Indian movie star Rajinikanth joins politics in Tamil Nadu
NEW DELHI (AP) — Movie superstar Rajinikanth is entering politics in his southern Indian state with a plan to launch his own party, calling it his duty. The 67-year-old said Sunday to his cheering supporters that his objective is to change the system and bring good governance to Tamil Nadu. He called for political change and appealed to his fans to bring all sections of society into the fold. "I do not want cadres. I want watchdogs," New Delhi Television channel quoted Rajinikanth as saying. Rajinikanth is one of India's most popular stars and many of his 175-plus films since 1975 have broken box-office records, mostly in the Tamil and Telugu languages. His political prospects appear bright following a huge political vacuum created by the death of Jayaram Jayalalithaa, an iconic political figure, and the near-retirement of 93-year-old Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the leader of the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party. Cinema has always influenced Tamil politics by turning actors into popular politicians. C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi were both scriptwriters who went on to become chief ministers. M.G. Ramachandran, a top actor-turned-politician, also had a strong screen presence and following among the masses. Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor for three years before joining an acting school. He started in small roles as a villain in Tamil cinema and worked his way up, landing roles in Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai. The Indian government honored him with top national awards — the Padma Bhushan in 2000, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 — for his contributions to the arts. At the 45th International Film Festival of India in 2014, he was conferred the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan also tried his hand in politics as a member of India's Parliament, representing the Congress party in support of his friend, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in the 1980s. He resigned after three years following allegations that he accepted bribes in the purchase of artillery guns. His name was later cleared from the scandal. Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Vidhi Madhi Ulta movie review: The momentum picks up in the latter part
Rating: Director: Vijay Balaji Cast: Rameez Raja, Janani Iyer, Daniel Balaji, Karunakaran Stories based on premonition themes are not common in Tamil cinema. The latest one to arrive in the genre is 'Vidhi Madhi Ulta', which has finally hit the marquee after a long delay. The movie starts interestingly where comedian Soori introduces various characters in the movie in a voice-over in the credit cards. Adhi (Rameez Raja) is an easygoing guy who spends most of his time watching TV series and the rest in the company of friends. We are told in the intro that he aims to marry a girl of his choice. One day he gets kidnapped by a group of people to whom his dad (Gnanasmabandham) owes money. Soon, his romantic interest Divya (Janani Iyer) a college student also gets abducted by another group of thugs who are the underlings of a gangster Danny (Daniel Balaji) on instructions from the latter’s brother. Meanwhile, there is this thief (Karunakaran) and his partner who have hidden their big booty in the same deserted godown where the couple is held. The lovers try to escape but get caught by the men and in the melee that follows, Danny’s brother is killed. When Danny comes to know of it, he is in no mood to listen and on a revenge spree on Adhi and Divya’s families. And that is when Adhi wakes up and realizes that it was all in his dream. But, when things from the dream start happening in real life, how Adhi wins over destiny using his intellect forms the rest. Rameez Raja’s second movie 'Darling 2' got released first and he was appreciated for his performance in it. Apparently, VMU being his debut-acting venture, the actor looks naïve and passes muster. Janani Iyer in a decent role is adequate. It is surprising to see Daniel Balaji in an insignificant role and his dialogue delivery was artificial. Karunakaran shakes his leg for a kutthu style number. Music by Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy was good. As a concept the film looks good on paper, but it is in the execution director Vijay Balaji errs. The first half is a bit dragging, while the momentum picks up in the latter part. The film can be enjoyed only in parts.
