Tamil Movie Review

Music genius and double-Oscar winner A.R.Rahman received a prestigious invitation to the lavish State Dinner hosted by Barack Obama in honour of Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh on his current official visit to the United States.

The decor at the dinner reflected the Obamas' dedication to green, earth-sustainable elements and featured a garden theme. Rahman, who had been invited as a cultural ambassador by the American President, performed at the dinner, along with musicians like Kurt Elling, Jennifer Hudson, and Marvin Hamlisch, who conducted the National Symphony Orchestra and the United States Marine Band at the White House.

A member from ARR's team says that after Rahman's Oscar win, his popularity in US has risen manifold. He affirms, "This is one of the greatest honour for us. His performance came as a surprise as no one knew about it until a day before the dinner. The guest before the dinner. The guest list included about 350 to 400 invitees.
After Barack Obama raised the toast to Manmohan Singh, there was an official dinner followed by Rahman's performance. He performed the tracks Dreams on Fire and Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire. Needless to say, every body loved his performance."

It was First Lady, Michelle Obama who was wooed by the performance.

A spokesperson from Rahman's team reveals, "Michelle Obama had earlier met Rahman when he was performing at Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the Year event and she claimed that the music maestro left a lasting impression on her."

Veteran dance master Sundaram, Prabhu Deva and Raju Sundaram's father, who has worked in more than 1,000 films in all Indian languages, including Bollywood, will be turning hero with a film titled Pa Ra Pazhanisami.

Though he has done a few cameo appearances in films, this is the first time he'll play a fullfledged role. While talking about the film, it's director Razak says that It's about a man who is highly respected in society for his good deeds when an incident occurs in his life which changes him totally. It is a powerful role and he strongly felt that only Sundaram master would do justice to it. Srinivas and Meenakshi Kailash play the young pair and Dhina has composed the music. Snippets compiled by ANUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN

Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will be seen on the silver screen for the first time in the film I Am Kalam(Mein Kalam Hoon), says Gulshan Grover.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam knows about the film and has given his nod. He has even done a cameo appearance in it, Gulshan is also acting in this film.

It is an India-French collaboration with participation from Unicef. The film is being directed by Madhav Panda.

Dr Kalam’s belief, “Everyone is free to dream, so dream big.” Gulshan Grover, who has more irons in Hollywood’s roaring fires than anybody in Bollywood, also acts in this Mein Kalam Hoon with a French actress called Sophie Brosstel. And, Gulshan says that Abdul Kalam plays himself. The story, set in Rajasthan, is about a boy who is inspired by the former President and dares to dream big.

Kollywood is abuzz with rumors that glam star Rambha will soon tie the knot with the owner of an international sanitary-ware brand, Magick Woods, for which the actress is the brand ambassador. The wedding will take place at Tirupathi on December 27.

A booking for a wedding hall has been made in Rambha's name at the ThirumalaTirupathi Temple.Several cottages have also been booked for the same day. Rambha's, her family members confirmed the news but added that discussions are still on with the bridegroom's family. The name of the groom to be is Indhiran, which has thrilled Rambha, since in mythology, Rambha is the celestial dancer in Indhiran's heavenly court.

Indhiran is a Tamilian living in Canada who came to Rambha's house three months ago to sign Rambha for his product as he had planned to launch the brand in India. Since his company was one of the top 10 in Canada, Rambha agreed to be a brand ambassador.

Later, there were raised eyebrows when the company presented Rambha with a BMW latest series. In fact, it was a pleasant surprise for all of Rambha's family members when he gifted her the car. But there was no sign of anything else, nor did he approach Rambha's family members with a proposal at that time. Subsequently, the actress travelled to Canada to launch their series of shops.

Only last week, the 37-year-old businessman made a visit to Rambha's house and expressed to her parents his desire to marry her. "He said that he has been nurturing this idea of marrying Rambha for quite some time and was just waiting for the right time to speak out. Rambha's family members told him that they would discuss it with Rambha and get back to him," The actress has agreed to marry the good looking Indhiran.

If all goes according to plan, the Rambha and Indhiran will tie the knot on December 27 this year.

Amitabh Bachchan who came on a brief visit to chennai and when asked about his favorite actress of the present generation he mentioned Shalini Ajithkumar, he also mentioned that she really proved her mettle as one of the fine actress by the sad thing is that she had stopped acting after her marriage.

