nickraman-27699's Reviews

Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (2023)

6/10

Doesn't have the emotional consequences as Kizuna, but...

14 November 2023

If you're watching 02 - the beginning right after Last Evolution Kizuna, you may end up with more questions than satisfaction.

While the timeline placement does follow the events of Kizuna, the 02 kids don't have a whole lot of emotional consequences compared to what Taichi and Yamato and the 01 gang went through (you do get a blink-and-miss cameo.) The Beginning feels like another Tri episode and the majority of the film is focused on Lui and Ukkomon.

The dub did have confused moments where Jogress and DNA digivolve were intertwined plenty of times. Also the fate of the 6 is pretty questionable as they currently have alternative tools for digivolution.

Hope this isn't the end of Adventure and more is in the offering from Toei. Here's hoping Toei will continue this path of Adventure films as canonically, they have like 15 years left before the end game epilogue (unless that plans to be retconned.)

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Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022)

7/10

Great cast, great performances, but...

30 October 2022

Mani's touch is very much alive and kicking with this adaptation of Kalki's novel. Though I hadn't read the book completely, I (alone) was somewhat able to follow along with the characters introduced and settings setup along the way.

The first half is well executed, but the second half was too lengthy especially in the Lanka portions. However for some, this is a slightly complex narrative that would require great patience in understanding who-whos by kingdom and clan and their ulterior motives. Casting and acting is well done.

ARR's score is subline, but some songs weren't needed.

Overall, it's a good one time watch. I can't help but wonder whether PS is better suited as a web series than a feature film as I did feel at times characters come and go without establishing a greater presence for audiences to sink in. That and this narrative is overtly complex for a Non-book reader or non-tamilian to absorb as a Pan-Indian genre. Perhaps a more graphic explanation is required for ease like a family tree.

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Vikram (2022)

8/10

A punchy comeback & the start of cinematic universe.

21 June 2022

Vikram can be termed as either a Kamal Haasan comeback or Kaithi 1.5, serving as an entry to Lokesh's Cinematic Universe.

Vikram can also a spinoff of the original Vikram (1986) where gaps are filled in between the events of 1986 film and this story. It's likely that in the development of this film, Kamal would have rendered an idea where post Agni Putra's episode in the 1986 film, Agent Vikram is assigned to lead a Black Ops squad the following year (1987) consisting of squad members (Agent Lawrence, Agent Tina & Agent Uppili). The squad was deemed successful for the Govt, up until 1991, where the squad experienced critical failure and had gone underground as a result of that failure.

What's interesting here is that Haasan takes a backseat in the film and lets Fahad Faasil drive with support from Vijay Sethupathi, Chemban Vindod and others. Faasil gets a solid role here and makes up for his one-note appearance from Velaikaaran, where I felt he was severely limited.

As for Sethupathi, he was as good and on par with Haasan and Faasil. In fact, would rate this far better than his recent performances, where I felt he was just sleepwalking through his earlier roles. As a film, Vikram is far better than Kanagaraj's Master, where I felt the compromise between a Vijay film and a Lokesh film tilted more towards the former.

Any blemishes? The blood and gore in the film won't be to everyone's liking. However, if you can relish the blood and gore from the KGF duology (specifically Chapter 2) , you'll love this movie. Also, that Suriya cameo was just awesome.

Another criticism is the Pan India Marketing. This is still an issue with Tamil films projecting themselves as Pan India but unlike Rajamouli's RRR or Neel's KGF, Vikram had only Kamal to do the promotions across North India to get the Hindi version across. The result? Not so earth shattering collections in the Hindi belt, yet thanks to the hindi version being sold for under 3C, the collection is double/thrice that, so it's still a profit thanks to the word of mouth. But this promotional works for Pan India needs to be worked on from the Tamil Industry.

Coming back to Kamal's return with this Vikram; Hope he realizes what the paying public has been missing all along while he's been delaying or shelving projects, doing needless reality TV show anchoring (Bigg Boss Tamil) and above all, Politics.

PS: Please watch Kaithi before watching Vikram.

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Valimai (2022)

5/10

Valimai is only valli (pain) & power-less

12 March 2022

At the end of it all, I just wanted to catch a breath. After 3 years including a lockdown, a muddled chance between the first and second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, we finally get an Ajith starrer with a promising writer-director, H. Vinoth. Vinoth gave us a superb Karthi in "Dheeran", so I was expecting a similar genre in Ajith's court.

But Valimai doesn't offer power in it's story telling, but rather in its stunts that goes like a run-on sentence. After a decent well built first half, Vinoth looses steam in the second half that's muddled with stiffness, stunts, sentiment, more stunts & a dragged out climax. Did the team get inspired by the Prabhas-dud, "Saaho?"

Some plusses apart from the first half buildup was the nixing of any lead romance. This deserves kudos because in the age of mass heroism, its quite a relief to see Ajith not force any romance with Huma Querishi nor did a film of this stature have room for it. However, coming to the minusses is Ajith's stature himself.

Many shots in the film likely due to how the film shoot was halted due to lockdown, looks disjointed as a whole. For instance there are shots where Ajith's hair is colored and slightly less plump, but there are other scenes where he's more plump and the hair color has faded. Of late, Im seeing zero care in his physique (much like Prabhas's looks post the Baahubali series.) Apart from that, there are many scenes during the police sets where Ajith is giving a stiff like nature and showing off a lot of fatigue in his performance. Ajith is looking totally disinterested in the film proceedings and its high time he improves that. Does he care for his fans to at least improve on those factors?

Karthikeya is a forgettable villain and offers nothing apart from a couple of facial expressions.

Mass films is showing signs of age and likely slow death. Makers these days want to over-promote singles from the film for the sake of trending (and perhaps over-compensate for the weakness in the film's story-screenplay) and presentation too. Ajith is not the culprit here but Im singling out Vijay here as well. Neither of these pillars of Tamil Cinema have yet to dish out a good commercial movie inspite of their music composers dishing out so-called "trending" numbers on social media.

For Ajith, he just needs to trim down, get Rajiv Menon a script and cast someone like Tabu to win the general audience back.

Valimai is just valli (pain), not power.

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Thalaivi (2021)

8/10

Thalaivii : Kangana hits the ground running from start to finish

30 September 2021

Note: This is NOT a dubbed film. This is a bilingual shot in 2 languages, Hindi and Tamil & dubbed in Telugu.

What does that mean? It means the talkie portions are show twice in each language. Thalaivii however has portions retained in Tamil (mostly the recreation of MGR/Jayalalitha scenes), but if you've seen Nadigaiyaar Thilagam (Tamil dubbed version of Mahanati (Telugu), it plays exactly the same way where Savitri scenes are recreated from Telugu, despite being dubbed in Tamil.)

