SOPHOMORE BLUES
The second film’s the real test, it appears, and one filmmaker ends up with a disappointing star showcase while another, wisely, chooses to showcase himself.
AUG 29, 2010 – WALKING INTO NAAN MAHAAN ALLA, I knew I couldn’t hope for anything as exhilarating as Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu. For one, the latter was a first film – one forged by years of pent-up creative fires. The second film is almost always a letdown, if only in comparison. But more importantly, this time around, Susindran, the director, has a star in Karthi – and star vehicles carry their own sets of rules and requirements. The question now becomes not if you can tell a good story, but whether you can hold on to your sensibilities while simultaneously acknowledging the must-haves of the star vehicle. The temptation to sell out is strong because the market, here, recognises only stars. Once you get hold of a star, financing becomes easy, distribution becomes easy, attracting other top talents becomes easy – so it’s entirely understandable why a young director, especially one who might have faced humongous hurdles while making his first film, would want to settle into the air-conditioned comfort of a star vehicle.
To Susindran’s credit, he does attempt to build a rickety bridge between creativity and commerce – at least for a while. He begins his story with his villains – druggies who kidnap and kill a girl – and he takes us right into the opening credits. Years of star-vehicle conditioning have taught us that the time may be right for the hero to be introduced with an evil-trouncing fight sequence, but the hero is revealed, instead, in the midst of innocuous New Year celebrations, in the midst of cheer – and that’s who Jeeva (Karthi) is, a youngster filled with inexhaustible reserves of cheerfulness. And then the heroine Priya (Kajal Agarwal) makes an entry, and there are long stretches of meet-cute banter. And we begin to wonder if Susindran is indeed going to make good on this beginning, by making a film with a big hero who’s not allowed to do the things a big hero usually does.
That doesn’t quite happen. The entire first half is a monumental exercise in hero-building, the cinematic equivalent of “Annan banian size 42,” that line from Aboorva Sagotharargal that a friend of Kamal Hassan’s used to extol the star. Jeeva, we learn, is so guileless that he plays with children every chance he gets. Jeeva is so honest that he tells Priya’s father that he intends to marry her, never mind that they are separated by the proverbial railway tracks. Jeeva is so charming that a goon hired by Priya’s father to make Jeeva stay away becomes a pal instead. Jeeva is so liked that on the first day of his new job, he’s inundated by calls from well-wishers, and even his parents can’t bring themselves to rebuke this wastrel son who constantly cadges them for cash. Jeeva is so kindhearted that when asked to collect owed-money from the impoverished, he buys biscuits for their children instead.
So, yes, Jeeva doesn’t do the nominal big-hero items, like fighting or belting out punch dialogues or falling in love in the Alps. But on the other hand, he’s still treated like a big hero. He’s not allowed to become a life-sized character, which is what this film needed. The older Naan Mahaan Alla, starring Rajinikanth, was first titled Naan Gandhi Alla (until a court order mandated the change), and that’s what this protagonist is about too – when attacked by villains, he cannot, will not, be a pacific Gandhi. In other words, the film is about a gentle giant’s transformation to a traditional big-hero, capable of fighting off four villains all at once – but that transformation is treated with very little conviction. Like a thousand other action movies, this one too devolves into a depiction of vigilante justice. We might have at least been given a grace note of the acknowledgement, on Jeeva’s face, of the animal he’s been reduced to – but that, alas, would make him a sissy in the Tamil cinema universe.
And as the Tamil cinema universe has little use for the heroine, Priya is almost entirely written out from the second half. This is how you can separate involved writing from the indifferent. In Sathya, too, the character played by Kamal Hassan – in a far-more believable transformation to avenging angel – takes leave of his girlfriend (Amala) before the end, before he sets out to annihilate his nemeses. And we get to see the part where he takes leave of her. She pleads with him. He has no answers if they’ll end up together. All he knows is that, at that point, he cannot think of her. He can only think about the task at hand. And, though left incomplete, there is a strange sense of completeness in this love track. Naan Mahaan Alla has no time for such niceties. Priya’s father instructs that Jeeva return in six months to ask for his daughter’s hand, but that thread remains flapping in the wind.
