Everyone has memories, sweet and hard. Some hard memories remain painful forever, and some brings a smile or even laughter when looked back. Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (NKPK) is one such difficult memory that makes everyone roll on the floor and laugh when narrated. This is a true story of four friends Prem Kumar, Saras, Bagavathy and Balaji.

Balaji Tharaneetharan makes an entry into the film industry as a director with this film. NKPK is an adaptation of a real incident involving himself, cinematographer Prem Kumar and two of their friends, Saras and Bagavathy. Prem Kumar has wielded the camera for the film, while Vijay Sethupathy of Pizza fame has portrayed his role. The original Bagavathy (aka Bucks) appears as himself in the film, Rajkumar has taken up the role of Balaji (aka Bajji) and Vigneshwaran plays Saras. Gayathri of 18 Vayasu fame plays Dhanalakshmi, the love interest of Prem.   

The story revolves around Prem and his friends. Prem’s marriage is set to happen in two days and to loosen up from the pressure, he goes out to play cricket along with his three buddies. He falls down while playing, gets hit on his head and temporarily loses his recent memories (things that happened in the last year). Unfortunately he loses the memory of his fiancée, Dhanalakshmi (Gayathri) too. It’s now up to the three friends to get Prem married to his forgotten girlfriend, without letting anyone (including the girlfriend) know about the accident that happened to him. Will the marriage happen peacefully and will Prem regain his memory? Watch NKPK on big screens.    

This is a very serious film, but it is almost impossible to control the laughter, looking at the unfortunate happenings. It is a brilliant technique to introduce the four protagonists and their lives through the title song, ‘Excuse Me Sir’. All the four central characters have done a brilliant job, especially Vigneshwaran and Rajkumar. The panic and fear, when Prem loses his memory has been beautifully portrayed by the three friends. Especially Bajji’s reactions and Bucks’ absurd advices are hilarious to the core. Vijay Sethupathy is very convincing as a guy with memory loss, with his ever pondering looks and the character of Saras is a pretty serious and intense one and Raj Kumar fits the bill perfectly. Gayathri makes a short appearance, but does well.

The greatest positives in the film are Bajji’s petrified reactions, Bucks’ authoritativeness, funny dialogues, unexpected turn of events and shocking memories of Prem that sits in place of those forgotten. The director has maintained the suspense and managed to keep the audience thrilled through the end. With just one word, ‘Ennachu’, the director brings out chuckles, exasperation and sorrow from the audience.

Ved Shankar, a product of AR Rahman’s music school, has delivered the songs for the film and Siddharth Vipin has done the background scores. The latter’s naughty and playful tunes during the serious scenes trigger laughter. But, it was unfortunate that none of the tracks of Ved Shankar, other than ‘Excuse Me Sir’ and Omelette Potta were added in the film.

The saloon scene is a cracker and the hairstylist does a brilliant job. The Schindler’s list style finish, where the real characters come on screen was pretty touching too, though it creates a documentary feel.

Cinematographer Prem Kumar’s close ups and some stagnant shots prove very appropriate in capturing the emotions perfectly. His work, especially the low angle tights, too contributes to the facetiousness of the film.

The film moves very slow, but it is understandably the nature of the story. Monotony breaks in when Prem keeps repeating the same dialogues. Since that is exactly what happened it is not a grave mistake too. But the sound design could have been taken care of. In some places the BGMs are too loud that the dialogues go unheard.

On the whole, this frightening experience of the four friends is a roll-on-the-floor-and-laugh experience for the audience. The male populace can relate to the story more and will agree with the reactions and the behavior of the protagonists.

Off the record, people say that it is immoral and inhuman to laugh at others hardship, but Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom doesn’t fall under that category. So laugh your heart out!

Everyone has memories, sweet and hard. Some hard memories remain painful forever, and some brings a smile or even laughter when looked back. Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (NKPK) is one such difficult memory that makes everyone roll on the floor and laugh when narrated. This is a true story of four friends Prem Kumar, Saras, Bagavathy and Balaji.

