50 YEARS, 500th POST
OCT 11, 2009 – randramble, from AllThingsKamal.info asked if I would write something up for the 500th post on the blog. The brief was pretty much wide-open, but he did add, with a smidgen of graveness, “Generally, since this a site frequented by hardcore fans, it would be good to have a post that isn’t (too) critical. I read your recent piece on Kamal’s ‘coolth’ – I’d say that’s a bit too critical to feature on AllThingsKamal.info.” (And here I was thinking I’d written a gushing fanboy tribute.)
Here’s what I came up with.
Thank you, randramble, for putting a deadline-driven gun to my head and forcing me to (think and) write about one of my favourite films.
UPDATE, 23 NOV, 2019 – A reader wrote in saying he could not find this piece, and indeed, it appears that the domain has disappeared. So I am publishing the entire piece below. If there is a copyright issue and the people who run AllThingsKamal.info have an objection, do let me know.
Fifty years. That’s five decades. There are people who don’t live that long – so it’s entirely understandable, this extraordinary (bordering, at times, on the excessive) hysteria enveloping us as Kamal Hassan celebrates his mammoth milestone. After so many years, with so many movies and so many memories, it would seem the easiest of things to compose an ode to his achievements – but it’s the opposite actually.
Where do you begin? What do you pick? Do you, for instance, write about him as a young god of romance, about how he single-handedly changed the way the hero goes about the business of courting the heroine? Or do you regard these facets as mere frivolities and begin to delve into the acting dimension, about how he represents the perfect middle point between the completely externalised melodramatics of a Sivaji Ganesan and the completely internalised Methodisms of a Naseeruddin Shah, giving just enough of a “performance” to make even the most unsophisticated audience member tune in, but without alienating the sophisticates?
The time-honoured rules of writing endorse a trajectory of the outside to the inside, from the general to the particular – but why not, instead, employ a particular to illustrate the general? Why not talk about the one film that brings to my mind all that’s special about this sakalakalavallavan? In that vein, I opted for Aboorva Sagotharargal, simply because the film is Kamal’s single greatest achievement. (It’s also, coincidentally, twenty years since the film’s release in 1989, which possibly warrants a commemoration of its own.)
In pure cinematic terms, the film is a stupendous success. It’s easily the best screenplay he’s ever written. (Thevar Magan comes close, but there’s the shadow of The Godfather that looms large over it. Perhaps, like the Oscars, I could say that Aboorva Sagotharargal is Kamal’s Best Original Screenplay, and Thevar Magan is his Best Adapted Screenplay.) If the success of a film lies in how well it ends up doing what it sets out to do, Aboorva Sagotharargal is Kamal Hassan’s finest hour as actor-screenwriter-producer.
It wants to be a crackling masala entertainer, in the grand tradition of Tamil cinema’s escapist entertainment, and it becomes this through inspired riffs on some of the most cherished of masala-movie tropes. The hero playing multiple roles (with a moustache, and without), the twin brothers who are separated at childbirth and eventually reunited, the son who avenges a father’s murder, the brothers on opposite sides of the law, the heroine being the daughter of a villain – it’s all here, alongside affectionate homages (intended or otherwise) to images from older masala cinema, like the duet staged around a stationary car that echoes the staging of Pesuvadhu kiliya in Panathottam, or the kadi joke where Appu anoints himself Ulagam Suttrum Vaaliban while perched on a globe.
And if you want to get all meta on the film, you could note that it captures the quintessence of the many facets of Kamal Hassan – the actor who can play roguish Madras-Tamil-speaking lover boys in his sleep, the actor who would go on to increasingly hack away at his handsomeness through makeup-enhanced grotesquerie (though here, he merely hacks away half his legs), the star who’d grow excessively fond of playing multiple characters (one being the regular hero, the other representing the “unusual,” the film’s USP) the writer who’s never happy unless submerging himself in subversion (what is it if not at least slightly subversive that the adorable, kid-friendly Appu, whom we first see clowning around on a toy train, is ever-so-gradually transformed into a freakish homicidal maniac?), and the producer who’s never afraid to put his money where his mouth is (how hypocritical would it have been if Kamal had merely spouted off about quality cinema without actually bothering to invest in it?).
There are far too many thoughts swimming around in my head when it comes to Aboorva Sagotharargal – they’d warrant a collegiate thesis instead of a casually commemorative blog post – so I’ll focus on the one aspect of this remarkable film that never fails to amaze me: the character (and the characterisation) of the dwarf Appu.
