Banner: Studio Green
Star Cast: Karthi, Tamanna, Santhanam
Direction: Siva
Production: K E Gnanavelraja
Music: Vidyasagar

Karthi seems to be having a dream run in Kollywood. He is like a batsman in in prime form smashing all deliveries to boundary. As long as you are not ready to complain that ‘Siruithai’ lacks logic, the film would work big time, as it is an out and out commercial fare. Having started his career convincingly being part of off-beat movies like ‘Paruthuiveeran’ & ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’, the sibling of actor Surya is right here at a groove proving that he too is not far behind his elder brother, tasting success doing mass masala ventures.
Adding to his list of entertainers is ‘Siruthai’. Fast and furious from the word go, the movie comes with a sole purpose to provide entertainment and with no pretensions achieves the purpose.
As if not happy scoring a ton in his earlier ventures, Karthi goes to score a double hundred here. Yes, the actor manages to pull it off convincingly donning a dual role in the film for the first time – that of a callous local youth and a tough cop.
Though a remake of Telugu hit ‘Vikramarkudu’, director Siva has taken Karthi’s abilities in his stride to make some suitable changes in the Tamil script, that helps the movie cross the chequered flag with much ease and gusto. Be it the dialogues, comedy, action or romance, ‘Siruthai’ manages to sustain all interest – it is like a pot where you put your hand everytime you get a fortune.
Rocket Raja (Karthi) is a small time thief who is talented enough to steal anything he comes across. In the company of Kaatupoochi (Santhanam), he enjoys life to its extent and even falls for the charm of a beautiful girl (Tamannah).
However, his life changes forever when a small girl comes to Raja calling him dad. As Raja finds out the girl’s past, a flashback reveals that she is the daughter of an honest cop Rathanavel Pandian (Karthi), who is a nightmare to baddies.
However, Pandian is now is on the run because his enemies are behind him and his daughter. Eventually, the villains find the whereabouts of Pandian and finishes him off.
So steps in Rocket Raja (with the help of Pandian’s colleagues who are behind the girl reaching him) into his shoes and finishes the unfinished work of Pandian. He also takes care of his daughter. A roller-coaster ride of fun, joy, camaraderie and romance is what ‘Siruthai’ is eventually.
Karthi has not merely run through the motion but gives his heart and soul in the characters. Be it a fun-loving Rocket Raja or the angry policeman Rathnavel pandian, Karthi brings both astute on screen. He combines the Anbuselvan of ‘Kakkha Kaakha’ and the Sakthi of ‘Pithamagan’, made famous by his brother Suriya. At ease and at his self in dual roles, Karthi spells his charm all through.
Not far behind is Tamannah. The ‘Paiyaa’ duo of Tamannah and Karthi recreates the same chemistry on screen. Tammanah as bubbly innocent girl spells magic. A complex character made with ease by her. After a brief interval, she gets a role in which she really sparkles.
Add Santhanam for humour, and the end product is breezy and entertaining. As usual the comedian has audience in splits with his one-liners. He combines the grace of veteran Goundamani and presents them in his unique way, scaling success movie after movie. Mega Nair (of ‘Thangam’ fame) plays a woman police and has a bearing in the script.
Then there is Avinash, Rajiv Kanakala among others who do the job given to them with consummate ease Walking away with honours is Vidyasagar. The man of melody has come up with a cocktail of peppy and soft numbers, while Velraj’s cinematography is the talking point of the movie. The action sequences featuring Karthi as cop is major plus for ‘Siruthai’.
Produced by Studio Green, ‘Siruthai’ is fit and fine for a good leap. With Karthi trying new vistas not missing out on the entertainment quotient, it is a obvious sweet pongal for masses this Pongal. Action and satisfaction is what ‘Siruthai’ is.

Star Cast: Vijay, Asin, Raj Kiran, Roja, Vadivelu
Direction: Siddique
Production: C Romesh Babu
Music: Vidyasagar
Banner: Eka Veera Creations

