It’s the story of two brothers played by Napolean and RK. Rk is a drunkard whom no girl will marry. The brothers have an enemy (Lal) who has a sister and when RK gets reformed, he falls in love with a city bred girl (Bhanu). Vadivelu plays RK’s uncle who is his side-kick and always gets beaten up at regular intervals.

After plenty of romance and comedy along with some action, comes the turning point of the film. The heroine dumps RK at the marriage hall as she brings to light a previous molestation charge. It’s at this point that Manivannan, reveals the truth about the enmity of the two friends turned foes.

An old-fashioned tale with stereotypes for characters, Azhagar Malai fails miserably because the drama is so predictable and most of the performances are so embarrassing! RK has a blank look plastered across his face and he has to improve on dancing and emoting. Bhanu, a decent actress fails in a poorly written role and she needs help of a stylist if she is here to stay. The bikini scene of Sona may delight the voyeurs!

On the whole, it isn’t the kind of film that does not make you angry but leaves you bored. It is a long, tiresome journey to nowhere.

Verdict: Below Average

Bala Ganesh makes his debut as director in one of the most violent films in recent times, a bloodbath as characters get killed in the most bloody and brutal fashion. The protagonist Eesa played by Vignesh has been etched out of two of the most powerful characterisation in Tamil cinema- Kamal Hassan’s Chappani of 16 Vayathinile and Vikram’s Chittan of Pitamagan.

The film opens with a man brutally killing a bad guy who terrorised the locality and taking his body to his make shift thatched hut in the middle of a salt field and proudly showing his wife his kill! The wife immediately takes a knife and stabs the dead body! Later towards the interval point it is revealed that the wife is a hallucination of the hero and actually he is on a revenge killing spree with her decayed body by his side!

In a flashback it is told that Sudalesan aka Eesa (Vignesh) is a bit of a dullard and is known as a Kirukkan (mad man), who has strength of an elephant works in the salt fields near Tuticorin. An aggressive girl Selvi (Lakshana) who works in the salt fields falls in love with him and they marry.

Meanwhile the whole area is controlled by a man Annachi (Rajendran) a salt manufacturer and rowdy and his henchmen. One day Selvi sees him and his gang brutally murdering a government official and his young daughter, she questions them resulting in her brutal murder. Eesa takes the cudgels for her and runs amok in a bloody revenge spree.

Vignesh overacts as the angry revenge seeking husband, while Lakshana shows glimpses of her acting talent. All the guys who come as villains are impressive and deadly. The crass and crude comedy of M.S Bhaskar and Muthukalai in the first half is pathetic. There is nothing much to say about newcomer Haran’s music. The plus points are the locations and the climax action scenes in a mangrove forest area bordering the sea, well picturised by cameraman R.B Balaganesh.

Verdict- Average

The film focuses on today’s children and their grandparents who are lonely and neglected due to modern times when nobody has time due to technological advancements and the mad rush among parents in day to day life.

An old man in a village finds himself to the very lonely and his granddaughter who lives in the city too is lonely and neglected as her parents are on the fast track and have no time for anything. The director tries to show the bonding between the two generations.

Divya (Sri Lakshmi) is an 8-year-old girl who lives s with her parents (Siddharth &Madhavi Sharma), both IT professionals in Chennai city. She is a poor little rich kid who has all the comforts but carves for her parent’s attention, love and care as they have no time for her.

During vacation, her dad’s principal in school takes her to their village, where her grandfather (Bala Singh) lives. The old man, a weaver is very happy to see his granddaughter and a strong bond develops between the two. Soon, Divya becomes the darling of the entire village.

But when her parents turn up to take her away, the girl decides not to go. She gives a case against her parents who have no time for her. Justice Sharada (Revathy in a guest role) studies the mind of the girl and gives a stunning verdict which is an eyeopener to modern parents.

Director Azhagappan has gone overboard while etching out the character and life of IT professionals who rave and rant and behave like caricatures, while life in village is all rosy and happy. This concept went out of the window in the 90’s from our mainstream cinema.

The film is shot like the 1970’s propaganda I & B ministries Film Division documentaries of a forgotten era, where the message is sharp and loud, with little entertainment. At best it is a tribute to making children film 70’s style in an age of Harry Potter, Pogo and video games.

Verdict- Average

This dark, absorbing story has nothing new to offer but re-assures the fact that slick presentation and perfect casting can make a film watchable.

It delivers on both style and content and has a very unusual plot, with well-etched out characters and a promising set of new comers who makes it difficult to point out who is better than whom. It is a dubbed version of the Telugu film Bheebatsam and a remake of Sriram Raghavan's Johhny Gaddar.

A gang of five cons (Yuvan, Shashank, Bala, Nitish Kumar, Shafi) who shared the same bench in school meet years later only to realize that they have many things in common and their only aim is to make quick money. After being petty thieves, they make a perfect plan for a bank heist and does it quiet successfully. But greed, lust and betrayal drive them against each other.

All the characters including the Gaythri (Madhu Sharama) who gets married to Aadhi but dumps him as he is impotent have dark shades. Among the performances, all the actors have done justice to their respective roles. A major highlight is the songs tuned by Thaman picturised in music video style.

The biggest strength of Sinthanai Sei is its unpredictability and the premise. It is not great cinema but it is a pleasing tapestry of tender moments and of diverse characters who engage you in their lives. It avoids clichés and stereotype characters you often see in Tamil cinema.

On the downside, the film is a bit lengthy and the violence is too much. Three cheers to debutant director Yuvan for compelling the audiences to think differently.

Verdict: Above Average

Now he is trying to reinvent himself in Malai Malai, a typical mass masala movie with all essential ingredients, and directed by A.Venkatesh a mass commercial director. Arun Vijay is very clear that he is targeting the B & C and not the class audiences, and the film makes no bones about it.

Venkatesh and Arun have an agenda to make the film a hit, so they have simply played to the galleries and cares a hoot for logic or sense. The story and characterization is clichéd and etched from some recent films like Tirupachi, Thoranai and many others.

Palani Vel (Prabhu) and Vetri Vel (Arun Vijay) are two brothers who eke out a living as a farmer and a mini van driver respectively in a village on the foothills of Palani temple. They are inseparable and they fight, sing and booze together and when Vetri falls in love with a city based RJ Anjali (Vedika) who is on a visit to Palani, he finds another girl Lakshmi (Kasturi) to romance his brother.

Meanwhile the village simpleton Vetri goes to Chennai in search of a job and in search of his lady love. He gets a job as a driver in a courier company which also employs people like Vimala Hassan (Santhanam) a crazy fan of Kamal Hassan. Enter the villain Essakki (Prakash Raj) a dreaded don who controls Saidapet area of the city, and soon locks horns with Vetri. The rest of the story moves along predictable lines before the steamy sentimental action packed climax.

