Oru Porambokku.

It was a dream debut for Pandiraj, as the 2009 sleeper hit Pasanga brought in both commercial success and critical acclaim - and the big bonanza, of 2 National Awards. While his last outing Marina did not bring in the moolah, the adverse title and bright star cast of Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga, livened expectations.

And we the people, have been miserably cheated.

KBKR, is the story of two inseperable friends - 'Theni' Kesavan, and 'Pattai' Murugan, who are your usual good-for-nothing loafers, who aim to become politicians in the near future. Their life, their love, and whether or not they succeed in their ambition, seems to be the apparent crux of this story.

Positives, yes. Able performers have been chosen to fit their roles, and both Sivakarthikeyan and "Parotta" Soori deserve credit for making the film lively through its runtime. Vijay's cinematography is commendable, and coupled with A.Siva's editing, the movie is laid out to a decent runtime. While Yuvan Shankar Raja's album is shockingly forgettable, his background score gels perfectly with the film. The heroines, Bindu Madhavi and Regina Cassandra, still have a long way to go.

At the end of the film, it would not be criminal to say that the effort of this very able cast and crew has been blind, due to a rather baseless storyline/screenplay. The movie, runs amok through its course, pointless throughout, only to end at what seems like an unexpectedly forced message. The pace of the movie is lethargic, though there are those rare bright spots of comedy that lighten us up a bit. It is tragic to see Pandiraj, the man who brought to screens the impressive Pasanga, fail to impress us yet again with KBKR.

Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga, is a haphazard-running film, which invokes a few laughs. Those impatient enough to catch it on Aditya TV, or some other channel in the recent future, can take this ordeal up.

Aditya Baskaran

Nyaayamaare!

Beings, with knowledge of both WWE and Tamil Cinema would agree with me, if I were to state that the title of 'Cerebral Assassin' suits director Bala better than Triple H. A man hailed for revolutionizing Tamil cinema, his films have always been a class apart. Speaking of characters the world has never seen of before, director Bala has managed to bring to screens an unknown piece of life with each and every film of his, be it the fate-cheated lover of Sethu, the lovesick son Nanda, the Aghori in Naan Kadavul, or the thief with a heart of gold in Avan Ivan. This vision of his, coupled with the negative promotion this film received owing to the rather misunderstood 'reality teaser', has boosted this film's hype to great heights.

Paradesi, a loose adaptation of Paul Harris Daniel's novel Red Tea, is the story of Rasa, a carefree, naive young man who is unknowingly sucked into the world of bonded labor, in order to marry his love, Angamma. The crux of the story, is the cruel conditions of these bonded labors in tea estates during the British Raj of the 1940s.

Performances have always been a high in Bala's films, and this film is no exception. Every artiste in this film, be it Atharvaa, Vedhicka, Dhanshika, have done justice to their adverse roles, and do deserve appreciation.The effort put into making this movie is tremendous, and the makers have succeeded in taking us back to the 40s. Nanjil Naadan's dialogues, are extremely interesting, and while the album is not legendary, GV Prakash's bgm sure does add life to the movie. The film's cinematography and editing, donned by Chezhiyan and Kishore TE respectively, are brilliant and have helped to portray the essence of the film with effect, while keeping its runtime at a short 2 hours. The art direction, by debutante CS Balachander is also exceptional and so is Poornima Ramaswamy's costume work.

But unfortunately, the film (yet again since Avan Ivan) fails to hit your head. The movie, moving at a steady pace, light in the beginning and getting heavier as it moves, ends almost bluntly. While the movie speaks of a dark message, it unfortunately does not leave you mind-raped like Bala's previous productions. This movie, while being worth a watch just for its audacity and amazing work, might probably not impress the usual Bala fan.

Aditya Baskaran