Here's a piece of news that has kept me boiling since I heard it. Its not really "new"s as its some 4 months old, but as I was in a time warp zone (to be read as BITS, Pilani) for the last few months, I couldn't get hold of it. So what's it about?
"The Tamil Nadu State Award for Best Actor for 2005 goes to Rajnikanth for Chandramukhi! "
Can you believe it???!!!
Yes, if you are from TN, the only place where such comedies happen and get appreciated too.
Here's something more to tickle that funny bone of yours.
During the post award speech, the "Thalaivar"
(The "ar" is bcos of the respect I give to this 58 year old almost hexagenarian, in fact he's also addressed as "Superst-ar" by his fans respectfully for the same reason. Correspondingly, the evergreen Kamal is still "Ulaga Nayag-an" to his fans! )
of Kollywood thanked the CM for the award, without whose short sightedness and ability to go to any levels for retaining his vote bank, he would have stood no chance of getting it.
But what he spoke later was shocking to say the least. Quoting him, after editing portions resembling bed time stories and sojourns to the Himalayas, he said something like
" I feel the award has been given not to Dr. Saravanan ( the doc character Sunny played by Mohanlal in the original with aplomb and reduced to a quack in this pot-boiler by "Thalaivar" and the primate P Vasu) but to Vetteyan ( the guy who appears for 20 mins in the end, fondling his hair, saying inane stuff like "Thoppi Thoppi" and the more famous "LAKALAKALAKA...")
I feel very honoured because its for the first time that I ve actually researched for any character (admitting that none of his previous characters required any research).
I went through lots of old books and studied the characteristics and lifestyle of the old age ARAVANIS (Eunuchs! ) and have incorporated the same in the character of Vetteyan...."
Whoa!!! So he was acting like a eunuch all the while, and no one knew it! Admitted, the character was quite queer, but was it a eunuch??
Not able to stand my lack of ability to identify characters, I turned Sun Music on, SUN TV's answer to SS Music in its own style of assuming the primary audience to be apes, where the most entertaining things that happen are the SMSes marqueeing in the bottom of the screen carrying stuff like "THALA ROCKS!" "EAST OR WEST VIJAY IS THE BEST" and the less frequent "RAJNI IS ONLY SUPERSTAR" or even more infrequent "PURATCHI THALABATHY VISHAL ROCKS" ( Ya, you caught me...I WAS joking) or the very rare once in a lifetime "AJJU, THONTHARAVU PANNATHA" (the last one was actually sent by my dad showing where I got my lunacy from )
There, if you wait for 20 mins patiently, there will at least be one caller wanting the song that goes "Raa Raa" . You will also be glad to know that he "dedicates" this song to next street sweetheart, whom he presumes is watching this show, but is actually weeping with her mother watching some mega serial in another of SUN TV Group's Channels, this time more elegantly called SUN TV.
Let me digress a bit and talk about this beautiful concept of "Dedication" .
This is not to be confused with hard work, dedication etc. No. This is a different kind of dedication. This is a Dedication of Love.
This dedication of love according to historians has its origins and many parallels with Shah Jahan's dedication of Taj Mahal to his love Mumtaz Mahal.
1) That dedication took 20 years to build, this took 20 minutes of waiting in the queue ( of model 1 ie M/M/1:FCFS/infinite/infinite according to OR - this piece of info is only for the souls unfortunate enough to do Operation Research under CB Gupta in their 3-1. Others can ignore. You are actually better off not knowing this. Trust Me).
2) Taj Mahal cost Shah Jahan Money ( of order GIGA or TERRA Rupees) . This dedication too costs money (of order MICRO Dollars or MILLI Cents).
3)Shah Jahan's dedication needed lots of intermediaries like labourers,huge pool of skilled artisans, architects etc)
This dedication also needs lot of intermediaries like the PCO guy, a whole corporation BSNL is working to carry the message forward, and most important the Handsome (or Beautiful , depending on sex and the reader's orientation) Hunk (or Babe) VJ's of Sun Music who on doing a good job get promoted to anchoring lively shows like "Ilamai Puthumai" in Sun TV, and also suddenly develop histrionic talents leading to roles in the serials needing constant supply of new characters.
4) Shah Jahan was an Emperor , here ....you get it
Right, getting back....so after some nice talk from the lovely VJ, the song was beamed in full glory. Though the music had uncanny resemblences to the original "Oru Murai" from Manichitrathaazhu, and with the better parts of the video being an absolute ripoff, the song is great. Congrats Vidyasagar, you have given a great album.
So there was Jothika, dancing like possessed, albeit ditto to Shobana. Incidentally Jothika got the Best Actress Award, but no complaints there. It's really tough to exactly copy and reproduce it the way she has done. Not so incidentally, Chandramukhi got the Best Film Award too. As for that, the 1 liner in the Raag T Shirt I am wearing now speaks best...
