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Uttama Villain (2015)
Epic Fail
Kamal's movies fall into a special category. Whether you love or loathe them, you just cant ignore them. So, like most ardent film buffs, I too looked forward to his latest film Uttama Villain, hoping he would redeem himself after his previous fiascoes. Alas, I was proved wrong yet again!
Uttama Villain tells the story of an aging actor with a terminal illness (yawn!!) who wants to do one last movie with his mentor (played by Balachander) before having a life or death surgery. There's also quite a few side stories where he has an affair going on with his doctor, he meets his estranged love child, a daughter after a long time, has disagreements with his wife and father-in- law. And, his son hates him. Well, I am tired already.
Then there's the 'comedy' movie within the movie which seals the death nail on the audience. Its got to be one of the most juvenile, ridiculous attempts at comedy that you would have ever seen. Even your primary school skit would have more laughs. So, downright boring it is that Kamal and his cohorts (played by Nasser, Gnana Samandam & Shamuga Rajan) stoop so low and even resort to toilet humor and still fail to evoke any laughter. Every time the movie switched back to this movie-within-movie segment, I was dreading being bombarded with more boring jokes.
Every character in the movie either hams or cries incessantly and this includes Kamal. The emotional scenes seem forced and lack depth, so you don't feel anything for the characters. When you notice people laughing during emotional scenes & sitting silent during supposedly funny scenes, you know there's something definitely wrong with the film.
Kamal has used his scripting skills deftly to deliver some great stories in the past. But in recent times, they seem to be deserting him. It was evident in his previous works such as Manmadhan Ambu. Now, Uthama Villain takes the cake for the worst of all. I am going to have to watch re-runs of his yesteryear classics to retain my faith in him!
In one of the scenes in the movie, Kamal's son tells him that he wants to do a screenplay course abroad. Maybe its time Kamal himself enrolled in one such course!
NH10 (2015)
You don't want to miss this road trip
When I saw the trailer of NH10, it seemed just like one of those road movies that you have seen several times before. You know the ones where a couple or group of friends leave on a trip and counter a killer on a remote road who chases and kills them one by one! As it turned out NH10 was anything but usual.
The film starts off with Meera (Anushka) and Arjun (Neil) heading off on a weekend getaway. Meera has been traumatized by an event that happened a few days before, so the trip is more to get her back to her usual self. While stopping for lunch at a highway dhaba,they notice a group trashing an eloping couple and try to intervene. A few scenes later, they notice the same group on a remote road and Neil just on a whim, rather stupidly decides to teach them a lesson. The chain of events this decision leads them through, forms rest of the story.
This film is one of those few ones where you will find it hard to find any faults. Everything about the film right from the gripping screenplay, the near perfect acting performances (even from actors in brief roles),cinematography and background score are so perfectly in place. The director Navdeep Singh needs to be commended immensely for delivering a suspenseful gripping drama while at the same time highlighting the topical issue of honor killing and how entrenched caste is in the rural India's psyche. The honor killing sequence in particular is so raw and real that it sends a chill down your spine.
The film is interspersed throughout with subtleties which capture the sad and tragic realities of urban and rural India beautifully. The cop blaming the victim by asking why Anushka was out late at night when she tries to lodge a complaint; The xenophobia towards people from other states;the scenes with the brother and his friends capturing the crude patriarchy that exists in rural India etc are fine examples. The scene which takes the cake is the one where the rural cop mentions that Manu and Ambedkar had the same ideology!
Another common perception that prevails amongst most of us is that, only men are responsible for these horrible happenings. While this may be true in most cases, the film in a very hard hitting way conveys that women are equally to be blamed.
Its always heartening to watch a movie which is entertaining and conscience provoking at the same time. NH10 is a fine example and walks this tightrope with great élan.