Tag: Ponniyin Selvan

Premam

May 15, 2024 / / 2 Comments

I wanted to watch Premam for a really long time, because of the reviews it had garnered. But I was busy with my own life, getting married, moving to USA, coming back to India and all.

Recently, I read an article about Sai Pallavi, since she is going to play Ma Sita in the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Ramayan. That brought back the list of movies I wanted to watch and I ended up watching Premam. So, here goes the review.

Interestingly, I watched the movie almost 7 years after its release.

Released on : May 29, 2015.

Reviewed on : May 16, 2024. (after almost 7 years!)

Directed by : Alphonse Puthren

Starring : Nivin Pauly, Anupama Parameswaran, Sai Pallavi and Madonna Sebastian.

 

The movie starts in Aluva, Kerala, with George David (Nivin Pauly), a 16 year old teenager, busy writing a love letter for his first love, Mary George (Anupama Parameswaran), who is a regular high schooler, girl next door, with bushy hair.  George’s bestie Koya even wonders what George sees in her! Infact, she has most of the local boys wooing her. Her father is always on his toes, shooing away all the boys who crave for Mary’s attention. Even I wondered why so many boys always waited near her gate (in-spite of her strict father), trying to catch a glimpse of Mary. Its not like she is the only girl in Aluva! George’s love comes to an end as Mary loves another boy.

Years pass by and the once innocent George David now sports a full beard and a mustache. He and his friends are a tight bunch and are always ready to fight. He is a college student.

Then comes Malar (Sai Pallavi), the guest lecturer in his college. George smokes, he drinks, he appears to be a tough guy but is soft at heart.  He falls in love with Malar at first sight.  It is interesting to see that, George, has no prejudices. Once again Koya asks why George likes a lecturer, who has pimples on her face, who is from another religion and community, who speaks another language, who is also few years older to him.  George is pretty open minded and he is confident his parents will accept his love. He manages to express his love and Malar loves him too.

The brief dance sequence by Malar is beautiful. (No movie of Sai Pallavi is complete without a dance number.)

Since I already saw the movie poster, I was sure there is another heroine who is yet to enter the picture and wondered how this love story is going to end. (Either the lover has to die or cheat him because of some unknown reason. Thankfully, the director didn’t go down this route.) Turns out Malar loses her memory during an accident and that’s the end of the love for George. (He is brave enough to visit her after the accident but not brave enough to wait for her to regain her memory.) At that instance George proves why age difference is important. He is immature.

He later attends Malar’s wedding and that closes the second chapter of love for George.

Years pass and George is now the owner of a cafe. He even bakes the cakes himself.  He now ditches the beard and only has a mustache. (Simple manipulation facial hair changes his face a lot. Guys are so lucky. Women can never change their appearance so drastically!) He meets Celine (Madonna Sebastian). She flirts with him with knowing smiles and glances and he seems interested in her.  Turns out, she is the beautiful younger sister of Mary George, his first love!

Instead of wasting time to woo her, George directly asks her if she is ok with marrying him. (Almost all his friends are married and he is a 30 year old.) He has his priorities right, his goal is marriage!

After a minute set back regarding an ex-fiance, George weds Celine at the end. Even Malar comes to his wedding and wishes the couple.

What I loved:

The natural acting and progress of the story (especially of the lead pair). I liked the chemistry of George and Malar at first and later of George and Celine. The expertise of the director is also apparent from the way the film was made. I already have a high opinion of Kerala and its streets, so, watching this movie filled me with positive vibes.  It was relatable. I liked how even the heroines are not portrayed as having no flaws, but as mere humans. They charm us with their nativity.

Although I am have no knowledge of Malayalam, I found a couple of songs good. This is the second Mallu movie that I liked a lot , after Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey! ( I also liked Drushyam 1 and 2, but I hardly know the lead pair of Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey and this is my first Nivin Pauly movie.) Drushyam has Mohanlal and he is not a newbie, so liking his movies is a no-brainer!