In the fight scenes Arun Vijay literally flies around and hops from building to building like Spiderman and also does the traditional MGR style stick fight! Arun Vijay is earnest in his attempt, while Prabhu should reduce if he has to look convincing. Prakash Raj sleep walks through the role. Vedika is pure eye candy, Santhanam, Ganjakaruppu, Arathy provide the comic stuff. Mani Sharma’s music suits the plot.

Verdict- Mass Masala

It has all your trademark super hero movie elements - a larger-than-life hero, comedy, sentiments, songs, action scenes and a predictable climax. To make a debutant hero do all this is a big risk but when your dad is producing the film, there is no problem!

Most of the characters and scenes remind you of half an dozen Malayalam films like Spadikam (a strict Mathematics teacher as hero's father), Godfather and Balettan(a guy having a family without the knowledge of his disciplinarian dad). Songs of Srikanth Deva has the SA Rajkumar hangover and even the background score reminds you of Vikraman films of the past.

Moorthy (Sriman) and Vaithi (Deepak) are the two sons of a strict dad (Rajesh) who keeps an account for everything. Moorthy is the perfect son while Vaithi, an auto driver is a school drop-out and his dad cannot stand him. Moorthy, a sincere PWD engineer who has lot of enemies is killed and before he dies he tells Vaithi to look after Kadambari.

Vaithi finds Kathambari (Karthika) and her son who is Moorthy’s wife and kid and brings them home. Everyone in the family and town is suspicious about Vaithi’s relationship with Kadambari as they start living in the out-house. Who actually killed Moorthy? And how Vaithi takes revenge forms the rest of the story. No story is complete without a heroine and for that there is Ananthi (Nicole) a bubbly girl, the villain’s sister who is madly in love with Vaithi.

In all fairness, Deepak salvages the film to some extent. He has screen presence and his spontaneous approach to the character is laudable. He fights, does comedy and dances well. Painfully long and unbearably tedious, it is a predictable fare as it has absolutely nothing new to speak.

Verdict: Tedious

Anthony (Shaam) is an orphan who grows up in a church situated in a coastal village near Tuticorin. The local priest (Rajesh) is his benefactor. Anthony is loving and caring towards the local fishermen and their families who are being exploited by the rowdy Michael (Lal).

A rich girl Manju (Mallika Kapoor), a marine zoologist is doing a project. She gets attracted to Anthony who does not reciprocate as his life revolves around the fishermen families and their plight. Finally Anthony takes the battle to Miachel and due to divine intervention wins the battle!

Shaam shows off his six-pack body, Mallika has hardly anything to do while Lal hams. The music is bad. Vivek’s comedy track as Kingfisher is the only entertainment in the film, though he too is fast becoming repetitive. There is nothing here to recommend, and is total waste of time.

Verdict- Avoidable

Malayan ( Karan) works in a fireworks factory situated somewhere in the dry lands of Sivakasi. He will do anything for his boss Meiyappan ( Sarath Babu) who is his savior and the man who gave a new lease of life to his family when they were homeless.

Bhagiyam (Shammu) falls in love with Malayan and after opposition, her parents agree to the marriage, seeing their love. But fate intervenes when Bhagyam is killed along with hundred workers in a fire in the godown of the factory that Malayan works .

Malayan suspects the wicked competitors, Vedachalam (Rajan.P Dev) and his son Thanikachalam (Sakthi Kumar) of having done the mischief and goes after them. But Meiyappan stops him saying that it was an accident and tries to plays it down. Soon Malayan develops a soft corner for Sumathi ( Udayathara), Bhagyam’s cousin who reforms him before the final twist in the climax.

The film looks like it has been made for the 60’s or 70’s audiences. The so called twist in the tale and the reason given at the end appear too contrived. Karan seems to be in a hurry to become the next action hero and the kind of shrill message and hamming he does in the climax would have made Lenin turn in his grave! Shammu has done a decent job, while Udayathara is wasted. To make matters worse, you have to tolerate pots-and-pans music by Dhina in this technically slipshod movie.

Verdict : Avoidable

The first half of the film moves at snail pace, while in the second half there is some urgency shown to increase the pace before falling flat in a stage managed climax that leaves you cold. Actually the basic story idea is interesting but it is the slow pace of narration and wooden lead actors that makes the film drag aimlessly.

Rajan Vasudev (Kalabhavan Mani is a miscast) is a nasty, crass and intolerable tycoon who runs the Opium Group of companies spread across the globe. Uday (Vinay Rai) is his only son, a rich spoilt kid who drives a Ferrari and hangs out with his constant companion Madan (Yuvan) and side-kick Kaduku (Santhanam) along with a few weird bodyguards.

Uday meets L.R Eashwari (Kajal Aggarwal) a student and in a funny turn of events makes her his ‘Velaikari’(maid servant). Soon Madan falls in love with Eashwari who has fallen for Uday!

An assassin is hired by rivals of Rajan Vasudev to knock off Uday the only heir to the business empire. But in a bizarre twist, the killer accidentally kills Madan, and Rajan is heartbroken as we find that it was actually Madan who was his real son, while Uday was just a ‘ Benami’.

A heart broken Rajan abandons Uday who is left in the streets overnight as he is not needed any longer. The rest of the unbelievable yarn is how Uday a complete novis with the help of Chanakyan (VMC Haneefa), turns the table on his foster dad and gets back his wealth.

Saran and his writer Ramakrishnan had a bright idea about creating a ‘Benami’ son like ‘Benami’ real estate properties for a rich man who wants a fall guy to protect his son from his enemies. The film tried to work on the theory that- “Even the most carefully laid out plans can go awry”. However the weak script and execution leaves the film vapid and lifeless.

The special effects pop up in every other scene but after a point it becomes too much. Saran makes sure that every frame is littered with effects even if they seem to make little sense in the context of the story.

The first half comedy scenes are lifted from One Hundred Percent, and the second half has traces of an old Bollywood film. Kalabhavan Mani just does not fit into the international tycoon’s role and does his usual hamming and mimicry act. The music of Colonial Cousins is nothing much to talk about, as the film lacks a solid hit number.

Modi Vilayadu just does not make it to the finishing line. As the character played by Mani frequently says- “Bullshit”, we totally agree with him on that point! The film collapses like a house of cards. Go in with no expectations at all and you’ll still come out disappointed.

Verdict- Disappointing

The first half of the film directed by Badri is inspired heavily from the classic Mohanlal entertainer of mid 90’s Devasuram, while in the second half Simran’s negative character has traces of Neelambari of Padayappa, and one of the fight scenes is straight lift from Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Aintham Padai means the five man army, represented in the film by big brother Annachi alias Gunasekhar (Nassar), Karuna (Mukesh), Thanthoni (Vivek), Prabhakaran (Sundar.C) and a young brother. They are feudal landlords and run various businesses and are constantly at loggerheads with Dhanushkodi and family, who run all the illegal activities in town.

They are baying for each others blood, and the bad guys are targeting the strongest in the group Prabhakaran with whom they have their own axe to grind. In a flashback it is revealed that Prabha had killed one of the bad brothers (Raj Kapoor), who had forcibly tied the ‘Thali’ on his big brother’s fiancée Kalpana (Devayani)!!

