Aalavandhan

This is the movie for 2010s but made a decade ago by the genius. You will travel in to a different world (Nandhu's hell) and will definitely take a few days to come out of it.

Costliest movie made in Indian Cinema at that time and the movie justifies the budget. You are in for a visual treat, terrific work by the cinematographer Tirru.

A song or two could have been avoided to trim the movie length however the last 30mins will bring you to the seat edge. Tattoos, body arts are new in that era and look international.

Poems by Vairamuthu - Simply wow, you will enjoy and want to listen to it many times. (Tamil)

One of finest performer in the world cinema playing dual role, a stiff commando and an animal instinct psychiatric and boy had he pulled it off quite magnificently. Real gem of Indian Cinema

Overall a truly enthralling stuff. Ecstasy, Ecstasy!!!

What KH cannot do?

Legend of South has one more to amaze us. I have seen hindi version where songs lyrics understandably cannot match the desired thrust.

We have seen double roles good Bad theories justification of why bad all the Masala mixed well. Technically crafting the look of Abhay+mannerism.

Míxing with Comics of children, Halusination its double interactive live shots treat to watch. Visuals so in imaginations done with VHS, vision mixing, editing superbly keeps the thrill in good KH and Ravina are chased by bad KH and the cat mouse game treat keeps one on edge. As we know all these is fantasy but wel-portayed. Manisha Koiral small role adds the treat.

Wotch I. Stereophonic big screen will be better.

This movie is like a mixture of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Silence of the Lambs, and Face Off. But its unique in it's own way and pretty unusual for a Hindi movie. The acting performances are good, and especially the drug trips are great to watch. This movie has cult potential.

Warning: I have viewed this movie only in Tamil. Telugu and Hindi movie-goers are expected to add a pinch of salt while reading further.

This is one of the most hyped-up movies ever in Indian movie history. When people begin to wonder if it can live upto the hype, the movie reveals the calculated gradual publicity built up over the months. In case you haven't watched and read enough on television and the Web, do so immediately to comprehend the movie better.

The basic story is nothing new, but the movie delves to a large extent into the dark recesses of the psychopathic mind of Nandu. We get to view the real-plus-imaginary world inhabited by this schizophrenic character "with paranoid delusions", courtesy special effects and animation. All this happens even as an engaging action thriller unfolds on the screen. The delusion and flashback portions seem to slow down the pace. Many scenes involving Nandu send a chill down your spine, though the language and violence, at times, seems unfit for children.

While the commando operation in the beginning and the relationship between the lead pair remind of you Hollywood movies, the designer clothes worn by the antagonist and sponsor promotion towards the end are true Bollywood 'ishtyle'. What you get is a curious mix of cliches and innovations.

Kamal Haasan plays the negative character alternating between style and realism, though things seem to get repetitive. The other character of an NSG major seems much like the real-life Kamal, mouthing anti-religious remarks and sporting a unique lifestyle. Raveena manages to hold her own while Manisha is good despite appearing only in a few scenes. The dubbing for both of them seems odd on a few occasions. Talented actors like Gunaji and Gidwani seem wasted in roles with few scenes and little potential.

No stone has been left unturned when it comes to the technical aspects of the movie like art direction, cinematography, editing, sound effects and visual effects; but the computer graphics is found wanting sometimes. Double role picturisation has possibly never been better, even in Hollywood, though those movies rarely employ an actor portraying two roles. The attention to detail is also stunning.

The songs blend seamlessly with the movie, beyond expectations -- the title track serves as the background for a chase sequence and still manages to come out good! But this certainly isn't another Dil Chahta Hai for Shankar-Ehsaan Loy. The background score might seem mediocre at places when viewed in the surroundings of other superior elements. Vairamuthu's lyrics and poems bring out the various dimensions of the complex character. Symbolism is built into the script (done by Kamal Haasan himself) much like Hey Ram, reducing the work of the director.

To sum it up, this is an interesting masala movie, with exemplary techniques and a lot of sensible elements incorporated into it.

I was just looking at the ratings and comments of some of Kamal's bold ventures. A comment above said the rain song was useless. Hello, the rain song is a dream song. It is important because the psycho imagines the (Manisha)lady is asking him to attend the show. He attends the show thinking that Raveena (the women he wants to kill) would also be present as the show is covered by the TV Channel she's working.

For some who thought the movie was crap. Well, all i could say is if only you know the language (Tamil) and the original meanings, ul appreciate him. Kamal uses the different Indian languages and finds fun eg: Rao is a typical Telugu name and Rao also means early morning in Tamil. You would never get it in translated versions.

To point one, the narration of the kid-Nandhu(Psycho) is brilliant. When the brothers toss the coin to choose which 1 of them stays with father, Nandhu(Psycho) seeing it going against him would say, 'It's perhaps my duty to safeguard my lil brother. Even wen we (Brothers) wer born, I first let the younger one out (science - younger of the twin comes out 1st) and then came to the world. So perhaps this is what I am born for'...huh, who would get this! n then there r several pieces of brilliance in the movie.