I was very particular about the movies I post on my blog, I also never wanted to criticize any movie however bad it might be but this time am taking an exception & I really do hope so that the exception ends with this movie.

"All of life's riddles are answered in the movies", this is my view about cinema.People flock to theaters to spend time away from the lives & surrender themselves to the movie maker & enter a fictional world of the director.

Why do people do this ???
Well, everyone has their own set of problems & people tend to relate themselves to the hero on-screen with themselves, when the hero is down & out we feel an urge for the hero to defeat the villain & come out victorious.

Kids, youngsters & adults alike even consider heroes as demi-gods and try imitating what their idols do on-screen & alarmingly the negative aspects are imitated more like SMOKING, DRINKING & most importantly VIOLENCE.

PLOT : " The film is based on the life of Paritala Ravindra and that of his rival Suri. "



Ratha Sarithiram is directed by Ram Gopal Varma.The film features Vivek Oberoi as Ravindra in the lead role, whilst Suriya as Suri.

The promos of the film were quoting the lines from Mahabharata which goes like "REVENGE IS THE PUREST EMOTION", the lines are justifiable but the entire film was less of revenge and was more on violence.

To put it in simple words, this film glorified violent retribution.All the characters spoke only about retribution or justifying it, even the woman characters in the film were supporting this cause which was something very hard to digest.

The screenplay of the movie had little do with the actual revenge saga, even the new characters that appeared in the movie were vying for retribution.

The violent showdown between the rivals were even glorified by showing them in slow motion & the film for the most part was in slow motion.

There are numerous films which have been based on the concepts of Mahabharata but each had their own ways of expressing their emotions but in this film the only way in which emotions were shown are of violence, violence & more violence.

Even some of the gory fight scenes of Suriya was encouraged by some of his loyal fans, this is what I was mentioning about people considering their heroes as demi-gods.I feel so sorry for these kinda encouragements, the heroes should be more responsible on what they portray.

The only consolation from this film was of the acting of Suriya & of his counter part Vivek Oberoi who gave a power packed performance.

Cinema is a medium in which certain aspects of our lives cannot be portrayed, Cinema has enlightened the minds of millions around the world with its depictions of real life events but at the same time certain elements cannot be glorified.

Even terrorists have their own causes to fight but we can't glorify the violent methods they adopt, "VIOLENCE IS ALREADY PROFOUND IN OUR SOCIETY & FILMS SHOULDN'T JUSTIFY IT".

• Director : Ram Gopal Varma

• Writer : Prashant Pandey

• Cast : Vivek Oberoi , Suriya , Shatrughan Sinha , Kota Srinivasa Rao , Sudeep , Priyamani

• Rating : "A+" definitely not for kids & women.

WAR for a common man is something that he/she gets to read in a newspaper every morning over their cup of tea/coffee.

WAR for a politician is nothing but to formulate a new domestic or foreign policy.

But what is WAR to the actual soldiers who are involved in it ???

Do they fight for a cause or do they die in vain ???

PLOT : " The film depicts the Battle of Mogadishu ,a raid by the United States' effort to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid "



Black Hawk Down is based on the book of the same title by Mark Bowden ,there are some critizations from various quarters that the depiction of the battle was more biased towards only the sufferings & hardships that the US troops faced.

But whatever might be the case the audience will never forget the fact that whatever country the troops represented they had fought not for their country but for the man standing next to him.

Ridley Scott ,the man who gave us the epic "Gladiator (2000)" delivers another masterpiece.His directional skills are evident throughout the film that runs for over 2 hours ,the film never ceases to amaze the audience on the issue at hand.

Screenplay by Ken Nolan is very racy & at the same time provides enough characterizations for the numerous characters in the film ,we could easily relate to the emotional bond that each soldier has for his fellow comrade.

Casting for the film is done really well ,with an ensemble cast of actors the film makers had a huge burden to take care ,the burden is to give the actors enough screen space & i should hand it out to them for executing this work with flair.

Each & every cast had their task cut out for them which they had lapped up superbly ,their acting was seen as a healthy competition that at the end proved to work for the benefit of the film.

