Even if you manage to stomach the forced comedy and the misplaced songs, can you make it past the heroine?
I hadn’t seen a Tamil movie in a while. I convinced myself that wild horses couldn’t drag me to the Vikram-starring Deiva Thirumagal, which a number of people said was adapted from I Am Sam. The problem wasn’t the adaptation (if you look at it charitably; “theft” if you want to be brutal) – it’s that I do not, anymore, have the stomach for the spectacle of big-name actors brandishing their talents like fireworks in a night sky, playing (I’m looking for the politically correct word here) people with special needs. I could barely endure Sean Penn doing it (in I Am Sam) and Ajay Devgan doing it (in the Hindi adaptation, Main Aisa Hi Hoon), and I couldn’t bring myself to see Vikram doing it – and it’s not because he isn’t a good performer. He is. It’s just that suspension of disbelief becomes difficult with a long-established actor. We don’t lose ourselves in the character because it’s the actor who looms before our eyes and we say “look how well this actor is playing that character,” which is not the case when an unknown plays the part.
Mankatha I could not see because life took over the weekend it was released, and once you miss something in its first week it becomes increasingly difficult to catch up because other films, newer films, keep getting released and the older ones get elbowed into the background. But this is a film I intend to see for a number of reasons. One, it’s a blockbuster (from what I hear), and as a critic you have to watch the big hits because they tell you what the popular pulse is (and how far from it you usually are). Two, it has Ajith in a negative role (again, from what I hear; I keep away from reviews and interviews about a film until I watch it so that the mind can remain as much a blank slate as possible, with no preconceived notions or even expectations). And three, Venkat Prabhu has become a front-line director, and though he’s never really lived up to the utterly charming promise he showed in Chennai-600028 – his subsequent films, Saroja and Goa were the very definition of diminishing returns – his has become a career worth following.
So when Friday arrived and brought with it two new Tamil releases, I opted for Vandhan Vendraan (directed by R Kannan and starring the numerologically empowered Jiiva) over Engeyum Eppodhum (directed by M Saravanan, and with Jai and Anjali in the lead). The first ten minutes, pivoting on the casual cruelties of children, are gripping, and then, like a train that’s gathered speed only to discover that the tracks have disappeared, the film nosedives into an abyss. Just about everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Santhanam saunters in with his comedy track – very funny at times, I admit – but his clowning lets the air out of a plot that should have ballooned with pressure. In this mutilation of the film’s mood, he is aided by a clutch of badly placed songs and a screenplay that lumbers clumsily between the present and the past and characters who happen upon each other so conveniently it’s as if they closed their eyes and thought of who they wanted to meet and were there when they opened their eyes.
And then there’s the heroine. Am I the only one disheartened by fair-skinned women who look great frozen on magazine covers but, when thawed on screen, perform like they’ve arrived from an alien planet? In close-ups, their eyes bulge and their nostrils flare up like infant dragons preparing to spew smoke, and their fingers slash through the air in feral gesticulations even as their lips assume positions that could never form the words we hear in the dialogue on the soundtrack. Tamil film heroes routinely demonstrate their bravery not by battling burly villains but by facing these actresses mid-performance and not running for their lives. Forget the suspension-of-disbelief issue with Vikram in Deiva Thirumagal – these girls don’t just break the fourth wall, they lunge through the gaping hole and land on our laps as we cower in terror. I am baffled that the female populace of Tamil Nadu hasn’t taken to processions of protest at being so offensively misrepresented. This isn’t a plea for the banishment of beauty, but isn’t anyone alarmed that the Tamil woman on screen has mutated into an alabaster automaton?
Lights, Camera, Conversation… is a weekly dose of cud-chewing over what Satyajit Ray called Our Films Their Films. An edited version of this piece can be found here.
Copyright ©2011 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Mohan
September 23, 2011
@rangan
Watch Mankatha first, dear fellow. PLEASE, PLEASE see Mankatha. But be warned, it is best served hot with hundreds of breathless fans who scream everytime Ajith does something remotely novel. Though the movie itself is too good, in massy kind of way.
After doing that PLEASE(repeated 100 times) see Engeyum Eppothum to know why Tamil Cinema is in full bloom.
And a FINAL PLEASE(repeated mentally 1000 times) do not keep watching an insignificant film here, a rubbish film there from directors you should have known not to expect more from and then crib on about misrepresentation of women and what-not.
The art of grasping the “pulse of the audience” lies not only in comparing your taste to theirs, but also in paying respect(a lot more than what you are currently doing) to plain and simple word-of-mouth. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
ruqayya
September 23, 2011
“Tamil film heroes routinely demonstrate their bravery not by battling burly villains but by facing these actresses mid-performance and not running for their lives.”….HAHAHAHAHHA that was priceless Mr.Rangan!!! I really liked the rant about the actresses. I do think you should revisit your Arre O Sambar column combining your rants with the puns:)
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sriram
September 23, 2011
nice one sire
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jussomebody
September 23, 2011
Cannot agree more. I cannot think of one girl in Tamil cinema I actually like watching. They do not look, behave or talk like a Tamil girl does. Most of them do not even look nice. And we resigned to that ages ago, I think. Why can’t we have an earthy, classy actress like Konkona, and directors who would cast someone like that, not necessarily a showstopping looker, in mainstream urban Tamil cinema?
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rameshram
September 24, 2011
oh come off it you guys! each one is one complete chellam! 😉
ok forget tamil heroines, I love every single whitewashed punjabi thing that acts(loosely speaking) in telugu films.
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rameshram
September 24, 2011
http://images.behindwoods.com/photo-galleries-q1-09/tamil-photo-gallery/rithika-01/01-rithika-01-rithika.html
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mohan
September 24, 2011
@jussomebody
“Why can’t we have an earthy, classy actress like Konkona, and directors who would cast someone like that, not necessarily a showstopping looker, in mainstream urban Tamil cinema?”
Sheer ignorance! What about Anjali in Angadi Theru and her and Ananya in Engeyum Eppodhum, Oviya(of Kalavaani fame) in Pandiraj’s upcoming “Marina”.
Situation is absolutely SAME in Tamil cinema as in Hindi cinema. Actresses who can genuinely act are few and only some directors are willing to cast them in roles that would do their talent justice. So naturally you see them in far fewer films than the barbie dolls of any industry.
To be frank, Anjali also both looks and acts better than Konkona.
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Sharan
September 24, 2011
So, you still haven’t seen Mankatha. Good for you.
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Kiruba
September 24, 2011
How could you be so cruel on the girl! although I should agree taapsi’s picture here explains what your fuss is all about.
