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“I” trailers (updated)

Hindi trailers


thanks to Raj5..


thanks to Rocky..
with subs

thanks to gradwolf..

This entry was posted on January 9, 2015 at 2:58 AM and is filed under the ugly. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

72 Responses to ““I” trailers (updated)”

  1. Satyam Says:
    September 15, 2014 at 1:44 PM

    Now this is a star and this is a trailer!

    I sense a kind of marriage here between all of Shankar’s pet concerns and an omnibus of the Vikram tropes taken to a certain logical extreme.

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  3. An Jo Says:
    September 15, 2014 at 1:51 PM

    This has all the makings of a game-changer. Great teaser.

    Either this will be one behemoth achievement in movie-making or a disaster crumbling under its own ambitions. There cannot be a path in-between for this.

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  4. Krish Says:
    September 15, 2014 at 2:03 PM

    THis is a grand trailor and Shankar is the right person for this movie. IMO Vikram is more of an actor than a star in pure box office terms. In fact his standing has been quite down for some time and he must be really having a lot of hopes on this one as he needs a hit. For some reason he never excites me as much as a Suriya or a Dhanush does.

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    • Satyam Says:
      September 15, 2014 at 2:19 PM

      Vikram was the biggest star of Tamil cinema in the post Rajni phase between Sethu and Anniyan. More or less every film of his was a hit in this phase (and it’s a long list). There was a reason Shankar made Anniyan with him. And even now after having made the ultimate film with Rajni (two consecutive ones of course) he’s returned to Vikram for this kind of epic project. It’s certainly true that post Anniyan Vikram developed a certain angst where it was clear he thought he had done everything there was to do in a certain set of formats and he’s been in a rather uncertain state ever since. The box office results too have not surprisingly been less than great even though his initial is intact. But even if this film is huge at the box office it’s not clear to me whether Vikram really continues down this path. Don’t see him as suddenly returning to business-as-usual. But I’m amazed you think he isn’t a star. He has been absolutely huge. Even now when he does the masala venture he gets a massive initial (Kandasamy) irrespective of how the films eventually fare. Raavan also got to safety in Tamil in large part due to the initial. And again the clearest indication here is Shankar who could get anyone he wanted but went with Vikram. I loved enthiran but I think this might be a better film if it lives upto its promise. Because Enthiran was still most ‘legible’ in my view as a certain reading of the Rajni canon. But here there might be more than that and certainly it seems to be taking the Anniyan concerns further.

      On a related note it’s always interesting the extent to which Shankar has always in his most iconic films found it necessary to ‘split’ the hero. Almost as if everything couldn’t possibly be contained in just one persona. It is usually the same character but one who is near-schizoid (at least judging from Anniyan). It’s not just the superhero universe of secret identities. These figures seem to encompass different aspects of society and culture. But what I find even more interesting is this marriage of the elemental and the technological (again if this trailer is anything to go by these elements are more sharply juxtaposed here than ever before). The more Shankar focuses on the latter the more the former also erupts in its fullest fury. It is in a way the repressed of the techno-global. In this sense (and far more than I ever used to before) I think Shankar has become a very interesting director in his own spin on masala. And there’s another sort of truth to his choice as well. The fragmentation of his ‘hero’ also reflects the greater fragmentation of the times in more ways than one. In other words the hero in the old universal sense isn’t possible anymore. That one ‘overman’ figure if you will. Because the concerns of this age (and this would constitute a different debate) cannot be condensed into the focal point of ‘one’ hero (read: one persona). That route is only possible as pure effect. Which is what we see in most of Telugu masala or its Hindi remakes.

      In his own way and obviously accounting for the gulf that exists between the two Ratnam too plays out this theme in his three Hindi films. Specifically with the parts Abhishek has in all of them. Raavan could easily be read as the other side of Guru. Each representing one half of the Indian present.

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      • Saurabh Says:
        September 15, 2014 at 2:42 PM

        Satyam: Please put up a post on Deepika-TOI controversy as and when you have time. I think this is the first time a Bollywood actress has spoken against something like this.

