Manjummel Boys – Cliffhanger!!

There are movies that entertain you and then there are movies that take you for an experience of a lifetime. ‘ManjummelBoys’ written and directed by Chidambaram falls in the later category as it explores the perilous mission of a group of friends to rescue their buddy in the dangerous Guna caves in Kodaikannal in Tamilnadu.

Spoliers ahead.

 

Highlights

• Extraordinary sound design and background music by Sushin Shyam takes you right into the middle of action in this edge of seat thriller.

• Fantastic cinematography by Shyju Khalid literally makes you wonder how some of the scenes were shot through especially in the second half of the movie.

• Amazing crew of actors along with show stealer ‘Soubin Shahir’ have effortlessly fit into each of their roles of ‘Manjummel Boys’. Their various emotions shine through in the various frames of the movie. Incidentally Soubin Shahir has also acted in one of my favorites as well – “Ela Veezha Poonchira”.

• Phenomenal usage of ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ song (originally from ‘Guna’ movie) reference in the movie. The final part pf the rescue effort synching up with the beautiful lyrics provides ample goosebump moments.

• Finally a absolute hats-off to master writer and director ‘Chidambaram’, who has beautifully woven a cliffhanger and brought life to an amazing untold story. The sudden trauma induced chokeof crevice fallen person on his rescuer and the rescuer sniffing on lemon to alleviate the smell of the rock crevice are beautiful hidden gems in the  director’s writing and screenplay effort. Sincerely hope that he can replicate this effort in many more movies to come.

 

Right from ‘Roja’ exploring the Kashmir issue through a family drama to ‘Enthiran’ being the first pan India movie, Tamil movies were once considered the gold standard of South Indian movies. Telugu movies with Bahubali, Kannada with KGF series and Malayalam with Dhrishyam and other fantastic movies have pulled far ahead. It is time for some serious introspection for Tamil movie industry with at least the roles of ‘story and screenplay writers’  be given their due importance.

Nevertheless, a standing ovation is due for the original ‘Manjummel Boys’ who put their life on the line to save their best friend. I have been quite lucky to be a part of our own ‘EagleRock Boys’ group and have had some wonderful memories . Do let me know in the comments about this must watch movie and about the friendship groups that you have been part of in your life.

L(cu)EO – Not So Badass!!

(Spoilers Ahead)

Spotted Hyena are rare in the world and more so in India. As the main protagonist (expertly played by Vijay) and the respective authorities race to catch it up in the first few minutes of the movie, so does the audience as we catch up with the half-faithful remake of ‘History of Violence’ in director Lokesh Kanagraj’s latest movie offering. The movie stars a galore of stars like Vijay, Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun and has music by Anirudh.

Pros

·         Lokesh is known to bring out the best in characters played by relatively unknown dance masters/actors. Dance Master Sandy’s portrayal of a pyscho killer is menacing and we are left wanting for more in the superbly choreographed fight sequence in the coffee shop/bakery. 

·         Anirudh has clearly established himself as a king of BGMs and the I’m Scared song takes it to the next level showing Vijay’s mental vulnerability beautifully. ‘Naa Ready Thaan’ has been a chartbuster from the time it has released and is quite well choreographed by dance master Dinesh.

·         CGI’s have been a bane for Indian movies. However, the believable Hyena and stunning car chase is quite a highlight. 

·         But the stage is truly and well set for Thalapathy Vijay who aces each and every scene in the movie, showing a range of emotions right from fear to pure action in the many of the fight sequences. Lookout for the impromptu dance steps leading up to the fight sequence in the coffee shop, which is truly a delight for his many fans.

Cons

·         Director Lokesh has set very high standards with his previous movies and has expertly written them. However, this movie (even though is inspired/remade from ‘History of Violence’ movie) fails to recreate the magic of Managaram, Kaithi or Vikram movies. A better written story and with better connected characters (Sandy’s character could have been a long lost son of Arjun and the story unravelling from there) could have added some zing to the movie.

·         The character arcs of the main protagonists, played less menacingly, by Sanjay Dutt and Arjun along with a pretty weak flashback fail to convince us why the protagonist reformed from a dreaded gangster to a peace loving family man.