Movie Review: Balloon
Synopsis: A filmmaker goes to check out a haunted house in Ooty to seek inspiration for a horror film, not realising that the place has a connection with his past. Review: Balloon doesn't break any new ground in the horror genre, but it adapts a bunch of the genre's tropes — possessed kid, exorcism, revenge-seeking ghost and the like — to give us a solid horror film. In fact, right in the title credits, director Sinish lists out the films that inspired his — from Mama and The Conjuring to Poltergeist and It. This, in fact, feels like a wise strategy, because this open admission warms us up to the film's derivativeness. And to Sinish's credits, he has adapted elements from these films in a way that makes his film feel fresh. The set-up, in fact, feels autobiographical. An aspiring filmmaker who wants to make his debut film is advised by a producer to set his realistic script aside and make a horror film first. And so, the young man, Jeevanandham (Jai) sets out to Ooty, after hearing about a haunted house there, with wife Jacqueline (Anjali). Refreshingly, the inter-faith marriage isn't remarked upon; it doesn't play any role in the plot, but the matter-of-fact manner in which the director conveys this to the audience makes us trust him as a storyteller. They are accompanied by Jeeva's two friends-assistants (Yogi Babu and Karthik Yogi), and his nephew, Pappu. However, eerie things start happening to them there, and one of them even gets possessed by a spirit, but it is only much later that they realise that these events have a connection with Jeeva's past. Balloon works mainly because it has some solid scares (most of which are jump scares or variations of it), a lot of zingy one-liners (courtesy Yogi Babu, who is hilarious here) and a bit of inventiveness (especially in the second half, when the ghost toys with the villains). The filmmaking is also solid, with the technical team, notably cinematographer R Saravanan, whose frames give the film gloss, and sound designers Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan of Sync Cinemas, who amp up the scare factor without going overboard. And Yuvan Shankar Raja, whose name is credited after the director's in the title credits signifying his importance to the project, comes up with an eerie theme and a score that is unsettling, though the songs, especially a duet between Jeeva and Jacqueline, only serve to increase the length of the film. The flashback portion, a standard thwarted romance involving Charlie the clown (Jai), his lover Shenbagavalli (Janani) and Joy, the girl who Charlie wants to adopt, doesn't hit us hard enough emotionally, though it does tie-in with the film's initial comments about fringe outfits intimidating filmmakers. The antagonists, which includes Moorthy (Nagineedu), a wily politician who will stop at nothing to rise in his career, are also hardly threatening that the film loses some intensity once it tells us why the eerie events are happening. Even the climactic twist feels perfunctory and doesn't make us sit up, unlike the ones we got in films like Pizza and Maya.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Movie superstar Rajinikanth is entering politics in his southern Indian state with a plan to launch his own party, calling it his duty. The 67-year-old said Sunday to his cheering supporters that his objective is to change the system and bring good governance to Tamil Nadu. He called for political change and appealed to his fans to bring all sections of society into the fold. "I do not want cadres. I want watchdogs," New Delhi Television channel quoted Rajinikanth as saying. Rajinikanth is one of India's most popular stars and many of his 175-plus films since 1975 have broken box-office records, mostly in the Tamil and Telugu languages. His political prospects appear bright following a huge political vacuum created by the death of Jayaram Jayalalithaa, an iconic political figure, and the near-retirement of 93-year-old Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the leader of the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party. Cinema has always influenced Tamil politics by turning actors into popular politicians. C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi were both scriptwriters who went on to become chief ministers. M.G. Ramachandran, a top actor-turned-politician, also had a strong screen presence and following among the masses. Born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, Rajinikanth worked as a bus conductor for three years before joining an acting school. He started in small roles as a villain in Tamil cinema and worked his way up, landing roles in Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai. The Indian government honored him with top national awards — the Padma Bhushan in 2000, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2016 — for his contributions to the arts. At the 45th International Film Festival of India in 2014, he was conferred the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan also tried his hand in politics as a member of India's Parliament, representing the Congress party in support of his friend, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in the 1980s. He resigned after three years following allegations that he accepted bribes in the purchase of artillery guns. His name was later cleared from the scandal. Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Vidhi Madhi Ulta movie review: The momentum picks up in the latter part
