venky | PassionforCinema

Venky is a Chennai-based journalist, and writes on films and music. He has also worked on and produced â€Chettu Kathaâ€ (Tree of life), a 15-minute short film in Telugu.

venky's Blog

1
Two ‘Nadodigal’, but only one makes a mark
I spent the last two Fridays watching two films on the day of their release: ‘Muthirai’ (which loosely means ‘mark’) and ‘Nadodigal’ (nomads). Though different as chalk and cheese, both films were on the common and universal theme of friendship, and show how far one can go for a friend. And ironically, I found that both of them could...
by venky at July 1st, 2009 at 04:07 pm
2
A new chapter in Tamil cinema? Let’s wait & see!
I must confess, this was a first. Never have the newspaper ads of a movie bewitched me so. The day the first posters of ‘Aaranya Kaandam’ were published in the papers, I couldn’t wait to watch the movie (just my luck, looks like my wait will continue for some more time). Before I say anything more, it is only fair that everyone gets to have a dekko at...
by venky at June 12th, 2009 at 03:06 pm
51
Naan Kadavul : Review
‘Naan Kadavul’ (’Aham brahmasmi’ or ‘I am god’). Nope, but Bala is ‘Kadavul’ (god). For me, at least. One of the many gods in my pantheon of filmmakers. And even though I am Hindu, I have only a few comprising Bala, and not the many crores of gods as available in my religion. Trust Bala to come up with a tour de force. ‘Naan...
by venky at February 6th, 2009 at 05:02 pm
28
Coming this year: Sultan the Warrior – (online trailor)
The good news first: Sultan the Warrior is being readied for a release by the year-end. And the bad news: we will still have to wait for a lot many months before we get to watch the boss in action, though in an animated version. The release of the second trailor of the film was held at a press conference in Chennai on Sunday, and the atmosphere at the Inox theatre was...
by venky at January 14th, 2008 at 06:01 am
18
Evano Oruvan: Not a stranger, but one among us
Movie: Evano Oruvan (Tamil) Director: Nishikant Kamat Cinematographer: Sanjay Jadhav Editor: Amit Pawar Music: G.V. Prakash Producer: Abbas-Mustan (Burmawalla Brothers) Co-Producer: Leukos Films Cast: Madhavan, Sangeetha, Seeman, Nishikant (cameo) It is more than three weeks since I saw ‘Evano Oruvan’, but its images still hold me in a vice-like grip. They keep running...
by venky at December 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
19
Oram Po
“Oram Po” (move out of the way). Pushkar and Gayatri are here. The debut movie of the husband-wife team is rocking Chennai. It is running to full houses, right from Friday when it was released. “Oram Po” can be termed Kollywood’s answer to ‘The fast and the furious’ or maybe even the ‘Dhoom’ series as it is a movie about drag racing in...
by venky at December 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 am
7
Making a mark, without any noise
The first thing you notice about Nitinsathyaa are his intense eyes; maybe that is what helped him get under the skin of the character he played in ‘Satham Podathey’ (Don’t make any noise). He shone as the impotent sportsman, even though the role was not too well written. Even though his role in ‘Chennai-28’ endeared him to the masses, but it was the role of the...
by venky at October 18th, 2007 at 01:10 pm
8
A movie on Chennai’s autodrivers
Autorickshaw drivers won’t win any popularity contests. Especially in Chennai. The average citizen has zillions of complaints about their attitude, tampered-with meters, fleecing and crass language. And we don’t even want get into a discussion of their driving skills. But Pushkar and Gayatri don’t think so. “The autodrivers in Chennai are very...
by venky at September 26th, 2007 at 02:09 pm
7
When Nutty hit the dance floor
I was always sure about cinematographer Nutty’s acting abilities, and thought he acquitted himself quite fairly in his debut venture, “Naalai.” But I was always curious to find out if he could dance as well too; in his first film, he had no such scenes as the character he played sported a broken leg for most part of the movie. So the invitation from...
by venky at August 18th, 2007 at 06:08 am
6
In conversation: A.R. Murugadoss
I was actually planning to publish this post after some time, but thought it apt to post it now seeing the reactions to Pratim’s post on Aamir Khan and ‘Memento.’ Perhaps it will help clear the air about ‘Memento’ and Murugadoss. When I met A.R. Murugadoss a couple of weeks ago, he was getting ready to go to South Africa to scout for locations to shoot...
by venky at July 29th, 2007 at 05:07 am
9
The Janus-faced Nutty
Nutty (Nataraja Subramaniam, the cinematographer of films such as ‘Black Friday’, ‘Parineeta’ and ‘Eklavya’) is on to his second movie as actor. He has been enjoying the best of both worlds: he is an acclaimed cameraman in Mumbai and is on his way to establishing himself as an actor in Tamil films. His first film as an actor, ‘Naalai’ (Tomorrow), was released...
by venky at July 24th, 2007 at 09:07 am
3
Rajni, the boss; Shankar, not quite
I finally watched Sivaji on Monday, which is practically blasphemy for a Rajnikanth fan and a serious follower of Tamil cinema. But I think the wait was well worth it, as going to a theatre in the first week would have rendered impossible any attempt to follow the movie or its dialogues. After seeing the movie though I realised I had done the correct thing by not getting...
by venky at June 26th, 2007 at 08:06 am
12
In Conversation: Madhavan
R. Madhavan, more commonly known as Maddy, is very excited about his role in ‘Evano Oruvan,’ the Tamil remake of Nishikant Kamat’s ‘Dombivli Fast.’ In fact, he thinks it will mark another watershed in his career, like his role as the ruffian Inbasekhar in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Aayidha Ezhuthu.’ Actually, when I was talking to the actor, I was reminded of a line...
by venky at June 1st, 2007 at 09:06 am
19
In Conversation: Nishikant Kamat
“Dombivli Fast” was one of the most acclaimed films to come out of India in 2006. It has been shown in festivals around the world, and won a lot of praise for its debutant director Nishikant Kamat. Following is the text of an interview with the director: How did you come up with the screenplay of “Dombivli Fast”? I am a Bombay boy and familiar...
by venky at March 30th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
14
Apocalypto, one of the best movies of 2006
All the credit for this blog goes to Anurag Kashyap. This piece would not have happened if not for what Anurag wrote about his meeting with Danis Tanovic. Anurag quoted Danis as saying that “Apocalypto was the greatest film of the year … but one drunken outburst from Mel Gibson and no one said anything great about the film.” I was very fascinated by...
by venky at March 1st, 2007 at 06:03 am