Recently we have seen Kollywood produce some very good young directors who have come out with movies that aren’t your typical run-of-the mill entertainment. Last year it was Venkat Prabhu with Chennai 600028 and the Pushkar-Gayathri duo with Oram Po. These movies were not what you would have expected from Tamil cinema, say, 10 years ago. With today’s producers being ready to take risks with such “independent” films sans big stars, we are starting to see some unknown names from Kodambakkam making it big. This year, it is the turn of M. Sasi Kumar, who has provided us with the year’s biggest surprise in the form of Subramaniapuram.

Subramaniapuram begins in the year 2008 with scenes showing the Madurai Central Prison. As a man is released from jail, he is met by someone with a knife and stabbed. We are not shown who both these persons are. The movie then flashbacks to 1980 with Kasi (‘Ganja’ Karuppu) meeting ex-councilor Somu and his brother, Kanugu (Samudhirakkani) requesting help to get his friends Azhagar (Jai) and Paraman (Sasi Kumar) out of jail. They do the needful and both of them are let out. The importance of these initial scenes is that the former scene is always on the back of our minds as we constantly think about who the person released from jail is and who stabbed him and the latter scene does the important job of establishing the dependency that the three friends have on the men with all the power that make us understand their actions later on.

The movie then goes on to show the day-to-day activities of all of them. Somu is not in any kind of authority anymore and the only people who show him any kind of respect anymore are Azhagar, Paraman, Kasi and their friends. Azhagar and Somu’s daughter Thulasi (Swathi) have feelings for each other which Paraman disapproves of regularly. Soon it comes to the time when another important political position has to be handed out by Somu’s party and it goes to a rival politician which infuriates Kanugu, who then uses his goodwill with the three friends to manipulate them into killing the rival so that the route gets cleared for Somu to come back to power. It is not until Azhagar and Paraman are put in jail that they realize they have essentially been tricked in one big political game and how they exact their revenge forms the rest of the story.

The story has shades of all the recent gangster films like Pattiyal and Pudhupettai. However, while his contemporaries have chosen more modern locales with guns as the platform for gangster films, Sasi Kumar elects to take us back in time to the 1980s to tell his violent tale. It proves to be a very wise decision because that is what elevates Subramaniapuram above most other films. The authentic depiction of 80’s Madurai provides the best platform visually for such a movie with every aspect right from the slang to the dressing and especially the village locales being brought on screen vividly and wonderfully.

Another big difference between the aforementioned gangster movies and Subramaniapuram is the realization of the main protagonists. Pattiyal created a pair of gangsters that we neither cared for nor related with, while Pudhupettai chose to completely antagonize its gangster. In choosing three average Joes, Sasi Kumar has made it sure that we get connected with his heroes. The first half is largely responsible for this with scenes showing the friends looking out for each other and immediately coming to one another’s aid in case of trouble. This helps us empathize with them when they decide to take revenge for the wrongs that have been committed against them. A few dialogues also bring this to the forefront where we realize that this violent life was not one of their choosing and instead has been thrust upon them and they have to live with it if they want to survive in this brutal world.

With every other aspect of the movie falling into place perfectly, the biggest burden falls on the main actors to perform their roles well and while there are no screen-stealing performances, they do get the job done effectively. Jai shows that he still has a long way to go to reach the top with a mixed performance. He overdoes the smile in the romantic portions quite a bit and while his face isn’t suited for the role of the tough guy, he certainly produces a competent and believable performance in the second half. Sasi Kumar is as good on the screen as he is off it and comes out with a very strong performance as the guy with the soft heart inside the rough exterior. ‘Ganja’ Karuppu, whose comedy has been becoming stale recently, shows that there is more to him than just funny one-liners. Samudhirakkani’s solid performance plays a major role in realizing a truly detestable and manipulative villain. Swathi is mostly expected to look innocent with a shy smile which she provides adequately. However, a few scenes near the end of the second half show that she can emote quite well actually which is certainly heartening to see in a new heroine. The actors rounding out the group of friends also come up with decent performances and no member of the overall supporting cast is left wanting.

