Ranjit R Nair: Kudos to you, you are doing a great job with the blog and the very many mails that are popping in you. And yes, organizing them would be quite useful, we all do think :).
I too saw Kaaka Kaaka, the Surya-Jyothika starrer. I thought it was pretty racy in the first half, but in the second half, things seemed to sag. Surya was especially impressive, with his moustache twirling and newly built muscles. The villain seemed a trilfe loud to me, but compared to the normal filmi villains, he managed to, at the least, look and sound menacing.
Jyothika has finally shed some weight, and was looking gorgeous (after a long time, might I add). The first half was very slick, with the unusual camera angles (check out the Enne Konjam.. and Ramya Krishnan numbers, though the latter came in the second half and was quite unnecessary). But post-interval, I thought Gautam resorted to the usual filmi cliches - the close friend changing traitor, an item number etc etc.
And in the end, when I was coming out of the theater, I heard
somebody say something to the like of 'at the end of the movie, the villain did everything that he said he would, after which Surya kills him....'. Valid point he had, I thought. All in all, a good movie, but could have been better.
On the other hand, Shankar's Boys was just plain old lewd. Admittedly, some of the scene do strike a chord, especially with the guys, but then Shankar could have done away with the vulgarity.
Sample this: the kids ogling and brushing against every conceivable part of the female anatomy in the 'Girlfriend' song (shown in explicit detail), almost everybody drinking and vomitting in a liquor shop (ugh!) etc etc. Shankar's claim that all boys do this is no excuse - boys do many other things too, which he excluded from the movie (hopefully, I am not giving him ideas here).
I'd gone to the movie with a gang of friends, and halfway through the movie the girls were squirming in their seats. Some of the more conservative ones were not even looking anywhere else.
On the plus, almost the entire cast, taking special note of Vivek and Siddharth, the new kid on the block, give good performances. And although the plot is as hackneyed as they come (a grp of friends forming a band and going on to win the MTV award for sumthin !!!), Shankar manages to race through the movie. And the music is unbelievably good - A.R.Rahman is back with a bang. Some of the songs are well shot. The others would have been too, but Shankar's obsession with gimmickry spoils what could have visually pleasing songs too (notably, the Boom Boom...and the Aley Aley.. songs).
Against all the hype of Kaaka Kaaka and Boys, a small movie starring a hitherto unknown (well, almost) actor came and conquered. Yes, I am talking of the latest 'sensation' (poor chap, wonder how long his bit of stardom lasts) Dhanush. In the neatly put together Kaathal Kondein, he has quietly and unobtrusively given a knockout performance. The movie borrows heavily from Sigappu Rojakkal, Darr and Guna. But the director is in control of his act all along, except for a number of extra songs.
Dhanush completely sidelines the two debutants, although the girl has given quite a credible performance. The director, Dhanush's brother, deals with child abuse in a remarkably sensitive manner, considering that it is only his second venture. A definite must-see; just do not be put out by the first 15-20 minutes.
I hear Gangaajal is really good, am yet to watch that movie. I saw Milind Soman's Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula. The heroine, Meera, is vivacious and very likeable. I was oddly reminded of the recent Princess Diaries - this one has a similar plot of Meera's grandmom telling her about the 5 rules to ensnare a guy (super-model Milind Soman, who looks and acts like a dream). A nice, watchable, feel-good flick.
Okie, I am stopping for now, feels great 'talking books and movies' like this. Do continue the good work, Prem.
Janak Ganatra: I regularly read your articles - enjoy.
I am looking for a professional job as Film-reviewer just like you and Taran Adarsh.
Pl. find attach my CV and let me know if you can help.
Prem: Oops, I am no professional film-reviewer, nor do I earn a penny doing any of this.
I would think the only way in is the usual knock on doors, plenty of them, with armloads of your original film-reviews in hand; they don't necessarily have to be published ones, but editors like to get a feel for what you can do, if they are looking to hire you to do a job. All the best.
Pradeep, San Francisco: I have seen 'Boys' thrice so far and here's my take on it.
To start off, some of the words I'd use to describe 'Boys' with - Honest, Grand, Energetic, Colorful, Intelligent, Bold.
There's so much thought and effort put into every frame that u need at least 2-3 viewings before u can do justice to the movie.