Even if you’re willing to suspend disbelief, DT was a pathetic attempt at telling the story of the special needs father fighting for his child’s custody. Irritating performances, dumbass plotting, inane comedy and cringe-worthy scenes that are supposed to tear at your heartstrings.. I can’t seem to forgive myself for sitting through those hours of emotional manipulation yet.
EE is the next best thing to have happened to Tamil cinema since DT. Watch at your own risk and Enjoy.
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Arundhati
September 24, 2011
The primary function of Tamil heroines is not to act or emote. They exist to make the male population feel that if someone as unattractive and beady-eyed as say, Vijay, can land a fair skinned, model-like babe, there’s hope for the rest of ’em.
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Gradwolf
September 24, 2011
http://soundcloud.com/balajipatturaj/92-7-big-fms-best-of-cross-31
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milo minderbender
September 24, 2011
BR, Just curious (since you did not mention the reason) – why did you opt for this movie over Engeyum Eppothum? Is it because you already had this topic in mind to write about, and then decided that Vandhan Vendraan would be the ideal candidate? 🙂
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lowlylaureate
September 24, 2011
I hated Vandan Vendraan
like no other
truly hated
every one bit
hated
hated
and
hated.
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Rohit Ramachandran
September 24, 2011
Terrible actress. Seriously, terrible
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bran1gan
September 24, 2011
Mohan: I am seeing EE this weekend. But even if the latter turns out as good as everyone says it is, I doubt I share your assessment that “Tamil Cinema is in full bloom.” That would suggest a sustained level of quality in the films released every week, and I don’t think that’s there at all.
And reg “Situation is absolutely SAME in Tamil cinema as in Hindi cinema,” I beg to differ. Yes, there are the same number of bad actors there too (if not more), but they can at least speak the language so they look like they belong in whatever milieu they are playing, and they don’t do this wild-gesticulating thing. They don’t end up resembling what Simbu called “loosu ponnu-s”.
And I’m not blaming the actresses. It’s the directors, who don’t demand a certain level of performance integrity from them. Khushboo never looked like she “belonged” either, but she made an effort. She didn’t come across like a “loosu ponnu” and she didn’t throw you out of the film. Those girls from 180 too were restrained (though I think one of them is actually a Tamil speaker). Taapsee and Tamanna and Anuya on the other hand…
Kiruba: “EE is the next best thing to have happened to Tamil cinema since DT.” Er, is this a warning or a compliment? 🙂
Sharan: I just saw Mankatha.
milo minderbender: Actually, I wasn’t even planning on writing this till I saw VV. I chose that over EE simply because it was the first day and there was some buzz about this film and I thought it would give me something to write about. And boy, did it!
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Arun
September 24, 2011
heh! “alabaster automaton”, “numerically empowered” ! wicked choice of words 🙂
PS: “she wore blue velcro…”
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Vidya
September 24, 2011
Your so right Sir! Took the words straight outta my mouth
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kirubash
September 24, 2011
bran1gan: remembered reading in some other post you were planning EE over this weekend. Thought an explicit warning should help.
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mohan
September 24, 2011
@rangan
“That would suggest a sustained level of quality in the films released every week, and I don’t think that’s there at all.”
That’s ridiculous. Even hollywood doesn’t give great films each week, all 52 weeks of a year.
When I said full bloom, I was setting a more plausible figure of something like one or more “class” films per month. Something like Subramaniapuram or Azhagarsamyin Kudhirai or Aaranya Kaandam (whattay film!!) or right now EE.
And perhaps I should have mentioned my statement was more in comparison to stone age cultures like Telugu Film Industry which churns out more films though hardly any “good” films.
And no, Dookudu doesn’t count. 😉
“Those girls from 180 too were restrained (though I think one of them is actually a Tamil speaker). Taapsee and Tamanna and Anuya on the other hand…”
No, don’t get me started on 180 again. Our differences reg. acting of the “180” heroines are too wide to be bridged.
As for the others, fair point, I guess. But then again, I dunno. Take Jyothika and Simran for example. Both started pretty much started their careers like your Taapsees and Hansikas but slowly matured into decent actresses. Perhaps one just has wait for some more years before passing a judgment.
“And I’m not blaming the actresses. It’s the directors, who don’t demand a certain level of performance integrity from them.”
I blame audiences like yourself who encourage rotten directors like this Kannan fellow and then coming away disappointed by the lack of any realism from female leads in his films.
In fact, be glad such dubakoor directors are not dime a dozen in Tamil as in Telugu. For the most part, I am extremely happy to have Selvaraghavan, Gautham Menon, Suseendhran, Sasikumar, Pandiraj and Sargunam as my industry’s leading film-makers rather than Srinu Vaitla, Trivikram srinivas, VV.Vinayak and Meher Ramesh.
Again, see the entire canvas and not just one bad director in isolation and write a commentary on the “general malaise” of tamil cinema.
I would also remind you of the fact that this film has bombed at the box-office so Tamil people don’t encourage this sort of nonsense.
And how come you don’t take note of the Anjalis and the Ananyas of our industry? Critics like you never give them their due and yet, hypocritically expect their tribe to increase.
P.S. Hoping for a post on Mankatha. Trust you had a rollicking time. 😉
P.P.S.From the LEGEND of our times comes this latest offering:
Interested to know your reactions.
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Udhav Naig
September 24, 2011
/////////////then, like a train that’s gathered speed only to discover that the tracks have disappeared, the film nosedives into an abyss. Just about everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Santhanam saunters in with his comedy track – very funny at times, I admit – but his clowning lets the air out of a plot that should have ballooned with pressure. In this mutilation of the film’s mood, he is aided by a clutch of badly placed songs and a screenplay that lumbers clumsily between the present and the past and characters who happen upon each other so conveniently it’s as if they closed their eyes and thought of who they wanted to meet and were there when they opened their eyes.
And then there’s the heroine. Am I the only one disheartened by fair-skinned women who look great frozen on magazine covers but, when thawed on screen, perform like they’ve arrived from an alien planet? In close-ups, their eyes bulge and their nostrils flare up like infant dragons preparing to spew smoke, and their fingers slash through the air in feral gesticulations even as their lips assume positions that could never form the words we hear in the dialogue on the soundtrack.////////////////////
The above lines show that you didn’t have anything to write about the film, rather it is simply a graphic account of how the screenplay just succumbed….
///////////////////I am baffled that the female populace of Tamil Nadu hasn’t taken to processions of protest at being so offensively misrepresented. This isn’t a plea for the banishment of beauty, but isn’t anyone alarmed that the Tamil woman on screen has mutated into an alabaster automaton?////////////
Balu Mahendra was talking about this in the recent telecast of Neeya Naana. We have almost come to accept only fair skinned Mumbai girls as heroines in Masala films. Unless the film demands a native, dark skinned girl; producers almost always opt for Mumbai models or tall Punjabis.
