PoP - SoT review

As promised, this is my review of "Prince of Persia - The sands Of Time".. and boy is it good..

once in a while a game comes along which has the ability to change the face of computer gaming.. Doom and Half-Life being cases in point.. and I think we can add this game to the list!!

The original Prince game was an icon.. but was followed by the very very disappointing and clunky "Prince 3D".. so Ubisoft was under pressure to deliver a hit with this game.. and deliver they do!!


There are many many innovative features in this game which make you go "wow - thats cool" even as you play it.. the usual Prince palace defence mechanisms involving blades, knifes, et al are all there.. the rope and pole tricks are aplenty.. sword fights are now looking even better and then we have the SUPERB "Time Dagger" - it actually has a "rewind" feature where we can go back a little in time.. if we feel we need to replay what we played just a moment back.. this is an unbelievably COOL feature
.. and is supported by an awesome storyline which actually makes this seen possible..

The dialouge is also quite witty and brought a smile to my lips on more than one occasion.. Farah ordering the Prince around is quite hilarious really!! Gameplay wise.. the 3rd person perceptive gives a lot of scope to to acrobatics and has been used well by the developers.. the puzzles to solve are also interesting enough..

The one really irritating feature of this game was the camera angles.. they have this uncanny knack of changing when we are trying to do some tough task.. just when we are jumping back and forth trying to scale a hiiiiiiigh wall.. the camera changes its angle.. which means that the ky bindings also change.. so unless we adjust very very quickly we are going to jump in the wrong direction.. most probably into a deep chasm!!

But this is a minor flaw in an otherwise fine game.. one more blip : this is actually the first of a trilogy - following up are "Warrior within" and "Two Thrones" - both are already out.. and I am eagerly awaiting tackling these 2 games!! ... assuming of course that I get a copy!!

Score : 88 - DONT miss it

PS : I also played Postal 2 - share The Pain in between.. its a pure time pass violence game like Serious Sam.. with the only real aim being inflicting pain.. which the game does amply well!!

Score : 74 - for the violence addicts!!

Coming up next : "The Matrix - Path Of Neo" - keep watching this space!!

Aaru - Hardly reaches the boundary!

Quite differently from all his recent films, which have all been "different", comes "Aaru" where Surya plays the normal tough-on-outside, good-at-heart action-rowdy hero. The first 45 mins of the movie are very disappointing going thru' the usual motions of song-character intros-comedy sequences in a predictble and jarrring manner.. I was left wondering what had got into Hari..

But then the movie picks up about 10 mins before the intermission and we realize that the director has started working from this point on only.. there are a number of "Hari" touches after this point.. and the movie maintains a rivetting pace till the very end..

Story : bad rowdy.. good at heart.. betrayed by his gang leader.. turns against him.. and wins.. side-story - romance ; even far away side story - Vadivel comedy track..

Surya plays his part well.. he has put in his full effort.. but there is only so much you can do to a character like this.. Trisha plays his love interest quite convincingly (though the reasons for her falling in love with him are hardly convincing).. interestingly she has a number of looong dialouges to mouth.. and she carries them off well enough... Aishwarya plays his "sister" and loud-mouths it thru the character..

There are 5 villains.. 4 of them brothers of the usual kind.. and the last one a cop (I really liked this part).. who can actually think.. He thinks and acts fast.. the way police are supposed to do.. Vadivel gives the comic breaks.. some ok. some falling way flat..

Music is by Devi Sri Prasad.. and he keeps it as loud as possible.. but most of the songs are ok and kind of fit into the movie.. so it all works out for him..

Overall.. a very routine action-violence flick with a lot of profanity which might serve well as time pass... but other than a few moments.. nothing special..

Score : 56

Games I played - the reviews!!

here is the list/review of the games which I have enjoyed in the last 1 month..

NOTE : All of these are on the PC Platform only.
NOTE : This scoring scale is COMPLETELY different from my movie rating scale!!

Mafia : Very very interesting mafiaso story line with a huge city map and a number of intersting story taks to complete.. full entertainer.. but those who have already sampled the GTA series will be disappointed that it doesnt offer the sheer amount of interactivity and hidden missions that GTA does!!

