Boys (2003) Reviews

• Shankar be proud

  cabinbaggage2006-07-01

  This movie is very underrated. It may have failed at the box office but that has been proved to be due to the modern lifestyle concepts in this movie, totally failing to gel with the suburban and village sectors of Tamil Nadu. This movie was undeniably a hit in the urban sectors such as Chennai and literally everyone was talking about how great the film was. Most people I know saw it 5-6 times. This movie is certainly controversial, Shankar style, but only a fool would deny that the average college going teenager does not have sexual fantasies and adventures similar to those presented here. Thats the reason why this movie was so popular among college going crowds while not being a family movie in any sense. As expected from Shankar, this movie has a lot of shock value and twists. It reflects his pattern of thinking and that it does'nt necessarily tread one single pattern and only if he had stuck to himself would he have produced an amazing follow up instead of yet another money-churning yet somewhat stupid Indian/Mudhalvan-clone in the form of Anniyan. AR Rehman's score was amazing. Lets hope that Shivaji doesn't turn out to be yet another Indian/Gentleman/Mudhalvan clone and that Shankar stays true to himself.

• Excellent but not for everyone

  fmjmm2006-07-29

  Most of the criticism surrounding Boys more or less relates to Shankars traditional story lines with high morals and family entertainment. Boys in far from a family movie and it is perhaps the most sexually explicit Tamil movie to ever come out, without actually having any nudity after censorship. Boys is thus something one just cannot watch together with the family as most of it concerns the sexual adventures of 5 Boys, all newcomers, putting in superb performances. Now, while people who consider themselves morally upright and strict may find this embarrassing, most of the actual teenagers of India will actually be disturbed at how accurately it depicts what they actually do, without their parents knowing. Boys will be Boys and that needs to be accepted. Society is'nt as squeaky clean as one would like to believe. First the teen, especially college going, audience will be disturbed, then thrilled and then appreciative. This made the movie a success in the cities but a lot of revenue actually comes from conservative suburbs and villages where people viewing will not have a clue of whats going on since the movie reflects the behavior of mostly, socialite urban populace. But with Shankar's style and AR Rehman's music, Boys is certainly a superb movie if you don't have any of the reservations discussed above. It does'nt have a great storyline on the line of Indian, Mudhalvan etc but Shankar injects quality into each and every scene, making this movie highly enjoyable from the beginning to the end. Its just sheer bloody fun and genius.

• Excellent

  princely2003-10-24

  Hey guyz, I did watch the movie Boys. I dont care what others says about the movie. But i just wanna sat that the movie is EXCELLENT and it's backbone is ARR's music. Every song was fantastic taken esp SECRET OF SUCCESS was just simply mind blowing. This movie is especiallly made for teens. Keep up the good work for the team of Boys, esp. A.R Rahman & Shankar!!! Why such a big fuss about Boys nowadays. Why do people watch movie? Why do people make movies? The latter question is to satisfy audience and the former for the audience to be entertained. Simple isn't it. Again Thamazhan population is the one that Q's to the theatre no matter whatever the story is just to see how their hero has given dialogues/ dance & fight. Again, directors can give variety of family entertainers & come with unique formulae blending story to satisfy people from 6 to 60 yrs of age. I have seen movies of many Indian languages of which I find Bengali films to be of artistic nature. Following that would be Tamil movies which has its own target audience of artistic creativity & masala formulae hits. Sure enough for many tamil movies to be adapted or dubbed into Hindi or other languages. The technicians are some of the most talented people India can be proud of. Cinematographers, Directors, Music Directors, Lyricists etc can have their share at the world stage. But now the generation gap is increasing & I don't think in family pot boilers to satisfy 6 to 60yrs will work out in a liberalised society. Different genres should be created and presented to audience. Directors should be welcomed to experiment with bold topics as what they are doing in Hindi nowadays. In that way we can be very proud of Shankar, AR Rahman, Mani Ratnam & Kamal Hassan to be contributing to the artistic nature of Indian cinema & having their signature mark on it.