Another stroke of genius is the screenplay by Mr. Vijayendra Prasad. This man needs no introduction from penning films for his son, SS Rajamouli (Bahubali series, the upcoming RRR and others) as well as the last decent Salman Khan film I enjoyed, Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Prasad's story of Jaya's rise from Cinema se CM tak (as the film suggests) plants masala-like moments in the screenplay that really illustrates Jaya's change and persona growth.

Right from the 60s era of cinema, note the moments where Jaya says Namaste to everyone besides MJR (Arvind Swami, in what is another master stroke of casting) in the name of respect up until the final scenes of the film. Brilliant book-end! There are other great moments sprinkled throughout the film and I don't want to play spoil sport in this review to list them out.

This is one of the most "pan-india" friendly bio pics I've come across and it's not that easy to transcribe or adapt the culture of Jaya, Tamil cinema and Tamil politics for the Hindi audiences. For many of the Tamilians, the stories seen in the film may be of redundance, but for those unaware of Jaya, this is a great chance to experience that culture without going into "self-indulgence rabbit hole" zone.

This is Kangana's best till date (yes, even better than Manikarnika.) She sinks her teeth into the persona of Jayalalitha and lives through it. Wouldn't be surprised if she garners another National Award win because she deserves it. Next is Arvind Swami, an excellent portrayal of MJR if not better. Nasser (as Karunanaidhi) is simply superb. Credit given due to most of the supporting tamil artists who have given their best in their Hindi lip sync despite being voiced over by a different artist.

I don't understand the low ratings for the film (whether they are attributed to Kangana's politics or the hatred), but I would set that aside and watch off the film. As Vijayendra Prasad said, he couldn't imagine anyone else doing it besides Kangana and I couldn't agree with him more.

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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (2020)

7/10

Better than Tri, but room for more development

2 October 2020

Warning: Spoilers

It's better than Tri in terms of story, but what Kizuna lacks compared to the former was the development of Sora, Jou, Takeru, Hikari and Mimi. We know enough about Taichi and Yamato, but how many times can this be the two of them spearheading the opportunity to save the world. Perhaps it's due to Tri being planned as a OVA (earlier a series before that plan dropped) vs Kizuna being a full-fledged feature

Granted, what makes Kizuna appealing is the animation. First and foremost, Tri was such an eye sore despite the chance to see a proper English dub for the franchise done right. Kudos to the dub of this movie by the way. My salute to Joshua Seth and the rest of the cast for putting this together for the diehard fans like myself (in spite of the Covid pandemic slowing things down.) Of course, it's evident that we sorely missed the likes of Brian Donovan and Neil Kaplan voicing Daisuke and Hawkmon respectively.

Coming to the story, it's all about growing up. This was the most relatable film to all the 90 kids (and I'm sure many of you may feel the same after watching.) The bond between Digimon partner and Chosen child (or rather adult) ends after a certain amount of evolutions. As Taichi and Yamato come to fruition with this development, their time spent with Agumon and Gabumon are some of the best. The last 10 minutes is just splendid and no doubt will leave you with a lump in your throat.

The whole film is full of easter eggs to the great Mamoru Hosada's works (Children's War Game, Diablomon Strikes Back) are key examples and are sprinkled. And the Butter-fly motif with the opening song being the name-sake.

I certainly hope this isn't the last if that last word in the climax indicated that Taichi and Yamato will find a way to see their digimon partners again (and how so, the 02 epilogue indicated that the gang do co-exist & it does become the subject of Taichi's thesis in the end credits.) Another point to note, the 02 gang (even Takeru and Hikari) STILL have their digimon partners. Toei has clearly left this open-ended if they continue to do 5-year time skips (Kizuna being 2010, it can be 2015 or 2020 the next film can take place.) If and when Toei does come out with a follow-up, it should be named "Digimon Adventure : Always and Whenever (Itsumo Itsudemo)."

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Breathe: Into the Shadows (I) (2020– )

7/10

Binge-able despite it's loop holes and streches at parts

12 July 2020

Warning: Spoilers

When the first series came out, the bravura and performances of Madhavan and Amit Sadh were most talked about in that enjoyable take on "Baazigar" while Maddy was on a path of getting his son high on the donor's list. With this "new" series, the take on thrillers has a different approach this time around.

First and foremost, this should be taken as a "new series" rather than a follow-on "season". Barring Amit Sadh's and his sidekick, who are transported to Delhi following a mishap taking place sometime after the end of the first series, a new hodgepodge of characters enter into the scene. It's criminally impossible to compare Abhishek Bachchan's character with Madhavan's because both of these anti-heroes (or in this case vigilantes) come from different extremes. Madhavan's character was hell-bent on doing the kills to get his dying son on the high donors list using his doctor girlfriend's list to his advantage.

In Abhishek's case, the MPD (Multiple personality disorder) here will remind you of the Shankar-Vikram starrer "Anniyan (Aparichit)" with a backstory very similar to Kamal Haasan's "Abhay". Both these films had characters and important plot points that are seen here. So if you've just enjoying this "series" of Breathe, all credit goes to the former two films that should be watched.

Coming to the series, the leads have done a commendable work. Abhishek Bachchan is terrifying at times, but the climatic portions at times feels like he's grow weary of it. Nithya Menen is first rate. Nizhalgal Ravi was a surprise seeing him here and not be complete plastered as the "Madrasi" like "Nassar" was back then. Amit Sadh is as usual first rate. It's high time our Hindi filmmakers recognize the talents here.

Breathe into the Shadows is binge-able given the current pandemic we're facing and the lack of new film releases, but give it a good watch.

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Har Kisse Ke Hisse: Kaamyaab (2018)

9/10

Kaamyaab, a "laajawab" tragedy of legendary artists

9 May 2020

The start of the film where a displeased Sanjay Mishra is expressing in yet another "Yellow journalistic" piece, is so biting it chews out what's wrong with the Indian society today when it comes to treating and recognizing artists. These journos are good at "buttering" up senior artists by requesting their "punch lines/dialogues" yet salivate the moment the current crop of "next gen" enters into the fray. The old phrase, "Hair today, gone tomorrow" can easily be retro-fittted as "Here today, gone perhaps tomorrow" because that's what Kaamyaab is all about and it's scathing to see Director Hardhik Mehta go all out with the story and screenplay writing.

