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Sunday, July 17, 2005

Weekend Observations...

Samurai Vs Anniyan

Happened to watch the weekend movie 'Samurai' in SUN TV. Since, it was directed by Balaji Sakthivel (of 'kathal' fame) and I had not watched it earlier. Otherwise, I don't stick to SUN TV weekend movies normally. I was just wondering about the execution of the story. The story line was similar to 'Gentleman', 'Indian' and even 'Anniyan', where Hero takes on the corrupt politicians , triggered by the death of his beloved. Except in few places, the movie was tight with some nice songs too. Being an assistant of Shankar, you could see his guru's style everywhere. Good performance by Vikram, indeed.

But, still the movie didn't click in the B.O. The lady luck had shunned both Balaji & Vikram at that time, since it got released immediately after Ajith's 'Citizen' on a similar line. (however 'Ramana' by Murugadoss which was on the similar line, succeeded.. is it because of Vijaykanth's 'enakku pidikatha...' dialogue??).

It seems, the public will accept only if Shankar's stuff is recycled by Shankar himself and not by his assistant. Probably it might have been, due to the absence of 'Anniyan's richness here!!! (inspite of production by Mani's AALAYAM). I felt more attached to 'Samurai' while watching, rather than 'Anniyan'.

Sheer luck!!!

[Pic Courtesy: Idlebrain.com]



Unworthy Appreciation

SUN TV's review of 'Chinna' (Arjun, Sneha) was hilarious. As usual, I could expect a positive review of the movie. OK, there might have been some portions of the movie which need to be appreciated. I agree. But Ratna's appreciation towards a peppy song was farce. When she mentioned it as a nicely executed song, I expected a nice one and was shown the footage of this song.

Kaalang Kaathaley Imsai pannadhe....

The music by Imman may be a foot tapping one. But not the lyrics by Pazhani Bharathi. We know that Sundar.C does all these things for commercial reasons. But my opinion is that while reviewing, Ratna should have ignored her comments for this song. Lyrics too count, for an appreciable song.
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146th post

24 Comments:

Blogger KRTY said...

Ram. C, Anniyan would have shared the same soup of Samurai.. had it come without hypes. Save the hype, Anniyan would have been the last movie of Shankar.

Sunday, July 17, 2005 5:52:00 PM  
Blogger Arvind Srinivasan said...

Actually, Mani's production are not high budget - he is very very tight on his home productions i've read !

Sunday, July 17, 2005 7:14:00 PM  
Blogger ada-paavi!!!! said...

sun tv ellam biased, they never call a movie unwatchable, infact they mite be paid by the producer to give good reviews, even madan these days doesnt give us objective reviews.

chinna ellam usual sundar c padam, nothing gr8..

no hype means anniyan will also be a flop. ramana was on different lines, not comparable to anniyan

Sunday, July 17, 2005 7:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ram,

you know what? the Samurai Vs Anniyan was our discussion this morning while watching Samurai on Sun TV. You are abosolutely correct. Regarding SUN TVs review, idhu romba naalaa nadakkara vishayam dhaaney?

Sunday, July 17, 2005 10:25:00 PM  
Blogger Woodooz said...

Ram,

I heard Samurai was long in the making even before Gemini, Kasi were released. They released the movie after Vikram shot to fame. The vikram in Samurai was not a star, but just an actor trying to make his way into stardom.

Anyways, I never liked the movie. The "Moongil Kaadugaley" still remains to be one of my favorites though !

Ha ha ! I was watching the review too... and I was expecting something like Imman's Giri music... But when I heard Kaalangaathala song, i cudn't help but laugh !

Sunday, July 17, 2005 10:32:00 PM  
Blogger GS said...

Vikram had said in one of his interviews that this was one of his favourite movies. I have not seen the movie, but from what you have written I can figure it out well.

Sunday, July 17, 2005 10:39:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ஜயசூர்யா என்று ஒரு அருமையான (!) படம் பார்த்தேன். அதில் இருந்து அர்ஜுன் பக்கம் போவதில்லை

Monday, July 18, 2005 12:11:00 AM  
Blogger Prabha said...

I watched samurai too..as u say its similar to anniyan..but i liked the songs better..even the picturisation is quite different..
lyrics of moongil kadugale..is amazing..

Monday, July 18, 2005 12:32:00 AM  
Blogger Ram C said...

JVC.. there is a nice song in that crap.. 'theekucchii penne penne..' nice song...hope u would hv enjoyed atleast that song.

others.. I share your views too..

