Azhagaane Iravil- A Beautiful Love Journey By Ruvela

It has been a couple of months since I wrote something, and I can’t just express the happiness I am having right now to be back in front of my laptop and writing back again. I have been on a little hiatus from writing recently, but today I saw a music video which I thought I should pen down some thoughts and share it to you.

The Malaysian Tamil Music scene has really been blossoming in recent years. Especially the Hip Hop & Rap genre ever since Yogi B & Natchathra went big and today we have the likes of PU4LYF and Sri Rascool rocking the international scenes.

Equally at the same time, the more melodious genre has been winning more fans as days goes by. Music Directors like Shameshan Mani Maran, Ztish & Varmman Elangkovan has been winning plaudits from the public in their recent feature film music work.

Along this genre, today I came across a newly released music video titled “Azhagaane Iravil” which literally means A Beautiful Night. Written, composed and sang by Ruvela, Azhagaane Iravil also has music & beats by Shane Xtreme and violin by Varmman Elangkovan with visuals by Soma Kathan. 

The music video is directed by Ruvela which stars himself along with Archana Ganesan and it is released by IBP Studios, who in the past did release the hit song titled “Pogiren” by Mugen Rao.

Many people knows Ruvela as a host and emcee while I myself know the man as an actor and singer through Ghora. It truly surprises me that Ruvela can also write lyrics, compose and direct too as you can see from this music video. That is a lot of talent for one man to have and I have to congratulate you for being a jack of all trades.

Now coming to the music video itself, what I like about it is how the portrayal of the relationship that was shown. The beautiful chemistry shared by Ruvela and Archana further elevates the love that the character shares in the story line. The music video starts off with Ruvela sharing through a video call to Archana on how she came into his life and made him a better and successful man and there is so much love between the characters during the dialogue exchange. But there is where darkness hits them. Couple of masked men break into her house and Ruvela rushes to her place.

From here on, the songs starts and the visuals shows the type of relationship which they have which is something any individual would love to have. It is a very mature and loving relationship which has lots of fun and kiddish moments too. Maturity and fun is such a powerful combination in a relationship and I appreciate the concept chosen by Ruvela.

Throughout the visuals, the songs goes on and the we reach the end whereby we learn the fate that has landed upon Archana. This part was really painful to watch yet so beautiful composed and captured by the team. Well done Azhaganee Iravil team. The climax was my favorite moment in the whole music video.

What also I loved is that in the space of 6 minutes, Ruvela manages to make me forget that something terrible has happened to Archana and brought to a very beautiful pleasant visual and story line only to come back to that dark moment. To achieve this type of journey in the viewers mind within a 7 minutes time frame is something I will applaud. Well done again.

Everyone who knows me knows that I am no expert in the Tamizh language, but I will leave you with this one line from the song which has made a real impact on me.

“Yen Piranthen, yena kettu kettu thedinen, Nee vanthathum, yen piravi payanum adainthathe”

Click the link below for music video on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=224&v=79xPa5r19UQ

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Under The Spot Light: Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey (TPT)

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After the success of Geethaiyin Radhai (GR), Director Shalini Balasundaram is back with her second directional venture with Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey (TPT). With GR being a huge success in the box office, expectations were running high on Shalini’s TPT. With the GR combo of Shalni-Ztish teaming up once again for TPT, expectations were high on this film. Here is my review of the film

Story Review

Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey, the tittle itself gives away that TPT is going to be a film themed around theft. The first thing that impressed me about TPT was the depth of its content. Shalini touches upon two types of theft in this film. First being the theft we all know about, involving money and jewelry. Let it be snatch thief, robbery or blackmailing, Shalini had all of it covered in TPT.

The second type of theft that gets spoken about in this movie is love theft. It speaks about how one individual courts another individual’s girlfriend who is not the happiest of person in a relationship.Those two were the obvious themes that stands out in the film. 

There was another interesting layer in the film that caught my attention in the film. It touches upon parenting. TPT shows on how parenting has an influence on how a child grows up to be. How the hero and villain behaves in the film were largely influenced by the upbringing of their parents and this serves out as great message and reminder on parents watching this film to be more responsible on how they raise their children.

TPT is a film that is challenging to summarize its story into a one liner as you could see from above the depth of the film. It is a story that happens over a couple of years. It has two story tracks going on this film and how it crosses over and reaches the climax is what TPT about.