Balaji Tharaneetharan makes an entry into the film industry as a director with this film. NKPK is an adaptation of a real incident involving himself, cinematographer Prem Kumar and two of their friends, Saras and Bagavathy. Prem Kumar has wielded the camera for the film, while Vijay Sethupathy of Pizza fame has portrayed his role. The original Bagavathy (aka Bucks) appears as himself in the film, Rajkumar has taken up the role of Balaji (aka Bajji) and Vigneshwaran plays Saras. Gayathri of 18 Vayasu fame plays Dhanalakshmi, the love interest of Prem.   

The story revolves around Prem and his friends. Prem’s marriage is set to happen in two days and to loosen up from the pressure, he goes out to play cricket along with his three buddies. He falls down while playing, gets hit on his head and temporarily loses his recent memories (things that happened in the last year). Unfortunately he loses the memory of his fiancée, Dhanalakshmi (Gayathri) too. It’s now up to the three friends to get Prem married to his forgotten girlfriend, without letting anyone (including the girlfriend) know about the accident that happened to him. Will the marriage happen peacefully and will Prem regain his memory? Watch NKPK on big screens.    

This is a very serious film, but it is almost impossible to control the laughter, looking at the unfortunate happenings. It is a brilliant technique to introduce the four protagonists and their lives through the title song, ‘Excuse Me Sir’. All the four central characters have done a brilliant job, especially Vigneshwaran and Rajkumar. The panic and fear, when Prem loses his memory has been beautifully portrayed by the three friends. Especially Bajji’s reactions and Bucks’ absurd advices are hilarious to the core. Vijay Sethupathy is very convincing as a guy with memory loss, with his ever pondering looks and the character of Saras is a pretty serious and intense one and Raj Kumar fits the bill perfectly. Gayathri makes a short appearance, but does well.

The greatest positives in the film are Bajji’s petrified reactions, Bucks’ authoritativeness, funny dialogues, unexpected turn of events and shocking memories of Prem that sits in place of those forgotten. The director has maintained the suspense and managed to keep the audience thrilled through the end. With just one word, ‘Ennachu’, the director brings out chuckles, exasperation and sorrow from the audience.

Ved Shankar, a product of AR Rahman’s music school, has delivered the songs for the film and Siddharth Vipin has done the background scores. The latter’s naughty and playful tunes during the serious scenes trigger laughter. But, it was unfortunate that none of the tracks of Ved Shankar, other than ‘Excuse Me Sir’ and Omelette Potta were added in the film.

The saloon scene is a cracker and the hairstylist does a brilliant job. The Schindler’s list style finish, where the real characters come on screen was pretty touching too, though it creates a documentary feel.

Cinematographer Prem Kumar’s close ups and some stagnant shots prove very appropriate in capturing the emotions perfectly. His work, especially the low angle tights, too contributes to the facetiousness of the film.

The film moves very slow, but it is understandably the nature of the story. Monotony breaks in when Prem keeps repeating the same dialogues. Since that is exactly what happened it is not a grave mistake too. But the sound design could have been taken care of. In some places the BGMs are too loud that the dialogues go unheard.

On the whole, this frightening experience of the four friends is a roll-on-the-floor-and-laugh experience for the audience. The male populace can relate to the story more and will agree with the reactions and the behavior of the protagonists.

Off the record, people say that it is immoral and inhuman to laugh at others hardship, but Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom doesn’t fall under that category. So laugh your heart out!

Everyone has memories, sweet and hard. Some hard memories remain painful forever, and some brings a smile or even laughter when looked back. Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (NKPK) is one such difficult memory that makes everyone roll on the floor and laugh when narrated. This is a true story of four friends Prem Kumar, Saras, Bagavathy and Balaji.

Balaji Tharaneetharan makes an entry into the film industry as a director with this film. NKPK is an adaptation of a real incident involving himself, cinematographer Prem Kumar and two of their friends, Saras and Bagavathy. Prem Kumar has wielded the camera for the film, while Vijay Sethupathy of Pizza fame has portrayed his role. The original Bagavathy (aka Bucks) appears as himself in the film, Rajkumar has taken up the role of Balaji (aka Bajji) and Vigneshwaran plays Saras. Gayathri of 18 Vayasu fame plays Dhanalakshmi, the love interest of Prem.   

