Spoilers ahead…
Before we begin to discuss Yennai Arindhaal as a Gautham Vasudev Menon film, we need to discuss it as an Ajith film – because he’s the elephant and you can’t get a proper look at the rest of the room without regarding him first. On the surface, this is very much a mass-hero movie, with Ajith playing a cop named Sathyadev. The opening-credits sequence is filled with macho imagery – a knife, sticks of dynamite, a gun, bullets, one of those stars that cops pin onto their uniforms. But there are no action sequences where villains are sent flying into the air, and the fights don’t slow down for masturbatory slo-mo frames. There’s a comedian in Vivek. But he’s kept in check. He makes an audience-rousing crack about Ajith’s salt-and-pepper look, but he isn’t given a separate comedy track. There are two heroines – software engineer Thenmozhi (Anushka), and a dancer named Hemanika (Trisha; the character seems to have been styled after Shobana, especially when she’s called “naatiya peroli,” which is what Shobana’s aunt Padmini was called). But there are no duets, and one of the meet-cutes involves vomit while the other one features a woman in labour. Both these heroines speak fluent English. But the hero does too, and he isn’t apologetic about it. In fact, he doesn’t seem to care much about the kind of things that our filmmakers think audiences in the B- and C-centres care about. When we first see Sathyadev, he’s flying Business Class.
You could point to Menon’s earlier cop films – Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu – and say that those heroes did some of these things too. But Suriya was just starting out when he did Kaakha Kaakha. The “mass” image he has today, that wasn’t there then. He was just an actor. As for Kamal Haasan, well, he can get away with playing the tray in the hands of the stewardess in Business Class. We expect him to be different. But for Ajith, at this stage of his career, with his kind of following, to play Sathyadev this way – it’s a surprise. An exceedingly pleasant one. It’s a surprise that he’s made a movie where his virility is on display in his professional life but not in his personal life. I’m talking about the plot point that extends – rather, extrapolates on – the one in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu that had the hero, Raghavan, fall for a woman with a young daughter from a bad marriage. (The track in Yennai Arindhaal is a what-if riff, as in: What if the Jothika character died and left Raghavan to raise her daughter?) Like the Jothika character in that film, Hemanika worries if this man who wants to be her husband will also be a father to her daughter. But unlike Raghavan, Sathyadev promises that there won’t be any more children, even if means frequent trips to the medical shop. This is a joke about sex, and it’s tossed off so casually, I missed it when I first heard it – it took me a couple of seconds to realise what he was saying.
This is no small thing. Think back to Yejamaan, for instance – the entire film revolved around the Rajinikanth character’s ability to father a child. Or even consider Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. We are told that Raghavan’s wife was pregnant when she died. But this isn’t just an intimation of tragedy. This is also an indication that this cop wasn’t shooting blanks. There’s nothing like that in Yennai Arindhaal. I’m not saying that these considerations automatically make a good movie. I’m just saying that, given this star at this stage of his stardom, Yennai Arindhaal is practically Elippathayam.
* * *
Now to the Gautham Vasudev Menon film. By now, you’re either a fan of this director or you aren’t, and Yennai Arindhaal doesn’t try to make you change your mind. If you love his Ilayaraja worship, you’ll love the line that references Thaalattuthey vaanam. And if you hate Menon’s style of shooting songs where, within the same song, some of the lyrics are lip-synced while the others play over mood moments, you’ll find more to hate here. But even non-fans will see that Menon has evolved into a superb filmmaker. It isn’t just that the cinematography is terrific, with soft colours and the kind of texture that we rarely see in our big-hero films, where the cinematographer is mistaken for some kind of landscape artist and we applaud at shots of mountains and sunsets and flowers. The cinematography in Yennai Arindhaal is the kind we find in the films of only the very top tier of Tamil filmmakers – I’m not talking about the directors who deliver hits; I’m talking about the filmmakers. The fluidity of the filmmaking here is something to see. Actually, we shouldn’t be making a big deal about this at all. This is something we should be taking for granted, and in Hollywood, this would be taken as granted. But in the context of commercial Tamil cinema, it needs to be singled out.
There’s so much that’s so good in Yennai Arindhaal that I kept wanting it to be a better movie. I wanted it to be shorter. I wanted it to be less generic, especially towards the latter portions. I wanted villains (Ashish Vidyarthi, Arun Vijay) that this hero deserved. Arun Vijay (who plays Victor) has terrific presence – he’s looks like a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body – and towards the end, he conveys, thrillingly, not just danger but also desperation, but this is a good performance in search of a good role, the kind of role that Jeevan played in Kaakha Kaakha. He looked unhinged. There was no telling what he’d do. When you get that feeling from a villain, you begin to fear for the hero’s life. I didn’t feel that fear here.
I wanted more to be done with the conceit that there’s a thin line between good and evil. It sounds grandly existential, but Sathyadev is so good and Victor so evil that the thin line is actually a chasm. I wanted to see more of Victor’s wife Lisa (Parvathy Nair). There are hints that she’s a fascinating character, and I wished a little more of the three-hour running time had been devoted to what she is, what she does. I wanted less déjà vu. I didn’t care to be reminded that the man-saving-a-friend’s-child angle here was something we’d seen in Vaaranam Aayiram. I wanted more surprise in the way Hemanika exits the story. The minute Sathyadev leaves her on the eve of their wedding, taking with him her daughter Isha, I knew she wouldn’t see the morning.
But I loved the way the aftermath of this tragedy is depicted, with Sathyadev breaking the news to Isha as she stares into the distance – only, he says Hemanika has “gone away.” We get the feeling that Isha knows he’s lying, that “gone away” is a euphemism for what’s really happened, but she just won’t admit it to herself… yet. And then we slip into one of the strangest, most satisfying passages ever in a star vehicle of this magnitude, the stretch that shows how a little girl grieves for her mother, comes to grip with this tragedy, and then, only then, begins to call pa the man she’s so far been calling Sathya. The word slips out in such a matter-of-fact manner, it made me tear up – there’s no epiphany, the background score doesn’t erupt into an orgasm, the moment just is, she just decides it’s time she called this man pa. And how exquisitely Sathyadev recedes into the background in these portions, knowing that Isha comes first, that for a while, his journey has to take a backseat to hers, even if it takes four years. (Unakkenna venum sollu, beautifully composed by Harris Jayaraj , plays over this portion.)
Anikha Surendran is wonderful as Isha. There’s a rawness in her that contrasts well with the hyper-sheen that coats the Gautham Menon heroine, who can come off, at times, as too perfect, too idealised. Look at the scenes where Thenmozhi comes to live with Sathyadev and Isha. There are no clichés, no weeping when Isha points out Hemanika’s picture to Thenmozhi, no drama about Isha fearing the arrival of a new “mother.” Sathyadev asks her, simply, if Thenmozhi can stay with them for a while. Isha smiles and says, “Of course, appa,” and the faintest bit of impatience in her voice tells us what she leaves unsaid. (“Do you even have to ask?”)
* * *
I suspect that the film Menon really wanted to make had to do with Isha and Sathyadev, and that the macho posturing of the cop-movie is what he needed in order to sell that film to this star’s audience. The soul of Yennai Arindhaal, if you will, is in the scenes between father and daughter. The fathers in Menon’s movies are supercalifragilistic creatures – kind and loving and supportive and full of great advice (they’re, in a way, as much idealised as the heroines are) – and here we see the tough cop’s natural progression into being that kind of father. In Kaakha Kaakha, the tough cop resisted relationships, and we saw him grow into a lover, a husband. In Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, the tough cop went a step further. In Kaakha Kaakha, the heroine had to convince the hero about embarking on a relationship; in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, it was the other way around. And as he entered this relationship, he found himself a father, though the fatherhood angle was never explored. That exploration occurs in Yennai Arindhaal, where the hero doesn’t need a great father-figure, as in Vaaranam Aayiram (though he does get one, briefly, in the form of Nasser) – the hero himself is that great father-figure.
And at least a part of the film is about how such a man would deal with these responsibilities. He tries to give up being an active cop and opts for a desk job, but he finds he just cannot do it. The fact that he’s back on active duty makes it great news for those who walked in for an Ajith movie, but the fact that he even tried to give it all up, for the sake of his daughter, is what makes this a Gautham Menon movie. Sathyadev’s father tells him that he needs to find himself – hence, “yennai arindhaal” – and this metaphorical journey is juxtaposed with a literal journey when Sathyadev and Isha take off, impulsively, on a long trip. Thereon, the film constantly stresses on what it takes for a cop to be a father. When Sathyadev finds his friend’s kidnapped child in six days, we hear his thoughts in a voiceover: “Aaru naal… aarey naal.” The former could be the anguished father speaking, that it took six days. The latter could be the supercop speaking, that it took just six days.