The story is very simple at its core - its about five guys(and a girl) struggling through their transition from adolescence to adulthood and finally making it big.
All the scenes that are creating brouhaha are the ones that basically depict the essence of teen sex - "lotsa noise but nothing's really happening". The people having problems with the movie are the ones who fail to acknwoledge that this is an inevitable part of the growing process.
Even the sequence where they hire a prostitute(the one that has created the most noise apparently) is really pretty tame. The things that stood out in the scene are the intelligence and strength of character of the boys. In an effort to prove their "masculinity and toughness" to each other, they try to "fake" their experience with the prostitute. And the way they do it is extremely funny and natural. At the end of the day none of them really ends up sleeping with her - they do not transgress normally accepted moral bounds - which in turn shows their strength of character.
This is what the director was trying to depict and I guess the focus was instead put on a couple of titillating visuals that go with the sequence. All other supposedly "offensive" material is on the same lines. Its high time people stopped being hypocritical and started looking at these aspects of teen angst with a more mature, objective lens.
Technically the movie is superlative. Especially in the song sequences which Shankar has complete mastery over. It's a general belief that Shankar comes up with 5-6 concepts for songs even b4 he has the screenplay of the movie done and the first thing he ends up shooting are the songs.
The amount of effort gone into the picturization of each song is mind blowing. AR Rahman has managed to pack a ton of energy into each song with the help of seasoned voices like Adnan Sami and Lucky Ali.
On top of that Sabu Cyril has created some of the most detailed and artistic sets that indian cinema has ever witnessed. Add to that some exquisite, stylish, trendy costumes that Dil CHahta Hai' fame Arjun Bhasin has managed to find for the boys and some sublime camerawork by Ravi K CHandran including some Matrix style, motion-freeze technique-based shots, u already have quite a package. Throw in some well-thought out choreography by Raju Sundaram, great dancing by the boys and girls and Shankar's well-thought-out stylish execution u have a killer deal.
Every song literally explodes on the screen. if only our movie makers put in as much thought and effort into each movie that Shankar puts into each of his songs, the quality of movies would be soo much better.
More on the technical aspects...Where Shankar scores first is casting. He has ensured that every actor fit the character to the 'T', beginning with the Boys themselves and their parents. The boys are indeed endearing. Dialogues by Sujatha are sharp, witty and oozing with flair and intelligence. His choice of words is quite remarkable...the love note that the 'juju' character receives from his girlfriend alluding to his spiky hair in various ways is ample proof of sujatha's prowess in this arena. The screenplay is packed with interesting sequences...there is some kind of high-voltage drama, somebody laughing, crying, angry, excited etc. all the time. its relentless. The 'monk' character enacted by Senthil that boils down the essence of happy living to 'sleeping and eating' and achieves it in an unconventional way is a tribute to Shankar's brilliance.
The editing is very crisp and ensures that the pace never slackens. The movie has a very young, urban look and feel to it. The make up, even the everyday clothes the characters wear are very trendy and colorful and add character to the movie in general.
As the lyrics in one of the songs goes, Boys is 'full of fun and laughter, keep it comin a little faster'.
If you wanna have a rollicking time, Boys won't disappoint you.
PS: Shankar also brings up the critical issue of draconian laws like
POTA being misused though I doubt the scene's impact to stay long in the audiences' mind for them to really question it!!!
Sriram Anand: I happened to watch "Boys" last weekend and also read some of the rants on the net about the movie. Here is my take on the movie and the associated buzz.
I am a fan of Shankar's movies, I thoroughly enjoyed "Gentleman", "Indian" and "Mudhalvan". I was not impressed as much by "Jeans" and "kadhalan", I feel his biggest strength is his ability to tell a good story grounded on an anti-corruption/good vs. evil theme along with his propensity to showcase lavish yet innovative sets for catchy AR Rehman numbers.
After watching "Boys", my opinion of his strength is unchanged and in fact has been reinforced.
"Boys" is for the most part, quite entertaining and watchable. It is the story of 5 love-sick, non academically inclined boys who are typically prone to putting the pursuit of girls and "freaking out" above all other activities, much to the chagrin of their parents.
The boys end up walking out of their homes to help Munna, one of the boys who elopes and gets married to Harini, the daughter of a rich customs officer. With no money to pay for their daily needs and college tuitions and no place to stay, they dream up novel ways to make money including the formation of a band that composes religious pop music.
