Movie Ratings from 2010 till date - The Good and Excellent ones

Continued from previous ratings. The Very Good category is too long because of my generosity in star ratings. Hence will be done separately as two posts. :)


The Good Ones

Kismat Konnection (Hindi)

2.25 stars

An everything and everyone is good type story, with some good performances from Shahid Kapoor and Vidya Balan. Good time pass movie. Juhi Chawla was good to see after a long gap.

Lake Mungo (English)

2.25 stars

A supernatural thriller shot in a documentary format. The suspense is built slowly and when the truth is revealed, shocking truths come to light.

The Beach (English)

2.25 stars

A group of friends join people in an island who have created a fantasy world for themselves over the years. How these new entrants change the scene and affect their harmony is what the film is all about.

The Final Destination - 3 and The Final Destination – 4 (English)

2.25 stars

The last two films of the Final Destination franchise, though not as good as the first two were worth a watch for the thrills and chills, inspite of too much blood and gore.

Drag Me To Hell (English)

2.25 stars

A gory horror film with a fast paced screenplay and lot of thrilling moments. Nice exciting watch for once.

My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves (Hindi)

2.25 stars

This film, though a flop, was good for me and was enjoyable. It’s about an aspiring actor who is brought up by a baddie and when he comes to know his real colours, he is torn between gratitude and conscience. Nikhil Dwiwedi and Amrita Rao were impressive.

Ek Hasina Thi (Hindi)

2.25 stars

The story of a woman cheated and dumped by a guy and sent to jail. After facing atrocities there and escaping, she sets on a revenging spree finally giving a fitting end for the guy who betrayed her.

Love Aaj Kal (Hindi)

2.5 stars

The different type of story telling shifting between past and present, where Saif plays the protagonist in both. A practical story told beautifully though the ending was quite cinematic.

Remember Me (English)

2.5 stars

Though this movie didn’t receive that good reviews, I found it to be good and worth a watch. Robert Pattinson, quite different from the Edward of Twilight was good in this film. The ending was unexpected and unwanted though.

Striker (Hindi)

2.5 stars

Siddharth's first Hindi venture as a solo hero and he did a pretty good job in it. The film revolves around the Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai and set in the backdrop of a lower middle class residential area. Good performances and realistically written film.

United 93 (English)

2.5 stars

The film inspired by the real life incident of what happened on the United 93 flight on the day of 9/11 in USA. Its really emotional to see how passengers try to make the mission of terrorists a failure, losing their own lives in the process.

In Bruges (English)

2.5 stars

A black comedy crime film revolving around two hit men who stay in Bruges after an assignment where they kill a young boy by mistake. As days pass, their conscience strikes back leading to unexpected events. Collin Farrell was great in his role.

Sweet November (English)                            

2.5 stars

A candy floss sweet love story that has given ideas to numerous love films of India in recent times, including the highly rated Oy in this list. Keanu Reeves puts in a great performance as a committed lover willing to go any length to keep his dying soul mate happy.

The Last Song (English)

2.5 stars

A beautiful film portraying the affection of a father for his daughter. The daughter though initially not understanding him and keeping away from him realises her mistakes later and stays with him till he breathes his last fulfilling his last wishes too.

Karthik Calling Karthik (Hindi)

2.5 stars

A psycho thriller where a reserved man gets a call from himself and that changes his life upside down including getting along with a colleague. But one mistake he does spoils everything and it is revealed who the other person calling him is.

Moggina Manasu (Kannada)

2.5 stars

The film deals with the confusions faced by teen age girls with respect to making decisions of their life and choosing their life partners. Radhika Pandit did a very good job for a debut heroine.

Mundhinam Partheyney (Tamil)

2.5 stars

Made by a newbie with lot of other newbies in the cast, this film was better than what I expected and was worth a watch. The newbies thankfully knew some acting and the screenplay was also decently done. The music by Thamman was another highlight.

A Few Good Men (English)

2.5 stars

A courtroom drama starring Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, the film revolves around the trial of two US Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyer as he prepares a case to defend his clients.

Merantau (Indonesian)

2.5 stars

An action film from Indonesia and its about a guy from small town who comes to city and earns unknowingly the wrath of a human racket gang in an attempt to save a girl and her brother.

Mirrors 2 (English)

2.5 stars

Not as thrilling as the first part (Mirrors). Yet there were lot of edge of the seat moments of chill and horror.