*/ No comments */
Then came Dr. Saravanan, our "Ilayathilagam" Prabhu who in the film had just delivered his most memorable "Enna Koduma Saravanan Ithu" dialogue, which in the future will be used by a character in Chennai 600028, Ajith in Billa (speaking to our own Prabhu) and also by an Orkut Community for promoting like-minded dialogue in Tamil Films as its title.
Oops, I forgot there was a third guy too. But he doesn't need any more words to describe.
Then Dr. Saravanan says "Paaru, Un Manaivi Gangavai Paar" and Prabhu gives an awesome expression of shock and disgust. To prepare for that scene, Prabhu would have just thought of how the film was shaping up, and Voila! (Thanks Koba for the expression) , there it was!
The third guy actually is quite important, as he is the dancer whom Chandramukhi-possesed Jothika is in love with. So he enters the fray and they start dancing. They dance their way to the kings' court, all in Jothika's imagination of course and there amidst sounds of "Rajadhi Raja Raja Gambheera RajaMaarthanda RajaKulaThilaka Vetteya Raja Paaraag Paraag Paraag"(if u think that intro was big, this is just a part of a movie made by the only star who challenged Sivaji by releasing a movie with it - Mansur ALi Khan, who hold the Guiness Record for the longest title)
our Vetteya Raja makes his entry, and sits on the throne...and the rest as they say is history.
Then I started to observe the eunuch-ness in the portrayal and it gathered a respectable 1.5% in my lenient marking scheme. And that 1.5% is because of the inherent eunuch-ness present in every Rajni portrayal, with his trademark "Chi..Po" and "Aaaaaan, Appidiya" dialogues and "biting his fingers" expression. These stunts, usually there to emphasize the innocence of the character, actually look more like eunuch portrayal than Vetteyan.
If this is a portrayal of a Eunuch, then what do you call Ajith's Narthaki in "Varalaaru" or how would you pacifiy Prakash Raj's Maharani in "Appu". If this is how eunuchs behave, then what about the real eunuchs that appear in every odd Vijay film or the ones that danced to "Ooraram Puliyamaram" in "Paruthiveeran". Poor souls. Amen.
Would the jury be able to explain how Rajni's performance was better than Vikram's in "Anniyan" or Suriya's in "Ghajini". The only reason he got the award is same as the only reason his films run - "Kanna, ithu Rajni Ma". Or maybe because they thought they wouldn't be able to give him an award in the future, so better give it now. After al, Vikram and Suriya have many more films left to showcase their acting prowess.
Seriously, the award to Rajni is an insult to the hard work of other actors who have sweated it out and really given mind-blowing performances. Anyone could have done the roles that Rajni did, but I can't imagine too many people who can do an "Anniyan".
Its bad enough that fans are crazy about a guy who was wittingly or unwittingly, pushed Tamil Cinema more into mediocrity than anyone else, by the kind of films that he did and more by the kinds of clones that he has spawned.
Make no mistake, Rajni WAS a great actor. But after one stage, he had to shell himself into a cocoon that prevented him from performing to his potential, and definitely the Vetteyan is not the best portrayal of his, and its definitely not a EUNUCH! Look at Alex Pandian, look at Basha, and look at Vetteyan. You can see why P Vasu remains the only guy in the galaxy who can compare them in the same breath.
On a brighter note, better sense prevailed and
The TN State Award for Best Actor for the year 2006 went quite deservingly to
Kamal Hassan for "Vettayaadu Vilayaadu".
Still, it amuses me that this is the only place where
People get to know what the actor was portraying only after he gets an award for it!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Bridge Over Bay of Bengal
Tamil Nadu's politics and its politicians provide great entertainment, wonderful excuses for endless lacha and prophesying doom for anyone of the forward community of Hindus and good reason to shift base to US ("Who will live in this sick place?"). One of the latest issues to crop up is the Rama Sethu Samudram Project - the dream project of Anna which due to various bottlenecks hasn't materialized for 40 years.
The Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel Project proposes to link the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar through a Shipping Channel. It plans to cut through the Rama Sethu (or "Adam's Bridge" as T.R. Balu would have it). The benefits include reduction in distance between the ports of TN and Srilanka, reduced time for ships and development of ports.
But the picture is not that rosy. Some environmentalists have predicted destruction of the ecosystem in the region. Shipping experts feel that the project is viable only for ships carrying less than 30000 tonne, while the current trend in the industry is ships carrying anywhere between 60000 to 150000 tonnes. Also it seems the project wont really benefit ships economically in a major way, and would have negligible benefits for ships from far away Africa or Europe. Politically, the shipping canal would end in Jaffna, a territory under LTTE control. So any new port that develops there might benefit the Tigers more than the Sri Lankan Govt. Also it also provides and easy way for Tigers and refugees to come to India, which again bothers Sri Lanka.