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      • Krish Says:
        September 15, 2014 at 2:45 PM

        I wonder if you meant Saamy when you said Sethu because after Sethu and before Saamy he had mixed results. His Malayalam movies didnt do great. His Tamil ventures apart from the ones helmed by Dharani like Dhill, Dhool and some other like Gemini, the rest all were not up to the mark like King, Youth, Samurai, Vinnukum Vanakkum etc. IMO Saamy was the game changer for Vikram when he really was beginning to be talked as the next big thing after Rajini. But I felt that was also due to the fact that Vijay and Ajith didnt have that star aura around them in early 2000’s. I think Gilli changed a lot of things for Vijay and after Gilli, Vijay really became big. In the case of Ajith I am not sure how he managed to get that fan following which he has now. Infact Ajiths fan following has always been a mystery to me as to how he became that big. It almost like one day we wake up and we find that Ajith has a huge fan following. To get back to Vikram, what really put him on the back seat was the fact that he had no releases for a good 3 years after 2005. Vijay, Ajith all had gone ahead of him and post Ghajini, Suriya had also gone past him. Even now These three stars and in case of Suriya , actor cum star, all will be getting better initials than Vikram.
        The thing in the South is I find that all masala ventures featuring a top star do get good initials. I find that a movie of Vijay, Ajith is almost like an event for the fans…But in case of Vikram its more the actor in him that interests me. And even in pure masala ventures like Rajapattai and Thandavan he could not really get an initial. Of course for a Shanker movie you dont really need Vikram to sell that movie or a Vijay for that matter.
        Actually Suriya was in the best phase combining both the worlds till he got smitten by the Singham bug. Singham though a success might have been the worst thing to happen to him. Who would reject a Gautham Vasudeo Menon movie for a Linguswamy movie?? That must be a huge facepalm moment for him..And look how poorly Anjaan has done…And even here as I said it had a mind blowing first 3 days (The first 3 day figures in Chennai was north of 2.25 crores) just because it featured a star.

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        • Satyam Says:
          September 15, 2014 at 5:07 PM

          Nope, Sethu was his breakout film (with Bala). It’s one of the most iconic contemporary Tamil films. Between Sethu and Saamy he had Kasi, Gemini, Dhill, all three hits. Admittedly he had a few under performers too but those films still didn’t lose money (samurai for example.. incidentally one of my very favorite films of his and with some wonderful Harris numbers). After Saamy he had Dhool and Pithamagan (again with Bala) but then in the lead up to Anniyan Arul (with the Saamy director) was again an underperformer (not surprisingly in this instance). But the Dhill, Gemini, Saamy sequence in consecutive years is really his key masala moment. And it’s bookended by those two Bala films. But even using somewhat exacting standards he had 8 hits in roughly 6 years which were a combination of blockbusters, critical-commercial successes, just very iconic films one way or the other. But yes after Anniyan he entered a very strange phase which as a fan I’ve found disappointing at one level but on the other I can understand it. Because with these films he really covered the gamut of what he was capable of in those formats. He could have kept repeating himself for sure and perhaps that would have been a better option given some of the stuff he otherwise chose but it suggests a certain integrity on his part that he even had a crisis. Also he got stardom relatively late, struggled a lot and so to tire of a certain kind of success that quickly is even more remarkable.

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      • Saurabh Says:
        September 15, 2014 at 3:34 PM

        Satyam: Wow! What a great 2nd para. You should expand this into a proper piece someday

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        • Satyam Says:
          September 15, 2014 at 4:47 PM

          thanks Saurabh.. by the way I didn’t have a chance to respond earlier but I did see your notes. Thanks again for the suggestions. I have seen bhooter bhobishyot and liked it a lot though I think it might have been a bit stronger in the second half. The way it’s set up is fantastic, a number of very suggestive things to it but I kind of felt as if there should have been a bit more ‘substance’ to that framing. Of course I’d be thrilled if I got such a film in Bollywood!

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        • Saurabh Says:
          September 16, 2014 at 5:45 AM

          Satyam:

          “Of course I’d be thrilled if I got such a film in Bollywood!”

          Satyam: Would you be surprised if I told you that Satish Kaushik has already remade the film this year with Mahie Gill in the lead (it looked like a schlock-fest from the trailer so I never thought of watching it). Now I am sure you don’t want to know the title of the film, do you?! 🙂