P.S:

  1. We all know some directors love to do cameos in their own movies, this is one of those. The director Alphonse Puthren appears at the end, as Roney Varghese,ex-fiance of Celine. It is a powerful cameo, because, I felt like he deserved the beatings he got from Nivin and others in Premam!
  2. The other famous cameos include Rajamouli in a scene before item song in Baahubali – The Beginning and Quentin Tarantino in Django Unchained! There are others too, but I am unable to recall at the moment.
  3. I also like watching movies of Mammootty and Suresh Gopi. After Ala Vaikuntapuram, Ponniyin Selvan and oldie Pancha thanthiram, I also admire Jayaram, not to forget ‘Ramam‘ Dulquer Salman!
  4. I wonder if Nitesh Tiwari the Ramayan movie director is going to use Sai Pallavi’s dance expertise in the movie. She could probably perform a beautiful number like the Pranavalaya song in Shyam Singha Roy and steel many hearts up North India! A graceful Ma Sita indeed!

Guntur Kaaram!

January 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I am not a fan of Mahesh Babu. (Sorry fans!) I am more of a story centric viewer. I was not at all eager to watch Guntur Kaaram. Firstly, I didn’t know it was directed by Trivikram Srinivas, secondly, I didn’t particularly enjoy the trailer! In-spite of this, I watched Guntur Kaaram, because, we have a family friend A, who gave us free passes for the movie! (Fans do so much for their Stars!)

Without much ado, let me review the movie.

Review:

Directed by : Trivikram Srinivas

Released On : January 2024

Actors: Mahesh Babu, Sree Leela, Rao Ramesh, Prakash Raj, Murali Sharma, Jayaram and Jagapathi Babu.

The story starts with a fire accident and the ensuing fight causes Raghu Babu to kill Sunil by mistake. (Sunil in a brief cameo.) Incidentally, the fire also causes Ramana (Mahesh Babu, MB for short in this post) to lose sight in his left eye. (I am not exactly sure about it, but how can a person who is partially blind in an eye, not even show a little bit of discomfort in his fights or dances? That’s hero worship for you, where even the director is blinded by the hero and his fandom!)

The fire accident also causes a rift between both MB’s parents, where his father ends in jail and mom leaves her only child to marry another gentleman, Rao Ramesh. They have a son, Rahul Ravidran (another useless cameo!), who could have been replaced by a card board figure and no one would have known the difference, as such!

Jayaram, plays the father of MB, who does nothing but sit in his corner table and listen to situational songs. (Perfect example of casting an actor for a role without scope for acting. He hardly gets a scene to perform. I loved him in Ponniyin Selvan and even Ala Vaikuntapuramlo)

How would a child turn out if the father lives in his own world and a mom who leaves the child and never stays in touch? The child would have issues, with everyone and everything. That is the reason for MB’s temper issues. (Guntur Kaaram)

Ramya Krishna plays MB’s mom and she gets a scene or two, to show her prowess.

Anyway, Prakash Raj, plays maternal grandfather of MB. As you might have guessed he is the villain, who wants nothing but MB signing off his inheritance and the likes. His lawyer Murali Sharma is incharge of getting MB to sign. This somehow brings Vennela Kishore and Sree Leela into the picture, who are after MB to get him to sign.

That is where everything goes wrong for me. Which lawyer in the world would send his own daughter to pester a man, who is known all around to be Guntur Kaaram, known for his temper issues?  Why is there a need for so many cameos? Why did Jagapathi Babu even work in the movie? Why is there a character of cousin in the movie, called Raji? What is the significance? The only thing I could come up with is, Trivikram roped in one actor each from all his hit movies, to give Guntur Kaaram an extra push!

But…

Guntur Kaaram feels similar to Ala Vaikuntapuram.

