After a long time my friends Selvaraj & Raja, and I decided to spend an evening in the movie hall in Cuddalore, this evening. I wanted to see "Parthiban Kanavu" as it is critically as well as commercially acclaimed venture. But my friends wanted to see "Lesa Lesa". Since I didn't want to disappoint them I agreed to accompany with them to Lesa Lesa. Anyway this was in the next of my priority list with the hit single "Lesa Lesa" sung by Anuradha Sriram being one of my all time favourites..
Since its launch, I knew it is a remake of my fave malayalam movie "Summer in Bethlehem" which had Manju Warrier, Jayaram & SureshGopi, with a special cameo by Mohanlal. Again since Priyadarshan is directing it I knew it'll have great visuals, beautifully picturised songs. I also knew Trisha Krishnan is no Manju Warrier, Shaam is not Suresh Gopi & Madhavan is nowhere to Mohanlal, so I didn't expect any great performances.
I was right, the film was a visual treat. Every frame was beautifully "sketched" with a splash of colours & objects, Ooty looked like Swizz. Priyan has adapted the screenplay to cater Tamil audiences, not just copy of SIB. May be he thought Tamil audiences were not sensitive, flash back scenes were loud a bit, making things complex that Trisha was married (in original Manju loves Mohanlal).
It was so different from "Summer In Bethlehem" except Priyan didn't dare to tamper with main scenes of original but decided to retain them in adaptatio too. Regretfully he concentrated on the look of the movie alone even though the script had great potential to make roads into the audiences' heart.
Surprisingly I liked what I saw despite seeing the original version for 5-6 times but Selvaraj who saw the movie for the first time didn't get impressed.
Overall "Lesa Lesa" has all gloss & glamour but defintely lacked soul.
When K.V Anand, who used to mesmerise me with his magical camera works, announced that he'll be wielding the megaphone of Kana Kandein, the reason was just enough to set the adrenalin rush. When I came to know that it is the debut movie of my heart throb Prithviraj in tamil movies, I was counting the days for its release. Do I need to say that presence of my other favourites Gopika & music by Vidaysagar just added the excitement? Somewhere I read in an interview of K.V Anand that he was making a "commercial" movie with three fights and five songs including a carbaret number. Admitted he made the movie within the commercial parameters but how much he dared to be different makes us to applaud Anand for his directorial debut vehicle.
When a widower is being wooed by three woman, isn't he the real "handsome" guy? It just sums one of my favourite movie "Azhagan", starring some of my all time favourites - Mamooty, Madhubala & directed by evergreen K. Balachander. It is a simple yet sensitive movie that covers almost all emotions beautifully, laced with lighter vein scenes. This is one movie I still go on my knees to watch it, the reasons are more than one for being so.
If there is someone in the Tamil cinema who breathes and lives on movies alone, surely it is Cheran. Other star directors like Maniratnam and Shankar have a flair for technical details, but when it comes to emotions & nativity, it is Cheran's forte. Thats' why none of his films has been remade in other languages due to the strong flavour of Tamilnadu. Cheran is someone who not only has a strong theme for his movies but also doesn't compromise on the quality of the movie. This is evident on his previous movies.