A lot of the film reminds of a scene in Kamal Haasan's "UTTAMA VILLAIN (2015) (The Optimal villain) (TAMIL). Haasan played an aging superstar who has a brain tumor in the film, but the scene where he attends a Talk show, the emcee asks him, why he continues to pursue cinema? Haasan in a cheeky way, remarks, "It's for the applause." Sanjay Mishra's Sudheer and his 499 film legacy, while insisting on going for the 500-record, is near-reminiscent of Haasan's goals. For applause.

The film also doesn't shy away from taking potshots at the nepotism (yes the debate has been beaten to death), and at the short-minded audience, who seek fame given the current trends no matter how kitchen-sink and dismembered (read: Remixes of your evergreen Hindi songs..*cough cough T-Series*) your memories are.

But the icing on the cake was the climax. I think next to SADMA's climax (where Reshmi (Late Sridevi) fails to recongize Somu (Haasan) ), this one is another gut-wrenching one. Here, the annual day function organizers are in pinch when the rising Rahul Chopra is running late to make a "appearance" so they reconigize Sudheer and request him to entertain the audience for 10 minutes. Sudheer obliges and in doing-so the audience is indulged by finishing the punch dialogues. The punch-in-the-gut moment was when Rahul Chopra finally appeared, the spotlight suddenly shone on him, as Sudheer ended his act, on the stage ground, while the curtains close on him. To the Indian mentality, character (senior) artists not given their dues are just here today, gone tomorrow when another (star) shows up. Sad realities.

In the age of Kapoors/Khans and their share of fans bombarding them, why not pay the same to the character artists. After all, they are what they are, characters.

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Darbar (2020)

2/10

DARBAR...an open letter to Director A.R Murugadoss & fanboy directors

29 April 2020

Dear Mr. Murugadoss.

Once upon a time, you made entertainers such as GHAJINI, RAMANA and even THUPPAKKI. In between all that, you've attempted "high-concept" films like EZHAM ARIVU, SPYDER and political-based like SARKAR. The Pre-THUPPAKI phase was your best, but enough has been said about that (and even the almost-confirmed rumors that RAMANA was a story "taken" from a then-assistant director, who later made a film with Vijaykanth, THENNAVAN.)

Lets analyze your "post-Thuppakki" phase. Why this downward spiral? What happened to you post Thuppaki? This KATHTHI of yours is overrated outside Vijay's fanbase, the film itself makes no sense. Between Neil Nithin Mukesh's corporate bashing, the senior-citizen episodes and the twins-identity crisis (oh and Samantha's in this for no reason), it's a nonsense film. SPYDER failed to register because while we got a damn good SJ Suryah, the film was a dark knight rip-off without any build-up. SARKAR to me was Vijay flagging off his political intentions and was merely propaganda-ish (although the film itself was bloated with problems.)

Now coming to DARBAR. Where's the story? Why are we still going with songs that pass off as "Garageband" quality when you have Harris Jayaraj or others to do your bidding? Not only aren't they great, they add minutes to the already-direction-less film. Dear directors, you can still do a mass-entry film without throwing every wire-fu at the viewer. Maybe for the 30 USD paying fan (yes that's the average ticket price of a Rajinikanth film opening weekend in the US.)

Another problem I had with the film is the overdose of comedy. You know you're in trouble writing a "meet-cute-comedy" sequence when you involve Yogi Babu & a lot of hamming previously seen in KS Ravikumar's films. Rajini's earlier film PETTA had much better scenes because despite the fanboy in Karthik Subbaraj, he didn't compromise that much in his film-making (I know I was harsh in that film, but watching DARBAR, I realized the value of PETTA now.) The scenes with Nayantara and Rajinikanth in that first-meeting was just painful and will likely lead you to doing a fast-forward. It looks like Nayantara's role was just "Andhar Paisa, Bahar-ne walk-on role" approach.

Much has been said about "alien" this film feels. It's a Hindi movie dubbed in Tamil. For this review comes after watching the "Hindi-dubbed " version that aired recently on STAR GOLD. Does this make the film better, yes.

Now returning to the purpose of this review, the story? Viglilance cop tries to hunt down goondas and while they happen to rile up Prateik Babbar (in a thank-less role), they happen to anger Suniel Shetty too (who's appearance consists of being roaming around 1-2 set designs, never does he step outside to threaten anyone else except the climax, guess Shetty didn't have the dates for shoot.) If there's a silver-lining, it's Nivedha Thomas as Valli, the daughter. Scenes with her and Rajni were the silver-lining in this bloated action-entertainer of a film.

Sir, please understand, there are better directed Rajnikanth films, but this Baasha/Padaiyappa curse seems to keep coming back. Fanboys who have no control over what audiences want, make films for the fanboys. Karthik Subbaraj nearly succeeded in PETTA, why couldn't you?

Look at your GHAJINI and RAMANA and even THUPPAKKI. Why were they reverred even till today? They all had a story, a semblence of purpose, the heroines (Asin in Ghajini) had an author-backed role which drove the Hero into his purpose. The films post Thuppakki were vanity projects that centered around the masala trope (which can be better.) Better to take a break and re-think before announcing another vanity.

Sincerely, A former fan.

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Varane Avashyamund (2020)

8/10

Varane Avasyamund is a true-blue feel good entertainer we deserve

23 April 2020

First off, kudos to the Malayalam superstars. Dulquer Salmaan (for backing this) and Director Anoop Sathyan for being the master craftsman.

Secondly, how does Kerala's cinema manage to impress us all with simplistic stories and presentation? Especially when they are filmed in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Tamil films these days (outside of Shankar and Gautham Menon) often show us a grungy feel, often depressing. The presentation shown here makes Chennai look like a million bucks. Even Bollywood has exhaustively shown films set in the gullys of Mumbai/Delhi/Punjab.

Coming to the film itself. The movie could have easily gone off track with the multiple tracks (Nikki-Teacher, Bipeesh-his brother-Akashavani, Unnikrishnan-Teacher, etc.) but everything here is inter-woven so well, you're invested in the proceedings.

There are many standout scenes, especially with Urvashi. Her scenes are a scream and her scenes with Nikki (Kalyani) will likely leave you teary-eyed. Suresh Gopi as the retired Major, Unnikrishnan shows that time hasn't been kind to him, but man when he delivers, he delivers. His speech in the climax is just outstanding. Then there's Shobana (what grace!), KPAC Lalitha (another stealer as the serial artiste and caretaker of Bipeesh and his brother). Enough has been said about Dulquer's efforts, he continues to deliver here, but the MVP is Kalyani Priyadarshan. The scope she didn't get in her previous Tamil film, HERO, she got the right opportunity and scope for performance and she SOARS.