Rahul Ravindran replacing Sushanth,

Ramya Krishna mirroring Tabu, (both living with their rich fathers)

Prakash Raj – villainous grandfather replacing the lovable grandpa Sachin Khedekar

Sree Leela replacing the dusky Pooja Hegde

Meenakshi Chaudhary and her counter part Nivetha Pethuraj

Mother sentiment in both the movies, even background score is similar to Ala Vaikuntapuram. Lack of creativity and imagination from director and music director is sad.

Trivikram even managed to rope in Eashwari Rao ( the nurse from Ala Vaikuntapuram. She plays MB’s aunt.)

Seasoned actors Prakash Raj, Ramya Krishna, Jayaram, Murali Sharma, Vennela Kishore performed well within the scope of their respective roles. MB never lit so many cigarettes in any movie ever! He has performed better in the dance numbers, probably not wanting to lose to Sree Leela! The movie is worth watching only for its seasoned actors and MB.

I am not a fan of the unnecessary dance performance by Sree Leela, in the godown! We all know she is a fabulous dancer, but the sequence is so out of place. I loved Ala Vaikuntapuramlo better, because, the hero worship was less apparent! (Atleast it had top notch acting from Murali Sharma, Sachin Khedekar and Allu Arjun, while the story was the main hero!)

P.S:

  1. It has its moments, but it is no ‘Athadu‘ or ‘Khaleja‘. It is just a forgettable Guntur Kaaram! (But fans may disagree with me.)
  2. I dozed off in the second half of the movie, that sums up everything for you.
  3. I know a hero needs to cater to his fans, but I was surprised by mass song MB performed at the end! It reminded the song, Ma Ma Mahesha from Sarkar Vari Pata. That is not all. The concept of the heroine approaching MB with ulterior motive is similar to what Keerthi Suresh did in Sarkar Vari Pata. Overall, Guntur Kaaram is a mash up of two hit movies but it still is a mediocre one time watch!
  4. If you are in a mood for a new movie, with fantastic visuals, goose bump moments and without cheap thrills, head straight to ‘Hanu-Man‘ and thank me later.

Ponniyin Selvan – 2 – A Review

May 11, 2023 / / 0 Comments

High on the beautiful saga of Ponniyin Selvan -1, I managed to watch Ponniyin Selvan -2  yesterday and here comes the review, while it is still in fresh in my mind!

While PS-1, was all about introducing the various important characters of the Chola Dynasty and their power equations and enemy rulers Pandyans, PS-2 is all emotions and drama!

Adithya, Arulmozhi and Kundavai

***Major Spoilers ahead***

Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 2

Director : Mani Ratnam

Released in: May 2023

QB watched on: May 2023

 

PS-2 starts with the love story of Nandini and Adithya Karikalan, which although is beautiful, it is short lived. I loved watching the young actors perform the sad love story! Once Adithya shows off Nandini as his love interest, she is deported from the Chola empire, thanks to crown Princess Kundavai and Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi (yesteryear heroine Jaya Chitra), both of who despise Nandini, largely due to the fact that she is an orphan. Adithya only finds her, years later, with Veera Pandyan (Nasser in a cameo), who takes her under his wings. Here, we was left wondering what exactly the relation was, between Nandini and Veera Pandyan.

Meanwhile, Arulmozhi Varman and Vandiyadevar, survive the ship wreck thanks to the old mute Mandakini Devi (Aishwarya Rai,in dual role, supposedly the birth mother of Nandini) who manages to save the injured Arulmozhi Varman. Vandiyadevar diverts the pandyans (and sends away Arulmozhi to a safe location) in search of Arulmozhi, fights Pandyan Ravidasan (Kishore, who also happens to be Forest Officer from the Kantara movie, if you need the reference) and is captured and taken to Nandini, the ally of Pandyans. Nandini vows to avenge the death of Veera Pandyan. Here, Vandiyadevar finds out that Nandini intends to kill Adithya Karikalan by herself.(The Pandyans have their doubts, because, it is a known fact that Karikalan and Nandini were once lovers) Once Vandiyadevar reveals to Nandini, about meeting her mother in SriLanka, she spares his life in return. The boat scenes in the movie, are beautiful to look at, I loved the cinematography.

