Mysskin’s terrific new film, Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum, begins with an extension of an episode from his Anjaathey, the one where a man lay dying on the street and no one would do anything about it until someone on a bike came along and decided to save him. The setup is almost exactly the same, give or take some visual bravura. (The film opens with a swath of empty highway slashing across the screen; rarely has nothingness seemed so ominous. Then, the wounded man – he’s been shot – slowly limps across.) Instead of the old woman who sold flowers in Anjaathey, we have, here, a beggar, and instead of the good-hearted man in that movie we have a boy, a medical student named Chandru (Sri), whose legs buckle under the wounded man’s weight. He takes this man to a hospital, and when refused help, he takes him home and attempts a splenectomy. A little later, the man has disappeared, and Chandru is in a café where the title song of Skyfall is heard. This is the end… Indeed. His life will never be the same again.
We smile at the aural joke, as well as its insistent quality – and I found, then, that I had completely made my peace with Mysskin’s filmmaking. It’s rare to find a filmmaker who’s so good with technique and who has so much to say (in terms of story as well as philosophy) – and yet, in his earlier films, I was often frustrated by the crudeness, the amateurishness if you will, in some stretches, which gave us the feeling of a talented filmmaker setting off flares to draw our attention to his talent. Look, look, this is what I’m doing here… But now, I feel that this lack of sophistication or subtlety or whatever you want to call it is just his way of making deep films whose depths can be plumbed by the average viewer (as opposed to a handful of cineastes). And yet, this is not the dumbing down we find in filmmakers who won’t take risks or who take risks and then end up explaining everything to the audience. (A tattoo of the name Bob, for instance, is shown once and never brought up again. ) This is some sort of fusion, the equivalent of staging a ballet with koothu techniques – and somehow, this unholy-sounding technique is producing some sensational cinema.
And very mannered cinema. I can, offhand, think of no one in Tamil cinema whose work is part melodramatic Tamil theatre (underscored by equal parts silence and a score; this time the music is by Ilayaraja), part minimalistic Noh play, part expressionist painting (those seemingly disembodied legs), part noir comedy, part existential thriller, and part action adventure. Two characters in a car are stopped by cops and interrogated, and they look straight ahead, never once at the cops; behind, a villain is flanked by two guards, who pose as if made of stone — they’re one with all the other frozen tableaux, two hostages waiting for the villain to return, or just a gun lying at the corner of the screen. And then we’ll have the highly charged (in emotion, though not in action) revelation from a woman who says that she was about to give away the hideout of a wanted criminal, but thankfully someone kicked her on the chest and she blacked out. And then we’ll find ourselves laughing at an elderly cop, stuck in a salute, fearing for his life as excruciating seconds tick on. And then, we’ll applaud a thrilling killing, say, of a ninja-like twosome who are memorably united in death.
And all of this is awash in philosophy. A CB CID officer gives a superb speech about why Chandru’s act of saving a wounded man isn’t quite as humanitarian as it seems – for the man turns out be a criminal named Wolf (Mysskin, in a literally balls-out performance). This man killed a boy about Chandru’s age and he will now bring out the inner animal in Chandru. And this seemingly highbrow conceit will segue into a visual in which a character, an animal, has something that looks like a tail, an actual tail. And this seemingly lowbrow sight would have been preceded by a single-take shot, where we see the static, spoken version of events that could have been made cinematic, through a flashback (though this is its own kind of cinema). That we do not end up laughing hysterically at this mix is a testament to Mysskin the storyteller, Mysskin the filmmaker. He was horribly out-of-sync with himself in the ill-fated Mugamoodi, but his skills have survived that disaster.