The off-screen crew (which contains quite a number of new names) provides wonderful support to Sasi Kumar. Cinematographer Kadhir with his effective usage of natural lighting for most of the movie is largely responsible for bringing the 1980s world to life before our eyes. Some newcomers in the form of costume designer K. Natarajan and Art Director B. Rembon are also critical in preserving the overall 80s feel of the movie and are certainly ones to watch out for in the future. Debutante music director James Vasanthan delivers one of the best melodies of recent times in Kangal Irandaal… and the picturization on Jai and Swathi with scenes accompanying the lyrics does not disappoint. Kadhal Siluvayil… contains some good lyrics toying with one’s belief in love and plays right after Jai has been imprisoned. The background score is responsible for elevating the effectiveness of the scene during many places.

In this present day where almost every movie that releases contains some well-known Tamil cinema cliché, it is surprising to note that this film almost contains none and is probably the better for it. With its unflinching portrayal of violence, wonderfully realized characters, strong lead performances and great support from the entire crew, Subramaniapuram is the best movie of the year so far and is worth a watch for anyone who likes entertaining and engrossing cinema.

NOTE: Since Aegan is obviously inspired by Main Hoon Na, I will make certain references to the latter and comparisons in the vastly different qualities of both movies. So, there might be some minor spoilers when these comparisons are made, not that it matters anyway.

Ajith is on a comeback run after a few years when all his movies were quite average really. After the blockbuster success of last year’s Billa, he has decided to put his trust on new director Raju Sundaram to keep his box office run going. Aegan borrows the basic script of a cop going undercover as a student from the Hindi Shah Rukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na and provides Ajith ample scope for comedy and action and he doesn’t disappoint. However, Ajith’s casting is about the only thing that Aegan gets right and almost everything else about the movie is below-average at best and it is not quite the diwali entertainment that was promised.

John Chinnappa (Suman) is a dreaded criminal who is wanted by the police on a number of crimes. Ram Prasad (Devan) is his right-hand man and best friend and knows everything about John. Ram Prasad decides to split with John after the latter chooses to put the lives of innocent people in danger and surrenders to the police and becomes an approver. However, when the police are escorting Ram to the court, their convoy is attacked and Ram runs on the loose fearing for his life. A short introduction about Shiva (Ajith) follows showing his ruthless streak in dispatching criminals. Shiva is then sent undercover as a student to St John’s College where Ram Prasad’s daughter Pooja (Piaa) is studying in order to protect her as well as keep tabs on Ram if he comes to visit her.

Once undercover Shiva finds it difficult to overcome his gruff exterior and befriend Pooja and her boyfriend Narain (Navadeep). He also falls for new chemistry teacher Mallika (Nayanthara) and tries to woo her. Giving him company inside the college are the principal (Jayaram), the peon (Sathyan) and his police aide (V.M.C. Haneefa). How he tracks Ram Prasad and brings John Chinnappa to justice forms the rest of the story. Oh and did I mention that there is a side track featuring Shiva’s attempt to reunite his father (Nasser) and his separated wife (Suhasini).

What Main Hoon Na did was merge all the above elements into a wonderful whole that provided great entertainment with lots of comedy, over-the-top action and just the slightest amount of sentiment to keep the proceedings interesting. Aegan delivers only in the comedy aspect. The scenes inside the campus with Ajith trying to blend into his new surroundings and get into Piaa’s good books to keep an easy eye on her and his wooing of Nayanthara are certainly funny with Ajith proving to have wonderful timing. Even though these sequences are directly inspired by Main Hoon Na with the funny principal trying to do his best to assist the undercover cop in his mission and Ajith going into dream mode every time Nayanthara passes by, they are still funny nonetheless and certain dialogues and scenes are sure to please Ajith fans.