Go watch it. Dear, Tamil filmmakers, you can still make feel-good family entertainers without resorting to bumbling comedians like Soori, Sathish, Rajendran and Yogi Babu adding reels and irritating us. Even a Santosh Subramaniyam (despite being a Telugu remake) is still repeat worthy than say a "Seema Raja" or a "Varthapadatha Valibar Sangam."

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Psycho (I) (2020)

1/10

Psycho requires a test of patience

21 April 2020

I get that Slasher films are a genre itself, but what happens when you take a genre and marry it to director Mysskin's sensibilities? Pretty much his typical film-making with some long-duration shots paused with select actors giving performances as if their life dependent on it. Im talking about Rajamani Pitchimani's villiany role (while being the Tamil cinema equivalent of Aditya Roy Kapur), who's performance leaves a lot to be desired.

The procedurals by Nithya Menen and Udhay are interesting but after a decent first half, the second half is plagued with no progression till the story and the villany scenes contribute to this mess. Aditi Rao Hydari is limited and doesn't help that the makers couldn't get the dubbing voice from Katru Veiliyidai to do her dubbing because the voice provided here sticks out like a sore thumb.

Udhay Stalin's improved with his blind act, but some ridiculousness such as the driving-car scenes are so stupid, you question yourself, why?

The single star is for Maestro Ilayaraja's music, particularly "Unna Nenachen." Watch at your own risk.

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Dagaalty (2020)

1/10

Dagaalty is rightfully my response to this film.

13 April 2020

Goundamani, should he ever pick up tamil films to watch (he's famously said he's never ever watched tamil films, including his own and much prefers Hollywood films), would be mouthing the aforementioned title upon seeing this.

A much bigger insult than using the trademarked punch from the thespian comedian (still talking about Goundamani) is using the "Okkadu/Ghilli" road trip-kidnap and run-trope without any weight or reason just lets the film waste minutes (can't say "reels" in this "digital age) while the director attempts to shoehorn in Mumbai gangs being obsessive over the heroine's face and features. As usual, this is another attempt at making a masala (an undercooked one) by keeping it stale/simple and stupid, it makes Rohit Shetty's films look like a doctorate thesis.

Also, what's the point of casting Mumbai actors in a Tamil film if A) they are going to be mouthing Hindi when in post, they'll be dubbed over in Tamil and B) our tamil actors speak a smattering of Hindi without going all "Ek Gaon mein, Ek Kissan (a famous satire on Tamilian's struggling to speak Hindi from Bhagyaraj's "Indru Poi Naalai Vaa.) This is the exact problem the Rajinikanth-AR Murugadoss "DARBAR" faced (will review that shortly.)

To Santhanam, this hero avatar of yours is pathetic. Baring "Inimey Nangathan", the sorry plate of your following films sadly don't hold a candle to your caliber of mouthing sarcastic punches like in your earlier films as a comedian. If Vivek and Vadivel couldn't make it as solo leads (well poor Vivek had a Solli Adippen still stuck in cans while Vadivel post Pulikesi hasn't made a mark), you should probably take a hint and look to make a return to playing the comedian, your strong suits. Dear producers, please pay Santhanam his hero-rate if you can convince him to return to being the comedian.

Spare us the heroisms. It's bad enough Sathish and Yogi Babu are still employed in the name of comedy.

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Guilty (II) (2020)

5/10

Middle of the road #MeToo drama, that ends up becoming a "lecture"

1 April 2020

Guilty had a lot going for it. Backing of Karan Johar's new "Dharmantic" banner, a subdivision of his "Dharma", that's specific for producing "out-of-the-box" content as opposed to the commercial mainstream ventures.

You have Kiara Advani, a rising star/actress who's claim to fame is ironically the Kabir Singh drama. Finally, the #MeToo movement.

Based on the early reviews, I expected this to be a no-nonsense procedural/suspense thriller on Nanki's schizo flashes and conflicting memories of whom raped whom/whom manipulated whom? The first half does a good job setting it up though it has pacing problems.

In the latter half though, it ends up becoming tiring and preachy akin to Samuthirakani's recent directional ventures.

Last year, we had a superb court drama featuring Akshaye Khanna and Richa Chadha, "Section 374" based on the same said #MeToo. Unlike Guilty, the latter did not preach and had a superb hold on the proceedings while unleashing the reality. I expected Guilty to do the same, but alas, it only does half the job.

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Saaho (2019)

6/10

Saaho is watchable, but not without flaws

2 September 2019

About a year later from Kamal Haasan's VISHWAROOP 2, the North Indian press continue to fling their slander and bias towards Hindi versions backed by a Southern production house, who isn't "presented" by a certain Karan Johar or his posse/mafia. The scathing reviews for SAAHO presented more evidence of this matter. Although this time, the Telugu media wasn't too kind with the film (and we can delve into later on), the film certainly is far from being "unbearable" and "unwatchable."

First things first, FORGET BAAHUBALI COMPLETELY. Many north reviews, self-proclaimed instant fans of Prabhas up North (or who claim to me), should stop living in the nostalgic past of any star and play the comparison game of the actor's last previous hit. For starters, take Kamal Haasan. Anytime a Hindi version of his film is up for release, by the time he and his team hits the North Indian promotional circuit, the media will start asking him "EK DUUJE KE LIYE" or the comparisons with "Rajinikanth." It's become irritating and pointless. Similarly, I felt bad for Prabhas when he was hounded with BAAHUBALI level comparisons for SAAHO. First and foremost, BAAHUBALI is SS Rajamouli's pet project/dream/vision. Period. BAAHUBALI is a different stage altogether. People need to grow up, forget it and focus on the film at hand. Imagine the scenario back in the 70s, if Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra or Sanjeev Kapoor were hounded with the same level of SHOLAY expectations for their later films. The nostalgic glasses need to be thrown out, period.

Coming to the film itself, it's entirely watchable albeit for some flawed instances. One, while getting an ensemble from Hindi cinema (Jackie Shroff, Chunkey Pandey, Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjarekar, Murali Sharma) is commendable to teach Hindi cinema's children that this is indeed a "straight" hindi film and not a "Sauth/Madrasi" dubbing type film as some have depicted, one wishes the production took more care in getting the original artists to dub in their own voices as well as the dubbing. Tamil actor Arun Vijay, Malayalam actor Lal, Telugu actors Vennila Kishore and Tanikella Bharani have all mouthed their lines in Hindi but like our hero Prabhas, one wishes they too contributed their vocals as well.

As for Prabhas himself, the man has defined his usual swag. His Hindi at times feels rushed and should really work on pronouncing his lines a bit more instead of sounding like he's gasping for air. Shraddha Kapoor is strictly ok, though I never saw any chemistry between the two leads. She felt like a school kid at times.