The story revolves around Prem and his friends. Prem’s marriage is set to happen in two days and to loosen up from the pressure, he goes out to play cricket along with his three buddies. He falls down while playing, gets hit on his head and temporarily loses his recent memories (things that happened in the last year). Unfortunately he loses the memory of his fiancée, Dhanalakshmi (Gayathri) too. It’s now up to the three friends to get Prem married to his forgotten girlfriend, without letting anyone (including the girlfriend) know about the accident that happened to him. Will the marriage happen peacefully and will Prem regain his memory? Watch NKPK on big screens.    

This is a very serious film, but it is almost impossible to control the laughter, looking at the unfortunate happenings. It is a brilliant technique to introduce the four protagonists and their lives through the title song, ‘Excuse Me Sir’. All the four central characters have done a brilliant job, especially Vigneshwaran and Rajkumar. The panic and fear, when Prem loses his memory has been beautifully portrayed by the three friends. Especially Bajji’s reactions and Bucks’ absurd advices are hilarious to the core. Vijay Sethupathy is very convincing as a guy with memory loss, with his ever pondering looks and the character of Saras is a pretty serious and intense one and Raj Kumar fits the bill perfectly. Gayathri makes a short appearance, but does well.

The greatest positives in the film are Bajji’s petrified reactions, Bucks’ authoritativeness, funny dialogues, unexpected turn of events and shocking memories of Prem that sits in place of those forgotten. The director has maintained the suspense and managed to keep the audience thrilled through the end. With just one word, ‘Ennachu’, the director brings out chuckles, exasperation and sorrow from the audience.

Ved Shankar, a product of AR Rahman’s music school, has delivered the songs for the film and Siddharth Vipin has done the background scores. The latter’s naughty and playful tunes during the serious scenes trigger laughter. But, it was unfortunate that none of the tracks of Ved Shankar, other than ‘Excuse Me Sir’ and Omelette Potta were added in the film.

The saloon scene is a cracker and the hairstylist does a brilliant job. The Schindler’s list style finish, where the real characters come on screen was pretty touching too, though it creates a documentary feel.

Cinematographer Prem Kumar’s close ups and some stagnant shots prove very appropriate in capturing the emotions perfectly. His work, especially the low angle tights, too contributes to the facetiousness of the film.

The film moves very slow, but it is understandably the nature of the story. Monotony breaks in when Prem keeps repeating the same dialogues. Since that is exactly what happened it is not a grave mistake too. But the sound design could have been taken care of. In some places the BGMs are too loud that the dialogues go unheard.

On the whole, this frightening experience of the four friends is a roll-on-the-floor-and-laugh experience for the audience. The male populace can relate to the story more and will agree with the reactions and the behavior of the protagonists.

Off the record, people say that it is immoral and inhuman to laugh at others hardship, but Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom doesn’t fall under that category. So laugh your heart out!

Prabu Solomon’s latest release Kumki introduces two bright young talents in Vikram Prabhu and Lakshmi Menon. Thambi Ramaiah also adds weight to the cast with his presence as a character actor.

At the start of the movie we are told that Kumki is actually an elephant that is used to tame wild elephants and send them back to the forests.

Aadhi Kadu is one such village that is forced to seek the services of a Kumki till their harvest, after a wild elephant named Komban goes on a rampage and kills three people. This village is bound by strict customs and rituals that are in place since 200 years.

Meanwhile, Bomman and his elephant Manickam are almost like brothers and Manickam is a nice gentle elephant that is primarily used during festivals for processions. Due to circumstances, Bomman volunteers to go to Aadhi Kadu with his elephant masquerading as a Kumki elephant. He is also smitten by Alli, a young girl in the village.

With the menace of Komban nearing and with the increasing trust and dependence that the village shows on him and his elephant, Bomman is caught in a difficult situation. His love also keeps intensifying on the other hand. How he handles this entire Catch 22 situation is the crux of Kumki.

First things first, the premise of Kumki is totally new. The lifestyle of a mahout and the information that is presented to us about wild elephants, kumki, their manners etc. is hitherto untold in Tamil cinema.

