S. Saraswathi/Rediff.com in Chennai
There are high expectations for films from big banners, leading stars and successful directors and few manage to live up to them.
Rajinikanth's Kochadaiiyaan and Sasikumar's Bramman that drew the most flak.
People felt let down by the technologically created lifeless Rajinikanth and their beloved Sasikumar, who gave them films like Subramaniapuram and Sundarapandian.
Films like Ajith's Veeram, despite its mundane plot, scraped through mainly due his magnetic screen presence, and Vijay of course had Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and sensational music in Jilla, which made it reasonably entertaining.
Six months into the year, here is a look at some of the most uninspiring films so far.
Kochadaiiyaan
Director: Soundarya R. Ashwin
Cast: Rajinikanth, Deepika Padukone, Sarathkumar, Jackie Shroff
Superstar Rajinikanth's Kochadaiiyaan, India's first photo-realistic, performance-capture, 3D animation film, turned out to be one of the biggest disasters of the year.
People had huge expectations from the film, which not only boasted of leading stars from Tamil and Hindi cinema, but also some world-class technicians, who had worked on the film for over 2 years.
Despite the path-breaking technology and the writing skills of popular director KS Ravikumar, the film barely managed to hold the attention of the viewers.
Even the music by the double Oscar-winning composer A.R Rahman failed to create its magic.
The film was released in six languages and except for the Tamil version, the rest failed miserably.
Bramman
Image: A still from BrammanS. Saraswathi/Rediff.com
Director: Socrates
Cast: Sasikumar, Lavanya Tripathi
Since his debut as an actor, director and producer in the film, Subramaniapuram in 2008, Sasikumar has seen success in all three formats.
Unfortunately his near perfect success record was ruined with Bramman.
Extremely slow-paced and melodramatic, Bramman paid a greatly exaggerated tribute to the virtues of cinema and friendship.
Maan Karate
Image: A still from Maan KarateS. Saraswathi/Rediff.com
Director: Thirukumaran
Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Hansika Motwani, Soori, Vamsi Krishna
Maan Karate was a completely overhyped film with an illogical plot solely devoted to glorify its hero, Sivakarthikeyan.
While one cannot deny Sivakarthikeyan's natural charm and popularity, the director seemed determined to create a script that would turn him into a mass hero overnight.
It was only Anirudh's music that became a huge rage and gave the film some momentum.
Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham
Image: A still from Vallavanukku Pullum AayudhamS. Saraswathi/Rediff.com
Director: Srinath
Cast: Santhanam, Ashna Zaveri
After successfully playing friend and sidekick to leading stars in innumerable films, comedy king Santhanam decided to cash in on his popularity by playing the lead in Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham.
Despite Santhanam's total new makeover with trendy clothes and new hairstyle, the audience missed the laid-back charm, quick wit and sarcasm that he is so famous for.
The film, a remake of S. S. Rajamouli's hit Telugu film Maryada Ramanna, was monotonous and unimaginative revolving around Santhanam's pathetic attempts to escape ruthless killers out to avenge a family feud.
Yennamo Yedho
Image: A still from Yennamo YedhoS. Saraswathi/Rediff.com
Director: Ravi Tyagarajan
Cast: Gautham Karthik, Rakul Preet Singh, Prabhu Ganesan, Nikesha Patel
After the huge debacle of Mani Ratnam's Kadal, Gautham Karthik was all set to prove himself with Yennamo Yedho, a remake of Telugu blockbuster Ala Modalaindi, which had successfully completed its 100-day run at the box office.
Surprisingly even this film failed to set the cash registers ringing.
A poor imitation of the original, the film told a long and tedious tale of casual meaningless relationships and breakups that came across as totally ridiculous.
The director's attempt at a light-hearted romantic comedy was a total disaster.
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