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

The Avengers review

Every year, there comes a Hollywood blockbuster that will send you into a tizzy and give you total paisa vasool entertainment. Such films are generally visual effects-heavy and are superhero films. This one is like the big daddy of all superhero films. Yes, Avengers, it is

Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye form this terrific superhero ensemble. Black Fury is the guy who brings this team together to save the earth from the clutches of Loki from Asgard. The Tesseract is an unlimited source of energy and it lands in Loki's hands. He wants to use this to vanquish the earth. The Avengers stand between him and his mission.

Hulk reigns supreme in many scenes when he shows his anger and aggression. The crowd goes crazy during such instances. Iron Man comes a close second with his AC/DC soundtrack, his casual punchlines and style. Thor is brutal with his physique while Captain America shows his mettle when he leads the team in the final showdown in Midtown Manhattan. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow is sexy to say the least. Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye is stylish with his moves as the master archer.

Ultimately, this is not a movie to be analyzed much. It is to be experienced on the big screen with 3D glasses. The effects are crazy at times as they just come on your face. Nice gimmickry. The last one hour is pure madness. The action on screen makes the child in you go WOW. There are some sober moments in the first half of the movie which is resurrected by the Iron Man's charm. But. the last hour is unanimously marvelous. There is a sequel as well coming up sometime in the near future.

VERDICT: A marvelous action fest from Marvel Studios and a perfect distraction from the terrible Indian summer. Switch off your mind and get consumed by this high octane action fest

The Enforcer (1976)

This time Harry has to protect SF city against a bunch of militants who are supposed to be Vietnam war veterans. There are hookers, pimps etc. who are involved in this gang.

Harry gets a female partner Kate with whom he isn't very enthusiastic about working with. But, she is earnest and puts in the required effort and earns Harry's respect.

Harry's troubles with his seniors and his absolute contempt for needless stunts, rules and protocol is apparent in this part too.

Clint Eastwood is in top form in a very smart avatar. His dialogs are casual yet pack a lot of punch. Oozing style as always. Tyne Daly as Kate is very cute and endearing. Her combination scenes with Harry are very entertaining. Sparks fly.

The soundtrack and photography are awesome as with the first two parts. There is one nice running chase sequence as well

VERDICT: Justice in typical Harry style. A better movie compared to the 2nd part.

Oru Kal Oru Kannadi movie review

Director Rajesh must indeed be a lucky man. He has solely banked on current comedy king Santhanam to dish out a close to 3hrs long movie that is entertaining only when our comedy king is on screen. The story is the same old "hero pursuing heroine with the support of Santhanam", like it was in SMS and BEB.

While Jiiva was a super match to Santhanam in SMS and made it a cult, Arya tried his level best to make 'Nanbenda' a memorable affair too. Here Debutante Udhayanidhi's only plus point is his pretty decent voice. He is funny at dance and poor at emoting. Blessed with boyish looks and shitloads of money, a new hero has arrived. His dance moves need serious addressing. He is much better producing blockbusters, personally speaking.

But OKOK has become the biggest hit among Rajesh's 3 movies so far. Strange fact. The quality is dipping with every movie but the collections are almost doubling.

There are some needless cameos for a fat,jaded Sneha, the sexy Andrea and the charming Arya. The movie has really been extended thanks to these cameos. The sequence in the plane is one big drag. The editor has seriously slept off while working in his FCP or whatever.

Harris' songs are on the money. His luck and good time seem to be never ending. That said, the Venam Machan song looks good on screen.

Saranya turns in a typically delightful performance as the mother of our hero. Her attempts at passing her degree exams since 20 long years and her relationship with her stubborn husband are a nice sub-plot in the movie.

Hansika has been taken for a ride. In the 'Azhage Azhage' song, she runs around the screen all through the song exposing her ample cleavage in extremely tight, low neck gowns. The intentions of the director and choreographer are obvious in this song. Her fat body, her makeup sense, her dresses etc have been made a mockery too, through some dialogs in the movie. She looks perplexed all through the movie. It seems young heroines can do anything for a good pay package. A sad performance after a delightful one in Engeyum Kadhal.

