Yeto Velipoindi Manasu- Movie Review

'Priyatama Nee vachata Kushalama, Nenu ichata kushalame...', thats the song from Kamal Hassan's 'Guna' that was sweetened by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja for Samantha-Nani starrer, 'Yeto Velipoindi Manasu', that drew the crowds to this Gautham Vasudev Menon flick. Coming from the director who gave us two gems through 'Ye Maya Chesave', ie.., a beautiful musical love story and the gorgeous, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, YVM doesnt really lives upto the hype that was created around it.

Simultaneously shot in tamil, telugu and hindi, YVM is the on-and-off love story of Varun (Nani) and Nithya(Samantha). The film traces the love life of teens, then college romance and finally, real love. All between the same couple. Sounds nice? But two-and-a-half hours is too long a duration for such a movie. And thats the biggest spoiler.

The pace is slow and there are way too many sequences which could have been done away with, to make it a crisp yet intense romance. But, having said that, the lead couple, Nani and Samantha look uber cool, super cute and their unconventional pairing works well. Tall, dark and handsome lad and petite, gorgeous belle- AWESOME!!

The music was touted to be the highlight and is really good, thanks to Illaiyaraaja!! But, having a song as frequently as every 10 minutes, makes it quite a pain. The cinematography, the costumes and the dialogues are good! Wish i could say the same about the screenplay! :/

Well, it may not be the best that Gautham Menon has given us in the past, but is definitely worth a watch, ONLY if one loves love stories to death. Hope the hindi version which is due for release, is made shorter and better.
MY RATING- 2/5

Talaash - Movie Review

To sum it up in short- Good, but greatly flawed. Aamir Khan-Rani Mukerji- Kareena Kapoor starrer 'Talaash' is of the same genre that bollywood is turning towards now- thrillers. With the same kind of cinematic treatment that was dished out in the superbly well crafted Vidya Balan starrer, 'Kahaani', Talaash has come out with huge expectations! But for me, it falls short, somehow.

Directed by Reema Kagti (such a refreshing change after the oh-so-boring Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd) and co written by Zoya Akhtar, the film works for its dark and gritty sequences, but falls flat for its pace. There are way too many scenes where the narrative becomes boring. For instance, the sequence where Aamir meets Kareena in a hotel room, and many such situations, where the movie could have been paced up a little.

With fantastic cinematography by Sharmishtha Roy, the similarities between Kahaani and Talaash end with  the realistic picturisation and the basic premise- Avenging a death! Suri Shekhawat (Aamir Khan) is a cop who is investigating the mysterious death of superstar Armaan Malik(TV fellow, Vivaan Bhatena) in an accident. He is also battling an inner turmoil, along with his wife, Roshni (Rani Mukerji), after the loss of their 8 year old son. In the course of his investigation, he meets a lot of shady people and his biggest informer, Rosy(Kareena Kapoor -_-). How he solves the case forms the rest of the story.

With a host of good actors, Talaash stands out as one of the really well made films this year. Kareena as Rosy is good as usual, and looks beautiful in her role. Rani Mukerji shows why she deserves to be the rani of acting skills by playing with restrain and emoting naturally. Aamir steals the show, with not just maximum footage, but with his serious act as a tough cop and a shattered father.

But.... Not such a smooth sail. There are various questions that arise after the film. Like, why did the 'murderer' take three years to kill them, why not directly? And Kareena's character needed more definition. May be making it a little more pacy could have add more thrills and shrills. Being a art-house pro, the director got stuck with similar pace i guess. Overall, a good watch, but nothing great.
MY RATING-3.5/5. (Am i being too generous :P)