One of the main aspects in which Aegan doesn't deliver is with its villain. Sunil Shetty’s solid performance provided a cool and chilling villain in Main Hoon Na. Suman’s John Chinnappa is a bit of a caricature in comparison. The role has been made into a one-dimensional regular Tamil villain with unwanted comedy inserted and it is probably single-handedly responsible for bringing down the overall quality of the movie. Sriman as Suman’s right hand man does not do the movie any favors and is another big minus.

Raju Sundaram also fails miserably in tying all the loose ends up in the climax. In Main Hoon Na, the track involving Shahrukh’s quest to make his half-brother and stepmother understand his father was integrated neatly with the main storyline and added some nice sentiments to the mix. In Aegan, the track has been brought very late on in the movie and it is absolutely unnecessary and only the director can explain his decision in bringing such an angle to the movie. The story and screenplay falters horribly in the final twenty minutes of the movie and as a result, everything built up during the college sequences are wasted.

As I stated in the beginning, Ajith’s casting is spot on for the role. There are some obvious references to his past movies and usage of the world “thala” during apt sequences is intended solely to please his fans. Ajith gets to enjoy himself after a long time and his scenes with Jayaram and Haneefa are a lot of fun. Nayanthara certainly doesn’t dress like she is a college professor but looks quite hot really and that is all is required of her. Navadeep looks like he has not improved his acting from Arindhum Ariyaamalum and is not stressed too much. Piaa manages to impress as the girl who is not too fond of her father’s profession. Nasser and Suhasini are wasted in miniscule roles. Jayaram, Haneefa and Sathyan all produce decent performances to maintain the light tone of the movie throughout.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is quite average really but the Aegan background score accompanying Ajith’s entry and fight sequences is good thankfully. Ajith has managed to improve his dance skills greatly and it is evident in Hey Saala… and Odum Varaiyil… both of which provide him with some fast movements and he doesn’t falter at all. Raju Sundaram has unsuccessfully tried to capture the group dance spirit of the initial college song from Main Hoon Na in Yahoo.... The stunt sequences are quite underwhelming and the climax fight especially contains some grainy shots which I am not sure Raju Sundaram intended to signify style but they are not good-looking in all honesty.

Rocky Balboa is a kind of nostalgic trip down memory lane for Sylvester Stallone. It is reminiscent of the 1976 evergreen classic Rocky in more ways than one and by Stallone’s own admission, it is the final movie in the long-running Rocky series which apparently overstayed its welcome with movies Rocky III, IV and V.

I first saw the original 1976 Rocky a few years ago and being a fan of uplifting motion pictures, I loved it. The story of a relative unknown in Rocky Balboa being given a shot at becoming world-champion by holder Apollo Creed and lasting 15 rounds and almost winning the match is still as inspiring as ever. Of course, the movie is now heralded as a classic by everyone alike and if you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest you do right away.

I decided to stay away from sequels Rocky III, IV and V when I heard they were nothing like Rocky and Rocky II. So, why make a sequel for a long-forgotten series 16 years after the last one was universally regarded as a failure and made even hardcore fans detest the series. I tend to think Stallone wanted a proper send off (as was suggested by his reaction to the reception of Rocky V) for the series and the character -- one which people will remember for all the right reasons instead of wondering why Stallone did not stop with I and II.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) starts with the title character living a lonely life in 2006 following the death of Adrian in 2002. His son, Robert Balboa (Milo Ventimiglia), has distanced himself from Rocky in an effort to make a life of his own instead of forever being in his father’s shadow. Rocky now runs a successful Italian restaurant, Adrian’s, telling tales of his boxing bouts and letting everyday pass by. Paulie (Burt Young) still visits his restaurant from time to time sharing fond memories of Adrian. Rocky comes across Marie (Geraldine Hughes) one day as he casually tours Philadelphia and finds someone in a very similar situation to himself. He befriends Marie and takes her son into his care and even offers her a position in his restaurant.