The minor towers next to the citizen.

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Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani is a love story that has more fun and laughter on its way to the marriage registrar than heartbreak or romance. And herein lie the film's delights and discontent.

In a town whose radius is about two kilometers, we meet Prem Shankar Sharma (Ranbir Kapoor) in jeans, canvas shoes and shirts that are either checked or striped.
He failed in class 9, has no career plan except to remain the president and mascot of Happy Club. The club, which either cons or coerces people to become members, probably has a long "must do" list. Prem's father disapproves of Prem's pointless days. The two have a strange relationship. Prem confronts his father's taunts with wit, insults and drivel. His mother loves him unconditionally.

Jenny (Katrina Kaif), a Christian orphan whose adopted parents are more stupid than vile, arrives in this kiddie town, misreads Prem and eventually the two become friends.
They have a lot in common, including the inability to convince the audience that they stammer every time a situation gets senti.Anyway, Prem is soon in love. But he can't say.So he does all that Jenny likes eating non-veg and working diligently for money (superhero in a halwai's kitchen).

While he's hoping Jenny is watching, Jenny's parents whisk her off to Goa to be married to a rich man's son. Prem is about to rescue her when she announces that she's in love with Rahul (Upen Patel). Rahul is rich and talks of a Ferrari in Frankfurt, but his politician father is dead against the marriage. Prem puts aside his own feeling to get Rahul for Jenny. In the middle of all this, one duffer and broke don kidnaps Jenny. Prem must rescue Jenny. There's lots of flying, hitting and kicking in and around a large tub of water, with soap bubbles, electric shocks and Jenny's inept attempts to help Prem.

APKGK is Rajkumar Santoshi's second shot at comedy after his 1994 Andaz Apna Apna. For a director known most for extracting awesome, guttural performances from Sunny Deol in Ghatak and Ghayal and bringing a kind of savage street violence never seen in Indian movies before, it's fabulous to note that his funny bone is happily intact. All of APKGK is his - screenplay, dialogues and direction. Though the story has mildly annoying jerks and jumps and random characters keep crash ing into it, Santoshi's snappy dialogues work very well.

As long as the movie stays in its colorful comic bubble -- Prem is so Archie, and Jenny so Betty -- it works. Every time it steps out in the real world, it begins to falter.

For example, when Jenny is being forced to marry Goa boy, her prospective father-in law tells her: "You have two choices, either become his wife in church tomorrow morning, or he'll make you his wife in his bedroom". This made me cringe, twice.

Katrina Kaif in frocks with pin tucks and gathers and colorful hair-bands is simply lovely. Except for her very-Brit Hindi, she's put in a very nice, even performance.

Prem's character, though incomplete and inconsistent -- for a boy so cocky and cool, it makes no sense that he can't string a sentence of English -- is the best thing in the film. Ranbir Kapoor's got the best dialogues and he delivers them with perfect timing and exaggerated but adorable expressions. He's really cute and cuddly that's probably why this comic love situation is not really a story.

Paa is the story of Auro (Amitabh Bachchan), a 13-year-old boy with a rare genetic defect that accelerates ageing. Auro suffers from a progeria-like syndrome. While mentally he is a 13-year-old, but physically he looks five times older. Inspite of his condition Auro is intelligent and witty and is always happy.


Abhishek Bachchan plays the role of Amitabh's father in the film. Abhishek's character in the film, Amol Arte is that a young, progressive and idealistic politician. Amol is out to prove that politics is not a dirty word, and that is his mission.

Vidya Balan plays the role of Vidya, Auro's mother.In the film Vidya is a gynecologist by profession. Paa is the story of Auro and Amol's father-son relationship.

Amitabh's prosthetic makeup in the film was done by Oscar-nominated makeup specialist Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till.
The music for the film has been composed by the legendary Ilaya Raja, who also composed the music for the Big B starrer Cheeni Kum.
Paa has been written and directed by adman-turned-director R.Balki who made his directorial debut with Cheeni Kum.
Balki says, "Paa is a tribute to possibly the greatest actor that Indian cinema has ever produced and an example of how an actor can undo the very things that have made him an icon and still do something iconic."
The film is being produced under Amitabh Bachchan's banner AB Corp. Other films released under the AB Corp banner include Aks, Viruddh and Family - Ties Of Blood.