Score : 74 - worth playing

Quake 4 : After a long 6 year gap, ID has finally released the sequel to the super famous "Quake 3 Arena". And is it worth the wait? Maybe..
The single player mode is back with a aliens vs. hero superbash storyline and it does well throughout.. the graphics are of course outstanding.. downers.. nothing really new in the multiplayers format.. if u play Quake only for mutiplayers anddont enjoy FPS single player games.. stay away.. stick to Q3A itself!!

Score : 77 - play if u like single player FPS's

Enter the Matrix : Of course, this game was released long ago.. around the time that the movie 2 was to come out.. but even keeping this in mind, I was a little disappointed.. we follow the course of events around Niobe / Ghost and the storyline really adds to the matrix movies, and this game has the most impressive set of cutscenes ever, but gameplay wise it is just above average.. but if u r a Matrix fan, dont miss it!!

Score : 71 - play if u r logged into the Matrix, otherwise u can give it a miss!!

Thats it for now.. of course I keep playing Q3A, no need to really score that.. it is a classic.. coming up next is "Prince of Persia - Sands Of time" and boy is it cool!! It is defenitely better than the games I have mentioned above!! Watch this blog for more!!

The pleasures of gaming!!

Even normally. my blogs are very erratic and infrequent but now I think it is even more so.. and there is a very good reason for it..

That is of course that I have now acquired a PC built solely for the purpose of gaming.. within some budgetary constraints of course.. my comp doesnt have the latest dual display adapter "SLI" technology but it packs enough of a punch to run todays games smoothly and thats saying a lot!!

Heres the config.. budget gamers.. take note..

Intel P4 3.0 GHz (2MB L2) with xtended 64 bit memory (save Rs. 2k by going for same chip @ 2.8GHz)

512 MB DDR RAM @ 400 MHz (save Rs. 1k by going for 333MHz RAM)

200 GB SATA HDD (save Rs. 3k by going for 120 GB non-SATA disk)

Intel 915G MB (u can only get a better board than this.. so if u want one.. it will ADD to ur bill!!)

DVD Writer - sony (save Rs. 1.5k go for DVD\CDRW combo)

nVidia 6200 wTurbocache Technology (this is the best bet for budget gamers - if u have money to splurge, choose 2 7800 cards with SLI tech!!)

Creative 4.1 surround speakers (save Rs. 3k by choosing 2,1 speakers, add Rs. 1.5k for 5.1 speakers and REAL surround sound!!)

UPS (absolutely essential!!)

17" Flat CRT Monitor (save Rs. 2k for 15" flat - add Rs. 10k for TFT monitor)

thats it.. choose a proper table/chair combo to go with this.. nad you are all set for full entertainment :) It cost me abt 43k.. so u have an estimate now..

Which is what I did, now I am enjoying abt 5-6 hours of gaming everyday and it jacks up to even 12-14 in the weekends!! Of course, this means that all my other work (whether planned or current)suffers but who cares !!!

Harry Potter 4 - the best HP movie yet!!

HP is finally here.. and boy is it good!!

First of all, a note of caution for muggles - especially for those who have no ideas about the characters / background info / theories built into HP.. you dont stand a chance with this movie.. there is no attempt to introduce/familiarise the regular cast in this movie.. even the openinig credits have been done away with.. we see a blob with the movie name and we join he action right away.. Its upto the viewer to come prepared for the movie.. If you still haven't started reading HP.. no point in really seeing this movie :)

I always thought part 4 was best suited for onscreen adaptation and the movie doesn't disappoint.. The TriWizard Tournament with its tough tasks, Harry growing up and adolescent issues with girls and of course the parallel rise to power of Lord voldermot .. It all unfolds with rapid pace and the viewer is enthralled from the word "go"..

The screenplay writers (Steve Kloves & co) have impressed in shrinking this huge pillow of a book to its current 2.5 hours version.. of course a lot of lighter moments which add to the charm ut not to the plot, have been removed. Also suffering is "THe Quidditch World Cup" which really looks grandeously fabulous but is restricted to just a couple of minutes of on-screen time..