The first track is about the love theft that happens between Saresh, Shalini and Irfun with Yuvaraj, Hemaji & Manjula who are all a part of this storyline. The second track is about crime theft that happens in the life of Kabil and his circle and the relationship between his father and him.

In terms of story, TPT wins big time. It had such a good and strong story and had all the different kind emotions wrapped in it. Love, comedy, fear, emotions, heartbreak and everything, TPT has the complete package wrapped in 2 hours 20 minutes for your viewing.

Rating: 3.7/5.0

Director Review

Shalini Balasundaram

First of all big congratulations to Shalini on your second theatrical film. It is good to see you have followed up with another film post the success of GR. Having watch both GR and TPT, I can say that you have improved so much.

It is good to see that you have taken the criticism you received from GR and put that to work in TPT. I have seen significant improvements in TPT but it is still not up to par for me just yet. Noticed many moments where the camera was shaky. It felt that there were many hand held shots and that was disturbing for me.

Also I picked up a few conti mistakes in the film, whereby in there wasn’t consistency in the cast in one scene but different shots. That was a little disappointing for me too. This mistakes happened in GR too but in TPT it was surely lesser and that is a welcomed improvement.

However the biggest disappoint for me in this film was the screenplay and the type of scenes selection. As fantastic of a story you had, I didn’t feel the film did full justice to deliver the full potential of the story.

I feel that if you were to narrate to me the story of TPT to me, it would be even more powerful and amazing, but when I watched it on screen, something along the way seemed to have gone missing and reduced the impact of what the film could have delivered.

I felt with a neater, trimmer and better scene arrangement, TPT could have been so much more impactful to the audience. As much as story was the strength of TPT, it also worked against your way as you seemed to have far too much of a content that you tried to deliver.

On the positive note, one of my favourite thing in the movie is the interval block. I loved the treat you gave for the interval block. I don’t remember a film which had so much going on in the interval block with such a mix of emotions. I was laughing, fearful and anticipating for things to happen all at the same time. Brilliant work there Shalini.

You are going strength to strength and improving with every movie Shalini and it is no doubt that as long you keep working on improvements from film after film, you will only get better.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

The Cast

Saresh D'Seven

I first watched you in Aasaan where you played a supporting character who was a hacker. Despite the minimal screen time, you made a very lasting impression on me in the terms on how you carried your body language for the character. You molded yourself well into the character and I was impressed.

And when I saw you in SSL, which justified my initial thoughts on you that you are a lead actor material. Now carrying the experience of two films, I could see you have matured into a much better actor in TPT.

Playing the role of Arjun who is an aspiring film maker who is determined to make a difference to the society, you played it very calmly and casually. It felt very natural and real whenever you are on screen. It was like watching someone you know next door. That was very well done with you.

It I were to highlight one thing about your acting, it was the way you acted during the “Valikirathe” song scenes. You nailed it. It was absolutely perfect and that was my favourite portion of the film. The way you reacted to the situation felt so real and painful. That was fantastic.

I am not surprised on how fast you are climbing up the ladder to be my favourite Malaysian actor and I am convinced post TPT, I will not be the only one who is going to be saying that.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Shalini Balasundaram

Second film as a director, second film as a lead actress, which is a remarkable feat. Playing a role of a girl trapped in a way traffic relationship with a guy since schooling days, couple with a determination to do something to change the society, you had a character that two different types of emotions in the film.

You have stepped up from GR and showed more confidence as an actress but I was let down with the way you played the character. It felt like it was more of a character extension of Arthi from GR rather than Amudha. That is an area that needs to be worked on if you are going to continue acting. I would love to see variations from your performance.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Kabil

Making his filming debut in TPT, Kabil plays the role of Raja @ Mc Fire who is the main negative lead role of the film. Playing the role of a boy who grew up in a family that encourages crime and theft, he becomes one with a vision to emulate his father in the crime world and become the next big thing.

The way he expressed anger in his scenes were good and was convincing. He carried a certain aura in his performance and looked to dominate the scenes which he was present in. I loved the way the scene which he confronts his father in a shop in Ipoh. Such dominance and control of the scene and that is a joy to watch.

An area which was a could have been a little better for me is that I felt Kabil got himself stuck to the matrix of his character description too much and that meant a little lack of adaptation on how his character should talk and carry himself from scene to scene which was different.

