TAMIL MOVIE REVIEW:Hello Naan Pei Pesuren: Dial a ghost

Hello Naan Pei Pesuren is a horror-comedy. And in keeping with the genre, the film contains both comedy and horror.

There is a lot of comedy, in fact.

Like how Kavitha is shown to be in love with Amudhan, though all she knows about him is that he’s a thief. Like how fake the office spaces in the film are: you know that the man in Kavitha’s office is her manager because he has a large nameplate that simply reads ‘MANAGER’; a scene later, you know that Kavitha and Amudhan are at a pawn broker’s because there are nameplates around the store that read ‘PAWN BROKER’. Like how the make-up of the ghost makes you wonder if she’s arrived straight from a bad Halloween party. Like how the excessive make-up of Aishwarya Rajesh makes you wonder if she is the ghost, long before she actually gets possessed. Like how you can easily recognise an authentic priest in these films by the depth of his voice: the deeper the voice, the more powerful the priest. Like how this said powerful priest recites incantations in Hindi (as the ghost is of a Marwari woman), and dutifully follows up with a Tamil translation too—à la Major Sundarrajan in old Tamil films—for the benefit of Tamil audiences.

Genre: Horror-comedy
Director: S. Baskar
Cast: Vaibhav Reddy, Oviya, Aishwarya Rajesh, VTV Ganesh, Karunakaran
Storyline: A thief pockets a mobile phone without realising that something sinister has made the device its home
Bottomline: A phony movie

There is a lot of horror too.

Like in the scarcity of good jokes. Like how for almost 40 minutes into the first half, there’s no indication of a ghost, leading you to wonder if you’ve stepped into the wrong film. Like all the painfully ineffective double entendres in the film. Like realising that Aishwarya Rajesh—yes, the actress from Kaaka Muttai—is the heroine in this film. Like the under-utilisation of talent like Karunakaran, Vaibhav and even VTV Ganesh, who were all quite good in their last collaboration, Kappal. Like the over-exaggerated Chennai accent of Amudhan (Vaibhav), that makes it so hard to take anything he says seriously. Like the ridiculous attempts at parodying films like Suryavamsam and Kadhalan: VTV Ganesh, the brother of Kavitha (Kavidha, as Amudhan calls her a zillion times in the film), runs a place called Sorgavasal Natyalaya, a kuthu dance centre in which Amudhan has to prove himself. Like the dim realisation that horror-comedies are still coming in thick and fast, even though they’ve clearly run out of ideas.

So, to summarise, yes, Hello Naan Pei Pesuren is a horror-comedy indeed.

COURTESY:http://www.thehindu.com/

Kung Fu Panda 3 Movie Review

STORY: Po (Black) is in for some more surprises this time around. Not only is he reunited with his father Li (Cranston) after more than two decades, but he also finds out that he has a unique calling in life. Before Po fulfills his true destiny though, he must vanquish the evil Kai (Simmons), who is on a rampage to steal the 'qi' of every kung fu master in the land.

REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 3 by and large hits the right notes by serving up everything that fans of this franchise have loved, while adding some new elements too. And it's all buoyed up with a fun storyline.
When he finds out the identity of his real dad - despite the fact that Mr Ping (Hong), who raised Po from the time he was a baby, has suspicions about Li - Po also begins to wonder about who he really is. Is he really the Dragon Warrior? And will he be able to reach higher ground? Before all of that, he must learn to embrace all aspects of being a panda, and live in a secret village inhabited only by pandas.

The animation is top notch, and the colours vivid, without being saturated. The editing too has been deftly done, thus ensuring that the movie never drags. In fact, the attention to detail here is truly impressive. For example, the creak of footsteps on a wooden walkway or the clink of nunchuks during a fight sequence and so on.

While Po's friends Master Shifu (Hoffman), Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Viper (Liu), Mantis (Rogen) and Crane (Cross) are all a delight to watch, the new entrants are the village pandas. So you get to see baby pandas, dancing pandas and even a bear who loves to give bone-crunching hugs. Thankfully, the abundant humour and various witty asides also steers things clear of a sucrose overdose. While the voice casting is spot on, there are perhaps, a larger number of characters than necessary. Although a slightly over-dramatic ending holds the film back from greater heights, this is on the whole, quite enjoyable for kids as well as adults.
COURTESY:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

KUNG FU PANDA 3 :MOVIE REVIEW

• All Critics
•  | 
• Top Critics

TOMATOMETER 

86%

Average Rating: 6.8/10

Reviews Counted: 140

Fresh: 120

Rotten: 20

Critics Consensus: Kung Fu Panda 3 boasts the requisite visual splendor, but like its rotund protagonist, this sequel's narrative is also surprisingly nimble, adding up to animated fun for the whole family.

AUDIENCE SCORE 

83%

liked it

Average Rating: 4/5

User Ratings: 89,675

Sreesanth wants the Gujarat model for Kerala, but do the numbers support him?

Cricketer-turned-newbie politician Sreesanth who is contesting the Kerala Assembly polls on a BJP ticket, recently announced big plans for the state: he would like to see Kerala develop the way “Modiji has done for Gujarat”.

However, a recent CAG report, among others, might make him want to rethink his plans, because if his voters get wind of the contents of the report, they might not take too kindly to him.

On May 28, Sreesanth, who will contest the Thiruvananthapuram seat, told journalists that he would like to usher in the Gujarat development model.

Social media users were quick to point out to Sreesanth that he really should study up his facts.

For Sreesanth and anyone else looking to dismiss such reactions as run of the mill anti-BJP rhetoric, reports and statistics are unfortunately not on their side.

The CAG report tabled in the Gujarat Assembly last week criticized the state administration on a number of points including deficiencies in police equipment, failure to properly implement its skill development programme, ineffective management of water bodies, and deficiencies in health services.

Kerala and Gujarat are, literally, poles apart on many development indicators – specifically human development indicators and child health indicators.

According to one computation based on HDI methodology of the UN Development Programme, for instance, Kerala tops the list of Indian states in health and education, the only one that would qualify as having high human development.

Gujarat, however, ranked a very mediocre ninth on the ranking, coming just ahead of the all-India average.

Similarly, a ranking of states on child-related indicators in November 2015 (immunization, adolescent female literacy, ante-natal medical services, childhood weight ranges) based on data from the Rapid Survey on Children, ranked Kerala at the top, far ahead of Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the nearest contenders. Gujarat stood at rank 15 among the 20 largest states of the country.

This is a pattern that repeats across a number of indexes produced between 2013 and 2014, including the Multidimensional Poverty Index by Oxford University, the Composite Development Index developed by the Raghuram Rajan Committee, and the Planning Commission’s poverty estimates.

Between these various indexes, a range of factors from deprivations of food, shelter, sanitation, schooling and health care to factors like per capita consumption, household amenities, urbanization, connectivity, financial inclusion and so on, have all been measured.

In all of these rankings, Gujarat stood at a middle-of-the-pack rank of 9 or 10.

COURTESY: http://www.thenewsminute.com