Tag Archives: Ajmal Ameer

Anjathey

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Anjathey is just over 3 hours long, tends to veer occasionally into OTT melodrama and only has 3 songs, but still manages to enthral with some good performances from the cast, excellent camera work and an engrossing storyline. Director Mysskin takes a story about two friends and the wedge that drives them apart, and weaves it through a crime thriller without losing any of the intensity he creates in the opening scenes. Its slick, the pace is relentless but the main characters are still clearly drawn and each has a well-defined role to play in the drama. There is so much that is different about Anjathey that it’s annoying when a few clichés do creep in, and the film does suffer from an overly long climax. But despite these few flaws and a truly terrible wig worn by one of the villains, it’s an impressive film and did inspire me to seek out Mysskin’s other excellent movies.

 

 

 

Anjathey starts with shots of the sky and the characters only appear as brief glimpses from an odd angle while the action builds. It’s a different approach, one of many unusual camera angles used throughout the film, and helps to build the characters of the two men by contrasting the first appearance of Kripa (Ajmal Ameer) with that of his best friend Sathya (Narain) who is shot more conventionally. Although the two are both sons of policemen and live opposite each other in the same colony, the similarities end there. Kripa is dedicated to his dream of becoming a Sub-Inspector in the police force and to that end he trains and studies every day. Sathya on the other hand is a drifter with no real aim in life and is happy to spend his days lazing around drinking with his friends. Sathya’s father is not impressed by his son’s lack of ambition and constantly compares him unfavourably with Kripa, which does nothing to improve their already strained relationship. Finally after a very public dressing down at a temple festival, Sathya decides to prove his father wrong and applies for an SI position at the same time as his friend.

 

 

 

 

The different attitudes and personalities of the two friends are illustrated in the way they tackle the exam and interview; Kripa is tense and eager to excel, while Sathya is laid back and relaxed. He has already arranged for his influential uncle to ensure he gets a place and ultimately he has no real desire to be a police officer, so failure just means his father proves his point once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sathya is accepted as an SI, but Kripa fails the selection process which makes him resentful and bitter. To the dismay of his friends, he turns into a drunken layabout which in this film means a wild hairstyle and a tendency to abuse the local bar staff. Meanwhile Sathya discovers that he likes the deference he gets from the community in his new job and also enjoys the perks, although his early career of brawling hasn’t prepared him for the gruesome reality of life on the force.

 

 

 

 

The rather abrupt turnaround by Kripa is a little unconvincing given his early dedication and generally decent persona, but the gradual change is Sathya is well written and Narain portrays his growing pride in his uniform well. However this is also where those clichés start to appear, and Sathya quickly becomes a one man army capable of overcoming armed gangs of thugs with ease. Even more ridiculous is the ‘one by one’ attacking strategy employed by the gang when a concerted rush would have removed Sathya easily – how come the bad guys never know this? However the small details that show Sathya’s concern for his friend and his determination to become a good police officer go some way towards compensating for the filmi hero antics. The local police aren’t so much corrupt as lazy and their preference for the easy way doesn’t fit well with Sathya’s newly discovered ambition. But Sathya isn’t perfect either and the flaws and shading of his character are more in keeping with the realistic style of the film than his occasional forays into crime fighting superhero.

 

 

 

 

However, where Anjathey really excels is in the depiction of the criminal gang operating a kidnapping ring in Sathya’s area. The gang is strictly small time and there are no mega maniacal big boss scenes or ridiculous schemes to extort money. Daya and Logu, along with a couple of sidekicks, focus on kidnapping young girls who are kept unconscious in sacks before being ransomed back to their families. Their operation is basic but feasible and Prasanna as Daya makes a convincingly creepy villain. Full marks as well for managing to look menacing in that dreadful wig! The interactions between the characters are all very well written to give a sense of the different personalities and their very ordinariness makes their actions all the more chilling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pandiarajan starts off well as Daya’s partner in crime Logu, but once the gang are on the run he becomes a whimpering coward and loses some of his credibility. Interestingly one of the other gang members is never shown in any detail and his face is never seen although he does appear frequently and has a major role to play in the gang. It’s one of the strengths of the film that the support cast have well written roles and create an impact even with their short time on-screen. ‘Bomb’ Ramesh who plays Sathya and Kripa’s friend Kuruvi deserves mention for his antics, but the old lady who helps Sathya with an injured man on the street and Vijayalakshmi who plays Kripa sister Uthra are all excellent.

 

 

 

 

Once Kripa is recruited into their organisation it’s obvious that the film is going to end up with a show down between the two friends, but the journey to get there is kept engaging by the police operation to track down the kidnappers. It’s kept reasonably realistic and there are no overly dramatic shoot outs or suicidal rescue attempts to interfere with what becomes a serious police drama. And I do always appreciate a good white-board moment.