The songs were something I expected of when Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were announced. It's extremely disappointing that T-Series decided to executive meddle with the project with their usual "company artists" and shoe-horn in atrocious songs like "Psycho Saiyaan", "Enni Soni" and "Bad Boy" into the mix of things from Tanishk Bagchi (the guy who murdered ARR's "Humma"), Guru Randhwara and Baadshah, who's apparently still churning music. Props to SEL for bowing out and giving us a saving silver lining of the crapfest of an OST with "Baby won't you tell me" song that is visually aesthetic and carries story forward.

The screenplay based by Sujeeth is commendable for Indian cinema standards. I think this film requires additional viewings (when it hits Netflix) to see the clues the director has left it to understand it. If you're coming in expecting BAAHUBALI expectations, just stop please. Watch it as you'd watch any new film.

That said, hope UV Creations sticks to S-E-L for their next bilingual and takes more care with the story this time around.

6/10

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Luka Chuppi (I) (2019)

6/10

Lukka Chuppi is funny in parts but throws you in a loop every now and then

8 June 2019

There is humor, romance, marriage drama and Aaryan-isms. That last part is familiar with those who are fans of Kartik Aaryan's now cult-monologues from the Pyar Ka Punchnama series & recent Sonu Ki Tittu Ki Sweety. In that mindset, seems like Aaryan himself has molded himself in the same body language while delivering his performance here. As a first time viewer of this film, you'll find it amusing, but as a viewer of Aaryan's previous work, you might find it a big repetitive. Kriti Sanon is effective once again after the Bareilly Ki Barfi. Why aren't we talking more about her work when the media is too busy hyping the Deepikas/Katrinas? Also special mention to Vinay Shukla and Pankaj Tripathi for keeping the film from sinking.

Luka Chuppi is a Priyadarshan-like vanity film that throws in every play from his book. Watching this felt like a throwback to films where Mohanlal and Sreenivasan would concoct up scheme after scheme (in this case, think Akshay Kumar/Rajpal Yadav schenanigans) to sell their buffoonery. The whole live-in relationship saga was done to death with OK Kanmani/OK Jaanu but humor injected while chuckling at parts, gives off jokes that were tailor made for the masses.

Not quite as effective as Bareilly ki Barfi, but this too shall pass muster.

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Petta (2019)

6/10

A throwback to the 90s genre Rajni-ims with kitchen-sink writing

27 February 2019

The Rajnikanth of the 90s is back. Yes that's right. Featuring your favorite tropes, fundas, punch dialogues & all that jazz. What's missing? A better story line & casting.

To be honest, this is the first accessible (and likeable) Rajnikanth film in a looong time. Pa Ranjith's dalit politics and anti-BjP propaganda films Kabali and Kaala failed to project Rajni into the his Mullum Mallarum or even a Thalapathi like phase. Till date, I would think only Mani Ratnam has the ability to write and treat a Rajnikanth film with panache. Karthik Subbaraj comes close, but like all fanboys, he forgets to be himself. Watching his brilliance in writing/direction in Pizza and Jigarthanda and then watchng Petta with great expectations left me wondering why this indulgence? On the other hand, this is the first recent Rajni film to see Rajni lively again and not jaded like he was in last recent films. Subbaraj plants references of Rajnikanth throughout the film using SRK's Main Hoon Na (college backdrop) as the springboard.

On the other hand, I've really gotten fed up of Vijay Sethupathi. He's now entering Parthiban level of acting. Once a gimmick's been patternized (body language, dialogue delivery or his case, yelling) it enters an irritation phase. I don't understand the hype/hoopla around him. He's going through the same motions and sleep-walks his role and lacks the enthu of a villian. With Super Deluxe showing him in a drag role, god knows how much torture we the audience have to endure. He will fade quite fast at this rate.

SImran had a better role than Trisha and it's a real pity we saw less of her instead of being limited to 10 minutes and a song.

Petta is once watchable, but much like Puri Jagan's revival of the "Angry Young Man", for Amitabh Bachchan, it revitalizes the genre of 90s Rajnikanth.

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Saamy Square (2018)

1/10

Saamy Square - An atrocious followup that does more harm to its predecessor

17 February 2019

What's wrong with Vikram these days? His choices of films since the smash blockbuster ANNIYAN have all sank without a trace or failed to make impressions. We know he's a fantastic performer, but why he is one of the verstaile few who continues to make misfires than strike gold?

The latest being this atrocious sequel, SAAMY SQUARE. Directed by Hari no less. The man who churned out more SINGAM series of films cranked up with 10 times the decibels at high speed, you'd think the original director, who paved way to one of the Masala greats of 2003, would do the same for the sequel.

Nope. Cracks are visible. First the recap of SAAMY, Trisha, who was signed on to reprise her role, eventually called it quits and backed out of the sequel (first smart move she did.) Result? Cast that Aishwarya Rajesh and digitally insert her in the key scenes from SAAMY, resulting in RETCONNING the film. Course, you can't fool the TN audience (Bollywood audience maybe.)

Next up, Bobby Simha as Perumal Pitchai's son (Kota Srinivasa Rao in the memorable original.) Result? More gruff, constipated expressions and higher decibels and less take on performance.

Ok so leaving that, how about the foot-tapping numbers by HARRIS JAYARAJ? Earlier he too was signed on for the sequel, but come launch time, DEVI SRI PRASAD replaced him. Result? Not even a single good song.

The story? What story? Oh you mean the story where Aarusaamy gets killed in the first half, then his next of kin (also played by Vikram) who works as an IAS officer in Delhi, when barraged into an injured policewala becomes "posessed" by Aarusaamy's ghost of rage's past and begins his "Jaisa Baap, waisa Beta" rampage? Yeah that's the story more or less. Oh and Keerthy Suresh and Soori are in this one too but they're more nuisances and add zero value.

Vikram continues his misfires in film selection while stalwarts like Kamal Haasan, who's shown his life/breath of Cinema deserve more applauise and acclaim that they should. Instead the TN audience continues to be fooled and give these stupid masalas a run for their money.

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Sarkar (2018)

2/10

This Sarkar is simply Bekaar!

29 January 2019

The last time Murugadoss scored a solid repeat-watchable fare was Ramana. Yes, THE Ramana. Staring Vijakanth in what I found it to be his golden crown amongst the below-average, commercial crap of films he's done chasing Pakistan terrorists, the film has many solid moments & on par with Shankar's MUDHALVAN/NAYAK. Course, I wouldn't lie and say that GHAJINI (Tamil) was equally good because of Asin's solid backing & performance. Her spunk/attitude and performance really drove the film home despite loose ends and the MEMENTO inspiration. Thuppaki and even Mahesh Babu's SPYDER (despite the media's dabbling on how the film "bombed" )were decent watches but the cracks were visible.

