MEN OF THE MASSES
Unlike the metro-centric, multiplex-centric Hindi film, Tamil cinema isn’t apologetic about showcasing he-men heroes in vehicles that are unabashed celebrations of their heroism.
JUN 6, 2010 – NOW THAT KITES HAS COME TATTERED AND UNSTRUNG in a storm of near-universal derision, its bitter lessons are all that remain. Number one: if you want your film to be the equivalent of a consecration, a temple with the golden-boy hero as its resplendent deity, do not eye subject material that cries out for an antihero. When a desperate loner-grifter is buffed up into a fab-ab flaunting presence, not a flinty mercenary but a cuddly rake with miles of close-ups highlighting his vacuous prettiness, the only thing the audience can do is laugh. For Kites to have worked, Hrithik Roshan needed to have been bad before meandering inadvertently into the good path, and in the hands of a performer with lesser star-wattage, this might have shaped into a pulpy-romantic Johnny Gaddaar. It might have been – as subject and setting warranted – unapologetically amoral. Instead, it keeps attempting to locate veins of morality in order to redeem the hero, in order not to repel his adoring audience. So why not make, for them, a straightforward star-showcase?
After all, that’s what Tamil masala movies do, even the ones featuring major stars. The hero is always a hero, and if this makes for a unidimensional monolith at the story’s centre, at least there’s never any confusion in the film’s (or the audience’s) mind. There’s never any dithering about defining this character in anything but the whitest of whites. Take two recent releases, Vijay’s Sura (Shark) and Suriya’s Singam (Lion). They’re both named after fearsome predators, and if Vijay leaps out the ocean in his introduction scene, Suriya lopes across land in pursuit of peccant prey. Not for them this namby-pamby, peek-a-boo designer-underwear business, and neither are they going to flail about in a sea of existential dilemmas. These films may be no classics, but they are about heroes in the most classical sense. They are about men, the way the gender used to be defined in the days before the first bra was introduced to a lit matchstick.
Sura is a depressing failure as entertainment, but, at least, it sets out to do what its hero wants it to do – and that’s to define him, in the public gaze, as a candidate worthy of electing into office. The political undertones are so overt, they’re no longer subtext but the main text. Through the course of the unremarkable story, Vijay prepares a meal for his ailing mother, instructs an inebriate on the ills of drinking, prays in a church (but prostrates before Jesus in the manner befitting a Hindu god, and thereon admits that even Allah is his protector), comes to the aid of the visually impaired, holds forth about fishermen in Rameswaram captured by Sri Lanka, and, finally, reveals that he does not think of himself as a leader but his people treat him like one, his image tattooed on their hearts. Thus, every single constituency is touched: women, the handicapped, victims of drunks, Hindus and Christians and Muslims, and most importantly, the impoverished and the disenfranchised. The hero’s ambition is to build, for his hut-dweller commune, houses of concrete. He swears by the sand on the beach – that’s his land, his birthright. The particulars of his life are unimportant. He’s the face of the general.
In Singam, a vastly superior no-brainer entertainer, Suriya moves in the opposite direction, from the general to the particular – his aims aren’t so much public as personal. He is a cop and he dreams of retiring from the force and settling into his family business. If he tears apart a villain who besmirches womanhood, stripping off a girl’s dupatta, it’s because it’s his girlfriend who’s at the receiving end. (Of course, after this act of gallantry, she repays him by jiggling about in a bikini top, rendering utterly meaningless her apparent shame upon being deprived of that dupatta. Then again, this display is solely for the hero, on screen, and all of Tamil Nadu off of it.) And yet, as a policeman, Suriya also functions as a stand-in for a much-mocked segment of society. In his khaki, he’s a ferocious punisher of evil, a macho male defined by a macho moustache, his voice a perennial roar, his limbs dedicated to pounding villains to pulp. While Vijay, in Sura, has a song as his first set piece, Suriya is introduced through an action segment. The singing and dancing can wait.
Suriya has to show, first, what being a cop is all about, especially to city-bred cynics like Nasser, the heroine’s father, who doesn’t want anything to do with the police. And that is the film’s subtext, the manner in which it plays to the masses far away from the cities, who deify their cops. It isn’t just that Suriya is extolling policemen in general. He’s putting together a paean specifically to the small-town cop. He’s from Nallur, in Tuticorin, and he hates the city. He’s ready to turn down a promising promotion simply because it requires him to transfer to Chennai, which he denigrates as a saakkadai, a reeking sewer represented by the Cooum, as opposed to the redolent waters of his beloved Thamirabharani. But when he does wind up in the stinking city, he cleans it up like no cop around him can – because the city cops are corrupt. The character of Suriya unequivocally plays up the victory of small-town (or village) values over the decadence of the big city, and by the end, even Nasser, hitherto so contemptuous of policemen, falls in line. When his daughter (a Chennai-ite who speaks to Suriya in English, about having a “crush” and being “responsible” and so forth) is shot, you expect this distraught father to plead with the hero to leave her alone because she’s suffered enough. Instead, he proffers a shoulder of solid support.
