Shabby-chic Supernatural Thriller 11-11-11 So Lo-Fi It’s Almost Endearing

REVIEW: Shabby-chic Supernatural Thriller 11-11-11 So Lo-Fi It’s Almost Endearing

There’s something almost endearing about the creakily lo-fi quality of 11-11-11, the latest feature from Darren Lynn Bousman, director of Repo! The Genetic Opera and _Saw_s II-IV. The film has the feel of something conceived and whipped together in very little time, perhaps to make its own built-in deadline. It struggles with big ideas — about the apocalypse, the changing nature of faith and, of course, how a certain date allows for the passage of possibly demonic beings between the worlds — that it can’t possibly accommodate on its small scale. It’s a film with maybe a dozen speaking parts and supernatural beings that are clearly dudes in black robes wearing rubber masks that nevertheless tries to suggest seismic spiritual changes are afoot, thanks to the events it chronicles in a beach house in Spain (a country from which I can only assume the film received funding, as there’s no other reason for it to be set there and the travel opens up problematic time zone questions).

Jackie Chan's 100th Movie is from '1911′

REVIEW: 1911, Jackie Chan’s 100th Movie, a Dour Historical Affair

1911 may be filled with lavish battle sequences and scenes involving masses of extras in picture perfect period garb, but the most breathtaking thing about Jackie Chan’s 100th film is how indifferent it is to international audiences. The Chinese blockbuster hasn’t needed or necessarily even sought out multinational success of late — if homegrown hits from the last few years like earthquake disaster drama Aftershock and romantic comedy If You Are The One and its sequel (all three of which happen to share the same director, Feng Xiaogang) don’t sound familiar, that’s because they’ve gotten nominal American releases or none at all. For U.S. markets, foreign still equals arthouse, and films that fall outside of that equation often confound studios and audiences who aren’t sure which niche subtitled mainstream fare should fall into.

Other than the draw of Chan, who plays a lead role and also co-directed the film with Zhang Li (getting his first directorial credit after having served as cinematographer on pictures like The Banquet andRed Cliff), it’s a bit of a surprise that 1911 is gracing U.S. theaters at all. The film is about and made in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, which brought about the end of the Qing dynasty after the abdication of the child Emperor Puyi, whose life was chronicled in Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor. Joan Chen is Empress Dowager Longyu, overseeing the crumbling dynasty the boy is set to inherit; Winston Chao plays Sun Yat-Sen, the “Father of the Nation” of modern China; and Chan plays revolutionary leader Huang Xing. Li Bingbing and Chan’s son Jaycee also play rebels — maybe?1911 offers a dizzying avalanche of historical characters, often introduced on screen by name with a subtitle like “Member of Tongmenghui.” Some reappear later, some don’t, some die almost immediately after their identity is displayed, as if it should be taken for granted that, once we know who they are, we can mentally call up their backstory and feel appropriately upset about their fate.

The formative Xinhai Revolution marks the start of China as a republic, and it’s a complicated series of events that 1911 doesn’t go out of its way to streamline. Some aspects, like the pricey-looking combat sequences involving trenches and explosions, are cinematic, and others are hilariously not at all, as when Sun goes to Europe to persuade the bankers there, done up as broad stereotypes of their respective countries and looking like characters out of a Monty Python sketch, not to lend money to the struggling Qing government. Sun travels to San Francisco, Malaysia and elsewhere raising support form the overseas Chinese population, while Huang leads a series of incomprehensible, nicely shot battles, some of which go well and others of which don’t.

1911 isn’t propaganda (an accusation lodged at 2009’s state-funded The Founding of a Republic, a drama about the Communist ascendancy in which Chan and many other Chinese stars appeared) but more a relentless, serious, fiercely nationalistic bit of historical mythmaking. The revolutionaries are all noble, devoted and sacrificing, ready to die for their new country at the drop of a hat. Instead of starting off with a list of woes being inflicted upon the people pre-rebellion, as you’d expect from a film with this arc, 1911 kicks off with a woman heading to execution, about to become the first female to shed blood for the conflict, according to her voiceover: “I rejoice at my martyrdom.” Someone shows her a picture of the children she’ll be leaving motherless, but she doesn’t show regret — she believes her death will go toward helping all children by giving them a better country in which to grow up, a sentiment that’s noble in theory but hard to take when laid out too baldly.

