Tamil Review : Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu – Slow romance

bhaskarkilli

Core Member
Director : Gautham Menon
Producer :C. Kalyan
Music Director : Ilaiyaraaja
Starring : Nani,Samantha

Gautham Menon’s ‘Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu’ has released today across the world. The movie has Samantha and Nani in the lead roles and maestro Ilayaraja has composed the music. The Telugu version of the film has been produced by C. Kalyan. With Gautham Menon and Samantha in the project, expectations are naturally high. So let us see how the movie is.

Story :

The romantic lives of two people – Varun (Nani) and Nithya (Samantha), are chronicled in this film from their school days until their adult lives. They fall in love multiple times and keep breaking up over minor issues. But deep down, they are so madly in love with each other that they keep giving themselves another chance.
The story of YVM traces these breakups and patch-ups. Career, family obligations, selfishness, ego and other human emotions play their part in shaping up this journey. Towards the very end, Varun and Nithya are faced with the prospect of going their separate ways permanently.
What they decide to do at this point is what ‘Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu’ is all about.
Plus Points :
Samantha is the real star of the movie and without her, this film will not work. She is simply gorgeous. What is surprising is her ability to portray three different stages of her life so convincingly. She is cute as a school student, attractive as a college girl and quite vulnerable as the social worker. Her performance in the dying stages of the movie
Nani has come up with a realistic and convincing performance in the movie. But he keeps getting overshadowed by Samantha. More than a glamorous actor, Nani is a good performer and this film proves it again.
Krishnudu has done a good job and his witty one liners liven up the proceedings to a certain extent. There are a few warmly romantic moments in the film, especially in the first 30 minutes or so.
Ilayaraja’s background score and songs give the film a very romantic mood.
Minus Points :
The biggest issue with this movie is the extremely slow pace. ‘Ye Maya Chesave’ also had a slow pace but it wasn’t this slow. Excessively long breakup scenes through out the film and the bad dialogues written for those episodes spoil the flavour. Except for the first 30 minutes, the first half tends to drag a lot. Even in the second half, a few scenes are good but the story continues to be in limbo for most of the time.
During such emotional confrontations, the expression on the faces of the actors are very critical to draw the viewers into the drama. Despite having two very good actors in the fray, Gautha Menon has used long shots for these scenes. As a result, we end up seeing two people arguing while walking to and fro. We miss the emotions. This is very evident during the interval block.
Placement of the songs could have been a lot better. One gets the feeling that songs are coming in way too frequently in the movie.
Technical Aspects :
Cinematography is surprisingly mediocre for a Gautham Menon film. More specifically, it is the choice of camera placement that is bad. Editing is below par and many scenes are chopped off without any sequential flow.
Gautham Menon has succeeded in showcasing Samantha extremely beautifully. But as a director, he just scores average marks with this film. A tight screenplay and better dialogues would have helped the film a lot.
Verdict :
This movie is not a patch on Gautham Menon’s ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’, so don’t go expecting a similar flick. If you are deeply in love, you may find ‘Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu’ to be an OK flick. But for regular movie goers, the film is too slow to offer any real entertainment. Samantha’s gorgeous looks and brilliant performance
 

bhaskarkilli

Core Member
Film: Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu
Cast: Nani, Samantha, Krishnudu, Anupama Kumar, Ravi Raghavendra, Ravikanth, and others
Story: Reshma Ghatala
Screenplay: Reshma Ghatala & Gautham Menon
Dialogues: Kona Venkat
Music: Ilayaraja
Cinematography: M S Prabhu and Om Prakash
Editing: Anthony
Art: Rajeevan
Produced by: C Kalyan
Directed by: Gautham Menon
Release date: December 14, 2012
CBFC Rating: U

What's it about!
The story is about Varun and Nithya and their love journey from school days to the age of their marriage at 24. Varun (Nani) and Nithya (Samantha are childhood buddies and they study at same school. Nithya belongs to a rich family, Varun to the middle class. They both love each other and enjoy life but a moment comes in Varun's life to focus on studies and career and work for the economical development of his family. He works hard to get a seat in IIM and start neglecting Nithya. A small tussle makes them part their ways at that weak moment. Each of them is right in their own way. Will they finally unite and live happily ever after or the ego problems between them completely spoil their relationship?

Analysis
No one understands modern relationships like director Gautham Menon does. Egos, emotional chasm, confusion of what they really want are the main problems today's youth face in their love life. Like in his earlier movie, Ye Maaya Chesave, he also dwells on these aspects in Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu too but in a different context. Varun, Nithya and their fights, separation and the longings are the base of for this plot written by Reshma Ghatala and screenplay by Reshma and Gautham Menon.

The film starts off lazily but it picks up momentum as the film progresses. One can derive real joy from this movie only in the second half. Aided by superb performances by the lead pair Nani and Samantha, Gautham Menon's deft handling towards the climax leaves the audiences in emotional tangle. A bit slow, but it has some fine moments of love and emotion in the second half. Bear the dull moments in the beginning and you would be rewarded later.

Scenes that make great impact are - Nani's father talking to him about his economic status and the love he has for his sons, and the entire episode in the last twenty minutes. The break-up scene of the couple is a huge put-off. Being the most important scene of the film, the director should have given it double attention. How we the wish the cameraman knew the importance of this scene. Looks like the team was in a hurry to see the couple break.