          I really like these Bengali films, but most of these are naturalistic/humanistic ones. I mean the Bengali industry isn’t interested in doing ‘gritty’. And some of them are just too ‘arty’ for my taste- that’s why Srijit Mukherjee is so important. He makes entertaining, commercial cinema with artistic sensibilities. On the other hand, the best of Tamil cinema is more or less in the ‘gritty’ space. That is why I thought this Marathi film from last year “Fandry” is a very unique achievement. It is about the romantic story about a low-caste teenager. One expects it to be a didactic sermon on caste issues- it’s anything, but that even if talks about all the issues. But it also never forgets that it is a Bildungsroman tale wrapped in a charming love-story. And I was blown by the formal filmmaking skill at display here (then again Marathi cinrma is going through its best phase). As bizarre as it is going to sound, it was as if a Shyam Benegal scripted story was directed by the lightness of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, but with the formal technique borrowed from Vikramaditya Motwane (on this note, Benegal’s children film which was based on a Habib Tanveer play, “Charandas Chor” is very underrated and is actually better far better than some of his 80’s films. It is in the vein of Goopi Gyne). Atleast from 14-16 months Fandry and Ankhon Dekhi (though I wish it had cut down on some of its philosophical overtones, not that it was a deal-breaker or anything. That’s the lesson which Rajat Kapoor should have learned from Hrishikesh Mukherjee. When Rajesh Khanna gives those life-affirming lessons in Anand, they are always laced with humour so you never feel that they are being hammered on our head. But better still, when you suddenly have the philosophical musings of “Aane Wala Pal” appearing midway into that otherwise rip-roaring comedy of Golmaal… even though there is a huge tonal gap, we never feel that gap. I mean we never give Mukherjee credit on technical levels, but his films seemed to be edited very well that’s why tonal disjointment doesn’t occur) are the 2 Indian films I have enjoyed the most.

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  5. apex Says:
    September 15, 2014 at 2:55 PM

    Haven’t seen the promo but is that Amy Jackson that I see? That’s pleasant …

    Btw haven’t seen much of this person vikram and have liked what I have seen
    But
    This sort of a project deserves even demands a pan-Indian star at the helm of things to optimise Shankar’s and Rahmans work & vision

    The ELEPHANT in the room

    Whilst the south has given loads of heroines from 50s 60 s onwards with consistency to sridevi hema malini right upto ash and deepika padukone

    There’s not been ONE pan indian male hero that stood the test!

    There’s no dearth of talent, hard work, apt projects, production values and better story ideas and talents

    Then why this failure ?
    Other than kamalahassan (who’s obviously a much better actor than a star) and the freako rajni Kant (sorry his fans) and the sporadic localised appeal of a mohan lal

    Why isn’t there ONE south hero who can take this to a pan indian bumper success ??

    Why have the Satyams lagged behind the Amys ? 🙂

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    • Qalandar Says:
      September 16, 2014 at 6:10 PM

      Re: “The ELEPHANT in the room

      Whilst the south has given loads of heroines from 50s 60 s onwards with consistency to sridevi hema malini right upto ash and deepika padukone

      There’s not been ONE pan indian male hero that stood the test!”

      One could say the same about any industry: for instance, it’s far easier for a French female lead to make it in Hollywood than for a French male lead to do so. To search for the answer among those excluded is to look in the wrong place; the answer lies in the audience’s and industry’s relationship to the female, exoticized (that is to say, eroticized) other — that equation cannot really be transferred wholesale to the male. Stated differently, the audience/industry is disproportionately male, and as such it is far more likely to be “accepting” of exotic, attractive women than of men — you don’t want to be like the other (male hero), but you do lust for the (female) other.

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      • sanjana Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 6:58 AM

        These exotic women from south are not too different from say a bengali or a maharashtrian or even a punjabi unlike the males who have very pronounced features and body language. These women have softer features and makeup takes care of other stuff.

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    • Qalandar Says:
      September 17, 2014 at 11:00 AM

      PS — “pan-Indian” is overstated, and largely a function of the accident that the Hindi heroes operate in a linguistic medium that dominates much of India; there isn’t anything they are doing that “Southerners” are not doing, the former just HAPPEN to be “in” Hindi (the fact that far more Hollywood films are dubbed in multiple Indian languages than Hindi films are; and the fact that you see a lot more B-grade Telugu films dubbed for Hindi TV channels than vice versa; illustrates the limits of the so-called “pan-India” paradigm). Stated differently, it’s not Bollywood’s “fault”, nor the Tamil industry’s — but you can’t win the lottery and pat yourself on the back for being a genius (although you are entitled to the money if you have the winning ticket).

