Mankatha is actually Man'katha'- A Story of One Man.

Before we go any further in reading this piece of post, one should understand that, and I request people to understand the basic fact- give Tamil Cinema's unwritten virtues and regional formulaic means and customs, the respect it deserves. Accept the fact we grew up watching Manidhan, Sakalakalavallavan, Baasha etc. where we idolized those characters and our knowledge about Tarantinos and Cappolas back then, was similar to that of  Quantum theory. Close to nil. Now that we have been exposed quite blatantly to World Cinema, and we have seen some flawless movies. Agreed. But there have been enough 'masala' or 'spice' in cartloads, only that the technological superiority has masked it and is clandestine. Accept this too. 

Perspective is a luxury when the head is constantly buzzing with swarms of demons. Now, this is the first time I've ever been to a movie on a special show, First Day. It is not to a movie that stars my favourite Rajnikanth, or my next favourite, Vijay ( cut the guffaws, shrieks and definitely don't judge me on this basis! I have my own reasons.) I went in with high expectations, and I should say I came out thoroughly contended and impressed. It is the 'Attagasam' of a 'Villain' totally, and this is my perspective.

Mankatha, as the title suggests, is about a game of brains and brawn- with the latter being dominant all the way throughout and finally we understand the effort of the brain behind it. The movie touted to be Ajith's biggest till date doesn't disappoint me as a neutral viewer. Right from the entry on a flying Scorpio/Sumo, followed by a usual fight sequence, uttering the redundant 'money, money,money..' with a style so suave and different every single time, or the sinister laughs.. he scores a bull's eye. I am not so juvenile to spill out beans on the plot. ‘Mankatha’ establishes more off the 'Vaali' Ajith  style, but doesn’t reminiscence of some of his recent forgettable movies. This one has lots of new dimensions from the ‘Thala’ as we have known and seen him. He steps into a different role. Say for instance, there is no transformation from bad to traditional good and he is your unconventional ‘bad’ right from beginning till the end. He has no mercy, compassion, affection, love and what not an usual Tamil hero has. A very bold, and heartening sign. Something to be applauded profusely. This is the cool greedy guy one loves.
Well during the point of intermission, the audiences might feel quite puzzled over the protagonist revealing all his plans about finishing the game. But the ‘Game isn’t over till the final credits’. In fact, you’ll have no clue till the last 60secs of the film on what’s going on. Trust me when I say this- if at all people say, they had already figured it, - if its your friend- ditch him. He is a liar. If its a girl, don't react. Act of a dumb trying to play Miss/Mr. Smartypants.  

Ajith and his modulation in voice and utilization of Venkat Prabhu’s comedy sense is a treat. We've never seen him utter dialogues rich in profanity. The scene when he shoots one of the ladies in the movie, is a killer. The scene before intermission is one of a kind. Not to be missed. With a lazy grin, stylish slow motion walks and venom spewing eyes, apart from stealing money, he steals the show. The star that he is, he has carried literally the whole film on his capable shoulders -- and he's simply had a blast portraying the guy whose character sports negative shades. He utters cuss words with the ease of a pro with necessary variations in voice frequency, sleeps around, drinks and smokes like tomorrow is 21/12/2012 and craves after money with a passion that sweeps us all away. The man's screen-presence is second to a few and his dance has improved too! 

The plot involves suspended police officer Vinayak (Ajith) having a devious agenda of his own to loot 500 crores of money obtained from IPL gambling and leaves no stone unturned to achieve it. He ably convinces 4 other rookie looters- Mahanth,  Inspector Ganesh ( commendable performance), Sumanth and Prem - a lazy IIT graduate. They plan and execute it well and get their booty from Arumuga Chettiyar ( Jayaprakash), who actually convinced Mumbai dons to split the cash at his place. With Special officer Prithvi (Arjun) on trail, the film explodes in the second half after a pretty slow and ordinary first half. Time is the most greedy thing, as it holds up details when we want it the most.This certainly holds good for Mankatha. Venkat Prabhu takes his time to unveil the plot and as the film tapers to the climax, it is an absolute scorcher.

Arjun has done justice to his part, only if his dialogue and pronunciation could have been better. Apart from the drunken conversation, and 'Arima Arima- Black Sheep' spoof,  Premji Ameran is actually a let down, after an exemplary show in his previous outings-  Chennai 28, Saroja. Trisha is God's special creation. She looks stunning to the T. Other ladies come up with a blink and miss performance. Understandable. Yuvan's songs passes muster. He is now becoming so deprived of ideas that he has started lifting from very popular movies. The bgm clearly is a rip -off from Death Race, Dark Knight etc. Venkat Prabhu comes out with his most original script till date, with inspiration from Italian Job, Don which can be excused. Cinematographer has had a party shooting, as it is evident from his lighting effects. Editors could have been less lazy and trimmed the first half more. The one liners are a WooT with lots of sarcasm thrown in. The behind-the-scenes montage is a rage, not to be missed.