Yennai Arindhaal breaks new ground in its use of the voiceover (first-person narration, really), though this technique hasn’t been employed all that much in our cinema. We’ve heard it in Menon’s own films, of course – say, in Vaaranam Aayiram, where the son kept calling out to his dead father, remembering this, remembering that. But here, we hear all kinds of voiceovers, and they pull us into the world of the characters – we end up inside their heads. We get voiceovers from Thenmozhi, as she first runs into Sathyadev and drools over his appearance. (She slips into a sophisticated version of the super-figure-machi reverie that we usually get from the hero or his best friend.) We get voiceovers from Victor, when he bastardises the lyrics of the song Engalukkum kaalam varum into some kind of scummy philosophy. We get voiceovers from Sathyadev as a child, when he says this is the last time he’s seeing his father. (What a difference it makes when such a thing is conveyed to us through internal monologue rather than as part of a dialogue delivered to, say, Thenmozhi or Hemanika.) And from the adult Sathyadev we get voiceovers that speak about the nature of his profession (98 % of cops never take their guns out of the holster; he belongs to the other 2%), or hint at existential thoughts (looking at the pregnant Hemanika while on a dangerous mission, he muses about life and death), or reveal his emotions (he feels like a 17-year-old whenever he sees Hemanika). Sometimes, the dialogues segue into voiceovers, as in the scene that begins with Sathyadev at a hearing and goes on to show the workings of an organ-trafficking gang. (A nice pulpy touch, that.) At one point, Sathyadev even uses one of Thamarai’s lyrics for this film in a voiceover: Ulagenum paramapadham, vizhundha pin uyarvu varum…
* * *
Even if Yennai Arindhaal is somewhat disappointing as a Gautham Menon movie, it’s a first-rate Ajith movie. (The actor is in pretty decent form too. He still cannot pull off emotional scenes convincingly, but I totally bought his righteous explosion when someone tries to bribe him. It’s an honest man’s explosion.) The false notes are very few. I didn’t care for the director’s cameo as an intelligence officer. This sort of thing is distracting – we think, “Oh look, there’s Gautham Menon.” And I winced at a few lines, as when Sathyadev says, “Miga periya thappu.” That word, miga, just seemed wrong. I didn’t think Sathyadev would use it here. He’d say romba. But the film is entirely one of a piece – despite the familiarity of the Gautham Menon heroines or the Gautham Menon moments.
And these are still done very well. The cautious, formal nature of the initial sms-es between Hemanika and Sathyadev; the notion that you need to respect the person first if you’re to fall in love with them (a galaxy apart from all the love-at-first-sight scenarios); the little narrative sleights of hand, like the fact that we’re primed for Victor’s flashback when he mentions meeting Sathyadev in prison, but the actual meeting is shown in Sathyadev’s flashback; the song picturisations that continue to define the characters, as when we cut back and forth between Sathyadev beating up goons and Hemanika teaching her students dance; the long courtship between Sathyadev and Hemanika, with its implication that “people are talking”; or even the fact that Thenmozhi isn’t some random person who’s there just because a second heroine is needed, but that she ends up the heroine because of the part she plays in the plot – in another filmmaking culture, it may be possible to view all this dispassionately, from a distance, but in the context of commercial Tamil cinema orbiting around the gravitational pull of a giant star, it’s enough to leave you weak-kneed with gratitude.
KEY:
* yennai arindhaal = if you/I know me…
* naatiya peroli = a title given to a great dancer
* songs where, within the same song, some of the lyrics are lip-synced = see here
* Engalukkum kaalam varum = see here
* Miga periya thappu = very big mistake
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2014 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Srikanth
February 22, 2015
Great review, as always. I agree with you when you say that this film breaks new ground within the confines of commercial cinema. But there was always this feeling of dejavu when I was watching this movie. Almost every scene reminded me of Menon’s two other cop films. For instance, the scene in which Sathyadev convinces Hemanika to marry him was reminiscent of the one in Kaakha Kaakha where Jyothika tries to do the same – only here the roles are reversed. Similarly, the frequent showdowns between Victor and Sathya brought back memories of the conversations between Surya and Jeevan. Menon’s little cameo, quite similar to the one he did in Kaakha Kaakha, doesn’t help erase those memories either.
I’m pretty sure Menon doesn’t want his audience to feel this way, because it only dampens the effect the film has on you. This is not nostalgia in a good way – it just makes you go “I’ve seen this before, there’s nothing new”. It makes me wonder whether my perception of the film would have been more positive had I not seen his earlier films.
Still, I guess a repetitive Gautham Menon film is worth a watch – much more than any other films from Tamil cinema’s commercial directors.
LikeLike
harshithsubramanian1995
February 22, 2015
Reblogged this on This Too shall pass and commented:
Awesome Review
LikeLiked by 1 person
krishnan
February 22, 2015
Speaking of recurring themes in Menon movies, there seems to be this thing in cinema that calls out to Mr. Rangan very often and is a recurring theme in his reviews. Upper class-Lower class. Upper class word-lower class word. Upper class behavior-lower class behaviour. Upper class class-lower class mass. Getting very irritating
LikeLike
MANK
February 22, 2015
Oh man, this is truly exhaustive. A terrific , terrific write up. Even though i dont agree with all of your gushing emotions for GVM and this film, i really enjoyed reading this.Made me look on this film in a new light, not that i hated the film- but i thought that this was just an average effort from GVM , saved by by the photographer and editor.Did that fact that you had no deadline constrains(Or did you?) – now that it has been 2 weeks -help you in writing such a comprehensive piece?.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jeeva P
February 22, 2015
Brilliant write up Rangan.. Didn’t the tonal inconsistency of the film ending up as a half baked thriller bother you?? My write up on the film.http://theblurringline.blogspot.in/2015/02/movie-review-yennai-arindhaal-2015.html?m=1
LikeLike
Anand
February 22, 2015
Actually the title of the film is tongue in cheek, if you know what I mean. The entire film is purposely constructed of brick stones from his earlier films. As if Gautham is teasing his audience by saying, “Yennai Arindhaal”.
Look at the text cards that come on screen at various points of Sathya Dev’s life. It says – Esha: 6 vayadil, Esha: 8 vayadhil, Esha: 11 vayadhil. Straight from Varun and Nithya!
By now, everyone can see the similarity between Aradhana and Hemanika. But Aradhana was a bit confused and was suffering from self-doubt. Hemanika is much more confident and clear about what she wants. (She does not even want the flat, only Esha. She has no problem having a sexual relationship with Sathya Dev. She does not take money for her classes because no one can really afford her!)
The Daddy angle from Vaaranam Aayiram – this was such an irritation in the earlier film (primarily because of how Surya played it). Nasser and Ajith nail it here. And as you have pointed out in the review – Sathya Dev wants to be a better father, his bars have become higher when he becomes responsible for Esha.Brilliant touch of Thannai aridhal (Self discovery).
Apart from the saving friend’s child, there is also the voyage to self discovery angle from Vaaranam Aayiram. Again it works here better as the song Unakenna Venum sollu adds a perfect compliment to the voyage. (Two women who have contributed enormously to the film behind the screen are Thamarai and Nandini Karky).
Did you notice the odes to Gangster films?
Adhaaru Udhaaru and Father Michael’s entry in the song is an ode to Satya(Hindi) Sapne me Milti song.
Golden Raj having his dinner sitting on the bed when Satya Dev comes to kill him is framed exactly the same way as that of Moorthy sitting when Kokki Kumar comes to kill him in Pudhupettai.
Victor running with his voice over talking about his strategy – Aaranya Kaandam climax.
Victor and Sathya returning from jail to meet Lisa – reminded me of Satya and Bhiku returning from jail to meet Pyaari in Satya. (Victor says,” ettu maasathukku appuram paakaren, reaction eppadi irukkumnu paaren!”)
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
February 22, 2015
Arun Vijay (who plays Victor) has terrific presence – he’s looks like a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body
Ha Ha, we can always trust you separate the wheat from chaff. Especially when the rest of the reviewers were going ga ga over AV, you nailed it precisely. The fact that , he doesn’t appear so threatening have something to do with the template of our star driven commercial cinema, Whatever dirty schtick this guy is going to pull out, you are sure that Ajith is going to come out triumphant – there is no chance of him getting killed anyway- Unlike say in a film like Silence of the lambs,what makes you tremble is the vulnerability in the lead actor\character of Foster\sterling, or even the case of kakka kakka, where surya was just starting out and hasn’t yet acquired the superstar image- you are not sure whether they would survive or not.
given this star at this stage of his stardomYennai Arindhaal is practically Elippathayam..
God AJith and Adoor in the same sentence., only you Brangan.
But on the positive side , i am glad that this film does not have those intentional badassery that ajith has been practicing in his roles to come across as cool,, starting with Billa. Like kicking the heroines father out of a speeding car in front of her in Mankatha or threatening an infant with a hot iron in aarambham. It had started to look really forced a tiresome..Thats a relief.
LikeLike
Manthosh
February 22, 2015
Even Raghavan makes the same promise.
“ava (Maya) namba rendu perukkum ore magala iruppa”
LikeLiked by 1 person
aravinddp
February 22, 2015
The director even paid homage to moondru mugam ,like the initial confrontation between golden raj and Sathyadev reminded me of the the scene in MM where Senthamarai’s character meets Alex Pandian,and young Sathyadev watches a scene from MM in the TV.That scene makes this movie a character study of Sathyadev rather than a cop film.