The film is brilliantly shot and the visuals are dream-like. Hats off to cinematographer Sukumar. The shots of Bomman taking pull-ups on his elephant’s tusks, the beautiful shots of the fully harvested sunflower fields and the jaw-dropping waterfalls shown in the Sollitaley number will stay with you for long. The pristine locales of Theni are such a lush treat to the eye.

Imman is the other hero of Kumki with all his numbers competing for top honors. Soi, Sollitaley, Ayyayo Anandhame and Nee Yeppo Pulla are strong contenders for being the song of the year. His menacing use of wind instruments in his re-recording is apt for the huge elephants on screen.

Lakshmi Menon shines in her natural portrayal and her ease at portraying even intricate expressions is a true gift. Thambi Ramiah is almost like the hero of the movie till the climax. His one-liners, gestures, reactions play to the gallery big time. It does get monotonous beyond a point as scene after scene is dominated by this free-spirited actor. The sidekick named Undiyal also provides some laughter with his dialogues.

Coming to Vikram Prabhu, he proves that he is indeed from the Sivaji Ganesan household in the intensely emotional scenes in the climax. He is also at ease portraying angst, gratitude and rage. His physique is a major plus and this hunk is sure to go places. He can be expected to carry on the Ganesan family lineage. One particular scene when he realizes how much trust and respect the village is having on him is a nice example of his merit.

On the downside, the film’s pace is steady and it doesn’t get racy till the end. The mandatory VFX shots dedicated to the action scenes featuring the elephants are sadly below-par and standout sorely. But, these blips aren’t major enough to affect the movie’s fortunes at the box-office.

Kumki should prove to be another jewel in Prabhu Solomon’s crown. His team’s work in giving us such a good looking film which also has its heart in place, is commendable. Kudos too, for the ending which doesn’t abide by commercial cinema’s unwritten rules.

The popular catchphrase of Cadbury’s advertisement becomes the title of Santhanam’s maiden production venture along with Ramanarayanan’s Thenandal films helmed by a debut director K S Manikandan.

For a generation that was fed on a diet of K Bhagyaraj’s films, the plot of Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasiaya is nothing new but for the current generation, this is the story of three men wooing one girl and their funny ideas and tricks. There are slight alterations from the original film (Indru Poi Naalai Vaa), perhaps to suit the current trend.

The power of Santhanam at the BO and with the audience is well known but in KLTA, it is Powerstar Srinivasan who shadows everyone becoming the power centre of KLTA. It is in fact interesting to observe that Santhanam has given ample scope for his fellow actor and perhaps it is his shrewd acumen that had roped in Powerstar for his film. It is a kind of big spoof played on the actor which Santhanam points at the end “nee comediannu theriyamaiye irukkiyae’ which works for KLTA.

Powerstar gathers all the applause and audiences don’t get tired of cheering him whenever he appears on screen or mouths a simple dialogue or flexes his muscle. Dialogues like “Shruthi vandaa, koodave avanga appa Kamalum varuvaaraa”, “Mannu lorry break pidikkadhu, appanukku friends pidikkadhu”, “Corporation kakkossukku ayudha pujai pannina maadhiri” bring the roof down. And there are plenty of such dialogues in KLTA.

The story is nothing new and is totally predictable but what favors it are the continuous bouts of humor and wisecracks that tickle the funny bones hugely. You know what is going to come but you still wait eagerly to see how it is going to happen. There are many scenes that are high on humor quotient like the ‘chinnanchiriya vanna paravai’ rendition at the temple, Powerstar using a double for dance at the temple to name a few.

KLTA team’s agenda is simple and clear- they want to make the audience laugh and they have succeeded in this mission big time. Gags and oneliners follow at regular intervals. Although pace is not the high point of KLTA, by the time you realize the snag, there is something coming on screen which makes you roll with laughter. That aside, KLTA is all about humor snippets that are strung together that gives an enjoyable time at the theatre.

