Biriyani Movie Review

Staring : Karthi, Hansika, Premgi

Director : Venkat Prabhu

Music : Yuvan Shankar Raja

Production : Studio Green

Director Venkat Prabhu has a rare distinction as a non-linear story-teller. Be it Saroja or Mankatha, he induced his trademark style in the narrative. In Biriyani, he took a linear route with some sparks of connecting the dots game during the climax. In all his previous outings, the master-stroke lies in the black comedy he manages to generate without going overboard. Here too, backed by some fine performances, he pulled it off with finesse. The movie is also a litmus test for Karthi after going through a lean patch in this year, and comes out with flying colors in this spicy offering.

The film explodes with a ‘Men at Work – Take Diversion’ board and the smoke trail leads to a flashback that paved way for all the comic elements in the film. The creative touch of the director is seen right from the first frame when he gives credit to himself – a Venkat Prabhu diet – on a traffic police barricade. This one is followed by a chase involving Karthi and his friend Premji Amaran. The latter narrates the story in a flashback mode. Get ready for more of ‘Flashback’ and ‘Live’ cards on screen.

Karthi is cool and goes easy on girls. It takes him few seconds to woo someone. Not only that, girls give him a rating of 12/10! Moving with him Premji sees no chance to find love as he plays spoilsport always. This attitude becomes the causative factor for a strained relationship with his girlfriend played by Hansika. On the other side, he goes to a town to help his would-be brother-in-law in his business (Heavy product placement of Mahindra can be seen here). The follow of events and his fetish for biriyani puts him in deep soup. The rest of the story revolves around how Karthi sets things right.

The first half of the film never gives an inkling of a thriller. It fills the air with comedy and romance and just when the film is inching towards the interval the film shifts gears and slips into a thriller zone. The second half is where the entire core lies in. Many creative ‘black comedy’ elements hit you in the face. Even a sad situation was not spared to tickle the funny bone. The director rewrites an unwritten rule that comic episodes can be built with many characters. Here, he uses only two characters in problematic surroundings to bring the house down.

Venkat Prabhu packs a lot of concepts in the songs. He effortlessly laces them with extra gloss to make them more appealing. In one song you can see freeze frames, underwater singing, and in the other you can feel the retro vibe. One is targeted at the front benchers and the others act as catalysts for the narration. Yuvan Shankar Raja hits a century with Biriyani, and he is credited for this at the beginning. He becomes a pivotal cog in the film’s wheel and his background score knew no bounds and blends with the proceedings. The way he conjures myriad pieces is laudable.

A few surprises come in late and you would be eager to see where the story is headed. Though the movie is replete with creative treatment, the masala staples become unavoidable. A fight sequence becomes mandatory for the hero – even in the climax when the suspense unfolds. Even some unwarranted scenes bring down the pace. The assassin / hit woman is a faint reference to many Hollywood films and some are archetypal Guy Ritchie.

Karthi has a worldly charm. He takes you through a wide array of emotions and expressions. He is playful at the start, moves into a confused zone when the film hits the midpoint; his true grit and intensity surfaces towards the end. Premji does what he is good at – make a mockery of him, and try to break the barrier of tolerance. In a finely crafted role, he complements Karthi in every act. Hansika has little to offer and lightens the screen only in a couple of songs. Nasser gets to do a comic act in the climax.

Biriyani is a taut thriller with some loose ends. The way the suspense unfolds in a simplistic way may be unpalatable. Even most of the scenes give a feeling of déjà vu. While it’s refreshing to see a film-maker refine a format, on the other side it’s painstaking that he can’t do away with force-fit commercial elements. But Venkat Prabhu must be applauded for the way he has embedded a wafer-thin story line in multiple layers of entertainment. He climbs a few notches in the ‘black comedy’ thriller genre.

Verdict : Spicy offering in a linear mode!!

Hansika Talks About Simbhu and Andrea

Much has been made of the on-screen chemistry between Andrea and STR in Inge Enna Solludhu which has sparked off a rumor of an alleged off-screen relationship between the couple. As KT reported earlier in the day, Even Andrea had to clear the air officially regarding this link-up. Now Hansika Motwani who publicly confessed of her relationship with STR has expressed her opinion on the alleged relationship.
“Even i do romance with several actors in numerous movies. But STR has never expressed his anger on that. That being the case why will i alone by angered by this. I and STR are actors, this is what we do and there is no way that we will see this has a wrong thing. When it comes to acting, its all about how much you get into the character and perform be it romance or anything. That’s all we ever worry about.”

