Nee Thaanae En Pon Vasantham ?

Plenty of spoilers ahead! Read it after watching the movie 🙂

As you get settled and watch the opening sequences of the movie : you are in for a shock.Santhanam features in major part of ‘Pudikala Maamu’ song and Jiiva plays a near second fiddle.Normally Gautam does not have separate comedy track post Minnalae and it’s surprising to see this happening. But it’s only later you get to know due to date problems Santhanam’s portion was reduced in the movie considerably. And that explains the reason why  so much screen time for Santhanam,the cool dude, chill out guy!But the song is pretty average for a Gautam movie.

The story dives straight into action.The initial moments on how Samantha and Jiiiva meet during the college festival is charming! The initial trailer, had you watched earlier helps to relate to the characters and the sequences even before coming to the movie hall. And this is second time after Vaaranam Aayiram that the hero impresses the girl with Raaja song. Well it is sung by Gautam himself. I’m a fan of his voice, it is kind of Farhan Akthar-ish. It is broken at times but yet charming. In Vaaranam Aayiram, the title credits has him singing few songs and it is really impressive when he sings the whole song in his own voice here.

It is revealed later on how they were child hood friends.Again the next song comes up ‘Vaanam Mella’ on how the kids grew together.But the mood of song is so foreign to me. The song did not work ,may be Gautam’s movie always had different kind of music that I’m used .The divide in the sense and sensibility between Gautam and Raaja’s music is pretty much obvious .

And as Nithya moves to a different place, their relationship as child hood friends pretty much ends there. Again they meet up during school, especially during the tuition classes. I think Aishwarya Dhanush handled the tuition sequences better in her ‘3’. There are no genuine magical moments here if i think abt it.And the issue of dealing with ego in relationship is now beaten to death in Tamil cinema starting with Khushi. So it mildy tires you when the same happens here. .But Samantha really killed the role with her amazing, second lasting cute little expressions. She is convincing as a school girl and Jiiva also emote really well and makes things so effortless.That shows how restrained is his performance here.You can’t praise it here as it is not stand out but again it is apt for the role he plays.

In life when things happen and when you got to decide,you kind of act in a weird manner that is totally preposterous to the situation at the spur of moment.But when the same happens to others,you kind of find it silly and  start-up putting up your thinking hats to suggest a way out of the issue for the people in trouble.

As you see the couple fight on-screen,you are not getting sucked into how they feel and fight abt it just because you are still a 3rd person and you see them fight for really silly things.But again your age and what stage of your life you are in, really adds up to this.If you are married and kind of realized how relationship works out,there is little chance things you will be impressed.You may feel nostalgia abt the small fights that happened to you but again the problem is how much you feel for the characters.

I have to say that by this point , im not totally sucked into the movie.Things pass muster.And the relationship during their college days again seem to be pretty average.Santhanam has some rib tickling comic moments here but that is very minimal here.Songs do work here. ‘Saaindhu Saaindhu’  gives you a nice feel but you know now for sure the magic is now very obviously missed.

And again when they break due to career choices,you get that wth feeling.The tempo during these kind of situations does not warrant heavy songs with orchestration of 100 violins blowing off during  ‘Mudhal Murai’ . I loved the song when i listened to on CD. Sunitha Chauhan brought the angst of a women nicely but in the context of movie , it was pretty heavy to my taste.

In the sequence leading to the interval as the couple break up ,you are again watching just with the 3rd person view,wearing cap literally shouting how this could work and that it is not a big deal.A pretty long scene with a long shot camera panning around from a distance gives you a perspective of some one from next house terrace actually seeing a couple fight.

Movies like Love Aaj Kal,Rock Star,Jab We Met,VTV  have talked so much about breaking up with relationship by making bad choices and when the same is shown up here ,you don’t find any freshness to the situation.

Post interval,the movie never works because the same ‘ screw you,am not talking to you’ kind of repeats itself. Though one Gautam touch was there : about how Varun has written so many mails to Nithya during break up but just to save it to drafts instead of sending it. You are reminded of hot mail that was the flavour during the period.But then the movie is out of reach for me , the characters and their moods remain largely inaccessible.

