released
ranging from the Surya starrer Vaaranam Ayiram to the
Dhanush starrer Padikkadavan. Not to mention Maddy’s
Guru En Aalu and Silambarasan’s Silambattam. Somehow,
the producers seemed to have thought to stay away from
the race. For reasons like fear of proper response from
fans after release (release of the much-hyped Aegan
has contributed to this largely) since Vaaranam Ayiram,
touted to be a promising venture, also had plans to
be released. When all these release-dilemma ripples
settled down, the Tamil box office was left with only
two choices for Deepavali.
Gautam Menon’s Vaaranam Ayiram seems to be mired
with troubles and roadblocks – as is customary
to his every single movie. The promos and print ads
screamed that the movie would be released for Deepavali
while Aegan was effortlessly making money in advance
booking. Until last minute – as in even on the
Deepavali-eve – print ads released in various
leading dailies promised about the movie’s Deepavali
release. However, much to the disappointment, and as
is heard, Vaaranam Ayiram will see the light of the
day only in mid-November due to unresolved differences
of opinion from the production side. Meanwhile the music
album is released proclaiming Harris’ prowess
in tuning catchy ones.
While
Silambattam stayed away from the Deepavali race safely,
the music album is released recently with songs swarming
the airwaves of Chennai. Another Deepavali hopeful Padikkadavan
maintained a low profile by sending signals of a late-2008
release. Same way, Madhavan’s ‘Yes Boss’
inspired Guru En Aalu was pulled back from the race
for unspecified reasons - although it’s easy to
figure why the producer was not ready for a risk.
That
leaves us with Aegan and Seval. Aegan leaves a lot to
be desired while Seval entertains half-way through.
A
rip-off from the Shah Rukh starrer Bollywood blockbuster
Main Hoon Na – that was released 4 years ago –
Aegan is Raju Sundaram’s debut attempt. While
his struggle to make the movie funny is evident right
from frame one, he seems to have concentrated too much
on it leaving the rest of the movie in doldrums. As
a result, the movie focuses largely on Ajith’s
sense of humor, shooting antics, dance and fight skills
and Nayan’s increasingly dipping necklines and
waistlines putting the viewer’s patience and persistence
to test. Not to mention, there is an abrupt and absurd
climax that makes your jaw drop if you had not done
it over the course of the movie, except for the frequent
yawns.
Seval
is a trademark Hari movie with a village-bred protagonist
and revolves around his waywardly life and romance.
Tipped as Simran’s comeback, it has reduced her
into an extended sidekick - who plays the lead lady’s
sister mistaking Bharat to be her potential suitor.
So,
for all practical reasons, despite the presence of Thala,
this Deepavali is anything but Thala Deepavali. Although,
the pollution levels in Chennai’s ecosphere soared
to new highs than last year’s Deepavali clearly
indicating that Chennaities had fun bursting crackers.
Meanwhile,
let’s wait with bated breath and fluttering eyelashes
that the situation gets better at least for Christmas,
while the recession shows no sign of wearing off.
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