The liberal use of free camera does suit the suspense of the police drama, but Mysskin also uses some odd camera angles and unusual shots. One scene is filmed entirely at a few inches about the floor, and it’s rather bewildering until the last few seconds where with one of the character’s actions it suddenly makes sense. Not all of the techniques work however, and occasionally it feels as if the director was trying out a variety of different styles just to see how they would look rather than to create a specific effect. But the cinematography by Mahesh Muthuswami is excellent and there is good use of shadows and unconventional lighting techniques to add atmosphere and tension to the plot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are only three songs in the film and at least two of them seem superfluous. The story isn’t one that needed an item song, or even a romance, although the relationship between Sathya and Uthra is kept very much to the background. However I really like this song featuring the friends’ dancing in the pub and it fits well into the story.

Anjathey is a complex film that  sucessfully combines a number of themes. It’s a story of friendship, a thriller, a crime drama and also throws in a touch of romance. Overall it’s compelling viewing and I recommend it as an entertaining and rather different style of film from Kollywood. 3 ½ stars.

Rachcha

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Rey! 3am and we were still discussing Charan’s amazing hair, his dedication to bringing the cape back and the total masala fun of Rachcha.  Another adventure without subtitles, we saw it with an appreciative audience notable for the number of women attending. Usually we hear a high pitched squeal of fandom and look around to see a dude in a suit. But Charan seems to bring the ladies out, and we can see why. There’s plenty of action, excellent choreography and at least for Charan, some superb costumes. Charan channels Chiru in his own inimitable style and with a nod to the camera that says he knows what we’re thinking, while Tamanna holds her own in both the dancing and drama stakes.

The film starts with the opening banner of Mega Supergood Films and, since any reference at all to the word ‘mega’ had the audience screaming, ensured that we were deafened right away. After a flashback involving young Raj, a significant necklace and the extremely dramatic death of his parents, we learn that present day Raj (Ram Charan) is being brought up by comedy stalwart M.S. Narayana and his wife (Sudha). ‘Betting’ Raj spends his days, well, betting and when his adopted father needs a liver transplant it’s the ‘logical’ way for him to raise money. He accepts a wager with James (Ajmal Ameer) to make the daughter of a rich businessman fall in love with him. Raj and James have a history involving a train, 2 cars and a game of chicken, so Raj is not without some reservations, but his situation is desperate.

Chaitra (Tamanna) is that rich girl. Chaitra never seems to go anywhere without her escort of 2 motorbike outriders, 4 SUVs and various bodyguards, so it’s a real challenge for Raj to approach her at all. Luckily he has accomplices (a flock of comedy uncles) so Raj is able to attend to the serious business of flirtation. In one of the many fun tributes to Chiranjeevi sprinkled through the film Raj infiltrates her medical college to the strains of Shankar Dada MBBS and all the collar popping and swagger that goes with it. Naturally it doesn’t take long for Chaitra to appreciate the well styled hair and many charms of Raj. Or does she? Tamanna is a very capable actress, and she does get a bit more to do in Rachcha than we expected. Unfortunately she does get a few scenes where she seems more like an escaped mental patient as she marvels at waterfalls, flowers, a fence painted yellow etc.

 

As we knew from Badrinath, Tamanna has a great imagination for song costumes and accessories. Raj appears in a couple of full length capes and with a number of scarves. At one stage we thought perhaps she had been expecting a hero more famous for his multiple layers of singlets, shirts, jackets and scarves, but Charan wore it all with aplomb. The curse of the blind stylist only seems to strike at Tamanna but does strike hard and often. The constant mini skirt and short shorts outfits were not particularly flattering, and the choreography and camera angles didn’t help.

Mani Sharma’s songs aren’t brilliant musically speaking, but the picturisations are awesomely entertaining and the choreography is excellent. The costume teams go all out (poor Tamanna) and the dancing is infectiously energetic and engaging. Charan just gets better and better. He has a good musicality and a sense of the overall appearance of a song. He doesn’t fall into the trap of substituting too many tricks and gymnastics for dancing. It’s a pleasure to watch him, and his facial expressions in the songs are highly entertaining. Tamanna is his match in energy and expression.

The two actually dance together rather than just using the heroine purely for her glamour quotient and it feels like a real partnership. There isn’t any sizzling chemistry but more of a camaraderie which works well enough to make their romance acceptable, especially considering the rather dubious origins in a bet.

Chaitra’s father Bellary (Mukesh Rishi) is not impressed by Raj and when the pair escape he sends for the big guns in the form of Dev Gill in manic villain mode. You can tell he is insane because he wears a coat inspired by Noddy and Big Ears or a high school production of Pirates of Penzance. He had a pathological attachment to this coat and he never appeared without it. This diluted his menace considerably as we giggled uncontrollably every time we saw him.