Monday, July 18, 2005 1:55:00 AM  
Blogger Woodooz said...

Ram, Kattuna Avala Kattanum da was a super hit song here in Chennai. How can u miss that out from Jai Surya ?

Monday, July 18, 2005 3:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ram, I dont remember the song you are referring to. But I did like the song Somu has mentioned.

Monday, July 18, 2005 4:07:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

i watched Samurai a bit in the beginning....ennala thaanga mudiyala :(

Monday, July 18, 2005 4:12:00 AM  
Blogger Surya said...

Samurai songs are awesome, Anitha aka Natasha is cute. But she dint make it big.

Monday, July 18, 2005 4:27:00 AM  
Blogger Ram C said...

Kary..welcome. u r right.. i included citizen as well, in my post.

Somu /JVC.. LOL.. definitely it is not my favourite. I hv that song in my MP3 (this movie was included in it incidentally!!!)

Praveen.. is it? I didn't watch the initial few scenes. So, I didn't feel like, the way you felt. Fortunate!!!

Surya.. Nadheesha.. Indiaglitz says so...she acted in 'sukran' isn't it?

Monday, July 18, 2005 4:51:00 AM  
Blogger tt_giant said...

Dont know how did vikram agree to do Anniyan after doing a similar one in Samurai.. maybe for the brand name?

Monday, July 18, 2005 6:03:00 AM  
Blogger IBH said...

samurai pakkala...but want to see it..but i guess, there have been lot of stories based on the same theme or lines...
Shankar's presentation is more gripping than any other presentation i feel!

Monday, July 18, 2005 8:52:00 AM  
Blogger Orange Fronkey said...

I liked Samurai... I was strongly attracted to Vikram's character.. he was very silent and strong.. mmm

Anyways... as for "kaalangaathaley imsai"

I was like eh??? when I heard her praise that song.. I was wondering "woman, are you deaf, dont you understand the lyrics?"

Anurada Sriram's voice doesnt suit sneha, and the lyrics doesnt suit her either and she seemed kinda bleh in it... perhaps uncomfy?

Monday, July 18, 2005 10:05:00 AM  
Blogger singman said...

Ram, After a long time I visited my own blog and I am glad you visited it. Anyway - I created it and after that could not pursue it any further. I have been going thru your blog and kaps blog - wonderful stuff. Regarding Samurai - Everything was good in the movie except the last scene where the court proceedings take place in full view of the public - that is total bakwaaz - totally unbelievable.

Monday, July 18, 2005 2:57:00 PM  
Blogger Ram C said...

TTG.. Shankar magic!!!

IBH.. U r right. But in Anniyan, I didn't feel so.

Merino.. U r right... I mean, the last one.

Singman.. keep visiting. hope everything is going on well at your end.

Monday, July 18, 2005 3:54:00 PM  
Blogger Speech is Golden said...

I think too that Samurai was (to large extent) well executed. The directors effort was evident (Anniyan left you thinking Shankar at most times was callous about making the film)

Vikram's character had more substance in Samurai as well... luck and timing is everything in film industry. (The heroine in Samurai was a waste of time n effort...she was HORRIBLE)

Monday, July 18, 2005 7:47:00 PM  
Blogger Saravan said...

>>inspite of production by Mani's AALAYAM

Mani was not a partner of Aalayam when Samurai was made. Mani left Aalayam to start Madras Talkies. Other partner of Aalayam, Sriram produced Samurai under the banner of Aalayam.

Samurai was in production for long time (more than 2 years i think). you can see that in the movie. Citizen with similar storyline released before that and the second half of Samurai was dull. This went against Samurai. Ramana had gripping screenplay and racy narration. At no point you will feel bored. Also captian underplayed his role.

Success of Anniyan is due to Shankar/Vikram's popularity and the hype it generated. Balaji Sakthivel is no Shankar and Vikram in 2001 is not same as Vikram in 2005. Vikram at that time was just another hero. Now he is a super star. that made the difference.

Monday, July 18, 2005 8:54:00 PM  
Blogger Ram C said...

RKRam... accepting your views on Nadeesha (anitha)

Saravan
thanks for your additions to the post. Accept few of your facts.

Monday, July 18, 2005 9:00:00 PM  
Blogger Saravana said...

More than anything Ram ... I liked the pic of the heroine lol ... aama aval per enna ?

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 8:20:00 AM  
Blogger Vinesh said...

Kaalangaathaley imsa pannadhey..

Lyrics-e semma rouse-a irukkey LOL!

Tuesday, August 02, 2005 2:07:00 AM  

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