Ghilli(2004)

I watched this movie again in hopes of somehow persuading myself to buy the DVD. Because the first and second parts failed to impress me, I decided to start with the last part. It wasn't bad. The highlights were Trisha's salwar kameez(blue is a good color on her) and the "Appadi Podu" song. And then the chase scene started, and I was suddenly reminded of why I didn't care for the first few minutes of the second part: all that constant running from one place to another gave me a headache, and I found it more tedious than thrilling. (And I wouldn't be suprised if the part where Vijay's car barely misses getting hit by an oncoming train was lifted from Madhyahnam Hatya(or maybe it was the other way around. I don't know which scene was "inspired by" the other).)

I'm watching the second half again as I type this, hoping to have a change of heart. I really like the Vijay-Trisha pairing, and want to add this film to my collection. (Note to self: add "cute and scared" to Trisha's acting repetoire.) But I can't picture having this movie in constant rotation in my DVD player, so I think I'll spend my sixteen bucks on the Billa DVD once bhanvanidvd gets the Ayngaran version in stock. (I'm not an Ajith fan(ETA 01/22/10: My, how times have changed! Actually, I've always kind of liked him, but never felt moved to watch any of his films until after I saw Billa.), but I like the washed-out look of the film, and it appears to be the kind of mindless, style-over-substance flick I usually enjoy.)

ETA 01/22/10: A couple of months ago, after watching the middle part online, I decided that maybe it really wasn't so bad. So I ordered it from bhavanidvd only to discover that it's not in stock. It's like a bad joke. When it was available, I didn't like it, but now that it sorta grew on me, it's no longer available. I guess if I really wanted it, I could try anytamil, but I'd rather not. Ya snooze, ya lose.