The second half explains the real reason for the  bet, and sets up the climax. The flashback episode is too long but it leads up to an excellent fight. The action scenes are brilliantly choreographed, using Charan’s physical skills to great effect. Raj was a resourceful and efficient fighter, usually going for the classic ‘kick em in the nuts’ approach rather than anything too impractical. Although he used a flaming wheel and even threw a motorbike at his atttackers in one scene so he was never dull. Sampath Nandi toyed with the audience when he put Charan, Dev Gill and a helicopter in one scene, teasing with the possibility of a Magadheera replay. Rather sensibly the director chose to leave Charan on the ground and let him deal with his problems the old-fashioned way – with a very impressive axe.

There is a pointless appearance by Ali. Brahmi, Venu Madhav and Srinivasa Reddy were moderately amusing in their roles and at least the story did have a flimsy reason for their presence. Srinivasa Rao Kota, Nasser, Raghu Babu and various others turn up and do their usual thing. Satya Krishnan makes a small appearance in a fun women vs men backyard cricket match, and there are some really enjoyable little moments with minor characters. We have to give a big shout-out to the backing dancers and the rather listless ‘dance students’ for their efforts. The comedy and subplots were all more or less tied to the main story which helped keep things moving along. The audience dissolved into hysterics when a man at a roadside restaurant knocked back his drink and then picked up a chicken and sniffed it. Granted that alone was pretty funny, but we did wonder if perhaps there was a reference there that we didn’t spot?

There were plenty of references throughout the film to Chiranjeevi movies and Charan wears a number of outfits that are pure Chiru style. White trousers, black socks and white loafers made a come back, as did loud shirts and colour blocking. He has his father’s mannerisms down pat and it added another dimension to the film to see how many of these tributes we could pick up. And we think it is a smart way for him to deal with the pressure of expectation – he is always compared to his father, so why not own those references and play them with his own style. We were a little disappointed that the significant necklace (which Chaitra could only discover late in the story) meant that Charan kept to a rather modest look, but Vaana Vaana with the dancing in the rain was some compensation.

We have now seen both the original Vaana Vaana from Gang Leader and this remix on the big screen, and the Mega Men certainly know their way around a rain song!

Rachcha is Charan’s vehicle and he delivers a full mass performance that is exciting and very watchable. Tamanna got plenty of cheers from our audience for her dancing and at her speech just before the climax. The songs and fights are so well executed that they had us cheering along too. It’s a visually pleasing film, and has a sense of fun in amongst the action and drama. The story is a familiar one, very much inspired by the type of films Chiru made back in the day, but who says that’s a bad thing? Despite a plethora of comedy uncles, Sampath Nandi delivers a fun and entertaining film that we both want to watch again.

Ko

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Ko opens with an eye catching photo montage and theme music that incorporates thrashy guitars and angelic choirs. I immediately expected something a bit stylish, modern, urban with a splash of heroics and that’s what I got.

Unravelling the plot was integral to my enjoyment of Ko so I won’t discuss what happens in detail. The story focuses on two groups – journalists and politicians – and an upcoming election. The journalists are young and shiny, full of ideals. The politicians are…politicians.

Jiiva is Ashwin, a newspaper photographer. His camera is never far from hand and he is an acute observer. Spotting a bank robbery getaway in progress, he does what any ambitious journalist would do – gets their pictures. That he does it from his motorbike just makes it clear that he is the hero. I think Jiiva conveys the right blend of boyish appeal and serious drama, and he is just so likeable. He can do cutesy flirting and silly dance moves, and be blokey enough to walk into a dodgy bar and track down a witness. He delivers the action scenes with loads of energy and while Peter Hein has set the fights at the outer bounds of ordinary guy capability they are still true to the character.  Ashwin has a knack for seeing what is going on in the background or on the periphery of the action. This makes him valuable as a photo-journalist and really annoying to those he targets. His first reaction to any event is to get a photo and record what is happening.

Ashwin’s observations and photos often have a touch of sarcasm or dark humour about them. But although he jokes, he is passionate about justice and dragging the truth out into the light of day.

Karthika Nair is Renuka, recently transferred to Chennai. She is an established journalist but finding herself in a new city and a new team, she is a little lost at times. Her relationship with Ashwin starts off on rocky ground due to a case of mistaken identity but soon looks like love is in the air. She and livewire movie reviewer Saro (Piaa Bajpai) become good friends despite Saro having feelings for Ashwin. While this is primarily Ashwin’s story, the girls were strong and relatable characters. I liked seeing young ladies who could be friends, rivals and colleagues without being overly silly or unpleasant.

