Vaaranam Aayiram Movie Review
November 14, 2008
Vaaranam Aayiram is a typical Gautham Menon film which seems to be pretty close to his real life and has a message at an end. The movie has a three hour long heavy sentiment drama, which has all the ingredients of Romance, love, comedy and at last advocates non- smoking heavily, as it gives a hard slap to all the smokers who can face the harsh consequence of Cancer. Surya is superb and Simran steals the show with her superb acting skills.
Story
Surya (Junior Surya), the son of Krishnan is an emotionally bonded guy with his parents and his sister. He grows up seeing his parent’s immense love towards each other and the passion towards him and his sister. The different phases of life, are well depicted in this film as the child, teenage life, adulthood in a man’s world are well illustrated. Surya is closely attached to his father and Simran who plays the character of mother to him inspires him for being strongly will powered and also to be emotionally weak sometimes.
Krishnan (Senior Surya) is Surya’s Father who is a middle class man and ventures out to USA in order to fetch his true love Simran. They marry and are proud parents of two siblings. Surya and his sister as told earlier get the inspiration and lesson from their parents that nothing is impossible in this world if your dedication and the sanctity in heart are well pure.
With these principles, Junior Surya gets into his adult hood with a brief love phase in his life. He falls in love with Meghna (Sameera reddy) but the love ends as soon as it is started as Meghna decides to part her ways in order to pursue her professional dreams. She prefers to chase her dreams rather than accompanying Surya. Moved by this Surya regrets to be in love with Meghna and desires for a beloved who is in lines of his mother Malini (Simran).
Surya fetches a defense cop career and is posted somewhere in Jammu and Kashmir. After a few reels of regular kidnapping and goon bashing drama, Surya’s heroic skills are well expressed. Unfortunately he is informed about his father Krishnan’s illness of cancer and leaves the base camp, to be with his family.
He immediately packs and moves to his family and realizes that his father Krishnan is ill and his mother Malini is shaken by this incident. But again, Krishnan inspires his son by his strong will power and determination to invade out through his illness.
Then Surya’s wife Priya (Divya Spandana) enters his life and they marry happily. But Krishnan’s illness deepens day by day and this makes him close to his grave. In a scene which is heart touching, where he tries hard to express something to his grandson, but fails to do as his Vocal Cords fail indicating the last stages of life.
The whole movie is packed with sentiment and love towards a family and the movie is loaded with an emotional drama in every scene.
Finally, the movie ends with a justified climax and this is a suspense which must be seen on the big screen.
Performances
Surya Siva Kumar plays the dual role of Krishnan and Surya in this film. The actor doesn’t need a certificate for his acting as he has immense talent. The senior surya looks more promising with his make up and depicts a perfect middle aged person with lots of experience to reveal. Junior Surya plays the role of an obedient son to his father and is tinged with some love, romance and mother sentiment from the female characters.
Simran plays the character of Malini who is a Pativratha to Krishnan. She plays the role with ease and takes on the limelight of this film.
Priya is the character played by Divya Spandana. The character demands some love, attitude and also sometimes emotions and Divya Justifies her character as a wife to Surya.
Sameera Reddy enters the life of the hero like a breeze and plays the character of Meghna. She moves around the trees with the hero and finally departs.
O the whole, the movie is highly sentimental drama which has nothing for the mass crowds. The movie will surely hit the 50 day mark, due to its touching story. But may finally give up after 70 day mark.
Dostana Movie Review
November 14, 2008
Love triangle in Hindi movies often centre around two guys falling in love with the same girl, or two girls choosing to love the same guy. But DOSTANA is a first. It’s the first hindi film that, at the core, is a rectangle [three men loving the same woman], but two of them, guys in this case, pretend to be a couple.
Sure, DOSTANA has ample shock-value since what has been witnessed in its promos is barely a fraction of what you’d get to watch in the movie. But more than shock-value, the film offers loads of fun-n-laughter and dollops of entertainment in those 14 reels.
