Tamil Movie Reviews

thamizh padam movie review

A parody that makes mockery of some of the memorable scenes from Tamil Cinema turns out to be a watchable entertainment, even if it is not as good as some of the movies satirized! Formula based movie making, masala scenes and Tamil sentiment are part and parcel of Tamil cinema, and poking fun at them is acceptable as long as the movie can cleverly exploit this and make the audience have a few hearty laughs. Thamizh Padam does this and the manner in which scenes have been picked and stitched together and the witty dialogues pass the muster and keep audience entertained till end.  Low budget and with no major names, the movie proves worthy of watching by striking at the heart of Tamil cinema, with wit and humour to bring a refreshing movie going experience.

Rating **1/2

Watch the Movie Trailer here

Director -   C.S. Amudhan

Producer -    Dhayanithi Alagiri
Writer -    C.S. Amudhan, Chandru
Cast --    Shiva, Disha Pandey, Vennira adai Murthy, M.S. Baskar, Manobala, Paravai Muniamma
Music --    Kannan
Cinematography  -  Nirav Shah
Editor -- T.S. Suresh

Abiyum Naanum

Director Radha Mohan delivers another family entertainer after his successful ‘Mozhi’. Like ‘Mozhi’, this film too could have ended up as a top grade movie if the director had avoided unnecessary scenes and comical situations that has no impact on the storyline.  Prakashraj has been flawless despite being tested by Director in some seemingly inappropriate and poorly inserted scenes. Aishwarya plays her character perfectly and with Trisha in the cast, one has to say that Radha Mohan has the knack of forming good teams, just like in ‘Mozhi’. Despite drawbacks, this is clean family entertainment with emotions, humour and lessons to be learned.  Vidyasagar doesn’t live upto his reputation, although most songs go well with the storyline.

Rating **

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Director -    Radha Mohan

Producer --     Prakash Raj
Writer -    Radha Mohan
Cast --    Prakashraj, Trisha, Ganesh, Prithviraj
Music --    Vidyasagar
Cinematography  -   Preetha
Editor -- M. Kasivishwanathan

Varanam Aayiram

Director --     Gautham Menon
Producer -    Oscar Ravichandran
Writers -  Gautham menon
Cast -  Surya, Simran, Divya, Sameera
Music -- Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography -  R.Rathnavelu
Editor -- Anthony Gonsalvez

Watch the Movie Trailer

Here is how I will be rating movies

Scale of 5 stars

No star : Crap or trash whatever you may call, simply not worth your time, let alone a Rupee spent

0.5 star : non-existent!

1 – 2 stars  : Film of some substance and some high points but generally disappointing. Don’t watch unless you have something compelling about the movie

2 – 3 stars : Film that can be watched although some critics may not agree. The film has some strong point in one or more areas to be applauded. Of course the movie could have been much better

3 – 4 stars : A fine movie by Indian Tamil Cinema standards, but has some weaknesses that may not be apparent to all. Go and watch if you haven’t as you may be missing that is good

4.5 stars : This is a far superior movie by any Cinema standards, and of course would be vying for the movie of the decade award, and top 10 Tamil movies of all time award.

5 stars : Movie of sheer class and something that needs combined skills of Maniratnam, K. Balachandar and Balu Mahendra, brainstorming with Kamal Hassan!. Such a movie may never materialise. If it does, it will be a D-Day in the annals of Tamil cinema

Director --     P. Vasu
Producers -    K. Balachandar, Ashwini Dutt, G.P. Vijayakumar
Writers -  Sreenivasan
Cast -  Rajinikanth, Nayanthara, Meena, Pasupathy, Livingston, Vadivelu
Music -- G.V. Prakashkumar
Cinematography -  Arvind Krishna
Editor -- Ashmith Kunder

Despite being a poorer remake of the Malayalam original, this is film that every Rajini fan should watch. It is pure irony that the film lacks any and all masala aspects seen fromhis past hits, but brings Shivaji Rao  the common man to silver screen in a minor yet a stellar role. This is a far cry from the larger than life hero image and dialogues that were integral in his top grossing ‘masala’ movies.   To his credit, Rajini has played one of his best supporting roles and acted admirably in this movie.  This brought back memories of his early days where he acted as a protagonist alongside Kamal, before fame and inimtable style took over transforming him to a level not seen before in Tamil cinema.

The story revolves around the friendship and ends on a beautiful and moving note.  If Rajini’s role is refreshingly good, the same cannot not be said of the rest. Pasupathi, Nayanthara and Meena have all ‘partcipated’ well partially due to their own limitations but more so by the way the roles were poorly slotted to them.  Pasupathi is a far better actor than he is made to look, and it would be quite unfortunate if he does not get a hero role again.

Script hasn’t been great and what carries the film though is the ‘human’ bondage portrayed vetween two childhood friends, and how they take different paths and meet up on a climax that is worthy of going to the theatre to see.

My rating **   (2 out of 5)

Watch the Movie Trailer here