The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Simply Complex !

If your thinking Girl + Dragon + Tattoo = Fantasy, then please erase that thought completely from your mind. This is a start to finish suspenseful crime thriller. This  is an adaptation of a Swedish Novel named  Män som hatar kvinnor – meaning "Men who hate Women".

The film's protagonist(s) are Mikael Blomkvist(Michael Nyqvist) Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). It all starts with Mike in a courtroom where he loses a case against a rich billionaire. Mike's is under the constant vigil of Lisbeth who works for a detective agency and gives an investigation report to the assistant of a rich business man who leads a very big conglomerate "Vanger" group of companies. 

Mike is being requested by Erik Vanger to visit him and when he does he explains how his niece went missing during their family reunion and that there were mysterious events taking place on that day in the Island he lived. Mr Vanger requests Mike to further investigate her disappearance even though it has been more than 30 years.

Meanwhile Lisbeth is a very strange woman who has a very rough childhood and is being abused by her caretaker. By some coincidence Mike meets her and they start to investigate together. What they find at the end of the story is very suspenseful and you would have to watch it.

The story and the actors need no comments from me since the number of awards they've been nominated and won would speak for it. The screenplay is what is very good about the movie and I heard from a friend that the movie was so exactly portrayed like what it was in the book. Its really difficult to get something from a book on the screen. The music in the Swedish version was a bit let down, but the English version had a BG score and music which gelled with the story and induced the interest every scene. 

The film was again remade in English starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara which was also nominated in 6 categories in the 84th Academy Awards and won the Award for the best Editing.

If you are craving for some suspenseful movies like Seven or Psycho here it is !!!

My Watch-o-Meter Rating is 8

Vettai - A Decent Hunt !

Lingusamy who is well known for his only 2 hits Aanandham and Run, has finally delivered another fast-paced Entertainer, but with lots of influence from Bhagyaraj's Avasara Police 100.

The story is very explicit from the trailer. Madhavan is the elder brother who happens to be timid and defensive, Arya's the younger brother who's the right opposite and loves his brother a lot. On compassionate grounds, Madhavan's offered a Sub Inspector position only to find out later that the city is an atrocious play - ground of 2 rowdy smuggling gangs.

The Villains find out the impersonation of Arya, attack Maddy and after this the story shifts gears and moves more faster and as usual ends with Maddy and Arya getting rid of the Rowdy Villains. The History, Geography, Chemistry and Physics of the brothers is what follows and ends the story. 

Lets talk about the overall picture.....

Lingusamy should be credited for introducing Tamil Cinema with Multiple Villain Syndrome ( MVS )starting from SandaKozhi. Terrible example of this disease is Paiyya!!!  Though there were 2 villains they have the same Line of Business which justifies the fight against smugglers and keeps MVS mild. 

The story could've seen lesser songs, especially in the first 45 minutes or so which has about 3 songs, yes but there are no songs after that for the next 1 hour to contain the momentum (Good job Director ). Maddy's comic sense was under utilized but was compensated by Arya's. Maddy's acting doesn't need any criticism and Arya's casual composure adds value to the screenplay. The heroines have been used as dolls, Sameera Reddy seems stupid in her role, Amala Paul's role could get some credit may be for not being portrayed as dumb. 

Lingusamy definitely needs to be applauded for openly accepting through a scene where Maddy says "Naama yen orey Maadhiri porandhu irukka koodaadhu? " that the movie was heavily inspired by Bagyaraj's Avasara Police 100 where there are 2 Baghyaraj's ,the elder son is very scared/soft and the younger one is active and does things for his brother. All other departments are "OK" level. 

The editing and cinematography alone stand out and the former provided some good transition for the fast paced screen play. Not too many shakes in the camera for the fight scenes!!!

So what doesn't sound right?

1. Everyone  in the story speak with a Therkatthi (Southern) dialect except the 4 lead actors.

2. No importance to the supporting characters other than the lead 4.

3. Nasser wasted !!!! Doesn't get the importance which even Thambi Ramaiah gets.

4. Useless USA maapillai character and scenes ( I plead to the Directors to use Bride-grooms from Australia or Dubai, எவ்வளோ நாள் தான் USA மாபிள்ளைகள் அடி வாங்கறது??? )

5. Too lengthy second half makes us to ask Maddy to kill the villain immediately

The above factors have affected what could've been a very good entertainer to a decent entertainer . Overall we can watch this a couple of times may be for the fight scenes and Arya/Madhavan's comedy.

My Watch-o-Meter Rating is 6

Mouna Guru - A Silent Kill !

Director Santhakumar has done "Justice" to the title of this movie, The Master of Silence.

Arulnidhi ( Karunakaran ) a short tempered youngster who gets into trouble most of the time and doesn't like how the society treats him. He has a conventionally worrying mother who curses him of his incapacity to sustain himself in one school/college for long. As a result of his bad temper, Arul is rusticated from his college and hence he and his mother go to Chennai where his brother gets him an admit into one of the Arts colleges he has connections with. Arul's brother's sister in law (Iniya ) stays in the same house and they like each other. Arul's Sister in Law doesn't like him for his behavior and wants him moved to a hostel. After some hardship he gets a room in the college hostel. 

The Hostel is another story by itself, lot of stuff gets stolen most of the time and people keep complaining the warden on things getting stolen. There are a couple of people who don't like Arul and give him a hard time, Arul due to certain circumstances gets popular in school and this kindles more hatred for the earlier mentioned folks. 