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Ramya
September 24, 2011
All I can say is that it’s not as bad as in Telugu cinema.
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Gradwolf
September 24, 2011
People have taken to trolling quite often around here! (this and the other thread too)
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Vasisht Das
September 24, 2011
“..it’s that I do not, anymore, have the stomach for the spectacle of big-name actors brandishing their talents like fireworks in a night sky, playing (I’m looking for the politically correct word here) people with special needs”.
Bang on Rangan 🙂
this tiresome affliction was wide-spread even in Hollywood too, especially post-‘Rain Man’ (and it was such fun to watch the politically-outrageous ‘There’s Something About Mary’ which was one of the first movies to ridicule Americans’ exaggerated PC-touchiness about ‘special people’).
And one of our own instances of this was the overrated ‘Black’ where even good actors like Rani Mukherjee and Bachchan were pushed to make asses of themselves by director Bhansali’s megalomania (But then, virtually every technician – the art director, the cinematographer, the music director etc – in ‘Black’ were er…blackmailed to go over the top).
There are innumerable instances, virtually in every regional cinema of India, where otherwise bad/competent/good actors have succumbed to taking this shortcut to satiate their lust for praise/awards.They pass off ridiculous physical contortions and gimmicks as ‘difficult, elaborately-prepared’ performances in indulgent movies that they have sanctioned for the very sole purpose of this I-can-be-Kamal-too display.
Re: The Punjabification of the Tamil Heroine –
well, it’s easy to blame the generally mediocre-to-moribund Telugu industry, but why are the Tamil audience continuing to buy it for decades now? If, hypothetically, the Hindi audiences ever bought dusky/dark skinned heroines (HAHAHA), the filmmakers would gladly peddle those to them. So, it’s hypocritical to blame the sellers.
This is a country where it’s second most popular actor who comes across as a decent, educated, aspirational role-model (especially for kids) thinks nothing of modelling for a fairness cream – does the ‘Fair and Handsome’ Sharukh Khan need those paltry few more crores that desperately?.
Let’s just continue to glibly deny being the covert/passive (at the very least) racists that we all are. 😉
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rohitbalan
September 24, 2011
‘In close-ups, their eyes bulge and their nostrils flare up like infant dragons preparing to spew smoke, and their fingers slash through the air in feral gesticulations even as their lips assume positions that could never form the words we hear in the dialogue on the soundtrack. ‘
you’re in super form!
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vijay
September 24, 2011
I am surprised you find Santhanam funny. He is annoying, at best, and one-note.
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vijay
September 25, 2011
BR where do you find this “sustained level of quality” that you are talking about? Whichever xxxxxwood’s films you take, the ratio of noteworthy to mediocre films in a year is always low. iF you get 8-10 good-to-great films in a year, it should be considered a very good year,
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Nimmi Rangswamy
September 25, 2011
Gradwolf’s link… Balajipatturaj! Serious ROFLing …
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rameshram
September 25, 2011
‘In close-ups, their eyes bulge and their nostrils flare up like infant dragons preparing to spew smoke, and their fingers slash through the air in feral gesticulations even as their lips assume positions that could never form the words we hear in the dialogue on the soundtrack. ‘
I blame the cameraman and editor.
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raj
September 25, 2011
Vijay, you xxxxwood =Bollywood.
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
“oh come off it you guys! each one is one complete chellam!”
“I blame the cameraman and editor.”
Ok Ram, now take another look at them when you’re NOT having a raging hard-on and having your thrice weekly Spank-The-Monkey sessions with their cut-out pictures taped to the bathroom wall (not that there’s anything wrong in that, mind you…)
The issue is piss-poor performances complemented by shrilly voices pitched at the highest decibels and augmented by atrocious lip-synching (are these “things” even enunciating the actual dialogues or carping about lip gloss and fashion magazines when they’re supposed to be talking to the hero about the state of their relationship and how soon can he tie that “thaali” and then slip them the Sausage at regular intervals?)
Why do all these girls sound alike? Ella ponnukkum oru dubbing artiste ah?
And why are dialogues generally so LOUD in Tamil movies? Another dubbing rule?
It’s the reason why I occassionally take refuge in Malayalam cinema, where rapidly ageing and borderline obese heroes apart, people actually talk and sound on film the way normal people would on the streets of Trichur, Palakkad or Kochi.
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
“The primary function of Tamil heroines is not to act or emote. They exist to make the male population feel that if someone as unattractive and beady-eyed as say, Vijay, can land a fair skinned, model-like babe, there’s hope for the rest of ‘em.”
{Set to the sounds of whistles and claps}- I couldn’t have said it better myself, Arundhati!
It also explains the appeal of Ron Jeremy in porn, but that’s another topic.
And Mr.B’s point below reminded me again of what you said.
“his subsequent films, Saroja and Goa were the very definition of diminishing returns”
I saw about 10 minutes of that atrocity called Goa and it featured something looking like the Missing Link between man and ape romancing and winning (!!!!!) a gorgeous “firang” babe. Is that half-shaved gorilla the director’s brother ?(ah! the joys of nepotism)
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
Mohan, thanks for your views, agree with most of them, except this:
“Take Jyothika and Simran for example. Both started pretty much started their careers like your Taapsees and Hansikas but slowly matured into decent actresses.”
Yay to Simran, massive NAY to Jyothika.
About the only time I was actually glad a South Indian actor exercised his chauvinistic right to ensure no one ever touches his actress wife onscreen again was when Surya yanked her out of cinemas and promptly knocked her up.
Jyothika was a pothole on the celluloid highway.
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
Mohan, thanks also for the Mayakkam Enna link.
If it was ever Selvaraghavan’s intention that this movie IS NOT another 3 hour excursion into the life of a borderline sociopath who nevertheless manages to win the heart, and fuck the brains out a decent middle-aged gal, then the trailer is doing a piss-poor job….
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
“Middle-aged gal”…hahahaha….I of course meant “Middle-Class” gal
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bran1gan
September 25, 2011
kirubash: I now see why you went into warning mode, though I must say the two love stories weren’t bad at all. The framing device of course was horrible and the messagey undertone even worse. Why couldn’t they have just made those couple of love stories into the movie beats me.