Along with his fetishes. A logical-minded (or literal-minded) viewer may end up with a lot of questions. How does Sri turn into a crack shot after some random target practice? Or, how are the late-night streets filled only with cops and criminals? And the big story behind a criminal’s actions is a bit underwhelming, an updating of the crux of the Rajesh Khanna starrer Dushman (or its Sivaji Ganesan-starring remake Needhi), and we see, also, flashes of Yuddham Sei, from the mysterious family in the background to the fate of the children. But then, Mysskin’s movies are essentially rearrangements of his pet themes, visuals, tropes. One could argue that Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum is less a mystery than a mood piece, the latest collage of Mysskin-isms. The Christian imagery, from the man who carries around the Holy Bible to the cop named Isaac to the goings-on in a cemetery. The visually impaired characters, more in number here than in any other Mysskin film. The flower seller at the corner of the screen. There’s no item girl in a yellow sari, but we seem to have a new fetish, Lord Ganesha himself, who appears several times: at the bottom of the stairs leading to a railway station, at a temple beset by beggars, and at a roadside shrine. History can answer the question whether Mysskin is a true-blue auteur. For now – and it’s enough – he’s a damn fine filmmaker.
Copyright ©2013 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Jetlagged
September 29, 2013
I read the first 4 words of your review, and the question I ask myself is “Am I missing something here? Did the house full of audience, who were very understandably expressed their restlessness for almost the entire length of the movie, miss something?”.
Mysskin in an interview said there would only be naturally flowing humor and no comedy in OA. I beg to differ.
I saw the first flyover frame and the title, and smiled at my friend who had reservations about Myssikin’s film making. I knew I was going to have the last laugh. I was wrong.
And whats with all the police men running together in bunches of 20’s and 30’s everywhere? was it supposed to mean some bunch of wild animals? No, I really don’t understand. Anyone care to explain?
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Shankar
September 29, 2013
How was the rerecording? Did it fell integrated? Hearing it separately, it was superb so I’m curious to know how it’s on film.
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Pranesh
September 29, 2013
A review fitting the movie! I watched it last night here in the US, the theater was only half full. That too only because some people had been turned away from raja rani. Ironically, the only Mysskin movie I watched that had a large crowd was Mugamoodi.
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Venkatanathan
September 30, 2013
Good review…But did you watch the movie before the sound track was recorded? Did you not notice Ilayaraja even once in the film?
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Rohan
September 30, 2013
Nice Review…..If there is anything I picked up from here…it is that i have I had completely made my peace with Baradwaj Rangan’s reviewing
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Gradwolf
September 30, 2013
I’ve generally developed a weakness for films that show Madras in the dead of the night – Yuddham Sei, Va Quarter Cutting and now this. Mysskin does this so well, in strange and interesting ways. While the people dying calling out God was a little off, the visual gags like the ones involving Ganesha that you mention were great. He shows all this and then makes Chandru and the dad shoot at the sky in frustration. Admonishing God, nicely done throughout. The exposition/monologue was tedious though. I’d like to watch it again to decide if this is as good as Yuddham Sei. I don’t think it has bettered that one.
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Krishnan
September 30, 2013
Mr Rangan, I think a logical minded viewer will be stuck with more Questions than that you point out.
For ex: Why the constant use of Dumbest Possible Action Tropes? For instance after the CB-CID and police try to convince Chandru and family that he has to kill the criminal : First up okay they are in a lot of shit but…going after and killing a criminal?
The Anni says they have to salvage their reputation and though Chandru says he won’t kill he later plays along. I mean does it not occur that WOLF is a jaded criminal? Do they not fear for Chandru’s life?
In the cemetry Chandru snatches the Mallu CB CID guy’s gun but later they seem to have forgotten all about it. They won’t convict him on the basis off that? They just let him go?
I think it’s more in the territory of a well done melodrama (i.e story oriented with stock characters) than a true drama.
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brangan
September 30, 2013
Shankar: I saw the film just once, so I didn’t really see it from the BGM point of view. Of course, it was super-effective in a general/ overall sense, but I can’t say with regard to themes/cues till I see it again. But then again, Mysskin’s films have always had a very strong and singular sense of BGM — those peculiar stop-and-go rhythms, for instances, have been there right from the Sundar C Babu days, and K gave some good BGMs too. This guy knows what he wants from his composers.
Venkatanathan: Why? I’ve mentioned Ilayaraja. But this is, first and foremost, a director’s film. No two ways about that. And as I said above, I was too engrossed in the narrative to stand back and look at the score from a BGM POV, as I hadn’t heard the soundtrack earlier.