REC 2 (Spanish)

2.5 stars

The second part of the REC series, not as good as the first. Full of blood and gore, it is also shot in shaky camerawork as the first one. It tells the aftermaths and mysteries of the disease attack in the cursed apartment building.

And I Love you so (Tagalog)

2.5 stars

A widow with financial problems rents out her apartment where she and her loving husband lived. Her tenant, a victim of broken love, is determined to bring her back to normal life while his landlady is still not ready for a new life.

Moon (English)

2.5 stars

A man on a lunar mission discovers shocking truths about himself and the mission and the cunning strategies of the organization he works for. How he escapes the dangers awaiting is what the film is about.

Irreversible (French)

2.5 stars

A very disturbing and at times disgusting film, yet worth a watch for the superb narration that goes from climax to the start. The background score and shaky camera angles haunted me for quite some time after watching the film.

Philadelphia (English)

2.5 stars

Story of an AIDS patient in the 90's and his last days when AIDS was looked upon as a curse and people refused to even touch the patients. Great performance from Tom Hanks and rest of the cast.

Paranormal Activity 2 (English)

2.5 stars

The second installment of Paranormal Activity, this time more and more haunting and scary. The story involves a kid too which makes it more thrilling.

The Devil Wears Prada (English)

2.5 stars

Watched this movie in Movies Now one night and found it entertaining. The story of a girl who tries to impress her boss and get a good name and in the process she begins to inherit few qualities of her boss unknowingly.

Meiporul (Tamil)

2.5 stars

A decently good film made by NRI's and much better than the low budget independent films that release every now and then. A psycho thriller, its realistic portrayal of characters and good performances from an unknown cast impressed me.

Thamizh Padam (Tamil)

2.5 stars

A ROTFL entertainment of non stop Lollu Sabha type comedy which takes on numerous Tamil Film clichés in a satirical way. Though the second half drags after some time, overall it was a very good time pass.

Johnny Gaddaar (Hindi)

2.5 stars

Suspense thriller with a good number of twists and a one-leads-to-another kind of gripping narration.

My Sassy Girl (English)

2.75 stars

The Hollywood version of the Korean romantic comedy. As always, not as good as the original mainly because the original feel and emotions were underplayed, especially the heroine did not look convincing for the role.

Grown Ups (English)

2.75 stars

Probably not a high rated film, but had me LOL and ROTFL throughout for its Vadivelu type comedies. Really enjoyed a full length comedy after a long time.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (Hindi)

2.75 stars

Three stories about Love, Sex and Deceit and how it plays around the lives of characters in each of the stories linked by a thread is what the film is all about. Shot in a realistic manner it shockingly reveals the common issues in society today.

Tere Bin Laden (Hindi)

2.75 stars

A rollicking laughter riot where a Bin Laden look alike is used to create a news footage for a sinking TV channel which leads to unexpected consequences leading to bigger problems, all narrated hilariously.

Spy Game (English)

2.75 stars

An aging mid-level case officer on his last day before retirement realizes that one of his favorite recruits has his life in danger in a Chinese Prison and he is the only one who can save him. The film shuttles between past and present- about the experiences of the senior in the past with his recruit and his efforts today to save him.

The Recruit (English)

2.75 stars

A brainy student agrees to work undercover for a senior CIA officer with the hope of finding some details about his father. What he is unaware is the trap he is led into and the consequences he should face for it. Despite the low ratings on IMDB and RT, I found the film to be pretty good.

Wanted (English)

2.75 stars

The storyline of this Angelina Jolie starrer follows a frustrated accountant who discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and decides to join The Fraternity, the secret guild in which his father worked. What happens therafter is told with lot of breathtaking action.

Darling (Telugu)

2.75 stars

A commercial family entertainer starring Prabhas and Kajal Agarwal. The hero has lot of dreams about his childhood sweetheart but when he meets her in person she seems to have no interest towards him. How he wins her back is what the story is all about.

Cashback (English)

3 stars

An aspiring artist, develops insomnia after a painful breakup with his girlfriend. To get over it and to spend extra hours gained he works in a super market which not only solves his problems but gives him a difference in life.

Infernal Affairs - 3 (Cantonese)

3 stars

The final installment in the trilogy, this keeps shifting times between incidents that happened before and after the first part. A little confusing narration but was enjoyable.