ARM hasn't delivered a solid film of late and the writing's on the wall. Literally. The film feels like he's taken an issue on 49-P, googled some facts/small research. Added in his half-baked facts on how a US-based CEO can fly back to India and caste his vote (ala Sunder Pichai.) If the real Sundar Pichai saw his fictional depiction in the film, he'd be laughing all over this mess. Forget that, the screenplay seems incoherent and only takes examples of Pawan Kalyan's mass political stance and combines with something viral. ARM has probably written this given the lead's political ambitions and his "indirect" command to his fans to start campaigning (ala MGR) but the VMI initiative seems very propaganda-sh.

Throwing mixies, TV, anything free given by these political swines is bad apparently. Fun fact, post theatrical release, Vijay fans have demonstrated their example of incompetence by doing the same, only to receive embarrassing results. Keerthy Suresh somehow is there in the film or something. Varalakshmi has become synomymous with villy roles and it's getting tiresome to be honest. Radha Ravi is a villan apparently, but this villian just had a mono-expression & a staredown.

ARR's brief in the film seems to have been conflicting with the paycheck he received with the film because the songs seem composed in his sleep while the film drags on with noise pollution.

I liked only 2 things in the film. The line where Vijay talks about negativity being the key to marketing in today's society/world and the end credits. Bekaar product overall!

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60 Vayadu Maaniram (2018)

8/10

A memorable classic and faithful remake

28 January 2019

Tamil films of late have been disappointing barring a few gems. Films that hit a 100 crores or are hyped by certain fanboys are superflous and end up being unbearable after 1 viewing (sometimes not even close to hitting viewing, owing to how atrocious the 100 crore hyped film is. However, 60 Vayadu Maaniram is a diamond among-st the gems.

It also proves that director Radhamohan (with or without the ever-dependable Prakash Raj (who shares the producer title along with Dhanu)) continues to deliver his agmark stamp film. Maestro Ilaiyaraaja as always, delivers a stunning BGM and meaningful songs, something also missing in recent films by other stars/composers.

With a steady plot/screenplay (story courtesy of Hemanth Rao from Kannada blockbuster, Godhi Banna Sadharna Mykattu ), Radhamohan proves to be ever-dependable in not letting the actors go over the top and the cast nails it. The scenes speak more and lets the audience gulp and digest along without going into spoon-feeding mode. The gangster scenes featuring Samuthirakani may give off a typical gangster template B-story, but as the minutes unfold, the pieces of the puzzle with humanity as a situational comedy is played for laughs, love and sometimes sentiments. Watch out for scenes with Kumravel's confession, it's a scream!

One thing I'd like to make a point here is the comedy used in the film. A film like this could have become another tearjerker and over-melodramatic but the comedy injected courtesy of its subplot and the situational scenes featuring Kumuravel, Samuthirakani and Prakash Raj himself are top-notch. If you don't subject yourself to a chuckle or two and prefer to laugh at the tasteless Yogi Babu/Rajendran/Soori competing for loud buffoonery with talentless heroes like Sivakarthikeyan, STR, Aarya, Vishal, that's your loss. Big time.

Radhamohan is one director who personally can deliver humor and drama with smarts. Like the great late-K. Balachander, Radhamohan expertly knows how to have the drama reach a connect and highs with the viewer without being preachy. Scenes during Govindrajan's first love revelation, his god-fearing outburst during Samuthirakani's killing threat & the philosophy behind the white and black dogs stand-out! I must also add, this is Vikram Prabhu & Indhuja's best film till date. As for Prakash Raj, the front-and-center behind this magnificent remake, take a bow! It's truly a criminal loss that he is venturing to Politics as of this writing & I really hope he continues to give us more films across other Southern languages. I hope this gets seen by the Hindi/Telugu audiences. They seem to be receptive of such genres and films. Tamil audiences prefer to see a yawn-fest called 69 staring an now-celebrated hero who's dialogue delivery/mannerisms at this stage has reached a level of exhaustion and prods along because peanut gallery demands it.

It's disheartening to see great money-bag producers not back Radhamohan, who I believe is criminally underrated with his near-perfect direction and packaging isn't getting the fame and fortune he should be post MOZHI. Instead, the viewer wants to see the mass hero play to the gallery with over-played tropes, half-baked screenplays, mumbai imports who can't act/speak the language to save their lives but somehow hit a ton of money for producers. The same could be said for Prakash Raj's productions too. Here's a celebrated multi-versatile actor (on par with the late Raghuvaran, who not only puts his investments into quality cinema, but does not get his due. His hindi debut, TADKA awaits release and I really hope its now than later.)

Talent is slowly losing it's importance in Tamil Cinema while the Mass aura continues to be chased by a stampede of the Gen Z so-called current crop of heroes.

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Adanga Maru (2018)

7/10

Adanga Maru == Taut crime thriller done within limits

26 January 2019

Jayam Ravi. Say what you will about his earlier film choices being remakes or below average ventures. The man has shown to persevere despite his lack of dumdaar vocals usually heard in most crime thrillers. After Ajith Kumar's cop act in YENNAI ARINTHAAL (2015), here's another cop thriller that entertains and keeps you glued in from start to finish.

Like all crime thrillers, there's a major arc that acts a common thread between the corrupt department and the messiah cop himself. Unlike what we've seen umpteen times starting with Atlee/Vijay starrer THERI & the recently released Rohit Shetty's SIMMBA is that the messiah's themselves fret and frolick around the first half with their love interests, bumbling comedy (if you call Yogi Babu, Rajendran comedians, no judgement) and all around the verbal diahrrea claiming police should be A,B,C, 1,2 3. This is followed by over-the-top heroism, dialogue-baazi, songs that act as speed breakers (especially in the latter-half of the film) and finally a punch-statement/moral to wrap up the film. Adanga Maru does away with this to an extent.

While the first half starts ordinarily, the film takes its leisure to setup the who's who of the story and carefully places one circumstance after another to get the viewer hooked instead of exhausting them with aforementioned antics that say a big star can get away with (or rather blind-sided by his loyal fans.) The intro and love songs while functional, could have been trimmed and limited to just promo songs for the film instead of be included for the feature film.

But once the pre-interval scenes come into the play, the film doesn't linger further and jet-speeds on from the start of the second half all the way into the finish line without throwing everything at once at the viewer. The cat and mouse scenes with Ravi and Sampath are the highlight and I shall not reveal anything more. The film rests on Ravi and only he can do such roles unlike the current crop of heroes in Tamil Cinema. This is also Sampath's best til date and it's refreshing to see him not going into usual villany histrionics as seen in the past.

