Rajasaval – Short film

Hi folks

We present to you, Rajasaval the comedy short flick produced by Spontic movies in association with Nina entertainment. This is the story of three young men who get into a whirlpool of trouble when one of them steals a bag. But that’s not all. The screenplay is experimental where it applies a drunken narrative to a roller coaster ride kind of a story. Watch it and leave your feedback.

-Spontic

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Rajasaval – A film from Spontic Movies

After a few years of film criticism, Spontic has plunged itself into the sea of film making. Here comes the trailer of Rajasaval, a comedy short from Spontic! Watch it and leave your comments!

-Capjack

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Kalavani – Movie review

Kalavani – Show stealer!

Kalavani opens Director A.Sargunam‘s Kodambakkam account with Pasanga fame Vimal as the lead and the Poo fame SSKumaran as the composer. As per the title, Kalavani is an awesome Romantic rural comedy with quite a number of interesting and laudable moments. More than anything else, Kalavani launches Sargunam as one of the best writers in India whose mellifluously interwoven screenplay wins the audience’s heart right from the first scene. With a no-wonder story line which almost appears inadequate for a 2:30 hours movie, sargunam has spun his scenario like a shrewd spider. Kalavani does to comedy in Tamil cinema what Paruthi Veeran did to tragedy. Both of them have a similar story thread but with a wild difference.

Kalavani‘s story belongs to antiquity: Boy meets girl, boy forces girl to love, girl loves, girl’s brother comes inbetween, boy wins. Definitely inspired from the likes of Bharathiraja, Kalavani is about Arikki@Arivazhagan (Vimal) a spoiled youth, falling in love with Maheshwari (Oviya), a girl from an enemy village who also happens to be his arch rival Ilango’s (Thirumurugan) sister. To be straight, Arikki wooes and wins Maheshwari resolving the longlasting conflict between the two villages. After a long time we see a movie which is seamlessly interspersed with agriculture, the real backbone of India. Filled with fun and frolic, Kalavani‘s crosswire is on the lighter side of the Tanjore belt villages. Hailing from one such village Sargunam has stuck close to his own life experiences, which makes the movie rooted and very Tamilish.

Going by world standards, Kalavani’s screenplay deserves a place among the world’s most original scripts. Unlike recent comedies which failed to tickle our ribs, Kalavani is loaded with a lot of laughing gas. Vimal’s unblemishing performance as Arikki along with Soori and co is evidently a memorable one for years to come. Ovia, the girl from God’s own country shines throughout, in her reactions more than her actions. Ilavarasu and Saranya play cliched roles of dumb parents but only to superexcellency which almost camouflages the ordinariness of their characterisation. Thirumuurugan, the associate director of this movie handles the antagonist’s role well. His amateurish and doubtful acting adds on to the attitude and body laguage of his character. Kanja Karuppu once again plays a Malvolio, which caters only to the groundlings. But Sargunam, places his characters at the right blocks of his screenplay making sure that everything and anything counts. Throughout the movie, there are a number of unexpected and humorous incidents which wake up the laughing hyena in us. There are too many hilarious scenes in Kalavani to make us go into splits. If you watch it in a crowd, make sure you’ve ample space to roll. Apart from comic scenes, there are a number of surprising and shocking moments in Kalavani to keep us busy. Though a comedy, Kalavani stands firmly on logic and speaks through every single one of its frames. Kalavani‘s biggest strength is the candid portrayal of Tamilnadu’s tradition and what the recent panaromas have done to it.

Dubbing is one of the major flaws of this film. In most of the scenes, the lip movements don’t go well with the audio. Along with poor dubbing, the Tanjore dialect makes it too difficult for the outsiders to comprehend the dialogues. Adding to this, the screenplay is so very naturally crafted that we miss a few subtle plot points landing up in doubt and chaos as we always do in real life. A boon becomes a bane here, demanding very serious attention to every single detail. Things go fine and raise our expectations but leave us disappointed, when Arikki doesn’t do anything new to get his girl in the third act.Though well made, Kalavani is after all one of those picaresque movies which glorify a rogue.  Apart from this, the director sets the stage immaculately before getting his corrupt lead onshow, which justifies every act of this Kalavani.

With a handful of neat numbers and unpredictable BGMs, SSKumaran contributes in a great deal to Kalavani. Raja Mohamed‘s editing is sleek and gimmickless which makes it one of the main fortes of this talkies. Omprakash‘s cinematography scores in slow moving and static shots, rather than in the steadicam shots. With no violence and profanity, Kalavani‘s success once again proves that films with originality and good narration are always ahead of movies with nonsensical technical grandeur and those pointless remakes. Kalavani says, I’ll cheat, lie, bluff and what not, but still you’ll like me!

– Spontic

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Pineapple Express- Movie Review

Pineapple Express- Simple strong and sexy!

Saul: “It’s called Pineapple Express. My guy Red told me it’s when this Hawaiian flood takes special dirt to the weed or some shit. It’s pretty scientific. And I’m the only guy in the whole city who has it.
And, its only ten bones more for a quarter.”