For Powerstar, all that he does is to just play himself and hence it is a natural performance. The very factors, for which he is generally made fun of, are all integrated in to the story resulting in a spoof like show. The best example could be the scene at the liquor shop where Santhanam takes a picture of Powerstar, shows it to him, asks for his opinion and teases him.

For Santhanam, KLTA is another regular show as an actor and he glides past his role. When he emotes with feigned seriousness mimicking all heroes when Vishaka asks him ‘neengalumaa?’, it is hilarious to say the least. There are also dance sequences in KLTA involving Santhanam and Powerstar which again result in more hilarity. Newcomer Sethu is just about adequate and in fact he fades in the presence of the other two artists.  Vishakha Singh is one more actor from north.

There are other supporting cast members like VTV Ganesh, Kovai Sarala, Devadarshini and Shivshankar master but the spotlight is clearly on Powerstar. Cameo from Gautham Menon, Simbu and cinematographer Balasubramaniem gel well with the plot.

Among Thaman's songs the ‘love letter’ number, remix of yesteryear ‘unnai vaazhthi paadugiren’ picturized on Santhanam is a laugh riot.  Replete with humor, KLTA offers what it is set out for-gives an unabashed hilarious 140 minutes for the viewer.

Puthagam marks the directional debut of prominent TV personality Vijay Adhiraj. It is believed that he had the idea for this film almost 14 years ago and the idea has finally found its moment in the sun on the big screen with a Pongal release. Vijay Adhiraj tries to weave this tale with a concoction of new faces and some reliable old horses.

Puthagam is essentially about three young men who find themselves plagued with money related problems, both when their pockets are empty and when it’s overflowing. The source of their new found riches and the root cause for the entire situation make up the rest of the story of Puthagam.

The three youths in question are played by Sathya, who as the narrator himself points out looks a bit like his brother Arya, Sanjay Bharathi, son of veteran Santhana Bharathi (as an added quip, he also gets to call his father names in the film), and Vignesh who was last seen in Kaadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi. The first half of the movie revolves around setting up these three characters. The obligatory love angle is awarded to Sathya as he gets to romance Rakul Preet Singh, who plays a news channel reporter. As far as performances go, the young cast has performed with sincerity but it’s Rakul Preet Singh who shines the most with a sensible and sensitive acting display. Even her mouthing of words makes the lip sync look natural and the director, along with the actress, must be credited for working towards such important detailing.

The other cast members consist of a galaxy of popular TV faces and character artists like Uma Padmanabhan, Suresh, Thalaivasal Vijay, Santhana Bharathi, Fathima Babu and Mano Bala to name a few. Jagapathy Babu is an important character to the proceedings playing a casual gun-slinging mercenary and he has Rachna Maurya as his dynamite-like side kick. The seasoned supporting cast all live up to their expectations by easing through their roles.

Technically Puthagam looks good, credit to the cinematographer Laxman Kumar who has managed to show the colorful side of the fun loving youngsters and the more darker and sinister side of the scheming villains. James Vasanthan delivers some foot-tapping tunes that have been shot in picturesque locations abroad, and his able background score adds necessary drama for the important scenes.

Where Puthagam fails to be an exciting page-turner is in its distracted screenplay. Clocking at nearly 150 minutes, Puthagam contains several episodes that hamper the intensity and flow of the original plot, which is revealed only minutes before the interval. Knocking off the old-fashioned bromance and its related links could have made Puthagam racier. Another area where the film falls short of grabbing your attention is in its lengthy dialogue sequences which ideally could have been crisper. One feels that the director could have employed other means of narrative techniques to break the monotony of conversations.

Even though Vijay Adhiraj’s intentions were to serve up an interesting thriller for all kinds of audience, the result of what might have been an edge of the seat thriller turns into a long drama filled with the usual sentiments played by usual characters.

There were talks that Pathayiram Kodi was based on Nira Radia, a political lobbyist famous for her association in the 2 G spectrum case. But there is not even a faintest semblance of similarity of either the case or Nira Radia with Pathayiram Kodi directed by Srinivasan Sundar.

Pathayiram Kodi is about a wealthy lady who loses all her black money, gold biscuits and diamonds to a bunch of college kids who loot her wealth with the help of spray that can make people go invisible. Vivek is the CB CID who is on the trail of these students with a bunch of asinine cops.