1911 is reportedly a passion project of Chan’s, and it’s filled with many of the trademarks of those downsides — it’s overlong, disjointed, a greatest hits of important moments with inadequate connective tissue, impossible to comprehend without prior detailed knowledge of everything it recounts. For those in search of the latest Chan film, it feels little like the work that’s made him so famous, and more like an opportunity for him to play a famous war hero. While no one expects the man to continue to leap onto moving trucks and slide down skyscrapers the way he did when he was younger, to have him try to carry a film consisting of material this dry is too taxing for his limited dramatic skills. As if aware, he throws in one palliative segment of martial arts in which he fights off men coming to disrupt Sun’s arrival by ship. It feels like a breath of fresh air, a glimpse of an actually enjoyable movie tossed in favor of dour history.

UYIRIN IDAI 21 MOVIE

UYIRIN IDAI 21 MOVIE REVIEW Review by : Behindwoods Review Board Starring: Sangamithra, Thilakan, E L Indrajith
Direction: E L Indrajith
Music: E L Indrajith
Production: E Kalaivaanan

Many years back a scientist placed dying people on a delicate weighing balance and measured the change in weight at the instant of death and came to a conclusion that the human soul weighs 21 grams. Now, whether the existence of the soul has been scientifically proven or not, its weight has been ascertained and the fact has now been used as the curiosity evoking title of a Tamil movie.

One would wonder whether this movie is an interesting intellectual take on the existence of the soul, afterlife and some other such uncertain concepts. Please be assured, if there is anything in the movie that is worth being curious about, it is only the reason behind this rather odd title. Everything else is as run-of-the-mill as you have seen in Tamil cinema over the past few years. A gang of dons, infighting, groupism and gangs within the gang. The rivalry goes from push to shove and before you know the sickles are out. There is betrayal, double crossing, killing, shouting and a struggle for power, all faithfully put in to make what is an aspiring gang war story which should end up showing the birth of a criminal from the shadow of another. In the end, the director seems to want to say that criminals are like banana plants, they never go down without making sure that another one is on its way up.

If you want to know the meaning of mediocrity, you should watch this film. It looks completely out of place in our times where film making is thoroughly professional. It looks like a half baked attempt at putting together a full length feature film with oodles of violence without fully learning the trade of filmmaking.

The script is amateurish, the lighting seems deliberately dark and dank throughout without proper reason, dialogues are unnecessarily over the top, characters are jukeboxes of weird sounds, and violence is gory. Every scene in the movie is a test of your patience.

The movie has been made by a set of film institute students. Their enthusiasm and confidence is not to be criticized. But, they still have a lot to learn before coming out as quality filmmakers, which they might emerge as, in the future. But, this time, it is a lesson learnt the hard way for them. The only bright spot in the entire affair is performance of Thilakan as an ageing don, his presence is commanding as ever.

VELAYUDHAM MOVIE

VELAYUDHAM MOVIE REVIEW Review by : Behindwoods Review Board Starring: Vijay, Genelia, Hansika Motwani, Saranya Mohan, Santhanam
Direction: Jeyam Raja
Music: Vijay Antony
Production: Aascar Films

Vijay is back to what he does best; mass entertainers, and what better time to unveil a mass entertainer than Diwali. With the music already a rage, the excitement was palpable as fans headed in droves to theatres on the festival of lights.

Velayudham is seen in many ways as a comeback to triumphant ways for Vijay. Yes, Kaavalan was a respite, but it is Velayudham that will more or less decide whether the tried and tested formula that have been followed for Vijay starrers for almost a decade can still hold the audience.

Lets make things clear first, Velayudham holds no surprises in the premise or the central conflict. It is not only something that is seen in a large percentage of commercial entertainers, it is also along lines that are very similar to quite a few earlier Vijay films. But, Vijay films have always been about his presence making things much more exciting than they appear to be in the script.

Velayudham deals with ‘one man saving the society from evil forces’ premise. Yes, we have seen it many times before. Here, the story is about how and why the man rises, how Velu becomes Velayudham. Once he has risen there is no looking back as he hunts down one bad man after the other, but that also earns him enemies who are nothing short of bloodsucking vampires. How does that affect his personal life and how he puts an end to what he began?

As you might guess, the seat of action is Chennai, cinema’s chosen city to portray all corrupt people in Tamil Nadu and the messiah is one who arrives from the village knowing nothing about the notoriety of the big bad city. Of course, he soon finds out and decides that it is better to react than be subdued. And, there is a generous dose of brother-sister sentiment thrown in.

