Romance on the High Seas Review – Ulaga Madayan is a Shameless Thief

(For Racer44 who first alerted us to Romance on the High Seas)

Everything I’ve ever said about women like you on boats like this with men like me certainly turned out to be true. – Jack Carson’s character Peter Virgil to Doris Day’s ‘Elvira Kent’

It’s 11:12PM on the East Coast and after watching two movies today we’ve hit the bottle, first with a Jagermeister-Pinacolada cocktail and now a glass of Tia Maria liqueur is soothing us.

Delicious high, we tell ya. ๐Ÿ˜‰

First, we watched Michael ‘Casablanca‘ Curtiz’ Romance on the High Seas (1948) and after a brief Jagermeister break, we followed it up with There’s Something About Mary (1998).

Folks, Romance on the High Seas (1948) is a charming romantic comedy that Tamil film star Kamal Haasan turned into an abortion recently with his unwatchable crap-show Manmadhan Ambu.

Made in 1948, Romance on the High Seas marked Doris Day’s debut on the screen as a young, poor singer Georgina Garrett unexpectedly landing an opportunity of going on a sea cruise under the guise of a rich businessman’s wife Elvira Kent.

You see, Elvira Kent is a hyper-suspicious woman who’s convinced her husband is having an affair and wants to catch him in flagrante delicto while pretending to her husband that she’s on a cruise.

Meanwhile, Elvira’s husband Michael, equally paranoid and suspicious of his spouse’s loyalties, hires a private detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to follow his wife, who he thinks is going on the cruise.

Whaddayathink?

Before you can say Jack Rabbit, romance is brewing on the cruise-ship between the detective Peter Virgil and the fake Mrs. Elvira Kent.

The movie proceeds at a brisk pace, the photography is impeccable and Michael Curtiz’ direction A-class. There are plenty of clever lines in the film like the one we provided at the top.

A decent actor, Jack Carson certainly threw in a memorable performance in the film. We loved Carson in the great film Mildred Pierce and we love him here again. Tis’ a pity the fella died early (just 52 when he died of stomach cancer in 1963).

Doris Day is alright but Carson is way ahead in the acting department.

Did we tell you that Romance on the High Seas is actually a romantic musical comedy. Probably not. The movie features several fine pieces including the famous It’s Magic, Put em in a Box, The Tourist Trade and Run, Run, Run.

Bloody Theft
Considering we’d recently the Tamil film Manmadhan Ambu, we were taken aback by the extraordinary similarities between the story of the Tamil film and Romance on the High Seas.

By the way, Ulaga Madayan a.k.a Kamal Haasan is the lead actor in Manmadhan Ambu and also takes credit for the story of the film.

Now, we know all ye schmucks with your lips wrapped around Kamal Haasan’s schlong won’t believe us so we’re providing y’all with proof via an exhaustive list of similarities between the two movies.

Get ready now.

Here comes the lengthy list of similarities between Romance on the High Seas and Manmadhan Ambu:

1. Boyfriend/Husband is a very jealous type

2. Boyfriend/husband is a young, rich handsome businessman

3. Boyfriend/husband is the cocky kind

4. The jealous boyfriend/husband hires a private detective to follow his lady love who is leaving on a cruise and report to him about any suspicious activity

5. Most of the events in movie happen on a cruise ship except for brief interludes at ports

6. The detective is an ex-army guy

7. Detective frequently keeps phoning in the boyfriend/husband to provide reports on the activities of the girl/wife

8. Detective falls in love with the girl he’s following

9. Detective sings in both films

10. Some misunderstandings develop between the detective and the girl he’s trailing but they are eventually resolved since the love is strong enough

11. Strong comedy aspect in both movies via Uncle & Oscar in Hollywood film and the ‘Kurups’ in the Tamil version

12. Toward the end of the movie, boyfriend/husband comes flying down unexpectedly

13. Boyfriend’s unexpected arrival triggers panic in the others

14. Chaotic moments in the last 30 minutes

15. Detective ultimately gets the girl he’s following

Of course, there are some differences between the Hollywood and its Tamil imitator.

