Zero

[MysteRy]

'Zero' audio review

Cast: Ashwin Kakumanu, Sshivada
Music: Nivas K Prasanna
Direction: Shiv Mohaa

The first thing that you notice in ‘Enge Ponai’ is how organically the piano accompanies the tune. At no point, the song gets eaten up by the arrangements. Neeti Mohan can do no wrong these days and delivers yet another flawless rendition in the charanam. The chime-veenai fused interlude sounded fresh indeed!

You Are In My Heart
Singers: Natalie du Luccio
Definitely has to be song of the month! ‘You Are In My Heart’ plays out without any commercial Tamil cinema standard adulteration and stays as a fully bloomed English track. Natalie du Luccio simply owns the track in the high pitched portions. However, due to pragmatic reasons, one feels that the Tamil version would be the one that’d feature in the movie.

Veredhuvum Nijame Illai
Singers: Haricharan
‘Veredhuvum Nijame Illai’ is the spruced up Tamil version of the aforementioned ‘You Are In My Heart’. Most of the things remain common between the two songs when it comes to the emotion and the mood where the song is set in. This version, a little fast paced, has Haricharan with the vocals who goes along with an uplifting tune.

Indha Kaadhal Illaiyel
Singers: Nivas Prasanna
‘Indha Kaadhal Illaiyel’ has a catchy chorus and the rough violins add a fresh sense of curiosity for the listeners. The first interlude is Thegidi-ish! Nivas dominates the vocals department with yet another impressive rendition.

Uyire En Uyirena
Singers: Anirudh Ravichander
‘Uyire En Uyirena’ has a bit of Ilayaraja in its soul and tune. Anirudh adds the extra edge with his vocals which blends so well with the sophomoric tune. The song leaves a melancholic after effect. The first interlude especially which is done with string sections leave a haunting effect. Soft and soulful are the words!

On the whole, ‘Zero’ plays out as a neat successor to ‘Thegidi’ in terms of the melodies and the pleasantness the album leaves us with. Almost all the songs in the album work big time and the effort of Nivas to make the songs sound earthy and less jarring deserves a huge appreciation.

[MysteRy]

Sshivada: Zero is all about unconditional love

Sshivada Nair, who grabbed everyone’s attention with her splendid performance in Nedunchalai is making her comeback in Kollywood with Zero, which is slated to release on March 25.

Post marriage, heroines rarely play lead roles but Shhivada is getting a lot of offers and she is quite busy in Tamil and Malayalam. “I don’t think marriage is a barrier for actors. In Malayalam, people still approach me with their stories and as my husband is super supportive, I will continue doing more films", says the actress.

"In fact, I’m getting a lot offers in Tamil as well but as you said acting after marriage seems to be a rarity here and the very question of ‘Will you be acting after marriage?’,  shouldn't arise. There might come a time, when I no longer act in films but would be still associated with the industry because of my passion for cinema”, smiles Sshivada.

For Sshivada, she doesn't want to get typecast. “After Nedunchalai, many directors approached me with village characters but don’t want to stick to particular image. I would like to do act in different characters including mass entertainers”, she says.

In Zero, Sshivada’s character name is Priya and she will be seen as a traditional house wife with modern thoughts. “ Priya is an artistic girl, most of the decorative stuffs in her house are made by herself. I would say that though Zero appears to be a supernatural horror film, it will not scare you as the core story is about unconditional love”.

Sshivada says that both her co-actor Ashwin and director Shiv Mohaa are super talented.”Our director Shiv Mohaa is a great movie buff. While shooting, he gave us sound references and explained scenes by referring to various Tamil and Hollywood films”, says the actress.

“Ashwin is a gentleman and he is a thorough professional. There is a scene, where you would see multiple Ashwins on screen and he has pulled it off with great élan. He will soon reach great heights in the industry”, adds Sshivada.

Acting in a film with extensive CG works is a new experience to Sshivada. “I’ve seen films with extreme CG works but being a part of such a project is a different experience . Only recently, happened to see the snake scene at the press show and it was astonishing”, says the actress.

Nivas Prasanna’s music is said to be a big highlight in Zero. “When I signed Zero, I was happy with the fact that Nivas is the music composer because I’m a big fan of his work in Thegidi. I was told that he his background score is phenomenal in the film, waiting to watch the full movie soon”, signs off Sshivada

[MysteRy]

Zero review: Sincere but sloppy

Director: Shiv Mohaa

Cast: Ashwin, Sshivada, Ravi Ragavendra, JD Chakravarthy

Sometimes debut directors completely surprise us with their ideas and execution, especially the way they ambitiously attempt out-of-the-box ideas with limited production values. But will our audiences welcome such an incredibly unique movie?

Bala (Ashwin) marries Priya (Sshivada) against his dad’s (Ravi Raghavendra) wish. Apparently Priya has a bizarre back story as her mom was mentally challenged during her pregnancy and her death was cruel.

Bala’s dad fears that Priya too will become like her mom and added to all this mayhem, she has a uterus complication and she can’t give birth!!

Post marriage, Priya experiences strange changes that at point of time she becomes a potential life threat to her husband.  Priya constantly sleep walks, goes to a dream land, where speaks with her dead mom and she is willing to stay there forever. So what is haunting Priya? Why does she act strangely and can Bala saves her life? Watch out on the big screen. 

First of all kudos to the debutant director Shiv Mohaa, as he has given us a film with a well researched script. As a script, Zero is brilliant and it gives the experience of reading Dan Brown’s novel but towards the climax, some bizarre twists and low production values turn villain.

On the downside, the film looks tacky most of time with some poor make-up and pathetic CG work (The white snake which appears now and then is just plain tacky). The special effects in the end seem as if they had been drawn by hand rather than being computer-generated.

Performance wise, the film belongs to Sshivada. The actress steals the show completely, they way she fears in the first half are top notch and post intermission, her transmission as fearless Lillith(!!) is amazing.

Ashwin must be appreciated to accept a film, where the heroine has great scope and he too has given a commendable performance. The scene where multiple Ashwins confusing Sshivada is well shot, where the actor has proved his versatility.

Nivas K Prasanna’s songs are soulful while his background score elevates the movie to a different level. Debutant cinematographer Babu Kumar’s work is commendable; his vivid color tones for different situations are excellent.

To conclude, audiences who seek unique attempts may like Zero. If you are one, try it out!