Unlike the metro-centric Kaakha Kaakha, where Suriya’s cop was an urban creature plagued by bereavement and betrayal, the small-town policeman of Singam is always on top, always two steps ahead. That’s the fun of the film, its unashamed courting of the mass audience, its unapologetic celebration of the hero as one of them. It’s no accident that a crucial action sequence unfolds in a theatre screening Unnaippol Oruvan (the Kamal Hassan starrer whose title translates to “someone like you,” or, in other words, a man of the masses). Both Vijay (in Sura) and Suriya (in Singam) are held aloft by the masses, the commoners, honest labourers far removed from mall-hopping urbanites. (Only the heroines are emblematic of the latter. Their pursual of, and subsequent subjugation by, the small-town hero is, of course, a time-honoured Tamil cinema tradition.) And both films situate their heroes in the vicinity of divinity. If Suriya merely makes it his mission to track down thieves who’ve escaped with jewels from the local temple, Vijay, after being taken for dead, is shown to have been rescued by the local deity. He’s a human resurrected by God. You cannot get more heroic than that.
Copyright ©2010 The New Sunday Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Venkatesh
June 5, 2010
How come you don’t look at the cradle and pinnacle of no-brainer entertainment – Telugu Cinema ?
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Sridhar Ramanathan
June 5, 2010
Baddy, I was one of the unfortunate who went and saw Singam (Coz Surya acts in “Meaningful Movies”). I was fortunate not seeing Sura. I have given up on Vijay after it was Gilli in all movies. But the sad part of Singam is how we discount a really dumbed down movie as it is Paisa Vasool and hence OK. To rub salt to the wounds, Vivek comedy never went above the belt…literally. I am sure this movie will be a hit, but it remains to be found out whether we can make no brainer entertainment that is different every time. BTW, Anuzhka did all the removal of clothes only in dream sequences which are imagined..err imaginary. Only hope is that Raavan is not Guna invented for the 21st century! Abirami Abirami!!
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brangan
June 5, 2010
Dharu: Come on, dude. You went into a Hari-Suriya film expecting “meaningful movie?” Enna kodumai saar idhu! 🙂
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Bala
June 5, 2010
The problem with Vijay movies is the inherent inability to act. He does not want to risk trying different styles unlike Surya and really needs to be more expresive. His fan following is limited to the younger male audience unlike Surya who is making an attempt to capture all sides of the spectrum. If Vijay thinks of getting into Politics it is going to be a blunder which would cost him a lot.
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MUmbaiRamki
June 5, 2010
Im surprised that people go expecting singam to be a ‘cereberal’ entertainment , even after sun Tv spits the trailer with surya roaring ‘ singatha Tv la pathu iruppa , photo la pathu irupa ‘ ..
I saw this ganapathy ram and throughly enjoyed , paisa vasool …
(You have read a bit too much into singam …im sure when hari wrote the screenplay , it wasn’t like this !)
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Padawan
June 5, 2010
For a second I thought that this week’s BR would ONLY be about how the Golden Globes were masked and all, not about Sura and Singam and heroism. 😉
Haven’t read it in detail. Will do so and comment laters.
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Amrita
June 5, 2010
@ Venkatesh – Amen. I saw Arundhati, Pokiri and Magadheera back to back last year and now I’m obsessed.
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brangan
June 5, 2010
MUmbaiRamki: “You have read a bit too much into singam …im sure when hari wrote the screenplay , it wasn’t like this !” But who cares about the movie Hari made? I’m only talking about the movie that *I* saw. Surely after all the time on this blog, you know the difference 🙂
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machaan
June 5, 2010
All those who want to watch “meaningful cinema” , why do u even care about a vijay cinema or a suriya masala film. Don’t watch it. Simple & plain as that. There are lots of wannabes in hindi & now even in tamil cinemas who are trying to make “meaningful cinema” . go watch those. I guess it is a cool thing now to ditch on those masala movies that every desi grew up on.
And Amen to telugu movies. I am hooked too.Thank God they don’t have an inferiority complex & are unapologetic when it comes to making an all out masala movie. I hope to God they too don’t jump into the bandwagon & go about making movies to please all the critics ditching on these masala movies.
There are lots of blogs & discussion boards cropping up all over internet by caucasians & latinos & Arabs &all sorts of ethnicities who enjoy these masala movies for what they are. They are into mustachioed men who bash up the goons & sing to their heroines.Atleast they don’t feel the need to hide their admiration for pure entertainement, like a lot of recently emigrated, complexed desis I know.
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Suresh
June 5, 2010
@Venkatesh: Well said. You can’t get more dumber or more masala than in the Telugu films!!! Just saw a sequence on TV where Balakrishna bangs his thigh and there is a mini tremor, around 5 on the Ritcher scale. I swear I am not joking. If you want unabashed ‘heroism’, Telugu films are the place to go.