Rohan: Hahaha — I’ll take that as a compliment. As long as you read me, it matters not whether you like my writing or you don’t. So thanks 🙂
Gradwolf: So many wonderful things. Like that whole Edward business. When he’s called that, at first, you think that’s him. But then it’s not him. And so on. Yes, and a complete WTF-y treatment of god throughout. Good guys pray to Him and aren’t helped. Bad guys use him as a “location” and as a rest stop… And then, all that shooting into the sky. Must see it again.
I quite liked that expostion. I thought he did it beautifully. He straddled that tightrope between naturalistic acting and the “unreal” stylisation elsewhere in the film.
Krishnan: Forget drama or melodrama. I’m beginning to look at these films as chain-linked mood pieces — and that really works for me.
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Rohan Nair
September 30, 2013
Dude, why the obsession with highbrow-lowbrow whenever you talk about Tamil cinema (especially)? I don’t see this obsessiveness when you talk about Hindi.
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revathy
September 30, 2013
anyways this film is much better than Raja Rani made by atlee which i though was a waste of time…..OA though not up to the expectation but had some satisfaction after watching the movie which was missing in Raja rani and aryas acting was just irritating….
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ash
September 30, 2013
I respect your reviews and hence I landed on your site again to check about OA review. I know it’s your personal opinion about it being a director’s film. But I’ve seen you writing about songs and bgms that didn’t even fit the mood of the film and yet when this movie’s lifeline is the BGM… no words on it 🙂 I’m awestruck!!!
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Ramki
October 1, 2013
Saw it twice .. first for mysskin and second for Raaja .Few aspects in movie & BGM that i noticed ( few SPOILERS ..)
1 ) The central theme for the wolf, compassion, redemption are played when the positions are crossed . Like when chandru takes the knife from the bum of police man pichai , the same music that was played when he first saves wolf (with a lower pace is played ) making us remember that he has changed and acted differently in similar situation . And every music that’s played for wolf is also repeated for the chandru when he becomes one . ( BGM for this movie was composed and recorded in 5 days :))
2) Happen to notice – that when the characters are completely ‘black’ they exhibit this robotic acting ( thats typical of mysskin) and when they are more compassionate they speak like us .
3) And his take on commercial films .. When chandru goes to the private hospital who refuse to admit him to avoid legal hassles ( hence inhumane ) … they see Alex Pandian movie ( and later chandru’s friend says he has tickets for Thanga meengal)
4) The unintended thoppukaranam posture of the paid criminal infront of pillayar shrine who is going to die 🙂
5) References to dead bodies changing the mindset – be it the doctor who calls back chandru or chandru , later at the cemetery having a change .
6) The best BGM moment of courage – the final action block with the two guards … Most composers would have given a percussion or a heavy brass treatment – but raaja stumps us with a classic solo violin piece of redemption , which is what the wolf is after in his life !!! ( Repeat RAJAISGOD, RAJAISGOD 🙂 )
( Tatoo of Bob – who ? Where ??)
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kkumar
October 1, 2013
I felt that the story is straight from Myskin’s film career:
1) The first shot -o n a empty road, a man comes, falls, gets up and runs again.. was it Myskin’s film career (with the fall being Mugamoodi)
2) The overall as such is that of redemption – he wants to give good films after the Mugamoodi failure. (the scene where he talks with another paid killer in the car with sri and the little girl – I felt was indicative of this).
3) In an interview Myskin tells he worships the audience and theatre is like a shrine for him. When he bowed down to the little girl in the final shot, it was as if he was bowing down in front of the audience themselves asking for forgiveness for making a bad film 🙂
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Rajesh
October 2, 2013
I am even ready to wash the feet of Mysskin for this movie. I cant think of a better thriller, ever, from India. A thriller with a soul! absolutely.
Mr. Rangan, if you ever happen to meet Mysskin, Please pass my words to him, if you dont mind.