Then there's another story where a small group of cops led by an Assistant Commissioner (John Vijay - the assistant of Prithiviraj in Ravanan ) witness an accident on a highway and find that there's a big stash of cash in the car which they take it without anyone seeing it. This information gets leaked out of group by the commissioner's girl friend. 

What happens after this is a series of twists and turns and how this affects Karuna, the college, the police department, the government ( yes the government ) and how all stories get connected. 

Given that the genre of this movie is a Crime Thriller I cannot break any more ice here !!!

SCREENPLAY if made into a Hollywood movie will get extremely Rave Reviews. I am guessing it will soon be remade into a Bollywood movie. A very well crafted "Parallel Cinema" in a thriller Genre after a long time ( after Virumandi, Yuva and the recent Yudham Sei ). I can't believe the director was a Debutant. 

The screen play is so well knit that the director has only 3 songs in the movie one of which comes with the title of the movie and describes the lead character. There were certain places where the screenplay needed some more explanation like the relationship between Iniya and Arul which was a bit haphazard due to its importance to the remaining script, the climax of the movie which seemed quite lengthy had some additional twists which eclipses that lag. Each and every character, warden, principal, watchmen, even the one in the mental asylum had an importance which is what a very good writer would want. 

Music is the heart of any thriller and the heart had a very good rhythm in this screenplay unlike Thaman's earlier RR for Eeram wasn't very appealing. But with this release he can be proud about doing suspense and thriller genres in the future. 

The DOP needs to be appreciated for his work since the camera portrayed scenes through unconventional angles and was interesting, I guess they used natural lighting in most of the parts and the locations well suited the story.  

Arulnidhi has again proved he's a "Directors Actor", he has transformed himself as the character and has gelled into the story. He has very less to talk and listens to almost all of the insults which others make against him in a very silent manner. He has evolved into another versatile actor in Tamil Cinema who has proved that you don't have to scream or hit 10 people to show that you're versatile. 

Iniya is seen as a very timid girl and very charming. Not her best performance I'd say when you compare Vaagai Sooda Va, but doesn't make us feel the way we see actresses in Vijay's movies who come only to woo the hero's with their beauty and body language. 

John Vijay has now established himself in a way that he can play any character with ease. There were a few scenes where his body language kind of reminds me of Pasupathy's mannerisms (thats just me). 

A bonus surprise character here is that off Uma Riyaaz who also comes in as a pregnant cop with a cool head!! Last time we saw he on screen was with Kamal Hassan's "Anbe Sivam"

Overall the movie stands out in every department and I wish the director doesn't stop here and would like to see more crime/suspense thriller from him. There's some heavy competition for  Bharathiraja's place after he's gone !!!!!

My rating for this movie is 7 

City of Joy - Needs to be remade again!

This movie is very peculiar, it starts like a Hyperlink Cinema and ends with many characters united.

Famines in the West Bengal region forces a farmer's family move to Calcutta ( present Kolkatta ) in search of a better living. The family consists of Hazari Paal (Om Puri  ), Kamala Pal (Shabana Azmi ) and their 3 Children ,an elder daughter and 2 sons. Like the usual norm this new "Villager" is being cheated for a house in Calcutta and is being ripped off the entire 200Rupees he had with him and is shewed of to the streets with his entire family ( Yes exactly that's how they show in the film, which is also a reality ). 

A medical doctor Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze ) from Texas loses a small girl during a shift and quits his job and moves to India in search of peace, enlightenment and self realization ( no answers as to why he chose crowded Calcutta ). Just like the other protagonist of the film, he's beaten down in a bar and looted of his money and his ornaments. He's being saved by OmPuri who happens to be sleeping on the streets during this ordeal. He's treated at a local clinic near the slums where an Irish volunteering nurse played by Pauline Collins helps the people living in the there. Pauline and Patrick start of with a rough note and later become friends.

Om Puri gets a job as a rickshaw puller and gets to have an improved living and moves into the slums of Calcutta which the call the "City Of Joy". The Doctor seems to be getting along with the people after he helps deliver a baby for a Leper woman. Shabana Azmi also becomes his assistant and helps the community. The God Father of this community doesn't like the doctor's PR ,the entrant of lepers into the slum and tries to prevent his growth. The Doctor also tries to go back and get away from emotional attachments with the people. He urges them to go against the GodFather and his son and they are brutally punished for this act.

The movie ends with how the people win over the wealthy godfather and what effects of the doctor from a foreign country are imparted on the people. 

The dialogues of the movie are really good to hear, especially for those who listen a lot to them, one such is by OmPuri which goes like "A man's journey to the end of his obligations is a very long road." The screenplay of the movie is not that it can be appreciated, it kind of gets confused in its path since it tries to capture/target more than one issue at a time. At times you might feel that the story might be haphazard but is still a good cry for attention.

All the characters in the movie seem like they've actually been filmed of their real lives,trust me it was that real of how they emote and react in every scene. A special mention to OmPuri whom we all know as one of the best villain of all times has given a very powerful performance in his character as a rickshaw puller.

The movie highlights the

• Treatment of Leprosy and that its not a communicably contagious disease.
• A scene where Shabana Azmi mentions that a person with a pure heart need not worry about getting the disease is very good to hear.
• Poverty stricken Rickshaw pullers who work almost around the clock to support their families
• Unavailability  of medical facilities in the slums of Calcutta (India )
• Joy inside a community irrespective of their living conditions
• Importance of NGO's in the eradication of Poverty.

The movie ends with an end credit dedicating this movie to the life of the Rickshaw pullers and to charities by Mother Teresa.

Had this movie been released now with the advancement of media outreach, more people would watch it and try to help the Rickshaw pullers to get a better Living. 

My Watchometer rating for this movie - 6.5