"My 2 Cents on 7th Sense" written by Naarayan Raghunath

Original link to the facebook note:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/naarayan-raghunath/my-2-cents-on-7th-sense/10150374243256730


Great concept.. could have been executed better.. some of my observations..

1. Introducing Bodhi Dharma to this part of the world.. ok fine.. agreed.. the CG and the first 15-20 mins of Bodhi's travel from Kanchipuram to China and he getting accepted as a master through a couple of instances.. very good.. till then I felt it was good.. Once operation code red is introduced, the movie becomes predictable..
2. Good launch pad for Shruti Haasan.. not sure that amidst so many heroines who are given just support roles in male dominated movies.. role is meaty bcos she is ulaga nayagan's daughter and had to be given a good launch pad? am not sure.. she definitely though does have to concentrate and improve on her dialogue delivery.. pathetic.. being the daughter of a self professed Tamil Poet :-) she needs to at least learn to pronounce basic words properly..
3. Surya has done his role well.. though he definitely does need to get out of his "ripping shirt off" scenes soon and transition to something else.. he is soon becoming south india's answer to Salman Khan.. he has worked really hard but dude.. enuf's enuf.. everybody is getting tired of it now.. 
4. Johnny Tri Nguyen - very intense, looks menacing through out.. does his fist do the talking most of the time.. would have loved to see a little lesser hypnoticism and more action.. :-)
5. Abhinaya  - such a great talent I felt after watching her in "Nadodigal" just comes for a few seconds?? Not sure if an actor like her was needed for that filler.. 
6. Some silly directorial mistakes like.. When Shruti haasan stands in the bus stop and she gets on to the elephant.. she suddenly becomes bare foot?? yen.. verun kaalula nikkanamnu venduthala? flash back shows Shruti spending considerable amt of time with Surya's family members at Kanchipuram.. everybody has only vague memory of her except one Anni who remembers everything?? yen michavangalukku yenna amnesia va?
7. The transition in the end to Bodhi Dharma - when the transition has not yet been completed.. Dong Lee thrashes him so badly that is impossible for somebody to even get up.. surya transforming physically.. eyes turning blue.. not required.. if the DNA is unleashed its not necessary the body form changes so drastically.. a natural depiction would have been better.. the ending was a little too aburpt..
8. Some concentration on how he actually cures the people.. brings back the magical medicine.. that wud have made it a little more interesting.. possibly taken some tips from "Outbreak"? 
9. Forgot to mention.. Ravi.K.Chandran's cinematography - absolutely brilliant.. the lighting and capture.. splendid.. hope he works in more tamil movies.. 
10. BGM and music.. I had already reacted on this earlier to an earlier music review by my friend Karthik Ananth.. Harris Jayaraj.. aiyoo aiyoo.. bad BGM.. felt like it was a jugalbandhi of so many copies.. the mandarin song was a nice move.. definitely not Harris's.. but atha twinkle twinkle little star tonelaya podanam? nonsense.. the movie's actual villain is not Dong Lee.. its this guy.. Harris on the edge had the audience really on the edge with some "mind blowing" background scores.. literally :-)) ARR's BGM scores would have definitely taken this to a different level.. 

I sincerely appreciate Murugadoss for introducing a great master like Bodhi Dharma to us.. you feel proud definitely when you realize that a tamizhan was behind the founding of the Shaolin temple.. a tighter script I felt would have made it a little more entertaining.. my take ..  but definitely a good one time watch.. to satisfy your curiosity..

Ra.ONE's Ten Commandments!

