As we were idly rummaging through our DVD collection, what should we find?
An old Vikram film, Gemini.
Featuring Vikram and Kiran Rathod, Gemini has been hailed in some circles as a good movie for its time.
Folks, that’s a Goebbelsian lie. Gemini is not a movie that can be labelled ‘good’ in any era.
The 2002 movie starts with weird shouts of Gemanae, Gemanae, Gemanae and quickly moves on to the outside of a court building.
For some odd reason, we see an elephant outside the court building. Strange, even by Indian movie standards.
Kalabhavan Mani, who plays the villain Teja does an imitation of an elephant, the first of his many anima-tions.
Will update this review later tonight ET after completing the movie.
Update
Gavani, gavani, gavani (hear, hear, hear).
Indha Gemini, Gemini, Gemini padam oru mokka mokka mokka padam (Gemini is a lousy movie).
All we were left with at the end of the movie is a mind-numbing headache and curses for Saran, who is responsible for the inept story, screenplay, dialog and direction.
Silly Story
The movie centers around the bloody clashes between our eponymous hero Gemini (Vikram), who plays a rowdy turned good soul and Teja (Kalabhavan Mani), a bigger rowdy for whom there’s no redemption in anything but a life of crime.
Kalabhavan Mani is a decent actor and his imitation of animals as a metaphor for human behavior in certain situations was amusing at the beginning.
But by the time we move toward the end of the movie as Teja imitates a monkey, the whole act lost its novelty and became tiresome. Like the movie itself.
Just a Pretty Face
What’s a Tamil movie without a fair-face, right?
So we have Kiran Rathod, one of the most hopeless actresses south of the Vindhyas.
The girl can’t act and the girl can’t dance. She can’t emote in the least.
Oh well, who cares. Like Vikram, we too want to play Holi with this gal. 😉
Gemini’s music is nothing to rave about. Garden variety, banal stuff although the producers seem to have splurged money by shooting the song/dance scenes in foreign locales (Switzerland??).
That Naattu Kattai abomination will haunt us till our last days.
The primary culprit for this piece of trash a.k.a. Gemini is the bizarrely stupid story.
As if that were not bad enough, we have multiple parallel ‘comedy’ tracks featuring a dumb cop, a pimp and a madam and the last featuring a character called Oberoi, supposedly Dawood Ibrahim’s henchman from Bombay.
All of the comedy nonsense was plain intolerable and it was with difficulty that we restrained ourselves from hurling the remote at the TV.
How this ordeal i.e. Gemini can even be called a movie is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Gemini – Mandae Veddikidhu, O Podu added by SearchIndia.com on
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Another wrong choice. Review Kutty – available @ BigFlix!
Forgot my old username/ password.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Too expensive to rent from BigFlix. 😉
Back then, it was a very different movie and was enjoyable. Now I’ll have to see how and all you trash it…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Now I’ll have to see how and all you trash it…
Hey, let’s not jump to conclusions.
We might like it better than Casablanca. Kiran might be our new Ingrid. 😉
My dear SI,
I am scared to get into Oscar winner http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Man_on_Wire/70084167?trkid=191776
because it is a documentary.. would you dare to and advise?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Didn’t see this. We knew the story plus we read too much about it…the preparation and all.
Food Inc would be fine…unfortunately, it’s not available on Instant Play.
What about Ronin….have a feeling you’ve seen it or The Shawshank Redemption: Special Edition or Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead or Hancock (Charlize Theron), all on Instant Play.
Omg… This is a thalavali (headache) inducing movie.. I watched this movie 8 years back..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You are so right.
We have the full review up now: Gemini Review – Mandae Veddikidhu, O Podu (head is bursting from the ordeal).
But it was a blockbuster movie for vikram in that year.
as i said earlier, this movie won’t suit ur taste.
Tamilnadu people have different taste.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Tamilnadu people have different taste.
Some taste.
This so called movie was in poor taste. 🙁
Also review sethu and kaasi both these were critically accliamed and did well in the BO.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
After Kuppaesamy oops Kanthasamy and O Podu, we need a break from Vikram.
Kiran Rathod is definitely the Kollywood version of Ingrid. Lol
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’re still reeling from the aftereffects of the Gemini Katrina.