Devasena (Simran) a Bharathanatiyam dancer and niece of Dhanushkodi, has run-in with Prabhakaran, which soon develops into love, but is spurned by our hero who is in love with a student Gayathri (Adithi)! Later she is forced to marry Karuna in a mistaken identity case.

She comes into the household with her own agenda, to split the unity among the five man army and destroy the man who scorned her love. The rest of the movie is how Prabhakaran turns into a one-man army and outwits the machinations of his sister-in-law who is hand in glove with the baddies.

Aintham Padai is a stock mass movie made strictly keeping the taste of audiences in B and C centers in mind. Sundar.C has improved in his dialogue delivery and fits the role of the “action hero”, as defined in mass masalas. Simran looks jaded, while Vivek has made a comeback of sorts playing to the gallery comedy track as Thanthoni and speaking with a Tirunelveli accent (with the repeated “Don’t worry, be happy”). D.Imman’s music is a snore.

There is no semblance of either style or substance, or more importantly a script! The film is a rehash of earlier crass commercials.

Verdict: Reheated Mass Masala

Now what is Pasupathi an actor of substance doing in a crass comedy and playing a goofy good fella like Vedigundu Murugesan? The sheer foolishness of the plot and the presentation make you cringe.

The character he plays is clichéd, so many other heroes have played the small petty loud mouth and ruffian with a heart of gold getting framed up for a crime he did not commit and against all odds turning the tables on the bad guys in the last reel.

Vedigundu Murugesan (Pasupathy) is a small time guy who breaks the law occasionally, but is a good Samaritan in the eyes of the local judge (Nirmala Perisamy) as he provides shelter and looks after a mentally challenged girl Ponni.

A lady constable Nachiya (Jyothirmayi) who rubs Murugesan the wrong way falls in love with him, due to his humanitarian nature and the will to help others. Soon Ponni is raped by one of the baddies, leading to the final climax in the hospital.

All the actors overact to the hilt, especially in soap opera like sentiments something that used to work with B & C audiences in early 70’s. However Pasupathi is good in the court room scenes and a few places where he tries to spread messages about cleanliness, and his interpretations about our archaic laws. The music of Dheena is rubbish, and technically it is tacky.

The only plus point in the film is the knock out comedy track of Vadivel as ‘Alert Arumugham’. The film can be seen only for Vadivel’s slapstick madness and his impeccable comic timing. The film as a whole drags and you are relived when it is over after 2 hours and 32 minutes!

Verdict- Below Average

It’s a gutsy film because it dares to explore unchartered territories in Tamil cinema and expose the dark side of child abuse and pedophilia lurking in our society. The director should be appreciated and lauded for his treatment of a sensitive subject, without ever turning his camera into a voyeur.

Senthilkumar (Prasanna) is the stereotypical South Indian NRI settled in the US in a New Jersey suburb and living the American dream. He has a picture perfect life - a gorgeous devoted and loving wife Malini (Sneha), rooted in Tamil culture who insists everybody speaks Tamil at home including their six-year old daughter Rithika (Akshaya).

Senthil is a hard working guy who calls the shots in an IT firm and has a successful career. Everything seems fine, till a stranger a white man Robertson (John Shea) comes into their mansion to paint their basement, and nothing is the same again.

It is a simple straightforward film, with superb dialogues and depiction of the average NRI Tambras (Tamil Brahmins) way of living in US, their ambitions, joys and fears are well brought out. The anxious husband at work, who cancels an important presentation in a different city for the safety of his family telling his wife casually to make Thakkali Rasam and Urulakizhangu Poriyal, and by that time he will be home, is a gem.

The film and its wafer thin story line works mainly because of the performances of Prasanna, Sneha and John Shea. Prasanna has given a matured performance, and makes a sensational comeback as an actor of substance with the perfect dialogue delivery. Sneha plays Malini with touching sincerity and the characters mood swings and fears are well brought by the competent actress.

Even little Akshaya fits the role, though the real scene stealer is John Shea. His character has been well-etched; the director wants to say that looks are always deceptive. So when the character is introduced, Malini says- “He is such a nice gentleman, old enough to be my father.” John Shea plays the fiend to perfection.

Technically the film is top class, especially the camera work of Chris Freilich and the background score and music of Karthik Raja. Karthik’s music seeped in classical melody which appears in the film in the background proves that he is the true inheritor of Raja sir’s music.

Achchamundu Achchamundu, has its flaws, after a great first half the film tends to slow down in the second half. The suspense about the villain is known to the audiences very early in the film. These are just minor flaws, Arun Vaidyanathan deserves a pat on his back for pushing the cinematic envelope and trying out something different and bringing savvy freshness to the form hitherto unexplored.

Verdict- Good

The story is set in the environs of Madurai as the title suggests but strangely it’s a love story sans Aruval’s and other weapons of death and therefore comes with a breath of fresh air on that score!

Arivu ( Bala) is the son of a rich man Mandakalai ( Sai Kumar) who is well respected in his village. He lives with his dad and grandmother. He is in love with Uma ( Vishaka), his neighbor and the local postman’s ( Thalaivasal Vijay) school going daughter.

Mandakalai values his prestige and family honour and people come to him with their problems when their honour is at stake. When he finds out about his son’s love affair he orders the girl to be brought to his house.

Arivu comes to know of this and sensing that his father may kill his lover, the duos swallow poison before departing on separate trains so that they may escape their tormentors.

However, Arivu survives the attempt but is haunted by memories of Uma who is never found. To help him recoup his father sends him to Chennai to spend time with an uncle, but he returns back Meanwhile Uma too has survived and comes back to the village, for a tragic climax.

. The director should be complimented for coming out with a fairly engrossing film based on a wafer thin storyline. The lead pair have done a good job and Bala shows promise. Vishaka is adequate and has shown her talent in the climax scenes.

The comedy of Ganja Karuppu evokes no laughs. Dialogues follow the local dialect and the authenticity of village life has been well captured by cameraman Laxmipathy.

The music by Sabesh Murali fits the situations and the remix version of Ayiram Thamarai is well conceived on screen, though the ending looks contrived.

Verdict- Steamy tear jerker

Jai in his third appearance gets a meaty role, but cannot do full justice to it, as his body language is modeled on Vijay and has a squeaky voice.

The beginning is the most exciting part of the film, when Pooja (Lakshmi Rai) a model emerges out of the blue ocean dripping wet in a skimpy swim suit, a la Bo Derek in 10 style. The ad director uses a remote controlled toy helicopter fitted with a mini camera to get top angle shots for the ad. However the toy chopper spins out of control and lands on top of a tree.

Later at the editing table, the ad director Vinod and Pooja are shocked to find that the camera has filmed a murder of a top politician (Delhi Ganesh) by his rival (Sampath). Vinod informs Joint Commissioner Kailasam (Thalaivasal Vijay), who is hand in glove with the criminals!