I always feel a character should adapt their characterization from scene to scene and give only what is need instead of giving the total characterization in every scene.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Yuvaraj Krishnasamy

Just like how the gods Krishna was close to Arjun, Yuvaraj who plays the character of Krishna is the best friend of Arjun. Playing the humor relief of the film, it is safe to say that Yuvaraj is going to be an actor that the people are going to love much and find themselves very connected to.

Krishna is more than just a character for me. He was a representative of the audience in the film. Wherever you feel something was not right, Krishna would voice that, where ever you feel sad, Krishna will cry for you. Such was the character written by Shalini and credit to her for that and credit to Yuvaraj for the convincing execution.

A good comical actor doesn’t always follow the script and needs to have the ability to improvise scenes and that was very clear that you were able to do so in your performance. That is why I believed your character would be well loved by the audience.

Rating: 3.3/5.0

Hemalata Gnanaprakasam @ Hemaji

After Saresh’s performance, my next favourite performer in the film was without a doubt Hemaji. Despite the limited on screen time you had, you did justice to your character every time you appeared on screen.

I believe you are too making your debut in this film as Sanjana, but the way you performed doesn’t seem to show that. You looked like someone with bags of experience and very calm and natural on screen.

There were two moments of yours in the film which made a lasting impression on me. The first being the part where you mentioned that Arjun loves Amudha in front of everyone in the hall. I burst out laughing for that scene. A comedy that worked so well while you delivered it very casual. Just like how any normal person would pull a prank on another person.

Second was being the way you acted at the interval block. You were very tied down in the scene and had limited space to perform but how you utilized your eyes to convey all the emotions needed to make a strong impact on the audience is one that should be applauded. I firmly believe that is the moment you would have stolen the audience heart away.

For a character that is so pivotal to what TPT was all about, I was very much disappointed with the limited screen time Sanjana had. I felt more moments should have been built around Sanjana and things could have been more impactful considering the importance of your character brings to the film.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Irfan Zaini & Ramkumar Ravichandran

Irfan comes in more of a small character but a very important person in the story line between Arjun and Amudha. Irfan as Science Stream Karthik as mentioned by Shalini in the trailer is the love interest of Amudha in TPT. He plays the role of a very driven and successful businessman who as a result of that loses the emotional loving side of him.

As mentioned despite it being very minimal he was very convincing every time he appeared and does justice to his selection. He brought out the rich classy businessman look with ease.

How Krishna is to Arjun, which is how Ram Kumar is to Raja. He is the villain best friend has a similar feel as to what Krishna is. He plays the role of a very humorous theft and was someone who impressed me very much with his body language and variations in emotions and voice tone. This is another character you will love despite it being a negative one.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Manjula Joseph & P.Jegan

Manjula and Jegan plays two very contrasting parents to two very contrasting sons. Manjula is the sweet loving mum which you wished you had and believes at the right parent’s upbringing is what determines the attitude of the children’s future. You will love her for how lovely and sweet she was in the film.

Jegan however is a father who is an ex criminal and is trying to make up for lost time. He knew that because he was criminal is why his son today is being a criminal. He is willing to go the distance and sacrifice everything he has to bring his son back to the right path. He plays the role with so much of conviction and is something that will stay in your mind.

Rating: 3.2/5.0

The Music

Ztish

What a talent this man is. As strong the story was in the film, Ztish’s music was equally a pivotal strength to TPT. With TPT he goes on to show that there is so much variety in his music and he is just not a heart break song expert.

Theeya Vazhiyile is my personal favourite track from the movie and I loved how it was used in the film too. There are 5 tracks in the film and each song were equally good. Kudos to Ztish for stepping up his game treating us with a musical brilliance in TPT.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Final Verdict: Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey Is Going To Steal Away The Box Office

Final Rating: 3.2/5.0

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Under The Spot Light: Sughamaai Subbulakshmi (SSL)

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It’s May and I can’t believe this is going to be my first Tamil film review of the year. With the ban of release of India Tamil Films for a couple of months and my decision not review Malaysian Tamil Films means I have had limited chances to do so.

I have always said that if a film director is open enough to accept an unbiased review which may criticize or praise his/her film, then I will do it shall they ask him and I am truly thankful for Karthik Shamalan for being open with the idea of his film being reviewed. I present to you Boggler Blogger 1^st Tamil Film Review of the year, Sughamaai Subbulakshmi (SSL)

Story Review

SSL is a film that any audience can easily relate their life to when they watch the film. It’s the story of a young man who comes from a broken family and gets tangled into 2 women who offers him two very different form of love.