The police force is depicted as completely vacuous and the man who leads the bunch also appears no more intelligent than the team that he is leading. And his superior Madhan Bob is worse. Crime detection appears to be a silken affair for Vivek and he solves all the cases without much sweat despite having cartoonish assistants. The best example being the biriyani and curd rice in a kidnap case!

There is no depth in characterization and falling in love for the hero and heroine is also very simple. Sample this- hero watches heroine performing high jumps and he hands her a love letter in the next shot but she expresses that it is only her dad’s words which are defining. And so, hero meets the dad when the daughter-dad duo is jogging in the beach and the father says OK just like that and the Cupid hit couple lands in some scenic locale to sing and jive. If only life could be as simple and uncomplicated as this!

There is no serious conflict in PK. Everything is very easy in the film as most of the scenes are constructed in this manner and after a point, you realize that the best option is to laugh at this rather than question the logical sense.

Although Vivek is responsible to make you laugh, his jokes for most parts are dated and he just does his usual bit. Hero Dhruv and heroine Madhalasa appear and perform like Hindi television serial artists while Dhruv certainly dances well and he is very sincere in his role. Kanishka as the wealthy lady has a dance number with Vivek but fortunately, dancing is completely taken care of by the lady while Vivek just strolls around her. As Vivek’s imbecile assistants, Cell Murugan and Alwa Vaasu do their duties.

The technical work is sub-par and the team has not even bothered to remove the purple tint that appears in most scenes. Music by K S Manoj and G D Prasad are just about ordinary.

Perhaps children may find the antics associated with an invisible spray appealing. There are times when we don’t mind being silly and laugh at stupid jokes. Pathayiram Kodi could be one such film. You know the gags are inane and childish but still you may laugh for some time. This is strictly a no-brainer of a flick and the movie does not take itself seriously at all and so why should you?

First of all, God bless the people who made huge noise about Vishwaroopam being anti-islam. Vishwaroopam clearly has no spiritual or political motive. The movie is made with only one intention - to entertain, and entertain it does, with a top class technical team assembled and headed by Dr.Kamal haasan, the man who continues to be one of the few living pioneers, bringing in new filmmaking initiatives to Indian cinema. 

We will stay far away from mentioning anything about the story or giving away spoilers in this review as it would be a criminal offense to do so for this movie. Rightly censored at U/A, there is an apt warning in the beginning over the display of blood and gore. But when the movie is on terrorism, what else can one expect?

Perhaps there is none who is even remotely close to Kamal haasan in enacting a Kathak teacher with aplomb and elegance ease. Such is his mastery over the art. The scene where Kamal’s transformation is shown, bolstered with some great stunt choreography, stands out. The highlight of the movie is the training camp sequences - well compiled with the right background score. Rahul bose and his lieutenant Jaideep Ahlawat steal the show. Nassar, Pooja Kumar, Andrea Jeremiah and Shekar Kapur are all appropriate. 

Coming to the technical aspects, screenplay is nonlinear, new, warrants focus from the viewers and engages for most of the running time. Though Vishwaroopam has no political motive, the story has the sensitive ‘war against terror’ as the backdrop. Hence, no wonder the writers employed wisely crafted dialogues with both hidden and explicit messages, all for the viewers to explore. But in the same breath, it must be mentioned that the Tamil spoken by some of the characters is a strain for the ears. 

Cinematographer Sanu Varghese and art director Ilayaraja are the two key stars in Kamal’s technical team. The former framed some great shots of the Afghan landscape whereas the later brought home the Tora Bora caves. Shankar-Eshaan-Loy is the best thing to have happened to Vishwaroopam. The movie would not have turned out to be what it is, without their music. Editing by Mahesh Narayanan is mostly adequate, but could have been a little more coherent towards the ending portion. Some might find the conclusion to be quick and abrupt, but there is no doubt over the expectation for the sequel. 

To sum it up, if you are a fan of intelligent cinema, do yourself a favor, wait no longer, go watch Vishwaroopam.