Vtv : A Movie with touch of Class.

VTv is a surprise in store for most of the Tamil movie buffs like me; in fact I haven’t seen any of Gautham Menon’s movies in full before. Being a busy bee with a hectic work load, I hardly get the time to watch movies, but I do not miss when I hear about a good movie, I depend on fair reviews in dependable magazines and online blogs.

We are in an era where violence, gangsters, dons, underworld, filth in the name of comedy and childish romance is being portrayed in our Tamil movies, it is refreshing to watch a movie like VTV, which is the best romantic Tamil movie seen in a long long time, after Alay Payuthey perhaps. Hats off to Gautham Menon for having the courage and the ability to make such a beautiful movie and provide us the entertainment that we crave for. After reading rave reviews one after another, I sat to watch the movie to absorb each scene and the dialogues (mostly real life dialogues); I hardly watch a movie twice, unless it has the ingredients as VTV.

 In fact I have said some of the dialogues myself to my wife the time we were courting one another, at a time she was contemplating to depart, I convinced her to stay as friends but not for long, when we realized we cannot stay mere friends, there was more than friendship deep down our hearts and minds, that was real romance, simply we call LOVE. We were inseparable since then.

As we say the proof is in the pudding, I mean the letter from KB to GM is a proof how much VTV has appealed to such personalities of the caliber as K. Balachander. When there were talks about various directors who will carry the Tamil Film Industry on their shoulders during the coming years, I have no hesitation to say Gautham falls in line with Mani Ratnam and Shankar in the highest league who will churn out movies of high quality in the years to come, to raise the level of movie making in the Tamil movie industry. The expectations are high of Gautham. Simple story telling is one thing, but VTV is a movie with excellence in all departments, direction, music, camera, editing, screenplay, etc.

Trisha is cute and looks lovely; I can fall in love with this woman all over again if I am young. Silambarasan surprised me too, now he has been raised to another level in his acting career, he must be careful of choosing the correct screenplays for his future movies.

Now AR Rahman, what a set of songs he has churned out for this movie, no doubt one of his best compositions and after a long time AR, this is what your fans are looking for, you have proved again with such classics as Hosanna, Omana Penne, Anbil Avan & Mannipaya, but you surprised me with ‘Aroammale’, a complete Malayalam song in a Tamil movie!!, who cares about the lyrics, this song is unique and new to Tamil, it must have been inspired by ‘Pink Floyd’, and it sounds Jazz, what a wonderful composition man. We are expecting AR to bring out such freshness into Tamil songs as well.

Finally, as KB has said in his letter to GM, the chemistry between Gautham (the captain) and his technical counterparts is clearly evident.

RR
rebel_withacause5@yahoo.com

The view is of the Author. Fans are asked to give their review at sag_hariharan@yahoo.co.in

VTv : Silambarasan's real face.

VTV is one nice movie which I've seen in the recent days. Good movies are in dearth as mass heroism has taken the front seat in Kollywood. Even Bharath like actors who did great movies like Boys, Kadhal have taken the boat and falling flat, quite regularly.

In this era of such heroes, Gautham has converted Silambarasan who used to be a mass hero who usually has

- 5 fight scenes where he uproots the lamp post and smacks the villains

- 4 songs with a heroine running around a tree

- 3 Heroism scenes where he speaks 1000 punch dialogues

- 2 overacts to the minimum

- 1 love making scene where he bites heroine's lip like a Pitta bread.

to a 'real hero'. Thanks to Gautham for that! Silambarasan you were wonderful in both acting and dance! You'll go places if you continue this.

Gautham has made good use of the genius called Rahman to the core. Be it Hosanna the popular song to 'Omana penne, VTV is heaven in my ears Amazing picturisation to complement the. songs made it an absolute delight to watch. Hey Guys, those who went their ciggie breaks, you missed good songs

One line comedy was the order of the day in VTV. Gautham even takes the micky out of himself where he says 'Yaaru antha tamil padathula english pesa vachu padam edupaare avara?' Appreciate your courage and humour!

This column can't be finished without mentioning Trisha. What a beauty! I You were truly, really, marvellously amazing.

But the movie has it's own weaknesses as well. I wouldn't say dragging second-half as many people have been saying or the repetitive dialogues or the inconsistent Trisha character. It’s the same old love story and a guy desperately trying to come good in Kollywood. The pace at which Karthik gets introduced to director and gets up the ladder is a bit unreal, as it doesn’t happen in Kollywood.

But Gautham has well hidden all these defects if I can say and has given us a real gem and potentially blockbuster.

Thanks,
Swami
swami.b@live.com

The view is by the author and we would encourage our Fans to give such review at sag_hariharan@yahoo.co.in

Its pouring Reviews for Vtv Now.

With the launch of the Valentine Hick Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Fans are all hitting the theatres for the tickets world wide. And yesterday there was a premiere that was held and all the top celebrities took part. Distributor Udhaynidhi and Karthiga Udhanidhi where also present. Suriya came along with heart throb Jothika.

Thalaivan Yss Silambarasan was accompanied by his brother , Friends and Sister. Trisha came in with Ramya Krishnan and Sidney.

We wish the crew all the best for this venture. Well now, check the reviews on other websites..

Click here for Galatta.

Click here for Sify.

Click here for Behindwoods.

Click http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/review/10901.html

Regards

Hariharan Gajendran.

Music Review of Vtv.