But the highlight of the controversy is the religious angle thrown in as the Project proposes to break parts of the bridge built by Rama and the Vanaras and Bears that formed his army.
Subramania Swamy had challenged the government's decision to carry out the project in the Supreme Court citing the above reasons and many. The govt in its reply produced documents from the Archaeological Survey of India which stated "There is no proof that Rama existed or that the Adam's Bridge was man-made". This snowballed into a controversy with parties like BJP trying to get maximum mileage out of the issue.
But the thing that shocked me most was TN CM Karunanidhi's statements which showed total lack of sensitivity towards religion and culture. Karunanidhi openly questioned the belief in the "Aryan God" Rama and claimed that "Valmiki called Rama a drunkard". Truly, only in TN can you get away with such statements. The people of TN, with a history of being ruled for 40 years by atheistic Dravidian parties who came to power by beating Rama's idols with slippers and adorning Ganesha with garlands of slippers just watched as though nothing happened. Maybe 40 years is time enough to numb any religious fervor. Or maybe as Challa puts it, Rama being an "Aryan God" was alien to the TN culture. Maybe a statement about Lord Muruga would have elicited a more ferocious response. But whatever said and done, Karunanidhi's statements were totally unwarranted and betrayed any illusions about his political maturity.
On one of the numerous Lachas on this topic, AP pointed out that as the project promises economic benefits, it should be carried out regardless of other issues as it would benefit the people. I feel it's a very one-dimensional way of looking at things. Economic Betterment should not be the only criterion by which our government runs. The country is more like a home, not some shop looking for profits. Things like culture and religion are something to be proud of and cherished. What religion does basically is that it keeps a check on your activities by imposing concepts like self-conscience, Karma and inspiring stories of Good -Vs-Evil in which Good eventually triumphs after facing tumultuous obstacles on the way. The story of Rama is one such. Religion promotes altruism in today's self-centered world. It assumes even greater significance in today's world where money assumes the central objective of man's life.
We all want our children to grow up to be good men and women. So we tell them all these stories of Good-Vs-Evil etc. All the places of religious significance like Rameshwaram offer a proof before their eyes that the events in the stories really happened. It reinforces belief in the stories in the children's mind - not only the stories but also in all the good values that are packaged in it. The Rama Sethu is one such monument which you can point at and show to your children that Rama existed. If they grow up to be good men, they would find more happiness than they could get from money and the world would be a better and safer place to live in.
Thus, it is not a question of whether Lord Rama existed or not, it is a question of what the belief in his existence can do for the world. Weighing the options is not too difficult. Hope the self professed leaders of the "Rationalist Thinkers' Movement" of Tamil Nadu realize this.
The Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel Project proposes to link the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar through a Shipping Channel. It plans to cut through the Rama Sethu (or "Adam's Bridge" as T.R. Balu would have it). The benefits include reduction in distance between the ports of TN and Srilanka, reduced time for ships and development of ports.
But the picture is not that rosy. Some environmentalists have predicted destruction of the ecosystem in the region. Shipping experts feel that the project is viable only for ships carrying less than 30000 tonne, while the current trend in the industry is ships carrying anywhere between 60000 to 150000 tonnes. Also it seems the project wont really benefit ships economically in a major way, and would have negligible benefits for ships from far away Africa or Europe. Politically, the shipping canal would end in Jaffna, a territory under LTTE control. So any new port that develops there might benefit the Tigers more than the Sri Lankan Govt. Also it also provides and easy way for Tigers and refugees to come to India, which again bothers Sri Lanka.
But the highlight of the controversy is the religious angle thrown in as the Project proposes to break parts of the bridge built by Rama and the Vanaras and Bears that formed his army.
Subramania Swamy had challenged the government's decision to carry out the project in the Supreme Court citing the above reasons and many. The govt in its reply produced documents from the Archaeological Survey of India which stated "There is no proof that Rama existed or that the Adam's Bridge was man-made". This snowballed into a controversy with parties like BJP trying to get maximum mileage out of the issue.
But the thing that shocked me most was TN CM Karunanidhi's statements which showed total lack of sensitivity towards religion and culture. Karunanidhi openly questioned the belief in the "Aryan God" Rama and claimed that "Valmiki called Rama a drunkard". Truly, only in TN can you get away with such statements. The people of TN, with a history of being ruled for 40 years by atheistic Dravidian parties who came to power by beating Rama's idols with slippers and adorning Ganesha with garlands of slippers just watched as though nothing happened. Maybe 40 years is time enough to numb any religious fervor. Or maybe as Challa puts it, Rama being an "Aryan God" was alien to the TN culture. Maybe a statement about Lord Muruga would have elicited a more ferocious response. But whatever said and done, Karunanidhi's statements were totally unwarranted and betrayed any illusions about his political maturity.