Finally our man Santhanam. With colorful clothes, a Brahmin slang to his English, terrific one liners / one words, a funny profession, a hilarious car etc etc. this man is a riot and a superstar in his own right. This movie is another feather in his already decorated cap. It would not be off the mark to say that OKOK would have been a headless dead body if not for Santhanam.

VERDICT: Only Santhanam ... nothing else. The entire team must be indebted to this one-man army.

Magnum Force (1973)

There are a bunch of cops on motorcycles who keep bumping off anti-social elements in SF city, one by one. They take the law into their own hands. Harry calls them the death squad within the police force.

Though Harry bends the rules, he always upholds the law. He manages to find out the people who are part of this shady group and succeeds in getting rid of them.

In this part, Harry also does some other routine police work like preventing a hijack and burglary, all in his own inimitable style. The ladies also seem to have an eye for him as evidenced by two women showing an interest in him.

His troubles with his higher authorities continue in this movie as well. That's the USP of the man. The antagonists look terrific in their motorcycles but their moves against Harry aren't great.

There are some smart one-liners, breathtaking cinematography and a pulsating BG score like the first part. The climax somehow seems long drawn-out and lacks that solid punch.

There are some solid chase sequences where the use of dupes for Clint seem obvious at certain places.

VERDICT: Lacks the punch of the first part. The antagonists are also not as imposing. 

Dirty Harry (1971)

Inspector Harry Callahan is hot on the trail of a psychotic serial killer with a penchant for using the sniper. The killer calls himself Scorpio. Harry is always given the shit end of the stick and all the dirty cases come to him. He doesn't regard the law and silly rules. Justice is what he covets. The methods he uses piss off his higher-ups but Harry doesn't care. Service to the citizens is of utmost importance to him. He succeeds in getting rid of the killer with great difficulty and he is sure that will be suspended from the force, as well.

A really pioneering movie as there have been countless cop movies all over the world following this pattern. Of course, in Indian films, there would be a romantic track for the cop. But, here Harry is a widower. His bonding with his partner Chico is his only humane side.

The movie has some breathtaking aerial shots of SF and the BG score is terrific & lifts the movie considerably. Andy Robinson as the killer has gone through considerable physical pain for this role and his manic tendencies must have inspired the Joker from TDK as well.

Ultimately it's a Clint Eastwood heroic fest. His punchline is legendary and it's likely that this series was made keeping only Clint in mind. After being the cowboy in some Western movies, Clint plays the cop with the same ease and style.

VERDICT: An even match between a flamboyant cop and a terror-inducing serial killer. MUST WATCH

Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

Sam Childers is a former tough guy who is into drugs and stuff. Slowly he is on the path to reformation after he accepts the presence of God. He comes to know of the plight of the children of Sudan and how they are abducted by the LRA led by Joseph Kony, and tortured, raped and used for many ritual killings.

He doesn't just stop at knowing. He decides to do something about this. He moves to Sudan, builds all facilities for the children and also doesn't hesitate to use the gun if the situation demands. Sam increasingly grapples with his frustrations at being helpless. His family life also adds to his worries.

This is a true life biographical account of Sam Childers who is still involved in rehabilitating children in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. The preacher or the white preacher as the African children call him is indeed a great man

Gerald Butler has that rough manly charm which is terrific. More so, for this role that requires lot of aggression and passion. He is truly a manly superstar. Any movie set in Africa, has some sort of energy and raw vibrancy. Same with this movie.

The intentions of the lead character really endear us to this movie. Once the action shifts to Africa, the movie starts becoming gripping.The real life footage shown in the end credits and the stats about the state of such children give a nice finishing touch to this movie.

VERDICT: Worth a watch for the noble intentions, Gerald Butler and the African setting.