I suppose I should be politically correct and say “little person,” but that phrase doesn’t carry the pejorative weight that “dwarf” does. And Appu is a dwarf in practically every sense of the world – not just because everyone’s taller than him, but also because a “normal life” (love, a respectable career) remains frustratingly out of his reach. And it’s not till the Unnai nenachen song sequence that we see how truly the world at large – or to put it another way, the “larger” world – has imprisoned him. In a succession of shots, we see Appu inside the motorcycle cage, inside the lions’ cage, and finally, inside the worst prison of all, the clown mask, forever doomed to laughing through tears.
The tragicomic travails of a clown aren’t new to the cultural scenario, whether as far back as Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci or as recently as Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker, but there’s an unusually demonic perspective to Appu. Rejected by the girl he loves, ridiculed by the mother he worships, he pours his heart out in that song, and at the end, when he flings the mask away, it lands on the branch of a nearby tree and dangles by its strap. That’s when we witness Appu’s transformation from benign to bedeviled, thanks to the morbidly crazed gleam in Kamal’s eyes, the spectral lighting of the scene, and the chilling sound effects that Ilayaraja provides in the background.
Appu attempts suicide, but his mother intervenes and tells him the whole story, and you see a fiendish resolve descend upon him as he decides to become executioner. (He later mocks the hapless lawyer played by Jaishankar, “Idhu high court illa… my court.”) There’s finally a purpose to Appu’s life. He’s now a man possessed, and the grand conceit of the film is that he dispatches the villains through means that are as freakish, as “abnormal” as he is – the double-edged stunt gun, the funhouse rig that conceals an arrow, and his animal friends from the circus. (You can imagine Kamal murmuring while stooped over his screenplay draft, “Feed him to the lions.”)
This sense of the freakish, the macabre, is the aspect that elevates Aboorva Sagotharargal from being just another masala movie (though it’s a testament to Kamal’s intelligence and skills that he suffuses the film with so much “traditional” entertainment that these Grand Guignol excursions in no way impede the enjoyment of the causal viewer). At first, it appeared to me that Kamal stumbled upon playing a dwarf simply because he pretended to be one in Punnagai Mannan, and he must have seen the gimmicky potential in a full-fledged extrapolation of such a character – but Appu is no mere gimmick. This dwarf is one the many, many reasons Kamal Hassan towers over much of what passes under the guise of Tamil cinema.
brangan
November 30, 2009
BTW, as the date indicates, this was written quite a while ago…
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randramble
November 30, 2009
Baradwaj, you’re way too generous — firstly for writing something for free (for a small blog). Secondly, you put up with my delay in publishing and finally, you are thanking me! Wow, lucky to know you and interact with you.
On the other post of yours, yes, I agree it was a fanboy tribute from a balanced critic like you. But AllThingsKamal.info is frequented by Kamal-worshipping folks — that was my point.
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Deepak
November 30, 2009
Well, its actually three roles if you count the “Appa” character.
I remember getting really scared as a kid after watching the scene where Nagesh and his other cronies hack away at Kamals body..Is that scene sort of like Pasupathy hacking down Napolean in “Virumaandi”?
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Zero
November 30, 2009
Great piece (even if one tires of saying this every time), Baradwaj. There was an interesting discussion on this film in the same blog some time back (gosh, it dates back to 2007!).
I take the liberty of pasting parts of my comments from that post:
“I’ve always found the depiction of the “villainy” of Appu (the cold grin, the twinkle in the eye) in Aboorva Sagodharargal to be one of the subtle but audacious choices that Kamal made in his revisionist take of the stock revenge story of two sons separated at birth. Indeed, all victims take him lightly and pay the price. (”AnA, alatchiya paduthittiyE Anbarasu!” he says.) But, there’s something far more meditative in this choice of making the avenger a midget. In other words, there would have been no avenger had there not been a midget son. Appu is the one who is forced to bear the burden of their villainous act, and it’s only fitting that he should carry out the execution. And this could lend more meaning to his life in a way. Of course, this is fairly well established in the film itself, the root cause for his revenge is his being a midget and not his father’s death. What is also notable is how deftly Raja is kept out of all this. (The comic genius is of course in the way Raja is brought into all this!) He could chip in for fight sequences and manage to pull off some fisticuffs, but he’s no killer material. Raja can never be truly aware (not just literally, but also psychologically) of the horror of what the villains did to his family.
The way things transpire to this point is also fascinating. Sethupathi, the father, also an upright police officer, takes on a bunch of corrupt bigwigs, but when he loses the case and is suspended (stock material again), he doesn’t go seeking justice in other ways. (His mood quickly changes to familial concerns, the flute theme piece makes its entry, as Sethupathi sits dejected after the court session.) But, the villains kill him brutally (quintessentially stock), but not because he arrested them, but because he crossed the usual limits. (And, that is in turn because Sethupathi is provoked by Dharma Raj’s arrogance which makes him go overboard.)”