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      • apex Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 3:36 PM

        Some good comments by q & sanju

        Hahah q That’s one of the best defences of under performances I’ve seen. But yeah there IS some truth in the ‘ex(r)oticisation’ argument and I am the first to acknowledge ‘truths’ lol

        Q speaks less but makes sense usually
        I don’t get impressed by ‘volume’ and encyclopaedic knowledge but by the quality of ideation
        Well said q

        But

        But this is only part reality
        If one scratches (or strips ) the surface —
        More ‘truths’ emerge

        Doesn’t one see the difference in the
        Conviction
        Ambition
        Drive
        ‘Outgoing’ nature of say a deepika or an ash or hema or sridevi from these other south heroes over the decades like mohun lall, man mooty, and the newbies
        (I will keep kamalhassan separate from these though)

        These southern ladies have a poise and know they deserve and own the MAIN stage
        The males have accepted the peripheral playground (though they don’t lack the talent or ability)

        Yeah the poor south guys have nothing to give (except to kjo) but let’s be serious lol

        Credit goes to the south girls …(& can’t be denied)

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  6. Master Says:
    September 15, 2014 at 7:59 PM

    Anniyan part 2

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  7. Arthi Says:
    September 16, 2014 at 9:09 AM

    Zapped. What did I just watch.

    Aside, Saurabh, I watched a few of your Malayalam films reccos and must say this Fahadh Fasil (name right?) is quite a revelation. Is he a sort of leading man, superstar there in Kerala? This short , balding guy who offers so much interest in North 24 Kaatham. (Although for me, the movie was anchored because of the old man. Don’t know which actor plays him.) Watching this movie felt so refreshing. Hindi films , just reading some comments here, its fine (not all) but get brain dead at times. But these other cinemas are doing so much, feel oxygenated. Keep the reccos coming.

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    • ciummaa Says:
      September 16, 2014 at 6:19 PM

      “movie was anchored because of the old man. Don’t know which actor plays him” – Nedumudi Venu. Great character actor (made great duo with Mohanlal in older Priyadarshan movies)

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      • Arthi Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 1:42 AM

        A great actor. He literally implodes when he sees his wife for the first time when he returns. Looks around at the people, crosses his hands at the back, taking it all in with slight swaying, in silence. Never has sorrow that empties you been conveyed with such quiet grace. That was the standout scene for me.

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    • Saurabh Says:
      September 17, 2014 at 3:12 AM

      Arthi:

      “This short , balding guy…”-

      Ouch! That was really cruel Arthi. Kidding! I am so glad that you enjoyed N-24 Kaatham (on his name, the media keeps spelling it in a lot of ways including the way you have done it, though Fahadh himself spells it as “Fahadh Faasil”. He is not the biggest star there- those are still the two giants Mohanlal and Mammootty followed by Prithviraj and Dileep – but he is considered the guy who is responsible for this new-age Malayalam cinema which has ‘somewhat’ taken the industry out of the doldrums of mediocrity with which it was suffering since the late 90’s till the last decade. Fahadh’s “Chaapa Kurishu”- incidentally a remake of the South Korean thriller “Handphone” which you have may have seen- is supposed to be one of the films which have heralded this change. He is definitely a star, but most importantly he is associated with quality cinema. But the crucial thing is this- he is a ‘star’, but he isn’t interested in being confined by the boundaries of a star. Also keeps deconstructing his star-persona by intentionally choosing roles which are anything, but ‘straightarrow’ ones- a case in point being the role in a female-oriented thriller called “22 Female Kottayam”, I doubt if there would ANY other star in the country who would play this role, without spoiling things for you, let’s just say while he is in a supporting role here, he is so good here that he coolly slips the film in his pocket and walks away with it. It’s not a particularly good film, but it sort of defines Fahadh’s very unique stardom; also what happens to Fahadh’s character at the end of the film is something RADICAL in Indian contexts). And I would keep the reccos coming provided you decide to comment more often on the blog (I often see you making these very astute points- I was watching Mardaani weeks back in the theatre and your statements on the trailer which were something to the effect of “Rani’s character being on the lines of a male action hero” and that “female aggressiveness doesn’t need to be derived from the male one” struck me during my viewing; your thoughts especially in the climactic hand-to-hand melee between Rani and the baddie)- so it will be great if you could come here more often.