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Adithya
June 6, 2010
Oh I thoroughly enjoyed Singam. It did suffer from a terrible Sammy hangover but the movie was a breeze, never irritating. I never went WTF the way I did during ATM, Kuruvi etc.
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vidyut
June 6, 2010
What is baffling is that Vijay himself doesn’t tire of the prodigious Gilli-fication of his movies. There is a flicker of hope though that this may change, since reports have surfaced that distributors are demanding restitution for the recent duds that he has delivered (however, if @machaan is to be believed, he’ll find takers in the Norwegians, the Swedes, the Egyptians and the Mexicans). Now, Surya does repeatedly wade into the roiled vettu-kutthu-sumo-gushing-blood waters, but he has the goods to rehabilitate himself with his performance in reasonably watchable cinema (even when its commercial fare). As for Ajith, he comes out of nowhere once every couple of years, delivers the blandest of performances in style and slinks back into a state of premeditated oblivion.
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Mambazha Manidhan
June 6, 2010
Speaking of whitest of whites mass heroes, I can recall a tint of greyness in the character Vikram played in Saamy,when he accepts bribes from the very corrupt politicians he is against,even though it is eventually proven that he was only white along.
I remember Vikram talking about doing a grey character for apparently the first time in almost every interview promoting Saamy at that time.
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cinelover
June 6, 2010
All those who feel telugu films are dumb & no brainers, I bet these are the same folks who thinks a dinosaur island,superman wearing his underwear over his pants,a guy bitten by a spider & turning into spiderman who can spin webs, a kingkong falling in luv with a lady,are intellectual films that require mucho contemplation & which give answers to most of the existential questions in life & promotes world peace.
NOone is forcing anyone to watch a masala desi movie. But enough with the smart alec comments on every VIjay, Balakrishna movies. We get it. U all are a highly evolved species, whose big brain can’t grasp the ridiculousness of all these masala movies.
The very desi movies that u guys ditch on has millions of viewers & bring in revenues like crazy.
Access to internet, exposure to a few american indie cinemas, few european art cinemas & all of a sudden all the FoBs just turn into film critiques & they are ashamed of where they came from, the movies they grew up watching & all the telugu/tamil heros who look like them , talk like them become dumb. How much u all must hate yourself to talk crap about the very movies u have watched or your parents or relatives or friends enjoy watching.
Get real guys. It is entertainement. Lots of people just want to unwind & watch movies that are not about serial killers or psycho schizophrenics or terrorists or women & children being abused .
Some people just want to watch a movie where there is singing & dancing. Yes , there is a guy banging his thigh. That must be the only thing that caught your fancy in the whole movie. But these same movies talk about situations familiar to desi diaspora, may be not with an ironic distance but with an earnestness….relationship among family members, siblings, love, respect to elders, joint family, men who hug their mother & cry, motjers who put their kids before themselves.In its own entertaining way, these movies touch on a lot of issues that the latest American sex romcom movie wouldn’t touch upon.
Talk enough crap about masala movies & South will end up like BOllywood which is trying so hard to get the approval of the Angrez by tring to make movies like them but is falling short & looking like cheap imitation. Imagine desi movies devoid of all its beautiful colors & songs & emotions & spirit & thigh banging & koothu song. What a depressing thought that is.
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Rahul
June 6, 2010
“I’m only talking about the movie that *I* saw. ”
Surely you must have chuckled on getting yet another chance to point that out.
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Venkatesh
June 6, 2010
@Amritha : Fantastic choices , i suggest checking out some of the older Chiranjeevi films circa 85-90. Each one worth its weight in gold.
@Amritha , @Suresh : I love the fact that they are unapologetic about what they do its the purest form of entertainment. There is no equivalent of that in Hindi anymore , everyone is “in with the times”.
If you guys are upto it , i suggest checking out a few bhojpuri movies. Now, those are really something. If you go all intellectual on them then- there is no fourth wall to speak of.
@cinelover : I think you missed the point.
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Naresh
June 6, 2010
Awesome.
Thought provoking write up!
You didn’t mention the over (ab)use of graphics at every small opportunity to drive home that our hero is a lion!
Why did they introduce a character to be all-powerful, above everything/everyone and then go on to make a mockery of him for the rest of the movie?
I felt that the Lion and the Shark were simply vehicles for the heroes to take them to the next level in their respective careers. The Lion managed to be entertaining whereas the Shark was too focussed in its propaganda mission to be bothered with such trivialities.
Hey, I shot you a little query thru the “contact” tab in your blog. You didn’t respond! 😦
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Suresh
June 6, 2010
@cinelover: No. Balakrishna banging the thigh was not the only thing that caught my fancy. There were so many more scenes that had I quoted all of them my comment would have been longer than Rangan’s article. When it comes to pure unadulterated junk machismo, you can’t beat the Telugu directors and the heros.