Cinematography by Sławomir Idziak was something that greatly helped in the depiction of the battle sequences ,the color tone used ably pointed out the hardships faced by the soldiers.

This film won the oscar for best editing by Pietro Scalia ,why am i not surprised.The editor held the tension level of the film together right from the first shot ,the plot flows well & is never let to loose focus.

If you have a home theatre then this surely is a film to showcase your audio setup ,the oscar winning sound for the film is evident with the various gun shots ,missiles & swirling helicopters.

The background score by Hans Zimmer & Denez Prigent is another feather in the cap for the entire team ,it captures the essence of the backdrop & couples it efficiently with the various emotional moments.

I liked the way the movie was presented ,it never questions the politics behind the battle but focuses sorely on the actual ground realities where every soldier is fighting for himself.

A conversation in the film goes like this "Once that first bullet goes past your head, politics and all that shit just goes right out the window."

These lines hold true to those soldiers who risk their lives for their fellow comrades who stand by their oath to "LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND".

• Director : Ridley Scott

• Writers : Mark Bowden (book), Ken Nolan (screenplay)

• Cast : Josh Hartnett , Ewan McGregor , Tom Sizemore , Eric Bana , William Fichtner , Ewen Bremner , Sam Shepard , Ron Eldard

• Rating : "A" for intense war violence.

Lets see..
Future is something which intrigues us ,Future fascinates us ,it's alluring ,it's a mystery.

All these make for an interesting premises for a movie maker to showcase his vision of the future to the audiences.These sci-fi movies hence sometimes bring out an interesting perspective of our future that works like a magic trick.

A magic trick that leaves the audience in awe of our future.

PLOT : " A skilled thief who steals memories from people during their sleep sets out to do an Inception i.e: to plant a memory into a person during his sleep. "



I'm still yet to overcome the magnitude effect of "Inception" ,such was the scope of the film.The entire film's concept was so vast that it requires constant attention from the viewer from the very beginning till the very end.

Christopher Nolan's Inception was for me like a vast syllabus that had to be finished in a matter of just 3 hours.Imagine reading your entire college syllabus in just 3 hours ,such was the content this movie offered.

Nolan who's a well-acclaimed writer/director delivers a complex & intense film in a grand manner that explores the concepts of our dreams in a most compelling manner ,Hats off to him in bringing out such a concept.

But for all the praises about the film ,there are certain sections of the film which reminds us of cliched scenarios in typical hollywood movies ,i was surprised & disappointed to see this in a Nolan's film.

Casting of Inception includes Ken Watanabe ,Joseph Gordon-Levitt ,Marion Cotillard ,Ellen Page ,Tom Hardy ,Cillian Murphy ,Dileep Rao ,Tom Berenger ,Michael Caine & of course one of favourite actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

DiCaprio was at his usual best ,his role as the extractor who works on people's memory was a very convincing portrayal.He held the major screen space eclipsing all others ,i could go on about the other actors but lets say they were splendid & a treat to watch too.

The special effects here was a major pillar to the mammoth vision of the director ,the entire theater were so pulled onto it the film ,it was like witnessing a magician's trick in a grand scale.

What especially kept the film so hooked was its script ,got to hand to Nolan ,He's one hell of a script writer ,he handles the pressure points of a film really well which earns the appreciation of the audience.

Music by Hans Zimmer was really captivating ,it gelled well with the flow of the film ,the highs ,the lows ,the drama ,the action ,all of it were in a perfect rhythm.

A script so complex was edited by Lee Smith in a alluring manner that kept moving between various scenes in a neat & crisp manner.His collaboration with Nolan has yielded rich dividends in the past ,Inception is sure to be another feather in his cap.

Even though i can go on & on about the film ,i was left high & dry in certain parts of the film.On the whole i was not left disappointed because of the unique & compounding script the film offered.

Nolan is a magician ,a truly gifted one ,regardless of the flaws in the film he still got a standing ovation from the audience for enticing them with a riveting concept & screenplay which was truly Sci-fi Magic.

• Director : Christopher Nolan

• Writer : Christopher Nolan

• Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio ,Joseph Gordon-Levitt ,Ellen Page ,Tom Hardy ,Ken Watanabe ,Dileep Rao ,Cillian Murphy

• Rating : "PG" for some scenes of violence.