On the whole, it's not Black. It's not White. In Mankatha, it is totally Grey- a movie that is a sure winner. Worth your money.   

Dedications- Vinod who wanted this post to be written :D and fans - Terror

Building Noah's Ark today - What if God had asked him to build it in 2011?

Introduction :
 Study holidays are the most dullest phase of a student's life . The difference between the 'other' holidays/ vacation and study holidays is that there is a purpose - ( TO STUDY ! ) for the latter and none for the former. This time around i was rattling my brain to try and do something which i haven done in my past 20 years of living. So i chose to read the book " Mythological stories from the West " ( It is a kid's book filled with RK Laxmanish cartoons... never mind ).
I was fascinated by the Noah's Ark myth and it arouse the' Mr. curious' within me and made me write this post.. Quite an outrageous one I felt.
 Location: An independent house in  Any metro city in India.
Added Fact : All rivers in India are interconnected ( lets say with the help of Rajnikanth ) and they lead to the seas.  

The Almighty spoke to Noah and Said: "I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water. But I want to save a few good people and two, one male and one female, of every living thing on the planet."
 In a flash of lightening he delivered the specifications for the construction of the Ark.
"Okay," said Noah in a Shaggy-like voice , trembling with fear and fumbling with the blueprints. God added " After Six months,it will start to rain" . "You'd better have my Ark (The Ship) completed or learn how to swim for the rest of your life! "

And half a dozen months passed by. The sky began to darken with clouds and the rain began to fall, as if there was no tomorrow. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in the threshold of his house weeping, and there was no Ark to be seen!
"Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?"
A lightening bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah, that startled him.
" Oh! Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best, but there were unbelievable problems right from the start. You forgot the fact that I am in India."

"First I had to get a building permit for the "Ark construction" project, and your plans didn't meet the prescribed code. If i had not obeyed the codes, it is termed "UNETHICAL!"
"I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans but none of the IIT-ians were willing. So I had to settle for the second best.
Then I got into a fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler/alarm system. The sound level should not exceed the stipulated db levels according to Noise and Pollution Control Board.
Next my neighbors objected, claiming I was in violation of the zoning code by building the Ark in my backyard, so I had to get a clearance from the City Planning Commission."
"Then I had a big problem getting enough wood to build the Ark, because there is a ban on cutting trees to save the Sparrows,and rest of the bird species.
I had to try to convince the Indian Fish and Wildlife authorities that I needed the wood to save the birds too. They also would not allow me to catch the birds, so we have no birds (especially owls!) for the Ark.
Then the Carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the Regional Traders and Carpenters board  before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer.
Now we have two dozen carpenters doing the work of ten, not enough wood to complete the Ark and still no Owls!. The carpenters again complained of poor work conditions.
Then I started gathering up the animals and got sued by an animal rights activists (PETA). They objected to me taking only two of each kind.
Just when I got the suit dismissed, the Indian Environmental protection agency notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement, i.e what would be the damage caused, on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a supreme being called God!
Then the engineers wanted a map of the proposed flood plain. I sent them a globe along with the world map.
Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the  Employment Commission over how many Foreign workers  I'm supposed to hire, and there is also the quota system which says i need to have 30% of the workers to belong to the reservation class etc."

"Also, I'm running short on funds since the IT department seized all of my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about some kind of vat tax.
I tried collecting funds from all the people and said the boat is being built on " COMMON WEALTH " and that all of you will be saved. The moment i said the " COMMON WEALTH" word, people stopped giving me money. (Damn you Kalmadi!).
Then there was protest from Shiv Sena saying the Ark should be named after Bal Thackeray and Maratha manoos should be given preference. Seeing this we had protests from DMK, AIADMK. DMDK, Lallu Prasad Yadav and every young Indian MPs and MLAs."

