Vodafone Alerts!

The recent Vodafone ad campaign ' Make the most of now’ primarily marketing mobile alerts, is simply mind-blowing. Tune in to your television sets (any channel) during a prime-time slot and you would end up watching these TVC's. Simply amazing ads!!

Coming from the house of ad behemoth, O&M (Ogilvy and Mather), this ad leaves the audience awe-struck for its simplicity, novelty and brevity. TVC's are ramified into four sections, viz,. Astrology Alerts, Art of Living Alerts, News Alerts and Beauty Tips (Forgive me if I had missed out something).

If you take a closer look at these ads, you would find only the talkie( soundtrack) portion ( no mono/dialogue) , which makes the ad even more interesting. It keeps you guessing each moment… And also, one-ad-fits-all, I mean the process of translation/dubbing the ads to cater to the regional languages is absolutely negated.

Out of the four ads, my favorite was Astrology Alerts, a fascinating ad with a fitting cast (man, girl and the lift operator). A soul-stirring (Take me away song) background score! Unbelievably shot! The other ads were also really good. When I saw these ads for the first time, just moments into it, I was able to smell the cookies… I knew it was definitely an O&M ad!A league of its own!

All the four ads can be downloaded here!

Happy New Year again :-)

Evano Oruvan'in…Review.

Voila!!! Year 2007 has been glorious for Tamil Cinema. Sivaji, Billa and Pokkiri set the cash ringers ringing, drawing huge profits for producers, distributors and theater owners. Sivaji , was the most talked about film in Bollywood and it became even popular when it made it to the UK top ten. Not only the masala cinema clicked, but offbeat movies such as Paruthiveeran, Thamizh M.A , Onbadhu Roobai Note, Veyyil were also received well at the box-office....A very good sign indeed… And I almost forgot Mozhi.. A feel-good entertainer from Radha Mohan!!!

Fag-end of 2007, witnessed a critically acclaimed movie Evano Oruvan, plainly adapted from a Marathi film Dombivli Fast(2005) directed by Nishikant Kamat. Madhavan was so intrigued watching this movie that he immediately called up Nishikant, asking him to cast him in the movie if the movie is ever remade in Tamil. Nishikant and the technical crew made their debut in Tamil and Evano Oruvan arrived. Evidently mesmerized by the movie, Madhavan decided to don the mantle of dialogue-writer under the wishful/watchful eyes of Seeman and co-produced the movie with Abbas Mastan and K Sera Sera. Double-debut for Madhavan, as Dialogue-writer and a co-Producer.

Made with a shoestring budget, Evano Oruvan is a circumstantial account of a middle class man who inadvertently becomes an overnight notorious criminal. Sridhar Vasudevan(Madhavan ),a bank employee, leads a monotonous Mon-Fri-9-5 life… He is agitated by the fact that everything in the society is powered by money, where moral and ethics are only dictionary-bound. Vasudevan manages to keep his emotion in leash, until corruption knocks the door of his bank in the form of 'Cherian' .After a steamy confrontation with Cherian, Vasudevan runs amuck and eventually takes a Krishna-avatar (with a cricket bat), to fight against the evil of the society. Finally, a fiery police encounter spells doomsday for the Anti-Hero who waged an Anti-Social War!

Movie has lived up to its tagline 'Ungalil Oruvan'… I was easily able to identify myself with Sridhar Vasudevan. There are so many things contributing towards that identity factor. Am a middle-class salaried employee living in a suburb of Chennai ,just like the place Nanaganallur. Electric Trains are my mode of transport and I also hanker for Jannal orae seats. And the most important thing, I've seen for myself, the corrupt face of society. Enraged and pent-up, I flee, I quit, I retire... unlike Sridhar Vasudevan!