Déjà vu anyone! Well, don’t mind that because Raja has woven a script that makes you forget all this and concentrate only on the screen. The first half is really a joyride, especially for Vijay fans as he is introduced as the fun loving, mischievous young man who will go to any lengths to make his sister (Saranya Mohan) happy. Vijay is an absolute livewire, be it in the electric dance sequences or the enjoyable comic exchanges, first involving Parotta Suri and M.S.Bhaskar and later with the extremely effective Santhanam. Of course, the director has not failed to keep pushing the central plot ahead steadily to leave the interval intriguingly poised. The second half arrives with more of action than anything else. Yes, there is place for a bit of romance and also some cleverly placed comedy sequences late into the half, but on the whole action does dominate. Again, as we have seen repeatedly with commercial films, it is the overdose of the action element, especially projecting the hero as an unassailable superhuman that makes viewing a bit difficult. Velayudham too falls prey to the same errors, though not to the irrecoverable extent that many other movies have fallen. Raja intersperses high octane action with a couple of well placed songs (Molachu Moonu and Rathathin Ratham) and a very sentimental pre-climax portion to keep the audience from feeling action weary. But, the dominant feeling as the end credits start to roll is that a racy and intelligent climax (not that the one now is non-inttelligent) instead of the hero’s mass appeal and a preachy message would have made the movie much better.

Raja has done a fine job of mixing all the elements that go towards making a mass hero film, though he has lost the balance a bit in the last hour. His adeptness at placing comedy, romance, sentiment and the mandatory 5 songs into a script that has an alter-ego(istic) superhero should be commended. Nothing looks out of place, as we enjoy Santhanam’s wisecracks, Vijay’s dances and the brother-sister sequences. It is a while since we have seen Vijay excel in an emotionally heavy scene, Raja gets it out of the actor, in Velayudham. Also, placing 5 songs in a movie with none of them sticking out like a sore thumb is quite an achievement; though we should say that Vijay’s presence is a major factor in ensuring this.

Everyone in front of the camera has done a fine job. Vijay is sprightly, energetic and every bit the way we love to see him. He has experimented a bit with his look in the songs and they have come out well. Hansika is there in many scenes, but for most parts is a silent spectator, being called upon once in a while, mostly for glamour. She does not look out of place as a village girl, but the makers’ claim that she would remind us of Khushboo is an overstatement. Genelia gets quite a significant part and looks convincing. A laugh is guaranteed every time Santhanam is on screen. Saranya Mohan too deserves a round of applause for being good enough to make the audience feel the depth of the siblings’ bond.

During most of the talkie portions, the camera strictly adheres to the requirements. Some well shot scenes within a train are worth mentioning. But, it is in the songs that the lens turns on the magic. At least a couple of them are visual treats. The capture of landscape for Molachu Moonu is delectable. Action too has been designed well. Though the movie is of the superhero type, the fights have not been taken to those levels; keeping them down to plausible levels (by commercial cinema standards). Dialogues too deliver the occasional punch and there is one particular reference to the rather benign ways of India.

Velayudham is a regular commercial entertainer which shows one man rising for the masses to right the wrongs in society. Yes, we have seen this kind of movie many times. But, a deftly written script keeps us engaged on screen for most parts until Raja gives into the temptations of adding extra mass appeal to a film that is already built around it. There are many scenes that instantly remind us of films seen earlier, but Viijay’s presence makes up for these glitches. There are also a few instances where the dialogues have political overtones (or are we imagining things, given the nature of the season). If the director had steered clear of these elements and concentrated on building a solid last hour which did not rely too heavily on the leading man’s charisma to carry it off, Velayudham would have been an even better end product.

ANBULLA KAMAL MOVIE

ANBULLA KAMAL MOVIE REVIEW

Review by : Behindwoods Review Board Starring: Kamal Haasan, Meera Jasmine, Jayaram
Direction: Saji Surendran
Music: M Jayachandran
Production: Tomichan Mulakupadom

Four Friends, the Malayalam multi-starrer, which did middling business in Kerala has found its way into theaters in Tamil Nadu; presumably because it features a one-scene cameo by Kamal Haasan. Did the producers believe that just the presence of Kamal Haasan is enough to evoke interest in the Tamil audience, or did they believe in the strength of the story to woo the audience? The fact that the movie stars Jayaram, Jayasuriya and Meera Jasmine, who are already familiar to Tamil audiences, besides Kunchako Boban, might also have prompted the decision to go in for this Tamil release.