Law - "The principles and regulations established in a community by some authority. "

We have all gone through all these definitions ,phrases & various acts of law from school an umpteen number of times but more often than not these lines become just lines in our society.

All these so called laws are like a tissue paper in a restroom which are used at will & when necessary especially by the authorities who are responsible for enforcing them.

And finally its the aam aadmi (common man) who pays the price in this puppet show called democracy where the judicial society are well above the reaches of the so-called law.

PLOT : " A local village rebel kidnaps the wife of a police officer to prove a point that no one's above the laws of justice but things take a drastic turn when he decides to kill her. "



First things first ,With Raavanan Mani Ratnam has threaded on a path that is well known here in India ,Ramayana is a well known epic among indians on which the plot of the movie is loosely based on ,kudos to the director for taking this path & showcasing a refreshing premises.

There are mixed reviews among people upon the film's release but i'm for one who would say that i thoroughly cherished the movie from the intense start to the poetic ending.

Screenplay moved with the flow of the film that reverberated with powerhouse performances from the lead actors and the supporting cast ,the director deserves the credit for bring out stellar performances from his crew.

Vikram as the protagonist is the shinning light in the movie's cast ,his character of a man with complex thinking has surely struck the right chord in the film ,he shouts ,he's silent ,he imitates ,he growls thereby exposing all his bottled up emotions.

Aishwarya Rai ,the lead lady goes through grueling sessions of physical & mental hardships that put to test all her years of experience which turns out impressive.Prithviraj as her husband is stiff physically & emotionally which reflects his role as a cop.

The other supporting cast includes Karthik ,Prabhu ,Vaiyapuri ,Priyamani ,John Vijay & Munna.They too were a treat on screen ,all of them had their meaty share of roles that were utilised well.

Cinematography by Santosh Sivan and V. Manikandan is one of the best i have seen ,all the beauty locales were justifiably filmed ,it would rival the best picture demos.Everything was so mesmerizingly shot.

Stunts by Shyam Kaushal and Peter Hein are topnotch ,a single stunt scene where the lead lady crashes to the river was so beautiful ,editing by 7 time national award winner A. Sreekar Prasad was evident in his crisp clips of the film's songs.

A. R. Rahman's songs & background score provide enough chills & moods to the films at the right places ,his association with Mani Ratnam has beared fruit yet again.

The premises for the plot of revenge & kidnapping is a tried and tested one but what makes Raavanan special is not its plot but the cinematic treat the film offers at the hands of one of India's finest directors ever.

The director's lead character Veeraiya portrays aam aadmi's (common man) sufferings at the hands of the judicial authorities who get away with all the atrocities they do in the name of law.

Such is the convenience democracy provides to these people ,say how many of these judicial people have ever been convicted for their atrocities ?

Are they above the law ??

• Director : Mani Ratnam

• Writer : Mani Ratnam

• Cast : Vikram ,Aishwarya Rai ,Prithviraj ,Karthik ,Prabhu ,Priyamani ,Vaiyapuri ,John Vijay , Munna

• Rating : "PG" for intense scenes of violence.

WEAPONS OF MASS-DESTRUCTION : Does this phrase ring a bell ???

Implausible world ,meaning "a world not having the appearance of truth or credibility".

It may be a hard to digest this but this is the world in which we are all living ,everything in our day to day life is getting fabricated.Even a smile to a colleague in office serves a hypocritic purpose ,fabricated cases ,fabricated news ,fabricated truths ,the list goes on.

Some people who get caught in this web are taken for a ride and when the ride ends they are either no more or join the wagon of fabrication.

PLOT : " An innocent cop takes justice in his own hands after a fabricated case against him threatens his life & the life of the people he loves. "

The plot of the movie may sound like a regular run of the mill cop story but what made this film so appreciable are the lead actors who just lifted the scripted to an engaging thriller.

Samuel L.Jackson & Kevin Spacey are the lead actors am talking about ,both of them had their lion's share of roles in the movie which they had executed flawlessly.

The presence of these actors in certain scenes raised the tension levels & served as the movie's backbone.Both these actors enacted the role of a hostage negotiator with their own working style.