Vinod is murdered by goons of Sampath who is now a minister and the tape is accidently put into the bag of Divya (Priya Anand) by Anand (Jai) a struggling actor who is staying with his friend Chandru (Santhanam) a television camera man.

From then the film changes tracks and follows the pattern set by typical Kollywood potboilers. Anand falls for Divya, whose mother (Urvasi) is a good cook and has a hilarious meeting with Chandru as he tries to can a ‘Samayal’ programme with her providing comedy!

Romance and music are provided by Anand and Divya who dance to Yuvan’s melodious hit number Edho Seigai.., followed by Lakshmi Rai, Jai and Rahman doing a club number. Sentiments come in the form of Anand the nice guy being framed up for the murder of Pooja which he has not committed.

The main villain is John (Rahman) a cold blooded assassin who uses Anand and takes him along when he breaks into other peoples flats (Similar scene was enacted by Charmee in Laadam). Climax fight when Anand turns into a one-man army on top of a tall building which is under construction with scaffolding is thrilling.

What could have been an edge-of-the-seat crime thriller falls flat in the second half due to lack of a proper script and far too many compromises made by the director? In the beginning credits, the makers thank ‘Ultimate Star’ Ajith, for what is left unexplained till the end.

The plus points are Aravind Krishna’s minty cool camera, the comedy track of Santhanam and Urvasi which is a scream and two of the songs of Yuvan. New girl Priya Anand lacks glamour but is promising while Jai should stop aping Vijay and improve on his voice modulation.

The film has been etched from various Hollywood and Bollywood films; nevertheless it is fun especially the first half while it lasts.

Verdict- Time Pass

The Tamil version is made purely to titillate and is full of half naked females in the form of Namitha, who has exposed the maximum along with Rahasiya, new girl Hema Malini and a pole dancer in a bar! Added to that there is double entendre galore especially in a court scene between two lawyers played by Y.G Mahendran and Vivek.

The subject holds great interest for our directors about a woman sexually harassing the man, a nice guy with a lovely wife. Hero Santosh Sreenivasan (Srikanth) who does programming in a television channel is sued for sexual harassment by his former lover turned boss Kamini (Namitha) who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life.

Santosh is happily married to Savithri (Hema Malini), a lawyer, while Kamini has married a tycoon an old man John Kumaramangalam (Nassar), who loves her but is unable to satisfy her sexual needs.

Forget the sexual content of the movie, what irritates you the most is the half a dozen songs inside night clubs, that comes at regular intervals. New music director Yatish has come out with some loud music. But what is really shocking is the way he has destroyed Oru Kinnathai.. from Vasantha Maaligai with a remix number. And the song suddenly pops out of nowhere during the court scenes spoiling the tempo and seriousness of the film.

The film at 2 hours 35 minutes drags big time, especially towards the climax. As it was long in the making, Namitha looks bloated in some scenes. Srikanth is reduced to playing second fiddle and why did Nassar even agree to do this role?

Indira Vizha is a crass act with crude scenes and smutty dialogues.

Verdict: Disappointing

The story revolves around Boopathy Pandian ( MS Bhasker) who is tyrant father who uses the whip abundantly on anyone who disobeys him and he even sleeps with a gun at night. His wife is bedridden and he manages to keep order in his household comprising two sons Rama ( Mayilsamy) and Krishna ( Balaji),his two daughters and his daughters-in-law. He is dead against love marriages since his own sister ran away with a Manthrawadi.

His younger daughter Divya ( Sunulaxmi) is secretly in love with Siddhu (Sathya) the son of the family manager ( Manobala). Purushottaman ( Sathyan) is the son of Boopathy’s sister and is hell bent on marrying his cousin Divya.

Supporting him are his parents who try to use all the mantram and jantram they know to make this marriage a reality, much against Boopathy’s wishes leading to many comic situations.

Boopathy realizes that a secret lover is visiting Divya at night and hires four goons to catch the culprit. He fixes the wedding of Divya with another rich groom who however is already married but hides the fact from the rich Boopathy.

In such a tight situation how do the lovers unite? The story unfolds in a series of loud, rib-tickling dialogues and funny situations that keep the viewer roaring with laughter till the end. For once, MS Bhasker plays a serious dad while the rest of the cast upholds the comic mantle throughout.

The music is passable and the mandatory song and dance sequences between the lovers are there, but sans vulgarity. However one does wish Sunulaxmi had a better wardrobe instead of the outlandish dresses and bizarre colours that she wears in all the songs.

Sathya is a bit stiff in some scenes but plays his part of the romantic lover well as does the vivacious Sunulaxmi. Sathyan and his screen parents, Mayilsamy, Manobala and the goons all add to the comic flavour. Fast paced action and never a dull moment make Siriththal Rasippen an interesting watch.

Verdict: Watchable

Sadly Pa Vijay and his director Jeevan lets us down with a film that looks mothballed, a plot which is truly ancient and a presentation which is amateurish.

The story is as old as the hills, and it is hard to believe that it is based on a real life experience of Vijay’s friend during his struggling dates. There is no logic and reason in Vijay’s story, as it is screeching, sentimental, soap style, over the top melodrama suited more for the Tamil stage of the 50’s.

Kathiravan (Vijay), a noted poet and lyric writer gets a National award from the President for one of his film songs. Next day he travels to Haridwar to catch up with his old lover and neighbor Meera (Sreedevika), a North Indian girl in whose house in Chennai he stayed with his friend during his early days.

Due to quirk of fate their marriage did not take place, and she is forced to marry a diamond merchant who later commits suicide due to his mounting debts.

And when the old lovers meet Meera behaves strangely and still pretends that her husband is alive and she is leading a happy life. Kathiravan also is tongue tied and does not open up his hidden feelings of love.

The film moves back and forth as the lovers rooted in present day travel back to revive their memories and sing songs. Finally the audiences are relieved of their 2 hours 15 minutes of agony, as the story reaches a very predictable mushy climax in front of the universally acclaimed monument of love, Taj Mahal in Agra.

This sob, sob, sob story is outdated and there is nothing new in it. To sound polite, Pa Vijay is better off as a lyric writer, while Sreedevika hams. There are six songs in the film which are not well placed and at times slow down an already drab story. Perhaps SPB’s “Gnabagangal illeyo en thozhi..” prior to the climax is the only silver lining in otherwise a dull and boring movie.

End Result? Loads of unnecessary tears and tedious heartbreaks on screen for Pa Vijay and Sreedevika, leaving the audiences exasperated and tired.

Verdict: Below Average

The characters are not well etched, and their motives are not strong and their actions lack logic. The story etched from earlier films lack conviction and moves around wobbly as you just cannot sympathise with any of the characters in the film.

Pandi (Akhil) is a pick pocket and a small time goon who walks around with a thin wedge of blade and uses it to slash pockets of people in Chennai. He runs into Vandana (Meera Nandan) who runs a pre-school and is a ‘Mother Teresa’ of sorts who like to look after destitute children.