‘Kaavalan’ is no doubt a different Vijay film. Yet, it is no different movie for it has got nothing big to offer but for Vijay’s terrific screen presence coupled with his neat performance and an emotional climax that comes with a twist. Take away Vijay & Vadivelu (who provides relief in a few scenes), ‘Kaavalan’ could make you squirm on seats, courtesy an outdated script and age-old style of narration. A few compromises to the original version (Malayalam hit ‘Bodyguard’) to suit the image of Vijay too fails to work big time.
In other words, ‘Kavalan’ could be a classic example of how a potent knot could be diluted in the name of making it a ‘commercially viable’ product. One good sign is that Vijay coming forward to be part of a project which doesn’t portray him as a demigod.
Coming to the story, Bhoominathan (Vijay), a carefree youngster, is made by his father (‘Nizhalgal’ Ravi) to join the household of Muthuramalingam (Rajkiran), a don-turned-do gooder in a village near Madurai, as a bodyguard.
As there is a threat to the life of Muthuramalingam’s daughter Meera (Asin), he asks Bhoominathan to accompany her to the college and provide security cover. As Meera feels Bhoominathan’s presence as a disturbance, she plays a prank on him, despite a warning from her friend Maadhu (Mithra Kurian).
Slowly, Meera falls for the charm and good heart of Bhoominathan and all hell breaks loose when Muthuramalingam, who never allows anyone deceive him, comes to know about this. What follows is a dragging climax, which however is emotional and touching.
Vijay is the real one-man army who saves the film to a great extent. It is his charm and performance that work big time in ‘Kavalan’. Asin is good but her much talked about chemistry with Vijay (in ‘Sivakasi’ and ‘Pokkiri’) is missing.
Vadivelu as Amavasai provides comic relief on very few occasions. Mithra Kurian, Rajkiran, Roja, KK, M S Bhaskar and ‘Pithamagan’ Mahadevan have performed well, but only have little scope as it is Vijay’s show all the way.
Vidyasagar is back with ‘Kavalan’ and his background score is good. So are a couple of songs. Cinematography by Ekambaram and editing by Gowri Shankar add value to the end product.
The script has many loopholes for there are many unanswered questions. One good example is that why ‘Pithamagan’ Mahadevan, who challenges to kill Asin at any cost, vanishes all of a sudden.
Siddique is a director with a magic touch in Malayalam. And in Tamil too, we have enjoyed his movies, especially ‘Friends’ with the same Vijay. However, as far as ‘Kaavalan’ is concerned, we have to conclude the review with a dialogue oft-repeated by Vadivelu in the film – ‘Avarey confuse aayitaaru pola irukku…’

Cast: Sivan, Sharmila, Nivedhita, Moorthy
Direction: S Sivaraman
Banner: Foot Steps Production
Production: S. Sundaravali
Cinematography: Jamaal
Music: E K Bobby
Art Direction: Rajan
Lyrics: Kalai Kumar
Arun (Sivan) and his group of friends are socially responsible. They clean up streets, defaced walls and publish a neighbourhood newspaper in which they write about social and civic issues. The neighbours are amused with Arun’s qualities, but his mother despises him as he hasn’t completed his graduation and spends his time in philanthropy.
Arun criticizes brain drain and claims that skilled youngsters who emigrate to USA are traitors, as they abandon their home country after enjoying its fruits. Arun’s mother rents out a room in their house to Shwetha (Sharmila), an engineer who has specialized in biotechnology, and who is waiting for her visa to USA. Learning that she is just another skilled youngster who is longing to leave to the US, Arun snubs her on any given occasion.
On Shwetha’s visa interview day, she misses the interview after fainting with fatigue waiting outside the US embassy. The dejected Shwetha joins a local pharmaceutical company as a researcher. As time goes by, she gets close with Arun, is influenced by his ideas and starts to realize that India is indeed a nice place to live in.
Arun, who has been writing some thought-provoking articles in his newspaper, is noticed by a news television channel head. He invites Arun to join his organisation as a investigative journalist. With the help of Shwetha, Arun unearths a large spurious drug manufacturing racket and reports about it. For his courageous reporting, Arun earns accolades and enemies.
Sollitharava is highly melodramatic with cliched scenes. The movie is an attack on brain drain and emigration to America. The movie is also inspired from some real life events like the fake drug scam in Chennai, the frisking of Abdul Kalam and the detaining of Shahrukh Khan in a US airport. As the movie is based on some recent events, it will not make head or tail in a few years. Fresh faces Sivan and Sharmila present satisfactory performances. The brain drain theme might appear socially relevant, but in reality, India is positive to the emigration of its skilled manpower, which brings in an abundance of foreign money. A character called Oxford, who tries his hand at comedy by talking in broken English throughout the movie, is a constant irritant. Songs with no impact and a camera that shakes in scenes, Sollitharava may die unlamented.

Cast : Ravi krishna , Sampath Raj , Jackie Shroff, Somasundaram, Yasmeen Ponnappa and Others.
Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja
Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematographer: P S Vinod
Editor: Praveen, Srikanth
Banner: Capital Film Works
Producer : SPB Charan
Thiagarajan Kumararaja directorial movie Aaranya Kaandam has been released to theatres. It is a fairly lengthy movie, which lasts for nearly 2 ½ hours and consists of Ravi Krishna, Sampath Raj, Yasmin Ponnappa, Somasundaram, as its principal characters. The erstwhile superstar of the Hindi film industry, Jackie Shroff has made his debut in Tamil films with this film.The film has already screened at the South Asian International Film Festival on 30 October 2010. It has won the Grand Jury Award for Best Film.
Aaranya Kaandam, which has been granted the ‘U’ certificate, is, essentially, a movie that concentrates on gangsters. The tale of the film follows from the solitary significant moment in the existence of the six protagonists. The movie is related to the primitive nature of mankind and the characteristics of the characters, which wipe out the frontiers partitioning mankind from beastliness. The film is quite absorbing.
The directorship of this film was in the hands of the newcomer, Thiagarajan Kumararaja, who has performed his task pretty competently. The music of the movie has been composed rather effectively by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The editorship of the film has been executed commendably by Srikanth N.B. and Praveen K.L. The cinematographic department is headed by P.S. Vinod is average. The performances of the lead stars are treat to watch.