Art of reviewing a movie or an album is not easy. We aren’t joking and at times some of the reviews could well be deciding the fate of a movie or at times our reviews may be exactly opposite to the way the movie performs at the box office. Keeping in mind the fact that it’s been quite late now since Anbe Sivam was released, we hereby review the new movie by the Universal actor Kamal Hasan.

This movie was hailed by many critics as the path breaker. A movie which stands out amidst some masala hits. The movie was hyped even before the shooting got over, same like Superstar’s Baba. But what we see is an excellent frame to frame remake of the hollywood blockbuster hit ’Planes, Trains and Automobiles’. The King of remake Padhmashri Kamal Hasan is here back with Anbe Sivam!!

A small close up of the story reveals that Kamal Hasan is a theatre activist and he gets into a tangle with Nasser an industrialist. The reason is simple. Nasser underemploys his workers with a meager salary of Rs.910/-. Kamal fights for this injustice and in the meanwhile he falls in love with Kiran who happens to be Nasser’s daughter. When Nasser comes to know of this he is furious and then all hell breaks loose when Kamal meets with an accident.

Now comes the make up part. He gets a split face (inspired from Mel Gibson’s ’A Man Without a Face’) and becomes handicapped. All this happens in the flash back. This flashback is narrated by Kamal to Maddy when they become friends during a horrifying journey from Orissa to Chennai through various means of transport. Maddy is an ad-film director about to get married to Kiran which Kamal comes to know only during the closing stages of the movie. Finally he sacrifices Kiran for a bargain with Nasser and that bargain is the most simple of all. Increase the salary for the workers in his industry!

The big hype created was that this movie was a travelogue and etc about the make up. Both of that have been wasted on screen. We really enjoy some scenes during the confrontations between Maddy and Kamal but what about the flash back which, is the worst part of the movie because it was not there in hollywood original! Many questions are left unanswered. Logic seems to be lost and added to this is the super duper fight Kamal performs with an umbrella!!! Some characters who are with Kamal’s theatre group are just lost in the process. Santhana Bharathi’s character is made to look dangerous but he becomes a dud in the climax.

Kamal has given a stellar performance as far as acting is concerned but as far as screenplay and the story are concerned he is miles back from his acting talents. He has made the same mistake Rajnikanth did in Baba - doing the screenplay! Maddy is a revelation in this movie. He matches Kamal frame to frame but even his character must have been given more explanation. Kiran looks gorgeous in some scenes while in some she looks ordinary. Nasser has done his part as usual.

Speaking of the plus points in the movie, we need to applaud Madan’s dialogues. They are really simple and at times striking. Sundar C has given some deft touches and it must have been more for this movie. He, for some unknown reason has not left his mark. Arthur Wilson’s camera is striking during the flood’s and during the songs. Vidyasagar has given some catchy songs and is ok as far as the background score is concerned. Sets are good too. Kamal’s make up is good but why they needed it here in this movie is relatively unknown cuz the message to be delivered is simple ’Love is God’ and this could have been done in a better way.

All said and done, Anbe Sivam has it’s moments of laughter and appreciation but the screenplay is worse and the story line looks out dated. So called commercial elements did not do any good to the movie’s fortune at the box office. Kamal needs to seriously rethink about his idea of writing the screenplay for his movies in the future. He needs a great storyline like Indian or a stunning screenplay like Avvai Shanmughi for him to excel in all departments including make up.

What really strikes us is that this movie is not a dud. It has got a terrific cast, good music, excellent dialogues and good technical support but still something is missing to make it a commercial hit and nobody can guess it right except the audience. May be the timing of the release, cuz right now people are bothered to go to the theatre only for some commercial flicks like Run and Dhool and even the theatres are in need of movies which entertain all the class of audience especially the B and C. Going back to the last line in the first paragraph, it’s been around 20 days now since the movie was screened and the crowds are declining day by day.

You better watch the original ’Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ than watching Padhmashri Kamal Hasan in the xerox copy.

APPLAUSE : Dialogues, Sets, Kamal’s acting, Make up, Maddy and Music.
AHEM! : Screenplay, Flashback.

VERDICT : Not a path breaker or a mile stone. Simple average flick with less masala.

Review Source : http://www.uthheaven.com

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