Rating: Director: Vijay Balaji Cast: Rameez Raja, Janani Iyer, Daniel Balaji, Karunakaran Stories based on premonition themes are not common in Tamil cinema. The latest one to arrive in the genre is 'Vidhi Madhi Ulta', which has finally hit the marquee after a long delay. The movie starts interestingly where comedian Soori introduces various characters in the movie in a voice-over in the credit cards. Adhi (Rameez Raja) is an easygoing guy who spends most of his time watching TV series and the rest in the company of friends. We are told in the intro that he aims to marry a girl of his choice. One day he gets kidnapped by a group of people to whom his dad (Gnanasmabandham) owes money. Soon, his romantic interest Divya (Janani Iyer) a college student also gets abducted by another group of thugs who are the underlings of a gangster Danny (Daniel Balaji) on instructions from the latter’s brother. Meanwhile, there is this thief (Karunakaran) and his partner who have hidden their big booty in the same deserted godown where the couple is held. The lovers try to escape but get caught by the men and in the melee that follows, Danny’s brother is killed. When Danny comes to know of it, he is in no mood to listen and on a revenge spree on Adhi and Divya’s families. And that is when Adhi wakes up and realizes that it was all in his dream. But, when things from the dream start happening in real life, how Adhi wins over destiny using his intellect forms the rest. Rameez Raja’s second movie 'Darling 2' got released first and he was appreciated for his performance in it. Apparently, VMU being his debut-acting venture, the actor looks naïve and passes muster. Janani Iyer in a decent role is adequate. It is surprising to see Daniel Balaji in an insignificant role and his dialogue delivery was artificial. Karunakaran shakes his leg for a kutthu style number. Music by Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy was good. As a concept the film looks good on paper, but it is in the execution director Vijay Balaji errs. The first half is a bit dragging, while the momentum picks up in the latter part. The film can be enjoyed only in parts.
Movie Review: Balloon
Synopsis: A filmmaker goes to check out a haunted house in Ooty to seek inspiration for a horror film, not realising that the place has a connection with his past. Review: Balloon doesn't break any new ground in the horror genre, but it adapts a bunch of the genre's tropes — possessed kid, exorcism, revenge-seeking ghost and the like — to give us a solid horror film. In fact, right in the title credits, director Sinish lists out the films that inspired his — from Mama and The Conjuring to Poltergeist and It. This, in fact, feels like a wise strategy, because this open admission warms us up to the film's derivativeness. And to Sinish's credits, he has adapted elements from these films in a way that makes his film feel fresh. The set-up, in fact, feels autobiographical. An aspiring filmmaker who wants to make his debut film is advised by a producer to set his realistic script aside and make a horror film first. And so, the young man, Jeevanandham (Jai) sets out to Ooty, after hearing about a haunted house there, with wife Jacqueline (Anjali). Refreshingly, the inter-faith marriage isn't remarked upon; it doesn't play any role in the plot, but the matter-of-fact manner in which the director conveys this to the audience makes us trust him as a storyteller. They are accompanied by Jeeva's two friends-assistants (Yogi Babu and Karthik Yogi), and his nephew, Pappu. However, eerie things start happening to them there, and one of them even gets possessed by a spirit, but it is only much later that they realise that these events have a connection with Jeeva's past. Balloon works mainly because it has some solid scares (most of which are jump scares or variations of it), a lot of zingy one-liners (courtesy Yogi Babu, who is hilarious here) and a bit of inventiveness (especially in the second half, when the ghost toys with the villains). The filmmaking is also solid, with the technical team, notably cinematographer R Saravanan, whose frames give the film gloss, and sound designers Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan of Sync Cinemas, who amp up the scare factor without going overboard. And Yuvan Shankar Raja, whose name is credited after the director's in the title credits signifying his importance to the project, comes up with an eerie theme and a score that is unsettling, though the songs, especially a duet between Jeeva and Jacqueline, only serve to increase the length of the film. The flashback portion, a standard thwarted romance involving Charlie the clown (Jai), his lover Shenbagavalli (Janani) and Joy, the girl who Charlie wants to adopt, doesn't hit us hard enough emotionally, though it does tie-in with the film's initial comments about fringe outfits intimidating filmmakers. The antagonists, which includes Moorthy (Nagineedu), a wily politician who will stop at nothing to rise in his career, are also hardly threatening that the film loses some intensity once it tells us why the eerie events are happening. Even the climactic twist feels perfunctory and doesn't make us sit up, unlike the ones we got in films like Pizza and Maya.
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