Also finally a director (Mike Newell) has restricted himself from religiously following the book.. he has taken some liberties (like the intro scenes of the other school students) most of which work out.. but some of them really miss out (like the always shouting Dumbledore - huh? y on earth would a calm old guy keep shouting?)..

I will refrain from telling the story.. as we all know what this movie is all about.. being a big budget production.. there are no problems with the graphics here.. the performances are also good.. the music score is kind of irritating at the beginning (the "Krum" theme).. but then as we near the end.. it becomes flawlessly suited to the situation..

All in all, this is as good as a HP movie can get.. but I think part 5 is going to suffer in this retrospect.. it is to be made on an already weak book.. also the cast is getting older.. u can see it on the screen.. they are outgrowing their screen ages.. but then.. we can always keep hoping.. cant we??!!

Score : 74

The Legend Of Zorro - huh?

I also caught "The Legend Of Zorro" this weekend.. and surprisingly.. it was like a Bollywood movie.. lots of emotions.. some sword fighting scenes.. which very really very poor.. some very bad graphics.. a family which is torn apart by circumstnaces coming together at the climax to vanquish the villains.. well.. is this Zorro or what?.. the only saving grace is of course CZJ.. whp looks as lovely as ever..

AS is the case with many many movies, the original is far far better..

Score : 53

Sivakasi - fireworks?

Sivakasi.. is Std (not the fireworks) Vijay fare..

Vijay is poor guy, an orphan, running a welding shop.. very violent, but good-at-heart.. after some atercations.. rich girl (thats Asin) falls in love with him (some real goofy logix used here).. he in turn loves her after trying to steer her away from him as every poor but good hero must.. and after another completely irrational sequence.. it turns out Vijay has a family whom he ran away from 15 yrs back.. and the girl tells him he must win back his family to win her back.. and so he goes back to his hometown..

All that is the first half.. and the entire half goes thru' with nothing really happening in terms of the story.. there are a lot of "hero-worship" scenes.. unfortunately Vijay is not yet upto the Rajni level.. so unless u r a fan, most of this will fall flat!! also, the director has included audience response (whistles, applause, etc) in the background score.. so even if no one is appriciating the scenes, u will feel that the theatre is enjoying watching it..

Anyways.. when vijay goes to his homeplace, he finds that his brother (PrakashRaj) is ill-treating his mother and sister and also that he was responsible for the death of his father. Then, project vendatta starts. The film, very literally, picks up pace from here. how he overcomes all odds forms the rest of the engaging second half.

Really, the movie is quite entertaining if you are willing to overlook a number of glaring logic failures.. scenes have been strung together because they look good.. but how did the story move from Point A to Point B? Thats upto your own creativity.
Performances.. are more or less ok.. Asin plays the lively girl to the hilt.. PrakashRaj is impressive as the villain.. Vijay too plays his role well.. but it really pains me to see him playing this sort of role again and again.. he seems talented enough to do much more varied roles.. only time will tell this.. music is really loud.. and all the songs have the "that-tune-I-know-from-somewhere-else" feel..

Overall, normal Vijay masala, and really njoyable if u r a Vijay rasigar..

Score : 56

Ghajini - worth the hype?

After a long incubation period.. supposedly for post-production work.. AR Murugadoss' Ghajini is finally out.. First of all, let me state that I HAVE NOT seen "Momento".. so this review will not take any influence that that cult classic could have had on Ghajini..

The film takes off quite well.. with a murder and the subsequent follow up scenes which show the killer to be our hero.. with the peculiar problem of "short term memory loss" (the mandatory 'doctor explaining to students' scene is also there.. he cant remember anything for more than 15 mins.. so he resorts to some useful techniques like photos, notes on the walls of his house and etchings on his own body to remember all the stuff he has to do..

the story : Villain kills hero's lady-love (Asin) and also injures him in such a way that he has this memory loss prob.. hero in spite of this obvious handicap decides to wreck vengence.. the entire film is about how he achieves this.. The movie adopts the by-now commmon forward-backward timeline using the hero's diary to show us the events in his past which has got him to the present.. The frothiness of the past story contradicts well to the moody proceedings in the present..