On one of the numerous Lachas on this topic, AP pointed out that as the project promises economic benefits, it should be carried out regardless of other issues as it would benefit the people. I feel it's a very one-dimensional way of looking at things. Economic Betterment should not be the only criterion by which our government runs. The country is more like a home, not some shop looking for profits. Things like culture and religion are something to be proud of and cherished. What religion does basically is that it keeps a check on your activities by imposing concepts like self-conscience, Karma and inspiring stories of Good -Vs-Evil in which Good eventually triumphs after facing tumultuous obstacles on the way. The story of Rama is one such. Religion promotes altruism in today's self-centered world. It assumes even greater significance in today's world where money assumes the central objective of man's life.
We all want our children to grow up to be good men and women. So we tell them all these stories of Good-Vs-Evil etc. All the places of religious significance like Rameshwaram offer a proof before their eyes that the events in the stories really happened. It reinforces belief in the stories in the children's mind - not only the stories but also in all the good values that are packaged in it. The Rama Sethu is one such monument which you can point at and show to your children that Rama existed. If they grow up to be good men, they would find more happiness than they could get from money and the world would be a better and safer place to live in.
Thus, it is not a question of whether Lord Rama existed or not, it is a question of what the belief in his existence can do for the world. Weighing the options is not too difficult. Hope the self professed leaders of the "Rationalist Thinkers' Movement" of Tamil Nadu realize this.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy
One of the positive things that happened in the hour or so that I spent watching Vibes – the Culnite of Capitol (Delhi Regional Assoc.) , apart from increasing my IQ was the promo of the EDC ( English Drama Club) play eponymous with the title of this entry. It was slickly made, doing everything that a promo should do- give the basic plot without revealing too much, and also succeeding in arousing curiosity in the minds of the audience. I eagerly waited for a week and finally made it to the audi tonight to witness the first EDC play of the semester.
The whole play hinged on the performance of Arjun P Kumar (APK to friends) who potrayed Nathuram Godse, and he carried it off splendidly like only he could. The whole play was structured in a way that it presented Nathuram’s point of view (The title translates to “Am Nathuram Godse Speaking”) and only his view. Every scene and every character in the play did their bit to elevate the protagonist and his controversial views on Gandhi. Based on a Marathi Play that raised a lot of controversy, it was very bold of EDC to have carried of this adaptation and they did quite a good job of it, their efforts clearly showing on stage.
While watching the play, halfway I started to observe the audience reaction subconsciously, and what I found was one unified bunch of youngsters rooting for Nathuram Godse, the villain of our school textbooks, the guy we were taught to be hated as the murderer of the “Father of the Nation”.
But here we were, 59 years after he pulled the fateful trigger, finding sympathy and reason in his actions. Why the transformation?
I am sure it would have been blasphemous to side with Nathuram in the early years of Independent India, unless one hailed from a hardcore Gandhi-bashing family, who could be easily spotted as those having wide memberships in RSS, Hindu MahaSabha and the like. But come the turn of the century, and we were treated to Kamal Hassan’s Magnum Opus “Hey Ram” (and the finest piece of cinema Kodambakkam has produced, in my opinion). This was followed by the Marathi play that inspired the EDC one, a movie on How Gandhi the Father of the Nation was not such a good father to his own sons (Anil Kapoor produced “Gandhi- My Father”). Even Tushar Gandhi’s biography of Gandhi had some unflattering things to say about him
Why are we, as a nation going back and inspecting our prized trophy and frowning at irregularities, rust and corrosion instead of polishing it? Is it because we believe he had failed in his “Paternal Duties” as the Father of the Nation? Aren’t we able to digest the fact that this Father had a big hand to play in the splitting of our house, when he could have prevented it? Or is it because by the end of his life, his Muslim appeasement had grown in magnitude to eclipse the sacrifices he undertook to get us freedom?
Have we concluded that peace, Satyagraha and Ahimsa are good to speak about and tell children, but not practical to practice it? It’s true that though Ahimsa could win a nation back for us, it wouldn’t help in sustaining it. An Eye for an Eye would make the whole world blind. But if we don’t react, only we would end up getting our eyes gorged out. A similar parable is found in the case of Ashoka and the Mauryan Empire. Ahimsa flourished in the period of Ashoka after the battle of Kalinga, but after him, the Mauryan empire was never able to recover from the inherent lack of self defence that weakend the borders of the empire. Added to that his successors weren’t as able either and within a century and half, the Mauryan Empire crumbled. Was Ashoka’s imposition of his personal beliefs on the empire and its affairs a cause for cracks to appear in the empire? Is Ahimsa a concept that’s fine when followed individually but not collectively as a nation?