A word of appreciation! It requires courage to fund a project like DOSTANA. Karan Johar, the producer, deserves to be lauded for treading the untrodden path. It requires courage and conviction to swim against the tide in your directorial debut. Tarun Mansukhani, the debutante, deserves a few brownie points extra for not thinking straight. It requires courage for two A-list actors to go all out and risk their professional [and personal] lives. Abhishek and John deserve an ovation for not only agreeing to play these characters, but also infusing life in them, without making a mockery of the gay community. It’s not a serious take on homosexuality either. On the contrary, it’s a madcap comedy where two straight men pretend to be gays. Although DOSTANA is a mainstream commercial film, it dares to push the envelope in its own way. It brings homosexuality out of the closet, gives it respect and dignity and doesn’t treat gays as ‘abnormal’.
To cut a long story short, DOSTANA is not to be missed. Dharma Productions, the late Yash Johar and Karan Johar’s film production outfit, has produced several significant films in the past. Add DOSTANA to the list!
Miami is the setting for DOSTANA. When Sameer [Abhishek Bachchan] and Kunal [John Abraham] are turned down for an apartment because the landlady [Sushmita Mukherjee] doesn’t want two strapping young men to corrupt her young sexy niece Neha [Priyanka Chopra], they hatch a plan: they pretend to be gay to secure the apartment.
Over a period of time, Sameer, Kunal and Neha become buddies. When Neha’s boss Abhimanyu [Bobby Deol] enters the fray as the third contender for her affections, it gets even hotter…
DOSTANA shocks you all the while and that is its biggest USP. Don’t expect stereotypical situations or characters all through this film. Watch Abhishek cook up a romantic story between John and him in Venice. Watch Boman Irani’s interaction with Abhishek and John. Watch Kirron Kher’s dramatic entry at this point. Howlarious scenes all, they’re sure to bring the house down.
If the first hour is laced with crackling chemistry between the guys and terrific humour, things get serious towards the second half since there’s one more person vying for Priyanka’s attention — Bobby Deol. There’s humour in this hour too, but the focus is mainly on who’d get Priyanka in the end.
The length is a slight deterrent in the second half and the editor could’ve easily cut the unwanted flab to make the narration in shape. But the film works as a package! Also, the film has a shocking end and people are bound to raise eyebrows. It would have its share of advocates and adversaries. A debatable culmination, for sure!
Director Tarun Mansukhani is here to stay. He deserves kudos for choosing an offbeat story, then making a foolproof screenplay and most importantly, executing it with flourish. DOSTANA merges form and content beautifully, since the film is, technically speaking, sound. Ayananka Bose’s cinematography is top notch. The locales of Miami are a feast for your eyes. Costumes and styling are very upmarket.
Vishal-Shekhar’s music goes well with the mood of the film. It’s young, peppy and energetic. ‘Desi Girl’ and ‘Maa Da Laadla Bigad Gaya’ are foot-tapping compositions. The latter is bound to be a rage!
Both Abhishek and John are fantabulous! Abhishek pulls out all the stops and delivers one of the finest performances of his career. His comic timing is superb! John will make guys and girls drool over his amazing physique. But, most importantly, people will sit up and notice how fine an actor John is. Both Abhishek and John compliment each other so well. In fact, had the chemistry and camaraderie been missing, the story would’ve failed to look convincing. Two thumbs up for these two guys!
Priyanka looks stunning and delivers a first-rate performance. First FASHION, now DOSTANA, Priyanka is back with a bang. Bobby Deol lends the required class to his role. No other actor would’ve looked so real while underplaying this character.
Boman Irani is sure to bring the house down, the auditorium is sure to resonate with laughter in his sequences. Kirron Kher is superb as the punjabi mom. Watch her throw a fit when she learns that her son [Abhishek] is gay and much later, when she accepts John as family. She’s remarkable! Sushmita Mukherjee, as Priyanka’s aunt, is fantastic. She’s so, so funny. Shilpa Shetty sizzles in the opening track.
On the whole, DOSTANA is a winner all the way. In terms of content, it might just prove to be a trendsetter. In terms of business, the film holds tremendous appeal for the youth. The 16 to 25 age-group would go into raptures and bonkers over this film. Its business at multiplexes mainly will be amazing. In Overseas too, the film should emerge amongst the biggest draws of 2008. DOSTANA rocks… have a blast!