Here are some of the key differences:

The biggest difference, of course, is that Romance on High Seas is a charming romantic comedy while Manmadhan Ambu is total garbage, a crude piece of shit in comparison. Jack Carson makes Kamal Haasan look like a podiyan in the acting business.

1. Fiance in the Tamil movie becomes husband in Hollywood version

2. Wife is also suspicious in Hollywood version

3. Absence of altruistic angle of helping sick friend in the Hollywood film

4. Detective is a widower whose wife was killed in a car accident by the girl he’s following (although this difference may seem significant, it’s ultimately not a big issue in the Tamil movie)

What’s Key Here
The similarities between the two films overwhelm the differences both in number and importance and lead to the sad but inevitable conclusion that Kamal Haasan has shamelessly filched the story from the 1948 Hollywood movie and palmed it off as his own.

In fact, the differences seem to have been included merely to play down the charges of plagiarism.

Justice would be served if S.Pondal Rios and Carlos A.Olivari (the duo wrote the Romance on the High Seas story) are credited with the story for Manmadhan Ambu and Kamal Haasan’s name stricken off the credits list for story.

You can rent Romance on the High Seas from Netflix if you live in the U.S.

As for the rest, well, your nimble fingers should accomplish the trick.

There’s Something About Mary
To those who think Manmadhan Ambu is a lift of There’s Something About Mary, our response is No, No, No.

We watched There’s Something About Mary a short-while ago.

There’s Something About Mary is a crude romantic comedy, albeit one with moments of hilarious vulgar humor but nowhere near the class of Romance on the High Seas.

Unlike the other two movies, There’s Something About Mary is not set on a cruise ship but on terra firma. There’s a claims investigator played by Matt Dillon, who falls in love with the girl he’s supposed to track down for a writer (Ben Stiller) obsessed with his high school crush Mary (Cameron Diaz).

Stiller is decent enough while Diaz and Dillon are just OK.

Related Stories:
Manmadhan Ambu Review – Ulaga Madayan Stumbles Badly

27 Responses to "Romance on the High Seas Review – Ulaga Madayan is a Shameless Thief"

  1. vjcool   December 30, 2010 at 2:13 am

    not surprised with the madayans copying.. Desperate old men.. lets leave them alone.

    Check out ‘Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale’, not sure it would ever release in india.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is running in Philadelphia but because of the snowstorm many roads are still in bad shape and it’s not prudent to drive 150 miles right now.

  2. racer44   December 30, 2010 at 3:44 am

    Due to the inability to scroll properly in the “your comment” section, writing this response is becoming quite cumbersome to say the least.

    You say justice would be served if they were rightly attributed for the story, but on hindsight, wasn’t it good in a way that they were not mentioned in relation with what turned out to be such a blooper of a movie. From what you say, the two films and their two writers don’t deserve to be spoken of in the same breath. So giving them credit might have actually cast a cloud on their unsullied reputations.

    SI, really have to ask you to make your site more reader-friendly. By that, I mean:
    1.Why, for heaven’s sake, do we need to log in, just to see the content? This blatant effort to lend an air of exclusivity to a casual blog is annoying. Wish you would revert things back to the old way when one could access your site from anywhere without having to login and enter password and all that. It is all the more difficult to do when one is trying to access the blog from a cell phone.
    2.I know you are stingy when it comes to copying, but why can’t we copy even to quote your lines while responding? Surely there is some way to ease the restrictions and make them more logical. And now I find I can’t even go back to a line above the current line of my response. And the “end” and “home” keys don’t work either. Is any(or all) of this to do with my browser? Am using firefox.
    ———————-
    If you liked TSAM, you’ll love American Pie. One of my favourite comedies.And the sequels too. Never fail to make you laugh even on the second or third viewing.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write: You say justice would be served if they were rightly attributed for the story, but on hindsight, wasn’t it good in a way that they were not mentioned in relation with what turned out to be such a blooper of a movie. From what you say, the two films and their two writers don’t deserve to be spoken of in the same breath. So giving them credit might have actually cast a cloud on their unsullied reputations.