A Lot Like Love (English)

3 stars

This romatic comedy focuses on two individuals whose relationship slowly evolves from lust to friendship to romance over the course of seven years. The film's tag line is: there's nothing better than a great romance to ruin a perfectly good friendship.

Baava (Telugu)

3 stars

A typical Telugu village drama of family feuds, a colorful love story and love winning against all odds. Siddarth at his usual best while Pranitha was refreshing. Good songs and locations.

Chirutha (Telugu)

3 stars

Ram Charan's debut movie with an old story line of boy meets girl, girl hates boy, boy helps girl, girl loves boy, girls father opposes, boy proves his worth and father unites the lovers. But a fast paced narration and excellent songs drives away the boredom for the viewer.

P.S.I Love You (English)

3 stars

An emotional romantic drama of how a guy communicates with his single wife even after his death through letters each of which ends with P.S I love You. HE plans everything for her to be happy and get back to normal life, and at a point in time, he makes her let go of her past and move ahead in life.

Misty (Japanese)

3 stars

A Samurai warrior and his wife travel in a forest when they encounter a bandit. He rapes the warrior's wife and gets arrested. The incident is narrated as four different versions of same story told by four different people. A remake of 1950 Japanese film Rashomon.

dot the i (English)

3 stars

A man hires a struggling actor in an attempt at creating an artistic snuff film, but it happens so that the heroine is his spouse and she actually falls in love with the actor set to be her hero. When both of them realize the trap they had fallen into, they take their revenge but in a planned and measured way.

Turn Left Turn Right (Cantonese)

3 stars

A simple love story where the lovers inspite of being close to each other never recognize each other and even when their apartments share the same wall, their routines gives them little chance to realize who is on the other side. How they unite at last is narrated with humour, emotion and drama.

The Excellent Ones

Speed (English)

4.25 stars

Embarrassing to say that I had never watched this movie until few months back. Really an edge of the seat thriller that makes sure that you won't take your eyes away from screen for even a moment.

Open Your Eyes (Spanish)

4.25 stars

The Spanish original of Tom Cruise's Vanilla Sky. This 1997 film was well ahead of its times talking about concepts like Life Extension and at the end, it took me a lot of time to comprehend and realize the actual suspense in the film. Very well made movie.

Fight Club (English)

4.5 stars

An unusual thriller with excellence written throughout, in concept, story, screenplay, performances and the technicalities. The suspense maintained till the end keeps you engaged throughout.

The Final Destination - 1 (English)

4.5 stars

The first of the series and definitely the concept and thrills were very new. A spine chilling journey through life and death of a group of unrelated people bound by a single factor that they missed a flight that caught into an accident.

The Shawshank Redemption (English)

4.5 stars

The highest rated movie in IMDB till date, this proved very much worthy for the rating. It is not just a great movie, but an inspiring tale of prison break beautifully told through excellently written scenes.

Shutter Island (English)

4.5 stars

This is a brilliant piece of work. Suspense, suspense and more of them. And finally when they all unwound, it definitely leaves you astonished, whatever you thought as wrong is right and the right is wrong. Awesome film.

The Social Network (English)

4.75 stars

The extraordinary film that went on the get rave reviews and Oscar nominations for its excellence both in film making and performances. This story of Facebook and its founder is something which everyone gets attached to instantly.

Movie Ratings from 2010 till date - The Worst, Bad and Okay ones

This has been a very long break, and I am back again with ratings of movies I had watched in past 15+ months or so. There are categories as: Worst, Bad, Okay, Good, Very Good and Excellent. The first three will go in this post, rest will follow in subsequent ones. These are rating as per my tastes, likes and dislikes, and there is nothing to debate over this as the comments are truly my personal opinions. With that, let me get to the business.

The Worst Ones

Bad things first. I would not rate any movie worst, but I could not resist from rating these three films in this category, mainly because they are so weird and absurd, that they would make other bad movies look like classics. Even if I rate these movies, it would be only to indicate how bad they are.

Sindhu Samaveli (Tamil)

The father-in-law getting attracted to daughter-in-law and she reciprocating back might be a rare case real word controversial topic. But what makes this film disgusting is the way in which the incidents are portrayed and the reasoning out of these incidents. Sad that the lead actress and the hero who plays her husband, inspite of their potentials had this weirdity as their launch vehicle.