Vandiyadevar meets Kundavai and tells her Arulmozhi is safe and sound with the Buddhist monks, whereas Nambi  relays the same message to Adithya Karikalan. Both the siblings reach Lankan Buddhist monastery and meet Arulmozhi, who plans on returning to the Cholan capital of Thanjavur. (Meanwhile, Madhuranthakan is creating an army for himself, which consists mostly of Shiva Bhakts, in the hopes of defeating Adithya Karikalan and Sundara Chola and ruling the Chola Kingdom. At first glance I thought what are Aghoras doing with Madhuranthakan!)

Here, Kundavai, Vandiyadevar and Arulmozhi warn Adithya Karikalan against meeting Nandini at Kadambur. (Earlier in the movie, Parthibendran Pallavan(Vikram Prabhu), best friend of Karikalan, who is besotted with Nandini, convinces Karikalan to meet Nandini at Kadambur) Nandini, who is the famed beauty of Cholan Empire, has a sway with men. (I loved the costumes and jewellery of Aishwarya rai in the movie. Excellent work by the design team.)

Soon, we learn that, Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi (the mother of Nandini), loved each other! During the Pandyan assassination attempt on Sundara Chola, Mandakini saves him and dies in the process. Thank God for that. (I didn’t like watching Aishwarya Rai as an old lady, with little scope for acting!) At one point in the movie, I wondered if Nandini and Kundavai, Adithya Karikalan and Arulmozhi were really half siblings, thanks to the love between Sundara Chola and Mandakini Devi. But the doubt is soon clarified. Nandini and the Cholan siblings are not related. Phew, the story would have been so sad, if they really were half siblings!

Adithya Karikalan, inspite of his knowledge of his planned assassination, meets Nandini and dies in the process. (He is ok with dying at the hands of Nandini. Just like in the Hindi movie, Raanjhanaa, where Dhanush dies in a similar fashion!) The death predicted at the beginning of PS-1 is that of Adithya Karikalan.  Vandiyadevar, tries to save him, but fails and he is mistaken to be the murderer!

Later, Nandini finds out VeeraPandiyan was infact her father and she commits suicide, unable to come to terms with the death of Karikalan. (I still don’t understand Nandini and Karikalan, if they were so in love, why didn’t they just run away and live happily after? This point might have been explained in the book, but in the movie, it is still a mystery!) There is a fight between Pandyans and Cholas and Madhuranthakan aides Cholas. Cholas win.  Ponniyin Selvan Arulmozhi Varman crowns Madhuranthakan as the new Cholan King! (and 15 years later, Ponniyin Selvan ascends the throne of Chola Empire and his reign saw  most advancements in the Empire. He comes to be known as Raja Raja Chola, king of the Kings!

*** spoilers end***

What I liked, is the top notch acting. It is sad to see Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love come to a tragic end, Vikram and Aishwarya Rai shine in their roles. Like I said in PS-1 post, Karthi excels as Vandiyadevar. All the others have bit roles and limited screen time.

What I didn’t like is the last twenty minutes seem rushed. The fight could have been better. But that is not all. Why name the movie Ponniyin Selvan if the actor playing Ponniyin Selvan gets less screen time? I liked Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan and he shows in bits and pieces why he is liked and loved by his people. He is level headed and intelligent.  The movie should have been named, Adithya Karikalan! Although I love Vikram and his acting, I didn’t understand why he got top billing in a movie about Ponniyin Selvan! I was eagerly waiting for scenes of Arulmozhi Varman, but the achievements of Raja Raja Chola are mentioned at the end and the credits roll! (Does that mean, PS-2 is just a tragic love story, albeit in a historical setting?)

Such a disappointment!

