Children of Heaven - Highly recommended

I watched "Children of Heaven" (Iranian movie in Farsi with English subtitles. Directed by Majid Majidi). One of the best movies I have seen in the last few years. Taare Zameen Par looks SO inspired by this movie. The simplicity, the music, the innocence and genuineness in the children who play the lead roles are the movie's biggest pluses. This movie treats lower middle class families in a very realistic and positive fashion without ever treading the sympathetic line. The positivity and energy in the movie is so refreshing and is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face. Without revealing any more about this movie - I share the movie's google video links. PLEASE WATCH IT.

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

Vaaranam Aayiram

I don't write reviews, give movies star ratings and all that, and I am not going to attempt it here either. I couldn't resist this entry given how much I looked forward to this movie. Period. So here goes.
I have decided to list down what I liked/ did not like, after watching the movie today in Kamala Theater in Chennai, rather than follow any other structured way of writing this piece.

Positives -

• The OUTSTANDING segment between Suriya and Sameera Reddy. So what if it is "filmy," I loved it. The scene in the train is beautiful, Sameera is charming and the scene outside Sameera's apartment when Surya offers to move out has got to be my favorite.
• Authentic art direction and choreography - The Simran - Old surya segment has outstanding art direction. "Mundinam" is a joy to watch due to the props and sets. Gautam has handled this song very intelligently to give the authentic 70s feel. Again, the choreography in "Yethi yethi" is SO SO SO similar to Anjali's "something" or Agni natchatram's "Raja". (As acknowledged by Gautam Menon in one interview. I am not bad afterall!) The song is complete in being a tribute to those times with its rain dance segment - the signature of the 80s songs. Very enjoyable indeed - both these songs.
• The dad-son chemistry - Ok, it is slightly idealistic and full of "nuni-naakku-english" but it is pretty much from the heart and I could see the genuineness in it. It connected with me. The image of a young kid surya looking at his dad when their family poses for a snap is a brilliant director's touch to summarize the hero worship integral to any dad - son relationship. Right through the movie - I loved the chemistry as much as the intent to pay an honest tribute to dads.
  
• The young kid rescue mission and the re-recording in that segment. Very racy, supported by good music. The Kaakka kaakka chase scenes were truly memorable - and having set such a standard, Gautam does not disappoint in this segment.
• Finally - SURYA. Period. Watch the movie for him.
  

Negatives -

• The length of the movie. Alright, the movie is intended to be on its own terms. But it does sag and has some unneccessary segments that could have been chopped off. The journalist rescue mission, the gaana song are the most obvious waste of time segments in the movie. No value added by these portions.
  
• Surya - Divya portions. The scenes with this pair pale in comparison to those between Surya - Simran and Surya - Sameera. The "anal mele" song disappointed me, I expected more given the placement of the song when the audience are bound to get uneasy on their seats. It did not justify being present in the movie at all.
• The finish. It doesn't pack the punch I kind of expected. Simran's gospel speech in the end is average at best. I expected a more poignant ending.

Overall - Given my very high expectations as I entered this film, I still came out satisfied. There were a lot of portions to feel happy about as an avid Gautam menon and Tamil cinema fan. It could have been better - and that feeling is sometimes hard to take given the potential of the creator and actor on view. I will watch it again for its good moments.

Vetti chat.

S: nothing da. have to send some "%%%%%%%%%%" briefs away to ffffff today... my &&&&&&&& project seems to be coming around well.. growing &&&&&&&&& business xx% faster than Rest of yyyyyyy :)
4:05 PM
me: outstanding4:08 PM
my "Reduce mobile bill" project has also partially succeeded
S: idhellaam pee! uncalled for projects these :P
me: it has reduced by 6% to finish at Rs. 4600 4:09 PM
it has to be noted that in the month ending 2/10 it had increased by 14% to 4900..4:10 PM this is very blog worthy.
S: lol.
S: this reduction is misleading, as i would attribute bulk of the reduction to external events like the recipient's sister's marriage... :P4:11 PM
me: bingo. vaango pongo illa.4:15 PM
and also cost cutting activities like deliberate cutting of phone calls by the caller when it exceeds a number of minutes and blaming it on the network when the callee calls back4:16 PM
S: outstanding. i shall keep that in mind :P
me: pls to exercise it on others and not on the owner of the trademark4:17 PM
S: on the contrary, i will need to keep these things in mind only wen the aforementioned caller bothers to call.4:18 PM
me: you might encounter a situation where the intention to call might be blamed on the caller's neural network4:19 PM
S: this is the worst exhibition of verbosity that meant nothing :P4:20 PM
me: best.4:21 PM this might endanger verbiageold practices upheld by M/S NowNeat, MugCase et al4:22 PM
S: .
me: .