• An unbiased review of Boys

  fundareviewer2006-08-24

  I had a chance to see a trailer of this movie in a cinema theater and it looked modestly impressive but I imagined that it would be the standard Tamil movie fare and thus not worth wasting precious time on. A day before of its release, one of my buddies proudly flashed his first-day-first-show ticket at me. I wondered if this movie was really worth bragging about? Then I learned that it was by the same director and writer who made Indian (Hindustani), Mudhalvan, Gentleman, Kaadhalan and Jeans. The First three movies were really good and the first and last were Indian's entries for the Oscars, so I speculated that this movie "Boys" could possibly be good. A few days after the movie released, it was was the talk of the Town and the entire college was raving about it. Every single discussion was about Boys, Boys and Boys. People bragged that they had seen it 6 times already and were going to see it again. It kinda was like the Itchy and Scratchy movie hype in a Simpsons episode. I finally got to see this movie in the cinema. When we went and asked if we could get a ticket, the salesman said that "It was Boys for crying out! House full". We had to grab some quick tickets in black. Unfortunately, all the controversies caused by this movie had lead to all sorts of censorship already. First of all, one must congratulate Shankar for a very daring and bold initiative in Boys, especially given how conservative the people of Tamil Nadu can be. This movie is extremely sexually explicit and I believe that it even had nudity before the censor cuts. Shankars big mistake was to advertise this as a family movie which it certainly is not. Any parent who sees this movie, especially those conservative ones from TN, are going to be furious. I believe that this was what cost the movie its performance in Box office and commercial success. The audience of middle class teenagers and college students was simply not enough to ensure it a box office success. Molestation charges There is one song "Girlfriend" in this movie which could possibly just fall under the category of eve teasing or even molestation by sex-hungry Boys. This is probably what caused the most disturbance and did not let people see beyond think, leading to very harsh criticism of the movie in many circles. I would also imagine that women would be a bit uncomfortable with the scenes shown, to say the least. However, they fail to realize that it was just one song which had that and that it was JUST A MOVIE. Stupid People vs a Great movie You gotta know that the general population of Tamil Nadu actually went on riots and burnt effigies of a single celebrity who dared to say that premarital sex was OK. They also burnt effigies of the single supporter she had. Such were the conservative and village minded people who Shankar had to unfortunately deal with. It really made my blood boil to see that so many good scenes and dialog from this movie were cut voluntarily. I've seen this movie 6 times already and would kill for an uncensored version. In contrast, the people of Andhra Pradesh, famous for its modernity, loved this movie. Technical Aspects As with all Shankar movies, every single technical aspect from dialog to screenplay to cinematography is top notch and by far the best of all his movies and also on par if not better than every single Tamil movie out there. The dialog is hilarious and extremely creative. Its impossible to come up with stuff like that seen in this movie. Every single action and hilarious antic in this movie has its consequences which are shown and utilized till the very end. The acting is super-realistic. Shankar really knows how to get the best out of everybody. The acting of every single person including every extra is superlative and draws you in deeply. The freshly introduced cast of Boys are amazing actors. Shankar has really explored the teenage life and antics of the Boys. He has also effectively portrayed their perspectives of the world, their studies and their parents, who are generally not shown in very good light but like I said, it was extremely realistic and something many can relate to. The Screenplay is unbelievable. Social Message Who says that this movie doesn't have a social message? It has a very important one and that is Love and Passion vs Getting Settled in Life which every parent wants a quick solution to. Every conservative family wants to get their children settled in life as soon as possible but completely ignores the personal life and needs of the child. Its an extremely good message if one could just keep and open mind and see the movie till the very end. Songs I used to hate the songs at first but truth be told, they are awesome. After seeing this movie, I really started to like the songs and they had some true significance and relation to the plot. The songs were all super hits, done by none other than AR Rahman who unfortunately went and blabbered something about Boys running successfully only due to the songs, leading Shankar to ditch him for his unfortunate crapfest, Anniyan. Conclusion Indeed, Boys may not be for everyone and one really has to keep an open mind while watching it, especially if one is a woman. Teenagers should have no problems. Having said that, this movie is undeniably a ground breaker and a landmark film in Indian cinema. It is extremely under-appreciated in Tamil Nadu just because some of the sexually explicit stuff that the Boys do caused too much shock which presided over common sense.

• Give it a chance

  whoathar2006-08-10

  Boys is aimed for a very select audience and that would be middle class, teenage or semi-mature urban youth and in particular, collegites who can related with this events in this movie. That however isn't exactly a good reflection of the percentage of the demographic, meaning that it will have a very difficult time being digested by the lower income sections of society or the moral oldies who cannot relate and appreciate the concept of this movie. This is why the director went and made Anniyan which was engineered to appeal to masses, instead of going with good ideas of his own. The first 1/3rd of the movie is what was already described before - sex, sex and more sex. Although its not nude sexual activity as in porno, it concerns the Boys chasing women and making all sorts of perverse moves which will make any viewer seeing the movie with his family, cringe and run away. Not because it was so perverse but because this was probably what he does or did in the past as a teenager. Yes some of the Boys activities are perverse beyond imagination but its nothing unreal or unbelievable for people who have been there. Those who hold morals are going to be bit outraged though and will either be angry at society or the director for portraying the Boys this way but come on, its just a movie. The next 1/3rd of the movie concerns the Boys being oppressed by their parents, quite realistically I might add. The actors in the parent roles have done an amazing job at portraying strict and humiliated middle class parents. The question now is whether a relationship can survive the hardships of society and when it comes to a developing country like India where everyone has slog their ass off to earn their daily meals with little conveniences provided by the government, this forms a very good philosophical question. We know which one - love or getting settled in life, is more important and the Boys take up the challenge. The next part concerns the hardship that the Boys, who were previously spoilt by their parents, suffer after running away from home to make it on their own. Their suffering has been portrayed very nicely and contrasts against the starting portion of the film. Yet with all the suffering, the Boys manage to maintain a positive outlook and find happiness with each other. The last part is probably the most weak as it progresses from suffering to their incredible and amazing success like a quantum jump. Their success was just too fast but then you notice that the movie has already played for a long time. But even though its long, you never feel bored at all and after seeing it, it will feel like a very short movie. Overall, Boys is an extremely bold movie and highly controversial yet very very entertaining and enjoyable, with a good message that most fail to see too. There is bit more emphasis on the songs in this movie overall than most other movies but thats not a bad thing since the songs themselves are very good. Unlike many people who can't see beyond the sexual element in this movie, I do feel that the movie has a superb message. Studies aren't everything. You can succeed where you want to. This is without doubt a must watch movie at least once but the audience it was aimed for, can easily view it three or four times without getting bored. Perhaps the director should have made a sequel to this movie instead of Anniyan.