Pandi saves her from an attack from a mentally challenged person (Badava Gopi) in a temple, but pockets her chain in the melee without her knowledge! She starts developing a crush on him (!!) without realizing he is a pick pocket and an anti- social.

Meanwhile another slum girl and a flower seller Kanaga (Devika), also falls for his charms. However, soon he gets exposed in front of Vandana, who realizes that he is a petty pick pocket, and decides to reform him and his gang which leads unnecessary twist in the climax.

The first half is tolerable, but post interval the film drags big time and songs are thrust into the narration, which makes it unbearable. The climax is infuriatingly contrived and corny.

The only silver lining in this film is the new artists who do character roles like Pandi’s friends though the lead actors are not up to the mark. There is not even a single song of Ilayaraja that stays in your mind while Aghagappan’s camera is average.

Sadly, Valmiki lacks story, style and soul.

Verdict- Disappointing

The film explores the realms of friendship and its pitfalls. The first 30 minutes of the film show us that -“True friends have hearts that beat as one”. The film begins in Rajapalayam and shows the bonding between three friends, who virtually eat from the same plate- Karunakaran (Sasikumar), a B.A (History) graduate looking desperately for a government job considered prestigious by his uncle, whose daughter Nallamma( Ananya) is madly in love with him. Pandi (Bharani) is a guy who is ridiculed and is not capable of completing anything successfully. Chandran (Vijay) is looking to set up a computer center and is in love with Pavithra (Abhinaya), Karuna’s sister.

The three good guys have a whale of a time. Enter Saravanan, a friend of Karuna, and son of a former MP Sangvi, who is in love with her bitter enemy industrialist Palanivel Rajan’s daughter Prabha! After Saravanan tries to commit suicide the three friends come to his rescue- “Friend in need is a friend in deed”.

Under Karuna’s leadership they go to Nammakal where they meet their long lost friend (Kanja Karupu) and against all odds they are able to bring the love birds together. But In the process Karuna, almost loses his eye, his grandmother is killed, and the girl he loves is emotionally blackmailed and forced to marry somebody else!

Those who trusted him and ventured out like Chandran has his leg amputated, Pandi loses his hearing, still they are happy that - “a real friend will lend a helping hand”. However they realize that they were let down by Saravanan and Prabha who just wanted to have a nice time together and it was a- “Friendship of opportunity”. Their supreme sacrifice meant nothing for the estranged lovers, which irks our good friends to give it back in a stunning manner.

Samuthirakani’s friendship saga is 2 hrs and 45 minutes, based on a wafer thin message- “A real friend expects to always be there for you!” The first half is interesting and moves in a racy manner, but the second half like all serial directors goes on and on, and needs urgent trimming. Sundar.C Babu’s songs are nothing much to write about though the Shankar Mahadevan number Sambo Shiva Sambo.., stands out.

Among the actors Sasikumar is the pick of the lot, he is hero material and has given an amazingly candid performance. The new girl Ananya is outstanding, stealing the show with her larkish spontaneity and vivacity. The rest of the cast like Bharani, Vijay, Ganja Karuppu and a lot of new faces are apt for their roles.

Nadodigal is not great cinema, but enjoyable and a welcome change in these hard days. It is eminently watchable.

Verdict: Good

The film has decent production values and is written by late Jeeva’s wife Anees Tanveer, though the title card says she is the “creative director” of the film. Does that mean Srinath is just “operative director”?

The best thing is to just sit back in your seats and enjoy the film while it lasts. Many scenes and dialogues have been liberally lifted from various Hollywood and Bollywood DVDs and packaged to suit the taste of Tamil mass audiences.

The basic concept is that of what Hollywood calls a “buddy movie” that features the friendship and bonding between two male actors who are as different as chalk and cheese.

Alagu (Daniel Balaji) is a serious guy and a petty thief who deals with stolen passports, while Sathya (Nithin Sathya) is a funny, talkative conman and an ordinary pickpocket. They meet, bond and join hands to con people.

The angry Alagu is hopelessly in love with Kavya (Lakshmi Rai), a bar dancer who does not reciprocate his love due to an earlier misunderstanding while the comic Sathya bluffs his way into the heart of a college girl (Manjari Phadnis).

They accidentally get entangled in a power struggle between two political groups eyeing the Chief Minister’s post- one led by Alagar Adhiyaman (Saravanan) and his brother Thonda Adhiyaman (Aanand) and the other by Aadhikesavan (Ponvannan).

The con men and their girls are soon on the run as they are pushed into a complicated web of crime and deceit with a multiplicity of crooks, including the police commissioner (Kishore) and a bodyguard (Riaz Khan). All this leads to a shootout in Tamil cinema’s favourite godown used for climax fight scenes (Binny Mills).

Daniel Balaji, complete with tattoos designed to give him the ‘cool guy look’, and Nithin Sathya are adequate for the roles entrusted to them, though they lack star power.

The leading ladies Lakshmi Rai and Manjari Phadnis are just glam dolls and hardly have anything to do, other than wearing revealing clothes and looking glamorous in song sequences.

Rakhi Sawant appears in a three-minute item number, which has been badly cut by the censors. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is okay for the mood of the film with July Madathil…, being the pick of the lot.

Saleem’s camera is good with perfect DI. Stun Shiva’s action scenes, especially the one in the rain, are fantastic.

On the downside, too many songs (six) pop out at regular intervals, making what should have been a racy thriller a slow coach of a movie. Antony seems to have lost his magic touch as an editor. Still the film is engrossing in bits and pieces - Srinath has a winner due to his packaging and slick styling.

Verdict: Time Pass

Vijay (Prasanna) and Gayathri (Sandhya) are best friends studying in the same college. Their relation is purely platonic (but we get to see them singing duets in foreign locales) and Vijay's only aim in life is Gayathri’s happiness and he will go to any extent to fulfill that. Both reach Ooty for Gaythri’s sister Savithri's wedding and trouble comes in the form of the groom Rajesh (RK). He falls in love with Gayathri and hatches a plan to dump his bride and marry Gayathri!

Gayathri runs away from home with Vijay a day before her wedding to Rajesh and everyone thinks that the lovers have eloped! But the twist comes in the form of an artist (Bala) who is Gayathri’s lover. How Vijay goes in search of him and unites the lovers by sacrificing his life forms the rest of the story.

RK hams throughout and is the major weakness of the film. His funny wig and dialogue delivery makes him look like a caricature. Prasanna and Sandhya are adequate while Bala is promising. Songs by Bharadwaj are a big letdown. It is a film that can be recommended to your enemies.

Verdict: Bore

The film is plain silly at the same time funny in parts. It’s etched from various earlier films, and at times it looks like a sequel to the lead pair’s earlier film Kathalil Vizhunthen . The opening Nakul introduction song itself look similar to the famous Nakku Mukka…, even in picturisation and sets.

The wafer thin storyline is straightforward. Massi (Nakul) an orphan lives in a lower middle class colony, where everybody dotes on him. He is a mass hero who you see only in Tamil films- a popular guy in his colony who takes up local issues, fights for them, and has a heart of gold though those who don’t know him thinks he is a rowdy.

