Unnai Pol Oruvan - Movie Review

UNNAI POL ORUVAN

Genre: Thriller

Cast: Kamal Hassan, Mohan Lal, Ganesh Venkataraman, Lakshmi

Director: Chakri Toleti

Producer: Rajkamal Films International & UTV Motion Pictures

Storyline: The anger of a common man over the Government's soft approach on terror

Bottomline: Unnai Pol Oruvan - Ungalil Oruvan!!

Kamal Hassan is back after the huge success of his magnum opus "Dasavatharam" and this time he join hands with the Malayalam superstar Mohan Lal in "Unnai Pol Oruvan". The duo prove why they are deemed as pioneers in South Indian Film Industry.

Unnai Pol Oruvan is a joint venture of "Raj Kamal Film International" & UTV Motion Pictures". This is a remake of the Bollywood movie "A Wednesday" starring Anupam Kher & Nasirudheen Shah. Though it is a remake, it still gives a feel of a fresh movie mainly due to the characters donned by Kamal & Mohan Lal. The director is Chakri Toleti. For people who dont recognize this guy, he is the one who played a small role as Ram, Kamal's friend in US in "Dasavatharam".

The story is a simple one-liner. It depicts how a common man frustrated with Government's action on terror takes up the law in hands to show terror can be eradicated only with terror. Though this mode is bit difficult to accept, Kamal has shown the actual anger of the common man in each of us and to what extent it can lead a person to react with utmost fury.

Mr. I.G.R.Marrar (Mohan Lal), Commisioner of Police, Chennai gets an anonymous call from a person (Kamal Hassan) , who calls himself to be "common man". He claims that he has placed bombs at five different places in the city which will go off by 6PM in evening. The deal which he wants to make to prevent this from happening is the unconditional release of 4 most wanted high profiled terrorists. Mr.Marrar initially shows some hesitation towards this as it could very well be a hoax. But once a 3kg RDX bomb is found in the station coming under his control, the grimness of the situation sinks into him.

The issue is taken to the Chief Secretary of Chief Minister (Lakshmi) and finally it ends up with the commissioner to take up the task of handling the issue. He gathers the best lot of his men to plunge into action.

The rest of the story revolves around the events happening during rest of that day which bring this thrilling situation to a halt.

Ganesh Venkatraman (Yogi in "Abhiyum Naanum") as Arif makes a good impression in his role. The cop of name Sethu has also done a good job.

The character of Natasha played by Anuja Iyer is well portrayed especially at the scene when she try to smoke in front of the police commissioner.

Also Lakshmi shines in her role of Chief Secretary with her command and attitude of a prime official in a government body.

A surprise package is the computer geek guy. After May Madham, he has come into limelight again. In the scene where Mohan Lal asks whether he is accustomed with these PCs, the way he says, "Idhu ellam enga munnorgal madhiri venumna abhivadhaye sollitu try panraen." Cool! Good Work!!

Apart from these characters, the protagonists Mohan Lal & Kamal have really come up with a mind-boggling performance. Kamal lining his conversations with a sarcastic humour and Mohan Lal equally retaliating the same. It was great to see the two great actors sharing the same canvas.

Especially that short climax in which these two ppl meet, it speaks volumes about their talents.

One of the special things is the way Kamal has shared the screenspace with all the characters without dominating anywhere in the movie.

This movie shares a lot of facts like Best Bakery case, 26/11 attacks, etc.. Many of us even dont know about the Blast that happened in Menambakkam on 1984. I got to know from Wikipedia about this after seeing this film.

Since there are no songs in the movie, Shruthi Hassan has concentrated on the Background score well. The Re-recording is also excellent. She has proudly included herself in the list of young music directors of this age.

Overall, it is a good film with no punch dialogues, item numbers, duet songs or acrobatic stunts. The strength of this movie are its characters & their dialogues are its soul.

From my perspective, it is a must watch for the message it conveys & for Kamal - Mohan Lal pair.

Plus: Kamal, Mohan Lal, Screenplay

Minus: Many dialogues are in English which may not convey the message properly to all Audience

Rating: 4/5 Must Watch

If you watch the movie, you will find the common man inside you trying to come out to bring an end to this terror by some way or the other. There lies the victory of this movie.

