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Ramasubramanian17
Reviews
Ratsasan (2018)
One of a kind!
A thriller is all about deception and revelations, just like a magic performance, and this movie has lots of it. After watching this movie, I can't help but notice how close this movie is to the three acts of Prestige, Christopher Nolan describes in his epic thriller - 'The Prestige'.
Every magic trick consists of three parts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".
Very few legendary filmmakers in the world have the audacity to reveal the killer, out in plain sight, very early in the movie but still fool us and keep us guessing till the very end. Ram Kumar does it with so much ease. It's very hard to believe that someone who is just one movie old has written a script like this. Ram Kumar doesn't wait to reveal his plot in the beginning. He dives right into the mystery few minutes into the movie and he manages to keep us at the edge of the seat right to the very end. Extraordinary storytelling!
One of the major aspects of any thriller is its running time. Lesser the running time, easier it is for the director to keep us hooked to the movie. Ratchasan has a running time of almost 3 hours (2 hrs 50 mins). A lengthy movie like this has all the possibilities of running into dull sequences that drag the movie and rob the audience of a sustained suspense. But I cannot find any dull sequence in its entire running time. Not even one!
Few minutes before the interval, the hero zeroes in on who he believes to be the killer and goes to a school to capture him red handed. But when he arrives there, he was told that the person has left for his home. He feels dejected as he has to trace him all the way to his home, which may give enough time for the person to escape. But as he leaves, he senses something is wrong. So, do we. As we can guess, the killer is still at the school. But he cannot do anything but leave, as he has very little information to capture him, at this time. All he has is his gut feeling that something is wrong. The clock is ticking and the killer is still out there. Just when he is about to leave, a little hand stops him. The camera zooms past the hero and we find out it's the hand of a little girl who was molested earlier by the killer (shown earlier in the movie in an excruciating sequence). Entire theatre erupts in claps and whistles, not for any mass hero, but for the screenplay! What a delight to watch.
This movie's protagonist also has a love interest but not the usual, no-brainer, only-for-glamour type. She blends in with the story and has a purpose too. Interestingly the only duet in the movie does not take place in a far fantasy place, as it usually does. It happens as the hero is investigating a murder in which he needs the help of his love interest. The best thing about the writing is that each and every character has a purpose and we are convinced of the actions they perform. The purpose and the connection are cinematic at some places but none of them can be brushed away as irrational. Again, screenplay scores!
An enormous amount of detailing has gone into every character that makes them look so real and connected, to the story. There are some characters (Kali venkat and one other elderly constable, for example) who are in the frame right from the beginning but contribute very little. But, when the time comes, even if it is for a few minutes, they perform like they have been waiting for that moment. Vishnu Vishal has delivered his career-best performance. Munish Kanth deserves a special mention for his terrific acting. He even outperforms Vishnu Vishal at some places.
Music is the second biggest plus for this movie. It elevates the movie into a whole new level. Gibran aptly maintains the eeriness this movie requires with his bgm. So subtle yet so terrific. It's amazing to think that just a melody played on a piano could jolt you and terrify you. Such is the finesse of his bgm. One of the highly talented yet underrated music directors in the industry.
This movie is not for the week hearted not because of any goriness but the intensity with which the movie travels, the spine-chilling revelations, number of high octane suspense moments will leave you disturbed even after you leave the theatre.
But for thriller lovers, this is one rare masterpiece that you shouldn't miss!
Super Deluxe (2019)
The Super Deluxe Experience
Even before the trailer was released, I was excited to watch this movie. When you watch movies like 'Aaranya Kaandam', the kind of experience you get will only leave you to crave for more. And when you hear names like - Vijay Sethupathi, Fahad Fazil, Ramya Krishnan, etc., your expectation grows multi-fold. Finally, when the trailer was released, it did perfect justice to the huge expectations. But will Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja deliver? Will the audience understand the genius that is Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja? Or Will 'Super Deluxe' succumb to the same fate of 'Aaranya Kaandam'? We'll get to all of these in a bit but first things first.