Actor Madhavan has done immense justice to his role and the same holds water with Sangeetha( as Vathsala). Seeman as a cop is a complete misfit, a square peg in a round hole. He doesn’t suit the character and his dialogue delivery is sporadically artificial. Madhavan as a dialogue-writer has excelled. Some of the dialogues stunned me and left me reeling. Worth a mention are 'Unmae Sudum,adhuku munnadi Unmayae namma suttudanum', 'jannal seat'a pidikarthukulla uyirae pordhu' ( one has to see the movie to understand the profound sense of this dialogue). Nishikant has diligently worked on the screenplay, to ensure the film doesn’t sound like a documentary. It is slow, but really doesn't consume your time. Really doesn’t. It takes a lot of courage to direct a film without songs and Nishikant has done it with Evano Oruvan. No songs. No frills. Pure cinema!

Without an iota of doubt, Nishikant has presented the problem of 'Corrupt Society' dutifully, but the solution?? Well, the solution is left up to YOU!

Stain your hands( with blood) or

Join your hands( against corruption).

Wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Hope Year 2008 is even better for Tamil Cinema!

Ilaiyaraaja & Counterpoint….

Yesterday, I bumped into this word called 'Counterpoint'! I had absolutely no clue what this word meant and I started wading through innumerous websites and journals to get the hang of it... Here you go!!!

Counterpoint is often defined as the art of combining independent lines. The term derives from the Latin contrapunctum, meaning ‘against note'. When there is more than one independent melodic line happening at the same time in a piece of music, the music is said to be contrapuntal. The independent melodic lines are called counterpoint. Bach's counterpoint, often considered the most profound synthesis of the two dimensions ever achieved, is extremely rich harmonically and always clearly directed tonally, while the individual lines remain fascinating.

The Musical Saint, Mr.Ilaiyaraaja, know for his out-of-the-world novel compositions, has incorporated the counterpoint technique during his prime (Late 70's and 80's) with élan. The brilliance lies in the fact that the counterpoint technique is so native to western music and Raaja has adopted that into the musical patterns of Tamil songs nonchalantly. The way Raaja has blend the western music with east is simply riveting. Sheer Genius!!! Raaja has also experimented a two-voice counterpoint in conjunction with a third voice, amid mellifluous interludes … Also, Raaja celebrated this Bach-smitten- technique with instrumental counterpoints in his illustrious musical journey!

Here are some of the songs which has shades of the counterpoint technique, and all these years we've been listening (at least I've been listening) to them without actually understanding the technical nuances of it!!!

But do we need to really understand them to appreciate Raaja??? Well, yes… We'd appreciate him even more!

• En Kanmani Un Kadhali, Chittu Kuruvi ( 1978)
• Poonthalir Aada, Panner Pushpangal (1981)
• Kanmani Anbodu, Guna ( 1981)
• Poomalaye, Pagal Nilavu(1985)
• Vikram…Vikram, Vikram ( 1986)
• Nee Partha, Hey Ram ( 2000)

P.S: Am not an expert in music. This is just an honest attempt to exemplify, counterpoint technique and glorify the brilliance of Maestro. Please let me know if you find something incorrect!

Onbadhu Roobai Note & Evano Oruvan - Movie Review...

Whhhhhhhhoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… Over the past few weeks I am treated to the hilt, when it comes to movie-watching… I've never felt so glad and content watching Tamil movies. First it was, Ram's novel 'Kattradhu Thamizh' , last week eyes soaked watching Thankar Bachan's biopic 'Onbadhu Roobai Note'….And icing on the cake was Nishikanth's 'Evano Oruvan', which I saw last night, at a rather lesser-conspicuous Anna theatre at Mount Road…

Thankar Bachan's 'Onbadhu Roobai Note' chronicles the life & times of Madhavar Padayachi (Sathyaraj). The first half sees Madhavar's rise, as a self-contented, hard working and upright individual hailing from a remote village Pathirakottai, near Panruti. Madhavar, a philanthropist by nature, leaves no stone unturned when it comes to helping the people in his village. This selfless nature of Madhavar sows the seed for a perennial camaraderie with Khaja Bhai and his wife Kameela (played by Nasser and Rohini), then struggling to come-up in their life. As time rolls, movie sails through to the second half and punctuates Madhavar's downfall. Madhavar's brother spills venom, and influences Madhavar's sons and in-laws to rebel against the monarchical rule of Madhavar. Sons and in-laws are reduced to mere puppets at the hands of guile-natured uncle. Madhavar, infuriated by their action, decides to desert the family. He along with his wife Velayi(Archana), leaves the villages and seeks help from Khaja Bhai(Nasser), who by then grows in stature and wealth. Khaja Bhai(Nasser) readily helps Madhavar, and sets-up cattle poultry for their living. Misfortune never comes single, and Madhavar loses his long-time company(Velayi) in a freak accident. Devastated by wife's demise, Madhavar languishes in seclusion and decides to return to his village. The very next day Madhavar resigns his soul at Pathirakottai!

