User reviews

Boys," the 2003 Tamil film directed by Shankar, might not have been a massive hit at the time of its release, but it's a movie that has aged surprisingly well. Back then, it was criticized for its bold portrayal of youth culture, relationships, and the rebellion against societal norms. However, in today's context, where audiences are more open to exploring different narratives, "Boys" could easily find its place as a cult classic.

The film centers around a group of college friends Munna, Babu, Juju, Kumar, and Krishna who are carefree and deeply entrenched in their youthful exuberance. Their lives take a dramatic turn when Munna falls in love with Harini, leading to a series of events that test their friendships, dreams, and relationships. The movie doesn't shy away from exploring themes like love, lust, ambition, and the consequences of impulsive decisions.

One of the film's highlights is its music, composed by A. R. Rahman. The soundtrack of "Boys" was groundbreaking at the time, with tracks like "Girlfriend," "Dating," and "Secret of Success" becoming instant hits. Rahman's music perfectly captures the energy and spirit of the youth, and even today, the songs are enjoyed by fans across generations.

Comedian Vivek's role as Mangalam, a street-smart marriage broker and bank employee, is another standout element of the film. His witty one-liners and impeccable timing provide much-needed comic relief amidst the drama. Vivek's character also serves as a voice of reason, often delivering sharp critiques of society's hypocrisy, which resonates even more today.

The movie's portrayal of friendship and the struggles of young adults is something that many can relate to, even after two decades. The way the film addresses issues like parental pressure, career choices, and the clash between tradition and modernity was ahead of its time. If "Boys" were released now, it would likely be appreciated for its boldness and the way it challenges outdated mindsets.

Yes, the film has its flaws, with some scenes and dialogues feeling a bit over the top. However, it's important to view "Boys" through the lens of the era it was made in. The movie dared to be different, and while it may not have been perfect, it certainly wasn't as bad as many critics made it out to be. In fact, it's a film that grows on you with repeated viewings.

In conclusion, "Boys" is a film that deserves a second chance. With A. R. Rahman's incredible music, Vivek's perfect comedic timing, and a storyline that resonates with the struggles of youth, it's a movie that could very well have been a blockbuster if it had been released in today's more accepting and open-minded climate.

This is a first of its kind teen drama in Tamil. Puthiya paadhai, indru poi naalai vaa,pudhiya mannargal, kadhal desam have equal share of teen drama but not raw enough like Boys. The visionary of youngsters predicted in 2003 is brilliant.

Vikatan wrote 'Chiiii' on its first page but now giving reviews to trash like Iruttu arayil murattu kuthu, hara hara mahadevaki, zombie etc in the name of A movie.

This is a gem for many reason. Everyone starred in this movie got a better life. Panjum panjum sernda thappu, Dating, Barbie doll anime, 6 ambitioous people starting a music brand, getting sony sponsor, Mtv shows oh my god a lotttt of things that people doesn't even knew existed.

This movie was spoiled by the boomer 80s kids who objected this like its a sin for people to enjoy their life, elope, find their way in life.

The audio track of this movie is a GEM. This is a dictionary book for electrifying music. Even after 20 years the songs are so fresh and enjoyable. I'm a fan of 'Ayyappan' song. Most underrated. Just look at the artists in this movie - Karthik, Tippu, Sunitha Sarathy, Adnan Sami, Blazze, vasundra Das, Clinton, Lucky Ali uffff...🔥 Secret of success is such a motivational song.

The main story is 5 teen boys who are controlled by their parents wants to break the chain and live a free life. One of them falls in love with a girl, supported by their friends, plans to elope. To get their life going they opt in for their interest of life - starting a music band named 'Boys'. Remaining of the movie describes the adventures they go through, downfall, struggles in life on the way to success.

Vivek gets a great credit to this movie. He motivates them, advises them, helps them, lateral thinking etc. Sendhil appears for just 2 scenes in the movie but explains Data and Information concepts - Information is wealth.

I still gave 8 rating only because of the obscene scenes which are not needed in the movie. Those scenes almost dilutes what director wants to convey. If those portions were edited, this movie might make an impact.

Let kids be free. Let them go out of house, let them try new things, let them learn life on their own, let them figure out their future that's all its about.