I end this review with one of my favourite dialogues from this movie,

" Terrorism is instant. Then why can't the justice be so?"

Think about it!!

Pasanga - A Movie Review

Once again, a show in Mayajaal. But this time we were in a dilemma to watch either "Sarvam" or "Pasanga". To our surprise, tickets were available for "Sarvam" but for "Pasanga" we had only the first row tickets. But due to the timely warning given to us by our friends, we decided to drop the idea of watching "Sarvam". Thank goodness!!
Coz "Pasanga" was one such movie which really gave a feeling of a good movie this summer.

PASANGA
Genre: Family Drama
Cast: Sriram, Kishore, Vimal, Vega
Director: Pandiraj
Producer: M.Sasikumar
Storyline: All about the children's mindset and their pranks
Bottomline: Not only for Pasanga. Wholesome entertainment to all age groups.

First of all hats off to the director Pandiraj for such a good movie and to producer M.Sasikumar, the director of another trendsetter "Subramaniapuram" for making this film happen.
As the film name suggests the film is all about the rivalry, friendship, innocence among children with a small love story and a strong message to parents.
Sriram playing the character of Jeeva Nithyanandham along with his sidekicks reminds me of "16 Vayadhinile" Parattai just by his looks. His father being the teacher in the school, using that as a tool, he tries to be the leader among the students. Introduction of Jeeva and his sidekicks especially "Pakada" gives us the glimpse how the movie will be.
Then comes our hero Anbu played by Kishore who has moved from a private school to the school where Jeeva is studying. From Day one, the rivalry between Anbu & Jeeva heats up. Anbu tries to go in peace but Jeeva loaths him to the very extent as his uncle's daughter also started to talk and help Anbu a lot.
Right from being the class rep to the progress report, Anbu fares much better than Jeeva which increases Jeeva's fury.
If it would have been a normal movie with action stars as the protagonists, now the story would take a line like villain bringing up a group of people and beating up the hero. Then hero speaks a few punch lines and defeats the villain!!
Thank God its not so here. Here the steps taken by Jeeva to defeat Anbu shows the inner innocence of children apart from the rivalry. He sorts up to measures like trying to pour honey on Anbu's hair so that it would turn white, asking a boy with black tongue [ I m sorry if that has been translated wierdly as I dont really find a substitute for the word "Karunaaku"] to curse, as it is a belief among children if a person with "Karunaaku" says something it will happen.
Every single child has given his/her best in the movie and the so close resemblance to the normal life really made this movie a must watch.
Amidst this rivalry between Jeeva and Anbu, there is a love story between Anbu's uncle Meenatchi Sundaram(Vimal) & Jeeva's sister Shobikannu (Vega). A simple love with no duets in the deserts of Namibia or in front of the Eiffel Tower!!
The pranks between Meenatchi & Shobi are very engrossing. Especially the mannerism of Shobi to raise the eyebrows is really cute and the mannerism of Meenatchi to attend phone calls saying "Ingittu meenatchi angittu yaaru?" is new & different. Storing each other's mobile number as "Purush" & "Pondatti" is something which we had seen in our college days. The song "Oru Vetkam Varudhe" is very melodious and once again it is James Vasanthan of "Kangal Irandal" fame who scored music for this movie. When this love gets to the knowledge of the family members, we normally expect a clash, lectures on arranged marriages, locking up the girl in home, beating up the hero,etc. But here it is again a different line. Both the families sit over and decides about the matter. These kind of different approaches have given this movie good reviews.
Apart from these lighter moments, there is also a strong message of how problems in a family can affect the minds of children,how to build up confidence in the young hearts of children, how encourangement plays a role in child's growth and mouch more.
Finally the child which plays the role of Anbu's brother makes us giggle with his stylish dialogue "Eppudi!!"
The way Jeeva & Anbu join hands together and how the love of Meenatchi Sundaram & Shobi ends up in marriage gives a happy ending to the movie.
This is really a good movie to watch which rolls back ur mind to your halcyon childhood days and brings back pleasant memories.
I give a two hand Thumbs-up to this movie which is really a good entertainer with some sensible message to all.

Plus: Cast, Storyline, Music
Minus: Screenplay drags a bit in the middle
Rating: 4/5 - Must Watch

Meet u all again in next movie review. Ba Bye!!!