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Ajith as the don fails to set new standards
Though on lines similar to earlier, successful movies, 'Red' fails to grasp its full potential writes Balaji
Balasubramaniam.
With neither 'Citizen' nor 'Poovellaam Un Vaasam' doing as well as expected, Ajith is desperately looking for a hit to make sure his career doesn't go into another one of those slides that he is so famous for. So he has turned to the same role that has given him two hits so far - that of the heroic, violence-prone but goodhearted don. But some unnecessary civic-mindedness, a listless romance and the blatant attempt at creating a larger-than-life image for Ajith make this Red a lot less appealing when compared to the hero in either 'Dheena' or 'Amarkkalam'.
Ajith is Red (it stands for Revolution, Education, Development), an orphan who has since grown up to be the local don in Madurai. Naturally he possesses a heart of gold and when not bashing up bad guys, he spends his time forcing schools to accept students without donations and taking care of orphans. Cheeni (Salim Ghouse) is his biggest enemy. Red falls for Gayatri (Priya Gill), the daughter of his friend and confidante Narayanan (Manivannan) and helps her without her knowledge. She too likes him but wants him to give up his life of violence. Meanwhile a reporter (Rajesh) for Ananda Vikatan begins to serialise Red's story under the name Aadi and it becomes quite the rage among readers.
Both Ajith's and first time director Ram Sathya's attempt to emulate the success of 'Dheena' is all too apparent here. The introductory fight in the rain, Ajith's frequent, slow-motion walk with his goons in tow, his less-than confident approach to romance and the sentiments - all remind us of his 2001 Pongal hit. But unfortunately, the director fails to put these elements together in the same entertaining manner. Here the fights are routine, the romance is feeble and the sentiments are overblown. There are some moments to appreciate in all of them but these are too minor and too far apart to salvage the movie.
The idea of Ajith's life appearing in print is novel and considering the addictive nature of true stories, the dedicated readership for it is somewhat believable. It also sets the stage for a different climax, which has not been exploited fully. On the contrary, the sight of a huge crowd of people wearing dresses with 'Aadhi' stitched on them and being herded around becomes inadvertently funny. The director also shows us that he is capable of portraying a cute romance with a few scenes (for instance, the scene where the autodriver brings Priya Gill to Ajith). But on the whole, the romance is quite dull.
The entire movie seems targeted towards Ajith fans only. Several of the dialogs (like his belief in those having his photo in their autos) seem designed to elicit whistles from his fans. Many of his initial activities, like his tirade against schools collecting donations and his attachment towards the orphans in the orphanage too seem to be aimed at building up his image. But the director in his enthusiasm has overdone it and groans are induced any time Ajith begins one of his speeches. In fact the director fails to even be consistent in his portrayal of Ajith with his forced induction of Anand into the cricket team actually appearing to be corrupt.
Ajith looks flabby and though the shaved head does lessen his boyish look and help him look believable in the role, his voice lets him down. But he does attempt to introduce some gimmicks like pushing back his collar, rubbing his head and shouting "Adhu". Priya Gill is a huge misfit for a poor
Madurai girl and her lack of emoting strength is obvious at a few places too. Salim Ghou-se rants and raves like a regular villain but does nothing much otherwise. Manivann-an has a few funny lines but the most laughs are brought about by the artificial sentiments (as when police
inspector Rajeev visits Ajith and presents him with a shawl!). Vindhya has a single song sequence though the director attempts to provide her with a semblance of a background with two other scenes.
Deva does a good job with the soundtrack and though the picturisation is nothing new, the song sequences do manage to keep the viewer in his seat. 'Roja Kaattu...' and 'Nov-ember Maadham...' are both nice mix of melody and catchiness. 'Red Red...' is the typical introductory song while 'Til Til Til...' is another catchy number whose lyrics talk about the best products from different countries.
Appreciative gestures
It was a gesture that touched the hearts of its two recipients. Nandita Das, the dusky beauty, is acting in two tamil films - Thangar Bachan's debut directorial venture 'Azhagi' with Partibhan and Devayani and Maniratnam's 'Kannathil Muthamittal' with Madhavan and Simran. When the shooting of 'Azhagi' was completed Nandita in a rare gesture not seen from many artistes, complimented Devayani on her performance. And wasn't Devayani thrilled! Again, Nandita called up Savita the dubbing artiste who had dubbed her voice, and praised her too. Nandita, by her noble gesture, has left pleasant memories for those she'd worked with. No wonder the unit can't stop raving about her.
Popular by the day!
Shaam's '12B' may have gone down without a whimper, but the debutant hero's performance was appreciated and the actor has quite a few films in his kitty. After walking up and down the offices of various filmmakers, doing a bit role as one of Vijay's gang in 'Khushi', Shaam had taken the train to Mumbai where he did a crash course in acting. The reception was different when he returned to Chennai this time. And after a screen test, Jeeva signed him promptly for his debut venture '12B'. His cute looks and endearing performance has got the actor quite a lot of female fans. Now Shaam has been signed by producer G.V. and director Vasanth for their new film 'Ae Nee Azhga Irukke' with Sneha as is his co-star. There's '12B' producer Vikram Singh's next film, where he is paired with popular model Trisha. Directed by Priyadarshan, the plot is from his own Malayalam film. Also in the anvil is a film with Jeeva, and one with Charan. "There have been a lot of offers, but I'm being selective, making sure there's variety, and working with a commitment."