“Coming back to Aboorva Sagodharargal, Appu’s execution of the four villains could possibly seen as even being slightly unfairly to them! It’s not as if a doctor told Srividya that her son is a midget because of a poison intake. (When giving birth to twins, it’s possible that one of the babies, most often the elder one, turns out to be less ‘enabled.’ Also, by the time she’s forced to take poison, the babies are in full shape and are all set to be delivered!) “oru vELai, nAn kudicha veshathunAla dhAn ippadi AyittiyO ennamO…” she ponders, and Appu takes no time to buy that perspective. (And, these guys did kill his father after all.)
What a fantastic film! This is our man’s Kill Bill, I say!”
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Varun
November 30, 2009
May be we from North India will never realize what the fuss over Kamal Hassan is all about.
And it’s much more difficult than accepting the star status of a Jackie Chan or a Brad Pitt because in case of foreigners, we are so alienated that we just plainly take the media’s word. But in case of Kamal, we ‘believe’ we have seen his works in Hindi (and I am sure even his hardcore fans will agree here) and they were not even distinctive, forget legendary. (Saagar, EK Duje Ke Liye, Sanam Teri kasam are bracketed in the genre of romance-drama and Rishi Kapoor is the closest competitor we can think of. His recent works, second innings so to say, had more distinct works like ‘chachi 420’, ‘hey ram’ and my all time fav Indian comedy ‘Mumbai Express’ but unfortunately, none of these were mass-pullers.)
And now, what brought me down to commenting on this piece: a realization that Appu Raja (hindi version) that I had seen and the original you have written about seem like two different films altogether. To my mind (and i think that’s how it was publicized in the north) Appu Raja was a ‘children’ film (even the choice of name suggests that) – a fun film with good action, special effects, and some crazy songs. Call it the bankruptcy of Hindi cinema of the times (has anything changed, btw?) that any film with some amount of humor, special effects and zero vulgarity seemed like a children’s film.
But do you think Kamal’s greatness was lost in translation?
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Zero
November 30, 2009
Just a clarification:
“I take the liberty of pasting parts of my comments from that post:”
By which I actually meant parts of my comments on that post. 🙂 (The post itself was not written by me.)
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Anand
November 30, 2009
BR: One of the allegations against Kamal is that he occupies every frame and does not give room for other cast members to take some credit. Aboorva Sahodharargal proves this wrong. Janakaraj, RS Sivaji, Manorama, Mouli, Sreevidhya shined in their roles.
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Anand
November 30, 2009
BR: I am amazed at your choice of that ‘one’ film you decided to pick. Rangan Kaiya vacha!
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Zero
November 30, 2009
Varun,
Reading your comment, I just feel like responding specifically about Appu Raja. I have seen only a few scenes of the Hindi version, but I don’t think its greatness would be significantly lost in translation. I suggest you to revisit the film. As someone who grew up with it, my memories of the film when I returned to it as an adult, was quite the same as yours — that it’s a children’s film (which it certainly is!) and more importantly an unsubduably gimmicky film (which to my mind it isn’t). Which is why I found myself being cautious. But I was blown away to find that it’s just as compelling as it used to be.
Perhaps some of its humour might be lost to an extent. And that’s perhaps truer for Kamal’s follow-up to this film, the great ‘Michael Madana Kama Rajan,’ which is an all-out comedy, zanier than normative masala, a la Manmohan Desai. But again both these films are vastly superior to the “wordy” comedies of Kamal (think ‘Chachi 420’).
P.S.: One major problem is of course the dubbing (personally far prefer watching subtitled films with the original soundscape, so to say), but that’s an obvious handicap!
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Anand
November 30, 2009
Varun: My take: At heart Kamal is a Tamilian, he has grown up on Sivaji Ganesan and Balachander. His knowledge on World Cinema was initially through the eyes of his other mentor, Ananthu. Tamil Cinema, has got its own language, which a North Indian will never understand. An example is the concept of Fan Club. The Tamil film industry has given us 5 Chief Ministers. Kamal has grown on all this.
And hence, the products that are aimed at Tamilians, are the better ones. The projects that he has been associated with in Tamil, arguably are some of the best that have been produced by the Indian Film Industry.
When Appu tells Delhi Ganesh, ” Meen pidikka Vandhingala? Chinna Meenai pottu periya meenai pidikira panakara vilayattu!” the cold and chilling expression in his voice is not replicated when he dubbed it in Appu Raja.