While I do understand the fact that the Telugu masala movies very unapologetic in their approach, I have to say that I find most of them quite regressive. The legacy of Raghavendar Rao and Kodandarami Reddy has been carried forward by the new age directors but there is no one, or no market. to carry forward the sensitivity of K.Vishwanath or Bapu.
One surprising thing I find about Telugu movies. The slightly older heroes like Nagarjuna and Venkatesh don’t mind playing characters which are a bit weak and being in stories which give some scope and respect for the heroines. The newer generation seems to be more keen on projecting their macho self. (Balakrishna is his own league and shall not be compared with others !!! )
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Suresh
June 6, 2010
… and just on case people are wondering what is this thing about Balakrishna we are talking about, have a look at this scene.
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Venkatesh
June 6, 2010
@Suresh : “I have to say that I find most of them quite regressive.” – This is very true and a lot of times it makes me wince.
OTOH, there has also been a strain of heroine-centric movies in Telugu, you don’t have equivalent of those in Tamil or anywhere else. Vijay Shanti was the torch-bearer then and Anushka Shetty is getting there now.
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Ramesh
June 6, 2010
doubt that i would call vedam no brain entretainment. magadheera , from the you tube clips i saw, maybe.
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Ramesh
June 6, 2010
and Her Anushkaness being compared to mere vijayashati! vibacharam! vibacharam!!
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Vivek
June 6, 2010
Surya rocks ! he never ceases to amaze … maybe a no brain entertainer, i dont contest that but its a through entertainer !
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brangan
June 6, 2010
vidyut: “As for Ajith, he comes out of nowhere once every couple of years, delivers the blandest of performances in style and slinks back into a state of premeditated oblivion.” LOL! This comment made my Sunday.
Rahul: Oh, I never tire of it 🙂
Venkatesh: It’s funny you say that because my next BR is about Bhojpuri cinema.
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Venkatesh
June 6, 2010
@Ramesh: “and Her Anushkaness being compared to mere vijayashati! vibacharam! vibacharam!!” – Damn you. I was making a serious point man.
@BR: Can’t wait for it :-). Only one request, do not forget to add something about the former queen of Bhojpuri cinema – our thunder thighs – Madam Ramba Ji.
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Ramya
June 6, 2010
@Ramesh: Strong agreer on Vedam, and the same could be said about Gamyam, the director’s first outing. Extremely well written movies, both, and they bring much needed respite from more Rayalseema goons beating up each other.
But Magadheera was fantastic entertainment.
And as Suresh has pointed out, there are fewer directors/actors today willing to work in non-masala fare in Telugu cinema today.
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Harish S Ram
June 6, 2010
i came to read about Singam and the tamil mass heros. But am seeing things shifting to telugu and bojpuri.
I have only one question. What happened to Rajneeti?
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B.H.Harsh
June 6, 2010
Rangan : Not gonna do Rajneeti review this week or what? Was actually looking forward to it very eagerly, which I do any which ways 🙂
Please inform if you aren’t. I’d not check this page every half and hour atleast 🙂
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ramesh
June 7, 2010
venkatesh,
I could get reeeally serious about her anushkaness…if she will give me a sign…like act in the one pos nineties telegu movie I watched…
she did? Ok it’s on!
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vidyut
June 7, 2010
“OTOH, there has also been a strain of heroine-centric movies in Telugu, you don’t have equivalent of those in Tamil or anywhere else.”
There have been heroine-centric movies in Tamil too. “Poo” (Parvathi Menon) and “Aval Peyar Tamilarasi” (Nandagi) recently and “Kovilapatti Veeralakshmi” (Simran) in the somewhat distant past are such movies. There have also been Tamil heroines such as Kushboo and Simran who were worshiped (the former literally) no less than some of their male counterparts. But, if the strain of heroine-centricity here alludes to butt-kicking bravado of the feminine kind, that may have few takers among the Tamil audience. Btw, women using their wits to get the better of men as seen in “Magalir Mattum” does get appreciated.
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kanna
June 7, 2010
Rangan – No rajneeti?
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brangan
June 7, 2010
Ramya: Is Magadheera available with subtitles in India? Thanks.
Harish S Ram / BH Harsh / kanna: No review from me. This is the review that appeared in the paper.
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Raj Balakrishnan
June 7, 2010
Hi Baradwaj,
Was really looking forward for your ‘Raajneeti’ review! Loved the film, was interested in your take.
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Vamshi
June 7, 2010
BR – you don’t need subtitles to see Magadheera.