"The Negotiator" directed by F.Gary Gary is a perfect example of excellent acting coupled with crisp direction.The director ratifies the audience with scenes that have a clear message that what happens in the movie is happening in our world today.

Supporting actors too had a major role in the movie ,they sometimes provide the comic relief needed in this intense movie which never fails to deliver when it comes to the thrills & suspense.

What clicks in this film is the treatment of the script ,Kevin Fox & James DeMonaco have provided the director with a script which is racy and at the sametime a taut intelligent thriller.

The beauty of the script lies in how the plot unflods at you in a neat & clear manner ,all the subplots too make sense when the main plot gets revealed ,kudos to the script writers for achieving this.

Samuel L.Jackson's portrayal of an innocent husband forced to be on the wrong side of the law deserves special mention here ,his roles of a trustworthy friend ,an honest cop are also not to missed out.

Kevin Spacey rides into the movie into the middle leg and takes over thereby starting a game of cat & mouse between him & Jackson which culminates into a justifiable & clever climax.

The way the movie is put across makes the viewer understand the functioning of our world today ,everything around is & will get fabricated.Either we have to cope in this Implausible world or get perished.

"The Negotiator" plays out the plight of certain people who try to prove their innocence in a way that is less propable to happen but at also reflects the hue & cry faced by innocent people who are framed in this FABRICATED WORLD.

• Director : F.Gary Gary

• Writers : Kevin Fox , James DeMonaco

• Cast : Samuel L.Jackson , Kevin Spacey

• Rating : "PG" for violence.

Let me be straight about certain things before going into the movie part ,

• Sherlock Holmes is a legendary fictitious detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is also famous for his another work namely "The Lost World" which was the inspiration for many movie & tv series of the same name.
  
• Seldom have i read or seen any work related to Sherlock Holmes until this movie.

• Director : Guy Ritchie

• Writers : Michael Robert Johnson , Anthony Peckham , Simon Kinberg , Lionel Wigram

• Cast : Robert Downey Jr , Jude Law , Mark Strong , Rachel McAdams , Eddie Marsen

• Rating : "PG" for some scenes of violence.

Greed : An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves ,especially with respect to material wealth.

It is natural for human beings to go above and beyond in search of the ultimate possibilities in any interest or field.This natural urge supercedes peoples ability to realize or care about when they are taking advantage of those who are disadvantaged.

The person ,who knows contentment, eats to live but the greedy person lives to eat.Due to human greediness every day we are loosing one or the other species.When will it be our turn?

PLOT : " Avatar is the story of Jake Sully ,a paraplegic marine ,who replaces his brother on a secret mission to infiltrate the Na' vi ,the colony of beings that sit on the planet of Pandora ,where there is a precious ore ,that sells at a ridiculous amount.When Jake learns the ways of the Na' vi ,his feelings and learnings will put him and the people he trusts in dangerous jeopardy."

"Avatar" is visually mind-blowing ,I have never seen a film that could come any close to match its beauty.Even though everything in front of you was made from the scratch ,you never feel the world you see in the film is not real.And it doesn't matter the film's over 2.5 hours long - you never want to stop watching.

I can't even imagine how many people must have worked on 'Avatar' and for how long ,to make it all happen ,but you certainly believe in what you see ,wanting to know how the events will develop.

Because if you can't appreciate 'Avatar' then you just can't appreciate the art ,And 'Avatar' is a piece of art.It is a masterpiece of our times.Those who go and see this film will know what I mean.

AVATAR is the "STAR WARS" of this generation ,with no doubt is it a family film.This film isn't just about visuals ,it's about the magic of film-making.And that is something rarely achieved in such absolute beauty ,beauty that leaves you walking away from the theater spellbound.Avatar is unique.

You are immersed in the movie and you are exploring a new world.It is more than one time that you loose your breath.Beautiful images are following each other at high speed and you just can't believe what you are seeing.

Director James Cameron ,the man behind the legendary "TITANIC" ,really impressed me as he deals with nature and spirituality in this film and manages to explain it through biology and chemistry rather than implying any sort of holy deity.