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Zero
November 30, 2009
And by the way, at least for Tamil film viewers, Kamal’s second innings roughly began with this very film that’s under discussion! ‘abUrva sagOdharargaL’ came in 1989 and in many ways marked the beginning of Kamal Haasan the filmmaker in the true sense. (There was Pushpak and Sathya the year before, but the former wasn’t a mainstream effort and the latter even was a remake.) I’d contend that there was nothing in his earlier career that suggested the kind of films he was going to start doing. Between 1989 and 1995 (which to my mind is his golden phase), he was on his own trip. Not that he hasn’t been making great films since then, but he isn’t doing it at the same rate.
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Not mahanadi?
November 30, 2009
not Nayakan? Not Pushpak Vimana? Not even Thevar Magan? But this?
Plus Kamal Bhakts help me out here: there was this hilarious (though fatally flawed) melodrama cum comedy of his in Hindi – Kamal tries to commit suicide – setting up a hilarious gag with the branches of the tree, climax scene with Shakti Kapoor’s dhothi is screamingly funny – way, way better than the overrated clusterfck in Micheal Madan Kamarajan, etc. Know which movie I am talking about?
I literally had tears of laughter when Shakti Kapoor’s dhoti came into play. 🙂
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Anonymous
November 30, 2009
Jackie Chan needs a cultural context to be understood? The mind boggles!
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Tambi Dude
November 30, 2009
This is one of my all time favourite movie. Perfect blend of action, thrill, comedy. A trivia: Not a single revenge murder by Appu is done by his own hands.
And IR’s background music was just too good. My favourite being the scene when Appu goes to newspaper office to read about 1966 newspapers so that he can get more information about his dad’s killing. The BGM is the standard motif used in the whole movie, but subtly different.
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Zero
November 30, 2009
>> “and the latter even was a remake.”
Duh. I meant to say, Sathya, even though “rewritten” by Kamal in some ways, was a remake.
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Varun
November 30, 2009
@Zero
Will surely catch it again, and again with the handicap of watching a hindi-dubbed version. I don’t think many tamil films of the 80’s or 90’s are available with subs.
And another problem is – dubbed dialogues are so functional and unreal, mostly like the disaster flicks from hollywood.
In any case, I agree that I should revisit the films i watched as a kid to get the then-hidden ‘adult’ elements now.
@Anand
Can you please translate that line in English so that I can at least get half of what you are meaning to say.
Yes, I have been following Tamil Cinema as a cultural phenomenon for some time and know the bigger differences in tastes, treatment and end-user expectations. And that’s why I say, for most of the north indians (unlike my types, a very small minority who are in film business or are serious movie buffs) – most of this worshipping will seem esoteric.
And that’s why, the choice of ‘Appu Raja’ by Baradwaj shook me (or my types) too – as i used to believe i knew Kamal and his achievements in tamil Cinema a bit…but realized I might know the design of the garment, I still am too far from the fabric of it all.
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Adithya
November 30, 2009
Oh how I love this movie! I think it deserves to be up there as the MMKR of masala genre.
One interesting aspect about this movie is that Kamal went firing on all cylinders for this movie, in every sense. The acting, of course, the screenplay, and then he sang a version of Raja Kaiya Vecha, and I personally believe that Raja Kaiya Vecha and Annatha Adurar showcase his dancing skills like no other.
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Zero
November 30, 2009
Varun,
Yes, the functional dialogue is indeed the biggest problem with dubbed films. What I meant to say was, they often fail to capture the sound of the original in a more general sense (the nuances in the dialogue delivery, the intonation, some of the background sounds etc.).
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Shankar
December 1, 2009
IMO, It’s hard to classify Kamal’s career into seperate innings. While he was doing Sakalakala Vallavan, Kakki Chattai, Thoongathe Thambi Thoongathe etc, he was also complementing it with Raja Parvai, Salangai Oli, Moondram Pirai etc. The one thing I would concede is that his films took on a national stage with Nayagan and Pushpak. I would say that Nayagan was the single biggest reason for Kamal to start focusing his career on making “his” movies rather than pandering to fans exclusively. In many of the latter films, he has balanced the act of managing his own expectations as well as satisfying regular fans, which is an achievement. Even in this phase (post-Nayagan, if I may say so), there has been the balancing of Indian, MMKR with Guna and Mahanadi etc. Even now, Dasa is followed by Unnaipol Oruvan. So, it’s tough to put Kamal’s career into phases…he’s always done the balancing act!! 🙂
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brangan
December 1, 2009
Varun: Ditto to everything that Zero says, especially the dubbing aspect. You lost about 50% of the movie right there. BTW, “realized I might know the design of the garment, I still am too far from the fabric of it all” is a beautiful way of expressing a feeling that many of movie-buffs know all too well.
