Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya

title: Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010)
language: Tamil
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Synopsis: Karthik (Silambarasan) is a Hindu boy who falls in love with his Christian neighbor Jessie (Trisha Krishnan). Their love is complicated by her father's rejection of her marrying a non-Christian.

The Good
+ Everyone already knows how obsessed I am about cinematography. That being said, for such a basic film, it was filmed VERY nicely. Loved the varying shades of blue and how Trisha's wardrobe always popped against the scenery.
+ A.R. Rahman did the music. Need I say more? Very catchy songs!
+ If that really was Kerala, WOW! Very gorgeous place and it totally makes me want to visit.

The Bad
+ Once again, another film where the boy's perseverance in his love comes off as a totally stalker/creeper (I still think SRK is the master of this role, complete with heavy breathing in Dil Se).
+ There were a few cultural aspects that didn't quite translate to me. Why was it so horrible that the girl was 1 year older than the boy? Is that a genuine issue?
+ Jessie frustrated me more than anything with her indecisive nature. "Leave me alone" "no, I want to be with you." "Wait, no leave me alone" - Make up your mind!

Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? This is actually a tough call for me. I know this was quite a successful movie when it came out (made in Telugu at the same time and a Hindi version coming out soon), but I'm really not a fan of these movies where the guy relentlessly chases the girl because he's so in love with her. I actually felt sorry for the girl (then later was frustrated with her in above argument), having been in similar awkward situations she was put in, yet I never did find myself returning the feelings. Maybe I'm biased (I most likely am). I talked to a friend about this earlier today, and he mentioned this was a popular theme in 90's Indian cinema, and is always entertained how the guy gets the girl in the end. I just think this is whole concept sends the wrong message (But then again, who said cinema is real life?). Ok, rant finished. I'd say it's totally worth watching for the music and the cinematography.

Rating: 3/5... the music saved it for me. I was rather disappointed with it overall. I was hoping a really good drama of how inter-religious relationships are totally acceptable. Which it was... but I'd rather not have a stalker as the leading man.

Favorite song: Kannukkul Kannai


And Hosanna

Aayutha Ezhuthu

title: Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004)
Language: Tamil
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Synopsis: This is a story of 3 men and how their stories all come together. Inba (Madhavan) is a rough man, who doesn't have the best relationship with his wife and can't hold onto employment. Being bailed from jail by his brother, Inba meets a corrupt political minister and agrees to stop/control a group of rebelling college students on the upcoming election. Michael (Surya Sivakumar) is the popular leader of the rebelling college students. He believes the Indian youth should show more interest in politics so they can shape and change India's future. Finally there's Arjun (Siddharth) who is a recent college graduate determined to study in the USA, but ends up falling in love with a girl he meets at a club. Together the three men's stories come together at a bridge where Inba is chasing after Micheal, and Arjun is on the side professing his love to Meera (Trisha Krishnan)...there the stories merge together and continues to an intense climax.

The Good
+ The mood of the film. What I mean is, the film was intense when it was suppose to be intense. Funny when it was suppose to be funny. All the scene fit together.
+ I liked the whole concept of separate storylines coming together and merging as one (like the movie Crash or Babel). I really was struggling to see how Arjun's storyline would fit, but they all came nicely together.
+ The last 15 minutes had one of the better fight scenes I've seen in a film. For a film that wasn't necessarily suppose to be action-oriented, the fight was well choreographed.


The Bad
+ The musical interludes weren't terrible, and as much as I look forward to these moments, I felt this film would've been far better without them. They didn't hinder the film, nor did they necessarily enhance the film.
+ You definitely have to be in the right state of mind to watch this, which is probably why it took me so long to finally finish watching it (despite my busy work schedule). No where near a happy-go-lucky film, but it does make you think about things a little, and then you have to keep track how everything ends up being related. I suppose you can say the whole point of this bullet is: don't watch this film starting at 1 in the morning like I did.
+ Poor treatment of women, but it served it's purpose in the film. It had it's place, I just felt sorry for the characters.

Final Thoughts: Was this movie worth watching? Yes. Acting wise, this film was fantastic. To me there was never a moment where it was over acted and far over the top. Madhavan once again proves he's a fantastic actor, and he does an excellent job of making you hate his character. I also liked the message of youth needing to participate more in politics/future of the country and speaking out.

Fun Fact: This movie is also made in Hindi - Yuva - starring Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan (who plays Madhavan's character and with Rani Mukerji won 2004's Filmfare awards for best actor/actress), and Kareena Kapoor. I haven't seen this version, though. Esha Deol plays the character Michael's girlfriend in both Tamil and Hindi versions of the film.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Song: Yaakai Thiri... Trisha is so pretty! The dancing seems like an endurance race! haha