Massi falls in love at first sight with Divya (Sunaina), a rich upper middle class girl who is a dance instructor. She thinks that Massi is a rowdy and a creep and will not fall for him under any circumstances. Urged by his friends (Santhanam & Srinath) Massi becomes Mani, the soft spoken sophisticated guy with the clean look. He wins over her large family (Delhi Ganesh and others), due to his smooth talking and winning ways.

Though initially, Divya refuses to believe that he is Mani, a look alike of Massi the rowdy, soon he has her eating out of his hands. Enter Bhoopathy, the local corrupt Sub Inspector, with an eye on Divya and a determination to prove that Mani is none other than Massi, the rowdy. All this leads to a twist in the tale climax.

The film has all mass elements like larger than life hero, his introductory song, duets in foreign locations, sentiments, comedy and a predictable action scene inside a go-down. The comedy track of MS Bhaskar and Karunas where they pay tribute to all larger than life Tamil superstars and mass films is hilarious. D.Imman, after a long time has come out with some peppy music with Dora, Dora… being the pick of the lot.

Nakul is a fine dancer but has a long way to go to become a mass hero, while Sunaina proves she has it in her to make it big with a performance where grace and maturity are the keywords. On the downside, the film moves at a leisurely pace in the first half devoted mostly to songs and comedy tracks. The second half the film slowly picks up speed as the story unfolds leading to a thrilling climax.

Verdict: Mass Masala

The problem is that both the formula and the treatment no longer work with today’s audiences. There's a desperate need for reinvention on the part of film makers and writers who still churn out characters who ends up as silly caricatures. The dialogue is a mix of clunky lines that make you cringe in embarrassment.

Mayandi (Manivannan) and Virumandi (G M Kumar) are brothers who are the family heads of the warring families in a village. Mayandi is an upright man and his three sons (Ponvannan, Seeman and Jegan) are hard working and united. Everyone in the family dotes on the youngest guy Paramu (Tarun Gopi) who after completing his 12th is send to an engineering college as it is his dad’s dream to see one of the son educated.

But the old man dies of an electric shock and the family splits. Meanwhile there is a parallel love track between Paramu and Poonkodi (Poonkodi) from school days which ends up as a failure. After many predictable twists and turns drama and melodrama, the film ends with a group photo.

Tarun Gopi is the hero of the film and he struggles through even basic scenes in the film, unable to alter his expressions in keeping with the film's needs, yelling when he's expected to be intense, and looking away in exasperation each time he can't come up with a more fitting reaction. (sample: The scene at a bus stop when he sees Poonkodi with her husband and kid) A crash course in acting is recommended for him.

Among the others in the huge star cast, it is Manivannan, Seeman and Singampuli who stands out. Music by Sabesh Murali is average. On the whole, this family drama tests the patience of the audience and it's difficult to connect with the characters and their circumstances.

Verdict: Avoidable

In her pre-release interviews the writer director had said that the film is “about six teenagers studying in a boarding school, their friendship, laughter and love.” It was but natural to expect a trendy, cool and youthful entertainer. Alas what we get is a half baked movie with hardly any romance or fun, and a story that just doesn’t wash.

Surya (Sanjeev) is the son of a local dada (Aditya), and studies at the Chengalpet Matriculation School. His mother who is separated from her rowdy husband wants him to grow up as a model citizen. Unfortunately he has more of his father’s genes and gets expelled for beating up a teacher.

Surya who is attached to his mother gives a promise that he will not take the path to violence again, and is admitted to the up market Lake View School in Ooty (the principal of the school Thalaivasal Vijay says it is the “best school in south Asia!!”).

The Chengalpet guy is looked down by his snooty seniors led by Rohit (Rohit Rathod) and his gang. The only person who stands with him is Babloo (Bobo Sasi), and the principal’s daughter Tanya (Riya) who has a soft corner for him.

Under extreme provocation, Surya keeps his cool as he tries to live up to his mother’s expectation. However he breaks down after Babloo is murdered, and goes on a revenge spree. The film ends on a tragic note, as the message of the film is conveyed.

The film lacks believability factor as there are too many loopholes in the storyline. How can a guy studying in a matriculation school get admission with scholarship in a snooty and totally up market school?

The police have no clue to Babloo’s murder, which is written off as a natural death? The heroine role is poorly etched and is sent away for psychiatric treatment half way through the movie!

The pluses are L.K Vijay’s Camera and Bobo Sasi’s songs though his background score is a let down. The first half is ok and there is some freshness about it, but peters off into nothingness towards the abrupt climax.

The film lacks the magic one associate with boarding school brat pack movie. Let us hope Anita Udeep, learns from her mistakes and finds a better script in her next outing.

Verdict: Watchable

The problems with Thoranai are sundry. First and foremost, it’s got a dead script. Nothing, simply nothing happens in the first half of the film.

Written and directed by debutant Saba Iyyapan, the six songs at regular intervals and Shriya Saran’s glamour in them is the only thing that wakes you up from your sleep while watching Thoranai, the mind-numbing new film at the cinemas this weekend.

Much like those bad eighties potboilers, Thoranai, too, is held together by a threadbare script centered on a predictable plot. Treatment is over-the-top, so indulgent that it fails to establish any connect.

Murugan (Vishal) comes to Chennai is search of his elder brother who had left home after their mother (Geeta) punishes the little boy. The mother, who is still guilty about the incident, craves for her son and now our hero swears that he will bring him back!

In Chennai, he meets two goons- Tamilarasu (Prakash Raj) and Guru (Kishore) who control the city and are always at loggerheads with each other. Murugan finally spots his brother (That’s the twist in the tale) and will he be able to reform him and take him back to his mother? We have the goonda gang, the police force led by an encounter specialist (Lal) and a state minister (Sayaji Shinde) who is after the brothers.

Told, and told and re-told, the characters, scenes, songs, comedy and even the mother-sentiments are a dampener. Vishal attempts at comedy with Santhanam and Parvai Muniamma is slack and the laughs aren’t coming. Despite some re-hashed music from Mani Sharma, the songs seem like they're only prolonging your misery.

Arbitrarily packing in elements of every genre without actually bothering to stop and see if the mix does work, Thoranai is like an overcooked stew.

Verdict: Below Average

It cannot get crasser, vulgar and panders to the taste of the low class voyeuristic viewers. There’s plenty of blood and gore, including a woman getting beaten to pulp by a man (No wonder it carries an A certificate).

In addition there is a chain smoking villie, and the hero lights up two cigarettes and puffs on them stylishly, as the anti-tobacco statutory warning is written on the screen.

The bad lady, hero and his comedian friend dialogues are most of the time muted by the censors, still there is plenty of double entendre and crude gags.

Raja (Lawrence) a young man in Kuttralam sees his father loosing his arm when a drunken doctor operates on him. His father is framed up by a lawyer and brutally assaulted by the cops. And when he is about to die he gets a promise from Raja, that he will make his three elder brothers into a cop, lawyer and doctor!

