300 – A review

Last sunday, I went to this movie called 300. Months ago, I watched the trailer. It was excellent. Hence I agreed to the movie at once I heard that its 300 we are gonna watch. I was sure that I made no mistake. What a movie! It was great watching it.

Spoiler begins here

Plot:
The movie started with a dramatic intro about the Secret Spartan Army – how the Spartan people are trained into soldiers once they reach teenage and how they grow up in the wild, thrashed like a slave, hunted by wolves and beasts. In the end, the fittest survives. Leonidas is one among the brave and who survives after many obstacles he faces and also earns himself the title of Spartan king after killing the deadly wolf in the cold hills.
The Persian king Xerxes, who claims himself as the King of Kings and also as the God of Gods, sends a messenger to King Leonidas to offer him a chance to surrender to him. Leonidas is not a coward to surrender. He has gone through many obstacles in the past and if its death that he wanted to face for the country, he will proudly accept it fighting for his country than seeing his countrymen being slaved and tortured. He kills the messengers at the spot and thus initiates the war.
Leonidas is not a king who believes in myth. He believes in planning. He believes in strategy. He lives as a warrior. But the customary principles of Spartans was they should go and consult the Gods before going to war. The priests (who were bribed by Xerxes) insists that Leonidas is doing a wrong thing and also interprets Oracle message to him that they should not go to war. Meanwhile the council minister Theron was also bribed and he is also against the war.
Despite all this, Leonidas heads for war with 300 of his best men, claiming that he is going for a walk with 300 bodyguards. The remaining part of the story depicts the actual war that took place in the Battle of Thermopylae and how the 300 survived for three whole days against the million Persian army.

Spoiler ends here

Characterisation:
King Leonidas:
Leonidas is a brave warrior and a mighty king. He heads the 300 soldiers against the million Persian army. He was not born a king. He was born a warrior. He doesn’t succumb to emotions for emotions can make a warrior bleed in his heart thus weakening him emotionally. Gerard Butler plays as King Leonidas. He has worked hard and has played the character.

Queen Gorgo:
Gorgo is the wife of Leonidas. She is a loving wife and a brave Spartan woman. Sparta is a land where women hold equal rights and Gorgo holds the place as the adminstrator of Sparta when the King is at war. Lena Headey plays as Queen Gorgo in the movie and has portrayed the character very well.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Who should definitely watch the movie?
1. If you have watched Troy and liked that movie.
2. If you have a true passion over Greek mythology and Greek history.
3. If you love movies on war.
4. If you liked Lord of the Rings movies.
5. If you are a fan of Age of Empires game.

The movie has a lot of violence and even then, you won’t feel it. Blood will be portrayed like red paint and you will see nothing but art. But not just for violence, but also for partial nudity, the movie is A certified. The movie could’ve been watchable by audiences of all ages if some of those scenes were missing.

But altogether, the movie was damn good and worth watching ten times. Go and watch it!

Quotes from the movie (modified):

Persian Messenger: What is it that makes a woman to speak?
Queen Gorgo: Because only the Spartan women gives birth to real men.

Messenger: No one threatens a messenger! This is madness!
King Leonidas: Madness???… This is Spartans!

Theron: The news has come that Gods do not wish this war to happen.
Leonidas: Yes I am not going to war. I am just going for a walk. These are my 300 bodyguards.

Leonidas: Hey you? What is your profession?
Achilean Solider 1: Blacksmith sir
Leonidas: You?
Achilean Soldier 2: Sculptor sir
Leonidas: Spartans! what is your profession?
Soldiers: Warriors!

Persian soldier: Spartans! Drop your weapons!
Leonidas: Persians! Come and get them!

Leonidas: In the end, even the Gods will bleed!

———————-

Dhoom Dhamaka… The Guru of all times

Guru – the biographical movie of a famous Indian Visionary. The movie is directed by Mani Rathnam, the Guru of all times. Abhishek Bacchan and Aishwarya Rai plays the lead roles. Other supporting cast includes Mithun Chakraborty, Madhavan, Vidya Balan and so on.