Kynodontas (Dog Tooth - Greek)

A film that has epic scenes like father arranging a girl for his son's sexual pleasures, daughters seeking sexual pleasure with each other and daughter and few more. Set in a weird backdrop of parents house arresting their children for no known reason and creating a fake living world for them, this seems to be a highly rated award winning and Oscar nominated film of Greece. Heights of disgust.

Shaa Boo Three (Tamil)

A less known (for good) film with less known actors who cannot act to save their life, a badly scripted and badly directed #epicfail film. I technically did not watch this film. This was running on TV as a companion for me when I was preparing MBA semester exams. No wonder I concentrated more on my book than on the film :)

The Bad Ones

These are potentially good movies which are spoiled by one reason or the other. I would not say I regretted watching these, but really regretted the way they were made.

Shaapit (Hindi)

0.5 stars

A Vikram Bhatt thriller that would have been atleast as good as Raaz if he had chosen the right actors to play the lead. Both the hero and heroine were wooden in their performances and the only saving graces were the thrills and camera work.

Nenapirali (Kannada)

0.5 stars

I supposed this to be a good film based on some reviews but finally it turned out to be a bad one. With a triangular love story and surprisingly good looking hero, the film started off well and was good till first half after which in the name of twists, the director had written a very bad screenplay with an expected ending, The title track which was played half a dozen times in the film did nothing good for the film which surprisingly is a big hit and won many awards too.

Mirch (Hindi)

0.5 stars

Four separate stories of women cheating on their husbands and escaping when they come to know of it, this is no film of women liberalization, rather portrays women in a bad light. It makes the concept of women entering into extra marital affairs look like a choice of convenience rather than a emotional decision. Thankfully there was a naturally acting Konkana Sen and a beautiful Raima Sen.

Arithu Arithu (Tamil)

0.5 stars

A film without any direction, proper story line, good narration or a focused theme. It wanders around science, love, terrorism and mental health ultimately causing a nauseated appeal to the viewer. The guy in the name of Villain kills you with his accent and dialogue delivery. Waste of time.

Nadunisi Naaygal (Tamil)

0.5 stars

Blasted by public and most reviewers, this film did never fulfill the expectations it had created or proved to be worth of its hype. Nevertheless it is a harmless one time watch though it is neither thrilling, nor very engaging. There is no takeaway from the film, even though it claims to have a message.

Sura (Tamil)

0.75 stars

With a complete entertainer like Vijay, a decent storyline and good music with amazingly choreographed songs, it should have turned out to be an atleast okay film provided there was some good original scripting and narration. But with a screenplay borrowing sequences from previous Vijay films and a weak second half, this film failed to impress on many aspects.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (Hindi)

0.75 stars

Set in the era when Naxal movement was growing and with some good performances, this film would have been a good watch if only the director has a focused theme and a better written heroine character. Neither a biography, nor the story of a struggle and not even a love story set in violence backdrop, the film meanders through all these and ended up making me wonder what was the director conveying through it?

Anandha Thandavam (Tamil)

0.75 stars

A novel by Sujatha made into a film with some beautiful camera work and good music, but sadly it is marred by poor writing and weak performances from lead cast. The characterization of Tamanna in particular which varies from insane to childish to matured to pitiful is not brought out well which makes the film further weak. Nevertheless, was good in parts.

Click (Hindi)

1 star

Remake of Thai film Shutter (which was also remade as Sivi in Tamil), this is more loyal to its original but with respect to the thrills and horror quotient, it lacks a lot. The slow pace and lackluster music make things further worse. Some scary moments still worth watching.

A Perfect Murder (English)

1 star

The film which was the theme of Hindi film Humraaz, is about a husband discovering his wife's infidelity and planning to revenge on her. It was supposed to be a thriller but had a very slow pace that I almost slept off in the middle. Though good in parts, overall the film did not prove to be a gripping film.

The Okay ones

These are films that are moderately good and can be watched once for certain aspects.

36 China Town (Hindi)

1.25 stars

A mindless fun watch with multi star cast and some good songs. Woven around a murder mystery and kidnap of a child, its humor and Shahid-Kareena pair are the highlights of the film.

Chukkallo Chandrudu (Telugu)

1.25 stars

Scripted by its lead actor Siddharth, it’s a time pass film with three good looking heroines. Its about a guy looking for the right girl for him to marry and choosing one among his three childhood friends. The never failing Siddharth trademark entertainment guaranteed.