All said and done, Ahimsa or for that matter any value or principle won’t help me face the tests lined against me so I return to the more immediate concerns of Ghoting for Exams. So more on this later…
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Kireedom - A Crown in Ajith's Head?
I watched Kireedom today for a multitude of reasons. Primary reason was it was going to be the last Tamil film that i was gonna catch on the silver screen for months to come. Secondary reason was it offered a get together with my BITSian friends. Third (Wonder how it would have sounded if I had used "Tertiary Reason" :) ), as a kid I had fallen in love with Mohanlal's performance in the classic original Kireedom (1989) which won him a special President's Medal for acting. So I wanted to see it just for the sake of curiosity to know how much has been retained in its 2007 avatar and how the Ultimate Star Thala Ajth 's performance matches with Mohanlal's. Another reason was Aalwar-after acting in probably the worst film of his career, I was pretty confident nothing could match its mediocrity.
I had certain apprehensions whether it would end up as another tribute to the never say die spirit of Ajith fans who lap up all his wonderful subjects like Ji, Jana, Anjaneya and Aaalwar. Thankfully it didn't turn out to be so. Of course, there is the unavoidable intro song, which with words like "Thala aadumbothu Vaal Adalaamo" clearly spells who the song is written for. It plays to the gallery of Ajith Fans, who would take it as a slight against Vijay and would stupidly rejoice at that with wonderment at their Thala.
I had high expectations from G V Prakash Kumar (who is incidentally younger than me, that makes me feel old), the music director who gave my favourite album of 2006, Veyyil. I thought he would live up to the name of his uncle A.R Rahman. But I was disappointed a little. The songs are good, not great like Veyyil. Background score is adequate, but cliched at many points. At some points though, his brilliance shows. Maybe i expected too much. After ARR, only Harris Jeyaraj promised much, but now even his music is stale as he always recycles from his own songs and even copies blatantly from some English songs. So after Veyyil, i had pined high hopes on GV Prakash Kumar as another ARR in the making, but after Kireedom, i have second thoughts regarding that. Hope he comes out with another Veyyil in the future.
The intro song was mediocre, the melodies were OK, but the last song Kanneer Thuliye shocked me, it was straight lifted from his own uncle's work Poongatrile (Ey Ajnabee) from Dil Se (or Uyire, as u wud have it). Even the charanam sounded too similar. It may be tough to stay away from ARR's influence after working under him for so long, but surely tat ain't reason to do this. Hope he doesnt go the way of the Yuvans, Devas and Srikanth Devas.
The film remained surprisingly true to the original, except for the initial scenes of Ajith and Trisha, which were romantic and funny too. Vivek was not upto his mark, though his antics when Trisha and Ajith are romancing on the water tank and his dialogues on how tough it is to be a Rowdy these days evoked laughter, even from Challa :) Santhanam was suprisingly better than Vivek, though some of his jokes had double meanings attached (not that I am complaining :) )
The main crux of the story is how the dreams of a father and the life of his son is shattered by the twist of fate that befalls them. How a guy aspiring to be a Sub Inspector, is forced to take the aruvaal by circumstances, which also make him seem like a rowdy to be feared and respected to the people. How some incidents change the way everyone, including his family and his fiance's look at him and what happens in the end. To summarise, there is a Tamil proverb " Panamarathukku adila paal kudicha ellarum kallu kudikurathaa thaan karuthuvaa"
(He who drinks only milk under a palm tree, wud be suspected of drinking toddy)
The various emotions that pass through the protagonist was excellently captured by Mohanlal in the original. Does Ajith recapture the magic? Well, not completely. He is good, and surely much better than most of other actors in that at least he tries sincerely. But still, there is something that tickles me somewhere in his performances, not just in this film but always.
Somewhere he strikes me as being artificial, and forgive me there is still a trace of that eunuch in Varalaaru left in his body language. Maybe a Kamal or Vikram (in their younger days) would have suited the role better.
Trisha is used to carry the story forward in the first half, but disappears for most of the second half. But her character is such, and the story doesnt need more of her presence. Rajkiran performs well as father though he is a shade lesser than Thilakan of the original.
But the film is very much watchable, it is really good that they have decided to stick the original ending which augurs well for Tamil Cinema. A Brave attempt, as the film walks on a slippery pole on one side of which is commercial cinema and the other offbeat cinema. It's in no way boring and Ajith is good, if not Mohanlal enough. Ajith must atleast be congratulated for trying something different unlike Vijay, who thrives giving the same old wine in the same old bottle.