Spoiler begins here

Plot:
The story moves along the character of Gurukant Desai (played by Abhishek Bacchan). Gurukant is the third son of a maths teacher of a small village in India. With his studies not going too good for him, Gurukant decides to go to Turkey to seek a living where his uncle gives aid. After several years, he returns to India and decides to start a business much to the dislike of his father.

Just when Gurukant thought finance is a major issue, money comes in the form of a girl named Sujata (played by Aishwarya Rai) whose dad would give Rs.15000 to any guy who would marry his daughter. Sujata’s brother becomes the partner of Gurukant. Thus the path of Gurukant was set as they three head to Mumbai to start a business.

But starting a business wasn’t easy as he thought. At first, Gurukant chose a path of truth, with the help of Manikdas Gupta (played by Mithun Chakraborty) who is the head of a famous news agency, to fight the obstacles that lay ahead of him. But later, Gurukant’s hunger to win makes him to use wrong means to fight the obstacles, such as using the news agency to spread wrong information about contractors.

Strongly objected by Manikdas, Manikdas asks Shyaam (played by Madhavan) who is a reporter of the news agency owned by Manikdas, to let people know the exact truth behind Gurukant’s success and also to stop him. But Gurukant openly challenges Shyaam and Manikdas that none can stop him. Shyaam confidently accepts the challenge. The question of ‘who will win?’ forms the second part.

Spoiler ends here

Characterisation:
Gurukant Desai:
Gurukant Desai is a visionary. He is a keen observer and a good businessman. He can tackle every kind of situation. He is also a loving husband and a caring father. Abhishek Bacchan fits perfectly into the role. He has grown a little bit fat and his body language as that of a business man, such as a fat belly and his walking style and expressions is truly as that of a businessman. Abhishek has done perfectly in the final scene.

Sujata:
Sujata is a very calm and loving girl on the first half and later becomes a determined and a very supportive wife. She is also a bold woman, which can be seen in the second half. Aishwarya Rai fits perfectly as Sujata. From crying in the train to the then-stranger Gurukant and speaking boldly to the judge, Aishwarya Rai has clearly shown the work of Mani Rathnam in her acting.

Manikdas Gupta:
Manikdas is a very stern fellow. He is a man of truth. He guides Gurukant on the path to success but is later frustrated by Gurukant’s bad path and also warns him to stop it or else he would put a stop to his journey. Mithun Chakraborty’s eyes clearly suggest that none would have done the role better than him.

Shyam:
Shyam is a reporter who follows the path of Manikdas Gupta – the path of truth. He is asked by Manikdas to put a stop to Gurukant’s journey as a businessman and Shyam does his best following Gurukant’s own path. Shyam is also a caring person and shows great respect for others. He marries Manikdas’s daughter Meenakshi Gupta. Madhavan is the guy on whom Mani Rathnam never loses his faith. His style and mannerism puts an equal challenge to Abhishek’s acting.

Meenakshi:
Meenakshi (‘Meenu’ as called in the movie) is the daughter of Manikdas Gupta. She is earlier shown in the movie as a little handicapped girl. She is a close friend of Gurukant and supports him even when her dad and Gurukant set apart. Vidya Balan plays as Meenakshi in the movie and though her role was short-lived, she has done her best.

Crew:
Direction: (by Mani Rathnam)
If it is Mani Rathnam’s direction, then it would definitely be special. Mani is the guy who can portray the movie as a novel. Each character in the movie is shown importance. His work can be clearly differentiated from other works. The slow storyline and the slow moving of the movie are all the special characteristics. If you are a Mani Rathnam fan, you should definitely watch this movie.

Cinematography: (by Rajiv Menon)
The story is set in the period of 1950s and you would be amazed if you see the set of the movie. All of it seems originally from the 1950s and even the scenes of Turkey seem to be from that time. Such a good work was done by Rajiv Menon. The misty mountains and the beautiful locations from the Indian countryside are fascinating.

Music: (by A.R.Rahman)
If it is a Mani Rathnam’s movie, then it would definitely be ARR who would be scoring the music and ARR reserves his best tunes for Mani. The music keeps you tapping your feet. The slow moving of the movie is balanced by the fast background score. The background score also plays a very important role in the movie

Altogether, the movie was fantastic. I recommend this movie to everyone. I like almost all the scenes especially the interval scene and the climax scene. If you are a fan of any of the above cast and crew, you should definitely watch this movie.