Meanwhile, there is a villie Saidai Shyla (Mumtaz) a ganja seller and godmother who becomes a state minister! She joins up with Raja’s brothers - the cop, advocate and the doctor to run her mafia, and our hero comes from the village for the clean up job!

The film is made like a masala 70’s film with action, comedy, songs, sentiments and all other ingredients to woo the B & C audiences. Sakthi Chidambaram’s Englishkaran was a far better entertainer.

Here he has said in his promotion itself that it is the story of a “low class king”, and meant strictly for them. Lawrence, Mumtaz and Karunas ham outrageously. Meenakshi , Kamna, and Sniggda are just glamour girls meant to tickle the audiences.

Lawrence tries to ape Rajinikanth mannerisms whether he does comedy, dance, dialogues or action scenes. In the comedy scenes LK (Lawrence & Karunas combine) poke fun of the younger lot of stars including one on Suriya’s six-pack!

Karnas music is ear splitting.. Every dialogue is punch dialogue, with the Mumtaz saying things like- Nee college Njaan drainage etc.

Watch this film at your own peril!

Verdict- Low class mass masala

Ayngaran International Films' Sarvvam does have its highs. It is a character-driven action thriller, with some romance thrown in during the first half.

Check out: Pictures from the sets, wallpapers, and more at the Sarrvam special

The five main characters are Karthik (Arya) a happy-go-lucky young architect, who falls head over heels with a beautiful doctor Sandhya (Trisha) after a mix-up at a Kart Racing track, a morose football coach Eashwar (JD Chakravarthy) who moves around with a deadly black Rottweiler dog, a software professional Naushad (Indrajeet) and his son Imman (Rohan).

Vishnu has tried to base the plot on the life of these five characters, and shows how fate plays an important role in the denouement. At interval point a freak accident brings the twist in the tale, and the second part is a cat-and-mouse game.

What works for the film big-time is cinematographer Nirav Shah's superb camera, using shadow and light to advantage, in never-seen-before locales. The hospital scenes are sparkling white. A glass-box song, Kaatrukullai... picturised against the green of Vagamon, the sandy beaches and blue sea of Goa and the Rajasthan desert, stands out. Yuvan's music and background score deserve a special mention. Manu Jagadh's art work, especially the abandoned church set inside the forest, looks real.

Thyagarajan's close combat action scenes in misty Munnar are spellbinding. At 2 hours and 23 minutes, this is the longest-running Vishnu film. Editor Sreekar Prasad could have trimmed it a bit in the second half.

One wishes the film was tightly structured as the plot becomes wobbly and meanders. The trouble is that Vishnu does not have a gripping story to say, and the main characters and their motives are haphazardly tied up, leading to a manipulated climax. The film holds you riveted in the first half due to the love-hate funny encounters between Arya and Trisha that turns into deep love.

Arya, with his carefree acting style and easygoing charm, contributes to the film's energy. The scenes where he expresses his love for Trisha are a laugh. Trisha looks beautiful, though we wish she had more screen space.

J D Chakravarthy, as the morose, unfriendly character, is wooden throughout and his motivation is not well etched.

At the same time, Vishnu has tried to make a different film, for which he should be appreciated. The film has style, and perhaps with a sharper execution he could have gone for the jugular.

On the whole, Sarvvam tries to rework the Kollywood commercial formula and emerges as a decent thriller. It is worth a look.

Verdict- Visual Treat

Now director and producer, the trendsetter Sasikumar of Subramaniapuram fame and Pandiraj, the new director he is introducing through his Company Productions, have dared to venture in to this forbidden territory and make a children classic aptly titled Pasanga(Children).

It is perhaps the best ever children film produced in Tamil, on par with films like Taare Zameen Par, Makdee, Hanuman etc. The saying 'Child is the father of the man' can be seen and experienced throughout the film and it touches your heartstrings sans melodrama or moral science classes.

The film is a slice of life, looks real and is set in Virachilai a village near Pudukottai, the hometown of the director. The children in the film behave like normal kids and are a delight to watch. It justifies its tagline - “the secret life of kids”.

The film is a winner all the way because it is not made like a message children film, on the other hand it has the flavour of Tamil commercial elements like good humour, touching sentiments, trials and aspiration of Tamilnadu’s powerful lower middle class, village milieu with perfect dialogue, a beautiful love track incorporated into the main story with soothing songs, a stunning climax and above all a hero in the small boy worth emulating.

The story unfolds in an interesting manner. Jeeva Nithyanadam (Sriram), Pakkada (Pandian) and Kuttymani (Murugesh) are the lazy laidback and troublesome guys in the sixth standard at the local matriculation school. They terrorize the locals too with their various activities, making them seek police protection!

Enter Anbukarasu (Kishore) a new student who always has a suffix to his name IAS, as he dreams of becoming the district collector. He is influenced by former president Abdul Kalam’s teachings and sets to fulfill his dreams.

Anbu soon becomes a role model for others as he is hard working, first in class, determined and stands up to the bully gang led by Jeeva, whose cousin Manonmayi (Dharani) too takes a liking for him.

Jeeva’s dad Chockalingam (Jayaprakash) is the class teacher whose favourite student is Anbu. All this creates jealousy and rivalry in Jeeva’s mind sowed by his friends.

Meanwhile on a parallel track there is a beautiful love story that blossoms between Jeeva’s sister Sobhikannu (Vega) and Anbu’s uncle Meenakshi Sundaram (Vimal), as they live opposite to each other! Their romance is beautifully woven around the cell phone, and also shows the changing pattern of modern day love.

The real hero of Pasangal is its script, remarkable and rooted to its milieu. The everydayness of a schoolboy’s life is well etched. It is not just the little moments that stay with you, but also the film’s crucial scenes including the climax scenes are handled with a rare amount of maturity.

All this comes with top class performances from all the artists in the film. The director has got the best out of the kids who look natural born actors, and the supporting cast of Jayaprakash, Vimal, and Vega are excellent.

The music of James Vasanth suits the mood of the film with top class background score. The Naresh Iyer- Shreya Ghosal song in the rain Oru Vekkam Varudhe Varuthe… is picturised in an eye-catching manner in the rain. Count among others the camera of debutant Prem Kumar and art of another debutant Crawford.

Pasanga is a masterpiece, which Tamil cinema can be proud of, and should be compulsory viewing by all who support and love good cinema. It is a film about parents and children, about the kind of pressure we put on our kids, and it comes with a big heart and an important message. It is also about finding our true heroes.

A small film with a very big heart. Watch it, because gems like these are hard to find.

Verdict: Excellent

As an actor S.J Suryah has improved leaps and bounds, while Sayali Bhagat is a revelation. But more than this, there is a story that teasingly sucks you into a thrilling vortex of crime and punishment without losing out on logic and pace, though the climax is too bloody and gruesome.

The story is simple and has been told many times; however the way the plot unfolds hooks you to the film. The film opens with a grim and bearded angry young man Guru (Suryah) paying floral tributes to his former lover Priya (Sayali Bhagat) in a graveyard.

