Movie Review 02: Mankatha

MANKATHA

"Mankatha", the most awaited Tamil film of 2011 goes on with a bang. This was the first movie I had the chance to watch on the 1st day, amidst all the Ajith mania around. And it was worth the effort.
Ajith hits the jackpot with his 50th movie. The days of the always good, up right Samaritan Tamil hero is over. Ajith shows that a character that is not a heroic can win him more applause than any other character he did. He did something that resembles a Mad Hatter or a Joker in Batman. The movie is out and out fun fare with the lots of unusual twists at the most unlikeliest situations.
The story is the robbery of 500 cr during the betting of IPL final match and the how the spoils of the fortune turn each member against each other. Well the movie gives fresh perspective of a story not the usual good guys fights bad guy.
Within the first 15 mins into the movie you know the director is a Ajith fan. The movie fairly rests on his antics, his punch dialogues (everyone's fav 'Money Money Money') , and also his sophisticated peppered hair. The 1st half keeps you glued at the edge of the seat except for the ill placed duet and the garish background changes that goes with it. The 2nd half is all about the chase, mind games, betrayals . When the first death happens you get the feeling that everyone involved is gonna die. Arjun, a contemporary of the previous decade, complements the bad boy image of Ajith very well. You expect the usual Good cop Vs Bad cop sequences and the action between them does the trick.
This movie has all the ingredients of what guys like: girls, car chasing, booze, cricket, smoking. There is of course gonna be a increase of youngsters trying to ape Ajith's style of smoking and his mannerisms until his next movie.
The climax tends to be a deja vu . For a Non Ajith fan this movie can entertain you with all the references about previous movies each character has made. With everything said background music is so awesome. But with all the hoopla, songs dont match that hype except the title song.
Mankatha , a bold attempt that breaks the cliches of Tamil movies... Bravo Venkat Prabhu and his team.

Movie Review 01:Amélie

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

This is the original title of the French movie "Amélie". This was the 1st Non english European movie i watched one summer many years ago. This film is important for me because of the characterization of Amelie became the basis from which I would develop my personality on for many years to come.
This is a story of Amelie(Audrey Tautou) who is been misdiagnosed for heart disease so home tutored and being a jail bird all through her childhood with a widowed father. She goes on to Paris to work as a waitress in a cafe. Life goes on but she could not find any zeal in her life with no real contact with people around her.Then she watches Princess Diana's death on telly and changes her attitude to help everyone she knows and some whom she doesnt know yet.
A lot of fantasy has been intermixed with reality, romance and humour. But this is such a feel good movie. It was like walking in the sunshine with the grass underneath.
Audrey Tautou is Amelie I cannot differentiate that it was a act. The music score is apt for the situation. Nothing went overboard. This is one of the best movies of the decade.
Amelie even thought released 10 years before addresses the fact that even though we are in a global village we don't have enough human touch. The need to help a blind person on the road, the courtesy to ask a depressed land lady and being insecure that the world may forget you once you leave .......