Zero/Shankar: I’d think that one-classy-one-massy “phase” began, officially, with Nayakan, but even before, you can see films like 16 Vayadhinile and Aval Appadithan and Kokila and so on. There was never really any part of Kamal’s career that was divorced from meaningful cinema — though, with the exception of a Mumbai Xpress or a Virumaandi, I vastly prefer the earlier “meaningful” movies to the latter-day ones like Anbe Sivam. There’s a casualness to the way AA and Kokila are handled that’s breathtaking, and a world removed from the laboured effects of Anbe Sivam, for instance. (The latter has some great portions, true, but I’m just talking about the overall film.)
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chhote saab
December 1, 2009
Great choice, Bade saab. Great entertainment and cinema.
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Zero
December 1, 2009
Baradwaj/Shankar,
No doubt that Kamal did keep doing meaningful films on and off. I agree with you folks there. But I’m looking for something more specific than doing good cinema in a general sense. A good share of his films post-Nayagan bear Kamal’s signature in ways none of his earlier films did. This is where, I think, Kamal clearly shifted gears.
Films like Kokila, Aval Appadithaan or Salangai Oli were hardly Kamal’s norm back then. (His films with KB and Bharathiraja were, but I think some of those films don’t hold up well at all today.) And more importantly, they were clearly films of the respective directors. Kamal’s films with Bharathiraja deteriorated as Bharathiraja deteriorated. Much good as Salangai Oli is, it’s hard to connect it to any of Kamal’s later films; whereas a Mahanadhi and a Virumaandi can easily be, even though they are very different films. The way I see it, an actor doing good films in one thing, and an actor influencing the films he’s doing in an overarching sense is something else.
His comedies too began to have a distinct flavour after this shift. There are quite a few early Kamal comedies that are quite funny (the Chaplinesque Kamal was always there), but are any of those in the same league as his later ones? My answer would be a resounding no.
Oh, and yes, I’m a true-blue post-Nayaganist! (It might also have something to do with my growing up with the 90s Kamal, though I hope not. :))
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Anand
December 1, 2009
BR: The problem post Nayakan was the expectations. Let us see the list of films between two of his good films – Sagara Sangamam and Swathi Muthyam. In between he gave Sattam, Thoongadhe Thambi Thoongadhe, Enakkul Oruvan, Kakki Sattai, Andha Oru Nimidam, Rajtilak, Yaadgaar..Sorry I do not remember the order in which they were released..its been a while now.
But after Nayakan, Chankayan, Sathya and Aboorva Sahodharargal, the expectations became so high the products started becoming to look laboured. But I am with Zero. From 1987 (Nayakan) to 1995/96 (till Kurudhi Punal), he was at his peak.
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dagalti
December 1, 2009
//(gosh, it dates back to 2007!)//
Gosh indeed ! 🙂
// The way I see it, an actor doing good films in one thing, and an actor influencing the films he’s doing in an overarching sense is something else.//
Yes and thanks to the pampering of the early 90s, we (okay, I) have come to dislike Kamal spending time in films where he is NOT the chief influence.
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raj
December 1, 2009
Varun and zero – pleasure to read your comments
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raj
December 1, 2009
I have stated here befoe that I prefer post 80’z kamal. Specificaly after per kedutha pillai.
Incidentallu, until AS I wasn’t even a kamal fan – was in the opposite camp 🙂 – , and that includes amitap and ajni both 🙂
Even now when you watch geraftaar, those nightmare 80’s days w.r.t kamal come back – both gajni and amitap trump him there in that movie. Thank god he stopped doing those lousy ones.
Salangai oli is k viswanat all through. That’s kamal the actor for hire. And he was in peak form as actor then – what a pity he wasted that competing witjh rajni
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Venkatesh
December 2, 2009
BR , brilliant write-up and the right choice. AS gets relegated to standard Masala fare a lot of times but it really is a one-off. The only movie of Kamal’s that comes close to it in-terms of effortlessness is possibly Thevar Magan. Both films just flow.
With respect to some other comments, regarding expectations making the newer films laboured, i don’t think its that – its simply Kamal attempting to find/do something newer and trying to figure it out as he goes along.
Some really good and incisive comments on this post BTW.
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brangan
December 2, 2009
Zero/Anand/Venkatesh: IMO, the labouredness is a separate issue from the authorial signature.
Issue #1: Have we been seeing Kamal’s unique fingerprints on post Nayakan films? Definitely.
