Sunday, September 03, 2006

Hunt, Go Play!!

This weekend yours truly had a brainwave...and we the family decided to watch a movie.It is extremely diffcult to convince pa to go for a movie as the only genre of movie he will watch is Comedy and that too in tamil!.The last hindi movie he watched was MBBS and that too on our way to Goa in the Volvo. In theatre it must have been Chahchi420 (yes that antique tamil remake..starring kamal).So i finally convinced them all and we went to the movie Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu ( Hunt, Play...word to word) ..as it was running in the nearby multiplex and we had nothing else to do.
The movie starring Padmashri Kamala haasan, jothika,Prakash raaj..and a host of new faces...including heroine#2 and the antagonists begins with a local goon who bears an uncanny resemblance to my cousin Vasanth commanding his henchmen to bring DCP Raghaavan's eyes to him ( OMG not another Gulti action thriller please....where people inevitably end up killing their arch foes to avenge the rape of their sister..( thangachhi paasam types i mean))!

Surprise surprise ..immediately comes the hero and then some histrionics follow...with the hero bashing up the goons with nonchalant ease..bringing up the credits for the movie...and in the background booms harris Jeyaraj's song...with lotsa rap...(ughh!!...blaaze..u're gonna be bashed up for introducing this trend in Indian movies...)

'Another Day in the life of a Police Officer'..thus starts the movie...The entire movie is about two psychopaths who believe they are the best doctors in the world but who cannot stand anybody who doesn't give a fu*K**g hoot to them..and so kill them (how so very simple..nai..if you don't like the current boyfriend of your ex-..just slit his throat...AMEN!!)....and how namma ooru police mama vanquishes them.

The chase hots up when the daughter of DCP of Madurai Prakashraaj's severed finger is found hanging outside their residence...the chase takes Raghavan to NewYork and in the process meets Jothika...with a healthy friendship taking roots.The movie is stylish in most parts and the actors carry out their parts with ease.Thankfully there is no overacting.

Kamal haasan gives another finely etched out performance and makes you wonder at the level of commitment that shows through the character. The SRKs and company only need to watch this one to understand how one can win over the audience with subtle acting minus all the hamming and hee-hawing. Jothika also acts ( actually..). As a mother of a child and an abused wife whose husband leaves her for another woman...( the name of the other woman is same as yours honey....if u happen to read this!!)...she actually makes u feel sorry for her.There is a certain amount of grace in their friendship and romance which is heartwarrming.Special mention is to be made of the two villains who are beliavable in their roles as demented geniuses.The way Kamal proposes marriage...both the times...is funny though effective...( wishful thinking dude!!).. There are thankfully no dandanakka danakkunakka dappangutthu songs and the cinematography is attractive..On the flipside, the background music is too loud...( sometimes it grates on your ears) and the movie could definitely do with some crisp editing as the movie sags especially close to the intermission.There are too many songs...and especially the item song..with the fuckall watever Khan...is not very pleasing..(et tu Gautham..i mean Ramya Krishnan was passable and the song thoodu varuma rocked but not this..). Also the details of the murders are gory and gross...specially the mutilated bodies...the rape scenes..the severed finger are not for the faint hearted!!

I think Kamal sports that paunch just because the role is that of a policekar ( nai..really)...but why in the darndest of dreams most jothika carry one too...aren't there any gyms in Chennai or Newark for that matter??And Harris Jeyaraj refuses to bring in new tunes..from Minnale to VV the tunes don't show much variety dude!!I wonder why everyone except the lead actors wear hair colour...i mean from the sidekick of the side thug to Jothika's sister...why this horrendous attraction??? And the Product placements start getting on your nerve..especially the hello Moto ringtone!!
All in all I would say, in these Joharesque times VV is definitely worth a watch..and the director carries the story of the honest and upright police officer from his second film Kakka Kakka with considerable ease.Except for the occassional snafu..the movie works on you and so does the music..especially 'Nilave velli velli Nilave'..Go Watch!!

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