Sam Worthington was fine as a leading man and some of his awkward attempts to integrate into the tribe are great.Zoe Saldana plays the Na'vi tribe perfectly.She is strong and wise ,yet vulnerable and feminine.She is the heart of the film.

The acting is superb ,both by the actors and the na'vi characters.But the strength of this experience lies in the world Cameron takes you to - the sights and sounds are realistic beyond compare.This is not your ordinary computer graphics - this is one of the very rare cases where special effects will make it more of a journey than just a movie.

It is also a film where 3D really shines.Till now ,3D was the forte of animation movies.Here, 3D will bring you uncannily close to realism.

The story is a bit thin and predictable though there are nice character developments.But that just doesn't matter because Avatar is just more than a movie ,a movie that writes film history.

The film ends leaving you wanting more ,it starts by slowly enticing you ,then gradually building up into one heck of an adventure ,rolling at such a speed that you'd never think it would end ,but films end eventually ,and I just hope that we are given SEQUELS in the future.

The happenings in the film serves as a stark warning that human greed is threatening to destroy the environment.

‘Spend/destroy now ,pay later’ is an extremely selfish move driven by HUMAN GREED.

Everyone has a right to a decent lifestyle but perhaps we all need teaching or reminding what a ‘decent lifestyle’ really should equate to.And our motivation should be the type of planet we would like our grandchildren to inherit.

• Director : James Cameron

• Writer : James Cameron
  

• Cast : Sam Worthington , Zoe Saldana , Sigourney Weaver , Stephen Lang , Michelle Rodriguez

• Rating : "PG" for intense war scenes.

India was free in 1947 from the British Empire but the country lost many men and women who were filled with undaunted courage and spirit of patriotism.Today ,they are known as freedom fighters because they sacrificed their lives for their motherland.

Indian freedom fighters with their true spirit and undaunted courage had faced various tortures ,exploitations and hardships to earn us freedom.

There are endless number of men and women ,other than THE POLITICIAN GANDHI ,who daringly fought for India’s freedom.One among these brave souls who is barely mentioned in our history books is "PAZHASSI RAJA".

PLOT : " The Film is about Pazhazzi Raja’s fight against British East India Company to withdraw Company’s power and army from the state of Kottayam. "

Expectations were obviously sky high for this film.And the BIG question is whether it has lived up?...And the BIG answer is 'YES'. The movie grabs your attentions from the word go and keeps your attention all through ,though in a story that many know very well.

Director Hariharan is really the backbone by making the most out of a splendid script.The movie really did make me think about these warriors who fought for our country.Applause to the director who is one of the key brains behind this is film which is worth spending every paisa.

Mammootty has given a restrained performance as PAZHASSI RAJA ,his screen presence and body language is s enough to carry the heavy character with ease.The director also seems to have decided to keep the central character more manly ,without much heroic build-ups.

Sarath Kumar comes up with fantastic heroic looks and emotes well and gives some great action sequences.Manoj K Jayan ,Suman along with Padmapriya and Kanika ,make the movie a treasure of performance with exhilarating performances.

The film has taken cinematic liberties but on the whole is engaging and entertaining.

The sound design by Resul Pookutty captures the sound of war and rain effectively.I wasn't be bored considering that the movie is around 3.5 hours.M.T Vasudevan Nair's script has enough compelling momentum to keep the viewers focused on the film.

The movie upholds the spirit of freedom and self-esteem.It has a histroy to tell by showcasing the spirit of sacrifice and patriotism which is inspiring with the reverberations felt through out the movie.

EPIC films are now becoming a rarity in India.When are we going to see the TRUE heroes like our freedom fighters depicted on screen ????

Films about POLITICS & POLITICIANS are doing rounds & rounds in the cine industry these days but enough yaar ,why this redundancy ?Why do we keep watching these scumbags who are no good at all !!!!

I hope PAZHASSI RAJA has set the ball rolling for more EPIC films to follow about our FORGOTTEN HEROES who fought a valiant battle realising the inherent death ,but to safeguard their honour and their land.

• Director : T.Hariharan

• Writer : M.T.Vasudevan Nair

• Cast : Mammooty , Sarath Kumar , Manoj.K.Jayan , Suman

• Rating : "PG" for some blood & gore during war scenes.