Thankar Bachan makes no bones about his penchant for village-centered subjects. And his later offering ‘Onbadhu Roobai Note’ suggests there is more in the offering. Thankar Bachan has marshaled his resources well, and Sathyaraj after 'Vedham Pudhidhu', 'Kadalora Kavidhaigal', 'Kadamai Kanniam Kattupadu' and 'Periyar' has got a fair chance to show his mettle. An once-in-a-lifetime role, for Sathyaraj and he has grabbed it with both hands. The film travels intensely on the shoulders of Sathyaraj and the shoulders have never drooped. After watching the film, I couldn't resist thinking, how an actor of Sathyaraj's caliber is wasted all these years by the Tamil film industry. Nasser, Archana and Rohini have enacted their role to perfection. The film’s treatment is raw, rurally-raw! Music doesn’t score much. Films set-up amid this kind of milieu has lot of scope for RR, and I must confess, Bharadwaj has not made the best of the opportunity. Thankar as a cinematographer has excelled in capturing the rustic-refreshing mood of the movie. Vairamuthu’s has penned the lyrics and deserves a fair round of applause.

Mr.Thankar Bachan - Take a bow!!!

Evano Oruvan review, coming soon…

Kattradhu Thamizh (2007)

Almost a month back I watched this movie 'Kattradhu Thamizh'… I was completely taken aback when I learnt Ram Subbu was a debutant-director. A fresh plot interlaced with a gripping narrative commending sustained interest, coming straight from a debutante did really surprise me. Nevertheless Ram has scored heavily with his first outing.

Since lot of ink is already spilt on reviewing this movie from all possible quarters, I shall be pithy in this review. A contrived attempt!

Prabhakar, a devout Thamizh fanatic fumes at the step-motherly treatment given for Thamizh (language), and the fact that it happens at Tamilnadu (Home of Thamizh language) only rubs salt into wounds. Piling on to the misery is his haunted childhood and lost-love. Manic-depressed Prabhakar goes on a killing-spree and finds solace in killing people brutally. Hackneyed, it may sound, he finally finds his lover again, after momentary happiness their efforts to reunite bombs, and they relinquish and perish their life at earth to join hands in heaven.

Ram Subbu deserves a pat on his back for spearheading such a beautiful-yet-complex story. But am hard-pressed to say, the screenplay sagged occasionally. And they were some sporadic glitches as well, for example, protagonist roaming scot-free after sabotaging 27 lives, lacked logic and reasoning. But that shouldn’t cast aspersion on this talented director. Tamil Cinema has found a new lease of life, and directors like Ram Subbu , Ameer, Gautham, Vasantha Balan should be given due credit.

Jeeva, made his debut with 'Thithikudhey', and has grown by leaps and bounds since then. He's become really choosy and has the ability to deliver- more-than-expected with aplomb. His penchant towards selecting roles of various hues is sure to take him places. And 'Kattradhu Thamizh' for sure will find a place in his repertoire. Yuvan has simply rocked. He's started earning more respect for his re-recording than songs. 'Paravaye engu irrukirai' sung by the maestro himself is the best of the lot. Kadhir, the cinematographer of ‘Kattradhu Thamizh’ deserves a special mention for his adept cranking of ARRIFLEX.

A must-watch for people who belittle Tamil Cinema!

A must-watch for people who believe Tamil Cinema is graduating to the next level!

A must-watch for people who indulge in hero-worshipping!