In the meantime, the current heavyweight champion of the world is Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver). And TV ads are about as to who is the better champion in his prime, Dixon or Balboa. They even go as far as to create a computerized bout between the two to see who wins. Dixon is not at all impressed with people calling Balboa a better fighter who fought through much better opponents and had the tougher bouts.

Rocky, however, cannot stop thinking about Adrian and constantly keeps visiting her grave. He realizes he has to do something he loves to take his mind off his late wife and plans of coming out of retirement and is actually granted a boxing license. Mason Dixon’s manager takes hold of the opportunity and arranges for an exhibition match between Rocky and Dixon which he sees would generate ample money and boost Dixon’s popularity in general. Of course, as is a given in Rocky movies, what follows is a rousing match where winning isn’t everything.

The movie features some of the best acting and writing Stallone has come up with in recent memory. The scene where he tells his son that he should be responsible for making his own life and not put the blame on others is a prime example of this featuring wonderful dialogues and acting. In fact, Stallone’s performance is so good that it makes you wonder why he did not choose to play more performance-oriented roles like this in his career instead of the more adrenaline-fueled action roles which we have come to associate with him. Burt Young returns as Paulie and is solid as ever. Geraldine Hughes and Milo Ventimiglia are the newcomers in Rocky’s family and provide good performances as Marie and Robert. Antonio Tarver’s Mason Dixon does remind one of Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed; however, it is still a decent performance by the actor who is a pro boxer in life.

Rocky Balboa contains more than one nod to the 1976 classic. The scene where Balboa starts training for his final bout could have probably been lifted directly from Rocky had it not been for the fact that both Stallone and his character have aged considerably. Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly - Theme for Rocky” is still as rousing as it was the first time the world heard it in 1976 and you cannot help but sit up and cheer as it plays in the background to Rocky’s latest training sessions. The final battle is also reminiscent of the Rocky vs. Creed match from Rocky.

Overall, Sylvester Stallone has achieved what he set out to do with this movie. As everyone (including Stallone) says a final goodbye to The Italian Stallion, Stallone has made sure that Rocky’s character remains firmly etched in our hearts. Rocky Balboa will evoke wonderful images of the path that the title character has taken from 1976 to 2006 and serves as a fitting send off to one of cinema’s most loved heroes.

To start with, if you want an entirely unbiased review of this movie that highlights all its pluses and minuses, go read this review from fellow blogger Balaji Balasubramainum. I am a very ardent Kamalhasan fan and have been expecting this movie for quite some time, so don’t expect my review to be devoid of bias.

First of all, a word to casual movie-goers: The movie has been getting a lot of mixed reviews around the web from various sources. Most of these sources are highly respected, so I am not bringing into question their worth or somesuch. All I want to convey is a regular moviegoer’s perspective. Once an online friend of mine -- who was also a movie critic for sometime -- told me that the problem with being a critic is that you watch a truckload of movies and begin to note each of them with a critical eye. He also went on to add that you go in to the theatre to get the whole view of the film and, thus, find all its flaws and somehow, sometimes could forget that moviegoing is just about having fun. Maybe Dasaavathaaram is getting hammered by critics for the same reason. It has been hyped a lot and has disappointed in some of these aspects, but, overall, it provides lots of fun.