How can this trash even be called cinema?
O podu…o podu…O podu…..God!
Time to invite Mr Jack Daniels and Mr Johnny walker
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Yes, as we type this we’re seeking solace in Bacchus.
HEY he is defentely a better actor compared to other heroes in tamil .
U will not be disappointed with Sethu and Kaasi.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Bodhayum yerale pottadhum porale
Ada Rama saraku (gemini) nallalae
(we’re not getting high as we haven’t imbibed enough and the booze ain’t good either).
Yeah Sethu is an amazing movie. Watch it and review if possible. It was based on a real story..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ve seen the Hindi version of Sethu i.e. Tere Naam starring Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla. Here’s the Tere Naam review (pre-SI blog).
We were unaware that Tere Naam/Sethu was based on a true story. Thanks.
Looks like Sethu came first (1999), followed by Tere Naam (2003).
Gemini was remade in Telugu with Venkatesh.
It was a disaster. Biggest ever flop for Venkatesh.
Anyway, what abt some telugu stuff?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: what abt some telugu stuff?
Does Jayeebhava have any buzz?
Hei guys, Happy ‘Deepa’vali :),
hope you had a good weekend.
Back to Gemini, when i saw Kiran, i was like WOW she’s pretty!!! Then when the camera went lower, i noticed they hired a 3 months pregnant woman to play a heroine; either that or she swallowed a pouch. Her tummy was so UNSIGHTLY!!!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Yes, Deepavali for us means free food at the Hair care, Bathing Soap, Agarbathi store a.k.a. Swaminarayan Temple (we swear the Swaminarayan Temple sells hair care, soap, agarbathis et al)
2. These Tamils guys have an obsession with fair faces. Look at all their fair-imports – Kiran, Shreya, Simran, Sonia Aggarwal et al.
3. You write: Her tummy was so UNSIGHTLY!
You mean, like the movie itself.
Tere Naam and Sethu can be two different stories, I felt bhoomika was a little tougher than the tamil counterpart. and I felt Tere Naam’s stunts were filmy. Please Review Nandha, and Pithamagan also along with Sethu, really nice movies.
Off topic: Manichitratazhu, had better story telling than its clones.. really worth a watch even if you had seen all the clones. It had class.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: Tere Naam and Sethu can be two different stories
Can be different?
What does that nonsense mean in plain English. We’ve seen Tere Naam and read the Wiki profile of Sethu. They seem the same.
2. Here’s the Nandha review.
3. Will watch Pithamagan one of these days. Seems interesting.
I have seen all those recommendations.. I think I recommended Devil (50% recommendation for the movie and the rest for Tomei) to you.
Have you seen Shakespeare in Love – new on instant play.. the slumdog of the 90s.. multiple Oscar winner for being cleverly marketed and being lucky. You’d have probably seen it on basic cable – but they would censored off some awesome Paltrow skin — now that’s a very good reason to watch Shakespeare. If you have already seen the movie and missed Paltrow-shedding, then press the Roku FF to 47″ (Nandri thiru. thOL (thanks, Mr.Skin)) or 46″ to see her well-covered.
In Tere Naam, did they show a dilapidated asylum or a decent one? One of Sethu’s selling points was that grim asylum. I’ll admit that I liked the breezy first half than the morose second half of Sethu.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. No, haven’t seen Shakespeare in Love. Will see it soon. Thanks.
2. The asylum in Tere Naam was in pretty bad shape with inmates lying about on the floor in poor clothing. Doubt things are that bad even in the real Indian asylums. But of course, it being India anything is possible. 😉
I remember that Gemini was a big thing in Chennai in early 2002, and inspite of a non-existant story, Vikram seemed to carry the movie forward.
The song o podu was everywhere (just like appadi pode pode … from Gilli in 2004).
Vikram had done Sethu earlier, and he was being eagerly awaited in a more conventional role.
Those were the days of Vijay, Ajith, Prashanth, etc, while newcomers like Vikram, Surya and Madhavan were making their mark.
Anyways Vikram was better than these folks.
I watched Gemini about 7 years ago, and liked Vikram for whatever he did on screen, although his constant pan-chewing as a rowdy irritated me.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
What a frigging waste of time.