Dear Atlee, Rohit Shetty/Team Simmba, THIS is how you make a taut police thriller without being flamboyant, preachy and over-the-top.

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Viswasam (2019)

6/10

VISWASAM = Routine fare which marks the end of a Tetraology

20 January 2019

Pongal releases have a trend of releasing films with the usual content that sells down in Tamil Nadu. Mass hero, Mass subject (either family problem, prestige problem, corporate conflict), Heroine's entry (make or break their need in the story), comedy, couple of fights and a photo finish laced with a message. VISWASAM ticks off the aforementioned.

No points for guessing how the story is formed, but one must give credit to Ajith Kumar for being a true VISWASHI to Director Sivaa (their fourth outing) after that disappointment that was VIVEGAM. Sure VEERAM & VEDHALAM weren't great cinema, but the latter was a decent masala that brought the antagonist Ajith back briefly since MANGATHA while the former was a mere village potboiler. VISWASAM feels like VEERAM's spiritual successor. Come to think of it, this tetralogy comes to a full circle with both being gaon-wala films.

Ajith seems to be having a ball here playing Thookudurai. Sure you know where the story's headed, but you (the audience) probably enjoy Ajith being verbose and sentimental (like mass heroes do). The rest of the cast properly tick off their roles required for a family-village potboiler. Although I wonder why a poorly etched villain (Jagapati Babu) who comes in roughly an hour+ into the film without any Salman Khan-Sonu Sood like confrontation.

VISWASAM marks the end of the Ajith-Sivaa combination. Going forward, the next two films of Ajith (Pink remake & a fresh script) by H.Vinoth (Theeran fame) under Boney Kapoor's production are going to be keenly watched. Hopefully, we shall see the dormant performance of Actor Ajith return to form in these next two films.

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)

8/10

A SUPER-b take on a legendary saiyan

18 January 2019

Its been 9 months since we last saw Goku and the Z-fighters on screen (as of this writing, the dub is roughly near the start of the Tournament of Power saga.) These 9 months left DB fans restless and anxious as the previous DB films (later retconned into the Super's Beerus/Resurrection F sagas.)

Sure Battle of Gods & Resurrection F were solid fan serviced films because of the franchise's dub reputation, but were they really great DB films? The last DB film I enjoyed was Fusion Reborn and that wasn't in-universe canon as was many of the Z films.

But coming back to Super's take on Broly, its the best DB movie that actually beefs up (pun unintended) Broly's backstory instead of limiting him to a 1-note antagonist. Here, its refreshing to see the makers retell the origins story of the triad saiyan warriors (Goku/Vegeta/Broly) and their bout with Frieza (some carryovers from the Bardock Z special are adeptly left-in but hey, it works. ) It's also refreshing not hearing "Kakarott" grunted by Broly every 5 minutes in this as opposed to the 8th movie (yes, that film and their "sequels" have not aged well despite being "a DB film, chuck your logic at the door excuse.)

Its really nice having Vegeta get first dibs on battling Broly at the start, something the series lacked in before. Also, the pace is frantic without loitering around in stare downs and verbal diarrhea our characters are infamous for. The incredible special mention goes to Naohiro Shintani's art and animation work. Yamamuro's design were not a sight for these eyes. Not only do the fight movements look seamless and glorious visually, but it seems the production was able to keep it consistent throughout (as opposed to Yamamuro's dimensional take on the heroes marred with many shades of color. The shades seen here are fitting given the Z-manga style of keeping-it-simple-stupid.)

The surprise fusion finale was fitting and smart of Toei/Toriyama to pack in given how Broly is a popular character in the west (as of this writing, this limited Eng dub release made 7 million on opening day. Thats the third highest since Resurrection F's lifetime here (8 million).) The open-ended finale of Broly sure gives hope that Goku may need to call should the need arise.

Any blemishes? The origin retcon retelling of the saiyan races (particularly Goku's departure to Earth) feels a bit iffy now but given's Toriyama's lack of memory, it may be a bitter pill to swallow for fans.

Still, the money coming in Japan & its limited run worldwide, DB is certainly not dead. Given the roller coaster of the word "hiatus" being tossed around in the past year, its a matter of time before DBS returns to airwaves. Preferably with Shintani helming the shows new direction.

Any day now Toei. We're waiting.

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2.0 (2018)

5/10

2.0 - Despite the Visual excellence at places, the content falls flat

21 December 2018

2.0, the one that was to be competitive with the Baahubali series has been projected as another multi-lingual film. Director Shankar returns with another imaginative venture after Robot (2010) and I (2015), but does 2.0 live up to being a spiritual successor to Robot? Yes and No.

Yes, at certain places. Though the continuity is really weird at places, Dr. Vaseegaran's girlfriend Sana is still referred to as girlfriend (ironic given that 8 years have passed since Part 1, the two should have been married by now.) Yes, we see the dismantled Chitti 1.0 on display in the AI museum hereby giving the finger to SRK's Ra One's guest appearance (it never happened according to Shankar maybe? Ignoring continuity perhaps?)

The 3D presentation and visuals are top part and superb for the most part. I think enough has been written and told about in other reviews, so I'll move on, avoiding more talk about this.

But in terms of story? Shankar has recycled the usual Vigilante formula again through HINDUSTANI (1996) and APARICHIT (2006) concepts respectively. Akshay Kumar is Hindustani Dada Senapathi re-versioned as Pakshi Raja, a bird specialist who's concern over the maximum cell phone tower in structure, causing a disturbance with the birds nature. Like Senapathi's disdain for corruption ruining his daughter's life, Kastoori among other folks, Pakshi unleashes his mobile murders through a series of Aparichit killings only to have Vaseegaran and Nila (Amy Jackson) uncover and connect the dots come Interval. Also seems like Shankar's invented a Sci-fi horror genre in those scenes.

By the time we get to the climax, the solid backing and decent pacing goes for a toss. The hyped up Stadium climax shot in Delhi could have been more impactful if Pakshi Rajan gave an epic speech on par with Aparichit's sequence prior to Chitti 2.0 going bananas with his dialogue-baazi. I genuinely felt they could have wrapped up the fight by revealing Chitti 3.0 instead of going full transformers/super sentai mecha sequence. In short, I felt it was going for a childish vibe verses spectacle.

Any pluses apart from the decent first half? No Shankar songs are inserted throughout the move until the end credits and that was a smart move keeping the pan india release in mind.