Eventually, the band morphs into a pop band and they become predictably famous, sweeping all the MTV awards at the end.
Given the characterization of the 5 boys, the situations that they get into are completely in keeping with their screen personas. In this respect, much of the ranting and raving in some of the reviews online is over-the-top and questionable.
There are definitely some raunchy dialogs and several cleavage shots, but those are in keeping with the demands of the story and its characters. It is certainly not a family movie nor a movie that can be watched with elders. The plot touches on taboo topics hitherto uncharted in Indian movies and therein might lie the cause for much of the ruckus.
There are some genuinely funny moments featuring Senthil and Vivek and the story moves along nicely upto a point. Where the plot ends up meandering is the last quarter of the movie. The situation that lands them in jail and the resulting stark depiction of the jail living conditions, the split between Munna and Harini and their inevitable reconciliation are not in keeping with the original storyline and are jarring.
In my opinion, the movie could have been significantly enhanced without these roadblocks which end up souring the climactic and eye-popping "Secret of Success" song at the MTV awards.
Overall, this is the real problem with the movie and not the sexual innuendoes or the "indecent" shots. In general, there is a fair amount of vulgarity in any run-of-the-mill Tamil movie in the form of portly and skimpily clad extras gyrating to bump and grind numbers.
Based on that baseline for vulgarity, it is not clear to me why so much vitriol is spewing over "Boys".
Bottom-line: Watchable with friends, worth owning the DVD for the music and choreography.
Sivaraman, Columbus, Ohio: Boys is one of the better Indian movies that have handled a bold subject, once again showing that tamil films regularly venture off the beaten track.
I should state that the name of Shankar, a heavyweight director would have added a lot of expectations and that may be the cause for some resentment among Shankar fans about the film being not so good. Kudos to Shankar for doing such a bold theme and lending his brand name to such movies.
I believe Boys did to the Tamil Industry what Dil Chahta Hai did to the Hindi industry. A film with a relevant theme, thats what it is.
The music of Boys needs no selling. It is very good as usual. I sometimes wonder why Rahman reserves his best music for bigger directors like Mani rathman and Shankar while others do not necessarily get the same quality of music, the movie 'Parasuram' of Arjun being a case in point.
Cutting to the point, the film essentially tries to convince the audience into accepting two viewpoints.
One, the society needs to accept love marriages and parents need to work with their children to help them take mature decisions and not always try to impose their writ on them. Happiness and career are two important things in a youth's life and both of them not necessarily go together, but with good parental guidance, it is possible to have the best of both.
The second one is the importance of information vis-a-vis education which is just another source of information. This timely advice is given by none other than the comedian Senthil in an innocuous role.
The photography is average. Their time freeze or frame freeze technique or whatever it is called has been imposed on us. One song is full of time freeze, that it stops being a novelty and becomes a nuisance. There are so many other better situations where that technique could have been employed with better results.
The animation I think is there more for continuing the Shankar tradition for having at least one song with animation in his movies. I thought that was a big letdown. But as I was discussing with my friend who happened to see the movie with me, he told me it is good that he is showing such things because for people who do not see English movies with animation, movies like Boys provide the inspiration to imagine. Nevertheless, among the two songs with animation I felt 'Girl friend venum' with computer generated women was better executed.
The screenplay is okay with illogical situations at times as against Shankar films that usually have a logical and continuous flow. While watching the movie, I felt the first half showing the college life and blossoming love was comical while the second half was predictable (except for the death of one of the Boys, which was unnecessary).
All said this movie should encourage mainstream and well known masala directors to take risks and show real issues. Its not that nobody has tried it before (Balachander for Apoorva Ragangal and Manamadha Leelai and 'I don't know who' for Chithram in Telugu come to mind) but the frequency of such ventures is so less that you tend to ignore that these are mainstream themes too.
Some article pointed out that 'Thulluvadho Ilamai (TI)' in Tamil with Dhanush in lead treads a similar path as Boys, but I think (though I have not seen the movie) TI deals with adolescence and coming of age while Boys deals with the next level in a man's life (the title not withstanding).
Earlier Blog:
Also See:
Fishing in filmi waters
Poverty pays rich dividends