" I asked the film fraternity to help. Shah Rukh Khan refused saying he need money to complete Ra.One, Salman Khan backed off because this issue involves animals. Vijay said he could not afford money as his last few movies flopped. Ajith was not available, busy playing his game and was learning dance lessons. Kamal Haasan was working on a movie that has him in 13 roles ( to surpass Priyanka Chopra ). And I could not find Rajnikanth. "

 I really don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years." Noah wailed. " The reason being Government here changes every 5 years ". God then with a smirk added " You did not know the concept of giving bribe?!" . Noah was startled. " Of course I know, lord! We do it every time with you. But there is now a septuagenarian named Anna Hazare, fighting for an anti corruption bill to be passed. So, the awareness among public is huge and I don't want to get caught in the act of doing such a foolish thing". God remained silent. There was something bothering Noah. He then politely asked God, " I have a doubt." God gave him the go ahead sign, and Noah asked "If the opposite of pro is con, is it by default or purely coincidental that 'Con'gress, is against 'Pro'gress in India?". God looked bemused.

After a brief moment of time, the sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled, "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?" Noah asked hopefully.
 "No" said the Lord sadly, " I actually forgot the fact that the Government and politicians already have done it."



Rowthiram- Confusingly Honest. So is my review.

"Rowthiram" means fury. This movie has that aplenty. First and foremost the director has the rage. And it is clerly overflowing. Why!? My guesses
1. On the site of seeing Jeeva become successful than his more talented brother Jitthan Ramesh, a person with enormous potential and innovative marketing strategy to promote himself by publicly giving his cell phone numbers, to hear first hand opinions about his movie.
2. Maybe he was tied to a chair and made to watch TR videos back to back, Sam Anderson dance videos or a Balakrishnagaru song sans volume, that he immediately after being untied, doesn't go the loo but starts writing the script for a movie. Give back the audience what he underwent, but given the humane nature, he dilutes it- by adding Shriya Sara) and some amount of occasional originality amidst 'zero-watts-bulb-like-glows' of  Mani Ratnam- Gautam Menon- Naan Mahan Alla- Sathya-Thambi influences.

Being influenced by top directors is fine. But just seeing the final outcome and trying to do the same in a 'my style' manner is never going to help. This movie is a solid proof for that. In order to capture the masses, he sets upon the Good vs Evil-MGR-Nambiar subject, only to give it a 2011 feel with slow motions, very slow motions and ultra slow motion scenes. If at all there is something difficult to understand than Rebecca Black 'encouraged' to dish out another song, it is the presence of slow motion scenes in an already snail paced screen play. The movie is as vague and superficial as Justin Beiber's songs.

Imagine Naan Mahan Alla, only that there is no personal vendetta, or dead father- you have a Hornswaggle version of it. This story can replace the Hare and Tortoise etc. that we learned at Kinder Garden . It is much simpler actually.  A man with an innate drive to fight against evil, fights. Fights. Fights. If you are expecting me to give the reason, refer to the fifth and sixth words at the start of this sentence. The reason why I said its perfect for toddlers is because they wont ask questions. This film has just 6.. no- 7.. no- 6 fights between Shiva (Jeeva) and Goons. Period.

The villains look totally rustic and do their parts really well. New directors are synonymous with novelty. The novelty here is that the head of well fed, 250+ pound goondas is Gowri ( a guy) who is the poor, underprivileged,diseased version of Dhanush minus the charm.

Now where does Shriya come!? I seriously have no idea.. No wait! I remember, because this is another never seen before concept in Tamil cinema- she comes exactly when the hero smashes irresponsible college students into pulp on a main road. Love blossoms. Songs happen. Shiva being the silent hero who believes that being broody is more appealing than ''dudey'' speaks with so many pauses that at a stage a person commented "has he forgot his dialogues?" I don't blame him. There is absolutely no neccessity for him to speak in a base voice.

"The comedy is woven into the story" - typical cliched excuse and it is true in the case of Rowthiram because, the joke is on you. After Vettaikaran, sathyan yet again succeeds effortlessly in testing your patience. The best aspect of the movie is Jayaprakash as the father. All dads seem the same on screen. Jeeva delivers what is prescribed with consummate elan, as usual. Only dent is the fact that he could have had a second opinion on the diagnosis. The director gives the whole movie from a characterization perspective, the disappointment being inconsistency to emphasize it.  
 
The climax is a welcome change. Seriously. The final scene strikes the right chord but is a weighty obstacle and contradictory in a way. Is there any uncommon sense in portraying an honest AC until the last scene, not paying heed to a woman in distress!? The action choreography was so good that Jeeva does not get hurt and  is invincible to escape unscathed amidst men with machetes. Please don't look for any positives here.

So finally, Rowthiram is a slow poison, literally, but comes with an antidote called patience. If you think you posses it, surely you will live to 'fight' another day, excuse the pun, just like me.