Aytha Ezuthu Movie Reviews

Well done by director Manirathnam. He wants to increase the awareness of public regarding the indian politics. He had chosen best script and done his job well. From the Streets to the Secretariat - by means of youth revolution -The message is clear, but what's the turnaround time. The question that arises in everyone's mind as we leave the movie hall.

I have reasons for it. Let's c the few earlier movies in same categor., Shankar experimented "CM for a day" in his "Mudhalvan"(Tamil) or "Nayak"(Hindi) as well as "Anniyan"( Tamil) or "Aparichit"(Hindi) for all illegal work of citizens, raised voice against hefty fee collection in self-financing professional colleges in

"Gentleman"(Tamil), exposed the hidden traits of government officials who accept bribes in "Indian"(Tamil). There were quite a number of attempts made before on youth revolution, from various cinema factories, combines and creations, and this time from Mani.

If I remember correctly, when those movies premièred, the youth were all fired up as if they have got the initiate a revolt and got to take on the world from then on! And years gone by, there wasn't any or at least of that sort! What did we gain or accomplished out of those movies. Just a matter of entertaining hours. The questions still linger around me. You might think, "Am I going to write the review and get the hell out of here or trying to be a Granny or some crusader!

Well, the anticipation in me, made me write those with the hope that I can just add more fuel to the fire that Mani Ratnam has tried to create in this Chennai Talkies' production, "Aayudha Ezhuthu". The movie name "Aayudha Ezhuthu" is nothing but, a Vowel letter in tamil. The shape is like triangle. But there is no connection between three edges. It's like Screen Play, The Napier Bridge in Chennai, a busy day, haphazard traffic with vehicles racing toward their destinations, Inba's(Madhavan) jeep too. Michael(Surya), with the charming girl Gita(Isha Deol) at the back of his bike. Arjun(Sidhaarth) pleading to Meera(Trisha) and going behind her.

Where are they heading for?, to meet each other and allow some traces of thrill and topsy-turvy turns in their lives. You know, the Aayudha Ezhuthu(three dots) as such are distant apart and never meet each other technically, but these protagonists(perceived as the three dots) will do and from this moment, it's a racy track till the end. Inba - a local goondaa is a button in a politician's remote and would oblige to what he's asked to do.

And he emerges out on the frame to do one such task for his boss Selvanayagam(Bharathi Raja). He aims at Michael, shots fired, and the camera rolls back. Inba dwells in Kuppam (slums) with Sasi. Anyone will hate him in this movie, for his irritating outfit and looks, for his barbaric acts towards Sasi, which is an accolade for him. But, there is also a feeling that's left out that Madhavan comes little short to fit exactly to the role of a spoiled brat! - exceptionally for his language sometimes.

There's nothing going on in between Inba and Sasi other than their private times. Sasi has done well as a wife of a rowdy, but is that a real color of a cheri wife? I have heard different, I mean she doesn't talk a word against her darling, does not conflict with whatever he does. Michael - a student leader is a revolutionist and would not hesitate to raise his voice against the injustice done to the public or the student community.

Michael to his part on the opening frame gets shot by Michael and the camera rolls back for him to re-live his past. He is annoyed with cheap politicians; their selfish acts and comes to the rescue of the poor people. He believes in young bloods making it to the politics can see India Shining!, which is a welcome thought. Honestly, one gets goose pimples to see Michael and his friends in the Assembly among other Karai Vettis:-). I would like to see this in reality, whatsoever it takes.

Gita, Michael's girlfriend comes back to Chennai after finishing her studies to join him in his adventurous acts. Isha Deol, though her origin is from TamilNadu, got a lot of references to North, might be fitting well in Yuva. Arjun - a flirt, enjoys his student life to the fuller, goes to bars, discotheque and have fun appears in the screen walking behind Meera saying "I love you" just from the mouth and not from the heart(I told you he is a flirt). And continues to show-off his heroic act(from Boys) to confess his 6-week love to Meera.

The camera rolls back here for the third time. He meets Meera in a club, gets attracted, Acquainted, invites for a chitchat at Coffee Day. and Meera, as coolas a Watermelon for this summer, accepts it and takes it easy and dates with him. She already has plans to get married and settle down in Sivakasi!. Meera tells her probable is an educated and cultured and works abroad. One wonders here, why would she then want to settle down in Sivakasi. Director only has got the answer.

And Arjun has a different tale to tell, his desire to fly to the US for his higher studies. His father doesn't know of his efforts to go abroad, which is highly unbelievable! Though he got his runway cleared for a take-off, he prefers to stay back after he saves Michael's life and decides to join him to finally become an MLA.

Out of the three girls in the movie, Sasi is the only one who has got some work to do. I would say Gita and Meera are just used as dolls! But, all of them are magnanimous in exposing, which is unusual in a

Maniratnam's movie. Typically, the movie wholly rests on the guys from different walks of life and girls just provide fragrance to the flower bunch.

I knew Bharathiraja is a genius among his counterparts in directing a movie, but as an Actor, I don't see any extra-ordinary that makes him an apt choice for the politician's role. "Nenjamellam Kadhal", a very good number and one of the popular among the other songs got a disappointing picturization. One second I thought I was watchin' a Woodstock!:-). One More time Director!, Tamil folks are so thirsty and they need more and more and more. that too from a creator of a "Kannathil Muthamittal", "Nayagan" and so on. Aayudha Ezhuthu - Powerfully written with a permanent marker. Hard to erase.

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Okays...my take on Aayitha Ezhuthu...not that I'm good in writing reviews...but just wanted to express my views...

Well...am not go into the details of the movie which most of ya must be knowing by now...well thanks to some people who happened to post the whole story in here without putting the ''spoiler alert'' tag:)

Hmm...I'll talk abt the charactersiations first...nope not the way show it is in the movie...wht I think of the characters...

Inba: Undoubtedly the most interesting character in the movie...a very violent,offensive character...it was more interesting to see a hero playin' this role...Usually when heroes play negative roles...the role is highly glorified...well usually we have the same hero playing the gud guy in a doube action or else..the hero's negative nature wud be justified by having a flash back..which leaves the audience sympathising him towards the end:)..Inba is interesting coz...he's bad coz he grew this way..we dun see a reason...& most importantly he wud be hated!!!

SPOILER

More so...coz he doesnt have a redemtion in the end...

End of SPOILER

Spl. Kudos to Mani for this characterisation :)

Sasi: She's Inba's gal...the one he obsessively loves,violently beats...yet she loves him ,adores him,trying to bring out the gudness in him(which only she cud see).Why ???Is she submissive in nature..not really.As mani himself quotes ...''she's infact the strongest of the 3 women''.Unfortunately she fails miserably in her attempt...coz Inba seems to be more comfortable in the wrong side of the law.

Michael: Here comes Mr.Michael...the idealististic main protaganist of the film.Unfortunately this character fails to impress me...coz of its unrealistic nature...& afterall idealistic heroes aren't something new to Thamizh movies ,are they?:) Yeah ...well I may be wrong when I say unrealistic...should I be sayin' overboard??Well am not sure...but all sed & done he's our hero...the most important of the 3 lead protagonists.

Gitanjili: Better known as Gigi...she's Michael's childhood sweetheart,....brattish, with a twinkle in her eyes always...a character which most college going gals might actually relate too..unfortunately thts all she is...nothing more.

Arjun: A bigtime flirt,yuppiee,a wanna be greencard holder.When Inba aims for ''Panam,Power& Padhavi''& Michael a ''A cleansed society'', Arjun's seems much more simple ''Gals & lotsa fun'' :).What most ppl are t'day.

Mira: Well she's nothin' more then the feminine version of Arjun, just that her US trip is much simple...sponsored by her prospective groom:)

Uh oh...seems like I've taken the major portion for character sketches like Mani as well.

Well...of the technical crew....RKC's work is amazing...well I wudnt have believed tht ''Hey goodbye nanba'' song was actually shot in Kovalam beach if it wasnt mentioned earlier:) Amazing picturization for Indian stds.

Sreekar Prasad's editing is very good..infact in brings out the diff. in each character effectively.

Music..needless to say ...the songs are all gud..but picturisation....may be I was expectin' too much coz its a mani movie...well but ''Dol Dol'' was definitely somethin' out of ordinary...I mean in terms of picturisation.

Climax stunt in the Napiers Bridge was indeed awesome..but who should I appreciate??? Vikram Dharma or the person incharge for Spl. effects???Anyways I do want say to somethin' here,wish ppl learn from mani...spl effects are somethin' which shud be used to enhance a scene...not juz to boast abt sayin' i've used this technique...hope ppl learn...sigh!

Now for the performances.Yeah we have an extremely talented Surya,''allow me to prove myself'' Madhavan & ''I've juz stepped outta Boys sets'' Siddarth.My pick of the lot is definitely Madhavan...coz he's got the most complex role...& he happened to prove his acting prowess..silencing his critics.