Mohan: “And how come you don’t take note of the Anjalis and the Ananyas…” Because they’re not doing anything so special, at least in my eyes. I have a feeling we are very different when it comes to evaluating films and performnaces — North Pole-South Pole kind of thing. I mean, Jyotika? 🙂
vijay: I don’t find this sustained quality anywhere — at least not in any commercial industry. My point to Mohan was that a few swallows don’t a summer make. Every time Bollywood or Kollywood (or the Malayalam industry or the Marathi industry) comes up with a few films that buck the norm, we start saying “oh, the industry is in full bloom,” and then we get a series of crap films and it’s back to normal. (even I’ve been guilty of overstatement, as in the opening lines of this piece here.) I was only contesting that “full bloom’ statement. If Engeyum Eppodhum is a sign that an industry is in “full bloom” then God help us! Half-bloom, maybe…
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rameshram
September 25, 2011
“Ok Ram, now take another look at them when you’re NOT having a raging hard-on”
about one hour a day when im not sleeping…
” and having your thrice weekly Spank-The-Monkey sessions with their cut-out pictures taped to the bathroom wall ”
thrice a week? bathroom wall? do you think im a 40 year old married man 😉
:”The issue is piss-poor performances complemented by shrilly voices pitched at the highest decibels and augmented by atrocious lip-synching”
hey (slap) lookit me. lookit me. do I look like I care?:)
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Kiruba
September 25, 2011
bran1gan: “Why couldn’t they have just made those couple of love stories into the movie beats me” cos the director wanted to make a never before sort of different film.
I really don’t have a problem about movies even aspiring to be agents of social change but that doesn’t mean any damn harebrained scheme has to be appreciated just because it manages to underscore a ‘message’ through a manipulative climax.
And I should agree the love tracks were mostly interesting (although underdeveloped). Sorry, the warning actually came out of frustration having to bear with the laurels being heaped upon such mediocrity. (‘full bloom’?!)
Anjali was pretty good as the dominant partner but utterly unconvincing when she breaks down. (and that doesn’t augur well for someone who seems determined to occupy the long vacant tragedy queen throne in Tamil cinema)
Ananya? How come her name even crops up in the list of ‘talented’ actresses? Don’t remember seeing her in any tamil film before.
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jussomebody
September 25, 2011
Jyotika??
Also, why do Selvaraghavan heroines always look so dour-faced? Sonia Agarwal wore exact same expression throughout 7 G. And I agree, this promises to be another of those obsessive, plain creepy ‘love’ stories.
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Mohan
September 25, 2011
@kaykay
“Yay to Simran, massive NAY to Jyothika.”
Perhaps I did overstate my point. To be honest, I did think she was decent enough in a few films towards the latter half of her career like Mozhi for example, but I guess those were more like exceptions even then.
@rangan
Ok. That “full bloom” thing was a bit of a stretch but surely you accept Tamil cinema is better off right now than other Indian industries in the ratio of good versus bad cinema.
It is not like in 2006, when Pudhupettai, Kaadhal or Veyyil were considered glorious exceptions. My point being that mainstream Tamil cinema has been more willing to experiment with (and the Tamil audience more willing to encourage) off-beat themes. Come on, Rangan, touch your heart and tell me any Telugu director could ever dream of even attempting something like EE or heck, even Deiva Thirumagal.
It was in this comparative context that I made the comment on Tamil Cinema being in full bloom. I hope you understood.
“Why couldn’t they have just made those couple of love stories into the movie beats me.”
Ah, but that’s where the director swept the carpet from under your feet. In the end, it was merely an elaborately and interestingly done staging to make you root for the lives of the passengers involved.
If you noticed, apart from the main two threads, there were several other smaller sequences showing the doings of the other passengers in the bus.
That worked very well for me. Even the sequences when Sharvanand changed seats each time at the request of some passenger worked well for me in building up a sense of foreboding that was essential to make the film click. Sort of a “final-destination”-like thrill.
Overall, the title “Engeyum Eppodhum” worked if you see that the underlying theme was death. Death is that omni-present axe hanging over the protagonists’ head and that was brilliantly shown. How each character influences his/her survival/death through their own actions and how their lives all intersect in the most unexpected ways is what makes this film truly beautiful.
I don’t know how you failed to see this.
Consider the girl on the bus talking on her phone and indirectly telling her admirer her name and other personal details. When, in the end, you see to what purpose the details served, it was bone-chilling. Same goes for the organ-donation thing, though that was more on predictable lines.
Though there were references to dangers of over-speeding in a couple of places in the end,
it was well-knit with the script and did not stick out like a sore thumb like they tend to sometimes in these “message” films.
Frankly, I found very little to gripe about this film. The acting was consistently excellent, so was the screenplay. Even the songs were pleasing, well-placed in the film and competently picturised.
Idhey padatha neega Hindi la alladhu Englishla paatha “Wah, wah. What magnificent film-making” nu solluveenga. Namma Tamil padamna idhu nolla, adhu nottanu kora kandupidipeenga.
Enna koduma dir idhu?
P.S. Why no comments on Mayakkam enna trailer? And you didn’t tell me how you found Mankatha?
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Mohan
September 25, 2011
@kaykay
“If it was ever Selvaraghavan’s intention that this movie IS NOT another 3 hour excursion into the life of a borderline sociopath who nevertheless manages to win the heart, and fuck the brains out a decent middle-aged gal, then the trailer is doing a piss-poor job….”
Hehehe.
Funny, but hardly accurate.
The obsession with seemingly low-class uncouth characters getting to successfully court/bed a high-class girl who would normally not even pay them a second glance is a recurring theme in Selva’s films. True. But it would be a lie to state that this was all his films are ever about or even to state that this is the dominant theme in his works.
Far from it. To take your statement for fact would amount to calling all Mani ratnam’s films as “3 hour whisper-thons where characters always mouth their dialogs in such low tones as if fearful of the consequences if they were ever heard by the audience.”
In brief, there is so much else to discuss about their directorial styles that you would be guilty of overlooking in trying to make such sweeping declarations.
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Mohan
September 25, 2011
@rangan
“Because they’re not doing anything so special, at least in my eyes.”
If Anjali’s portrayals in Angadi Theru and EE did not move you but that of the 180 heroines made an impact, then Mr.Rangan, I am sorry to say, you have mighty poor taste.
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bran1gan
September 25, 2011
rameshram and KayKay: A lot of “colourful” entertainment? Or a mission to slap this blog with an NC-17? 🙂
Kiruba: “harebrained” is right. And it’s doubly irritating when a movie is working so well in some portions but the director wants to make a “bigger” film and therefore he compromises even on the portions that are working so well. Really frustrating.