      On the rest I can certainly recommend films even if I feel like a bit of a blowhard doing so- I have only started watching Malayalam cinema since the last two years and I have HARDLY seen anything (almost everything I have seen is from the last 2-3 years); so perhaps Chipguy and GF would be the best guys in this matter. But even then as I said before the recent Malayalam films I have really liked are- Annayum Rasoolum, Amen, Artist (All 3 starring Fahadh and you can’t go wrong with any of them. The first and the third are too my mind Fahadh’s best performances. Also I think Annayum Rasoolum is perhaps the best Indian romantic film since Balaji Sakthivel’s “Kadhal”. Amen too is terrific and is perhaps the first Indian film which employs magic-realism. It’s super fun and I am glad a film like this happened in the mainstream space. “Artist” has one of the best performance by a leading lady in quite some time- Ann Augustine is excellent here and holds her own against Fahadh), Mumbai Police (a top-notch thriller starring Prithviraj who is excellent here. And having read your comments previously on S. Korean thrillers, I think you may like it- though it’s not anythink like the Korean thrillers, it’s a hardboiled suspense film with a very unique twist- so I would suggest you check this out though you should avoid reading any kind of spoiler, even very mild ones, on this), Drishyam (again very engrossing thriller aided by a fine Mohanlal performance. The fact that I had read the Higashino’s terrific novel beforehand acted as a bit of a killjoy in my viewing experience. But it’s everyone’s favourite film and one of the biggest Malayalam hits ever, infact it was the biggest ever till it was surpassed by Bangalore Days this year), Memories (another very enjoyable thriller starring Prithvi. It’s by the same guy who directed Drishyam- Jeethu Joseph), Ustad Hotel (this one is from 2012- I really, really liked this. Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salman plays the lead here in his 2nd film and is quite good. But for me the film belonged to the veteran actor Thilakan-sadly this is the only film of his which I have seen- who is just godly here. But this a very charming film on the theme of ‘homecoming’. And the Malabari cuisine plays a very important part in the proceedings really giving the film a lot of flavour), the 2 Ranjith directed dramas- “Pranchiyettan and the Saint” (though a lot of Thrissur dialect humour was lost on me simply because I don’t follow the language and the subtitiles couldn’t make up for it, this is perhaps my favourite post-2000 Malayalam film alongwith Annayum Rasoolum. Atleast I saw the film as a gentle satire and social-comedy along the lines of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s middle cinema. Also has a very fine Mammootty performance, admittedly I have seen only handful of his films but the only place I have found him better is the classic “Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha”) and Indian Rupee (this too is a satire. Again an excellent film and highly recommended; has my favourite Prithvi performance), Traffic (a thriller in the hyperlink format, like how Innaritu’s films are. Very well scripted by Bobby-Sanjay who also wrote Mumbai Police), Bangalore Days (it released this year and is apparently the biggest Malayalam hit ever. There is nothing truly ‘new’ here in terms of plot, but I had bucketloads of fun watching it. It has some really attractive leads, though the standouts here are the supporting turns by Fahadh and this powerhouse of talent called Parvathy Menon whom I find very yummy! At the risk of sounding a little reductive about the film, it is a FAR better, more rooted and infintely less pretentious version of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwani), 101 Chodyangal (this is a little heavy-handed as far as storytelling is concerned, bit is also undeniably emotionally moving. In any case I have a weakness for children’s films), Akam (this based on age old Yakshi story. Borders more on more on the art cinema scene. A slow-burninf thriller and both the actress and Fahadh are pretty good. This film deserved far more eyeballs than it got. Though it did it well on the international festival scene)

      Some other recent ones which I have enjoyed- Diamond Necklace (Fahadh- is a pretty novel take on relationships), 5 Sundarikal/Anchu Sundarikal (an anthology of 5 short films. Good performances by Dulquer and Fahadh), Immanuel (has Mammootty in the lead, and it was a joy to watch Fahadh share scenes with the titan. Fahadh plays a bastard of sorts, one of his more interesting supporting turns, here though his character is a half-baked one), Neelaksham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (a road movie with Dulquer and Sunny Wayne, the latter is qute a find. Some very stunning shots here by Sameer Thahir), Thira (mire or less gripping thriller on child trafficking, the topic is handled very handled fairly sensitively. Shobhana is arresting as ever

      From the art cinemal scene, I found the great Shaji Karun’s “Kutty Srank” a must watch even if I didn’t love it. And finally Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha which, quite simply, is the best Malayalam film I have seen till now and which also has IMO one of the greatest performance by an Indian actor (Mammootty). I also don’t think there is a better Indian historical film- it very easily trumps something like Mughal-e-Azam.