LikeLike
Aravindan
February 22, 2015
Great read, thanks much!
I liked the film. I kept feeling throughout the film that all these are familiar yet slightly better and rounded (though the one moment that convinced me completely so was the தன்னை அறிதல் trip which was much better here and not as jarring it was in Vaaranam Aayiram).
Dialogues still remain a casualty though. Thenmozhi saying to herself how ridiculous Love and Nausea would sound in Tamil might actually be GVM’s thought process during writing dialogues. (I was very surprised how much I liked how Anushka played Thenmozhi. There was almost nothing great written for her but she made it engaging).
Also, after Ambika in Padikkadhavan, was wondering if this is only other time a heroine is introduced as a pregnant woman.
LikeLike
Vijay
February 22, 2015
SPOILER ALERT. BIG ONES.
oh I’ve been waiting for this review, I will admit. As usual, read it after reading the film, which is a great way to nod along. 🙂
There’s this tendency with gautham menon these days to put too much into his films, i think. The old ones were tight–vettaiyadu vilaiyadu was cryptic (or at least my memory of it is–don’t know how much i missed because my tamil was much worse back then), and managed to get a lot more plot in, it seems to me. For which reason some of the parts you liked, I think should’ve been abridged into a single line of dialogue–the travels with my daughter is all very well in concept, but the idea of a policeman who becomes a teacher and roams around rajasthan and ladakh and godknowswhereelse becomes somewhat disbelief-suspending after a point.
and i didn’t like thenmozhi’s character. again, all very well in concept, but the execution of it? the things you haven’t said is that the mcguffin is weak, the idea that this particular woman is the only one who suits is somewhat twee, and ajith slips himself into that narrative by such strange sequences of events… seemed asif he’d not really thought it through.
But my major beef: the one that made me want to write this response even before the review was written, is hemanika’s character, and the need for a second heroine. the closest equivalent (hear me out here… 🙂 …) is albus dumbledore. do you remember the ruckus when rowling announced he was gay? one of the criticisms that was raised then is that even authors who try to engage seriously with lgbt issues in fiction end up portraying gay characters in a stereotype… not necessarily as parody poofs, but as Tragic Figures who do not end up with a good life. My fear is that Indian cinema is guilty of doing the same thing with once-married women. there’s this tendency not to allow them a very happy ending. Maybe i’m reading too much into this, but this is something i’ve been waiting for a long time (a married woman with a child, who marries a mainstream hero and lives happily ever after. it used to happen, and still does in “off-beat” films, but it ought to in masala movies like this one–oughtn’t it?). otoh this might only be that i’m watching the wrong masala movies. andor it might be that one can only push the envelope so far. either way, when i realised he was going to have to kill trisha off to make way for anushka and the present-day plot, i was hufely disappointed. i wish (in a faux-ghajiniesque thing) the chirpy had been first, and the other came later. if only to spite the world. 🙂
LikeLiked by 5 people
udaya kumar
February 22, 2015
Good write up as the times goes on. the superfluous stuffs (words) that u r using absolutely became monotonous. U r making conscious effort to include these words I suppose (gvm of reviewing u r only for A class)
LikeLiked by 1 person
thillai
February 22, 2015
great depth review
LikeLike
Venkatakrishnan Subrahmanian
February 22, 2015
The dialogue most of the time is inaudible. Ajith thinking he is saying something great leaves an impression that it was delivered with care. But most of the time it falls flat. He’s yet to catch up emoting himself when he has to express helplessness. Simply opening the mouth and making a grunt is not emotion on the screen.
LikeLike
anand krishnajeevan
February 23, 2015
i am glad that one of the most awaited review of 2015 is out finally.i find GVM is the Imtiaz Ali of Kollywood or is it the other way around? their films are imperfect but yet very appealing.they are so brilliant in their comfort zones and once they step out of it the film becomes a bit shabby.best performance of Ajith after Kandukondein kandukondeing
LikeLike
nscriptions
February 23, 2015
Reblogged this on nscriptions.
LikeLike
Priyanka
February 23, 2015
This is really off topic. But are you planning on reviewing Badlapur or are you going to be skipping that one? I was really looking forward to this movie and Ugly, which you didn’t write anything about as well. I really hope you get a chance to review it, let us know if you’re not going to be able to.
LikeLike
Roopa
February 23, 2015
Was waiting to read your thoughts.. As usual brilliant… I watched the movie with little expectations but to my surprise.. i liked it. The movie’s highlight is the beautiful portrayal of the father-daughter bond. It was absolutely heart warming. The little girl is a delight to watch. Ajith’s portrayal of Sathyadev is effective and he brings in a new dimension to GVM’s characterization. It is a refreshing change to see the actor Ajith taking the precedence over the star Ajith. Trisha as Naatiya Peroli Hemanika was good but somehow i could not buy it. Having seen some mindblowing dance-exponent performances in the past like Banupriya in Azhagan(Kozhi koovum neramaachu) , I could not go gaga over the Mayabazaar song. Nevertheless, it is a dignified performance from Trisha. Arun Vijay as Victor is menacing and does complete justice. On the whole, though the movie did remind me of earlier GVM’s films, it still is a better watch than many other recent over-hyped big star movies… Three cheers to GVM and Ajith 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
brangan
February 23, 2015
Manthosh: Yeah, but that line doesn’t go any further. This, I thought, was a stronger iteration of that thought. Not only is the line stronger here. He actually lives with that “only daughter.”
Aravindan: kept feeling throughout the film that all these are familiar yet slightly better and rounded…
Exactly. I’ve been hearing some oddball comments about this film being “the same old thing” — in the sense that the only reason these people said they hated this was because of the familiarity — but given how much recycling takes place in general I didn’t find this a deal-breaker at all. I was disappointed yes. But didn’t find it a deal-breaker. I mean, consider Shankar, who has also been recycling stuff, but with diminishing returns. At least with GVM, the reiterations are better.
And a couple of good comments that sum up my feeling about GVM’s films.
From Srikanth: Still, I guess a repetitive Gautham Menon film is worth a watch – much more than any other films from Tamil cinema’s commercial directors.
From anand krishnajeevan: i find GVM is the Imtiaz Ali of Kollywood or is it the other way around? their films are imperfect but yet very appealing.
Imperfect? Certainly. But the highs more than make up for the things that don’t work.
LikeLike
Gowri
February 23, 2015
The movie was a drag inspite of Ajith’s dashing looks. Some of the plots, scenes are the same old repeats from GM’s playbook. Confident ,divorced woman – check. Daddy issues – check. Cop story – check. It looks like GM had a great father and a capable , smart college girlfriend who now lives in the US ,married to some one else. These two people are so entrenched in his brain and he cannot get away from them.
The delightful surprise is Victor in this movie. I kept wondering what was his back story, how he did he get this way. What a body!
More than the big moments, I liked the little telling ones- Lisa may not be innocent after all, alluding to visit medical store, identity of the little cleaner boy at the cafe shooting. Such small facts reveal so much more.
Other parts really went on too long – Thenmozi’s groom meeting, flight comedy, 4 yr all India trip, bribe offering, Golden Raj plot, the rescue of the little girl , all could have been trimmed way down. The organ trade is such an abrupt addition to the plot.
A must see for Ajith fans but this movie needed a much better script and editor. Almost like GM had to given in and add some stuff for the Thala fans. As a non Tamil viewer, I must also add the quality of subtitles was pathetic.
LikeLiked by 2 people
brangan
February 23, 2015
Priyanka: I was in Berlin, covering the film festival and returned just a few days ago. So have been catching up on all these older films only now.
I do plan to write reviews of “Badlapur”, “Shamitabh” and “Qissa” — all of which I really liked. “Badlapur”, I thought, was quite fantastic.
LikeLike
Rajkumar S
February 23, 2015
I was expecting this from you! Perfect. I was wishing you’d come back soon from Berlin for a perfect review! Loved it.. 🙂 Thanks BR!
LikeLike
Sruthi
February 23, 2015
Here it is. Something that was written to bide time till all was well with the universe again. 🙂
Apologies for the over-long post. I would have linked it to elsewhere, but then I’d have to do all the forgotten password thingies for my blog.
Yennai Arindhaal – the placebo review
8 February 2015 at 00:14
Watched Yennai Arindhaal, and did what I usually do – hunt for Mr. BR’s review to read it. Reviews are not meant to be read before the movie. Savoured, more like it. You nod when you agree, you frown when you don’t, and overall, there’s the sense of having drawn out the experience a little longer till you close your eyes to sleep and there are scenes drawn fuzzily on your eyelids. (Yes, I somewhat stole that last part (1).)
As I have subscribed to Mr. BR’s blog, I usually have an unread email waiting. Not finding one, I went to the blog itself. And found out that Mr. BR is in Berlin. I am happy for you BR, I really am. Berlin must be wonderful this time of the year. 😛 And I am not the only one feeling the joy. As you may know the first comment on your most recent post on a Juliet Binoche movie was ‘Am eagerly expecting ur review on yennai arindhaal’.
