Movie Stage

Santosh Sivan's Tahaan is almost perfect

2008-09-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

Those who've seen them bond cannot deny the special affection between kids and animals. It probably stems from a lack of adult conditioning, lack of fear, and lack of the human ego that insists it's superiority over all other species. Naturally, almost all kids' movies are revolved around this precious tie. This one, too.

I did fear that Tahaan would have the regular trappings of the kiddo-pet flick with the formula of friendship and separation. The film does showcase a little boy's concern for his pet donkey and what he does to get him back, but still, the film is intelligent, full of things to say and supremely enjoyable.

Tahaan is a playful eight-year-old who lives with his Habba mother (Sarika) and elder sister Zoya (Sana Shaikh). His father has gone missing since three years now, and the family is under financial strain owing to a huge loan. The mother sells off almost everything to pay the interest on the loan and that includes giving off Tahaan's beloved donkey. Everyone reacts differently to Tahaan's inconsolable state – his mother is sympathetic, but his sister and neighbourhood friends ridicule. The donkey, we learn its name is Birbal, is further sold to Subhan Darr (Kher) a short-tempered man.

The man has bought the donkey as a gift for someone and Tahaan decides that the only way to get back Birbal is to somehow join the troupe on their journey. They are joined by girl-chasing, entertainingly stupid Zafar (Bose). The film then showcases the risks Tahaan takes to rescue his beloved Birbala.

This simple, staid story gives off enough messages nonchalantly. Note the scene where the kids are simulating a terrorist gunning. While one bunch has the toy guns that they use gleefully; the other group plays the frightened victims who get shot dead. It's heartbreaking to see children, so casual about cold murders and so influenced; they think it normal to incorporate it as a game.

Technically, the film is a masterpiece. But that you already knew since director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan is at helm. Beautiful, beautiful Kashmir is cold and serene; an irony to its political situation. You wonder to yourself if you'll be lucky enough to see it for yourself at least once.

But the lyrical shots are not principal, rather incidental, to the tale-telling. And that's refreshing coming from Sivan known by his exotic shot-taking. Of course there are those aesthetic shots of sun-rays streaming in, landing right on Tahaan's sleepy face.

Sivan, for once, is not so serious and has some fun with his camera angles, placing it once, right behind the donkey' wide ears. More subtle humour is there to relish throughout. A truck standing in the background has the words 'No girlfriend. No tension' inscribed above its nameplate.

Performances are flawless. Sarika brings out the grief of her character without once, reducing it to a sympathy-seeking one. Sana Shaikh does very well. Anupam Kher is great as the tough on the outside-but-marshmallow inside character. Rahul Bose brings on the laughs. Victor Banerjee is the loving grandfather who makes the warmth of his character come alive.

The film belongs to Purav Bhandare who plays Tahaan without reducing it to one of those smart-mouthed, desperately cute child characters. He's incorrigibly adorable, as all children are, but a toughie as well, whose world includes curfews and random midnight interrogations by the army. Little wonder that once Birbal is gone, he doesn't waste too much time crying and even offers to work hard in exchange for his pet.

If you've enjoyed films like Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven, you'll find yourself right at home. Tahaan is one of those rare films where children are treated with respect, even for their seemingly frail ambitions. Don't miss it.

Dhaam Dhoom - Jeeva Is No Here

2008-09-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

We feel that (Late)Jeeva is not here when we are watching the Dhaam Dhoom. The unit of Dhaam Dhoom, who are ascertained that Jeeva is not here.

It looks like Jeeva's assistant Manikandan along with Harris Jayaraj has made Dhaam Dhoom as a sort of musical tribute to the late filmmaker. The film lacks a solid story, rambles all over between Russia and Tamilnadu, is disjointed, and has continuity problems with a very predictable lackluster ending.

The highlight of the movie is the music of Harris Jayaraj, shot in music video style by Manikandan in never seen before picturesque locations. The Anbae Anbae… song picturisation on Jayam Ravi and Kangana Ranut is awesome, in lush green Coorg.

Harris's soft soothing melody is a tribute to his friend Jeeva and all the six songs are beautifully picturised keeping the Jeeva legacy alive. Hats off to Harris, even the background score enriches the movie.

