இருவர்

This is my choice for the best of Maniratnam's works till date. Complex in content and arguably derived from true events, this is a story of two great individuals - artists who befriended each other in their youth, corrupted by the lust for power leading to power struggle ending in opposite chairs. They had the same passion, same principles and took the same route to power. This is a realistic movie set in the 1950s, traverses through ages to culminate in the lates 80s when Anandan bids adieu to the world leaving no clear successor leading to another power struggle.

Plus Points:

1) Mohan Lal and Prakash Raj: The duo live up to the characters thrown at them and deliver a majestic performance fitting to the roles. Mohanlal, with his natural knack sometimes outwits the taskmater PrakshRaj, it must be admitted.

2) Maniratnam and Suhassini: The couple should be congratulated for their guts to film the story which is highly politically sensitive and in its true natural style with impressive dialogues. Mani has perfected a movie which needed the elements of emotions, seriousness, political sattire and glamour.

3) Rehman: As usual, Rehman stands out with a quiet and standing performance. The BGM looks really fitting and great.

A good recipe for the serious - realistic movie lovers.

Lagaan

One of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema, this movie has broken the traditional beliefs and commercial movie formula in many ways.

Plus Points:

1) Original Script: This is a movie that stands out from the rest in the fact that it rides on an original script by Ashutosh. The storyline is quite unusual for it became the first big star Indian movie based on a sport. The movie set in 1800's adds difference to the movie and makes it more interesting.

2) Aamir Khan: Aamir plays two different roles here - as a Producer and as a Hero. He deserves great applause for playing the role of a Producer. Since he has accepted this role after the script was rejected by major production companies, it shows his willingness to experiment. As an actor, he is the only known star in the movie and that makes it easy for a watcher to enjoy the storyline but tough for Aamir to carry the responsibilities and live upto the expectations of the people. But he has done it wonderfully as Bhuvan, a young, shrewd, talent fighting for his rights.

3) Rehman: Rehman's enchanting music to match the script and the background score are especially notable and he has improvised in many places.

4) Simplicity: The story is very straight forward and the success of the movie lies in delivering it very simply and with the required thrills of a cricket test match.

The movie was fortunate to have a release date just after the historic India Australia test series. Its big time commercial success was also boosted by the series for its similarity. Nevertheless, this is very good watch for any movie fan.

Swades

This is one of the best Hindi movies I've watched in a long time and so it requires a special mention here. Ashutosh, following his blockbuster with Aamir, has teamed up with Shah Rukh and delivered a movie very emotional to his fellow countrymen.

Plus Points:

1) Simplicity and Sharpness: The movie carries with it a heavyweight theme of Braindrain and the message is very clear right from the word "Go" till the end. Simple in its formulation and delivery, every scene emphasises on theme and forces the audiences to take a look the society with a broad and open mind rather than getting carried away with their ambitions and daily comforts.

2) Subtlety: This is the biggest plus of the movie as we see the patience and industry of the director in revealing the some of the shameful and intolerable problems of the society.

3) Shah Rukh Khan: He carries the movie in his shoulders all the way and delivers a superb performance. He matches the role and charisma expected of Mohan and is unrelenting till the end.

4) Rehman: Rehman's music contributes heavily to the success of the movie. He holds the movie firmly with his enchanting melodies throughout the drama and hence deserves a great applause.

Minus Points:

1) Slowness: The movie is very slow and hence boredom can creep up half way through the story. The story relies heavily on Rehman's music and the sweet little romances between the Leads in those times and so for an impatient moviewatcher this can very well end up as an annoying movie all the way.

It's a good watch if one has the patience to listen to subtle voices of the director and it's worth being patient.

எந்திரன்

After 3 years of long wait, Rajni and Shankar have delivered an entertainer in a very different way. This is Shankar's spectacular attempt to introduce a science laden robot to a common man.

Let me talk about the plus points of the movie:

1) Original script by Shankar: The storyline is tremendous and is very new to Indian cinema. Shankar has put in a lot of thoughts on the script and delivered his "Dream Project" commercially. His diligence to make it scientific as much as possible -- examples "Peripheral Troubleshooting", "Robosapiens" and "Memory 1 GB" kinda dialogues - is laudable. The plot is very constructive unlike the ones in his previous movies Anniyan and Indian. This reminds me of his other movies Gentleman and Mudhalvan where the Hero constructively perspires for the welfare of the society within his limits.

2) Superstar Rajnikant: Superstar at the age of 60, has done wonderfully well and deserves equal credit to the success along with Shankar. His patience and willingness to different roles proves his humbleness and hunger for success.

3) Animation: Amazing graphics work, which is again new to Indian cinema. We can realise the diligence of Shankar in taking Indian cinema to great heights.

Minus Points:

1) Loose script: It's the only but the biggest minus of the movie. Some of the unwanted scenes spoil the trail of the storyline. Train scene in the first half is one example. It could have been avoided giving those 15 minutes to the villain chitti. The villain chitti suffocates and makes the audiences boring. The second half could have been better with more delicious substance and plot.

Rajni has been a great superstar in Indian cinema and the movie is yet another evidence in a different way - No punch dialogues and unusual style and so is lovable for that. It's an overall nice experience to watch it once. Hope Shankar reassembles the chitti to take us through some amazing magic in a sequel.