Ananya, BTW, was in a film called Nadodigal, and if you haven’t seen it, you should thank your lucky stars 🙂
mohan: “I don’t know how you failed to see this.” You have actually answered this in your subsequent comment. It’s because I have “mighty poor taste.” You really should be frequenting the blogs of more sophisticated film viewers instead of asking me my views on Mankatha.
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Mohan
September 25, 2011
@rangan
Oh, come one. My intention was to make you respond, and as usual you offer a knee-jerk reaction rather than a well-argued response. Surely not expecting too much from a National Award-winning “critic”?
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Gradwolf
September 25, 2011
wow we have a new raj!
Engeyum Eppodhum reminded me of Vaanam. And I thought this guy handled the similar theme of interconnectedness much better and it was really less preachy in tone – except for the ending voice overs etc. But the film had little beyond that. I liked Anjali’s performance though. Also he made up the seemingly stereotyping thing he did with Ananya’s character with that of Anjali’s.
I saw the trailer of Vedi before this film. Considering we are still making stuff like that, EE is alright. But still the opening weekend word of mouth was a bit exaggerated I think.
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KayKay
September 25, 2011
“thrice a week? bathroom wall? do you think im a 40 year old married man”
Hahahaha…..Ram, that’s probably the sanest comment you’ve made in a long tine:-)
Mohan, Selva’s proclivity in propping up assholes front and center in his flicks is actually a breath of fresh air from the relentless deification of Tamil heroes. But I’m not rushing to crown him as the next “visionary” filmmaker anytime soon. Pudhupettai remains his single most sustained masterwork. All others have been fascinating ideas with scripts that still needed further tweaking, with Aayirathil Oruvan being his most daring in concept and the most flawed in execution, hardly helped by dimestore graphics and an utter inability to know when and how to end the movie.
My remark, however was specifically aimed at the trailer and what I took from it. I’ve watched it another time and it still looks like “7G Rainbow Colony-Revisited”. If the idea is to showcase a radically new offering, then it’s failed. If the plan was to reassure ardent fans they’re getting more of the same, then it’s succeeded admirably. If Selva is truly putting out something he hasn’t shown us before , then I say, bring it on and let the film do the talking, because your trailer sure as hell isn’t selling the message!
Your Mani Ratnam analogy is flawed, predicated on an assumption that I think he’s hot shit.
I don’t.
I left the Church of Mani after the overwrought Anjali and have yet to rejoin the fold.The pleasant respite via Alai Paayudhey aside, he remains, to me, a technically proficient filmmaker in thrall to weighty subject matters he’s ill-equipped to grasp or handle
Mr.B, NC-17? What can I say, Tamil movies and The Ram bring out my base(r) instincts:-)
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rameshram
September 25, 2011
“rameshram and KayKay: A lot of “colourful” entertainment? Or a mission to slap this blog with an NC-17? ”
Guys! leave poor brannigan alone! what re you trying to do?! get his blog slapped with an NC 17 rating ? 😉
che! ketta pasanga ppa!
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rameshram
September 25, 2011
priti,
“why do Selvaraghavan heroines always look so dour-faced? Sonia Agarwal wore exact same expression throughout 7 G. ”
because she hadn’t met ram charan teja yet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EocBE0TD5c8&feature=related
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Rohit Ramachandran
September 26, 2011
You didn’t like Naadodigal?
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bran1gan
September 26, 2011
Gradwolf: Yegg-zact-ly. All that aaha-oho made me think we had the next Kalavani or Chennai-28, and this was merely a somewhat-better Vaanam. It’s by no means a bad film but that word of mouth made me expect something else altogether.
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rameshram
September 26, 2011
“What can I say, Tamil movies and The Ram bring out my base(r) instincts:-)”
as though we had any other type of instincts…
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Mohan
September 26, 2011
@kaykay
“I left the Church of Mani after the overwrought Anjali and have yet to rejoin the fold.The pleasant respite via Alai Paayudhey aside, he remains, to me, a technically proficient filmmaker in thrall to weighty subject matters he’s ill-equipped to grasp or handle”
Agree somewhat. For me, Roja and Bombay weren’t so bad. My moon-eyed fascination with Mani ended somewhere around the time after I had seen both Iruvar and Dil Se.
He had gotten into a distinct rut by that time and I could sense that he was over-reaching.
And yes, Alaipayudhey was a nice detour but unfortunately he followed it up with the likes of Aayutha Ezhuthu, Guru and Raavanan. Raavanan was especially pukeworthy, perhaps because the dialogues that used to somewhat lessen the artificiality of his films were also missing. In place of Sujatha, we got Suhasini. The consequent abomination was passed off as a modern day adaptation of Ramayana while it was more like death by torture.
Reg. Selva, he does have his flaws but I regard him as a great filmmaker nevertheless.
In fact, 7G Rainbow colony was far from ground-breaking in terms of story and as you said, the script could have used some tweaking but still the film established its credibility with the audience so successfully that, even today, among young men who were finishing school or doing college at that time, it is spoken of in tones of great reverence and regarded as a classic. Trust me. I watched this film some 3 years after it had released at the insistence of my friends and have lost count of how many times I have watched it since. Only film that makes me cry each time. There is a timeless magic about the film. FOR MOST BUT NOT ALL, mind you. There are people who don’t like the “morals” of the film and the fact that it cocks a snook at the so-called “decent” “sophisticated” classes and glorifies ruffianism. But for the vast majority of young men who watched it, it was touchingly real, especially the climax scenes. The same cannot be said of even VTV, which was liked more universally but not loved with the fierce dear-to-heart attachment as 7G. If Selva is indeed trying out that template(and that is, for me, still a big if), it would be because there is a huge audience for it.
And if such stories are so easy to pull off, then why is only Selva making them? You still need a director with great creativity and vision to give a great film, whatever be the story.
Which is why I regard Selvaraghavan as one of the finest directors in India.
P.S.You write well. Got your own blog?
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KayKay
September 26, 2011
Mohan, thanks. Have a blog, which has been dormant for awhile. Haven’t had the mood or inclination to update it in awhile. So it’s people like you and a certain ubiquitous “Naradar” prowling this site who fires me up occassionally to test my typing skills:-)
And FYI, I enjoyed 7G Rainbow Colony (Ravi Krishna’s deeply unpleasant visage notwithstanding) enormously. It’s last act twist was a sucker punch to the gut.
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rameshram
September 26, 2011
“and a certain ubiquitous “Naradar” prowling this site who fires me up occassionally to test my typing skills”
a bit like being called the primary inspiration by pol pot, what? 🙂
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Shankar
September 27, 2011
I guess I’m losing touch over popular taste…7G and Alai Paayudhe are classics while Iruvar gets dissed?! 🙂 To each his own,I guess…
And why forget Kannathil Muthamittal in this conversation?