Now, I need to sleep, but I feel like my friend Pooja did that day at the ice cream shop in Nerul. We had saved money to treat ourselves, and she decided on a new flavor. Turned out to be terrible. She had a queasy stomach too.
When it comes to certain things, I like the comfort of the familiar. Chai anytime, newspaper in the loo, Gulzar songs on weekend afternoons, dancing on new years’, I could go on. If that doesn’t happen, doesn’t bode well. Queasy stomach. Therefore, to salvage the situation, I decided to write a review myself.
Spoilers ahead.
I think I am going to go for the bullet-point review. Seems appropriate given the movie, no?
Kaaka kaaka starts with ‘An episode in a police officer’s life’. Vettaiyadu Vilayadu starts with ‘Another episode in a police officer’s life’. I expected Yennai Arinthaal to start with ‘Yet another episode in a police officer’s life’. (I don’t they obliged.) I am not sure if it is the media who have dubbed it a trilogy – is that hope speaking?
On second thoughts, that was too unkind. I am sure other actors too want their episode draped in khaki cool. Which brings me to the sartorial savvy of the Tamil cop in Menon’s movies. Yennai Arinthaal’s wardrobe wonder supersedes Surya in tight-tight shirts or Kamal in his half-sleeved suaveness. You see Ajith in crisp white linens, pathan-style kurtas, an oomphy black shirt, and the usual cream and khaki ensemble. He keeps harping on his middle class origins, but no checkered shirts and polyester pants in any frame except the flashback with his father.
Ajith makes a chapati like he knows how to. That deserves its own special bullet.
Yennai Arinthal shall go down in the annals of Tamil cinema as being the first film to have a heroine entry song. And that too a heroine who shares posters, screentime, and mindspace with another heroine. I realized how much my head has been conditioned by the ‘hero entry’, when I almost felt cheated by it not being there. Almost. It made the eventual fight sequence where Ajith assumes his rightful place in the universe all the more satisfying. Delayed gratification, eh?
Maybe there’s a reason why there was no ‘Yet another episode’ opening. For, the story is more about the man than the cop. In Kaaka kaaka, the cop was the story – his colleagues, his encounters, his routine. It was his vocation that took centrestage. Vettaiyadu seemed more like the anatomy of a case (in that case, anatomy), with the villains of the story sharing equal space with the good guy. Yennai Arinthal, as the name suggests, is more introspective. It is about the people in his life, all his women, the father, the friend in need, and the friend not in deed.
Yes, the women are not your come home I’ll make chapati/saapadu variety. They do all sorts of revolutionary things. Pig out in business class, puke, aren’t virginal, and smile happily at the mention of condoms.
You can see Anushka’s pores! I have a big problem with Hindi cinema – the women there don’t have any pores. See, Anushka does. And she looks good too. Learn!
For a director who pays attention to women, how can you shortchange the mother? The unseen doctor, untimely death. Really? And this when the father gets ghosttime too!
I liked the ‘love and nausea’ line. Yes, it doesn’t sound good in Tamil. Good to listen to such writerly innerlogues thrown into the script – it’s reassuring.
There is a sense of having seen it all before throughout the movie – first love killed and possibility of another in the making. And the arch-enemy to reckon with. But here’s the rub. Mr. Vincent is too arch to be the enemy, if you know what I mean. He has nice abs, he runs very well, swims well, and the white shirts looks good on him. He screams appropriately, at the right decibels. And jumps high up into the air and lands on his feet and starts dancing immediately. But he just ain’t menacing. There’s a certain hotheadedness, yes, but that’s good for fight scenes, not menace. It is like he is Johnny Mo of the Crazy 88, whereas what you need is O-Ren Ishii.
I referred to the writer’s innerlogue earlier. In the climax, you can hear it the most though unsaid. The writer has imagined an epic confrontation. Two people who could have had a similar future but didn’t. That thin line that separates the good and the bad. (Yes, yes, we get the screen split metaphor for thin line. No need to repeat it again to make sure the backbenchers got it too.) Pitted against each other. The final face-off. Etc Etc. But it feels banal, because Johnny Mo isn’t climax material. Thinking of O-Ren Ishii, Lisa, Vincent’s wife makes for a better menace quotient. She looked like that ‘not a hair out of place’ and pleated sari women you meet now in private Chennai hospitals, wearing a tag. (Those saris are pleated in a way you know there’s some workshop no one told you about.) Now imagine one of those women toying with a scalpel. Oooh. What if it was that wily woman – a la lady Macbeth, who drove Vincent – now that I could bite into.
The biting reminds me. An aruval slicing into Ajith’s foot gets the torture porn award. It tore through the ‘I am so inured to all this Tamil cinema violence ennui’. I went aaaarggh, feeling it viscerally. Clap clap. (Question to the learned ones: When did this trend of violence porn in tamil movies begin? I am sure it was before Subramaniapuram?)
There, I have written it. Now to mull over the existential question – is it still a placebo when you know it is one?
ps: BR, now please come back before I watch Shamitabh. That’s tomorrow, btw.
(1): http://www.scriptmag.com/features/interviews-features/writers-writing-wrote-21-grams
LikeLiked by 1 person
Janet
February 23, 2015
Was waiting for ur review. gr8 review as usual. The reference to “kolaveri nu oruthan, avan peasaradha ketta….. naan konjam mela thaan sutten ” – is that only a joke or only am i looking too much into it ? however it was out of place in that situation also
LikeLike
Madhu
February 23, 2015
He doesn’t spoil a movie: that is his big USP. One of the things that I really like in his movies is the natural presence and interactions between his main and surrounding character: the talk between Surya and Devadarshini in KK, the initial scene between Kamal Haasan and his sister in VV, between Jyotika and her sister in VV and so on. These portions are never forced. And they give you the hint about the supporting character also having their own profile – they are never props, that is wonderful.
LikeLike
T_G
February 23, 2015
You seem to be searching for niceties when faced with lots of issues (branded under ‘somewhat disappointing as a Gautham Menon’s movie’). It would be good to review it as a movie (narrow context of being a movie) in addition with reviewing it in broader contexts the movie (‘gautham menon movie’, ‘ajith movie’). Don’t you think it is important to talk about the movie and its own defined context (it isn’t a sequel or a trilogy or whatever!) and get it out of the way before deliberating on the same movie under broader contexts?
At last a movie that happens in both Madurai and Chennai made with Chennai (Manirathnam-ish/Menon-ish) sensibilities. What about that context? May be you are referring to it indirectly (‘no cliches’ et. al.). I know the film doesn’t portray ppl from these localities as good/bad or brand some culture as inferior/superior. But it does paint these to very different places with sort of same brush. I didn’t like it personally, but would like to hear what you thought. This is a theme that interests you, I believe.
What about dialogues? The conversation between Sathyadev and Thenmozhi (including some voice overs) when she first meets him including the voice over. Yes, there is technique, but very little substance. I didn’t find it realistic, I didn’t find it dreamy – I just found it as a lazy piece of dialog writing where the writer didn’t care much beyond finishing to write it! There were such lazy dialogues all through the movie. Thoughts, if any?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lakshman
February 23, 2015
When I searched for supercalifragilistic I got supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Day made!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sid (@Tweet2Sid)
February 23, 2015
This is what GVM says about the similarities between his cop movies:
http://imgur.com/nQtMcRa
LikeLiked by 1 person
bart
February 23, 2015
Angusathukku yaanai – that’s what I feel on the review you’ve written for this movie. GVM for whatever reasons, feels so comfortable in repeating his ideas in multiple ways. Since his standards for every movie of his is more or less similar, the lack of freshness is a big killer (YA = 0.45* KK + 0.4* VV + 0.1* PM + 0.05 * VA). Shankar’s movies on which I differ with your opinion, atleast literally tries to bring in something different in every movie, which is let down by the weak idea behind it.
Ajith didn’t impress except for accepting to do this role. Arun Vijay was very impressive but wasn’t menacing at all, as you’ve said. Overall, a huge letdown, more than I.
LikeLike
Karthik
February 23, 2015
English dialogues at inappropriate situations
Also, english dialogues mindlessly translated into Tamil.
Arun (In jail) : “Nee thaan Satya va?”
Ajith: “Yaar kekarathu?”
This is not how normal tamil conversation goes. When someone asks in english “are you Satya?” then the answer will be “who is asking?”.
“Who is asking?” became “Yaar kekarathu?”
An appropriate reply would be “Yaen? Nee yaar?” or simply “Nee yaar?”
Worst dialogue delivery.
Repetitive scenes (from other two cop movies).
Ajith: Why don’t u get even more fat? So many fans, so much fame … all because of hopeful Tamil people. Why don’t u do them all a favor and learn some Tamil ? Its about time, don’t u think ?
Gautam: Looks like u have creative constipation. If you can’t think on your own anymore then stop making movies.
Arun: We know you can fight. How bout some less leg work next time ? And for God’s sakes stop imitating Scott Adkins’ style.
Harris: Do you know about this concept of choosing the singers according the actors ? And that Trisha’s drama scene !! Please don’t try any of that old Tamil movie resemblances. Those movies are real art and u are but spitting on their makers’ grave !!
Conclusion: Couldn’t sit through this assault on the senses.