Performances

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Like in all Gautham Menon's films, the film's heroine walks away the honors finally. Yes, it is Samantha's film all the way. As Nithya (incidentally, Gautham Menon wanted to title the film as Nithya in the initial stages), Samantha shows much maturity in her performance. She brilliantly delivers gamut of expressions through her eyes. She is perfect as school girl, and equally at home in the role of 24-year-old woman.

To see what a good actor Nani is, you have to watch out for him in the film's climax sequences. He plays roles of 18 year old, 20 year old and matured young guy. He looks best in the role of matured youngster and his emotional burst in the climactic sequences show what a talent he is. Krishnudu is total miscast. Among other cast members, Ravikanth is good. Anupama Kumar and Ravi Raghavendra make an impression.

After Sri Ramarajyam, this is Maestro Ilayaraja's best musical work. Gautham Menon has used Raja's mellifluous numbers as narrative device. Layi Layi and Yedi Yedi are the numbers that make more impact on screen. And the maestro's BGM is outstanding. Ilayaraja’s music speaks volumes in the film. When words fail, emotions go void, its Ilayaraja’s music that does all the talking.

Cinematography by M S Prabhu and Om Prakash
is just okay. In fact, probably this is Gautham Menon’s first film that fails on good cinematography. Looks like the film has been chopped up liberally at editing table, at most places the flow is not smooth.

Dialogues by Kona Venkat are natural. Both writer Reshma and director Gautham Menon have made the love scenes look natural, devoid of artificiality. As a director Gautham Menon has gone notch above in dealing this love story. The only itch is that they should have worked on the first half, which is unpardonably slow.

Bottom-line!


Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu.. a realistic and modern love story from director Gautham Menon. Samantha steals the show with her performance, by delivering her best to date. Nani's performance in the climax scenes have made the movie more believable. Though slow pace is problem in the movie, second half is its soul. Have patience, and you will be rewarded.
 

bhaskarkilli

Core Member
'YVM' Review: Lifecycle Of Love
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Rating: 3.25/5
Banners: Teja Cinema, Photon Kathaas
Cast: Nani, Samantha, Krishnudu, Anupama Kumar, Ravi Raghavendra, Vivek Pathak and others
Music: Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematographer: Manoj Paramahamsa
Editor: Anthony
Story, screenplay, direction: Gautham Menon
Producers: Gautham Menon, Reshma Galata, Venkat Somasundaram, C Kalyan, C V Rao
Release date: 14/12/2012
Gautham Menon known for his heart squeezing romantic tales is back and this time he teamed up with the natural talent Nani. Let us see how good this is
Story
Varun Krishna (Nani) and Nithya (Samantha) are friends since childhood and though life takes them different ways they still keep in touch. When they enter the teens they start liking each other and it matures into love by the time they reach 24. But that’s when real life starts and Varun begins to realize that responsibilities and commitments are also part of life. This strains his relationship with Nithya and they split. However, love when it grows gets stronger by the day so does it keep Varun and Nithya away from each other? This forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Nani has adapted himself into the character and he has suited well from the school boy to the grown up matured adult. His body language was a bit stiff but his brilliance is seen during the climax episodes.
Samantha is all over the film. Yet again, her character is filled with soul and given her cute looks she has merged herself into it completely and scores wherever possible.
Krishnudu is the ice breaker in the film. His dialogue delivery, his body language and his comedy brings good amount of smiles. Though his role is brief he made his presence felt strongly.
Ravi Raghavendra was regular, the actor who did Nani’s father’s role was dignified, Anupama Kumar was apt, Vivek Pathak is neat. None of them really had scope to offer.
Highlights
  • Music
  • Nani, Samantha Performance
  • Second half
Drawbacks
  • Cinematography
Analysis
Every filmmaker has his/her own style of storytelling and it is natural that audience eventually turns into fans for that person. Gautham Menon also belongs to that school but there is uniqueness in him.
Every film of his, be it action or romance genres, runs like a poem. There is a classical touch in his scene compositions, the camera angles and above all, the intensity shown between the lead pair.
So, it takes a different mindset to understand the flavor of Gautham. And to those who understand it, his films become symphonies. The other important aspect about him is the maturity level in the script. It might just be a romantic tale but the sensibilities in the characters are quite grown. Coming to this film, not all ingredients of Gautham Menon have worked here.
The biggest damage has been done by the background score. With due respect to the musical maestro, such subjects require tremendous support from music to drive the emotion but that didn’t happen here.
Also, Gautham was not that successful in showing the evolution of love with the required intensity.
The first half is quite okay and it just passes off without much effect. The second half shows some energy but then the same fluctuations exist. But Gautham always saves the best for his last so as the film progresses it picks up the momentum and climax strikes the target.
Overall, this is not as heart squeezing or gut-wrenching like Gautham’s earlier entertainers but it does ooze the juice of romance now and then.
And to see on the right side, the phase of school wherein the girl is focusing on studies and other activities while the boy is trying to gain her attention to the phase wherein the boy becomes the girl’s world and then the boy getting into the career tension, ego growing with age has been shown meticulously by Gautham. To those who seek entertainment and time pass will find this film not going anywhere. This is because the problems revolve around only two characters and it takes only one sorry to set everything right but that takes years to come out. That’s what is shown by the director.
It may not be a surprise to see mixed reactions from audience. In terms of commercial success, few doubts are there because it appeals only to one section of audience.
Bottomline: Watch it
 
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