On the whole, the film is watchable and very good by Tamil standards.
I had certain apprehensions whether it would end up as another tribute to the never say die spirit of Ajith fans who lap up all his wonderful subjects like Ji, Jana, Anjaneya and Aaalwar. Thankfully it didn't turn out to be so. Of course, there is the unavoidable intro song, which with words like "Thala aadumbothu Vaal Adalaamo" clearly spells who the song is written for. It plays to the gallery of Ajith Fans, who would take it as a slight against Vijay and would stupidly rejoice at that with wonderment at their Thala.
I had high expectations from G V Prakash Kumar (who is incidentally younger than me, that makes me feel old), the music director who gave my favourite album of 2006, Veyyil. I thought he would live up to the name of his uncle A.R Rahman. But I was disappointed a little. The songs are good, not great like Veyyil. Background score is adequate, but cliched at many points. At some points though, his brilliance shows. Maybe i expected too much. After ARR, only Harris Jeyaraj promised much, but now even his music is stale as he always recycles from his own songs and even copies blatantly from some English songs. So after Veyyil, i had pined high hopes on GV Prakash Kumar as another ARR in the making, but after Kireedom, i have second thoughts regarding that. Hope he comes out with another Veyyil in the future.
The intro song was mediocre, the melodies were OK, but the last song Kanneer Thuliye shocked me, it was straight lifted from his own uncle's work Poongatrile (Ey Ajnabee) from Dil Se (or Uyire, as u wud have it). Even the charanam sounded too similar. It may be tough to stay away from ARR's influence after working under him for so long, but surely tat ain't reason to do this. Hope he doesnt go the way of the Yuvans, Devas and Srikanth Devas.
The film remained surprisingly true to the original, except for the initial scenes of Ajith and Trisha, which were romantic and funny too. Vivek was not upto his mark, though his antics when Trisha and Ajith are romancing on the water tank and his dialogues on how tough it is to be a Rowdy these days evoked laughter, even from Challa :) Santhanam was suprisingly better than Vivek, though some of his jokes had double meanings attached (not that I am complaining :) )
The main crux of the story is how the dreams of a father and the life of his son is shattered by the twist of fate that befalls them. How a guy aspiring to be a Sub Inspector, is forced to take the aruvaal by circumstances, which also make him seem like a rowdy to be feared and respected to the people. How some incidents change the way everyone, including his family and his fiance's look at him and what happens in the end. To summarise, there is a Tamil proverb " Panamarathukku adila paal kudicha ellarum kallu kudikurathaa thaan karuthuvaa"
(He who drinks only milk under a palm tree, wud be suspected of drinking toddy)
The various emotions that pass through the protagonist was excellently captured by Mohanlal in the original. Does Ajith recapture the magic? Well, not completely. He is good, and surely much better than most of other actors in that at least he tries sincerely. But still, there is something that tickles me somewhere in his performances, not just in this film but always.
Somewhere he strikes me as being artificial, and forgive me there is still a trace of that eunuch in Varalaaru left in his body language. Maybe a Kamal or Vikram (in their younger days) would have suited the role better.
Trisha is used to carry the story forward in the first half, but disappears for most of the second half. But her character is such, and the story doesnt need more of her presence. Rajkiran performs well as father though he is a shade lesser than Thilakan of the original.
But the film is very much watchable, it is really good that they have decided to stick the original ending which augurs well for Tamil Cinema. A Brave attempt, as the film walks on a slippery pole on one side of which is commercial cinema and the other offbeat cinema. It's in no way boring and Ajith is good, if not Mohanlal enough. Ajith must atleast be congratulated for trying something different unlike Vijay, who thrives giving the same old wine in the same old bottle.
On the whole, the film is watchable and very good by Tamil standards.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
In Contemplation
It is that time of the year when the Gods of Holidays have conspired with Singara Chennai and decided the city could do with one nuisance less. So they are packing me off to an Azkaban in Rajasthan, away from old friends and family. Which also makes this a time for contemplation, of the times spent together with friends and parents, and also of the times we didn't get to spend witheach other. When i go through these phases, i emerge empty with no thoughts running in my head.
This time around, i spent even lesser time than usual with my friends because of Practice School. Two months were too long for this drudgery to be endured. Of course, i shouldn't complain as mine was the saccest station available. But i will save writing about PS1 at Lasersoft for a different time.
Now, even though I went to work only for few hours a day, it coincided directly with the time i usually scorch the streets of KK Nagar in my Mercedes Zing with Viki, egging me on from the pillion. Naturally, this reduced my outings with Viki and the time I spent with him.