Boys!!! It is agreed that it hoists the best in every scene. But when I finished seeing the movie I thought that there is still something to come. And some of the scenes are over imaginative, when considering the masses for whom the film is taken. And Of Course!!! there are copy from many Hollywood films, for example driving bike in opposite direction in the road(MATRIX), a disgusting scene including first boy with the prostitute(Forrest Gump) and the dance sequences which are copied mostly from TV music channels.

The sexual content of this movie may pioneer the way to most of the films yet to come. The song having the couple dancing in junked place with bottles and bats are a poor imagination and rotten graphics. Shankar-no more audiences like you old style graphics in songs.

AR Rahmans songs and the camera lifts the film. The actors don't do much coz they try to act natural.

On the whole its worth seeing it once for not seeing it again. Coz its a special movie!!! :-)

Boys is a movie of Chain of what the director thinks are good scenes

5/10

Boys is about Music , friendship ,love, Ambition , goal. There r many elements in movie which will win our hearts. Especially post interval. The struggle of boys is shown in a beautiful way and screenplay is perfectly bent. And AR Rahman songs are biggest plus. They added complete flavour to the movie. Ofcourse it's a musical story. And shankar's visioy is too good. It can bee seen all the way in movie. Supporting actors did well. Siddharth is perfect. Genelia is impressive. Its not like regular drama. Its something different from routine. Locations are ok. Watch it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Boys" is the sixth movie from India's most successful commercial director today,Shankar,whose all 5 previous films(not including the hindi remake of Mudhalvan) have been runaway blockbusters not only in his home state but also in other languages in which they were dubbed.Remarkable thing about Shankar is his movies have also gained critical acclaim which is reflected in the fact that 2 of his movies(Indian & Jeans) were India's entry for Oscars in Foreign film category.Further,Shankar's movies have broken new grounds on the technical side.Jeans contained 22mins of CGI(Computer Generated Imagery) which was a new record for a live action movie anywhere.Apart from all this,songs from Shankar's movies(all composed by A.R.Rahman) have been immensely popular not only in India but also in various parts of the world where Indians live.Infact Rahman gives his best for Shankar.

Shankar's last movie "Mudhalvan" was released in 1999 and was one of the biggest commercial hits in Tamil movie history.Shankar remade Mudhalvan in Hindi as Nayak which was moderately successful.Coming after nearly a gap of 4 yrs,Boys obviously is highly anticipated amongst the moviegoers in India.The songs of Boys have already topped the charts in Shankar's homestate of Tamil Nadu and also in neighbouring state of AP.So far,Shankar has maintained an alternative pattern of tackling serious social & political issues in one movie and light hearted romances in the next.He says he does so inorder to avoid getting too serious or bored with himself.Whether it is a serious or fun movie,audiences are hardly getting bored with the way Shankar presents them.

In tune with his pattern,Shankar has again turned to romance with `Boys' after almost single-handedly giving a new dimension for the word Leader in `Mudhalvan'."Boys" tells the story of 5...well boys,their transition from fun loving & easy going youths to becoming a MTV music award winning pop group.Shankar litters enough obstacles for the boys to overcome on their way to success.But to start with,the director moves the initial scenes by showing the boys as adolescents who think of nothing else but girls,romance and....to put it simply.. sex.They chase females of all ages,get into fights for them,earns a hard fought date and do heroic deeds to impress them(even if it means running nude across the road in peak traffic).And if you leave town thinking they'll be doing a group study,they will bring home a hooker to do gang-bang.Though these scenes are really hilarious,its disturbing to see our youth portrayed this way not to mention some scenes,though meant to be funny,makes you cringe in your seats incase you are seated next to your family member.

