UNNAI POL ORUVAN-MY REVIEW

Have you seen a Tamil movie devoid of songs, heroine, punch dialogues, fights, heroism, comedy, villain, a love scene, a car chase?Here comes Unnai Pol Oruvan!!This movie,remake of Niraj Pandey's A Wednesday has nothing of the above mentioned gimmicks but still it makes the viewers glued to their seats for nearly two hours.

This movie is all about three entities,Kamal Hassan,Mohan Lal and a mobile phone.Hats off to the director for making a thriller out of nothing(Dont take the actors in to the count).The story is as thin as a wafer."Terrorists should be given the taste of their own medicine".But the treatment of the story is commendable.The crew should be given a pat in their back for not tinkering with the story and the screenplay which is pretty much the same as the original.

It is a dream come true for any movie buff to see the two legends of Indian Cinema coming together in a movie and they carry the whole movie on their shoulders with the ease of a veteran.Its disappointing though that we get to see both of them together only for a scene.All the other artists have done well,but they are simply overpowered by Kamal and Lal.This movie is a two men show,or maybe three if you take in to account Ganesh Venkatram.He sizzles as the police officer, Arif Khan.He is some one to watch out for!

Technically this movie is far better than the original.Be it Chakri Toleti's flawless direction or Manoj Soni's cinematography or Rameshwar Bhagat's editing,its just about perfect.But the surprise packet is Shruthi Hassan's music.Her background score is amazing to say the least,for a newcomer.The clarity of sound,her ability to convey the scene's mood through her score underlines the fact that she had worked(or made to work) really hard for this movie.

Not many times will you find a remake better than the original.But this movie is one of those few.I am in no way degrading the original movie A wednesday. Watch it and you will know the difference.

MARKS: 9/10

VERDICT: A MUST WATCH

TOP 10; 7. THAVAMAAI THAVAMIRUNTHU

Whenever we talk about a relation between a parent and a child, its always the mothers who hog the limelight.The fathers are always pushed in to the backyard.It might be due to the fact that they dont get enough time to spend with their children or they dont express their love as profusely as the moms do.Tamil Cinema has seen a lot of movies like Mannan,Thalapathy,M.Kumaran,Anjali,En bommukutty ammaavuku, to name a few where the relationship between a mom and her child are realistically potrayed.Thavamaai Thavamirunthu is perhaps the first tamil movie which tells us what it means to be a DAD.

The movie opens with Cheran travelling in a car to visit his ailing father(Rajkiran),admitted in a hospital.On his way Cheran's past is conveyed to the viewers in flashback mode. Rajkiran and Saranya are the proud parents of two sons Cheran and "Mirchi" Senthil.Rajkiran owns a printing press,where Ilavarasu is his assistant.His sole aim,as like that of any other dad is to see his sons grow up big in life.Whether the two sons fulfill his wish or not forms the rest of the story.Does it sound similar?Yup..it'll be, for every father has the same wish and that is to see his son better him.This is the strength of the story,with every father being able to connect with the character potrayed by Rajkiran

It was a role of a life-time for Rajkiran as Muthiah and he was simply superb,to say the least.Right from the first scene,when he sings for his children on their way to school in his cycle to the climax when he asks Cheran whether he has taken good care of him,it is vintage Rajkiran.Rarely has Tamil Cinema seen such a natural potrayal of a typical village father and it is pretty sad that he didn't recieve the National award for this movie.Saranya, as Rajkiran's wife was the perfect foil for him.Hers again was a natural potrayal,and if she was not noticed as much as Rajkiran,then credit must go to him as he simply overshadows everybody in the movie.

Though Cheran just about passes as an actor he just stands head and shoulders above all others as a director.One wonders how he could choose such a subject to make a movie when commercial cinema was ruling the roost.It must be noted that it was his his movie AUTOGRAPH which came as a whiff of fresh air amidst several craps, giving Tamil Cinema a new lease of life.It was Cheran who gave confidence to several young directors that after all realistic movies could still work wonders at the box-office.Tamil Cinema needs more movies of this kind from Cheran.