    No can agree for it deludes people into believing Kamal Haasan is an original artiste when he’s no more than, as they say in India, a lousy 420 thief.

    2. We’ll see what we can do about the difficulties you face in login, copying, et al issues. It’s hard to strike a balance between ease of use and preventing our content from being copied en bloc and posted elsewhere without attribution.

    ‘Smart’ desis here like Gandhiji have already found a workaround. ๐Ÿ™

    3. If you liked TSAM, you’ll love American Pie….

    TSAM is alright but definitely not the kind of stuff we’d want to watch twice.

    • เฎฎเฏเฎฉเฎฟAndy   December 31, 2010 at 11:08 am

      Gandhiji figured out what Sayontan couldn’t.. he must be really smart. ๐Ÿ˜‰

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      If only, if only Kreacher had also studied at Kaana Peena Chokkalal Muniyandi Institute of Technology in Gummidipoondi instead of IIT-D. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. trishna147   December 30, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Why are we not surprised??
    *Thenali&Avvai Shanmukhi springs to mind*

    Mr Kamalhaasan seems to have underestimated his audience…

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Was Kamal responsible for the story of Thenali & Avvai Shanmukhi?

    Thenali, of course, was a straight lift of What About Bob?

    Even if Kamal were not credited for the story in Thenali & Avvai Shanmukhi, to repeatedly involve himself in stolen shit and richly benefit from theft is a disgrace.

    Do you think Kamal Haasan can spell S H A M E? ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • Filmlover   January 3, 2011 at 10:21 pm

      Hi SI,

      I am very curious to know that why do you hate Kamal Hassan so much. Don’t you think he is way better than other actors in Tamil Film Industry?

      Have a nice day!

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      You write: I am very curious to know that why do you hate Kamal Hassan so much.

      No, sweetie, we don’t hate Kamal, Komal, Vimal, Vishal, Mohanlal or any other Als.

      For proof, please see Salangai Oli – Delightful Aberration

      Anbe Sivam Review – Jewel in the Dinosaur’s Crown

      Don’t you agree that a kelavan like Kamal Haasan with five decades of ‘experience’ behind him should have refrained from stealing?

      • Filmlover   January 4, 2011 at 6:43 am

        I agree but you can’t blame him. You have to certainly blame the audience. He tried his best efforts but people didn’t want to recognize him. See, the truth, our people give huge applause for copycats, not for those who deliver original storyline and creativity. For instance, Kamal’s copycat movies like “Avvai Shanmugi” (Mrs.Doubtfire), “Thenali” (what about bob?), “Panchathanthiram” (Very Bad Things) and “Vasoolraja M.B.B.S (Patch Adams) are huge blockbusters but movies like Hey Ram and Anbe Sivam are huge flops.

        This is the actual scenario in Tamil Nadu. People don’t appreciate good films here. That’s the problem. Kamal is most knowledgeable person in Tamil Film Industry while compare to others.

        Of course, stealing others’ ideas is really bad thing. That’s not acceptable. But what to do? We the people appreciate copycats like director Shankar, KSR, A.R.Murugadoss and now, Kamal joins the list.

        My only question is when will our Indian film Industry deliver original movies of our own? hmmm…ONLY GOD KNOWS

        SearchIndia.com Responds:

        You write: My only question is when will our Indian film Industry deliver original movies of our own? hmmm…ONLY GOD KNOWS

        If it’s original, it can’t be decent; Like Vijay’s recent films.

    • Filmlover   January 4, 2011 at 6:52 am

      Mr.trishna,

      Kamal never underestimates audience but he always overestimates the audience. In the past, Kamal said during the shooting of hey ram, “If our tamil people can appreciate movies like Jurassic Park and Titanic, i have complete faith on my people that they will appreciate my forthcoming movie “Hey Ram”.” But the result, everybody knows.

