Pongal releases

Three releases - Paramasivam, Aathi and Saravana.. Nothing much to write about them.. Common things b/w them:
1) Prakash Raj has become Kollywood's Amitabh Bachan.. (he is there in pretty much any new movie.. what happened to his pick-and-choose policy?)
2) Titles carrying the hero's name: You know well what would happen.. a) the hero would not die/go to jail after life-sentence c) hero would unite with heroine.
3) Each has a flashback, which jars at times.
4) Hero commits murders at will and goes to exotic locations for duets with heroine.
5) Very loud villains and 'eeeeyy.. Haaayyy' shouts.. earbuds recommended.
6) Totally forgettable, ordinary music.
7) Vivek.. who just manages to bring out a few chuckles from us.. far from his best.

Paramasivan

Ajit looks very different after slimming down.. not as cute as in Amaravathi or Aasai but definitely better than his recent round-figures in 'Ji' and 'Attagasam'. Laila is downright irritating and proves that she is a one-dimensional artist, unless handled by some very 'intelligent' directors (I am referring to Jeeva and Priya, who made her bearable in Ullam ketkumey and Kanda naal muthal).

Story:
Seen numerous times with our Captain and Arjun having done the 'Nation saving act from terrorists'. The hero here is neither a police officer nor a military-man but a murder convict. This twist could have been used much more intelligently. The movie seems to show some intelligence by quickly moving to present time but invariably comes the flashback. The villains are shown to be mindless.. they do really silly things. Better than the other two.

Plusses:
Action scenes, racy screenplay.

Aadhi

Nowadays, the name 'Vijay' is synonymous with blood and violence. In 'Thiruppachi' and 'Sivakasi', there was some novel concept, however wafer-thin it was.. In 'Aadhi', Ramanaa has chosen the age-old (*SIGH*) 'revenge for family mass-murder' story which we thought was a really old wine and beaten to death. Having chosen such an old story and spending a good amount of time in the flashback plus the customary 'pre-interval' comedy of Vivek plus the 'kuthu' and 'duet' songs havent really given much time to the director to show any novelty in the execution. There is even a 'family song' in the flashback, which luckily isnt used for the family reunion later.

The movie begins in Rameswaram, with a beautiful Trisha in white dress on the beach helping out a pigeon and all smiles.. within seconds, blood starts to spill which doesnt stop till the end. Here again, there was a twist-cum-coincidence that could have been intelligently exploited.. but alas.. the director probably remembers his more-recent and disasterous 'Sullan' and not his debut film 'Thirumalai'.

Saravana

Coming after the hits 'Manmadhan' and 'Thotti Jaya', Simbhu has teamed up with KS Ravikumar, the king of small-budget masala movies. They seem to have chosen a wrong telugu story, though. Simbhu has attempted a bit of comedy here and has managed to pull it up well.. but, at times, he goes overboard and reminds SJ Suryah (!!?). Jo, here again, looks like Simbhu's akka and this wouldnt change in the future until he grows some muscles quick.

Story:
Very much on the lines of 'Gilly'. Hero saves the heroine from a Madurai-based villain, provides her shelter in his home and helps her go abroad, with both of them loving each other but not conveying it till the end.. Simbhu carries the movie on his energy.. Jo is getting more beautiful with each movie (kalyaanakkalai vandhundey irukku).. Vivek's and Simbhu's monologues at the shopping mall and at the temple are good and enjoyable..

Plusses:
Simbhu, Jo, and the fast script.

Overall, a bad beginning to 2006.