·         Trisha has justified her role as a doting mother and wife, however other supporting characters could have etched better to create a wholesome movie experience.

Every movie with a big actor and a star cast reaches its intended audience, the fans and rakes in record profits. However, the actual litmus test depends on whether it has reached the encore masses and whether it stands the test of time. LEO’s forced entry into LCU (Lokesh Cinematic Universe) entertains us half-heartedly and leaves us a little unsatisfied. Hoping for a better experience with the rest of the movies in the LCU franchise.

 

Pyramid Mysteries!!

Once the tallest structure till the early 13^th century, the Egyptian pyramids were once part of the 7 wonders of the world. They have awed every visitor, kings (like Alexander and Napolean) and commoners alike with their structural beauty.

They also have intrigued many archaeologist and conspiracy theorist alike with their hidden mysteries which we seem to be finding everyday. The Giza pyramids are amongst the most well-known of all the 118 pyramids in Egypt and attract millions of tourists each year and pyramids come in various sizes, shapes and forms (bent pyramids/stepped pyramids).

Spectacular Pyramids

·         Unlike the common perceptions, the pyramids do not house any remains of any pharaoh nor do they contain any hieroglyphics (Language of the early Egyptians). All the mummied corpses are housed in valley of the dead and all the hieroglyphics are found in various temples (like Temple of Luxor).

·         If we just take the Kafre Pyramid, named after Pharaoh Kafre (who supposed built it), it supposedly contains 2.3 million stones with each stone weighing an estimated 10 to 20 tonnes. Add another 2 million stones that makes up the base of the structure, we have a extensive overlay of stones just for that one pyramid.

·         Inside the pyramid are two chambers (King and Queen) made entire of absolutely tight-fitting granite stones which contain a huge sarcophagus (Grantie Box with a lid). Till today, nobody truly knows what was contained in it. A narrow shaft leads from each of these rooms and points to Orion Belt of stars. Also, the three pyramids of Giza are aligned exactly like the 3 stars of the Orion Belt.

·         They way to each of these chambers is through a long narrow passage called the ‘Great Gallery’, which is truly spectacular as it contains of stepped stone ceiling, that have brunt the weight of all the stones and allowed safe passage inside the structure for many centuries.

·         But truly making the pyramids mind boggling are its dimensions. It is just 3.4 degrees off of true North and its dimensions match up to Earth’s dimensions (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TpkhqQ54guA). Even more amazing, is the fact that, The pyramids are 8 sided and not the usually 4 sided ones that we have come to understand. Each side is bent a little inwards at the center, which is only revealed at the spring and autumn/fall equinox days.

·         The pyramids stones are supposed brought from Aswan valley, which is about 500 miles away. There are non concrete theories on how the stones are transported, with many suggesting that raft over Nile river. Even by today’s technology moving stones over by rafts and skating them over wooden logs is next to impossible. The cracked and unfinished obelisk at Aswan and the Sphinx requires another blog post in itself.

·         Given these and many more structural amazements, there has been many conspiracies ranging from alien construction to usage of sound vibration technology to lift the stones debarring gravity.

 

Extrapolating the pyramid theology, we have found them on every continents, with pyramids being found in Mexico (Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan), Cambodia, Indonesia, eastern Europe and many countless places. All the pyramids seem to connected by what is called a ‘Power Grid’ that runs across our planet. Using this, explorers were even able to find a underwater pyramid near the coast of Japan.

Even though we have scratched the surface of this masterpiece of technology, we may truly never be able to understand the real significance of the pyramids. The Kafre Pyramid, with a Golden crown and limestone covered surface must have a quite an awesome sight for every person in its heyday.

Do let me know your thoughts and comments on how and why you think Pyramids and other olden man-made structures were created.

Chandrayaan - 3!!

With less than 100 hours for the countdown to land on the lunar south pole of the Moon, India’s most ambitious space program has come a full circle. The space mission has come a long way from rockets transported on bicycles to now, where it is propelled by the LVM3 M4 rocket and consists of a lander ‘Vikram’ and a rover ‘Pragyan’ along with a propulsion module that acts a orbiter. 

Our only satellite, Moon, has been the subject of many explorations half a century ago and provided a new perspective to our human history with July 20^th 1969 etched in our memories for ages. The Moon is unlike any of the million satellites that orbit the many planets. 

