VISWANATHAN KALYANRAM

*HERO*: *Mild Spoilers Ahead* The movie starts with *கற்கை நன்றே கற்கை நன்றே பிச்சை புகினும் கற்கை நன்றே(educate minds even if you beg)* narrated by the hero and as the teaser and trailer suggests, it's a film about education. But here, there isn't one particular hero. There are multiple heroes in this 2hr 44 min movie that's more arresting. Of course the first hero is P.S.Mithran. It's his sophomore film and he has taken a much more complicated subject in this movie and his writers(pon Parthiban,savarimuthu and 2 others) have made sure that the information that's on paper is translated well on screen and the other hero George.C.Williams(extraordinary DoP) has complemented with his visuals. Yuvan Shankar Raja, man he has some seriously interesting compositions in the Re Recording(the interval sequence of 12-15 mins being the highlight). He really knows which scene should have music and which should be left as it is. P.S.Mithran seems to be an interesting director to watch out for. His previous film, IrumbuThirai and this film are timely messages to the society, which is mostly about Macaulay Education System( I just wondered about the RJ Balaji dialogue in Velaikaaran) and there's this hero (without any surprise, it's Arjun who's the centre point for this story) who wants to fight against it. I even was happy to know that a thing, which i considered to be beliefs, are done for some scientific reasons( riding over the lemon before any journey). Mithran seems to know the pulse of the audience and doesn't try to overdo everything. His screenplay structure is also something which is something I haven't seen in a long time. He builds the character and the core problem in the first half, side by side and gives some outstandingly choreographed stunt sequences. Coming to the main man, Sivakarthikeyan, he has put his heart and soul into this film to perform convincingly as the Superhero Sakthi(his inspiration is of course,Sakthimaan). Of the supporting cast, Ivana provides the required impact that's needed for her character. Abhay Deol, with his puzzling lip sync, comes across as a villain who uses *lobotomy* as a weapon to control people. The things that we heard in school, like Stand on the bench, finger on the lips have also been used to keep the intensity building. Special mention should be given for Mithran in recording the real life inventors and putting them in post credits. Normally, a guy like me will definitely go out of hall and watch the post credits only in HD print. But, for the first time, i have watched 2 hr 44 min fully. If I were to point out the negatives, it'd be the climax portion which tries to say that we are taking a tamil film and not an Hollywood film. The climax, still is effective but the complaint was that it was very generic. But, for the overall theme and the daring presentation, Hero needs to be watched in theatres. *3.25/5*

Asuran: *Vulnerability*. This term has been used in Cinema for a long time to describe a particular character, especially if the character is a female. But here, the alpha male is vulnerable, thereby making the narration interesting. This vulnerability also leads us to 4 fight scenes of the lead(beautifully choreographed by Peter Hein), that makes the fans of the actor go gaga. As Sivasamy, Dhanush is subtle, honest and convincing in young and mid 40s role. Even his dialogue delivery has a particular reason to be appreciated. He's so manly during his young days(The loud dialogues) and mature(samsaari as he says) during his 40s, so the tone down in his dialogues. As Pachaiyamma, Manju Warrier puts in a restrained performance and it was refreshing to watch her alongside Dhanush. Among the supporting characters, Pasupathy, Ken Karunas, Teejay have a solid role and they do it to perfection. Technically, Velraj has given a new pattern, as he always does with each Vetrimaaran film. The night shots, particularly, stand out. G V Prakash's thumping background score is again a validation on why he must compose just music and not act as a lead. Ramar's editing goes hand in hand with Vetrimaaran's narration. Coming to the man of the moment, Vetrimaaran. He has a knack for giving some realistic cinema in a commercially viable mode and he uses Dhanush' star image adequately, but when he does, its all whistles in the theatres. To point out a negative, I'd say it's the lip sync issues and a slight drag towards the second half. *Overall, its again a win-win for Dhanush and Vetrimaaran.* *3.5/5*

Namma Veettu Pillai: Director Pandiraj, who is known for making rural, family dramas heavy on relationship values is back with NVP after the blockbuster Kadaikutty Singam that stars Sivakarthikeyan, Anu Emmanuel, Aishwarya Rajesh, Soori, Bharathiraja, Samuthirakani, and a whole lot of crew. If Kadaikutty Singam was about the lead who wants his family ro be united everytime, this film is about the lead who is ready to do anything for his sister. Performance wise, Sivakarthikeyan seems to have worked on his image and has emoted well, especially during the *Hiding Pain in his smile* kind of emotions. Its also a welcome relief for the actor after acting in monotonous, *girl behind boy* (stalking) kind of movies. Aishwarya Rajesh is as best as SK, when it comes to emotional scenes and they both hold the film together. Anu Emmanuel has surprisingly been used as a typical commercial cinema heroine, and has nothing new to offer, apart from looking pretty and appearing in song numbers. Soori, after a long time, gets to play a role that is as good as the director's previous venture. Even his Son character has a lot of scope in providing those timely, light moments in an otherwise serious film. Aadukalam Naren, R.K.Suresh, Vela Ramamoorthy, Subbu Panchu also have done their parts well. But the standout in the supporting cast was Bharathiraja, man his performance was so lively that every scene of his brought a certain kind of warmth to the film. Technically, Nirav Shah's work stands out in this film. D Imman's songs have a lot to be desired. Nothing other than *Unkoodave Porakkanum* registers. His background score was just about okay for this film. Coming to director Pandiraj, he seems to have taken the relationships too seriously that it becomes *melodramatic* and *soap opera* feel from the second half. The songs placement leave a lot to be desired. Once the real suspense unfolds, the film moves along at a noticeable pace, thanks to those *soap opera* feel. Overall, *Namma Veetu Pillai is for Sivakarthikeyan as to how Thirupachi is for Vijay and Vedhalam is for Ajith*. It doesn't disappoint you. *2.75/5*

Kaappaan: The movie starts off with the blast that was shown in the teaser. What was the back story that led to this incident, and what it leads to, is what the film is all about. *Anything revealed other than this would be a spoiler*, so I'll dwelve into the technicalities. Camera by MS Prabhu, Art Work by DRK Kiran( *He appears in the film too*) are good and suits the mood. Editing by Anthony( *He also appears* ) is debatable. He could have easily chopped off 2 songs out from the narration. Songs by Harris Jeyaraj aren't upto the mark when it comes to their placement in films. Even the Re-Recording serves as a hangover of his previous collaborations with KV Anand and Suriya. Could've worked a bit on it. In performances, be it Suriya's energetic performance, or Mohanlal's Subdued performance, or Arya's fine performance, or Sayessha's limited appearance, everyone has done their parts well. Samuthirakani, Prem, Boman Irani, also have done their parts well. But does fine performances give a guarantee that its a good film? The film should also have a screenplay, which is tight and engaging. And that's where the films problems start. The film deals with a topical issue that's relevant in current day, and there's also a research angle that goes into this film. All these interesting ideas, that sound good on paper, doesn't translate well on screen due to frequent interruptions of songs. The film turns preachy once the second half unfolds. Also, the twists that were assumed by the writer duo KV Anand and Pattukottai Prabhakar falls flat on a number of places due to the reveal in the teaser and trailers itself. Also, the film looks like a mashup of all KV Anand's previous films, because of which I could predict how and why this twist could have happened( *I myself is a personal fan of KV Anand movies* ). Overall, Kaappaan should've saved the downfall of Suriya's career, but it comes as another disappointing movie of him. Maybe it's time that he joins with new age directors to save his career. *Go in with low expectations, so that you may be satisfied by the end product*. *2.5/5*