Quotes from the movie:
Manikdas: Shyam, can you stop Gurukant’s journey and put an end to it?
Shyam: Yes, I can do it
Gurukant: No, you can’t do it. None can do it.
—–
Gurukant: Shyam, this success came from hard work. You should work hard to pull me down and for that, you should become Gurukant.
—–
Gurukant: You gave me 5 minutes to speak. But I took only 4 and half minutes. 30 seconds saved. 30 seconds profit. That’s business!
—–
Manikdas: If it is a lie, then I would come and break your bones.
—–
Sujata: Just give me some time, I will get my husband back to normal to fight back with you.
—–
Gurukant: My fate is already written.
—–
Shyaam: We are all responsible for what happened to Gurukant. If you want, I can stop it right now.
Manikdas: We are publishing only the truth right. If so, publish it!
—–
Sujata: Really speaking, Gurukant is a bravo and intelligent. He makes money out of empty boxes.
—–
Gurukant: Not just now; yesterday, today and forever, it’s Gurukant, Gurukant Desai.
—–

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Magic Four!

For many months, my life was theatre-free. I didn’t care as well. Maybe I lost interest in the movies? No I wasn’t. Maybe everyone else was busy? No they weren’t. Then what could be the reason? All my friends had seen most of the movies (which I was interested in) either accidentally or with their friends. It was like that when on September 1, I struck gold or is it a jackpot?

August 25, 4:30 pm (approx) Venue: College bus
I was in the college bus returning home, as usual gazing out at the streets and watching everyone sleeping. My mobile vibrated. Well time for messaging! It was my friend Kumar. He was asking me whether I could join with them for the movie ‘Vetayaadu Vilayaadu’. Ofcourse yeah! It was the most anticipated movie of that time. But as usual, I had to ask my parents. So I told him that I would let him know later that night.

August 25, 6:15 pm (approx) Venue: Arun’s (one of my close friends) house
Arun is also from my college and he invited me to his house. So I was there working with his PC when I was getting reminder messages from Kumar. Very soon, I got a call (or two) from him. Maybe I should see the film.

August 25, 7:45 pm (approx) Venue: My house
My mom allowed me for the movie. “I am coming…” is all I sent to Kumar. Sometimes SMS is very useful.

August 25, 8:30 pm (approx) Venue: My house
My dad asked me to get ready for the movie “Something Something (Unakum Enakum) (whatever!)”. Huh? Alright! This movie was a hit. I wanted to see that movie too but not too late. Anyway time to break the long theatre silence.

August 25, 9:30 pm (approx) Venue: Udhayam Cineplex
“Something Something… unakum enakum”

Now this movie title was changed to unakum enakum for some tax reasons. Well, this movie was nice. The first half was a typical telugu movie. The hero (played by ‘Jeyam Ravi’) falls in love with the heroine (played by Trisha) who has come to her friend’s house (played by Richaa), Richa also happens to be Ravi’s cousin. Unfortunately, Trisha happens to be the sister of a poor farmer (played by Prabhu) and Ravi is a son of a multi-millionaire (played by Bhagyaraj). The hero’s family comes to know about their love and kicks Trisha out from their house. But Ravi goes to Trisha’s residence to win her back. And he is ready to do anything for their love even if it is a farming challenge put up by Trisha’s brother.
Actually, the movie was good. Ravi and Trisha did their part well. Prabhu is the spot light of the second half. Bhagyaraj is also to be appreciated. Songs are pretty good.

Rating: 7/10

August 26, 8:30 am Venue: My house
I was ready for ‘Vetayaadu Vilayaadu’. I was told the theatre is Melody. Now I have never gone to this theatre and I have always thought this to be a unconsiderable theatre. Well, with friends, everything would be good. Fortunately, the time for searching the theatre was saved when my dad dropped me at the theatre.

August 26, 11:20 pm Venue: Melody theatre
The theatre wasn’t bad as I thought. Infact, it was good and decent except for two pillars in the middle of the hall. Around 10 of my friends were there waiting for me. Well with whistles blown all over the theatre, the film started.