1) Omanna Penne:
Steady and soothing.....a composition that oozes with spiritualness and introspection. I love how AR juxtaposes the Western rhythms with the Carnatic raagas first by the female voice, and weaving throughout the stylisticNadaswaram, whose roots are deeply carnatic, but expressed so universally in this track. Wonderful singing by Benny and the Nadaswaram ending is surely a
page from the Rehna Tu continuum outro. Nothing fancy in this composition, but the feeling left behind is extrenmely elevating and cleansing. Fantastic start. (8/10)

2) Anbil Avan:
ARR at his playful best. He must have had a lot of fun putting this track together. There is nothing heavy or mindblowing about this track, but what makes it work for me is the joyful innocence in the melody and the very interesting sonic arrangements using a Shehnai type sound juxtaposed with a church organ sound. The musical interlude that has this also has some very nice, quick chord progressions that defy banality. The melody sticks easy and would be a fun song to dance with. (7/10)

3) Vinnathaandi Varuvaayaa:
Wow......what a minimalistic impact! Minimalistic impact is something that I have been missing from Rahman's ouevre in recent films, but here it is, in its full glory and form. Using a minimalistic sound template for a title song is quite bold and outside the box, but boy does it work for me!!! The acoustic strings (guitar? harp?) along with vibes and small bells create such a unique, peaceful ambience in this song that transports me into a dreamlike world. Beautiful string additions in the mid section only add depth to amazing vocals, chords, and heartfelt emotions in this gem, but likely to be underrated track. Delicate, subtle, dreamy, ambient, soft, restrained, soothing, warming.....I can go on and on..... Again, a track doesn't have to be complex and
adventursome to be powerful....this is the genius of AR....he can create such a powerful ambience using minimal quantity. (8/10)

4) Hosana:
There is no other composer in India who can arrange better than AR. In this song, many of AR's strengths are showcased.....sound structure, layered, thick, yet uncluttered arrangements, symphonic textures, haunting melody, soothing ambience. The sound layers are so clean and crisp....that beautiful strumming acoustic guitar is so nice!!! Also worthy of metion is the high toned Scottish flavored flute and the subtle mandolin rhythms in sync with the main rhythms, punctuated by the pulsating string sections. The female choir with the angelic
expression is one of the most beautiful choir sounds I've heard. This song sticks to you and won't let go. A complete masterpiece IMO that is one of the best songs that ARR has composed in recent years. (9/10)

5) Kunnukkul Kannai
Another playful techno oriented track with some pleasing electronic arrangements. The unique feature of this track for me are the string quartet type rhythmic accents throughout that give this youth song a very Western
classical feel. Relatively simple by composition and sound, but again, a nice dance number with good melody. Rahman not living up to his standards on this one? Well, that's up to you to decide, but it's an enjoyable one for me, though If I had to pick my least favorite in this soundtrack, it's this one. (7/10)

6) Mannipaaya
I was looking forward to this song ever since I knew Shreya and AR would be singing it, a romantic duet. The song has everything I could hope for in a romantic duet....breathtaking melody, beautiful soundscapes, sophisticated arrangements, gentle ambience, subtle symphonic artistry. I love the piano backdrop and so many of the symphonic instruments can be heard in isolation...oboe, clarinet, tympany, flute, etc. A very subtle masterpiece in my opinion, that can only be appreciated by those with a certain musical sensitivity and emotional open-ness, and of course, who like mushy romantic numbers! The melody is quite drawn out with long contours, so it's not a song that's easily melodically remembered the first time go, but certainly sticks with you with repeated exposure. Strengths of this track...mood, delicate arrangements, subtle artistry, certain melodic sections, innocence, sincerity. One of the album's highlights for sure and I hope it's picturized well (9/10)

7) Aaromale
Wow.....just wow!!! AR takes a page from the Pink Floyd era, but nothing here is lifted or copied. Sensual, stylistic, clean acoustic guitar playing along with passionate and mindblowing vocals by Alphonse make this track simply mind blowing. What is so unique about this song is again, minimalistic impact with sound, instruments, but also chordal architecture.......there are only 2 alternating chords being used in the entire song!! Can you believe it? The chorus part which begins with "Susti Susti" harks on raaga Bhimpalas to create
a magical effect....imagine...juxaposing a 2 chord bluesy guitar riff with a raaga based melody.....only AR....only AR.... The added percussions increasing the tempo only add to the intensity and sinisterness to this pathbreaking and out of the box track. And man, what an ending...the way the vocals fade out......oh man!!!! The ambience created is just out of this world....it leaves me stunned, mesmerized, in awe. (10/10)!!!

General highlights of this album include minimalistic impact, originality, very sophisticated and classy arrangements, incredibly strong ambience and sound quality, and soothing influence. I don't think anyone will be complaining about sound issues in this album like we saw for Blue, as ARR I think paid a lot more attention to that aspect this time around, perhaps keeping our "Blue" feedback in mind??? The soundtrack also has a wide range of styles, sounds, musical forms that keep you interested. Because of the highly international, situational, and somewhat unconventional nature of the songs, these will only be appreciated most with time, post movie visuals, and by those who are most open minded about music in general. Those who only like the antara-mukhda type film songs will find the listening experience to be awkward and just too
esoteric. Also, except for the first track with carnatic raagas, most of the rest of the album is void of obvious ethnic Indian sounds/styles/forms, consistent with the international and more universal musical approach. This
again, may be a turn off to some. Like all new ARR albums, esp. ones like this that have some unconventional and new elements, it will take time to grow.

My overall rating....9/10. A distinct highlight of ARR's career...one of the very finest musical packages you will find anywhere in the world today, not because of its complexity, wizzardry, or dynamics, but for sincerity, ambiance, mood, minimalism, subtlety, and overall spiritualness. A nice instrumental track addition would have made this album perfect for me.

Review By Ajit Mundra

Disclaimer : The views are of the author.