Work was the main thing all three had in common, and the work remained in focus throughout. Despite some of the less believable incidents, that work/life balance gave them a bit of credibility. Piaa Bajpai is OTT at times, but she needs to be to act as the counterpoint to the more reserved Renuka in the mild love triangle that develops.

I liked both performances although I think a real life Saro as a friend would have me investing in ear plugs. Karthika had more complexity to work with and I think she did well in imbuing Renuka with a maturity that I rarely see in film heroines.

The politicians are represented by Prakash Raj as the statesman Yogi, and Kota Srinivasa Rao as the uncouth Alavandhan – very different men on the surface but not fundamentally different when it comes to the goal of winning office. They both do what they do so well but neither delivers a standout performance.

Tying the two groups together is Vasanthan (Ajmal Ameer) – a young idealistic politician. He and his colleagues are trying to contest elections but are struggling to create a media profile and can’t compete with the bribery and standover tactics of major parties. He is educated, ambitious and a natural leader. Ajmal Ameer played Vasanthan with sincerity and conviction.

Events bring him into the media spotlight and eventually the young Siragugal team are on the brink of success. Then a catastrophe – a bomb blast at their rally – changes the game. The story gets murkier the more Ashwin and Renu dig.

The story starts off running in several different directions before things start to link back together. The plot branches are tied in by characters identifying patterns or spotting inconsistencies in someone’s story so there are a few ‘A-Ha!’ moments. Ashwin, ever keen eyed, spots a familiar face in photos from different crime scenes and that ties a Naxalite band to a local identity. Renu follows up on another clue and Ashwin is under scrutiny. It’s really well done, and kept me thinking about what could happen next.  The resolution is a bit predictable, but I was interested enough in what was happening that I didn’t really care.

This is pretty indicative of the visual style and editing. Ignore the crappy rapping and do a bit of star spotting as almost everyone in Tamil film makes an appearance:

The songs by Harris Jayraj are not unpleasant but I never really remember them without seeing the film. There’s the usual selection; the club song, the falling in love duets, the colourful ethnic costumes in the snow song, the college friendship song. The lyrics are often quite pertinent to the story so I was happy to have them subtitled on my DVD. Well, they’re not always that helpful…

Songs are used well in the first half but are a little out of place later in the film as events got more serious. I found the transition to Venpaniye a bit jarring as it is a lovey dovey duet in an ice palace just after a traumatic event. Jiiva is equal to the limited choreography and his facial expressions are often priceless. I got the impression he was having a blast doing some of the more comedic scenes and the dances. Karthika does more posing than dancing but her wardrobe often makes up for any lack of energy on her side. And the locations are sometimes breathtaking.

It’s not an issue film as such, but it does touch on many social and political ideas and problems as the plot develops. Considering some of the themes, there is a lot of product placement in Ko. There is at least a semblance of building it into the plot so while I politely jeered each new brand’s arrival, it didn’t bother me unduly. KV Anand (director and co-writer) glances at the interdependency of some media and politicians, the role of the police, celebrities in politics, freedom of the press, availability of adequate medical care and education among other things. The perspectives are offered from the various characters points of view so there is more discussion than lecturing. The commentary is often laced with humour and an acknowledgement that truth is not an absolute.

If you like the idea of a modern, urban thriller with some classic masala elements and young and likeable stars, this is well worth a look. 4 stars!

Heather says: I really enjoyed this film.  Yes, the plot does have a few too many twists and turns towards the end and some of the action is rather improbable, but the story moves along at a cracking pace and the lead actors all put in excellent performances. I got this DVD based on K. V. Anand’s previous films which I also enjoyed, and thought the reference to Ayan here as a film only worth 1/2 star was very funny. I would love to know if this was an actual comment that he received about the film!

One of the best parts of the film for me is the number of strong female roles. Not only the characters of Renuka and Saro, but also the fact that there are females characters standing for election, involved in the Naxalite terrorist group and generally well represented among the various minor roles throughout. I like the characters of Renuka and Saro and both actresses brought great individuality to their roles while still keeping them believable as friends. Jiiva is excellent and his journalist, while often taking suicidal chances in his quest for a picture, brings together the right blend of charm, action and determination to make Ashwin a compelling character. Like any good journalist, I think he has all the right characteristics to be able to schmooze his way into any situation. It’s the first time I’ve seen Ajmal Ameer and I must look out for his previous Malayalam films as I think he is just as good as Jiiva in his role here. While there are one or two moments in the film that don’t work for me as they seem too unlikely in such an otherwise plausible film, there are many others which work so perfectly that I don’t mind suspending disbelief from time to time. Ko has a well written screenplay and very likeable actors which make it a film worth watching. 4 stars from me.