“Vetayaadu Vilayaadu”

The film starts with the hero’s (Kamal) introduction followed by intro song. The story starts with Rani, a college student and the daughter of a police officer (played by Prakash Raj), having not returned home. Later, with the help of Raghavan (Kamal), they find that Rani was brutally murdered. Raj and his wife plans to go to New York for a change but over there, they were also brutally murdered (executed, as said in the movie). Operation “Hunt and Play” begins as Raghavan heads to New York to investigate about Raj’s murder and there he finds that Raj’s family are not the only victims.
The film heads in a great style and interesting throughout the movie. To avoid seriousness throughout, Jyothika comes into play. The songs are absolutely great. Daniel Balaji have played his role excellently as a villain.

Rating: 9.5/10

August 26, 2:30 pm, Venue: LIC Bus stop
Maybe my friends decided “Only Business!” thing. They wanted to head straight to home rather than visiting Spencers which normally people do. Ok I thought! My dad called me and said that he is in Devi theatre getting tickets for the movie “Imsai Arasan” and asked me whether I wanted to join them. I replied no. One movie per day is enough,right?

August 26, 2:45 pm, Venue: LIC Bus stop
I was still waiting for my bus. Yes there is only one bus direct to my house in that route and its frequency is very less. After minutes of waiting and going around the long bus stop, I noticed that all of my friends had got a bus and had. Just then the bus arrived. Thank God! The bus driver had no intention of stopping the bus at this stop. Only then I realized that the bus would never stop at that stop. Damn! I have to wait for another 30 mins for the next bus and for that I have to go to the previous stop – The Devi bus stop.

August 26, 2:55 pm, Venue: Devi Bus stop
I crossed the Devi theatre (my parents and my sis would be watching the movie) and waited at the stop. Just then, my mom called me and asked me to join with them instead of waiting. The film hadn’t started yet. I felt like I was waiting for this opportunity. Well, I always wanted to watch this movie. Why miss a chance?

August 26, 3:00 pm, Venue: Devi Cineplex

“Imsai Arasan: 23m Pulikesi”

The story, set in the age of Tipu Sultan, and the comedy actor Vadivelu playing his first film as a lead hero is the main spotlight of this movie. Manorama (played as the queen) gives birth to twins. Her brother called as Kumaraguru(played by Nasser) plans to raise up the child which the astrologer predicts he would be a “puppet”and to behead the other which the astrologer predicts would be “Intelligent and brave”. Without the queen and the King (played by Nagesh) knowing, the claimed ‘brave’ child is sent to a worker who has other plans – to not kill the baby but to raise him up. Meanwhile the puppet child grows up to be Pulikesi – a very coward and stupid king acting to the orders of his uncle Kumaraguru. Pulikesi’s twin brother comes from Nalandhar University and plans to end Pulikesi’s era. After learning that they are twin brothers, he has other plans – to swap places and to end the era of Kumaraguru.
The movie is absolutely hilarious. Set in a very serious background, the movie goes in two and half hours of absolute comedy). The movie delivers several messages and they seem to indirecly target something. Vadivelu and Nasser has done their part to the best. Songs are not so good (What to expect if the movie is set in age old time!)

Rating: 8/10

August 26, 6:15 pm Venue: Car
I asked my dad to drop me at the Sathyam theatre after watching the movie. Why? (Rewinding…)

Flashback (3 hours back)
August 26, 3:15 pm Venue: Devi theatre
I was watching the movie “Imsai Arasan” when I received a message from my friend Karthikeyan (another of my close friends). He told me that there are free tickets for four and four Rs.50 refreshment coupon (again free!). “Well, three movies in a row?”, I thought. Well my dad too accepted. Well what movie is this? – Lagey Raho Munna Bhai. Usually I would have said no to an hindi movie (I dunno the language) but since I liked the first part watching it at the theatre, I accepted.

(Back to normal)
August 26, 6:20 pm Venue: Sathyam cineplex
Though I couldn’t understand hindi, I could understand with their actions and with the few known words. Thats how I watched the other hindi movies. Anyway, to give translation was a boy who knew hindi very well (atleast can understand). He is Suresh (another of my close friends). Arun was also there (quite surprising for me!). Usually he would comment on hindi movies while watching but this time he restrained himself and listened to the story.

