Kadal Movie Review by ReelzonWheelz

Kadal- A Mani Ratnam Movie

 Coping up with the recent trends of bans for political gains Kadal had some problems too but finally the ocean is out. Even though the movie doesn't strike us like a tsunami it had the feel of breezy waves that kiss our feet on the golden sand. I would like to keep saying this always when I write a review its just my perception of the movie and nothing more. 

Kadal on IMDB
Kadal on RottenTomatoes

 The movie opens up with a fresh looking Aravind Swamy (Sam Fernandez) joining a Christian missionary where he meets Arjun (Birgman). Both of them are contrasting people Birgman is the sort of person who feels life is about having fun and calls himself the devil or Sathan. He is broadcasted by Mani Ratnam as the most talented person in the missionary. There is a scene such that one of the mainstays at the missionary says that Birgman knows the Bible better than them. Aravind Swamy - Sam or Father Sam as he is called later in the movie represents the angel and he never says so. Birgman is caught by Sam having an illicit affair with a girl and is sent out from the missionary. Birgman says that he will take his revenge soon and hence the plot starts. Gautam Kartik as Thomas has a good part to play but you feel its irrelevant to connect so many characters. Also you feel had the plot been between the seasoned actors like Aravind Swamy and Arjun alone the movie could have been better. Gautam Kartik (as Thomas)is the son of a prostitute and is shown as a careless irresponsible guy with a lot of vengeance towards the society. Father Sam comes and educates Thomas about the life and weaves a path for him to grow.

Over a period of time Father Sam gets accepted at the village of Thomas and as we expect Birgman (Arjun) enters back into the scheme of things. Father Sam saves the life of Birgman but even then Birgman sees this as perfect opportunity for revenge. He sets up a plot to get Father Sam land in big trouble by projecting Father Sam having an illicit affair with a girl. Then Father Sam is sent to Jail. Thomas joins with Birgman and gets his hands real dirty with blood and loves the aroma of it because he feels he is giving back to the society the stench they deserve. Thulasi Nair comes as Beatrice a medical genius with the heart of a child which can be said by some as mentally challenged due to her childhood. Thomas instantly falls in love with her and she too grows fond of him over time. Then the climax is of how Father Sam returns to village and what he does to Birgman and how he reacts to Thomas all form the end of this movie.

Positives or things I liked in the movie. First and foremost god sent music of the man A.R. Rahman. Then, I like the fact that Mani Ratnam has taken Human emotions and tried to play with the thin line of theist and Atheism via angels & demons described in Bible. I think he is trying to tell every Angel has a Demon inside him and every Demon has an Angel inside him. Its the society and the happenings around you that decide which image you project or the path you decide to take. In fact you can find scenes where you feel sorry for the Angel like people and then you see the amount of fun the Demon side has.

I think this is one of the most confusing movies of Mani Ratnam as you can see there is no end or beginning and things keep going on just like that. I find no impact from this movie or any impressive stuff according to my understanding. I know when I say this there is a huge possibility for people to come and taunt me saying you did not understand this movie or this movie has good IMDB rating etc etc. You can find similar reactions from Kamal Hassan fans too when you say you don't like the movie of the actor. My only question is why are you taking a film that normal people like me cannot understand?. I think a director is brilliant only when is brilliance connects with the common man. You can feel so touched and there is a good chance of wiping a tear when you see the movies like Kannathil Muthamittal by this director. I wont say the same for this movie though. I found this movie lowering the standards of Mani Ratnam stamp. 

Had this movie been taken by a new director I would have applauded much more but Mani Ratnam this is nowhere near the standards you have set for yourself. There is hardly a dialogue I can remember in this movie, so that reminds us all that Sujatha is no more. I felt after seeing stunning visuals in Ravanan , this time round too Mani sir will give a treat to the eyes through the blue tinge of the ocean. Even that desire was hardly satisfied. Also finally those of you fans of yesteryear stars Karthik and Radha wishing to see some romantic scenes involving their kin . Alaigal Oyvathillai kind of stuff, you will be seriously disappointed.

I may be too harsh on this movie but I say that because of the love , adulation and respect I have for Mani sir, I am sure he will come back with a great movie soon. So all the best for your next outing .

On the whole I will say this movie can be watched its not such a movie where you just wish for it to get over and get out of theater. Not a great entertainer and not a class movie its a very average flick I feel which can be watched once nothing more.

Kadal - A rocky ride on the blue ocean with lots of motion and commotion but hardly any vision.

It can be given a rating of 3 out of  5 maybe.

Please post your comments about the review whatever you feel no problems. Thanks for reading

Watch other Reviews too for Kadal movie below

Vishwaroopam | Tamil Movie Review From ReelzonWheelz

Vishwaroopam Tamil Movie Review

There have been lots of talk , hype and hoopla about this movie by many communities and politicians. There is one thing in this world called a perspective that is never viewed wide by the audience. I feel this is the right time to talk about it.

I see some people saying that especially in this Tamil debate with Muslim leaders and cinema personalities that after this movie there wont be peace and harmony between communities in Tamilnadu. Also that Muslims will be viewed henceforth as terrorists. But I see no chance at all for a person like AR Rahman being even called as t*****ist. AR Rahman is a benchmark personality who is making India prouder everyday but I have seen nothing against him just because he is a Muslim. All he has given to us is his love through music and we try to give the same love through our affection.