Thamizhin kangalil kaneer
Kalai-yo ingu aavi-aaga marayum vaeneer !
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 23, 2015
Pretty average movie, for me, except that some kind of bearable time from Ajith after some time. He is not an actor, he is a super star in each and every moment, even in the most silly moments, it is the star that stands out. very sad.
I would always place Meagamann much above much much above YA, as a cop movie.
LikeLike
Hariharan
February 23, 2015
Romance spoiled the film
LikeLike
MakeGoodMovies
February 23, 2015
Now i understand why we have such mediocre or useless films made in tamil for we have such mediocre and biased film critics. A junkis a junk eventhough its from the so called class…. Look at the treatment meeted out to interstellar..though its from the greatest of the current directors, Nolan and from one of the finest actors of the time Mathhew McConaughey . And before people start their bashing let me make it clear that i’m neither a fan of Ajith nor GVM nor Nolan nor McConaughey . I’m just a fan of good cinema.
LikeLike
Vijayakumar
February 23, 2015
Waiting for Gautham Menon to read this piece and comment here 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ramalaxmi
February 24, 2015
First of all, I would like to state that I am Gautam Menon fan but that doesn’t mean I can blindly call each of his movie a masterpiece irrespective of it appearing repetitive and the story line seeming predictable.
What I didn’t like about the movie?
• Wasn’t it obvious that Ajith was a cop since the start? It was no bone chilling suspense when he loudly roars- Satyadev IPS.
• Did Trisha do justice to the role of an acclaimed dancer? She looked like a dancer (Thanks to the make-up artist, director and her body structure) but she wasn’t expressive when it comes to the song, she performs. Undoubtedly, I wouldn’t call the song unnecessary. That song made it apparent that Ajith was a broad minded man who didn’t mind her dancing. However, neither the song nor her expressions did justice to the role.
• I may be wrong but is it necessary to show that the villain and hero have to attack each other personally in a cop story. While we have already seen it in Kaaka Kaaka and Vettaiyadu Villayada, it would have been appreciated if this explored some other angle.
• Ajith was definitely not as fit as Surya was in Kaaka Kaaka. While his great looks offered him a great deal of help, his shape should have been given attention, too.
• Haven’t we seen better movies with cheaper budget focusing effectively on organ transplantation as compared to this?
I basically have this feeling that as a critic, you are bit in favor of directors like Mani Ratnam ( I love him), Gautam Menon and others who make clean movies ( catering to the middle class, romantic movies) and have prejudices about directors who portray dirty villages like Sasikumar (I am not his fan).
What I loved about the movie:
• Trisha’s dialogue: She says her reason for not charging fees is not her benevolence but her arrogance. She will not be able to sell her art.
• I liked the fact that Ajith puts on his shoes again. He says – Kudigaare Kudi ilada madri. Its not possible to be somebody else at all point of time irrespective of how much ever you love somebody. It pulls you back.
• The phone conversations were good but could have been better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
oneWithTheH
February 24, 2015
“Yennai Arindhaal”… A first-rate Ajith movie
This one line will suffice for me. I went in expecting to like a GVM movie but instead ended up liking an Ajith movie after 16 years(Vaali).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reuben
February 24, 2015
BR: But even non-fans will see that Menon has evolved into a superb filmmaker.
I as a non-fan would agree that GVM has evolved in Yennai Arindhal. But still a long way from being a superb film maker.
To me GVM has always come across as a wannabe Maniratnam. He tries to bring in the urbane cool quotient into his film which are so organically built into mani’s films. Whereas in many instances the writing in GVM movies gives an impression that an effort is being put by the characters to exude the cool quotient.
LikeLike
spell man
February 24, 2015
So no one has a problem with the completely wrong presence of Y in ennai?
Really, why is ennai spelt with a Y? Not just this film’s title, many idiots who have never read a word of Tamil and transliterating in various places and they’re all writing ennai as yennai, edhukku as Yedhukku and what have you. That this is completely slipped up by all these people including the author of this blog is just flabbergasting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
February 24, 2015
Reuben: Was talking about his craft here. Mani Ratnam hit the ground running. His first film was extremely well-crafted. “Minnale” wasn’t. And from there, it’s been a phenomenal growth in terms of how the scenes are led into, the scene exits, the little segues, the lead ins and lead outs to the songs, the shot compositions. This sort of thing is very important to me. Because it’s what makes cinema cinema. Otherwise, if you’re focusing only on content, then you could just be watching a stage play filmed by a stationary camera.
Most Tamil filmmakers are essentially stage-play makers. They sometimes have great content. But totally lack the craft. They like to credit themselves with “kadhai, thiraikadhai, vasanam, iyakkam” — but they know only the first three. There’s no “iyakkam” in their films. The WHAT is important, yes, but the HOW is equally important.
That’s what I was talking about here.
LikeLike
Bala
February 24, 2015
Agree with T_G above. Dialogues are never GVM’s strong point and they aren’t here either. And coupled with that the reuse of plot details from VV, KK, VA, resulted in nothing but boredom and disappointment. I have to wonder if other than technical growth there is much to praise in GVM’s latest work.
LikeLike
Rahini David
February 24, 2015
It was alright reading about Stale Cheese, Doubtful Paneer, Cheesecake and Icecream but it is only when you get back to good old PalGova that it feels truly like home. I am really happy that you got a paid trip to Berlin, but the void it created was big. You were still writing and I was still reading, but it wasn’t the same thing at all.
I started noticing during your absence that people don’t blog about tamil movies anymore. BB of bbthots has stopped reviewing every movie he watches and it looks like most other bloggers have too. Five years back there would have been atleast 10 blog posts that were worth reading by googling “Yennai Arinthaal Blog review”. This is very sad.
And then there are a few reviews out there that seem to prove that writing reviews isn’t as simple as it looks. Some of them are completely pathetic.
Some people seem to think you are better off reviewing English Movies. Well, there are people across the globe who review Hollywood movies quite well. The situation isn’t the same here.
I am talking about people who write about Tamil movies in English. Are there people who write about Tamil movies in Tamil itself? I mean those who write fresh well thought out pieces without reiterating what others say. Can you suggest some good links?
In short, Welcome Back. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dandy
February 24, 2015
Berlin Branga! Welcome back. Waiting for your take on Badlapur (a brilliant mood piece slightly let down by the last act)
LikeLike
Deepak
February 24, 2015
Apparently a scene was shot with a young Victor also being present in the hotel and witnessing Sathyadev’s father being killed. This incident then leads each one to follow a different path in life (good/ bad, melisaane kodu etc). Not sure if this is true and if so, why it was cut from the film.
LikeLike
Charanya
February 24, 2015
Wonderful review! I have been waiting for this ever since your blog post about Women and Song in GVM movies and I was sure you would write one 🙂 Patiently biding time and opening your blog almost everyday till you came back from Berlin, was happy to read this sumptuous review!
My average film-goer observations:
Victor’s character was never meant to be unhinged or menacing. I had a feeling GVM took efforts to make this character different, if not unique. I am unable to even visualize Pandiya from Kakha Kakha or Ila from VV to dance to a routine “kuthu” song with an undercover cop, more importantly even willing to get married to another human being albeit admitting she was his weakness to his path to glory! I think bringing a character like Lisa initially was meant to humanize him.
And although painfully obvious, a part of me kept hoping what if Victor didn’t stay in the evil side of the melisana kodu and didn’t kill Hemanika after all! I think his character was meant to be ambiguous since even Sathyadev thought there was some redeeming quality in Victor,whereas Anbuchelvan and Raghavan both were hunting to kill. But this was not fully explored and it ended up being tame somehow.
LikeLike
Pranesh
February 24, 2015
@Deepak: Yes, there was a scene like that. I watched the movie on day 1, and the scene was used to show why he became a gangster (because he loved the control, etc).
LikeLike
brangan
February 27, 2015
spell man: So I’m guessing your next burst of righteous indignation is going to be directed towards the “idiots” who spell their names as Palani instead of Pazhani?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Srini
February 27, 2015
Jyothika gets abducted in Kaakha kaakha. Kamalini gets killed and Jyothika abducted in Vettaiyadu. Here Trisha gets killed, Anushka gets abducted and even Ajith’s daughter gets kidnapped. These in essence feel like derivatives of Ramayana, you know Seetha the ideal classy woman gets abducted, Ram the ideal chivalrous man gets her back. Is this heroine abduction/killing the only way out for the villain to get back at the hero ? Is this purely to heighten the conflict or is there a deeper subtext of male Chauvinism in these movies, ‘men are the protectors and women are too precious and fragile and need to be protected’ kind ? Or am I just over thinking ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ashutosh
February 27, 2015
spell man: There are a couple of explanations:
They have chosen to do transliterate along with the sandhi (punarchi in Tamil I think), even though there is nothing before ‘ennai’: யென்னை அறிந்தால் as if there is something before… as for example in, நீயென்னை அறிந்தால். By the rules of Tamil grammar it is perfectly OK, in fact more correct I think, to write stuff like: வானவில் யென்னை தூரத்தில் அழைக்கின்றது. Before we adopted Latin-type spaces between words, we wrote everything including the sandhis out in one long stretch. So ‘யென்னை அறிந்தால்’, intentionally or not, gives us an impression that this phrase is following something before it. And seen in that context, what they have done might not even be an unintentional mistake. Unless ‘ennai’ is in the beginning of a sentence, it should really be written out as ‘yennai’. Since they have used ‘yennai’ at the beginning of a phrase with nothing before, it can be taken that a grammatical rule has been exploited to sharply stylize the title.