One thing that has always surprised me is that South Indian movies continue to have stories set in small towns and villages often. This has reduced of late but even till a decade back, there was an occasional Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi, Rajni movie which was set in these B/C centres. The reason i find it surprising is that the Southern states are relatively more developed, have better incomes, etc etc. There is an equally large or larger population from these states settled abroad. So the factor of catering to NRI audiences can’t be used to explain the case of the wannabe-ness of Hindi movies. If that were the case, Telugu/Tamil/ Malayalam movies have an even larger claim to make these pseudo movies.
And this is not a recent trend too. You will be hard-pressed to name Hindi movies set in the hinterland in the 60s too – apart from an occasional Upkaar or Ganga Jumna or Naya Daur. But in Telugu or Tamil, 2 out of 3 movies were set in the villages where MGR/ Shivaji/ NTR/ ANR was a farmer or an agriculturist. And that was a time when there was no NRI segment too, so that too is a nail in the one-size-fits-all NRI-argument. That is an oversimplification of a more complex and needed debate.
It is unfortunate that we do not have proper media studies in universities or even critics coming out with theses on this. But it merits some analysis.
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arijit
June 7, 2010
quick question…no reviews of rajneeti/shutter island…would really like to know your take on shutter island…a very interesting film…maybe saddled with too many twists and turns…but thought provoking and challenging the audience…which so very few films do nowadays…the last line sort of sums up the film…
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Venkatesh
June 7, 2010
@Vidyut : “But, if the strain of heroine-centricity here alludes to butt-kicking bravado of the feminine kind, that may have few takers among the Tamil audience.” – i was specifically referring to the butt-kicking variety ., given that this post is about “machoness”.
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Ashok
June 7, 2010
I second Arijit’s plea for a review of Rajniti and Shutter Island.
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APALA
June 7, 2010
Dear BR,
I saw Singam expecting just what we should expect from a Hari-Surya film and it was entertaining enough — I only wish they cut down on the “decibel level”!! I had to check my ear-drum after the movie!!
Oh!, I had given up on Vijay movies long back – even for a no-brainer entertainment! His and Ajith’s movies have become total tortures to say the least!!
But my point is: why the hell “city slick” movies are given a fair treatment, while village violent movies are considered “very earthy” and given an undue amount of leverage by most of the reviewers (not film critics – which is almost non-existent in Tamil) — Just beats me.
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Venkatesh
June 7, 2010
BR: “This is the review that appeared in the paper.” – Hmm so the reviewer is not pleased. Direct question to you : What is your review remit as per the Newspaper or are you a roving reporter ? Also, i presume the blog is separate from the paper and hence on these pages you can pretty much review what you want, is that right ?
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Ramesh
June 7, 2010
you need subtitles to interpret this smile?
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NullPointer
June 7, 2010
BR: I guess we are not going to find out the reasons behind you not reviewing Rajneeti but I am praying that you do a review on Raavan/Raavanan. I don’t know what I am waiting for more -this movie or your review of it.
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raj
June 7, 2010
BR, so you have that subordinate to waatch over and review weekly hindi movies now? And you can focus on your columns? Or did I detect an aloof note in that pointer to the new guy’s review as though here’s the review, such as it is
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brangan
June 7, 2010
arijit/ashok: Will hopefully get to review Shutter Island. But Rajneeti, if at all, will be a BR.
APALA: First of all, I’m not sure I get what you mean by “undue amount of leverage.” Second of all, in your estimation, am I a critic or a reviewer? 🙂
Venkatesh: What is “review remit?” I’m not a roving reporter, much as I like the sound of that 🙂 I’m the Film Critic. The blog has the full versions of the articles I write (which, for space reasons, are edited in print).
NullPointer: A bloke is allowed to take time off once in a while, no? 🙂 And OMG, what pressure. You’re discounting the fact that I might end up writing a very mediocre review for Raavan (based on this very pressure) 🙂
raj: Not subordinate. Avvallavu periya all-laam ille. When I couldn’t do reviews earlier, they used to give them to Udita Jhunjhunwala from Mumbai. Now, there’s this writer in Chennai. Aloof note-aa? Ohoho! Neengalum nambala maadhiri “interpret”-laam panna aarambichiteengala? 🙂
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Ramesh
June 7, 2010
raj,
annanodey charectere purinjukka mattengaraye!
BR is dude an iima guy? i knew a shyam bala once but he joined the tas.didnt kmow if he was into film reviewing.
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Venkatesh
June 8, 2010
BR: “What is “review remit?” Do you get to pick and choose the films you want to review or does the “Paper” dispatch you off to specific films or is there like a policy – English/Foreign language films go to BR and others go to Mr/Miss X.
The reason i ask is precisely because of the hint of aloofness in pointing out the other Rajneeti review ?
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B.H.Harsh
June 8, 2010
Rangan :
“Second of all, in your estimation, am I a critic or a reviewer?”
You posed this Question to someone else, but I would actually like to hear an answer to the same – from the Horse’s Mouth. 🙂
Hope you won’t disappoint!
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B.H.Harsh
June 8, 2010
Rangan : Also explain the difference between the two, if I am not asking for too much.