The real disappointment of the film, however, is how cinematic, how unreal, it is – a far cry from the naturalistic developments of Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu. The love story between Priya and Jeeva verges on the intolerable. It’s a good idea, in theory, to have long scenes of their burgeoning rapport, but the director pushes the “cuteness” factor so far that you begin to gag. He might take a lesson – or three – on how to stage buoyant love stories from his fellow second-time filmmaker, Pandiraj, who, after Pasanga, has brought out Vamsam. How refreshingly, how naturally, he tells his tale. Yes, there are “cinematic” touches like the cow – once the hero’s, now the heroine’s, and used as a go-between – that has been renamed from Azhagi Devi to Asin, but the pacing and the treatment removes all trace of artifice. Even the senior love track, between the hero’s parents, is handled beautifully.
At first, you roll your eyes that this is yet another installment of Cinemadurai – the seemingly endless series of rural stories where local colour and flavour are flaunted like proud badges of honour. (The inevitable Ilayaraja songs featured are Kuyile kavikkuyile and Manjakkulichu, though it’s Malare kurinji malare, the MS Viswanathan beauty from Dr. Siva, that finds a place of pride, for the heroine is named Malar.) And the premise, revolving around customs and traditions at a festival, is so convoluted that a cop spends a good five minutes, at the beginning, laying out the rules – as in Inception. (The simplified plot is this: Will the pacifist son manage to end a long-festering family feud and perpetuate his lineage? Hence that beginning with Gandhi’s eye-for-an-eye saying.) But Pandiraj is a master of the apparently aimless narrative, and he reels you in with his lazily meandering rhythms.
Vamsam isn’t as sparkling an achievement as Pasanga, but unlike Naan Mahaan Alla, it’s a strong second effort that’s a showcase for a director, not a star. The film is littered with small touches that gradually reveal facets of the characters – like the hero’s habit of washing his clothes with Pears soap so that he’ll smell nice to those walking alongside, or the heroine who deliberately hands visitors a years-old newspaper because it contains a picture of her as state topper. One of Pandiraj’s most intriguing traits is that he spends very little time establishing the heinousness of his villains – they’re bad, and that’s that. He’d rather devote himself to his wonderfully detailed humour – like the track about the cell phones (yes, reminiscent of Pasanga), or the scene where his Botany-educated hero and heroine refer to plants by their scientific names. They’d have called this film a slow-blooming Rosa Centifolia.
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Venkatesh
August 29, 2010
“you roll your eyes that this is yet another installment of Cinemadurai – the seemingly endless series of rural stories where local colour and flavour are flaunted like proud badges of honour.” – Oh come on, this has to be one of the best things that has happened to Tamil Cinema , not to mention the inevitable Illayaraja songs running in the background. Didn’t RameshRam label this as Rettai-Jadai verite ?
Let there be a thousand rettai-jadais. At least we will be spared the idiocy of romancing in the Alps.
The one thing I am waiting for is this generation;s Bhagyaraj. That special sly slightly naughty sense of pure Tamil humor , there;s got to be someone out there.
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bran1gan
August 29, 2010
Venkatesh: Oh, I do like these films very much. The rolling-eyes comment was restricted to those films like Aval Peyar Thamizharasi, which have colour and flavour and nothing else — the films that think that they are “good” and “different” films simply because they are not set in the city. Vamsam is genuinely well written, well shot, well narrated, and it doesn’t fall into that category at all.
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Dualist
August 29, 2010
I haven’t watched both the films.
Rangan’s telling point, in contrasting second films of both directors, is that one is a showcase for a star (NMA) while other is a director’s work (Vamsam). In conclusion, he tilts towards Pandiraj. This is an understandable canon. But I’m not sure. I liked portions of VKK if anything. While I wasn’t impressed by Pasanga at all. And with Rangan ending on this note, “sparkling an achievement as Pasanga” (Not the first time I differ, recollect his liking for Subramaniyapuram!), I’m increasingly skeptical about Vamsam. But Rangan lays out his views on NMA (at one point comparing to ‘Sathya’, so by way of example shouldn’t he be comparing “Vamsam” to, let’s say, “Thevar Magan” or “Virumandi”. I don’t rate Bharathiraja’s films highly) and Vamsam succinctly. And where his preferences lies.