We should have just gone to our local Gujju liquor store and replenished our bar.
The O Podu dance was so ugly and crude that it beggars belief.
Gemini is a strict timepass movie, only meant to be watched for fun. And it is an unwritten rule that critics like SI should stay away from such movies.
While we do love good/great hollywood movies, we prefer watching movies like Gemini to just kill time with friends. You may find this strange, but a movie like Gemini, Dhill, or Dhool is always worthy to watch if you’re just looking to time pass and enjoy. Definitely not your type. And it surely doesn’t matter what critics think about it. Nobody decides what we should see irrespective of whether it is crass or class.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Gemini is … only meant to be watched for fun
Ha ha ha.
Fun?
God, what dictionary do they use in India?
Fun must surely have a different meaning in Indian dicktionaries.
Gemini was anything but fun.
oh dear, why did you watch Gemini??
i’ve noticed a thing with vikram, that is, his movies are either really good (eg. Pithamagan, Sethu, Kasi, Anniyan) or really bad (eg. Gemini, Kanthaswamy, Bheema, Maja)
and im surprised you still havnt watched Pithamagan…It has amazing performances by Vikram, Surya, Laila and Sangeetha (i think it’s her first movie)…i know its not on netflix, but do try and find a way to watch them…
and also, Perazhagan and Aayutha Ezhuthu are on youtube, if you want to watch them (i think you should)…
have you watched the tamil movies called ‘Poo’, ‘Paruthiveeran’ and ‘Subramaniyapuram’? they’ve been critically acclaimed, and im surprised that you haven’t watched these three movies either…and the movie ‘poo’ is on youtube if you want to watch it…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Will try to watch Pithamagan.
2. We are not big fans of watching movies on YouTube/PC monitor unless we buy the new 27-inch Apple iMac (drooling).
3. No, we haven’t watched Poo, Paruthiveeran and Subramaniyapuram. Last we checked, they hadn’t made it to Netflix.
Haven’t you ever heard of this proverb, “One man’s food is another man’s poison”????
Why should we always agree with you? 😉
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Oh, by all means y’all can disagree with us all you want.
Throughout history, haven’t the sensible ones often been in the minority. 😉
Vikram gave a good movie …King …it flopped …neverthless ….Dhil , Dhool , Anniyanan , kaasi were decent movies …
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The only Vikram we’ve liked so far is Anniyan.
Watched it two or three times and some scenes (the big fight with Prakash Raj where Anniyan alternates with Ambi and the final moments in the train) several times.
What I meant was that you could consider one of those telugu movie recommendations.
Jayeebhava might not be a good bet because the director is a staunch fan of the hero’s lineage. doesn’t augur well for the movie. by the way the hero Kalyanram is the grandson of the late NTR. He has only one hit to his credit (Athanokkade).
SearchIndia.com Responds:
If we are desperate, we’ll watch Jayeebhava this weekend.
Surely, it can’t be worse than Ganesh.
We’ll look at some of the bitter oops better Telugu movies later.
Perazhagan and Ayudhu eluthu were craps and failed badly in the BO .
Ayudhu eluthu (yuva in hindi) is one of the rarest manirathnam film that didn’t get critical acclaim or bo success.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We feel like watching Run again. Features our tweetie pie Meera Jasmine. 😉
Must check if we have the DVD.
Run review has “repititive” in it. I hope you won’t find a dictionary that says “repititive” is not incorrect.
The American Heritage Dictionary 3rd edition (not even sure when I bought it) doesn’t have “calfs” in it.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Fixed. Thanks.
2. Discussion on Calfs has been settled.
Aayutha Ezhuthu was not a hit in tamil, but the hindi version was a hit…now, what does that tell us about our fellow Tamil Nadu people?
and the tamil one did get critically aclaimed a tiny bit…i know Madevan got a ‘best supporting actor’ ward…and the chemistry between Madevan and Meera Jasmine was amazing …a lot better than Abishek-Rani Mukherjee in Yuva…
and Perazhagan was a good movie, and it wasn’t a flop, i think it was an above average (i think it was released when films like Ghilli and Madurey were out, do you expect perazhagan to become a blockbuster? especially since Surya was an upcoming star at that time)
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Surya seems to be descending into the company of C-grade stars like Vishal, Simbhu, Jeeva, Dhanush et al.