Music by Sabesh-Murali fits the bill and it helps in taking the emotions of the characters to the viewers.Cinematgraphy by M.S.Prabhu and Lenin's editing have only helped in making the movie look better.The movie could stand tall even without these elements for it had an realistic story coupled with a neatly woven screenplay and some fantastic acting by Rajkiran

I would recommend this movie very strongly for all those movie buffs out there.Please watch it if you haven't watched it yet,and even if you have watched it there is no harm in watching it again.It has a powerful message and it is a victory for the director even if one or two decides to take good care of their parents.

8.HEYRAAM

9. PUDHUPETTAI

10.ROJA

SHAHRUKH KHAN"S TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON

CONGRATULATIONS PRAKASHRAJ-A NATIONAL AWARD WINNER FOR THE BEST ACTOR

Who is an actor? A person who can do any kinda roles and do justice to the character that he is potraying. There are very few Indian actors who fits the bill like Naseerudin Shah,Irfan Khan,Girish Karnad,Nasser..etc. (Please note I am not including KamalHassan, Mohan Lal, Mammooty and Big B because I feel they are being given their due).And Prakash Raj is clearly one among them. For an actor of his calibre,he should have got the National award in the Best Actor Category long ago for his stunning potrayal in Anthapuram. But sadly it took so long for the Indian Government to recognise this precocious talent,but its always better late than never.

Now it is two in a row for the Tamil Industry,with Priyamani getting the honours,the previous year.Now the ball is in the creator's court to provide the audiences with some meaningful cinema,for we have wonderful actors capable of enacting any kind of roles and the audiences too are ready to lap up some good movies.The trend is changing,and it is only for the good.

Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal-Latest Picture

This is the picture of the Thirumalai Nayak Palace,Madurai after renovation.This picture was taken on 4/09/09.Hope the palace remains the same.

NINAITHAALE INIKUM-MY REVIEW

Ninaithaale Inikum,a venture of Sun Productions is a remake of the Malayalam Super-hit Classmates.Starring Prithviraj,Sakthi,Karthik,Priyamani,Bhakyaraaj and directed by Gnanavel,this movie comes out after the dud Kandhasamy.Being billed as a college story,one gets in to the theatre expecting a whiff of fresh air.

The movie opens with Prithviraj returning from Mumbai to meet his college friends.Flashing back to 8 years.Prithviraj and Sakthi are close friends in National Arts College.Karthik and Jeeva(of Lollu Sabha fame) forms a separate gang and they always crosses swords with Prithviraj,with Sakthi being a common friend to both the gangs.Karthik holds a grudge against Prithvi that he goes to the extent of challenging Prithvi that he would kill him.Meanwhile Prithvi falls for Priyamani at her first sight(Yup..Love at first sight) but doesnt tell her for two years!! But Priyamani finds it out accidentaly! Then love blossoms between each other and all is well until the College elections as both Prithvi and Priyamani fights for the honours.

Karthik, to ruin Prithvi's love drops an intimate photo of Prithvi and priyamani into the ballot box and subsequently both are expelled from the College and Prithvi heads to Mumbai to continue his studies there.Meanwhile Sakthi,an Asthma patient dies due to suffocation.

8 years later,Sakthi's dad Bhagyaraaj tries to install a music library which is Sakthi's ambition and he invites Sakthi's classmates for the function.There, Prithvi is found unconscious in his room as someone has tried to murder him. Who is the culprit and the reason for the murder attempt forms the rest of the story.

Firstly,about the actors.Both Prithvi and Priyamani look too mature for a College student.But Prithvi manages with his screen presence whereas Priyamani fails miserably.Sakthi is apt as a college student and he does his role with elan.Jeeva is OK.But the real show stoppers are Karthik and Bhaakyaraj.Karthik just rocks in the limited opportunities that he gets and Bhaakyaraj proves that he is a veteran.I wonder why Karthik is not doing much movies, for he has the capacity to go big in Tamil Cinema.

Balasubramaniam's Camera work is just about perfect and the way the songs are captured goes to show his talent.Vijay Antony has once again proved that he is a force to reckon. All the songs are excellent but three songs stand out(Pia Pia,Nanbanai Partha naal and Azhagaai Pookudhe).The Background score too gells with the movie. Next comes the Captain of the movie,Gnanavel-the Director.

Remaking a hit movie is never easy because it will always be compared with the original and when it is your first movie it just doesn't get tougher.But Gnanavel has done that with ease.He certainly has got talent, and we'll have to wait for his next movie to analyse his creativity.He hasn't tinkered much with the essence of the story though there are some major changes in the screenplay.He is a guy to watch out for.