LikeLike
Rahini David
February 27, 2015
Srini: I think good men saving their women from bad men is a timeless trope that knows no geographical boundaries. It basically implies that there is one Achilles Heel a perfect man allowed to have and that is the love he has for a worthy woman. You ask if heroine abduction is the only way to get back at the hero. Well if you want to hit someone where it hurts and the only thing that hurts him is hurting her then the rest of the story follows. You wonder if there is some sexism in this. Of course there is sexism in making fragility a virtue of women as in “the Princess and the Pea” story.
But IMO, if there is any sexism in the Heroine Kidnap trope, then it is against the men. Basically it implies that the life of a woman is more precious than the life of a man. It also implies that physical hurt is no big deal for a man. Men also have physical pain and death. This trope in a way trivialises the pain and suffering men experience.
LikeLike
spell man
February 27, 2015
Ashutosh: With due respect, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
You’re conflating completely unrelated things
Your examples are just plain wrong. If I were to frame multiple choice questions on some aspects of Tamil grammar and if I were to provide choices that are a. correct b. incorrect c. really incorrect d. retarded. I would put your examples at d.
For example:
வானவிலென்னை தூரத்தில் அழைக்கின்றது — a.
வானவில் யென்னை தூரத்தில் அழைக்கின்றது — d.
For the sake of public service:
இருட்டிலுமென்னைப் பார்கலாம் — correct
நீயென்னை விரும்பினால்.. — correct
நானுன்னை நெருங்கினால்.. — correct
வலியுன்னை வருத்தினால்.. — correct
உருவென்னைப் படுத்தினால்.. — correct
Hmm, let’s apply your logic on the last example and try to set the film’s title around that; here’s what we get: வென்னை அறிந்தால் (which is probably apt given what many are complaining about).
If the letter Y has to be there in the title because Y means Yes — Yes We Can…make a fool out the people and make money — or some shit like that, it could be ennaiYarinthal from என்னையறிந்தால்.
I flunked Tamil all the time in school and even I know this. So it’s just amazing that Gautam Upper-Caste-Name-Menon had the temerity to go with this blatantly incorrect spelling. It’s not like this word had no precedents. Yennai Arinthal is the equivalent of Yunnai Pol Oruvan. (Still don’t get it? Never mind.)
For those interested here’s a simple lesson on this stuff:
http://www.tnpsctamil.in/2013/12/punarchi-tamil-grammer.html
LikeLike
spell man
February 27, 2015
Beerangan: Are you flippin’ serious? Can’t you see I still spell Tamil as Tamil and not Thamizh? It’s about the simplest of logic and convention. Vemal (the actor) is an idiot for spelling his name that way.
As stupid as your name sounds when read out phonetically (பரட்வாஜ்), at least it’s not your fault. You/your parents have the excuse of convention. What does Gautam Menon have other than unmerited arrogance?
LikeLike
Ashutosh
February 27, 2015
@spell man: I could argue with you on the technical points you write about, but I refuse to engage with anyone who confuses argument with trash talking.
LikeLike
Ram Murali
February 27, 2015
spell man, looking at the thread of comments above it is sad that something potentially interesting about the correct use of thamizh has turned into something so personal and attacking. Firstly, let me tell you that this blog is so well read that if you had framed your concerns in the right way, you might have actually had people think about the issue that you are raising seriously. But by using terms like “idiots” and what not, you will just not be able to make people warm up to a conversation. This kind of a blog is such a nice avenue to hear and exchange perspectives that if we dont use it the right way, we are not going to get a thing about it except the satisfaction that we have vented our feelings in the comfort zone of anonymity. In my favorite book of all time, “The Last Lecture,” Randy Pausch talks about how he used to be an arrogant teaching assistant during his undergrad days and how his Professor gently put his arm around his shoulder and said, “Randy, it’s such a shame that you are perceived as being arrogant. It’s going to limit what you will be able to accomplish in life.” I say this because it really changed the ways in which I approached people with whom I had differences of opinion and differing perspectives. I feel like I have gotten so much more rich perspectives from people when (1) I have wanted to genuinely listen to what they have had to say and (2) When I put forth my arguments without attacking the person in question. I don’t know you personally and so, I apologize if I am sounding presumptuous or pretentious. But trust me, all I want is to “learn” from / “share” with BR, you, Ashutosh, Rahini or any of the other commenters here. Trust me, we can really optimize our learning and sharing if we are respectful of people’s opinions.
Cheers!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Ram Murali
February 27, 2015
Typo – “we are not going to get a thing FROM it”
LikeLike
Iswarya
February 27, 2015
I dread the idea of entering a debate that involves so much ill-mannered talk, but philology is an irresistible temptation. So, just wanted to clarify that what spell man has to say about the grammar and ‘punarchi’ rules is actually right, although everything else about his comments, right from his tone, is quite objectionable.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Iswarya
February 27, 2015
If anyone remembers the big ruckus that was apparently created by Tamil grammar Nazis (ahem!) when “Avalukkendru Oru Manam” was to be released with the wrong article in the middle, then this too might look like a valid bone to pick.
After all, at first sight, I felt a strong temptation to translate the title into English from its present transliterated form as ‘Well, if you know the Japanese currency’ rather than ‘Well, if you know me’ (as Wikipedia does).
LikeLiked by 3 people
Vijayakumar
February 28, 2015
“And I winced at a few lines, as when Sathyadev says, “Miga periya thappu.” That word, miga, just seemed wrong.”
Oh Mr.Menon does this often! In Neethane En Ponvasantham, Nithya in a very beautiful scene teaches Varun to pronounce “Edinburgh” and in one of the very next lines, she says “namma sandhikave mudiyaadhu”. She says “sandhikave”!!!! I mean what the fluck man 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Srini
February 28, 2015
Rahini : Thanks for taking the time to comment. Don’t quite agree with you assessment of the sexism here being against men though. I would read it a little differently. It is the men who decide that the lives of their women are more important than their own. This willingness to sacrifice only puts men on a very high moral pedestal here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rama
February 28, 2015
I must say that the author’s reply to ‘Spell Man’s comments were rather flippant and immature. He was talking about a serious issue and it deserved a serious reply from the author, if at all. Given the constant undertones, it looks like Baradwaj Rangan will make a good ‘Casting’ director. If you know what I mean
LikeLike
brangan
February 28, 2015
Iswarya: The point I was making was simply that all sorts of considerations go into a name.
Maybe Gautham’s producer believes in numerology. Maybe they wanted the first part of the name to be six alphabets in English.
The posters of Kamal’s movie said “Vishwaroopam” in English and “விஸ்வரூபம்” in Tamil — why not remove the “h” in the English version?
These aren’t exact things.
I’d like to know why someone did what they did before saying they did it wrong and they’re an idiot, etc.
LikeLiked by 2 people
ThouShaltNot
February 28, 2015
Got to agree with BR. Of the million things you can fault GVM for his Tamil movies (although BR might disagree about that), “Why Y?” ought to be somewhere waaay down in that list. The conspiracy theorists, of course, have smelt a titular Yeli and deem this an assault on Tamil Orthography. I, on the other hand, despite my faith in spelling conventions (for the most part), simply ask “Why make an aanai (malai) out of an yeli (kundru)“? (ok, that did not sound right) 🙂
LikeLike
Iswarya
March 1, 2015
BR: Well, the “idiot” and other name-calling part was certainly unwarranted from spell man’s end, and I didn’t mean to take up his defence. That said, I wouldn’t really think spelling is a field for relativistic judgement. I believe it’s still one of the last areas of clear-cut black and white decisions.
In the case of “Vishwaroopam,” I suppose both spellings were accepted variants. But that is not the case here. The demand here is not merely for consistency between the English and Tamil versions. It is merely a pedantic fretting over a misspelt word in transliteration.
If it was driven by numerology or any other (pseudo)science, that would still remain only an excuse for having misspelt the word, rather than validating the choice. The error, of course, remains an error. And, as I quoted the other movie where Tamil grammarians almost took to the streets in protest, this is just a case for language enthusiasts to softly tut-tut and shake their heads over. Not the end of the world, in any case.
I happen to be that sad pedant, though, and I register my mild annoyance. 😦
LikeLike
Iswarya
March 1, 2015
And btw, six ‘alphabets?’ Really?? 🙂
LikeLike
brangan
March 1, 2015
Iswarya: I’m not defending the incorrect spelling. Merely pointing out that there may a reason for it, however silly to us, that’s more than just being the work of “idiots who have never read a word of Tamil.” I’m just saying that you could be a Tamil scholar and still be, say, a numerology-believer and end up with a silly spelling.