The guy shud be given credit for the hard work he's done.Surya is indeed his usual amazing self...juz tht his character doesnt appeal much.His brushes with BR will be long remembered.Sid...well does wht required of him..pretty neatly.Of the gals,its Meera who stands out.She's got the meatiest of the small roles they've been given.Her Thamizh diction is worth a mention. Esha & Trisha..are adequate & look cute:)

BR is really a pleasant surprise & really really gud.Sriman is gud as well.

Sujatha's dialogues are as usual gud..esp. those witty ones tht Sid speaks.

But what abt the movie....yeah like most of them say its definitely not Mani's best...but it is Mani's work indeed...far ahead of the movies we often get to see.The movie has its own flaws...(the most evident one being...it doesnt justify wht the trailors sed...its only Arjun's life which changes after the accident)...but then final product is gud enuf so tht one cud actually overlook the flaws.

The only problem with us is tht we have set high stds for a Mani film so we dun seem to come to term with it when this one happened to fall short of our expectations.But for all those ppl who are groaning in dismay....this is how Mani wanted the movie to be..& we shud take it the way he's taken...its his product..we have rights to comment on it..but then guess dun think we can actually say ''it shudnt have been this way'', coz this is exactly he wanted it to be:).

All I wanna say is this...AE is good,might disappoint a few for the ''flaws'' they might find in it..but I wud rather watch a movie with few flaws rather than watching a ''flaw'' by itself as a movie:)

Thanx for reading:)

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Three dots, Ayutha Ezhuthu (ak) is the last consonant in Tamil alphabet.

Another good movie from Mani Ratnam. Since Ayutha Ezhuthu also means ?letter of weapon?, this is an action packed movie with well choreographed stunts. The three dots in the movie are meant for the three guys who come together in an accident scene. It?s the usual story with the face off between good guys and the bad guys against the corrupt state of the political system.

Here, we have a good guy (Surya), a bad guy (Madhavan) and the inspired kid (Siddharth). The photography was amazing, the director has the three men different colour tones denoting their character through the movie. Madhavan is shown in red tones, green for Surya and Blue for Siddharth. The flashback storytelling method is used effectively. A.R. Rahman?s music was awesome and brilliant performances from the cast.

A special kudos to Bharathiraja! What an expressive face this man has. Madhavan might have gotten second billing after Surya but it was Maddy who steals the show. The role brings out the emotional range in him. Surya nails the angry young man part. The film gets somewhat dragging during Siddharth?s storyline. However, the movie has several plot holes.

Just how does a hit man miss his almost point blank target? The ending leaves much to be desired, not really a viable solution to the problem. Nevertheless, it is a good film with fantastic direction, amazing stunts & effects.

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Aayitha Ezhuthu ? Out of Focus

Mani Ratnam?s film Aayitha Ezhuthu ( the Tamil version of ?Yuva?) had aroused great expectations among the people. The trailers were excellently posted and this created a good hype. But my personal opinion is that Aayitha Ezhuthu is disappointing. Not an empty pot, but the pot was more than half filled. But it lacked something which separated it from Mani?s biggies- the Alaipayutheys or the Kannathhil Muthamittals.

As for as the film?s theme ? ?Youth coming into Politics? is good and has come at the right moment. The story swirling around a single incident ? a reminder of the Alaipayuhey is fine. The camera man has done a good job. The Music by A.R. Rehman is nice and youthful. The areas which lagged behind were the screenplay and the direction.

The audio cassettes and the CDs had created a good background for the movie release. But the picturisation of the songs was extremely poor. As usual of Mani?s films, songs were not fully picturised in the movie- very much expected, though not disappointing. It is his way of conveying the message ? songs only complement the film not the vice versa. When I think of picturisation of the songs, two songs strike my mind blatantly ? ?Yakkai Thiri ? and ?Nenjam Ellam Kadhal?.

The lyrics of Yakkai Thiri focuses on Love- eternal and divine love- the role it plays in the lives of the people. (Yakkai- the outer body, Thiri ? oil wick, kadhal ? Love, sudar- the flame of a lamp). But the filming has got nothing to do with Love, rather with Kama ? the sexual pleasure. It brings out a scene common with the metro night clubs. It would have been better if the lyricist had written it as ? Yakkai Thiri kamam jwalai? (Jwalai means fire, holocaust ). The other song ? Nenjam Ellam? was so beautifully sung by Sujatha and Adnan Sami.

Their voices were really superb. But as far as the filming is concerned, it was just an add-on to Surya?s flashback. As if a kind of equal distribution of songs among the heroes. It was very poorly inserted. I, after coming out of the theatre, even forgot when was the song played in the movie. It would have been better if the song was not filmed.

As far as the direction is concerned, the first half was very interesting and fast moving, filled with violence and romanticism. The second half saw a dip in the mood ? a bit slow and long. I feel the Siddharth character was again an add-on. Not enough stuff to be conveyed in his charaterisation. Also his was romantic heroism- no mere romanticism and vulgarity- flirting around with girls. His character takes a turn and plunges into the movie only after the incident. Till then it is separate and disjoint.

I felt that his role could have been put up in the first half and a bit shorter. This could have kept the momentum of the film. As for Madhavan?s character is concerned, he is unstable, extremely violent and highly short tempered. His flashback portrayed good violence and equivalently good romance. His character was well established within a few scenes and I don?t know why the director had to go on loitering with it.

As for as Surya?s role is concerned, it was good ? a highly focused, jubilant, straight forward and brave mass leader. The entire story was led by his character and should have had more emphasis. Issues could have been introduced and his character strengthened.

The heroines ? Meera Jasmine, Trisha and Isha. Meera Jasmine had a nice role to play. She has done it well. Trisha ? probably important to Siddharth?s character but not for the story. Her role could have been put to an end in the flashback. She had no role after the incident. And Isha had no role to play in the entire movie. Another add-on to convey the message ? ?Youth means romance?. Bharathiraja ? a nice role ? could have had more emphasis.

Aayitha Ezhuthu lacked focus. The message ? youth coming to politics? lost amidst romance. The scens after the incident were too few to cook up the message- a lot of time lost in unimportant issues and baseless songs.

The three flashbacks should have got over by the first half and the second half should have dominated. But it was the other way. The momentum gained in the first half ran out of steam and stopped virtually. Quite a lot of commercialism seen in Mani?s film too. In short, Aayitha Ezhuthu lost focus and missed the path. Really a disappointment for Mani Ratnam?s fans.

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If you have not seen this movie, then it is not possible to run through this review because it is entirely a comparsion of AE's heroes characters with the real heroes. Here I'm going to compare Mani Ratnam with Michale done by Surya, A R Rahman with Arjun Balakrishnan performed by Siddarth and writer Sujatha with Inba by Madhavan. Here is my comparsion....

Mani Ratnam vs Michale

Mani , a management degree holder but his education has prepared him in no way for a career in film making. And he revolutionized the Tamil Film Industry with technically strong films that are beautifully photographed with well picturised songs. He got a place in the indian film world as a good director among others because of his consistent record. We can compare him with Michale in Aythya Ezuthu, who dominates well in this film than the others. He is the main character for this story. A Ph.D student, who wants to change the mindset of the society with his strong fired dialogue. Michael is revolutionary, passive, thought-provoking, inspiring and ambitious.

In mani's film, you can expect a sharp dialogue like dialogues of Michacle. In Mani's film, dialogue is one of the most important thing for his film which works out well like 'avangala nirutha sollu nan niruthuren' and 'neega nalavara kettavara' in Nayakan and dialogues in Roja,Bombay. Like Mani, Michale comes up with the most cliched dialogues like hormones and XY chromosomes and dialogues with Selva Nayagam inspires others stand out.

Mani - Two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Feature, and also received prestigious ''Padmashree Award. His most of the films are screened in the international film festivals and he has a international recognition. Rojamade Ratnam a household name all over India as it was dubbed and released in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Marathi, and proved to be a huge success all over the country and for this film he received the Rajiv Gandhi award for National Integration. Here are the points for his international recognition.

But he is not interested in international film making. And Mani's most of the films are shooted in India only. Now-a-days, most of the Indian film directors have an untold formula of taking atleast one song in a foreign location. But Mani's film has only India flavour, but we can't except that it was shooted in India like Uriyee song in Bombay, locations of Kashmir in Roja and Dil se.

To compare Mani, Michale is a brilliant student who turns down a scholarship from a Nobel laureate,America to do research and an offer to go abroad when most of the students and professionals prefer to go abroad in search of money!!!!!

Michel aims at reforming the Indian society by the active participation of youth and finally entered the assembly with his friends. But Mani reforms the Indian film world with his winning team like A.R.Rahman, Vairamuthu, P C Shriram, Santhosh Sivan, Kamal Hasan, Thotta Tharani, Suresh Urs. And the winning team has got many national awards like

A R Rahman vs Arjun Balakrishnan

Arjun Balakrishnan is a US-aspired built-up boy wants to go abroad and a womaniser. His only interest is US and he lives a world full of dreams of making it big in foreign shores. He always thinks about the US and rejected the fathers interest to become an IAS officer. Like Arjun Balakrishnan, A.R Rahman graduated with a degree in Western Classical Music and his interest is only international music. His international interest includes

But finally Arjun announces that he is ready to contest in the elections. This when no body else is ready ! He wants to serve the country after seeing Michale. And Rahman despite his work taking him further and further away from his home, he still stays true to his mother tongue - Tamil, and the Tamil film industry, which made him a star.