P.S:

  1. I searched the net far and wide to see if there is going to be a Ponniyin  Selvan – 3, but I don’t think there is going to be one! So it is a big let down, rushing the last twenty minutes of the movie, with reams and reams of story remaining!
  2. According to online sources, Ponniyin Selvan , as written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, focuses and heroes Arulmozhi Varman, but this PS-2, although named after Ponniyin Selvan, talks more about his elder brother Adithya Karikalan! (I forgave the first movie with less screen time for Ponniyin Selvan, because, Mani Ratnam had to introduce us to many characters and I was fine with it.)
  3. I am hungry for more information regarding the real Arulmozhi Varman, i.e. Raja Raja Chola, who was the inspiration for Ponniyin Selvan. He was the man behind the construction of Brihadeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. I hope to visit it someday, in future. Probably in my 40s!
  4. The elder brother of Arulmozhi, Adithya Karikalan was murdered in real life too and it still remains a mystery, but some historians believe the Pandyans were behind the crime. Pandyans wanted Adithya dead, for killing Veera Pandyan. (Kalki Krishnamurthy had used real historical figures as characters for his novel, including the Chola siblings.)

Till the next post!

Ponniyin Selvan – 1 – A Review

May 10, 2023 / / 2 Comments

Although the movie, Ponniyin Selvan -1 was released last year, what with the mixed reviews of it being confusing and lengthy, I refrained from watching it! Then again, with Ponniyin Selvan -2 releasing a week ago, I really wanted to see what all the buzz was about. So a late review of PS-1 is here.

Let’s jump right into the review.

Disclaimer : I hardly know Tamil and Tamil literature. My review is based on my understanding of the movie.

Title : Ponniyin Selvan – 1

Director : Mani Ratnam

Released in: September 2022

QB watched on: May 2023

Streamed on Amazon Prime

Review:

The movie starts with a falling star and death of an important person in Chola Empire is predicted! Now, who is the important person in chola Empire? Is it Sundara Chola (weak and sick Prakash Raj) or the Crown Prince Adithya Karikalan (Chiyan Vikram, still looking like a 40 year old!) or Kundavai, the only daughter of Sundara Chola (Trisha) or Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan)? Or is it the Sundara Chola’s cousin Uttama Chola or Madhuranthakan (Rahman)?

***Major spoilers ahead  ***

Adithya Karaikalan, is stationed at Kanchi, fighting wars and annexing new kingdoms to the Chola Empire. Kundavai is stationed with her sick father, aiding in the rule.  Karikalan, sends his trusted friend, Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Karthi), a Vaanar clan prince , as a spy to relay some of his doubts regarding unrest in the political scene of Chola Empire, to Kundavai and Sundara Chola.

During his visit to Kadambur, Vandiyadevan finds out that Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (Sharat Kumar), Chinna  Pazhuvettaraiyar (Parthiban), some other ministers don’t want Adithya Karikalan to ascend the throne. They want to back Madhuranthakan to be the new face of Chola Empire! Madhuranthakan, is the cousin of Adithya and Arulmozhi.

We also get a brief glimpse of Adithya Karikalan and Nandini’s love story.  As the movie progresses, we find, Nandini is in fact married to Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (whom Adithya Karikalan addresses as grandfather! )

Meanwhile, Vandiyadevan comes across a Vaishnavite Azhwarkkadiyan Nambi( Jayaram), who is also a spy for the Cholan Prime Minister. Thanks to the information from Nambi, Vandiyadevan manages to reach Nandini (Aishwarya Rai). He later reaches out to Sundara Chola and Kundavai and relays his message. (Vandhiyadevan is a clever and brave ally to Chola Crown Prince and he proves his worth time and again.) Kundavai asks him to bring Ponniyin Selvan aka Arulmozhi Varman to Chola Empire, from far away Sri Lanka!

That is the first time we see Ponniyin Selvan, at SriLanka, where he is busy learning the wisdom of life from Buddhist monks and also defeating Raja Mahindra in Lanka. Ponniyin Selvan infact means, son of river Kaveri, because, Arulmozhi was once saved from drowning in the river. In fact, he was saved by a lady with long tresses of grey hair. (We later learn that it is Aishwarya Rai in a dual role.)