LA Confidential (English)

1.5 stars

Thriller set in the backdrop of Los Angeles underworld and sex racket and the police department trying to get hold of them.

Leap Year (English)

1.5 stars

Fun filled romantic comedy and a feel-good road film. A woman with the sentiment of proposing to her guy on leap year sets out on a journey amidst which so much calamities, but during the course of journey she realizes her heart is lost to someone whom she met during her journey.

Nuvve Nuvve (Telugu)

1.5 stars

A Bommarilu type but lesser brilliant film, wherein the girl's father is strict and not willing to accept the guy chosen by his daughter. Typical Telugu family drama.

Vennela (Telugu)

1.5 stars

A romantic thriller set mostly in US with a triangular love story among NRIs. A decent timepass.

Notebook (English)

1.75 stars

A poor and passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman and gives her a sense of freedom. They soon are separated by their social differences. Their reunion and rest of the life is told in a emotional and sentimental way. A romantic tearjerker.

Sssshhh (Hindi)

1.75 stars

A joker in black cloak threatens and kills a group of students and teachers on a college campus, with the killer leaving no evidence at the crime scene. His main target is a girl and what happens when she sets out on a vacation with friends is the film all about. A crime thriller.

The Proposal (English)

1.75 stars

A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada. But slowly they both fall in love and a visit to his family changes a lot in her.

When A Stranger Calls (English)

1.75 stars

A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again. The start and end of the movie is the real thrill and rest is just out of pace.

From Paris with Love (English)

1.75 stars

An action thriller which starts slowly builds up momentum and gets on run till the end. Nothing great about it, but still a good time pass film.

Splice (English)

1.75 stars

A sci-fi thriller where genetic engineering screws up to produce a creature that becomes a disaster in the life of a scientist couple.

Endhiran (Tamil)

2 stars

I have written about this film in great detail earlier. The stars are mainly for Director Shankar, music and the special effects.

Typical Tamil Mega Serial :P

Dedicated to all poor souls who endure Sun TV mega serial tortures at home :D

A marriage is happening in a hall. The arrangements for marriage would have been done in past 10-15 episodes out of which 5 episodes would have been in marriage hall itself. Now before thaali kattifying one person (mostly a lady) comes and stops the marriage.(The lady coming to marriage hall would have been shown for 10 mins earlier)

Niruthunga!

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

Indha kalyanam nadakadhu!

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

Ivaruku indha kalayanam pannika thagudhi illa

[shock music for 10 secs all faces shown]

yen? yen appadi sollra

[repeated atleast 5-6 times by different characters in different ways, every time they finish asking the first person's face and all other's  faces will be shown once]

adhuku oru kaaranam iruku

[suspense music for 10 secs all faces shown]

enna kaaranam? [all faces shown once]

sollu enna kaaranam? [two more ppl ask the same and every time all faces are shown once]

adhu ennanaa....

[suspense music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaruku yerkanave kalyanam aaiduchu

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaru yerkanave innoru ponnku thaali kattitaaru

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivarum andha ponnum ipo purushan pondaati

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivanga rendu perum ipo kalyanam aana thambadhigal

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

ivaruku idhu rendavadhu kalyanam

[thunder music for 10 secs all faces shown]

[short aahh ooohh title music then break]

- You just finished watching one scene in a Sun tv mega serial :D

Consider similar scenes 30 mins a day 5 days a week, 52 weeks in a year for 5-6 years :D

Manasaatchiye illayada ungalukellam?? :'(

Endhiran - My Point of View

Okay, it’s quite some time since I posted anything on my blog. Thought of entering back here with this lengthy post. :) Before I start with, first things first:

> I am not a fan of Rajini. The last film of his I liked was Muthu.

> I am not a die hard fan of A R Rahman. Especially I liked none of his recent albums very much.

> I am not a too big fan of Shankar. The last film of his which I felt was a complete work was Mudhalvan.

I am a normal film viewer and I have some expectations when I go for a Shankar’s film with Rahman’s music featuring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai and a crew of topmost technicians from India and world over. This write-up is based only on these aspects and I want to make it clear that, I am not interested in sales or box office collection statistics because they make no sense or are of no value to me.