And one more thing to compare. Arjun is the most important person for Michales entry into the Assembly because he is the one who saved the life of Michale. Like Arjun, Rahman is the one of the most important person for saving the life of many cancer patients because he performed a music show ''unity of life'', which was organised to raise funds for the Mahesh Memorial Trust, that has been set up to pursue work in the area of paediatric cancer care.

Sujatha vs Inba

Inba, a gangster, who knows only the language of violence and wants a decent life whichever way he can achieve it. He is absolutely unpredictable,violent and money thirsty. We don't know what he is going to do next like killing his own brother and leaving Selva Nayagam when many of us thought that he is going to kill him. We can't able to predict his character. To compare Inba, many of us don't know what Sujatha is doing other than writing. Sujatha Rangarajan is stand out in every field more than writting. We should not stick him as a writer alone. Here are the points for his multi talent

Inba's only interest is money like Sujatha's interest in writing.

All these three heroes(Ratnam, Rahman & Sujatha) combination well received by the audience. They started from Roja, followed by Bombay,KME and now AE.

Let the international audience to enjoy watching

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XPECTATIONS

I always expect something more than a film from Mani sir, a memory deep down in our hearts that stays on for ever. I have never been turned down till date. My expectations of AE has been upbeat from day one. MANIsir normally has space for only 2 protogonists, but with him accomodating as many as 7 people, the excitement was natural. The crew and cast were full of big names and a few unusual names. And for the first time I know, there was a simultaneous Hindi version with a equally powerful cast and crew.

Even in my wildest of dreams, I didnt think MANIsir had political apprehensions in AE. Once I got to know, AE meant youth politics, my expectations only enhanced to the extreme. Then came the website and trailors and they did umpteen times more their works. The trailors and website were very classy and perfectly hinted upon theme of the fim. I had never found a theme as interesting as this in Tamil Cinema. Only MANIsir can think of such great themes and I also believe that only he can glorify such tumultous themes with swashbuckling screenplays. The film was delayed by the Censors, the Election Comission and every delay done only added to the adulation.

On the D-day, my friend Vinay rang me up and told ''I saw AE.Its very disappointing'' and I was terribly happy to hear this. Vinay advised me some 7 years back that Iruvar was highly avoidable film, and as a result of me not heeding to his advice got three hours of supreme satisfaction.It would be another exciting experience, I thought..

DELIGHTS

While most of the Tamil cine makers tend to satisfy the fans, only a few like MANIsir take pains to delidght them.AE, keeping with Maniratnam tradition was delights galore.

(1)Cast Selection and Performance : Mani always insists on picking the right persons as per his own quote ''If you select the cast properly, 90% of the work is done''. In AE cast selection and their subsequent performance was top class. Surya and Siddarth were the perfect choice for their characters and did their roles to a T.A surprise choice,Madhavan convinces one and all as Inbasekaran. What to say about the selection of Bharathiraja as Selvanayagam and Praveen as Guna?Their performances says it all.All actors, big and small have superbly picked and they have all delivered with finesse(some exception with the heroines).

(2)Sound in Sound : There were a few complaints over Rahman's music in AE, but none can complain about his classy BGM for the film. I still remember the BGM for intro of Surya in his narration, where the BGM was so powerful that the audiences were forced to give a cry. As a matter of fact, whole of Surya's part was made powerful by the BGM. Venkat's sound editing superbly supplements the BGM and once you consider that sync sound dubbing was employed, the sound department comes under lavish praise and is really sound.

(3)Crew Performance : Ravi.K.Chandran, Sujatha, Vairamuthu, Vijayan are all big names in Kollywood and their names only get bigger with this movie.Ravi.K.Chandran has to be singled out for his excellent cinematography, a touch better than his display in Boys.Ravi.K.Chandran seems to relish working in big films and in giving us big visual thrills. The final duel in the busy Nappier bridge, the variety of angles used for the pivotal scene, the campaigning in Harbour scene are just a few samples.

COMPARISIONS

(1)R.K.Narayan Screenplay Vs AE Screenplay:I am a great fan of R.K.Narayan and simply adore his novels. Two of the great strengths of R.K.Narayan's novels are(1) his captivating characterisation of characters characterised by unpredictability and outspokenness & (2)His style of ending(he always ends the novel when your dil maange more). In a similar accord, MANIsir has neatly etched the characters of Maddy, Surya,Siddarth, Sreeman, Bharathiraja, Praveen, Archana, Surya's family and all others. The film also folds in the most unexpected manner akin to RKs novels. However while RKs novels leave us with a heavy heart, MANIsir ends on a more positive note. Eventhough the endings of RK are apparently abrupt, it would prove to be the apt one on a deeper dewlling. But the same cannot be said about Mani sir's ending which leaves a few pitfalls.

(2)Ivanisevic Vs Sujatha: I have always been dumfounded by Ivanisevic's aces that come from his racquet and more so from the aces that come from his mouth. Goran Ivanisevic always redefines his limits of outspokenness whenever he voices out, as he throws all cautions to the wind. Therefore his statements are always unrefined, untraditional, straight from the heart and toally enjoyable. Sujatha gives such an impression with his dialogues in AE, that are untraditional and from the core. A majority of the chracters in the film were outspokenm and Sujtahta's dialogues sharpened their frankness. The scene where Bharathiraja meets Surya, Bharathiraja's campaigning and Maddy meeting Surya are all sparkling thanks to Sujatha. Most of Sujatha's dialogues(including his vulgar ones) were youthful,enjoyable and earned a lot of applauses.

(3)Rathnavel Vs MANIsir(I can hear you all shouting): I always hated the narration as a clear line from top to bottom. For me the narration should be made as different as possible; changing time frame with flashbacks, two different stories leading to one etc. Thats why I always try to narrate my reviews in diferent styles. I am very happy that MANIsir also approves of my philosophy with a different style of narration. The manner in which he started the story diverged it into three sections, converged them into one and continued till the end was a classic. His efforts to distinguish the sections with difference in shades, love dynamics and environment is really praiseworthy.

(4)Paes/Bhupathi Vs Vairamuthu/Rahman : ''Peas and Bhupathi are a world beating combination. But they should combine! They wont be able to create magic if they only come together for Olympics!'' said Ramanathan Krishnan. In a similar stead, Vairamuthu and A.R.Rahman are together a classy combination that comes together only for MANIsir.And though the combination is wonderful, they cannot create their old magic if they dont come together on a consistent basis.

<Continued in Comments - DISAPPOINTMENTS & SUGGESTIONS>

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YUVA: As I began to recollect my science teacher telling that white light is composed of mainly red, green and blue, I thought of what could have been on the mind of our country?s finest director.

There lives in the slum streets, a man who seeks the gun to get big money and status. He serves the politicians? ill deeds, spoiling his own hands???.

There was this man who would challenge anything he feels is wrong. He would even challenge the dirty politicians by contesting in the elections as an opposition???.

There, in the dim-lit, smoky, freaky discotheque, the guy syncs his hips and hops with beauteous babes. He dreams: no violence, no challenges, just girls, and fun, and US???

???and these are the three shades in the spectrum of today?s young men?the three shades of YUVA.

A ManiRatnam film: As every ManiRatnam film has its own tale to tell, AYUTHA EZHATHU (Tamil version of YUVA) tells about the strength of young men and how each guy can sum up to make a strong nation.

The climax of the film shows a strong young man sitting in the assembly hall. That shows, the end of the film is a start for young men in this country to take the ruling pride.

But? YUVA, the lifestyle of young men, runs fast. YUVA, the film, too runs fast. And ManiRatnam is the kind, who makes compact frames and leaves the rest for the viewer to understand. So some of the moments of the film look abrupt and absurd for a normal filmgoer.

The Last Line: It?s nice to see a ManiRatnam film. It?s a fortune to listen to his story. And it?s a Bliss to understand the inner sense of it.

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''Superb story idea... ''

I can imagine Mani sitting near his writing desk and conjuring this premise...

''3 men... totally different... meet... explosive meeting... high tension conflict... stunning resolution... a masterpiece! What superb opportunities! ''

Wow! And then he gets down to writing it...