Slowly, but surely I can see contacts with old friends loosening. Not with my inner most circle of friends, but others who formed the "R Section" Gang , "E1" Gang , "Srimathi" Gang, the Quiz Team and various other gangs which gathered around a common place. Common place- maybe that is the answer. There is no longer the common place that united all, no more goin to school, no more goin to enrichment classes (as Srimathi Ma'm would put it), so it becomes more of a chance than necessity to meet these people.
Even among my closest friends, Nishanth is living in Trichy, so he could make it only for a day to meet up, though we made it memorable by watchin Sivaji - The Boss. Anerudh usually comes to my home the maximum, but this time around he came just twice i guess. But i have to see his face in college too, so that's OK. I was spending most of my time with Sunil and Viki, but realised Sunil's presence only in the absence after he left for NUS. Today he buzzed me half an hour before leavin for USA, and again it struck me that i would be seeing him only after an year.
Viki left last Friday, and we more than made the infrequent meetings by oor suthifyin n last 2 days, we even played cricket at Vadai's place for 2 days, but were kicked out of the house on the both the occasions. We also took a daring attempt to see Thullal, but God decided we had sinned too much so he didn't give us a chance to see that neorealistic classic :(
Now Viki is gone too. We were talking on the day he was leaving about how close we were to becoming classmates again in Eswari Engg College. The college is 8 mins from my place, 3 from his. We even fantasized how it wud have been if all of us were reunited as classmates. The disparity in a few enterance tests have flung us apart to different corners of the country-Trichy, Pilnai and Hamirpur. If u consider Sunil, it wud be "corners of the world" as he is in Singapore, rarher in USA now.
Of course, all of us have made new friends in our new place, and life goes on smoothly, but once I came home after bidding goodbye to Viki, the thought struck me: I ve only 3 more semesters left with Koba, Challa, Anerudh. 4 or maybe max 5 sems with the dualites.
After 3 sems, i might be blogging similarly about Koba or Challa, 3 years down the line, Upoo, Booboo, Jinglee, Brownie and S Ga and everyone and everything I met in BITS might be reduced to memories in photographs, reflections in thoughts. At this thought, i shivered: is this what life is all about, about making bonds only to know they would be weakened as time wears on and severed completely after many years. Is the purpose of life to brace these severances to the extent one becomes immune to it? Is to disregard the importance of life and the various bonds that get attached to one's life? Is it to meet the loss of bonds by making new ones? Or is it to know that there are people waiting for you in the life after death...In Contemplation...
This time around, i spent even lesser time than usual with my friends because of Practice School. Two months were too long for this drudgery to be endured. Of course, i shouldn't complain as mine was the saccest station available. But i will save writing about PS1 at Lasersoft for a different time.
Now, even though I went to work only for few hours a day, it coincided directly with the time i usually scorch the streets of KK Nagar in my Mercedes Zing with Viki, egging me on from the pillion. Naturally, this reduced my outings with Viki and the time I spent with him.
Slowly, but surely I can see contacts with old friends loosening. Not with my inner most circle of friends, but others who formed the "R Section" Gang , "E1" Gang , "Srimathi" Gang, the Quiz Team and various other gangs which gathered around a common place. Common place- maybe that is the answer. There is no longer the common place that united all, no more goin to school, no more goin to enrichment classes (as Srimathi Ma'm would put it), so it becomes more of a chance than necessity to meet these people.
Even among my closest friends, Nishanth is living in Trichy, so he could make it only for a day to meet up, though we made it memorable by watchin Sivaji - The Boss. Anerudh usually comes to my home the maximum, but this time around he came just twice i guess. But i have to see his face in college too, so that's OK. I was spending most of my time with Sunil and Viki, but realised Sunil's presence only in the absence after he left for NUS. Today he buzzed me half an hour before leavin for USA, and again it struck me that i would be seeing him only after an year.
Viki left last Friday, and we more than made the infrequent meetings by oor suthifyin n last 2 days, we even played cricket at Vadai's place for 2 days, but were kicked out of the house on the both the occasions. We also took a daring attempt to see Thullal, but God decided we had sinned too much so he didn't give us a chance to see that neorealistic classic :(
Now Viki is gone too. We were talking on the day he was leaving about how close we were to becoming classmates again in Eswari Engg College. The college is 8 mins from my place, 3 from his. We even fantasized how it wud have been if all of us were reunited as classmates. The disparity in a few enterance tests have flung us apart to different corners of the country-Trichy, Pilnai and Hamirpur. If u consider Sunil, it wud be "corners of the world" as he is in Singapore, rarher in USA now.
Of course, all of us have made new friends in our new place, and life goes on smoothly, but once I came home after bidding goodbye to Viki, the thought struck me: I ve only 3 more semesters left with Koba, Challa, Anerudh. 4 or maybe max 5 sems with the dualites.