      After that film, he started giving masala films like “Panthathanthiram”, “Thenali” and “Pammal.K.Sambadham”. Once again, Kamal overestimated Tamil audience, he gave “Anbe Sivam”, which was huge flop at box office.

      In my humble opinion, Kamal always fail to estimate Tamil audience. In fact, he never knows to estimate. That’s the problem.

      Have a lovely day! ๐Ÿ™‚

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      You write: In my humble opinion, Kamal always fail to estimate Tamil audience. In fact, he never knows to estimate.

      Interesting point on Kamal’s inability to gauge the pulse of the audience.

  4. What_if   January 2, 2011 at 1:48 am

    Dear SI,

    HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 to YOU !!!! Wishing you the all Success, GOOD HEALTH & Peace !
    Please also convey my wishes to….your binge drinking ! Take Care of your health.

    Thanks for enabling the comments section – so that we can post our comments once in a while !
    CHEERS !!!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Howdy Sweetie.

    Happy New year to you too.

  5. boopalanj   January 2, 2011 at 9:02 am

    If there is something to celebrate on the beginning of this new year – it is re-enabling of comments section at SI ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Happy new year, SI !

    By the way, I remember (forgive my poor memory) What_If had a new year resolution last time, Just thought of asking how it went!!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: If there is something to celebrate on the beginning of this new year – it is re-enabling of comments section at SI

    Tho thweet of you to thay that, thweetie!

    Happy New Year to You too. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    You are likely referring to What_If’s comment here.

  6. What_if   January 3, 2011 at 5:02 am

    Hi Boopalan,

    As you could see from the link provided by SI, it wasnโ€™t a new yearโ€™s resolution but to celebrate or rather remember a special date. I mentioned that I shall try to post an update on another special date 12.12.12, since you asked, let me spill the beans….

    Flashback โ€ฆ.

    Smoking : Honestly gave up completely on that dateโ€ฆ..only to restart (on an occasional basis) a year later. It is very easy to quit a bad habit. Look at me ! – I have successfully quit it several times! ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚
    Art of Living : Learnt the Basic Level 1 course. Planning to take up the higher level courses in the near future.
    Dubai Metro : Took the ride.

    Back to the present 2011 – I began this year by witnessing in person with my family, the dazzling firework display at Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world at present ) you can see for a few mins, the same in the below link.
    http://gulfnews.com/gntv/lifestyle/dubai-skyline-lights-up-to-welcome-2011-1.739515

    Wishing you and all SI regular readers – A Very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2011 ! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Filmlover   January 3, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    Kamal himself admitted that he had inspired from Hollywood film. But he didn’t mention the name. Now, i got it. That’s fine. I am not huge fan of Kamal. But i like his efforts. But one thing for sure, he is an honest thief. Not like others, especially directors like Shankar, AR Murugadoss, KS Ravikumar and recently, Myskin, who shamelessly copy from others’ works and call it as their own creation. I am not justifying kamal’s actions. But at least, he comes forward and accepts the truth. I can bet no one in Indian Film Industry will have that guts. That’s for sure.

    I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011! ๐Ÿ™‚

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write: But one thing for sure, he is an honest thief

    That is cockamamie nonsense.

    Just curious – Was Godse a sincere murderer?

    BTW, why did Kamal take credit for the story then? Thiruttu Paiya.

    2. We wish you all the best in 2011.

    • Filmlover   January 4, 2011 at 6:45 am

      Is Kamal only Thiruttu paiya? The whole Indian film industry has many Thiruttu paiyas. But Kamal is good thiruttu paiya because he accepts publicly that he is an thief. ๐Ÿ˜‰

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Where has Kamal Haasan publicly confessed that he’s a thief? Any links?

      • Filmlover   January 4, 2011 at 10:46 pm

        Actually, i read his small interview in English newspaper called INDIAN EXPRESS, where he said that he has inspired by hollywood film. It will be fun for the audience”. But he never revealed the name of the Hollywood film. But in this case, he is far better than other thieves. It doesn’t mean he is not thief at all. On several occasion, Kamal himself told he takes lots of ideas from not only Hollywood and around the world movies. For instance, Kamal’s “Virumandi”, where kamal adapted style of writing screenplay from Akira Kurosawa films.