''The men... they meet... Hah! What a nice way to present these scenes!... OK, we have established the characters... now the meeting... they meet... then... then what... then what... oh, this is so tiring... let me give up... Yuva in Hindi... Simultaneously Aaytha Ezhuthu in Tamil... 11 actors... superb posters... IIFA premiere... wow! ... the script?... To hell with that! ... Anyway, I have Cartoonist Madan and the likes of him to defend my movie... he is sure to say something stupid like, ''Mani Sir has blasted the revered Classic Three Act Structure… we Tamil audiences must go to the theatre with an open mind…”… well… there’s something about this script that is bugging me… something about it – Oh Hell! Forget it!… International Premiere… Bilingual ! ''

The script lay forgotten there… 180 pages … Maniratnam’s screenplay… the same mind that penned Kannathil Mutthamittal… Iruvar… today, Aaytha Ezhuthu… the screenplay lay on the table, its Cover Page bearing the freshly stamped “FINAL DRAFT”… the table lamp is switched off by Mani, as he gets up to go for his Casting Session… the screenplay lay there… abandoned… the fate of the movie sealed that very minute… more than a year ago.

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Hey Yuva..this is my first post on MS. I've been a member for a couple of months and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all your reviews, but never really got down to writing anything until now. Though I would like to attribute this to my busy schedule, I'll be honest and confess that I've just been lazy!!

Much electrons have been devoted to the story of AE, the wows and busses of the movie and the AE versus yuva debate that I felt I had nothing more to add to these aspects. So, instead of a review, I am penning a few thoughts that came into my mind while watching AE:

Inba''shekar'': Does Mani love the name Shekar or what? Two other characters named Shekar that jumped in my mind right away were Raghuvaran in Anjali and Aravind Swamy in Bombay!

Janakaraj: The first time I caught a glimpse of him in the movie, I thought it was SPB. The man has put on so much weight!! But I think he has the distinction of having appeared in the most Maniratnam movies..Nayagan, Agni, Anjali, Roja and now AE. He is followed by Revathi and Aravind Swamy (four each).

Madhavan: great performance, though his anglicized slum-accent at times was a bit jarring?a pit fall of sync-sound!! I read a few reviews that suggested that his character did not get redemption. I feel the ending to his character is perfect. Even if he had changed at the insistence of his wife, he still needs to pay for his earlier crimes. So his outcome is poetic justice just as the end to Velu Naicker was!! Btw, am I the only one to feel that Maddy sitting down calmly watching the other prisoners play kabbadi in the final scene was a great directorial touch by Mani? Contrast this with the introductory scene in which Maddy is rage personified while playing the game. I thought the character had finally come to terms with himself and his life! I need to watch the movie a few more times to extricate the complexities in the scenes!!

The conversation between Maddy and Sriman before the shootout was terrific..reminiscent of the classic ?Big Mac? conversation between John Travolta and Samuel Jackson in Pulp fiction!

Mani continues his love affair with trains, railway stations, beaches and a ?nai kutty? dialogue!

Surya?s mom: Who is this lady? She?s terrific with her dialogue delivery..I loved her performance as Maddy?s sister in Kannathil Muthamittal.

Bharathiraja: Brilliant especially in the scenes with Surya..should seriously think about pursuing acting and quitting directing! No offence on his directorial capabilities but please spare us another Taj Mahal and KKS!

Among others, Surya, Meera Jasmine and the characters of Gunasekar and Dilli?s wife stood out with splendid performances. The technical crew is brilliant as expected in a Mani movie.

Disclaimer: I am huge fan of Maniratnam and enjoyed AE just as I have all his previous movies (yes, even Thiruda Thiruda).

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Mani has come out with a new theme and a political message. In Mani's words, the story is about an ''Accused'', a ''Victim'' and a ''Witness''. A perfect straight line to pull the story.

Did the execution carry that message to the audience?

Technically the movie scores for:

1. The movie uses ''Alaipayuthe'' technique to open up the story. Credit goes to One and Only Mani to remember the opening as ''Alaipayuthe'' technique by most of the viewers. Converging all the main characters in one line.

2. The star cast of Ayudha Ezhuthu (Not Yuva!) and their performances is best. They did their job well as the character permitted.

3. When the camera rotates in 360 degree showing Trisha running in the beach showing her front and back side in a single stroke. This is new to the Tamil audience.

4. Bringing out the Hip-hop breed of aspired young MTV gen in a pleasing way making all the youth drooling for such a life.

5. Picturisation of the songs.

6. The Bridge as a main prop

7. Bharatiraja. I will prefer to say he is another character rather a villain. Mani doesn't give this character an ending as any normal movie does.

8. The conversation between father and son (Siddharth) are too good.

Surprises:

1. Not able to believe a middle class daughter of an LIC agent marries a local rowdy. If we believe this, we can easily digest Madhavan's large house and few prop at his house.

   
   




2. Friend of Meera has a powerful charcter to play than Mani's favourite Janakaraj. She did it well though.

   
   




3. Esha Deol with her low waist and short tops

   
   




4. Unrealistic Sivakasi Mappillai story.

   
   




5. Not able to accept Sidharth entering politics ??? Mani has the answer in the movie itself in sidharth words. That is acceptable as today's youth doesn't know what they are doing. They hop from one wish to another. They take as the life goes. What's wrong in that. Close to truth.

   
   




6. Filming of the political meetings and Surya's mannerism reminds mani's previous debut ''Iruvar'' and Mohanlal.

   
   

To be different from the whole bunch of directors, Mani gives Madhavan a jail term and Bharatiraja another term? Since it was told it's bi-elections, we can beleive that he may not have contested.

Does the movie carry the political Message?

The core message is ''Youth has to Join Politics''. The dialogues says you don't need money or power to join politics. But the actions shows otherwise. Surya is shown as a violent college student. He has got all the muscle power to fight the goons and gundas. The student power will not save him. The movie also accepts in one way. After the ''Give a Try'' attitude Siddharth accepts to contest, then Surya's long time gang comes to the front.

Jana Gana song is like ''India Shining'' campaign. Doing something but no results on the field. Mani is soft in showing that they kidnap the candidates and they are not harmed. But reality is different.

Surya must be the one to get killed as the dialogue goes ''Aani vera pudungunga....''. Even though lot of blood is not shown, Madhavan beating Siddharth is more violent. The 10 minutes Napier Bridge finale is an excellent stunt. Mani leaves us to wonder how come a sophisticated and a pampered baby boy can handle all that Rowdy's man handling with all kind of weapons he cease on the road. Mani didn't even project Siddharth as Hero in this movie. Still Siddharth survives.

The message which Mani wants to deliver the audience didn't happen in a positive note. So there are no takers in the audience. No wonder it didn't impress the audience much since they know the reality is different and they take it as another movie.

To give a optimistic note, we should read the message as ''Youth should join politics, and they should be prepared strong and bold enough mentally and physically.''

Overall Mani doesn't disappoint his audience.

I also refer the following link https://charuonline.com/kp93c.html to read about a brief on the movie ''Amores Porres'' and some concerns.

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Ayutha Ezhuthu - UthHeaven Movie Review

Hype is a very tricky thing and if it is extra large it is not a great news for any movie. Sadly though Director Mani Rathnam has totally misjudged the hype for his new release Ayutha Ezuthu. He must have felt very happy on hearing about the hype for his movie after the super success of the audio and the much talked about T.V promos. The movie is nowhere near his all time hits like Roja, Bombay and Mouna Ragam. What has gone wrong for Ayutha Ezuthu and Mani Rathnam. Read on folks.

This movie opens with a confrontation between Inbasekaran (Maddy) and Michael Vasanth (Surya) on the famous Napier bridge in Chennai. Arjun (Siddharth) meanwhile is busy wooing his girl Meera (Trisha) in the same bridge but all of a sudden Michael gets pumped with bullets by Inba and then we are treated to a dull flashback of Inba. We get to meet his wife Sasi ( Meera Jasmine) and their sorry life at the slums. After this dragging part Michael’s tale is told where we get to know about his girlfriend GJ (Esha Deol). This pair and their part are much interesting and good to watch than the earlier one but in the process the movie has almost crossed the one hour mark and then we get to see the best part of the 3. Arjun and Meera bang into each other in a disco and then fall in love after some romantic scenes which are a delight to watch but it carries a strong metropolitan city touch. All of a sudden we cut to the present and Arjun and Meera save Michael from the jaws of death before Inba once again intervenes. In between all this Inba is a dreaded gangster helping his brother directly and in turn helping Selva (Bharathiraja) the evil politician. Michael is a genius and a student leader while Arjun is a happy go lucky fellow who romances almost all girls he likes.

Interesting plots but the screenplay drags a lot and later Michael and Arjun successfully contest elections and before doing so they make sure Inba goes to jail after a stunning climax fight in the busy Napier bridge. In the end Michael is shown being welcomed by Selva in the parliament and the movie ends. Well we feel relieved to see the end rather than feeling happy for Michael’s team winning the elections! Is this a Mani Rathnam movie? Of course, we can see Mani’s touches in the movie but mainly in Arjun - Meera part and some in Michael - GJ part. He rues the movie by elongating Inba - Sasi portion and that spoils the movie.

As usual Technically the movie is good but Brinda has done a very average job in choreography and sorry to say that the songs have been wasted by Mani Rathnam. Only Hey Goodbye Nanbha deserves a mention and A.R.Rahman must have felt bad about this and in the background score, he has done an average job. Ravi K Chandran excels once again with his camera. Sabu Cyril is good with his sets while Sreekar Prasad has done his best in editing. Vikram Dharma excels with his stunt choreography which is very realistic. Sujatha’s dialogues are good but they are not the usual best. Two technicians have not done their homework and they are the director and the dance choreographer.