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rameshram
September 27, 2011
Roboda shankar,
Mani ratnam does not say tarantino in each sentence. he holds NO attraction to me.
Iruvar, Kannathil muthamittal, ravanan, Pallavi anupallavi, roja, dil se, geetanjali,…m’yeah…ok etho…
ennava irunthalum oru scene with a black man with a gun unda? nyenti!
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Priya
September 27, 2011
I’m a cinema lover…have always been one. But its actually been a long, long time since I have been motivated to go and watch a movie. If I remember right, Ko and Engeyum Kaadhal (big mistake) were the last 2 movies I watched (within the same week). There’s not been one movie (in any language) that has drawn me to the theaters – either by way of promos or by their reviews. Something wrong?
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Priya
September 27, 2011
BTW, about ‘7G’ people called it sadistic, mean and even cheap but to me it was almost was haunting….the climax as well as the music. After all these years, I still have the theme music “Walking on the Rainbow” saved on my phone!!
And about Maniratnam, well even I wonder what’s up with him. Raavan was more perhaps like a M F Hussain painting…just done for his own creative satisfaction. The arty types ooh and aah about the underlying themes and the front benchers walk away saying “Sariyana mokka padam pa”
Does creativity also come with an expiry date? Take K Balachander, Ilayaraja…why have they lost their appeal?
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KayKay
September 27, 2011
Why Iruvar gets dissed? Cause it’s all stroking, fondling and petting without the penetration and climax. Some people need more than an MGR/Karunanidhi reference and 2 Aishwarya Rai’s to get off (actually the latter may just about do it..)….but the sountrack is bitchin’ though….
“And why forget Kannathil Muthamittal in this conversation?” Cause it’s forgettable.
If you’re gonna take on the Sri Lankan conflict, then you better bring more than a whiny brat to the table.
Ram, Pol Pot????Damn, and I was aiming lower, like an Idi Amin:-)
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Mohan
September 27, 2011
@kaykay
“And FYI, I enjoyed 7G Rainbow Colony (Ravi Krishna’s deeply unpleasant visage notwithstanding) enormously. It’s last act twist was a sucker punch to the gut.”
+infinity.
Ravikrishna annoyed me a bit in the beginning too, but during later viewings, I started feeling that it was almost as if he was born to do that role. I can’t think of anyone who could have conveyed the utter “low-life” look that his role demanded with such minimum effort. And yes, the climax. Hats off to the director. How finely conceived and executed and what a touching bgm from Yuvan.
I am searching for the OST ever since. Got some of the bgms, but not all.
Mind-shattering movie, on the whole.
@shankar
I merely said Alaipayuthe was a pleasant diversion. Better than VTV, but certainly ranks well below 7G. Common audiences, AFAIK, have some mighty “bizarre” tastes, you know, at least by the standards of most readers of this blog. Many consider Kushi as a classic, others love Minnale. Popular taste is a strange creature.
And yeah, I like Kannathil Muthamittal. It was sensitively handled, IMO. Thanks for reminding. Sadly, turned out to be the last of Mani’s great films. His slide ever since has been pretty palpable.
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MumbaiRamki
September 28, 2011
EE – the two love stories were fantastic and i whistled every bit of it . I was ok with the accident , and all that so called dots joining in the end – never cared , but the film entertained !
180 – the reason think you might feel they are genuine ‘tamilians’s is that they dubbed for themselves and the imperfections get translated into reality – Seriously , i thot films overstate the early tamil 20s girls, but on recent conversations with them made me to think if there was an invisible linguistic modulator with a mild skew !!
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MumbaiRamki
September 28, 2011
Mohan,
\Agree abt selva and 7G, very emotional film for me too – but yara dee nee mohini ( or its telugu equivalent) ???.. It was like a kuvam bisecting a five star hotel .. sema Vikraman type pa
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Padawan
September 28, 2011
Baradwaj saar – K2K release aaguma? Illai, Marudhanayagam release aana udane pannalaam nu irukkeengala?
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raj
September 28, 2011
Gradwolf, you kantinuema. Self righteous, unperceptive pigeonholing of certain type of reactions by brannigan followers is not new. Chamchagiri taken to its extreme helped by a master who would elevate even idiotic, surface level non-analysis by juveniles just because they attack a commenter who poses uncomfortable questions to him.
(Icewarya and her/his tamil complex analysis hailed by the great master here – lol. )
Jaalra post thavira vera edhuvun poda theriyaadha idhungalukku superiority complex vera.
Rames ram thambikku sup. Complex irundhaa adhula oru nyaayam irukku…NA winning critic-ku irundhaa oru nyaayam irukku..jaalra jagannathukellam ennayya periya snobbishness and superiority complex.
(Vivek comedy on tv announcers – ooshal, aachiya pudippaar female mAdhiri dhaane neengallaam?)
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Gradwolf
September 28, 2011
Vandhutaanya Vandhutaanya!
Chamchagiri? Paravaillaye neenga kuda Amit based reactions ellam vidareenga.
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Mohan
September 28, 2011
‘”yara dee nee mohini ( or its telugu equivalent) ???.. It was like a kuvam bisecting a five star hotel .. sema Vikraman type pa”
LOL.
On a serious note, haven’t seen the telugu original(aadavari matalaku ardhale verule), only the tamil remake YNM, that was directed by one buffoon by the name of Mithran Jawahar, who also holds the dubious fame of directing an unwatchable torture-porno flick named Kutty.
Thoroughly hated it. It is one thing to make a film about no-good crude people. It is entirely another thing when the crudity becomes a part of the film-making.
To be honest, I never considered it to be a Selva film as such, apart from the basic thread found in many Selva films of a good-for-nothing-ugly-hero-getting-his-hands-on-super-figure-who-ignores-him-at-first.
It is common knowledge that he never sticks to his script, choosing to make changes as and when he sees fit during shooting. So just taking his script and remaking it isn’t gonna make it his film.
Utterly bereft of any sense of sophistication or story progression, Yaaradi Nee Mohini is a blot on its makers.
Strangely, I know people(not many, thankfully) who loved that film as well.
BTW, I still resent that Vikraman comparison. I bet you haven’t seen his “Chennai Kaadhal” starring bharath and genelia. Andha padamellaam paathingannaa pathu naalu thoonga maateenga. Or try watching his Mariyadhai starring Vijaykanth and Meera Jasmine.
Naangallaam all-state aalungalaiyum paathtudhaanga pesarom.
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Shankar
September 28, 2011
Priya, creativity does not come with an expiry date….one’s ability to enjoy it does.