LikeLike
KK
March 1, 2015
Ram Murali,
Are you the same dude who comments in bbthots? Long ago you got bashing for cracking a lame joke on women menstrual cycle. You’ve evolved a lot since then. Kudos to Randy 😉
LikeLike
Ram Murali
March 1, 2015
kk, I am the same dude.
But I didnt “crack” that joke, just quoted a joke from “azhagiya theeye” and got deservedly reprimanded by fellow commenters! Apologies kuda apove kuduthuten thalaiva!
LikeLike
Blasta
March 2, 2015
Are tangents more lovable than a circle? When it is Bharadwaj Rangan and his blog, it tends to come true. All of a sudden a discussion on movies subtends to superficialities, and perhaps it is the blog’s strength and weakness.
One thing is clear however, reading BR’s blog to decide if a movie is watchable is just like asking a dumb man the way to the station. You know that the poor being knows, that there is meaning in what he is trying to convey, and you feel proud that despite his obvious handicap he is trying gamely, as to whether you will reach the station is a question best left to the Fates.
Meanwhile YA is still going strong, and so is Anegan, and Shankar must have many thoughts to rue, given that his 3 year effort did not even get anything other than an opening.
Perhaps it boils down to the new movie watching axiom, give them something to chew on. Even balloons need air.
Gone are the days when the Tamil audience was a brainless wonder, beefing itself up on equally brainless films. Today they ask for content. This is where the Shankar axiom seems to fail. If “I” is not brainlessness disguised as content, then what is it?
So is content king again?
Now as with yin and yang, you have the other crowd, who have come to a movie to celebrate their togetherness and improve their loudness quotient, rather than watch. This is the Danga Maari crowd, who love the exhibition of their recent loss of inhibitions, their celebration of the fact that they arrived first class without bothering to learn first class.
A Jack like attitude, you could claim, if you would like to be sympathetic. Their next generation is bound to rue the fact that their fathers were the kind that danced in theaters to Danga Maari and seek a sorry brotherhood amongst themselves.
Or is it that our current cinema is not celebration enough?
LikeLike
Krishnan
March 2, 2015
On Blast’s comment – Comment Moderation #fail
LikeLike
brangan
March 2, 2015
Krishnan: Not following. Care to explain?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Krishnan
March 2, 2015
BR – Not following what? I found Blasta’s comment unpublishable on a public forum. Now we might not want to drag this into a debate on whether censorship should exist because then we shouldn’t have any comment moderation in the beginning. In as far as “what” in Blasta’s post I found unpublishable on a public forum, I refuse to comment.
LikeLike
Rahini David
March 2, 2015
Srini: I was not talking about GVM’s movies in particular, but the entire “Men are meant to protect women from physical harm” thing.
All: In GVM’s cop movies the Hero is the “Ideal Man”, the Heroine is the “Ideal Woman” and the romance is the “Ideal Romance”. Everything seems to be so artificial. The threat of the villian, thetragedy, the loss, none of these seem real. I feel so aloof.
I do not feel this with any other moviemakers or even in GVM’s romance movies. Does anyone else feel this way?
Krishnan: Thanks for introducing this game of Criminal Case. We will try to come up with what is wrong in Blasta’s comment. I am sure it is going to be more fun than most of our day jobs. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
brangan
March 6, 2015
Another offender, if you will, in the spelling wars:
http://www.desimartini.com/movies/kadhalil-sodhapuvadu-yeppadi/md1670.htm
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madhu
March 6, 2015
@RahiniDavid: I didn’t feel it much in KK. In VV, the Kamalini part did feel artificial, but not the Jyotika part. But, in YA I definitely felt it in both the tracks: more so in Anushka’s case than Trisha’s. What worked beautifully was the father-daughter thing. Again, the Nasser-Ajith part seemed slightly forced, not as much as the romantic angles though. IMO, GVM’s heroines have become so famous because, really, what do you have for alternatives? You either get baby talking Anushka type from Lingaa, or the really brave Kaarthika from KO (who was so brave that she reported on Tamil eezham issues, but hid behind Jiiva when a local politician is angry of her detective abilities), or you have the normal-garden-variety-found-everywhere-in-tamil-cinema Anegan type heroines. When faced with such alternatives, one gets almost grateful for GVM for his heroines, even though they are “too” perfect! At least, they barf, get divorced, think of love again even though they are not virginal, ask the love of their life to go to hell and go on with their lives, get offended and even desert their child when they find their husband has been having an affair, they also come back because they run out of money. Frankly, these “too” ideal is better than the others.
Er, okay, so I ranted too much. But essentially, yes, they are way too ideal. It would be good to see some normal heroines: who can swear, who can actually support themselves and love their jobs, be brave, handle a break up, move on, come back if needed, and most importantly: talk and dress like normal women out there.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Rahini David
March 6, 2015
Madhu: For the most part you echo what I think. But what surprises me about GVM’s action movie is that I seem to predict when the heroine dies and the how does not seem to affect me at all. I knew miles ahead in even KK that Jothika is sure to die. And I also predicted that it must be at the end of the movie and so I just waited. And as I was just waiting for the character to be killed off, I did not find any investment at all in their romance at all.
This should be true for other situations too. For instance, Asin in Gajini was sure to die too. Her BF has “revenge” written on his body. But I did not feel that detached at all there.
The same is true for the villians. I am too bored to even type out about the villians in GVM has created.
But GVM is so good with VTV and NEPV type stuff. I have no idea why most people don’t like NEPV. I liked it very much.
LikeLike
Rahini David
March 6, 2015
BTW, am I the only one who does not think that Ajith is that charismatic? He is basically handsome in an “used to be a chocolate boy” way. But charisma in middle-age is a very different thing, no?
The Anushka part in the beginning with the “I am sitting next to the most handsome man of all time” was so lame. I suppose this is one of those masala must-haves.
LikeLike
VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
March 6, 2015
Hi. Same bloke from the Cinderella Pisaasu thread. Yet to watch Madras 😛 Will get to it eventually 🙂
Was watching Idhayathil Edho Ondru on television and it for some reason reminded me of a portion from Navarathri. The ‘Nalina meets Arputharaj as he rescues her and takes her home’ portion.
The situation of meeting a single father and his daughter and getting to know the kid’s mother was kinda identical. Of course, the writing in Navarathri is razor sharp and streets ahead in nuance because it packs so much. Tangent Nalina does not reveal her identity easily. After all, why should she talk to a stranger about something very personal?, a trope I feel Kamal employs incredibly in Virumandi (though Navarathri is still subtler). Tangent to the tangent Why would he open up to Angela, who is a stranger? It takes some warming up on both sides in both cases. Angela sees this ruffian for his deep logic at “solla vEndiyadhellAm judge kitta solliyAchu, kaNda kazhudhai (?) kitta solla vENdiyadhilla…” in a jaw dropping table-turning of perspectives and the ruffian softens upon seeing her noble intent for what it is T to T ends. Nalina (and the queer way in which Arputharaj pronounces her name (‘Arputha’raj indeed with shoulder juggles and all that!) reveals her story to him (we know it already and hence…) through a song (now what a way to use it!), “Sollava Kadhai Sollava”. Arputharaj pauses the radio at “Pennendru Boomathannil Pirandhu Vittaal” with a film of tears, does the shoulder juggle again and it’s suddenly weighty and not a caricature. How the super-actor is a vehicle for the emotion of Arputham, for the character does surprise us with its character arc from ‘what-would-this-potential-villain-do’ to the epitome of gentle heroism and his body language, bordering on caricature, suddenly handing it back to us, is only something the super-actor could have pulled off. And he did 8 (9, including Sathyavan!) more, carrying 8 more emotions in all its shades!! 🙂 End Tangent
Now, shorn off all this context, YA’s montage song did take me on a trip to that exceedingly well written portion, with photos of the dead mother and the daughter bonding with the welcome ‘stranger’.
LikeLike
Madhu
March 11, 2015
@Rahini: Only now, after days and days, do I realize that my reply to you last comment has been lost! What I wanted to say was:
Yes, I agree with you about the Ajith being not so charming and the “oh, please” inducing Anushka-Ajith meet-cute scene. Very, true!
Coming back to GVM’s predictable screenplay in cop movies – IMO, it is because he follows this template of his – not in terms of story, but in terms of characterizations – that the way these characters speak and the dialogues to a very large extent give way to one guessing what will happen in the next 5 mins, 10 mins, 30 mins and in the end of the movie. You know their character arc and/or the story arc. This is all true, yet, I prefer his movies over, say, I or Anegan. This is probably because, like I had said before in one of my initial comments, GVM doesn’t “spoil” a movie. He might be a creature of habit when it comes to his cop movies’ screenplays, but at least, he wont make you cringe/angry/go to hell moment in a movie. And in any movie, he throws you these unexpected surprises: that Anbuselvan in KK talks about his confusion over Maya to Swati and not one of his male friends, the whole Aradhana has a baby angle in VV – because of her attempted suicide you never guess this until she says it, the Satyadev quitting his job for Isha (like BR said, that he would be back is a given, but that he quit at all is nice). GVM might not be capable of giving nail biting screenplays, but he definitely gives you some moments. And if a director can transcend from Minnale (which I cannot take till date!) to NEPV, then I am ready to forgive him for somethings. Also, right from KK, I don’t treat his cop movies like others, for me, it is more of the story of a man who also happens to be a cop (which is totally not what a cop movie is, I understand).