        There are many people in Indian film Industry, who shamelessly copy or steal others’ ideas and claim it as their own. Also there are people who silently steals and keep quiet as if they are very clever and intelligent film makers, e.g. director like Maniratnam. There are directors like Shankar and Myskin, who shamelessly copy from others and without any conscience they claim it as their own creativity. That’s why i appreciate Kamal even though he copies.

        Our Indian audience are not matured enough to understand the art of film making. Our people never admire technical aspect of any movie and never know or want to make frame to frame analysis. Our people want item songs, comedy tracks, sexy heroines and heroism. That’s all. Nothing else. So, naturally, how can you or i expect from our film makers to deliver quality movies? Never.

        SearchIndia.com Responds:

        It’s not enough to say that Kamal Haasan acknowledged ‘inspiration’ from a Hollywood film in an Indian Express interview.

        Where is the link?

        • Filmlover   January 6, 2011 at 3:33 am

          Ok! Cool! i surrender. There is no link. I thoroughly searched on website i couldn’t find what i actually read on Indian Express. I believe this will make you so happy. Isn’t it?

          Anyway, have you written any new review for Hollywood movies?

          SearchIndia.com Responds:

          You write: Anyway, have you written any new review for Hollywood movies?

          Know how to move the mouse?

  8. kd36939   January 5, 2011 at 11:00 pm

    Hey SI. Just watched Romance on the High Seas from Netflix.

    Like you said, Kamal has generously taken ideas from this movie and added a tamil touch to it.

    I liked Manmadan Ambu, but ROTHS was better. Much better.

    It’s high time Indian film makers stop taking credit for work that they didn’t do.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. Jack Carson and the guy who played Oscar were superb, weren’t they?

    2. You write: Like you said, Kamal has generously taken ideas from this movie and added a tamil touch to it….. It’s high time Indian film makers stop taking credit for work that they didn’t do.

    We couldn’t agree with you more.

    But most Indian film makers have no shame.

    Producers steal, writers steal, music directors steal and we refuse to accept that the stars are unaware that the movies they feature in are stolen.

    Bottom line, the Indian film industry is for the most part no more than a den of thieves. Nobody takes it seriously except the cretinous idiots in India and Para-desis in U.S/UK/NZ/Australia.

    • prasath.j   January 7, 2011 at 4:01 am

      The real fact is that none in gollywood are not even fit to copy a bollywood movie (Leave alone Hollywood!) .There is a general displeasure about kamal interfering in all other fields of cinema and that critics trying to project/prove him as ” Jack of all;Master of none”

      If he is Jack of all & Master of none then What about others like T.Rajender & Bhagyaraj?.

      Even now SI is not able to tell one actor who is master of all arts or at-least master of few.The reason behind that is that except Kamal,most of the actors do not have any position in the so called other arts but still are just jack in one single art called “acting”.

      Remember ; He has won the maximum number of national awards and career awards for acting!

      Virumandi showcased his skills as a director. The movie Hey Ram which he directed is a chapter in MS course in IOWA university. He was the one who brought steadycam camera in the movie Vetri Vizha. This was the first south Indian movie to have this. Kurudhipunal was the first ever South Indian movie to be recorded in Dolby stereo. Mahanadhi was the first movie to be completed with AVID editing.

      There is another critic saying that he is not a good entertainer.I am not sure what do they mean by entertainment. For me “Hey ram was more entertaining than stupid masala movies like gilli”. An actor need not be a good entertainer only if he sticks to formulas like 4 stunts, Slip fall on floor comedy,Show they have respect for only TN, Act as if helping poor mass and give some silly punch dialogues or dance around with 100 females in a cheap kuthu paattu.

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Since you mention Hey Ram, thought we’d mention that we did a short piece on Hey Ram (Hindi version) in the pre-SI Blog days.

