Pammal K. Sambandham

Ayngaran
Anamorphic approx. 2.35:1 aspect ratio
Tamil Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448kbps
English subtitles
Video previews for "Gemini" and "Samurai"

Video
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This is slightly subpar for Ayngaran, but a subpar Ayngaran disc is better than the average discs from many other companies. That said, here's why it is subpar. The print is surprisingly problematic, considering that this is a film from late 2001 or early 2002. There are quite a few white dust marks at times, splices are often seen, and there are some damaged frames. This print looks USED. The whites occasionally get a bit hot. For example, there is a scene where Kamalahassan is wearing a white undershirt and is standing in direct sunlight. The shirt seems to emit radiation. DVNR is very lightly applied and never extremely intrusive. However, I think it does cause some smaller details, such as eyeglasses, to have jagged edges. Colors are good and the print is sometimes slightly grainy. Not as good as some of Ayngaran's other discs, such as "12B," but still pretty good.

Audio
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The Tamil 5.1 track is pretty good. I think some of the punch sound effects are quite old, as they sound distorted, and some dialogue is distorted, but this is a pleasing soundtrack. The songs and score sound good, without sounding distorted or compressed.

Extras
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Once again, Ayngaran drops the ball on the English subtitles. the font is too big, making it take a little longer to read one field of subtitles. They are also too wordy, again making them lengthy to read. There are many punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors, and sometimes the translation is plain wrong. Take a line of dialogue where Simran asks Kamal to hand her a stethoscope. For Kamal's response, the subtitles should read, "Stethoscope? Me?" But instead, they say "Am I a stethoscope?" Also, "Pillai" (a caste in Tamil Nadu) is translated at one point as "vegetarian caste."

Non-anamorphic video trailers for "Gemini" and "Samurai" are included, though I wish it had the theatrical trailer for "Samurai" instead, as Sunny said that it had something shot especially for the trailer.

Overall
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I really liked the movie, and the DVD quality is adequate. I'll post a review of the film later.

I am begging Ayngaran to show the paht new trailer of Samurai its looked phat! I know the main film will be a disspointment after Gemini, but the trailer has repetative value and the fights are very Yuen Woo-Ping style!

Do you know if the video trailers they use for other films are actually TV ads for the film and/or soundtrack, shown on Tamil TV? Looking at the "Gemini" trailer, which includes some footage shot on video, it looks like it.

Movie Review: Pammal K. Sambamdham

Produced by Media Dreams
Screenplay and Direction by Moulee
Dialogue by Crazy Mohan

Starring: Kamal Hassan, Abbas, Simran, Sneha, among others.

Director Mouli, who has been directing Telugu films for the last several years, returns to Tamil cinema with this film.
Kamal is the title character, a cinema stuntman who wears lots of gold and frequently spouts off proverbs nobody understands. His friend Anand (Abbas) elopes with Malathi (Sneha). This marriage turns out to be a disaster, in a rather humorous way. PKS is a confirmed bachelor, shunning marriage. Janaki (Simran) is a doctor who is also against marriage. When PKS saves Janaki from a bull attack in an extremely funny scene, she has to perform surgery on him. She inadvertently leaves her watch in his stomach. Janaki now pretends to like PKS in order to get the watch from his stomach, though the film is not really based on plot.

PKS is light fare. It will not challenge your senses and sometimes kind of insults them, but it is a good "timepass" as they would say. It is obvious Kamal is taking a break here from Aalavandhaan/Abhay and coming back to comedy, which he is good at. Kamal is not a great actor here, but he tones down the sometimes rampant histrionics seen in some of his other films. I found it rather stupid that Janaki wouldn't just tell him that she left the watch in his stomach. There are many funny scenes and dialogues, written by Crazy Mohan. The songs composed by Deva are forgettable, and the sad theme that appears thrice, sung with overrought lyrics and in a crying manner, is annoying. The recurring theme is nice, though it doesn't vary whenever it is used. PKS is a stuntman, and I naturally expected some clever extended stunt scenes with Kamal, but sadly, the script disappoints in this area. The ending is quite predictable. Is this an extremely intelligent film? Not really. But is Pammal K. Sambandham an enjoyable film to watch? You bet.

The trailers they show I think are video trailers from sat/cable advertising for the film. However the specially shot Samurai trailer was a cinema trailer I saw one day on TV, during some programme about south Indian films. I also saw it on cinema during the showing of the Ratnam film KM.