1. If you use an 'Ayyo' in every sentence and have a self portrait of yourself in a white dhoti, you are classified as a 'filter kaapi' South Indian.
2. 2 minute noodles can be consumed by a South Indian using his hands and curd in less than a minute.
3. Multi million Game Giants can exist in London....conversing only in Hindi and having Hindi clientele base.
4. In order to be a teacher in London, you are supposed to have your very own striptease video posted in the net for your students to obtain maximum 'gyan'.
5. If Indians see a Chinese origin guy, they will assume he is Bruce Lee.
6. Women don't care about losing their husbands as long as an improved version crosses the cyberworld and joins them in day2day life...
7. You can bury the dead Hindu in a casket and still take an urn of ashes to dispose off in Ganga....Now that's sentiment!
8. Wolkswagen vehicles can safely transport your wife and kid through a bus at 100 miles an hour without causing any personal injury. Also it can spin endlessly...till the hero and heroine have made their respective introductions.
9. Apart from three laws of Isaac Asimov that govern every Robot.... an Indian robot must be able to love, dance, sing and demonstrate 'Power Yoga'.
10. No amount of murder, action and mayhem will alert the police in any country. Your cyber baddie and goodie will run around causing widespread chaos till both their batteries drain out or when the game ends.

Still... a great movie ...worth watching once in a theater for entertainment purposes!

RA.ONE : MOVIE REVIEW (No Spoilers)

I am confused on what to write ...so i collected my thoughts and decided to give a crisp review analyzing the pros and cons of SRK's highly ambitious project.

In a nutshell...Ra.One .... Definitely a mixed bag .... but thats not what people want to read....so here goes....

Positives:

1. Great VFX and Sound effects
2. The Train Action scene is brilliantly taken..... (though slightly inspired)
3. ARJUN RAMPAL IS ONE MENACING VILLAIN!
4. Great to see SuperStar Rajinikanth's cameo on screen...
5. SRK and team have taken great effort in giving us a film that matches up to international standards with respect to the technical department

Negatives:

1. Poor music ....ordinary background score.....Chammak Chalo is the only tolerable piece!
2. The Direction and Screenplay is not tight ..... movie is already inspired by many sources...tends to lose focus....
3. SRK as a South indian might not even convince rest of india...forget about Tamil Nadu!
4. Rajini's cameo....boon and a bane...Rajini fans will be depressed to see the Superstar portrayed in such a manner..the graphics for the entire movie was brilliant...why screw up this potentially epic scene...i don't know if there was any offense intended...the idea was good...but execution...pathetic...
5. Movie is weak in the humor dept...and target audience is not as broad as expected.

OVERALL VERDICT:
Ra.One promised a lot....delivered in a few areas...failed in certain....Kudos to the entire team for the hard effort...worth watching once in a theatre...

Ra.One is like a tasty Dosa served with poor chutney and sambhar..... Satisfaction...Almost!


RATING: 3/5

PS: DON-2 Trailer is awesome....i am sure that is gonna make for Ra.ONE's mistakes...though i detect a serious Prison Break Influence! :)

RockStar Music Review: ARR Achieves Musical Excellence

Note: a collection of my live facebook reviews for the entire album assimilated into a single write up for the reader's convenience. :)


Rockstar .... Imtiaz Ali and Ranbir Kapoor's magnum opus, has been one of the most awaited albums of the year....mainly because it marks the return of A.R.Rahman to the indian music industry after a pretty long hiatus. And Boy!!!! Has the maestro delivered or what!!! Tremendous....14 songs...each one brilliant in it's own right.

Phir se Ud Chala.....magical sound....Mohit Chauhan is unbelievable.....when bass, harmonies and rhythms kick in after 90 seconds....song is outta the world!

Jo Bhi main.....loved the promo!! and Love the song even more...yet another leaf taken from Pink Floyd's book...Rahman has decided to bring progressive rock to Indian industry! Superb feel......awesome bass by Keith Peters!!

A.R.R's mastery over indian folk music continues with 'Katiya Karun'.....has a Kabhi Neem Neem touch initially but then westernizes due to impressive arrangements....rustic vocals.....will be a rage in the north!

Kun Faaya Ku....let's see....a sufi song ....qawwali with A.R.Rahman and Javed Ali...already a divine combination...love the way the initial chords are played on the harmonium! :) FTW!!!

