Tamil Film Review Vaaranam Aayiram

Film: “Vaaranam Aayiram”
Director: Gowtham Menon
Cast: Surya, Simran, Divya Spandana, Sameera Reddy
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Rating: ***

“Vaaranam Aayiram”, which means ‘a thousand elephants’ in Tamil, is a Surya film all the way. The actor strides through it with his double role, giving a scintillating performance.

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LITTLE ZIZOU bags 2 awards at NY film festival

The Sooni Taraporevala–directed LITTLE ZIZOU, selected as the closing film on 9th November, 2008 at the 8th Mahindra Indo–American Arts Council Film Festival (MIAAC) came trumps when it received the Best Director and Time Warner Best Screenplay awards.

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RAB NE BANA DI JODI with DOSTANA

The children’s day release, Karan Johar’s Tarun Mansukhani directed DOSTANA is tipped to take a breathtaking start at the ticket window. And for that the makers of the Abhishek, Priyanka, John Abraham and Bobby Deol (special appearance) starrer have to thank some superb promos, popular music and intelligent tie–ups.

Well, apart from the hot hunks, the DHOOM duo Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham and the sizzling Priyanka Chopra, there is another very interesting and exciting reason to check out DOSTANA! The smoking hot film is carrying in its prints the detailed theatrical promo of one of the most awaited movies of the year, the Aditya Chopra directed Shah Rukh Khan starrer, RAB NE BANA DI JODI. Initially the promo was planned with Yash Raj’s very own ROADSIDE ROMEO, but the decision was postponed and naturally, Aditya and Shah Rukh’s good friend, Karan Johar’s DOSTANA is now the chosen one!

With the music of RAB NE BANA DI JODI already creating a buzz, the film is all set to release to a great response on December 12th.

Film: “Quantum of Solace”; Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Gemma Arterton, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric; Director: Marc Forster; Rating: ***

If “Casino Royale” was set up as a template for the new Bond actor Daniel Craig, “Quantum Of Solace” merely re-establishes this new order. All the major ingredients that go into making the Bond movies special are featured here. “Quantum Of Solace’ doesn’t thrill or break new ground, but it is still a very good Bond movie.

Director Marc Forster is an odd choice to helm a Bond movie since his previous hits - “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball” - were not action movies. While Craig returns to give a solid performance and the gritty style with raw action maintained from the previous movie, this movie does lack a coherent plot that at times undermines the whole viewing experience.

The movie continues with Bond seeking to find his lover’s killers.

This Bond is very angry and leaves too many people dead in his trail. Bond soon finds himself in the midst of a nefarious plan of villain Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) who is posing as a crusader for the environment but secretly has a more sinister plan.

Hunting the bad guys requires Bond to travel quite a bit and this gives the filmmakers a good excuse to stage some action sequences. There is a chase on foot through the streets, a chase on speed boats and even a battle in the sky with planes. Through it all, Bond maintains his cool but never cracks a smile.

At times the movie takes itself too seriously. This Bond movie may be the least fun of them all. His desire to seek revenge casts a dark shadow of a mood through out the movie and some well timed humour might have been refreshing. Gone also are the gadgets, along with Q. The one liner innuendos are also missing and for the first time, Bond’s signature “The name’s Bond, James Bond” has been dropped.

The action sequences are disappointing. This was the most expensive Bond movie made and the action does take place in some exciting locales. But the director makes a minor mistake. He choreographed the action from up close. We are placed right in the middle of the action, but we are not clear on what’s happening exactly. Sadly, at times we don’t want to seem to care.

The actors do a commendable job. Craig clearly suffers from a script that could have exploited his range in talent more. His character comes of very one dimensional.

The Bond girls Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arerton are stunning but end up as props. They are not allowed to be fleshed out. There is a bit of a back story for Camille (Kurylenko) but even she is disposed off much like former Bond girls.

Craig is set to return for more Bond movies. He had a good start with “Casino Royale”. With “Quantum Of Solace” he cements the new more gritty Bond, but at the expense of fun.

Here’s hoping the Bond of the future will lighten up, have some fun, and not take himself too seriously. Not everything from the old Bond movies needs to be changed.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew, and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth. Based on the novel by Jules Verne.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Kit Kittredge, a 9-year old girl, endures hardships while growing up during the Great Depression.

JODHAA AKBAR wins the

Ashutosh Gowariker’s magnum opus JODHAA AKBAR wins yet another international award of the AUDIENCE AWARD of the BEST FOREIGN FEATURE FILM at the 32nd Sao Paulo International Film Festival in Brazil, South America.