About this generation’s Bhagyaraj, I’m pinning my hopes on the filmmaker who made Kalavani…
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Hermoine Granger
August 29, 2010
I thought that Vamsam was plain Silambattam (among relatively recent movies)in another bottle ! Talk about the tale and its telling…..
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Hermoine Granger
August 29, 2010
I also must comment on the characterization of both the female roles in Vamsam- esply the heroine. The drive and the nerve ! It would have been totally sufficient to have both women dab frustrated tears on their saree pallus and loiter around in desperation for the men to take the lead, casting the wont-you-do-something-for-me looks. But kudos to the director for his depiction !
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Venkatesh
August 29, 2010
BR: So Vamsam is required viewing then – though must admit i wasn’t overly impressed with Pasanga, there were some genuinely good moments in there , the last 30 minutes – Deux Ex Machina anyone, overall it was OK. What impressed me more was the confidence of the director to just go for it.
Dualist: “Director who made Kalavani” – i.e. Sargunam., good choice. I loved Kalavani.
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bran1gan
August 29, 2010
Dualist: I’m not comparing the entire film to Sathya. Just that one part where the hero goes on his quest, and yet the director doesn’t forget to include a farewell scene for the heroine. Similarly, had I felt some similiarity between Vamsam and Thevr Magan and so forth, I’d have made a comparison. I didn’t. Therefore I didn’t.
Hermoine Granger: yeah, both the mother and the heroine were beautifully written. And I was quite surprised by how good Sunaina was. I remember seeing her in an earlier film and didn’t care for her at all. Here, even the lip-sync was perfect. I know this is a minor thing, but that issue gets my goat always 🙂
Venkatesh: You know by now I don’t make recommendations. If YOU think it’s required viewing, then go ahead 🙂
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Venkatesh
August 29, 2010
BR: Any movie that has the hero washing his clothes with Pears soap can;t be that bad .. :-). Anything that is non-generic in that way gets my vote .
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vidyut
August 29, 2010
“Like a thousand other action movies, this one too devolves into a depiction of vigilante justice”
That and the lack of closure on the Kajal front made it less complete for me (although her blip-on-the-screen role made it less devastating). Otherwise, this was a movie that I enjoyed watching (except for the last 20-30 minutes) mainly because I like Karthi’s acting (Paiyya notwithstanding). Karthi might not be a mega star or get womenfolk to swoon like his brother does, but he knows his acting well. He uses his eyes to great effect throughout this movie. He has played the “regular guy” (as well the deadbeat in earlier stints) with intensity, edginess and mischief.
The triumphalism of bloodlust which has become the Tamil movie mantra is a weighty topic in itself, although one is led to infer that hopelessness in institutional justice is rampant (for the little guy) and can drive a man to become the institution or a milquetoast to become a monster and mete out justice with nary a qualm.
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Harish S Ram
August 29, 2010
wow …this is the only genuine appreciation for vamsam i have read till now. That too categorically in detail. And the naan mahan alla – what a let down. Wish they had made a story about the birth, rise and fall of the antagonists instead.Something on the lines of Naan kadaval where the all powerful hero comes to demolish them. Suseendran looks more comfortable handling those guys that the happy-go-lucky hero (not the protagonist) part.
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Hermoine Granger
August 29, 2010
Talking abt lip-sync, I recall an old interview where Anu Hassan said that sometimes ppl in the industry consider it auspicious if there isnt lip-sync for a particular dialogue, especially if the dialogue was in an important part of the movie. Sort of like a drishti-pottu, I guess !
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CW
August 30, 2010
Terribly sorry to nitpick- but Rosa centifolia should be written this way and not with a C (Caps only for Genus name).
Fan-with-OCD
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bran1gan
August 31, 2010
CW: Thanks from a fellow OCD patient 🙂
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Senthil
August 31, 2010
Speaking of pacing, what did you think of Hot Fuzz ? Or any of Edgar Wright’s work for that matter, if you ve watched them.
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apala
August 31, 2010
BR,
I liked both films…….though I think Vamsam had more BIG HERO stuff than NMA!