I watch lots and lots of movies, from all over the world , and finally I feel, this is one Indian movie which can appeal to International audience, for its cinematic value, its plot and what not.
I sincerely wish he finds some money to market this movie in Europe. He deserves that fame.
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MumbaiRamki
October 3, 2013
KKumar – yes , i too felt the same . And Mysskin did say the exact thing in yesterday’s interview . Beautiful Points !
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MumbaiRamki
October 3, 2013
Gradwolf: So many wonderful things. Like that whole Edward business. When he’s called that, at first, you think that’s him. But then it’s not him. And so on. Yes, and a complete WTF-y treatment of god throughout. Good guys pray to Him and aren’t helped. Bad guys use him as a “location” and as a rest stop… And then, all that shooting into the sky. Must see it again.
Ippadiyum oru point irukkaa !!!!!!! Wonderful !!
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சுப்ரஜா ஸ்ரீதரன்
October 5, 2013
Genuine write up.
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deepan
October 7, 2013
A ‘making’ can never keep one hooked as much as the ‘matter’. I’d give it a very few stars out of ten. Just that when one relies on just the ‘style’ of film making, there is a problem. I miss the cliched- ‘What’s new’. For instance, Mani has always been made fun of crisp, staccato dialogues and ‘candle-light’ cinematography, but in the end I get to witness varied tales of parents searching for their adopted daughter’s lineage, a young couple’s marital discord, a radio jockey’s love with a suicide bomber….well, I believe that form always follows function In Mysskin’s case, I’ve been exposed to his style in Anjaathe and Yudham Sei.I loved it then. But now, I can’t just sit tight watching the same long shots, dark lighting, and jap-styled stunts (what the fuck are the two samurai-clad jokers doing anyway?)without a solid storyline. Make a serious film. But please don’t make the film-making ‘look’ serious.
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dinakaranonline
October 7, 2013
This looks like a fan boy review to me 🙂 I guess when you are sucked up into the movie , all logical questions that may arise has no place what so ever. Movie worked for me some what in the first half until the suspense was revealed.Post interval,story and screenplay appeared amateur and very stupid at some very important places.
It’s interesting that many people like this movie just for its sheer quirkiness of director, camera angles or back ground score when story and screenplay is all over the place and is half baked. One search through twitter reveals that myskin seems to have earned a few loyal fans akin to Bala who talk just abt camera angles or bgm! If these are highlight , then there is something wrong with movie as a whole. I really liked his Anjaathae and Yutham Sei but with this,he seems to be pushing his luck too much with his trade mark quirks.
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brangan
October 7, 2013
deepan: If you look at it that way, then a lot of — say — Hitchcock’s or Bergman’s movies (or for that matter, a maker of rom-coms or sci-fi films or musicals or the films of hyper-eccentric Indian filmmakers like Shantaram or Bhansali) are the same. They’re essentially variations on pet themes. I disagree completely with you. I think the ‘making’ can, at times, be more important than the ‘matter’, to the extent that there are films where the ‘matter’ is completely subservient to the ‘making.’
dinakaronline: Well, I make no bones about the fact that I am a huge Mysskin fan. I hope you’re not coming to this site to read “objective” reviews. There are plenty of others who (claim to) do just that…
And for everyone else…
http://www.tamizhulagam.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1852%3Amyskin&Itemid=96
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dinakaranonline
October 8, 2013
ha ha , I do not come here for objective reviews but to read about what you felt about movie as a whole. Some of things that came to my mind that made me less interested while watching the movie was :
1.Why did Wolf tried to establish contact with boy ? It was bit ambiguous may be i missed it out ? Was it to thank him or to use him for escaping ? or was there something else?
2.Whole flawed character of Wolf did not suck me quite well into narrative. Some of his decisions makes things worse for people around him. His decisions to keep family part , gather them at midnight – one made to pose as a beggar , while father suddenly turns up in middle of night with group of blind people singing etc and then all meeting up in a cemetery. Which sane person would think about taking blind family at middle of night to an insane location,make them suffer.In end,i wished had wolf died before , the family would have been living peacefully atleast.
