December Movies

Managed to watch a lot of movies in the holiday season..  This is the collection of the short reviews.

* Ghajini

      A few things were better whereas a few others were worse than the tamil version. First, the worse ones: I felt that Surya had done a better job than Aamir in the first half. Harris' music was also far superior to AR Rahman's. Among the +ve differences, the climax, which was the sore point in the tamil version, has been cleverly modified. The utterly-irritating XY-machi Nayanthara is replaced by Jiah Khan. Aamir Khan's body is more toned than Ghajini Surya's. There are thankfully only two full-length songs, so the pace of the movie isn't impeded by unnecessary songs. Overall, this is surely watchable whether or not one has watched the tamil original.

* The curious case of Benjamin Button

     Based on an interesting imagination, the story unfolds as the protagonist is born old and gets gradually younger as he ages. So, we get some unique situations in which a person is mentally young but physically old and the situation gets reversed at his old age. The story largely revolves around Benjamin's (Brad Pitt) love on Cate Blanchett. The climax is an unforgettable experience. The highlight of the movie to me was the make-up of the main characters. It was so real. The 2-minute segment where we hear from Benjamin's voice, a superb portrayal of the butterfly effect. The movie is quite long and draggy at times; but the fine performance of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett makes us glued to the proceedings. Definitely recommended.

*BommalAttam     

     After watching Bharathiraja's previous product in the form of the disasterous 'KaNgaLAl kaidhu sei', I had absolutely no expectations on this at all. But, it was pleasantly surprising to see him come up with a terrific thriller. As is the case with the best thriller movies, the climax has some unexpected twists which the director gradually builds en route. Nana Patekar's performance is good but we tend to see 'Nizhalgal' Ravi in him due to the strong influence of the dubbing artist. Arjun too delivers a subdued and apt performance. So one can say that Bharathiraja has redeemed himself with Bommalattam. Two thumbs up.

*Milk

      During a time when the rights of homosexuals are constantly challenged, this movie throws light on the story of the first openly-gay elected official in the U.S. It is quite apt that it is based in the culturally diverse San Francisco. As the movie unfolds, one gets to see not only the political struggle of the protagonist, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn in an Oscar-worthy performance) but the emotions involed in his personal life as well. Though we know the end from a scene few minutes into the movie, the proceedings make it interesting. One lateral thought: I felt that the title is somewhat suitable to the sexual orientation. Milk is an emulsion of water and lipids, each of which is clear and transparent but when mixed, they lead to a smudgy liquid.

* Abhiyum naanum      

       An ultra-simple movie which is almost like a documentary of Prakash Raj's life. Radha Mohan's liking for super feel-good movies continues with this movie as well. I felt it to be a OK movie with a linear story and minimal twists. So we get ideal father, ideal mom, ideal daughter, ideal-appearing sikh family, etc. Prakash Raj's acting in the second half was irritatingly over-the-top. After listening to 'Siru siru' song, I had a particular opinion about the story, though the possibility of the song being shot in a similar way as one of the 'Kanda naal mudhal' songs didn't fail to pass my mind. Thus, the second half almost looks like parts of 'Hum aapke hain kaun'. So, my verdict is, this movie is only for the sentimentally inclined ones.

* Valkyrie

     I went to see this movie expecting it to be a war-story. On the contrary, it is a story of a real event that happened a year before the end of world war 2. The story is on an attempt by some good-willed anti-Nazi German soldiers on the life on Adolf Hitler. Some good performances but nothing great to rave about. 

*SilambAttam

     I didnt like anything in this movie except for the songs, in which Simbhu tries some extravagant dance steps. The double entendre and perverted scenes are too much. Crass. All the so-called comedy segments being targetted towards the Brahmins are disgusting. I dont know if the film industry can afford to show any other community in such a demeaning manner and get away with it. A silly story, a meaningless first half, and juvenile violence are all indigestible. Give it a miss, unless you are a mass-masala lover.