Overall, the movie looks a bit lengthy and there are a lot of illogical scenes.The first half,especially is too lengthy,that at interval,you feel as if you have watched the whole movie.The editor could have been much stricter.Even though the movie passes the bill,one gets the feeling that it could have been a lot better

VERDICT: PASSABLE

MARKS: 7/10

2012--END OF THE WORLD-->PROOF

Several experts from across the globe are predicting that the earth is
likely to end by the year 2012. The reason could be a human effect or
natural disaster. From Chinese theories to scientific predictions the most
likely date is the year 2012.

Some are saying it'll be humans that would set it off. Others believe that a
natural phenomenon will be the cause. And the religious folks are saying
it'll be God himself who would press the stop button. The following are some
likely arguments as to why the world would end by the year 2012.

Reason one: Mayan calendar

The first to predict 2012 as the end of the world were the Mayans, a
bloodthirsty race that were good at two things -- building highly accurate
astrological equipment out of stone and sacrificing virgins.

Thousands of years ago they managed to calculate the length of the lunar
moon as 329.53020 days, only 34 seconds out. The Mayan calendar predicts
that the earth will end on December 21, 2012. Given that they were pretty
close to the mark with the lunar cycle, it's likely they've got the end of
the world right as well.

Reason two: Sun storms

Solar experts from around the world monitoring the sun have made a startling
discovery. Our sun is in a bit of strife. The energy output of the sun is,
like most things in nature, cyclic and it's supposed to be in the middle of
a period of relative stability. However, recent solar storms have been
bombarding the earth with lot of radiation energy. It's been knocking out
power grids and destroying satellites. This activity is predicted to get
worse and calculations suggest it'll reach its deadly peak sometime in 2012.

Reason three: The atom smasher

Scientists in Europe have been building the world's largest particle
accelerator. Basically, its a 27 km tunnel designed to smash atoms together
to find out what makes the universe tick. However, the mega-gadget has
caused serious concern, with some scientists suggesting that it's properly
even a bad idea to turn it on in the first place. They're predicting all
manner of deadly results, including mini black holes. So when this machine
is fired up for its first serious experiment in 2012, the world could be
crushed into a super-dense blob the size of a basketball.

Reason four: The Bible says it

If having scientists warning us about the end of the world isn't bad enough,
religious folks are getting in on the act as well. Interpretations of the
Christian Bible reveal that the date for Armageddon, the final battle
between good an evil, has been set for 2012. The I Ching, also known as the
Chinese Book of Changes, says the same thing, as do various sections of the
Hindu teachings.

Reason five: Super volcano

Yellowstone National Park in United States is famous for its thermal springs
and old faithful geyser. The reason for this is simple -- it's sitting on
top of the world's biggest volcano and geological experts are beginning to
get nervous sweats. The Yellowstone volcano has a pattern of erupting every
650,000 years or so, and we're many years overdue for an explosion that will
fill the atmosphere with ash, blocking the sun and plunging the earth into a
frozen winter that could last up to 15,000 years.
The pressure under the Yellowstone is building steadily, and geologists have
set 2012 as a likely date for the big bang.

Reason six: The physicists

This one's case of bog -- simple maths mathematics. Physicists at Berkely
University have been crunching the numbers. They've determined that the
earth is well overdue for a major catastrophic event.
more >>
Even worse, they're claiming that their calculations prove that we're all
going to die, very soon. They are also saying that their prediction comes
with a certainty of 99 per cent; and 2012 just happens to be the best guess
as to when it occurs.

Reason seven: Earth's magnetic field

We all know the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that shields us from
most of the sun's radiation. What you might not know is that the magnetic
poles we call North and South have a nasty habit of swapping places every
750,000 years or so -- and right now we're about 30,000 years overdue.
Scientists have noted that the poles are drifting apart roughly 20-30 kms
each year, much faster than ever before, which points to a pole-shift being
right around the corner. While the pole shift is under way, the magnetic
field is disrupted and will eventually disappear, sometimes for up to 100
years. The result is enough UV outdoors to crisp your skin in seconds,
killing everything it touches.

All the above mentioned "So called Proofs" are excerpts from a site. For any

queries please visit that site. By the way Iam in no way responsible if the

world is ALIVE even after 2012. :-)