Taking his time
The Ajit Starrer 'Dhina' got recognition for its debutant director Murugadas. But the guy seems to have taken a quick sabbatical while producers were looking out to sign him. Murugadas has now signed his second film for producer Oscar Ravichandran, with Vijaykant playing the hero. Taking time off from his 'Supercop' and 'Local bigwig' roles, Vijaykant this time plays a college professor. Sharing the frames would be a heroine from Mumbai. Though producers are making a beeline to his door, Murugadas is in no hurry to sign his third film. 'I'll think about my next film after I finish this one,' says the director.
Turning point...
Vindhya may not have many films on hand, but she did make it to the front pages of newspapers and magazines when her mother gave a police complaint that her daughter, a minor had been kidnapped by her manager. Vindhya in return called the press to inform them that she had walked away from home, that she was a major, and that she had left home only to escape the harassment of her parents. With not many films in hand the attractive 'Sangamam' girl has turned to the small screen where she plays the central role in a serial. Meanwhile, Ajit has come to her rescue and she's got a meaty role in his new film 'Red'. It's that of a woman 'rowdy' from Madurai. While the unit members rave about her performance, Vindhya herself admits that she had a ball playing the role.
Stiff competition
Satyaraj was in a quandary recently. For the actor had to do a dance scene with Devayani and Mumtaz for his new film, 'Vivaramana Aalu'. Both the actresses are skilled dancers, while Satyaraj knew he could never match up to them. So the actor is reported to have taken a couple of days permission, rehearsed the steps, and then returned to the sets. And this time he faced no embarrassment as he matched his two heroines step for step.
Hectic flying around!
It was a hectic week for comedy actor Vyapuri as he shuttled between Chennai and Malaysia, but the actor had no complaints. In fact he's thrilled that he's in demand now, working alternately on two films, flying to Chennai and Malaysia turn by turn. While the unit of 'Pammal K.Sambandham' needed him in Chennai for the comedy track, the unit of 'Arasatchi' waited for the actor to return to Malaysia, to complete his scenes there. 'Lucky guy!' said an envious colleague. From a bearer in a small hotel in Mount Road, Vyapuri is going places.
And here comes the ‘King’
Vikram made it to the top with super hits like 'Sethu' and 'Dhil'. His latest 'Kasi' may also prove a winner. He is currently busy with his next assignment, 'King'. Six songs, lyrics for which were penned by Vaira-muthu, have been recorded, sung by Dhevan, Unnikrishnan, Sujatha, Nithyasri, Tippu, Sankar Mahadevan, Mahalakshmi and Matangi. In addition to the above six, another three have been recorded for the purpose of album. Dhina has scored music to the movie starring Vikram and Sneha and directed by Solomon. Solomon has already directed an Arjun movie, 'Kannodu kaanbadhellaam', but that was under his pseudonym 'Prabhu.' Krishnakanth - the 'kingmaker' - is the producer.
Akash and Reka in ‘Music’
Gokulam Medias, a new film company is making the film 'Music' starring Akash and debutant Reka. The music for 'Music' is by none other than the great Ilayaraja. Jeniffer, who previously acted in 'Kadhal jathi' by Kasthuri Raja, plays the second heroine. Vadivelu, Janakaraj, Dh-amu, Vaiyapuri are also in the cast. A lyric by
Pulamaipiththan, sung by Karthik and Matangi has been recorded for the film. Rameshji cans the shots and K. B. Hari is in charge of editing while Prabha handles the art department. N. T. Murthy is in charge of production. The story, screenplay, dialogue and direction are looked after by L. S. Valayapathi, who previously directed 'Manju virattu,' with Murali as the hero. It has been planned to shoot 'Music' in Ooty, Kutralam, Kulu Manali, Kodaikanal and the song sequences are 'phoren' - in America, Japan, London…
Quite flows the river…
'The Tale Teller' is making its new film, 'Nadhi', starring Rishi and Prathiyusha, directed by R. Dhanapani. Vijayakanth lit the lamp and set the camera rolling, holding the clapboard for the first shot. 'Nadhi', the director claims as usual 'has a different kind of story (please find a different word to describe the 'different kind' that you actually mean!) that would have all the ingredients that would be liked by audience of all the areas. Six songs have been recorded, with music scored by Adityan. The news is that music director Adityan dances for a song sequence - ahem - breaking the records!
Magician in 3D
Navodaya Appachan who created quite a sizzle with the first 3D film in India, 'My dear
Kuttichaththan', is back again with ano-ther 3D movie, 'Magician.' The story of
'Magician' is centred on a magician visiting New York City, played by S P Balasubramaniam. Jose, the younger son of Appachan, directs 'Magician' while Aswini Kaul cans the shots and Jagan scores music. Appachan is happy that the 3D thriller is rolling fast into the camera. 'Kuttichaththan' brought happiness to kids of the last generation and now it is the turn of Magician to win their affection,' he said.
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