Anbulla Kamal is the story of four terminally ill people who come together and decide that their last days on earth must be worth remembering, that they must leave no wishes or duties unfulfilled when their time comes, which they know, is not too far away. The film takes us through the emotions of each of these characters as they forge a bond amongst themselves and also try to do those final calls that are very close to their hearts. Funding their dreams is the richest among them all, who realizes that even all his wealth is not going to save him from fate. While they still remain active and continue to pursue their most ardent wishes, it is evident to us that they have also resigned to their fate. That is when they receive a beacon of hope in the form of someone who has seen people around him fight and even win the battle against terminal illness.

The best thing about the movie is that it proposes no magic cure, no spiritual remedy; not even some hospital in the USA which can do a one-surgery treatment to give them back their lives. Terminal illness is shown in its stark reality without sugar coating the facts. The message is loud and clear that no medicine is as powerful as the human spirit and the will to live life to its fullest. While we have all heard about names like Lance Armstrong who fought and won against terminal illness, this film gives us names of people closer home, people whom we can identify with, who have fought with undying spirits. Not all of them could win, but they did live life with hope and courage, doing what they like to do best. That, in very simple terms, is what Anbulla Kamal tells you.

You are told very early in the film that the four protagonists are terminally ill. There descends the heavy pall of gloom and impending death. That hangs over the film like a dark cloud all the way. How much ever the director tries to make things colorful and cheerful by taking us through the development of their friendship or through their attempts to get all their wishes fulfilled, the film constantly carries a gloomy mood, which makes it weary for us after a point of time. The heavy emotional content weighs down anything presented in the form of entertainment, even the songs and the bright locations.

One wonders whether the quality of dubbing has anything to do with this. Jayasuriya has been given space in the script for comedy, but dubbing in the local Chennai flavor for him seems grossly overdone and destroys whatever little fun it would have brought. The only silver lining in the cloud is the rather beautiful message of hope and courage which is given out citing examples whom we can relate to. And, Kamal Haasan makes a one-scene appearance. Taking a theme that deals with terminal illness and impending death and making a cheerful entertainer out of it without ridiculing the seriousness of the ailment is a tricky balancing act. It was once executed beautifully by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Anand. The director of Anbulla Kamal could have taken a cue from there.

The film has some good music, but as said before, it gets subdued in the big shadow cast by the central theme. The opening remix of ‘Yeh dosti’ from Sholay is, however, an exception. All the performers have pitched in with good portrayals, but no one really stands out. Camera has tried hard to capture some colorful frames and has done fairly well.

Anbulla Kamal is a film that delivers a very beautiful message on life; like Rocky Balboa said ‘ain’t nothing over until it’s over’. But, the theme of illness and impending death elbows out the more cheerful parts on friendship and life, which makes the film a heavy and rather gloomy experience. Obviously, the treatment could have been different. And, why was the film named Anbulla Kamal; just because Kamal Haasan appears in one scene! Isn’t that a bit misleading?

7AUM ARIVU MOVIE

7AUM ARIVU MOVIE REVIEW Review by : Behindwoods review board Starring: Suriya, Shruthi Hassan
Direction: A.R.Murugadoss
Music: Harris Jeyaraj
Production: Udhayanidhi Stalin (Red Giant Movies)

The big Diwali bonanza is here in theatres. The team that gave us the unforgettable Ghajini is back with 7 Aum Arivu. A.R.Murugadoss, Suriya and Harris Jeyaraj have teamed up and the expectations have hit an all time high for a Suriya starrer, what with the pre-release publicity and hit music. So, what is 7 Aum Arivu all about?

Well, everyone knows the answer to that, at least partially. Yes, anyone who follows Tamil cinema would have searched up the name Bodhidharman at least once on the internet over the past month. The team of 7 Aum Arivu digs into history to introduce us to this iconic (in China) Pallava prince who is claimed to be the founder or one of the first masters of Shaolin Kung Fu. The film takes off from the 5^th century Pallava kingdom as the prince Bodhidharma, acclaimed for his proficiency in all arts, crafts, armoury and medicine, leaves for China. We are told about how he became a legend in China, spreading his immense knowledge to help them out of many a crisis.