Surya is growing by leaps and bounds.. he gets into the character well.. be it as the top flying businessman Sanjay Ramasamy who romances Asin and the biz world simultaneously or as his own shadow self struggling to remember that he has to avenge his love.. but there are some scenes where his own past performances peek out.. he is yet to even come close to the levels of Kamal Hassan..

Asin sparkles with her spontanity, and obvious screen presence.. a very good performance here augurs well for her future.. Nayantara is wasted (or maybe she wastes it herself) in what could have been a significant role.. the others all do their jobs well..

Harris Jeyaraj has done a commendable job with the BGM.. though the songs are just above average with song placings as usual either unwanted or unwarranted..

Drawbacks.. the film is not always taut and clever.. there are many sequences which require leaps of logic possible only in Tamil filmdom.. these could have been avoided when taking on his sort of a subject.. songs are there just for the commercial element.. Nayantara costume designer needs a small break.. and the director needs to realize that multiple villains must mean some twists and not a well choreograohed fight sequence!!

Overall.. what could have very easily beena brilliant movie is just a very good one in the end!!

Score : 69 / 100

"Totti Jaya" review

This weekend, having nothing better to do, I actually went to the theater to catch "Little Super Star" Simbu's latest offering, "Totti Jaya". and boy was I surprised!!

First up, the irritating "S-U-P-E-R-S-T-A-R" powerpoint animation accompanied by the "Little" seal was missing (only Rajni is entitled to have this one!!) although self- nnamed title still popped up in the credits..

then Simbu came in after a not-so-grand entrance and actually kept his mouth shut and his fingers in the normal positions that human fingers are supposed to be in!!

and the movie was also quite watchable!! Well.. well..

getting into the movie.. the story is really simple.. Totti jaya (Simbu) is a rowdy.. who will beat anyone up as long as he is given some money for it.. an unnecessarily long but well shot young guy sequnce shows this at the very beginning of the movie.. he finally ends up working for Seena Thana (come again??) who is the usual Tamil villain.. a comedian-buffoon who keeps shouting at the top of his voice.. god only knows y ppl r afraid of him..

Simbu leaves town to escape his "hot" status with the police.. and there by chance comes to save Gopika's life.. she says she loves him.. he hesitates initially and then he reciprocates.. all seems hunky-dory till it turns out that Gopika is Seena's daughter (is that a twist of what?).. and he is not happy.. after that it is the usual.. dad vs. couple fight.. with some interesting insights thrown in..

What makes the movie watchable is first up the cinematography, the taut script and the background score.. Harris rises again after his Anniyan BGM debacle... in some places the movie is slow, unnecessarily repeating flashback scenes when we can perfectly understand what is going on without their help.. but the restrained performances want you to continue watching the movie..

Performances.. almost all the principle characters are well done out except the villain who doesn't have much to do.. music is also good.. though the makers have buried the best song (Uyire En Uyire) in the background.. y didnt they do this with all the other nowhere-in-situation songs as well?

well.. all in all.. I am getting bored of writing so much on this movie.. but the point is.. it is once-watchable!! so njoy!!

Score : 61 / 100

The "Ashes" are won again!!

Finally, after an absolutely enthralling series, the Ashes return to England after 18 very long years...

Great scenes broke out in England following the victory.. you could be forgiven for thinking that football was just a local game which few people enjoyed in England.. the players were taken on a open-top red bus thru' London cheered on by thousands and thousands of fans.. "Crickit" dominated all the major newspapers AND the tabloids.. many many ecstatic fans were collecting their wagers from unbelieving bet-takers.. beer was and still is flowing freely all over as England celebrates its re-emergence from the depths of Ashes humiliations..