LikeLiked by 2 people
brangan
March 12, 2015
krishnan: May I ask you to reconsider your stance and tell us just what in Blasta’s comment was so objectionable that you felt I’d failed in my duties as moderator? The suspense is killing, man.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Rahini David
March 12, 2015
BR: O come on, be a sport. Make a prediction.
My contribution is this. Blasta says
“If I is not brainlessness disguised as content, then what is it?”
Krishnan feels offended as the brainlessness was not disguised at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rahini David
March 12, 2015
Madhu: Thanks for re-typing the long reply again.
Oh GVM the action movie director is very good. I can easily be a fan, only I am not.And I often wonder why this is so. I very much like GVM’s love stories. Some things are jarring there too but the Action movies don’t seem to gel well at all.
I stopped watching action movies during the early 90s. If somebody had asked me what would make movies like Chatriyan better, I would have mentioned a few things. Like the following
1) I would prefer the heroine even if her part is a small one to have a nice personality, have dreams that go beyond marrying the hero. Her career should be mentioned, her life should have detailing, she should have some existence before she comes to Hero’s life and that should be obvious but the life she plans to have with the Hero should also be something detailed, only it is snatched out of the Hero’s life because of her untimely death.
2) The Hero should not be too invincible. If there is any kidnap, it is certainly possible that he is not able to save the heroine. He should not be an invincible demigod but a person with vulnerablities.
3) The Villian should also have his detailing. He should not be all evil but have a certain softness for the people who are around him.
4) People beyond Hero, Heroine and Villian should exist in the story.
In all these categories, GVM gets pass marks. But there is a certain inexplicable “Been there; Done that” feel to it.
And there is absolutely no conparision between this and some Kandhasamy or I or some such hell. Not in the same page at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bala
March 12, 2015
The whole “nee romba azhaghu” thing was a bit cringe-inducing. I understand this is for the Ajit fans out there but idhellam too much. (Of course, not as bad as when the same is delivered by the same actress to “superstar” 😀 )
LikeLike
hari
March 12, 2015
Rahini, unga expectationsukku yaaralum movie edukka mudiyathu :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rahini David
March 12, 2015
hari, Maybe.
My dislike for YA maybe that somebody made a movie from my own magic recipe and showed that it is by no means an interesting watch at all. As I am unable to find where GVM went wrong that means the magic recipe itself is wrong. Athu thaan en problem. 😀
That said, I am not difficult to please at all. I don’t like hero worship movies but otherwise not many expectations at all. 🙂
LikeLike
Prasad
March 12, 2015
” I don’t like hero worship movies but otherwise not many expectations at all”
Hi Rahini
I think you may appreciate few of Coen Brother’s movie or you must have seen it. They’re master’s in celebrating Non- Heroes.:) infact so to say most of their heroes are “NORMAL PEOPLE and infact some of them are loser’s”. Am not being sarcastic at all and I treasure their movies due to same reason as you have.Just tired of watching Hero centric movies.
Just to suggest a few….”Inside Llweyn Davis”—Story about almost singer who loses his girlfriend and struggles throughout the movie and doesn’t get a break in music!Look how Heroine treats the hero! It’s darkly comic!
“A Serious Man” – Wife leaves, Son has problem(Drug related) in school…
Barton FInk – Story about a writer with some mental block who can’t write.
The Big Lebowski – Just a Comedy about a loser and funny things which unfolds around him
But all of these movies are told with so much humor and the best thing about the movies are all are “JUST NORMAL PEOPLE” You’ll not find a SINGLE HERO CLICHE :). Infact in his “No country of Old men” hero dies off screen …That’s the level of non-hero movieb 🙂
Yes. It’s so good to see Non-heroes(Normal people) on screen for a change …with no girls chasing them…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madhu
March 13, 2015
That’s probably because, cop movies are essentially hero-worship (nirka nirka, neer mel nirka katru konda naran playing in the background 😀 ) movies. Unless of course the cop is a woman (after Vijaya Shanti, no one attempted this no?). In any case, the genre as such is more about how the good vs bad or hero vs villain in most cases. So, I somehow can’t see any cop movies made that will not have some amount of hero worship.
So, Rahini, that definitely leaves you in a lurch! 😀 If not for Banupriya, I would have loved Chatriyan, I mean…really, what was her prupose other than to lip sync with maalaiyil yaaro?!
Sometimes, I just wish they would do away with the heroines in cop movies so that there no unnecessary dreams which end in songs!
On another note (because I talked about female cops), even though Mouna guru is not your typical cop movie, there is is this investigation that is run by Uma Riaz Khan, I loved her in that role. It was a movie that surprisingly impressed me with its plot. There is that unconvincing climax, but it is definitely forgivable.
P.S: Are there any such non-hero-worship movies in this genre, at all?
LikeLike
Blasta
March 18, 2015
Rahini ++
A new generation of stars crop up almost every five years, and they all start out as earnest young men, willing to act their way to the top. Those who take acting seriously tend to wither away after a few early successes, the others have to take the hero as superman test. If they win it, they are good for a few films more, and the ones that are filtered out become the superstars. This is the way it is, it was, and perhaps will be.
Because at some level movies are about filling the gaps in us, the romantic gaps, the empathy gaps et al. The most important of them all, the adrenalin gap is what keeps the movie industry going, and the man slated to be a super star has to be a super hero too, or at least be capable of one.
Ajith, Vijay, their early successes came when they played softies, but then it was Big Boy Cinema that made them superstars. Rajni too, though he did provide some amusement in the form of Big Brother comedy.
Kamal slipped down the sides to become the Jack Nicholson.Dhanush failed the test, and takes the Kamal way, while Vikram passed the test and yet took to following Kamal, and slipped down the possible superstar scale. Of the new crop, there is no one who has taken the test or has passed it, Siva Karthikeyan seems to have taken the plunge with Kakki Sattai.
There is no denying that like it or not, the male hero worship movie, with its adrenaline pumping is here to stay. So acting kudukkatheengappa, adu ungalukku pudichirukkalaam, audience ukku pudikkathu. Santhegam iruntha Vikram ai ketkavum.
Bala +
Cringe inducing, guess the problem was the cinematography, the stills of the same scene have come out well. Yes, seeing a bleary eyed Ajith next to that handsome-st comment was, you put it best. Anushka, as I mentioned elsewhere is at her bloated best, in the same scene, what is with her new hairstyle, I wonder.
LikeLike
Kasi
April 22, 2015
Wait. Did I miss something or am I just not getting it? How did you make the leap to compare ‘Yennai Arindhal’ to ‘Elipathayam’?
LikeLike
S.P
July 21, 2015
B.R couldn’t agree with you more.
“I’m just saying that, given this star at this stage of his stardom, Yennai Arindhaal is practically Elippathayam”.
Given his position I was amazed to watch this movie how well he has played the character Sathyadev.
I couldn’t believe that he agreed to say certain dialogs in the movie like when he proposes Trisha. (Especially when mass movie dialogs are as disgusting as this
Another norm was broken in this movie. Trish being a divorcée was not at all an issue for him. Usually if its mass movie the hero loves a widow or divorcée only when its his second marriage or the woman’s husband died before “first night”. GVM’s usually shows his female lead strong but in this particular movie Anushaka’s character was so relatable … simple dialogs “Appa samayka theriyuma nu kekaran”. Very unconventional mass movie.
Do you think Nassar’s character was cut very short? I felt Sathyadev was a reflection of his father it would have been nice he Nassar had little more screen presence or probably they did and it was edited.
I know its too late to comment on this review but it was really a genuine review.
cheers
LikeLike
tonks
April 5, 2016
I only got around to seeing this movie yesterday. Its my first GVM movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the very enjoyable romantic sequences (The cautious, formal nature of the initial sms-es between Hemanika and Sathyadev; the notion that you need to respect the person first if you’re to fall in love with them (a galaxy apart from all the love-at-first-sight scenarios) and his treatment of his heroines. I particularly liked the early Anushka scenes when the movie begins and the scene where Sathya proposes to Trisha’s character. It was a pleasure to come back and read the review for the second time and to see a lot of things I had felt while watching put into words : the sporadic lip-syncing of songs, it’s interminable last bits, the mismatch between professional virility and personal softness, Victor’s leading man body, the lack of surprise in Hemanika’s exit, the faintest impatience conveyed by Isha in her “Of course, Appa”, the internal monologueing voice-overs.
I thought the entire plot a little far- fetched though. No way something as complicated as a heart transplant was going to be successful in a dump of a building with such half-baked preparations. And it was unrealistic, them choosing a plan that involves the kidnapping of an upper class girl from a plane (aren’t there bound to be serious repercussions?). And the pressure put on Victor by the man who was going to die of cardiac failure shortly anyway: surely Victor only just needed to wait it out until he died instead of acting on his increasingly harmless and weakening threat?
LikeLiked by 1 person