When the boys' parents meet and try to put an end to their antics,the boys erupt.They leave home,help the lead boy to elope with his love to get married and vows to become successful.Subsequently the homeless boys now start to endure all the trials & tribulations of life to no end.While trying to become successful musicians,they inadvertently mingle with a radical group and ends up in jail.After getting released,things start to brighten up for the boys as they succeed in getting a record contract with Sony after impressing the Sony's boss by playing a revolutionary number in a packed cricket stadium.But tragedy strikes when one of the boys dies in his effort to save the lead boy's marriege which gets into troubled waters when the girl comes to know about their night of orgy with the hooker. But the boys re-group their spirits and ultimately become the talk of the nation with their debut album aptly named `Boys' which garners glory at the MTV music awards. Boys is no doubt an entertaining movie which hardly has any dull moments.If not taken seriously,it has sufficient things to give a satisfactory viewing.Rahman's music is mind boggling,song sequences are pictured beautifully,some scenes are really funny,the digital imagery are well made and above all the movie literally drips in a youthful ambience with the boys bubbling with energy and the lead actress is absolutely charming and fits the role perfectly.But if you take the movie seriously in a social conscious manner,lets face it.The boys depicted in the movie have a fairy tale ending to their journey,though it was appalling to see the antics they did in the first half in the name of fun loving youths.Their parents are portrayed as caricatures or stick figures whose lives are devoid of any fun.What a shame!.Shankar's intentions may be right in trying to show the capability of today's youngsters.But unless you are really blessed,what is the chance of having such a fairy tale finish after going totally awry during your college or school days?.If a boy from Chennai takes a cue from `Boys' and goes on to do the unprecedented thing of winning accolades for India in Olympics or MTV awards,its more than welcome.But if the movie is going to change the perspective of group study in the minds of even a couple of students,then it's a disaster.

But `Boys' is part of show business.You can't blame Shankar,who did exactly what he had in mind in `Boys' and could very well continue his impressive run.But lets hope his next venture will occupy a place in the line of Gentleman,Indian and Mudhalvan and not in the line of Boys.

This movie is awesome and a ground breaker when it came to Tamil Cinema or even Indian Cinema as a whole. What I cant figure out is how the director/writer came up with all the stuff seen in this movie? He must have interviewed hundreds of college going guys throughout Chennai and studied their life very carefully. The ideas here are pure genius and typical of Shankar, even if too controversial. Sujatha also writes dialog for most other Tamil films but only when it comes to Shankar's movies does the dialog really stand out. Shankar has the ability to bring out the best in every performer, actor and writer, even extra. Even if Mani Ratnam makes more realistic movies, Shankar is the better director for being far more creative in his work. For example, the "Malgova Aunty" scene and dialog threw me off the chair. I was on the floor. If you don't like this movie, then you're

a) Completely retarded b) A conservative c) From a mofussil background d) All of the above

If only Shankar could be as creative as he was in this movie, in Anniyan which was absolute crap in comparison. I don't think that even Shivaji would be as good as Boys. I hope that after Shivaji, Shankar makes Boys-2.

S. Shankar has gained quite a reputation for making expensive crapfest. I have only seen his 'Indian' and 'Nayak, The Real Hero' and loathe both movies (though they have great soundtracks and female leads). Little did I know that he directed 'Boys'. After watching the movie I must give him some credit for making something that is at least watchable.

'Boys' starts off as an entertaining teen flick following six teenagers but the story slowly progresses as the protagonists move into adulthood, a little too fast, and then the movie tackles various social issues. Themes like friendship, sex, censorship and injustice are well presented here. 'Boys' is considered a poignant film for the middle-class Indians.

The humour works very well. One can easily relate to the various situations the teenagers experience. However, the more intense sequences are loud and overdone. They appear theatrical and melodramatic.

A.R. Rahman's score is terrific. The visualization of the first two songs and the romantic songs is very poor. The special effects used in the songs are awful. The lyrics of the romantic songs are clichéd but the rest of the songs have great lyrics. I especially liked the last one, 'Secret of My Success'.

S.Shankar has cast an ensemble of newcomers and the five actors who play the title role, Siddharth, Nakul, Bharath, Sai Srinivas, and Manigandan, all perform very well especially in the comedic sequences but they ham it up in the more intense scenes. Genelia D'Souza is competent. Vivek is likable as the supportive Mangalam Sir.

'Boys' is almost three hours long and it could have used some editing. Yet, it's still an enjoyable watch despite the aforementioned as long as you have a working fast-forward button on your remote control. I'm surprised that the man behind abysmal tripe like 'Indian' and 'Nayak' came up with something more 'human'.

Worst Movie. Nobody acted good in the movie. Songs and BGM in the movie were good. Vivek's comedy scenes in the movie were hilarious. The movie was so boring and not at all interesting. This movie is one of the Worst Movie of Shankar after Kadhalan. Worst Movie.

This movie is very very enjoyable, not like some Hindi movie. So I gave 9/10 rate for this one.