Surya Sivakumar’s name on the marquee these days guarantee’s trash for viewers.
Look at his trash oops track record: Aadhavan, Ayyan, Vel, Varanam Ayiram et al. Sickening.
Folks, if you haven’t seen Aadhavan yet, consider yourself blessed.
you are right.. gemini is a stupid movie.. watched it few years ago.. why do in Tamil movies, the heroine easily fall in love with rowdy?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: why do in Tamil movies, the heroine easily fall in love with rowdy
A reflection of the idiots making these movies.
OK, may not be different stories, but the feel of both films make them different.
Tere naam is glossy. Sethu is gritty. Sethu is better, made a struggling actor a star. the star has slipped .. anyway, watch it someday.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Sethu is better, made a struggling actor a star. the star has slipped .. anyway, watch it someday.
Will do.
btw, if i were to ask you what are the top 5 best tamil action movies, which ones would you name?
and same for romantic tamil movies…
and have you seen Azhagi (with Nandhita Dass&Parthiban), Pithamagan (Vikram&Surya&Laila) and Veyyil (Pasupathy is the real hero of this one, not Bharat; Shriya Reddy&Bhavana)? all three critically acclaimed films, and you should watch these old movies, instead of watching trash like Gemini, etc…
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write above: if i were to ask you what are the top 5 best tamil action movies, which ones would you name?
Surya’s Kaakha Kaakha and Vijay’s Pokiri are two Tamil action movies we’ve enjoyed.
Romantic movies? We liked Kamal Haasan’s Punnagai Mannan and Sigappu Rojakkal (a romantic film, albeit one where the murderous and psychotic aspects dominate).
2. Of the other movies you mention, we’ve watched Veyyil.
Here is the Veyyil review.
Watch the following films of Vikram:
1.Kasi
2.Pithamagan (Its Telugu version Sivaputhrudu is available in Netflix.)
3.Sethu
SearchIndia.com Responds:
They are already on our list but today it’s gonna be A History of Violence (Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello).
Kalabhavan Mani is a gr8 actor.
IMO actors from kerala are much better than most actors in Kollywood.
Mohanlal, Mammooty, Jeyram, Kalabhavan Mani, Prithivi Raj et al are much better than the likes of Vijay, Vishal, Simbu, Ajith etc.
Vijay has the potential but he’s being wasted now. I loved his acting in Sachien, Pokiri, Thullatha Manamum thullum etc. His recent movies were trash.
Can u review some Malayalam movies SI?
Movies like Thanmathra(Molecule) starring Mohanlal and Classmates starring Prithivi Raj were a huge hit in Kerala. Classmates was a blockbuster, which boosted Prithivi Raj’s career.
Thanmathra is a movie which portrays the effect of Alzheimer’s disease on the life of an individual and his family. Such a touching movie . Superb performances by the main stars. It bagged 5 Kerala state film awards. Best film, Best actor, Best director, Best screenplay and a special jury award for debutant Arjun Lal..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. We’d love to see both Thanmathra and Classmates. Let’s see if we can get them.
2. You write: IMO actors from kerala are much better than most actors in Kollywood.
In our not so humble opinion, these days there are no actors in Kollywood. 🙁
My friends told me Pasanga was good too. But I didn’t get to watch it.
Waiting for your review 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Don’t count your reviews before they are
hatchedpublished. 😉 We still have to get the DVDs.If we can get the DVDs, they should be with us in about 10 days.
Do try to watch Subramaniapuram and Nadodigal.
Both were surprise hits.
Subramaniapuram takes us back to 1980. A movie about unemployed youngsters being manipulated to commit crime by corrupt politicians. A realistic movie with no punch dialogs, stupid fights where the hero is a one man army bashing up dozens of thugs. The fight scenes are brief and believable.
And definitely not a love story. Love is just a small element here.
Nadodigal too is a decent movie.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
We’ve asked friends to get us Subramaniapuram, Nadodigal, Pasanga and Tamil MA.