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Padawan
June 8, 2010
Baradwaj: People in “essential” services cannot take time off. Don’t you get that? Or do you want someone to come down to your office/home block your way and
Kutti Pisaasu paarthachaa? (Aap Chotta Shaithaan dekh liye kya?)
Sura paarthachaa? (Aap Selachimorpha dekh liye kya?)
Idhu ellam paarka vendaamna…vaara varam review vandhaganum (Translation not required)
Baradwaj makes call to the Ed to cancel the holiday plans.
Jokes apart, hope all is well Sir?
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APALA
June 8, 2010
Dear BR,
Stop pulling my leg, dude!!!
You know what I mean — Just like I read your mind about Mani-Raja Split!!!!!!!! 🙂
It should have read “why the hell “city slick” movies are NOT given a fair treatment”. My bad.
You the BEST FILM CRITIC that REVIEWS films I have known — Howzzat?
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APALA
June 8, 2010
Dear BR,
You might have seen this – but if not here’s Surya with Sudhish!
http://sudhishkamath.com/
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KPV balaji
June 8, 2010
BR: FYI Magadheera is very much available with subtitles in India, torrent link venuma 😛
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ksk
June 8, 2010
It’s ridiculous to see a debate over which is worse, Tamil cinema or Telugu cinema. Only difference between both is sons of star heros, producers becoming heros in Telugu cinema regardless of worthiness in talent or looks. And sons of Telugu/Kannada soil become stars in Tamil cinema regardless of looks(vijaykanth, murali, rajnikanth,etc).
Seriously, both produce rare gems and many disasters.
There is little difference between Balakrishna and Rajni(the latter can dance). Rajni stares down buffaloes, Balakrishna slaps his thigh, reminding us of a shaking buffalo.
At the end of the day, masala films win over regardless of how stupid it is. Because 95% of the viewing male wants to see himself as the loved, capable hero on the screen, not the hopeless coward he himself is off the screen.
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ksk
June 8, 2010
Also, though I haven’t watched too many Tamil films lately, I have to say that the technical quality of films have risen in Telugu.
Of course, this may be due to the fact that more Telugu hero sons, producer sons are coming to act so production is with big camps , spending lots more as there is a bigger fan base to each hero in Telugu. But with the decreased technical costs associated with photography, more film school educated technicians are needed in Tamil/Malayalam fields.
BTW, I saw Singam. It did what it was supposed to do, and that is to glorify the protagonist such that the average masala film loving male, especially B&C centers will have their ego further inflated:-)
We want entertainment these days… nothing else. Meaningful cinema? There are no patrons. Why didn’t “Poo” run? Why was “Angadi Theru” not a bigger hit? If comedy, great songs, good action and fast screenplay is all we want, can’t complain about Gilli or Singham.
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brangan
June 8, 2010
Ramesh: iima? Not sure. Will check.
Venkatesh: No such luck. Don’t get to pick and choose. If there are Hindi films released, I need to cover them. (Malini Mannath covers the Tamil releases.) With no Hindi releases, I substitute English (like this Friday, I hope to review Robin Hood). And in the BR columns, I get to talk about films (Tamil, English, whatever) that I do not review (besides music, of course).
No aloofness intended. Just said that this was the review published in the paper.
Padawan: You can relax. No holiday plans 🙂
KPV balaji: I’m not morally opposed to torrents or anything, and I do watch TV shows that are otherwise unavailable. Just don’t want to get into the habit of watching even movies on the computer when there is a big-screen-TV alternative available.
B.H.Harsh: All I know is what I do (and what I want to do), and that is to present the film through the lens of my viewing experience, making no pretense about exhorting the viewer to see (or not see) the film. Every week, I try to write a piece that’s (hopefully) entertaining and informative and stylish and opinionated and, most importantly, autobiographical.
I don’t know if that makes me a critic or a reviewer or neither, because I don’t really “evaluate” films on a piecemeal basis. (My card, however, says “Film Critic.”) That’s why I was curious how APALA defined the terms “critic” and “reviewer.”
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Venkatesh
June 8, 2010
ksk: “We want entertainment these days… nothing else. Meaningful cinema? There are no patrons. ” – Nothing wrong with wanting entertainment. I am personally against the whole “meaningful cinema” idea, meaningful to whom and what.
There is only good and bad cinema, the definitions of good and bad being subjective. “Poo” was good cinema and so was “Ghilli” , they just belong to two different categories , neither of which is intrinsically better than the other.
Just because a film attempts to be more “realistic”(everyone’s definition of this is different) does not mean it has a license to bore me stiff nor does it mean that a viewer preferring a “realistic” film is somehow more evolved tastes. He has just different tastes.
What matters is the broadness of the taste, its not a either or situation , it is a AND situation. Entertainment or “good” cinema is a false dichotomy. A film can be entertaining and good cinema.