Issue #2: Do these films work better as “cinema” than the pre-Nayakan ones (of course, not counting the ‘masala’ ones)? IMO, only on and off (the ‘on’ cases being Mahanadi, Hey Ram, MX, Virumaandi).
I’m still interested in the ideas that Kamal brings to his films, how he structures them writing-wise and so on, but his increased ambition has made these post-Nayakan films more laboured (in the sense of I’m not drawn into them the way I was earlier; there’s a detachment.)
Venkatesh could be right: “its simply Kamal attempting to find/do something newer and trying to figure it out as he goes along.”
And I find that these latter films don’t age as well, once the thrill of seeing them for the first couple of times goes away. I saw Anbe Sivam recently, and though I’d written in my review about there being so much dead air in the movie, it was so much more evident now. These films have dazzling parts, but the whole is lesser.
But something like Kokila or Rajaparvai or Moondram Pirai, even today, seems so effortless — in terms of peformance, in terms of filmmaking, everything. The whole is greater IMO.
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arvind
December 2, 2009
When I look at Kamal’s filmography as a whole his works have definitely shown continuous improvement with time and he has acknowledged this on numerous occasions too.
On Anbe Sivam, by far, that is the movie that remains closest to my heart. I am not sure why you find the effort laboured. May be due to the prosthetic make up or due to the fact that role essayed by Kamalis more authoritative, intelligent and has no “innocence” like Moondram Pirai/Raja Paarvai. Traits that were found in MX/Virumaandi, right? 🙂 Can you think of any such yesteryear classic of Kamal which had a heavy theme yet not laboured?
To me, Anbe Sivam and Hey Ram as a whole look very superior and more entertaining than Raja Parvai/Moondram Pirai. Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Mahanadhi are right there though.
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Zero
December 2, 2009
Baradwaj,
Yes, the labouredness and the authorial signature are separate issues. I don’t see any sort of labouredness (in terms of filmmaking) in the best of his films in this phase. And the ‘on’ cases for me clearly extends beyond the ones you mention. Aboorva Sagodharargal, MMKR, Guna, Thevar Magan, Kuruthippunal (even though it’s a remake and I really do have some reservations vis-a-vis the original, it’s a fine, fine film) — these are all wonderful films and as seamlessly woven as (and, I’d argue, often boasts of much finer writing and execution than) the best of his earlier films. And then there are cases of partial but significant interventions like Sathi Leelavathi. It’s a Balu Mahendra film alright, but then the presence of Kamal the humourist is indispensable to its brilliance. (And in any case, we’re not considering the authorial aspect when including films like Moondram Pirai or Kokila on the other side.)
‘Anbe Sivam’ doesn’t belong to the league of his best films of this era in any sense (though it has gained a huge following). I’m not a great fan of it either. But films like Mahanadhi and Hey! Ram easily trump everything the early Kamal had done. Yes, I do think they belong to a different league than Kokila or Moondram Pirai. (Though Aval Appadithaan is really up there.)
And I think Raja Parvai doesn’t hold up well at all. My argument isn’t in favour of anything Kamal-written. I’m essentially arguing for the later Kamal! (In my reading, Kamal isn’t just being modest when he often says in his interviews that he learnt from many of his friends and filmmakers he worked with.)
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brangan
December 2, 2009
Zero: Oh, I know where you’re coming from, and I wasn’t looking into just the Kamal-written stuff. But I do feel that Mahanadhi and Hey! Ram are alongside Kokila and MP, say, and I feel that the “seriousness of intent” that he brings to his latter-day films (as writer) adds a lot to their reputation. I mean, look at how effortlessly the romance is handled in Kokila or Rajaparvai — the little moments. Now it’s all about the big themes, I feel. (Yes, I’m generalising, but I think you know what I mean.)
I can sense a struggle (which is what I called labouredness) in these films. This is really a much longer, wide-ranging argument than I have the time for here, and I don’t mean to suggest that one phase of his is “better” than the other in any absolute sense. It’s a lot of little, other things, including the fact that I miss Kamal, the actor-for-hire who’d give himself over to good directors, and I miss the Kamal who made big events out of small movies like Kokila and AA and MP. No other “commercial” Tamil actor ventured anywhere near such films, then or now.
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hari ohm
December 2, 2009
I agree with rangan, i like the “kamal for hire” guy.
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Venkatesh
December 2, 2009
BR : You took the words out of my mouth – “I miss the Kamal who made big events out of small movies like Kokila and AA and MP” – and the Actor-for-hire statement. Spot on.
