Dheena(2001)

I kinda wish Adhikesevan(Suresh Gopi) had taken out Dheena(Ajith) at the exact moment he refused to go after Chitra(Laila) and her family, 'cuz that would've been a totally unexpected and rather awesome--if abrupt--way to end the movie.

Overall, this was an okay flick. The brother vs. brother storyline sounded more intriguing than it really was. However, I knew better than to expect a real showdown(i.e. one or both brothers getting killed).

The sister's(Divya) death scene felt like a PSA for complying with your family's wishes when it comes to matrimonial matters: "Don't elope, because you WILL get in a car accident, and DIE!" Seriously. That's what came to mind as I watched it.

I bought this mainly for the Ajith-Laila duo. I liked them in Paramasivan, I liked their song in Thirupathi, and I liked them in this film as well. Laila mistaking Ajith for a bus conductor, then a vegetable seller was cute, as was her calling Ajith's house pretending to be Pepsi Uma. I found the "yellow overkill at the bus stop" scene humorous, particularly when Ajith refrained from beating up the guys who teased her because he thought she wasn't interested in being with a rowdy. And this part appealed to my mushy-gushy side:






It was swell how she conveniently forgot her keys so that she could go back and notice the card that Ajith just as conveniently left behind.

The songs were nice, especially "Vathikkuchi Pathikkaathuda" and "Sollamal Thottu Chellum". My only quibble with "En Nenjil" is that it looks like it was shot a few years ago for another film and used in this one to stretch the running time.

Nagma in "Vathikkuchi Pathikkaathuda":





I love her face!

From "Kadhal Website":


More eyeliner than you can shake a makeup case at



One day, just for shits and giggles, I'm going
to do a "Ajith and Waists" post


This reminds me of a photoshoot
from ANTM 3. Really.

From "Sollamal Thottu Chellum":













A few more caps:



Laila, so cute!



Product placement


**sigh**

Paramasivan(2006)

I meant to post about this a while back, but I got sidetracked. Anyway, it's not great but, aside from the unnecessary item number and Vivek's comedy, it's not a bad viewing experience. In fact, I found it to be compulsively watchable. It's a remake of Kartoos, which I have no intention of seeing, so I don't know which version is "better". **shrug**

For me, the best part of the film was Laila. She was a bit OTT with the naive chatterbox act, but still lovably choote. "I come. He come. Same flight" and "You only advise. You no try!" are my favorite lines. I seriously wish I could somehow work them into everyday conversation. **ahem**

Although Paramasivan and Tirupathi were filmed around the same time(I think), I didn't find Ajith to be quite as scarily skinny here as I did in Tirupathi. For the most part, I thought his slimmed-down frame looked good, but during the songs, there were a few times where I was tempted to hand him a sandwich.

I was going to type, "The ending left me kinda cold", but the more I think about it, the more I'm like, "Eh. It was alright. How else could it have ended?" (Well, I can think of other ways, but none of them are necessarily better, so...)

A few caps of the "Oru Kili Kaadhalil" song. No real reason, I just like these particular shots:

Unnai Ninaithu(2002)

I came across this title while randomly browsing Nehaflix. When I saw that Sneha(or "Snega", as she's listed on the site) was in the cast, my interest was piqued, and I immediately Googled for more information about the film. I found a link to watch it online, but the site refused to cooperate, so I read a couple of reviews to try to get an idea of whether or not I wanted to buy it.

From The Hindu: "...Here is a young employee of a lodge, who goes out of his way to help his impoverished neighbour and his family — and all he gets in return is humiliation. What is worse, he takes it all lying down. The climax is on expected lines and the treatment lacks punch...If tedium sets in, in the climax the dialogue is the culprit. The similes, metaphors and aphorisms that go on endlessly test your patience..."

From Now Running: "The actual story occupies only 60 percent of the length of the film Rest of the time is eaten up by the so-called comedy of the inmates of the Lodge--Sundarrajan, Charlie & Co. If this was not enough, these are the songs!...If you examine the film in isolation without the comedy(huh?) & songs then Vikraman's story screenplay has only some minor flaws...But, the irksome comedy & its background score and the mind-boggling achievements within the course of a song--how long is Vikraman going to cling on to this formula?"

It doesn't sound too promising :( I'm getting a headache just thinking about the "so-called comedy". On one hand, I want to get it just for Sneha since I like her, and I want to see more of her movies, but on the other hand, I don't want to spend most of my time pressing the fast-forward button. **sigh** I might have to leave this in the "Better Off Not Buying" pile. I really wish I could've checked it out first, because I would hate for my curiosity to get the best of me and end up with something that just sits on my bookshelf, collecting dust. (Speaking of which, I guess I should try to watch Deepavali all the way through at least once. Got it for Bhavana and what little I saw before falling asleep bored me. Live and learn, I guess.)

03/13/09: My curiosity finally got the best of me and I ordered it. The verdict? I would say that the "so-called comedy" eats up SIXTY percent of the movie. I think I spent more time with my finger on the fast-forward button than I did actually watching the film. I wish there were some way to edit DVDs so that I could remove the scenes that annoy me, or slow down the pace of the flick.

Shallowness: Surya looked cute, but I think he's much better-looking without the thick 'tache and pouffed-up hairdo. Laila was lovely, but her character was passive and irritating as fuck. The only time she showed some spunk was when she took Surya to task for beating up her sleazy, would-be fiance. Sneha was gorgeous, as usual. I've said it before and I'll say it again: She was made for saris. Sneha in a sari is way sexier and more alluring than any chick wearing next to nothing.

I would describe this as "an otherwise okay movie marred by unnecessary comedy". I liked the scenes with Sneha and Surya best, mainly because Sneha actually showed signs of life as opposed to Laila, who did little more than sleepwalk her way through the film. Having said that, I would like to check out more of her movies, but only if she's not doing the meek and demure thing. She strikes me as being more of a bubbly Jyothika type.