Next is the camera of Jeeva (the scenes in Russia were taken by him before he died), which is eye catching, and also gives you a feel of the hero's loneliness and the inhospitable terrain in cold and dreary conditions. Jayam Ravi as an action hero triumphs, largely due to the action director from Hollywood Chris Anderson.

The scene where the hero escapes from a police car, after an assassination attempt is made the way he climbs on top of buildings and the jump is spectacular. The climax fight with the Russian Mafia is taken in a fast paced manner.

A happy-go-lucky Dr. Gautham Subramaniyam (Jayam Ravi) while on a visit to his sister's (Anu Hassan) house in a village falls in love with country lass Shenbagam (Kangana Ranut). Their marriage is fixed but Ravi is sent by the government to Russia for a medical conference.

In the airport, he bumps into Hanna a Russian model who is a carrier of drugs. The ruthless Russian Mafia lays a honey trap for Gautham and he is accused of killing Hanna. The local police arrest him with strong evidence and torture him.

A smart Tamil speaking lawyer Arathy (Lakshmi Rai) comes to his rescue, as the officer at the Indian Embassy Raghavan Nambiar (Jayaram) in not much of help. Meanwhile he escapes from police custody and is on the run with both the cops and mafia looking to gun him down. At the same time, back home in Pollachi Shenbagam is sure he will turn up on the day of their wedding.

It is an out and out Jayam Ravi movie, and he is simply amazing in his role as the man accused in a murder he did not commit. Kangana looks cute but lacks nativity especially in dhavani –pavada, Lakshmi Rai sans make-up is adequate for the role. Jayaram does not suit the bad guy role.

The biggest weakness of the film is its screenplay On the whole film lacks a tempo and the second half is far too drawn out. In the first 22 minutes of the film three songs pop out, making it look like a music video album. Anyway at best the film is a mindless time- pass.

Download Free Movies

2008-08-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

How to Download Free Movies

There are several ways to download movies
These movies are in the public domain, so they can be viewed over the Internet, downloaded and even edited with your own imaging software.
Download these video files to your computer (PC or Macintosh) using your own computer's menu or commands. Each computer might have a different way to download files from the Internet. Movie files include images and videos.
Most of these are Quicktime movie files. Most computers have Quicktime movie player installed on their computers. Some movies play with Windows Media Player (WMP). If the movie doesn't play, see the Quicktime FAQ.
MP4 and MPEG files contain the movie. The larger the size in megabytes (MB), the larger the screen view. A 1GB (gigabyte) file will have a much larger viewing screen than a 500MB or even 100MB file. Of course, the larger — the file, the longer — the download time.
If none of the following methods work, check your computer's or browser's manual or web site for more technical help. Most people have success downloading the files.

Downloading movie methods

Some computers or browsers may not be able to download these films. These are very large files, so it may take a long time (up to an hour or more) to download them to your computer. Much depends on your Internet speed connection.
If you have a slow Internet connection (such as a dial up telephone), the downloading process will take much longer. Hint: download the files overnight when Internet traffic is lighter.
Computers and browsers respond different, so you might need to try some of these methods to download the movies:

The “Download Files” link

Recently, we added a new feature to some movies. A link called “Download Files” brings up a new browser window with a directory of movies, image and text files.
This option (not available for all movies yet), is the easiest and works best for most computers.
The “Download Files” link (when available) is found on the movie title home page in the upper right column with links to other modem speeds. Click on this link to connect directly to the movie and image files.
HTTP: this link brings up a new browser window and a list of available movie options (like mpeg, mov, avi, etc.). Simply drag the link to your desktop or a directory on your computer. Remember, the larger the file, the longer it will take to download to your computer.
FTP: this links your computer to the movie file server and you can also drag the files you want to your computer. This is the best method to download files direclty to your computer.
When you click the FTP link, your computer will connect to the source host computer for the movie files (archive.org). After a few moments (or minutes depending on your Internet speed), a new hard drive icon, or window will appear. Inside the directory window contains all the movie, photos, images and content files. SImply drag any of the files to your hard drive — or highlight the icon and choose save as from your menu or mouse.
The download time depends on your computer speed and modem connection speed. Large files will take a long time to download. About 100MB file can take up to 5 minutes on a broadband connection, and up to an hour on a slower modem dial up connection.
When the files have finished the download, they can be opened in Quicktime movie player, iMove, and possibily Windows Media Player. The movie files should be able to be opened in many movie or video editing software programs.
It is recommended to use FTP to download large files.
On the item's details page, look for the “FTP” link next to “all files” on the left side of the page. Click the “FTP” link and you'll see all the files listed and the ftp address where you can find them.
Open your FTP program, connect to that ftp address, and then download the file you want. The advantage of using FTP is that it will usually handle a service disruption gracefully. If it gets interrupted, when the service is back it should resume the download where it left off.
While HTTP is more popular, some users find their downloads are much more stable with FTP. Here are a few FTP clients that users have found to work well:
For Windows Users
• Filezilla (support open source!)