Vettaimannan is Back

STR’s Vettai Mannan which was put on hold on several months is finally back, Yes the Multi-Starrer project featuring STR, Jai, Hansika, Deeksha Seth is all set to be resumed. Its worth mentioning that NIC Arts the producers of both the STR starrers Vaalu and Vettai Mannan earlier had a fallout with the actor who threatened to drop out of both the projects. However things were then sorted out, STR is currently into the final schedules of Vaalu and will be taking Vettai Mannan from the next month.
Sources reveal that the makers have planned to can the majority of Vettai Mannan’s second half in Japan.

Singam2 Movie Review

Cast : Suriya, Anushka, Hansika, Vivek, Santhanam, Rahman and Hollywood star Danny Sapani
Music : Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography : Priyan
Direction : Hari
Producer : Prince Pictures
Story
Singam 2 kicks off right from where Singam ended. After resigned from Police force Suriya is now in Tuticorin, an NCC coach in a school where Hansika studies. A series of events leads Suriya gathering info about a drug deal taking place in the area. Towards the interval, Hari keeps us pinned with his crisp narration, well thought dialogues coupled with witty one liner comedy from Santhanam and Vivek. The interval bang is spot on, that is one superb scene.
Into the second half, and the movie traverses on jet speed. Hari’s thinking works here, as he overlaps the main story with the comic and dramatic scenes. The movie, even though put down by a few speedbreakers (songs) and a not-so-great climax, moves on at a good pace and ends convincingly.
Performance wise, Suriya is at full swing, He looks ravishing with his new mustache perfect when it comes to dialogue delivery, facial expressions. Stunts have been well executed, and he has pulled off some cheeky movements in Singam Dance. This guy has lived the role.
Hansika has a fairly mightier role to play than the main heroine.
Anushka who has been carved as a glam doll just for the sake of the songs. I feel she lost in this movie.
Vivek is hilarious, while Santhanam does bore you down a bit at times. Scenes between santanam and Anushka are OK and Santanam imitating Kamal is hilarious.
Villain’s What Singam 2 lacks is a powerful villain. Danny and Rahman had justice to their roles but not strong as Prakash raj in Singam.
Plus Points
Suriya
Cinematography
Racy Direction
Negatives
Music
Many Illogical scenes
old comedy
lengthy first half
Analysis
If a movie runs for 3 hours, and can manage to keep you entertained, you got to give credit to the director. Even though a little more care could have been taken, Hari must be lauded for his work. Dialogue writing is his strength and he has lived up to it, few lines do prick you up.
Cinematography by Priyan is commendable. One must appreciate the use of chopper cameras at various instances to provide a different angle. Editing is slick barring the long runtime. Stunts deserve a special mention.
Music by DSP is horrible none of the songs entertain you and slow down the pace of the movie and BGM is not that great

Overall Singam2 is one time watch for strictly Suriya fans and it will bring mass audience to the theaters in B and C Centers for sure.. movie fate is depend on how well the audience receives

Verdict : Strictly for Surya Fans

Theeya Velai Seyyanum Kumaru Movie Review

Cast : Siddarth , Hansika , Santhanam

Direction : Sundar C

Music : Satya

TVSK – It is Sundar.C’s movie after his successful Kalakalappu last year. He completed Vishal’s MGR movie which was postponed from Pongal release due to Samar’s release. But, after that there are no talks about the movie and it remains as a secret. UTV had given three very average movies – Mugamoodi, Thandavam & Settai before this one. Their last successful movie was Kalakalappu, directed by Sundar.C. Siddharth is a Talented Actor who is struggling to give a block buster in his mother tongue (Tamil). Let us see whether Sundar C manages to give a HIT for UTV & Siddharth along with the help of COMEDY SUPERSTAR – Santhanam in this review.

Story: Santhanam, Love Guru / Consultant help Siddharth to succeed in his love by giving him ideas. Sundar C had tried to give a Feel Good Romantic Comedy movie for the first time in his career.

Santhanam – He is the real hero of the movie. His introduction scene comes only after 30 minutes in a stylish way. His costumes in the movie were even better than Siddharth and he looks handsome in the movie. He proves yet again that he deserves “COMEDY SUPER STAR” tag with his wonderful performance. His Punch Dialogues in the movie will be uttered by Youngsters in future. FB Page Admins will be able to create atleast 10 new FB Pages with Santhanam’s dialogues.

Siddharth – He had to be appreciated for choosing this role as Santhanam has more importance and opportunity to perform in this movie. Role of an innocent guy in the first 30 minutes of the movie doesn’t fit him much, but he has managed to do it well

Hansika Motwani – It is yet another movie for her in which she had been used as Glamorous Doll. Voice Synch was an issue in a scene or two. She looks cute and has tried to act in this movie too.