  9. sam   January 5, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    Recently saw Bodyguard in Malayalam and decided one thing. Never to go near Kaavalan. Just can’t bear to see a good film being murdered by Vijay, Asin & Vadi(monkey)vaalu.

    Even nayanthara, whom I dont like was good and dileep was fantastic in both the comedy and serious roles. Vijay cant, just cant play this role. Please see Bodyguard and kick off Kaavalan. But Siddique, who directed the original and is directing Kaavalan is the only silver lining!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: Please see Bodyguard and kick off Kaavalan

    Hard to get hold of Bodyguard where we live. ๐Ÿ™

    From what we’ve read of the story (and seen from the trailer), Kaavalan seems like another silly Kollywood film. But we’ll reserve complete judgment.

    • Filmlover   January 6, 2011 at 3:37 am

      Hi Sam,

      I believe you can place your trust on director Siddique than on any kollywood actors. He had already worked with Vijay in “Friends”. I hope Siddique will give decent movie. It should not be like “Vettaikkaran” or “Sura”.

  10. shiva84   January 8, 2011 at 9:45 am

    Hi SI, hope you r doing well. Even the neela vanam song is inspired from Coldplay.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfTB6KhPzHU

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Howdy sweetie.

    Others have also commented on the similarity. We purchased the Scientist track from Coldplay at iTunes. Inclined to give the benefit of doubt.

    Your above YouTube link is not playing in U.S. due to EMI-imposed geographic restrictions.

  11. iamsumu2   January 9, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    Kamal is one of the biggest egoists who has squandered his acting talents by making crappy films for decades.

    In what is a lack of peer pressure in an industry focused on turning out trash he has succeeded in making bad to mediocre movies repeatedly. There are a lot of industry peers and fans like prasath.j above who believe him to be a combination of sivaji+satyajit ray+vaali+.. (add technical gurus).

    Just because someone introduced a new technology used in other industries doesn’t make him a path breaker automatically.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: Just because someone introduced a new technology used in other industries doesn’t make him a path breaker automatically.

    Well said.

    • prasath.j   January 10, 2011 at 1:33 pm

      I neither claim kamal has anythree’s combination nor am i an ardent fan of him.

      As a matter of fact,comparing kamal with an actor (read – melodramatic & overhyped Sivaji) who has neither won a national award nor tried any versatile roles like full length comedy depicts your height of inanity and your knowledge about indian film industry.

      Every one knows he is the better of the worst indian lot.

      Just curious to know one thing from SI.

      As it claims to be a vigorous critic of Plagiarism and lashing out all hollywood inspirations like Enthiran (Bicentennial man and MA (romance on high seas), why SI turns blind eye sometimes to cheap & scrappy regional remakes like “Pokiri” which has nil story line & horrible actors like vijay and hail it as a well crafted film?

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      You write: As it (sic) claims to be a vigorous critic of Plagiarism….why SI turns blind eye sometimes to cheap & scrappy regional remakes like “Pokiri” which has nil story line & horrible actors like vijay and hail it as a well crafted film?

      If we were to review Pokiri de novo today, we’d most likely write a different post.

      Please see the list of reviews of Vijay’s movies at the end of Sura Review.

  12. boopalanj   January 9, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    Has anyone watched “The Bicentennial Man”? (SI can add it to their to-be-reviewed-films list.)

    It was a nice film. Based on one of Sir Isaac Asimov’s novels, it sure well portrays the transformation of a robot (android), into a real human being (at least, on paper!). With well written dialogues, it is an enjoyable film.

    Someone mentioned the name of Shankar here, and this film came into my mind. This also reminds me the frightening fact that what a shit Enthiran was, in terms of story, subject, theme, creativity, & screen play. He ripped off the concepts from various films and finally called it a thing of originality – which he thought about for 10 years.