But, the main plot brings us to present day Chennai. A young scientist looking to do some ground breaking research realizes that her work might be getting in the way of someone else’s plan and an unsuspecting simpleton who is a circus artiste by profession also unwittingly becomes part of this. And then, there is a deadly agent who has motives that are much bigger than just science or research. Behind all this is a huge conspiracy. What is the conspiracy and why is a scientist being hounded and what does a simple circus artiste have to do with all of this? Watch 7 Aum Arivu to find out.

The first few minutes of 7 Aum Arivu are magnificent in every sense of word. Be it the majesty of the Pallava kingdom, the authenticity of a period that dates 1600 years back or the aristocracy of Suriya as the Pallava prince, every frame holds all your attention. So, does the brief but powerful sequence in China. The reason behind Bodhidharma becoming an iconic figure for all the Chinese is effectively shown. Of course, we can see that the director is burdened by a very large account of Bodhidharma’s life (almost something of epic proportions) which have to be summed up in a 20 minute capsule. Therefore, he resorts to generous doses of voice overs which give a kind of semi-documentary effect to that particular portion. That, however, does not prevent the initial 20 minutes of the film from arresting your attention.

Cut to the present and that is where 7 Aum Arivu starts to show the first signs of tiredness. For a film that began with so much power and majesty, the script wears down the effect and makes it another entertainer with a couple of poorly placed songs and a romance track that seems to have little substance in it. You could get restless as you search for the central plot which, you are told at the beginning, is about some international conspiracy. Just when you believe that the plot is taking centre stage, there comes another song, further letting down the tempo of the first half. It is only at the fag end of a laborious 100 minutes that you are convinced that the central plot has finally arrived. You would think that the second half had to be a full throttle journey. That’s what the director has wanted, yes. But, here, Murugadoss hasn’t been able to pull it off with the success he is usually known for. Things do get interesting as more details about the conspiracy are revealed. The initial portions promise a race to the climax. Shortening the fight sequences could have helped the cause. Though the machinations of the conspiracy and the moves to counter it are intelligent, some aspects rob the entire script from being completely credible. One of these is the amount of powers that the lead antagonist is shown to possess; it borders on the realm of the unbelievable and when he exercises them constantly, scene after scene, it becomes a test of the patience of the viewer. Also, the director has taken generous scientific liberties in constructing his script. Nothing wrong with that, science fiction is a welcome addition to Indian cinema. But, once a scientific track is adopted, it must be seen through to the end. Instead, the script abandons the scientific credibility towards the fag end to give way to a commercial climax action sequence.

But, the film is not all about these flaws. There are strong bright spots which tilts the balance. With an impeccable body language as the stately prince and the ascetic monk, Suriya has turned in a committed and spirited performance yet again. He sure has put in a lot of hard work to get those Kung Fu moves right. Shruthi Haasan may not impress phenomenally with her Tamil debut, but she sure has acting in here genes! And, coincidentally, the film also deals with how abilities are carried forth through generations by genes. Johnny Tri Nguyen looks every bit the terminator, cold and lethal. Murugadoss has raised some very relevant messages through his movie. Some are spelt out clearly at various points in the film and the others are implied. These messages are sure ‘take homes’ for everyone. Also, the research he has undertaken to bring to light a person called Bodhidharma is truly praiseworthy; he has resurrected a piece of history.

7 Aum Arivu has some very strong technical aspects. The cinematography remains top notch throughout, you can see that every frame was carefully constructed, especially in the initial 20 minutes or so. Same can be said about the art too. The visual effects also are a treat to watch, except for a few instances in a fight sequence right in the heart of the city. Also congrats to the team for capturing so many shots in different spots of the city with originality. Harris Jeyaraj’s tunes have already delighted you, but do not expect the same in the movie as the songs have been placed at very unfortunate points in the script. Finally, the editing of the film could and should have been crisper; at a duration of above 3 hours, 7 Aum Arivu is a long drawn affair.

7 Aum Arivu which starts of majestically with support of a superior technical crew would have reigned supremacy, only if had not dwelled too much on insignificant romance, not pushing in 2-3 songs too many and leaving the entire central plot for the second half.