The problem with Kamalhasan is that he can never create a movie to please both critics and regular moviegoers alike. When he released Aalavandhan, Hey Ram and Anbe Sivam, all wonderful pieces of cinema, critics praised him and the movies were critically appraised but all those movies bombed at the BO. People called him self-indulgent and that he created those movies only to appease himself (even the same critics who praised such films mentioned these flaws too). So, he comes out with Dasavatharam, a movie that is critically getting only mixed reviews but is a hit with the general public. Its story is a bit light and the screenplay is not tightly paced, but since the movie is taken with commercial intentions, it is so entertaining that the general public is having a fun time. Maybe after taking many movies where he pleased critics, this is Kamal’s time to please his devoted fans and provide some entertainment to the masses. Because that is what watching movies is all about – Entertainment. When you pay Rs. 150 of your hard-earned money, you want to come out thinking you have eaten a full-course meal, not thinking you have had only appetizers; a fact which is especially true for the B & C centers of Tamil cinema. I can certainly say that my money was absolutely well spent.

Now that the "rant" is over, we can get on with talking something about the movie itself. The story starts off in the 12^th century in the middle of an era where the Shaivites were discriminating against Vaishnavites. The King of the land, who is a Shaivite, asks Rangarajan Nambi (Kamal) to say Lord Shiva’s name to which he doesn’t oblige and ends up inside the sea along with an idol of Lord Vishnu. This sequence has no real connection to the rest of the story but still ends up being enthralling with the Kallai Mattum Kandal… song to add to it.

The movie then moves forward to the present day and follows the story of Govindarajan (Kamal), a scientist working in America in the research for biological weapons. When he finds out that a vial containing the chemical that his team has researched is extremely dangerous and is about to fall into the wrong hands, he steals it and goes on the run being chased by ex-CIA agent, Christian Fletcher(Kamal again). Revealing further details might spoil some of the fun, so it best left undisclosed. However, the way the screenplay does tie some interesting aspects together at the end is particularly satisfying.

However, since I am a Kamal fan, I could not get myself to be bothered about these aspects of the film. Since the movie does feature him in 10 different roles, that was one of the main reasons for most of the press hype (as well as personal hype). And I can safely say that the actor in Kamalhasan has not disappointed at all. He has done his bit to bring out every difference about the 10 different roles right from voice modulation to walking style to general body language to even minute details like the way the lip moves and such. There is just so much painstaking effort visible in each frame of the movie that I found it hard not to overlook certain other flaws that the movie had. So, if you are like me and were hoping that Kamalhasan has gotten the 10 roles right, then by all means go ahead and watch the movie because he certainly has.

Asin doesn’t have a whole lot do in terms of bringing out her acting talent but her great comedy timing (which one could see in Ghajini) is put to good use in the second half. However, towards the end of the movie some of her antics did get so irritating that I wanted to reach into the screen and just give her one tight slap, at the same time wondering why the hero was not doing the same (even though that is a lot of exaggeration, it does tell you how annoying the character is). And only Kamal can explain why he chose Mallika Sherawat to play a part in this movie -- a very minor one at that. As Balaji’s review aptly put it, “She does her bit (pun unintended)”. All the other actors perform their roles quite well and, overall, the acting department does not leave anything wanting.

However, the same cannot be said for the visual effects department. Even early on in the movie, in the 12^th century scenes, you can see certain aspects of the scene as being graphics clearly. The movie was hyped up to be up to Hollywood standards but fails to capture the same sense of awe and splendor. In most scenes, you can clearly make out what part of it was the responsibility of the visual effects department. With that being said, the tsunami scenes do provide a visual spectacle for the average Tamil viewer who will be used to crappy graphics in half-baked God movies and the visual effects can be forgiven for that.

There are other quirks with the film as well. The overall music is quite average saved only by Oh Oh Sanam… and the final Ulaganayagane… song which unabashedly sings Kamal’s praise. Also, in most of the getups when Kamal appears, you can make out that he is in the scene because he will be so visible because of his makeup. However, these are just minor quirks. If you want to see a great actor in top form in a good movie and want to get entertained for about 165 minutes, you could do a lot worse than Dasavatharam.

Finally, on a more personal note: Watching Kamal in 10 different roles in an above-average film is thousand times better than watching a mediocre actor in one role in a decent film. At least, that is the way it is for me.