Mani Rathnam’s screenplay is the weak link in this movie. The cast have given a terrific performances. Each one shining on their own but Siddharth leaves a better mark. Thanks to his role! Surya has justified his selection while Maddy is excellent. Meera Jasmine, Esha Deol and Trisha have done their part well. Special Mention for director Bharathi Raja. He has given a solid performance. Mani Rathnam the storywriter has let this movie down. He must have infused more raciness in the screenplay which would have made the movie more watchable. Many scenes are too lengthy and make you squirm in your seats. Mani Rathnam has been an icon in Kollywood and he still is one that’s why we get disappointed.

We feel that director Mani Rathnam has done his best as far as making Ayutha Ezuthu look slick and ready for awards but the movie has to do well commercially to become a super hit. Sadly though it is a mixed result for the movie at the box office. This mixed result is due to the confusion whether this movie is an all out commercial movie like Alaipayuthey or a non-commercial one like Kannathil Mutham Ittal.

APPLAUSE : Cast and Crew

AHEM! : Story and Screenplay

VERDICT : As usual technically good but unusually average story from Mani Rathnam.

Review Source : https://uthheaven.com

Attention everyone:

I am the writer of this review. I own https://uthheaven.com and I am merely reproducing my own review here. I am not copying anyone else's review.Thank You.

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Dear Frnz,

Atlast I am writing the review. Sorry for the delay. Wow...what a film man!! I am not going to reveal the story.

Yeah... There is Train Sequence as usual in MR film. There is Rain, as usual in MR film. There is a scene in which the Hero and heroine see themselves in a mirror as usual in MR film. There is half-an-hour climax as usual in MR film. But, the film is entirely different.

The innovative screenplay agian proves MR. He(MR) himself committed tat, the screenplay had the shadows of Roshoman (I didnt see Roshoman, but heard about that). Anyhow, here, its a different type of screenplay to the Tamil Cinema. If it was the story of 2 or 3 heroes then it went to the first then came back to the 2nd then to the 1st or 3rd... Like that it had gone in earlier movies. But, here its not the case.

The success of a well written screenplay starts at the fifth minute of a movie. Yeah... Here, in the fifth minute MR makes us to sit right in the chair. Then, fully a fast-paced screenplay throughout the film. No unncessary song sequences, no unncessary choreography, no unncessary dialogues, no unncessary cryings, bla bla... (as usual in MR films)

A song is mingled with the screenplay only if you cant locate the time of the song when it comes, after seeing the movie. Here in this film, it was the case for all song sequences. The only song which you realise in this film is ''Sandai Kozhi''. Even in that song also, the only thing you could realise that ''Yeah... one song is there in the movie''. But, MR used it also to show the love affair of Maadhvan and Meera Jasmine. The song was picturised in a rainy day. MR even takes care of that also. ie: Why its raining?? It was some time in December. MR didnt show this directly. But, while showing Maadhavan in one scene, there was a monthly calender in the wall. It was started in 1st on Saturday, and the year was 2003. So, it was November. In India, November is the rainy season.

Among the flashback sequences of 3 heroes, Sidharth's comes in the 2nd half. I dont think, it could have been captured in the first half itself. No, I think, its impossible. In many scenes, MR skipped many scenes which were unnecessary for MR Fans, but somewhat necessary for common people. Even then, he covered only Maadhavan and Surya's stories in the first even with fast-paced screenplay. So, the time is the biggest thing here.

As Srihar Prasad said, for Maadhavan thr were lot of cuts in editing. The scenes were shown in 'bit-wise'(which word can I use??). ie: very short sequences, sharp cuts relating to the Maadhavan's character. He is very rude at some point and very childish in someother point and very lovable idiot in some other point. If His character cant be written in words, then imagine how much hardwork MR would have done in framing this character.The camera also looks like that. It has also some wavering shots like his characterisation. The music(ie: Re-reco) in his part is good only, neither can I say verygood nor excellant. The art direction... In an interview, Sabu Cyril said he recreated the Chennai harbour, since they didnt get the permission to shoot in the harbor. But, I think, he was lying. Really I cant believe it. The dialogues were in ''Chennai Tamizh''. 'Sujatha chumma poonthu kalaasittaaru'. His love with MeeraJasmine was a well structured 'C' centre love. In Tamil there is a wonderful proverb... ''Adikkira Kai Thaan anaikkum''. (The hand which hits one time, will hug one another time). And Meera Jasmine's family also an ordinary family which hates love at all, if I correctly say, they hate the love only 'coz it is with Maadhavan.

Then for Surya's role, it is a neat editing('neat' in the sense... no turnings, no sharp cuts or no fast or slow movement, etc.) He is intelligent as well as a 'good-rowdy', if I say it in MR's words. Why he is so intelligent, how his intelligence in science helps him explained after the flashback sequences were over. For self-confidence intelligence is must..na? The camera also is in a neat(in the same sense) way. It clearly focuses him, exploits(?) him. Here the music is verygood. It kindles the inner energy of everyone. Once its played, you could have ended up to think like ''I want to beat someone''. But, I think, ARR should have avoided to use the same tune ''Jana Gana Mana'' manytimes. He did this for someother's films also. But now for MR's film also?? Here Sabu Cyril brings middle class people's house in front of our eyes. He was verymuch careful even in selecting the photos in the wall. The dialogues are normal one, but well appriciative ones. The love b/w Surya and Esha is a matured one, again relating to his charaterisation. Here in Surya and Esha's family the love is not a bitter word and also not a sweet word to digest. ie: again equaling Surya's characterisation.

Then comes for Sidharth's. Its a fast-paced editing. In an interview Ravi K. Chandran said like ''we have shot the film 10 times faster than the normal'' (Normal is 24 frames per second) They(Sidharth and Trisha) are the current younger generation. They are very modern. But, it was shown in a decent manner. Nobody...ye... nobody can picturise love as like as MR. What a dialogue! what a scene! All 3 loves have been handled in a good manner. But, I like this Sidharth-Trisha one verymuch. MR always comes back to his teen age when he shots the love sequences. After seeing the movie, I bet you, you cant control your feelings ''I want to love somebody''. (Whether anybody will accept it?, is different think altogether) ;-) The dialogues here explain their modernity. Their English, their accent tell this. Again here also, the music is well and good. But, again here also, ARR used the same Fanah tune repeatedly. Here, their(sidh-Trish) family and friend circle are very modern, and again explains why Sidharth and Trisha are like that.

After they meet eachother the story moves into different direction, but towards Surya's views. ie: the theme of the movie. One of my frnd said the theme of the movie was not said in the first half itself. But, I stronly oppose that. MR give hints about the theme of the movie thru' Surya in the first half. As usual, MR doesnt want to TELL the theme. He does want to SHOW the theme.

And after they meet eachother, there comes real ARR into the picture. 'Chumma pichu(Pitch??) udharittaar', esp in the fight sequences. He knows verywell where to keep mum in MR's film, than any other's film.

In the whole film, MR didnt give any work to Dance master Brindha. Thanx to MR. But, in the only choreography handled in the film Fanah is enough to tell her talent. That choreography also not a seperate one. It explains their charecterization. I am still wondering which sound was used in fight sequences. Its very real to see(hear??). 'Vikram' Dharma's choreography equals the loss of the songs choreography.;-) But, I am again telling... Songs have been per

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Its a film that totally depends on the Presentation Technicality. The first half hour run stands indicative of whats up for the remaining two hours show. The legend, Mani Ratnam has attempted to present a simple story in three different dimensions.

This type of experimentation was carried out earlier by Jeeva in his movie ''12B'' and was successfull too. But Mani stands out of the crowd in well-defined characterisation, presentation with his excellent core team comprising of A R Rahman, Sujatha, Ravi K Chandran, Vairamuthu and etc.,

Inba is a fearless, and passionate hooligan role played by Madhavan. For him, its relatively a new character. Both his outlook and and acting justifies the character.

Michael is also a fearless but matured and intellectual post gradute student who is well respected by his fellow students and the professors. Surya does this role. Whoever watched Surya in his first film ''Nerukku Ner'' would know how much this person has grown as an actor. He has expressed the depthness of the character in his every gesture. Infact, he dominates the screen. Actually Surya's role is the one that unifies the other lead roles of the film.

Siddharth(Arjun) is a teenager, charming and loving person. He aspires to fly to US for his higher studies. Enjoys going to discos, and flirting girls.

Respectively, all of them are equally supported by strong female lead roles by Meera Jasmine, Isha, and Trisha. Among the female lot, Trisha is so cute and attractive. Not to forget the crucial villain role played by the veteran ace director Bharatiraja. Excellent dialogue delivery and his outlook gives a strong characterisation as a political leader. Since Bharathiraja is failing to deliver as a director in the recent past, he can hopefully take up villain/character roles which suits him well.