Ganesh Venkataraman (Trisha’s boy friend in Abhiyum Naanum) had played the role of a Smart Handsome gu,y who is liked by almost all the girls in the office. He looks smart and fits the role.

RJ Balaji – Movie begins with his narration and he has done it in his style.”Yaaruda Mahesh” trailer reached 3 Lakhs views within 3 days was due to his narration style. He takes care of the movie for the first 30 minutes (before Santhanam’s Intro) with his one – liners.

Samantha, Vishal & Khushboo makes special appearance in the movie.

Music Director Sathya had given wonderful songs in his previous movie “Engeyum Eppothum”. He also has given wonderful melody songs in the movie “Ponmaalai Pozhudhu” (yet to be released). But, in TVSK, except “Azhagendral” song, other songs sound very average. Even, BGM in the movie was not upto the mark.

Cinematographer Gopi Amarnath had captured wonderful foreign locations in duet songs. Editor Praveen & Srikanth have made sure that movie looks stylish and compact

Sundar C is a Minimum Guarantee Director as he completes and releases the movie within 6 months at a decent budget with good comedy. Though he is used to give Comedy movies, his direction style is quite different from his earlier movies. People may even think it as Director Rajesh’s movie (OKOK, SMS). Till date, only Rajesh had used the full potential of Santhanam. Now, Sundar C too joins the list. Story happens in IT Company backdrop and it was quite urban-centric in the first half. But, he had managed to include some commercial ingredients in the second half to engage all kind of audience. Hence, movie may look little dragging, especially towards the climax. Songs in the movie acts as SPEEDBREAKERS and gives 4 Intervals for the Guys to smoke.

Verdict : Overall, TVSK is ONE MAN SHOW by Santhanam yet again.. It is Sundar C’s OKOK

Hansika Suffers Love Torchers from her co stars

Hansika Motwani the Numero Uno in kollywood is also one of the most busy actress in the scene currently. Having to face with the already impending rumors of marriage between her and Silambrasan, she is also being love tortured by her co-stars , Yes sources close to Hansika Motwani say of late few young heroes opposite whom Hansika has been starring in recent months have reportedly proposed to her.

However Hansika has said that she has neither the time nor the interest to indulge in such affairs, and does not want to reveal any one, as it might jeopardize her career.

TVSK A Mass Entertainer – Hansika

Hansika is excited about her next release, UTV Motion Pictures’ Theeya Velai Seiyanum Kumaru, produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapoor.
About her character in the film, she says, “I play a girl called Sanjana in the film. I essay a typical modern girl, who works in an IT firm. I have worked on my costumes and make-up to keep it simple and elegant. At the same time I have a glamorous look for the songs. Director Sundar C took a lot of interest in my look for the film. Sanjana will be one of the best characters I have played so far. TVSK is a complete entertainment package.” She adds, “I had a good time shooting for the film as well and I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot in Japan.”
It looks like Hansika and Santhanam’s combo has also worked well for the film. She says, “We have teamed up in our earlier films and the combo was appreciated. In this film too, there are a lot of scenes involving me and Santhanam, which are great. It was comfortable working with Siddharth as well. I am really looking forward to this pucca entertainer.”

Settai Movie Review

Cast : Arya , Hansika , Anjali , Santhanam

Director : Kannan

Music : SS Thaman

Producer : U TV Motion Pictures

From the little I have seen and heard about Delhi Belly, I understand that the general reception had been divisive. Remaking such a film may not have been the brightest of idea, especially when you planning to omit the part that actually made it good in the first place. R. Kannan’s previous attempt at remaking a popular Hindi film hardly went well. Say what you will about Jab We Met, but you cannot deny the fact that Kanden Kadhalai was devoid of any charm the former film had. When you remake a film and don’t create a better product, you have failed as a director. But ending up with something that is, inarguably, very inferior to the original, you have failed miserably. So, yes. Settai is a very mediocre outcome from a clearly promising material. Am I surprised? No.

Excuse the pun, but Settai is not just a watered-down version of Delhi Belly, it is a version that never really understood why the original film worked. Besides the effortless and judicious use of cuss words, the original was very open when it came to discussing sex. Settai only offers us a few lazy winks and witless double entendres, coming across as cheap and gutless. If you want to make an adult joke, for chrissake, go ahead and do it. Cut the conservative crap; Tamil audience has had enough of all this babying nonsense. Are you really expecting us to laugh at words rhyming with Sottai, Maadu and Thanni while leaving the rest to our imagination? I mean, come on! We’re in 2013.