Sheher Mein - a simple song...but great concept....shows the way a band develops a song and evolves it's structure...... Karthik and Mohit Chauhan's vocals compliment each other very well...i am sure the video will be very interesting! :) after 2 minutes....when the guitars and strings join in....then the song improves dramatically! :) then a mystic qawwali interlude....people will love this on multiple hearings!

Haawa Haawa is ARR's genius work exploring world music...fusing elements from Turkey, Israel and Spain....with ARR's trademark strings and melodian ..A masterpiece/..... this is for the elite music savvy audience...second guitar interlude is fantastic.....Great number!

Aur Ho - A.R.Rahman has used the feel he generated in the bgm of 127 hours to create this song....great arabian touch to all the western arrangements! Sung brilliantly by Mohit Chauhan once again.....great anger and melancholy in the lyrics and tune.....

Nadaan Parindey.....a great start....awesome drummings! THen ARR's voice kicks in! :) superb bass....live drums is always a treat to hear it....A dream for me ...always wanted ARR to sing a Rock song!!! Mohit Chauhan starts of tangentially with beautiful chords on the guitar...the guitars and drums sound phenomenal..superb sounding....then a scale shift... great to hear...and now a Guitar Solo! :) a complete musical package.....one of my favorites in this album!

Tum Ko - its been a while since we heard Kavita Subramaniam sing! when the chords and tabla kick in, that's when ARR's touch comes in....song is very much in the ARR feel of Puthiya mugam, Roja and Anjali...KS's vocal tone is superb ....ARR brings out the best in her....this is so far the best track melody wise .... Amazing Strings.... main forte....

SADDA HAQ!! great singing by Mohit Chauhan....superb guitaring...nice rockish organ tones used for providing chords.....amazing harmonies to boost the 'Sadda Haq' 's feel! This song scores the highest in terms mass appeal..Will be the cover of this album for sure! guitar solo in the first interlude is outta the world....great support by piano and pads....some awesome jazz and blues chords inserted in certain portions...might be difficult to detect..but the presence is definitely felt....the end is a resonating example of musical grandeur by the Mozart of Madras!

Tum Ho - the love melody that we can generally associate Mohit Chauhan's voice with...naturally he has done complete justice to it...Suzzane's voice is very soothing in the background....great chords and bass..... This track will be a sure hit.....it is 'THE LOVE SONG' of this versatile album.....tune is got an unique flow to it....

Tango for Taj ..... mesmerizing instrumental music by A.R.Rahman.....the bass guitar and strings support the accordions and piano in such a manner that we tend to forget the world and begin our own tango......superb music!! FTW ARR!!!

The Dichotomy of Fame - uniqueness to the core.....no body can use the shehnai in this fashion...western fusion.....taking the melancholy out of a shehnai is a tremendous achievement and A.R.Rahman makes it look very easy!...after a minute, there is some superb guitaring as well.....and the chords....OMG! :) ARR you are in ur elements for sure....suddenly when the bass kicks in...the feel becomes more darker....superb transition...Love this piece of work

The Meeting Place.......celestial start....chords have a heavenly feel...and he has used the tone of signal disturbance as a music tone ...the Genius!!! OMG!


CONCLUSION:
Rajinikanth is the SUPERSTAR of movies...
Rockstar is the SUPERSTAR of Bollywood music ....
A.R.Rahman is the SUPERSTAR of music....
When a person can give you a music album that has 11 songs and 3 instrumentals...each one ...exemplifying musical excellence...with genres transcending from sufi to Rock to Pop to Turkish and Spanish music ... a kaleidoscope of international music... What is left to review!!
Rockstar is A.R.Rahman's most perfect work in Bollywood till date....
Time for another filmfare and National Award! Jai ho!

RATING: 10/10....Two thumbs up.....must buy for this season!