      CG has also recommended Molly Aunty Rocks, Spirit, Nandanam, Big B etc

      I completely concur on Venu (thanks Ciummaa for that info). BTW Arthi since you enjoyed North-24 Kaatham, the director had another film called Sapthamashree Thaskaraha (a rural comic-heist film with an ensemble cast headed by Prithvi. It got pretty good reviews) which released earlier this month during Onam. Here is the trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc_e_jLTWgI

      BTW you might have seen these, but a recent Korean thriller I quite enjoyed was Montage (nowhere near the top-league thrillers of the country, but pretty good. I actually thought this would have been a better choice than Seven Days in case Sanjay Gupta wanted a thriller with female in the lead). Also thought “White Night” is pretty good (with a far more emotional heft than most other thrillers, though it’s a little compkex atleast in the initial reels. Of course its emitional heft is due to this being a Higashino adaptation)

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      • Krish Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 11:19 AM

        Saurabh, This is a good note and something I wanted very badly so that I can catch up with the movies I missed. BTW did you see Njan Steve Lopez?

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        • Saurabh Says:
          September 17, 2014 at 1:39 PM

          Krish: No, the makers had promised to release it in all metros with subs. Sadly, it never released in Delhi (in any form). Waiting for the DVD release now

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      • Arthi Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 11:53 AM

        So actors down south also resort to astrologically favourable names like those scaredy-cats of Bollywood. Ah well.

        I mentioned balding and short because it is so ‘against the acceptable norm’ for a leading man in film. (I know South Indian cinema doesn’t have the ‘physical ideal’ as preset as in Hindi films but still.) Watching Fahadh Faasil in 24 North K was quite a whoa moment. Hey look, this guy, this guy! who doesn’t even care he is getting a shiny bald pate soon, is so amazing here.

        There were so many bits in this movie that I liked. The father a retired, content, mild mannered person. Always cornered by his sons, literally leaving him speechless. The women are stronger. The mother, Swati Reddy’s character and Venu’s wife (when he talks @ her at the toddy shack) who are not controlled by the men in their lives.
        We are never told what happens to Swati and the bike guy who takes her off the road. There she is, casually flicking dust off her arms when FF and Venu coming huffing and puffing, worry writ large on their faces. Venu takes the stick that lay next to her and smiles. We don’t know if she used it to drive that nasty character away or it was just there. This happened and she worked her way out. Thats it. At times, not telling is more apt. I really liked it.
        Then there is the younger brother and his girlfriend. I’ve always got the feeling that the Indian multiplex crowd of today watching Hindi films is a pretty conscious bunch when it comes to how sex and relationships are portrayed onscreen. But here the scene, he and his girlfriend are goofing around in his room, post dinner, is so causally thrown in, there is no ‘statement to be made’. If this was a Hindi film, the reviewers, the audience and the filmmakers would have made this to a bold step taken in contemporary B’wood. Like Shahid K’s and Shradda K’s making out is all that there is to Haider. Sheer nonsense. The directors down south could care less. And the viewers as well. Ah, I’m digressing?
        FF’s character is a reversal of the spoilt, rich girl who when due to circumstances is thrown out into the ‘wilderness’. He even gets to be shrieky – ‘ahh fiiishh!’ -much to the amusement of the hero – Swati Reddy.
        The opening credits were so well done. When I see all of this I feel I’m transported into another world, one where better movies are being made and my intelligence is unharmed after a viewing.

        And yes, the climax of Mardaani was a complete downer. Actually felt sympathetic towards Sarkar and his script writer because it was so evident that they had no idea how to end the story. All that they had is this image of Rani M in slo- mo waking out of that door, a winner. One that wasn’t meant to be in in the first place.

        And you’ve given so many films to watch. Gosh. As I said, keep them coming. Others, hmm.
        Montage, forgot about it as soon as it was done. At present, I want a good subtitled copy of A Hard Day. White Night (Korean), I was with it through and through. Revisits, worth it. I don’t read fiction so if a movie is made from a Higashino novel I’m all for it. Although Suspect X (Korean) was a still, flat film.
        By the way, I Saw the Devil is being remade in the US. Director duo Adam Wingard And Simon Barrett at the helm. Who are these guys?

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      • Qalandar Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 1:51 PM

        Saurabh: it would be helpful if you made this a post rather than a comment, so that we can re-visit as and when we’re catching up on Malayalam films…

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  8. Henry Says:
    September 16, 2014 at 10:16 AM

    Lol this is some crazy shite….I am not the target audience for Shankar type of masala (too OTT for me) but he is one ambitious director.

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  9. Henry Says:
    September 16, 2014 at 10:19 AM

    Maybe it’s too much to ask, but I yearn for the day when an Indian director will make a non-cheesy, innovative and technically sound film that truly crosses over, and wins audience all over the world.