Flintoff was of course the hero.. playing with his heart, giving his full 100%, he showed all and sundry how the game of cricket must be played.. he has finally come of age.. realizing his full potential.. glimpses of which he has been showing for a long time now.. Pieterson also did very well.. but I think he is too arrogant and showy-off for his own good.. lets see what the future holds for him.. The pace trio has also forged what could be a lethal combination for the future.. Vaughan has suceeded where all his precedessors failed.. and I am sure great glory awaits this team of great heroes.. any guesses on how many of them are going to be knighted??

The drawbacks.. G. Jones, the keeper.. he really needs to improve.. his performance can be compared to that of india's Parthiv Patel.. he is performing a little with the bat.. but he really needs to keep much much better than this.. the failure of Ian Bell also was surprising but I am sure he will hit back soon enough..

for the Aussies.. Shane Warne and Brett Lee shone through with fine whole-hearted performances.. both with the bat and the ball.. Warne especially proving why he is considered to be the worlds best leg spinner.. but ironically.. and rather cruelly.. he put down the once simple catch which could have allowed the Ashes to remain in Australia!!

I am sure a lot of questions will be asked of the Aussie team when they get back home.. but Ponting should stay on top.. he just claims that his team is not performing at full potential and that they would get back to their best soon.. and that these are just bad times for the Aussie team..

Talking of bad timing.. very very ironically.. it is at this juncture that the Super Series starts.. wherein the entire world combines to try and defeat the Aussie team when Team England alone would do!!

but all said and done it was a great contest and I am eagerly looking forward to England's next tour of Australia.. sometime in 2007... till then.. happy cricketing!!

JKR is the "Queen" and HP is the "Prince"!!

This is yet another review from my side (my place shld be called airanand.reviewspot.com) and this is again a little bit delayed.. mainly to get over the sorrow caused by the climax of the latest in the Harry Potter Series..

It has been a week since I finished the book.. and I still haven't started a second reading and dont plan to do so any time soon.. the message which the book states is clearly put across.. Harry is alone now and ready for the inevitable final battle..

BTW, this review will be filled with SPOILERS so hop away to the next blog (mine or any one elses') if you haven't read the "Half-Blood Prince" yet.. and by now if you haven't deduced that this blog is my review of the sixth book in the Harry Potter series you dont deserve to be on this planet..

HP6 starts off in an unnamed Prime Minsiter's office in UK.. the Death Eaters are now fearlessly attacking Muggles as well.. JKR follows this up with an amazing chapter which fuels further questions into our mind - is Snape really a bad guy, in spite of Dumbledore's trust in him?

We finally move to the familiar Pivet Drive address and we get back in sync with a much grown up Harry Potter.. JKR has no pretensions here.. she doesn't even try to make this a stand-alone book (this tendency has gone down with each succeeding book).. every reader had better know before-hand all there is to know abt each character..

Dumbledore says : "And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.".. and we are ready for the wild - ride that is HBP..

We are introduced to a new character "Horace Slughorn", a highly partial and neither likeable nor unlikeable kind of teacher who it turns out holds the key to Voldemort's immortality or lack of it.. another is Cormac McLaggen.. who plays the arrogant student to the hilt..

We also quickly catch up with the changes in the others.. Dumbledore is no longer omnipresent.. he is hurt and doubtful of his deductions.. but ready as ever to fight evil.. Harry is more mature and in control of his feelings.. the Weasleys are ready to face danger at all times ("Mortal Peril" - their clock reads).. Fred and George have made a big success of their joke shop.. Bill has brought Fluer home as his fiancee.. Snape has got the DADA class atlast.. Ron gets into some long overdue romance.. Hermione seethes with jelousy at this.. and most unconvincingly.. Draco Malfoy has become really evil!!

One glaring aspect is the lack of many new 'magical' stuff (I mean the kind of passages which we feel refreshed just to read).. which makes the HP books such a big pleasure to read.. of course there are flashes like in the Weasley twins joke shop, the use of the lucky potion and in the concept of Horcruxes.. but I guess the story is too well set by now to keep coming up with new stuff that amazes the senses..

so we have the normal school time activities going on.. Quidditch, classes, friendships, romances.. and in due course of time.. Harry comes across a book belonging to the "Half-Blood Prince".. which gives him unfair (Hermiones word, not mine) advantage in Potions class..

there was a slip up here (was it one - I have to go back and read to be sure).. Harry thinks his father could have written on the book but then it seems to be dated before his time.. but in the end it turns out that snape is the HBP.. and Sanpe was of course in James' timeframe.. so was this an error?