3.Why the whole blind family was acting so weird or robotic ? They do not express any emotions – cry or anxiety or fear. is that the trait of blind people ? I did not have any emotional connect with either wolf or this whole family(especially the little girl) which is one of my biggest grouse in the movie.
4.Its ridiculous to show police force which assembles in hundred , wait for their chief to come and shout at them and they disperse to continue the search. This happening multiple times is silly and amateur. And dumbing down that one police officer who showed promise through second half was a bad idea.
5.That director thinks that setting up a scene in a cemetery or empty parking lot(which seems be in city center to which he comes from no where carrying two people even when he is recovering from complicated surgery and kicked to death by a guy) can make way for great camera angles and eeriness but tosses logic out of window.
Having said that , movie had some great moments. For me , i would term whole experience as different but not good.
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dinakaranonline
October 8, 2013
But then you summed it up quite well in one of comments:
“I think the ‘making’ can, at times, be more important than the ‘matter’, to the extent that there are films where the ‘matter’ is completely subservient to the ‘making”
Making took precedence over matter ! i agree completely
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Suganth
October 8, 2013
Apparently, Mysskin’s remarks at an interaction with audiences in some theatre… http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rpg6ra
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Adarsh
October 10, 2013
“I’m beginning to look at these films as chain-linked mood pieces”
Exactly. Atleast with Ajaathey, Yuddham Sei and now this, it seems like “originality” or “versatility” of content is to some extent reducible as long as we keep getting visceral kicks out of the moments of participating with the film as we watch it
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Madan
November 3, 2013
I only watched the film yesterday. I have not watched Mysskin’s previous films. So I am able to relate to your viewpoints on commercial v/s art cinema in your other article (not that I agree with them) in the sense that I can see them being expressed in this review. It may be melodramatic Tamil theater or minimalist (not that the subject of genre particularly interests me) but the crux is an intersection of stories derived (possibly) from the life of Ignatius of Loyola (the warrior turned saint story) and the novel Crime and Punishment (the uppity, righteous college student forced by circumstance into crime). On a cynical note, it might just owe more direct inspiration to some foreign film but I am not aware of and cannot comment.
This film was so badly positioned in the promotions it’s a wonder it made any money at all at the BO. It’s not a mystery, it’s not a thriller though it masquerades as one at a superficial level. It is instead an exploration of moral dilemmas (where circumstances blur the lines to the point of confusion) brought out more through psychological interplay than long passages of dialogue. I don’t know for sure whether this is the best Tamil film I have watched but I do know I haven’t watched any other quite like this. It’s as if the director decided that even if it turns out to be the last film he made, it would be a pretty damn bold one. I don’t have the heart to criticise the many logical flaws in the film because I respect his conviction in simply making the film he wanted and not pandering to typical Kolly tricks to improve the film’s ‘viability’.
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Seetha Cookemane Gopalakrishna
November 4, 2013
How could anyone make a movie like this which defies logic from the word ‘go’?may be when O.A was made there were no cellphones or the helpline 108.
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venkatesh
November 12, 2013
This film needed better actors.
I am willing to ignore all logical fallacies – Mysskin is closer in sensibility to Sanjay Leela Bhansali than anyone else , loud, melodramatic, operatic but yet crude Indian Cinema. That’s not a bad thing.
What i could not ignore though are the inconsistencies within the same universe , the wolf is running in Chennai but doesn’t sweat, there is no dirt on the street, why is everyone not covered in grime, why does the film “feel” fresh and clean ? Its Chennai for crying out loud.
I am all for stylised cinema but please keep it real within that universe.
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Chander Blasta.RD
January 14, 2015
Onaayum Aatukuttiyum, an attempted /belated review
In OA, Mysskin attempts a nutcracker of a movie, and fails, but gloriously. The nut cracker does grip but fails to crack through.
If there were one person for whom this movie is a must-watch it must be the doomed Toleti, the director of another attempted? masterpiece, Billa2. I guess that Toleti imagined Billa2 to be a cracker like this, a broody slasher of a movie, where the action moves fast and the explanations are denied.