    Given how rich our history and culture is, it’s a surprise that India hasn’t been to make a film like that.

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  10. Henry Says:
    September 16, 2014 at 10:24 AM

    Some might feel that trying to please foreign audience is some sort of an inferiority complex, but I look at it differently – it’s just expanding your horizons, and trying to reach the biggest possible audience.

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  11. Qalandar Says:
    September 16, 2014 at 6:05 PM

    I finally saw the trailer: wow! This seems unmissable — in the sense that even though Shankar isn’t my favorite director (Robot was by far the best of his films that I have seen, with Muthalvan second); and Vikram has had a string of sub-standard offerings — here both seem to be in top form. And ARR to boot (ARR’s Shankar albums preserve the fun quotient that is often missing from the more self-consciously serious Hindi music). All in all this looks to be better than Anniyan (which worked better as a concept than in the execution).

    In terms of pure masala pleasure, no-one has given me more from the last 20-30 years than Vikram, and I hope I is in that vein…

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    • Saurabh Says:
      September 17, 2014 at 12:24 AM

      Q: You should really check out Pandiya Naadu (has Vishal in the lead)- IMO the best Masala film since Aamir’s Ghajini. The subtitled DVD is readily available.

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      • Qalandar Says:
        September 17, 2014 at 12:25 AM

        Thanks for the tip! I had stayed away because I don’t care for Vishal, but will check it out…

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        • Saurabh Says:
          September 17, 2014 at 3:35 AM

          Q: I am not a Vishal fan either (the only place I have liked him was in Bala’s “Avan Ivan” where I much preferred him to Arya), but the director uses his ‘the underdog Masala hero who perhaps is a misfit in this world” personality well by putting him against Sharath Lohitadas who literally swallows up the screen by his mere physicality (he is one of those rare modern villains who look like they will eat the hero alive. Lohitadas is a Kannadiga and I think this provides an edge to his personality. I mean as a fan of Masala film, I was a perverse joy in seeing him adjust his lungi and then going about hacking bodies with a sword. BTW the guy is pretty agile for the sort of bulky body he has). Also something really novel is how the angle of the ‘hero’s father’ is used (Bharathiraja is quietly effective)- thought this was a very nice by Suseenthiran. And Suseenthiran is a Tamil new-wave director (BTW his earlier Karthi starrer masala “Naan Mahaan Alla” is a more uneven film than this one, but in that filn he etches some of the most memorable villain characters in recent times), he keeps tweaking the format a little without really going overboard making it a designer Masala. And it has one of my favourite opening sequence in recent times which has a “gaana” sequence where the household of a deceased ganglord (who has died his hours back) is celebrating his greatness after his death. It’s such a rambunctious number and really sets up the mood of the film. Here it is-

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  12. idea Says:
    September 17, 2014 at 3:36 AM

    AWESOME: I have always believed that there is only one film maker in entire India who can make larger than life movies – Shankar – D3 should have been made by him and Nayak – The real hero made by him should have been made with Aamir

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  13. Satyam Says:
    September 17, 2014 at 1:09 PM

    Rangan on the soundtrack:

    I candy

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    • Qalandar Says:
      September 17, 2014 at 1:55 PM

      that’s a good write-up on Rahman, and isn’t just a review of I’s music. I’m assiduously avoiding listening to the tracks on youtube until I can get my hands on a CD (sadly that’ll have to wait until I am back in India in early October)…

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  14. Utkal Says:
    September 18, 2014 at 1:39 AM

    Rangan’s write up made my day. Was driving to work, listening to some great Dylan songs from his reissued Self-Portrait. Stuck at some traffic light, i browse Facebook and find this rhapsody of a review. Have I said earlier that I think Rahman is to us, what someone like Mozart was in his times? Yes, I think I have.

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  15. Di Says:
    September 25, 2014 at 8:19 PM

    Two part interview…good stuff

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  16. Satyam Says:
    October 1, 2014 at 9:58 AM

    I’s record streak continues…
    Oct 01, 2014
    Chiyaan Vikram – Shankar’s magnum opus, ‘I’ is proving its merit in every possible way. In the number of views for a teaser, it already set a record in the opening two days. Now, the teaser has crossed 7 million views. That’s massive considering that no other regional movie has achieved such a feat in these many days.

    ‘I’ was expected to release for Diwali but there hasn’t been an official word on the date yet. Well, whenever it releases – the movie is sure to grab eyeballs all over.