Here’s why.

·         The Moon is 400 times less than the size of the sun and exactly 400 times closer to Earth than sun, thereby providing us with the most spectacular solar eclipse with the Moon barely swallowing up our sun for a few minutes nearly every year. This phenomenon is unparalleled and happens only on our planet.

·         We at Earth, see the same face of the Moon because the Moon’s revolution matches its rotation. In other words, Moon’s year is the same as its day. This is because its position is interlocked with Earth’s and its own gravity. This causes the bright side of the moon to have a blistering temperature of nearly 250 Fahrenheit and the dark side of the moon to plunge to a staggering negative 387 Fahrenheit.

·         The Earth and Moon exerting gravitational pull cause the oceans to bulge out and thereby creating high and low tides and also lock in Earth’s axial tilt to a manageable 23.5 degrees.

·         With all these reason’s many speculate that Moon is artificial satellite set up by a unknown force of nature or otherwise to monitor the people of earth.

·         Infact, there was a top-secret project ‘A119’ to detonate a hydrogen bomb on the moon to answer some of the mysteries and anomalies of the moon.

Whatever the reason maybe, our dear Moon has always enthralled and enchanted the space-explorers in us and the many poets describing its beauty through the ages. With the recent failure of Russia’s Luna-3 project, high hopes rest on our country to lead the way to successfully attempt to land the first rover on the south side of the Moon and set up a base for human exploration project. 

This would be first step in our superhuman effort for exploration of Mars, other planets all the way up to Nibiru/Planet X as shown in the countless Sci-Fi movies. Please join me in wishing our country all the very best for this and any future endeavors.

P.S: A big shout out to my all my friends and family for taking time to asking for and reading my blogs regularly.

Thalaivar’s HUKUM!!

With the least expectation of all Thalaivar’s movie (because of the disastrous last outing), my friends and I ventured into the world of ‘Tiger Muthuvel Pandian’ and his HUKUM in Rajni’s latest movie release ‘Jailer’. 

The movie directed by Nelson boasts a star-studded cast of Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Shiva Rajkumar, Ramya Krishnan, Tamannaah, Yogi Babu and host of other actors.

Pros

• Music by dedicated fan-boy ANIRUDH is a blast with ‘Kaavala’ ruling the airwaves from the time it hit the market. The movie’s BGM is one among the BEST, and I doubt if Anirudh can push himself beyond this.

• The story and screenplay in the first half of the movie is delightfully fast-paced, entertaining with as many twists and turns as you think off.

• Shiva Rajkumar climax entry is as whistle worthy as much as every frame Rajni is captured upon. Each of the mass scenes along with rollicking BGM are sure to erupt all the theatres.

• Last but not least is beast of this man, our very own lovable SUPERSTAR RAJNIKANTH, (73 years old and ruling the industry like no one) sparkling in each scene whether it be mass or performance.

CONS

• The second half of the movie lags to start with and then seems to take confusing twist and turns, till it reaches an interesting climax. Logic takes a back-seat in any mass masala movie, but black-hole sized loopholes is taking it a little too far.

• All the stars of each industry (Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada) sparkle is limited capacity and perhaps is a effort to make the movie pan-India.

• The supporting cast and crew are under-utilized and could have been used better which is also true for the flashback portion of the movie.

• The cinematography deserves quite a praise for some good shots, but some really out of focus scenes disrupted the flow of the movie with some of wondering about our eyesight.

Great directors set up the movie in the first half and reveal/take forward the actual story in the second half while others exhaust everything in the first half with not much to carry forward. Even though the movie was quite entertaining, it definitely could be written/executed better.

In totality, the movie is well summarized by the director Nelson, who once said in his promo view, “I expected one thing and you provided me something else”. 

Do share your comments and thoughts on the movie.

Ela Veezha Poonchira!!

If you are a movie buff like me, you would have waited for that one movie; that would have twisted your mind completely with that one piece in the story’s puzzle revealed in the climax. The impact of the movie would be felt for a couple of days. If you are that person, you are in a ride.

