Right now, I'm a South Indian filmfest! I'll go back to Bollywood next week or so. I had a stack of Tamil and Telugu films waiting for me to watch which piled up. Before watching ABCD, I wanted to watch Arjun.
However, the dvd I bought did *not* have English subtitles!!! I am soooooooo mad!! Watched the first 15 minutes and wondering what happened to the subtitles. None! There were even menus that had the subtitles options, I made sure it was ON.....I've had this movie sitting around for the past few years, I know, it's my fault for not watching it sooner. I bought it the same time I bought Allu Arjun's other films. So mad at myself!! The dvd clearly said With English Subtitles in purple. :( Okay, just wanted to vent that. I hope to find a copy with English subtitles soon. I really want to watch more Mahesh Babu films after watching Pokiri.
When I first heard of the film, ABCD, I thought about the Desi-American film, American Born Confused Desi. Never did I think it was the Tamil film, ABCD.
Anyways, back to ABCD. Mainly watched the film for Sneha. She is so darn cute. So in love with her eyes.
ABCD is the first letters of each of the characters of the film. Not the acronym that is famous for American Born Confused Desi. One guy, three girls. Same typical story? Not at all.
Anand is an orphan raised by his uncle. Sweet guy who is just trying to find a job. He later rents a room from Chandra's parents. He meets the other two ladies and never thought that all three of them would fall in love with him.
Sham is cute, yet goofy-looking. His acting is okay. It could be the character or maybe I'm just not that into Sham, yet. His character is the saint-like guy - no wonder the women love him. Have to see more films of him before I could make a better judgement. His voice is what is making him not like him more, not manly enough for me.
Bharathi is from a middle-class family. Her father left her mother and siblings. Since she was 13-years-old, she basically worked to put food on the table. She refuses to just marry someone who has money and wants to fall in love. When she meets Anand, she ends up falling in love with him because of his charm and independence.
Nandana Kumar impressed me. It is the strong, out-spoken character that she played. Sticking up for what she believes in.
Chandra is a widow. However, she is not sadden by her status. Her late husband abused her mentally, verbally, and physically. She continues to live on with her life, not wearing white but colors. Although her parents rented a room to Anand, she lives with her parents. Since she never had a man show love and affection like Anand did, she starts to fall for him.
Although Sneha did not have a strong character like the other two ladies of the film, she still shined. My heart broke when Chandra had flashbacks of her husband abusing her.
Divya Daisy is an orphan and raised by the nuns in a church. Beautiful, smart, confident, strong, sassy, modern are just a few words to describe her. She falls in love with Anand, who saves her life.
I want to see more of Aparna. I really like her. I really can not choose from all three ladies, which one I liked more. Loved each one for different reasons. However, I have to admit between all three ladies, Divya is the one who is more infatuated with Anand.
These four characters are going to meet at the same line. Rest of the film is who Anand chooses and his reasons behind his decision.
Song #1 - "Dhavam Ondru"
Bharathi falls for Anand
A weird song picturization
Watch Below
Song #2 - "Yengo Yengo"
Divya falls for Anand
My favorite song to watch, love the costumes
Watch Below
Song #3 - "Manjal Mugame"
Chandra falls for Anand
Favorite song of the film, so beautiful
Watch Below
Song #4 - "Yarpoodakolam"
Anand and Chandra attend a wedding
Watch Below
Song #5 - "Kadhal Illai"
Chandra is not sure her heart wants to accept Anand. Can a widow actually fall in love again?
Watch Below
Overall, worth a watch. However, the comedy could have been omitted. I've mentioned it once before, but I'll mention it again. From what I've seen, South Indian films have stronger female characters than in Bollywood. Most of the girls in Hindi films aka Bollywood, mainly are just there as a love interest or to look pretty. It saddens me when a South Indian actress start acting in Bollywood, her talent is not portrayed well. Each one of the girls of ABCD makes you love them in their own way.
Anand is an orphan raised by his uncle. Sweet guy who is just trying to find a job. He later rents a room from Chandra's parents. He meets the other two ladies and never thought that all three of them would fall in love with him.
Sham is cute, yet goofy-looking. His acting is okay. It could be the character or maybe I'm just not that into Sham, yet. His character is the saint-like guy - no wonder the women love him. Have to see more films of him before I could make a better judgement. His voice is what is making him not like him more, not manly enough for me.