Meanwhile.. Ron hooks up with Lavender and involves in some heavy duty snogging (theres too much of it there in this book really).. driving Hermione wild... but soon enough he snaps out of it and finally Ron-Hermione make up much to the relief of the reader (thats me).. Harry also has some "friend - or - love" brainstorms before finally linking up with Ginny.. all this is the side-track of course..

The main events are occuring in Dumbledore's office where he is using the Pensieve to tell Harry about the Evil Lord's past as Tom Riddle and hopw he came to acquire as much power as he has.. It turns out (Slughorns memory comes in help here) that Voldemort could have split up his soul and stored them in 7 different Horcruxes and so can be destroyed only if all of them are destroyed..

We enter the dark and serious territory here.. and the book moves along at missile-speed here on (it was already on jet-speed!!).. Dumbledore and Harry go in search of a Horcrux, in the quest of which the former is severely weakened and finally when they get back to Hogwarts.. are confronted by a group of Death-Eaters.. and finally.. Snape flays down Dumbledore.. and escapes away.. just after revealing that he is the "HBP".. all this right in front of Harry Potter's eyes..

This section will and has already created a lot of debate.. why did Dumbledore immobilise Harry? He could have held on to his wand and saved the both of them easily enough.. in fact Harry might have had some inspiration and saved his principal.. why did Dumbledore plead with Snape? why did he believe Snape in the first place? The sudden death of Dumbledore has left a lot of unexplained facts.. how will JKR bring them out if he dead? Since when did Malfoy become brilliant? hell.. why did the "D" have to die???

This ending though tragic is exactly what was needed to make book 7 the most eagerly anticipated book in the history of literature.. but there are a lot of loose ends to tie up in 1 book.. Neville's part.. Harry's parents.. the cause of Dumbledore's trust in Snape.. the identities of the remaining Horcruxes.. and so on and so on..

So, as in OFP, we are left with a somber ending.. but this book also leaves us with expectations.. now Harry is alone.. and as in all classical good vs. evil clashes.. he has to face his great adversary by himself.. the stage is perfectly set for the grand climax.. the only question is.. how well will JKR deliver??

PS : coming soon.. post HBP what now? and HBP is not my favourite book in the series.. (hehe.. just to make you think I am gonna be updating this soon.. though I may never do that..)

Infrequent blogging

So why is it that I dont blog frequently or at least periodically or regularly?

well, there are probably many possible explanations for this but I think it would effectively come down to laziness. Who wants to sit and type in so many words which potentially millions of people could read but only a couple really do?

and also there is another big problem.. and that is of finding some subject on which you are interested enough to write about and which others will be interested enough to read.. it is not as easy as you think.. you might argue that a blog is a persons personal space and he/she can put in whatever he/she (please forgive sudden usages like this.. this is my dekko at feminine equality) wants.. but then there must always be a target audience..

So now that I have made up a blog and given myself excuses for not blogging regularly (man.. I was really vetti today).. I will sign off on this one.. ;)

War of the Worlds - huh?

So I went to PVR (thats the mega multiplex place here) full of anticipation.. to catch, somewhat delayed though, the latest offering of Steven Spielberg - one of my favourite movie makers.

Fully armed with Pepsi and popcorn, I was ready for a grand offering.. and it did start off well.. going against all the Hollywood stereotypes.. the hero Cruise is just a regular dont-care loser, the aliens come from "UNDER" the earth, and our hero actually runs away from them - he has no intentions of "Saving the World". Really promising, I thought, things can only get better from here.

