Kung Fu Panda 2 - 3d (2011)

What's it about:
'Dragon Warrior' Po and his 'Furious Five' team have to save China from the shackles of Shen, the peacock. Shen has a huge machine that spits out metal balls and there are a pack of wolves who are always around Shen to protect.
   Po also comes to know that he is an adopted son to his goose father. Po is advised by his master Shifu to find his inner peace but Po is haunted by images of his past when his parents had to abandon him in a radish basket due to Shen's evil machinations.
   Shen underestimates Po's prowess and ignores the astrologer's warnings. Po finally finds his inner peace and eliminates Shen and all the metal fireballs. He finally reunites with his father who is very enthusiastic to use his son's fame to promote his tofu and noodles, in the form of "Po saves China" posters.

                                                                         

Hits

• Everything that is expected out of a DreamWorks animation film is there. Top class animation, modelling, rendering and the characters are so expressive.
• The stunt choreography is just too awesome. Such creativity and pace in the fights. Reminds us of the legendary Jackie Chan's action feasts. A mixture of comedy and fights.  
• The 3d effects are as expected. Not extra-ordinary but. 
• Witty dialogs for Po, that are philosophical as well. Leave the past baggage and focus on the present is the message. 
• Great BG score by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. The percussion drums stand out amidst the other general goose bumps inducing instruments. 
• The idea to use a peacock as the villain is very novel indeed

Misses

• The villain, Shen could have been characterized more powerfully. In the end it is all too easy for Po. Given the initial buildup, a greater resistance from Shen was expected

VERDICT

Kung Fu Panda 2 re-emphasizes the escapist quality of cinema. Just forget all earthly worries and plunge into this fantasy world for a short and sweet adventure ride along with Po and his team. 

Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

What's it about:
A sequel to the earlier 'Top Gun' spoof, and this time 'Rambo' is the spoofed film. Topper Harley has to rescue American POWs from Iraq. Harley's former colonel is also trapped and the entire nation's hopes rest on his shoulders. The American CIA agent has a crush on Harley and he also encounters his flame Ramada during this mission.

                                                                     

Hits

• Lloyd Bridges is a riot once again. This time he is the American president. He is the major highlight yet again.
• 2 hot heroines :)
• The spoofy take on Saddam Hussein works well most of the times and is downright silly at times too. 

Misses

• Many jokes don't stay in mind. It's just the watch-laugh-forget types. The earlier version had better jokes.

VERDICT

Time pass stuff. Just for a few laughs. 

Life in a Metro (2007)

What's it about:

           Set in Mumbai, the film deals with the lives of people who are stuck in matters of love, family and relationships.

       Amol and Shivani are an elder couple who re-unite after 40 yrs to spend their twilights together. Rahul is an ambitious young man who goes to the extent of lending his flat to his office seniors so that he can get some money through promotion, for his dream restaurant.  Shikha has a troubled family life and she finds solace in a struggling theater actor. Shikha’s husband has an affair going on with Rahul’s one side love Neha. Neha’s roommate and Shikha’s sister, Shruti is looking for her ideal man and she finally finds her match in Monty, a naïve good-at-heart man.

    All the characters are connected in one way or the other and the film is basically a relationship drama. 

                                                                             

Hits

• Some natural acting from all the actors. The film has a huge ensemble cast.
• Irfan Khan leads the pack with his innocent portrayal of Monty.
• Shilpa Shetty impresses with her acting skills as well, for a change and she looks absolutely smoking hot in that one moment of closeness she has with her lover. 
• The songs are all melodious

Misses

• The climax is in total contrast with the realistic nature of the film. It is quite funny and dramatic and sticks out sorely
• The gang of 3 performers who come in each song, becomes repetitive

VERDICT

A serious, watchable relationship movie.  