A R Rahman's music a BIG plus to the film. ''There was no plan of having any song sequence in this film. But I wanted to justify the work of Rahman'' said Mani, in one interview to a reginal channel. Truly, the music is so sensational and amalgamates very finely with the situations.

Kudos to Sujatha for his remarkable intellectual dialogues scattered across the film like ''love is all about X and Y chromosomes''.

The significance of the movie is, it portrays naturalism everywhere. Strong characterisation. Picturaisation is absolutely special. Cinematographer Ravi K Chandran deserves an equal appreciation.

With all said, there are few things that reminds some of Mani's earlier movies which are inevitable. Paricualarly the core scene where Madhavan shoots Surya on the Napier's bridge reminds me about the Shalini meeting with an accident in ''Alaipayuthe.'' Though the situation and scenes are absolutely different, the way its captured and the graphics used are so natural and one can easily draw parallel between them.

Some care could have been taken in dialogue delivery of Meera Jasmine and Trisha in few places, since it was tough understanding their dialogues. The climax is not impressive and lacks punch.

Similarly, Surya refusing to take up higher studies in abroad university is same as ''Udhaya'' which was directed by Mani's assistant. Even the scenes and situations are same.

Well, as a whole movie is fresh in all aspects. Such experimental movies should be appreciated whoever be the director.

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Aytha Ezhuthu, Mani Ratnam's latest opus, hugely hyped, widely anticipated.. Touted as the story of 3 disparate men, and how their lives converge..

Before I begin on the actual movie, I need to rave about the music. It was mind- blowing! AR Rahman has excelled himself, both in the soundtrack and the background score. The song 'Jana Gana Mana' especially, manages to make you get up and cheer.

I'm not on the mood for playing spoilsport so I don't plan to give away too many details of the movie. Plus I've already read a few really good reviews on MS and they comprehensively describe the plot. I'll just give you my impressions of the actors and their situations.

The 3 lead guys, from different walks of life, are Inba (Madhavan), Michael (Surya) and Arjun (Siddharth).

Inba is a hot-blooded, highly-strung hired killer. He has no morals and scant redeeming qualities. He and his wife, played by Meera Jasmine, are deeply in love (or rather in lust!) so much so that his besotted wife is unable to break free from him, despite the fact that he beats and mistreats her. Madhavan has done a superb job with this character. He's managed to wrench himself from his cho-chweet Maddy image and adds a surreal dimension of creepiness to Inba. Meera Jasmine, as his foolishly devoted wife, also acts very well, but one cannot help but wonder why she stays with this ex-jailbird- psycho- killer for so long.

Michael is a firebrand student leader. This Young Turk believes in the ability of the youth to save India from corrupt politicians. He is fearless and fights against any sort of injustice in and out of the college campus. Surya is brilliant, absolutely fantastic in this role! While I had my doubts as to whether he could convincingly portray a college student, I came out of the theatre believing that no one could have portrayed one better! His prerequisite love interest is Esha Deol, a most unconvincing and poorly drawn character. If she had to be in the movie, at least a bigger role could have been given to her. Much as I admire her dress designer, anyone who has given a passing glance to the streets of Chennai would know that midriff-baring clothes like hers are not much in vogue here!

Arjun is a typical US-bound college student, well-off and with no serious ambitions apart from partying. He meets Trisha's character at a disco, and falls in love with her after 2 or 3 meetings. A bit unbelievable, I thought. Arjun's life changes when he saves Michael's life, when the latter was shot. He is immediately struck by Michael and wants to do his bit in improving his country by standing for elections. This change of heart was too drastic to be taken very seriously. One moment the guy is getting his US visa and the next he has become the perfect Indian boy. Trisha does an adequate job in her minor role. A lot of the scenes between these two are very filmy, eg. the DDLJ type farewell at the railway station, could have been avoided.

The movie has stunning visuals and 2 great actors. There is the typical Mani Ratnam style of flashing back and forth between the past and the present scenes.

All in all, this movie is very watchable. People do say that it's not upto the usual Mani Ratnam mark, but the concept is innovative enough to make it worth watching. Now I'm very tempted to watch Yuva....

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Ratnam the master, is back in action with his steamy, racy, thought-provokingly built film. As such Ratnam has finally thrown away his slowly-built narrative style and plunges into making a film which is so powerful that it amazes one with its fast screenplay. With 'Aaiydha Ezhuthu', Ratnam heads towards yet another direction, he plunges himself into an energetic,racy movie but with his trademark maturity, content and logic intact. The movie is racy ....agreed, but nowhere does it stoop to low levels of cheap masalic film making.

The film defies the basic structure of film making, and it straightly takes the viewer into the pivotal incident that happens on the Napier bridge in the opening itself and from there on it spirals down and forth to build the three lead characters and the path which leads each one of them to the incident. The whole narrative style is not exactly a new one,as such Ratnam has polished his 'Alaipayuthey' narrative style and has used it here, only thing he has filled the same structure with a racily built screenplay which fuses three different stories together.

The tactfully structured narrative, spirals around in an unpredictable fashion and builds each character in flashback structure and their associated happenings in a remarkably engineered screenplay, so the viewers take some time to gulp down the happenings on screen. A normal viewer may be confused as the incidents that happen in one track looks incomplete and vague and then it gets complete when the other track gets its turn onscreen.

Ratnam's basic theme in the film has a strong political strain to it, Ratnam insists that today's youth should plunge into politics to clean it rather than just remaining a mute spectator. He justifies it through the film but maintains plausibility throughout within the constraints of commercial cinema, unlike the other politically themed movies which portray some illogical, impractical and implausible solutions to today's social problems.

Ratnam's protagonists in the film are three, Michael Vasanth called as Mike (played by Surya), a revolutionary, brilliant optimistic student who is the student chairman of his college(Madras University), Inba sekar called as Inba(played by Madhavan), a street thug, who is absolutely unpredictable, violent and money thirsty, Arjun (played by Siddharth) is a typical yuppie who dreams about flying to U.S, flirts with girls and shakes his legs in those neon-lit discotheques.

The character sketching of the lead men and their love interests steals a considerable period of the movie, so that the actual hub of all the happenings gets very little to display onscreen, the second half is dense and the all the three tracks fall in their respective places to take the viewer into yet another mindblowing incident in the climax.

The final scene doesn't close the film in an usual fashion, rather it seeds a beginning, allowing the viewer's imagination to take the conclusion, there lies the brilliance of the movie, again a normal viewer may find the ending abrupt. The movie defies the usual structure of finishing the opened threads, rather it highlights the main happenings and stops there.

Surya as Mike plays the character with ease, he is absolutely convincing in all the places, has remarkabe timing of dialogue delivery and is equally energetic in those meticulously designed stunts. His love interest Geethanjali called as gigi ( Esha) looks inadequate, and just manages to play her character in the very little time she gets on screen.

Madhavan as Inba , again looks odd, the man with a romantic, urban face struggles to portray the typical street thug, his grins and smiles aren't enough authentic to justify him as the man on the streets, but his wife Sasi(Meera jasmine) does a wonderful job, the actress gets a considerable time to show her histrionic skills, she excels in her dialogue delivery and body language, we have a talented actress here in M.Jasmine.

Siddharth is adequate and does a commendable job, Trisha as Mira is again convincing as a new-age girl, she gets a considerable onscreen presence and she defineltely excels in the role given to her. The female leads aren't just a female support to the movie, but they become a part of the romantic angles of the lead men, so the actresses have a significant role to play, not just a glamorous support like in the Hero-dominated movies.

BharathiRaja as Selva Nayagam does an amazing and mature job. He casually underplays his role and in those close up shots, his facial expressions and dialogue delivery prove 100% authentic and realistic. The supporting cast including Sriman, Janagaraj, Krishna(of 5 star fame), and Suchitra Ramadurai does a commendable job.

Art direction by Sabu cyril is both convincing and unconvincing at points, the sets of slums for Madhavan looks unrealistic at some angles (especially in 'Sandai kozhi' song), the colour contrasts adopted in the movie are rather explicit, Madhavan's screen presence is filled with Red throughout, whereas Surya gets green even in those jail walls, hospital walls and curtains, Siddharth's basket ball court, the discotheque are irritatingly bluish, even Trisha comes around with blue dresses which looks pretentious and unnatural, these color contrasts would have proved brilliant if they were subtle(like in other Ratnam movies), but here it shows that Ratnam has deliberately tried to make it understandable even to the normal viewer.

The cuts and edits by Sreekar prasad needs a round of applause. Surya gets his long and neatly composed shots with less cuts, whereas Madhavan's character gets a raw, unpredictable, rapid cuts to bring in the violent and unpredictable quality of the character. Siddharth gets bumpy, avid cut and edits to portray his youthful energy.

Sujatha's dialogues are appropriate and adds strength to the situations and characters, but none stays with you as hard hitting one liners which Mani's movies are so famous for.

Rahman's songs sounded so and so in the audio,but they splendidly come alive onscreen, such a racy, upbeat movie needs such synthetically composed songs in it, and all the songs sound appropriate in the situations. Rahman's BGM is again commendable here.

