Pandhayam

Review:

"Pandhayam" means 'bet' in English.

Not only the director, cast and crew have bet against themselves but also ensured that they end up losers. The movie looks like one that suffered a double Rip Van Winkle slumber since the 70s sans the vintage quality of that era.

In a nutshell, it is all about a youth, played by Nithin Sathya taking a trip to Chennai to see movie icon Vijay who is allowed to be himself.

One of his Sathya's friends gets bumped off by a don portrayed by a hamming Prakash Raj.

So the bumpkin manages to wangle the don's daughter enacted by Sindhu Tolani.

One wonders why Sathya who got attracted critical acclaim in "Chennai 600028" did this bomb.

Sindhu Tolani fails to impress. Vijay's presence in a guest role fails to revive the film. The less said about Vijay Anthony's music the better.

Pandhayam Torrent

Kuselan

Review:

Film: "Kuselan"; Cast: Rajnikant, Pasupati, Meena, Nayantara, R. Sundararajan, Vadivelu, Livingston and others; Director: P. Vasu; Music: G.V. Prakash; Rating: ***

"Kuselan" (Pauper) is all about an impoverished barber Balu (Pasupati) yearning to meet his childhood mate Ashok Kumar (Rajnikant) who has gone up in life and become a superstar.

The climactic union of the hero and his understudy actually proves to be an anticlimax of sorts as the movie abruptly ends after a few frames featuring Pasupati and Rajnikant.

The thespian matinee idol looks much younger under a nice wig, sunglasses and a large wardrobe of costumes that do him justice.

But for the name, Rajnikant is playing himself and offers plausible explanations for his earlier political statements and ambitions.

Director P. Vasu has improvised from the Malayalam original “Katha Parayumbol” to suit Rajnikant's mass appeal.

Pasupathi and Meena play their roles to perfection. In more ways than one Pasupati has broken his existing villain image with a scintillating performance.

The 'comedy' of Vadivelu and Livingston is pathetic and Nayantara doesn't impress either.

G.V. Prakash's tunes are forgettable.

Vasu has worked on the script and seems to have extracted adequate sweat from his stars. But the obvious plagiarism of the idea from "Remember The Time" -- the music video featuring Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy -- was stretching things too far since Rajnikant virtually has zilch knowledge in dancing.

If it was an attempt to project the thespian and Nayantara, it failed miserably.

While family audiences will love the film for its offbeat theme, Rajnikant's fans have little to cheer in "Kuselan".

The hero of the movie is a barber who has mauled Rajnikant badly. We can only hope the family audiences will see it enough to make a "close shave".

Kuselan Torrent

SA-RO-JA ச-ரோ-ஜா

Venkat Prabhu's first directorial venture 'Chennai 600028'. With his second film 'Saroja' .

Fun, frolic and mayhem were in abundance in Venkat Prabhu's first directorial venture 'Chennai 600028'. With his second film 'Saroja' the director dutifully follows the same pattern despite having the backdrop of a thriller featuring a kidnap, gun totting desperados and characters with malicious intent. 'Saroja' tickles the funny bone with tremendous technical brilliance and proves to be a roller coaster fun ride. Venkat Prabhu….one gets the feeling has come on the scene as a director to stay. His understanding of entertainment has all the potential to work wonders with Tamil Cinema audiences.

SA-RO-JA Torrent

Dhaam Dhoom தாம் தூம்

Dham Dhoom is the last film by Jeeva, but before he could make the final touches, he left the world. If he had done the remaining portion giving it his classic touch, definitely it would have achieved new standards (even though the plot is a mere copy of Richard Gere's Hollywood movie)

His assistant Manikandan has failed to make the film as his guru Jeeva would have wanted. But the music of Harris Jayaraj and Jeeva's fantastic camera work and picturesque locations of Russia make the film watchable.

The story is however not so interesting.

Jayam Ravi is a happy go lucky guy, a medical practitioner by profession. One day he makes a visit to his sister Anu Hassan at Pollachi and comes across Kangana Ranavut. As expected he falls in love and after some problems from both the sides, they plan to get married. Immediately the marriage is also fixed. But Ravi is then sent by the government to Russia for a medical conference

In Russia some drug mafia trap Ravi in a murder case and the local police arrests him and tortures him Later with the help of a Tamil lawyer (Lakshmi Rai) he escapes and collects the evidence to prove his innocence in the case.

At the same time, in Pollachi, Kangana is confident about Ravi's return and asks her parents to make arrangements for the marriage. However in the end Jayam Ravi appears in Pollachi and joins his fiancee.

An important minus of the film is its poor plot. It rambles unnecessarily between Russia and Pollachi. Pollachi seems unelievable and the scenes are not in order. Every scene is predictable and the climax is not much impressive typical of Jeeva films!

But apart from these minuses, Jeeva's excellent camera work and Harris Jayaraj's soothing melodies make everyone watch the movie.

The picturisation and tune of "Anbae Anbae..." with the backdrop of picturesque Coorg is a treat for cinema lovers!

The scene where the hero escapes from a police car after an assassination attempt by jumping onto the top of buildings is amazing. Hollywood stunt director Chris Anderson has done an excellent job in these portions.

Jayam Ravi plays the role with great involvement and real enthusiasm. He perfectly fits the role of a vigorous action hero!

Kangana looks slim but lacks nativity especially in that of a typical Pollachi girl's costumes. Though Lakshmi Rai appears throughout the film without make up she has done justice to her role.

Jayaram's bad guy role does not suit this comely and friendly face. The poor screenplay and casting have spoiled the film

Verdict: Average
Cast: Jayam Ravi, Kangana Ranavut, Lakshmi Rai, Jayaram
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Camera and Direction: Jeeva
Producers: Media One Global and Ayngaran International

Dhaam Dhoom Torrent