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  18. Satyam Says:
    October 19, 2014 at 4:36 AM

    somewhat older story…

    Vikram’s I trailer sets new benchmark, crosses 3 million hits on YouTube
    IANS Chennai, September 19, 2014 | UPDATED 14:43 IST

    The trailer of actor Vikram’s upcoming Tamil magnum opus I, which was unveiled on Monday, has crossed over three million views on YouTube at the time of this report going live.

    Directed by Shankar, I has been reportedly made on a budget of over Rs.150 crore

    “We have not witnessed such a huge pickup for any trailer. I will set new benchmarks across film industries and we are proud to be associated with it,” Ashok Parwani, head – South, Sony Music India, said in a statement.

    Directed by Shankar, I has been reportedly made on a budget of over Rs. 150 crore. It also features Amy Jackson and Upen Patel in important roles.

    The film’s soundtrack, which has music by AR Rahman, was recently unveiled in the presence of Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    Weta Workshop, the company behind Peter Jackson’s film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, has worked on the digital make-up and background arts for the film.

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  20. Z Says:
    October 19, 2014 at 9:58 AM

    I have no interest in south movies but this one visually looks so good and it looks like it needs to be seen on big screen that i will go check it out.

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  21. Z Says:
    October 19, 2014 at 12:28 PM

    I wonder who’s going to grab the rights of remake of this movie in bollywood.

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  22. Raj5 Says:
    December 5, 2014 at 6:08 PM

    What happened to this film? Teaser came out in September, songs are out but no song trailers, and I can’t find a release date anywhere…

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    • Master Says:
      December 5, 2014 at 8:01 PM

      I was thinking the same, checked wiki – it shows Jan 9, 2015 as release date.

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      • Raj5 Says:
        December 6, 2014 at 1:26 AM

        Cool Jan 9. Everything looks great- the songs, visuals, bgm but I can’t stand the foreign actress. I’m pretty sure every indian actress is dying to work with Shankar or this movie could’ve been the launch of some new INDIAN actress. Shankar also always takes very Indian actresses so I’m not sure what’s happening here…

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      • Satyam Says:
        December 6, 2014 at 6:45 AM

        Me too! Did have the feeling for sometime though that they’d go after Lingaa.

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    • Shashi Says:
      December 19, 2014 at 4:18 AM

      Generally Tamil films stay away from song trailers. If they do release some, they’ll likely be only 20-30 seconds long anyway. The songs are a huge selling point of movies like this, and they like to keep them under wraps until you’re in the theatre!

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  23. Satyam Says:
    December 18, 2014 at 8:32 PM

    Man, just can’t wait for this. Liked the first trailer more though.

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  24. Raj5 Says:
    December 26, 2014 at 4:16 AM

    Couldn’t find the Tamil version but here’s one of the song trailers in hindi. The Tamil version is called Mersalayttein.

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  25. tonymontana Says:
    December 31, 2014 at 2:27 PM

    I fail to understand why Shankar’s work is celebrated as something of an event. In fact, there are few Tamil directors beyond Ratnam who understand the meaning of “restraint”. He might possess some imagination but much of it is borrowed and too outlandish to be digested. He needs to understand subtlety if he is to grow as a filmmaker. Robot excelled in many portions but was still headache inducing, gratuitous and overdone in several portions. Same can be said for Sivaji (and this was an inferior work to Robot). Did manage to catch Nanban too — a frame by frame, dialogue by dialogue remake of the original. Treated like the work of a lazy director with no regard for context or characters, employing actors who just seemed to go with the motions with not even a single actor lending his own credibility or improvisations to their character. Just Ileana who managed to look very pretty.

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    • Henry Says:
      January 9, 2015 at 3:32 PM

      Feel the same way about Shankar, and also got a headache from Robot. He has got some good ideas but overall the presentation is too tacky and loud for my tastes.

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  27. omrocky786 Says:
    January 9, 2015 at 2:28 PM

    Don’t know about the Tamil version, but Hindi mein toh bog flop hoga yeh pichchar.

    I have liked his Naayak, Hindustani and Robot, but this seems like a DVD watch

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  28. Krish Says:
    January 16, 2015 at 2:46 AM

    The movie is so bad its hard to believe its from Shanker…Not even worth a review

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    • Krish Says:
      January 16, 2015 at 5:52 PM

      One point here – Do not take your kids to this one..It has quite a number of scenes which will make you squirm in front of your kids

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