Under the pretext of “making it suitable for Tamil audience”, Settai lost all of Delhi Belly’s crackling humor and gained a whole lot of needless songs, which pop up at the wrongest of places. Settai lacks the thrill that makes Crime Caper films work. Thanks to the bevy of duets, the pace is badly hit. The central story keeps you mildly invested, as you sit there waiting, hoping the at least next one-liner from Santhanam would be funny. Excuse me for my poor choice of words, but when done tastefully, toilet humor can be very amusing. Here, after a point, the entire “upset stomach” subplot becomes repetitive. It does nothing to change or even tangentially affect the course of the actual story.

Firstly, setting the film in Mumbai makes not a speck of sense. There could be many reasons for making such a big creative decision; the main reason being the story appearing too alien for the milieu. A film like Thuppaki wouldn’t have worked had it been set in Chennai because of the scale it demanded. But in a pair of capable hands, Settai could have been wonderfully adapted to Tamil. The real reason why Settai takes place in Mumbai is because the a section of the creative team behind this film is so inept that they couldn’t even be bothered to re-imagine the film. Almost all the locations are exactly the same. The film certainly looks visually appealing but anyone could have directed it.

The narrative sequence towards the end is a total mess and the film comes to a jarring halt. It is clear to me that a good story is hidden inside Settai; it’s just that the treatment does no justice to it. The actors don’t do much to elevate the film. Santhanam’s performance is indifferentiable from his previous works. Premji was surprisingly restrained- thank God for that. The others look just pretty as required. Anjali was really convincing though. She’s the only person who looks and acts according to the demands of her roles.

Verdict – A very unimaginative remake which is passably funny

Hanshika says no to Dhanush

The latest news doing the rounds is that Dhanush is keen on pairing up with Hansika again.
Incidentally, her debut film in Tamil, Maapillai, was with Dhanush. Though the film did not do well at the BO, Hansika has had a series of hits recently, like Velayudham and Oru Kal Oru Kannadi.
The bubbly actress will now be seen with Karthi in Biriyani, Arya in Settai and Suriya in Singam 2. Hansika also has two films with Simbu.
As for why she didn’t say yes to the Dhanush project, Hansika says, “There were date issues.”
Looks like the National Award-winner will have to wait a little longer to sign her on!

Hansika the busy bee

Hansika has been shooting for seven films simultaneously these days. Apparently, apart from her current projects, the actress has kept four other filmmakers waiting for her confirmation to sign on the dotted line. She’s said to be shooting every single day for the past few months. A source close to the actress says, “She will be shooting on all days till April. She’s planning a vacation only after that. Since childhood, Hansika has been a hard worker and it’s only because of her sheer inner strength that she’s able to manage her heavily-packed schedule. Right now, her only motive is to complete all the films without any confusion. For the four projects that have come her way, she has to re-work her schedule and plan accordingly.”

The source further adds, “She is essaying the role of a journalist in Biriyani. She will be shooting for it later this month.” The actress is currently shooting in Hyderabad for Sundar C’s flick with Siddharth.

Settai Movie Official Trailer

Vaalu single soon

Simbu is known for releasing single tracks of his films and making it big. Now the actor who is busy with two projects, Vaalu and Vettai Mannan will release a single from his Vaalu. Vaalu stars Hansika, Santhanam and VTV Ganesh along with Simbu and is directed by debutant Vijay Chander. Thaman has composed the music and single track from the movie will be out soon. “Vaalu single song releasing soon. Lovenraven nee yaruda? Yenn munadi vandhu ninnu paruda!!”, tweeted the young hero Simbu.

Hanshika vouches for humour

Actress Hansika’s film Oru Kal Oru Kannadi was a hit and she has understood the power of comedy. Now she has started giving importance for roles that has a lot of scope for comedy. Her film with Arya, Settai, a remake of Delhi Belly, is a comedy ride and she is doing an excellent job in the film. She has also signed another film with Siddharth and the film will also have scope for comedy. She is happy that in her films, apart from the hero and comedian, the heroine is also getting a lot of screen presence and hence chance to shine. Good choices Hansika

Simbhu fighting for Vaalu climax

Actor Silambarasan is currently busy with the climax schedule of Vaalu where the action scenes are being canned. Vijay Chandar is wielding the megaphone for the movie.
The entire shooting will be wrapped up with this schedule and Simbhu is planning to take rest after the climax wrap up. “vaalu climax fight shoot … Feeling too tired, need some energy now!,” Simbu tweeted.
Vaalu is an out and out comedy entertainer in which Hansika is playing the leading lady and Santhanam and VTV Ganesh doing supporting roles. A debutant Vijay Chander is directing the film NIC Arts is producing it. Major part of the movie was shot in Chennai.