I don’t know why, is it because of the pacing or the lack of required drama to stir things up? May be the scenes are simple and honest though there is nothing new to offer as an experience.

I was trying to think why VTV worked for me. Some how the characters were pretty much relatable to me.I get a sense of Karthik and Jessie , their family and the kind of situations they are engulfed into. A genuine problem of parents not letting the girl marry the guy he loves, adds so much drama especially when the girl is confused on who is she should be faithful too – her parents or the guy with whom she is in love with. Dialogues were amazing, love and emotions pouring out brilliantly.Jessie was weird though I was able to feel for her,same with Karthik as well.Emotions between the lead was intense, chemistry sparkling and their fights realistic. I really wanted them to be together that when the climax came out, it came as a huge jolt and hurt real bad.

I think a lot of people can relate to the movie and get nostalgic about how they screwed up their loved life or priorities in life.The movie may help to revisit those memories but again as a movie ,does not impress me, the magic of love that was just not there!

May be should i watch the movie once again after some time to see how it works out?

Vaaranam Aayiram Movie Review

When Simran runs to help the struggling Surya screaming in a urban english accent ‘What happened ?……...’ in the initial minutes , we are reaffirmed of the fact the movie is niched for a select urban audience who need to prepare themselves for viewing a different genre of movie , a slow saga and breaks all the mirch masala . You would love the movie if your into it with out any pre- conceived notions and expectations about the movie.

Sharing my thoughts which I felt interesting to me .

Gautham is incredible . He’s the next best to Mani Ratnam in handling romance , he’s best in the mush . The Surya – Sameera scenes are truly no words to describe . What a vibrancy and youthfulness ! Let it be the train romance or be the berkely episode , every frame is literally painted like a poem. Can some one other than Gautham think about a gal proposing to an adorable guy standing under the clouds , with a view of the lovely Golden bridge in San Francisco . These should sweep every one by their feet for sure. No way , give credits to this guy . Awesome photography , lovely music and impressive costumes – only gautham can do such wonders .

Surya for sure is incredible . Be the dad or the son , he’s given one hell of a performance . His painstaking effort is evident in every frame , he look worth more than one million bucks .He has taken utmost care in his looks , he fits in as a ‘T’ in almost every make over through his various stages of life. He is able to change himself for the mood of the movie quite easily.His emotional break up to his dad and mom on losing his love through a phone is the best . He should make gals go crazy over those romantic interludes. The portions where he suffers from an emotional break and the way how he comes out of it is quite unusual yet different.

Sameera Reddy , C’mon guys should i say anything more.

Very rarely , we could find an urban family being portrayed in tamil movies. I think those segments were etched out well. .It’s delightful to see a dad being so cool and casual with his son , being a friend , asking his son to follow his heart.How nice a dad calls his son by cute nick name .Even when I was a child , I have seen my neighbors converse very casually in English at home.So the director is not at fault , he has just shown the environment in which he grew up .

The music has really carried out the movie incredibly to new levels . Each and every song is a visual splendor . The Raja’s classical cult is brought out in the most lovable way in the movie. Adiyae Kolluthaey for sure rocks big time . Nenjukkul Peidhidum is actually painted . Mundinam Paarthanae could have been justified better with visuals.Only Gautham has the guts to have a romantic classical in the likes of Anal male panithuli towards the end of movie . Sad , that this is probably the last Gautham – Harris combination.

The dad – son relation ship should have been the most compelling factor of the movie .But these portions were pretty few and lite. There should be been more depth in trying to build up the character of Krishnan and on how be became the role model to his son.This the weak point of the movie , the dad is super uber cool and romantic but some how I felt it lacked depth and the strong bonding with the son wasnt that impressive. Had there been few more lorry and the cricket positive energy episodes , it would have been really nice.

The movie doesn’t advocate ‘No Smoking’ . But it has implicitly brought out very the message well.The movie is for sure a good one , though it could have been better.The movie towards the second half trodden towards unprecedented terrains , it drags a bit but since the movie moves through eventually to a son whose desperate to see his dad .

The movie cannot be termed as one of the classics but it was good attempt though falling short by miles.Movies like this has to be well received so that tamil movies can move to the next level.

Hats off to Gautham for a straight from the heart movie 🙂