• SmartFTP

• FTP Commander
For Mac Users
• Cyberduck (support open source!)

• Transmit

• Fetch

• Interarchy

How do I download files?

How to download the files on a PC, right click the link to the file, and select “Save Target As” or “Save Link As” (or something similar depending on which browser you're using).
How to Download Files on the Macintosh, hold the button down while the mouse is over the link, and when the menu comes up, select “Save Target As”.
Please use FTP to download very large files.

Other ways to download movie files

While the movie is playing, use your “save as” menu command to save the movie to your hard drive. On some mice, right-click to launch the menu. Make a note where the file is saved on your hard drive. You might need to type the .mpg4 extension if necessary.

Hold down your mouse cursor over the screen and select the “save as” or “copy to drive” menu items.

Drag the movie image to your hard drive using your mouse. This may work with Apple Macintosh computers.

A suggestion: if you have a slow modem and want to view the movie later or keep a copy of the movie for your own use: start the movie overnight just before you go sleep.
Use one of the methods above once the movie starts to play. The next morning, the mpg file should be on your hard drive. Watch it at your leisure.

Download Tips:

Try a different Internet connection. If your connection speed is less than 256kb (DSL or Cable Modem speed), then the movie might not play or take a longer time to start playing or downloading. If you have a slower, 64kb dial up modem, try to download from a faster line.

Try a different computer. Sometimes, PC's (and Macintosh) won't respond to menu requests. Varying software versions and computer hardware may limit the ability of the computer to download a file. If you have a newer computer, and still can't download files, try a different browser.
Try a different browser. Explorer, Firefox, Safari all look similar, but they may have different ways to download files. Try each one (make sure the others are not launched). Use the HTTP or FTP options, if available.
Try the “Download File” link. If your computer doesn't allow you to “save as” the files, use one of these two options to connect to the directories files. Drag or right-click “save as” to try to save the files to your hard drive.
Nothing works — I still can't download. It may be possible the combination of your computer's hardware, your browser and Internet connection won't allow you to download these files. If not, enjoy them anyway.

Kuselan - Hats off to Superstar

2008-08-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

There is Krishnan and Kuselan. However there is a bond between both of them, where something is missing. P. Vasu, who is the director of Kuselan, he is tried to give a clean movie with a balance between the story and the image of superstar. When we compare with its original Katha Parayumbol, Katha Parayumbol has lot of relity. In that movie, Sreenivasan acted as a Barber E.P. Balan on the original, who is principled and fighting a losing battle against corruption and craze to acquire all creature comforts in life. He makes digs at his own physical appearance, colour of his skin, loaded statements against the Marxist, state of the nation after liberlisation and arrival of multi-nationals in the retail sector, role of Christian missionary schools, and other favourite punching bags. Katha Parayumbol goes on this way. P. Vasu is going away from the original. Pasubathy doing the same roll, actually, he is done a good job, But there is something missing. Sreenivasan was done wonderful performance than Pasubathy. Then, caricature, Sreenivasan had good caricatured the characters in the original that such as people in a remote village. We could not find such people in Kuselan like original. It's a imperfection. We have to do a salute to Superstar Rajini, because, he proves again once in the climax that as "I never forget the acting skills in my earliest films" and he is giving more importance to the script of the Kuselan though there is lot of compromise scenes such as Nayanthara, bunches.

There is an old saying in tinsel town: Never try to remake a classic.