Unknown to all, the Pandyans are after the three heirs of Chola empire, Karikalan, Kundavai and Ponniyin Selvan. They want all of them dead!

Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and the other ministers force Sundara Chola to issue an order to arrest his own son, Ponniyin Selvan in SriLanka and bring him to Thanjavur, the capital of Chola Empire. (PS had infact rejected the throne of Asoka’s daughter, given to him by the Buddhist monks and that is considered an offense by the ministers of Chola. Sundara Chola agrees to arrest his son, only because he thinks, that will guarantee his son’s safe travel!)

Meanwhile, the pandyans arrive at Lanka, to assassinate Ponniyin Selvan. Samudrakumari or Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi) who admires the Ponniyin Selvan, warns him regarding the Pandyans, once they enter Lankan waters. (Poonguzhali is actually the niece of old Aishwarya Rai!)

Vandiyadevan agrees to be the decoy, by dressing up as Arulmozhi Ponniyin Selvan. He gets captured, whereas Arulmozhi manages to escape the Pandyans. Once Ponniyin Selvan finds out that Vandhiyadevan is captured, he returns to save his friend. The movie ends with the storm wrecking the ship with Arulmozhi Varman and Vandhiyadevan and Chola Empire hearing the news of the death of Ponniyin Selvan! (We also get to see old Aishwarya Rai, dive into the ocean waters, trying to save Arulmozhi Varman, once again, that is the actual end of the movie!)

After watching the movie, the revelation was Karthi! Boy can he act. He is a natural. He fares better than his sibling, who is more popular, I don’t know why (He seems stiff and one dimensional!) It is a pleasure watching Karthi in the movie. Bravo!

Once I saw the movie poster, I thought the main character of Ponniyin Selvan was played by Chiyan Vikram, but nope, it was played by Jayam Ravi! (He is built for the character of a future king. He looks powerful and level headed.)

Vikram’s role is a piece of cake for him , Trisha, has a sizable character. Sobhita (lover of Ponniyin Selvan), Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Lekshmi have very little screen time. I liked watching Jayaram as Nambi, who is a little goofy, perfect as a spy. Aishwarya Rai gets the best role, which has internal conflict, grey shades and scope for acting.

It was an engaging watch (doesn’t seem lengthy or boring at all) and I hardly knew what was in store. It didn’t have any hero elevation moments or stuff like that. But still, it managed to capture my heart. It shows what an efficient director can do, even without any theatricals. (Mani Ratnam movie direction style is so different from that of Rajamouli. I don’t mean to compare them, as they are as different as chalk and cheese.)

All in all, I wanted to watch the PS – 2 , as soon as I was done watching PS -1 .

P.S:

  1. Ponniyin Selvan is a fictional historical novel written by the Tamil writer, Kalki Krishnamurthy. Although I never read his novel, I became a fan, once I was done watching the movie. I want to start reading the novel too, if I get a copy in either English or Telugu. Need to surf the net regarding the same.
  2. After studying briefly about Mr.Kalki Krishnamurthy, I wonder if he was an inspiration behind the story and or character names of Baahubali movies too! He had written a novel called Shivagami Sapadham and Karikala Kattappa reminds me of Adithya Karikalan (it might just be a coincidence).
  3. Ponniyin Selvan character is based on the historical figure, which we had studied in our schooling(long forgotten), Raja Raja Chola!
  4. The hair bun of Trisha seems so unique and must have been heavy on her neck, though!
  5. The words with ‘z’ in it, like in Poonguzhali  need to be pronounced with a ‘lla’/’lli’ sound. I found it the hard way, when I first pronounced the old and famous Shobhana starrer Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu!
  6. Since the movie has loads and loads of characters, it is a little tricky writing the review! Review of PS-2 coming soon!

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