(For SI Blog reader Prabhakar)
Pizza (2012, Tamil) suffers from a yawning gap.
The disappointing chasm between intention and outcome.
Clearly, Pizza’s makers (director/writer Karthik Subbaraj and producer C.V.Kumar) set out to make a different kinda of Tamil film.
Alas, they fell far short of their goal.
Different Toppings
We got an e-mail from a New Jersey film distributor/exhibitor Prabhakar a couple of days back informing us that Tamil movie Pizza was now available for streaming on iTunes ($2.99 for SD and $3.99 for HD) and requesting us to review it.
When Pizza first hit the screens 16 months back, I remember the film attracting attention for its offbeat story and absence of big stars.
And from what I recollect, the low-budget thriller made some money at the box office.
But after watching the two-hour long movie yesterday, my verdict is that Pizza, while a laudable attempt, is not enough of a thriller to warrant the hype.
As for the film’s supposed cult status, all I can say is that someone has been overdosing on bad weed!
The movie centers around a pizza deliveryman Michael Karthikeyan (Vijay Sethupathi) and his pregnant girlfriend Anu, a horror-film buff.
The film plods on for a while and proceeds into higher gear when Michael encounters a bizarre experience during a pizza delivery at a posh house.
From the moment Michael steps into the mansion, it’s Paranormal Activity meets Kollywood!
But the pizza delivery scene and subsequent happenings in the mansion were too drawn out, way too long, some of the circumstances extremely implausible and Michael’s frantic behavior highly exaggerated.
More than fear or being transfixed by happenings on the screen, a strong sense of irritation overtook me.
Not for a moment did I believe Michael couldn’t escape the house he was trapped in.
And his increasingly frantic antics became increasingly grating.
The lengthy contrived scene in the mansion made it hard to find much joy in the twist in the tale.
Despite all the hype, I wouldn’t recommend Pizza.
Primarily because I didn’t see much to thrill about in this so-called thriller.
Remember, different toppings don’t always a superior pizza make.
I rented the SD version ($2.99) of Pizza on iTunes.
No, the film did not have English subtitles (at least not on a 27-inch iMac). Maybe, the subtitles work only if you stream it via the Apple TV set-top to the television set.
Don’t waste your money on renting Pizza on iTunes! It ain’t worth it.
SI’s suggestion – Add another $10 and get yourself a deep-dish pizza at Uno. 😉
Pizza – Different Toppings, Not So Tasty added by SearchIndia.com on
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Spoilers Ahead
Ah! I knew this would be coming.
I remember watching it more than a year back and liked two aspects – only one odd song (Mogathirai – which I found decent) and very few cheap attempts to scare audience.
But I really hated idea of calling whole mansion incident as an imaginary story implanted and executed by that sub-par heroine!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
It seems Pizza is the first Tamil movie to be offered on Apple iTunes for sale and rent/streaming.
But I can’t imagine our people paying $3 (rent)-$6 (purchase) for a 16-month-old movie.
you have horrible taste man!
Pizza was a delight for me. its the best horror/mysterious movie in kollywood.
It also got several awards at international level..dont remember the name of the award..
the execution of the story was good…almost no one can predict the story.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: It also got several awards at international level..dont remember the name of the award..
Yes, yes, you are right!
I just remembered all the international awards Pizza got.
Best Feature Film at the 2013 Academy Award ceremony.
Best Feature Film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Best Feature Film at the 2013 Golden Globes.
Best Feature Film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
I’m sorry I forgot the other honors heaped on this nonpareil Tamil gem.
Agree on your review.
You should have watched Tai Chi Zero than this one.
I am highly recommending Tai Chi Zero.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I’ll see Tai Chi Zero if Netflix has it.
Quite surprised you didn’t like the movie. Is it because you’ve seen much better movies from the same genre?
“But the pizza delivery scene and subsequent happenings in the mansion were too drawn out, way too long, some of the circumstances extremely implausible and Michael’s frantic behavior highly exaggerated.
Not for a moment did I believe Michael couldn’t escape the house he was trapped in”
1) Way too long.. yes, I had the same feeling, but the implausible circumstances you mention.. Isn’t it supposed to be that way? Because Michael’s tale is supposedly about his supernatural encounter during a routing delivery gone wrong. For someone who’s sh*t scared of ghosts, I thought his behavior was understandable.
2) Isn’t it justified considering the ending? We do see such things normally in horror movies right? I wouldn’t place Pizza in the horror genre though.
Btw, you didn’t mention anything about the acting, music or background score (which I thought was very good, especially towards the end).
Pizza may be Vijay Sethupathi’s second film as the male lead (his first was Thenmerku Paravakatru, which I was not aware of until recently) but the guy had uncredited roles in several movies like Naan Mahaan Alla, Pudhupettai etc.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
My expectations were sky high given the hype.
Movie watchers trade suspension of disbelief (implausible occurrences) for entertainment (tacitly expecting the end result will justify the suspension). When the end result is disappointing, one feels events/scenes are implausible and jarring.
I found the lengthy scene in the mansion so tiresome that the ending twist didn’t do much for me.
I did mention Vijay Sethupathi’s acting tangentially when I described Michael’s frantic behavior in the house as highly exaggerated. The girl had too small a role. It was the guy’s movie basically.
Particularly in a movie of this genre, story is all. And once you feel that’s deficient, one doesn’t pay much attention to music, background score etc.