When I picked up Assassin’s Creed last week, it was only because I had to play something till the release of Mass Effect. To be honest, I was not even intending to buy it because of all the negative press it got, what with repetition and all that. But I did go ahead and buy it and, in the end, ended up enjoying it a lot. Free-running is one of the best innovations in recent times. Obviously, the game has borrowed a lot of concepts from the new Prince of Persia series – even more so because both games come from the same development teams – but still Assassin’s Creed took the concept of free-running to a whole new level and it kept me quite involved with the game till the end even though there were lots of other flaws in the game. The game’s presentation really made free-running as fun as it was. I loved the way citizens would pause and say stuff like, “He is going to get hurt and when he does, I won’t help him” and so on which made the whole world very immersive and realistic.

Apart from free-running, I loved the game’s story and was absolutely pissed with the ending which blatantly leaves it open for the, as of yet unannounced, sequel. I really liked the unique two-faceted approach to storytelling and the game did quite a commendable job in keeping me interested in the plights of both Desmond Miles and Altair. Albeit, the main focus was obviously on Altair and I did become quite attached to him over the course of the game. Even more impressive was Altair’s characterization. Altair starts off as an arrogant, over-the-head sort of guy who thinks the assassin’s “creed” is below him and this gets him in trouble. However, as he completes each assassination and hears the confessions of his victims, he gradually becomes softer and it felt as if he was constantly maturing throughout the course of the game. I cannot wait for the inevitable sequel to move the story forward. The ending does pose some interesting questions as to Desmond’s bigger role in the sequel and it will be interesting to see what Ubisoft can pull off with it.

I found the missions themselves to be quite interesting. The investigating to be done before the assassination was fun for a bit but it got repetitive and boring by the end of the game. However, I did like doing these missions just for the heck of it. Following the victim to a secluded place before beating the heck out of him to get the info and then silently doing off with him was intensely satisfying each time. I also liked pickpocketing because it was always funny to watch the people’s reactions after they have been picked off. The assassinations were a bit of a disappointment for me personally. What was a bit of a downer was that you always had to move through the crowd and fight the battle, there was no means for silent killing. In 2 or 3 missions, I got on buildings and waited for a few minutes for my target to show up before realizing that you had to be within the crowds before the memory actually began. That being said, I did have a few surprises. In one of the missions, the vigilantes that appeared when I saved a citizen took hold of my target and I took a big leap before driving my hidden sword into his neck which was intensely satisfying. I also did quite a bit of planning as to which escape route to take back to the Assassin’s Headquarters which was also a lot of fun and helped me overlook the game’s repetitive nature.

The extras were also fun to achieve but it was also sad that they did not have any bonuses attached to them. I did not go out of my way to collect all the flags or kill all the templars. Both of those, I did whenever they appeared in the place I had run to. Still, jumping inside a narrow street after becoming anonymous only to find a templar waiting was quite satisfying. I did, however, try to save all the citizens and did visit almost all the view points in each of the cities, which was also a lot of fun to do. It was pretty sad that even the architecture of the viewpoints started to repeat over time and even across cities as well which took away from the immersion a bit.

There were other issues with the PC version such as an overly-long exit process (thankfully, Atl+F4 worked fine for me) and the fact that the game was always displayed in 16:9 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio issue was more annoying for me because it caused a lot of letterboxing at my resolution (1280x1024). There was an unofficial fix for this but it started crashing with the 1.02 patch, so I played without it. However, I did not really notice these issues once I really got into the game and, overall, I found Assassin’s Creed to be one heck of a fun game. It was not without its flaws but then what game is. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it to anybody who is looking for a quick way to pass time and run riot within three cities during the crusades for the Holy Land. For more, I have posted a review on the Gamespot reader-review pages here.

To finish it, here are a few screenshots of my favorite viewpoint in the game. I really liked climbing this one, mostly because it was very different from the rest of them and it offered a wonderful view of the whole city of Acre.