One woman loves and cares him like a mother would which he has been missing out from and the second is a woman who loves him and empowers him to pursue his passion. How this young man makes a decision to pick one woman when both them are amazing to him in their own way.

If you were to reflect back in your life, I am sure you would have found yourself to be in a situation exactly like the lead character of SSL. It may not be love, but you would have been in a position to make a decision when all your options are correct. This is why SSL is a film that will connect with you on an instance and stay in your heart forever.

What makes SSL even more beautiful for me was the way the family portion was explored. The relationship and dynamics of the lead character with his brother and his sister in law is something to treasure. I wouldn’t lie to you if a couple of scene brought the tear out of me.

Apart from love and family, SSL explores the theme of friendship and it’s loyalty in a very cute and funny manner between the lead character and his best friend. Once again, that storyline will allow you to connect easily between you and your best friend and the extent you guys will go for each other to make sure that the other person is happy.

In a nutshell, SSL is a beautiful eye opening experience that everyone should experience in cinema and your perspective of life and love will change once you come out of the cinema.

On the downside, in terms of story the one part which didn’t impress me much was the character and depth played by Karnan G Crack. I didn’t feel enough was done to establish the justification to have this character in the film. I feel that character could either be totally omitted else given more depth, not just a surface layer kind of role like this.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Director Review

Karthik Shamalan

Hands down, my favorite Malaysian director. I don’t know if there is much more I can say on a personal level to compliment this amazing film maker. Coming to this film, first of well done on coming up with the idea of SSL. Writing a story is one challenge, but to execute it in a manner so beautiful and easily connectable to the audience is an art of its own. Well done.

Big credit again to you in terms of the dialogue of the film. There were so many lines in the film that struck me so hard and I think my personal favorite that tops my head the moment is this line, “Ithe 10 varsham kathe ille Velu.” Wow that line struck me so hard when I was travelling in the character of Velu. Watch the film to understand why that line is so powerful.

Another strong point of the film is the camera work. So much attention to detailing was done and it tells in the output. Characters were within frame, focus was adjust as the camera moves and most importantly the clarity was there. I felt worth it to pay and watch this film.

Thank you Karthik Shamalan for not taking your audience for granted. I am glad youd didn’t give them a half-baked product and waste their money and more importantly their time. SSL was worth my money and time without a doubt.

I particularly enjoyed the characterization of Velan, Bharathiraja and the Subbulakshmi.  It was very beautifully crafted and lots of homework as clearly done to give the characters as much realism as possible. Not to forget the importance and depth given to both Latha and Bupathi who I believed was ever so influential in the way the plot shapes up.

There was two points in the film where I felt a little let down in the film. The first is being the output of the camera quality of the sequence during the “Aasai Kerthanai” song portion. It felt so blur especially during the island sequences compared to the other scenes and disconnected me from what was a very beautiful song. It was song I was looking forward to so much I felt so disconnected and let down.

The second part is the characterization of Bhagya. I am not sure if it was intended for me to dislike her character because I feel she wasn’t the right girl for Velan from the start. If that was the intention of the director, than well done else it was a big letdown for me again in terms of character writing. It is something I will never know I guess.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

The Cast

Saresh D'Seven

Alert, alert!!! There is a new hero in town and he looks set to stay. The one great thing about Malaysian films in the last couple of years is that we are seeing more and more new fresh faces and Saresh comes from this pool. Not just is he a fresh face but also a very talented performer. You are such a welcomed addition.

I was very impressed by your performance Saresh. Throughout the film you did very well in terms of expressing that your character is carrying such unexplainable weight and how it is bugging his life and thought process. I love the way how you brought the character to life with all of Velan’s complexity and burden.

There is so many favorite scene of yours but the best has to be the scene when you break down to tears by the beach with Bharathiraja. So much love and pain was felt in that one scene and you were amazing to convey it. I’m glad it was you who played this role. It has been amazing to watch you and I hope you do more films.

Rating: 4.3/5.0

Punithah Shanmugam

Woman where have you been all this while, why haven’t you acted in any other feature film before. After watching SSL, it is totally justified why you bagged the Best Actress Award in the Norway Film Festival. Such a wonderful talent you were. There is something about Karthik and his selection of heroine. They are always absolutely terrific.