Endhiran is definitely the biggest film of India till date both in terms of production cost and the reach. But biggest does not always mean the best and this film is an example of that. Claimed as a science fiction movie by many, I found it is nothing more than a typical mass commercial film borrowing lot of science fiction ideas for the flow of events.

The story as such does not have strong foundation like in the case of Shankar's other films (barring Boys and Sivaji). Reasons later. It’s a triangular love story where in the third angle is unusually a humanoid robot. This fact itself was supposed to be very interesting but I didn't find it so. Again reasons later. The robot which turns from good to evil in the second half of the film routes for a gripping climax, thanks to special effects.

The film's main characters except for the robot lack a proper characterization and appeared as alien as their character names. Dr.Vasigaran (Rajini), the robotic scientist makes the humanoid robot named Chitti (named by his mother, I wonder where in Tamil Nadu mothers dream of naming their children with a golti name like Chitti Babu). Vasi is in love with Sana(Aishwarya) with whom Chitti also falls in love at one point when he is given emotional programming and gets lost in it, failing to serve the purpose for which it is created. Vasi destroys it and throws it away in frustration. Dr.Bohra, who is Vasi's Guru but jealous of him, gets Chiti back to form and implants destruction programming in it. This leads to evil consequences that form the rest of the story.

The scientists Vasigaran and Bohra have their own labs which look more like space ships (reminding aliens again). Whereas Vasi's lab has two dumb asses as assistants, Bohra is not even shown to have anyone working with him. It looks as if Bohra managed to create dozens of robots (as shown in one scene) single handedly. What a genius! Wonder if any scientists of today have such sophisticated and well equipped labs, which can function without even proper assistants. It would have been more convincing if it was shown that both scientists work for AIRD and do their research there.

The first half of the film shows the making of Chitti and how well it performs superhuman tasks to benefit mankind. But I don't know what sense it makes to do system/beta testing on a robot meant for defense purposes with household and edupidi tasks in domestic environment. Memorizing telephone directories, scanning exam books and reproducing it for Sana, cooking and so on, the robot's multifaceted capabilities are explained through so many scenes. At one point, it becomes too much to take and the 'Boom Boom Robo Da' song is heights of it. It is ridiculous to see a scientist use a robot created with so much ambition for wearing on his tie and tying his shoe lace.

Of course, the robot also fights goondas and does superhuman stunts by his fire proof, electromagnetic and various other capabilities. The train fight though well executed seems very lengthy. And as I do a rewind of all heroic deeds done by the robot, it all turns out to be what is done by a normal commercial hero in a masala film, but here the viewer is expected to believe that all of them is possible and feasible, because its a robot doing them and it has superhuman powers. The way robot clears up a critical pregnancy case just because it has memorized Sana's medical books is something that happens only in films. Anyways, an element of thaaikulam attraction.

The second half had lot of unwanted scenes, the most boring ones like the ridiculous mosquito sequence, chitti dance and lead sequence before Kilimanjaro song. Many scenes look placed just for the sake of it, like the one when power goes down and robots walk over to the road using car batteries to recharge themselves. I wondered what purpose the whole sequence served. Scenes like dumping the dismantled robot in a corporation dustbin and showing that it is taken to a dump yard of normal garbage look totally bizarre in today's era of e-waste disposal campaigns and considering the fact that a robotic scientist cannot dispose his years of work just like that. Add to it that fact that the robot can reconstruct itself even at such a crippled stage.

There are scenes of confused logic, like the one when evil Chitti kidnaps Sana from wedding hall and fights with police, 100s of bullets rain all over. It is accepted that Chitti survives it by some power it has, but there is no explanation how a human Sana and a normal car can survive all that, especially Sana escapes without even a scratch, turning out to be better constructed than Chitti. The end scene is supposed to be a tear jerker meant for Thaaikulams wherein Chitti dismantles itself and some ‘messages’ are forcefully thrown in for the audience.

The only solace for second half is the climax sequence visual effects with ideas heavily borrowed from popular Hollywood films like Matrix, Anaconda etc. The effects are very well done as in Hollywood but the worming, deworming, electromagnetic blah blahs, though technically needed for the sequence are too heavy for a layman to understand. And again in this scene, when everything around the robot is crushed by it, a mere caravan with hi-fi equipments remains as it is and dodges over all the robotic destruction skills. Heroism!