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rameshram
September 28, 2011
why does iruvar get dissed ? because you have no fucking taste. kazuthai…karpoora vasanai…etc.
why does kannathil….etc? because …uhhh..you have no fucking taste?
naalu vaarthai ezzutha terinja mattum film critic aaha muidiyuma enna? athukku ellam gnanam venum gnanam venum doi!!!!! 😉
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KayKay
September 28, 2011
Now, now, Ram boy, didn’t we tell you to post only AFTER taking your medication? Marundhu saptu poi thoongu kanna.
Let the grown-ups talk for awhile:-)
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raj
September 28, 2011
Padiththa Onaayi –
En nAngallAm amit baashai pEsinA punidham kettu poyidumo?
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Priya
September 28, 2011
@ Shankar, “creativity does not come with an expiry date….one’s ability to enjoy it does”. Good one and you might be right. Also does it have to do something with the creator updating his creativity to match changing sensibilities of the audience? I mean, did the audience have enough of the bold and brave female characters that Balachander wrote? Or did Balanchander have to update himself? Take a movie like Vaanamey Ellai in comparison with the older B&W Classics.
And coming back to Bharadwaj Rangan’s article, why don’t we have movies with strong female characters anymore…women-centric themes? Is the audience content with just a Tamanna flirting with Vadivelu (of all people)? Or don’t people have the patience to sit through, say, an Aval Oru Thodarkadhai, for instance?
@Mohan, Yaaradi Nee Mohini was definitely bordering on crass. I perhaps remember a lot of Raghuvaran and a bit of Dhanush in the movie. The heroine is actually an independent woman of today who ultimately gets pushed around either by her family or another man and she’s so stupidly happy about it.
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rameshram
September 29, 2011
“Now, now, Ram boy, didn’t we tell you to post only AFTER taking your medication? Marundhu saptu poi thoongu kanna.”
Thus proving my earlier post. frothing at the mouth cannot be considered a rebuttal, no?
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Gradwolf
September 29, 2011
As a guy from the software field, the only enduring thing from Yaaradi Nee Mohini is – “Code accepted”. Or something like that. ROFL!
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KayKay
September 29, 2011
“Thus proving my earlier post. frothing at the mouth cannot be considered a rebuttal, no?”
Neither is a profanity-laced tirade about taste and “nyanam” , Naradar Boy:-)
You wanna convince me about the merits of those movies, trot out some valid points, not that I think you have a ghost of a chance in convincing me (your earlier encomiums about “Thiruttukuli Murugadoss” tells me something about your taste) , but let’s see if there’s something more to you than the occasional smarmy remark designed to provoke, little bratty boy:-)
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KayKay
September 29, 2011
Oh and Raj Kanna, sorry mate, didn’t mean to ignore you (actually, I did). Your bitch-ass rants over the last few posts have registered as background noise. But like an annoying litle insect that keeps buzzing around your ears, you gradually acknowledge it’s presence.
If your charming little comments weren’t directed at me, then apologies for what is to follow. But, if they were:
First off, sorry for posting in English in an exclusively English blog (Jesus, what was I thinking?)
Secondly, excuse me for having a little mastery over such basic concepts as spelling, punctuation, grammar and knowing when to CAPITALIZE letters, (Just curious Kanna, nee edha vechu type adikkira? Viralliya illa {substitute other digit not found on hands or feet} )
Since structured sentences bring on your PMS a little early in the month, unga bashayile pesaren:
Dei, Thavakkale! Englees blag le, Engleesle ezhuthana, nan ella Paditha Onaayi ah? Appo Englees blag le, Tamizhle ezhuthara nee enna Padikatha Pu…….oops sorry, censored to avoid NC-17 rating:-)
sO Yu Thinking KeeerfullY , befoore yU wRItInG tHe tAlKing, Wokay ah?
Superiority Complex Avudhu {rhymes with Aadhi} Complex Avudhu!
Nalla Rusiyana Elai sappattile (rhymes with Thayiru} vizhuntha mathiri irukku, ivan comments yella!
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rameshram
September 29, 2011
“Neither is a profanity-laced tirade about taste and “nyanam” , Naradar Boy:-)”
hehehe froth froth!!
no its not really a rebuttal of your diss of mani ratnam… my comment about taste(profanity …laced… hehehe we’re sensitive souls huh!) was more in the line of wondering whether , even if I could take this horse to watrer, it would drink.
in your case I doubt if you’ll get it from my providing you a rebuttal of your grandstand.so its the highway for you…
sorry aboot that.
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rameshram
September 29, 2011
“Oh and Raj Kanna ….. Your bitch-ass rants…… annoying litle insect…. charming little comments…… Viralliya illa {substitute other digit not found on hands or feet}….. bring on your PMS…. Dei, Thavakkale! …….nan ella Paditha Onaayi ah …..(editor’s note: hehehe I think raj was talking to grad…wolf…geddit?) ……..blag le Padikatha Pu…….oops sorry, censored to avoid NC-17 rating:-)……
sO Yu Thinking KeeerfullY….. wRItInG tHe tAlKing …… Avudhu {rhymes with Aadhi} Complex…… Avudhu Elai sappattile (rhymes with Thayiru} vizhuntha mathiri…… yella!”
froth ! froth!!
(nods sadly) Rabies mutthi poiduthu. (aiaio doctar! pozzaikka mattara!!!) pozaikkalam ana marunthu mattum pothathu …brannigan blogla ezutharathe vittudanum (yella yella!)
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raj
September 29, 2011
Kaykay – Ippo edhukku naina thanni adichuttu salambura?
Naan endha mozhila vEnA ezhudhuvaen. Neekku ishtam untE chaduvukuo. Leka pOthe mooskoni dhaari chooska naayana.manasilaayo mOnE?
You’d do well to first understand whether a comment is directed at you or not before launching into a tirade.:rotfl:
Btw, do you think of yourself as ‘classy’? :idhukkuyaarumrotfliconinnumkandupidikkala:
Grad-onaayi – unnaiya sonnaa ivarukku EmpA kovam varudhu? Bedroomlo switchu vesthe bathroomlo light veluguthondhi?
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Shankar
September 29, 2011
@KayKay…are you and Gradwolf the same? I thought raj’s comment was addressed to Gradwolf (Padiththa Onnayi)?
At the risk of hearing an earful from everyone here, I have an earnest request to all. Can we get back to discussing movies and related stuff rather than descending into rants and personal attacks? It’s pointless, really and there are no winners at the end of it all. Please folks…Let it be.