After 3 sems, i might be blogging similarly about Koba or Challa, 3 years down the line, Upoo, Booboo, Jinglee, Brownie and S Ga and everyone and everything I met in BITS might be reduced to memories in photographs, reflections in thoughts. At this thought, i shivered: is this what life is all about, about making bonds only to know they would be weakened as time wears on and severed completely after many years. Is the purpose of life to brace these severances to the extent one becomes immune to it? Is to disregard the importance of life and the various bonds that get attached to one's life? Is it to meet the loss of bonds by making new ones? Or is it to know that there are people waiting for you in the life after death...In Contemplation...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
I AM BACK !!!
As I promised, " I AM BACK!!!" (in Arnie style). With BITSian life and encouraging net speeds taking it's toll on me, i am able 2 revive this blog only after a time frame associated with the gap between 2 Rajni movies.
Well, at least this post has arrived, unlike S.I.V.A.J.I- The Boss , which last heard was postponed (yet again) to June 15th. This doesn't augur well for Rajni fans or for Shankar and AVM, which has invested almost Rs.50 crores in the film. I don't know, but I've go a bad feeling about the biggest movie of 2007.
First the songs ,though very good, aren't exactly vintage Rahman. If one takes all the movies of Shankar-Rahman combo, this would surely rank the lowest in terms of music quality. The city audience would surely lap it up as the songs play to the latest trends in Tamil film music of including nonsensical verses from languages spoken in Saturn and having jarring background beats with no scope to understand the lyrics of the song which is a futile exercise in itself as they don't have much meaning anyway. Personally, after listening to the songs for hundreds of times, I like it. But I have huge doubts whether a guy from a place like Gobicchettipalayam would appreciate it.
Plus, all the fancy wigs that Rajni sports in the film posters are too comical and make him look silly. What was the director thinking? Maybe it will gel with the song "Oru Koodai Sunlight" on which these weird hairdos are reportedly picturised on.
The reasons given for the regular delay in release is "Technical diffuclties" which should be translated as "Big problems in Shankar's over ambitious inclusion of graphics which in the end as usual have not turned out well." Shankar when asked whether he felt Anniyan could be improved in any one area, promptly replied that he was disappointed with the graphics and felt that it could've been way better. Maybe, he wants to make sure that the same doesn't happen with Sivaji.
All said and done, I hope that the film does well, as I am a big fan of Shankar and and also like Rajni to some extent though he wouldnt come near Kamal Hassan's leg dust (Kamal Kaal Dhoosikku Kitta Vara Mattannu solren... :) ). But surely even if the film does turn out to be a big hit, it would've grossed a lot more had it released on the scheduled date of April 14th as that was one of the main reasons why Chandramukhi ran better than Anniyan.
Well, at least this post has arrived, unlike S.I.V.A.J.I- The Boss , which last heard was postponed (yet again) to June 15th. This doesn't augur well for Rajni fans or for Shankar and AVM, which has invested almost Rs.50 crores in the film. I don't know, but I've go a bad feeling about the biggest movie of 2007.
First the songs ,though very good, aren't exactly vintage Rahman. If one takes all the movies of Shankar-Rahman combo, this would surely rank the lowest in terms of music quality. The city audience would surely lap it up as the songs play to the latest trends in Tamil film music of including nonsensical verses from languages spoken in Saturn and having jarring background beats with no scope to understand the lyrics of the song which is a futile exercise in itself as they don't have much meaning anyway. Personally, after listening to the songs for hundreds of times, I like it. But I have huge doubts whether a guy from a place like Gobicchettipalayam would appreciate it.
Plus, all the fancy wigs that Rajni sports in the film posters are too comical and make him look silly. What was the director thinking? Maybe it will gel with the song "Oru Koodai Sunlight" on which these weird hairdos are reportedly picturised on.
The reasons given for the regular delay in release is "Technical diffuclties" which should be translated as "Big problems in Shankar's over ambitious inclusion of graphics which in the end as usual have not turned out well." Shankar when asked whether he felt Anniyan could be improved in any one area, promptly replied that he was disappointed with the graphics and felt that it could've been way better. Maybe, he wants to make sure that the same doesn't happen with Sivaji.
All said and done, I hope that the film does well, as I am a big fan of Shankar and and also like Rajni to some extent though he wouldnt come near Kamal Hassan's leg dust (Kamal Kaal Dhoosikku Kitta Vara Mattannu solren... :) ). But surely even if the film does turn out to be a big hit, it would've grossed a lot more had it released on the scheduled date of April 14th as that was one of the main reasons why Chandramukhi ran better than Anniyan.
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