Ela Veezha Poonchira (based on an actual location) is a murder mystery thriller associated with a dismembered body with pieces strewn across the hilltop. The location is famous for quick cloud formation and subsequent lighting as well as a very remote location and this characteristic has been woven superbly into the movie.

Highlights

• The movie’s story has been written by two police officers who actually served duty time on the hilltop. This story as a core idea is one of the best I have come across.
• The cinematography by Manesh Madhavan deserves special mention as it not easy to shot in a real location with limited space. The shooting on the sets merges perfectly with the natural location and adds a flavor to the movie.
• The music by Anil Johnson and editing by Kiran Das highlight the tension as it builds up as a crescendo in the movie’s climax.
• Sudhi Koppa and Jude Anathany Joseph have played their parts adequately as the additional police constable.
• However, the highlight of the movie is ‘Soubin Shahir’ who’s stupendous performance as Police constable Madhu, brilliantly comes to the fore in the movie’s climax. He displays nearly all the human emotions subtly and carries the movie brilliantly on his shoulders.
• No praise is however worthy for the movie’s director, Shahi Kabir, who has crafted a superb movie. Mystery thriller can be quite tricky to pull off and full credit to the director for fantastically revealing each twist in the story at the appropriate time with a huge twist in the movie’s climax.

If you have time and the patience to sit through a nearly boring first 20 minutes of this movie and have the stomach for a twisted climax oriented story, this movie is highly recommended (not during lunch or dinner time).

Do let me know your thoughts on the movie.

There is also historical importance to the actual location with Pandavas resting there during the incognito time. Another attraction is the ancient temple of Krishna, established by Panjali herself. It is believed that Panjali's Akshayapatra, an inexhaustible vessel of food, is concealed here and guarded by Agastya. There is also another legend connected to the Ramayana, as it is commonly believed that Lord Rama lived here with Lakshmana for a few months during his vanavasa.

Por Thozhil!!

The first scene of any crime thriller movie pretty much tells you what’s in store. Por Thozhil’s first scene is an ordinary interaction between a police driver and a inspector ending up on ghastly note, pretty much summarizes what a absolute cracker of a ride this movie would be.

The movie’s takes us through a brutal killings of young women, bound and murdered, in particular fashion. The case is led by an experienced crime branch cop, expertly played by Sarath Kumar and a newbie, Ashok Selvan, who with a bookish knowledge is the anti-thesis to his superior.

Highlights

• The story and screenplay are woven very tightly and you never feel any lag in the movie, which is quite a must in a crime thriller movie. Full credit to the writers Alfred Prakash and Vignesh Raja to keep us on the edge of our seats.
• The cinematography by Kalaiselvan Sivaji catches every frame of the movie prudently and keeps us invested in this thriller. The grey shades towards the climax nearly goosebumps us into a supernatural thriller mode.
• The most crucial piece of the thriller movies is its editing. Sreejith Sarang has done a wonderful job in this regard, keeping the most engaging parts in this movies stitched seamlessly.
• Jakes Bejoy’ music combines the eerie silence and required decibels for this thriller and lifts up the movie, especially in the scenes, where each of the dead bodies are recovered.
• Sunil Sukhada, has done a fabulous job (will not reveal his character). He provides his characters with enough depth in the few scenes he comes in the movie.
• Nikhila Vimal has aptly conveyed her part and its related emotions quite well.
• Ashok Selvan has done a fabulous job as an under-study cop in this movie. His vulnerability as well the character’s brilliance has been aptly portrayed and this is his sweet success after ‘Thegidi’.
• But the true pillars of the story are the two ‘Saraths'. Sarath Kumar has played the senior grumpy intelligent cop to perfection and so has Sarath Babu as the repentant antagonist brilliantly. His interactions with Sarath Kumar and Ashok Selvan’s characters provide us with heart-beating moments in the second half of the movie. Wish Sarath Kumar plays more character based roles in future.

However, the success of this movie truly belongs to the captain of the ship, the director Vignesh Raja. The individual characterizations, the set-up of each of the scenes along with the usage of scientific technology (like the thermometer scene) elevates this movie to one among the best Tamil crime thriller movies and aptly conveys a crucial social message to us along as well. The movie ends with space for a sequel and we are definitely waiting for it.

Do let me know your thoughts on this movie.