Chandramukhi - My take
Good things first - this movie is better than Baba. Thats where the good things end. I don't dislike Super Star, i have immensely liked his movies like Baasha, Mannan, Annamallai. But this movie was plain bad. Some people say he looks a lot younger in this movie, but i can't stop laughing. There is nothing bad looking old, a lot of old people look great, but SuperStar in this movie, looks plain bad. Why can't he act his age, and follow AB? More than that, he looks like Michael Jackson in this movie, sometimes he is Black and some times he is White, he even wakes up in one of the scenes with White make-up. You have to be kidding me.
Yes it is a Super Star movie, but why do they have to remind that to us in the form of kites? Can't understand the logic. Only Super Star can get away with wearing red pants. And whats up with the blue jackets all the time? The producers i don't think spent any money on custumes, especially Prbahu. He comes up in shirts, that he picked up from his own wardrobe. Thankfully all the ladies in the movie, wear some nice sarees.
Some time during the 80's, every time a song comes in the movie, the audience would venture out of the theatre for some sort of break. The songs in this movie also fall under that cateogory. Pathetic songs, pathetic picturisations, and pathetic dancing. Songs are forced upon the audience. Vasu's "repeatuuuuuu" performace was horrible.
A lot of bloggers have commended Jo's performance. I cant agree more. We all know how she can raise her eyebrows whenever she is angry. We have seen a lot of that in Kushi, but oh boy in this movie, Vasu helps her raised eyebrows (whenever she turns into a Chandramukhi) with a Rin white patch, to show her anger more pronounced. Can't stop laughing again. She looks far from menancing.
Tamil serials have this bad reputation of having loud music. This movie is no different, every action in the movie is followed by loud irritating thing called music. Yes it is a so called thriller movie with a rubber "anaconda", but why so much loud music?
The movie was like some tamil serial. Some one in the blog world mentioned about "Marmadesam". To me this movie, is not at all a super star material. I have not seen the Malayalam original, but im sure, that movie would be a lot better than this stale one.
I can't even start talking about the comedy track in this movie. It has some double ententre jokes, which involves Vadivelu, his wife and superstar. Quite sad. His one romantic scene, the one where he uses his bag to hit Nanyantara's hips, with Nanyantara (should be twenty years younger to him) was really cheesy.
Nothing spectacular to write about the technical aspects of the movie. Only today i read in Rediff that the highly talented "thotta" Tharani was involved in art direction. Was he involved in making that rubber snake?
I don't even want to talk about all the psychiatry explanation that super star gave for Jo's split personality disorder in the movie.
What happenned to the competiting contractor (villain of Pitamaghan) after the intiial fight sequence? Why does everybody in a Super Star movie have to praise him to the hilt? Whats up with dialogues like "he does not have just one brain, he has ten brains"? Was he talking in Tamil in the first half? I think the Tamil Protection people should take the case with him.
As Munna from Rangeela says "hum public hain", I say the same. I do not care if it's a super star movie or any tom dick harry movie. If the movie entertains me im happy. If the creative team of the movie, has tried to offer me something different, im happy. But giving us the audience something really stupid and sad, and asking us to come and enjoy the movie, just because it has super star in it, im sorry i can't.
At a time when some people from the south are trying hard to get the regional movies to be noticed in the whole country, movies like these takes the whole efforts backward. Just having english subtitles is not going to help. Better movies, which are technically sound, with better performaces, great music, good picturisations, etc etc will only help, not some mediocre movie like this.
P.S:- Is this the Bradley guy, that the Acharya mentioned as super star's guru?