Vijay Sethupathi - I don't know how many know about this trivia - Maniratnam was mighty impressed with the performance of Mohanlal in 'Iruvar' that, after he finished the shoot, he told Mohanlal - 'I will never direct you again.' And he never did. The reason I'm citing this here is that I don't think Vijay Sethupathi should ever act again. He should retire after this movie. I have seen a handful of world movies in different languages but I'm telling you no actor/acting in the world can compare to what he has done in this movie. Being a diehard Kamal fan from childhood, I can tell you this is a role that even legends like Kamal, Mohanlal cannot do justice to. And the fact that Vijay Sethupathi made it look so easy and convincing speaks volume about this man's talent, dedication, and hard work. The role of a lifetime. You might have already seen Vijay Sethupathi as a transgender in the poster and in the trailer, but nothing will prepare you for what he has done in the movie. I repeat, NOTHING!
No one can depict the beauty of a Father-Son relationship in the most unimaginable situations like Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja does. Take Aaranya Kaandam for instance - In one of the many parallels in the movie, we get a Father-son duo - A once rich Father who lost all his money in gambling and let down his family and a son who is angry on his Father for letting him down but will never give up on his Father. In fact, his dialogue sums up the entire movie. When a Police ask, "Unga appa na unaku avlo pidikuma da?" he replies, "Apdi lam illa. Aana avaru enga Appa..". In Super Deluxe we get a similar parallel, A transgender father who left his family, and a son who never gives up on his father no matter how much he is angry on him. And so beautifully the son sums up their relationship when he utters this dialogue while crying - "Nee aambalaya iru, pombalaya iru.. Aana enga kooda iru..". The boy who plays Vijay Sethupathi's son has just nailed it.
Fahad Fazil plays a poor husband. Poor - not as in financially poor, but the most unfortunate kind of poor - 'has-a-wife-who-cheats-him-with-his-college-boyfriend-in-his-own-bed' type of poor. I don't know who wrote Fahad Fazil's character, but the bits and pieces he speaks then and there just like that, have very deep meaning and Fahad Fazil being the brilliant actor he is, has portrayed his character with so much conviction. Samantha plays a modern-day girl who always finds her torn between culture, tradition, desires, love, and sex. The best thing about Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja is that he never judges - even his characters. He leaves it entirely to us. Whether what Samantha did was right or wrong? Well, that depends on WHAT is right and WHAT is wrong.
Only Ramya Krishnan can play the role of a 'Rajamatha' and a 'Sex worker' so convincingly that we actually think these are two different actors. Such a versatile actress! In the center of all this hoopla are the 3 boys whose actions who, like a domino effect, sets up the entire story in action. The story begins and ends with them. Whenever they come on screen, complete entertainment guaranteed. These 3 might be the best find of this year.
P.S Vinod and Nirav Shah are the cinematographers for this movie. I don't know who did which part but the shots in all the parallels are beautifully composed that you may want to watch the movie again just to appreciate the amount of work that has gone into cinematography. There are blurred shots (For example, there is this one shot where the camera focusses on a group of ants blurring what happens in the background when the everyone in Vijay Sethupathi's family is debating about his gender) , POV shots, Out of Focus shots all of them perfectly placed to give you the feeling that you are watching the stories unfold right next to you, that you are a silent spectator to all the craziness that is happening.
Yuvan has once again proved that when it comes to BGM he is, THE BOSS. The music complements and in most scenes elevates the entire scene into a whole new level. Ilayaraja has once said the best background music is no background music - meaning the composer should know when to use BGM and when to be silent and let the dialogues take the center stage. It's no surprise that Yuvan has mastered that craft. In a dialogue-heavy movie like this and with masterclass dialogue writer like Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja, Yuvan has perfectly blended silence with his amazing BGM. The success of Yuvan's BGM is making you hum the hit Ilayaraja Number, "Anthiyila Vaanam.." after watching the movie.(You have to watch the movie to understand this). Like Karthik Subbburaj, Kumaraaja also uses many Ilayaraja songs to set the mood of a scene and it works charmingly.
Back to where we started.
Has Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja delivered? - Hell Yeah!!
Will the audience understand the genius that is Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja? When the title card read, 'A Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja movie' there were whistles and claps (A feat only a handful director like Maniratnam, Karthik Subburaj has managed to achieve).
Will 'Super Deluxe' succumb to the same fate of 'Aaranya Kaandam'? I don't think so. You ask me how? The applause and whistle at the beginning for Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja had turned into a standing ovation after a 3 hour long running movie when the title card read in the end - 'Written and Directed by Thiyagarajan Kumaraaja' (Again, a feat only handful directors like Maniratnam, Karthik Subburaj has managed to achieve).