Cinematography by Ravi.K.Chandran is fantastic, it captures the mood and essence of the scenes in remarkable angles. The song 'Fanaa' in the discotheque is stylish, 'Hey good bye nanba' is again pleasant and surprising in its visuals, 'Dol dol' is a track used for conveying Madhavan's business climb up,and it is remarkably shot, the sound track is absolutely appropriate here, and now one realises the purpose of composing it that way.'Sandai kozhi' is filled with hugs and kisses, 'Nenjamellam' is used as a bit piece of background song, 'Jana gana mana' with its visuals and soundtrack added with the amazing lyrics of Vairamuthu generates the necessary energy before the climax.

The climax is again a meticulously designed racy stunt, Vikram Dharma the stunt director, very carefully adds a bit of exaggeration here and there to the otherwise realistic stunts, the added exaggeration proves energetic but mature, and it pulls the viewer to the edge of the seats. The specials effects look authentic and adequate.

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?Aytha Ezuthu? is the Tamil version of ?Yuva?. I thought of writing a single review analyzing both the versions but I could not make it within 8k limit. So, I have already written a review on Yuva and this review I am going to analyse the Tamil version and obviously some comparisons of two versions.

First of all, I laud the choice of title of the Tamil version, Mani could have named the Tamil version also as ?Yuva? but he didn?t do so and for that he gives a high funda behind the choice of the title. ?Aytha Ezuthu? is the name of a special letter in a Tamil language. It has three dots in a triangular fashion. The letter has no meaning when used in a word separately. Here the director compares this ?Aytha ezuthu? to the society.

The letter loses its meaning when anyone of the dot vanishes and so as this society is also meaningless without any one of the three protagonists and finally he conveys the society is a mixture of these three. And each one dot is dependent on the other to gain meaning to itself and similarly a person in one stratum of society is interdependent on the other. But I feel ?Akk? would be more appropriate title than ?Aytha ezuthu?, ?Akk? is how this three-dotted letter is pronounced in Tamil. But the title is more convincing when this funda also adds to it, that is ?Aytham means Tool? which conveys that ?These three dots when combine for a good cause becomes a powerful (Ayutham) tool to eradicate the social evils and revolutionize the Indian politics?. Isn?t this the subtle message in the movie?

And now coming to the analyzed, I have already analyzed the movie in detail in my ?Yuva?. So, I would just analyse the cast performances, which is the only difference between the two versions. For other analysis refer my Yuva review.

Madhavan as Inba Sekar: We have always seen Madhavan as a chocolate loving boy and a urban rowdy but it is a new experience to watch him in such a rustic and a confused role. According to me, his performance is not upto the mark. Though his looks are different and fitting the role, it is in the dialogue delivery he loses. He struggles to speak fluently in madras Tamil slang. But his performance at some points is stunning. I think Abishek is better in this role in Hindi version.

Meera Jasmine as Sashi: She is a surprise package and speaks more with her eyes and than with mere dialogues. Her voice is strange and fits the role but she has taken a lot of pain in performing this role. Among the three girls she has the full scope to perform and has utilized it well. Yet Rani in Yuva is better in this role.

Surya as Michael Vasant: He steals the show completely with his subtle performance and his unique body language. He has attained a maturity in all aspects of acting dialogue delivery, mannerisms, body language, subtle expressions, fired eyes in stunt sequences all adds advantage to his character and his performance sticks to your heart. A perfect choice for this character and I feel Surya is better in this role than Ajay devgan in Yuva.

Siddarth as Arjun: He is the usual Maniratnam?s teen hero with witty one-liners and readily captivating personality. Siddarth scores. Equally good is Vivek in Yuva.

Esha deol and Trisha: Are sweet in short roles but I feel Esha?s role is not at all required.

Bharathiraja as Politician: A trend setting Tamil film director ?Bharathiraja? has given an outstanding performance in a politician role. This is how Mani stands out in his casting; he chooses the best for the right. Most of his scenes are close-up shots and his expressions are great particularly in the scenes where he converses with Surya. But his acting and dialogue delivery reminds me M.R.Radha. I feel Bharathiraja is better than Om puri in this role.

And all other supporting casts Prasanna, Sreeman, lady playing Sreeman?s wife, person playing Siddarth?s father gives a very natural performance.

As far as the box-office results and the acceptance level Aytha ezuthu seems to be well received than Yuva. Again even with such a classic cinema Mani failed to impress north Indian by making a mistake which Shankar (Nayak) did by choosing Politics as his subject on which north Indian show less interest and think such subjects are far from reality. On the whole, I think Mani can stop doing films in Hindi and better stick to Tamil and it is not necessary to prove him to north Indians, as he is already known well there for his classic Tamil movies. Let them enjoy watching his Tamil movies and its dubbed versions alone in the future.

P.S: My 75th review will be posted shortly........

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I felt like watching Stephen Spielberg's AI again.

These two movies have a lot of similarities. AI was directed by Stephen Spielberg whose movies sell almost because of his brand image. It is the same case with Aayitha Ezhutthu. (AE from now onwards) Mani Ratnam brand image is very strong in India... at least in South India.

AI was hyped up a lot. It generated a never-before-seen pre-release enthusiasm. Aayitha Ezhutthu followed the same lines. Everyone worth his Indian salt was waiting for AE to release.

AI disappointed everyone big time. AE follows the same path again. It was not like a Mani Ratnam movie. The subject would have been treated better by RGV.

AI goes on and on and on without ending. Half way through the movie, you doze off. AE is exactly the same experience. You don't know why Siddharth and Trisha are needed in this movie. Their love story drags and drags and drags without any memorable scenes. Perhaps Mani wanted to fill the third dot in Aayitha Ezhutthu.

As said earlier Siddharth is redundant in the movie. What was Mani trying to tell the audience by having a slightly younger version of Surya's character? Madhavan and Surya have well etched roles which are brilliantly executed by these actors. However Siddharth did not know why he was there in this movie. He was hopelessly clueless.

Ah! That brings me to Esha Deol. WHY? WHY? WHY? Of all directors in this universe, why did Mani commit the royal sin of imitating David Dhawan's formula of One Heroine per hero?

Surya's character does NOT need a heroine. She did not have a meaty role. Heck! She did not have a role at all. She teaches French? What is the importance of this French teacher?

Same cannot be said about Meera Jasmine and Madhavan. Meera fitted seamlessly into the bigger picture. She was needed to bring out the humane face of Madhavan who is mostly evil.

By the time the third flashback ends, you are squirming in your seat... looking at your watch and praying silently that the script should pickup momentum at least from then onwards. Songs are a big let down. The songs are good for listening. However they slow down the pace of the movie considerably. The cinematography is breath-taking however. Check out “Hey Goodbye Nanba” song. Fabulous camera angles.

The final clash on a crowded Napier bridge is out of the world seriously. It was probably the best fight scene I have so far seen in an Indian movie. But hey! that doesn't make up for the other 90% of the movie.

In short, you must watch this movie whether or not you are Mani fan to learn how great directors can goof up at times... To err is human. The movie has flashes of incredible brilliance possible only in a Mani Ratnam movie. However these are more like exceptions.

Please don't assume that I prefer David Dhawan over Mani. This movie is miles ahead of the rest. I wholeheartedly agree. However this is a pale shadow the vintage Mani Ratnam. This is garbage compared to his ''Mouna Ragam'', ''Roja'' and ''Kannatthil Mutthamittal''.

Even Dil Se was much better than this.

Don't expect a Pulp Fiction when you go to this movie.

Venu

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I thought of writing a review for this film because my views are somewhat different from other reviews I have read elsewhere. I have observed the other reviews to be either excessively critical (mainly from the media) or excessively adulatory (mainly peer reviews). This is not the usual review in that it doesn?t have a story outline or character sketches.

First the good things about it. This is a good film from Mani Ratnam , viewable at least once. Despite the different style of flash backs, I didn?t find the film to be either confusing or sagging at any point. In fact the way in which three stories are merged makes viewing more interesting. The climax is perfect and Mani finally restores the realism that is somehow lost in the middle.

The climax shows that nothing much is really done because these four people are elected, but it is a good beginning. The casting is perfect, with the probable exception of Esha Deol. Though there was not much of a role for her, she somehow looked unconvincing in that too. All the others had done very well. The dialogues were very good and all the encounters between Surya and Bharathiraja were too good. The cinematography was also very good, with refreshing angles.

Now coming to the flip side, I think the movie tries to drive the message, that students should come to politics, too hard. In fact , Mani tries so hard that his much acclaimed realism is missing in the scenes after the flashbacks. Already it is hard enough to believe that there could be anyone like Michael, who is academically brilliant, stronger than a goonda and socially conscious. In addition to all these he also mouths some interesting dialogues about hormones and XY chromosomes, which some would consider as a reductionistic way of thinking and which in any way doesn?t go along well at all with his socially conscious and altruistic nature.