I enjoyed the boldness of your performance and I must admit that the character Subbulakshmi played by you, reflects the dream woman every man would want to date. Huge credit for Karthik in shaping up your character and to you from portraying so elegantly and with much confidence.

You too such be doing more films as lead because you are such a wonderful talent. The scene in the hospital where you expressed all your pressed thoughts and feelings was absolutely brilliant. The whole bus stop sequence was indeed amazing as well. It was a very mature way you played your character and when everything was revealed at the hospital, you stole all the applause. I was awed at that scene. Well done again.

Rating: 4.4/5.0

Kuben Mahadevan

Every film has a character to sparks humor in the film to provide a check and balance to the intensity of the film and to provide a small break and diversion of the film. What differs Bharathiraja which was played by Kuben from most comedy character is that his character has big importance and weightage to the outcome of the story.

As much this “youngster” actor makes you laugh, there are plenty of serious moments where he has a huge input to the scenes and story. It is great that his character was not treat just for laughter but given good depth and influence to the story and Kuben seems deliver the performance with ease like a seasoned actor. Bharathiraja is a type of friend every individual would want in their life and I am sure he will remind you of one of your friends

Rating: 4.1/5.0

Bhagya & Karnan G Crak

Bhagaya plays the first love interest in Velan’s life as Lakshmi. There is a good reason why her character carries bitterness in stopping Velan from pursuing his passion and she does very well to carry that bitterness throughout the film.

It was a character that I didn’t liked, and she played it very well to ensure I didn’t like her character. Well done once again. I don’t know if that was the intention of the director if yes, then credit to him and if no then it is something I felt let down because it was a very pleasant character. Huge shoutout to Yotesri for her excellent work dubbing for this character.

With the limited scope given, I think Karnan does well. He shows once again the bags of talents he has and all the right indication on why he is all set to be a big name in the future.

My biggest let down about this character was that at the beginning I thought he was the brother of Lakshmi, rather than a friend. That was because she kept meeting him at his house at night.

Only towards a certain portion of the film where it was told that he was actually her friend. It didn’t make sense for me that the setting the two characters were brought together reflected that they are actually friends.

Rating: 3.8/5.0

PD Sara, Purani Muthu

I must admit, during the first couple of scenes where PD Sara was in, I honestly thought Karthik Shamalan got his casting so wrong. I felt his performance was out of sort and so poor.

But as the Bupathi character played by him grew in the film, I would go on to eat my words and he turns out to be one of my favourite character in the film. He becomes so pivotal in the film and then steals the shows towards the climax.

Brilliant is an understatement to his quality. I couldn’t be so happy to be proven wrong. It was such a mature and composed performance by PD Sara and you would wish you had someone like his character in your life to guide you.

The unsung hero of the show has to be the Latha played by Purani Muthu, she plays a character who is suffering from cancer and her performance grows stronger and stronger as the cancer gets worse.

You can see it from her performance that the cancer is getting worse. It was that convincing. She plays perhaps the most important bridge in connecting the film to the end and will remain an unsung hero of the story.

Latha seemed like the wisest character among everyone in the plot and saw the ending of the story right from the start. I truly enjoyed her portions

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The Music

Shameshan Mani Maran & Neroshen

One of the biggest strength of this film has to be music. Let it be the songs of Shameshan or Neroshen, they both composed some very soulful music which gives life to the film from scene to scene.

The rendition of Aasai Kerthanai was so lovely and beautiful and it has been on loop on my playlist from the day the songs was released. Initially I wasn’t much a fan of Nyamthana, but when the song comes to life on screen with the situation that goes on the story will hit your soul so heart and I warn you, you may tear at that portion.

My favourite from Neroshen is the Latchiyam Kaithode song, I felt it was so uprising, beautiful and such a soulful track. Both of you guys have been amazing in terms of music score. Excellent work from Shameshan to top what he did in EVT.

Another shoutout has to be directed to Shameshan Mani Maran for his awesome work on the background score. I particularly loved the piano bit version of Aasai Kerthanai as the background score in the scenes and the bit version of Barathiyar’s Chinnanjiru Kiliyeh. It was so beautifully utilized.

Rating: 4.7/5.0

Final Verdict: Oru Sughamaiyane Padam

Final Rating: 4.3/5.0

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