This award comes just after the Grand Prix Award for BEST FILM and the BEST ACTOR award that the film won at the Golden Minbar Film Festival held in Kazan, Russia over a week ago.

”I am extremely happy. I would really like to thank the audiences in Brazil for appreciating the film. This is the second honour coming just a week after we got the Grand Prix Award at the Golden Minbar Film Festival, KAZAN. What I am most happy with is that audiences as diverse as the Russians and the Brazilians have honoured the film. I am thrilled that the film has crossed over.” said an elated Ashutosh Gowariker.

Dostana

Directed by debutant Tarun Mansukhani, who has been an assistant to Karan Johar for years, DOSTANA is a romcom set in Miami. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra in lead roles and Bobby Deol (in a very special role). It also features Shilpa Shetty in a guest appearance for an item song where she is seen jiving along with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham on the Miami Beach. Sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, it is a racy number which was shot in the month of April. This youth-oriented film is scheduled to hit the screens worldwide on 14th November.

The young, foot tapping soundtrack of DOSTANA has been composed by the composer duo Vishal-Shekhar.

It’s all happening in the Beach Party Capital of the world… Miami is the setting for Dharma Productions latest offering DOSTANA - serving a cocktail of all ingredients to do with Friendship, Fun Frolic and that thing called Love… but with a slight twist - there is a small case of pretending to be Gay!!

When Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan) and Kunal (John Abraham) are turned down for an apartment because the land lady doesn’t want 2 strapping young men to corrupt her young sexy niece Neha (Priyanka Chopra), they plan go to “G” - they pretend to be “Gay” to secure the apartment. All is well till they meet the sexy siren Neha and thus begins a journey of fun, frolic and a test of friendship like never before when Neha’s boss Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol) enters the fray as the third contender for her affections, it gets even hotter under everyone’s vests and bikini’s and the boy’s get down under dirty, in sunny Miami.

RAB NE BANA DI JODI promo impresses

As we had informed, so it happened. The much awaited song promo of Aditya Chopra’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer, RAB NE BANA DI JODI, made a high profile appearance on Sunday, across all leading channels, to coincide with the superstar’s birthday. And what a song and what a promo!

The teaser kickstarts with SRK in his common man look taking a bath under a tap, followed by his self cooked bread and butter breakfast, and not to mention that he even washes the plates! All the while, the superb harmonium rhythm accompanies the proceedings and finally the superlative number, ‘Haule Haule’ unfolds. The Sukhwinder–SRK magic is palpable once again. This is one number that we promise; even Shah Rukh Khan’s adversaries will fall in love with! The simple melody is absolutely bewitching and the song takes the listeners in its grips, ‘haule haule’ (slowly). Yes, that’s the beauty of the number. Initially, it does strike as just another sweet love song but slowly and surely it captures the heart! Jaideep Sahni as the lyricist strikes an instant cord with his simple but meaningful lyrics– ‘Haule haule se hawa lagti hai, Haule haule se dawa lagti hai, Haule haule se dua lagti hai, Haule haule chanda badhta hai, Haule haule ghoonghat uthta hai, Haule haule se nasha chadhta hai!’

The debutant Anushka Sharma looking pretty in her usual simple ’salwar–suit’, makes a brief appearance on a rickshaw. And she is there as the mesmerizing song ends which shows her applying colour (’gulal’) to the bespectacled and moustached Shah Rukh Khan.

As the saying goes, well begun is half done! The RNBDJ song promo has received unanimous praise from all sections of the trade as well as the general paying public. So, with such a beautiful number first up we await even more eagerly for the launch of its much anticipated music album on 6th/7th November.

Daniel Craig sees Gemma Arterton naked

Daniel Craig was lucky to see me naked: Gemma Arterton
Indo-Asian News Service

London, Oct 31 (IANS) Actress Gemma Arterton, who features in the new Bond movie “Quantum Of Solace” as Agent Field, says Daniel Craig was lucky to have a sex scene with her in the film.

Mirror.co.uk reports the 22-year-old saying: “There are not many people I would strip off for. Daniel was a very lucky boy to see me naked.”

But she had a tough time filming the scene.

She said: “I was naked on the bed and they poured gunge all over me. I had to stay like that for three hours. I couldn’t see and I could hardly breathe, it was horrible. But it was worth it because I knew it would look amazing.”