If you would like to read the proper review of Kuselan, Check Out LINK

ANJATHE - MYSSKIN'S SECOND MOVIE

2008-06-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I congrats the music director Sundar C Babu, whose orchestration travels along with each and every scenes that whatever it is a critical or romance. The RR lifts the movie to a height. Then, I'm amazing the work, there is Mysskin, who is the director of the movie. It's an incredible movie, he treated the movie unusual, especially the climax. Unquestionably, Anjathe is an excellent movie.

Thee Nagar: Review

2007-07-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

After the very long gap and chance less, Karan entered in the 'Kokki' and 'Karuppasamy...'. The both movies were good re-opening to him. However, would Karan go to shutdowning himself by releasing of his movie 'Thee Nagar'? Karan, who is roled as a ex-chairman of a city college and a umemployee. And searching his career. One day, he is in que of employment office for renew his employment. He is tired and searching bunk shop inside the employment office for get one cigarette. But there is no one. Immediately, he is getting an idea about self-employment. As soon as, he is starting a tea shop in the employment office and is doing a good business. Now, villain entered in the scene as a local sub-inspector. One day, Karan meet him in front of his shop. Sub-inspector begging a cigarette packet without pay money for it. Karan asking him in public that give the money for cigarette packet. Sub-inspector has to be tempted by this insulting and he is pointed the hero. He destroying his shop. Hero is tempering against sub-inspector. In claimax, he has to be giving a message to students. The movie has no pulses and streaming without sense of dress. There is nothing about heroine. Fathima Babu, she is casted as the mother of heroine and is look better than the heroine.

Jassi Gift, music director, who would may think that it's enough work to this movie.

'Thee Nagar' is very irritated movie in this time. When we getting the movie, it seems to look such as 10 years back movies.

My advice to the talented actor Karan: you don't act movies like the 'Thee Nagar'.

Kreedam: Review

2007-07-24T03:23:00.000-07:00

Kreedam has been another feast to Ajith's fans. It is a commercial movie with father and son sentiments. But not usual. The entire movie goes as suspense as how the hero tries to become a police officer. Rajkiran has played the father role more naturally and maturely. Saranya as the mother has done a good job. Comedy tracked by Vivek, Santhanam and Elavarasu, is appreciative. Trisha as lover of Ajith has performed well and she has utilized the scope given to her well.
There are no Punch dialogues when compared with Ajith's previous films and many clapping scenes for bold Rajkiran and active Ajith. The twist in the film is when Rajkiran flattened by baddie, from that scene, every scene goes with high pulses and how Ajith remove it.
In a good commercial movie, villain will be given equal scope as given to the hero and it has happened in this film. The snag given by villain to hero, causes pain to Ajith and Ajith is tempered. The climax is amazing, after Ajith take life the villain, he cries which is highlighted in the movie. Thiru's Cinematography is excellent. They have used the lighting perfectly according to the mood. Music director GV Prakash has once again proved his talent, has made all songs hit and particularly 'Akkambakkam' adds feather to his crown.
And GOOD DIRECTION. Kreedam is worth to watch.

Varun

A Freelance Writer

Sivaji The Boss: Review

2007-07-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

Sivaji releasing worldwide and hit all the theatres, has a record that broke the all Indian Movies Hit Record.

I watched Sivaji by two weeks it's released, I felt immediately that what happened to all the tamil cinema fans? They never cured about tamil cinema. It is not good for tamil cinema creators and It is good for Producer and Distributor. Fine. There is one thing that Surely, we will enjoy the Sivaji's success forthcoming tamil movies. How? Such as in the form of Little Superstar, Ilaya Thalapathi, Thalai etc. So you must be ready to watch some cloning Sivajis in the near future tamil movies.

I amazed for only one thing. That is Sivaji's making. And Music is a real hero of the Sivaji. All credits goes to AR Rahman and Thotta Tharani. Super Star is a Super Star. Shreya aka Tamil Selvi reflecting the tamil culture?

My Advice To Director Shankar: Don't waste your time and efficient on this way. We know all you. And One More Advice: You can make a good music album. Anyway Congrats.

My Rank To This Movie: It's worth to watch for making of Sivaji.