Varun's Word

In the short film universe there is very little time to execute what you want to convey. You need to execute this in a slick fashion without any unnecessary diversions. Short Films may  be taken too lightly at present since they seem very easy to film. However one should also acknowledge the fact that most of the short films are shot by amateurs and first timers and there is very minimum role for professionals. Its not easy to shoot a short film that clicks.

Given the above scenario, Machi Escape knows its thrills & shrills and this one clicks too.

It is beautifully woven initially as a boy meets girl story in a fast paced ‘share-auto’ – software culture. How a casual conversation with your co-passenger cum stranger can land you in trouble is very well demonstrated here.

The highlight of this short film is the way the actors highlight the letters ‘EAT’ derived from the girls mobile number, however the camera focuses on the letters again to highlight altogether a different word. This adds as a strong point for director Vivek Suriyamoorthy’s narrative skills.

The music director Krishnan Ganesan’s adaption of ‘Kill Bill’ tune as the ringtone shows good taste. Also the background score towards the climax and credits stands out.

Arun Balaji and Usha have done their roles pretty well, both of them comfortable with their expressions.

–Varun Mannava Gowtham

Talaash is the kind of movie which could have just been critically acclaimed and forgotten in a few weeks had the director Reema Kagti chosen to shoot with a bunch of freshers. But because she chose to cast three superstars despite a strong story, the movie is pitted to become a landmark in the supernatural thriller genres.

The movie needs to be taken seriously right from the opening scene. As small as a street’s dog’s howling will make sense once the suspense is revealed. The director has gone to the extent of mentioning the street dog in a dialogue.  We may think its just cheap comedy but its not. There are also a few shots where one might start feeling that Kareena is everywhere and listening to all the plots. This in no way is a flaw in the script. Everything would make sense once the suspense is revealed.

Aamir Khan is famous for his stint with experimentation. Although this movie may not be a huge revenue generator, but that should not deter his willingness to try new roles. He has portrayed the role of a depressed father with extreme sincerity. So much to the extent that he managed to roll out a few tears from the audiences towards the climax. One of them being a girl sitting next to me.

Rani appears with almost zero make-up and totally does justice to her role. Kareena looks dashing in this movie. All she does is smile and look pretty, but once the suspense is revealed, her role becomes even more important. Nawazuddin Siddique of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ fame comes up with a fine performance as the limping pimp.

Reema Katgi co-wrote the movie along with Zoya Akhtar. The dialogues were written by Farhan Akhtar. Its a great combination. Watch out for the scene where Aamir Khan repents the loss of his son and he keeps thinking of preventive alternatives that he could have taken to avoid his son’s death. Thats the director’s toast.

Ram Sampath is the unsung hero of this movie as he comes up with five songs and all five of them stand out and mesmerize. Usually Farhan Akhtar prefers Shankar Ehsan Loy but Ram Sampath has exceeded the stereotype.

Talaash has a unique story and is neatly executed. 4 stars !

–Varun Mannava Gowtham

Visual Ratings : 5 / 5

Overall Rating : 4 / 5

We know that the oceans look blue in color since they reflect the blue skies. In this movie, the same oceans look different in different shades of nature and different shades of life. To the extent that one might even get a feeling as if the ocean is a silent character in this movie. The ocean is calm and serene at times, vigorous and wild at other times. Dark and gloomy at times, bright and fluorescent at other times. Such is the cinematography by Claudio Miranda and the visual effects team.

The Titles introduce us to various zoo animals, being a life sciences student, i dint know 40% of the animals. Watch out for the mini surprises and creatives in the titles.

The movie proceeds as a narrative much to the delight of the book lovers. I haven’t read the book yet, so I will stay away from comparing the two. I don’t know how the book felt, but there is not a moment in the movie where the audiences feel unattached to the narrative. The movie is about Pi (Suraj Sharma) who survives a shipwreck and lives for months on a life boat with Richard Parkinson (Bengal Tiger).

Watch out for the territory marking scene between Pi and the Tiger on the life-boat, a major topic in animal behavior studies. The scene where Pi decides to teach the tiger who’s the alpha animal is pretty amusing.

The director Ang Lee has been shooting the movie for four years. It is justified in every single frame as to why he took so long to finish the movie. Suraj Sharma, the teenage Pi is the life and soul of this movie. He does look thinner and thinner as his days on the sea continue. Add to this there are amazing lines (I am guessing these must be from the book) that Pi delivers when his survival becomes hopeless. The line that says “I am unable to distinguish between day dreams and night dreams” is one such gem! The remaining cast portray their part very well.

Although the movie is a visual treat, it may not be suitable for kids. There are quite a few scenes which maybe disturbing or extremely depressing to watch. It makes one wonder that when 75% of the earth is covered with water, why hasn’t mankind evolved to survive on sea ?

The website is a treat to watch too ! http://www.lifeofpimovie.com/

–Varun Mannava Gowtham

Consciously or unconsciously A.R.Murugadoss has highlighted the all-round capabilities of the Indian Army in tackling a situation. Remember the confidence the nation witnessed when the commandos were air-dropped from a chopper on 26/11 in Mumbai? The army men can run, they can jump 6 feet walls, they can dive and swim away, they can shoot from a distance of 200 m accurately. Most importantly, they can plan and execute with exact precision. When it comes to saving the nation, nothing else forms the priority.

Jagadish is an army man, who is also part of DIA, goes home for a 40 day vacation. He witnesses a bomb blast. To him this is anti-national. He reacts to anti-nationals in a manner humans react to pests. No lock-up, no-trials, no explanations. Termination! He resorts to 3rd degree torture on anti-nationals, the kind of torture that is usually seen in RGV movies.

The major distraction to the movie is the track where the director wants vijay to get married to Kajal Agarwal. He is dealing with a grave situation in Mumbai, and how can anyone think of falling in love and running around trees. Tamil cinema needs to come out of this commercial scare and start making movies that are pure and focus on the plot. In recent times Billa 2 was one such mainstream movie which stuck to the plot without deviating too much. Thuppakki is a major let down in this segment. However considering Vijay’s larger than life image in action movies, this movie is the closest to logic.

Vidyut Jamal is a major strength to the movie. He hardly speaks, but his presence is imminent. His role as an antagonist will remain in audiences memory for a long time to come.

Santhosh Sivan’s cinematography is very effective. The background score by Harris Jayaraj provides the much needed energy to this movie.

And by taking a national topic such as terrorism, Murugadoss is now thinking big. There are all possibilities that this movie would be remade in Bollywood.

Repeat watching is highly recommended, not for the house-hold Jagdish, but for the army-man Jagdish (with the back-ground score running).

–Varun Mannava Gowtham