Vishwaroopam IMDB

Vishwaroopam Rotten Tomatoes

The first perspective is to view and analyze people rather than community. The second thing is cinema is an artistic work so you can never criticize an artist for his creativity. Also you cannot curb one's creativity just because you think its not right. The point is you are allowed to think its not right and at the same time I am also allowed to think that I am right. In fact all of us should accept nothing is right or wrong in this world as you can see the world we live searches for reason to war. When everyone knows war is unreasonable.

I think all people who think they may be offended by this movie should read this Analysis on Facebook shown to me by my friend.

First some things you should know about my review and me - I have no idea about any religion i.e Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh or etc etc etc. I just believe this all religions have humans and all religions preach peace only their title and languages are different.

So this is just a review from the perspective of a normal film-goer with no hatred or bias to any community at all.

The Review

Vishwaroopam opens with the title written in Arabic font style with the main terrorist feeding a horde of pigeons. One pigeon than flies and lands on top of a statue of a raging bull. This is explained by my friend in Facebook as this

"While title credit goes on at the back ground,one can notice pigeons in their own cages until a man/terrorist walks in, feeds (thoughts of Jihad) those pigeons. He chooses a white pigeon and sends it,and it ain't white anymore,it has some black spots on it; It symbolizes Muslims are brainwashed to Jihads; the black spotted pigeon flies across Wall street,and lands at charging bull; Charging bull implies aggressive financial optimism and prosperity of the American economy at Wall Street,i guess; Kamal sir tries to explain how terrorists had brought American economy down by bombarding Twin tower,and post military,and army expenses which brought down America's economy."

This is something I thought I should share with you to start with the review. The plot is quiet simple Nirupama is a middle class Brahmin who wants to settle down in USA to get away from the stressful middle class setup. Its by luck she is given a chance to marry Vishwanath (Kamal Hassan) who is in United States. She states it as a marriage of convenience. Nirupama has no interest in Vishwanath and is a person with doctorate in Nuclear Oncology. She is interested in her boss Deepak and is feeling guilty about the relation she develops with her boss. She goes for counselling as suggested by her friend. In fact the narration to us from Nirupama opens up in this way. She then tells about how she hired a detective Pete on suggestion of her friend to find out whether Vishwanath has any affair with a girl. So that she can feel less guilty.

Then interesting things unfold about Vishwanath and how all the characters connect throughout the film within hardly half an hour makes you applaud the screenplay of director Kamal Hassan. As we expect Kamal Hassan excels in his role be it that of a Kathak dancer or the role of the terrorist at the Al-Qaeda Afghan camp or the suave looking role of an hero. Pooja Kumar as Nirupama fits the bill even though at times you feel its maybe a percentage similar to Asin's character in Dashavataram. Nasser has a very limited role and so does Shekar Kapur. Andrea's role as Ashmita is good but its very much left unexplained and not much of an impact is felt. Rahul Bose as Omar does a neat job and so does many other characters like Salim, Farooq, Docins and the FBI agents of America.

There is one thing I personally liked in this movie was its boldness in showing the faces of Afghan terrorists, the American political drama and that there are still tears raining in Afghan but there is no hands to wipe it but only heavy hearts. There is a line repeated in the song and also it comes as a dialogue in the movie whoever dies maybe even a demon there is always a mother crying.

The art director of this movie should really be applauded as much as our hands pain .The pains he has taken to erect a setting that is similar to Afghanistan is really commendable. The costumes too deserve a hearty praise as nothing seems stitched against reality. The makeup of Kamal for the terrorist getup is really awesome. There are only 2 songs in the movie and both fit well in the film. The background music is good  but it could have been better one feels.

The part where the Afghan terror camps and their lifestyle is shown makes us wonder what on earth infiltrated their minds so much. We also are sure to feel pity for the kids over there who are forced to become warriors. 

The effects and visuals of helicopters and explosions are in par with Hollywood standards. The screenplay of this movie is the real hero as its gripping and fast paced. The climax may not be convincing for a lot of people but its left that way for Vishwaroopam part 2.

                                                   Watch Vishwaroopam Trailer

On the negative side you feel Kamal took the whole screen space. Some characters like Andrea are unexplained in the movie. Also its not really believable that terrorists can converse in Tamil (This is very well known to Kamal but its a commercial addition learning from Hey Ram movie). At times you don't get very clearly what is happening in the movie for instance terms like Nuclear Oncology, Cesium, Faraday shield etc. Also the climax is not fitting at all as it ends haphazardly unexpected. Technically the film is very sound with fast paced editing and screenplay. 

Also don't miss the clipping at the end credits where Kamal is shown doing stunts and lands in style for Vishwaroopam part 2 in India. 

On the whole I will say if you go with an open mind you can enjoy watching and learning some things from the movie. Its a good and commendable effort by Kamal. Hope he betters this and delivers Vishwaroopam 2

You can find double standard reviews for this movie one will be from Kamal fans saying that its one of the best movies and its in Hollywood standards. Then you can find some people saying that they feel Anbe Sivam Devar Magan were far better movies. Vishwaroopam is worthless just running because of the controversies.

I think , being a middle man and a normal cine-goer. I feel the film is good and watchable. Surely not a boring tasteless movie. But I surely expect more from Kamal Hassan. 

Hats off Kamal Hassan for taking your movie and fighting for justice. I am glad that you choose the path of peace for your fight.

All the best

Check Youtube Reviews here too by Bosskey and Prashanth.

Friends please post your comments about the review and the movie in this blog . Thanks for reading.