180 (II) (2011) User Reviews

An Emotional Drama

[aakash_vasudevan · 6/10 · 25 June 2011]

"Emotional Drama" is a genre that is said to be best left to Mani Ratnam. But, with an intriguing trailer, high resolution camera and a decent cast, this movie promised an awful lot. Has it delivered? Ummm.. yes and no. While it does'nt match the brilliance of "Roja" or "Kannathil Muthamittal", it is definitely not an outright failure.

As any movie of this genre should, it gently pokes your heart right from the very start. An amusing twist in the second-half saw the movie change gears into a full-fledged emotional roller-coaster. Though all signs pointed to a gloomy ending, the climax does its bit to keep us guessing. Siddharth does a decent, if not excellent, job. Rest of the cast chip in to give a fairly admirable movie.

Having said all that, the movie does have quite a bit of flaws. There are some plot-holes (Revealing them would give the whole plot away). Editing should have been better. Way too many songs, a slow first half and some redundant scenes take away a fair bit of shine from the movie.

But a bold venture into such a complex genre by a debut director is certainly appreciable. I really hope Jayandra does'nt disappear with just this one movie.

Bottom line: 6/10

Pointless

[sribornagain-394-460163 · 5/10 · 13 June 2012]

"180" has splendid visuals , youthful cast , technically brilliant yet lacks soul . Part of the reason is bad writing & part of the blame should go to bad direction. The story is beaten to bushes one that of a lead afflicted with cancer (the most favorite disease for the film makers) & repercussions of it.

First half is average with lighter moments & feel good effects scattered all over in both the contemporary as well as the flashback stories. Though one gets a feel that the movie is stuck & goes nowhere , somehow one manages to sit in the theater. Second half is pathetic with writers & director losing way finding recourse in melodrama which annoys the viewers to the core.

Director Jayandra is an ad movie maker & his visual sense is appreciable but he would have found out that sustaining the tempo of a 30second add in a full feature is way difficult . Movie has its moments but director fails to sustain the effect of these moments which are few & far in between.

Sidharth is good in his part , cheerful & charming. In the melodramatic scenes he overdoes a bit but on the whole not much complaints. Priya Anand is adequate in her role but her characterization is not well graphed. Nithya Menon does reminds one of Revathi of the late 80's & early 90's. Both the heroines fall for the hero just like that without much justifiable reasons whatsoever , okay hero is charming but one doubt whether girls of today are so pea headed so as to fall in love on anyone so quickly.

Sharath is the music director & movie has loads of songs but none makes you hum. Background score is okay.

Balasubramaniyam is the real hero & the savior of the movie. His visuals speaks for itself & are poetic & aesthetic .One & only reason anyone can venture anywhere near the theater showing this movie is the cinematography.

On the whole , movie is technically brilliant but stale & soulless .

Bottomline : Pointless

Technically awesome but pretty predictable yet Really GOOD!!

[knight_alexander · 2 August 2011]

I was desperate to watch this movie since it's been almost 7 years since Siddharth had starred in a tamil movie. And I caught the movie pretty late but I really liked it.

The technical part of the movie is flawless. Rich photography, beautiful locales and really good music. The movie was more or less like an Advertisement for Ultra Slo-Mo in my opinion. But yes, the director lives up to the hype given for the movie with the plot. The plot is stylish, real stylish and possibly one of the most stylish scripts of this year. Full points to the cameraman, he has captured the streets of Chennai and the locales in San Francisco beautifully.. And the art work is extraordinary, high-rise buildings and beautiful Chennai homes, everything is good.

On to the acting department, Nithya Menon debuts in the movie but she doesn't look like this is her first one. She is the ideal Girl-next-door and the way she carries herself is good. And the other girl, Priya Anand, who plays an NRI, is helped by the fact that she really did live in the United States before featuring in the movies. So that helped her dressing,attitude. The only bad thing was her attire in the sad scenes, Like, who wears high heels during such scenes?

I really liked the Sam aka Sambasivam(Sricharan) I liked the guy in Payanam and I knew he was going to have a big career and he's here. He does really good for his small part and creates an impact.

Siddharth, No prizes for guessing. He did a fantastic job. I liked everything about him in the movie.Siddharth is much the same he's been in many movies before this; playing the cheerful guy who has secrets up his sleeve is a cakewalk for him. He's one of those actors who can carry off the role of the urban male convincingly, and he follows the pattern.

It's the screenplay which is a let down. The dialogues are predictable, what happens next is predictable. The energy in the first half does not continue to the second half but the romance from the first half becomes ultra sweet in the second and puts a smile on your face. The only thing bad about the climax is that it is totally predictable and fails.

Otherwise, the movie is stylish and performs. I liked the movie and give it a 7 out of 10. The 3 points deducted for the predictable climax. And the points been given for the technical aspect and Siddharth!