Movies

Credits
Jeevi rating: 3.5/5
Punchline: Band of backstreet boys
Genre: Love
Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence)
Banner: Sri Surya Movies
Cast: Siddardh, Nakul, Sai, Bharath, Manigandhan, Harini & Vivek
Music: AR Rehman
Photography: Ravi K Chandran
Dialogues: Srirama Krishna
Lyrics: Siva Ganesh & AM Rathnam
Art Direction: Sabu Cyril
Editing: VT Vijayan
Stunts: Vikram Dharma
Producer: AM Rathnam
Story - screenplay - direction: Shankar
Release date: 29th August 2003

Review


Story

There are five teenage boys who are very thick friends. They have typical teen-boy fantasies - proposing to each and every chick they come across, touching women in crowded areas, boozing, browsing porn books, trying for call girls etc. In the process they meet a girl Harini (Genelia). A guy called Munna (Nakul) from these boys group fall in love with her and she also loves him. After coming to know about it, the parents separate the boy, girl and the friends. The boy and the girl get desperate and elope to Tirupati to get married.

The parents throw them out of their houses. The friends also come out to support this young couple. They all work together to make a living. They find their strengths and hidden talents. They form a band called 'Boys'. Sign a contract with Sony Music and win M TV awards. In the process, small differences crop up between the wedded couple and they fall out. The rest of the film is all about how they get united with the help of friends!

Artists Performance
The specialty of the guys selected for Boys is that all guys are normal looking. There are lean guys and fat guys as well. Everybody suited their character well. All the characters are established in a strong way. Siddardh is the hero of the film. He is sensible. Harini (Genelia D'souza) acts as the heroine and she has an array of emotions to go through in this film. She has the mannerism of showing finger to guys. But they have made her rise the other finger instead of the middle one to avoid the scissors of censor officers. Vivek did a meaty role as the mentor of the boys. He offered lots of comedy. Actor Rajendra Prasad did the dubbing for Vivek. And because of the good dubbing, the comedy timing of Vivek character worked out well.

Technical Departments:

Story: The story of the film is a very typical one. Boy meets the girl. Parents reject their love and separate them. The boy-girl elope and get married. They come out and make a living and prove to the world that the word 'love' is not a taboo as projected by parents and one can do good career even when one fell in love.

Screenplay - direction: Shankar - who directed five consecutive super hits in a row - attempted his sixth film 'Boys'. Director Shankar has the habit of making social-message films and teen films alternatively. Checkout his filmography: Gentleman (social), Premikudu (love), Bharateeyudu (social), Jeans (love), Oke Okkadu (social) and Boys (love). And if you analyze, his social films have become sensational hits as his love films turned out to be just hits. Like his earlier love films, this film also has got good narration, great youth elements, much needed sentiment and interesting screenplay. But the narration of the film is little slow. Shankar's projection of deeds done boys is little embarrassing to look on the screen (in 1st half), though it happens in real life.

Music: Music is the life of this film. AR Rehman came up with great tunes with rich percussion and orchestration. His background music is equally titillating. There are two more songs in the film which were not there in audio album. One is about making music using props like spoon, pot etc (without using musical instruments). But the scene-stealer is the 'please' song that aimed by 'boys' at wooing the manager of Sony Music.

Songs picturization: All the songs in this film are picturised on a larger than life format by using lots of computer graphics and visual effects. The backdrop chosen for each song is excellent. The choreography adds to the beauty of the visuals.

Photography: Photography by Ravi K Chandran is pleasing to our eyes. The colors, lighting effects, movement of the camera etc. are just perfect.

Dialogues: Dialogues by Sri Rama Krishna are good, though some of the dialogues in the first half put the parents into embarrassment (youth likes it anyway).

Production: AM Ratnam spent 24 crores in making this film. And all that money is efficiently transformed in to rich visuals and abundant music in cinema halls. This film would remain as one of the proud films produced by AM Ratnam.

Analysis:
'Boys' is an urbane and youth film. Taking a simple point, Shankar succeeded in narrating it with an interesting screenplay. The plus points in the film are good music, rich visuals and youth elements. The weakness of the film is slow narration and lack of mass elements. Though the film went in to weak mode at times, the director Shankar made sure that the narration is back on the wheels as the climax approached. The parents are shown in a bad light in this film (parents are shown as inflexible ones who does not understand their kids. There are good parents in real who understand, appreciate and encourage their kids to succeed in love and career). This film would definitely become a hit. This youth-rich film would do well in A centers. The question now is whether it does well in B and C centers or not!

Tailpiece: I added a clause along with my rating that goes like 'Can kids watch this film?'. I would definitely recommend 'Boys' to kids and teenage guys. But I do warn the parents not to watch this film along with their teenage son/daughters, because it would put you in to embarrassment. When you watch this film (especially the first half), make sure that your kids are not around. The theaters in AP are crowded with 90% of youth on the opening show today!

Trivia on Boys:

1. For the first time a song describing love shot in Tasmania (Australia) using 62 camera units for the matrix effect.

2. A 3D character was created and let loose along with the real artistes in the song 'Girlfriends'.

3. The song `Boom Boom' was shot in Bride Stove Lavender Farm the largest farm in the world.

4. For the first time Adnan Sami and Lucky Ali sing for a Telugu film.

5. For the first time Arjun Basin of Monsoon Wedding and Dil Chaatha Hai fame has designed the costumes for a Telugu film.

6. For the first time MTV had given the permission to use its logo for an award function scene for a film.

7. Singer Hariharan plays himself on screen.

8. Kamal Chopra the model of Sony Ericson and Fevicol is acting in an important role

9. A full song has been picturised in Melbourne, Australia using 'time-slice' technique'


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