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Venkatesh
June 8, 2010
BR : A request , can we have a different wordpress plugin here mate , it is quite hard to enter long comments.
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KPV balaji
June 9, 2010
@BR: So what did you think of Rajneethi..did it work for you..are you doing a BR on it ?? For me the first half was engaging but they completely lost it in the second half. Manoj Bajpai was brilliant. Ranbir was good while ajay devgan had a kind of half baked role if i may so.
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sham
June 9, 2010
wtf is your problem with Raajneeti?
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Deepak
June 10, 2010
Say, how are you planning to take up Raavan/Raavanan? A review of Raavan and a BR for Raavanan? Also will you be writing about how AB Jr. and Vikram interpret their respective characters?
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brangan
June 10, 2010
KPV Balaji: The film didn’t work for me at all. Jha couldn’t bring together the sprawl of the film. (I think he does better with smaller setups.) And it was so badly acted. Bajpai was a caricature. Ranbir looked uneasy throughout, though that’s probably the way his character was so unconvincingly written. This could have been a great masala variation on the Mahabharata, but the film was too splotchy to work as anything.
Deepak: The film hasn’t even been released. And you want me to make plans for *how* I’ll tackle it? 🙂
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Adithya
June 10, 2010
Dude BR, you sure deserve it, but I haven’t seen this kinda hype/expectation/”what he would write” scenario since JK Rowling.
Next up, I think we should all collectively start a BR fan fiction 😛
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brangan
June 10, 2010
Adithya: You know, maybe I’ll just take a break. Crawl under a rock or something, and let you create your own theories about what I *would* have written 🙂
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Deepak
June 10, 2010
haha..guess all the hype got to me. Like a sugar rush 🙂
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kanna
June 10, 2010
Rangan – Want to echo Deepak’s question. What is your approach towards reviewing Raavan/Raavanan? Would love to have BR and Review back-to back!
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sham
June 10, 2010
i don’t get any replies cos i use a fake name? 😛
time for facebook page.
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Venkatesh
June 10, 2010
Am i the only one who is not enthused by Raavan/Ravannan ?
Just look at the promos – the shot setup, the music, the camera movement- from the way it sounds to the way it looks the whole thing is stale. Its an old man’s movie. I will still watch it but there is no sense of excitement for it.
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Raj Balakrishnan
June 10, 2010
Baradwaj,
Regarding “ it was badly acted”. What did you think of Nana Patekar then? Wasn’t he subdued and impressive (IMHO) for a change?
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a
June 10, 2010
into the cave I say!!…reminds me of andy warhol and the campbell soup cans…must be a lot of pressure Br to live upto all the theories about what you would have written!!
Do you need a ghost writer?!!…
ahem!
cheers!-have a large one on the rocks before ravaan!
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ramesh
June 10, 2010
I think a BR futures market is in order. Bets will be taken on 1. will he see the film 2. will he like it? 3. which picture will go on it? 4. Will it be a review? a between reviews? or a Bitty rumination? 5. will priti post a comment in it 😉
find my email address from my website and write to me and I’ll tell you where to send the money(I take paypal)
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Naresh
June 10, 2010
ah… so much expectations! And i think now is as good a time as any to remind you to watch Sita sings the blues! 😛
So that you can write a piece on retelling/reinterpreting the Ramayana!
whatsay?
enna da, ivan ippadi torture pannaraneynu feel pannareengala? My idea is that if you watch it and write a piece about it, a whole lotta ppl will get to see this gem.
And ofcourse, i’m also anticipating the debate that’ll follow. *crushing imaginary weed between palms* 😀
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NullPointer
June 10, 2010
BR: For all you know even Mani might be waiting to hear what you have to say on his movie :).And then you interviewing Mani would be the best thing since sliced bread.
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APALA
June 10, 2010
Dear BR,
I kind of got busy at work and did not compile my thoughts to reply you for Film Critic Vs Film Reviewer – until now. Here’s what I have managed to put together. See whether it makes sense.
I read somewhere that “Great film criticism has been devoured by its ugly kid sister, the film review”.
“The critic writes for those who have seen the film, as part of a critical dialogue, and is concerned with articulating the film’s thematic concerns (what meanings arise from the narrative concerns and the formal devices of the film?). Criticism means developing an argument and supporting it with evidence from the film, not (just) delivering opinion”.
(With 100+ million bloggers, out of which about 100+ million(!) write about films) Anybody can be a film reviewer. Because all they need to do is write a running commentary of the film, kind of summarizing the plot (for those who have not seen it). You can generally sense the empty-headedness of the thinking that compromises most of these “film reviews.” And they also have to tell you what’s good and what’s not – that is to put some of their value judgments (?!). And is there any comparison to other art forms or any such thing. NO. BIG NO.