Amitabh Bachchan says he had to stick on several pieces of specially crafted clay to get the right look for the movie. Big B couldn't wait to upload the first poster of the film on his blog, and wrote at length about what went behind his look of a child suffering from progeria, a rare disease that causes premature ageing among children. The face that you see is the result of deep research. Kids affected by this problem lose all their hair, become bald and their veins begin to show prominently on their heads, which enlarge to a size beyond normal. Their teeth and eyes suffer also..." posted Amitabh.
"The prosthetic process is arduous. Around eight pieces specially designed through laborious clay models are most meticulously stuck on to the face. Once the make-up starts, it is impossible to move even a few centimeters. Eating and drinking has to be avoided and you cannot talk because it displaces the pieces over the contours of the face. Separate pieces form the entire look," he wrote.
"Two small holes are bored into the skull so some sound can go through. Also when you speak it reverberates inside the skull and you constantly feel you are inside a tunnel with pronounced echo," he said.
"Eye lids come on close to the eyes, the forehead is another piece, the nose, the two cheeks, the upper and lower lip, the chin and finally the neck all get stuck on and then blended through an intricate electronic spray which merges all the pieces to look like one cohesive mass," added Amitabh.
The actor says that since they wanted the look to be authentic, he also had to shave off all hair on his hands, arms, chest and legs regularly so they could highlight the veins by colouring them.
Amitabh said that he he had taken cues from his grandchildren to adapt a child's mannerisms for the role. The producers of the film tried to keep Amitabh's look secret, but a few images revealing Amitabh's unusual look appeared in the media. The father-son duo have starred together in a number of films, including Sarkar, Bunty Aur Babli, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Sarkar Raj, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Shootout At Lokhandwala.

One can best describe this as a faithful remake with almost everything in the original recreated well in Tamil. Three cheers to director Kannan, because in Kanden Kadhalai he has faithfully followed the footsteps of Imtiaz Ali and in the process made an impressive remake of Jab We Met.

Sakthivel (Bharath) and Anjali (Tamannah) come across each other in a train to Madurai. The youth, defeated in both his business and romance, takes the journey with no particular destination, no aim in mind. A soft-spoken Sakthivel meets Anjali, who is his direct opposite.
A sequence of events leads to Anjali missing the train after she decides to help Sakthivel. As a result, she starts to blame Sakthi and tells him in no uncertain terms that as he is responsible for her predicament, it's his duty to ensure that she reaches her destination -- her native place.

The first half is all about their journey from Vridhachalam to Theni. Thanks to Anjali, Sakthivel slowly develops interest in his life and becomes self-confident again. Her grandfather (Ravichandran), her father (Nizhalgal Ravi) and her uncle (Azhagam Perumal) greet Sakthivel effusively and urge him to stay for a week.

In the mist of all this bonhomie, arrives Mokkai Perumal (Santhanam), Anjali's `morai' mama who wants to marry her.

But the bubbly Anjali decides to elope instead, to Ooty, with her boyfriend Goutham Menon (Munna). She asks Sakthivel for help. When they elope, the whole family thinks Anjali has walked out of the house to marry Sakthivel, who carries on with his life and brings his business back on track. Till he gets the news that Anjali is not married to Goutham.

The rest of the plot plays out between Anjali, Sakthi and Munna -- no prizes for guessing whom she finally decides to marry! It has no complex storyline, no thrills or spills, it's just a feel-good story with entertaining elements all through. Kannan has given Imtiaz Ali's story the perfect local flavour. Tamannah plays the role enacted by Kareena Kapoor, while Bharath essays Shahid Kapoor's role.

Bharath seems to have strictly followed Shahid Kapoor in his mannerisms and costumes. He impresses in the first half as a soft-spoken, dejected youth. Tamannah, who played a bubbly young girl in Anandha Thandavam has plunged enthusiastically into a similar role here and man ages to come up trumps. Santhanam is the scene-stealer. Munna as Goutham Menon, despite appearing briefly, gives a neat performance.

If the USP of JWM was the Punjabi family around which the story revolved, KK is woven around a Thevar family in Theni.

Vidhyasagar's music is average when compared to the tracks in the original. P.G.
Muthiah's cinematography captures the beauty of Ooty. The movie is a bit slow as it begins but be patient if you want to enjoy some magic moments in the second half.