So, is 'Super Deluxe' a social movie that speaks about the struggle of transgenders? Is it a Drama that mocks the society and its so-called (double) standards? It has a cat and mouse game - Is it a thriller? Is this an Adult comedy? It has aliens in it - Is it a science fiction movie? Is the too much darkness in the movie makes it a neo-noir? Or is there even a genre that this movie can fit into? The beauty is that you cannot fit 'Super Deluxe' into one genre. It's beyond all that. All I know is 'Super Deluxe' is a rare masterpiece. A once in a lifetime experience. A movie that transcends all the boundaries of film making, a movie that makes that thrills you, excites you, makes you laugh, smile, cry, whistle, think and in the end sticks with you, forever.
Super Deluxe, to me, is a drug. A drug that makes you an addict and cures you of the addiction, all at the same time.
2.0 (2018)
Worth 2.0 stars!
People get murdered mysteriously in brutal ways. Police don't seem to have a clue about it. The murderer/antagonist is revealed around the interval. There is a post-interval flashback that reveals the reason behind the murder. Turns out, an innocent guy was wronged by some system in the society or by the society itself and he takes revenge. He gives a speech explaining why he becomes a vigilante. The hero finds him and kills the antagonist in the climax after some high profile VFX stunts.
Sounds familiar? Yes, the same template that Shankar himself has reused multiple times in his earlier movies (Gentlemen, Indian, Anniyan, Shivaji, I) is surprisingly present in 2.0 as well. If you have watched the trailer, you could guess the story-line 30 minutes into the movie. Shankar has tried his best to repaint this template with some stunning VFX shots. Only one question lingers - Why? With the best technical team in hand, a comfortable budget, 2 leading actors to sell the movie multilingually and above all with Shankar's experience and expertise, the sky is the limit. But, why reuse the same template again and again?
This creates a disconnect very early into the movie and no matter how hard you try to connect with the story, it somehow alienates itself from you because of the poor screenplay and writing. For example, take Chitti - a character Shankar had perfected in Enthiran. Probably, the only non-human character to have a huge fan following - our very own Superhero. How do you stage his comeback? At least a little build up would have done some justice. Instead what we see is, he appears out of nowhere in the middle of a fight.
Adding to the screenplay woes is the characterization of the antagonist. A protagonist is as powerful as his counterpart. But when we learn from the flashback that the antagonist was portrayed as a poor innocent fellow who cared for birds when everyone else ignored them, we get confused whom to root for. And seems like Shankar has this confusion too. His villain is a savior of birds but his hero threatens to kill the birds to stop the villain.
Since this is the same team that created Enthiran, with convincing characterization and a far better screenplay, it's hard to digest that 2.0 is coming from them. Shockingly ARR's background score lets you down as well. Instead of elevating the story, it stands disconnected from it, just like us. This is a sharp contrast to Enthiran which had some chart buster songs and a magnificent background score.
Rajini, as usual, steals the shows with his effortless acting. Even though you can sense his age factor creeping up at certain places in spite of a convincing makeup (especially in the Anniyan like transformation sequences), he manages to steer clear of all that with his charisma. Let it be the good-natured Chitti or the charismatic 2.0 or the amusing 3.0, he has portrayed all the roles with so much ease and conviction. It is astonishing to think that someone his age is putting himself through so much just to entertain us. He may have physically aged, but inside he is still the superstar we enjoyed watching growing up, someone who never fails to surprise us with his style and charisma. Akshay Kumar has given his best in the limited scope he has been provided, as most of his sequences are VFX shots.
The absence of Sujatha's genius is strikingly evident in the dialogues. Shankar's films are always decorated with Sujatha's powerful dialogues that never fail to pack a punch. Unfortunately, 2.0 has nothing like that. Not even close.
The only solace of the movie is the 3D VFX shots that are exceptionally outstanding. When it comes to the grandeur, Shankar outdoes himself every time. The scenes where the mobiles form a tsunami-like wave on the road, the eagle creature, the mini-bots, and the climax stunts are something that we have seen only in Hollywood movies. They are a treat to watch on screen.
We have seen two avatars of Shankar. Shankar the creator - One who creates path-breaking stories like Gentleman, Indian, Anniyan, Enthiran etc., Shankar the visionary - One who brings unfathomable things to come alive on screen with his wild imagination. All his previous blockbusters are a result of his unflinching ability to mix these two extremes in the right proportion. Unfortunately, in 2.0, it's the visionary that dominates pushing the creator to the backseat!