted item number by Mallika Sherawat right at the beginning of the movie. But, despite these speed breakers, Tezz mostly gallops to the finish line.

If only the setup to why Aakash decides to plant these bombs had been convincing and the needless songs had been chopped off completely, this movie would have been more taut and riveting.

To conclude, Priyadarshan has come out with an action thriller that is convincing to a large extent inspite of the obvious inspiration from ‘Speed’, that classic Keanu Reeves action thriller.

VERDICT: Save a few minor glitches, this one fittingly lives up to its title

2.5 stars

Classic: Iruvar (1997)

A fascinating movie by Mani Ratnam that takes a look at the legendary figures of Tamil Nadu politics - MGR, Karunanidhi, Annadurai and Jayalalitha. MGR is Anandan, Karunanidhi is Tamizhselvan, Anna is Ayya Veluthambi and Jaya is Kalpana here.

Anandan struggles to get a foothold in movies while Selvan is a revolutionary poet who works for the upliftment of the downtrodden. Anandan uses Selvan's dialogs to make it big as a superstar among the masses. Ayya starts his own political party and Selvan is an important member of the party. Anandan later joins the party and uses his political clout for the success of his movies and vice-versa.

Selvan starts becoming jealous of Anandan's rise. Ayya's party wins the elections but Selvan becomes the chief minister as Ayya's health worsens. There are lots of allegations of corruption and Anandan doesn't fail to point this out. Anandan is thrown out of the party and goes on to start his own party. The government is brought down and in the ensuing elections, Anandan's party wins handsomely and he becomes the CM.

The members in Anandan's party aren't as service minded as Anandan and corruption allegations are thrown against his rule as well. All along, his relationship with Selvan is one of mutual respect and deep rooted friendship even though they are in opposite parties and Selvan is jealous of Anandan's rise.

Both the men have more than their share of romantic flings and aren't bound to a single woman. Anandan's encounter with his dead first wife Pushpa's lookalike, actress Kalpana is engaging to say the least. The 2 are totally diametric in their character but, Anandan is drawn to the young Kalpana.

In the end, nature takes its course and Anandan dies due to his ill health. Selvan repents for their eroded relationship and hopes to join his dear friend in the afterlife.

Review

• The acting is supreme be it Mohan Lal as Anandan, Prakash Raj as Selvan, Nasser or Rajesh. Living up to legendary characters in real politics is no mean task. Mohan Lal is a surprise fit for MGR though MGR wasn't as burly as Lal. His emoting capabilities don't need much elucidation. Prakash Raj towers above the rest and his climax performance is marvelous, worth the National award. His delivery of the pure Thamizh dialogs could have been better though. 
• Aishwarya leads the female credits and her performance as Kalpana is refreshing to say the least. Aish as Pushpa, Revathi, Tabu and Gauthami are dignified in small roles.
• Among A.R.Rahman's best works be it the cult songs or the inspiring BG score.
• Santosh Sivan's cinematography is top notch as expected. Visual poetry like in all Mani films. Another award worthy show. 
• Some needless songs. The editing department could have trimmed some of them. 
• The dialogs by Suhasini are powerful and intense and helps create many cult scenes. The art work by Sameer Chanda is grand and larger than life. Fits the theme. 
• Mani has portrayed Karunanidhi as positively as possible. Fear of rebuttal must have softened his stand given Karuna's atrocities against Brahmins in his young age.  

VERDICT

Class written all over. Mani Ratnam's best work till date. Top notch acting, inspiring music and magical visuals aid him in creating this masterpiece.