@Priya…”Also does it have to do something with the creator updating his creativity to match changing sensibilities of the audience?” There is a point there as well. A clever, market oriented creator (read pozhaikka therinjavan) might do that and try to match expectations. But isn’t creativity about doing what you do best, that comes naturally to you and comes from within? The moment you try to pander to audience expectations, aren’t you actually suppressing true creativity? People who do that obviously have a different agenda (to be successful etc, and I’m not saying that isn’t right…each to his own) but that has lesser and lesser to do with creativity, at that point. To my earlier post on expiry dates, when true creativity and audience expectations are in sync, artists reach their zenith in terms of appeal. When the audience expectations have changed, it seems as though the artist has lost creativity but the fact may just be that they are no longer in sync but are still creatively very much alive. So in many respects, it is about timing, being at the right place at the right time.
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Kiruba
September 29, 2011
KK: That was awful and uncalled for. Even though you may’ve apologized. Your provocation threshold seems even lower than the one you’re attacking.
While your tiff with RR was thoroughly enjoyable, this attack made me wonder why we shouldn’t have comments moderation here
What made you think you were the paditha onaayi?
I mean, you didn’t really get it?
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Gradwolf
September 30, 2011
1) raj: No punidham-ginidham. Just surprised coz of your usual hindi ozhiga stand
2) kay: Nee avanoda list la illave illaye. Why coming and maatifying like this?
3) BR: This is really worse than the 180 thread. Some spring cleaning has to happen. Be more strict with the moderation?
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rameshram
September 30, 2011
kiruba,
“While your tiff with RR was thoroughly enjoyable,”
Idhu nalla kathia irukke!! Im supposed to wrestle rabid dokks for your amusement?! It was enjoyable because I kept giving him (it?) witty repartees instead of losing my temper and egurifying…
” Bedroomlo switchu vesthe bathroomlo light veluguthondhi?”
hehehe (20 bonus points for identifying the movie and the actor.
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Mojo
September 30, 2011
hahahahahhahahahahahahahhaha
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bran1gan
September 30, 2011
gradwolf: I’ve never really figured out how to moderate comments. Direct abuse, yes, I can axe. But slanging matches, where two parties have decided to go at each other I can’t do much about.
To paraphrase what a great man once said, “Jananayagam-na queue irukathan seyyum. Maatha mudiyaadhu.” 🙂
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rameshram
September 30, 2011
comment section bore adikkarathunnu konjam contraversial a post pannalamnu partha oru pakkamana thanni adichuttu galata panranga **cough**kk**cough** innuru pakkam amaidhi padai kelapparanunga!
kali mutthiduthuppa vooo!
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KayKay
September 30, 2011
Ah! Clarity dawns! I did have a suspicion whether I was the recipient of Raj’s comments or not, which is why I started off with an apology in advance. However now that this has been pointed out clearly, let me man up and deliver one more sincere apology directly at Raj:
Sorry mate! As some of your comments directly followed mine, I made that mistaken assumption. Any offence given is sincerely regretted.
As for you Naradar boy, everything I said, I meant.
“comment section bore adikkarathunnu konjam contraversiala post pannalamnu ”
Ahem…cough….Controversial???Is that what they’re calling condescending these days???
“It was enjoyable because I kept giving him (it?) witty repartees instead of losing my temper”
Che Che…manishane “it” ella kuppada koodadhu…appa amma solli kodukkale?
Witty repartees eh? When I locate one in your comments, I’ll let you know:-)
“Rabid dogs”, “frothing”…..”thanni adichu”….err…tsk!tsk! who’s really foaming at the mouth here?
Am sure we’ll run into each other in another posting, till then we’re done here.
Kiruba, Innaikku Adichukkovom Nalaikku Anaichukkuvom, you don’t worry:-)
Shankar, point taken.
And finally Mr.B, apologies for dragging the discussions to subterranean levels hitherto unexplored in this blog:-)
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Mohan
September 30, 2011
@priya and shankar
Reg. creativity’s expiry date, I don’t think you can really fault the audience. Audiences never get tired of creativity, because creativity, by definition, involves new ways of narration and unexplored themes.
It is when the directors start falling into a rut that problems arise. Great directors are the ones who can keep reinventing themselves as time moves along while still managing to leave their indelible marks on their products.
Balachander is one name that comes to the mind immediately. From Bhaama Vijayam to Aval Oru Thodarkathai to Ninaithale Inikkum to Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu to Thillu Mullu to Punnagai Mannan to Duet, I am flabbergasted as to how this great man could tackle so many different subjects so expertly, each rooted in its times yet having a timeless appeal.
Varumayin Niram Sivappu, in particular, is one of my most favourite movies of all time. If ever there was a movie that served as a time capsule to crystallise the late 70’s periods’, with its unshaven unemployed idealists, that blazing sun(I know it sounds crazy but even the sunshine seemed to have a very 70’s feel to it in that film) and old-fashioned righteous anger that bypassed stereotypes, THIS WAS IT.
31 years later, he can still look back and say with satisfaction “I made that film”.
Maniratnam’s creativity, I feel, is in many respects, a hostage to his out-dated film-making style. So even when he tries his hand at something new, it has a dusty, stale look to it. From Mouna Raagam to Raavanan, Mani’s characters still talk in whispers all the time, screens are still poorly lit for inexplicable reasons, and worse, the dialogues themselves sound antiquated.
He should realize his time is up and hang up his boots. But then, so should have Rajini …just after the Baba debacle, but no we were forced to put up with such insane shit as Chandramukhi, Sivaji, Endhiran etc. I guess we’ll have to face Mani’s future films with similar stiff upper lips.
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Kiruba
September 30, 2011
bran1gan: Are you watching VSV this week?
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rameshram
September 30, 2011
“Ah! Clarity dawns!”
hehehe…:D
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bran1gan
October 1, 2011
Kiruba: Big movie week. Watched Muran and Driver yesterday. Today VSV and Sahib Biwi. Either there’s nothing to see or everything troops in at once.
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Mohan
October 1, 2011
@rangan
So is Muran a rip-off of Strangers On A Train?
“Either there’s nothing to see or everything troops in at once.”
Talk about it!
Come diwali, we’ll have 7am arivu, Velayudham, Mayakkam Enna and Osthi, all films with major expectations box-officewise or story-wise and we’ll also have Ra-one trying to lobby for more screens in Chennai Multiplexes.
Sheer Harakiri !!!
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Priya Arun
October 4, 2011
@Mohan “It is when the directors start falling into a rut that problems arise” very well said!
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shoaib (@shoaib88)
October 7, 2011
Love this “Lights, Camera, Conversation..” series of articles… Keep going..
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muttakannan
November 5, 2011
nowrunning guy !
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