Totti Jaya(2005)

To paraphrase a YouTube commenter, "I like [Totti Jaya] because [Simbu] is QUIET!" **chuckle** While I find Simbu's finger-waving and overconfidence amusing and a turn-on at times, his laconic performance in this film is a refreshing change from his usual over-the-top, chatterbox antics in movies like Dum, Kuthu, Kadhal Azhivathilai, and Vallavan. He'll never be a great actor, but when he's not mimicking Rajnikanth or T. Rajendar, he can be pretty good. I wish he'd spend more time honing his acting skills than trying to live up to that silly "Little Superstar" moniker.

Speaking of which, the absence of his customary "Little Superstar Simbu" intro was another welcome relief. I think it should be bumped from of ALL of his future releases.

Gopika didn't have much to do except cry and/or look scared.

Linda Arsenio makes an appearance in the "Yaari Singari" song. (Totally pointless info: whenever I have this movie on before I go to sleep, I almost always wake up during that segment.)

Kana Kanden(2005)

I got this mainly for the "Chinna Ponnu Sonna Kelu" item number with Linda Arsenio. I honestly think it's the best part of the movie :) I like the way it's picturised, and I wish I knew how to download the song 'cause it's hot.

As for the movie itself, it was pretty good. The three leads--Srikanth, Gopika, Prithviraj--acted well, but I was partial to Prithviraj's character because of his deceptively affable demeanor. I swear I read somewhere--on another blog, perhaps?--that Kana Kanden is based on a novel, and that in the book, Madan(Prithviraj) begins charging Archana(Gopika) "consultation fees" from the day of their first meeting, and includes that amount in her and Bhaskar's(Srikanth) total debt. If that's true, I wish that had been used in the movie, because it would've highlighted just how ruthless a loan shark he was. (Maybe the scene where Madan gives Archana his cell phone as a "gift" was an allusion to that particular passage. **shrug**)

Chanthupottu(2005)

Oh hai, defective DVD! Froze at the 56:04 mark. Should I order another one? Part of me is afraid that the replacement copy will be just as bad, or worse(i.e. it won't play at all).

I found Dileep even more appealing as a transvestite. Some of his mannerisms immediately brought to mind Johnny Lever's character in Anjaam(the only movie in which I thought he was funny, BTW). Acting-wise, I thought he did a good job, and he and Gopika made a lovely couple. (Yeah, I have an obsession with couples.) Dileep's gender bending made their relationship especially erotic.

Too bad I couldn't view this movie in its entirety. Bhavana, my latest "Actress to Check Out", is in it as well, and I would've liked to have seen her. Bah!

Just when I was having a good run of luck with non-defective DVDs, Sainikudu and this one had to fuck up on me. **sigh**