Nobody could explain David Gordon Green‘s latest project Pineapple express better than this. Seth Rogen plays a major role in all the three major departments. Though a mundane ‘Hit and run’ kind of script, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have flavoured it enough to make it a blockbuster. Life would become easy if its Pineapple express…

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) is a wacko process server, who splits his pastime between his high school sweetheart Angie(Amber Heard) and big time drug dealer Saul Silver (James Franco). After getting high on the new ‘dopest dope’ named pineapple express in Saul’s place, he goes to serve Ted Jones (Gary Cole) a druglord where he watches Ted and Carol Brazier (Rosie Perez) a cop, blow up a guy’s head. While trying to flee the place Dale drops a smoke of Pineapple Express and bumps into a couple of cars which is enough to gain Ted’s attention. When back at Saul’s den, both of them realise that, Pineapple Express can lead Ted directly to their hideout, since Saul is the only Pineapple express dealer in town. With a heart full of pressure and a bag full of Pineapple Express the guys gallop away from their fears. Here begins all the fun and fury…!

An age old storyline and characterisation afresh make Pineapple Express rare and roaring. James Franco who plays the junkie strips off the line between screen and seat. For his part Seth Rogen gets high on times aswell. The user friendly plot and avant-garde characters make the happenings more enthralling. The humor-cynicism balance is another factor which adds onto the USP of this movie. The writers have taken care that all the elements required for a comic action movie show their presence in their film. Also the typical Seth Rogen sitcom contributes largely to the tonality of the movie.

Predictability is a detestable word for the makers of Pineapple Express. Once you know that the movie is about Marijuana and junkies, you see the denouement. That’s it. At times Seth Rogen’s dialogues give you a patience test. The writers could have thought about increasing the speed of this express once more. The concluding remarks on friendship and fellowship, tries to sum up the film for us but in vain.

The music of this movie blends aptly into the cat-mice storyline to produce the rocking effect.Tim Orr‘s cinematography captures ordinary locations and locales with a monumental eye. On the whole Craig Alpert‘s editorial work makes sure that one scene grows realistically out of the other, though it falls short at the beginning of the chase. So, when you are in Pineapple Express be cautious with your head, you may lose it busy laughing!

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Saroja- Movie Review

Saroja- A rocking remake!

Venkat Prabhu opens his second innings with Saroja produced by Amma Creations after a successful ‘Chennai 6000028’ first innings. Saroja is a loose remake of the 1993 Hollywood film ‘Judgment night‘. Though this movie is a remake, Venkat Prabhu has amiably intertwined his sub-plots into the original main-plot, indianising it, suitable for our audience. The movie is at the danger of being condemned by those who lay emphasis on aesthetic components as ‘Plagiarism’. Anyhow Saroja emerges out well as a quality entertainer with ‘Navarasas’.

The movie projects open ‘the day before yesterday’ of the actual action day, where we see a tanker lorry taking off from Intana, Orissa. Immediately after this, we are pushed on to the ‘yesterday’ of the actual action day in which we find Saroja{Vega} the only daughter of Vishwanathan{Prakashraj} a business honcho leaving for school. And finally we are carried on to the actual day where a team of friends: Jagapathibabu{SPBCharan}, Rambabu{Vaibhav Reddy}, Ganesh{PremG} and Ajay{Shiva} consisting of two brothers, start for Hyderabad to see a Cricket match. A summary of what happened next would be- the container is knocked down during the second day of its journey, Saroja gets kidnapped and our heroes take a strange route to Hyderabad. The turned down container is the turning point of the plot which forces heroes to meet the villains. Though the rest may appear like a run of the mill story, Venkat Prabhu has taken pains to make it different to sustain the interest of the audience till the very end.

A ‘Psycho(1960)’ kind of Highway plot, Realistic action, subtle humor, little pathos and a bit of romance and glamour are the elements which constitute this commercial conglomerate. Screenplay and slapstick humor seem to be the biggest forte of Venkat Prabhu. His ability to produce laughter even at the time of disaster prevents this movie from falling short of its target. This movie mercilessly mocks at Teleserials, commercial heroes and kiddish youth. Undoubtedly Satirizing is one of the trademarks of a Venkat Prabhu film.Though most of the scenes in the first half are directly lifted from Judgment Night, Venkat Prabhu’s movie making skills become evident in the way in which he develops the ‘Saroja girl’ plot. The whole cast wonderfully performs what their master has asked them to do. Proper interlinking, good foregrounding and an attractive falling action make this screenplay even better. PremG’s comedy gives the impression of being effective only in his brother’s movies. If Venkat Prabhu is going to be more original in his future projects, he’ll be in the list of top-notch Tamil Directors.