Of the many things that Toleti got wrong and Mysskin gets right is the lighting and the framing.
OA is a visual delight. It is difficult to be reminded of another movie that is so dominated by the wide frame. It is as if the director and cinematographer were laughing at all those who needed needless numbers of over the shoulder shots and extreme close ups to tell their story.
The result is a stylized but bleak landscape that suits the subject matter so well, and is the real source of the grip aforementioned. The crack through fails primarily because (imho) of a spectacular piece of miscasting.
In reality, Sri seems the actor who has the manic presence that is required of the character that Mysskin appropriates for himself, Sri seems apt to be the real Wolf, the shy retiring guy, who when he howls and bites, can really mean it. He would have shone, even garnered. an award that usually gets given to inane characterizations like Dhanush’s. Damn Mysskin…
If he could have afforded it, Mysskin should have cast someone else in his place too, his supposed acting chips fall spectacularly in the storytelling portion at the end, he looks stupid if not insipid in those scenes, you are almost thankful that the girl is blind.. stay behind the camera dude…
As to the numerous plot holes (someone mentioned mobile tracking) the less said the better. However the characters that inhabit this bleak Mysskin landscape appear interesting and even life like, and but for the mindless killing sequences and compressed screen time come across as well imagined, visually.
Just when you are about to break into a whistle podu mode, Mysskin spoils it all with his supposed highlight, the two samurai. They look so pathetic, even funny, and in particular when Sri comes across them in the basement, in that ??f inspired pose. Perhaps it is a Mysskin brand of humor. Well, we are…
The story, when you pause to think about it, is unlikely and even insipid, but it is to Mysskin’s credit that he carries it through, using situations and characters that we dare not question -> for fear of misunderstanding his efforts at improved Tamil cinema.
To put it in a nutshell, OA is interesting, it comes close to being spectacular, it even attains the Holy Grail of good cinema, it does not let your attention wander lest something be lost, but to ask if it touched your heart, it is a big NO.
But a NO about which there is little to be ashamed of….
Not bad Mysskin, perhaps you should try Billa3 next, and have Toleti over so that he can learn how these things ought to be made.
*The BGM is retiring, and thankfully so, unlike AR/clones, IR seems to know when to mute it. Lovely!!
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udhaysankar
April 7, 2015
Phew!. Just 28, I was digging up old articles and found this to be awfully short of comments and dissection that your blog is usually characterised with.
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Madhu
August 1, 2016
Watched it again today, and I was struck by the tatoo “Bob” too. At first, I thought it might have been his actual name. Then again, why tatoo your own name on your heart (it is on the left side, after all)? But, later when I was Goodling it around, I found this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_Song
Nope, I am not familiar with Bob Marley or the Redemption song. But, after reading about it, I do understand that the name fits in with the redemption theme of the movie. 😀 I am not sure if even Mysskin thought so much about this. I rewatched the whole thing just to check if I missed the reference elsewhere. Also, the dead guy is Edward Karthi and his little sister is Karthi? Or, is his name split to the two suviving ‘children’ – Edward to Wolf and Karthi to the little girl?
That whole Bharathi taking the killing shot scene, how beautiful!
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Amit Joki
July 14, 2017
Just saw it. Did any one observe that having caused Edwards’ death, Wolf takes his place. Sri (hero) causes Bharathi’s death and he takes her place as a caretaker.
Mysskin is just fantastic!
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Aisha
April 17, 2020
Just watched this for the first time. I loved how emotion/morality was incorporated into the thriller storyline. I find many thrillers/mysteries underwhelming because it’s rather difficult to empathize with the main characters (or feel any strong emotion towards them). I was able to suspend logic while watching this because of how effective the “making” of the film was in keeping me engaged. Two things I continue to think about is how important it is for the audience to be able to empathize with or feel a strong emotion towards a character (depending on his/her role in the story) and when is it acceptable to suspend logic, and it was great to watch a movie that further prompted me to think about this.
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Dheeraj
December 9, 2021
Love how 90% of the review is about director. I can only think selva as other film maker who has such level of directorial stamp all over the film.
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