Rajinikanth has done lot of work for the film especially with the makeup, robotic acts and so on, a remarkable feat for his age. But just makeup can't hide his ageing face which looks very odd with layered makeup in many scenes. He puts up a good show as a villain towards the end, but the robotic body language is totally missing and he acts like a normal human, may be director's fault. An evil chip can change the programming logic but cannot make a robot act like human villain. So the villainous laugh and all other acts are unconvincing when you think it is done by a robot.

Considering that his fights in recent films usually contained unbelievable sequences and over the top action, the fights does not seem to evoke any wonder, unless you remind yourself that it is being done by a robot here. And even the robotic dance in Irumbile oru Idhayam is nothing so different from what robotic steps Rajini did in his previous hits like Thillana Thillana. The romantic scenes between Rajini and Aishwarya might be enjoyable for may be die hard Rajini fans, but to me it was such a pain to watch such scenes.

Aishwarya surprisingly looked beautiful though lines of ageing showed up even in her face in some scenes. Given a heavy footage for a major portion of the film unlike Shriyas and Soundharyas, she could have done a better job than just looking beautiful. Scenes in which she emoted or tried to emote show that she is still of same standard as what she was in Jeans. The oddest thing is the way she sits in the scenes after evil Chitti kidnaps her, like someone waiting in a passport office. Looked like serious lack of acting skills or interest to act.

Danny Denzongpa as Dr.Bohra had nothing much to do rather than mouth some lines in a base voice, look intelligent in some scenes and frustrated or furious in others before he dies in the hands of evil Chitti. The other characters hardly had anything significant to do in the film and their absence would have been no big loss to the film. Infact, it would have atleast made the film more gripping.

Of Rahman's songs, Kaadhal Anukal (I hate this song's audio for no known reason) and Irumbile oru Idhayam are visually brilliant. Arima Arima has the grandeur of a Shankar's film song but is not very interesting like Mudhalvane or Adhiradi kaaran. The background score was just fine but definitely not what one expects from Rahman. Kilimanjaro song except for the locales, is a totally wasted song with the slow paced, uninteresting picturisation and its unwanted placement, which mars the sagging pace of the screenplay further.

The film is anyway supposed to look brilliant from technical point of view considering that a huge portion of the budget is spent for these and thankfully all of it has come out well. The technical crew of the film is the one that deserves credit for anything good about the film, be it the sets (Sabu Cyril who appears in a cameo) which show the massive thought process put in, costumes and makeup especially for the robot, brilliant camera work by Rathnavelu throughout, climax visual effects which give a feel of watching a Hollywood film and editing which was good but could have been much better particularly for second half.

Shankar deserves a big appreciation for all the conceptualization and execution, but this is one of his bad outings as a screenplay writer. What could have been made excellently as a slick 2 hour animation film has been overcooked with heroism, unwanted sequences and songs. There is a social linkage with Shankar's films like Gentleman, Indian, Mudhalvan or Anniyan, which makes you relate to the characters in the film. This is definitely lacking in Endhiran. The societal impact a robot is not explained in concrete terms even though the film touches upon it here and there. The film is more about the havoc created by a robot in Vasi and Sana's personal life.

There are lot of action sequences scorched with over heroism which would have been a topic of fun if present in any other hero's films. There were logical loopholes which would have been blown out of proportion in any other hero's films. There existed zero chemistry between the lead pair which would have not mattered even if it existed in any other hero's films. Songs appeared out of the blue when not asked for but that should not be the case when it is any other hero's film. Okay, I am not supposed to find such faults or question them, because it is a Rajini's film. Ok, Done!

On the whole, the film offered a good time pass, more of a children's kind and was worth watching once. The experience was better than Shivaji, which for me was nothing but a elite standard Perarasu film in high budget. It lives upto all its Hollywood-like expectations, only for the technical aspects. It is like a half cooked meal offered in a five star hotel. You enjoy the entire ambience but not the food.

The Rajini factor seems to have been added for just for the sales promotion, revenue generation and getting the film a very big reach which could not have been possible with a normal animation film or a film with a hero of lesser market. The end product is unfortunately something that lies between a Rajini style film and a sci-fi film with Shankar's extravaganza for support. Rajini fans may love it for his presence, but for me it makes no difference.

To end with: "Enaku Endhiran pudikala nu sollala. Pudichirundha nalla irundhirukum nu thaan sollren" ;-)

AAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

10 most irritating categories of people

1. Public smokers: Killing themselves and poisoning others, the worst human beings who pollute the world around us for their personal satisfaction. Worst are the nicotine stinking people coming near you after somoking, even worse is the ones trying to hide that nicotine stink using chweing gums.