In his “laboured” movies AnbeSivam, Aalavandhaan being a prime example , he looks so much ill-at-ease, there is no joy, there is no wonder, it can be a serious film – but it doesn’t have to be turgid. He seems to want to do too much, wants to convey too many things and approaches it as if there is a Ph.D thesis being written on it with every frame wanting to convey multiple meanings. This attitude i think somehow subtly transfers to the viewer as well who approaches it in that frame of mind.
Which is why i think UPO is interesting, yes its a remake but the execution and more importantly Kamal as an actor/director seems so much more comfortable.
I for one think that he should probably do what Amitabh Bachchan did in his second innings, work with newer, edgier directors. May be even take up small special appearance type roles or just write/direct a small budget film with other artistes in there. Break the mould, i say.
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brangan
December 2, 2009
Venkatesh: I actually wrote about the Amitabh-like roles, and I think that pissed off a lot of fans. I don’t want Kamal to start playing a French-bearded patriarch. I was thinking more along the lines of a Cheeni Kum, a Nishabd, a Last lear. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Vettaiyaadu so much. It was such a relaxed performance (though by default, from what I gathered, as he did the movie without any interest in it).
But I realise, also, the difference of the Tamil market, in that the stars here are worshipped to such an extent that scaling down to small movies is no longer going to be possible. I wonder if the Kamal of today would be interested in doing a Mahanadhi-type movie — the bigness of themes was very much evident, but the flow of the story never stopped to pontificate and it was moving as hell. I still mist up when I see certain scenes.
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Shankar
December 2, 2009
Baddy, I agree about Mahanadi. I went to watch that film with a north indian friend of mine (UPite) who didn’t understand a word of tamil and he came out of the movie crying and deeply touched.
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Venkatesh
December 3, 2009
BR : Kamal in Nishabd(an underrated classic) – oh absolutely. I don’t understand why the fans would object, in fact i think it would be an eye-opener for the newer generation, weaned on Vijay and Ajit who regard Kamal as an “over-actor”.
I can understand the “scaling-down” problem in Tamil Cinema but i don’t think that applies to directing of movies.
Also, here is an interesting observation – Even at his peak, after Thevar Magan, Kamal did Maharasan, a real old-school mass entertainer and it was a special appearance. Another instance i remember is Kamal did a one-off special drama on TV, i remember nothing about it , except we were supposed to assume that the drama was shot at night, when it was shot in the daytime and this was in the early 90’s. It was very weird.
Just take those kind of experiments to the next level.
Lastly, Mahanadi , what a performance, what a movie.
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sachita
December 3, 2009
Duh.. if Kamal has to change paths, it has to be direct more movies. Virumandi looked quite effortless for the subject he was dealing with. I cringe at the fact that he spent 500 hrs for the make up in dasavatharam. If only he had directed a movie in that time.
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Zero
December 3, 2009
Baradwaj,
Yes, I see what you mean regarding the “seriousness of intent.” I need to think more about to respond in a more coherent manner. But regarding “big themes,” I’ll say this much. I too have thought along these lines (i.e. why the hell does he not make “little” films?), and I think the reason is Kamal’s canvas essentially tends to be big. His most accomplished films have an epic-like structure. So I guess that’s how it’s going to be.
>> “I can sense a struggle (which is what I called labouredness) in these films. This is really a much longer, wide-ranging argument than I have the time for here”
Yes, this would be a wide-ranging debate. As you see, I myself have dealt with this just with respect to the best of his films in the earlier comment. But one can easily sense this struggle (that he’s trying too hard) and the failure in films like Aalavanthaan. I think my own views on this isn’t really clear. But I do think Kamal has a tendency to jump across various genres with gay abandon, and at times fails quite awfully.
>> “It’s a lot of little, other things, including the fact that I miss Kamal, the actor-for-hire who’d give himself over to good directors, and I miss the Kamal who made big events out of small movies like Kokila and AA and MP. No other “commercial” Tamil actor ventured anywhere near such films, then or now.”
This is a great sentiment. While I completely understand where you’re coming from, I think there’s a conflict of choice here. I don’t mean to argue that Kamal shouldn’t do films with other directors at all (a few quickies wouldn’t hurt) but when it comes to choosing between Kamal or someone else behind the screen, my preference is just too obvious. This is why I’ve never been able to buy the idea of being an actor-for-hire for good directors as opposed to solidly commercial ventures that would enable him to make his films.
By the way, “moving as hell” is so right. (My eyes too still mist up.)
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The Normal Guy
December 3, 2009
@ BR : Where the hell is K2K ? Why is it taking it so long to come out ? Special Effects ? 😉 Or Budget problems ?
ANd about the ‘dead air’ you speak of in Anbe Sivam, can you give some examples of scenes or sequences which you think have dead air ?