Haunted 3D (2011)

Whats it about:
A real estate broker Rehan goes to a place called Glen Manor to finish a deal. He has 10 days to finish his work but he starts seeing and experiencing many spooky things. He later comes to know through a letter about what all happened in this place about 75 yrs back.
    Meera lives with her family in this place and she gets sexually molested by her piano teacher Mr. Iyer. Meera succeeds in killing Iyer before getting raped but Iyer comes back as a ghost and kills all the remaining ppl in the house and also rapes Meera every other night. Meera commits suicide because of this unbearable torture. And her soul continues to be tormented by Iyer's evil soul till date. Rehan decides to put an end to her suffering.
    In a 'time machine' moment Rehan traverses back in time to the point where Meera is still living happily just before her parents' departure out of station. All the events of the flashback happen in the same order again with Rehan also being one of the parties in these events. Rehan can't prevent Mr. Iyer getting killed. So, Mr. Iyer's ghost is still very much in the picture in the second half too.
   Rehan tells Meera and the housemaid Margaret the truth about his existence and he somehow succeeds in stopping Mr.Iyer repeating his atrocities through a combination of Islamic beliefs.
   In the end, Rehan returns back to the present moment after saving Meera and he again reads a letter this time telling about how Meera has lived a happy life. He sees a lot of photos proving Meera's happy life.

                                                               
Hits

• Technically brilliant. The VFX, cinematography and the locations add to the thrills and spills
• The 3d effects are decent. They give us the creeps at times
• The heroine Tia Bajpai looks very sexy and beautiful and she also wins our sympathies during her times of torment. She expresses the fear very well.
• The hero Mahakshay is ok. He proves his skills at dancing in one scene. But, he doesn't have much to do. 
• Arif Zakaria as Mr.Iyer is the biggest terror seen in Indian cinema in recent times. He looks devilish and the way his character has been sketched makes it a real scary experience. 
• Achint Kaur is another scary looking human and in the second half when her character Margaret gets possessed by Iyer's spirits and she starts flying around from tree to tree, it really is scary and thrilling. 
• The creativity of the story writers in telling a typically entertaining Indian ghost saga, needs to be lauded
• Some really intense scenes like the scene when Meera gets raped by Iyer's evil spirit, the scene when Iyer gets killed etc. are sure to send shock waves. 
• The BG score adds to the eerie effect.
• The songs are all montages and are good. 

Misses

• The 'time machine' moment in the film when just a tune played in the piano takes Rehan back in time, is highly illogical even for a fantasy film
• The movie is quite long. Though it is never boring. 

VERDICT

The best horror film seen in Indian cinema in a long time. Vikram Bhatt deserves all the appreciations and applause. 

Aadukalam (2011)

Whats it about:
      Set in the backdrop of rooster fights, this film is a take on the ego issues that arise in a person when he sees his own protege becoming a big name in the same field.
      K P Karuppu dedicates his life to rooster fighting and he dotes behind his master and 'brother-like' Pettaikaran and Durai, another Pettakaran protege. His mother wants him to be more responsible in life but the naive Karuppu is always fully behind Pettaikaran and his pet rooster.
      Karuppu also falls for Irene an anglo Indian Madurai girl and a nice matured relationship exists between them based on mutual trust. Pettaikaran has a fierce rival Rathnasamy, and Karuppu is a major reason for Pettaikaran's total domination in all rooster fights. Rathnasamy yearns for one final shot at victory
      Once, KP goes ahead with a fight using his pet rooster in-spite of his master asking him to kill that rooster on an earlier occasion. His rooster totally dominates and wins thrice against drugged roosters. Karuppu wins a huge sum of money as a bet from Rathnasamy and he becomes a major hero in Madurai.
      Following this, the master becomes totally insecure, avoids Karuppu, starts hating Karuppu's new found name and fame and he starts playing foul with Karuppu's life. His ego starts playing big time.
      Pettaiakaran hides KP's prize money, indirectly leads to KP's mother's death, instigates Durai against KP, fights with his wife Meena over KP and also tries to separate Irene from KP.
      Finally KP comes to know of his master's real intentions. He feels so broken and sorry for his master's pitiable frame of mind. Pettaikaran kills himself in shame after coming to know of how highly KP thinks of him. KP then leaves Madurai with Irene to start a new life away from all the hate and blood.

                                                                     
Hits

• Vetrimaran's meticulous research on the subject matter and his honesty in admitting his inspirations in the end credits.
• Dhanush. Deserved the national award that he got. Absolutely expressive, energetic and likable. Be it ecstasy, agony or anguish. Dhanush is effortless. 
• GV Prakash. Both the songs and the BG score add value. All the songs in particular are cult classics and well picturized too.  
• Tapsee is cute and decent as Irene. A fine debut.
• Jayabalan as Pettaikaran, Kishore as Durai, the guy who comes as Rathnasamy, the lady who comes as Meena and the guy who comes as Karuppu's loyal friend are all A rate. Very natural portrayals from all the other support characters too. They bring in the required intensity and believability to the role and involve us. 
• The rooster fight sequences are as thrilling as real fights. Great work by the VFX team. The interval block is terrific cinema. 