“Lagey Raho Munna Bhai”

The movie I thought to be a sequel to Munna Bhai MBBS wasn’t one after all. This story is absolutely different. Sanjay Dutt (played as Munna Bhai ( big time rowdy)) along with his assistant (forgot his name!) gets a building contract signed for a business man (played by the villain of MBBS). Later he takes part in a radio contest about Gandhiji and wins seeking the guidance of some old people (probably freedom fighters). He goes to the radio station to get his prize money and meets Vidhya Balan who is the RJ. Vidhya Balan believes him to be a professor in History and asks him to give a lecture about Gandhiji to her senior friends (the homage for the old people). Munna accepts and studies about Gandhiji and guess what? Gandhiji comes in his real life (visible only to him) to help him. He gives a successful lecture and with a little bit of help from Gandhiji, wins the place as a radio jockey to help the people of Mumbai. With Gandhiji’s strategy, Munna Bhai wins a place in everyone’s heart. The movie gets serious with the building contract issues and Vidhya Balan starts to hate Munna. How Munna solves it? Gandhi has the answer for that in the interval, “when I am there, why you worry?”
Like the first part, the movie was funny and hilarious but this movie has more seriousness to it. This movie tells people on how to deal with situations and how to handle people in this country. A surprise guest role by Abhishek was shocking. Songs are pretty good like the first part.

Rating: 8/10

August 26, 9:50 pm Venue: My house
Back home, finally and I just then remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything since morning except for some refreshments then and there in the theatres. Three movies in a row or should I say four movies in a row if I had to include “Something Something…”. Not to forget, I saw Vetayaadu Vilayaadu the next day too. Well, a nice stop to a long wait.

Inspiration – Part II

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Have you seen a film remade into other languages? Yes you would have. I always like movies that are inspired from a book or even from another film. Its very rare to see a tamil movie remade into an english movie. One movie I thought to be was “Parent Trap” (1998) inspired from the tamil movie “Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum” (1965). In both the stories, the plot is simple. Two identical girls meet at a summer camp and they come to know that they are actually twins separated as a result of their parents’ divorce – one child brought up by their mother and the other by their father. So both of them plot a plan i.e to get their parents back together. Both switch places and the situation which seemed to be simple gets far more complicated as their dad starts dating another lady who is money-minded. Will they succeed in getting their parents back together? Thats the remaining part of the story.
As for the tamil movie, the characterization was superb. Both Gemini Ganesan (as the father of the twins) and Kutti Padmini (dual role as twins) had done their roles very perfectly. As for the english movie, Lindsay Lohan (dual role as twins) played her role absolutely the way it should be.
Just when you think “Parent trap” was inspired from “Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum”, things are actually the other way. “Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum” is actually the inspiration of “Parent Trap”. Can’t believe it? “Parent Trap” has its own earlier version (1961) played by Harley Mills (as the twins). Which means that “Parent Trap” (1998) is actually an inspiration from its earlier version (which also clarified my doubts).

But one movie still ponders me. I wonder whether the movie “The Gift” (2000) is an inspiration from the movie “Nooravadhu Naal” (1984). The story plot is not the same. But there is an instance which you feel is more or less the same. In “Nooravadhu Naal”, Devi(played by Nalini) gets premonition about her sister being murdered by a stranger and unbelievably it becomes true. Later she starts feeling more of it, this time she senses a murder is going to take place somewhere in the future and she could see the actual place where the murder is going to take place. Later to her shock, she finds that the murder is meant for herself. Will she save herself from it? Thats the remaining part. “The Gift” also has a similar instance (Inspiration perhaps). In this movie, Annie (Cate Blanchett), a tarot reader, feels some premonition about a girl being murdered and guess what? It happens. Later she feels some other premonitions about a murder that she thinks is going to happen. Meanwhile the murdered girl haunts her and helps her with clues to the murder that is going to take place. And as you would have guessed, the murder is set for herself. How is she going to help herself out of it? Who is going to help her? Thats the remaining part. Both movies add thrills and chills to the audiences and keeps the audience guessing on what is going to happen next. So lets come back to the actual part. What do you think it is? Inspiration?