Madhavan?s character is more realistic. Arjun looks realistic exactly until the point he announces that he is ready to contest in the elections. This when no body else is ready ! I could have accepted him supporting the election work or something like that, but this is too much. And Trisha?s character ! She says she came back to Arjun because ?I realised u r not going serve some white fellow in US, when I saw ur face in TV as standing for elections?.

Come on ! This is too much to expect from a normal, fun loving girl. In fact for many of todays girls, I would expect the opposite ! The dialogues are good, but at some points they try to hammer the message too hard. For instance ? Michael says ?..if all of us end up as software engineers and people who sell soaps and colas, then our country would be governed by such people only? ? this is no doubt very good, but here only I became sure that Mani is trying to hammer the message .

There is nothing wrong in hammering a message (for instance ?Vedham Puthithu? does it quite effectively), but it should be convincing. Also, why there is so much violence in the film. It is as if, Mani tries to say only people ready to cause and bear such violence should come to politics. Though this may be right in many cases, this is not the right way to give this message. Thus because of the violence, characterisation of Michael and abrupt change of heart of Arjun and Mira, the strongly hammered message is still unconvincing.

Also interestingly, quite unlike Mani, he leaves some things unanswered, though we can get some answers after thinking about it ourselves, like the reason for Inba not going along with his wife after killing his brother. But the one thing I still don?t understand in the movie is, why the politician Bharathiraja says he?s lost his minister post ? by that time even Michael has not been attacked ?

It is appreciable that Mani has given a entertaining, as well as meaningful film, but it would have been a master piece if only he had taken care to make the message more subtle and convincing.

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What do U do when U make a gem of a movie like Kannathil Muthamittal and the audience turns it down? Won't U feel desperate to prove that U can give a hit again? and this situation can get into the nerves of even a master like Maniratnam.

Aayitha Ezhuthu is a letter in Tamil resembling 3 dots and here it symbolises the 3 main characters in the movie.

Dot 1: Inba(Madhavan) and Sasi(Meera Jasmine) are a couple who fight at the drop of a hat. He hurts her, hits her, but they both cannot live without each other. Inba is a man with a heart of stone. Madhavan has done a good job. His body language shows the amount of home work he has done. The only weak spot is his accent which is still too anglicised to pass of as local dialect. Hez used as a hitman by a politician played by director Bharathiraja.

Bharathiraja essays his role to perfection, his vocal chords convey exactly what the role demands.

Meera Jasmine gets a chance to prove her histronics. The restaurant scene where she bursts out laughing with food in her mouth is enough to prove her natural acting skills. Hope others too use her properly instead of using her just as a doll.

Dot 2: Michael(Surya) and Gitanjali(Isha deol) have known each other from childhood. Michael is a modern day Che Guevara. He believes in science and violence. Hez a student leader who wants to clean up his own land. He even turns down a scholarship to do research in America. He believes in chromosomes and phermones but doesnt believe in marriage. Surya has done his best to portray this tough role but the problem is the audience of today. They can't identify with student politics and Che Guevara. Isha deol is the only misfit in the film. Since Sync sound has been used instead of dubbing, she just falters at each and every frame.

Dot 3: Arjun(Siddharth) and Mira(Trisha) are the youth of today. They happen to meet at a disco. Arjun's dad wants him to join Civil Services whereas his eyes are fixed on the U.S of A. Mira is about to get married to a wealthy groom. Till then, they decide to hang out together but the inevitable happens.. The ''goodbye nanba'' song picturised on this young couple proves again that Mani has got no equals in terms of visualisation. The way he has transformed a dull beach with no props or clean sand, only with the froth of the waves and the trolley of Ravi.K.Chandran's camera is magical.

All the 3 stories have been carefully interwoven, till they bump into each other everythin is perfect.

All the 3 dots intersect on Napier bridge and thier lives change irreversibly. Thats what the promos for the movie said! but sadly only the life of Arjun takes a turn. This is where the screenplay fails. After that things happen too fast and end soon.

Well even then as usual all the ingredients of a Maniratnam Movie are all there. Sujatha's dialogues are crisp as usual. For the first time Ar.Rehman's background score remains as the BACKGROUND music instead of becoming the FOREGROUND music. Special mention should be made about the fight sequences. Don't know whether u need to congratulate VIKRAM Dharma for that or the Computer Graphics used. Digital technology has been used in many scenes in a subtle way so that a normal eye cannot differentiate between the real and the artificial. When will other directors understand that Graphics is something that should be used to enhance a scene rather than use it just for the heck of it. (will somebody plz forward this page to Dir. Shankar)

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Maniratnam (Mani sir) has scripted or rather conceived yet another master-piece which transcends normal or ''commercial'' cinema. In the list of his all-time great films, ayidha ezhuthu would feature in the top 3. The movie has seen many rumours and unwanted talks precede its release. Rumours of trisha killing siddharth and jyothika playing a guest role are all put to rest.

The movie gives 3 different feels to it. Aggressive and violent; revolutionary; and the chill-out feel.

Inbasekar (Madhavan) shoots Michael Vasanth (Surya) on Napier bridge, and this is witnessed by Arjun Balakrishnan (Siddharth). This incident takes us to the activities and happenings in the last few months of all the 3 people.

Inba is aggressive, fiery, power-hungry, poverty-stricken, desperate and confused. This is much to the chagrin of his beloved wife, Sashi (Meera Jasmine). Inba is asked by his brother Guna and their boss Minister Selvanayagam (Bharathiraja) to ruffle up a few students in Madras University. On successful completion of this exercise, we are led to the next character, Michael Vasanth, a University student.

A brilliant student who turns down a scholarship and an offer to go abroad, Michael is revolutionary, passive, thought-provoking, inspiring and ambitious. His girlfriend Gigi (Ish Deol) is well aware of his path in life, and adds support to him. Michael educates the illiterate village-dwellers about standing up for their own right, politics and the human individuality. This path of his leads him to cross swords with Selvanayagam, and as a consequence of such actions, he is shot by Inba.

Arjun Balakrishnan is a fun-loving, disco-dancing, US-aspiring, carefree, happy-go-lucky cliched urban youngster. He wants to go abroad and have fun with girls. He meets Meera (Trish) in a disco and falls in love with her. He proposes to her just after she tells him about her engagement to another guy in Sivakasi. They talk for a long time in the bus, and get down in Napier bridge. That is when Arjun witnesses the attempt on Michael's life.

Michael survives; Inba is on the tip of his nerves that his attempt failed; and Arjun is flabbergasted at what happened in front of his eyes. Michael's classmates advise him against involving any of them in further politics. Just when we think Michael's actions are turned into deaf ears, Arjun, who was instrumental in saving Michael, opts to stand for the assembly elections. He undergoes a complete change of outlook, change of character, and gets more responsible towards his country.

Inba, on the other hand, is asked to be bumped off by the minister. And guna is assigned the job. Inba emerges the smarter of the two by killing guna and threatening the minister. The minister sees himself in Inba and grooms him as his own trusted aide. This sequence of incidents transform Inba into a reckless guy, who runs after Arjun, in a bid to kill him. And Michael saves Arjun by showing Inba what ''belief'' and ''faith'' is all about. Inba, meanwhile, would have killed his own friend (Sriman) who tried to stop Inba from harassing the student candidates.

Ultimately, truth triumphs. And victory belongs to the youth. The youth have won. And the youth have lost.

Technically, the story and screenplay are absolutely gripping. A R Rahman shows the rest of the world that he is Indian, not global, and comes up with a composition that reflects his Indian Talent. The sounds are techno, and the songs are trendy, but the feel is purely Indian.

Photography by Ravi K Chandran reflects the 3 different colour themes for the 3 principal character-scenes. For instance, ''Hey Goodby Nanba'', picturised on Arjun and Meera has a blue theme; Dol Dol picturised on Inba and Sashi shows red; and Jana Gana Mana on Michael shows green.

Lyrics by ''Kaviperarasu'' Vairamuthu are very inspiring in Jana Gana... and excellent in ''Yakkai Thiri''.

Other surprises in the movie include Bharathiraja's brilliant performance, Meera Jasmine's excellent tamil pronounciation in sync sound, Strong supporting starcast like Prasanna (5-star fame), and the very realistic ending of the movie.

Madhavan and Surya can add feathers to their caps. Both are worthy of expecting national awards, though it could go to Madhavan, whose character was more complex.

Siddharth: acted well, because of Mani Sir. Mani made Prabhu act in Agni Nakshathram. How difficult is Siddharth? But Siddharth has shown wonderful orientation towards comic timing and dialogue delivery. Great maturity from ''Boys''.

Ok, Ok. The cons, right? Wel... I could spot very few. Like the illogical absence of a plaster-cast on Surya during jana gana... which reappears after the song. Barring this particular goof-up, the movie is just brilliant.

I have difficulty in visualising Ajay Devgan in such a young student character. Ayidha Ezhuthu is surely a classic. A must-see, rollicking ride through philosophy, reality, individualism, patriotism, betrayal, survival and triumph.

Get going, watch it, and love it. And buy the DVD for your collections.

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