A few in the audience may find it difficult to make out the plot interlinking at least during the exposition. Secondly, the Policemen appearing and living like thugs look a bit odd, though the Director tries to tie the loose strings at the end. Also too many guest appearances slog the progress and diverts the main focus of the film. A very few scenes fail to go in tune with the final effect.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score for this film is another breakthrough in film scores after Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu. As an example we could quote the tune which swims through when Rambabu meets Pooja{Kaajal Agarwal} in a romantic flashback. Yuvan’s House and club tunes along with rap and pop here and there when the movie moves in darkness, make this movie a musical treat. Sakthi Saravanan‘s camera has created the perfect screen tone for this movie. But during the rooftop scenes and chasing scenes we feel that the camera is a bit shaky. Praveen KL/Srikanth NB‘s editing is another important aspect to be commended. Venkat Prabhu and his crew deserve a cheerful applause for what they have done. So Saroja is ‘An ordinary day, four ordinary men and an extraordinary Judgment night DVD!’

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Leatherheads- Movie Review

Leatherheads-A Comic craftsmanship!

A sunny day in the early 1920s. A British countryside football stadium. Players are warming up and the spectators are slowly coming in. The band has just begun to play music with their drums and trumpet. Noise all over. A team captain asks his new player, ‘Hey Kid, what position you play in high school?, the fat boy answers ‘Kicker’.Few seconds of silence???!!!! Everyone in the team looks at him in surprise. The Captain again, ‘Kicker?!’ One of the players ask Simultaneously ‘What the hell?!!’. The fat boy replies, ‘That’s ought to be my best position’. An astonished captain asks him, ‘Who’s your coach?’. ‘Maths Teacher’ says the fat boy. The confused Captain manages to say , ‘Huddle up’.The band starts playing enthusiastically. The ball is kept on the line. The fat boy kicks. The ball goes right into the band which was playing enthusiastically. The music and men go haywire. The fat boy takes a grave look. Captain looks at him. The boy looks at him and says ‘Hooked it’. The band seems to be alright now. The boy kicks again. this time right into the back of a teammate. He shouts in pain. Laughter all over.The team manager puts his hat down in frustration and murmurs. The captain pulls the boy and says ‘stand here next to him and you hit anybody that comes near you, anybody that comes near’. The game resumes. The boy knocks one. He knocks two. The referee comes whistling near him and the smiling boy knocks him out too!

The above is just a sample of what ‘Leatherheads’ could do to you. George Clooney plays the lead and has directed this film as well. A Historical comedy with all the necessary ingredients to bake the present day commercial cake. Going back to the early 1920s, the screenwriters have taken into account the condition of pro football or college football at that time and a man’s single handed attempt to change the course of the history of pro football. With a string of finely crafted characters, the movie’s mundane elements hoist up as a heavenly star.

Political satire, History and Romance are the three major themes of Leatherheads. Dodge Connelly{George Clooney} the captain of the ‘Duluth Bulldogs’ an essaying pro football team, endeavours to save his team from being egged out by losing their sponsors. As a part of his endeavour, he  pulls in Carter “the Bullet” Rutherford{John Krasinski} a war hero as well as a blessed pro football player to play for his team by luring him with large sum of money. Both the Duluth Bulldogs and pro football prospers in the reign of ‘The Bullet’. Meanwhile Lexie Littleton{Renée Zellweger} an instinctively investigative journalist appears on the scene with the intention of peeling the Bullet’s mythical war heroism. Both the old Dodge and young Carter fall for this intermediary woman. Consequently the real game between Dodge and Carter starts but off the field. A number of other characters with and without wit form a metal cover to make the story of Leatherheads bulletproof.

A big grin with a heart full of historic nostalgia is what you get seeing Leatherheads. This is a mediocre story like plain bread but with a spread of sweet fruit jam. Though a number of characters are seen, all of them are etched out  properly and vividly contributing to the comic effect of the movie. A few scenes like the opening scene, the jumping scene, the fight sequence and the scene mentioned at the beginning of this article are hilarious. John Krasinski and Renee Zellweger play their games well. We’ve heard that ‘looks can kill’ but this movie tells us that ‘looks can make us laugh’. But these elements are not found sustainedly throughout the film. This factor knocks leather heads on the head and says ‘a bit of extra-care on the script would have saved you from me’. Also the relationship between the characters fail to gain momentum. But however this movie is a quality family entertainer, if you want to laugh your weekends out.

The movie makers have succesfully given this movie its 1920 skin. Even the characters live and speak with the early twentieth century mind and tongue. Stephen Mirrione’s scissors appear to be a little squeamish to cut certain adjuncted scenes from the movie. There is something that doesn’t love a conclusion of this review. In other words there is someone we forget to talk about. George Clooney. Mr.Clooney has exhibited his multitasking skills through Leatherheads. A good screen writer{Along with Steven Soderbergh, Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly, Stephen Schiff}, an impressive Director and a lovely lead. What else we need from him. To our surprise he is one of the producers{Along with Barbara A. Hall, Grant Heslov, Casey Silver and Jeffry Silver}too. George Clooney who plays the Captain of Duluth Bulldogs is the real captain of Leatherheads aswell. Kudos to Clooney and team. Leatherheads say “Men of future, forget the red cards and fouls, close your eyes and enjoy the warmth of rugged rulelessness of the 1920s for a while!”

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