And visually, they did.. some spectacular special effects serve well to tell the story of the machines from outer space demolishing earth. And unlike what many many reviews are telling abt there being no 'human' touch.. there is lots of it.. but put in the context of the situation in the movie..

backtracking a bit : the story.. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockyard worker (believe it) who children Rachael (little girl) and Robbie (teenage guy) are left in his care by his former wife. And the children are not particularly happy with this arrangement. But then, they put up with him, what with him being 'dad'. The alien attack starts right away.. and Ray is left bearing the responsibility of keeping them safe.. using the only working car in the neighbourhood (how come no one else thought of it?) he flees to his former wifes' house.. Robbie is idealistic and wants to fight back.. Rachael is just plain frightened and Ray is at his wits end.. how this family escapes the terro and how their inter-relationship cahnges as they go on forms the crux of the story..

Cruise fits the bill as the small time American guy trying to save his family. Dakota Fanning (thats the kid) gives a powerhouse performance.. what all will she achieve when she grows up, I wonder!! Spielberg, I think, already had the next project on his mind when he was making this one..

The sudden climax left me feeling really bad.. does Spielberg think that the audience is stupid? Accepted - the brilliant "Minority Report" from the same team didn't fill the BO coffers but then the sudden and unbelievable ending of this one leaves a lot to be desired..

Overall : Spielberg has failed in only 2 movies (of the ones I have seen), one is AI coz of a too lengthy climax, the other is WotW coz of an abrupt one..

Score : 57 / 100

Anniyan - my review

So, after making audiences wait for a long time, Shankar finally unveils his much hyped masterpiece.. and does it live upto expectations? To large extents, yes!!

The next 2 paras is full of spoilers as it has my story summary.. so skip it if you want to remain in suspense. And also sorry abt the English. I caught the night show and so am kind of groggy..


The story starts off potraying Vikram as "Rules" Ramanujam, a lawyer who ALWAYS follows the rules and tries his best to ensure that others do too. But then he finds that the general public doesn't really care for minor rules if their work gets done properly. So he becomes highly disillusioned and tensed up and thereby is born his "alter ego" Anniyan, who gives the capital punishment of death to all wrong doers based on the kind of punishment assigned for their crimes in Hell.


Sada is Rules' neighbour whom he has loved in silence for 7 long years. Finally after much prodding from Vivek (who plays his friend), Vikram proposes to her, only to be rejected. This almost drives him to suicide, thereby leading to the rise of Remo, a catwalk model who successfully woos Sada.

What is the connection, I can hear u asking. Well, Shankar says MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder). Intense mental tensions like that experienced by Rules leads to this, says Naser, playing a mind doctor. This is where logic starts breaking from reality. So now we have 3 personalities crowded into 1 guy and then its full steam ahead to the climax.

Vikram has done an excellent job of the task given to him. Personally, I felt that he doesn't look like a young model as Remo, but neverthless, he ahs come up with a good performance as all 3 avatars. I wouldn't say he has quite reached the heights Jim Carrey did in M,M and I but still he has done a good job. Sada does the job required of her quite amicably. Vivek is back to his best... with a lot of natural comedy. PrakashRaj as usual is brilliant, but I didn't quite accept the logic of his using different getups to investigate.

Shankar's direction is also excellent. A lot of innovative (some innovatively lifted from Hollywood) are used throughout the movie and the yadd a good touch. Songs are all picturised well but with unnecessarily extravagent sets. Choreography and cinematography were excellent as were the use of slow motion frames and the action sequences.

I was disappointed only with the BGM score by Harris Jayaraj. It rarely adds to what is going on in the movie. Also another drawback is the positioning of the songs. Man, in how many movies r u gonna make these same mistakes??

I realize that the above review is kind of disjointed, so I blame it on my sleep hangover.

Overall, forget the obvious logic and this is a brilliant movie. Include the flaws.. and it is still easily watchable at least once on the big screen. so go out and njoy!!

If only Kamal and ARR had been involved in this project!!

Score : 69/100

First blog

well.. here we get off to yet another beginning.. lets see what this will come to..

Just to let you know the kind of guy I am..

Fav sport (to play) : Basketball (outdoors), Chess (indoors)
Fav comp game : Half - Life (till date)
Fav movie : The Matrix
Fav author : Michael Crichton

So what does this all amount to?? Nothing much you say?? well.. just wait and see!!

This is me