Bharathi is from a middle-class family. Her father left her mother and siblings. Since she was 13-years-old, she basically worked to put food on the table. She refuses to just marry someone who has money and wants to fall in love. When she meets Anand, she ends up falling in love with him because of his charm and independence.
Nandana Kumar impressed me. It is the strong, out-spoken character that she played. Sticking up for what she believes in.
Chandra is a widow. However, she is not sadden by her status. Her late husband abused her mentally, verbally, and physically. She continues to live on with her life, not wearing white but colors. Although her parents rented a room to Anand, she lives with her parents. Since she never had a man show love and affection like Anand did, she starts to fall for him.
Although Sneha did not have a strong character like the other two ladies of the film, she still shined. My heart broke when Chandra had flashbacks of her husband abusing her.
Divya Daisy is an orphan and raised by the nuns in a church. Beautiful, smart, confident, strong, sassy, modern are just a few words to describe her. She falls in love with Anand, who saves her life.
I want to see more of Aparna. I really like her. I really can not choose from all three ladies, which one I liked more. Loved each one for different reasons. However, I have to admit between all three ladies, Divya is the one who is more infatuated with Anand.
These four characters are going to meet at the same line. Rest of the film is who Anand chooses and his reasons behind his decision.
Song #1 - "Dhavam Ondru"
Bharathi falls for Anand
A weird song picturization
Watch Below
Song #2 - "Yengo Yengo"
Divya falls for Anand
My favorite song to watch, love the costumes
Watch Below
Song #3 - "Manjal Mugame"
Chandra falls for Anand
Favorite song of the film, so beautiful
Watch Below
Song #4 - "Yarpoodakolam"
Anand and Chandra attend a wedding
Watch Below
Song #5 - "Kadhal Illai"
Chandra is not sure her heart wants to accept Anand. Can a widow actually fall in love again?
Watch Below
Overall, worth a watch. However, the comedy could have been omitted. I've mentioned it once before, but I'll mention it again. From what I've seen, South Indian films have stronger female characters than in Bollywood. Most of the girls in Hindi films aka Bollywood, mainly are just there as a love interest or to look pretty. It saddens me when a South Indian actress start acting in Bollywood, her talent is not portrayed well. Each one of the girls of ABCD makes you love them in their own way.
This looks really good. I think I agree with you about the Southie ladies' roles. I'm not asking for spoilers or anything, but were you satisfied with the ending?
ReplyDeleteSneha is the best part of this movie, IMO :)
ReplyDeleteI waver back and forth on Shaam. I think he's fine when he plays "regular guy" roles, but whenever he tries to do the typical dancing and stunt fighting hero roles a la Vijay, he fails, because he just doesn't have the swagger or the persona to successfully pull it off. Again, JMO. **shrug**
If I had my way, I would kill every unnecessary comedy track in every single South movie. I'm not a fan of comedy in general, and I hate getting engrossed in an otherwise interesting storyline only to have to put up with the likes of Vadivelu, Vivek et.al every 15-20 minutes or so.
IIRC, someone uploaded Arjun to YouTube a month or so ago, and again, IIRC, English subtitles were included. However, I don't know if it's still up, or if it's already been taken down.
If I were technologically inclined, I would offer to burn a copy of my DVD and send it to you, but I can barely turn my cell phone on and off, let alone burn a DVD. **sheepish grin**
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf you liked this movie then you will surely like Balachander's "Aaigan" - similar theme - one guy and 3 gals but the story is really good. A handsome Mamooty who has to choose - Geeta (simple but good looking girl), Bhanupriya (dancer with beautiful eyes) and Madhu (Roja girl). The story was good and so was the acting and direction. ABCD does not seem to be a re-make of this movie coz the theme is different. Aaigan was really enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to try a tamil film, any recommendations for a starter
ReplyDeleteajnabi - Yes, I'm satisfied with the ending. However, I liked all three girls so Anand choosing either one didn't bother me.
ReplyDeletelapetitediva - Loving Sneha more and more. I do have a couple more films of hers I hope to watch soon.
Yes, the comedy is what brought the film down. I did make caps of Vadivelu but decided not to include it in the review, lol.
I searched for Arjun on YouTube. :( Thanks for the offer. I hope I could find it with English subs soon.
bollywooddeewana - For Tamil films, I highly recommend Autograph or Genelia's film, Sachein. Let me know if you want to watch Telugu films.