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Alibaba Movie Review |
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Alibaba – A maze of crime |
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| Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Starring:
Krishna, Prakash Raj, Janani, Radha Ravi, Biju Menon,
Manobala, Thilagan
Direction: Neelam K Sekar
Music: Vidyasagar
Production: Talking Times Movies Pvt Ltd
Release Date : September 05, 2008 |
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The
launch pad for Vishnuvardhan’s brother Krishna, Alibaba
never really gave us any clue about what it was. But one realizes
that the title was a give away if one is inclined to think
about it on those terms. Alibaba is a story of thieves, crime
and criminals. There is also a treasure which keeps coming
to the protagonist. But there is no automatically opening
cave entrance or any magic. Woven around this interesting
premise, Alibaba tells the story of a few small time crooks
finding themselves as pawns of a web of crime. |
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The
movie begins with the city being shaken by many heart
stopping crimes taking place at different places. Young
women are being molested and killed with alarming frequency.
Meanwhile, a small gang of crooks gets on with business
as usual in the households of the city as they make
away with their loot safely, thanks to the experience
of their leader, Prakash Raj. They are pretty happy
with their level of activity and have no plans of taking
it any higher in the world of crime. But something seems
to be following them. It begins first when a bank account
swells by a huge amount without them having to do nothing.
Taking it as a stroke of luck, they make merry. But
this keeps happening again and again, until the amount
which lands in their bank starts reaching humungous
proportions. That’s when Prakash Raj realizes
that this is no mere coincidence. Someone was smartly
using them as a pawn to cover up for other more serious
activities. They were being used as the ‘third
man’, a pretty common term in criminal parlance.
Before they realize, all of them are caught in the web
that was laid out. Who laid it out, how and why and
do they eventually come out of it forms Alibaba. |
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Its suspense for the second time this weekend after Saroja
and Alibaba is not second to its more hyped counterpart in
the suspense quotient. One does not get any clue about the
mastermind until the director chooses to reveal it and that
is the strongest point of the movie. Thilagan, Biju Menon,
Azhagam Perumal and Radha Ravi all play characters that make
us suspicious and the screenplay is a clever elimination of
characters one by one until only the mastermind is left. It
is suspense close to its best and full marks to debut director
Neelan K Shekhar for maintaining the graph consistently. |
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The cast can be termed as a powerhouse, especially on
the negative side where we have the Thilagan, Biju Menon,
Azhagam Perumal and Radha Ravi- experienced actors and
their presence does bring great results on screen. On
the protagonist side, Prakash Raj makes proceedings
very interesting with natural ease. There are quite
a few comic situations which are thoroughly enjoyable
and the entire gang led by Prakash Raj does creditably
well in these scenes. Raja, one time associate of Santhanam
in Lollu Sabha adds to the effect. Debutant hero Krishna
justifies the launch pad that has been set up for him,
vindicating the faith that his brother and father have
shown. He has come up with a honest, hard working performance
doing well in stunt and dance sequences, showing that
he has what it takes to be a hero. A little improvement
on the acting front and careful |
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choices can keep him in the hunt for quite some time, he has
the right credentials. Debutant heroine Janani doesn’t
have much to do, except a few scenes.
Technically, Alibaba is a neatly made film. There is nothing
out of the ordinary, nor are their any obvious flaws. Action
sequences have been well handled without taking them over
the top. But the music is a definite disappointment with only
one item number making any impact.
Overall, Alibaba is a movie that relies on the suspense element
to carry it through and the director has understood this very
well, he is on the button. Anyone who likes suspense filled
flicks will definitely love this one. A pretty tight screenplay,
good execution and competent performances make the movie worth
a watch. At the box office, its strong merits will help it
while the presence of another well-made thriller (Saroja)
from an already victorious team may be a bit of a dampener.
Verdict – For those who enjoy
suspense
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