2. Drunkards: Out of control and with a nauseating stink, these people are worst especially when we encounter them in public transportation. Sometimes they sit or stand near you putting you in the most awkward situation, especially when the bus is crowded. In an AC coach or Volvo AC bus, the worst smell fills the air like poison.

3. Nose picking people: Often encountered in buses and public places, having the worstest public hygiene and lack of civic sense. Don't they realize that it is a disgusting scene to others as bad as digging into ur a****le or rubbing your crotch area?

4. People who spit in public: This is yet another case of spreading your diseases to others by spitting in whatever possible places possible. Sometimes with yucky paan combination or more yucky beetle leaf combination, this not only is unhygienic but also spoils the neatness of public places

5. Late comers: Be it for a causal meet or a family outing, I hate keeping people waiting and I expect the same from others too. Simply because time is precious and we cannot take someone for granted just because we know them well. It is better to specify a later time or cancel the plan rather than making someone wait and testing their patience. Same applies when specifying time of return when you leave home. I am talking about delays of an hour or more here, not 10-15 mins.

6. Opinion thrusters: There are people who generalize their personal opinion as a public talk. Or canvass their thoughts in such a way that others should agree upon it. And in some cases, try to change our opinion on something and replace theirs instead. All these irritate me to such a extent and it is in one way a mental torture to deal with such people.

7. Sadists: There are many ways people behave as sadists. But what I often encounter is those who inspite of knowing that a person likes something or someone keep telling their bad comments and dump their hatredness towards that peson or thing in front of us. I dislike many things but never talk bad about it to someone who has a liking for it. But I have never had a similar reciprocation from anyone, infact it hurts a lot when people talk bad about something to you, knowing very well it is close to your heart. They are no less than sadists.

8. Egoists: Another worst class of people to deal with especially when you have to interact with them frequently for personal or official reasons. When people are stubborn for a long time, you lose any interest of having even a casual chat with them. At some point of time, it is good for everyone to give up and have a respect for others' feelings and there is nothing wrong in being the first person to give your hand for a shake.

9. Big mouths: Such people are really annoying may be since I am someone who enjoys silence more than noise. People who talk more than their age, people who make a fuss of everything, people who talk too much about themselves, people who are opinionated, people who talk non-stop are all very irritating to handle in life.

10. Irresponsible people: At some age everyone should acquire a maturity and be capable of taking up responsibilities failing which there is no way that they can face hurdles in life. It is really irritating to come across people, be it younger or older ones, who fail in their responsibilities and become dependent on others instead of they supporting the ones dependent on them. And when you assume onus of doing something, it is always good to act responsible and if you can't, it is better that you never take it up in first place.

5 most irritating things around me

1. Power cuts: Most worst thing to happen in a hot and humid city like Chennai and whats most irritating about it is that common man who uses fans and lights at his house has to take suffering for power scarcity while political and spiritual events, commercial establishments etc can still waste power in worthless ways and still enjoy doing so.

2. Traffic jams: Most traffic jams occur with equal responsibility of civic sense lacking public and ineffective traffic management. Drivers, especially the ones driving lorries, public buses and two wheelers ride without any botheration for others around them which is the only reason all traffic control measures go in vain.

3. Flyovers: While it is good to see flyovers that come across railway level crossings, the ones inside the city have no meaning and doesn't serve any purpose, as most of them are not used by public transport, are built in a direction in which there is less traffic flow and in many places they have led to congestion on either sides of the flyover. How can you call a flyover effective when it has less traffic flow and the whole area below it is congested?

4. Autodrivers: Chennai probably has the worst auto transport thanks to its drivers. From demanding double fare for a minimum charge walkable distance taking advantage of helplessness of passengers to ruthlessly charging high fares for every trip blaming fuel fares, autowallahs in Chennai have been behaving like they are from other planet to help people here. And worst that there is no regulation or any control over them till now.

5. Government functions: Anything that deals with government departments or officials is an annoying dealing where inspite of paying heavy amounts in white and black, you work happens only at their own pace and convenience. While it is being claimed of as a trustable and safe, even a simple transaction in a public sector bank is still a painful affair. Somethings never change and this complacence has become a character of government establishments.