In the flashback, their love story is told. Guru, a fashion designer falls head over heels for Priya an anchor working in Eagle TV’s music channel. After initial hiccups, both fall in love and decide to get married.

However things turn awry when the aggressive, almost maniacal channel owner JP (Rajeev) has a psychotic obsession for Priya, which turns into a dangerous game. He harasses her and on the eve of her wedding, kidnaps her, frames up Guru in a false case, puts her on virtual house arrest, brutally rapes and kills her! Due to his clout and money power, JP makes it look like a suicide.

Back to the present, Guru with the help of his friend Reghu working in the channel meticulously plans for a year to take revenge. In a chilling and cold- blooded way, Guru tells JP on phone- ‘Bad Morning JP it is 10 am, you will be dead by 12’noon’! How he does it using his brains and brawn forms the rest of this gripping thriller. The story has been etched out of Newton’s third law that to every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.

The romance between the lead pair is typical S.J Suryah style, with a ‘candid camera’ and a condom machine adding to the fun. There are typical smart one-liners and Sayali has exposed gracefully in the romantic and erotic Muthal Murai.. song picturised with a lot of élan and minimal lighting. Saravanan’s camera is splendid, while Vinay the new music director is peppy, though we get the feel that we heard the tunes before.

Newtonin Moondram Vidhi is not great cinema, but strikes a balance between style and packaged masala, and provides racy entertainment with never a dull moment. On the whole, it is an engaging thriller which will keep you glued to your sets.

Verdict: Taut Thriller

It’s remake of 1997, Aziz Mirza’s Shah Rukh Khan film Yes Boss, but nowhere near the original which was technically superior with super hit songs and locales. The situation is humorous; there are plenty of funny and farcical moments to keep us entertained, but the climax is too long.

Guru (Madhavan) is a small time guy and personal assistant to his boss Krishna (Abbas) who runs his wealthy wife Sheela’s family owned advertising agency. Guru is a typical middle class guy who dreams of owning his own agency someday. For that he is willing to do anything for his womanising boss, who throws crumbs at him. Guru feels that his big ticket to wealth lies in playing ‘Yes Boss’ to Krishna as he tries to maneuver a romance between his boss and the beautiful new super model Seema (Mamta Mohandas)

But before his dreams can be fulfilled, Guru must listen to the call of his heart, as he falls like a ton of bricks for Seema. Now he has to cook up plans to save her from his boss, as things get more complicated when his love is reciprocated. Then it is no more ‘Yes Boss’ for Guru as he decides to take on his scheming and cunning boss on his own.

The ironical part is that in Azhagappan (Vivek) a fake yoga teacher, Guru has a sidekick or yes man of his own and he takes delight in ordering him around for all his misadventures with his boss! All said and seen humour especially Vivek dressing up as an aunty brings the house down. He is a scream as he imitates Shriya Saran to Saroja Devi style of acting and parodies old Tamil films and is wooed by M.S Bhaskar!

Madhavan is an absolute delight and his scenes with Vivek are whacky, Mamta is just adequate, though she lacks the screen presence of Juhi in the original. Abbas is ok for the role. On the downside, Sreekanth Deva’s music is disappointing and the production values are tacky. Outrageous comedy of Vivek is the films biggest calling card, otherwise it is just a routine film.

Verdict- Time Pass

The story may be old as the hills but the narration and the way it unfolds is perfect. The first half is fast and furious, and makes you want more but post interval the proceedings slow down a bit, due to introduction of essential commercial elements like sentiments and an item number.

Deva (Surya) is a post graduate living in North Madras area with his mother (Renuka) who runs a grocery shop. She wants him to get a government job and does not want him to be like his father who was a petty smuggler. However Deva becomes the henchman of Das (Prabhu), the number one smuggler who operates a ‘kuruvi’ (carrier of smuggled goods) service for jewelers like Nemichand and also does video piracy.

In the pre-dominantly Marwadi area, he has a bitter enemy in Kamlesh (Akashdeep Saigal), who can’t digest the success of Deva- Das combination who smuggles diamonds from Congo. Kamlesh is power hungry and will do anything to be one-up on his arch-rival. Soon Deva falls in love with Yamuna (Tamannaah), his friend Chitti’s (Jagan, Vijay TV ‘Njandu’ fame) sister.

Meanwhile Kamlesh due to his greed to get rich and powerful starts dealing in narcotics, which is against the principles and ethics of Deva-Das combo. All this leads to a bloody confrontation between the two as they go for each other’s throat.

The film works due to Anand’s fresh and innovative handling of a wafer thin story. The Surya- Tamannaah fluffy romance is funny and enjoyable. The chemistry between them is terrific thanks to the simple bits of screenplay writing of the director and his dialogue writer Shubha. Move over Vivek & Vadivel, Jagan and Surya is enough to bring the house down with their one liners and neat comedy track, which is the major plus point in the film.

The circumstance leading to Surya meeting Tamannaah for the first time due to the antics of Jagan is a scream. Watch the action and chew on your popcorn as the adrenaline goes pumping. Here Surya is robbed of his diamonds under the orders of the villain Akashdeep Saigal by six tough African guys on the streets of Congo and the subsequent quick running on the streets and roofs and fighting is superb. Franz Spilhaus the action coordinator deserves a pat on his back for the spellbinding three minutes Parkour style chase that you may have seen in a Jackie Chan or James Bond flick.

Harris Jayaraj’s music is peppy and the background score is awesome. The first introduction song Pala Pala… is good, picturised with Surya in all the get-up’s he has done in various films. The Namibia song Nenje Nenje.. is melodious and is sheer visual delight shot extremely well in fantastic desert bordering the sea location in Namibia.

M.S Prabhu’s camera is eye catching whether it is the sepia colour tone in the fight scene or the top angle in the songs, it’s his best work. Rajeevan’s set design to the minutest detail gives you the feel that it is real. Antony’s editing for a change is not in your face and has gone for traditional cut to cut, which goes with the theme.

The casting is perfect. Prabhu as Das the good hearted smuggler is constrained and dignified. Ponvannan as a customs officer is aptly cast, Renuka as Surya’s mother is life like, Karnas is subdued, while Jagan steals the show. However Koena Mitra’s looks wooden, the song sticks out like a sore thumb.

Tamannaah looks beautiful and has arrived as the new eye candy of Tamil cinema and is improving with each film. She has emerged as a firecracker performer, instinctive and uninhibited as Yamuna. Akashdeep Saigal the new villain with his flowing long hair and stylish performance, with Ajay Kapoor (Aadi of Kolangal serial) dubbing for him is refreshing.

Surya belts out a convincing performance as the quintessential action hero and carries the film to the winning post. He looks great and you cannot take your eyes off him. Relying on his eyes and his expressions especially in those romantic scenes with Tamannaah, he shines.

It's a very watchable film with a heart. So go ahead, make your matinee, Ayan is never-a-dull moment action entertainer.

Verdict: Paisa Vasool