Except for that over-blown climax fight and that very filmy i-loved-my-dad-yeeee-yeeee-like-this-you-know-yeeee-yeeee song, and that irritating no-closure love interest, It could work mainly becuase of those 4 scary boys (would stay way from them if I see them somewhere!!!) and how he built-up the momentum before their path crossed with our hero!
Vamsam was a revelation becuase of Sunaina!!! I didnot think before this that she could really act!!
Well, I would take these two any day, without even a blink of an eye compared to non-sense-remakes like Thillalangadi!!! What are they thinking? comedy padam-a athu? kolRAnunga-da saamy!!! Mudiyala!!!
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vijay
September 1, 2010
BR, maybe if you hadn’t viewed NMA as Suseendran’s sophomore effort but as just a masala vehicle for Karthi’s transition to urban roles would your review have been different? Just a thought. Expectations have a way of skewing opinions sometimes. I remember just because Thiruda Thiruda happened to be made by Mani Ratnam and came right after Roja, there was some negative press all around. If you just watch the movie regardless of that fact, for what it was, it wasn’t that bad at all.
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Jaiganesh
September 1, 2010
I saw Vamsam and it was what a Bhagyaraj Version 4.0 might have done to an age old feudal enmity saga – sans references/pretensions to sex (Bhagyaraj Version 2.0 in the 80s would have hapily inserted things to dwell upon botanical ingredients to make the vamsam grow literally). The characterisations have never been so crisp as noted by you – very minimal exercise in establishing some one as good and someone as a bad guy. However some interesting preludes in exposing the villain’s character – a guy gets thrown out of job from villain’s house and what that thread enfolds ending neatly with the thread of heroine, hero and completing a logical end – almost similar to some mahabharatha stories – neatly showing how smart the scriptwriter/director is. The temptation to even insert the “Story – screenplay and Direction ” credit in a crucial scene would have completely sealed the Bhagyaraj stamp on the screenplay.
My issues with the movie are with the overall theme of village movies which has some gaping holes in treatment of content and honesty of portrayal – which this movie too continues to err on.
As far as Naan Mahaan Alla – yet to see it – with curiosity factor surrounding the Kubrickesque bunch of bad guys from “A Clock work Orange” playing antagonists is all too compelling.
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bran1gan
September 1, 2010
Senthil: Haven’t watched any of his films, though I’ve heard lots of good things about them — especially Scott Pilgrim.
apala: Yeah, Thillalangadi! 🙂 So many crappy Tamil films get released these days, it’s tough to keep track. Every week, there are some 4-5 releases, and with so few screens to play on. I wonder how they think they can make money.
vijay: of course expectations play a part, but this film was underwhelming in more ways than one. The love angle, the characterisations (except for the parents and the bad guys) — pretty much everything was meh.
Jaiganesh: Re “The temptation to even insert the “Story – screenplay and Direction ” credit in a crucial scene would have completely sealed the Bhagyaraj stamp on the screenplay,” I had a flashback just now of the exact place where Bhagyaraj put his story-screenplay-direction credit for Mundhanai Mudichu. At the instant Thavakkalai puts a feeding bottle into his mouth, there’s a freeze-frame and the credit appears 🙂
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s
September 1, 2010
Enough already, write a book. Loads of random people are writing books these days, why cant talented ones like you write one. I read through part of picture of films i have no interest in just for your writing. If not fiction, write on Indian cinema. Write!
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jaiganesh
September 1, 2010
as regards to expectations messing up NMA’s reach, classic case was Singaravelan from the 90s. we couldnt just pull ourselves to appreciate kamal in a typical comedy film back then. Then Kamal unleashed the comedy movies with vengeance in the 2000s, meeting with better success, still none as whacky and funny as Singaravelan in my opinion.
After seeing stills of “Azhagar samiyin Kudhirai”, one can give a “maafi” to Susindhran.
BTW what is sasi, the director of Poo upto these days?
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bran1gan
September 2, 2010
s: er… mom?
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KPV Balaji
September 11, 2010
how did you like Polladhavan ?? did it work for you ?? did you write anything about it..
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