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randramble
December 3, 2009
IMHO, Kamal has gone beyond the actor and transformed into a creator whose medium is movies. That’s the way I see it — my two cents.
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KPV Balaji
December 4, 2009
Brillaint article, was long waiting for a total fanboyish tribute and it was worth the wait. What a choice of movie i must say. This one is never talked about or discussed as any of his other serious movies. What a pity.
Missing the kamal the gun for hire is as zero points out is cleary a conflict of choices. It again does with the movies that we grew up with. For some one like me Kamal made the influence and the impact with movies where he was not only the actor also the writer. I for one crave for him to write more scripts and direct more movies. Movies with talented directors will never hurt but never at the cost of his own movies. Recently watched Raajapaarvai after a long time and did not hold up really well. It never quiet made an impact, did you have a recent watch ? Varumai niram sivappu, moondram pirai, 16 vayathinale, Aval appadithaan, Nizhal nijamagirathu has that impact now. But if you want to chose between those earlier ones to the latter ones ( Mahanadhi, Hey ram, anbe sivam, virumandi, Kuruthi punal, devar magan), it would be definetly for the latter ones without a doubt.
BTW, my eyes too still mist up – me three 🙂
Guess its not a bad time at all to remind you of that hey ram review
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brangan
November 23, 2019
A post on APOORVA SAGOTHARARGAL…
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Madan
November 23, 2019
Wow, didn’t know you had written in detail about it long back already. And yes, that Unna Ninachen passage (or even before it, when his mother makes a disparaging reference to him being a dwarf and he walks away jaw agape) is pivotal to the movie. If one dismisses it as masala melodrama, one misses the essence of the film. It’s where he is, in essence, made acutely aware that he’s an outcast, where for the first time, he has to ask himself who he really is and why is he here. Which of course opens the Pandora’s Box.
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Madan
November 23, 2019
Also, we know this already but it’s worth reiterating. This is what makes your writing on films compelling to read. You don’t just take the canon and try to justify it for the nth time.. When your gut points you in a different direction, you take it with conviction. I see many of the comments at the time questioning your choice of AS but I for one completely agree with it. And even Tamil audience has to some extent made the same mistake as Varun : to watch it only as a kid’s film and miss the beautiful undercurrents. This is one of those films that is well liked but not fully appreciated.
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Voldemort
November 24, 2019
When I saw the title of this one, for a moment I thought it was your 500th post and you just turned 50. Oh well. My bad.
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Lakshmi
November 25, 2019
Sir. Feeling vvvv happy to read this article. Feeling vvv proud to say iam a kamalfan. Many says he is not a box office hitter. They doesnt know the sincerity & hardwork of kamal sir. Nicely written article. Goosebumps came, when i read. Thank u.👏👏
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brangan
December 7, 2019
Madan: When your gut points you in a different direction, you take it with conviction.
Thank you so much for saying this, Madan. This means a lot — because this is exactly how I approach writing about films, even if I get bashed for my opinions 🙂
At the risk of sounding pompous, I think “following my gut with conviction” is at least one reason I have remained relevant as a critic after some 17 years, in a completely different universe from the one I started blogging in.
And this is also the best kind of reading, because you are not here because you agree with me, but because you want to know what I say (however harebrained you may think it is, wrt your own opinions).
Thanks again.
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Madan
December 7, 2019
BR: So let me take this opportunity then to ask for something that some others have before too and which most regular visitors of this blog like : more essays like this. I say this also because for Tamil cinema, there aren’t many other than you who are either interested in writing such essays or have the capability to write it well.
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Madan
January 22, 2023
Stumbled upon this piece by Khalid Mohammed written at the time of the film’s original theatrical run:
https://imgbb.com/D18X2tG
Man, there are very few critics I have so heartily loathed as Khalid and yet, on this one, I found himself nodding along to almost everything he wrote here. Sadly, the only way to read it is to expand what is a faded photograph of the print article.
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Macaulay Perapulla
January 23, 2023
@Madan Thanks for this gem. Fascinating time capsule to show how much Kamal was punching up above during those times. I also loved how he talked about self-evolution and the audience growing up with that.
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Raghu Narayanan
January 23, 2023
Unfortunately, I could not zoom in effectively beyond the few lines in bold below the headline. But boy, isn’t that so true! Unlike his contemporaries, Kamal was willing to take risks and play unusual roles. And yet, be the super start that he is. Can’t help but tie this back to the thread on Varisu where we are lamenting about current top stars having next to nil appetite for risk taking and doing something different which justifies the returns they are reaping…!!!
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