But Shankar seriously needs a good writer that is within Sujatha Rangarajan's level of brilliance. We're missing the type of quips associated with a Shankar movie as seen in HINDUSTANI and APARICHIT. Since I, it's been nothing but ordinary. A writer like Jeyamohan who excelled in PAPANASAM does not seem to gell well here and it requires someone like Madan Karky (who spearheaded Robot post Sujatha's demise throughout the film.)

Else, 2.0 is a 1 time watch though honestly, all credit goes to Akshay Kumar for being the backbone of the film. Let's hope HINDUSTANI 2/INDIAN 2 gets it right story/screenplay wise with Kamal Haasan being on board next.

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96 (II) (2018)

7/10

96 - Despite the Autograph flavor, this nostaligc trip works.

27 October 2018

We've seen Cheran take us back to memory lane in Autograph back in 2004 where he invites his exes to his wedding. We've seen Ranbir Kapoor attend his "Maafi" world tour in Bachna Aey Haseeno 4 years later where he's seen reliving the consequences of the events in the first half of that film. Prem Kumar's 96 is a mixture of both films but this time goes back and forth between time like Autograph. However, this time the nostalgia is set in a school reunion where the protagonist, Ram (Vijay Sethupathi) just faints at the sight of Jaanu (Trisha) and not because she's channeling her inner Jessie from VTV.

The initial setups of rekindling the school gang through whatsapp group was ingenious and deserves brownie points. Also a special mention to the dialogues and punches at places, they were well written given the crux of the scenes. If anything to look at from a flawed perspective it's Vijay Sethupathi's character. I didn't see what most people are talking about post this screening. Sure he acted well as the dormant lover, but he brought nothing new to the table apart from his trademark instincts. It's Trisha however that comes out in aces and one wishes she pays attention to her scripts henceforth. I don't think the audience needs to see more Mohini and Nayaki's in their lifetime or be reduced to a prop in the distant future.

Without giving the spoilers, it's no coincidence that like VTV, this too ends in a heartbreak & I'm glad the makers decided to follow that path. The supposed remakes (Telugu and Hindi) that follow this would not be brave enough to follow this and instead pull an Ye Maaya Chesave and opt for a happy ever after ending.

This is however not a theatrical watch and I would recommend this on Streaming when available. Why? Because for 1) Theatrical experiences are ruined by having parents bring young kids to a U/A venture (and crying/wailing while they're at it.) 2) I wouldn't pay $12 to see an ordinary conversation film where the leads are playing connect the dots that led to their ultimate destinies. That said, it's certainly not a bad film & I look forward to seeing more work from Prem Kumar and Trisha soon. That said, I was very pleased this can be watched without an iota of vulgarity.

7/10

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Vishwaroopam 2 (2018)

8/10

Vishwaroop 2 - A true "Circumquel" unknown to the kitchensink mentality

16 August 2018

Warning: Spoilers

When reviews came out last week ranging from 1-2 stars, I really wondered if the Kamal's brilliance in screenwriting really went for a toss or are reviewers that stupid enough to walk into a film that has been told TIME and AGAIN that this is both a PREQUEL and a SEQUEL (or in this case a CIRCUMQUEL, google it.). Vishwaroop 2 (much like the final moments of Part 1) showcased previews of what was to come.

Most reviewers (North Indian aka Bollywood analysts with a biased mindset of a toddler) wrote off scathing reviews calling it a "terrible story, over-convoluted plot, cut-and-paste-job, etc.) Or there were some that maybe/probably saw Part I to super-high-expectations that they expected Part 2 to have a Kathak number (it does to an extent), high prod values (shortchanged due to change in production hands from Prasad V Pothluri (Telugu financier) to Aascar Ravichandran (who last made Dashavtar, the Shankar-Vikram starrer I (a financial failure that was hyped which led to VR2 being stuck in development hell.) There are also some samples who wrote off Part 1 the same way they wrote off this sequel but in fact will go on to praise Jason Bourne or the recent Mission Impossible Fallout.

Granted, this sequel is far from perfect but you have to APPLAUD Kamal and his small production house (Raajkamal films International) for trying to bring an international level given the development hell with post production the team faced & limited finances (Aascar Ravi is no PVP nor is Raajkamal films is as huge Yashraj films - a response to some other samples who praised "Tiger Zinda Hai" and called that a better sequel.)

The writing in Kamal Haasan and Atul Tiwari are very much consistent and alive as they pick up the thread left off post the end of part 1. Yes, you must watch Part 1 to understand the namedrops and references scattered all across the film. Yes, Kamal does spoonfeed you the crucial Afganistan portions and recaps the war sequences (which some sample reviewers dubbed this cut-and-paste job. ) If Kamal jumped into the "heel-faced-turn" scenes where Wisam is begged by Khatija and Jalal to be freed from Omar's clutches or actually guides Omar's wife and kids to safety in the crux of sending off Omar and Salim from the American army invasion, most of you would have been even more disgruntled unless you actually paid attention to the film (you probably didnt, you were trying to find flaws in the film itself keeping the anti-Kamal haasan bias in mind)

Some people were also left flabbergasted on Wisam and co stopping over in London for some random mission. There's no random mission (again this harks back to the climax afghan portions of part 1 where Omar suggests to Wisam about his dirty bomb master plan set in New York, London, Delhi.) The NY plan was in motion during Part 1 and was thwarted. Guess what happened in Part 2?

If the average kitchen mindset can recall a film like Baahubali 2 (a Hindi dubbed film from Telugu, which DID THE EXACT SAME CIRCUMQUEL concept for Part 2), following a film like this isn't rocket science. This isn't a typical Bollywood film where some videshi stick figure or model-come-statue enters a force-fitted item number (which fetches more than million) followed by kitchen sink writing and poor acting. The average Hindi movie goer thinks a sequel is an episodic event like Lage Raho Munnabhai, or Don 2. Some reviewers wrote off this as a needless sequel? How so? What do you know about Asmita's background and her relation with Wisam? What did Col. Jaganath had to do with sending Wisam to the states to stop the Dirty Bomb from going off while going after Omar and his gang? How does Wisam finish Omar in the end? By their logic, I can also say the recent BAAGHI 2 was a needless sequel.

Yes, I agree, Kamal and team should have released Vishwaroop 1 on Youtube/Netflix or streaming to keep viewers afloat, but I suspect the negative bias would have continued. As always, Kamal's film-making writing and concepts are way ahead and will likely be appreciated in later years. Hindi reviewers can look forward to more mundane films like Satyamae Jayate, Simmba, Thugs of Hindustan. I suspect the Shankar-Rajnikanth-Akshay Kumar film 2Point0 may also be bashed soon for being too brammand and high-tech for their kitchen-sink tastes.

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