    The Robot in the bicentennial man, thinks. Very much. It feels hurt when someone calls the robot “it”. It feels normal when someone refers to it as – “he”. It reads thought-provoking books, and asks for freedom from its owner. After freedom is attained, automatically it stops referring to self as “one” and starts speaking in the First person (I & me). It falls in love and proposes. (Not by a kiss like in enthiran, but in the process of life). After it gets the emotional sensory elements in its body, it feels the first kiss and exclaims ‘great’. It feels jealous over his love lady getting engaged to someone else. After it gets the digestive system, it tastes the food for the first time. It farts for the first time and asks what that noise is. It wants to be recognized as a “Man”. And for that purpose, it chooses to pass away like a normal man – by incorporating aging mechanisms. He holds the hands of his wife (a real woman), and dies when it is being recognized as a man by the court. She says – “See you soon”, and dies as well. (Meaning – she would meet him in the afterlife. He died a man / not as a robot)

    What did Enthiran Robot do? It went to cooum and found the mosquito which had bitten its lover – by just pressing a button and switching to mosquito mode (Nonsense!).

    When James-avatar-cameron said he conceived the story of his film before 10 years, it made sense. When shankar said the same for enthiran, it gives me a feeling of nausea.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write: Has anyone watched “The Bicentennial Man”? (SI can add it to their to-be-reviewed-films list.)
    It was a nice film. Based on one of Sir Isaac Asimov’s novels, it sure well portrays the transformation of a robot (android), into a real human being (at least, on paper!). With well written dialogues, it is an enjoyable film.

    Hey, Bicentennial Man is available on Netflix Instant Play.

    We’ll watch it in a few hours and try to have the review up by tomorrow.

    2. You write: This also reminds me the frightening fact that what a shit Enthiran was,…

    Of course, Enthiran was nonsense.

    But by all accounts the movie found favor with the makkal (people). Shows how you can fool all the people some of the time. ๐Ÿ™

    • boopalanj   January 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm

      It is really a slow-happening film ๐Ÿ™‚ but good indeed.

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      We’ll see (literally & figuratively).

    • Filmlover   January 10, 2011 at 6:32 am

      Hi boopalanj,

      Well said, buddy. I, too, liked “Bicentennial Man”. Robin Williams was great in the movie. Excellent score by James Horner. To me, Bicentennial man is thousand times better than Shit movie Endhiran. Our Tamil people are completely bunch of fools to acknowledge this as best Indian sci fi ever. Completely idiotic and trash.

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Here’s the review of Bicentennial Man.

  13. vjcool   January 9, 2011 at 11:56 pm

    Bicentinnal man has been regularly on TV ..hmm sorry HBO.. for almost 10 years.. like the movie though its a bit too slow at times.. like any movie involving emotions and growth.. Please add Spielberg’s ‘AI’ to your list too its also about a robot that needs to be accepted.. its good though I was not able to get the ending.. at that time .. maybe I may now..

    Should we even talk about ‘Endhiran’ when we are discussing these films. Let’s not insult these productions.

    and ofcourse theres i Robot.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Finished watching Bicentennial Man a short while ago.

    Writing review now.

  14. Naveen   January 11, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    In a recent interview Kamal said that “โ€œEndhiranโ€ is successful not because of the content, but due to the marketing strategy and of course. Rajini is a saleable star” – http://www.kollytalk.com/cinenews/kamal-filmmakers-shouldnt-crave-for-the-oscar/

    While the statement is not wrong I cringe when Kamal says that. He is someone who constantly gets “inspired”. Not too long ago he scripted a boochandi competition called Dasavatharam which put Evil Dead to shame. Dasavatharam was a rank bad movie (no matter how hard he worked for it) and it was a “success” only because of marketing and hype. Remember the audio launch with Jackie Chan! :)))

    He is a talented actor and has done some good work not doubt but after 35 significant years in the industry he is yet to come up with a new technique of film making or a truly good and original script. I like Kamal the actor but 2010 saw only his megalomaniac alter-ego “Ulaga Nayagan” for most part.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    We doubt Kamal Haasan has much juice left in him.

    Most likely, he’s nearing the end of the road.

    Even the cockroaches are beginning to desert him.

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