But film critics should have a wide and deep knowledge of film history and they basically need to know more than their audience. They should write with authority without being patronizing. They have to have some basic level of expertise. The film writing becomes great when it’s very personal, it can transport the audience into their philosophy of life, their thinking – this makes them fresh and vital. In fact it’s a creative art form itself – which is as good as the movie and in fact should live longer than the film itself! Besides going for just their opinion, the audience should go to them with the desire to learn something and should enjoy being challenged by them.
Most of these so called “Film reviewers” should not be allowed to put their opinions in print as they are dreadful, dull and pointless.
Let me end this with a quote from Oscar Wilde: “the public have always, and in every age, been badly brought up. They are continually asking Art to be popular, to please their want of taste, to flatter their absurd vanity, to tell them what they have been told before, to show them what they ought to be tired of seeing, to amuse them when they feel heavy after eating too much, and to distract their thoughts when they are wearied of their own stupidity. Now Art should never try to be popular. The public should try to make itself artistic”.
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Rahul
June 11, 2010
“What is your approach towards reviewing Raavan/Raavanan?”
On account of having studied the write-ups on the reviewing process of BR and other luminaries, I would venture that there is no reviewing process as such. Just see the movie and write about whatever residue sticks in memory.
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ramesh
June 11, 2010
oscar wilde? indian.
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KPV Balaji
June 11, 2010
@BR: To me Bajpai was pretty good excpet for the scenes where he was drunk 😛
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Priti
June 11, 2010
You can be sure I would comment only on something that wouldn’t require extensive knowledge on the subject, mild pop culture ignoramus that I am.
Why am I getting picked on though, huh? 🙂 Bully.
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kamil
June 11, 2010
I think by approach – he was referring to the vehicle that Rangan is going to employ for reviewing borh versions – either through full review for both, or a BR or mix and match? Not the process here Rahul, the product!!
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Ramesh
June 11, 2010
i wasnt picking on you. i was going to “match fix” with you azzaruddin style after i gota whole bunch of bets.
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raj
June 11, 2010
Apisek will get more accolades than deservd that is for sure.
Going by promos, priya mani is vikram’s sister. – that’s the tamil version.
Going by apisek’s expressions, priya mani is someone he stalks – that’s the indhi version. Sort of incest if she actually is the sister in indhi also. Apisek – what an idea sirjee!
Let’s see what relationship mani intended and whether vikram or apisek’s interpretation works better. Something tells me apisek’s isnt
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Arvind
June 12, 2010
why u not writing rajneeti review
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Suresh
June 12, 2010
@raj,
I always have this feeling whenever I see ‘apisek’ that any movie which has him cannot be good. Whoever be the director!! The same feeling I used to get about Shabbir Kumar and Mohd. Aziz. Whether it be RD or Raja, once they sing, the song is gone!! As Venkatesh says, everything in the promo is so predictably Mani. So no wasting money for me.
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vidyut
June 12, 2010
“Whether it be RD or Raja, once they sing, the song is gone!!”
Really? Raja is not gifted with a voice as good as say Balu’s, but is no slouch when it comes to soulful rendition of a song, in particular those doused in sadness. I doubt anyone else could have done a better job than him in singing “Aarum adhu aazham illa, adhu serum kadalum aazham illa..” from “Mudhal vasantham”. In the duet “Oru jeevan .. azhaithathu.. oru jeevan.. thudithadhu” in the Tamil Geetanjali, the quiet desperation mixed with self-assuredness is brought out beautifully by Raja and Chitra.
And I love this duet, “Chinna Ponnu Sela, Sembagapoo pOla..” sung by Raja and Janaki from Malaiyoor Mambattiyan
There is another song “Naan Thedum sevvandhi poo idhu …” from “Dharmapathni”, outside his melancholic comfort zone that is excellent
If none of that works, you may want to try “Janani, janani..” from “Thaai Mookambigai” which is indeed a divine rendition.
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raj
June 12, 2010
Suresh, forget the obsession with Apisek. Mani’s next muse is the greatest thing since sliced bread a.k.a Ranbir Kapoor – wait, sorry, that should read the greatest thing since the greatest thing sliced bread. Because the former is Imran Khan. Or it could be the other way, too. I havent caught up with the propoganda these days
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Suresh
June 13, 2010
vidyut,
My mistake that I did not speak clearly. What I meant was that even if Raja or RD were the music directors, once Shabbir Kumar or Md Aziz sings, the song goes down the dumps. As far as Raja’s singing is concerned, don’t worry. I am big fan of most of the songs sung by him 🙂
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RATWTWN
July 12, 2010
@Raj: But you have caught on with the pro-bachchan propaganda on this blog.
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SpinningElectron
July 16, 2010
“Then again, this display is solely for the hero, on screen, and all of Tamil Nadu off of it.”
I didn’t know that you had bought into the pidgin English of the moneyed and powerful Americans too. Hence your writing “off of” instead of “off”. Oh well. One more victory for the Americans.
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