VERDICT

A milestone in Tamil cinema when it comes to the number of National awards it has got. A two part movie which is very sporty in the first half and becomes an emotional roller-coaster in the second. 

Pudhupettai (2006)

Whats it about:
This movie tracks the life of a gangster Kokki Kumar. How he gets into it, how he slowly picks up the tricks of the trade, how he becomes big, how he gets consumed by his greed and lust for power and how he settles in life finally.
     Kumar leaves home fearing for his life after his mom gets killed by his dad. He accidentally gets mixed up with Anbu's gang. He gets into the drug business initially and slowly becomes a dreaded gangster thanks to his expertise with the sword. He kills Murthy's (another big gangster) brother. He goes to the extent of even killing his father for his mother's sake.
     He has an affair going on with Veni, a prostitute. At the same time he also marries Selvi, his friend's sister in a bizarre wedding. Later he marries Veni too learning about her pregnancy.
    He isn't able to control his urge for power and he kills Anbu and heads the gang in no time. He works for Thamizhselvan, a politician. He helps Thamizhselvan many times and but he is refused an MLA seat. His reaction at this, irks and pisses off many.
   He loses Veni and escapes with his baby. He drops off the baby safely and returns to finish off all his remaining enemies and just when we believe he is about to be hung, he is taken away by the ruling party and he joins the party as a replacement for the very same Murthy that he killed.

                                                                   
Hits

• YUVAN. One of his all time best scores. His BGM is scintillating, mesmerizing and suits the mood of the film perfectly. It enhances the movie. That too, the title credits score is something out of the world. And the songs are all cult classics. No need to elaborate more on these songs :)
• Dhanush scores big time too. Initially as the afraid young kid and later as the ruthless and lusting gangster. All expressions are so easy for this national award winning actor. 
• Sneha as the helpless prostitute gets our sympathies. 
• All the other characters coming as gangsters also look and play the part. 
• The action scene with the sword in the first half is classy. But the same sword fight in the climax becomes too unbelievable. 
• The scenes showing how Kumar gets into the gangster world are so full of impact. 
• The final sequence showing Kumar becoming a politician is a nice spoofy take. 

Misses

• Kumar's transition to a feared gangster becomes too soon and abrupt. 
• Some of Kumar's greed and lust doesn't gel with the movie. His marriage with Selvi is one such ridiculous sequence. 
• Dhanush's pencil thin frame doesn't make him look like a gangster though he more than makes up for it with his perfect lingo, body language and expressions. 

VERDICT

With some more fine tuning, this Selvaraghavan film could have become an unanimous favorite.  

Nandalala (2010)

Whats it about:
A grown up retard Bhaskar Mani and a young kid Agilesh go in search of their respective mothers on a common journey. Thaivaasal and Annaivel are their destinations. While Agilesh longs to give his mom a kiss, Bhaskar Mani wants to ask his mother why she had left him in a mental institution for so many years.
   During their road trip, they meet a number of characters. Some of them are hostile while most of them are fine human beings. A helpless prostitute's life is also resurrected during this road trip and she also joins the 2 sons' search for their mothers.
   In a very touching finale we come to know that Bhaskar Mani's mother has become a totally devastated soul ever since her son's admittance to the mental institution  and Agilesh's mother has married another time and has another kid.
   In the end, Mani redeems his mother's life and admits her in a home for the elderly and Agilesh comes to know the truth behind his mother, and accepts the prostitute as his mother. Mani starts a new life as a balloon seller

                                                                 
Hits

• Some terrific performances by Mysskin and the young kid Aswath Ram. Very difficult roles for both of them. Mysskin proves that he is a supreme actor as well and Aswath proves that he is a star for the future
• Maestro Ilayaraja is in tremendous form be it the melodious songs or the goose bumps inducing BG score. 
• Snigdha impresses with her soul stirring performance as the helpless prostitute. Rohini shocks with her appearance in her cameo as Bhaskar Mani's mother
• The feel good nature of the road trip emphasizing the goodness of humanity. 
• Nice camera work covering the vast stretch of empty roads and greenery. 

VERDICT

One of the finest 'mother-sentiment' movies that deserved to strike gold. But it was just another critically acclaimed classic. MUST WATCH