Ra One is easily the biggest movie of the year

RA ONE MOVIE REVIEW Review by : Harish V Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Armaan Verma
Direction: Anubhav Sinha
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Production: Gauri Khan

Ra One is easily the biggest movie of the year and thanks to the tremendous and well thought off marketing push by Red Chillies and Eros International, it has turned into an event film. Shahrukh's extremely high budgeted movie has launched a social game, a PS3 game, came out with graphic novels, merchandises, innumerable marketing tie ups, youtube tie up and the movie is going to be released in India in 3 languages simultaneously with more than 4000 prints all over the world. Can it get bigger than this? Well yes. The King of Bollywood - Shahrukh made the movie even bigger by pulling in Amitabh to do the narration and then did the impossible - he brought in Superstar Rajinikanth to act in a small scene. Well should we say more? The tickets vanished from the ticket counters in minutes and today is the judgement day. Can Ra.One mesmerize you? Can Ra One change the game? Can Ra.One take Indian film to the international level, something that Endhiran promised, but failed to do? The answer to all these questions is just around the corner ... And as the theatre starts getting dark and the screen in front brightens we expect nothing short of magic on screen.

And Magic it was. Ra.One shows reflections of several movies but it is mainly inspired by Terminator 2- Judgement Day. It has also taken few pointers from Iron Man(The core design), Astro Boy(the blue core red core), Endhiran(few shots) etc. And still, the film stands on its own merits which is the biggest plus for the movie and the director Anubhav Sinha.

Sekar Subramanium, a genius game developer's desperate attempt to impress his son leads him to create a game where the villain Ra.One is more powerful than the hero. At the same time, his company is working on a program to remove the wall that separates the virtual world from the real. Ra.One utilizes this program to come to life and all hell breaks loose!

He wants to kill the only person who has beaten him in the game. Who is this one man? Is it Shahrukh? Can Shahrukh vanquish the super villain? To know the answer you will have to wait for at least a week to see it in the theatres, if you haven't booked your tickets already.

The director did not have an impressive track record even though he has given 2 hits. But even those have got mainly average to bad reviews. After his last debacle ’Cash’ no one expected him to come out with a project of such magnitude, especially with Shahrukh Khan. But this time around, he has completely impressed with his direction. The movie is aimed at children and young adults while ensuring that even the elders can enjoy. So you will have to expect some kiddish scenes too.

The movie has no problem with the pacing as it is consistently fast. The Climax however could have been more impressive. The characterization of Ra.One could have been made more evil and terrorizing to heighten the tension and make the film gripping. The mystery as to what he would do next could have kept the audience at the edge of their seats. Ra.one’s ability to control human brain seemed too far fetched and could have been avoided.

Shahrukh does struggle with his Tamil, but is exceptional as Sekar and brilliant as G-One. His performance as a human and a virtual superhuman proves his prowess as an actor. Kareena has evolved wonderfully as an actor. She sizzles on screen especially in the world famous ‘Chhamak Chhallo’ track. She looks beautiful and delivers her role with élan showing how competent an actor she is. Armaan Verma is a delight to watch as Sekar’s kid. Arjun Rampal enters the scene in the second half and plays a menacing Ra.One quite well. The special appearances by Sanjay dutt and Priyanka Chopra are ok. The much talked about Chitti's (Rajnikant in Endhiran) appearance could have been much much better. However, Rajni’s appearance on screen received screams and cheering which reached maddening levels. The rest of the cast have little to do and they do impress.

Technically, Ra.One is by far India’s biggest and most expensive by the look of it. Cinematography by V. Manigandan is a feast to the eyes and the action swquences alone are shot by the legendry - Nicolo Pecorrini which has come out brilliantly. The animation and graphics compare to the best of Hollywood. The film actually leaves you wondering as to what is graphics and what is real. While it is good in the first half, the graphics is taken to an all new level in the second half. This film has clearly set a very high bar for computer graphics in Indian film Industry. The action sequences are impeccable. Whether it is the car chase sequence, G-One's introduction, Train sequence or the climax, the execution is of international level. Sabu Cyril's art direction should be lauded as the ace art director makes every single set picture perfect. Which is real? Which is a set? Which is graphics? You never know. Did you think the train involved in the pre-climax action scene was a real train? Well, think again. Music has already received rave reviews especially with 'Dil dara', Akon’s 'criminal' and 'chamak chalo' have caught on like wild fire. The picturisation elevates the song experience.

Overall it is s a paisa vasool. Take your kids and family for this event film and become a kid and enjoy the fun. Technically the movie does touch international standards but doesnt boast of an exceptional or unique storyline to impress international junta but its a Indian film which every Indian should be proud off. Expect every record in the record book re-written.